A Moment in Time
DISCLAIMER: Harry Potter (and associated characters, likenesses, concepts, etc.) belongs to J.K. Rowling, Bloomsbury Publishing, Scholastic, Inc. AOL/Time Warner, Inc., among others. I make no claim, written or implied, upon Harry Potter. No money is being made and no infringement or disrespect to the creators / copyright holders is intended.
Warning: This story will contain slash (ie. male/male relationships) and mpreg, although neither will be graphic.
A/N: This story was inspired by the many wonderful stories that I have read and enjoyed here at fan fiction and any similarities to existing stories is not intended. This story is AU, meaning that the events that occurred in the OOTP have not been taken into account and am I in no means suggesting the material described in this story should be considered as a direct interpretation of cannon. Also, I am American so I apologize in advance for any Americanisms.
Chapter Twenty - The Founders Hall
As soon as they were a fair distance away from the Phoenix Chamber, Draco couldn't help but tease his dark haired mate, hoping to relieve some of the tension that had been a constant companion for the last couple of hours. "You should have told me that you were related to the Weasel, Leo."
Harry stopped walking and turned to face Draco. He needed to see if he was truly all right with everything that he had just learned. The opinions of all the others didn't matter nearly as much as the opinion of the person who was standing right in front of him. "Why? Would you have changed your mind about getting involved with me had you known?"
Pulling an exaggerated face Draco replied in the most sarcastic tone he had, "But of course Harry, a Malfoy could never possibly taint their genes with Weasley genes. My poor ancestors are most definitely turning in their crypt tonight."
Harry chuckled satisfied that Draco was only joking. "To be fair Draco, I don't have any Weasley genes, but Montgomery ones. Molly was my Grandmother and she isn't a blood Weasley. Besides I thought you would be relived to know that our sons are pureblooded, not a drop of muggle blood in either of them."
"But of course their pureblooded, Leo, they are Malfoys after all."
Harry snorted at the blonde's pretended arrogance, and muttered something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like 'over my dead body.'
"In all seriousness Harry, I do wish you would have told me about Voldemort being your Grandfather, and a Great Grandfather to the boys. Not that I would have cared, but hell, if Voldemort found out about Evan and Matthew…we have to keep them safe."
Harry reached out and pulled Draco to him, slowly running his hands up the other man's back. "I know Dray, and we will. We'll do it together." Harry gently ran his fingers into the stands of Draco's fine hair marveling as always at the feeling of pure silk. "I wanted to tell you a thousand times, but it just never seemed right." Harry sighed and pressed his forehead against the slightly taller man's. "What was I to say…hey remember back in second year when almost everyone in the whole school thought that I was the Heir of Slytherin? Well guess what…they were right." Harry tightened his embrace. "That just didn't sound right to me. I'm sorry for keeping it from you for so long."
Draco took a step back so that he could look Harry directly in the eye, the emerald green looked repentant and were slightly dull with exhaustion. "I understand Harry. But promise me that you won't keep anything that could affect you and the boys from me again. I need to know what I'm up against."
"I promise." Harry sealed his promise with a deep kiss.
* * *
Stopping by Sirius' and Remus' apartment to collect their exhausted family, Harry quickly gathered a sleepy Evan into his arms, while Draco did the same for an equally tired Matthew. Nudging Nicole awake from where she had fallen asleep in an armchair, undoubtedly watching over the twins who had been cuddled together on the sofa, they were finally ready to head off to their own rooms.
Following the glittering trail as Fawkes flew up ahead of them, they wearily trudged their way up through the winding corridors. Higher and higher up into the deepest part of the castle they went. Noticing that during the last ten minutes or so that their surroundings had significantly deteriorated, Harry grew concerned. However, when Fawkes led them down a dark hallway that was littered with thick dust and abundant cobwebs, Harry couldn't help questioning his guide's path. "I've never been down here before, have you?"
