Chapter 8
"Harry?"
Taking a deep breath Harry turned around. Illuminated from the daylight Malfoy stood at the opening of the alley.
"I'm sorry, Malfoy." Harry said silently, before the Slytherin could voice a single word. "I'm sorry that I ran out of the shop like that. But I couldn't stand their looks and whispering anymore, how they backed away from me when I got near them. As if I had an infectious sickness or..."He drew in a trembling breath. "I couldn't stand the mistrust in their eyes."
Silently Malfoy stepped nearer until he stood before Harry. Harry avoided it to look up. He didn't want to see what the Slytherin thought about him, running out of the shop like crazy, what his eyes showed him of his thoughts.
Shortly he wondered why it should bother him what Malfoy thought of him, but it stepped out of his mind as the memory of the people came back to him.
Harry could say truthfully that he had never wanted to be the great hero the people had made him out to be He never had liked the looks he received whenever he stepped into a room, the awe in their eyes when they gazed at his scar.
But in compare with the looks he got now...
Harry flinched as he felt arms entwining around him, pulling him against a warm body.
Malfoy..
"Don't you think it's a bit of a joke?" Harry whispered and after a hesitant second he leaned into the embrace and buried his face on Malfoy's shoulder. "Just half a year ago I had been the great hero who had defeated Voldemort when I was just a baby and now I seem to be a greater fiend than Voldemort himself."
"A deep fall indeed." Malfoy murmured, starting to weave a hand soothingly through Harry's unruly black hair. "But don't worry. I'm not mad at you. I, too, saw the looks in the eyes of this people. As a Malfoy I experienced many of them myself. And I give you the advice: Don't worry too much about them. Ignore them. After all," Malfoy chuckled and slipped his hand under Harry's shirt, causing the shorter boy to letting out a startled gasp," you're now a member of the Malfoy family and you should get used to it."
Despise his bad mood Harry couldn't help but to smile, even when Malfoy's words weren't really a compliment.
A last time he breathed in Malfoy's scent, before he parted with the Slytherin. "Thanks, Malfoy."
"You know, you could really start calling me Draco. We are a pair now."
"I know that I shouldn't give so much to what the people think," Harry continued, ignoring Malfoy's words. "But it is hard; especially when I don't know if our schoolmates will think the same way."
Harry sighed and looked at the opening of the alley. There and then he could see people walk by and he found himself flinching every time one gazed in the shadowy alley, if he wanted to or not.
And an uncertain fear grew in him by the thought of going out there again.
Malfoy watched him with unreadable silver eyes.
"You know, it is time for us to meet my parents." He said suddenly and before Harry could protest, the blond grabbed his wrist and walked with him in tow out on the street.
Harry blinked as the bright sunlight hit him in the eyes and for a few seconds he was barely aware of the protest sounds of the people as Malfoy forced his way through them.
"Malfoy, what are you doing?" He gasped as he finally could see again. All the people were staring at them and a few even pointed at Harry.
Embarrassed he tried to free his arm from Malfoy's grip. It was time to go back to Hogwarts. He never should have agreed to come here in the first place.
"Malfoy.."
From one moment to the other Malfoy stopped and whirled around, and unable to stop in time Harry bumped right into him. And before he knew what was happening, the blond Slytherin had cupped his face in his hands- and locked their lips together in a tender, passionate kiss.
A kiss..
In the middle of the street...
Where all people could see them..
Harry moaned as Malfoy deepened the kiss, tenderly searching for a response, and leaned into the embrace. Nobody should say that Malfoy wasn't a good kisser. He was in fact too good...
Harry moaned again as he felt his hands betraying him as they crept up Malfoy's body to his neck, the fingers entwining in the silk like blond hair. But he couldn't part with the Slytherin..
For a time he forgot the people around them. There was only the warmness and tenderness of the body pressed against his and the comfortable heat that rose from deep within him.
But finally they had to part, both gasping for air. Gasping quite loud for air, as it seemed that that was the only sound around them. Harry blushed furiously as he discovered that everybody was staring at them. They stood in the middle of the street, surrounded by people. And everybody had watched them kiss.
"Oh no!" Harry groaned silently and despise that there was no chance to hide, he buried his face into Malfoy's shoulder. That was all he needed: More rumours about him. More reasons to stare at him. As if the one hasn't been enough.
"Damn you, Malfoy." He whispered.
His head against the others chest Harry heard Malfoy chuckle. "I didn't force you." The Slytherin murmured in his ear and he chuckled again as he felt Harry shuddering. "But I must say: You're getting better and better, love."
Malfoy yelped a bit as Harry pinched his hip.
