Disclaimer: Harry Potter does not belong to me. It belongs to the wonderful people at Warner Brothers and Bloomsburg and Scholastic and of course J K Rowling.

Summary: Harry Potter's life is about to change forever when he finds out the truth about his mother and makes a decision that can and will effect the entire wizarding world. TR/OC HP/DM and various other pairings.

Warning: This is Slash, which means two guys in a relationship in case you didn't know. This story will have other plot lines but if this bothers you than leave now. This will also be MPreg, which means that a male character will become pregnant. While I don't plan on going into intense detail this is an element of the story and if this bothers you than you should also stay away.

Authors note: This is my second attempt at fan fiction and my first attempt at slash. Criticism is welcome but if you plan on giving me a review about how wrong male/male relationships are and that is the only problem that you have with the story then please don't write the review. I have given you fair warning about the nature of this fic. SLASH and MPREG. Thank you to Moonchild, for the wonderful job that she did with this chapter this chapter. Thank you!

Chapter three: The world is neither black nor white.

'Sometimes,' Harry would think later on in life, 'the world throws you curve balls; sometimes… sometimes it throws you tornados.'

On the morning after Harry arrived at Riddle Manor he realized that his entire life was going to change drastically and he didn't even know whether or not he was doing the right thing. Less than a week ago he would have written to Sirius and asked his advice, but after seeing him kissing the robes of the Dark Lord, Harry didn't even want to acknowledge his existence. The next best choice would have been Dumbledore but Harry wasn't quite sure if he could trust the old wizard anymore. He had lied to him, though these days it felt like everyone was lying to him. The only thing that Harry knew was that he didn't want to become the Dark Lord that Rita Skeeter, Daily Prophet reporter, had made him out to be.

He couldn't even think about owling Ron, he would do something foolish like try and rescue him. No, he would have to leave Ron out of this if he wanted him to be alive.

He certainly couldn't owl Hermione, she would write to Dumbledore. What he needed was someone like a parent, someone whom he trusted.

At the moment he couldn't think of a single person who fit either category.

He would have to bear this on his own.

Of course the house Harry was staying in didn't get the weather channel, so he didn't see the tornado until it was upon them.

So it was while the entire house was under attack, Harry and Draco were locked in there room, alone with only their wands as protection.

"Who do you think is attacking us?" Harry asked nervously.

"…An enemy." Draco said sarcastically.

"I had figured that out already, Malfoy, I meant do you think that it is the Ministry or Dumbledore?" Harry asked equally anxious about either choice finding him there.

"Dumbledore doesn't know where this house is and I think that we have the Ministry under control, so it probably isn't either of them."

"How many enemies does Voldemort have?" Harry asked as he started to pace back and forth along the length of the room.

"…Enough…"

"Why would they lock us in here?" Harry asked eyeing the door with great suspicion.

"Well, either they don't want to get us killed or they don't want you to run for it. Either way I'm not complaining." Draco said eyeing Harry with great appreciation.

"If Dumbledore doesn't know where this house is, then who does?" Harry asked.

"I don't know, Potter; I'm not exactly the guy with all of the information here." Draco sighed loudly. "… Do you want to make out?"

"NO! Will you stop asking me that, Malfoy? There is a battle out there and you want me to kiss you?"

"I've noticed that you've stopped saying that it was disgusting." Malfoy said inwardly cheering.

"I've noticed that this is the thirtieth time that you've asked me." Harry said with irritation. He stopped pacing to glare at Malfoy.

"Your point would be?"

"We've only been in here for an hour."

Earlier that morning….

It was a dewy cool morning on July the second and everything was in complete order. The residents of Riddle Manor woke on time and ate breakfast together - all of the residents except Draco Malfoy and Harry Potter of course.

Upon noting their absence (and making sure that Tom was taking a sip of his drink) Jennifer said, "I think that someone was lucky last night."

Voldemort, who had already noticed the boys' absence, spit his drink out. "What was that?"