"Nope." Draco critically examined his surroundings. "I never even knew that this hallway existed before."
Harry snorted and started to choke on some dirt that seemed to cling to everything. "It doesn't look like the house elves know it exists either."
Giving Harry an amused glance, Draco quickly followed after the Phoenix, knowing that the bird would never lead him or Harry into a dangerous situation.
Finally, the group stopped in front of a large statue. It was a statue made out of the finest black marble depicting four animals, the center of which was a huge majestic lion. Entwined around the lion's mane was a thick snake, whose dark eyes had a wicked gleam in the dim light. Nestled in between the lion's front paws was a small badger, which was looking up at the lion his expression both trusting and playful; and lastly perched regally on top of the lion's head was a beautiful raven.
No one was surprised when Fawkes turned towards their group and trilled out a few meaningful notes. As he had done earlier that evening, Harry passed his precious bundle to Nicole.
Listening to the phoenix, Harry approached the statue carefully. One thing he had learned during his time here at Hogwarts was that nothing was ever what it appeared to be. Gently, almost reverently, Harry reached forward and placed one hand on the lion's forehead and his other hand on the top of the snake's crown. The marble felt cool and smooth to his touch.
As soon as Harry touched the statue, a green light shot out of the serpent's eyes and a similar red light was emitted from the lion's lenses. The lights combined into a deep purple luminescence, which promptly encased the young man.
Startled when the statue started to radiate the strange beams of light, Harry tried to pull away. However, he found that he was unable to move as the eerie purple warmth surrounded him. Trying not to panic, Harry forced himself to relax and submit to the light; and when he did, he was strangely shocked to find that the light was probing him, albeit in a comforting manner.
As quickly as it had appeared, the light vanished.
"What the hell was that?" Draco worriedly looked over his partner to ensure that the light had not harmed him.
"I'm not sure, but I think it was friendly," Harry said, shaking his head to clear the lingering feeling of being exposed.
"Welcome young Heir, you have been long awaited." The words echoed in the empty hallway.
Harry and Draco looked at each other in confusion and then looked around them to identify the source of the deep commanding voice.
They both whipped around nearly knocking Nicole off her feet when a different voice entered the mix. "You look like you've never seen a talking statue before," the second voice chuckled. This voice was not quite as deep, although still masculine.
Harry tiredly rubbed his eyes, sure that the lack of sleep had to be affecting his judgement. "I've seen statues that move," he said, thinking about the gargoyle that guarded the Headmaster's office. "But I've never seen one that talked before."
"Well young Heir, as I'm sure you've realized by now, we are not an ordinary statue. We are actually the Guardians of the Founder's Hall."
"The Founder's Hall?" Draco questioned the talking lion, still not quite believing what he was seeing. Never in the wizarding world had he ever heard of a talking statue; mirrors and portraits yes, not ever a statue.
The snake moved so that the head was now facing in Draco's direction. A small forked tongue flickered in and out of its mouth, tasting the scents around him, before the snaked hissed in English, "Blondie's not too bright, is he? You'd think that someone his age would have at least heard of the Founders before now. What are they teaching here these days?"
Harry giggled at the snake's comments, but as he saw Nicole shifting under the weight of his now sleeping son in her arms, it reminded him of why they where here. Before Draco had a chance to retaliate and piss off the Guardian, Harry interceded. "As accurate as I'm sure your observation is," Harry started, ignoring Draco's glare, "we were told that there was a place that we might be able to get some sleep around here. Do you think you could direct us, please?"
"Of course, young Heir. We'd like to take this opportunity to welcome you to the Founder's Hall. Behind us is the entrance to the Founders' personal apartments. They have been vacant since poor Helga's death. Only a true heir may enter and reside herein. As I have said before, we have been waiting for you. You and your sons are the last remaining true heirs, besides that Riddle fellow, who we would never permit entrance." The large lion shook his head and his mange fell gracefully around his head before he continued.
