(A/N: I'm back again with yet another installment of this little fic for you guys. So there is a slight time skip, but not much. I hope that you will enjoy it, so on with the show!)
The North Wind Blows
Part 30
Before any of them really noticed it, it was November and they had had their first snow of the season. And so the boys spent less time outside playing, even with the climate controlled gardens, and spent more time inside studying. Of course they still designated time for playing board games and the like, but they focused more on their individual hobbies than they had before.
The Potions Lab had been expanded to allow for Narcissa and Draco to work on their projects alongside Severus. Lucius and Dudley had commandeered one of the lower work rooms where they were busily crafting the simulacrums that would replace the existing Harry and Dudley copies over the winter holidays. Tom had taken to managing the reports that the clones generated, seeking out and destroying the few men that still dared to visit the Dursley household. Harry meanwhile had poured every ounce of spare energy into crafting wands, while he had yet to successfully make one; he had come astoundingly close for someone who had only read books about the subject matter.
"Harry," Draco knocked softly on the doorjamb of Harry's work room. "Do you have a moment?" the blond boy asked when Harry sat back and wiped the sweat from his brow.
"Yeah, I think this one is another failure though," Harry said and gave the yew wood wand a swish that resulted in nothing but a sickly wisp of smoke. Draco winced and watched as Harry gently set the failed wand aside.
"That's fair. I mean that's only, what, the fifth one? Uncle Lucius tells me it takes hundreds to perfect the art," Draco said and Harry nodded but sighed regardless. Even though Tom had told him not to get his hopes up, he had in fact, gotten his hopes up.
"Yeah, it's rubbish, but that's why I'm practicing. So what did you need me for?" Harry questioned, sliding from his chair and standing to stretch his limbs. He had taken to sitting facing the door so that anyone who needed him wasn't sneaking up on him.
"I wanted to talk to you about my dreams. You know, the future ones, not like, my aspirations or whatever," Draco said and blushed, running his hand back through his hair.
"Yeah of course, I know what you mean. Are you still dreaming about Hogwarts?" Harry said gently and moved to the couch that had been placed in his room for when he needed a break. Draco joined him there and they both sat sitting sideways so that they were facing one another.
"Yeah, only now we're in the same House with Dudley. I don't know which one yet, I guess because that isn't the important part. No, I keep dreaming that we're at school and Uncle Lucius is Headmaster and Severus is the Potions Professor. It's actually a good dream for once," Draco explained and Harry smiled widely, it was certainly an improvement on the dreams that had plagued the other boy just a few short months ago.
"Okay, that's great. So what's the problem? Why did you need to talk about it?" Harry asked softly.
"Well I still haven't brought the dreams up to the Mind Healer. I haven't brought them up to anyone but you. I wanted to ask your opinion on who I should talk to first," Draco admitted and Harry frowned, he didn't like that Draco had kept something so important to himself, but he understood that it was a delicate matter.
"I think if anyone, you should talk to Tom about it. He's the one with the most experience. Plus he isn't in the dreams so he won't be biased about them. You know?" Harry said, tipping his head to the side in consideration, his brows drawn down in thought.
"Yeah, I think so. But, like, where even is Tom most of the time these days?" Draco asked and gestured vaguely as if to indicate his confusion.
"He's been out. I know it has something to do with my copy, but I haven't asked too closely. It's almost time for dinner, so we can ask to see him afterwards. That is, if you want me to come with you," Harry said plainly and Draco visibly sagged with relief.
"Yes, please. Thank you Harry, for being so thoughtful towards me. I know that Tom isn't as big and scary as all that, but the idea of being alone in the room with an adult other than Mother or a Mind Healer still scares me a bit," Draco admitted quietly and Harry reached out, patting Draco gently on the knee.
"I get it completely. I think that if they weren't my bond mates, Tom, Lucius, and Severus would scare me too. I don't know how I'm going to handle being alone with another adult man if and when it comes to that. We're all still healing, so it makes sense. I won't make you do something that you're not ready for, and neither will Tom," Harry assured in his most adult voice.
A chime sounded throughout the Manor then. It was still a rather new addition to the routine, but Lucius had set up a charm to alert the occupants of the house to meal times. Especially when they were all busy with their various pursuits it became rather difficult to pay attention to what time it was. Harry and Draco instantly perked up, both realizing in that moment just how hungry their work had made them. Harry had been pouring his magic into making that wand for over 4 hours by that point and Draco had split his time between potions and worrying.
"Wow, I was actually pretty close to guessing what time it was. I'm getting better at this stuff," Harry said with a smile.
"Of course you are. You've stopped getting into your own head so much now that you've got the magic talking to you almost all the time," Draco affirmed causing Harry's smile to grow wider.
"You're right there. Let's head upstairs before everyone else gets to the food first. I wonder if tonight is dessert night, it's been a few days since we've had one," Harry speculated as they slid off of the couch and made their way towards the stairs that led up to the rest of the Manor.
At first it had only been under supervision that Harry had been allowed to practice making wands. But once the adults realized that he was far more in control of the magic than he even needed to be they had allowed him to go it alone, which made him very proud of himself.
"You know you could always call a House Elf to ask them about it. Uncle Lucius says that they love kids," Draco said but it sounded dubious at best. None of them had much experience with the small creatures that staffed the Manor, they weren't necessarily scared of them, but neither did they want to be an inconvenience.
(A/N: Well there it is. I hope that you liked it and that you will leave me a review or a comment to let me know what you thought. As always, thanks for reading and I hope to see you next time!)