"You didn't think that I put them in the same room for them to talk about Quidditch, did you?" Jennifer said on the verge of laughter.

"When were you going to inform me about the match?"

"When it worked out of course, I haven't exactly approached Harry with the subject of an heir. It is after all his second day here."

"You believe that the boy will stay longer?" Voldemort asked curiously.

"I think we might make him stay longer." Jenny said looking down the table at Sirius who was alternating between glaring daggers through Peter's head and looking at his food with great interest without actually eating it. "We have to keep him here until he can at least accept that Sirius is on our side… it will probably take a while – we did strip him of every constant in his life."

"Except for Draco," Voldemort said catching on. "You have become more brilliant in my absence."

"Yes, well it has been thirteen years… and it has affected us all."

"What are you planning, Jenny?" Voldemort asked noticing that her eyes had glazed over.

"What if I told you that there was a way that we could keep Harry here, get him and Draco together, possibly get Luc, Narci' and Sirius back together, and get you some of your powers back?" Jennifer whispered to Voldemort.

"I'd ask you what you had in mind."

"I think we should play that sport you're so fond of."

Voldemort looked thoughtful for a minute before he turned to look at Jennifer. "You're willing to have guests over?"

"I have no problem with entertaining guests, Tom."

"I'll make a few floo calls, then." Voldemort said rising from the table and walking into his study.

Narcissa rose from her place near Sirius and sat in front of Jennifer.

"Good morning, Narci'."

Narcissa exchanged pleasantries before she voiced her request. "Jennifer, I would appreciate it greatly if I could visit Lucius for a few hours."

Jennifer swallowed painfully and then she said in a tight voice, "He should be arriving in an hour, Narci'."

Narcissa's eyes lit up, but her voice remained formal. "Thank you Jennifer –." She cut herself off as she looked over at Sirius who was looking straight back at her in anger.

Sirius rose from the table slowly and turned to Jennifer, "If I'm not needed, then I'll retire to my room."

Jennifer frowned in Sirius' direction. "Actually, Sirius, you are needed. There will be a meeting in an hour."

This time Sirius paled. "Harry –."

"Harry will be fine, Sirius… we'll lock him in the room with Draco. We are going to use this meeting to inform our supporters of our newest addition. I'm sure that by now the wizarding world is aware of his disappearance." Jennifer said almost gleefully.

"Dumbledore knew of his departure right away… he had called me in to see if I could find him." Sirius said quietly.

"Everything is going to be fine, Sirius." Narcissa said in what she hoped would be a reassuring voice.

"Listen to her, Sirius… everything is going to be just fine."

Sirius tensed at hearing that voice for the first time in years. He turned around to see Lucius standing in the doorway as confident as ever, with his eyes fixed on Sirius.

Lucius diverted his eyes to Jennifer and took hold of her hand, kissing it softly. "It is wonderful to see you, Mrs. Riddle."

Jennifer yanked her hand out of Lucius' hand and regarded him coldly. "I wish I could say the same of you, Lucius."

Voldemort appeared in the doorway and walked behind Jennifer. "Now, now, he only said hello, Jenny."

Jennifer turned around and glared at him. Upon seeing the amusement in his eyes her expression softened. "I need to lock Harry and Draco in their room, if you'll excuse me." Not waiting for an answer, Jennifer left the room and headed upstairs.

"Doesn't she mean 'rooms'?" Lucius said curiously.

"The boys are sharing a room, Luc." Narcissa replied.

Lucius nearly lost control. Narcissa, upon seeing his eyes spark with anger, led him out of the room dragging Sirius with her.

"There are plenty of other rooms in the Manor, why must Draco be forced into sharing a room with Potter?" Lucius said angrily.

"I don't believe that he was forced Luc, in fact I believe that he was keen on the idea." Narcissa said softly.

Instead of acknowledging Narcissa, Lucius turned to Sirius. "Would you mind giving us a moment, this is a family matter."

