A/N - adult stuff. Slash. If you don't want to read it don't worry, it will be quite obvious when it's coming up and you can just drop down to the next divider. It's only about half way through, so don't just stop reading there.
Chapter 56
After the scene in the kitchen, Molly had excused herself for the evening. Arthur patted Harry on the back as they made their way out of the kitchen to get out of the house elves' way. "She'll come around. Eventually. I'll try to talk to her, but you know how stubborn she can be."
Harry sighed sadly, dropping his eyes and nodding. Molly had come to feel like his own mother over the years, and her obvious disapproval weighed heavily on him. He looked up just in time to see Kulia making her way briskly down the corridor away from them, pulling up her hood. "She ok?" He asked with concern.
The twins both turned, realizing for the first time that she'd left their side. They hurriedly said their goodnights and ran after her.
Blaise snapped his fingers a couple of times and a house elf scampered up.
"Yes master?" It squeaked, eager to please.
"Those three need a guide. They're going in the wrong direction. See them to their suite." He said briskly, pointing to where the twins were disappearing around a corner after Kulia.
The elf bobbed it's head. "Begging your pardon sir. We is not knowing they is being ready for bed."
"Ok, ok... just go." Blaise said to the apologetic elf. It scampered off after them without another word. He looked over at the others. "Please don't go wandering around here alone, even if you think you know exactly where you are. I have an itching suspicion that the place gets bored and rearranges itself periodically. Even I get lost sometimes. Mother and the House elves seem to be the only ones who can truly find their way around safely. There is a black velvet rope pull just inside the door of each suite, and pretty much every corridor has one as well in case you get lost. Just pull one and it will summon a house elf.
They all nodded in acknowledgment of the warning.
"Well, I think it's about time to call it a night. You can come to breakfast in the morning or not. It will be served, but I, personally, plan on giving Pansy a bit of a lie in. That train ride couldn't have been that pleasant for you either... You look as if you could use it..." He said, leaning over and kissing Pansy lovingly. Then he grinned over at the others again. "A house elf will come to collect you all from your rooms around eleven so Diamond can measure you for your robes. Lunch will of course follow. Until then, I bid you all a good night." He said with a smile, giving them a curt nod and summoning more elf guides with a wave of his hand.
Mr. Weasley nodded, quickly following his guide, knowing it was best not to let Molly brood for too long on why he hadn't gone with her to the room as a show of support.
Narcissa gave Draco a hug and a kiss on the cheek before leaving, making his cheeks tinge pink. Ginny tried to stifle her giggle, but wasn't very successful.
Bill and Charlie waited until their father had disappeared around a corner, then looked over at Ron. "So let us get this straight..." Charlie said to Ron, "This is your boyfriend?" He asked, indicating Blaise.
Ron blushed, but nodded without hesitation.
"And this is your girlfriend?"
Ron blushed ever brighter, nodding again.
"As in, you like shagging her?"
Ron's blush spread all the way to the tips of his ears as he nodded again.
Charlie let out a bark of laughter and smacked Bill's arm with the back of his hand, "Told you he liked girls too!" He said with a chuckle, then held his hand out expectantly.
Bill rolled his eyes, "Ya ya..." He muttered as he dug in his pocket. Ron watched, wide eyed as Bill dropped five fat gold galleons into Charlie's waiting hand.
They turned and started down the hall as Charlie pocketed the coins, completely oblivious to Ron's shock. "That puts me ahead by ten galleons! I told you Percy wasn't a bender! You really have no talent for guessing sexual orientation." He said with a chuckle as they walked away.
"I still say you were making that up." Bill retorted mirthfully, "There's no way prim and proper Percy would have been doing anything with some girl on Crumb's desk! She probably worked there and you just misinterpreted what you saw."
Charlie gave a snort of laughter, "Ya right. I suppose she just spilled something on her knickers and tossed them on the desk to dry... and then I suppose she skinned her knee or something, and that's why Percy had her up on the desk with her skirt flipped up. I don't know if she works for the Ministry or not, but they were both most definitely 'on the job'!"
Bill cringed at the mental image and they shared a chuckle as they went around the corner out of sight.
Ron and Ginny looked at eachother, their noses wrinkled in disgust, then burst out laughing. When Ron was able to master himself, he smirked at her. "Merlin! Wasn't there anyone other than me, Harry and Hermione who didn't know I liked guys?"
Ginny smirked, "We're your family, Ron!" She said, coming over and patting his cheek affectionately, "We pay attention!"
Ron rolled his eyes as she linked her arm in Draco's and they started after their guide, Tiger scampering after them like an overexcited puppy. Ron shook his head ruefully as Blaise and Pansy looped their arms around him and led him off.
"I think I can guide this one myself, thanks." Delse said to the house elf that hurried up to Harry. It bobbed its head and scurried off.
Harry looked over at her and grinned. Delse linked her arm with Harry's and led him off. They walked in silence for a time.
"They do change, you know." Delse said conversationally after the first couple of corridors. "The halls and such, that is."
Harry looked over at her, surprised. "Like the staircases at Hogwarts?"
She smiled and nodded. "I figured it out after I had been here about a month. I had gotten tired of getting lost, so I made a map... and then the house changed! It took me quite a while, but I was able to figure out how to cast a stability spell on myself. It changes for everyone else, but my path always remains the same. I go the same way whenever I want to go to the kitchen or wherever, and it's always right where I expect it to be. I never shared that with my late husband though. It was too much fun watching him get angry when I could find my way around his ancestral home better than he could!"
Harry chuckled. "I imagine that must have been embarrassing for him. Why haven't you shared the spell with Blaise?"
She grinned, "He's just too cute when he gets frustrated! Not to mention, I feel it's teaching him important lessons. Humility for one. And his father always tried to teach him that he should be completely self-sufficient, and he didn't need anyone else... but then he had to have a house elf lead him back to his own bedroom! I'd like to think that taught Blaise that his father was full of shit." She said with a chuckle. "Of course, it also taught him that there will always be things that are beyond his control... and that's just part of life and something he simply has to deal with."
