~Chapter 32~ My mate is…what?! – 31 July 1995

Notes: Harry gets in all sorts of things, doesn't he? This chapter is dedicated to 'hourhercreven'. It is their birthday today so the chapter is a little longer than usual.

~Godric~

He frantically paced around, stopping every few moments to look at Dimitri, whom he'd placed on the stone tablet next to the altar. A large part of him was hoping that he'd changed back while he wasn't looking, but nothing changed.

Maybe he could somehow wait for the whelpling to grow up and then return? He didn't know whether Dimitri still held his human thoughts after the transformation, and it would be the best choice if his mind had regressed as well, but why did he immediately transform into a dragon? Usually, the changes happened gradually after the ritual and it would take up to two years to fully transform, depending on the person's affinity for the Golden Dragon bloodline.

Not once had there been a case where they not only immediately transformed, but also regressed the way Dimitri had.

Godric looked at the black blood that had eaten half of the altar away before it dried. Maybe the poison had eaten away at more than just his heir's lifeline? The thought sent a spike of worry up his spine and he gently moved to pick the whelpling up once more, only to notice something else.

Now that he looked a bit more carefully, Dimitri's form seemed purer than his own. The golden serpentine body (A/N: Picture a Chinese Dragon.) had whitish scales in between the gold ones and it was only upon a closer inspection that he realized that they were diamond scales.

For a moment, Godric forgot how to breathe as the implications hit him. Dimitri may be his heir, but somewhere along the line, his bloodline had mingled with the royal bloodlines.

But that simply couldn't be possible! Godric had been the last of the Golden Dragon bloodline…that is why he agreed to be a part of the founding of Hogwarts in the first place. The only Golden Dragon bloodline left on Earth should be the descendants of his own line.

And yet, if Dimitri really had the royal bloodline, it would explain why he'd regressed to such a small form. The royal bloodline's magic tended to be a lot stronger than the average Golden Dragon and so their lifespans also tended to be much longer, but a drawback of it was that they had to spend more years in each individual phase. If the average Golden Dragon only spent 1000 years from birth to maturity, then the royal bloodline required up to three or four times longer, depending on the strength of their magic.

Godric yelped as a sudden pain traveled up his arm and he glared half-heartedly at the small dragon that was now happily chewing on his thumb. "You must be hungry after all that, but I can't take you back just yet. Salazar would skin me alive and your mate…well…he would…"

"I would what?"

Godric would deny that he'd jumped 'til his very last breath and he slowly turned towards the voice, hoping beyond hope that he'd just been imagining the voice. Of course, that wasn't how his luck worked and he immediately noticed the two people he'd dreaded seeing the most, "I-eh-well, that is to say, you…"

His words cut off in a strangled gulp as the small body in his hands gave a wiggle and a hissed sound echoed around them before the little dragon launched itself at Voldemort, who carefully caught the creature before holding him at arm's length.

~Voldemort~

Voldemort cursed as the Gryffindor founder disappeared with his mate and he felt an irritating itch in the back of his mind. Dimitri was injured and, now that the threat has been taken care of, he felt the need to be by his mate's side.

He glanced towards Salazar and was surprised that he seemed as irritated as he was. Wasn't Salazar close friends with Godric? Or was it because they were such close friends… If Dimitri had Godric's bloodline, and Godric's so-called 'luck' was as random as Dimitri's was, then having the two of them together, alone, was the last thing they wanted.

The Slytherin founder gave him a nod and closed his eyes with a sigh before opening them again. He then took something that looked like a small golden sphere from one of his pockets. "When Godric said that you wouldn't be able to go where they were going, it seems that he forgot for a moment that you were my heir and that you already inherited the power of the Shadow Lord. That being said, time moves a lot faster there so we might want to hurry. By my calculations, they have already been in that dimension for about an hour and a half."

The last words made Voldemort grab hold of the orb and with a single muttered phrase, they disappeared. It didn't feel like traveling with either a portkey or apparition and Voldemort wondered about what type of magic the sphere contained before they blinked into existence within the pocket dimension.

Voldemort immediately looked around to try and see his mate, but he couldn't spot Dimitri anywhere. Instead, he saw an altar covered with a black substance that looked and smelled like contaminated blood. On closer inspection he found that it was not just any blood, it smelled like Dimitri's!

He was about to rush forward when he felt a hand on his shoulder and he turned towards Salazar, who motioned to the side of the altar that was half obscured by a pillar from where they stood. Voldemort frowned. He only saw Godric, but maybe Dimitri was standing behind the pillar?

