A/N - chapter contains underage drinking. Not that you really care, but just thought I'd mention...
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Chapter 57
Ron swooped down, carefully collecting Pansy and flying her up to where the others were gathering, looking over the bits of broken snitch incredulously. They were all laughing nearly to the point of hysterics, still giddy from the adrenaline rush of the game.
"Well, good thing I have extras!" Blaise laughed, examining Draco's golden wing. "Here... keep it." He said, reaching over and tucking it behind Draco's ear so that it trailed down like a feather from a hat, "It suits you!"
Draco swatted at him, laughing.
Harry glided around to Delse and reached over, tucking his own wing into her bound up hair. It actually went quite well, sparkling brightly against the dark hair.
She chuckled, feeling it, then drifted over closer, slipping her arm around him and leaning against him, tilting her head up to give him a little kiss.
Blaise had drifted over, giving Pansy a kiss. When it broke, he looked over at Harry and Draco. "Look at you two! Racing and hunting around for a whole bloody hour..." He said, shaking his head, "Maybe we should make Pansy seeker next time. She caught the snitch without even bothering to get on a broom! But then again, I've always known she was extraordinary!" He chuckled. Giving her another kiss.
Draco laughed, then made a little mocking half bow. "I concede defeat." He said somberly.
"Too right!" Blaise laughed merrily. "I say we have a little celebration tonight. I mean how often does the snitch get caught three times in a single game? Has to be a record!" He said, holding up his hands to Bill, indicating he should toss him the quaffle. Bill obliged, and Blaise streaked down, tossing it into the open shed, which then shut on it's own. He didn't even have to slow. He rose back up, and waved for them to follow, flying towards the Manor.
The others followed, looping around in the air, enjoying the last few moments on the amazing brooms as they made their way back.
As they came into sight of the Manor, Blaise suddenly stalled out, coming to a complete stop. The others came over, wondering what was up, then followed his gaze. There were two strange looking creatures between them and the Manor. They were jet black, so it was hard to make out details from a distance, but they both looked reminiscent of large dogs, but with necks that looked a bit too long, and long serpent-like tails. They almost looked slightly dragonic... they also appeared to have wings, though one was dragging one of its wings. Even from a distance they could tell both creatures were hurt.
As they watched, the creatures made their way up to the Manor, obviously searching for a way in.
"What the bloody Hell are those things?" Ron asked softly.
"I don't know..." Blaise said, a note of fear creeping into his voice, "They aren't mine!"
They all looked at him sharply.
"Bloody Hell!" Draco said, reaching for his wand.
Just then, one of the creatures tilted its head back and let out the strangest sound any of them had ever heard. There was no other real way to describe it, because it washed over them, then vanished completely from their minds, leaving only the vague memory that it had made some kind of sound.
Harry immediately let out a groan, covering his face with his hands.
Ginny looked over as Draco slowly lowered the hand that had been reaching for his wand. He had a puzzled look on his face. "Hold this for a moment, won't you?" He asked distractedly.
"Hold wha...?" She let out a little startled sound, reaching out and quickly grabbing his broom as he slipped off it without another word. He changed to Thestral form before she even had the chance to look down. She watched in horror as he streaked straight for the creatures. Charlie reached out, grabbing ahold of her firmly as she tried to follow him.
Harry shook his head hard, as if trying to dislodge something. When he dropped his hands, his eyes were burning brightly. He let out a growl, then his eyes darted over. He reached out, grabbing ahold of Blaise's arm as Blaise started to move forward.
"Hey!" Blaise said irritably, looking over at him with opalescent eyes. He tried to pull away from the demon's grasp, but even with his greatly amplified strength, he couldn't break free.
Harry rolled his eyes, looking at him with a sarcastic smirk. "Do you want to make them go barmy? They fancy wraiths just about as much as they do demons!"
"I'm not a wraith!" Blaise said indignantly.
Harry released his arm. "That's real convincing when looking at me with those eyes." He said mirthfully. "Go on then. Explain to them that you just have wraith eyes and reek of wraith... I'm sure they'll just sit there and patiently listen to your explanation, and be very understanding..."
Blaise glared at him, but relented, looking over at Draco worriedly.
Draco landed before the creatures. He approached slowly, then stopped a short distance before them. He bowed his head low, his wings back against his body, but still extended, the wingtips touching the ground. The creatures just watched him impassively for a moment, then inclined their heads slightly.
As the others watched in shock, dozens of house elves started pouring out of the house. Draco looked up as the Stallion and the other Thestrals emerging as well. The house elves just formed a ring a respectful distance around the beasts. The Thestrals walked up, breaking through the line of elves before stopping, bowing their heads and extending their wingtips to the ground, just as Draco had done.
Narcissa walked out through one of the doors that the house elves had left wide open, looking stunned as she stared at the strange creatures. Tiger scampered out, nearly tripping over his feet as he tried dodging around the many house elves, then skidded to a halt, eagerly dipping his head and wingtips down in imitation of the adults.
"What the bloody Hell is this all about then?" Bill asked, puzzled.
Just then, Kulia dashed out of the Manor. The twins tensed, then streaked forward without another thought as she dashed straight towards the strange creatures. Ginny squirmed free of Charlie's grasp and zipped forward as well. The others looked at eachother, then started after them, though a bit more warily.