"Never thought of it that way." He said with a smirk. He glanced over at her as they walked. "Blaise's been really understanding about you and I... a lot more than I ever expected he would be..."
Delse gave him a brilliant smile. "He's always been an amazingly sensitive and understanding boy. I thank the Gods every day that he turned out so well! I felt real despair when I first found out he was going to be a boy. I was afraid he'd be just like his father!"
"So you don't mind... um... how... um... free he is with his affection?" Harry asked, unsure how to put it delicately that Blaise was a bit of a slut.
Delse chuckled. "I'm not terribly fond of it when he tries to mess about with my friends, but that's more because I know their husbands, and therefore what kind of danger he's putting himself in! As for girls his own age... as long as he makes sure he's careful, I don't see the harm in it. Especially the Slytherin girls. A lot of them are probably going to be shuffled off into loveless arranged marriages, so he's really doing them a favor providing them with memories of actually enjoying sex." She said with a smirk. "Those kinds of memories are very important to have... you really think I wasn't imagining someone else while my husband was rutting away at me?"
Harry cringed at the mental image. He'd seen a couple of pictures around that he was pretty sure were Blaise's father. Not that there was any resemblance, but they appeared to be the most recent, and Blaise had looked away when they passed them, while the man in the picture glared at him hatefully. The man had looked cold and cruel.
He quickly decided he didn't want to dwell on imaginings of that man molesting Delse. "So.. um... what about the boys he's been with? Weren't you... um... a bit shocked?"
She looked over at him, her smirk widening. "I'm sure I knew he was that way even before he did. That boy is so full of love I never had any illusions that he would consign it entirely to one sex. And then when he became friends with Draco... well, when Blaise decided they were friends anyway... there was no doubt left."
Harry's eye widened, "You mean he and Draco...?"
"No! No..." She chuckled. "Draco's not like that. But the way Blaise looked at him... I knew he loved him. It turned out to be the love of a deep friendship between those two, but it showed his capacity to feel love uninhibited by gender. With other boys, his affection wasn't exactly friendship... it was more like it was with the girls he dallied with, but in a way much more intimate... but the boys kept hurting him... it just broke my heart. He wrote to me whenever he was away, you know. At least once or twice a week since he started Hogwarts. Had the letters delivered to Vincent, and Vincent would slip them to me so his father wouldn't see them. He told me all about what had happened to him since his last letter. Even who he'd shagged and how they were! It's like his version of keeping a diary! You should have seen the letter he sent right after the first time he shagged Ron! He went on about him for nearly three feet of parchment, I swear!" She said with a chuckle. "We have a very open relationship. We can talk to eachother about just about anything, and we keep eachothers secrets."
Her smile faded a bit, "But the boys... the other ones that is... I could tell they hurt him far worse than the girls when it was them that put an end to it. To be honest, I was sure he would eventually give up on boys. I never expected him to find someone like Ron. The minute I read the letter about him letting Ron shag him for the first time, I knew he was hopelessly in love. I can't tell you how glad I am that he finally found a boy who he could give himself to so completely, that would actually love him back." She sighed happily, coming to a stop outside an ornate door. "I've never seen him as happy as he is with Ron and Pansy." She shifted over in front of him, slipping her arms around him and pulling him close, resting her cheek against his chest, "And now they are going to be parents..." She sighed wistfully, "I can't tell you how glad I am that he is going to be able to have the happiness and joy that I was never allowed... and his children will get to grow up with all the love they could ever hope for... from both their parents. Well, all three really." She said, smiling against him.
Harry hugged her close. "I doubt I could ever make up for the wrongs that have been inflicted on you in your past..." He said softly, "But I'm pretty confident I can help you forget about them for a while..." He said, a smirk stealing over his lips.
She grinned up at him, then reached back, opening the door behind her and pulling him through after her.
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Ron's eyes went wide when Blaise led him into his room.
"Looks a mite familiar, does it?" Blaise asked with a chuckle.
Ron stared. It was exactly like the Room of Requirement! Well, the bedroom that Blaise had created there for their first little 'date' that is. He grinned over at Blaise.
Pansy chuckled as well, "Ya... I had the same reaction the first time he brought me in here."
One thing he'd never seen in the Room of Requirement was the rest of the suite, which was just as extravagant. Blaise had his own large 'common room' type room and library and such, but Blaise was most interested in showing him the bathroom. He'd obviously sent the house elves ahead to prepare his suite for his visitors. There was already a very inviting looking bath drawn and waiting for them in the giant tub.
They spent about twenty minutes snogging, fondling and overall messing about in the tub before they finally emerged. From there, Blaise led them straight over to the bed of course. He scooped up the still damp and giggling Pansy, placing her gently in the middle of the gigantic bed. He lay down beside her, kissing her deeply as he pulled open her towel, his hand quickly moving down and shifting her legs apart, rubbing her gently. Then he broke the kiss, following his hand down between her legs. She groaned happily as he started pleasing her in the only way he was currently allowed. Ron crawled across the bed to her, laying down beside her, kissing her ardently as his hand gently caressed her.
Within five minutes she had to ask Blaise to stop, the pleasure his tongue inspired too intense to handle. He shifted back up on the other side of her, pausing on his way up to press his mouth to her breast, teasing the nipple with his tongue, making her giggle and shiver.
When he finally lay beside her again, she reached down, caressing him as she regained her breath. She glanced over on the other side, reaching over and caressing Ron as well. She sighed, closing her eyes and stroking them, moaning with such longing it made Blaise's heart ache. She turned her head towards him, opening her eyes. "Let me share you with Ron again... please?" she asked pleadingly.
He let out an anguished breath. "You know I can't. You heard Snape. We can't be inside you again until it's safe..."
She let out a pitiful sound, still not releasing them. She took a deep breath, then let it out. "Fine... don't be in me then... just at least be on top of me..." She asked, her eyes begging him.
He stared at the longing in her eyes for a long moment, then looked over at Ron. Ron shrugged, leaving it up to Blaise. Blaise contemplated it for a moment, though that was difficult with her stroking him the whole time. Finally he sighed and nodded. "We'll give it a try, as long as you promise to tell me right away if I'm hurting you in any way." He said sternly.
