I'm so sorry this is sooo late, I've been busy and on holiday and stressed and argh. Hopefully i'll be able to keep to the weekly schedule now though. Anyway! Here it is!
Harry frowned as he looked across the room to the Slytherin table. From afar all seemed well but after hearing several Slytherins talk about Malfoy and mention a person called Liam, he noticed all the funny looks Malfoy was getting. Malfoy looked grumpier than usual, if that was possible.
What's up? He asked through the link, channelling all his energy at Malfoy. He smiled to himself when Malfoy's head shot up. What could have been a smile played around his lips. He looked down at his lunch for a moment before replying.
Nothing's wrong. Nothing that concerns you, anyway, he said, snippily, but his cheeks were tinged pink with what Harry thought must have been pride. Harry smiled to himself. He tried another approach.
Who's Liam? Draco mumbled a profanity under his breath and looked up at him, the colour swiftly draining from his face. Harry grimaced inwardly. He'd unintentionally hit a nerve. Draco's face then smoothed out and showed no emotion.
Who? He asked. Harry wasn't fooled. He should probably drop the subject but he was too intrigued to do so.
The other Slytherins were talking about you and his name cropped up. I was just wondering -
Well, don't, Draco interrupted. Harry raised his eyebrows in surprise. He didn't know that was even possible. Liam isn't important, so leave it. Harry didn't reply. He wondered what Malfoy was hiding and he really wanted to find out. He was pulled out of his thoughts by an overexcited Ron. He hurriedly sat at the bench, grinning widely at them all.
"You'll never guess what!" he said quickly, but continued before anyone could take a breath to guess. "Malfoy's gay," he whispered loudly to them. Seamus looked triumphant.
"I told you!"
"How do you know?" dean asked, simultaneously glaring at Seamus' outstretched hand. "You've not won until I have proof," he grumbled to him.
"He was saying a guy's name in his sleep," Ron answered, grinning like Christmas had come early.
"What was his name?" Harry asked suspiciously, things falling into place.
"Liam, I think." Harry looked across to Draco. He looked sheepish and, well, scared. Harry frowned. Why was he so worried about people knowing he knows someone called Liam? Something must have happened for Draco to dream about him. Harry didn't want to listen to the rumours. He had to make up his mind up about Malfoy by himself.
Who's Liam? He asked again. He could almost hear Draco's irritated sigh through the link.
A son of my father's friend. Look - I'll tell you, but not now. Harry was surprised he was so open.
Sure, whenever you feel ready. And Draco? I won't judge you, regardless of what other people are saying. Draco glanced up and gave him a rare quirk of his mouth.
Thank you. Harry smiled back before frowning. He didn't know what it was but his head felt strange. He searched around his mind easily. The tunnel he spoke to Draco down was still there. It normally went away the second they stopped talking. Faint pulses were crossing the tunnel and for a split second he felt a wash of worry that didn't belong to him. Before he could concentrate on it, the tunnel closed.
"Hermione?" he called, attracting her attention. "The strangest thing just happened," he said, tapping his head. After they'd eaten, they spent the rest of their lunch time talking about it. Harry told Hermione what had happened in great detail and she considered for a moment before hurrying down to the library. She returned fifteen minutes later with a book.
"You're not going to like this Harry, but it's the only book I could find with anything like this in."
"'Famous Couples throughout History'," Harry read and pulled a face.
"I know," she sympathized. She flipped the book open and ran a finger down the index. "Here we go, Romilda Bagshot and Terry Vane. They were a couple in the 1870s and were both outstanding at occlumuncy. It was said they could talk to each other from halfway across the world without the use of spells, charms or potions. It is said that they could feel each other's emotions and could be permanently linked if they so wanted. It's strange, though. They were very close all their lives. They had a unique relationship. I can understand how your mind was linked to Voldemort but being linked to Draco... well, that just doesn't make sense." Harry frowned thoughtfully.
"But I can link to you," he contradicted. She looked up at him.
"That's just occlumuncy. Yes, you can link with other people without using spells but that is weak. Your link with Draco is much stronger and feeling emotion is nearly impossible in ordinary circumstances. I don't know what's different with him but that's just the way it is." Harry took in all the information. He thought perhaps it was strong because he and Draco had been through similar circumstances but he knew that just wasn't true. Nearly everyone had Hogwarts had been through the same thing and he couldn't talk to them through their minds.
"It's like we're soul mates or something," he joked. Hermione looked seriously back at him and his face fell. "You can't believe in that crap."
"I don't, but that's the only explanation I have." Harry groaned.
"I knew I shouldn't have told you about this," he said, smiling lightly at her. Suddenly, Hermione's face lit up.
"Try talking to him now," she told him excitedly.
"What? We're not even in the same room!"
"Exactly! If you can talk to him now, you're soul mates. If you can't, it's just clever occlumuncy."
