Standard Disclaimer still applies. Sorry that this took so long to get out! I hope you enjoy! Thank you everyone for the great reviews and comments! :
The next day, the three of them playfully made their way to the Great Hall for breakfast. They were still feeling the high of emotions from the night before and even though they knew that the day was the first day of forced work due to Umbridge's new decree, their spirits were soaring.
It didn't take long for Harry's good mood to evaporate after he learned what Umbridge had in store for him. The other students were directed to cleaning trophies and suits of armour that lined the hallways, except of course, Draco who was directed to watch over the work and make sure that every nook and cranny was gleamingly clean. The line of suits and trophies in the hallway was impressive but with the amount of students working together, they were sure to be done within a day or two.
Harry, however, was pulled aside by Umbridge and directed to the dungeons, where under the watchful eye of Professor Snape, had to scrub out cauldrons from the Potion's Master's collection. There were rows and rows of cauldrons in the worst condition that Harry had ever seen. Harry estimated that it would take the whole break without a moment of rest to clean all of them. Harry sighed but made no other outward sign of annoyance which had Umbridge and Snape watching him warily as he got himself set up to get to work. Harry smirked when Umbridge finally left the dungeon in a fit because she hadn't gotten a rise out of him.
Harry soon found out the real torture of his assignment soon enough. The work itself wasn't all that problematic, considering how much experience Harry had at cleaning; although the cleaning potions did bother the back of his hand. No, the real torture was the absolute silence that he worked in, except criticisms from the professor, as Snape didn't allow for noises to interrupt his work in the next room. The quietness mixed with the harsh reprisals were the things that slowly brought down his good mood every day.
Every day of the Holiday break he would work to Snape's insults. Luckily his mates provided another soundtrack that he could mentally listen to.
"I know that you are not used to work, Potter, but do you honestly expect that this cauldron would be clean enough to be used for another potion? Get your sponge and do it again!"
"Not used to work? HA! You are the hardest working person I have ever met Harry! You are my best friend and I can't wait for your tongue to be in me again!"
"I know you are as lazy and spoiled as your father was, but only getting ten of these cauldrons marginally cleaned in this last hour is horrendous."
"Only ten? What a shame, Harry, most people cannot get three done in that time. Do you want me to accidentally curse him at dinner? I cannot wait to see you tonight!"
"I cannot understand how you could fail on such an easy assignment. Do you have a brain between your ears or is it just hot air? If you do, use it already!"
"La, la, if only I had a brain, la, la!"
"I knew that we were missing something! Although I think your other head makes up for the lack"
"Maybe we blew it out of him last night?"
"Hmm? Possible, very, very possible."
"Lazy! Spoiled! Worthless!"
"I love you!"
"I want to spoil you rotten and I doubt you even know how to be spoiled!"
"You are the most wonderful person!"
"I love you so much and cannot wait to be with you again!"
Harry somehow kept his mouth shut and continued to work at a steady pace as Professor Snape continually berated him for existing. He found himself actually smirking sometimes at the parallels between what Snape said and what the Dursleys' always said about him.
Umbridge made it a point to escort him down and back from the Great Hall to the dungeons every day. Harry struggled not to react to her doing so after asking the first day why she thought it was necessary to escort him considering Professor Snape would alert her if he didn't report on time and how he would receive a lecture on how he was not to be trusted due to his delusions.
Umbridge's insult irked Harry worse than anyone else simply because she called him a dangerous liar who was only after his own gain. Harry knew that he had always had told the truth and even though people hardly ever was listened to him, no one had ever told him to his face that he purposely lied for his own gain. The Dursleys' called him a freak, told him to shut his mouth, and threw him into the cupboard when he said something that they didn't like to hear; mostly dealing with magic when he didn't know what magic was. Snape listened to what he was saying and tried to prove him wrong. Snape would also try to use logic to find a fatal flaw in what he was saying. Umbridge, however, just screamed that he was a compulsive liar and needed to be gagged by whatever means possible. She, also, seemed determined that it would be her and her alone to put him in his place.
Harry's saving grace was at night when Hermione, Draco and him would meet and spend the time together. Hermione and Draco would tell him about their day and how far they managed to get on the maps, which they worked on in their free time. Their tone was always light and Harry was thankful that they understood how bad of a time he was having and didn't ask about it but gave him as much comfort as they could.
Sometimes they would duel, letting him vent his anger. Sometimes they would work on silly charms that brought smiles all around. Sometimes they curled up together, revelling in the fact that they could and sometimes they would have sex. Making love with them was the best part of the Holiday break and Harry would always float down to the Great Hall for breakfast with a heart so full that it felt like it would burst.
A few times when he was working on a cauldron he felt them together without him, the burst of warmth and desire flowing through his veins and he longed to be with them as he sent feelings of love back to them only slightly laced with the melancholy of his longings.
