Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

Feathers and Fireballs

Chapter Thirty-Four

"I need your help," Harry said. He didn't look up from his hands, which were knotted together. "I need to figure out if I'm maintaining my shields on my own or if Severus is doing it for me."

There was a moment of silence, and then Narcissa said, "And how would you like for me to help you?" She knelt in front of Harry so that he had no choice but to look into her eyes. "I'm willing, of course, but I'm not sure how I can be of assistance."

"Severus thinks it's too dangerous to experiment with so many people around," Harry said with a small sigh. "Because the manor is more full than it normally is, what with the other… the kids. Even if they aren't kids." He let out a huff of air. "The other people who happen to be my age wandering around. He's worried about them."

Narcissa pursed her lips. "It is a concern," she said gently. "But I think that Regulus would be more than capable of fending off anyone who happens to be drawn in by your allure. My question to you is this: why do you need my help with it?"

"You're an Occlumens," Harry said. "We've already established that you're pretty much immune to my allure, but maybe you could tell if it was active or not when Severus tries to withdraw his protection from me?"

Narcissa considered it, her eyes going vague. Then she shrugged. "I've heard worse ideas in my time," she said. She stood up and held out her hand to Harry. "I assume that you want my help to get Severus to agree that it's a good idea?"

Harry winced as he took her hand and let himself be hauled to his feet. "It would probably help," he said. There was a good chance that Severus would be angry that he was bringing it up again, and with backup, but Harry had to know. Not because he didn't trust Severus, because he did, but… he just… he needed to know. For certain, and he could only find out for sure through an experiment.

Narcissa smiled at him, her expression warm and gentle. "It would be my pleasure," she said cheerfully. As they left the bedroom, Regulus stood to greet them, and Narcissa said, "Come along, Regulus."

Regulus fell into step with them and wrapped an arm around Harry's shoulders. As Harry nestled close, Regulus asked, "Where are we going?"

Harry swallowed. "To ask Severus if he'll try the experiment," he whispered. Regulus hadn't been surprised when Severus had said no the other day, so did that mean that he didn't want to find out? Harry supposed that he couldn't blame either of his mates, because they just wanted to keep him safe, and normally Harry was perfectly happy with that arrangement.

But this… this was important. Even if he couldn't do anything about the results of the experiment, Harry knew that he needed to know.

He let out a shaky sigh as they entered Severus' lab once more. The Potions Master glanced up at them, but finished pouring out a potion with an even hand before setting down the ladle and turning his full attention to them.

"You want to ask me about experimenting with your shields," he said flatly. He glanced at Narcissa, then back to Harry. "And this time, you brought backup."

"I did," Harry said. "Because this is important to me. And I know that you don't want to try the experiment while the manor is as full as it is, but Severus, I think that I need to know. Please."

Severus sighed and glanced at Regulus. Harry followed his gaze, to catch the end of a shrug from Regulus. There was a long silence, then Severus heaved another sigh. "Fine," he muttered. He ushered Harry and Narcissa through the door to his living room, and then further into his meditation room. "Regulus, stay on the door please."

"Of course," Regulus said. "I won't leave it, and I can assure you that no one will get past me." There was no cheer in his tone, just a grim sort of certainty.

Harry drew in a deep breath and settled on his normal cushion, his heart beating rapidly. He was nervous, frightened, and excited all at once. If he was wrong, if he was the one maintaining his shields… he thought that it would be a relief. But he didn't think that he was wrong. He was almost certain that Severus was the one doing it, but… he did need to be certain. He deserved to know for sure what was keeping him safe.

"Harry," Severus began, then stopped. He glanced at Narcissa. "Are you sure that you want to know?" he asked, gently.

Harry let out a shaky sigh. "I need to know," he said again. "And I'm prepared to find out that I was right, and that you're the one keeping me safe. I trust you."

Severus smiled, the expression thin and not at all cheerful, then turned to Narcissa. "And are you ready for this? Your shields are secure?"

Narcissa rolled her eyes. "Severus, my shields are always up around Harry." She smiled a little. "I remember how hard his allure hit me the one time I wasn't expecting it. Trust me, I've no inclination to feel such a thing for him ever again, no offense to you intended, Harry."

Harry wrinkled his nose. "None taken," he said. He drew in a deep breath and closed his eyes. When he opened them after a long pause, he said, "Can we do this?" His voice came out more plaintive than resolved, but Severus didn't comment on it.

Instead, he just nodded. "Very well," he said quietly. He closed his eyes and concentrated, and everything was fine for a long moment.

Then Harry felt the feeling of something… like being doused in cold water, and then he heard Narcissa let out a small gasp. He glanced at her, and found that her cheeks had pinked up and she was staring at him, before she blinked and jerked her eyes away. The flush faded from her cheeks and she cleared her throat.

She cleared her throat a second time before speaking. "Harry, I have to confess that I forgot exactly how strong your allure is when it isn't being contained."

Harry let out a shaky laugh. He was safe in this room, he knew that, so he wasn't frightened. It was just… unnerving, to be without shielding for the first time in forever. "I'm glad you're good at ignoring it, then," he muttered. He drew in a deep breath. "Should I try to raise my own shields while we're in here?" he asked, his voice wavering only slightly. He'd been prepared for this, after all.