"Is this black-mail to get me to do your experiments?" Hermione nodded and he laughed lightly. "fine." he felt stupid doing it but he closed his eyes and thought about Draco, picturing him in his head and letting his mind seek out Draco's. He felt a strange pulling sensation and he pictured Draco in more detail: the blond hair, the grey eyes, the delicate lips, the way he moved. Memories of him flashed through his mind without him asking them to. He saw Draco smiling proudly at his patronus, he saw him up close as he peered into his eyes, he saw the conversations they had. It shocked Harry how much he knew Draco. It felt effortless, like his mind had picked up everything and stored it in one place ready for him to recall whenever he wanted. He took a deep breath and, somehow knowing when to, spoke to Draco. The tunnel opened up and he spoke down it again.
Draco? If you can hear this, try to speak back. Harry waited. He was about to give up when a muffled reply came through. His stomach fluttered and he grinned happily.
Harry? Where are you? How are you doing this?
I don't know, he replied truthfully. I'm in the Gryffindor common room, where are you?
In the Slytherin common room, but that's on the other side of the school! Harry chuckled to himself. He still had his eyes closed, scared that if he opened them he would lose the contact.
I know! Hermione made me do it, but it's tiring so I'm going to stop now.
Okay, but Harry? Teach me how to do it? Please?
Sure, he replied and opened his eyes.
"I guess you managed it, then?" Hermione asked, smiling.
"Yeah," he replied happily. He grinned impossibly wider when he realised Draco had used his first name. He happily ignored Hermione's raised eyebrow that clearly meant 'that should not be possible'. It was possible and he didn't care how.
"So, soul mates then?" she teased. Harry sobered into seriousness.
"Do you think it's to do with the life debt? I mean, maybe it's old magic." Hermione frowned.
"Perhaps. But perhaps you are both skilled in occlumuncy. Draco probably had to keep Voldemort out of his mind too. I don't know what to tell you, Harry. The books are vague and your situation is so rare I'm not sure there even are any true records. You're a special case," she smiled.
"But we knew that all along," a voice behind them said. Harry jumped and turned to see Seamus leaning on the back of his chair.
"How long have you been there?" Harry asked, batting at Seamus with his hand. The boy grinned and moved to perch on the arm of the sofa Hermione was sitting on.
"Long enough to gather that you're Malfoy's soul mate." He couldn't hide his grin when Harry glared at him. "Either that or you have voices in your head. Again."
"Low blow, Seamus!" Harry scolded light-heartedly. "I was talking to Draco." Seamus made a face.
"Who'd want his drawl in their head? Besides, how is that even possible without one of those mind- binding charm thingies?" Hermione looked outraged at his attempt at the name but discarded correcting him in favour of asking Harry more questions.
"Can you hear what he sounds like in your head?" Harry thought for a moment. He realised that Draco's voice came through with more expression to it than it had at the beginning. It wasn't quite as if Draco was talking to him normally but it was pretty close.
Harry clutched at his head when a swoop of fear went through his body. His heart-rate sped up in response.
"What is it?" Hermione asked worriedly, rushing over to him and kneeling at his feet.
"I'm okay," he replied, in a bit of a daze. The fear had gone as soon as it came but it still unnerved him a little. "I felt emotion again." He looked up at the frowning Gryffindors.
Are you okay? He asked Draco through the link.
Yeah, he replied. He sounded confused. Draco's realisation came through the link. You felt that?
Yeah. I thought I'd better ask.
Well, don't. I'm fine. I just – realised I hadn't done the homework for next lesson. Harry frowned. Draco rarely did his homework anyway and the fear was too strong for that.
"He's fine," he reported back. He forced a smile. Seamus was looking at him as if he's just sprouted an extra head.
"Freaky," he mumbled. Harry threw a cushion at him. "Hey! Not you, the situation. Not just the link, but the way you act too. Normally you wouldn't have bothered to check." Harry nodded, the realisation sinking in. Seamus was right. But, hey, a lot of things have changed over the years and perhaps Harry was a little more caring of people around him. He grimaced when he thought it was his 'hero complex' coming through.
"Exploding snap?" he offered to his friends, desperate to move on from the topic of Draco and stop them looking at him as if he were mad.
"Nah, I came over here to ask you if you'd seen Dean about," Seamus answered, looking around to see Dean had just walked into the common room. He stood up quickly. "I'd better catch him before he disappears again." Harry watched him leave and turned to Hermione.
"No, thanks, Harry. I have homework to do." She smiled at him apologetically and moved the pile of books from the table and onto her lap. Harry leant back against the chair cushions for a moment before deciding to go up to the library. He didn't have any lessons that afternoon and hadn't planned to meet up with Draco so he supposed he'd better use his time wisely and finish his essays. He bid Hermione goodbye and left the common room.