Chapter Two - The Sixteenth Year

1996

Harry James Potter sat on the window seat in the Gryffindor Common Room. It was four o'clock in the morning and he was putting the finishing touches on his Potions essay, which was due in about five hours. As he quickly dashed off the concluding sentence he thought to himself, Potions down . . . Charms and Transfiguration to go.

Harry had chosen to spend last night with Cho Chang instead of doing any of his homework. Now that his eyelids were drooping and his head was pounding, he wondered if it had been worth it.

He smiled. It had definitely been worth it.

Harry sensed someone behind him and quickly turned around. Hermione Granger stood behind him, hands on hips, looking at him like, "Harry Potter, you should know better . . ."

"Finishing your Potions homework?"

"Done with my Potions homework," Harry said proudly.

"Good. You can go to bed then. You look absolutely exhausted, Harry."

"Not quite," Harry sighed. "Still have Charms and Transfiguration homework to do."

"Harry," Hermione scolded, "Did you do any of your homework last night?"

"Er . . . no?"

"Move over then. I'll give you a hand."

Harry smiled his thanks and gave Hermione room to work. Two hours later, Charms and Transfiguration were done (And, thanks to Hermione, done well).

"What were you doing last night, anyway?" Hermione asked.

"Um . . . Spending time with friends?"

"Who?"

"Cho," Harry whispered. Hermione stood up rearranged her robes, trying her best to look authoritative.

"Well, next time, don't let your love life get in the way of your work. I might just not be here to help you out." Hermione smiled and Harry knew that Hermione would definitely be there to help him out the next time. Hermione made her way back up to her bedroom, leaving Harry in the common room.

The sun was just breaking the horizon and the sky was turning a brilliant crimson color, even though it was still glistening with stars. There was nothing like a Hogwarts sky on a summer morning. It was early June, only a couple more weeks and Harry would be off for summer vacation -- not exactly a blessed event. Not with the Dursleys, at least. It would also be Harry's birthday in about a month and a half. His sixteenth birthday. "Happy Sweet Sixteen," Harry smiled to himself.

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Harry had been sprinkling some mugwort into his latest potion when Dumbledore had entered the room and called Professor Snape out momentarily. Snape and complied and the class had been left alone for a moment to work on their potions.

"Wonder what that's all about," Ron Weasley whispered to Harry. "Dumbledore doesn't usually call teachers out of classes. Probably something urgent."

"Don't tempt fate," Harry said simply, knowing better than to get excited by the prospect of "something urgent." What had Dumbledore called Snape out of the room for? Could Voldemort have made a sudden reappearance? That was all Harry needed right now. His final exams coming up and Voldemort's decided that now would be a great time to check up on his young nemesis. "That's always the way things go," Harry thought to himself. "When it rains, it pours."

"You don't think it's about . . . You-Know-Who," Ron gasped, practically reading Harry's mind.

"You never know," Harry said, grimacing as Snape walked back into the room, even paler than he had been before.

"Mister Potter," Snape stammered, "Please come with me to Professor Dumbledore's Office."

"Definitely a You-Know-Who alert," Ron said, smiling sympathetically as Harry got up from his seat. "Don't worry, Harry. It'll all work out."

Harry put his hand on Ron's shoulder, showing his appreciation, and walked out of the room, followed by Professor Snape.

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Dumbledore was about ready to begin reading the latest Transfiguration Thesis when he heard a hesitant knock at his door. "Ah, Harry Potter," he thought to himself with a sort of melancholy. "It's about time you came to my door."

"Come in," he said, trying to sound pleased. Harry opened the door slowly. "My dear boy," Dumbledore said, "Come in and have a seat. I need to have a word with you about a very urgent matter."

Harry took a seat opposite Dumbledore. Professor Snape loomed in the doorway.

"You are excused Severus," Dumbledore said, with a nod in Snape's direction. Snape quickly made himself scarce, not wanting to have anything more to do with this situation.

"Harry, you have never heard of a binding spell, have you?" Dumbledore asked, gently prying around the subject.

"Never."

"A binding spell ties two people together for life. These two people are perfectly complementary to each other in every way, shape, and form. I suppose you could say they are soulmates. When both of these subjects reach sixteen years of age, they are bound together ceremonially and they spend all of their days together until the day of their death."

