AN: Again and again I mention that this story will be retouched and reposted after all the chapters are up but no one ever reads these things do they? If you do…I congratulate you…you may go brag about yourself as being an awesome reader in the comments section.
Warnings and Disclaimers: See first few chapters
Harry leaned his head back against Draco, both of them watching the lake as they sat silently. They had been there for a few hours, just talking about anything. Families, hobbies, food…whatever came to mind. Harry felt so relaxed in the other's arms to the point where he couldn't even remember why he had ever thought about rejecting Draco.
"I have one more thing to show you for tonight." The Slytherin mumbled into Harry's ear, leaning forward and cupping his hands in front of his face, blowing out a long, bright flame that moved much like it was alive, the boy's silver eyes swirling with magic. The Slytherin grinned as he flicked his wrist, causing the flame to grow and spread out over the entire surface of the water, lighting up their previously dark surroundings. "I just learned I could do that." Draco mumbled, watching the fire with fascination.
"Woah…that's cool." Harry was mumbling, realizing that, curiously enough, the fire looked menacing but felt pretty comfortable even at such proximity. "Why are we not…burnt to a crisp yet?" the Gryffindor boy asked, raising an eyebrow. Draco let out a small laugh. "Well...I for one am immune to my own attacks and you are bonded to me as my mate, therefore my magic cannot hurt you."
"So…you mean to say…as long as it comes from you I'm fire-proof?" Harry asked with a wide grin, enjoying the thoughts of all of the uses of this new information. "Yes. And don't get any stupid ideas. The Gryffindor Golden Boy is worshiped enough; we don't need to light him on fire, thank you." Draco drawled, causing Harry to burst out laughing. "Let's go back…I'll get Dobby to get us some food and then we can just sleep." The raven haired boy suggested, moving to kiss his mate softly, a smile playing on his lips.
As they both headed back Draco let out a small yawn, causing Harry to raise a thin eyebrow. "I thought you didn't sleep?" Harry asked, studying the blonde with slight amusement. "Only about once per week, but when we do, we're pretty sleepy…" Draco explained with a small shrug, mumbling their password and pushing the door behind the portrait open as they stepped back into their rooms. "I want strawberries..." the Slytherin declared with another small yawn as he fell back onto the couch, grabbling Harry's sleeve to pull him down as well.
"Dobby?" Harry called out with a small sigh. He had already taken the time to explain to Draco that this house elf counted more as his friend and had previously let Dobby know of his new mate, so, when the house elf did appear with a loud pop he just bowed low, offering his usual praise to his master Harry Potter. "Could you get us something to eat please? Some strawberries dipped in chocolate, chicken sandwiches…and…lemonade." Harry concluded. He watched his friend disappear with a smile, jumping slightly when Dobby returned only seconds later with what he had asked for. He had him set it on the kitchen table, going over to grab a sandwich. When he looked back he could see Draco eyeing the Strawberries wantonly, a sleepy but determined gaze. Harry sighed, picked up the plate and brought it to the blonde, stifling a laugh as he watched the other devour them hungrily.
Ron sighed again, sitting in the large red chair beside the fireplace in the Gryffindor common room. "I don't know…I've never seen him that happy. He always had that look when he came back from the summer." He mumbled, his arms drawn around his knees. Seamus raised an eyebrow at his comment. "Wow. You noticed…usually subtle stuff isn't your thing." He teased slightly. He was lying on the small couch, legs swinging in the air above him. Another voice arose from right in front of the fireplace. It was Hermione Granger, who was still glaring slightly at her red haired friend. "Yes Ron. He's happy with Draco. That's what we've been trying to get you to understand. I'm glad you came to your senses…though I still hate that you had to say those things to your best friend first." She grumbled.
Ron nodded silently, remembering the night in the hospital wing. He'd decided he wanted to at least hear Harry out, and then when he saw him, there had been this voice in his head constantly whispering to him, egging him on, telling him to be furious with Harry. And like the idiot that he was, he'd listened.