When Kulia had managed to get through the ring of house elves, she dashed over to the creatures, dropping to her knees and throwing an arm around each of their necks. The twins landed behind her, just inside the ring of house elves, jumping off their brooms. They looked at eachother in puzzlement as the creatures nuzzled up to her.
One of the creatures lifted its head, letting out a short bark-like sound. It flowed over the gathered creatures like a wave. Draco shimmered, and was suddenly in human form. The other Thestrals quickly made their way back into the house. It may have been nearly dusk, but there was still a lot more light than they cared for. Most of the house elves drifted uncertainly back towards the Manor, though a couple remained, looking to their master as he arrived for instructions, wondering if their assistance would be needed.
The others were just coming in for a landing. Blaise's eyes had returned to normal, but Harry's remained red as he dismounted, looking the creatures over with interest.
"Where the Hell did you find a pair of those?" He asked with a smirk.
The creatures looked up at the sound of his voice, vicious growls starting in their throats the minute they spotted him.
Kulia restrained them, "Shhh... it's ok... that one has a leash."
Harry rolled his eyes, looking a bit irritable at that, but it seemed to placate the creatures somewhat.
"Oh look at you! You poor things..." She cooed softly, as if talking to beloved children. Closer up, a good deal more damage was apparent on their glossy black hides. It looked like they'd been through a small war.
"Um... are those safe?" Charlie asked, trying to look them over from a safe distance.
Kulia looked up at him and grinned. "As long as you don't act like you're going to try to hurt me."
He gave her a half grin, "Well that's more assurance than I get from the dragons. They look like they might have a similar physical makeup... I can give them a looksee if you'd like." He offered.
She grinned and shifted over a bit, petting them reassuringly while he moved closer, examining their wounds.
"What are those things?" Fred asked softly.
"Gargoyles of course." She said offhandedly, watching Charlie gently examining the obviously broken wing one of them was sporting. "Who did this to you?" She asked the creature in dismay.
The slightly larger of the two leaned its head against hers. After a few seconds, she drew a sharp breath then sighed it out morosely. "I was afraid of that... You did your best..." She said sadly, petting them lovingly.
"What...?" George prompted softly.
She looked back at them. "My shop in Nocturne Alley is gone. Death Eaters. Looking for their bloody ingredients no doubt." She said, rising.
The twins stepped closer and George wrapped her in a hug, Fred hugging her from behind. She sighed and leaned her head against George's shoulder. "It's ok... it isn't as if I didn't expect it. I can rebuild it."
"But all of your supplies and such..." Fred said softly.
She chuckled. "I didn't store my best supplies in there. It was mostly just a place to store the bulkier, more common ingredients my clients often asked for and to put the port key to my home. I deactivated the portkey before I went after the book, so unless they have a spare snow elf around who is exceptionally talented, they won't have been able to touch my home. It will be difficult even for me, but I should be able to make a new port key."
George pulled back a bit, looking at her. "Were we at your home then?"
She nodded.
"Where is it?" Fred asked curiously. It hadn't felt like they had gone far, but then it can be very hard to tell with port keys.
Kulia grinned. "Several hundred kilometers away in the middle of a mountain. Actually, the mountain isn't even technically mine anymore, but I still live there. The bloody Ministry decreed a couple years back that 'beasts' couldn't own any non-commercial land... so I signed over the mountain to Blaise with the agreement that the outside was his, the inside mine."
Draco looked over Kulia incredulously, "You gave your mountain to him?"
She grinned over at him, "Don't get all jealous, Little Dragon. It had nothing to do with favoritism. I had about five minutes before the Ministry officials were to arrive to confiscate any 'illegal' properties, and Blaise happened to be there for his lesson..." She shrugged, "Besides... you think I wanted the deed for my home anywhere near Lucius?"
Draco looked less than pleased to be reminded of his father. He quickly changed the subject, "So where were you keeping those? I don't recall ever seeing them before..."
Kulia let out a little laugh, looking over at the creatures, "He doesn't recognize you!"
They of course didn't reply, but their ears tilted in a way that gave him the definite impression that they were amused.
"They've been watching you every time you came to my door... They let me know who is there and let through only those I allowed. You certainly don't think I left my door wide open with no form of protection!"
Draco's eyes widened, "But... I thought those were made of stone... and they looked different..." He said, staring at the creatures. They were sleek and graceful and he could tell that, though currently badly battered, they were normally quite handsome creatures. He had a very hard time trying to reconcile them with the immobile, snarling and overall rather ugly statues that had sat atop the roof of her Nocturne Alley shop.
"Gargoyles can remain motionless for years... centuries even. The change in their appearance is natural camouflage. Well, as natural as you can get from wizard created creatures... Imitating the stylized carved stone sculptures makes it almost impossible to tell the real ones from the plain, non-magical stone. They were created to guard and protect. You could feel it, couldn't you? When they called for help. All magical creatures can hear them... and most of the 'good' creatures are naturally drawn to them, feeling the urge to give them whatever assistance they can. That's also why the wards to the grounds had no effect on them. No ward will keep them out because the wards themselves are made to protect as well, and therefore they, by their very nature, are immune to them."
