Come the Maëlstrom
Chapter Thirty Seven
Harry didn't think it possible, but his disappearance and rescue must have generated even more owls. It had finally become widespread knowledge that he had been released from St. Mungo's and was back home. Percy must have enforced the injunction as long as he possibly could.
When he had woken up, he had found Hedwig perched on the back of the couch, hooting balefully at the solarium. Harry had walked in and stared out the window in surprise. Every single tree in the area had at least one owl perched on it, waiting patiently. After a moment's hesitation, he walked up to the window, opened it and dove for the living room because of all the owls that tried to get in at once. By the time all the letters were delivered the solarium was absolutely buried in envelopes. The pile was as high as the window and he could see a few more owls winging their way towards him. It was easily two weeks worth of accumulated mail.
"No way, I can't be bothered to deal with that now," Harry muttered as he went to the kitchen to fix himself a cup of tea. "I'll do it after lunch… or something."
Hedwig gave Harry a reproachful hoot and Harry made some vague noise of disagreement. Sifting through that huge pile of letters was something he was not looking forward to. There were only so many letters that his fireplace could hold and he saw at five burnings worth sitting there. He gave his head a little shake as the kettle with water whistled. A few minutes later, he was sitting on the couch, sipping his drink and trying to not turn back to glare at the pile.
With a sigh of frustration he rose and strode back to the pile drawing his wand as he went. Just by eyeing the pile it looked as if a majority of it was indeed destined for the fireplace. He'd ignored it when he got back from St. Mungo's, he ignored it after going back there with Ginny, but now… the mountain of letters needed to be dealt with.
He regarded the pile for a few moments longer before he sighed with resignation and flicked his wand a few times, organising the letters by contents. The envelopes fluttered through the room for a few minutes before three piles sat in the room. He was sure the largest pile was from people he didn't even know. The second one wasn't that large and probably contained job offers. The last one was the smallest and had three envelopes, which was likely from his friends.
That was the pile he picked up first as he headed to the couch to read them. One was from Ron, one from Remus and one from Hermione. He placed his coffee mug on the floor and opened Remus' letter first. The first thing that caught his attention was a phone number at the bottom. A grin came to his face as he rose from the couch and went looking for the cordless phone, letter still clutched in hand. When he found it upstairs beneath the bed in the guest room, he dialled the number as he headed back down to the living room.
It rang a few times before the sound of someone struggling with the phone came. After a few more seconds, there came somewhat faint words.
"Hello?" Remus' voice sounded far away. "Hello? Who is it?"
Harry frowned. "Is that you Remus? I can barely hear you."
The sound of muttering came through the receiver for a second. "There; I had it backwards. Harry, is that you?"
"Hi," Harry couldn't stop the smile from coming to his face. "I finally got your letter."
"Finally?" Remus echoed. "I only sent it yesterday."
"Oh. I finally tackled the huge pile of envelopes that have been waiting for me today," Harry plunked himself back down on the couch and picked up his mug. "So how have you been?"
"Unbelievably busy," Remus said, with the sound of someone protesting coming from the background. "I've been buried under paperwork, donations, Howlers and the like since everyone found out that Lucius was donating to Loup Garou."
"Guess that press conference did some good after all,"
"In a manner of speaking," the sound of Remus walking came now, followed by a door being closed. "And how have you been?"
"Not too bad. Ron found out and we had a long talk… well, more like he asked the questions and I answered them."
"How'd he find out?"
"Apparently Snape or Hermione told him… I think… I'm still not too clear on what actually happened, but he found out."
"Ah, so there wasn't some huge argument?"
"No actually… I got into an… argument with Seamus over it though."
Remus didn't say anything for a moment. "It sounds like you're losing your privacy. Are you planning to discuss this with Lucius when he's released from the hospital?"
"I talked to him about it already; not as much as I would have liked to, but we talked," Harry admitted, placing his mug back on the floor and then swinging his feet onto the couch. "It's actually not all that bad… being found out now."
"Not all that bad? I was under the impression that you wanted your privacy."
"Oh, we do, don't get me wrong. But we realise at this point that it's pretty much unstoppable now. We'll be found out eventually… so we're going to do it on our terms."
"Your terms being…?"
"Still working on that. I'm sure we'll come up with something suitably irritating."
"Irritating for everyone trying to put the pieces together?"
"Exactly."