"I want to tell him I'm sorry…but I don't even know how to…" Ron was mumbling to himself. Normally, Hermione would have whacked him upside the head by now, but the boy did seem genuinely upset. "Let's just get some sleep Ron. Maybe you can talk to Harry at lunch tomorrow." She suggested, stifling a yawn as she headed up the narrow staircase, heading to her gold and red bed.
"Yeah. Sleep sounds good. I'm going to go too. Don't stay up all night; you have potions to sit through tomorrow morning." Seamus reminded the boy as he too headed to a good night's sleep, leaving Ron alone to his thoughts.
After they had both eaten, Harry and Draco had gone straight to bed. Since Harry always slept in Draco's room for the comforting proximity and lack of nightmares, his own room had been changed to a study. Harry didn't exactly study much, but Draco used it regularly for homework and potions experiments. Night found Draco curled up in a ball around Harry, breathing softly as he slept, his red wings covering them both. Harry had a little more trouble falling asleep, but he didn't want to wake the Veela from his weekly full night of rest, so he just listened to his mate's breathing, letting that lull him into sleep.
Morning came all too quickly for Harry and he was woken by Draco shuffling around the bedroom to get dressed and ready. He groaned softly, pulling a pillow over his head to block out the light so he could attempt to fall back asleep. That didn't last long, however, as the pillow was expertly pulled away from him and used to whack him slightly, jolting him awake and causing him to let out a low whine. And so started Draco and Harry's routine morning. They hadn't even lived together long and they acted like a married couple. Harry would refuse to get up, to which Draco would respond by picking him up and setting him in the bathroom, locking the door shut until the shower was heard. Harry would then reluctantly get ready and complain to Draco the entire way through, which Draco would stop by forcing a large bite of their breakfast into Harry's mouth. Somehow, by the end of it all, they did manage to make it out the door early most days, no thanks to the groggy Gryffindor.
Today however, their routine was rudely interrupted. As Harry was rinsing out his mouth, the snake-like voice made itself heard again. 'Sssoon you will sssee' it started quietly, menacingly. Harry was startled by its sudden appearance and jumped slightly, looking frantically around the bathroom to try to determine where the sound came from. "What are you?" He stammered to the air in front of him, voice weak. 'Your friendsss will sssoon be nexxxt. Sssoon. For my massster.' The voice was saying, getting louder and louder. Suddenly, the floor seemed to give way under him and he was sinking in some sort of mud. He yelped as he struggled to get free, but it only pulled him down faster, seeming to crawl up his body. Harry could see shapes rising from the mud, clawing at him, trying to drown him. Hermione. Ron. Seamus. Neville….Draco…
Harry's scream reverberated through the dungeons as the boy writhed on the tiled floor of the bathroom, eyes wide open but completely blank. "Harry. HARRY." Draco was yelling at him, trying to shake him awake from whatever had him hallucinating. At Draco's voice the Gryffindor snapped out of it, panting lightly as relief washed over him at seeing his mate crouched over him, staring at him worriedly. Without being able to choke out a word Harry fisted his hands in his mate's shirt, whimpering as he pulled himself close. "Shh. You're safe. You're safe now." Draco was telling him soothingly, rubbing his back in slow circles. "What happened Harry?" he asked, concerned.
Harry sighed, slightly calmer now. "I heard it again. The voice. It was telling me my friends were next. And then I saw…they…all of you…were trying to kill me…I couldn't get away." He choked out, shuddering as he spoke. "I'm scared. I don't know what to do…if that thing is going after my friends…which ones? I can't watch them all, all the time. And that thing knows that, and can watch me. What if I can't save them?" he was starting. Draco frowned deeply, placing a soft kiss on his lips, then another on his jaw. "You can warn them. You have to trust them to be able to defend themselves. We'll have to warn your closest friends, discreetly." The blonde started, watching as his mate shook his head. "We have to go to Dumbledore. I didn't want to before, since only I can hear it so far…but it's starting to threaten more people than just me. Still…I have a feeling…the minute I tell him that I can hear it…it'll try to kill someone." He whispered darkly.