"I apologize for the delay, as I see that you are all tired. I'm sure that, come morning , you will have questions and we can discuss them at that time. Please rest easy, knowing that we will watch over you."
With these words, the statue opened up, the raven flying off of the lion's head, as the badger moved to the side as the gigantic lion stood, revealing a passageway. Taking one last look at the Guardians, Harry entered the dark passageway.
As soon as Harry entered through the doorway, two torches hanging on either side burst into flame and he found himself on moving spiral staircase, almost identical to the one that he had ridden many times when visiting the Headmaster's office. Making sure that Draco and Nicole had followed him, he relaxed and just enjoyed the ride. The steps kept moving smoothly upwards, twisting around and around, almost as though it was moving up a coiled snake.
Finally, the stairs stopped at a large wooden door with an antique doorknob and a brass knocker shaped like the Hogwarts school seal.
Feeling absurd if he was to knock, as the Guardians had told him no one was currently residing here, Harry twisted the brass doorknob and opened the heavy door. Stepping into the large cavernous room, Harry was surprised to see that the fire in the fireplace along the far wall had previously been lit as well as the many torches on the walls. The room was warm and welcoming.
Draco quickly followed Harry into the room and was amazed at what he saw. They were in an exquisitely decorated room that bore a resemblance to what one would image a luxurious common room would look like. The room itself had high arching ceilings, charmed the same as the Great Hall was to reflect to sky that looked down so lovingly over Hogwarts. Currently, the ceiling was dark, intermingled with brilliantly twinkling stars, and a shining half moon.
There were two small sofas and three high back chairs situated around the marble fireplace at the far end of the room. The sofas were covered it what looked to be some of the finest black leather that Draco had ever seen and the rich fabric of the chairs were in a tapestry pattern, depicting jewels tones; deep emerald green, dark scarlet, and a beautiful royal blue. The fireplace itself was a piece of art. It was large enough so that person the size of Hagrid would have been able to stand upright inside the opening, and it was at least twice as wide as it was tall. The black marble encasing the fireplace appeared to be flecked with gold and was carved to resemble the four Guardians frolicking in what Draco guessed was the Forbidden Forest.
As the trio stepped down the two marble stairs from the foyer into the common room area, they sunk into the thick, unbelievably soft beige floor covering. "Wow, these Founders really knew how to live," Nicole whispered, looking around at the unprecedented luxury.
"And I thought Malfoy Manor was nice; it's nothing compared to this," Draco added, still trying to take in the sights of the common room. "I wonder what the rest of the apartment looks like."
Impressed, Harry agreed and continued to walk into the center of the vast room. In the back right-hand corner of the room was an archway, bordered on either side by thick black marble pillars. Through the archway appeared to be a hallway and another staircase. The far left side of the room was covered in five huge stained glass windows, each window showcasing a different scene with what Harry assumed to be one of the Founders. The fifth window, which stood proudly in the center of the wall, was a replica of the Hogwarts school seal and appeared as thought it might be a door.
In the remaining back corner of the room was something that Harry had never seen before. It was a large waterfall. Water gently cascaded down over numerous rocks to fall into a large pool at the base of the falls. The sound of the trickling water was quite soothing.
Knowing that they would have plenty of time tomorrow to continue their explorations, Harry walked across the room through the archway. Deciding that the bedrooms were most likely up the stairs, Harry with Draco and Nicole following started to climb. They reached the first landing and noted that there were several doors on this floor. Trying the first door, Harry saw that the room contained a large queen size bed; the room itself was decorated in pale blues overlaid with light floral prints. The room was obviously prepared with a woman in mind. Stifling a yawn, Harry managed to take his son back from Nicole. "This appears to be your room Nicole. Do you have everything you need?"
After she indicated that she did and agreeing to meet down in the common room tomorrow morning, Draco and Harry wished her goodnight before heading further down the hall in search of their own accommodations.