Remus didn't speak for a moment. "Are you smirking?"
"No," Harry lied, his voice a bit tremulous.
"Right," Remus replied dryly. "Will I at least be reading something not remotely scandalous in the Daily Prophet?"
"Depends on how much they sensationalise it," Harry shrugged. "And probably not at first…"
Remus made a slightly disapproving noise in his throat. "You'd really better be careful or you might start finding Howlers in your mail."
"Good point," Harry winced at that mental image. "You didn't have company over, did you?"
"No, it's just Ravenna. She decided it would be best if we operated out of the office and my place rather than hers; it's a bit too small. Did you have something in mind?"
"I thought it might be nice if we could go out for a late breakfast. Ravenna can come too if she likes."
"That would be nice," the smile in Remus' voice was evident. "Any place in particular?"
"No not really. Just not in Diagon Alley; that's asking for trouble."
Remus chuckled. "All right then, I'll Floo over in a bit, how does that sound? You're probably still in your pyjamas."
Harry glanced down at said pyjamas. "Twenty minutes should be good."
"Then I'll see you in twenty minutes." Remus affirmed.
They chatted for a bit longer before saying goodbye and hanging up. Harry put the phone back in the cradle and turned his attention back to the two remaining letters in his hands. After a moment's thought, he opened Hermione's letter. It was the usual stuff, asking how he was, if was still looking for a job and an inquiry as to how Lucius was doing. Then he opened Ron's letter. It was pretty much the same as Hermione's, only near the bottom Ron had helpfully given the date of the next time the entire Weasley family would be at the Burrow: the end of next week.
"Oi… that's not going to be fun." He sighed as he walked to the dining room table and left the letters there. "I guess I'll worry about it then." He muttered as he headed towards the stairs.
Hedwig gave another hoot, this time a bit offended. Harry turned to look at her.
"All right, I'll deal with them all when I get back, I promise." He offered.
Hedwig didn't seem satisfied with that as she ruffled her feather but gave a resigned hoot anyhow. Harry headed up the stairs to get ready.
Lucius had to admit, Harry was getting very clever and very adept at hiding himself from the cameras, unless he chose to be seen. For the past week there had been a steady increase in the number of, 'Harry Potter Sightings'. But all the photos were from far away and it was very hard to see him. Usually there was a charmed red circle in the picture, following his movements.
And he almost always had company in the photo. Sometimes, it was Granger or Weasley. Other times it was Lupin and Ravenna. But the most prevalent ones, the ones that caused the greatest stir, were the photos that snapped Harry in Draco's company.
The gossips had absolutely eaten that one up. After all, the feud between Harry and Draco at Hogwarts had been legendary. Harry was their saviour and Draco was the son of a man who had, in the general opinion, gotten off on a mere technicality. And now they were socialising together? The running theory, and most popular by far, was that romance was blooming. Another running theory, but much less popular, was that they were plotting something.
So naturally, if the romance rumours were true, Harry would have to meet with him at some point. And that was probably when everything would become completely confusing for anyone following the rumours about Harry in the newspapers.
Lucius was sitting on the side of the bed, dressed in clothes brought from the manor for him and waiting to see Idun. The Daily Prophet in his left hand was folded neatly but shaking slightly. Most of the nerves in that limb were badly damaged, especially in the hand and shoulder region. Even though they had been regrown, the side effect was trembling. Not to mention half the scars that he was now left with thanks to Narcissa's attention. He was watching the paper when the door opened and Idun strode in.
"Well Lucius, I must say, you have a horrible track record. Two women beat the crap out of you in less than a six month period and you live to tell the tale."
"Having my bones fused together and being tortured does not constitue having, "the crap" beaten out of me."
"Oh yes it does," Idun gave him an impish smirk. "But of course, I'm only the Healer that patched you back up again. Honestly, what would you do without me?"
"Not have to suffer your twisted idea of humour." Lucius replied wryly.
Idun waved her hand dismissively as she looked over her chart. "Well, everything on your charts checks out fine. You seem to be lucky that you keep getting out earlier. Now, would you mind standing for a moment?"
Lucius did so, his right knee paining a bit. Idun made a small noise as she noticed that.
"Well, considering how you could barely move without bitching like it was the end of the world, that's a massive improvement. It will loosen up as you exercise it more. Could you walk towards me please?"