"Then don't tell him. Yet. I know you're afraid for your friends, but we have no way of knowing that this voice is what started the attack. It could just be someone out to get you with a very expensive set of potions. They could be making this up, to seem like they are controlling everything even though they are just waiting for another attack to take credit for. We don't know anything for certain yet. All we can do is warn your friends. And you do not run off alone anymore. " the blonde finished sternly, content when his mate nodded slowly. "Okay." came his meek reply. "I guess we have to go to potions. I wish I wasn't the only one hearing it. It feels like I'm going mad." He was mumbling as he stood shakily to finish getting ready, the concerned and overprotective Veela close by him helping him.
When they were both ready, Draco picked up both of their books and led Harry to the potions room, not caring anymore that his arm was around his mate's waist. The whole school knew by now anyway, courtesy of Ron Weasley. The Veela kept glancing at his mate as they walked, worrying. Harry looked so shaken, completely out of it. He wished he could hear this voice, if for nothing more than to share the worry that seemed to be wearing his beautiful mate to the bone. As they walked they walked they were greeted by stares, praise, insults, everything imaginable. Still, most kept their comments to themselves when they noticed the dragon veela's expression. When they arrived Harry took his seat next to Draco, staring off into space as he thought about that voice's warning. He barely noticed Ron approaching him until his friend stood right in front of him. "Ron…" Harry started quietly, not really knowing what to say after that. "Hey mate…if I can still call you that. Can we talk at dinner today?" Ron Weasley mumbled, glancing nervously from his friend to the glaring veela and back. He breathed a sigh of relief when Harry nodded slowly and returned to sit next to Hermione just in time for the lecture to start. Harry wasn't much help with the potions this class and kept apologizing to Draco every once in a while for it.
"It's fine. I can handle this; you can sit this one out." Draco kept telling him patiently, calmly fixing whatever problems Harry happened to cause with the potion. The rest of the lectures that day didn't go too well either. Harry would just stare in front of him and fidget with his quill while Draco's palm rested on his knee under the table, trying to soothe him as best as he could. At the end of classes he sent Hermione and Weasely a note to meet them back at their rooms, figuring Harry could use a quiet moment away from the rest of their classmates.
"So, y'know. That's why I'm really sorry mate." Ron spoke up from one of the sofas. "I know. But it still hurt. You know I'll forgive you, but just…not now. Give me some time okay?" Harry sighed, sipping at the tea Draco had made him. He figured his mate must have slipped some potion into the tea because it had a very soothing effect. "I know." Ron answered, then fell quiet again and didn't speak up again."
"Harry." Hermione started then, drawing his attention back to his surroundings and away from the tea. "You were saying you heard a voice?" she prompted, watching Draco sit down next to his mate out of the corner of her eye. "Yeah." Harry answered. "It's in Parceltoungue. It sounds like an actual snake though, not just someone speaking it, I can tell the difference. It's freaking me out." The Gryffindor admitted, setting the mug of tea down and drawing close to Draco with a small shudder. "Do you think this could be that medium you were reading about?" Draco suggested, rubbing his mate's shoulder soothingly. Hermione paused in thought, uncertain. "It…doesn't make sense for it to be an animal. It wouldn't be powerful enough magically." she mumbled, dismissing the idea and sipping at her own tea. The large fireplace in the room cast flickering shadows onto their worried expressions. It took a moment before Harry spoke up again, his voice calmer from having his mate close. "What about the Basilisk? I know I killed it, we're sure it's dead of course, but. Let's pretend it was alive…could it be the medium then?" the Gryffindor boy asked, stunning both his mate and friend with the question, Ron completely absent from the conversation in the room. "Well…yes. It could be. It was a very powerful creature, even more so when Tom Riddle was controlling it through the diary." Hermione answered with a slow nod. "But the Basilisk is dead and that diary was destroyed with its venom, so this brings us nowhere." She concluded, sighing again.