The door next to Nicole's revealed two four-poster canopy beds. This room was done up to resemble a castle, with dark green carpeting and blue walls. On one the walls was painted a mural of what looked to be an artistic rendering of Hogwarts, complete with quidditch pitch.
Depositing their children on the beds, Harry and Draco set about tucking them in for the night. As they were getting ready to leave the room a small sleepy voice stopped them. "Daddy? Where's bunny? Can't sleep without bunny."
Knowing that Evan would never be able to get back to sleep without his favorite stuffed animal, Harry quickly took one of the boys' trunks from his pocket and enlarged it. Luck was with him and he was able to locate both bunny and Matthew's stuffed doggy. Once more tucking the boys back in, this time with them securely hugging their stuffed animals, Harry lit a small light and the men quietly left the room.
Assuming that the last room on the floor had to be their room, they opened the door across from the twin's room and stepped inside. They were surprised to find that this room wasn't a bedroom at all, but looked like it was set up to act as the boys' playroom as it contained many shelves, tables and chairs sized just right for small children. Pulling the two trunks from his pocket marked toys, Draco enlarged them. Deciding that sleep was much more of a priority than unpacking, Harry and Draco left the trunks in the room, and shut the door.
Going back to the staircase, Draco and Harry went up to the next landing. The stairs still continued upwards, but Harry was hopeful that they would find a place to crash here without having to climb anymore stairs. The second landing yielded two doors. The first door that they came to had no knob whatsoever. Placing his hand on the door, Harry felt a familiar warmth spread through him. Removing his hand, the door silently glided open.
Harry entered the room and stopped as soon as he got part way in. Draco, who was too tired to pay attention, ran into the back of the raven haired man. "Hey, what did you stop for?"
When Harry didn't answer right away, Draco peeked around his mate and saw what held his attention. The room was undeniably the nicest room he had ever seen. It was done primarily in black and gold with forest green and deep scarlet used sparingly. While the other bedrooms had been equipped with fireplaces, the fireplace here was a smaller scaled version of the one they had just seen in the common room. Around the fireplace was a sofa and two chairs, but the centerpiece of the room was the largest bed Draco had ever seen in his entire life. The bed was carved out of a dark wood and the posters reached high up towards the arched ceiling. Consistent with the overall theme of the apartment, the headboard had a carving of the large lion with a serpent around his neck. The lion had rubies inlaid for eyes, whereas the snake had emeralds.
The bed coverings were dark green; so dark, in fact, that they appeared to be black. Recovering from their shock, the young men walked over to the bed, their footfalls silent against the thick rug. Peering down at the bed, the cover actually had small embroidered lions and snakes done in what appeared to be fine threads of silver and gold. The effect was stunning.
At this point, all Harry wanted to do was get washed up and crawl underneath the tempting covers. "Where do you think the bathroom is?"
Draco shook his head as he pulled their own trunks out of his pockets and set about enlarging them as Harry continued to investigate their bedroom.
A moment later, Draco heard an excited voice shout, "Dray, you have got to see this!"
Looking around, Draco noticed that Harry no longer appeared to be in the room with him. "Leo? Where are you?"
A dark head popped up through another arch that was barely visible off to the side of the fireplace. "I'm in here."
With all the wonders that they had seen in the apartment so far, Draco couldn't help but be curious about what had gotten Harry so excited. Following where Harry's head had once more disappeared into, Draco stepped into what had to be the master bathroom. The bathroom was almost twice the size of the prefect bathroom. There was a large mirror in a dressing area; two large sinks, with gold fixtures; and a shower area that could easily fit four men. The shower was semi-open and was constructed with alternating black and white marble blocks. It was all beautifully done, but Draco didn't see what had gotten Harry so excited.
