Chapter 36 – I'm Dreaming of a Calm Christmas
Harry sighed in resignation as Draco picked him up from his spot of Severus' desk. It had been almost two weeks since Draco and Lucius had attended their meeting and Draco hadn't let Harry out of his sight unless Lucius, Severus or Remus were with him. It had got to the point that Draco had started carrying him around with him all day, only putting him down when they were in Remus' and Sirius' rooms or when they had reached Draco's destination. After putting up with it for three days, Harry finally put his foot down on being treated the way he was and transformed into his cat form and draped himself on his mate's shoulder.
To the amusement of everyone who knew cats, Draco found himself becoming his mate's new cat bed. It was soon very common to see Draco walking around the castle with a black cat perched on his shoulder or laying across his shoulders. Not even the Librarian could resist Harry's charm when he was in his animal form and Draco found himself the recipient of many amused, slightly teasing comments from the women that had Harry laughing internally.
The sensation of being removed from his perch pulled Harry from his thoughts and he hissed while slashing at the hand with his claws on instinct. The familiar rumbling growl that came from the person holding him made him relax and he apologetically licked the wounds clean of anything that may have been on his class. He blinked when he was placed on the floor unexpectedly.
"Draco got a letter from Tom about his next test," Remus informed him as he clenched and relaxed his hand that was now mostly healed from the scratches Harry had inflicted on him. "Lucius is also taking Draco to the manor for a few hours to talk with a few of the Elders of the Council about the meeting they had two weeks ago. He is concerned that the meeting may have interfered with his instincts concerning your mating."
Harry nodded his understanding and yawned as he stretched before transforming into his humanoid form.
"Good," he stated as he continued to stretch. "This coming weekend is our turn to watch the kittens. If someone hadn't done something about his behaviour by tomorrow, I was going to bind him with shadows and drag him to see the Healer Guild heads."
He returned to standing normally and looked at his gaping mate.
"I understand that something happened at your meeting that concerned me and that it caused you to feel the need to protect me. I also know that you would have dealt with what I needed to be protected from as soon as it was revealed. I also know your instincts would be on overdrive due to it, so I said nothing; but now we will be watching Carla and Laynee for the weekend and I can't spend all of it in these room or in my animal form."
Draco stared at him in shock for a while and then shook his head with a soft laugh.
"I'll have to remember that you are more observant than you seem when you are focused on other things Kitten," he stated. "Thank you for not pushing me to tell you about the meeting."
"It isn't my place to know," Harry stated. "I may be your mate, but we aren't bonded. If we were … Well, then it would have been a different story. Now go and see if these elders of yours can aid you in calming your anxiety over something happening to me. Oh, and please tell them from me that if they make it worse, I will find them and put them over my knee like a disobedient child, even if I have to drag them here by their ears."
"I'll be sure to tell them," Draco responded, ignoring the odd sounds coming from his father.
Harry smiled and, with one last hug, walked into the kitchen muttering about tea and journals.
~~~readers, 'thavetoreadthem~~~
Draco ignored the conversation going on around him as he opened the letter from Tom. True to his word, he had told the Elders of Harry's threat, much to Lucius' horror. Thankfully, they decided to see the humour in it and the single dominant present among them shuddered in remembrance of his own submissive's threats. Once Lucius and Draco described what the young shadow-demon had done to Peeves, they all shared looks of awe, fear and respect.
It had then taken over an hour for him to tell the Elders what had been happening the last fortnight. They had then asked him questions that he had answered to the best of his ability. Now the Elders and his Father were discussing probable causes for his behaviour and he had somehow, despite being the one involved, been pushed aside and ignored; hence him opening the letter instead of paying attention to what was going on.
After reading the brief note describing his task, Draco whimpered softly, wishing he hadn't opened it and had instead, fed it to a fire salamander. He allowed his head to connect with the table as he allowed a whine of distress leave his lips.
"Draco? Is something wrong?" Lucius asked, his attention drawn to his heir by the sound.
His answer was a mumbled mess of whines, moans and words, all distorted by the fact Draco's face was being pressed into the table top.
"I'm sorry son, I didn't catch that," he sniggered.
Draco raised his head and half-sneered at his father.
"I said, 'If it wasn't for Harry I would hunt Tom down, tear him into pieces the size of fish flakes and scatter them around the world so he would never be found'."
"Why?"
Draco growled at his father's obvious amusement.