Sirius closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He walked toward the door but stopped when he heard Narcissa say to Lucius angrily.

"He is a part of our family, Lucius… I don't care what happened to the two of you all those years ago, but you had better work it out soon if you want to be a part of my family." Then she brushed past Sirius and exited the room leaving the two of them behind in stunned silence.

Lucius cleared his throat. "Maybe she's right…"

Sirius turned around and felt the hurt that Lucius had caused him being replaced with anger. "You know what, Lucius… I don't care if she is." Sirius turned back around and walked out of the same door that Narcissa had.

"Perhaps I was wrong," Lucius said quietly to the empty room.

(Harry and Draco in the present….)

"Will you stop pacing, Potter?" Draco asked, irritated.

"Is it bothering you, Malfoy?" Harry asked curiously.

"Yes… you are making me dizzy."

"Good," Harry said and he continued pacing.

"What is wrong with you today, Potter… did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed?" Draco said playfully.

Harry tensed. "Actually, as you well know, I wish never to repeat the manner in which I woke up this morning, Malfoy."

"I thought you would be more comfortable in the bed." Draco said feigning innocence, and as he had predicted the night before Harry didn't buy it.

"That was very considerate of you." Harry said sarcastically. "Did you also think that I would feel comfortable with your hands wrapped around me?" Harry said practically shaking with disgust.

"You looked cold," Draco said defensively.

"That might have been because you felt the need to take all of the covers off of the bed." Harry practically growled.

"I was hot."

"I don't know how to make this much clearer. I wouldn't touch you with a fifteen foot pole if you were the last living thing on the face of the earth."

"What if it was just you and me and a giant Blast-Ended Skrewt?"

"I'd have to mix plenty of healing potions then, wouldn't I?" Harry said evenly.

"Ha bloody ha, why can't you give me a chance, Potter? I can be a good person."

Harry scoffed. "A good person… like when you gave that interview with Rita Skeeter? Or when you made up those Potter stinks badges? Oh I know! You were being a good person when you dressed up like a dementor so you could knock me off my broom? If that is you being a good person then I think that I'll take my chances with the Skrewt, it probably has a better personality."

"I never did anything that really hurt you, did I? You on the other hand knocked me unconscious the other day and left me on the train if I remember correctly."

Harry nearly shook with anger. "You threatened my friends."

"I was warning you… like I said you had picked the losing side."

"Go to hell, Malfoy…." Harry said quietly as he turned toward the door. He raised his wand, pointed it at the door and said evenly, "Reducto!" The curse spiraled toward the door and upon impact it turned around and came toward Harry.

Draco watched with horror as the curse bounced off of the door that seemed to be protected from magic, and was speeding in Harry's direction. With his seeker agility he rand into Harry and knocked them both to the ground. He winced as he heard the bed explode. He looked down at Harry who was staring at the pieces of the bed in absolute terror.

"I didn't mean to… I didn't know…." Harry muttered.

Draco looked down at him curiously, "It's fine Potter… you aren't hurt, are you?" He asked noticing the expression of terror still fixed on Harry's face.

"I destroyed the bed… I didn't mean to." Harry said quietly staring at the shards of wood in terrified interest.

Draco rolled his eyes and pulled out his wand. He concentrated on a picture of the bed, as it was before it had been blown up, that he had drawn up in his mind. "…Reparo."

The pieces of wood that were strewn over the room flickered for a moment and rearranged themselves into the solid bed. Draco, satisfied with his work, put his wand back in his pocket and stared down at Harry, whom he was currently half-sitting half-laying on. He leaned over and pressed his body against Harry's.

Harry smirked at him and then… kneed him in the stomach.

Draco, who had the wind knocked out of him rolled off Harry. "What was that for?" He asked annoyed.

"I told you not to touch me."

"No… you said that you wouldn't touch me."

"Fine, then I'm telling you now, don't touch me, Malfoy." Harry said seriously.