"This is really embarrassing." Harry sighed and squirmed a bit. "Are they still staring?"
"Yes."
Harry looked up and saw Malfoy grinning and nodding at the people, who suddenly seem to remember that they had other things to do. With loud and quiet mumbling the crowd dissolved.
"That was that. Now we can.."
"My, my, look what we have here." A just too familiar voice said, interrupting Malfoy. "A young couple, enjoying each other in the middle of the street. Things like that you don't see all days."
Harry stiffened. /That's just my lucky day today. Must he of all people had to come past here and see me.../
"Hi, Dad!" Malfoy grinned, letting Harry go.
/ ... kissing his son just now/
Harry groaned silently and turned around. There was no way to avoid this. Even if he wished he could just disappear. Why hadn't Dumbledore taught him to aparate!
With the smuggest grin on his face that Harry had ever seen, Lucius Malfoy stood behind him, elegant and good looking as ever in his expensive black half robe, half suit. He wore his hair open, the same hair that he had passed on his son, which Harry had touched just minutes before and that had been so soft.
And the same silver eyes watched him, two pairs of silver eyes with the same lightly amused expression in them as Malfoy followed his fathers gaze.
"I see that you arranged yourself quite irreversibly with my son, so I should welcome you in our family, I think." Lucius Malfoy lifted his hand, shifting his staff with the silver snake in the other hand.
Harry stared at the stick-had Malfoy still his wand embedded in there?-and then at the outstretched hand offered to him.
Should he really give his hand a man who had done so many things to hurt him or his friends?
It was his fault that Professor Dumbledore had been dismissed in the second school year.
He had been Dobby's cruel former master.
He had been there when Lord Voldemort called his loyal Deatheaters to the cemetery.
Lucius Malfoy had wanted to kill him with his wand in this snake staff.
Harry sighed. Not that he had another choice with that tattoo on his body. Reluctantly he stretched out his hand and placed it in the greater one of Lucius Malfoy.
Lucius smirked and used his grip around Harry's hand to pull him closer. Harry rolled his eyes as the silver fangs of the snake once again pushed the hair from his forehead, away from the scar. Harry felt like he had a DejaVu.
"Who would have thought that Harry Potter would become a part of the Malfoy family?" Lucius Malfoy murmured more to himself. "And as my son-in-law, too. I would have laughed the one in the face who would have told me that just a year ago. But now here we are."
Harry snorted. /I would have laughed at everyone who would have told me just a few days before./
"Surely it wasn't my idea." He said loud and freed himself from Malfoy's grip. "And when it where in my might or in the might of another I would erase this magic bound. Nobody asked me if I wanted this."
"But there is nobody who can help you." Draco Malfoy smiled-did he know how much this smile looked like that of his father, Harry thought- and stepped nearer to him. Harry couldn't help but to squeak as he found himself again in a tight embrace. "You're mine; forever."
Harry blushed and turned his face away, as Malfoy leaned forward to kiss him, again. "Stop it, Malfoy. Not again. We're still on the street, you know."
And there were still people who watched them and who whispered behind there hands, about Harry Potter standing and talking with two Malfoy's.
"I could stop." Malfoy placed a tender kiss on the side of Harry's mouth. Harry shivered and to his embarrassment he had to hold himself back not to turn his head and to make it a real kiss.
"I could stop," Malfoy repeated with a smirk. Harry was sure that he knew what he was doing to him. "But I want something for it."
Harry raised one eyebrow.
"I want that you call me Draco from now on; but not with dislike in it. I want to hear it nice and tender. That or," Malfoy's lips found their way one more time to Harry's mouth.
Harry hurried to turn his head away. "Okay, okay. I will. Now stop it.," Harry sighed, ".Draco."
With a superior smile Draco let Harry out of his arms. To be on the safe side Harry stepped some feet away from Mal….Draco and tried to get rid of the blush spreading out over his face.
How he hated this...
"I think it is time that we go, Draco." Lucius said. "Your mother is waiting by Fortesque. She, too, wants to meet the new member of the family."
"Yes, father."
Harry grimaced, but followed Draco and Lucius Malfoy as they started to stroll down Diagon Alley, side by side, but still kept a short distance to them.
He still couldn't believe it. Time and time again he had thought that maybe all this was a dream, but then again he knew that it wasn't. Never would he dream something like this.
Never would he dream being Malfoy's...husband.
Never would he dream that Sirius...
Harry sighed as he remembered his last talk with his Godfather.