"Parties," he growled through clenched teeth. "this month's test is to plan, organise and supervise a Christmas and New Year's Party for the kids of the Orphanage."
"That doesn't sound too bad," Lucius stated, earning himself a glare.
"He has already told them the days and times," Draco snapped. "I'm not going to be able to join everyone on Christmas Eve or New Year's Eve because I'm going to be the only person over the age of 12 there. Not only am I going to be running around after thirty-five brats full of sugar by myself, but I am also going to be spending my first Christmas with my mate in my life not being allowed near him!"
Lucius gulped as his Heir's eyes flashed red. He had to remember to keep Draco's work load for his business to a minimum over the holidays, so the boy could spend several hours with his mate.
The Elders watched the interaction with interest.
"If you don't mind me asking," Yuki started politely, "What have you had to do so far? After you mentioned the Declaration when we met last, I looked for anything I could on it."
Draco closed his eyes in frustration. All he wanted to do was go back to the school, so he could cuddle with his adorable kitten while he was read to since it was Harry's turn to choose the book; Instead, he was here about to relive the most horrible times he has had to live through.
"First, I had to deal with Harry on catnip," he stated without emotion as his father's entire body flinched at the tone and the memory. "Second I had to do logic problems every night and third I had to cook a three-course meal for Harry's family as well as one meal a week for Harry."
"That doesn't sound too bad," Lord Embry stated, honestly confused at why the youngster was acting the way he was.
Looking at Draco, Lucius decided to answer before his Heir could do something damaging to the Malfoy name.
"My Lords and Ladies," he began, "what you must understand is that Draco is still a student – one in his last year of schooling and therefore preparing for his NEWTs and for his life after school: In this case, Draco has to learn about the Malfoy family businesses. This means that even if he wasn't courting, his year would be full. Since he is courting, however, he also needs to spend a certain amount of time with his intended proving himself to his submissive."
Lucius took a sip of the deep burgundy liquid in his chalice as he allowed the five Elders present absorb this information.
"On top of this he has this Declaration thing to worry about. If he doesn't perform to the magics specifications, he could lose his life or his bond to Harry."
All five Elders paled at this news and they all jumped when Draco picked up the explanation.
"To make matters worse, the magic of the Declaration is vile and twisted. It actively works against the person or being it was called into action for. The first 'test' resulted with me being locked in an enclosed space with a Harry whose body was forced into a mock-heat only one week after his boss put him on a potion to prevent his heat. Even though he is taking the potion every month, he is forced into a mock h-heat every second month."
Draco gulped a few mouthfuls of water as the colour drained from the face of the only Dominant Elder.
"If I had left the paper with the logic puzzles without doing ALL of them, I would have failed and if I didn't get at least half correct, I would have also failed. If I didn't stay on top of my schooling, I failed and if, at any time, Harry felt as though I hadn't spent enough time with him, I failed."
Draco rubbed his temples
"I don't think I need to go on, do I?"
All five Elders and Lucius shook their heads in the negative. Even though he had been present throughout the tests, Lucius had no idea how much pressure was on his son to succeed.
"So, can I go back and cuddle with my mate? I want to know what Killashandra does next."
All he received as answer were six confused stares making Draco's head hit the table once more.
~~~CookiesforeveryonewhoknowstheseriestheyarereadinghereXD~~~
Everyone in the room watched as Harry cooed over the sleeping form of his mate while Blaise was at his family home collecting his sisters. The Malfoy men had arrived back in the early hours of the morning from their meeting and the younger blonde had made his way to the couch he and Harry had claimed before passing out. To the surprise of many, he hadn't woken at his usual time.
"He took a sleeping potion before we left home," Lucius stated when the questioning gazes met his own. His eyes trailed to Harry and he smiled softly, "which is probably why Harry isn't currently trying to claw my eyes out."
Sirius let out a chuff of laughter as he pictured just that happening to the aristocratic man.
"He certainly does get his point across, doesn't he?" Remus asked with a chuckle. "And here I was thinking he was a handful when he was younger."
"He'll never stop being a handful," Hermione stated with a soft laugh, "but that just makes him Harry and we all love him for it."
"Draco definitely agrees with you 'Mione," Sirius laughed, pointing at said teen.
Once again everyone looked at the couple, only to chuckle softly as they watched a still sleeping Draco nuzzle and mutter into a blushing Harry's hair. The reason for the blush became obvious to those watching when Draco's hand copied its actions in his dream and stroked Harry's lower abdomen.
