Author's Notes
--I'm not so happy with the wording of the oath, but figured I'd fiddled with it enough…
Chapter 3 – Friday, 11 October 1996
Draco fidgeted nervously once again, shifting restlessly foot to foot as he waited, hoping he had understood Potter's note correctly. "Honestly. Couldn't he have been a bit more verbose than "F 6 Laces"? This had better be the right place."
Friday at 6:00 had been easy enough to decipher, but "Laces" had him stumped until he remembered an evening encounter between them in their third year. They had had a small confrontation beside the portrait of Octavia Martinelle. They had, of all things, both stopped at the nearby alcove to retie their respective shoelaces. Nothing had come of the meeting besides snide comments. He was pretty sure he had decoded the note correctly but, still, it was nearly 6:10.
As Draco continued to fret, he suddenly felt a hand upon his mouth and an arm come around his chest from behind. Before he could panic, Harry's voice came softly into his ear, "Sorry for being late. Had to evade the lackeys." A string of hissed syllables later and Potter tightened his hold upon Draco, spun him around and stepped into space.
Draco clutched reflexively at Harry's forearms as he felt them enter freefall. His grip didn't lighten once he felt the speed of their fall slowly reduce and then felt firm ground under his feet once again. Harry released him and Draco's first comment came out a strangled, "Fuck, Potter!"
A light and amused chuckle behind him was followed by a hissed word that lit several torches, illuminating the small, plain room they were in. Draco spun around in time to watch Harry emerge from his invisibility cloak, a look of interest on his face and amusement sparkling in his eyes. Draco scowled and Harry smirked back at him.
"Just what would you have done, Potter, if I had died from the heart attack you just gave me?" Draco testily demanded.
"Banished your body to the lake and gone back to the tower," Harry replied so matter-of-factly that Draco gaped at him in disbelief.
"You sure you want this, Malfoy?" Harry asked seriously. "Malfoy?"
"Please tell me you would not have really fed my body to the squid, Potter. Please." Draco looked somewhat sickened and dismayed by the thought.
"Of course not. I wouldn't have banished your body into the lake, just close to the shore. You know, so someone could find you. Feel better, now?" Harry asked, a smile flitting about his lips as he struggled to control his laughter as Draco's countenance shifted from relieved to appalled to aggravated.
Draco narrowed his eyes at Harry suspiciously, still unsure whether the other boy was telling the truth or having him on. He opted for another topic, "Where have you taken me?"
"An extra-special and ultra-secret hiding place. Shhhh! No telling!" Harry said with wide eyes and an exaggerated childish mischievousness in his voice. Draco quirked an eyebrow at him, crossed his arms, and stared at him imperiously.
Harry smirked and copied the stance for a moment before dropping all pretense and once again asking seriously, "You sure you want this, Malfoy?" Looking his once-supposed-nemesis up and down and pointing towards the single door in the room, he stated, "Once I take you through that door, there is no turning back. Are you sure you want this?"
Draco, too, dropped his stance, then, nodding slowly, answered back with equal seriousness, "Yes, I'm sure."
"This is a lifelong bond, Malfoy."
"I know. Call me Draco."
"Draco. We'll probably end up lovers by the end of the week, you do realize that, right?"
"Yes. I realize that. Harry."
"You're putting your very life in my hands."
"I trust you with it."
"I'm going to see you at your worst, you know. Writhing and crying in pain, sobbing in frustration, pleading desperately for relief."
Draco winced, but replied firmly, "I know."
"Begging me to fuck you to get rid of the crawling under your skin, if only for a few minutes."
A quick, short nod from Draco and a soft, "I know."
"You're going to be helpless before me. I'm going to have to dress you, feed you, bathe you, carry you to the bathroom, practically hold your dick for you as you pee."
"I KNOW! For Merlin's sake, Potter! I know all that, all right!"
"I thought you were calling me Harry, now?"
Draco hissed at Harry, seething at the other boy's placid expression and relentless exposure of the unsavory aspects of transition. Shaking, hands fisted at his sides, Draco closed his eyes and tried to control his breathing. Several minutes later, Draco opened his eyes wide in realization of what Harry was doing. He was testing Draco's resolve! He was pushing Draco to see if he really wanted Harry as his transition partner. Draco stared at Harry speculatively and Harry stared right back at him, waiting.
"You being an asshole about this only reassures me that I made the right choice. This is what I want. Now," Draco adopted a more formal stance and tone, "Wilt thou, Harold James Potter, stand watch over me throughout mine transition? Tend to mine body whilst it is weakened? Guide mine intellect in the initial expressions of any new abilities Gifted me? Accept the bond that shall tie us together all our lives long that will be created during this time of my need?"