Moving further into the room, Draco heard the same soothing sound that they had heard in the common room. Turning the corner, he saw Harry kneeling down beside a bubbling pool of water, the size of a large swimming pool. The pool was being fed continuous fresh water from a second waterfall. This waterfall was very natural in appearance, as opposed to the elegant beauty of the one in the common room. The water flowed over and around large multi-colored mountain stones and through lush foliage and exotic flowers. It was mesmerizing. The temptation to strip down and jump in was almost overwhelming.
"The water is so warm, it's almost like there is an underground hot spring here." Harry said wistfully, running his hand through the moving water.
Squatting down beside his mate Draco gently pulled Harry's hand from the water and brought his fingers to his lips. He licked the water droplets from each finger before returning Harry's hand to him. "Leo, we'll have plenty of time to enjoy this bath tomorrow; it's been an extremely long day. How about we go to bed?"
Harry's breathing quickened as his fingertips were so tenderly administered to. Without a word, Harry got up and offered his hand to Draco.
Taking the offered hand, the two of them made their way back into the bedroom. Neither one noticed that someone had dimmed the lights and turned down the bed, as they only had eyes for each other.
Undressing swiftly, the two men took a moment to look appraisingly at each other. Harry started to make a soft noise in his throat at the sight of the blonde's trim form, his muscular thighs and taut bottom. "Are you purring?" Draco gasped at the soft seductive sound.
Harry pounced, pulling Draco down into the softness of the warm bed. They had only resumed their physical relationship a few days ago and neither man could get enough of the other. They were still discovering each other's intimate likes and needs; although, just being together was usually enough to drive each other wild. Unfortunately, sharing a house with three other people had put a damper on how much time the two men could stay in bed without raising a few questions from their sons or at least an eyebrow or two from Nicole.
All thought process stopped as Harry captured Draco's mouth in a ruthless kiss, plundering, taking, completely possessing. Draco brought both up his hand up to the back of Harry's head and roughly ran them through his hair. Breaking off the kiss, Draco was barely able to gasp, "I thought you said you were tired?"
Draco caught a glimpse of Harry's face filled with desire and need as he whispered, "never too tired for this," before his mouth once more started to do delicious things to Draco's body. Knowing that neither one would last long at this pace, Draco reached for the lube so that he could start to prepare his dark haired lover.
His hand was caught before he could locate the slippery substance. "Not this time, my love," Harry said breathlessly as he whispered his own lubricating spell. Draco stiffened slightly as he felt the coolness of the spell work over him. In the few times that they had been together, Harry had never been the dominant one. Not submissive by nature, Draco knew that this was important to Harry tonight. Tonight had been all about Harry trying to take back his life. For the first time in the existence of the 'boy who lived', all the facts were on the table and Harry was in control.
With an acquiescent groan, Draco accepted all Harry had to offer, body and soul.
* * *
Later as she reflected on the events of that night, Hermione wasn't even sure how Ron and her had made it back to their apartment when the meeting had been adjourned. She was pretty sure that they would have just collapsed had it not been for the support of her brothers-in-law.
Her mind kept trying to take in all the information that was brought to light at that meeting but it was just so unreal that she couldn't make sense of it. 'How could Harry, who had been their best friend for almost seven years, be Ron's nephew? She wasn't even going to think about whom his Grandfather was. Being muggle born, Hermione had dealt with the stereotypes that the wizarding world liked to place on their blood connections, all that pure blood bullshit. Granted, heritage did seem to play a role to a certain extent. Harry being the direct descendent of two of Hogwarts Founders certainly had to account for his enormous magical aptitude. But to believe that Harry had the predisposition to go dark, merely because he was Voldemort's Grandson, well that was absurd. What was Dumbledore thinking?
The Order meeting had gotten pretty heated after Harry's bombshell. But eventually Dumbledore had the opportunity to explain the reasons behind his secrecy, not the least of which was to protect Harry. Who knew what the Dark Lord would have done had he realized the blood connection between him and the Boy Who Lived? It really was to horrible to think about what could have happened had Voldemort found out and used that information to his advantage.