They walked closer and Voldemort felt himself calm slightly as he noticed that Godric was speaking to someone. Was Dimitri awake already? Had Godric somehow managed to save him? They walked closer, only to have the last bit of the man's conversation carry over to them, "…Salazar would skin me alive and your mate…well…he would…"

This didn't bode well. Voldemort felt his worry return with a vengeance, and he forced himself to speak calmly, "I would what?"

He saw as the man both seemed to jump and stiffen at the same time, but the hilarity of the situation was eclipsed by the anxiety he felt as he noticed that Dimitri was nowhere to be seen. The man slowly turned around and Voldemort felt his fury rise, but before he could do or say anything, a hiss was heard before a blur of gold flew into his arms and he was left blinking at a golden whelpling in shock.

It took a few moments for his mind to catch on that the whelpling had called to him in Parseltongue, and another few moments to realize that his creature side was purring happily, which could only mean…

"No…this has to be some kind of joke." Voldemort continued to hold the small body at arm's length. This couldn't be his mate. It didn't make sense and it shouldn't be possible. He suddenly remembered his earlier thought's on Dimitri's luck and sighed in resignation.

How had he managed to not only turn himself into a dragon but to also regress into one of its infant stages? A soft and questioning hiss dragged his attention back to the creature in his arms and he instinctively held it closer so that it could cuddle up against his chest. Then he made the mistake of looking into its eyes.

Ok, so Dimitri was cute like this, really cute…

How was he expected to deny his mate anything ever again if he could change into this?! Although, maybe he could persuade Dimitri to keep this form once they managed to change him back? It would also make it easier to hide him away and protect him.

A sudden snicker from his side caught his attention and he elbowed Salazar in the ribs, being careful not to jostle his mate, as the older man started laughing at him, "You should see your face! I haven't seen anyone this smitten before! You're a goner."

Voldemort felt his temper rise at the words. He was a Dark Lord and Dark Lords do not become smitten! He glared at the man before turning his attention back to Dimitri, who suddenly blinked at him sleepily before yawning and closing his eyes.

Voldemort closed his own eyes against the cuteness. He was a Dark Lord, he was a Dark Lord, he was a…oh forget it! Ok, so maybe he was smitten…but he wanted Dimitri to turn back into his human form so that he can be sure that he was healed.

He opened his eyes again and looked at Godric with narrowed eyes, "Does he know how to change back?"

The other man paled slightly and shook his head, "He wasn't supposed to immediately turn into a dragon. The change usually happens slowly from a few months to up to two years to give the witch or wizard time to get used to their new form. Though I can only speculate that it is because he somehow has the royal bloodline running through his veins."

Voldemort raised a brow, "And from your tone, I take it that it didn't come from you?"

Godric shook his head, "No, it didn't, but I was the last of my kind, except for my son. That is why I helped to create Hogwarts in the first place. Merlin only inherited enough of the bloodline to enable him to have a dragon as his Patronus. He didn't inherit the rest of the abilities either."

Voldemort nodded his head in thought as he examined his mate, but then he froze and looked up at Godric in surprise, "Merlin as in Merlin Embrys? He was your son?"

The Gryffindor founder smiled and nodded, "He is my son."

Voldemort waited for the man to explain further, but the man seemed to act like he didn't notice. Finally, he gritted his teeth and choked out the question, "Is your son? He isn't dead?"

Godric finally seemed to take pity on him because he shook his head, "He would have died, but his animagus form was quite special so one day he simply decided to fully embrace his phoenix form instead of dying. Unfortunately, it means that he can never return to his human form ever again."

Voldemort's eyes widened in surprise, "Fawkes…"

Godric nodded, "When Dimitri took care of Dumbledore, the control spells that were placed on his phoenix form broke, and he managed to regain his senses a few weeks ago after his burning, though he has to wait until he is a bit older before he can visit again. He is actually quite anxious to see your mate."

Voldemort found it hard to wrap his head around the new information, but a sharp pain in his hand made him look down where the whelpling was gnawing on his thumb. He looked at Godric for an answer and the man shrugged, "He must be hungry after the transformation."

Voldemort conjured a raw steak and held it out to the whelpling, who looked at him as if he just tried to feed it lettuce while scrunching up its nose in disgust. He then conjured one of the candyfloss bunnies that Nagini seemed to love so much and allowed it to take off within the dimension.

Dimitri was after it before it had even touched the ground and Voldemort was surprised when he caught it barely a few seconds later by the scruff of its neck before flying back to hover before Voldemort with a confused bunny dangling from his mouth.