"Why did I feel drawn to them then?" Blaise asked, eyeing the creatures. They were watching him warily, as if not entirely sure about him.
Kulia smiled, "When you were cursed, you went too far into the transformation to wraith to be left unchanged, as you no doubt knew... and wraiths are magical creatures, which is why you could hear them, but you thankfully never reached the point at which you lost your soul... and your soul is a very compassionate and loving one. It was your own nature that drew you to them, despite the fact that the magic now residing within you was never intended for good." She said with a warm smile.
Blaise's cheeks colored slightly. He cleared his throat, obviously embarrassed, then glancing around at them. "Um... well it's about dinner time." He looked over, motioning the remaining house elves over. "Guide them to their rooms so they can get changed and cleaned up, then lead them to the family dinning room."
"Where do you want us to put the brooms?" Bill asked.
Blaise snorted and rolled his eyes. "I'm absolved of all obligation to store presents once they've been given. Put them wherever you please." He glanced over at Pansy, slipping his arm around her and leading her towards the door, Ron falling into place on her other side. "Which reminds me, yours is still in the shed with Hermione's... did you want me to have the house elves bring it to the room? I don't imagine you'll be using it much until after the babies are born, but I thought it'd be nice to have around nonetheless."
The other Weasley boys just watched him go in stunned silence.
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The atmosphere was jovial once again as they gathered for dinner. They sat around, chatting amiably as they waited for the others to arrive. Charlie was one of the last to arrive. He was still buttoning his shirt and looked as if he'd rushed to get there.
"Sorry I'm late!" He said as he took his seat. "Just had to make sure the house elves knew how to finish up with the gargoyles."
"How are they?" Fred asked eagerly. Kulia had insisted he and George get cleaned up and join their family for dinner, but had remained behind with the gargoyles herself.
"They've taken quite a beating, but I think they should be fine."
"Well a couple of those Death Eaters can't say the same..." Bill said with a grin, handing over the copy of the Daily Prophet they had been passing around.
"If we'd just have read that, their entrance wouldn't have been such a shock." Blaise said with a smirk, "The house elves don't like giving them to us, because they're usually full of trash and lies and just serve to upset us and they didn't want to let the wretched thing ruin our holiday... I told them to start handing them over. I think it's probably better to know what they're trumping up."
"Five dead, three others wounded..." Charlie said with a note of admiration in his voice as he glanced over the article. "Not bad... No wonder they were so beat up. He sighed and shook his head as he looked over the picture of a pile of rubble that was all that remained of the small black shop.
"What are their names, anyway? I seem to have missed that part..." Bill asked.
"I asked that very same thing." Charlie said with a smirk as he tossed aside the newspaper, "She won't tell me. She says with certain ancient creatures, true names hold power."
Fred and George nodded in agreement. "Says she's probably the only living person who knows their true names." George put in.
"They've watched over her family for generations."
"They stick to one family..."
"Like house elves..."
"And when she left home, they sent one with her..."
"And the other with her younger sister..."
"But about thirty years ago, the other returned to her..." George said, and they dropping their eyes sadly, making the implications of what must have happened to Kulia's sister apparent.
There was a bit of an awkward silence after that. It was suddenly broken as the door opened and Arthur Weasley came in. They all greeted him enthusiastically, trying to shake off the momentary gloom that had fallen over them.
Arthur took the open seat at the head of the table, and the house elves quickly started carting in the food. Delse looked around, noting that Molly was not yet there. She opened her mouth to tell the house elves to wait, but Arthur caught her eye and gave his head a shake. She sighed, dropping her eyes.
Harry caught the silent exchange and sighed deeply.
The twinscaught it as well. They looked at eachother, settling back in their chairs irritably, then looked back over at their father. "Mum still playing merry hell over lunch?" Fred asked moodily.
Arthur looked over at them and cleared his throat a bit uneasily, "She... informed me of your little discussion when I got here..."
"And?" Ron prompted.
Arthur took a deep breath and let it out, "It's apparently not a good idea to agree with the twins." He replied with a grim smile. He glanced over at Delse, "Would you happen to have a spare bed or couch...?"
"She gave you the boot? Over that?" Harry asked, shocked. Arthur and Molly Weasley were the closest couple he knew. For them to be on the outs was... disturbing!
Arthur smiled at him, "It's far from the first time she's needed some 'time alone' for the night, Harry, believe me! No need to fret."
"This is all my fault..." Delse said, twisting her napkin pensively.
"No!" Arthur said immediately, "Don't you dare blame yourself. This is none of your doing, and besides, Molly will come around." He said resolutely.
"But what if she doesn't?" Harry asked sadly.
Arthur's smile was a bit warmer this time, "She will. Trust me, I've gotten to know her a bit over the years. Getting kicked out of the bedroom for the night is probably the best sign I could have hoped for under the circumstances. It means she knows she's wrong. Otherwise, she wouldn't have let me leave until she'd informed me in great detail of every single reason why she was in the right."
The other Weasleys grinned, having all been through that oncountless occasions in their lives.
Harry looked him over, still feeling guilty, "Well you should at least take my suite for the night."
"Does it have an extra room?"
"Um, no... it's a single, but you can have the bedroom." Harry reassured him.