Lucius did so, the pain in his knee vanishing as the muscle loosened up. But the tight scars at his side and along his front pulled a bit. Idun frowned as he came to a stop in front of her. She drew her wand, prodding him in certain spots before she drew back a bit.
"Revelo," she muttered, drawing her wand across the middle of his shirt. It was transparent for a moment, revealing the scars in question "Hm, well those scars will definitely cause some problems if left as it, especially that big one at the side. I've managed to get you a scar salve from Potare's; some of the best stuff ever. Now, you don't need a lot of it, just enough to cover your fingertips and massage it onto the scars. It will help make the tissue more flexible. And you only need to apply it once a day. When it's all done, you won't need to get any more; the scars should be perfectly fine.
He watched she reached in to her green robe and drew out a short squat bottle with a beige cream inside. "Side effects?"
"Nothing too serious I would imagine. It might cause some increased blood flow to the area but that's about it." Idun smiled as she placed it in his hand. "You should know that the front lobby is absolutely swarming with reporters and what not,"
Lucius couldn't quite stifle a snarl of irritation as he pocketed the cream. Idun smile however, grew wider.
"So I took the liberty of contacting Tonks to see about a Portkey for you. She quite agrees that you shouldn't have to fight your way through that; who knows what someone may try. The remaining Death Eaters may have been captured, but still, it's best to keep the cat out of the pixies, hm?"
"And my Portkey is to be?"
Idun reached into her robe again and drew out his wand. "You really should thank Tonks for you. We made the same arrangement for Harry and he was quite pleased with it, though his wand gave me hives on my arm. I think Tonks name was mud with the journalists for a bit."
Lucius reached for his wand but Idun drew it back. He glared at her but she simply watched him with a gleam in her eye.
"It's set to go off when only you are touching it, so I have a few more instructions for you. No heavy spell casting, no strenuous exercise, and only do what you feel capable of. Harry has a sensible head on his shoulders, so I'm sure he'll stop you from doing something foolhardy,"
Lucius vaguely wondered if that was supposed to be a joke of sorts.
"And if you feel that something's not right, contact me or Bruce, would you? Even if it's the smallest stupidest seeming thing."
"What about travelling?"
"Travelling?" Idun repeated. "I don't see any problem with that so long as you follow my instructions and don't forget to apply the cream."
Lucius took his wand as Idun handed it to him. But she still held on, shaking her head slightly.
"Is there something else?"
"If you are planning on travelling, I think I'd better tell Bruce to input your file into the travelling wizards archive. That way, if you do get beaten up again, they'll be able to get a hold of your healing history instantly. So he should have the approval form for you to sign to you within a few days at the most."
"Surely you don't think that I'm that accident prone." Lucius mused.
"Of course not. But again, best to keep the cat out of the pixies," Idun grinned. "Take care of yourself Lucius. Because it might not be me or Bruce there next time."
And with that Idun let go of the wand, activating the Portkey. When everything stopped swirling, he found himself standing in the front foyer of the manor. The murmur of voices echoed around him and he stepped forward, recognising them to be Harry and Draco's. After a few moments, he spied the parlour door open and he walked over, pushing it open slightly.
The curtains inside were open, allowing in the sunlight. Draco was sitting in the chair while Harry was sprawled on the floor in a patch of sunlight. They both were reading the Daily Prophet, Draco with a sneer and Harry with a supremely amused expression on his face.
"This idea of yours had better work," Draco grumbled, with his eyes still fixed on the paper. "I could be in Italy and not bothering with this nonsense."
"I know, but it's only for a bit longer, just until…" Harry trailed off and then looked up a smile coming to his face.
Draco remained oblivious. "Until what? You said around the end of December. If you make me miss my first Christmas with Blaise I'll curse your hide until –"
"Lucius!"
Draco looked up like he was stung and Harry scrambled to his feet and charged over, hugging Lucius. Lucius settled his arms around Harry easily, with a slight smile on his face. When he looked up at Draco, there was a wry expression on his son's face.
"It's good to see you both." Lucius simply stated.
"I didn't think you would get out until the end of the week," Harry still had a grin on his face.
"I was released early," Lucius looked around. "May I ask what you two are up to?"
"Seeing the Daily Prophet's latest rumours about us," Draco said as he closed his paper. "Apparently we're a very serious item."
"And as such, it's only a certain amount of time before I have to meet Draco's father," Harry had a smirk on his face.