Harry had always been so desperate to be part of a family, a true family that would love him and care for him. He never really had that; at least not that he could remember. Which lead to the question, why didn't Harry ever tell them what he had found in the Book of Souls all those years ago. Why did Harry continue to keep Dumbledore's secret of his relationship with the Weasleys? If there had ever been a family that Harry could have considered his own, it would have been with Molly and Arthur. That was one question that Hermione would see answered if it was the last thing she did.
That night the remaining four Weasley brothers and the only Weasley by marriage huddled close to each other, comforting and confiding. It was decided to not say anything to Molly just yet. Do to her unpredictable mental state it was hard to say what exactly her reaction would be to this news.
Hermione shook her head sadly at this one more tragedy. The boy that Molly always considered her adopted son, was in fact her very own grandson and most likely the woman would never even know it. God how she hated this war.
It was also decided that they would try to mend the gigantic chasm between Harry and themselves. They needed to do this not only for themselves but for Harry as well. They wanted to be a family and no one stands between a Weasley and their family.
* * *
"Get out of my way, Weasley." Harry's voice was so cold it could have frozen the entire lake.
"Harry, you just can't walk away from me, hell…we're family," Ron shouted at Harry's retreating form.
Harry turned and Ron saw anger like he had never seen before on the face that had once shared everything with him. Caught in the emerald fire, paralyzed and unable to move, Ron just stood there while Harry unleashed the storm that had been burning unchecked in his overly bright eyes.
"Family…we're family." Harry spit those words; he was so fired up. "We've been many things over the years Weasley, but family isn't one of them. I have a family; I have two wonderful children, a strong loving man to share my life with, our Godfathers, and a loyal friend to help keep us altogether. Those people are my family, the only family I have ever really known." Harry could feel his heart beating rapidly as the blood pulsed loudly in his ears. "Now, out of respect for whatever small sacrifices your mother once tried to make for my mother, I won't hurt you. But I'm warning you now, Weasley, stay… out… of… my… way. I don't want to see you or hear from you again. As far as I'm concerned, you and that wife of yours don't exist."
"Look we're sorry, we were wrong. But we can't continue this way, Harry. At least give us a chance to talk about things. Eventually we're going to have to work together, you know?" Ron paused trying to see if his words were having any affect on his one time best friend. "Let me know what you want us to do to make it up to you, and we'll do it. Anything…anything at all." Ron was frustrated. He knew that Harry would be angry, but the fact that he had come back to Hogwarts meant that he was ready to move on and put the things that happened in the past behind them, right? In school, they had quarreled occasionally, like all good friends do, never as bad as it was that time after Harry's name came out of the Goblet of Fire, but they had their share of fights. And every time they had made up. They had never let anything come between their friendships, not until they had thought Harry had committed murder, that is.
Harry didn't respond; he just turned on his heel and started walking in the direction of Sirius' rooms, where he had been heading before this regrettable encounter. This morning, after getting up early, Harry had taken a quick look around the Founders' Hall apartment. The other door on the second landing was a small library, filled with various books that Harry had never heard of before, all of which looked extremely old. Making a promise to return later to see what additional knowledge that could be ascertained from any of the rare books, Harry continued his explorations. Further up the stairs on the top and third level, Harry found a training room, complete with dueling arena and a conference room. The conference room had large windows that overlooked the former quidditch pitch and the forbidden forest. Going back down the stairs to the common room level Harry noted that the hallway lead to a private dinning area. The rest of the living quarters were equally opulent in their decor as the rooms he and Draco had seen the night before. There was also a small staircase that went down, but Harry decided to investigate that later as he really wanted to find Sirius, to see what had happened at the meeting last night after he and Draco had left.
What he hadn't counted on when he left his warm bed and sleeping bed partner was running into Weasley this early in the morning. He had never been able to get his sorry arse out of bed before 9:00 am.
"Wait a minute; did you say that Malfoy is your lover?" Ron shouted, his voice ricocheting off the stone walls.