"If Narcissa is willing to wait while you try," Severus said, and Harry was surprised to hear a bit of strain in his voice.

He glanced at his mate and found that Severus' eyes were focused determinedly on the ground, and he had a slight sheen of sweat over his skin. His breathing was a little shallow, and his cheeks were flushed. When Severus' eyes met his, Harry realized that Severus was… wanting. Him.

Harry swallowed and looked down again, his own cheeks heating up uncomfortably.

"I'm more than willing to wait," Narcissa said. She let out a small, tinkling laugh. "But are you okay, Severus?"

"I'll be fine," he said shortly, sharply. "Harry, please, if you would try to build a shield the way that I taught you?"

Harry nodded, then closed his eyes and focused inward. He managed to partially build a shield before it collapsed on him. He let out a small noise of irritation, then tried once more. Again, he made it a little less than halfway before it shattered around him. He tried a third time, and it fell apart at exactly the same place.

He couldn't do it.

He drew in a deep breath. "I can't," he said quietly, tiredly. It took more out of him than he liked, trying to build those shields. "I tried three times, Severus, and it fell apart each time at the exact same place."

Severus made a small, sympathetic noise, and then Harry shivered as he was wrapped in the mental equivalent of a warm blanket. Severus' shields descended around him once more, and Harry sagged in exhaustion, falling into Severus' waiting embrace. "I'm sorry that you couldn't," Severus murmured to him.

Harry smiled, tired. "It's okay," he said. "I thought that might happen."

"I can, at the very least, confirm that your allure is now shielded fully once more," Narcissa said softly. She stood and stretched. "And now, if you're feeling okay about what happened, I'm going to go find my son and see trouble he's been getting into this summer."

"Thank you, Narcissa," Harry said. "Can you send Regulus in when you go?"

"It would be my pleasure," Narcissa said.

Harry felt a gentle hand brush over the back of his head, stirring his hair, and then heard the door close. It opened once more a few seconds later, and then closed again, and a warm body pressed against Harry's back.

"No luck?" Regulus murmured.

"Severus is the one maintaining my shields," Harry said tiredly. "I can't seem to raise them on my own. They failed at the same time every time." He let his eyes fall closed. "And I think I need a nap," he added, a little belatedly, his words slow and thick with exhaustion.

"You take your nap, then," Regulus said. He pressed a kiss to the back of Harry's head.

"We'll be right here when you wake up," Severus added. "If you need to talk about your shields, or anything else."

Harry made a small noise of assent, and then he drifted off to sleep.

ooOOooOOoo

Harry didn't want to talk about his shields when he woke up. He wanted to be distracted, not because he was worried about his shields, but because he wanted to focus on something other than himself, and his shields, and his bonds, and everything.

Unfortunately, he knew that Christelle was waiting on a response to her inquiry about his shields, and he knew that he needed to talk to her about the third bond. That wasn't a bond and didn't exist, anyway. So, after waking, he settled himself at a desk in Severus' lab and wrote a letter to her, asking her to come to Black Manor to meet with him in person. He didn't want to put certain things in a letter, and he was sure that she would understand.

With that unpleasant task out of the way, Harry was left trying to think of something to do that would take his mind off of everything. His eyes lit on a cauldron, and Harry realized that he hadn't actually worked with potions in a few days, and so, even though he hated potions, he asked Severus if they could work together on brewing something that would take his mind off of things. Severus was more than happy to oblige, and the two spent the rest of their afternoon working together on a very intricate potion that would create a boundary that could not be crossed by spirits, and would last only until touched by air that had touched a full moon.

Harry wasn't quite sure how that last bit worked, but it didn't matter. The potion was, for him, purely an intellectual exercise.

When it was over, the potion brewed successfully and decanted into three small glass vials (a project in and of itself that took about twenty minutes, as it had to be poured very slowly so that it didn't lose its potency), Harry left Severus' lab and returned to his rooms, Salazar following behind him. His basilisk was finally done growing, and was just a bit too large to carry everywhere, so he slithered beside Harry more often than not.

On his way there, he was surprised to see Malfoy, Zabini, and a girl that he didn't recognize walking towards him. The only other time he'd seen someone on his walk from Severus' lab to his room had been when he'd run into the Weasley twins. Since then, the corridors in that area had been deserted.

He supposed that Malfoy and his friends hadn't gotten the memo.

He swallowed. The girl glanced from Malfoy to him, then started towards him, a determined look on her face. She stopped, though, when Malfoy caught her by the arm, and turned back to him with a questioning look on her face.

"Not now, Astoria," Malfoy said quietly. "I'm sure that Potter has things to do, and would rather we left him alone."

Harry swallowed when the girl glanced back at him, then shrugged and fell back in step with Malfoy and Zabini with a reply that he couldn't quite catch.

Once they were out of sight, Harry relaxed. He never thought he'd be grateful to Malfoy, but he was… he was grateful that he'd interfered. Maybe… maybe talking to him wouldn't be such a bad idea…

A/N: Happy birthday to Harry! I was gonna make everyone wait until Friday and restart my weekly updates, but in honor of Harry's birthday, I figured I'd do two updates this week. Friday updates resume this week.