"Why won't you think about giving me a chance?"

Harry glanced at Malfoy thoughtfully, "You know what, Malfoy?"

Draco looked at him questioningly.

"You should have let me explode into little pieces."

"Why won't you even consider it?"

"Do you want the condensed version or the top one hundred reasons? You are the enemy. You have never attempted to be anything but annoyingly evil toward me and my friends. You're a Slytherin. Your father tried to kill half of the school and Ginny Weasley. You plan on supporting Voldemort in the near future. Oh, and probably the most important reason, in case you hadn't noticed, Malfoy, you are a guy."

Malfoy looked generally confused. "What does it matter?"

Harry closed his eyes and took a deep breath, and then he counted to ten. He opened his eyes and stared at Malfoy. "I am not attracted to the male population. In layman terms, I like women."

"…As do I." Draco said honestly.

"Well, then I suggest you get your eyes fixed because I am not a woman." Harry hissed.

Draco shook his head, "No, I mean I like men and women, don't you?"

"Of course I don't. It is wrong." Harry said hotly.

"You know, I am going to kill Dumbledore one of these days for forcing you to live with Muggles. It isn't wrong, Potter; it is common place among magical folk. In fact we're lucky we fall for our own species most of the time. Besides even if we didn't have a tendency of doing that it still isn't wrong."

"You mean it's normal in the wizarding world?"

"Tell me that you haven't noticed two guys or two girls for that matter on a date in Hogsmeade."

"I – I never noticed."

"It isn't any different than Hagrid's father falling in love with a giantess."

The mention of Hagrid's name broke Harry out of his stupor. "They ridiculed Hagrid for that."

"Well that is because the giants are dangerous." Draco said sagely.

"Hagrid isn't dangerous!" Harry said in defense of his first friend.

"I'm sure he isn't," Draco sneered. "That really isn't the point anyway; the point is that you should consider a future with me in it!"

"No."

"…Why not?"

"…Because I can't stand you, and unless you can prove to me that you are a completely different person than I thought you were than I can't even be your friend."

"I won't give up, Potter." Draco promised.

"…And I won't give in, Malfoy."

Sirius walked out on Lucius and received a disapproving glare from Narcissa who was waiting on the other side of the door.

"Sirius… he isn't the same guy you knew. I wish that you would give him a second chance." Narcissa said quietly.

"No, he isn't, from what I hear he is worse. Look, Narci', you heard him yourself, I'm not a part of your family anymore… technically I never was."

"Just because you don't have a ring on your finger doesn't mean that you aren't a part of my family." Narcissa hissed.

"No," Sirius agreed, "No, it doesn't. It just means that neither of you loved me enough to put one there… or to save me from twelve years of hell when you knew that I was innocent."

Narcissa grabbed his arm as Sirius started to walk away. "Sirius, it was never like that… we do love you…."

Sirius wrenched her hand off of his arm. "Then I should have realized that Slytherins have a different concept about love than Gryffindors. You see when we love… we love with our minds, bodies, and souls. Obviously that isn't the case with Slytherins – they love until they get tired of a person… then they let that person sit with the dementors for years. I should have remembered."

"We couldn't get you out, Sirius, you know that… Luc couldn't just break you out of jail."

Sirius frowned at her, "Yeah, my brain knows that but my heart is telling me a different story." Sirius walked out of the hallway and into the room where the meeting was going to take place.

Lucius stepped out of the other room a few moments later. He put an arm around Narcissa and sighed. "Sirius always did have a flare for the dramatic."

Narcissa shrugged his arm off. "You were listening through the door?"

"All of the doors in the Manor are magically sound proof," Lucius supplied as an answer.

"You had better apologize… or put a ring on his finger, Luc. And you had better do it soon, before he finds someone else."

"You don't understand the nature of our argument, Narcissa."

Narcissa looked at her husband almost coldly, "I think that I can guess."