She grinned brilliantly and nodded, releasing them. They both watched Blaise curiously as he got up off the bed and went over to a very large wardrobe nearby. He opened it and pulled open one of the drawers at the bottom. The clothes in the wardrobe were almost entirely green in color, and what Ron could see of them looked distinctly feminine. When he had closed it back up and came back over to the bed, they could see a pair of green silk knickers in his hand. Pansy rolled her eyes as he handed them to her, but slipped them on.
"You act as if you don't trust me, love." She said with a smirk.
He grinned, "Oh I trust you... I just don't trust myself!"
"Does Pansy spend the summer holiday with you or something?" Ron asked curiously.
Blaise looked over at him in surprise. "No. Well, she will this year, but never has in the past. I've just smuggled her into my room a time or two during parties. Why do you ask?"
"Well then why do you have a wardrobe full of women's clothing?" Ron asked with a smirk.
Blaise chuckled. "Those are just some of the clothes I bought her in Hogsmeade. I'm having a magically expanding wardrobe fashioned for our dorm room, but until that's done I have to put them somewhere. Your wardrobe is over there." He said, nodding towards another wardrobe across the room. "For my own clothes I have a closet." He said jerking his thumb back over his shoulder to indicate a small unobtrusive door in the corner.
"My wardrobe?" Ron asked, taken aback.
Blaise chuckled. "You didn't really think I'd have you try on all those outfits and only buy you a couple, did you?"
Ron just looked over at the wardrobe, stunned. It was a very large wardrobe...
Blaise snapped his fingers and waved his hand in Ron's line of sight, drawing his attention back with a chuckle. "Getting off subject... I believe we were just about to do some shagging?" He said with a smirk.
Ron grinned and blushed, putting the wardrobe and it's contents out of his mind.
Pansy eagerly shifted her legs apart and Blaise moved over on top of her. He carefully trapped himself between them, though he ached to enter her. He could feel the heat radiating from her, the sheer knickers already damp and feeling almost nonexistent as she closed her eyes, grinding up against him. He carefully planted his elbows to either side of her, reassuring himself that his weight wouldn't be baring down on her.
He kissed her, feeling the familiar tingle of anticipation inside as Ron shifted over behind him. He groaned into her mouth as he felt himself being invaded once again. Ron had shagged him quite a number of times now, but somehow it always felt thrilling and new. It felt so completely amazing that he wondered once again why he'd never let anyone do it before. Then he answered himself, as he had every time, with the inexplicable certainty that it could never possibly be even half as good with anyone else.
Pansy groaned under him, feeling Ron's thrusts and watching him avidly as he took Blaise. The way she was grinding up against him made his head spin with desire, but he restrained himself. He pressed his forehead to the pillow beside Pansy's head, trying to pretend it was just him and Ron... trying to ignore Pansy's moans and the way her soft body pressed up against him. It was no use. He found himself starting to grind against her a bit. She shuddered and groaned, making it extremely hard for him to keep himself from ripping off the flimsy knickers and shagging her senseless.
He found himself imagining taking her. He rubbed himself against her again, reveling in the sounds she was making. Ron started picking up the pace, thrusting harder as he started getting close. Blaise did nothing to restrain the passionate moans that escaped him as Ron's length seemed to stab deeper and deeper. Ron suddenly grabbed his hips with an almost bruising grasp, stabbing himself into him and tensing as a deep groan escaped him.
Blaise groaned and shuddered as felt Ron spend himself deep inside him. He was immediately thankful for the firm grasp on his hips as he jerked against it, his body suddenly filled with the desperate urge to bury himself in Pansy. He shuddered hard, feeling a wet heat spread across Pansy's belly.
He just lay there for a few moments, gathering himself. He lifted his head, looking down at Pansy. She was panting and looking at him. His heart ached at the deep longing in her eyes. He sighed, "I'm sorry, love... soon..." He whispered, kissing her tenderly.
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"At it again?" Ginny murmured tiredly.
Draco looked up from the parchment he was working on, smiling at how gorgeous she looked wrapped up in a down comforter and half asleep, her dark red hair fiery against the white of the linens. "Just trying to get through this translation for Dumbledore before he gets here." He said, looking down at the battered journal before him. "There's an answer to what the Dark Lord is up to in here... I'm just not sure where. Hopefully Dumbledore will be able to spot it once he can read it. Some of the incantations defy translation into english, but I don't think that's where the clue will lie anyway..."
She stretched languidly. "What exactly did they say about their plans?" she asked, smirking as she saw how his eyes were drinking in the sight of her.
He blinked, pulling his eyes back to the journal. "He was very afraid of Dumbledore getting a translation of this journal... he said with it, Dumbledore might be able to guess what they were up to and stop them. Father also mentioned that those ingredients that Kulia gave me were supposed to be for whatever they are trying to do, so if I find one of these spells with enough of those ingredients it might just be the one... of course I think he may be working an alteration of one of these spells. He called it a complicated 'process'. It would be too simple to figure out if it was a spell straight from this book. If it were, Dumbledore would know once he saw it, not just be able to guess..." He looked up, staring into space and remembering for a moment. "He also said something strange... that they couldn't keep putting it off, because 'They will be too far along for it to work before too much longer', whatever that means."
Ginny stared at the canopy above her, contemplating that for a long moment, reaching over and petting Tiger distractedly. He had curled up in the spot Draco had vacated and was now fast asleep, letting out a soft, adorable snoring sound. "Maybe they are brewing something for it already that will pass maturation soon?"
Draco contemplated that for a minute, then sighed, "Maybe... I just feel like I'm missing something important... the sooner I get this translated and to Dumbledore, the better I'll feel. Let him figure it out."
She nodded, "Probably best. He knows more about magic than we probably ever will." She said with a grin and a shrug. "Well," She said, sitting up and sliding her legs off the side of the bed, looking at the small bedside clock, "We've already missed breakfast, and it'll be a bit over a half hour before the house elf will be coming to fetch us for our... well actually your robe fitting. She's already done with my dress. I'm going to go and take a nice long bath..."