It was at that moment that Blaise, Carla and Laynee appeared with a squeal of happiness that woke Draco up. To nobody's surprise, the first thing he did was look at Harry and the bitter disappointment in his eyes took everyone's breath away.
Blaise and his sisters watched in bemusement as Harry smiled his understanding and placed the hand that Draco had slowly removed from its resting place back where it was.
"Just over seven more months to wait," the black-haired teen said with innocent hope in his eyes.
Draco smiled and pressed an innocent kiss to his mate's lips.
"Seven months," he agreed as he once again stroked Harry's abdomen with a slowly burning heat in his eyes. 'Yes,' he thought, 'seven months until we start working on what we both want."
~~~Ohdear,poorharryandDraco~~~
Lucius sipped his scotch as he watched Harry and Hermione herd the two girls towards the bathroom to clean up before they were put to bed. That day had shown him that Draco was no longer a little boy but was, in fact, a young man with his future almost fully planned and ready to start a family. He now understood Narcissa's reaction the day they first discovered Draco had found his mate a little better. His thoughts were interrupted by someone groaning softly as they sat in the chair beside him.
"You know he is always going to need you, right?" Remus asked.
"What?" Lucius asked, coughing up the alcohol he had just inhaled in shock.
"Draco," Remus clarified, "he will always want and need you, even though he is now grown and planning on a family of his own. He will just need you in a different role. He no longer needs you to protect and guide him; now he needs you to advise him while allowing him to make his own choices and mistakes."
The gentle man smiled at the torn blonde and rose to his feet with another groan as his knees cracked.
"It's a part of growing up," he said. "Some just do it faster than others."
Noticing the younger man's eyes linger on the door that Harry, Hermione and the girls vanished through, Lucius felt almost ashamed of his behaviour. He had raised his Heir to be the best Lord Malfoy that he could be, so this change was, in all reality, not too different from his usual behaviour. He had even known as soon Draco displayed his first Dominant-type behaviour when he was five and then again when he reached his majority that as soon as his mate was ready for children, he would be a grandfather.
He watched Remus move towards Sirius and pictured himself in their place instead of his own and felt the respect he had for them rise. At first, he had despised the four Marauders for the way they had acted in school and how they had targeted Severus harder than any of their other victims. It hadn't been until he had left school that he realised that their attitudes weren't one hundred percent their fault and so they couldn't take all the blame. While most of it was because both James Potter and Sirius Black were spoilt brats, a large chunk of the fault was the adults of their society. This fact was hammered home after his son had been born and people began associating him with the Slytherin House straight away.
The odd remarks of him being a Slytherin just like his parents weren't too bad because it acknowledged that his son and Heir looked like him and Narcissa and that he would become an upstanding member of society, just like they were if he was raised correctly. It was the people who insisted on buying Draco Slytherin based gifts that annoyed him the most, but it was the way parents would pull their children – who were curious about a little baby – away from him telling them that he was a future snake, and everyone knows that snakes cannot be trusted that angered him.
It was due to this anger that he found himself offering his condolences to the two remaining Marauders after the news of James and Lily's deaths reached him. To his and Severus' surprise, both men had graciously accepted his condolences and – in turn – had apologised for their behaviour in school. Of course, Severus hadn't believed nor accepted the apology but even he had been hit for a six when Sirius had told him he could take the apology or not because both he and Remus had more important things to focus on then childhood stupidity that was forced into young children's minds from the people around them
It had taken almost a month and a lot of digging, but Lucius had finally discovered that both men were working undercover for the muggle Aurors and as a result, had had to leave the Potter Heir in a muggle-magical mix orphanage run by the lady who had taken Remus in only days before he received his Hogwarts letter. Upon telling Severus, the man had refused to believe it until he saw it with his own eyes: Something Lucius knew that his friend regretted.
The arrival of Harry, Hermione and the girls shook Lucius from his darkening thoughts and he smiled as Carla and Laynee kissed their way through the room before standing before his son and Blaise almost expectedly. As though they had been doing it for years, both boys picked up a girl and carried them to Harry and Hermione's room where an extra bed had been added for the weekend. Soon after they left, Harry and Hermione followed carrying three mugs each. The adults exchanged looks and with a grin, Sirius shot out a spell on the closest mirror, so they could see and hear what was happening in the room above them.
~~~Ihaveenjoyedmakingthisstory~~~
In the room Harry and Hermione had just finished handing out the drinks while Draco pulled a book from the top draw in Harry's bedside table.
