Sorry for the delay. When I got back from my trip to Europe I found out that my Dad's cancer had spread all over his body and had to stay with him at the hospital. And then after he passed away everything became really hectic with funeral arrangements and endless phone calls so I didn't have any chance to really concentrate on my writing.
* = change scene
*** = flashback/end flashback
Changed Perspectives
"The twin knives of Salazar Slytherin?" Dumbledore commented softly. "Such an interesting choice." He put his hands together in the shape of a steeple while looking thoughtfully at the blades in Harry's hands.
Harry twirled the knives around in his hands. "What's so interesting behind them?" he asked. "They look and feel normal enough to me."
"Normal?" Dumbledore asked softly. "Those weapons are nothing if not anything but normal. Salazar Slytherin was supposedly undefeatable in battle with these two blades—along with his many others as well, of course. These knives were his weapons of choice, if some of my more reliable history books can be trusted of course."
Harry tossed one up into the air and caught it deftly. "What are so special about them besides the fact that they were once Salazar Slytherin's?"
"Not only can they both pose as hand held and throwing blades with perfect balance. They were made by the wizard, Gargandius. He was famed during his time. Those who held his weapons in battle were said to always leave the battle in honor."
Harry balanced one of the blades horizontally across his index finger. "So whoever fought with these always won the battle?"
"Ah," Dumbledore paused. "No. They did not always win and they did not always leave the battle alive. But when they left the battlefield they were held in great honor. According to my books on the subject, the knives were first given to Salazar Slytherin's father, Sebastian, when he was a child by an unknown wizard. Of course, only the honorable were allowed to hold the Blades of Honor as they were called in the past."
"But of course." Harry said softly. "Who's supposed to be teaching me in the amazing art of swordsmanship? Or at least on how to wield these blades?" he asked, tossing one of the blades yet again in the air and watching as the emerald snakes in the hilt glinted in the light coming from Dumbledore's windows in his office before catching it easily by the handle.
"It seems that Severus Snape is willing to help you with learning how to use your new weapons as well as your old one starting tomorrow."
"Old one? I don't have any other blade or weapon of the sort." Harry stated.
"The Sword of Gryffindor of course." Dumbledore replied calmly.
"But I'm in Slytherin now," Harry answered back. "And I'm quite happy with being in Slytherin and not Gryffindor so I probably shouldn't be using the Gryffindor sword then, should I?"
Dumbledore tapped his fingertips against each other thoughtfully. "You need to accept both sides of your heritage, Harry. You may be in Slytherin house now Harry but you still are a Gryffindor as well. Just as you were a Slytherin even in the Gryffindor house. That is where Voldemort has failed. He was not able to come to terms with the fact that he is indeed a half-blood whether he admits it or not. That led to his downfall and will lead him to it again. You cannot grasp your full potential and power unless you accept yourself as who you really are." Dumbledore then looked towards one of his many assorted clocks and said. "I believe you should be going to bed, Harry, you have a full Saturday tomorrow complete with a quidditch game, weapons training, and a potions tutorial. Good night."
"G'night, headmaster."
*
The next day was hectic to say the least from the start.
At breakfast, Devon Bletchley decided to take his captain duties quite seriously and had all the members of the quidditch team eat a perfect balanced meal with lots of carbohydrates. Damien Adams, a Chaser and Gwen's boyfriend, glared at his meal and started poking it with his fork.
"I swear, if Devon makes us eat this stuff before every match we play I'm going to hurl." He said as he took a bite of egg.
Harry just looked up his book of quidditch tactics and put down his fork as he finished his food. "What's wrong with it?" he asked. "It's not like he's forcing us to eat cow liver."
"Damien always gets queasy before a quidditch match. No one understands it, really. Once he gets on the pitch he goes fine but before," Draco started shaking his arm to emphasize the point of Damien's anxiety. "Doesn't make sense being that he's a damn awesome player. But I guess everyone wants to win this game badly being that this will be the first time we have a great chance at beating Gryffindor because you're off of their team now."