Draco watched her get up and go over towards their private bathroom. She was wearing only a tiny pair of green lace knickers he'd bought her and a loose halter that didn't even make it half way to her navel. He glanced down at the journal. Well, he still had plenty of time before Dumbledore would arrive...
He grinned, setting it aside and following after her.
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Draco had ended up being the last one to be measured for his robes, seeing as he was the last one to arrive. By the time Draco and Ginny got to the dinning room, almost everyone else was already there. Mr. Weasley had gone to work of course, but he had assured them he would be back by dinner time. Draco glanced over, noting the twins sitting together, but no Kulia. The twins were wearing neutral expressions, but he got the distinct feeling there was something bothering them.
Harry was talking to Delse while she gathered up some napkins and they looked quite relaxed and happy... until Molly walked in. Harry spotted her and immediately fell silent, making his way over to his seat. Delse finished placing the napkins around the table, then made her way over to sit beside Harry. Molly held her tongue, but she gave them a disapproving look. They were both studiously not meeting her gaze.
"So..." Molly said with somewhat forced levity, "Were you able to get any of your little friends from school to come for the wedding?"
Ginny tried hard not to roll her eyes at the 'little friends' reference. "Not really. I mean I didn't really try with most of them, because quite frankly none of them have talked to me since I went to Slytherin. Hermione's coming of course. She's at Hogwarts over the holiday, so it didn't interfere with any plans. I'm glad really... she was my first... and really only pick for my maid of honor... um, no offense Pansy..." she said quickly, glancing over at her.
Pansy grinned, "None taken. Up until a little while ago we were enemies at best... I had absolutely no expectations that you would want me to be your maid of honor... we simply haven't known eachother in any real way long enough. Not to mention, me with the title of maid...?" She let out a little snort of laughter, "It would be a bit more convincing if I wasn't knocked up!"
Ginny grinned.
Molly had finished setting out the plates she'd carried in and was just taking her seat, "What do you mean Hermione's spending her holiday at Hogwarts?" She asked, surprised.
"Well, her parents had other plans, so she's staying at school. She'll be here for the wedding and she's planning on staying probably until Christmas night at least..." Ginny said.
"You mean the poor girl's all alone?" Molly asked, shocked.
"No... there are teachers there..." Ginny replied uneasily.
"Well why didn't she just come here? Wasn't she invited?" Molly asked, shooting a shrewdly questioning glance over at Delse. It was obvious her opinion of the woman had dropped a good several notches since the incident the night before. Delse's cheeks color at the implication that she might have purposely left Hermione out.
"Hermione didn't want to come." Fred replied before anyone else had a chance to.
Molly looked over at him in surprise. "Why ever not?"
"Maybe there was someone she would rather spend her holiday with." George said evenly.
"Someone she cares about a great deal..."
"But she knows some wouldn't approve of."
"For rather closed minded reasons."
The other Hogwarts students were looking over at the twins in shock, and not a little concern, several trying to subtly glare them into silence.
Molly looked from the twins to the others, noting the looks and gathering that there was something they had all been purposely keeping from her. "Just who might that be?" She asked slowly.
"Snape." Fred replied without preamble.
Molly's eyes went round. "Are you telling me that Severus Snape is..."
"In love with Hermione Granger. Yes." George said evenly.
"And she's on love with him." Fred added.
Harry sighed, "Why'd you have to go and tell her?" He asked in exasperation.
"You should know why better than anyone, Harry."
"Because she's already thrown a hissy over you and Delse."
"And now she's being all cold to Delse..."
"Who is a lovely woman..."
"Who has been nothing but kind and generous to us..."
"And in no way deserves such treatment."
"And she's acting this way for absolutely no good reason I might add."
"We just wanted to get this fit out of the way."
"So she can get over it already!"
"Hermione's been through enough already."
"She doesn't deserve to have to go through that as well."
Molly stared in shock as the twins actually glared at her. Her face clouded with anger. "What exactly are you implying?" She asked, dangerously close to reaming them out for their impudence.
The twins were glaring back just as dangerously, their arms folded over their chests in identical poses of defiant anger.
"Love knows no bounds." Fred began, his voice making it clear he was quoting.
"It doesn't matter who you are,"
"Or what station,"
"Or what social standing,"
"Nor what your parents do,"
"Or who they are."
"Everyone should be judged by their own merits,"
"Not by things that are beyond their control."
"Any who say different are closed minded fools,"
"And ought to be ignored."
They finished, glaring at her. Silence reigned in the wake of their pronouncement. After a few moments, Fred went on in a softer voice. "Those are your words, mother."
"Words you've said to us all our lives."
"We believe them."
"We've lived by them."
"Why can't you?"
Molly looked trapped between shock and fury.
"We love you mother." George said softly.
"You know we do."
"But if you fly off the handle like that again,"
"And make Kulia leave,"
"We're going with her." they finished in unison.
Molly's jaw hung. After a moment she was able to find her voice, "What has this got to do with Kulia?" she asked faintly.
"You freaked out about less than two decades!"
"How was that supposed to make Kulia feel?"
"She's got her hormones all out of whack,"
"And it's making her a bit emotional,"
"And you go off on Harry and Delse like that..." Fred said, shaking his head.
"And she saw how much that hurt Harry."
"It was all we could do to get her to stay last night."
"She finally agreed not to leave,"
"Because she really has no safe place to go right now."
"At least not in Europe."
"But she won't come out of the room."
"Because she's too emotional right now to handle you verbally attacking her."
"Which she believes you will."
"And we could offer her no honest assurances that you wouldn't."
"Not after last night."
They stared at their mother's stunned and utterly confused expression for a moment.
Fred sighed, "How old do you think Kulia is?"
"That... that's different..." Molly said faintly.
"Oh really?" George asked with a somewhat sarcastic smirk.
"Hey Harry, just get Delse knocked up and it'll be ok." Fred called over to Harry, who blushed brightly.
Molly's eyes narrowed, "That's not what I meant! You're eighteen at least!"
