A/N: I'M SO SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG! I'VE BEEN WITHOUT INTERNET FOR OVER A MONTH! Anyway, so sorry, but I'm back and hopefully it will be consistent… until Drill starts up anyway… then it might vary a bit.
A/N: I was torn on whether to include the Sixth Harry Potter book in this story or not, but I'd rather not delve into un-chartered territory and sound like an ass when the next book comes out. I'm actually still holding out some kind of hope for Draco, so instead of explaining how Draco could become friends with Harry after attempting to kill Dumbledore, I'm just going to scoot around the topic, but I did add a few things from the Sixth Book that aren't too detrimental. I'm sure you'll spot little nicknames here or there. That's about it.
Chapter 18
"Won-Won!" Hermione cried out ecstatically as she answered her front door, only to be greeted with a scowl by her old red-haired schoolmate. "I missed you!"
Ron growled at the nickname, but accepted a hug from the brunet anyway. "You know how Ellen feels about you using that nickname." He grumbled as he stepped into the cozy house.
"Speaking of Ellen," Hermione interrupted, changing subjects easily, "is she taking care of little Daniel?"
"Yes." The red-head answered with a euphoric look crossing his eyes.
"You have such a cute little bag of bones for a son." Hermione commented cheekily.
Ron snorted in his laughter. "Thanks." He mumbled half-heartedly whilst still laughing. "You know, I-" Just as he was about to continue a loud bang came from the kitchen. Hermione dashed into the room from the hallway, nearly slipping on the tiled floor she'd been mopping the Muggle way, but was easily caught by Ron. "Watch your step." He smiled.
She huffed at him. "Thank you." Their attention returned to the bang, when they began to hear irregular flapping.
"Hedwig?" Ron queried hesitantly of the flustered and exhausted bird that was struggling in the sink full of soapy water and dishware.
Hermione rushed to the owl's side and helped her out of the sink and on to the counter were the bird shook off angrily and looked threateningly at both humans before her. In all her glory, at the moment, poor Hedwig amounted to the beauty of a wet albino sewer rat. After looking the pitiful sight of Hedwig over, Hermione tentatively reached for the message wrapped around her leg that Harry had obviously sent to her urgently, or the poor owl wouldn't have missed her landing so hazardously.
"Thank Merlin all of Harry's messages are waterproof." She added softly to herself once she'd stepped away from the bird. "Ron, could you help Hedwig to the owl stand in the corner."
Ron obeyed, lifting Hedwig and taking her near the hallway entrance, to the corner where a large ornate bird-stand stood five feet tall with a water and food bowl for visitors such as Hedwig.
"Harry's coming for a visit!" Hermione cried out with a whoop of joy as she jumped around excitedly. "He says he'll be here before nightfall and he wants to tell me something important."
"Should I leave?" Ron asked casually, though Hermione could see the hurt in his eyes.
"Nonsense!" She exclaimed with a frown. "He'll be delighted to see you. You two haven't spoken in so long! Besides, whatever he wanted to tell me, he'd have to tell you too, so it's just shortening the process, right?"
"How astute of you." He chuckled. "Can't wait."
It was early evening when Lucius and Draco finally descended the stairs from Lucius' rooms for dinner.
When they entered the dining area and found it empty of anyone else, Lucius became slightly troubled. He groaned in annoyance, then called for Eva.
The small delicate-looking elf popped into view within moments, and with a slight bow and large eyes, asked what her master wanted.
"Where is my mate in the Manor?" He queried.
Draco looked curiously down at the elf as well, but Eva looked slightly troubled.
"He is' not." She responded with a squeak.
"Is not what?" Draco asked before his father could.
"Not is in the Manor." Eva clarified.
"Why is not… uh," he stuttered, "I mean, why isn't he in the Manor? Is he on the grounds?" The older blonde demanded.
"No, Master Lucius. Master's mate is left an hour ago." The small elf pulled a folded piece of parchment from her dusty clothes. She opened the paper and handed it to the older blonde, who eagerly snatched it and read what was written.
His mate had scrawled a scratchy message about visiting his friends for a short time and returning the following day.
"Well, I can't say it's a good thing that he's left without saying anything, but… at least he left a note." Draco offered after reading the note Harry had scribbled. "Besides, this will give you plenty of time to think for yourself, and you know Uncle Severus wanted to have a word with you anyway. If you went through with courting Harry and never said a word to him, what do you think that would do to your friendship?"
Lucius groaned grumpily. His son was right… but he didn't much feel like conversing with Severus at the moment. "And what will you be doing?"
Draco sighed heavily as he went over a mental list of things he had neglected since his father had returned home. "I've got meetings at the Ministry, paperwork, and other unpleasant activities to go over."