"I accept this responsibility of guarding thee, Draconis Lucius Malfoy, during thy transition. I shall tend thy body whilst it is weakened and guide thee in the initial expressions of thy new abilities, should it be needful. Gladly do I accept the honor of the bond that shall be formed during thy time of need and tie us together all our lives long." Harry's tone was just as formal as Draco's had been.
"Great." Draco heaved a relieved breath and ran his fingers through his hair nervously. "Thanks."
"You're welcome."
Harry watched Draco rub the back of his neck anxiously for a moment then took a step towards him, immediately stopping when Draco startled at the movement. Harry, now that Draco was watching him, albeit a bit warily, once again approached the blond. Placing a hand in the small of Draco's back and gently pushing him towards the lone door, Harry urged quietly, "Come on. Let me show you around and we can get comfortable."
"All right." Draco followed the hand's urging and took the few steps to the door, then watched and listened in fascination as Harry proceeded to have a conversation with the decorative snake inlay. After a short exchange the door opened and the hand still on Draco's back encouraged him into the next room.
A large combination sitting room and library met his curious gaze. Nicely decorated in carved furnishings, dark rugs, and bright tapestries, the room managed to give off a distinctly masculine feel of wealth, power, and age. A single larger-than-life portrait hung between several tapestries over a fireplace that, while only about four feet tall, stretched nearly twenty feet. On either side of the fireplace were double doors decorated across the center with mirror images of large carved snakes. The remaining walls held bookcases, also about four feet tall, under more tapestries. The interior of the room contained several comfortable looking chairs and sofas, matching end tables holding tea sets and strange looking lights, and a couple work tables with a single layer of drawers.
"Nice place. Where are we?" Given the parseltongue Harry had been speaking, Draco wondered if this place once belonged to Salazar Slytherin but couldn't see anything solely indicating such. True, there were serpents on the doors, but the predominant color was blue and he saw no family or school crests anywhere.
"We're in the Founder's Quarters. Specifically, we're in Salazar Slytherin's study." Harry smiled at the look of amazement and disbelief that came over Draco's features.
"But….it's blue," Draco protested then shook his head in disgust at himself for such an inane comment.
"Salazar liked blue," Harry replied with a small smile.
Draco glanced sideways at Harry for a moment then asked curiously, "You know this how? Slytherin's colors are silver and green."
"Well, Rowena got to pick colors first and she picked blue, so Salazar was stuck with his second favorite color of green for his house," Harry answered lightly, his smile growing wider.
"And you know this because…?"
"Salazar told me," Harry couldn't hold back his grin as Draco looked at him in surprise then over to the painting in embarrassment and awe.
Harry's laughter rang through the room as Draco was greeted politely by the now smirking painting, "Hello, young snake. Your companion tells me this is the night of your transition. You have chosen your partner well; he will look after you most diligently. Perhaps we can speak again when you have fully recovered, but for now you should both be off and rest up. If you are as powerful as my lion-snake believes, you shall need all the rest you can get before your transition begins. I wish you good luck. Go on, now. Be off!"
After a quick acknowledgement and a stammered thanks from Harry and Draco respectively, Harry dragged the blond from the room, through the right hand double doors, the rich laughter of Salazar following them. Draco was pulled through the first door on the right before he got a decent look at the long hallway. Recovering from his astonishment, Draco noticed the bedroom they were now in, also decorated in blues. "At least the accents are in silver," Draco thought.
"How did you find this place, Harry?" Draco admitted he was filled with a burning curiosity about not only the place itself, but also about Harry's apparently friendly relationship with Salazar's painting and just how Harry had found the legendary Founder's Quarters.
Harry turned to Draco before answering, a sheepish look upon his face. "Well, it was actually an accident."
"An accident," Draco repeated blandly.
"Yeah. See, in third year, after that whole mess with the duel, I thought, well why not? Right? And then Sirius was after me, well, supposedly really, and I thought it would be nice to have a different place just in case he got in. So I went looking because I kept seeing snakes and was talking to myself, so, that's the short version. You see?" Throughout the whole explanation Harry had been running a hand through his hair, alternating between smoothing it down, ruffling it, and pulling it over his scar. He ended his speech with a hopeful look at Draco who returned it with a look of total incomprehension.
"No," was the only thing Draco could conceivably answer to such a disjointed account. He hadn't followed a single leap of logic in Harry's answer, although he did remember the duel and the escape of his mother's cousin. He just didn't see how they were connected in any way, especially since they were in different years.
Harry gave a deep sigh and said, "Well, I'm sure we'll get to the long version sometime over the next week. Right now, though, I think we would be better off following Salazar's advice and getting some rest. We should be able to nap about five or six hours before things get started."