"And Kulia is almost three hundred. You really think a few years, or even decades really matters?"
"You're a child compared to her!"
"She used to get drunk with Grandpa Weasley when he was our age!"
"Dumbledore used to go to her shop with his father when he was a child!"
Molly was staring at them with open disbelief.
"She's been an invaluable resource for the members of my family for seven generations." Draco confirmed gently.
"Six generations for mine." Delse said with a nod.
"Eight for the Black family." Narcissa added.
"But we don't care." Fred said softly.
"Because we don't believe age should matter any more than the purity of your blood."
"Or your species for that matter."
"Our children..."
"And we plan to have as many with her as she'll let us"
"Are going to be half snow elf..."
"With a mother that is over two and a half centuries our senior."
"If you want to be a part of their lives,"
"Then you're going to have to deal with that fact."
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The rest of the day was rather subdued. Molly had gone to her room without another word. Everyone else went back to their respective suites and stayed there after that. It came as quite a surprise to Draco when a knock came at his door later that afternoon. He looked up from his translation. "Yes?"
The door opened and Blaise walked in. "I waited. Are you impressed or what?" He asked with a smirk.
"Very impressed." Draco said with a smirk, rolling his eyes, "Keep it up."
Blaise grinned, "What are you up to?" He asked, coming over to stand behind him, peering over Draco's shoulder.
"Just translating this journal for Dumbledore." Draco said distractedly, jotting down another line.
Blaise looked his work over for a moment. "Your elvish is pretty good... your english could use some work though..." He said with a smirk, pointing to a spelling error.
Draco rolled his eyes and scratched out the word, rewriting it. "Quit distracting me and it would be just fine."
"I see... I'm the sole cause of all of your errors..." Blaise said teasingly.
"Put a sock in it or I'll make you do this."
"Ugh! Working on holiday! It should be illegal." Blaise said mirthfully. "And working when there's a perfectly shaggable woman in the room? Look at that! You've bored her into a coma." He said, gazing over at Ginny, who had dozed off in the armchair near the fireplace. Tiger, who had been romping around the room most of the night, being naturally nocturnal, was now sleeping peacefully at her feet, "This isn't the Draco I know..." He said with mock sadness.
"The sooner I finish this, the sooner we can figure out the Dark Lord's plans and fuck them up. Sounds like a good reason to me. Besides, maybe she's just exhausted from rather extensive and vigorous shagging. Every think of it?" Draco asked with a smirk.
"Mmhmm... sure." Blaise said disbelievingly, "You're working too hard Draco..." He said, slipping his hands onto Draco's shoulders and starting to gently massage them. "Feel that? You're all tensed up and it's not even your wedding day yet!"
Draco rolled his eyes. "I'm not tense over that. I want to get married, as you well know! I think you're just making up reasons to touch me again." He said with a smirk.
Blaise chuckled, not stopping. "You caught me... yes indeed, I'm getting in one last good groping before Ginny has the legal right to kick my arse for it. If my massage isn't doing it for you... I do happen to know one little word that is guaranteed to get you all hot and bothered..."
Draco let out a snort of laughter. "And what word might that be?"
Blaise leaned forward, "Quidditch..." He whispered seductively in Draco's ear.
Draco blinked, then turned his head as Blaise released him, walking back towards the door. "In fifteen minutes by the back patio door." He called over his shoulder without turning, "And make sure to bring Ginny. Even in a coma, she's a much better player."
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By the time Draco and Ginny made their way down to the rear entrance, Harry, Ron, Pansy, Bill and Charlie were already waiting. Draco looked them over. They were all (except for Pansy of course) wearing identical dark blue quidditch outfits.
"No one told me there was a dress code." Draco said with a smirk.
"The uniforms are in there." Ron said, pointing towards a nearby door.
Draco nodded and he and Ginny started for the door.
"Ah ah ah!" Blaise said, strolling up with the twins in tow, "That's the little boy's changing room. Little girls are the next door over. I'm not letting you two dress in the same room! I'd like to get around to the game before dark." He said with a smirk.
Ginny went over and disappeared through the indicated door. Draco stood there as Blaise led the twins over, holding the door for them. He looked over when Draco didn't move. "What are you waiting for?"
"You haven't told me where the Men's changing room is yet." Draco said with a smirk.
Blaise rolled his eyes, grabbing Draco's arm and propelling him into the room ahead of him.
Draco looked around as Blaise shut the door. It looked a bit like a waiting room. No windows, and just some chairs and small tables scattered around. There was a neat stack of uniforms on one of the tables. Blaise handed them out and they started changing.
"So... how's Kulia?" Draco asked.
The twins sighed in perfect unison, making Blaise smirk despite the seriousness of the question.
"Still feeling a bit off..."
"Despite the tea..."
"Though it has helped loads..."
"And mum could probably come up with something else to help as well..."
"But mum's not coming out of her room..."
"And neither is Kulia..."
"Kulia was a bit upset when she found we'd gone off on mum..."
"She thinks mum will hate her now."
Draco sighed. "Kulia isn't used to being around parents really. She hasn't seen her own parents since she was about thirty, when she left their village to make her own way in the world... She tried to go back to visit once when she was about a hundred... but the village was gone. She doesn't know if it was destroyed or simply moved..." He said sadly, fastening his pants. "I think she really misses being a part of a family, but then again, she's only been around rather dysfunctional families since. I mean the Malfoy's have certainly never given her a good example of human family life... and since she's only been around pure bloods really, since we tend to be the wealthiest members of the wizarding community, she has come to think of humans as rather short tempered, cruel and emotionally unavailable. She's probably afraid all human family structures are tenuous and fragile at best."
He snagged up his shirt and looked up, then paused, seeing the twins and Blaise just standing there staring at him. "What?"
"You never did tell us about your relationship with Kulia..." Fred said, eyeing him.
"Just how well do you know her?" George asked curiously.
Draco's pale cheeks colored slightly. "I've gotten to know her pretty well over the years..." He said evasively.
"You nailed her didn't you?" Blaise asked, his voice half way between amusement and awe.
