Disclaimer; see in Part One.

Hidden Bridges
Ryoko Porter

Part Nineteen

'The lust for power is not rooted in strength but in weakness.'

Erich Fromm

The morning after the whole chimera event, class was continued as normal. The days long with tension as they went by. There was little evidence to show that anything had happened though, with the room looking just as it had before. But Harry and the others noticed that Julian not eating, and making sure he was always covered with his long robes.

It was a week before Harry and the others got to see Julian in a personal way again. It was during the traditional owl-post arrival that Harry, Draco, and Luna each got a note telling them to come to his room later that night.

♦♦♦

It was around eight when Draco and Luna were waiting outside the DADA classroom for Harry to arrive. They had both shown up a bit early, so they had been there for about ten minutes already when Harry finally arrived. But to their surprise, he'd brought Hermione and Ron along with him.

'I can't keep them out of this,' Harry explained. And to his slight surprise, Draco nodded approvingly. And with that, the five went into Julian's domain.

'I didn't instruct you to bring them!' Julian's voice boomed before they were all fully into his room. He was coming down the short stairway that led to his privet quarters, and he looked terribly irritated at the site of Ron and Hermione.

Harry stepped forward and was about to defend his old friends, when Hermione interrupted him. 'Please sir, I know that in your past we treated you badly. That we treated Harry and Draco badly. But you came to the past to make things right, and we want to help you do that from our side. I admit that Ron and I don't like Draco, but we've already accepted he and Harry are together. We'll need some time, but I think that we can grow to like him,' Hermione argued. She then delivered the finishing blow, with a slight smirk on her proud face. 'Time that I am sure Draco will need to like us in return.'

All the while during Hermione's speech, Julian had listened intently as he made his way over to her. For a moment he stared into her eyes, looking as deeply into her thoughts as he could. Abruptly he then turned to Ron, who was immensely uncomfortable with looking into his eyes.

'Well I suppose the least I can do is teach you how to protect yourselves,' Julian grumbled compliantly, though still unhappy about the situation. He just simply didn't trust them; the Hermione and Ron that he remembered had betrayed him after all. Maybe not politically betrayed him, but emotionally in refusing Harry's relationship with Draco. 'Come! We have work to do,' he then commanded as he led the five to sit down.

'This will be easier, now that all of you have seen my chimera form and know a bit about my past. The spell that changes me into a chimera is very much like the one that animagi use, but it is far more powerful. It allows you to change into a magical creature and have all of its natural abilities, instead of just being some animal. Such as my ability to breath fire as a chimera,' Julian explained as the teens all got excited over such an idea. 'Now for the bad news. We took this spell from Voldemort, meaning that he has a creature form also.'

'Well shit! That sucks,' Ron cursed for the entire group.

'For once Weasley, you and I agree on something,' Draco huffed. 'I have to ask though, what kind of beast is he?'

'A hydra,' Julian answered simply.

'And here I thought he'd be a basilisk! With him being so ugly and all,' Draco said with a sick kind of mirth, that everyone seemed to appreciate.

'I don't know, a hydra does seemed to suit him. He just keeps growing and growing!' Harry laughed.

'Chi-chi-chi-Chia!' Luna sang jovially, making Harry, Julian, and Hermione laugh even harder.

'What in the hell?' Draco and Ron looked lost at their friends.

'It's this horrible muggle clay-animal thing that you grow plants on to look like hair!' Luna gasped between her giggles.

'Oh Luna, you're going to the special hell!' Harry laughed.

'How do you know about Chia-Pets?' Hermione asked as her laughing began to wane.

'Oh I love muggle television! Couldn't live without it!' Luna answered, her own laughter waning too.

After a minute or so, Harry and Julian's laughter finally stopped. Tears were running down their red cheeks, and they had to force control of their breathing once again. For them, the outburst had been a wonderful way to deal with their stress. And they both felt better, even with the hardships that they would have to deal with.

'So what's this spell called?' Harry pressed seriously.

'Monasteriense cruor.'

♦♦♦

Both Harry and Draco were sore from training when they entered the sanctuary of the Room of Requirement. It was hard work to force their bodies into such odd shapes, and their muscles were burning in resentment. But it had to be done, and so they would do it.

It was past midnight, and they had classes the next morning. Yet as tired as their bodies were, their minds were ready for affection. At first they tried to just simply lie down together, but poor Draco's body protested at putting weight on his back, which had been earlier stretched in odd shapes. So they tried rolling over, but annoyingly Harry had the same problem. So they both rested on their stomachs side by side, and shared sweet words of devotion.

'Harry, what do you think that you'll be when your body finally decides on a form?' Draco asked quietly.

'I'm not sure, but I know that you'll be my beautiful white dragon,' Harry smiled.

'Wouldn't it be nice if you were a dragon too? Think of all the dragon sex we could have then!' Draco slightly giggled as he closed his eyes sleepily.

'Goodnight my love,' Harry whispered. He then watched as Draco's breathing evened out, as the blonde fell into a dream world. Harry then leaned over and kissed Draco's hair, which was all his body would let him reach. And then went to sleep himself.

End Part 19.

Well I only got six reviews when I decide to post this, so I guess I'm just a big softy. But really I would like some more reviews. Also, just so you guys know… there are probably only going to be around six more chapters.

Ryoko Porter