"I see," Lucius began; it was nice to know that he was entirely correct. "And by the time they try to figure out the mess…?"
"We'll be long gone, as will Draco. They won't be able to get a straight answer from the source," Harry said simply as he let go of Lucius. "Sure Seamus might blab, but it won't be for a while, since he's still licking his wounds. And it won't quite be same as if I sat down a roomful of reporters and told them exactly what's happening."
"And when did you wish to start implementing this plan?" Lucius asked as he started to walk into the parlour to the empty seat.
"Sometime before the end of this week. I've got a dinner to go to at the Burrow next week. Only Ron and Ginny know, so I should tell everyone else. Because it'll be twice as bad if I up and leave and they have to hear it from Ron or Ginny."
Lucius didn't reply to that as he sat down in the seat. Harry took his spot in the pool of sunlight again, looking over the newspaper. Draco watched them for a moment before he cleared his throat.
"If you don't mind me asking, where are you planning to visit first?"
Lucius gave a slight shrug. "I'm sure we'll think of something appropriate at the time of our departure."
"It's not exactly a big deal," Harry replied a bit absently. "Maybe it's better that we ourselves don't know. Can't tell anyone about where we plan to go, can't possibly leak that way."
"So it's essentially a spur of the moment trip. Do you have any idea of how long you plan to be gone?"
"None," Lucius answered. "Though I would imagine it would be for a good amount of time. By the time we get back, the rumours might be completely dead."
"If we get back." Harry added for good measure.
"If?" Draco looked between them. "It sounds like you still have to discuss this a bit more."
Lucius gave Draco a slightly pointed look. Draco snorted as he rose from his seat and made his way to the door.
"Do me the small courtesy of casting a silencing charm. I don't want to hear your argument… or whatever else arises."
Draco paused at the door for a moment as the implication of his own words hit him. Harry chuckled at the shudder that passed through Draco before the door was hastily shut. Once it was shut, Lucius looked over to see Harry watching him intently.
"So, did you have any brilliant, concrete ideas?" Harry asked.
"None really," Lucius mused. "Perhaps this situation isn't so much about what we should do but what we shouldn't."
"…Um…okay." Harry said after a moment with a blank look on his face.
"We could make some intricate plan or we can keep it as it is now."
"You mean just be spotted together and then vanish away."
"Precisely; the only thing that needs to be seriously discussed is living abroad."
"I wouldn't mind it really," Harry began after a moment's thought. "It would be nice to be someplace other than here for a good long while."
"You suggested a place in Spain a while back."
"Well, yeah, as well as getting places in a few other countries."
Lucius took in the hesitant expression on Harry's face. "However…"
"Are you sure you'd be comfortable with that? Living somewhere else?"
"It wouldn't be the first time," Lucius replied mildly. "I have property in France and lived there as child. There are a few more properties overseas that I own but haven't seen. As they're all unplottable, we're guaranteed privacy."
"Hm, I've probably got a few now that I've got my inheritance. I got Valerian to explain it in layman's terms… but I haven't had the time to wade through all the papers stating just what I own, and it's a lot."
"Legalese is not a particularly stimulating language," Lucius mused dryly. "Perhaps I should come over to help you."
"That's a good idea. And if people ask just why we're gone at the same time, we have a very convenient excuse." Harry gave an impish smirk.
"Looking at property…" Lucius shook his head slightly. "That seems a rather…"
"Lame excuse?" Harry offered.
Lucius nodded his head. "But it will suffice."
"Actually, I can run back to my place and get everything," Harry sat up. "Would you mind if we took care of it now?"
"Not a problem. We can use my study; we won't be disturbed there," Lucius began as he rose. "I'll have Bwink waiting for you when you come back."
"Thanks," Harry hurried over and gave Lucius a kiss on the cheek before he dashed out of the parlour.
Lucius watched the door swinging slightly with an amused expression before he rose and made his way to his study. It didn't take long to summon Bwink and instruct her to escort Harry to the study when he came back. He settled down in his seat, after taking the cream from his pocket. He found a book and had only started reading for about ten minutes when the study door opened again. Harry walked in, his pockets bulging slightly.
"Okay," he came to a stop in front of the desk and took out two large sheaves of parchment. "This is everything. It's been divided up into five different sections,"
Lucius almost cringed when Harry enlarged the pile and it grew to take over almost three quarters of his desk. What had Black done, left Harry everything right down to the rugs? He picked his bottle of cream and tucked it into a drawer quietly; better to have it there than possibly lost under all of that.