Ron knew that he had made another mistake as soon as the words were out of his mouth. Seeing the retreating form stiffen and slowly turn only reinforced this thought.
Before he knew what hit him, Harry landed a solid punch to his stomach. Doubled over in pain, Ron thought he heard Harry mutter in a dark voice, "never, never speak his name again, you worthless piece of shit." Falling to his knees, Ron didn't even acknowledge the retreating footsteps.
* * *
Sirius groggily rolled out of bed, and pulling on a pair of trousers from the floor that the House Elves hadn't gotten around to laundering yet, he went to answer the knock on his door.
Seeing his less than happy Godson, Sirius moved out of the way to allow the other man entrance.
"You're up bright and early Harry." A tired Sirius said as he indicted for Harry to come inside and sit down. "You got everyone settled in alright last night?"
"Yeah, I need to get back there soon and help them unpack, but I wanted to talk to you first, if that's okay?" Harry asked glancing around the small, but nicely furnished, apartment.
"Harry, my door is always open to you, always. I may not have been there for you in the past, but there is absolutely nothing that will keep me away from you or your family now or in the future. You're all I have left, so I guess you're just stuck with me." Harry was relieved to hear the steely resolve in Sirius' voice. While in California he had debated about sending the boys somewhere away from the war. But the thought of being separated from them, never knowing what was going on with them was too much. He was counting on Sirius' support to help keep his family safe.
Sirius left the room briefly to finish putting on some clothing while Harry rang the bell to summon one of the House Elves to request some morning refreshments. Before Harry could set the bell down after ringing it, a House Elf stood at his side.
"Hello there, what's your name?" Harry asked the elf kindly.
"It's Twix Sir" the elf replied friendly. "What can I do for you, Sir?"
"Well Twix, first thing, please stop calling me Sir, my name is Harry. Second, I was wondering if we could get some tea and danish or whatever you have prepared for breakfast, please?"
"Most certainly Sir Harry, I'll be back in a jiffy." As the elf prepared to pop out Harry couldn't help but asking about his old friend, Dobby.
"Excuse me Twix, before you leave, I was hoping you could tell me if Dobby still works here?"
A sad expression came over the elf's face. "I'm sorry Sir Harry, but Dobby is no longer at Hogwarts. He left Sir, many years ago after something bad happened to a good friend of his. No one knows where he is now, Sir."
Saddened at the loss of yet another friend, Harry nodded at the elf, and with a small pop, the elf was gone to get their morning refreshments.
* * *
Harry was helping himself to his second cup of tea when he heard Sirius come up behind him. "About time you got done in there, I swear you take longer to get ready in the morning then Draco does…" The words died off as Harry turned and saw that it wasn't Sirius behind him, but Remus.
"Harry," Remus said in way of greeting.
"Lupin," Harry calmly replied. He was kicking himself; he had forgotten Sirius shared these quarters with the werewolf.
"Hey, is that breakfast I smell?" came Sirius' cheerful voice from the bathroom.
Not taking his eyes off the wolf, Harry called back. "Yes, and if you want to eat any of it, I suggest you get your sorry arse out here."
Remus watched the beautiful young man, who now resembled James more than ever before. But it was more than his resemblance to his long dead friend that Remus now saw before him. He was stronger than James ever was, you could simply feel the power radiating off of his slim but well-built frame. It was a good thing that Sirius confided in him last night that Harry and Draco were involved in a committed relationship, because Harry was sure to cause a stir among both the ladies and gentlemen in the castle for more than one reason. "Look Harry…"
"No, just save it, Lupin. I'm not up for any more apologies. At least not right now, maybe someday, who knows." Harry sighed, sitting his teacup down. One thing that Ron had said this morning; however uninvited, had stuck with him. Regardless of what he thought about these people, he would need to at least work with them. He may never fully trust them again, but he needed to get past that if this effort was to succeed. Harry wasn't foolish enough to believe that he had the ability to bring down Voldemort by himself. If he wasn't willing to be civil with Remus and the others, he might as well leave now.