"You told me a long time ago that the only thing that Sirius would do is share our bed."

"That was before we fell in love with him – at least I had thought that we both fell in love."

"Narcissa, I don't understand what you expect me to do."

"You have a lot of influence with Fudge, get Sirius a trial." Narcissa said quietly.

Lucius looked shocked for a moment before his face returned to its emotionless state. "I can't ask the Minister to allow Sirius Black, Voldemort's most infamous follower, a trial. Narci', he'll start to suspect us…."

"Can't or won't? If the Ministry suspects us it will only be a bit of an embarrassment – you've cleared all of the dangerous items out of the house – but if Sirius isn't back in our lives permanently…." Narcissa trailed off.

"What? You'll divorce me?" Lucius scoffed.

Narcissa turned away from him and snapped her fingers. Her dress robes shimmered for a second and then turned into plain black robes. She reached into one of the folds and pulled out a white mask. As she pulled the mask over her head she spoke to Lucius quietly. "We'll be late for the meeting – you should change into your robes."

As she made to leave the room Lucius grabbed her arm. "This conversation isn't over," he hissed.

Narcissa nodded curtly and disappeared through the door.

Lucius snapped his own fingers and proceeded to change into the necessary garb for a Death Eater meeting.

After two hours of standing and pacing the length of the room Harry sat down in the armchair in front of the fire. The silence that surrounded Harry and Draco (since Harry's declaration) was starting to become oppressive. It actually worried Harry that fifteen minutes had passed and Malfoy hadn't attempted to rope him into a relationship or a kiss, but Harry refused to look in Malfoy's direction.

Draco was sitting on the bed contemplating his next move. Harry was obviously going to make this as hard as he could. That meant that Draco was going to have to do something drastic… he was going to have to prove that he was trustworthy. Considering his inexperience in that matter it was probably going to take some time. He figured that the best way to start would be to find out more about Harry.

"Why do you always defend Hagrid?" The question was asked through gritted teeth – not the best approach but he was trying.

Harry finally turned around in his armchair to acknowledge Draco's existence. His eyes narrowed in suspicion. "He's my friend."

Draco barely bit back a scathing remark about Hagrid's heritage. Instead he opted for, "So… if we were friends you'd defend me?"

"If I was friends with you I would defend you, yes, but you see, Malfoy, I am not your friend."

Draco looked like he was having an inner debate. After a few moments he sighed and jumped off the bed. He walked over to Harry and held his hand out in front of him, looking down at Harry expectantly.

Harry stared at the offered limb, remembering all those years ago when it had first been presented to him.

"You'll soon find that some wizarding families are much better than others, Potter. You don't want to go making friends with the wrong sort. I can help you there."

Harry brought himself back to reality. He stared at Draco's face and noticed that he seemed a bit nervous – quite unlike their first meeting. Then Harry thought about how long the summer was going to be… if he had an ally it might not seem quite so long. Or better yet maybe Draco could help him get out of here. In fact he might be able to convince Draco that he was wrong about Muggles and Muggle born children. His mind made up, he slowly shook his head and denied Draco's offer. "I'm not ready to be your friend Malfoy, but I'll settle on a truce."  

Draco, pleased that Harry had given him something to work with, walked over to Harry's trunk and looked at Harry expectantly. "Show me how you are able to walk around Hogsmeade, or should I say how your disembodied head is able to float around Hogsmeade."

"Still going on about seeing my head floating around, are we? One might think you are obsessed."

"Listen Potter… you made a fool out of me and I demand to know how!"

Harry smirked, "Wouldn't you love to know…. However, I don't think that I should tell my secrets to a Slytherin… rumor has it they are not the sort to be trusted."

"We can be trusted… in certain situations. What if I give you my word?" Draco asked sitting on top of Harry's trunk.

"How much is Draco Malfoy's word worth these days? …About half a knut?" Harry said playfully though Draco didn't seem to take it that way.