Giving Harry a look that clearly communicated that Draco was only humoring him, Draco nevertheless gamely responded, "Sure. The bed looks big enough for the both of us. I get the left side." Harry laughed as Draco sat on a convenient chair to remove his shoes then stood and removed his school robe, tossing it across the same chair before placing his wand on the nearby nightstand, climbing onto the bed and lying down. He really was tired, had been all week, and didn't think he'd have any trouble falling asleep, even if it was only about half past six. He'd be worried about his health if he didn't know that this was perfectly normal as one approached transition.
Already starting to fall into sleep, Draco was startled when he felt Harry place a hand on his shoulder. He opened his eyes to see Harry peering down at him with gentle concern. He was so surprised to see that look directed at him that he almost missed Harry's words to him as he was pulled into a sitting position.
"I know you're tired. Sit up for a minute and let's get you undressed," Harry said as he urged Draco to sit up.
"What? Why?" Draco asked, slightly confused but not resisting as Harry unbuttoned a shirt cuff.
"It'll be easier now than later," Harry answered as he finished unbuttoning the second shirt cuff and started pulling the shirt out of Draco's pants.
"Oh. I guess so," Draco replied absently as he watched Harry unbutton his shirt, wondering why he wasn't protesting such familiarity. When Harry finished the last button at the collar, he felt Harry's hands cup his face and lift it so he could meet Harry's gaze, which showed a great deal more concern than it had earlier.
"You really are out of it, aren't you? More so than I would have thought you'd be at this time. Have you not been sleeping well?" Harry asked worriedly. Draco really shouldn't be quite this tired. In fact, he should have been getting plenty of sleep as the formation of the transition net the week before the actual transition sent nearly everyone to early bedtimes and afternoon naps. Although, come to think of it, he hadn't heard anything about Draco being absent for the standard school sanctioned naps…
"No. I've been sleeping fine. I haven't been able to take any naps, though, and I haven't been able to go to bed early. I've had to make sure I acted completely normal, including my energy levels. I couldn't afford anyone to get suspicious. I guess it's just hitting me all at once," Draco answered tiredly. He was just now realizing what a toll his deceptions had been taking on him both physically and mentally.
"That makes sense. Well, don't worry about it. I'll take care of you, I promise," Harry said encouragingly. He released Draco's face and pulled the shirt off of him, turning to drape it over the school robe Draco had removed earlier. He turned back to Draco to see the blond nodding in reply and yawning.
Pulling Draco's tank-style t-shirt out of his pants and over his head, Harry mused that neither he nor Draco had started any arguments since they had met that night. True, it could be simple exhaustion on Draco's part, but Harry rather thought it was because, underneath both of their masks, which they had both dropped, the two of them truly would make good friends, just as Draco had written in his letter. Tossing the t-shirt onto the chair, then pressing Draco back into a lying position, Harry found that he was eagerly looking forward to having a new friend.
Harry continued undressing Draco, removing his belt, pants and socks. Gazing at the blond lying quietly in his boxers, Harry had to admit to himself that he was rather looking forward to having a new lover as well. Draco was as much an athlete as himself and it showed.
Noting the blond's deep even breathing, Harry decided to see if he could sneak the boxers off now instead of having to worry about them later. Sure enough, Draco didn't move a muscle as his last remaining piece of clothing was removed and added to the pile on the chair.
Harry removed his own clothing, intending to climb into bed himself when he realized that Draco was on top of the covers. A quietly annoyed, "Damn," escaped Harry's lips as he realized he was going to have to disturb Draco to get him under the covers. Hopefully Draco would remain too out of it to notice, much less complain about, the state of both their undress.
Gently, Harry lifted Draco's upper body to his own chest, awkwardly pulling at the covers beneath him. Draco stirred and murmured but went right back to sleep at a quiet, "Shhh. I'm just getting you under the covers."
Laying Draco back down, he gently lifted the blond's hips slightly, sweeping the now scrunched up covers further down the bed with one arm. Once again, laying Draco back down, he finished tugging the covers out from under the exhausted boy and covered him with only the sheet and blanket. The room was comfortable and once Draco's body temperature started to rise during transition, the duvet would simply be too hot.
Grabbing his wand, Harry walked to the opposite side of the bed and climbed in. Dropping his wand in the middle of the right half of the bed, Harry scooted over directly next to Draco. Really, it would be better if Draco could have contact with Harry when the transition started. Skin to skin contact would soothe some of the sensations caused by transition. Maybe with the contact, Draco could continue to sleep through the first couple hours or so of his transition as well. Given how exhausted he already was, it would only help as the transition magics really started to hammer at his body.
Harry snuggled in, wrapping his arms around the unconscious blond, doused the lights with a quick parseltongue phrase, and settled in to get whatever sleep he could.