He looked at Godric, but the man seemed just as confused as he was, and Salazar ever more so. He turned back to the whelpling, who placed the bunny back into his hands. He looked down at it in confusion. Did Dimitri want him to let it go again? Was he trying to play fetch?

The bunny's nose twitched twice before it jumped from his hands once more, but this time Dimitri didn't follow it. Voldemort looked closer and noticed that the whelpling had a funny expression on its face before it began shaking and hissed laughter echoed around the dimension.

Voldemort narrowed his eyes in suspicion before he reached out to gently grab the wriggling form. He lifted the little whelpling until he was face to face with it, "Dimitri, I swear if this is some kind of joke…"

He didn't want to finish that sentence. It would hurt to think that Dimitri would play a joke after they'd nearly lost him barely two hours ago.

~Dimitri~

Dimitri stopped laughing immediately as he noticed the expression on his mate's face. Guilt started pouring through him as he felt his mate's emotions through their link end he quickly leaned forward to nuzzle his mate's cheek, ":: Sorry, I didn't mean to laugh, I came to my senses as soon as I started chasing the bunny and I felt how worried you were so I wanted to cheer you up. ::"

He heard a surprised hiss from Salazar and Godric turned to the other man to ask what was happening, but his focus was completely on his mate, ":: I'm sorry I didn't tell you about the poison, I forgot that my body wasn't immune to poisons anymore, well, it is now, but it wasn't earlier. ::"

He squeaked as Voldemort cuddled his little body close for a moment before letting him go and looking him over, ":: Do you think that you can change back? ::"

Dimitri looked down at his own body, ":: I don't know, but I can try at least. ::"

Voldemort nodded and stepped back as Dimitri closed his eyes in focus. At first, he was nothing and it seemed like there wouldn't be a way for him to change back, but then knowledge started pouring into his mind and he had to sift through it to make sense of it all. Finally, he managed to grasp hold of a piece of information that seemed to be about changing forms and he focused on it while wondering where the sudden influx of knowledge came from.

He then noticed that his mind seemed to be connected to a web-like structure, but he pushed it aside, for now, to focus on regaining his human body. Which seemed to come as easy as breathing to him as he mentally pictured his human form in his mind.

A tingle started in his tail before running up his body, but he kept his eyes closed even as a surprised gasp filled the air. A thought occurred to him and he blushed before quickly focusing his magic on conjuring clothes as well.

The tingling feeling disappeared and he suddenly felt heavier, but he was afraid to open his eyes until a gentle hand brushed across his cheek.

He slowly opened his eyes to see Voldemort looking at him in wonder and he self-consciously looked down to make sure that everything was as it should be. Clothes? Check. Arms, legs, toes, fingers, torso, and head? Check. So why was Voldemort looking at him like that?

His mate conjured a mirror and held it out to him without saying anything. He looked toward Godric and Salazar as he took the mirror, but he couldn't make out whether they were in a good state of shock or a bad one.

What had he done to himself to get such a reaction? Dimitri took a deep breath and lifted the mirror, only to freeze in shock.

(A/N: THE END. Thank you for reading…JUST KIDDING! Though I was very evilly tempted to cut the chapter right there for a major cliffie, but you can thank hourhercreven for this chapter being their birthday wish, so I won't end it here hehe.)

It wasn't Dimitri's face and form that was looking back at him from the mirror, it was Harry Potter's! For a moment he was confused because the ritual should have still been in place, but then he realized something, he'd focused on Harry Potter's form instead of Dimitri's when he focused on his human form so somehow the magic broke through the ritual.

A part of him felt almost sad that his Dimitri persona would fall away so quickly though. It had been nice to walk in between people and to get to know them without the whole Boy Who Lived thing over his head. Not that it mattered anymore ever since Dumbledore was out of the picture, but…"

His image seemed to ripple in the mirror and he was suddenly left blinking in shock at what was undoubtedly Dimitri's face. He looked at Godric in shock, "Can dragons alter their appearance?"

He didn't receive an answer though, as Godric was too busy gaping at him along with Salazar and Voldemort. Dimitri sighed, "I thought this kinda stuff only happened to me on Halloween, not on my birthday."

His words had Voldemort frowning as he stepped closer once more to grab hold of Dimitri's hand, "Can you shift between the forms at will now?"

Dimitri thought for a moment before he closed his eyes and concentrated again. The rippling feeling echoed throughout his body and he opened his eyes again to look at Voldemort, who nodded to confirmation to the silent question.

Dimiti, now in Harry Potter's form, smiled. This opened so many new possibilities for him.