"The word of a Malfoy is worth much more than that." Draco said coldly.

Harry rolled his eyes, "I see that Slytherins can't take a joke either." Harry gave a long suffering sigh and walked over to his trunk. He motioned for Draco to move and then he opened it. Harry felt around the trunks contents until his hand came in contact with a soft, silky material. He grasped the cloak and pulled it out of the trunk, letting the lid close with a resounding thud.

Draco let out a sound of triumph when he saw the cloak in Harry's hand. "You have an invisibility cloak… I knew it! So where did you get it?"

"It was a Christmas present from a friend of my father's." Harry very deliberately left out that he was almost certain that Dumbledore had sent it to him. "My father left it with them when he and my mother went under the Fidelius spell."

"Wow… father has one but he refuses to let me take it to Hogwarts. Those are very valuable…."

"Yeah I know… I can't even tell you how many times this has gotten me out of trouble." Harry said almost wistfully.

Draco, not really dying to hear about the Gryffindor's excursions, accredited Harry's fascination with the cloak.

"It was the best gift I've ever gotten." Harry answered. "…Though my Firebolt comes in a close second."

"The finest broomstick on the market," Draco agreed.

Harry nodded silently lapsing into a morose silence as he remembered who had sent him the broom in his third year at Hogwarts. Rationally he knew that someday he would have to forgive Sirius… after all that is what being part of a family is about – forgiveness. Harry knew that it would take some time and a lot of groveling and explaining on Sirius' part, and that could only come when Harry was ready to listen.

"What are you thinking about?" Draco asked, interrupting Harry's thoughts.

Harry looked at Draco and assessed him for a minute. Than settling on telling Draco the truth he summarized the situation with Sirius using as little detail as possible.

Draco raised an eyebrow. "Sirius is your godfather – which I already knew – and he is innocent. He bought you that broom and now you refuse to speak with him because he is a 'traitor'."

"Basically… I just need to take a while and cool off. I hate it when people lie to me." Harry said resentfully. "Which, coincidentally, they have been doing a lot lately."

"It can't be all that bad."

"Malfoy, you have no idea what my life has been like."

"Then tell me." Draco suggested.

"I would but I'm not really anxious to have it reenacted at the Slytherin table the morning we get back."

"You have my word that I will do nothing of the sort."

Harry gave him a hard look. Then he decided that if Malfoy was lying then he would curse him into next year. "It's a really long story…."

"My afternoon is free."

Voldemort stood proudly in the middle of his circle of supporters. The number had grown since the night at the graveyard. While he still didn't have his most faithful followers with him his less human ones had joined him tonight, and with good reason. They were all gathered at Riddle Manor to take part in a magical sport that was quite similar to dueling. The group of Death Eaters would split into two separate groups and fire curses at each other as though they were fighting a battle. Of course Voldemort had put his own twist on the game. Any type of magic was acceptable except for the killing curse and Voldemort would stand in the middle of the fight with his Vampire supporters surrounding him. Since the Vampires were already dead, they could act as a transfusion between the left over magic and Voldemort. He would then absorb the energy as his own and gain some of his original powers. It was also fun as hell.

"My faithful followers… I have a few things to inform you of before we get to the reason why I called you here today. A new supporter has joined our ranks recently. I am certain that he will prove to be an asset to us in future obstacles. As you can see our circle is a little fuller… some of our faction have joined with us again… they are to be given a warm welcome. I have some exciting news about our young Mr. Potter… he is not to be touched until I have time to put the beginning of my plan into play. Now as for the reason I have summoned you… it is time to start our campaign – we will be listened to this time around. To set ourselves into motion we are going to get my power back, and to do that I will need your help…."

So it was for several hours that curses were thrown left and right – the magical residue sliding through the Vampires and into Voldemort through way of a spell. The ball room of Riddle Manor was in shambles and the Death Eaters exhausted, by the time they were through.

When they had formed the circle again it was a very different Voldemort who stood in the middle, one that looked quite human and appeared to be thirty years old.