"See why I haven't been able to get through it?" Harry asked wryly as he came around to the other side
"Indeed," Lucius commented dryly. "I presume you know which is which?"
"Yup. Land property in Europe, land property abroad, money and income, investments and percentages owned in companies, Gringotts vaults with liquid assets and miscellaneous holdings and property." Harry's fingers jumped from pile to pile as he named them.
Lucius rubbed his brow a bit as he surveyed the parchment. "This will easily take more than a day."
"I'm not exactly in a rush to get back home you know." Harry looked around before he looked at Lucius' chair. "Is that the only one in here?"
"Obviously."
Lucius sat up, intending to find something to transfigure. But the scars pulled sharply and he drew in a sharp breath. Harry perched on the side of the desk, looking at Lucius curiously.
"Are you all right? Please tell me you don't need to go back to St. Mungo's already."
Lucius gave Harry a look. "It's my scars."
"So why didn't you take care of them before?"
"I didn't anticipate stretching them beyond necessary."
"Well, what's wrong with them?"
"They're too tight," Lucius made a slight face. "I have to apply cream to them once a day."
"You make it sound like a bad thing. You could be missing chunks of your body."
"Thank you for that lovely mental image," Lucius replied in a withering voice. "But I'll be fine."
Harry snorted. "Where's the cream?"
"I beg your pardon?"
"Where's the cream? You can sit there and act like it won't bother you or you can just get the damned stuff on now and be done with it."
"I'm fine," Lucius repeated again as Harry started looking through the top drawers. "You do not need to fuss over me."
Harry made a triumphant sound as he found the jar of cream. He held it up in a hand looking at it.
"Well, it's one of two things: you willingly take your shirt or I strip it off you. Either way, I'll get this stuff on you; your choice. But I'm not going to spend a good while looking over these documents while you grumble and hiss every time you pull on a scar."
Lucius took one look at Harry was still perched on the edge of the desk, only this time he had a cocky smile on his face as he rolled the jar between his hands. With a soft curse, he started undoing the buttons.
"Are you ready yet?" Harry called as he stepped out of the fireplace.
Hermione had asked him to come by her place before they went to the Burrow. Of course, he figured Hermione would have been ready by now, and he wouldn't have walked into an empty living room.
"In a moment!" Hermione's voice came from the second floor.
Harry looked around, rocking on his heels slightly. "Shouldn't you parents be home?"
"They went out for the night," Hermione called. "Er, Harry, could you come up here for a moment?"
Harry shook his head as he vanished the Floo powder from his cloak and started up the stairs. "What is it?"
"Just come!" Hermione exclaimed.
Harry walked up to her bedroom door and knocked before turning the knob slowly. A second later it flew from his hand as Hermione yanked the door open.
"Oh for Merlin's sake, I'm not naked you know. I called you up for a reason." She shook her head as she walked back into her bedroom.
"So what is it? You can't say I'm late getting ready for these things." Harry chided with a smirk on his face as he stepped in.
"You look nice by the way," she smoothed some wrinkles from her dress. "Now, how's my outfit? It's not too…"
Hermione trailed off as she spun around, and then looked anxiously at Harry. He really didn't know what she was worried about. She looked perfectly fine, even if her hair had to be weighed down with a container or two of Sleekeasy Hair Potion.
"Too what?"
"I don't know. The burgundy dress doesn't make me look too pale does it? Should I wear my hair up maybe?" Hermione grasped her wand as she pulled up a bunch of her hair, posing in front of the mirror.
"Er, maybe you should have asked Parvati for her help?"
"She couldn't make it; I tried asking her last week. She was busy right up until the dinner, so she's coming late."
Harry didn't say anything as Hermione nodded her head and, with a few swishes of her wand, had spelled her hair up a few moments later. Then she opened a small box and started looking over stuff.
"You're still not done?" Harry groaned. "We're going to be late."
"I need some jewellery," Hermione replied a bit absently. "Something simple and – Harry!"
Harry had strode over and pushed her aside a bit, inspecting the box. After a few seconds, he reached in and pulled out a gold rose on a chain. He held it up questioningly and Hermione nodded her head.
"There, are you almost done now?" he asked as he put it on for her.