"I know that we'll have to work together, and I'm willing to try to at least be civil. That's all I can give you for now."
"I appreciate that Harry, to be honest; it is more than what I expected after last night." Remus was relieved that some of the friction between the two of them had disappeared, as he went to help himself to some breakfast.
"Hey, what did I miss?" Sirius laughed striding into the room, his hair still wet from his shower.
Remus smiled at his best friend. "Nothing Sirius. Now get some breakfast before Harry and I decide to finish it off."
After Sirius had filled his plate, Harry brought the conversation back to the real reason he had ventured out for such an early morning visit. "So what happened in the Chamber after Draco and I left last night?"
"It got pretty ugly there for awhile," Sirius recalled. "You have to believe us Harry; we never knew any of that stuff with Lily being adopted and her father being Tom Riddle. I think the people who were most shocked were the Weasley family when they realized that you were related to them by blood all this time."
"I believe you, Sirius. No one could have faked the expressions on their faces like the ones I saw last night. So I guess I shook things up then?"
Sirius snorted. "Hell Harry, the half of the Order that wasn't ready to lynch Dumbledore was calling for his resignation as Phoenix."
"Did he resign?" Harry knew that even though the man deserved to suffer, he was still very much needed to get through the upcoming battles.
"No, in the end, it was determined to that he would continue in that role. However I can guarantee you that no one will be taking anything he says at face value any more. We are in this together and the Council will be much more involved in all of the Order's decisions."
Agreeing that that was the best course of action at this time, Harry left Sirius and Remus' room to go help his family unpack and settle into their new home. Harry couldn't help but chuckle when Sirius told him that neither Snape nor he had informed the Order about the boys' parentage. It looks like Harry still had a few surprises left for the old man.
* * *
After his confrontation with Harry, Ron decided to take a walk to try to release some of the anger that he felt building inside himself, well more or less a limp than a walk due to this damn injury that had never healed properly. Not really angry at Harry, as much as angry at the situation and, of course, angry at Dumbledore. Who would have thought that the one person that the Weasleys were always taught to respect above all others would pull something as underhanded as to keep Harry's relationship with them a secret? How things could have been different had they known that Harry was mum's Grandson. Harry would have grown up with them, as truly a part of the family. He would never have been forced to suffer as he had while he lived with those despicable muggles, but no, none of that had happened, all because of Albus Dumbledore.
The fact that clearly Harry had changed crossed Ron's mind by his second lap around the school. But hell who wouldn't with everything that man has been forced to endure in his short life. It just wasn't fair, not to any of them. Ron was a little put off by the fact that Voldemort was Harry's grandfather and also by the fact that apparently Harry was currently involved in a sexual relationship with Malfoy. Not sure which of those two evils was the worst, Ron knew that he had to come to terms with that fast if he ever had a chance of Harry being remotely civil with him.
Overall, Ron was glad that Harry was back. Even if they would never be able to recapture their former relationship, Ron knew that Harry would indeed do whatever it took to be successful in this war. Even if you didn't recognize Harry for who he was, there was no mistaking the power that seemed to roll off the young man. Both last night and then again this morning, Ron was well aware that Harry was keeping his anger and his powers closely held in check. Shaking his head ruefully, Ron felt a brief pang of pity for the person who would be on the receiving end of that power when Harry finally decided to unleash it.
Calm enough that he felt that he could finally deal with the events that had transpired over the last 18 hours, Ron headed into the great castle in search of his wife and brothers. Hopefully together they would be able to put into action the plan that would enable them to pull the Weasley family back together. The whole family, including Harry and his sons, and if Harry insisted maybe even that git, Malfoy. Ron shook his head in disbelief at that last thought, 'Well only if they had to.'
To Be Continued.