"Harry, that can't be. The wards of Hogwarts are strong. Just a mighty wizard could remove them and that Dumbledore would have felt. He is connected with this school in a way you can't comprehend yet." Sirius shook his head. "Maybe this man was just a dream."
Harry sighed in anger and looked around.
It was too early in the morning. He was tired. The rest of the night he hadn't been able to sleep properly, undecided if he should tell Sirius about the man or not. Malfoy had held him back as he had wanted to tell Dumbledore. But at sunrise he had left the sleeping Malfoy in the room and had waited for his godfather before the Great Hall.
He had to tell somebody. Why not the one he trusted the most.
Harry sighed again. He had not expected that Sirius wouldn't believe him.
"A dream! It wasn't a dream." Harry lifted his head so that Sirius could see the dark bruises on his jaw. "Just what sort of dream could do this to me?"
The eyes of the older man widened. Carefully he examined the few bruises along his Godsons jaw, all but a few inches wide.
"They are real, aren't they!" Harry asked and couldn't hold back a little sarcasm in his voice. "Or do you think I've done this to myself?"
Sirius frowned. "No. But maybe it has been Malfoy and you just don't want to tell me. After all, he has forced that bound on you. What brings me finally to the question, how Malfoy could come to be so near you that he could place it on you. Why did you let him touch you?"
"I..."Harry blushed. "I had been distracted." Sirius looked sceptical at him and Harry hurried to continue, before his Godfather could ask, what had been so distracting. He knew he wouldn't like it to hear, that it had been a kiss he had shared with Malfoy. "You speak as if you think that I wanted this to happen. It wasn't my idea. I thought Malfoy hates me as much as I do."
"Why do you think he doesn't hate you anymore? This will be just a complot to get you to trust him, so that he can convince you to go to Voldemort on your own will." Sirius let out a disgusted snort. "I don't know why Dumbledore trusts him all of a sudden. Just before the summer holidays he told me that he had an eye on the Malfoy's and now this. He even let him stay at the Configuration Class last night."
Harry recoiled. That really was strange. Why had Dumbledore changed his mind? And when he thought about it, the Headmaster had looked really pleased, as he had seen the tattoo on Harry's body, not shocked at all as Sirius had been.
He must know something that he didn't want to tell - yet.
Sirius groaned a bit and puzzled, Harry looked up. But the taller man wasn't looking at him, but past him. And as Harry turned he saw the cause of the distress of his Godfather.
Clad in a beautiful black and silver robe, Malfoy stood on the stairs, leading up to the tower where their room was. His silver eyes were narrowed, but unreadable, without an emotion.
Harry shuddered and turned away. Malfoy was more a secret to him as he had been before the summer. In the first four years he had just been an annoying brat, a pain in the neck, but now...he was so different.
Harry couldn't read him anymore. He was a secret. But maybe Dumbledore knew.
Harry shook his head and rubbed his tingling stomach.
"Harry, I will protect you, don't worry." Sirius laid a hand on his shoulder. "Whatever he is planning, he will not get through with it, as long as I'm with you."
Harry stopped. No, when Sirius would be with him, Draco wouldn't be able to do anything to him. But now he wasn't here with him, so he had to protect himself.
He looked up, ignoring the passing people, and searched again for Draco's figure. It was really about time that he stopped acting like a senseless doll whenever Draco was near him. And it was time that the new school year started and his friends would be with him again.
A sudden tingle in his neck caused Harry to turn around. He was being watched. He felt it like a touch.
A short gaze to Draco and his father showed him that it wasn't one of them. But there was someone.
Examining Harry let his eyes roam over the people around him. Where was...
\\ I'm here. To the right.\\
Harry jumped nearly in surprise at the sudden voice he heard. Slowly he followed the voices direction to a shop to his right. It seemed to be one of the few shops that sold animals in Diagon Alley. Many cages were hanging and standing before the house, filled with squeaking, quaking and hissing animals.
Harry recoiled a little in disgust. At it seemed, this shop was a special one for the crawling and jumping animals.
\\ Here I am. Look here.\\
Harry stepped nearer, until he stood before a little cage on top of a greater one with a lizard in it. Suspiciously he stared at the sharp teeth of the green reptile; before he let his eyes search the contents of the smaller cage.
And yelped a bit as small black eyes returned his gaze calmly.
\\ Ssssurprisssed? \\ With an elegant movement the snake uncurled her black body, showing her tan underside, and turned her head to Harry. Shortly her tongue leaped out and tasted the air. \\ You sssmell good. Muccchhh like my own kind doesss. Who are you?\\
Harry found himself staring fascinated at the snake. She was beautiful. "My name is Harry, Harry Potter." He listened to his own voice, to the hissing words that sounded a bit frightening, and that just the snake would understand.
