AN: Hey guys, thank you so much for all of your wonderful support, keeps me nice and motivated. Please, continue to tell me what you think, it helps to know people's reactions to the chapters...and of course reviews are always nice and flattering too :D
Warnings and disclaimers: Same as always. So let's get going with the next chapter shall we?
After having the house elves take their luggage away, Draco led his mate into a large study, knocking politely before stepping in, still holding the Gryffindor close. "Good afternoon mother, we've just arrived." Draco said, his voice still warm and pleasant. Narcissa looked up from the family trees she was studying, smiling and sweeping over to the two. "And you must be Harry." she smiled, the kind voice taking away some of his nervousness. He nodded and smiled back. "It's nice to meet you." Harry answered politely. "Well." Narcissa started. "I have to admit when Draco wrote to me about who he was bringing home for Christmas, I was surprised...but I always had a suspicion the Veela blood in my family had been passed on to him. I'm glad he found you." she smiled kindly. "Now, wash up and we shall have dinner in the gardens, it must have been a long trip for both of you." the woman added, humming to herself as she swept off to put away the books, leaving a slightly stunned Harry and chuckling Draco behind.
"It was really more my father's side that had all the built in insanity...my mother is quite pleasant, has been even more so now that she can run the house the way she sees fit." Draco explained as he led Harry up a large staircase, through winding corridors and luscious halls. "These are my rooms." he added as he pushed one of the doors open, leading up into a large common area with a bedroom, bath, study, potion's room and wardrobe all connected. "Wow." Harry mumbled, raising a thin eyebrow. You could have fit the entire Dursley's home in the space. "Are you sure it's big enough?" the raven haired boy snickered, tugging Draco onto the loveseat with him. "Could use a few more things." the blonde shrugged, kissing him deeply, curling around him. "I love you." Draco hummed happily, breathing in his mate's intoxicating scent. His heart gave a happy flutter when he heard Harry mumble 'love you too.' through the kisses.
"Ready to go eat dinner?" he asked, though he really didn't want to detach himself from Harry. "Yeah, we should be on time...first impressions and all." Harry chuckled, standing with him and letting the blonde lead him out to the gardens. There was a huge glass dome, filled with every kind of flower imaginable, all perfectly cared for. Just outside on a terrace, the dining area had a perfect view of the gardens, the lake and even a forest further on. It was breathtaking. Dinner went well, Narcissa seemed to like him, and the next few days were spent just getting a hang of where everything was.
Ron had just finished wrapping his present for Harry, having stayed at the school again. He already missed his friend, and he sighed as he re-read his letter to him one last time.
Dear Harry, it read
I wish I could tell you all that I said was because someone had me under the Imperius curse too. It wasn't. I had Hermione check me again, and it turns out that voice I kept hearing that was egging me on, getting me mad at you, was coming from someone else. But it only worked because I was starting to get mad at you anyway. I wanted to tell you again how sorry I was for how I yelled at you. You're my best friend, the first person that didn't just peg me as a looser because of my hand-me-down robes. I know you'll need time to forgive me, but I wanted you to know I'm okay with Malfoy, even if it is Malfoy. I told my parents what happened, and they took away pretty much everything I had, but they're still letting me write to you. And I wanted you to know you're still welcome at the Burrow any time, even Malfoy.
Still your mate,
Ron.
PS: Marry Christmas. Hope you're having fun.
After addressing the letter to Harry and tying that to the wrapped present, he let his owl carry that away, bounding downstairs to get some more dinner, feeling a little better already.
"Huh?" Harry mumbled, groggy, barely able to open his eyes. It was way too early. "Come on, sleepy. Presents." the Veela above him grinned, hopping off the bed and giggling happily. Harry chuckled softly as he heard the sound of wrapping paper being torn and crumpled. "You're adorable." he mumbled, stifling a yawn and deciding he might as well get up too. He wasn't surprised to see Draco's pile of presents overflowing, but this time Harry's pile was decent in size too. He watched his mate open presents eagerly before grabbing a package, starting to open it. Hermione sent him another broomstick kit and a new book: "The Veela and their cousins. Little known facts." He smiled gratefully and put that aside. Hagrid had sent his usual treats, Fred and George had supplied him with a huge pile of things from their joke shop, and there was the expected jumper and treats from Mrs. Wesley too. Even Remus had sent him a present. A few more photographs of his parents, an interesting book on rare spells and some sweets. He'd spotted the package from Ron too, and finally decided to open it. It was a brand new snitch, with a book on how to charm locations restrictions on it so he could use it for practice. After reading the letter, he sighed happily, relieved. He told himself he'd still give Ron a hard time for a bit longer once they got back, but even though he wouldn't admit it, he'd pretty much forgiven him. After all, he was his friend, no matter how stupid he could get. He looked up from his pile of unwrapped presents to Draco, who was practically buried in new clothes, new books, new potions ingredients and some very expensive looking cauldrons and distillers.
"You look happy." Harry mumbled, watching Draco turn around with a big grin. "I love Christmas." he answered, starting to arrange some of the new clothes in his wardrobe. "What's the best present so far?" Harry asked. The blonde just grinned and pounced on the bed, drawing him into a deep kiss. "You being here." he mumbled, causing Harry to blush a deep red.