"I wasn't that good." Harry said.
"Come off of it." Blaise stated. "You were so awesome out there that no one stood a chance against you. That's why we always had our beaters try to knock the bloody guts out of you."
"Uh, thanks, I guess."
*
After Devon Bletchley finished his pre-game pep talk, Harry and Draco went over to each other. "Are you sure about this?" the blonde had asked nervously. "What if it breaks or something?"
Harry laughed and shook his head. "Unbreakable Charms are all over it. We'll do the switch after the captains shake hands." He said as he tossed Draco a Beater's bat. "Just don't do anything stupid."
"This coming from the master of stupid quidditch accidents," Draco said softly.
"Okay team," Devon called out. "Get ready to walk out onto the field*."
Everyone in the locker room could hear Lee Jordan's voice announce the Gryffindor quidditch team as they went onto the field. "Here's the Gryffindor team with their Captain and Chaser Angelina Johnson followed by fellow Chasers, Spinnet and Bell and the Beaters the Weasley twins, and the two new team members, another Weasley as Keeper and the youngest member, Kyle Hayes, as Seeker." Loud cheers came from the Gryffindors with polite applause from the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws and hisses from the Slytherins.
"And know for the Slytherins; Captain and Chaser Devon Bletchley followed by the two other Chasers, Adams, and the newcomer Katherine Hawkins. It appears that Draco Malfoy has now become a Beater alongside Blaise Zabini to leave the spot of Seeker open for Harry Potter."
Harry clutched his Firebolt as he walked onto the field with the rest of his team hearing the cheers and boos from the crowd but not really paying any attention to them. As he came to the center of the field to stand next to Katherine he saw Ron there. Ron attempted a sneer and said. "So had to kick Malfoy out of his spot to maintain your glory, traitor?" Harry just smirked and shrugged. Angelina and Devon shook hands and the team moved into their positions, but just before Madame Hooch blew her whistle Harry and Draco switched positions.
"What's this?" Lee's voice could be heard. "It appears that Malfoy and Potter are switching positions!" Draco threw the Beater's bat over to Harry who caught it deftly before tossing his Firebolt over to Draco and catching the blonde's Nimbus 2001. "It appears that Malfoy will be keeping his old position and Potter is now a Beater! Well, who would have thought?"
Ron's voice could be heard shouting in outrage to Madam Hooch as she just gazed at the two boys before putting her whistle to her lips again. "He can't do that! It's against the rules, it is!"
Madam Hooch turned to Ron before answering. "I assure you, Mr. Weasley, that there is nothing in the rules that state that they cannot switch positions before a game with permission coming from the referee, which I might state is me. And might I tell you that I had been notified before hand and have given them permission. Get back on your broom, Mr. Weasley, before I suspend you from the game for questioning my authority."
Ron turned and glared at Harry who just pointedly looked up at the sky, ignoring him. All fifteen people on the field clambered onto their brooms before Madam Hooch gave a blast on her whistle, tossing the Quaffle into the air.
"Angelina Johnson immediately grabs the Quaffle and is headed towards the Slytherin end. She throws the Quaffle and—hey! It appears that Potter hit a Bludger into the Quaffle to knock it off course!" Harry smirked as he saw (and heard from the crowd's noise) that Devon had just scored a goal from the Quaffle that had conveniently landed in his hands. He decided then that he rather liked playing Beater.
"Hey Harry!" Harry turned to see Blaise waving at him. "You take and follow the Bludger that's at the Gryffindor end and I'll follow this one." Harry nodded to show his understanding before flattening himself on the handle of Draco's Nimbus 2001 to speed over to the Gryffindor goal posts with Ron guarding in front of them.
He slammed the bat into the Bludger that was headed towards Katherine and sent the black ball whizzing towards Ron—well, his broomstick to be exact. A shrill scream could be heard as the Bludger hit the tail end of the broom, turning Ron so he was facing the goal posts instead of Katherine who through the Quaffle easily to make a score.