Harry, however, didn't look so convinced and Draco noticed it immediately. "What are you thinking? Tell us…it can't hurt. We have nothing so far." Draco prompted gently, waiting patiently for his mate to arrange his thoughts before he responded. "Well…Hermione. Remember the year of the triwizard tournament? At least I think it was that year, I've had so many visions…But in this one, I told you I saw…Voldemord, and Wormtail was there too." Harry started, watching the girl nod along. "Well, that was when he was weak. I could feel the magic of everyone in the room, he was stronger than most, but his snake, it came towards me in the vision, and its magic was a lot stronger than the Basilisk." He finished, watching Draco and Hermione's faces change to understanding.
"Voldemord's snake, of course. It's very likely that that's the medium, they're already linked magically after all…and it's a way that he can only transmit threats to you since you're the one that understands it. Where did you hear that voice?" she asked. "In a hallway, in the bedroom and later in the bathroom. But in the hallway it sounded so much like the Basilisk because I could hear it move and it sounded the same when it did. And that's gotten me thinking about the chamber of secrets. Since only I could open it and sure as heck don't want to, we never sealed it. There was no need to since no one even knew where it was. But a snake could open it even easier than I did, and I think it's using the pipes to move the same way, to follow me…everywhere." Harry explained. Draco frowned as he held him close. "I won't let it harm you." He promised him in a whisper.
'Ssso clevvver. Your friendsss are ssso lucky to have you…ssson…they will kill you.' The voice rang out again, Harry going completely pale in an instant. This time, Draco heard it too, having been sharing Harry's thoughts at the time, and he didn't look pale so much as ready to murder. "What did it say?" Hermione questioned, looking from Harry to Draco worriedly. "His friends will be forced to attack him. It's like a game to them." Draco whispered bitterly. "Well…it's control though magic. What about a shielding potion?" Hermione suggested quickly. "I'll need your help brewing it, but the more of Harry's friends we get to take it; the more we'll narrow down the possible attackers. And we'll build a group Harry can trust." She said, watching the veela nod eagerly.
"Yes, of course. I'll talk professor Snape into lending us some of the ingredients tomorrow." Draco promised, then leaned in to kiss his mate's hair soothingly. "See? It'll be alright. We'll do everything we can to make sure." He promised, sighing in relief when he felt Harry relax a little bit.
Harry sighed softly, shifting in Draco's hold to get a better view of the lake they were sitting by. He liked being outside now; it helped knowing that the snake could only move within the building. Draco was currently sitting with his back against a tree, holding his mate to his chest, wings around them in a wide circle, tensed protectively. "You know. You don't have to protect me." Harry started with another small sigh, not looking up at him. "I know we have to stay close to each other because the bond is so new but…It's not your duty to put yourself at risk for me, you know that right?" he added quietly. Draco huffed with a small roll of his eyes. "Potter, a duty to anyone could not force me to protect you." He drawled before his voice softened considerably. "I want to protect you because…my heart tells me to. And because I like being near you, and I couldn't bear to see you hurt. Who would I have to aspire to beat in Quidditch then?" he joked before dropping his head to his mate's shoulder, turning to case sideways at him. "I…really care about you….God I hope your listening Potter, I won't be repeating this." He grumbled, though a small smile still played on his lips, drawing a smile from Harry as well. "I love you. Bloody Gryffindor git." He grinned. "Slytherin prat." Harry responded. "Me too." He sighed after. Their lips met in a soft kiss, a pulse of magic spread through them both like fire. Draco let out a small gasp, his eyes sliding closed as he slumped forward to the ground.
"Draco. DRACO." Harry cried out fearfully, crouching over his unconscious mate. "What happened? Wake up. Please god. I love you. Wake up." Harry was whispering to him, his hands curled into fists, confused and afraid. He caught a glimpse of the small dragon and sat up straight. "Help him. Please." Harry begged, watching the dragon approach them. "You completed the emotional bond by admitting you loved each other. This forced him to go into the change early. He's coming into his inheritance. All his wizard blood and magic must be purged. It's a difficult process, especially since he wasn't ready for it. I cannot help. You are bonded to him. You must."
AN: INHERITANCE TIME. Finally...geez, took a while for this chapter. AND I've been having computer troubles these past days XD But I'm still not dead...see? *innocent look*