"Can I ask you one question?" Draco asked calmly after listening to Harry's life story.

"Sure," Harry agreed tiredly.

"Why haven't you killed those Muggles yet? And how can you experience such hate from Muggles and not agree with our side?" Draco said fervently.

"Do they teach you to count in Slytherin?" Harry asked evenly.

Draco scowled.

"I am not going to dignify your first question with a response but as to your second question – the Dursleys are only one family of Muggles. You're forgetting that most Muggles are tolerant if not kind… I just got stuck with the wrong sort."

"Yeah and who stuck you there? Albus Dumbledore –."

Harry cut him off and began telling Draco that if they were to be friends than it wouldn't be wise to speak ill of Albus Dumbledore in his presence. Due to the passionate tone that his speech had taken on he hadn't noticed that the door had been unlocked and that Jennifer was leaning against the doorjamb listening to him – that is until she interrupted him.

"Let me tell you a little something about Albus Dumbledore." Jennifer said coolly, though inwardly she was shaking with rage.

Harry jumped and turned around sharply at the sound of her voice.

Jennifer walked into the room and stared Harry square in the face. "Albus Dumbledore helped kill my daughter. Don't shake your head, Harry, it's true. You think so highly of your Headmaster, do you? You want to know the truth about that Halloween night; do you want to know what really saved you? Do you want to know what really gave you that scar? Your precious Headmaster gave Lily a charm the night before the Potters went into hiding… in case big bad evil Voldemort found them. Sirius tells me Dumbledore told Lily it was a protection charm – to save you in case anything happened. Dumbledore knew Tom would catch up with them… there isn't much that the old fool doesn't know. He had had this charm lying around for a while, you see – it was the perfect way to end the war… and we had anticipated that he might use it.

"We took precautions… drew up a ritual in case the charm was used. Years passed and there were many opportunities for him to use it but he didn't… and foolishly we forgot about it. The charm has a draw back, you see – it requires a human sacrifice. One would place the charm on a person that they choose and when one died they would live in that person for a few moments… allow that person to have their magic and their strength. When Lily's body died she wasn't exactly dead… her essence was inside of you for a few seconds and she used you to turn Tom's spell on him with her last dying breath; she acted as a barrier. This wouldn't have worked by itself – Dumbledore knew that – so he used a will strengthening potion on her. Instead of running with you she stuck around, jumped in front of the killing curse and got herself killed. That is the Albus Dumbledore that we know Harry… he'd kill a harmless girl to end the war. What do you think of your esteemed Headmaster now?"

Author's note: I have finals next week and this weekend will be spent doing math if it kills me… which it very well may. So unless I continue with my normal procrastination then I won't be touching this until Wednesday. Of course with all the stress I'll probably find refuge in writing….

Xikum: I'm leaning more toward Draco having the baby… 'Cause I think that Harry has enough things to deal with right now, plus a pregnant Draco is just plain hysterical. I absolutely hate Wormtail as well but he won't be dying in this fic…. Sev' isn't a Voldie supporter… I'm sorry but he will of course make an appearance when they head back to Hogwarts. I was definitely going for a political thing, though unlike Political parties (at least I think lol) Voldemort gets um angry when you openly go against him.

ZetaStar

Asioleh: I'm trying to stay as true to cannon as I can… trying!

PeachDancer82: I am never bored by opinions! As for Tom and Harry… some stuff is going to happen and some feelings will develop but I don't think they are going to last. I have a really good ending planned out but I don't really know if this fic will be able to end like that… so they will have some feeling of compassion at some point in the story. Jennifer is certainly not a Mary sue. Wait until you see her at Diagon alley… she has a mean streak almost as wide as Voldemort's.

Pixy: Harry is running anywhere yet.

