Author's Note: Here's the next installment for you, enjoy!
Draco ran his fingers through Harry's wild mane, watching as his lion all but purred at the touch. "You're touch-starved, aren't you?" he murmured. Harry blinked up at him. "The moment is over," he assured.
"Yes," he breathed. He licked his lips. "But I think something is being done about it," he murmured. The blonde's eyebrows arched. "Ask your godfather."
"I will," he stated. "This wasn't what you wanted to speak to me about, is it?"
He shook his head. "Voldemort is really Tom Marvolo Riddle, a half-blood," he stated. Draco stilled. "His mother was a witch, his father a muggle. A noble one, but a muggle," he added as an afterthought.
"How do you know?" he asked, voice neutral.
"He told me," he replied, lifting a shoulder. "Well, the memory of him in the diary that possessed Ginny in second year told me, but I'm pretty sure he mentioned it when he resurrected himself. He used his Father's bone anyway."
"He used a ritual?"
Harry nodded. "Bone of the father unknowingly given, blood of the enemy forcibly taken, flesh of the servant willingly sacrificed," he listed, head tilted as he thought back. "Then his baby-sized body was placed into a massive cauldron, and he emerged in all his snakey glory."
"Snakey?" the blonde repeated with a smile.
"Scaly skin, snake-like pupils and slits for a nose. I half expected him to have a forked-tongue, but then he wouldn't be able to speak, let alone Parseltongue, so that's probably not surprising," he mused to himself. "Have I broken you?" he asked, scraping his teeth over his bottom lip.
"No," he assured, stroking his cheek gently. "You've given me quite a bit to think about." Harry's head tilted expression curious. "It isn't simply a matter of withdrawing support due to his blood-status, I now have to think about how to neutralise his threat," he added, voice thoughtful.
Harry blew out a breath. "I think we need to have an in-depth discussion, about everything I've learnt from and about him."
"I think we do," he agreed.
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Draco ran his fingers through Harry's wild locks, smiling when his lion leant into the touch. "You haven't had the easiest time of it, have you?" he murmured.
"No," Harry agreed, closing his eyes, and all but purring at the touch of the blonde's eloquent fingers.
"And that's without all you left out."
Harry's eyes opened. "I don't want to talk about it."
"Why?"
"Because it's being dealt with, and I don't want to distract you."
The blonde sighed. "You will tell me one day, won't you?"
"Before our children are born," he promised. The blonde's eyebrows arched. "You'll need to know the issues I'm triggering, so you can help me combat them."
"I'll take what I can get," he murmured and closed the distance between them to kiss his lion sweetly. "Do you mind if I think over what you've told me?"
"Not as long as you keep touching me," he answered honestly.
"Come here," the blonde urged, opening his arms, smiling when his lion snuggled close. He resumed running his fingers through his lion's hair as he began to ruminate.
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"What?" Harry breathed.
"Hmm?" Draco murmured in response.
Harry pulled back to look up at the blonde. "You thought of something," he stated.
The blonde's lips curved upward. "You do know me well," he murmured.
"Well, of course," he retorted. "So?" he prompted.
"What are your feelings toward the Headmaster?" he asked seriously. Harry blinked. "How you answer, changes what actions I would take."
"I-" he cut off as he locked gazes with the blonde. "If I wasn't determined not to hate, then I would hate him," he answered honestly, voice barely above a whisper. "And would have done since the summer before second year." The blonde cupped his cheek gently. "That's when I realised he knew, and-"
"And?" he prompted softly.
"And he'd looked me in the eyes as I asked not to go back, and told me I had to," he finished in an agonised whisper.
Draco tugged him close. Harry remained tense. "I don't pity you," he stated, and his lion relaxed into his embrace. "I am furious on your behalf, and want to be very creative in dealing with those that caused you to be in that situation," he added, causing his lion to snort. "But I feel no pity. I am proud of you, not only for surviving, but for not letting them have power over you."
"I wouldn't say that," he murmured. "I've got issues," he added softly.
"It is only natural, given what you've been through," he spoke, voice soft but with an undernote of steel. "Never think of yourself as lesser, because you've survived horrors," he continued fervently.
Harry snuggled close. "I'll try," he promised.