"Eighty-twenty, Slytherin." Lee announced, albeit rather unhappily.
Harry flew by Draco quickly whispering, "Do it now," as he passed. As Harry went flying after the Bludger he was marking he heard Lee's voice ring out.
"It looks as if Malfoy has seen the Snitch! Gryffindor Seeker, Hayes, dives after the Slytherin Seeker."
While everyone (at least on the Gryffindor team) was distracted by the two Seekers, Harry nodded to Damien Adams and Blaise. The other Beater immediately hit a Bludger at Katie Bell who was holding the Quaffle. Katie quickly dropped the ball in order to maneuver out of the course of the black ball. Damien quickly grabbed the red ball and headed to the goal.
Just as Lee was saying that it appeared as if the Snitch had disappeared, Katie shouted. "Watch out Ron!" Ron turned just in time to see a Bludger from Harry hit him in the chest making his back lie flat on his broom. Damien scored easily. Devon quickly grabbed the Quaffle and scored for Slytherin again.
"Hundred-twenty, Slytherin." Lee stated before saying quickly. "Malfoy seen the Snitch again!"
Indeed he had.
*
Harry left the Slytherin victory party in the common room early to go to his (and Draco's) room and worked on some potions work before his tutorial which was due to start in an hour.
"Damn stupid potion," he muttered angrily after a few minutes of rereading the same paragraph and not being able to make any sense of it.
"Need some help?" Harry looked up quickly to see Draco standing there, looking as if he had just come out of the shower a few minutes before, waiting for his answer. Harry nodded and promptly blushed. The blonde just grinned and quickly jumped onto Harry's bed to lie next to him. "So what is it that you need help with?"
"Everything about the stupid Pepper-Up Potion. I just don't get it."
Draco just hmm-ed and picked up Harry's book before turning it upside-down looking at it quizzically. "Why do you need to know? You have a tutorial in just an hour."
"I know," Harry said, taking the book and setting it straight. "I just don't want to go to the tutorial completely stupid on the subject."
Draco sighed before going into a short lecture about the different ingredients and such. "Do you somewhat understand it now?" he asked as he finished.
Harry nodded. "A little better. I was just getting the properties of the ingredients confused with each other. But then again, what else do you expect from a former Gryffindork—emphasis on dork, of course."
Draco laughed at that comment. "But of course," he said, turning his head to look into Harry's eyes. Silence filled the room as the two stared at each other; green and silver-gray* eyes watching. Harry moved his hand slowly and tugged lightly on a lock of Draco's hair which almost brushed his shoulders. "It's getting long," he said simply.
Draco thought of the conversation that he had just had with Pansy outside of the room before he had come in and placed his hand on top of Harry's before moving it onto his cheek. Harry gasped at the contact with Draco's cheek and gently cupped the blonde's face as Draco leaned forward and gently placed his lips on top of Harry's.
The world and all its problems were forgotten in that moment.
***
"Draco, don't be afraid." Pansy said quietly.
The silver eyed Slytherin turned to look at his friend. "Afraid of what?"
"Don't be afraid of salvation." She answered calmly.
"I have nothing to be saved from, Pansy."
"A life without someone to love and cherish is something, Draco."
"I'm not afraid of anything right about now, Pansy." Draco said. "I'm just going into my room. It's only Harry in there and not some big bad monster and not some loveless existence."
"Should the opportune moment arise to express all those feelings you hold and hide deep inside of yourself, would you take it?"
***
We've been slaves to this love
From the moment we've touched
I keep begging for more of this resurrection.
'Resurrection' by HIM (His Infernal Majesty)
I hope the chapter wasn't too bad. I'll try to post again soon.
Send me suggestions! I beg of you. Anything with do; a word, a line, a whole bleeding paragraph.
Story Suggestions:
Who should be helping Severus teach Harry in his weapons training?
a) Lucius Malfoy
b) Sirius Black
c) Remus Lupin
d) Other
It's late and I can't think of anything else. But if you can, feel free to tell me.