There was a definite color in Draco's cheeks now. "I don't think that's any of your business." He muttered, turning and putting on his shirt with his back studiously to them.
"You did!" Blaise laughed. "Man you must really live up to your reputation. I tried getting in those pants the whole summer she was teaching me elvish and never got so much as a good grope!"
"Just drop it, will you? I'm with Ginny now. My past doesn't matter." Draco said a bit irritably as he strapped on his wrist guard.
"So... were you performing a service...?" Fred asked tentatively.
Draco turned abruptly, his cheeks flush. "Does Kulia strike you as a woman who needs to pay for sex?!?" He demanded angrily.
"No!" The twins said in unison, a bit taken aback by his anger.
"Well then why would you even ask that? She only said it was a service with you two because it would give her legal rights over the children. She was paying for the contract, not the sex!"
"We were just wondering why you would be alone with her in the first place." George said placatingly.
"She doesn't seem the type to go making social calls."
Draco sighed, reigning himself in. "Sorry... it's just... father made quite a production of it, and he didn't even have proof it happened... he just suspected." He sighed again, sitting down. "You're probably not going to drop this, are you?" He asked wearily, strapping on his other wrist guard.
"Nope." Blaise said guilelessly, dropping down and sitting on the floor in front of his chair, looking up at him expectantly as if it were story time.
Draco grumbled to himself, glancing up at the twins. They remained quiet, but were watching him expectantly. "Fine. Ok, I was paying a service, but not that! She was doing her little experiments on me. Father wanted something exceptionally hard to get... I think it was a unicorn heart or something like that, though what he would do with such a thing I have no idea. He'd started using me to pay any services as soon as I was old enough. The starting age is twelve in case you're wondering, but this happened during the summer before last, after I'd turned fifteen... He was to leave me with her for two weeks. Mother wasn't pleased. Anyway, about three days into it, one of the potions had the unexpected side effect of making me stop breathing... She tried to counter it, but it was unusually stubborn. She had to get me into that shower of hers to cancel out the residual effects before I suffocated. Well, as you can well imagine, with her cradling me to her... her shirt all wet and pretty much see-through by that point, and the effects of that water... I couldn't get my breathing back to normal even after the potion wore off."
The twins looked at eachother and grinned. They certainly knew how that shower could effect young males in the presence of a lovely creature like Kulia.
Draco shifted a bit uneasily. "Admittedly, I was entirely to blame for starting it... and I'm sure she probably just let me because she liked me and felt guilty because she'd nearly killed me... She told me the debt was canceled before she let me get any further than fondling though. Of course she never did owl my father to have him pick me up early..." He said with a reminiscent smile.
"You survived an entire week and a half?"
"With her??"
Draco grinned. "I took a lot of showers..." He said with a chuckle.
Blaise snickered. "You really are the Slytherin Sex God!"
Draco just rolled his eyes. "Shut up, Blaise." he said with amusement, "You're probably the one who came up with that ridiculous title in the first place."
Blaise smirked, studiously looking anywhere but at Draco.
Draco gave a little snort. "I thought so." He sighed, then a little smile crept over his lips as he remembered his time with her. "It was very educational actually... she certainly taught me to be a lot more considerate in the sack, so the girls after her should really be grateful for all her hard work."
Blaise chuckled. "I'll be sure to tell Ginny to thank her."
"No you won't!" Draco said sharply, all amusement leaving his face. "She hasn't asked me about my past, and I'll not have you bringing it up with her! Like I said before, the past is past. I certainly don't want to fuck up her relationship with Kulia over something that happened in the past, especially now that Kulia's with the twins and having their children! Kulia's going to be family! Ginny really doesn't need to know about it, and since you three are the only ones I've ever told about this, I'll know exactly who told her..." He said staring directly at Blaise as he said it.
Blaise rolled his eyes, "Fine..." He said with playful exasperation.
"Um... just curious here..." Fred began tentatively.
"What are these experiments she's always doing?"
Draco grinned. "Testing out her spells and potions of course. It would be irresponsible not to test them first. The potion she used on me for example... it going to pot like that was the only way she discovered she needed to denature the asphodel with a standard incantation before adding it... otherwise it was too strong and the potion that is just supposed to make people fall asleep and dream whatever you tell them to turns deadly."
The twins looked at eachother, their eyes going wide, then looked back over at him, "The Dreamweaver potion?" Fred asked.
Draco grinned. "Heard of it have you? Well the book has been out for over a year now... should have known you two would come across it."
"The Prankster's Bible, twelfth edition?!?" George asked, his voice bordering on reverent.
"Are you telling us that Kulia is K. Rogue?!?"
Draco chuckled. "Don't let it get out. Everybody thinks she's always working on the dark arts. It would ruin her reputation if people knew!"
Fred and George looked at eachother.
"We're shagging K. Rogue!" Fred laughed.
"Fan-fucking-tastic!" George howled.
Draco and Blaise chuckled and watched with amusement at the twins clapped eachother on the back, obviously ecstatic at the news. When the twins had calmed back down a bit, Blaise looked at Draco curiously.
"Can I ask you something and get a completely honest answer?"
Draco blinked, surprised. "Um... ok..."
"You ever shagged Pansy?"
"No."
Blaise eyed him suspiciously. "Oh come on... not even once?" he asked incredulously.
Draco rolled his eyes, "No, not even once. I mean I kissed her once, before you two started shagging steady of course... but... she just ran off... I figured maybe she was a virgin or something because she looked kind of scared... but I think I figured it out in Hogsmeade..." He said dropping his eyes sadly, "Do I really look that much like him?" He asked softly.
Blaise took a deep breath and sighed it out. "Ya. You do." He said sadly, "But..." he said abruptly, standing up and looking down at him with a little smile, "Heredity only creates our bodies, not our souls. We'll never be our fathers. Someone I love and respect a great deal once told me that... and I'm finally starting to believe it." He smiled at him warmly, then left without another word.
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As Draco and the twins emerged from the dressing room, Blaise was already preparing to divide up the group.
