Chapter 36: Secrets

Harry yawned as he bent his head down over the scroll, scanning the lines of text. Daemons of the deceased great and good became the men of the Golden Age. Then, they were transmuted into daemons by the will of Zeus, to serve as ineffable guardians of mortals, whom they might serve by their benevolence.

A daemon of a venerated hero or a founder figure, located in one place by the construction of a shrine rather than left unburied to wander, would confer good fortune and protection on those who stopped to offer respect. Thus daemons were not necessarily evil, but often associated with the fates and divine power.

My friend Socrates was cursed and blessed with the Daemonic Signs. When he was an apprentice to Diotima, he was taught that Love was not sanctioned by the Gods, but by a 'Great Daemon' and that everything that is Daemonic is between Daemonic and Mortal.

Socrates theorized that those blessed with the Daemonic Signs were close with the realm of the Underworld, of death.

He often said that he saw signs in his dreams or his intincts told him of things to come. His good friend, Chaerephon had even confided with the Oracle of Delphi and asked if any were wiser than Socrates, and the Oracle said that none were wiser. It was often said that there is a measure of being wise, and that Socrates was at the top.

However, his abilities condemned him later in life, and was called a heretic and a corrupter of innocents, teaching them his ways. He was given the option of being banished from the city or being poisoned, and my friend chose not to abandon his people-

There have been others who carried his curse, but are afraid of telling their secrets, keeping them close, as those curse and blessed with the Daemonic Signs fear of their abilities to be used for great Evils…

Harry leant back numbly, translating the section he had read. He had a feeling he was supposed to read this, this was supposed to tell him something, a reminder of what happened to other Seers. They often died young, either by going mad or being murdered. Many had to hide their abilities their entire lives, if they were able to hide it, and were mostly discovered after their deaths…

He jumped slightly as a soft knock on his door came. Severus. "Come in." He continued to write quickly, determined to get this part done…

Severus put a hand on his shoulder. "Harry, how are you? You werent at lunch or dinner today."

"I was here, working." He yawned. He looked up and saw the man looking down at him with a small smile.

"You need to eat. Take a break."

"Let me finish this last bit." Harry scribbled off the last bit quickly and turned in his seat with a smile.

Severus made a face, rubbing some ink off of Harry's face, then looked to all the papers that were scattered over the table. "What are you working on? Homework?"

Harry stood and gathered some of his papers quickly, rolling the scroll back up. "No, not homework, just a bit of research…"

Hands went to his hips, and he felt Severus stand behind him closely. "Harry…"

Harry gulped, turning around. "I'm sorry…I cant tell you. I'm not allowed." Severus gave him a slight smile, running a hand through his hair.

"Alright. I wont ask then. I suppose we all have our own secrets…"

Harry leant into the man, hugging him. "Speaking of that, why didn't you tell me Malfoy was your Godson?"

"I suppose he told you then." Harry nodded.

"I'm guessing you wanted us to get along or something, and he said something along those lines as well, but he didn't know why you would want us to get along…"

Harry met his eyes. Severus gave him a small smile, cupping his face. "When I tell him we're together, I don't want you two to attack each other. It wont be for a while, of course, but…when I'm ready to tell him, it'll be a little easier."

Harry sighed, looking at him happily. "You'd do that?"

"Of course. Unless you change your mind anytime soon…"

"No! I mean…I've been attracted to you since the beginning of my fifth year…"

"Really?" Severus said with a smirk.

Harry nodded reluctantly, looking down. "Yeah. I saw you at Grimmauld place in regular muggle clothes, and I thought you looked so…"

"So what?"

Harry blushed. "You looked handsome. I like you in your robes too, of course, they do that awesome billowy thing-"

He stopped short as Severus kissed his forehead.

"How cute. Come on, let's send for dinner." Harry nodded and cleared the rest of the table while Severus sent for a house elf.

Soon, they were sitting down to dinner. Harry speared some carrots onto his fork and glanced across the table. He was rather envious. Severus was even graceful while he ate. He sighed, taking a bite.

"So, what are your plans for the holidays?"

"Well, I'm going to the ball of course, then I'll visit the cubs Christmas day, then I….I've got some research to do."

"Who are you going to the ball with?"

"No one. I decided to go alone this year. All my friends have gotten dates, and I really don't want to dance anyways…"

"Do you hate to dance that much?" Severus asked, eyeing him closely.

"Well….my knee…"

Severus set his napkin aside with a small smile. "Come here." He stood, offering a hand out. Harry took it hesitantly, and Severus put a hand on his hip, and extended their arms.

"If your parter leads, and if they're good enough, you don't have to worry much about straining your leg." He said softly. They started to dance and Harry blinked in surprise as Severus turned him around slowly, a hand sliding to the small of his back. He stared up at the man.

"You're really good."

