Title:Game Without Tears

Disclaimer: I do not own, wish I did, but I don't. I only own my plot line. Full disclaimer, first chapter.

Author: ShaeLynn Teelle

All other information: See first chapter.

Polite constructive criticism welcome. FLAMES WILL BE FED TO THE DRAGON IN MY BED.

Chapter 29: Dreams Aren't As Empty

When the two next awoke it was early afternoon. Neither were tired enough to return to sleep and Harry's stomach began to rumble. They dressed quickly and joined the other four in the main room to find a light lunch still laid out on the table with two empty plates waiting for them.

As Harry and Draco were finishing their meal, Remus entered the suite. The Slytherins only tensed for a moment until they saw who had entered, then they relaxed again. Having invited the Professor and Tonks for dinner the group had become accustomed enough to Remus' presence to be themselves around him to a point. Not as calm as they were with just Harry there, but much better than they had been.

He came over to the large table with a thin bundle in one hand which he handed to Draco. Before the Slytherin had even unwrapped the item, he knew what it was. The familiar magic that reached out to his told him it was his wand as soon as his hand closed around it. Draco closed his eyes for a moment to savor having that part of himself back.

"Thank you, Professor Lupin. And please thank the Headmaster for returning this to me," Draco nodded to Remus and then met Vince's eyes. The other young man nodded discretely in acknowledgment and Draco swore to begin working on the new wands for his friends.

"While not everyone feels the same way, Mr. Malfoy, the Headmaster and I believe that you have proven yourself enough to not restrict you with your magic. I would best keep that contained if you have any others within your area and best not to use it outside of these rooms unless you have no choice. There are some that would take it as a threat if you are even holding it and would attack first," Remus strongly cautioned, thinking of some of the Order members that refused to acknowledge that the group could possibly have pure motives.

Draco nodded again, "I will, Professor. And thank you again."

Remus nodded back with a smile on his face and then turned to Harry questioningly. The Gryffindor nodded back and quickly finished what little he had to eat. Then, he stood and was about to turn away when he caught the confused and slightly worried look in Draco's eyes. Harry turned back to the blond and smiled slightly.

"I have some meetings to attend with Professor Dumbledore and other members of the Order. I've been neglecting those duties with all my time spent here as the Headmaster was kind enough to point out yesterday. I'll be back as soon as the meetings are finished, though." Harry's reassurance was met with a resigned, but closed expression until he leaned down and brushed his lips against Draco's ear, "I'll never put you aside for anything, Draco. Not for anything."

Draco's eyes cleared a bit and he nodded, a smile curling one corner of his mouth. Then, with a 'See you later' to the other Slytherins, Harry left the suite with Remus following him. Before the portrait and door closed, the group could hear Hermione's voice asking Harry what he'd been doing the last day or so as he hadn't left the room.

With Harry gone, Draco settled into his chair in front of the fireplace and relaxed as much as he could. He inspected every inch of his wand to ensure there were no scratches or strange markings on the length. Then, purely for amusement, he waved it around a bit and had green and red sparks fall from the end. After only a few minutes and several levitation charms, Draco's mind drifted back towards Harry and the meetings he was at for the Order.

He shook his head to clear it a bit and quickly stood, slightly startling Daphne whom had been laying on her couch resting. Draco smiled a bit in apology and wandered over to the bookshelves beside the short entrance hall. Hands clasped behind his back, he purused the titles critically, looking for anything that could catch his attention. Many of the books were histories or potions books with a few creature books thrown in the midst. As much as Draco wanted to know everything he could about potions he just couldn't bring himself to pull out any of those books and the others held little attraction to him.

It wasn't until he reached the shelf below waist height that he found something unusual. Tucked in amongst the other books with written or printed titles on the spines was a much thinner unlabeled one that almost blended in to those around it and Draco would have missed it had he not been looking so closely at the shelves. Carefully, he removed the thin book and opened the cover. On the very first page was a single name written in the upper right corner—Artur Reinhold.

Draco turned the next page and knew that the journal, for that's what it was, would explain things that he had wanted to know for years. The very first line on that page announced what significance it was that year held for the writer.

The first collection of students, totaling thirty-six, have arrived this night to our teachings in these hallowed halls of Hogwarts.

Before he could read any further Draco closed the thin book and set it to one side. Then, carefully went through the remaining shelves, finding four more journals. Each one was placed between two regular books that were the same color and texture. If anyone else had simply looked over the books, even partially distracted, they would never have been able to distinguish between the regular books and the journals. There was no doubt in Draco's mind that the placement of the journals had been chosen quite deliberately to blend in with the books around them.