"Ok, let's see... Ron and I have to stay together, Fred and George stay together of course... Draco and Ginny have to stay together as well... plenty of time for you two to fight with eachother once you're hitched..." He said with an impish grin.
Draco just rolled his eyes, but didn't object, not wanting to get on the team opposing her.
"Ok, so I imagine Harry and Draco want to be the Seekers..." He reached out, tapping each of their chests with the tip of his wand in turn. A large white X appeared across Harry's chest and back, a large O on Draco. He then tapped Ginny as well, making an identical O appear on her uniform.
Ginny looked down at the large O, "Xs and Os?" She asked with a giggle.
Blaise grinned at her. "Like that muggle game. I thought you might get a kick out of that..." Then he returned to his task. "And I'll be on Draco's team of course..." He said, tapping his and Ron's uniforms, making large Os appear on them.
"Why do you two have to be on Draco's team?" Harry asked, not really wanting to be opposing Ron.
Blaise chuckled. "I know better than to play Chaser against Ginny. Besides, if anyone here deserves to have the big O emblazoned on his uniform, I think it's me..." He said, his wicked smirk making the sexual innuendo blatantly apparent.
Harry just rolled his eyes. "Fine."
"Ok..." Blaise said, looking around. "We're going to be an odd number, so one team will be short..."
"No they won't..." Delse said, emerging from the girls changing room in a matching blue uniform, finishing up fastening on her wrist guard.
"You're not playing!" Blaise said, taken aback.
Delse looked up and smirked. "I most certainly am!"
"This is a rough game mum!" He said with obvious concern.
Delse gave a snort. "I'm well aware of that dear. Since your memory appears to be short, let me remind you that it was I who taught you how to play in the first place!"
Blaise sighed, going over to stand before her. "Mum..." He said persistently.
She crossed her arms over her chest. "We've talked about this, Blaise. I'm a big girl and fully capable of taking care of myself. If you require a demonstration I can always kick your arse right here in front of everyone." She said, smiling sweetly.
He gave a belabored sigh. "Fine." He growled, tapping her chest and making a large O appear on her chest, "But I'm not playing against you!"
He turned back to the others. "Slight change of plans... mum's keeper, Ron, you, Ginny and I are Chasers... Charlie, you're Keeper for Harry's team, Fred, George and Bill are Chasers." He said, tapping the other four and making large Xs appear on their chests.
"Um... haven't you forgotten something?" Fred asked with a smirk.
Blaise looked over at him. "No." he said evenly.
"We need beaters." Draco said, smirk as well.
"No we don't. I'm not releasing bludgers if my mum is playing. There should be plenty of action without those bloody things careening about."
"Oh honestly!" Delse said in exasperation.
"Um... that's ok actually. I'd rather not be too bloodied up for my wedding." Draco said with a smirk.
That seemed to settle it for the others. It wouldn't be a very traditional game, but then they were just playing for fun anyway. The Weasleys had played many a game without bludgers growing up since they couldn't afford to get one of their own. They had been lucky to find things to use as a Quaffle!
"Ok, your charms for the grounds are built into your uniforms so they won't come off during play," He said, tapping the round, smooth charm embedded in the front of his uniform over his breast bone. "So no stripping if you want to stay healthy!" He said with a smirk, then pulled out an extra charm on a silver chain and looped it over Pansy's head, giving her a kiss and slipping an arm around her.
When they came into sight of where they were to play, they were all duly impressed. Before them stood a full sized, Quidditch league regulation pitch that could easily have hosted a professional league game, complete with stands for spectators.
Blaise looked around appraisingly. "I guess it'll do."
Ron looked over at him, surprised, "You sound as if you've never seen this before!"
Blaise grinned over at him. "I haven't. Used to just be a set of rings set in a field for practice. I had it spruced up a bit when I found out I'd be hosting a house full of Weasleys for the holiday." He said, smirking over at him.
Ron looked around, wide eyed. "You had this built for us?"
Blaise looked over at him curiously, "What? You don't like it?"
Ron just rolled his eyes and grinned.
"Well, alright then." Blaise said, going over to a small shed at the edge of the field and opening it. He grabbed up a gleaming black broom. "Alright, everyone grab a broom and let's get on with the game!"
He snatched up another one, taking it over to his mother as Harry and the Weasleys went over to the shed, each taking one of the brand new brooms.
"These are amazing..." Charlie said, stroking the handle of his broom with awe.
Bill smirked, staring at his own, "I don't know whether to ride this thing or put it on display in an Art gallery!"
Blaise grinned over at them. "They're called Celestials. Been out on the market for about a week now. Since a gallery display will do you no good in a Quidditch match, I'd opt for riding it."
With that, he mounted his broom and pulled Pansy onto it in front of him. "And where would you like to sit, love?" He asked her with a smirk. She giggled as he took off, carrying her up and depositing her in the central stand of one side, leaving her with a lingering kiss.
Draco mounted his own broom and took off. Harry let out a little huff of breath as the Quaffle hit him in the stomach, barely grabbing ahold of it before it could fall to the ground. He looked up, seeing Delse smirking at him as she mounted her broom. "I'll release the snitch, you toss out the Quaffle. We don't have a referee. She drifted over on her broom, leaning over and stealing a kiss. "Play nice!" She said with a smirk, taking off for the far set of rings, the stand behind which bore a large O banner.
Harry grinned, mounting his broom and taking off. Ron and Ginny looked at eachother, then shrugged and mounted their brooms, taking off as well. The rest of the Weasley boys got over their awe of the brooms and followed, not wanting to be shown up by their youngest siblings. When they had all arranged themselves in their respective positions, Harry looked over the teams, furrowing his brow.
"Hey Blaise!" He called, gliding down to level with the boy, "I have all the oldest Weasley boys on my team... you've got both the girls... it hardly seems fair..."
Blaise looked over the teams contemplatively. "You're right. Not fair at all. I'll tell you what, I'll spot you twenty points. Fair enough?"
Harry laughed, then looked at him, surprised. He looked completely serious, and slightly puzzled at Harry's amusement. Harry sighed. "Fine. Your funeral." He said, gliding back up into position as Blaise motioned over to Pansy. She tapped a small device in front of her with her wand and images started to form on the large billboard-like sign behind her. When it resolved, one half said "Team O" with a 0 below it, the other side said "Team X" with a 20 below it.