"Nonsense, Harry. I wouldn't dream of putting you out. Does it have a couch?"
Harry blushed, glancing over at Delse. "Umm... I'm not sure... I've never actually been in it..." He said, thoroughly abashed. Delse's cheeks were coloring as well. A number of barely concealed snickers came from the others.
"Oh... I see..." Arthur said, flashing him a smile. "In that case... um... thank you, Harry. I believe I'll take you up on that offer."
The meal went rather well after that. The jovial atmosphere reasserted itself as they told Arthur all about their quidditch match, and carried on right through desert.
"Well..." Delse said as she set her napkin aside. "You kids probably want to do some of that celebrating you spoke of earlier, so I suppose it's about time for us parental types to make ourselves scarce." She said, leaning over and giving Harry a kiss.
He looked at her, surprised, "I don't have to stay..." He started.
She waved it off. "Nonsense. You have fun, Harry. One of the house elves can lead you back when you've all finished your little celebration. I'm a bit tired anyway, so I hope you don't mind if I don't wait up. It's been years since I played Quidditch quite that enthusiastically!" She said, rising. "Besides, I'd like to show Arthur and Narcissa the preparations the House elves have been working on for the wedding..."
Narcissa looked thrilled, getting up right away. Arthur rose as well, but his smile looked a bit forced.
The rest of the 'kids' followed Blaise as he led them off in the other direction. They wound up in one of the smaller rooms. It looked much like a common room. There were comfortable chairs and cushions all around, and a huge roaring fire that gave it a very warm, cheery atmosphere.
They all ignored the couches and such since they were so widely placed around the room, grabbing up cushions and pillows and settling in a rough circle in the middle of the floor. It made it much more intimate and friendly. The 'festivities' consisted mostly of butterbeers, Fire whiskey, humorous gag candies that Blaise supplied quite literally by the crate (many carrying the Twin's logo), and the telling of a great many stories. Of course Blaise only allowed Pansy a non-alcoholic version of butterbeer he'd had specially made for her. She tried to object, but he just snogged and fondled her into submission. She was much happier after that and made no further objections. It didn't really taste any different anyway, and she quite enjoyed watching the others getting pissed as a newt.
The stories got more outlandish and risqué as the amount of alcohol consumed increased, though even the eldest Weasley boys held back a bit since Ginny was in the room. Draco even threw in a couple of stories, though not of his own escapades of course.
Finally, the twins got to their feet a bit unsteadily. "We should be heading back." Fred declared with feigned sadness.
"Wouldn't want Kulia to have a cold bed..." George added with a wink, making the others chuckle.
Draco rose, giving Ginny a hand up, "We had best be off as well." He said. He and Ginny had been drinking butterbeer, but only very sparingly, and were still pretty much sober.
"Aw come on Draco..." Blaise whined, slumping over and staring up at him up-side-down with a smirk. He wasn't really that wasted yet, only having just started in on the fire whiskey himself a few minutes before, but he had enough in him to be feeling playful, "Don't be a killjoy!"
Draco chuckled and shook his head. "Sorry, but it's time for Ginny and I to go get a little fresh air." He said with a grin, holding his hand out.
Blaise sighed with obviously false somberness, "Very well..." He said, then fished in his pocket, pulling out a couple of charms on chains. "If you must." He said, holding them up and dangling them tantalizingly.
Draco rolled his eyes and managed to nab the charms. He slipped one over Ginny's head, the other over his own. "You all have fun then." He said, giving them a nod and turning.
"Oh master..."
Draco paused, looking back. Harry was sprawled back on his cushion, smirking at Draco, his eyes once again glowing.
"May I play with them master? Please?" he asked with a smirk.
Draco narrowed his eyes. "Play with them how exactly?" He asked warily.
Harry sat up, "I just wanted to show them a game... a demon game... it's called Memory..." he said with a wicked smirk.
"Like that Muggle children's game?" Ron asked curiously, his voice slurring slightly.
Harry chuckled softly, "Not quite... I wouldn't suggest it for children... wanna give it a go?"
"I dunno..." Ron said, looking over at Draco. "It safe?"
Harry looked up at Draco, batting his eyes imploringly, "Please Master? I swear I won't hurt them." he asked in an imitation of a pleading child.
Draco gave an amused snort. "Fine, if they want to, go for it. But no hurting them in any way, shape or form! That means no mental trauma or anything like that either!" he said sternly.
Harry gave him a sloppy little salute. Draco just rolled his eyes again and led Ginny out.
"Mental trauma...?" Bill asked, smirking, "Just what kind of fucked up game is this?"
"You have to try to find out." Harry said, grinning like a cheshire cat.
Bill gave a snort of laughter, downed another swig of fire whiskey and sat up a bit unsteadily. "Ok... what the Hell. How do you play?"
Harry let out a laugh, clapping his hands, then rubbing them together. "All right then! I get to guess what you would like to see... and I show it to you! Then you tell me if I guessed well..."
Bill blinked at him, looking confused. "Show me how?"
Harry crawled over to him, having consumed a bit too much fire whiskey himself to trust his legs. He settled down in front of Bill, then reached out, taking his head in his hands. Bill just blinked at him, too wasted to even think to be afraid of what this demon might do to him. Harry pressed his fingers against Bill's temples and Bill's eyes went blank and slid shut.