Parseltongue - One of the things that Voldemort had given to him accidental so long before.
\\ Harry Potter. I've heard from you.\\ The snake continued, her-or more his voice-was nice to listen to, even the hissing there and then. \\ All of my kind know about you. Thhe boy whhho defeated thhe Dark Lord. And whho can hear usss and ssspeak to usss. It isss a pleasssure to meet you.\\
Before Harry's astonished eyes the snake made a movement that very much looked like a bow.
"I didn't defeat him. He is back. "Harry shook his head. "And it is my fault."
The snake hissed. Shortly Harry wondered what a type of snake she belonged to.
\\ It wassss desssstiny thhat HHe came back. He never wassss gone forever. But I sssencce your dissstress. Sssomethhing isss bothering you.\\
Harry frowned. He didn't thought that he showed his worries so obviously. But who knew what senses a snake had. That a snake wanted to know his worries after all was strange.
"I..."
"Isn't she beautiful, boy? You have a good eye."
Harry flinched at the sudden voice and straightened, staring at the man who had suddenly appeared beside him.
He smiled, showing a mouth full of shattered, yellow teeth. Harry shuddered and stepped back, trying to breathe shallow, as a fool stench reached his nose, unsure if the stench came from his mouth or from the filthy robe he wore. But very likely it came from both.
"That is a Black Adder, boy, a very lovely one." The man rubbed his hands together, seemingly obvious that Harry was withdrawing from him. "Of course that means she isn't cheap and you must be careful. Her bite is rather painful and very poison."
\\ I would love it to bite him.\\
Harry grinned as the snake spat angrily, causing the older man to stumble backwards.
"I must go now. I was never interested in buying anything."
The man grimaced, his friendly behaviour vanishing from one second to the other.
Harry ignored him. He gazed a last time at the snake, without saying a word- it wouldn't be the best thing to do, when he spoke Parseltongue in front of this man.
The Adder met his gaze with her black ones. \\ Be careful. Sssomeone isss after you. And I don't mean thhe dark Lord.\\
Harry nodded, frowning. Somebody was after him, except from the Dark Lord? Did she mean the hooded stranger?
But why did she know about him?
Harry sighed and walked away from the shop, the snake and the man. This all was getting rather complicated. As if Voldemort's return wasn't enough, was there now another person, a man who had succeeded to avoid Hogwarts wards?
And Harry had no idea who this man could be. His voice had been unknown to him, but voices could be changed. It could be everybody. And what Harry angered the most, was, that Draco knew who it was. He had talked with the man in a way that had shown that he knew him.
And there seem to be no way to convince the Slytherin to tell him. He would just say that Harry would hear the truth, when he trusted him.
But that...trusting him...
Harry couldn't do that. Not completely. Draco was a Malfoy. And Malfoy's hadn't done him any good the past four years.
The only other one who seem to know Draco's secret was Dumbledore. The Headmaster always seemed to know things, which others didn't.
However, Harry decided, that wouldn't last any longer. He wanted to know what had happened to Draco and his parents. He needed more than a simplethat's how it is to believe, that the sudden change in Draco was normal. Not that he had changed that much. He was still an annoying, arrogant brat.
And Lucius Malfoy. That he should be that pleased with his son's choice….that couldn't be right. Where was the man who shown to be rather insidious and intrigued in the second year? Not that Harry had seen much of this new Lucius. Maybe he was still this man, and had just changed his mind about Harry's usefulness.
Harry sighed and rubbed his belly. Him, Harry Potter, a member of the Malfoy family - this just had to be a joke.
Harry lifted his head and let his gaze shift over his surrounding. Around him was a little free space, people avoiding it to get near him, as if he had an infectious sickness. But he knew that it just was the rumours about him. The people hated and feared him now.
He shuddered and put his arms around himself. He wanted to go back to Hogwarts.
"Harry."
Harry followed the voice with his eyes and halted on Draco's figure just a few feet before him.
The slender Slytherin had already reached Fortesque and stood beside one of the tables, where his father already had taken a seat. And on the chair beside him sat none other than Narcissa Malfoy.
Harry stopped shortly, before he took the last few steps. /Draco's mother. What is she thinking of her sons choice/
He had met hear just at one time, at the Quidditch Finals. There she had looked beautiful, but a bit unhappy and arrogant as she had looked at the Weasleys. Now...
"Welcome, Harry." Narcissa stood up and stretched her hand out to Harry as he reached her.
/Another Malfoy giving her hand to me./ Harry thought and looked at the hand outstretched to him.