Harry rolled his eyes and the members of the O team that had been close enough to hear the conversation all chuckled at him.
He saw a glint and looked up, seeing the snitch darting away from Delse, who was in position near her team's rings. He took the queue, tossing the quaffle down between the two lead chasers. In a blur the game started. Harry soared up to be out of the way, starting his usual circuit of the field watching for the snitch. The new brooms were so fast that the players weren't much more than a blur. He paused in his flight, watching in admiration as Delse deftly blocked three successive goal attempts by the twins within seconds, on the last attempt managing to kick the Quaffle half the distance to the opposite goal and straight into Ginny's hands. Ginny darted over, using a feinting maneuver he'd seen her perfecting over the school year, making Charlie dart one way while she changed direction, darting the other and scoring a goal through the center ring. The scoreboard let out a soft ping sound and changed the score for O team to 10 without any apparent effort by Pansy, obviously somehow spelled to keep track by itself.
Harry chuckled ruefully to himself. They might just need those twenty points...
An hour later, the game was still moving fast and furious. The score had risen steadily, but stayed roughly even. His team had age, size and experience, but Draco's chasers where younger, smaller and faster. In the end it seemed to balance out.
Harry glanced over at the scoreboard. It was rare that he saw the score of a standard game go higher than three hundred, and that was with the addition of the snitch's hundred and fifty... and yet the score board read a shocking five hundred sixty to five hundred seventy! Draco's team was in the lead. This didn't in any way reflect badly on the keepers, as both Charlie and Delse were doing admirable job, and less than a tenth of the goal attempts got past either of them.
Harry had caught sight of the snitch several times already, but it was irritatingly elusive. Once it had actually dove behind Bill, making Harry veer off and lose sight of it to keep from crashing into one of his own players! He scanned the field, wanting to just catch it already. Not that he didn't enjoy the game, but he could tell the other players were tiring. They were still moving just as fast, but he'd noticed a slight drop in their reaction times, which in time could prove dangerous.
Then he spotted it! He streaked after it as he heard another soft ping from the scoreboard, trying to ignore everything but catching that tiny golden ball. It zipped away from him, easily outdistancing him, though he was going so fast it felt like the wind was actively trying to rip him off his broom. The snitch paused in midair some distance ahead, hovering tantalizingly. He saw movement past the snitch and realized Draco was streaking straight towards it from the opposite direction. He pressed down closer to his broom, trying to force every last bit of speed out of it to beat him to it, reaching out for it. They had to veer off slightly to either side to keep from crashing into eachother headlong, both reaching for the snitch as they passed it simultaneously.
Harry felt feathery tendrils brush his hand and grasped at them, then felt a sudden jerk. A horn blared below them, indicating that the snitch had been caught. Harry pulled his broom to a stop, looking down at his hand. It held only a single, delicate little golden wing. He looked over. Draco was looking up at him, a second twitching wing in his own hand. They both looked down. Far below they could see Pansy in the stands, holding a wingless golden snitch and looking up at them, laughing. They looked over at the scoreboard. It read a tie of seven hundred twenty points for teams X and O, having credited both teams for the snitch. There was also a third 'team' on the scoreboard now, reading "Visitor" with one hundred fifty points beneath it. Harry and Draco looked at eachother, then burst out laughing.
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A/N - I know I said in the last chapter that I would try to get this one out quicker, but oh well. I'm having serious motivational problems. Possibly related to the whole being completely bollocksed all the time thing.
TwilightHaven33 - Don't worry. I have no intention of changing what Draco turns into in his animagi form. I just want to know if I have to insert a rule dodge ;) I finally found my HP1 (It was hiding in plain sight. I HATE it when stuff does that!!!) and I didn't see anything about being an animagi. Entirely possibly I missed it. Didn't see anything in book 2 either, and in 3 all I could find was a short mention of it after Harry's first Divination lesson. It just said they were people with the ability to turn into animals. It didn't specify that they couldn't turn into magical creatures. If no one finds the specific mention of this rule, I will just assume that Darien was simply the first person to match a magical creature. Even if it is a 'rule', there's always the chance it was made just because no one they knew about ever had before.
Fiby - Insult is a strong word. You more just got up my nose... ;P
Nixin - No, I'm not a student. Let's just say I'm not quite Delse's age, but I'm a whole hell of a lot closer to that than I am to being a student! Well, a traditional student at any rate.
Starlitestarbritelilsis - actually, it has taken me relatively little time to write this, all things considered... look at the first posted date. I started writing it about a week before that, and only had about 7 or 8 chapters written when I started posting, expecting I would have to write at most 3 or 4 more before finishing it. When I've been stalled out on writing this last week, I've been looking back over what I've already written. I have made a copy of this story with no authors notes so I can see how much I'm really writing of the story, and you know what? THIS IS REALLY BLOODY LONG!!!! Hmm... who would have thought? Certainly not I... With this chapter added in, I have roughly 243,539 words of actual story!!! I say roughly cause there are chapter headings and I'm not sure how it counts like dividers and such. Well, no matter how it counts them, that's really long... especially for not being done yet!
Bigreader - Harry was fully dressed still. By the time the others arrived, Delse just had her top unbuttoned but held closed, and was hiding behind Harry as well, so very little would be showing to freak Blaise out.
XxTimesStopsxX - um... I've always pronounced it just how it looks... D - else. The last e is almost silent, not a hard e if that's what you're asking. But then, that's just me, and this is just a written story, so you could really pronounce it however you please ;)
Anonymous - the pairing of Draco, Ron's most the most hated antagonist in the J.K. Novels, and Ron's baby sister is considered a 'traditional pairing'??? (Laughs)
Gjess86 - It's called polygamy. That just means having more than one spouse, but isn't specific to the male to female ratio in the 'relationship'. I think there are names specific to a woman with multiple husbands, or a man with multiple wives, but I can't recall at the moment and I'm too lazy to look it up ;)