Ron sat up, a bit of alarm seeping through the liquor haze that clouded his mind. "Hey! What are you doing to..."
He trailed off as Bill's eyes suddenly sprang open and refocused as he let out a giddy laugh. "That was bloody brilliant!" he crowed.
Harry grinned at him, dropping his hands. "One point for me." He said with a grin.
"What was brilliant?" Charlie asked, becoming a bit more alert.
Bill was still laughing, "I just shagged some cute little blonde Hufflepuff! In the Quidditch supply shed no less!"
Harry was chuckling. "She was really quite amenable... I did her quite a number of times... all as different guys!" He looked over at Charlie, "Would you like to 'meet' her?" He asked, wriggling his eyebrows suggestively.
"What?" Blaise asked, looking confused.
Harry rolled his eyes. "You didn't think I spent all my time in this body, did you? Especially after that deadly dull summer! I got tired of toying with Harry's Muggle family and their friends right quick..." He smirked, "I did enjoy totally fucking up his Aunt and Uncle's sex life though! He'll never be able to please her like that again!" He said, laughing. By the look that passed over his face, they could tell Harry hadn't known about that before, and found it disgusting, but at the same time extremely amusing. He finally settled down again, demon firmly in control, continuing where he left off, "Anyway, I spread myself around quite liberally once he finally brought me to Hogwarts... I mostly liked shagging the girls... but I let the boys have a go at me from time to time as well... I was actually rather fond of you..." He said, smirking at Blaise, "You were always more than willing to oblige, even if I had no real reasonable pretense for shagging you!"
Blaise's eyes went wide. "I shagged you?" he asked, shocked.
Harry laughed. "Not Harry of course, but me, yes. Actually I've even been in you a time or two. I just observed though... I still got the full effect, but I didn't even have to make you do anything. I mean you provided me with all the entertainment I desired without even being prompted! It's so refreshing to be able to shag without having to keep the host subdued at the same time. That's so distracting and irritating. Not that they don't enjoy it too, you understand... but their minds keep constantly fighting to understand why they're doing it."
Ron and Pansy were looking at Blaise in shock.
Harry gave a snort. "Oh don't look at him like that! I've been in you two as well. Well, Ron was rather boring, seeing as he was a virgin at the time, and disinclined to change that, but he had very interesting dreams... Pansy, well you, my girl, are truly a gem." He said, placing his hand over his heart and bowing his head respectfully.
"You were in me?" She asked, wide eyed and paling.
"In more ways than one..." He said with an evil smirk, "I've been hanging around Hogwarts all year. Just because you all had no clue I was there doesn't mean I wasn't! I've been in just about every student that attended this year... and a couple of the teachers... The underclassmen were rather boring of course... stealing a kiss and running off giggling at most, but once you got to third and forth years it started getting much more interesting! Fifth and above... well I don't know how they have time to study! You have no idea how very sexually active Hogwarts is until you skulk around in the shadows there for a bit... they always seem so prim and proper on the surface." He said, shaking his head ruefully.
Charlie cleared his throat, making Harry looked back over at him. "I believe I was promised a Hufflepuff?" He prompted with a smirk.
Harry grinned, shifting over and taking Charlie's head in his hands. After a moment, Charlie laughed, sinking back against his cushion. "Bloody Hell! That was amazing! And who the Hell was I? I was hung like a bloody dragon!"
"You possessed Goyle?" Pansy asked, surprised.
Harry let out a laugh. "Point to Pansy!" He said mirthfully.
Pansy turned bright red as the others laughed.
Harry crawled over to Ron. "Your turn." He said as he settled down before him.
Ron pulled back nervously as Harry reached for him. Harry sighed, "Oh come on... You heard me swear to Draco that I wouldn't hurt any of you, and that's binding. Besides, Harry wouldn't let me hurt you anyway. In fact, he picked this memory special for you... Well, with the promise I wouldn't make him watch of course..."
Ron still looked reluctant, but let him take ahold of him. As soon as Harry released him again, Ron turned beet red, looking thoroughly embarrassed, but at the same time nearly giddy, covering his mouth and snorting with laughter.
"What did he show you?" Blaise asked curiously.
It took a few minutes before Ron could make himself stop chuckling and lower his hand. "You... you shagged me..." He said, smirking at Blaise, then starting to snicker again.
Blaise furrowed his brow. "I shagged you? When?"
"I don't know when... but it was in the back room of the Library." Ron said, still unable to stop snickering.
Blaise looked puzzled, "But I've never shagged anyone in the... oh, well there was that once... but..." He looked over at Ron sharply.
Ron snickered harder, nodding his head.
"You were a girl?" He asked incredulously.
Ron nodded again and they all broke out into laughter.
"Next!" Harry said, shifting over in front of Blaise.
Blaise looked a bit wary, but it wasn't as if he was going to turn down trying any form of shagging! He took a deep draft from his bottle of fire whiskey, swallowing the burning fluid with obvious effort (and a little coughing fit), then taking a deep breath and letting it out, "Just do it." he said, closing his eyes.