"Who do you want to read to you tonight?" Draco asked. "All of us have read now and Blaise read last."
Both girls pointed at Draco with a small giggle before they snuggled deeper into the bed and pillows, cradling their cups carefully as they took their first sip and hummed in delight.
With a playful roll of his eyes, Draco slowly opened the book as the other three teens settled onto the other beds to listen.
"Little Ragged Blossom and more about Snugglepot and Cuddlepie …"
~~~Anothergoodbooktoread~~~
Draco stretched out onto the lounge with a sigh of contentment. Thanks to the combination of hot milk sweetened with honey and cinnamon and a good story, both girls were out to it within half an hour. Now it was his turn to relax with his mate and family around him. A soft clearing of a throat made him look up and he smiled as he was handed a steaming mug of hot chocolate. Harry smiled back at him and clambered onto the lounge with him, sitting between Draco's legs with his back to Draco's chest. With a soft purr of happiness at the feeling of lips against his neck, the younger teen reached for a book that had found itself wedged between the cushions. He tilted his head back and turned his head to receive the kiss Draco gave him and snuggled deeper before opening the book in his hand.
"Chapter three. She had just finished her morning meal …"
Draco allowed his mate's voice to wash over him, pulling him deeper into the world described in the book. The news of what his test was could wait for the next morning.
~~~Idislikesummer~~~
Harry read over the letter Draco had received from Tom a third time and a sly, predatory grin spread across his face.
"I don't see why you are worried Draco," he said into the silent room. "The way he has written it is that you only have to organise it yourself and then be present as a supervisor. This means we can be there as long as YOU organise it."
Draco blinked in shock and held out his hand for the letter, which Harry immediately returned to him. He read it again and soon a grin similar to that of his mate's grew on his lips.
"Harry, O mate o' mine," he said with a darkly seductive purr, "How would you feel about cooking for your puppies again?"
"I would love to," Harry purred back. "Who will be aiding me, my Lord?"
As a full body shiver of pleasure made its way down Draco's spine, the hairs on everyone else in the room stood on end.
"I am suddenly thankful that Draco has never been interested in world domination or politics," Blaise stated. "I have a feeling that with Harry by his side, he would be able to obtain it."
Everyone nodded their agreement as Harry began cooing over the newly woken girls and Draco started planning out a rough idea for the first of two parties.
~~~whoelsethinksDracoandHarrytogethercantakeovertheworld?~~~
Nagini sat in her seat and watched Tom get ready with amusement. She had purposefully bitten back her thoughts of what the older snake demon had demanded of young Harry's suitor but had informed him that if he didn't stop his sadism, Harry would dismember him, put him back together and then dismember him once again. He had brushed her words off with a scoff and now she was going to follow him to the event to watch the fireworks.
~~~heheheNaginiisasadist~~~
Nicholas watched Willa with an almost dopey smile as she helped the older teens watch the babies and toddlers. Naturally their sons were the youngest there and for once he was happy of the fact. At first, when Draco had invited the entire family to the party, he was against it, but now that he was here he was glad Willa, Carla and Laynee wore him down.
His eyes briefly left his wife and twins and focused on his two girls who were running around the clearing they were in screaming in hyperactive delight as they ran away from a playfully growling Sirius and Bellatrix. It was a rare thing for his girls to be able to play with children their own ages and seeing them make new friends made him smile.
After a quick glance back a Willa, he focused on finding Blaise. He chuckled when he found his oldest son surrounded by a gang of primary school age boys who were competing over who would be next to get a fake tattoo from the teen. Beside him sat Narcissa who was similarly surrounded by girls of all age wanting to be made up like princesses, ladies, butterflies, fairies and, in one memorable case, a ninja turtle. Much to Narcissa's relief, Hermione came out at around that time to check on the drinks level and she did the rather odd request before returning to the kitchen.
It had come as no surprise to anyone that Severus, Remus and Hermione had joined Harry in the kitchen to supply food and drink to everyone in the area. The fact that said kitchen was in the orphanage that backed onto the park they were in was beside the point. They could see the people in it just as easily as they could see them, so it wasn't as if the four of them were being isolated.
An enraged yell and laughter interrupted his thoughts and his head snapped around to see the man who had come to him before they met Harry storming towards Draco.
~~~itisgoodthatthegirlsgetsomechildishinteraction~~~
Harry's and Hermione's heads snapped up and they vanished without a thought. Remus quickly began turning off the oven, chuckling to himself.