"Just need to get my shoes on as well as my cloak. Could you get my silver cloak pin from the top drawer there?" Hermione asked as she made her way to her closet.
Harry did that and when he turned around, Hermione was wobbling on one leg as she put on a boot. He was hard pressed to not laugh when she got one on and proceeded to do the same again with her other bare foot.
"You sure wearing heels is such a good idea?" he asked, a corner of his lips curled.
"Yes," Hermione said as she settled the cloak around her shoulders and took the pin from him. "Now, just a quick warming charm and we're off."
"Warming charm?" Harry asked.
"I told Mrs. Weasley I'd bring a bottle of wine. All we have to do is go and pick it up before Apparating over to Burrow." Hermione said as she grabbed her house keys and tossed them in her cloak pocket.
"Uh huh…" Harry said slowly as he took in Hermione's completed appearance. "And what time is Snape getting there?"
Hermione's cheeks coloured. "In about thirty minutes. He wanted to finish up with some preliminary potions works before he left." She cast a quick warming charm on her cloak and then on Harry's.
"All right then, we'd better get going." Harry said. "I don't think we want to leave Snape all alone with a bunch of Weasleys about. He might get vicious."
"He said he would try to keep his temper," Hermione explained as she ushered them from her room and down to the front door. "So either no one will really talk to him or someone will say something incredibly stupid and set him off."
Harry snorted as he stepped outside, the air cold against his face. Warming charms were such a useful spell in the winter. Hermione quickly locked the door and they set off down the street. It was snowing gently and their steps crunched in fluffy flakes.
"So how is Snape doing?" Harry asked.
"He's doing just fine," Hermione replied with a quick smile. "He's been working on a modification of Wolfsbane for almost three weeks now. He's hoping to make a more affordable potion rather than the current one."
"I'll bet Ravenna will be glad to hear about that."
"I have no doubt. He's hoping to have it completed before he takes his year off," Hermione frowned a little bit. "But even he thinks that might be a bit too much to accomplish."
"It's not like someone's hounding him for the new version. Wasn't he the one that kept saying stuff like, 'you can't rush a good potion'?"
"Good point," Hermione laughed. "Speaking of hounding, of sorts, your picture has been showing up the Daily Prophet a lot. In the company of one Lucius Malfoy."
Harry looked at her and was rewarded with a grin. "Well, there's a good reason for that."
"Oh? You're going to let the cat out of the bag before someone can beat you to it?"
"Not exactly; it's not like they have solid proof. Just wild theories…"
Hermione narrowed her eyes for a moment before she chuckled. "Harry, that is positively mean of you. That's exactly what you two want, isn't it? Everyone scratching their heads and trying to figure out just what's going on."
He shrugged. "Well, they'll be scratching their heads for a good while longer."
"A good while longer? What does that mean?" Hermione asked in a puzzled voice.
Harry sighed as he ran a hand through his hair. "I was going to tell you, Ron and Ginny before letting everyone else know. We're not staying here."
"You're not staying in London?"
"…We're not staying in the country."
"But…" Hermione sounded flustered now. "Where are you going to go?"
"We're not too sure yet. But I can tell you that we are going. We've made up our mind."
"Yes, but…" she didn't say anything for a moment. "Do you really have to do it now?"
"As great as it is spending the holidays with you guys, the whole Daily Prophet thing is going to get much worse before it gets any better. Don't you think I've earned some peace and quiet for myself for once? And not bothered by the daily flood of owls?"
"Well, yes, you have but…" Hermione bit her lip for a moment. "I don't want you to go."
Harry didn't say anything as he wrapped an arm around her shoulder and hugged her close. "I'll still write to you all. And we can come and visit every so often."
"So," Hermione gave a deep sigh. "This is like your farewell?"
"I guess it is in a way," Harry said quietly.
Hermione didn't say anything for a moment before she gave a wry snort. "You sure picked a rotten time. Mrs. Weasley will throw an absolute fit when you tell her this and that you're dating Lucius."
"Well, the official story is that I'm inspecting all the properties that I've inherited," Harry replied after a moment. "So hopefully she won't yell at me… too much."
"That is a lot of wishful thinking on your part," Hermione smiled for a moment.
"Yeah, I guess so," Harry gave a resigned sigh. "She'll try to lecture my ears off."
"Just try to not get too bored. Or lose your temper. Ah, here's the store."