"This is a very special present, just for you!" Harry said as he took Blaise's head in his hands. Blaise took a few moments longer than the others had. When Harry lowered his hands, the others waited for Blaise's reaction. Blaise opened his eyes, then reached out and took Harry's head in his hand, leaning forward and firmly planting a kiss right on his lips, then let him go, leaning back his head and letting out a loud whoop. "I shagged Professor Oblique!" He crowed ecstatically. "I've been trying to get in those knickers for years!"
Harry smirked at him, wiping off his lips with the back of his hand. "Not that I didn't enjoy that, but Harry requests that you never do that again."
Blaise just laughed.
"Who were you?" Ron asked curiously.
"I was one of those bloody Aurors that were hanging around the school! No wonder she got away when they went after the teachers!"
Harry shifted over again. "Pansy...?" He asked, holding his hands out.
She looked reluctant. "And you're sure this won't hurt the babies...?" She asked warily.
Harry grinned. "It's just memories. Nothing more."
She glanced over at Ron and Blaise, then back at Harry. "Any memory?"
He grinned. "Any I possess. Do you have a special request?"
She reluctantly leaned forward, whispering softly in his ear.
He grinned. "Whatever the lady wishes..."
> > > > > > > > > > >
The pale moonlight caught their breath like clouds of glimmering mist swirling around them as Draco and Ginny sat on the bench in one of the many gardens, deeply immersed in a rather intense snogging session. Well, Draco was sitting on the bench. Ginny sat astride him, only her knees resting on the cold bench. It hadn't been very hard at all to convince her that she'd stay warmer that way. She could certainly find no fault in the theory... she felt very warm at the moment...
She broke the kiss with a giggle as his hand worked it's way under her bra. "Draco!" She said mirthfully, "Not out here!"
He grinned at her wickedly, leaning forward and kissing and teasing the side of her neck in a way he knew drove her to shivers. She gave a shudder, pressing closer as she let out a little moan.
They suddenly heard a little trill and the sound of something tromping through the garden towards them.
Draco let out a slightly frustrated, but most amused groan, pulling his hand out of her shirt and resting his head on her shoulder. "He found us..." He sighed as Tiger scampered up, springing onto the bench beside them. He scampered around excitedly, giving them each a wet lick.
Draco chuckled. "No more, Tiger. We're tired!"
He sat down on his haunches and stared over at them with big blank eyes, letting out little imploring whimpers. They had taken him with them for the flight, taking him up high and letting him jump off and glide down on his own. They thought he would enjoy it... which he did... and they had hoped it might tire him out so they could get a decent night's rest... which it most definitely didn't! If anything, he seemed charged up now. Draco hugged Ginny tighter. Tiger had kept them up most of the night, only finally letting them fall asleep around dawn. And he had insisted on sleeping between them.
It was adorable, there was no doubt about that, but Draco wasn't sure he could take another night of it. He desperately wanted to have a little 'alone time' with Ginny, but during the day there was a house full of Weasleys to worry about, and he couldn't even think of doing anything with her with Tiger in the room, staring at them. It would be like shagging in front of a kid brother!
But how could you say no to that face?
Draco took a deep breath and sighed it out, lifting his head. "We should probably head back. We've probably been out here a good couple hours. They might start getting worried."
Ginny sighed as well, nodding and getting up. She shivered and pulled her winter cloak close around her as the cold air rushed in. She sighed as she looked over, seeing how far they had wandered from the Manor.
Draco moved up to her, hugging her from behind. "Tell you what..." He whispered in her ear, "I'll give you a ride if you return the favor when we get back to the room..." He said, smirking wickedly as he kissed her neck.
She giggled. "That sounds like a pretty good deal..." She said, turning her head and letting him capture her lips briefly before she stepped away. He glimmered and changed, then strolled up to the bench as she climbed up on it. She threw her leg over and slid onto his back easily from that height. He folded his wings over her legs and started off towards the Manor, Tiger romping along at his side.
They had spent most of the nightly flight on their brooms, since Draco had only been able to managed about five minutes or so flying with her on his back before his wings had been too tired. Darien had assured him that his wing muscles would build up quickly enough if given regular exercise, but since they had no real correlating musculature in his human form, they were in effect brand new muscles. His leg muscles on the other hand were just fine, having a direct correlation to his already developed human leg muscles, so it was nothing to carry Ginny long distances on the ground in his Thestral form.
Ginny felt his wings tighten on her a bit and grinned, leaning forward and wrapping her arms around his neck as he took off, giving Tiger a race. They tore across the grounds, weaving though trees and down winding garden paths, even hurtling some of the miniature hedges that lined some of the paths. They were just short enough for Tiger to clear properly, and he let out an excited trill every time he managed to take one.
Draco took a long, winding path back to the Manor, taking a good fifteen minutes to reach it. By the time they got there, he was a bit winded. Tiger was panting as well, but looked rearing to have another go.
Ginny dismounted and went around, stroking her hand down his velvety snout. She broke into a grin as she looked at him. In the light coming through the windows, she could see his eyes clearly for the first time. They were not a solid dark as she had thought, but a deep chestnut brown with swirls of light gray flowing through it. She chuckled. I figured. They matched the irises of his human eyes, but since it was Darien who first mastered this form, his eye color dominated. She wondered if they would shift to a more even distribution of color once Draco became more acclimated to this form.