NayNymic: No resorting! Harry is a Gryffindor and he always will be even if he isn't in Hogwarts anymore. Ron and Hermione are going to reach an understanding with Harry. You have to have some angst for it to be realistic… I mean when was the last time you started a relationship with your enemy - and it went smoothly…? It's never happened to anyone I know that's for sure. : -)

HPIceAngel: Soon… I promise.

Fireangle

Cindlemain: Thank you Luc/Narci/Sirius is a ton of fun to write!

Grrrinning Golden Retriever: Voldie isn't really a good guy per say but neither is Dumbledore. That is a really good idea about Arthur but I don't think that it will work for this fic. Harry is going to learn a lot of things and one of them is going to be is that there is bad and good people everywhere. He is also going to have to make some hard decisions, and they wouldn't be hard if everyone he loved was on one side. There isn't going to be any rape in this fic… frankly I don't think that I could write it. There might be a little torture though… not in anyway sexual but you know like interrogation if there weren't any boundaries – nothing too graphic or frequent. Sometimes really sad endings are the best ones… only if there is a sequel with a happy ending of course. Thank you for pointing out the mistake… I had a beta for this chapter but I did do some writing after she sent it back so if you spot anything wrong point it out.

Redmeadow: Eventually everything will come together… of course it might not come together in the way that most people think it will.

Sylvanus Snape: I haven't even gotten to the mystery yet!

Kiren: I have more of Jennifer's side explained in this chapter but I haven't exactly explained why Tom would go from a Prefect to Dark Lord yet… don't worry I'm going to explain it.

Jan Aswaldsson: Have you ever heard of the Cognitive Dissonance Theory? I learned about it a few weeks ago in psychology and basically it means that contracting thoughts cause discomfort. If people act in ways that are inconsistent with their attitudes or self images it makes them uncomfortable. This can then lead to people making their thoughts or attitudes agree with their actions. Think about smokers who know that cigarettes are dangerous but they smoke anyway. They could quit but it would probably be easier to convince themselves that smoking isn't all that dangerous. (All information is from my Psych book and is not in anyway mine). Oh and just because Harry is staying there doesn't mean he's 'crossed over'. Basically all it means is that right now he is confused as hell.

Nymphaline: What about cherries? Malfoy is wearing thin on Harry's patience. *grin*

Dracoharryfan: Thank you. This chapter is longer and Harry and Draco interact more.

Bad-ass-Cinderella: Some more for you.

Serenitas: I don't really love Ron either but you can't really have Harry without him. His Gryffindor half will be explained.

Dragon-Phoenix

Jenn

Angel: I'm sort of leaning toward Draco… for a lot of reasons. Thank you.

Bubblebabe

DarkAngel87: Thank you, Luc/Narci/Sirius is so much fun to write… so many problems, I almost couldn't decide which ones to go into in this chapter.

Xirleb70: I've been there… essay to write… fan fiction to write/read which do you think won? J

Jade: First Slash story you've read? Hmm you should go and read unthinkable thoughts by Aidan Lynch… it isn't anything like my story but it is the sweetest Draco/Harry fic that I've come across yet. It should still be here on FF.net.

Andrea56: I agree. The Harry as a victim fics are okay if he is like almost dead or completely stripped of his magic and one of his hands are cut off then I say yep Harry is a victim. Or if they are well written – I'll read almost anything that is well written.

Renae Nyx Hunter: Stop you'll make me blush!

Jliles

Petunia812002: I don't think that he would do anything just because someone told him to either. You see, Jennifer and Tom are very used to getting their way and when they don't… well you know – and they can't exactly kill Harry.

Black*Plague: There are cookies out there that aren't Draco favored? I should try them sometime… or not.

VtE

RuinedEmperor: *Flattered beyond words* I have run out of words… I don't believe this has happened since I was able to talk.

Lillie chan: I don't know I think that a pregnant Draco could be very fun.

Haeniliel

Someonesgurl

KawaiiWhiteWolf: Thank you.

Pari106

Kathi C: Snape will be alive, though Voldie is not happy with him.