It didn't take them long to go in and get the bottle of wine and even less time to Apparate onto the path to the Burrow. Even during the walk, they could hear loud music and chatter coming from the house. When the knocked on the front door, they were immediately sucked into the warm house. The wine was taken from Hermione by Mrs. Weasley and Ginny had dragged her off, claiming that Snape had just arrived and Ron looked like he was gearing up for an argument, despite Parvati's best efforts.
Harry had taken the chance to squeeze past the talking Mrs. Weasley and into the crowded living room. It seemed like room was magically enlarged and a good portion of the Order was there. He couldn't exactly blame them; they had every reason to be celebrating.
"Harry!"
He looked around, trying to see just where the person had called him from. A moment later, Fred and George popped around from behind Dedalus Diggle, who was in an animated conversation with Kinglsey about something.
"There you are," Fred, or George, said.
"Yeah, Ron's been looking for you. Said –"
"That Hermione said you wanted to talk to him –"
"And Gin about something."
"If you care to tell us what it –"
"We'll gladly pass along the message."
Harry looked between the grinning twins, unable to stop himself from chuckling. "No offence you two, but I think I'll tell them myself."
"Harry," both twins had an affronted and hurt look on their faces. "Is it that –"
"You don't trust us?"
"Of course it's not that I don't trust you," Harry patted them on the shoulder shaking his head slowly. "It's just that… well… I don't trust you."
And with that, he squeezed between the twins and vanished into the crowd once more, though he could have sworn one of the twins mumbled something like, "D'you reckon he's been taking a page from Dumbledore's book?" It was Ginny that found him first and after a few minutes more of circulating, they found Ron who had managed to find a corner to himself with Parvati. It took them considerably longer to weave their way through the press of people and up the stairs.
"Okay, it's great to be out of there," Ginny breathed in relief. "There're so many people down there!"
"Did your mum invite so many people on purpose?" Harry asked; he couldn't deny that he felt relieved as well.
"Not at first," Ron began as he sat down on the bedside. "It was just supposed to be the family. Mum says it might be nice to have a few people from the Order over as well and next thing you know…" he gestured vaguely to the door.
"Okay, so it'll be awhile before Mum realises we're gone," Ginny looked at Harry intently. "Look Harry, you really surprised me that day at St. Mungo's. I can't exactly say that I'm thrilled, but I'm not about to start throwing a hissy fit; he's who you chose and I'm not about to try and change your mind."
"So, you're okay with it?"
"I'm okay with it. Now," Ginny asked as she settled herself on the floor. "What did you want to talk to us about?"
"I don't really know of any best way to put this so I'm just going to say it." Harry began as he took a deep breath.
Ginny and Ron watched him as he felt the words start to dry up in his throat a bit.
"Um, this is the part when –" Ron began.
"We're leaving the country." Harry blurted out.
"Okay… that's the big thing?" Ginny asked a moment later.
"You didn't quite think it through, did you Harry?" Ron snickered. "I mean Charlie's in Romania and Bill's in Egypt. This isn't exactly a shocker you know."
"Oh," Harry felt like a complete idiot now. "Well, the official story is that I'm travelling to look over my properties. Make sure they're all there and accounted for."
"Sirius left you stuff?" Ron asked.
"It's more a matter of finding out what didn't he leave me," Harry explained. "It's going to take a long while and I really don't see how we can live here with everyone trying to get a glimpse into our lives."
"Just don't forget about us," Ginny admonished.
"Course not," Harry replied. "I'll still owl you all. I'll bet it won't take me as long since I won't have to deal with every other owl that comes my way."
"There is that," Ron laughed before he sobered up. "You sure this is what you want?"
"Positive." Harry said.
"All right," Ron clapped his hands on his knees. "Though you might want to tell Mum when everyone else is gone for the night… which might be awhile."
Harry nodded his head as he regarded the door. "Should we go back down now?"
"I don't want to go back down there yet." Ginny said quickly. "Ron?"
"Not particularly. But I don't want to leave Parv down there by herself. She'll yell at me."
"Why don't you go fetch her? I've got loads of candy in here, plus a chess set and an exploding snap deck."
"Brilliant!" Ron got to his feet and opened the door; a massive wall of sound came in. "I'll be back soon hopefully."
Harry laughed as Ron disappeared. Ginny reached under her bed, and drew out two boxes. She looked up at Harry as she started taking the stuff out.