She giggled as Draco suddenly returned to his human form, leaning forward to steal a kiss. He then knelt down and ruffled Tiger's mane. "Well, that was a great run, but we'd better get some sleep. Good night, Tiger." He said, giving him a pat and rising. Tiger scampered along beside him eagerly as he turned and started for the door. Draco sighed. He really didn't want to hurt the little Thestral's feelings.
He knelt down again, catching the colt's attention. "Tiger... um... we really need to get some sleep tonight. We humans sleep during the night time and are awake during the day. We can't just stay up all night like you can..." he said softly.
Tiger flicked his ears, looking a bit confused, glancing between Ginny and Draco.
Draco took a deep breath, seeing the necessity to spell it out a bit more. "Maybe you should stay with your family tonight. We'll see you tomorrow!" He added quickly as the little colt's ears wilted down. "I mean don't you miss being with your family? They've made a right nice little nest and everything. It looks really comfortable... I'm sure you'd like that better..."
The Stallion, who had come up behind them, let out a somewhat exasperated huff as Tiger let out a little petulant whining sound. He strode up, let out a sharp screech, rearing up slightly and stomping his forepaws on the ground quite audibly.
Tiger started, not having seen his approach, then perked up. The Stallion wheeled around and tore away at full speed. Tiger let out an excited trill and skittered after him, obviously forgetting all about Draco in an instant.
Draco chuckled, getting up and brushing off the bits of dried grass and dirt that had sprayed him. He watched them for a moment as they dashed across the grounds, then turned back to Ginny. "Problem solved I guess." He said with a grin
She slipped her arm in his when he offered it, and they went inside. There was a very relieved house elf awaiting their return.
"Oh Middy is thanking Merlin you is coming back!" The house elf quavered, tying and untying the little decorative bow on her dress nervously (Diamond had obviously brought all the spare clothing she had to give to the Zabini elves, and by now there were no tea cozies to be seen),"You is being gone so long Middy is getting worried!"
Draco grinned at her, "Sorry about that. Needed more fresh air than we thought. Please make sure the Thestrals are let back in when they wish to be."
The elf immediately bobbed her head so briskly she had to put her hand up to right her small bonnet. The local wildlife was leaving them alone, since Thestrals are non-aggressive creatures, and therefore extremely unlikely to pose any kind of threat, but he didn't like the idea of them getting locked out and having to fend for themselves in the forest. Just because they didn't pose a threat didn't mean a Vipertooth wouldn't decide to make them into a meal if it came across them sleeping in the forest! And Blaise didn't have any charms made for Thestrals, even if they would want to be saddled with such things. Besides, their little nest really did look comfortable. Well, there was actually nothing little about it, it being large enough for all three adult Thestrals to curl up in comfortably. The house elves, who seemed able to predict the needs of even the strangest of guests, had provided them with more cushions, pillows and down comforters to fashion it with than any one household should have.
When Middy just stood there, he prompted her, "Well, lead the way..."
"Um, yes sir. Of course sir. Middy is just wondering where it is you is wanting to go? Is you returning to the party sir?"
Draco blinked. "Is that still going on?"
Middy started toying with her bow again. "I is not sure, sir. Master is not asking for us to be guiding his guests back to their rooms yet, sir, so Middy is supposing it must be."
Draco furrowed his brow. "Take us there first then. I should check on them."
Middy bobbed her head again and hurried to show them the way. When they arrived, she opened the door and stood back. Draco looked down in surprise. The cushions and pillows were now heaped in the middle of the room, and everyone was sprawled there, obviously fast asleep or passed out. All except for Harry. He was the center of the pillow and people heap. Ron, Blaise and Pansy were on one side of him, Blaise with his head resting on Harry's stomach, Pansy's on Harry's shoulder and Ron with his head on Blaise's chest. Charlie had his head resting against Harry's other shoulder, Bill had his head on Harry's chest. Harry was grinning over at Draco as he entered, idling stoking Bill's long ginger hair.
"Why master... come to join the party?" He asked softly, smirking and looking just about as contented as Draco had ever seen him.
"They had better be alright!" Draco growled.
Harry lifted his hand, pressing a finger to his lips as Pansy stirred in her sleep, cuddling closer. He grinned at her, then looked back up at Draco. "Of course they are. I told you I wouldn't hurt them and I didn't. I've just been making some friends..." He said, stroking Bills hair again. "You sure I can't have one? Just one? Come on... Harry passed out over an hour ago so he'd never even have to know, and this one is just too sweet..." He said, looking down at Bill with a smirk. "And very open to new ideas..."
Draco rolled his eyes. "No. End of discussion."
"You sure they're ok?" Ginny asked pensively.
"Well, we'll soon find out." Draco said, clapping his hands together loudly. "Up! Come on!" He yelled loudly.
This was quickly answered by irritable groans and squirming from the pile, and an exasperated sigh from Harry. "You really are a killjoy, Master."
Blaise managed to spot Draco, though his eyes were a strange mix of normal and opalescent. "Draco...?" He murmured. "What's with the racket?"
Draco went around, looking down at Blaise. "Mental orgy is over. Time for bed."