Harry spent the next hour helping clear away all the wrapping paper, figuring he'd give the house elves a break, as Draco unwrapped the last of his things. He saw him come across the package he'd given him, blushing again. "You could...just leave that wrapped...if you want." he mumbled. Draco raised an eyebrow, seeing that it was addressed to him from Harry, now only more curious. He took out the CD player and CDs carefully, looking completely confused. Harry chuckled and sat next to him. "You don't know much about muggle things, do you?" he smiled. Draco huffed in response. "We have the same things, but less trouble, here in the magical shops. "Yeah yeah, I still like this version the best." Harry chided, taking his favourite CD and setting the headphones on Draco's ears, chuckling again at his confused expression, hitting the play button. He watched Draco's face go through several expressions, each funny, before settling on a surprised but happy smile. "This is actually...really cool." the blonde mumbled, kissing his mate happily. "Thank you." he grinned, putting it away carefully before grabbing the last box on the floor, a small square black case. "This one is for you." Draco added, handing it to his mate. Harry opened it carefully, gasping softly. It was a silver chair with a pendant of a snake curled in a circle, carved out of a single piece of sapphire. "It's beautiful." he mumbled, blushing again as Draco took it to attach it around his neck. "You can speak to it, ask it to show you the way if you're ever lost." he explained. Harry grinned and swept him into another kiss, mentally pegging this as the best day yet.
The rest of the vacation passed in a blur, and before they knew it, it was almost time to head back already. Harry was lying comfortably with his head on Draco's lap when Hedwig fluttered in. Draco pouted slightly when his mate's touch had left him, glaring at the owl discreetly from behind his potions book. Harry hummed and took the letter from her, chuckling as she nipped affectionately at his finger. "Probably from Hermione. She's in Amsterdam with her family for Christmas. They always go visit a new place." he added, opening the letter. He went suddenly quiet as he recognized the hand wiring, that scrawled messy lettering that he'd missed more than anything last summer. Draco sensed his mate was upset, putting the book down. "Harry?" he asked, watching the boy sniffle oddly and hand him the letter. "It's...probably an old letter, from before...can you read it? My eyes...I've got something in my eye." he mumbled quickly, rubbing at his eyes with the back of his palm. Draco nodded and placed a comforting arm around him before starting to read the strange letter out loud.
"Dear Harry." he started. "Hedwig found me just yesterday, I don't know how, but you've got some owl there. I'm sorry I left, sorry for what I put you through and sorry I couldn't write before now. The veil never killed me, probably because I was so frightened so I changed right after I fell in. Maybe it was prepared to kill only a human, because as a dog, it trapped me for a while, and then weakened enough so I could break out. I couldn't remember much, and I'll avoid any names in case you're not reading this privately. After my memories returned I spent a few weeks in hiding before Hedwig found me. I haven't managed to find a way to get a reliable owl out to Moony, so please tell him I'm alright. I'm in London now, following Wormtail. I think I've got him cornered. Harry, if I get him alive, I might get free. I'd be able to come see you. I miss you, you're so much like James, without that annoying smell. (Sorry, I know jokes won't help much.) I have a favour to ask. If I find Wormtail, I can't bring him to Dumbledore by myself. I know he'll believe me but if I'm seen on my way there by anyone I'll land straight back in Azkaban. I need you to tell Dumbledore to meet me, at the Shrieking Shack, once I've got him. Then, with Veritaserum, we'll finally get him to pay for what he did.
I miss you cub,
your Padfoot.
That's all there is. No name, no address." Draco added, looking at Harry with worry. "Are you alright?" the blonde mumbled, stroking his hair soothingly. "Who is this from?" he was asking.
"My...my godfather...pretty much the only real family I had left until he...well, we all thought he died. It was my fault." Harry mumbled sadly. He paused for a moment, taking out the pendant from under his shirt. "Can this thing find people?" he asked Draco hopefully. The Veela nodded. "If they are reasonably close by...ask it." he suggested. Harry nodded and stared at the snake in his palm, whispering 'help me find Padfoot' though what came out was a strange hiss. The pendant shook in his palm before the snake started to move, uncoiling and pointing in the good direction. Harry drew in a deep breath before standing. "I have to go find him." he told Draco determinedly. Draco just nodded simply and put his book away before taking his hand and leading him to the terrace, letting his wings unfold. The deep red scale-like feathers shook with energy as he beat his wings a few times, stretching them. "Just point me in the right direction." he added, picking Harry up gently and lifting off. "Thank you." the Gryffindor mumbled quietly.
They flew for a long while until the snake pendant led them to an area near Hogsmeade, where Draco set him down so they could continue on foot, not wanting to attract too much attention to themselves. Harry was biting at his lip nervously, following the snake's directions and stopping in front of an old, abandoned looking building. "It's protected by a few spells, I can see the magic." Draco told him, holding Harry back when the boy rushed to get inside. "Can you get past them?" he asked. "Of course." Draco scoffed, making quick work of the protective spells, his magic strong enough to just bend them out of the way. He followed Harry inside carefully, looking out for anything that might prove dangerous. His head snapped back to Harry when he heard him gasp. He caught a glimpse of the man Harry was looking at and immediately pulled him back behind him, his wings unfurling and dangerously sharp, his magic spreading, ready to kill the man if he even blinked the wrong way. "No. Draco. That's him. Sirius Black is my godfather...he was my dad's best friend. I know you think he's an escaped murdered but he was set up. Please, don't hurt him." Harry pleaded. Draco didn't back down until he saw Harry's desperate gaze, sighing and standing down slightly. "If you try to hurt him, you die." he warned the man.
Sirius stared at the two, bewildered, his face sunken in and weak. Still, when Harry ran up to him he threw his arms around the boy, clutching at him desperately. His smile was genuine, relieved, deliriously happy as his eyes started to water. He could hear the boy crying quietly into his shoulder. "Harry." he breathed out.
AN: So there you have it, one more chapter. I love Sirius too much to let him die off...As always, Reviews are welcome :) Until next chapter, FOB.