He carefully left a tiny mark of his magic against the wood of the bookshelves with his wand, just enough that he would be able to find the placements again, and took the five journals in all to his chair. Each journal was a different color much as there had been a myriad color scheme of books themselves on the shelves. He opened the first page of every one to determine the order that they were written in. With the later four stacked in order at his end of the low table that was between the furniture, he leaned back into his chair and once again opened the first journal he had found and began to read.

\/\/\/\/\/

It wasn't until several hours later that Draco was pulled away from the journal. The entire time he had stayed where he was except for one moment when he had nearly run across the room and pulled out a pen and a fresh notebook from his collection. Then, he had flipped back several pages in the journal and begun to make notes in the notebook as he read. Pansy's hand covering the page he was reading was the only thing that had pulled his attention from the journal. He looked up at her in surprised confusion only to have her pull the journal out of his suddenly lax hands and close it.

"Pansy! What—"

"It's dinner time, Dragon. You've been reading this thing all day long and you didn't eat very much for lunch. You need to eat something. The book will still be here afterwards," Pansy said sternly and gently placed the book on top of the other four that were still left unread on the low table.

"It's that late already?" Draco asked in confusion. He was barely half-way through the book though it wasn't even half an inch thick, but it had been hours since he began.

Trying to figure the puzzle out, he meekly followed Pansy to the large table in the corner to find the other three Slytherins already there. He looked around for Harry, but couldn't see him and Gregory explained before he could even ask.

"Granger came by an hour ago and said that the meetings were taking longer than expected. Harry will eat during the meetings along with the others that are there. He asked Granger to come tell us as he didn't think anyone there would accept him leaving just to say he wouldn't be back until later. She said that he asked if you could wait for him before you retired tonight, but you were so engrossed in whatever you were reading that you didn't even realize she had come in so I told her it was okay."

"Thanks, Greg."

"Blessed be," Daphne said quietly once everyone was sitting in their places and it was echoed back to her. She turned her attention to Draco as she began placing food on her plate, "So what were you reading that had you so enthralled, Dragon?"

"It's a journal. All five of them are. I'm not positive, but I think there's references to the founders in them. I'm writing down descriptions that are given on these people and I'm going to try and find out if it's them or not, but… I'll let you know if I find out anything."

"Wonderful!" Pansy nearly shouted and clapped her hands together twice before she began to eat once again with more relish than she normally did.

Draco laughed at her and even Vincent curved one corner of his mouth up at her actions. The rest of the meal passed rather quietly, but it was a contented quiet and Draco was glad to see that his friends were happy enough to be content with where their lives stood.

Before Draco could return to the journals after the meal had finished, Morgana appeared in the room. She asked where Harry was and Draco simply said that he'd join them later when he returned and the spirit nodded as she ushered Draco into his room. There was something that she wanted to speak with him about privately and it was something that Harry did not need to know until Draco decided to tell him. Once Draco was comfortably perched upon his bed, Morgana began.

"Draconis, there is more to your heritage than you know. What you do know is only the basics of what you really have. Yes, your soul cannot die and will wander the earth as your mother does, but!" Morgana paused, her eyes boring into Draco's. "You can choose to cross into the veil. If you choose to cross, you can never come back either as a spirit or reborn. There have been some of your ancestors that have chosen this path. Lives were told to one of your other ancestors and written down before the spirit crossed."

"But friends, family that didn't receive the heritage, they would all be past the veil. Anyone you've ever cared about…" Draco stopped, his thoughts on Harry.

"Draconis, if you share a completed bond with another, a completed magical bond, the other person can choose to share in your heritage. As long as you both die within the same day, the other person can choose to be as you will be or go behind the veil and have the same chance of returning as any other normal soul that is not destroyed. But they would share in whatever fate you will. If you wander the earth for centuries, the other will wander with you at your side if they choose to."

Before Draco could say anything else, a knock sounded on the door. The door opened a bit and Harry peeked into the room. Draco nodded and Harry entered fully, a slight smile on his face for the Slytherin.

"Sorry, Draco, Lady Morgana. I didn't expect to take so long."

"That is understandable, Harold James. We haven't even begun yet," Morgana replied quietly, nearly daring Draco to say something about their conversation.

The Slytherin only had a brief moments pause before he spoke, acknowledging Morgana's untruth. "Come over here, Harry," he beckoned from his place sitting on the edge of the bed. "Get comfortable before we start."

Morgana smiled at her descendant as Harry crawled onto the bed beside him. She had glanced into the future for the two through a hidden mirror that only a spirit could see. Morgana refused to say or hint at anything she had seen, but she would make sure they had the information they would need.

That night was spent with Morgana sharing several offensive spells and defensive shields to both Draco and Harry that took a lot of power to cast and maintain. As the night wore on Morgana would slip in stories, adventures, of her descendants. Many of them were humorous misadventures chosen to let Harry and Draco laugh a bit. The others were often introductions to forgotten spells or charms that were thought to have no use. These the two lovers learned together and they learned well under Morgana's tutelage.