Blaise giggled, "Hey Draco... I've been thinking..." Blaise said, his voice a bit slurred from the fire whiskey, "Maybe I should just keep ahold of the demon for you... for... um... safe keeping..."
Draco let out a snort of laughter, looking over at Ginny, "Well, Blaise's acting normal at least."
Harry chuckled, "Hey, I wouldn't mind that at all..." He said, brushing a few errant sprigs of hair from Blaise's face, "And I'm sure Harry wouldn't mind being bonded to a certain Zabini..." He said with a wicked smirk.
"Fuckin brilliant party!" Bill chuckled, not bothering to move his head. "You have the best bloody party games in the whole bleeding universe!" he said, chuckling again as Charlie sat up unsteadily, blinking around.
Pansy sat up quickly, blushing as soon as she realized whom she'd been cuddled up against. Her eyes looked clear and alert, just tired, which was a relief to Draco. She hadn't been imbibing that night, so if she'd been disoriented as well he would have been concerned.
"So everyone still mentally intact?" Draco asked, looking them over.
"Peachy." Ron sighed happily, cuddling up to Blaise with a smirk, not bothering to open his eyes.
Blaise, who had been gazing around a bit dazedly, suddenly giggled. "Hey Draco... did I ever mention your mum's hot? Impressive bristols for a woman that slim..." He said with a smirk, obviously staring at something.
"Hey! Don't be watching her when she's undressed!" Draco said, stepping in Blaise's line of sight.
Blaise giggled, smirking as he let his eyes trail down Draco instead. "Never said she was undressed! Not like I need her to be. I can see through bloody walls, Draco! What makes you think I can see clothes?"
Draco's eyes widened and he quickly moved to the side. "Eww..." He muttered, then looked up at the demon. "What the hell's with his eyes anyway? You do that?"
Harry gave a snort. "The original curse, of course. But this..." He said, vaguely indicating Blaise's half-shifted eyes as he tilted his head around, trying to find someone else to look at, "Not my fault! He's just pissed out of his mind." He said, shrugging.
Blaise started giggling again as Bill and Charlie got to their feet, looking at them upside-down, his head still resting on Harry's stomach "Bloody Hell!" He said giddily, "Are all the Weasley men hung like that? Brilliant gene pool..."
Ron just snickered, reaching up and covering Blaise's eyes with his hand.
> > > > > > > > > > >
AN - This was one of the hardest chapters to write that I can recall! Not that what I have here was hard, but I got stuck on the first scene. It sat at a bit over two pages since monday... I wasn't able to add more than a paragraph or so on Friday... I finally decided screw it and rewrote it from the off. It was the direction it was going that stalled me I think. Not to mention I tried getting a little sleep this last week since I put in 49 hours at work. Agh! Ok, the paycheck should be decent, but it was still a rough week. Well, I finished roughly mapping out the next couple of their days, so hopefully it will go a bit smoother. We'll just have to wait and see though, eh? These irritating teens have the tendency to take the bit in their teeth and romp off wherever they please! It can get frustrating. Oh, and I got some stuff to deal with this week, so if it still takes a while, oh well. I ever mention I'm not very eloquent or tactful when tired? ZZZzzzzzzzzzz...
WHEN THE BLOODY HELL DID THIS THING START REMOVING MY DIVIDERS? ARGH! (sighs) well, at least I noticed this time. HopeI didn't have too many chapters with just a single dash for the dividers. That sux! The divider I have in here now is the only one I've found that it allows.
A-nother-mouse - no, I don't know of any other fics with Ron paired with Blaise... but I get the feeling more will follow ;P
anonymous - thanks for the definitions... as for marking the Slash... I do. I always mark the beginning of any chapter containing Slash (or even regular smut). If you're asking me to mark every chapter in which they so much as kiss, or if you're asking me to break into the body of the chapter with additional warnings, I'm afraid you're out of luck. Not gonna. The Slash isn't abrupt! I usually make it very readily apparent that it's about to occur, so just drop down to the next divider at that point.
Lyskaelyn - no, I don't have a beta. Being a Virgo, I'm a bit of a perfectionist, and feel that I am my own worst critic, so why do I need another one? (grins) Besides, if I have errors, it's because I put these out so soon after completing them, but if I were going to take the extra time that would be required to email the chapters to someone, then wait for them to find time to look through them and get me feedback, then going through and changing what needs changed, I might as well just spend that time proofreading my own work. But seeing as either way it would delay the publishing of each chapter by at least a couple of days, I didn't think the people here are willing to wait that much longer at this point. Are my chapters really that atrocious? I mean, ya, I make some mistakes, but I mean I didn't think they were that bad! If they are, just say so and by all means, I will take the extra couple of days going over them first! As for schnoogle, I had honestly never heard of it before your review. I only glanced at it really, but I may be looking into putting this on there as well... but not until I finish it... and do a lot of editing ;). I'll have to find some way to work the author's notes in as well, so the people there don't have the same questions all over again. I will also have to look into their rules and such... Do they have the same kind of writer/reviewer interaction there?
All - This site is currently the only site I post to. If you have other sites you think I should look into, tell me! I spend my time writing, not searching the web for new sites! Just remember that even in reviews, you can't put web addresses without it wiping them out. Either write them out (like fanfiction dot net) or just email them to me. Thanks.