"Really Harry, I'm glad you're happy." She said quietly. "If anyone deserves it, you do."
"Thanks Gin." Harry replied with smile.
"Besides," she gave him an impish smile. "There's just something very romantic about eloping."
"Ginny!" Harry exclaimed as his face went red. "We're not eloping!"
"Uh huh, sure you're not. You're only running off together."
Harry groaned as Ginny smirk grew wider; he'd forgotten about the mandatory teasing.
The snow was falling thickly now as Harry looked out his bedroom window one last time, his hand absently patted his pocket. Everything was finally arranged and the Daily Prophet and Witch Weekly were practically foaming at the mouth trying to figure out just what was going on in his love life. Pictures of him, Draco and Lucius were splashed where possible and apparently the copies were flying off the shelves. In less that two weeks the rumours were split down the middle somewhat. Apparently he had a spat with Draco and had taken up Lucius. But Draco could be coming back any day to reclaim Harry as his own.
The one thing that really made Harry laugh was that Draco was probably somewhere in Italy with Blaise, looking forward to Christmas in a few days.
The dinner at the Burrow that morphed into a party had been a smash. It hadn't been until sometime around two in the morning that Harry got to talk to everyone. Ron and Ginny had only stayed up to give some moral support. Not that Harry found he needed it. When he'd revealed that Lucius was his boyfriend, Charlie and Bill, who had a bit too much to drink, had started giggling. Mr. Weasley goggled at him. Percy blinked owlishly and then promptly fell asleep in his apple crumble which set Fred and George laughing along with Charlie and Bill. Mrs. Weasley was the only one who started to mount a protest, but Mr. Weasley had quickly shut down that possibility, claiming that it was too early to deal with something like this. He'd been summoned back again the next day and lectured until he thought his ears would fall off. Not that Mrs. Weasley said anything that changed his mind.
He had finished packing up all his clothes and was about ready to Floo over to the manor to meet up with Lucius. All he was waiting for was Remus to come over. He had offered Remus the use of his flat and Grimmauld Place while he was gone. All he had to do was give him the keys as soon as he came over. Besides, it would be much easier for Remus to have somewhere a bit bigger to do his work from. It hadn't taken him long to convert the spare bedroom into a secure room where Remus could transform after taking his Wolfsbane.
After a moment, he sighed and made his way from the bedroom and down to the living room. He'd finally cleared away all the papers and parchment that had accumulated on the table. Every inch of the place had been cleaned and was spotless.
A flaring sound from the fireplace caused him look up in time to see Remus step out and shake Floo powder from his hair. "I'm not late am I?"
"No, you're not," Harry smiled as he dug into his other pocket and drew out the keys. "This silver one is for the apartment. And this old one is for… well, you know."
"I know," Remus smiled as Harry placed the keys in his hands. "Packed already?"
"Yup." He patted his pocket firmly. "Just have to pop over to the manor. Lucius arranged the Portkey. He said it's set to go off at nine thirty."
"That's a few minutes from now," Remus frowned as he looked at his watch. "You're sure I can –"
"Yes, you can!" Harry exclaimed in exasperation. "No point in having it sitting here empty and collecting dust when someone could be using it for something. But no wild parties." He shook a finger with a mock frown.
Remus laughed at that. "You'd better get going before Lucius gets annoyed with you."
Harry nodded as he stepped into the fireplace. "Take care of yourself. I'll write you as soon as I can."
"You too Harry," Remus replied. "And enjoy yourself."
He nodded his head as he grasped a handful of Floo powder, threw it down and then was hurtling through a world of spinning green. When he finally came to a stop he stumbled out of the fireplace, tripping on the slight lip.
"You're as graceful as Tonks," came Lucius dry amused tone.
"Thanks, I only could have broken my neck," Harry groused. "At least I'm not late."
"Barely, since you have a minute and a half left."
"I still made it."
"Barely." Lucius repeated.
Harry's reply was to snort and stick his tongue out. Lucius chuckled as he leaned in and sucked in the bit of tongue that was still out of Harry's mouth. Harry inhaled sharply, moving his arms around Lucius as their tongues twisted and moved. After a few seconds, Lucius pulled back with a satisfied smirk.
"Hold on." Lucius whispered.
That was all that was left to echo in the front foyer as they both disappeared.