One day in the middle of the break, Harry felt a surge of happiness mixed with relief and knew without a doubt that Draco had received word that his mother was safe. Draco was finally free of having to put on a front about wanting to be a Death Eater. Harry let the smile adorn his face and laughed under his breath all day as neither Umbridge nor Snape could get under his skin much to their annoyance.
When Umbridge left for the few days that she mentioned she would be leaving for, the castle truly felt like a dark cloud had lifted. The students who stayed could be seen laughing and having fun with the run of the castle as their playground. Harry, Hermione and Draco worked on Harry's stack of cauldrons making sure that Harry would have them done before the break ended and the extra detention was given. They managed to finish the cauldrons and the maps a day before the break ended.
They spent the last day of break having fun in the daylight. They weren't too concerned with who saw them even as they made a token effort in not being seen. Harry was relaxed and excited for the other pack members to be back even if it meant that classes were going to start again.
That evening the three of themselves found themselves waiting with strange anticipation for the Hogwarts Express to pull into Hogsmeade Station and bring back the other pack members. Harry, Hermione and Draco situated themselves in an underused passageway that connected the Gryffindor Tower and Ravenclaw Tower which had a secret staircase that led to the Slytherin Dungeon. They didn't have to wait long after the train had arrived for their missing pack members to find them. The twins found them first.
"Harry!" Fred and George exclaimed when they saw him before wrapping him up in a huge hug.
Draco raised an eyebrow and scoffed before cynically saying, "Yes, say hi to Harry and don't even acknowledge the other people waiting in this dank passageway for you to arrive. Did your parents teach you any manners or did they just let you run wild?"
Fred and George shared a look before letting Harry go and wrapping up Draco in just as big a hug as they had given Harry.
"I guess that this answers my question," Draco wheezed out trying to breathe.
"Draco! We have missed you so much!" Fred and George enthusiastically greeted him. After letting Draco try to escape their hold for a few minutes they released him and turned their attention to Hermione.
Hermione, however, was prepared for their antics and had her wand at the ready, preventing them from hugging the breath out of her like they had to Harry and Draco.
"Hi, Hermione," Fred and George said sedately even as their eyes flashed with mirth.
"Hi, Fred. Hi, George. Did you have a good break?" Hermione asked still wary of the way their eyes were lit up looking at her.
"It was tolerably well, even though it did have a lot of excitement due to the arrival of Sirius's family member," George replied evenly as his hand came up to forestall the questions that were in Draco's eyes.
"First things first, we owe you, Harry, for our father's life." Fred said seriously but with such mirth that it brought smiles to everyone's faces.
"How is your father doing?" Hermione asked.
"He is weak and the wound still sometimes leaks gross looking fluids but he is up and playing with muggle inventions, so on the whole, he is good," George replied as Neville and Luna arrived.
Fred and George, spying the new arrivals, jumped forward and quickly made a grab for Neville and Luna. Neville was quickly caught in a bear hug even as Luna slid around them, making her way easily to where Harry, Hermione, and Draco stood. Luna quickly hugged Harry and gave him a kiss on the cheek before doing the same to Hermione and Draco, much to the shock of the latter two.
She then turned around to where the twins were still hugging the breath out of Neville and said in her normal dreamy voice, "Ok, I am ready to be greeted by your hug that will almost take all of my breath away."
The twins looked at each other, before letting Neville go and slowly approaching Luna like she was a wild animal that they weren't sure of. Luna just stood there, smiling, with her arms open. Fred and George proceeded then to enfold her in a cautious light hug before letting go quickly and jumping backwards.
"Hmm, that wasn't as bad as you made it out to be, Neville," Luna said as she turned and fixated her eyes on him.
"You didn't get the stuffing squeezed out of you," Neville mumbled before a new voice chimed in, "This only goes to prove that when confronted with an uncomfortable situation, girls are vastly superior to boys."
The group turned around to see Daphne and Blaise at the top of the hidden staircase that led to the dungeons. Daphne had an open smirk on her face, showing that she was the one to profess such an opinion.
The twins narrowed their eyes at her and started to move intimidatingly towards her but she raised her wand and smirked in triumph as they paused in their movements. Harry and the boys however had the last laugh as with a quick motion, Blaise unarmed Daphne allowing the twins to squeeze her in a hug without fear of repercussions from her wand.
"Girls might be superior to boys in uncomfortable positions, only if they manage to keep their mouths shut about it," Blaise casually commented before giving each twin a quick hug from behind while they were still were hugging Daphne.
Harry felt his magic's contentment, hum through his veins, at having his pack by his side once again. He noticed after a moment that everyone had sighed in the same contented manner as he had, even as they played and talked.
"How was your vacation, Luna?" Hermione asked in one of the lulls in the conversation.
"It was lovely, my father and I didn't get to go explore for unnamed magical creatures like we normally do but I did have an amazing orgasm after feeling an extreme sense of love and safety from the bond, so it balanced out nicely," Luna stated serenely even as Hermione's eyes bugged out and everyone else's jaws dropped.
"Did you just say an or-orgasm?" Daphne stuttered, "Do you really think you should be talking about that in public?"