"Come on Severus!" he called, "this is something we really don't want to miss."
Both men ran from the room and appeared just as Laynee had a burst of accidental magic and apparated to between a calm Draco and Harry and an almost snarling Tom. To the shock of everyone who knew who Tom was, she unhesitatingly lifted her foot and drove it as hard as she could into his shin.
Tom, shocked out of his anger, stared down at the girl with wide eyes.
"You are a mean, nasty, horrible man," she stated with a glare, "and very rude. We are having a party that my Draco planned, and we were having fun until you started yelling. I blame you for ruining it!"
Once again, to the open amusement of Nagini, she drove her foot into Tom's shin and ran back to her sister – who was also glaring at him.
"She is either going to be a Slytherin or Hufflepuff seeing that," Remus chuckled, making Severus chuckle with him. Both houses were known for their loyalty, though Slytherin loyalty was somewhat less straight forward than that of the Hufflepuff house.
"Now that Laynee calmed you down," Harry stated from beside Draco, "care to explain why you are ruining the party you decided should be thrown for my puppies?"
"He is supposed to be doing this alone!" Tom snapped, ignoring a smirking Nagini.
Harry let out a snort.
"Then you should have planned and specified it better. Your letter only said that he had to organise it himself and then supervise those twelve years old and younger. The biggest thing that you mentioned was that the kids should enjoy themselves. Now tell me, how was he supposed to get enough food and drink for all those kids in the time frame you gave him if me, Rinie, Remus and Severus weren't here to cook?"
Tom was silent.
"No answer? How about how was he to watch the older kids if the older teens and Lady Zabini weren't watching the babies and toddlers? Or how could he play with and watch the toddlers and feed them all decent food and set up games by himself?"
Still Tom remained silent. Then Harry moved in for the kill with a dangerous smile.
"And I know that you wouldn't be horrible enough to ruin the first Christmas that I can spend with my mate by refusing us to be in the same area as each other, especially as it means that you were purposefully aiming for the harm of one of MY pups and if I ever thought that was the aim of this test, you know I would tear you apart for harming what is mine, don't you?"
Tom swallowed, his throat very dry. He glanced at the smug Nagini and winced. He should have listened to his female counterpart when he started murmuring about men and idiots after he told her his plan.
"I'm afraid that all this was caused, not for his desire to harm any of the puppies that are here, but his desire to make your suitor fight for the right to mate you," Nagini cut in when it was evident Tom wasn't going to say anything.
"And it is that same male stupidity of his that he needs to move so the fact magic herself gave Draco the right to mate me and nothing he does will prevent it. This Declaration's magic may be twisted when it concerns the bond between true mates, but not even it will allow harm to come to little ones."
Draco pulled Harry to him and whispered something to him that made the smaller male nod and leave without a second glance at Tom. When he was sure Harry left, Draco once again turned to face Tom, eyes completely serious.
"I will beat this Declaration," he stated firmly without preamble. "both Harry and I will survive this unscathed and I WILL be claiming him the night of his seventeenth birthday: Nothing you say or do will change that. You can hate me all you want, and you can try your hardest to make me fail your little tests, but the second you do something that harms MY Kitten …"
Draco's grin was blood thirsty.
"I will tear your body into itty bitty pieces and scatter them across the globe, so they will never fully be found. DO. NOT. TRY. ME."
Within the blink of an eye, Draco transformed from a thing of nightmares to the polite Heir of a high-bred family.
"If you intend on staying, please help yourself to food and drink. Father is currently at a meeting of the Clans – something I should also be at, but am unable to attend – and will hopefully be here in the next two or so hours. I suggest you don't go near anyone else because to the kids you tried to ruin their party and to the adults and older teens, you showed you have all the self-control of a spoilt three-year-old."
He bowed slightly in Nagini's direction and offered her a heartfelt smile.
"It is wonderful to see you again Miss Nagini. Please help yourself to refreshments and allow me to introduce you to Willa and Nicholas Zabini. Willa has recently had twins, and this is her first time out of the Manor with them, so they may be a touch protective over them."
Nagini hissed her amusement and linked her arm through Draco's.
"Please introduce us," she said with a smile, "I will get myself refreshments after I give my congratulations, as is proper."
As Draco led Nagini away, Tom looked around and pouted. Looks like he had messed up yet again. Damn it was hard to remember Harry was now growing into the man … well, demon … he was meant to become. Tom's pout deepened as the party continued around him.