"I've been bound to someone then, haven't I?" Harry said simply. He was smart enough to know that he had been summoned to Dumbledore's Office for some life-shattering reason. This had to be it. "I only have three questions to ask: Who have I been bound to? Is there any way I can get out of it -- Any counter-spells? And if they die, will I be free of them?"

Dumbledore smiled at the boy's bluntness. Harry certainly didn't beat around the bush when dealing with matters of this magnitude.

"Yes, Harry," Dumbledore said softly. "You have been bound to someone. The question of whom you have been bound to will be revealed in time. I do not feel you will be able to handle the truth of that matter yet. I will tell you . . . but in time."

"It's not something I'm going to be happy about then," Harry muttered then he suddenly sat bolt upright in his seat. "I haven't been bound to Draco Malfoy, have I?"

"No," Dumbledore chuckled at the boy's sudden unease. "You haven't been bound to Draco Malfoy. Relax and don't worry. As I said before, you are bound to the one person in the universe that you are completely complimentary to. I don't see you as being complimentary at all to our young Mister Malfoy."

"Thank goodness," Harry sighed.

"In response to your second question, there is no way at all to escape from a binding spell. There is no counter-spell, there is no antidote. Once done, it is done and there is no retracting it. It's a sad fact of this spell."

Harry nodded. How ideal. No way out.

"In response to your third question, you will never be free of the individual to whom you are bound. When that individual dies, you will also die so that the two of you will never be separated upon this earth. It's a concept that would be romantic, if you were actually able to choose whom you were bound to."

"Romantic?" Harry said with a sudden interest. "Binding is a romantic thing? So I'm going to be bound to a girl then?"

"Binding is indeed a very romantic thing," Dumbledore responded solemnly. "It is the Wizard's equivalence to the Muggle ceremony of marriage. It is usually accompanied by wooing and, yes, eventually sexual relations."

Harry squirmed about a little bit. As much as he needed to hear about this sort of thing, he didn't really need to hear about it from Professor Dumbledore.

"But this doesn't necessarily mean you'll be bound to a girl," Dumbledore finished. Harry looked genuinely shocked at this.

"But . . . I'm not gay," he whispered to Dumbledore. "How can I be bound romantically to a man if I'm not gay."

"That will be seen in time," Dumbledore smiled.

"What about my current relationship?" Harry asked, suddenly remembering the avid night of passion he had spent with Cho Chang . . . or the semi-avid night of passion.

"I'm afraid it must be terminated immediately," Dumbledore sighed. "When you are bound, you are bound exclusively. You must cease all relations with Miss Chang."

"But I . . . Wait a moment, how did you know it was Cho?" Harry asked suspiciously.

"Harry," Dumbledore laughed. "You don't have to be a Wizard to notice you two making eyes at each other from across the Great Hall." He then suddenly became very serious. "I am only afraid that you will be extremely disappointed with the boy whom you have been bound to."

"It is a boy then?" Harry gulped. Sexual relations . . . with another boy? He couldn't even imagine . . . Maybe they could strike a deal early on. Work together, live together, but not sleep together?

"I will not lie to you about that, Harry. It is a boy you have been bound to. I am only afraid . . . I wish you were older. It might be easier to explain this all to you then."

"I'm sorry," Harry murmured.

"No matter," Dumbledore smiled, suddenly light-hearted again. "Here. A box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans in honor of this special day."

Harry tried to smile at Dumbledore's kindness but he couldn't come out with more than a lop-sided smirk.

"Don't worry my dear boy," Dumbledore said as Harry took the Every Flavor Beans and shoved them into one of his pockets. "Everything will work out in the end."

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Harry entered the Great Hall and, before he could count to three, Ron and Hermione were both standing by his side, looking concerned but also excited. You never knew what was going to happen in Hogwarts -- It could be something amazing or something horrible but, whatever it was, it was always of the greatest significance.

"So what was that all about?" Ron asked.

"Nothing," Harry lied. "Well, nothing having to do with Voldemort."

"Well that's good," Hermione smiled. "So . . . Was it something about you? What did Dumbledore have to say?"

"Come on Harry," Ron begged. "The suspense is killing us!"

"It's personal," Harry said. "I don't really want to talk about it right now."