"Well, it was an amazing feeling and since I am sure that you had one too…"Luna calmly replied with a big smile before continuing, "They probably happened at the same time and on the same night. I believe that our pack leaders have completed their mating bond."
Everyone blushed bright red and tried not to meet anyone else's eyes, leading Harry, Hermione, and Draco to conclude that everyone did have an orgasm on the night that they had made love for the first time.
"Umm, oops, we didn't mean to, umm, share," Harry finally said, his voice cutting through the awkward silence that arose.
"I don't think you need to apologize to us, Harry," George said gently.
"Yeah, that was one of the best orgasms of my life. You shouldn't apologize for giving all of us, that," Blaise said with a shrug, getting some odd looks for his blasé attitude.
"And on that note, we should probably head down to the Great Hall for the feast before we are late," Fred cheerfully announced, "and some evil thing notices."
"The twin is right, though I noticed on my way into the castle that Umbridge looked especially smug this evening and I believe that something is going to happen this evening when she makes her announcements," Daphne said looking slightly worried.
"Don't worry, Daphne, she is probably just going to make up some stupid new rules that will have us not being able to take a shite without her say so," George said with a shrug and eye roll before continuing, "It's not like the rules really effect you anyway."
Before anyone else could react to that statement, Harry had pinned George to a wall and snarled, "If something affects one of us, it affects all of us. That is the meaning of this pack. We stand together and value each member's contribution. Umbridge is a nuisance and a danger to all of us so don't dismiss Daphne's concerns just because you can. She might have seen something that we haven't and that early warning might make the difference."
As Fred moved towards Harry and George, Draco blocked his way and took a position that was neither aggressive nor submissive. "You two missed the big get together and bonding experience we shared so let me save you the trouble you'll get in if you try to interfere. Just relax and learn from this experience, ok, Fred?" Draco asked.
Fred looked around and saw that Hermione had moved to Draco's left and behind him, Luna, Neville and Blaise had taken positions that would allow them to help wherever they were needed. Fred nodded his agreement to Draco tentatively and watched as the positions were relaxed and the only tension remaining was between his twin and Harry.
Daphne had saddled up to Harry and now laid a calm hand on the arm that held George pinned to the wall.
"It's ok, Harry. Thank you for defending me but he could be right," Daphne said trying to placate Harry. "He does have a point, that a lot of the rules that Umbridge creates doesn't hurt the Slytherins as much as it hurts the rest of you and I could have just been imagining or interpreting her mood wrong."
"No, it isn't alright for him to be dismissing you like that. He needs to apologize." Harry responded without letting George go.
"It's kind of hard for him to be apologizing to Daphne, Harry, when your hand is preventing him from breathing, none the less, speaking," Hermione said with humour colouring her voice.
Harry tilted his head trying to discern if Hermione was correct in her assessment. He soon realized that she was right and released George quickly.
George took big, gulping breaths as he could finally breathe again. As soon as he got his breathing under control he immediately turned to Daphne because he realized that he would be in the same position again if he didn't, judging by the way Harry was looking at him.
"Daphne, I am sorry about my comment. It was wrong of me to dismiss you like that. Please forgive me." George said apologetically.
"Apology accepted," Daphne replied quickly trying to ease the tension that still filled the hallway.
"You know, Harry, ever since the ritual you seem to be quick in defending us. I think we need to work on your control or else I think we will all be negatively impacted," Draco said shortly after everyone moved away from each other trying not to get noticed by Harry who still seemed tense.
"I don't seem to be able to help it. I get the sense that one of you is injured in some way and my body reacts," Harry said quietly, "It doesn't even seem to matter if it is another one of you that is doing the injuring."
"That is interesting and something to work on, but I am hungry and want to go down for dinner. Can we go, now?" Draco asked in his outwardly normal superior voice.
"Yes, Draco, darling, we can go feed your stomach now," Harry replied with sarcasm dripping from his voice causing Draco to grin back, effectively destroying the rest of the tension.
"Good. Oh and by the way, Fred and George, you still owe me the story of what happened after my mum got to safety, hiding with Harry's godfather," Draco said over his shoulder as he, Daphne and Blaise started to head out towards the Great Hall.
"We will tell everyone later but let us tell you now that it is a whopper of a tale," George said with his usual enthusiasm.
"Yeah, there were battles like you have never seen, magic, and dragons," Fred chimed in before shaking his head and continuing, "No, sorry, that happens here. I got confused. There was just some awkward hand holding and tears from the dust."
"I can't wait to hear more," Draco said, dryly.
"Be on your guard, guys. If Daphne is right, something is going to happen tonight," Harry called out right before the three of them went out of sight, earning him a raised eyebrow and a burst of warm emotion through the link.
Please let me know what you think with a review! The next chapter might be a while as I am still writing it and need to send it over to my very busy beta after I finish it. Sorry but it is coming along slowly...be patient as I hit a road block and than got lazy but now I am back to writing so hopefully soon...soon people the world will change!