She did not accept any 'cannot's. It was always a 'try harder' in reply. So try harder they did and mastered the spells that they were able to that night. The only break they took was for a small meal that Dobby brought directly to Draco's room with a small table and two chairs. Before long it was daybreak.

"You have both done very well tonight. I am proud that you are my descendant, Draconis. And Harold James, your parents and your godfather are all very proud of you. Also, they asked me to tell you that their dying was not your fault. The fault lay in the Riddle boy and the manipulations of others around you."

Harry could only nod his head at Morgana's words, tears threatening him if he spoke. Not even his best friends knew to what depth his familys' death still affected him. Morgana understood and simply nodded. Draco moved closer to him and put an arm gently around Harry's shoulders. The Gryffindor leaned into the embrace gladly.

"Thank you, Lady Morgana, for all your help," Draco spoke quietly.

"I am glad that I can help you against the Riddle boy. I will see you both tonight and your friends may join us for the beginning of the lesson." With that Morgana turned and walked through the door to the main room of the suite.

When she was gone, Harry turned into Draco, wrapping both arms about the Slytherin's neck. Draco held Harry more tightly against him and it wasn't until his shoulder became slightly damp that he was aware Harry was crying. There were no other signs that showed Harry was doing anything but holding him for comfort.

Carefully, Draco pulled Harry away just enough to see his face. The Gryffindor's eyes were slightly red and as he watched a single tear slid down his cheek. Draco smiled lightly at his lover and Harry shadowed one in return.

"Let's go to sleep, Harry. The others will wake us if we are needed."

Harry nodded and stood up from the bed. He grabbed hold of the bottom edge of his jumper and pulled it off before Draco stood as well and began removing his clothes. Harry stripped down to his boxers and crawled underneath the covers of the bed. He got settled just in time to see Draco pull off his pants and slip a pair of sleep bottoms on. He smiled at Draco when he turned back around with a slight blush on his cheeks.

"Come here, Draco," Harry said and lifted one side of the covers for his lover.

Eagerly, Draco crawled into the bed, his lips quickly finding Harry's. Before the kiss could become too heated, he pulled away enough to look into his lover's eyes.

"Let's get some sleep. There's no telling what will happen in the morning."

Harry nodded and pulled Draco closer to him, resting his cheek against the pale hair. Draco wrapped one arm about Harry's waist and shifted closer to the enticing heat so near to him. It was not long before they both fell asleep in that position, though they would wake in opposite places when a nightmare developed and Draco found himself soothing his lover only half-awake. Neither quite remembered it in the morning.

\/\/\/\/\/

As Draco awoke he found Harry curled up in front of him and his arms wrapped around him. The Gryffindor was shivering lightly, but it didn't seem like he was cold since the thick silver bedspread was still covering them both. Then, Harry shifted slightly and Draco's attention was diverted to his now half-hard member that was pressing rather snuggly against Harry's backside.

*edited out for FFN*

Draco kept his arms wrapped about Harry as they relaxed. With Harry's help he had gotten rid of his sleep pants and now they were both naked, curled up together. He wanted to ask something that had been on his mind for several days, but he didn't want to make his lover uncomfortable and wasn't sure what kind of response would come. Harry seemed to sense there was something on his mind and turned his head towards the blond.

"What is it, Draco?"

"I… I was just wondering… Why have you not wanted to change places at all?"

"What do you mean?" Harry asked evasively, though Draco could feel the tension that had crept into Harry's body.

"Why have you not asked to top? It's… I'm just curious. I wouldn't have thought you'd only want to bottom in a relationship."

"I have to be strong. I have to be in control in everything I say and do around anyone else. I can't let them down. I always need to be able to help, to do what everyone expects me to do and… I just want to feel for once," Harry admitted with a sound not unlike a sob. "And it's so good, Draco. You don't expect me to be strong, to be in control. You make me forget for a time that there's a war going on, that Voldemort's still out there. I can just feel and need."

"It's okay, Harry," Draco soothed quickly as he felt small shudders run through his lover. "I like you this way. I like being on top. I just didn't know why… I'm sorry I asked, Harry. It's okay."

Then, Draco turned the Gryffindor's face towards him so he could see him completely. The surprise showed on his face for a moment as he saw the tears that were slowly and silently falling from Harry's eyes. He bent down and kissed them away before taking Harry's mouth in a searing kiss that grew tender the longer it lasted.

"It's okay, Harry," Draco whispered against the lips that were against his own. "Just feel. Forget and feel for me again."

With those quiet words Draco began again to make love to Harry, doing everything he possibly could to drive away all thoughts of the war and Voldemort and the responsibility from Harry's thoughts. In the process he managed to drive out all the fears and worries he himself held for the war and allowed himself just to truly feel for the first time in many years.

Reviews are appreciated.