"People always seemed to be surprised at that when I have to dance."

Harry chuckled, leaning his head against the man's shoulder. "I don't think I've ever seen you dance before. It's nice."

Severus tightened his hold around Harry's waist. "I'm glad you think so."

"I feel so clumsy around you. You're always so poised and graceful, and all that…"

Severus chuckled, and Harry lifted his arms to wrap around the man's neck as they stared into each other's eyes.

"You think we could dance together again some day?"

"Yes." Severus said softly.

Harry sighed happily, putting his cheek against Severus'. "You're amazing Severus. I..."

Harry pulled away quickly, clapping his hand over his mouth as his eyes widened. He'd nearly said…

Severus just stared at him silently with the tiniest of smiles. He brushed a bit of Harry's hair off of his forehead. He kissed his forehead and then pulled away.

"I… think I should go before anything… inappropriate happens. I will see you later." The man finally said.

Harry nodded silently, watching Severus vanish the dishes on the table before he left the room, pausing at the doorway to give him one last look.

--

Draco was thumbing through a book as he walked silently into the potions classroom one evening, intending to talk to Severus, stopping short as he heard voices inside Severus' office through the crack of the door.

He crept close, going off to the side slightly to see Severus sitting at his desk, doing paperwork as usual, and Potter perusing his bookshelves. "I don't know why you insist on pillaging all the Professor's books, don't you have enough to read?"

"Yes, too much, but I like a little variety." Potter murmured, and Severus glanced his way.

"I…I'm sorry I left so abruptly the other night Harry."

Draco's eyes widened. What the hell? Not only did Severus apologise for something, he called Potter 'Harry'.

"That's all right. I didn't really expect you to-oh, this one looks interesting!" Potter snatched a dusty book from a shelf and blow the dust off. "I think you need a bit of spring cleaning."

"It's winter." Severus said shortly, tapping his quill against a paper.

"It's on Runespoors, I always wanted to see one, I wondered if they would talk to each other and what they would say…"

"Only you Potter." Severus chuckled. "So, why else are you hanging about here?"

Potter smirked. "Do I need a reason?"

"Yes. Dumbledore will notice if his precious Gryffindor goes traipsing all over the dungeons…"

"I'll just tell him that I was talking to you about an assignment if he asks."

"You've gotten pretty good at lying lately Harry."

Potter made a face at him. "Only to certain people. I've never been able to lie to you."

"Of course not." Severus said with a smirk.

Potter sighed roughly. "I've been trying to figure out where to go to study for my Mastery…I've got too much going on here to go out of the country…"

"You are still planning on persuing Defense Against the Dark Arts?"

Potter shrugged. "I'm pretty good at it. I mean, considering what I've been studying lately, I think it would even go over some of the Mastery Professors' heads."

"Hardly."

Potter smirked. "Stop fishing for clues Severus, I'm not going to tell you what I was working on the other night. I told you I wasn't allowed."

Severus rolled his eyes, making a sharp mark on a paper. "Unless you're working with the unspeakables, I don't see why you couldn't…." He trailed off as he looked at the look on Potter's face.

"Dear Merlin, you are, Potter-"

"It's not official or anything, they just asked me to translate some things…they offered me a job there, but I turned them down."

Severus stood. "Why on earth did you do that?!" He pulled Potter close by the shoulders as he stood. "It's dangerous, but do you know how many opportunities that could give you, they don't offer lightly-"

"But I have enough that I want to do without all that, and…and I wouldn't have time for other things, I'm only getting four hours a sleep, if I'm lucky, every night, because of the work they've piled on me, I don't want to live my life like that. I want to teach at a school and help kids, I want to work with the Magical Beings-"

"You cant save everyone Harry."

Potter bowed his head. "I have to." He said feebly. "Don't you get it? I have to, I want to…"

Draco's jaw dropped as Severus hugged Potter tightly. "I don't understand Harry."

"I'm… I'm the Chosen One Severus. Don't you know what that means?" Potter murmured against his shoulder, closing his eyes tiredly. They were silent for a long time, and Potter buried his head in Severus' neck.

"I never asked for all this. I just wanted to be normal. But…I cant help it. It's…not just my…fate or whatever, but…I feel drawn to all this…it's important to me."

Severus sighed, pulling away. "Okay. But this summer, you are going away. A trip away from all this, you'll let everyone deal with all of this on their own. At least for a couple of months."

Potter paused. "Yes." He looked shyly at Severus. "Will you come with me?"

"There's a potions conference at the end of July. I can meet you then." Severus said softly, looking away.

Potter grinned, grabbing the book from the desk. "Good. It'll be nice to see a friendly face." They traded a look, and Potter started towards the door.

Draco ducked out of the way, hanging back in the shadows behind the storage cabinet. He stood there long after Potter left, wondering what all that had been about.