Ron stretched his arms above his head and let out a roar of a yawn as he stepped into the Den where Hermione was perched at her comfortable/cluttered looking desk. The redhead scrunched his brows as he watched his friend do what she called 'typing' on some Muggle machine called a 'computer' if he remembered correctly. The thing had another name, but he always got it wrong. It was something like 'Lab-top' or some such nonsense. She seemed to like to play with the thing every so often, or maybe it had something to do with a side job… he wasn't sure at all. He tried to stay away from the little machine, even though it was quite fun to watch her go at it some times; like magic… but according to her, it wasn't. He stood back, leaning silently against the doorway as he watched her sit there so quietly except for the ticking of the 'keys' which looked nothing like keys. When he was younger, he had thought that he would grow up to marry Hermione and they'd have a load of kids like his parents, but watching her now, he realized he liked things the way they were.
She occasionally took a sip from a mug next to her computer that he assumed was hot chocolate because he couldn't smell any of her nasty-smelling favorite type of tea in the room. Behind her was a box singing soft melodies into the room to either inspire or soothe his friend. She looked so studious.
Just as bad as at school. He thought idly before spinning from the doorway to find something to drink in the kitchen. He spent a good long while searching for a cup before he finally found one.
Why does Hermione have to have such a huge kitchen! He thought as he poured some juice into his cup, and made his way back to the Den.
When he stepped into the Den and saw a dark hooded figure crouched on the windowsill behind Hermione, Ron cried out, jumping back into the doorway, banging his head on said doorway, and dropping his glass of juice which shattered on the floor spraying juice everywhere.
"Ron!" Hermione exclaimed jumping up from her seat, startled and scowling at the mess.
"Look out! Behind you!" Ron shouted drawing his wand once he'd remembered he had it in his pocket.
The brunet turned around abruptly to gape at the stoic figure in her window who seemed to be watching the proceedings with some form of amusement. Hermione stepped back quickly, but only for a moment before striding closer and aiming well-placed smack atop this figure's head.
"Ow!" He exclaimed.
"Harry Potter! How dare you scare Ron into spilling all over my clean floor!" She screeched with both hands perched on either hip.
Ron squinted at his friend before sighing in relief when Harry pulled off his black hood to reveal his smirking face.
"Aw! Come on, 'Mione. It was just a bit of harmless fun. Ron doesn't have a heart problem yet or anything, and we can clean up the mess with a flick of our wands." He hopped down to the floor gracefully and opened his arms to the fuming brunet.
"You gave me a start!" She grumbled as she embraced her friend.
"Boogers, Harry!" Ron cried out, rushing forward to extend his own greets with a much manlier hug and a couple of sharp pats on the back. "What a way to make an entrance! I nearly hexed you to kingdom come." He mentioned between barks of laughter.
"Yeah, right." Harry chuckled sarcastically. "You were so slow on the draw a petrified Fourth Year would have had one up on you."
Ron grinned and punched Harry in the arm. "Sure, whatever."
"Hey, Ron, did I hear you right? Boogers? Did you just cuss at me using that word?" Harry queried with an amused raised brow.
Ron grimaced and started to change facial features to match his hair. "Well, Ellen doesn't appreciate me swearing, and she wants me to learn to stop before little Daniel starts to be able to under and mimic me. She's kind of anal about his first words not being 'Bloody Hell!', you know?" He blushed a bit deeper before hugging Harry again. "Man, it's great to see you again! I'm liking your hair!"
Harry smiled as he ran his hand through his hair. "Yeah. I think I cut it half a year ago or something, but I'm just going to let it grow out… my lover seems to like it long."
"Ooh! Lover!" The redhead teased. "I'm going to want to hear about that in detail later."
"Sure. Right. Later." Harry laughed with a broad smile.
"Wow, Harry, it's so nice to see you smiling like this." Hermione commented. "You look so happy that you're nearly a light bulb of energy."
"It's the company I keep, I think." Harry elbowed each friend into blushing. They all hugged again whilst they laughed. What a reunion!
"It's been a while!" Ron exclaimed.
"Yeah." Harry agreed with a vague nod.
"How long has it been?"
"About five months." Hermione answered.
"How'd you come up with that so fast?" Ron asked, though Harry was also looking at their friend with a quirked brow.
"Daniel was born five months ago." Hermione reminded with a roll to her eyes as if it were the most obvious thing ever.
"Oh, yeah!" Ron yelled triumphantly, as if he'd come up with it himself. Hermione rolled her eyes in frustration. "Well, we have a lot of catching up to do. Damn-" He covered his mouth quickly. "I mean, wow, five whole months. So what have you been doing with yourself, Harry?"
"Let's have a seat." Harry told them with a smile as he swished his hand at the entrance to the room and the mess cleaned off of the floor. "Good thing you have hardwood floors in this room and the hallway, 'Mione." He commented lazily. The remade cup floated over to his hand and he placed it gently on the table between all of the chairs before pulling off his cloak and plopping himself in his favorite armchair.
Ron and Hermione each took separate chairs opposite of Harry, ready to hear the happenings of Harry's life… or what he could tell them anyway, besides his job and all.
"Harry, you speak Elvish, right?" Ron questioned suddenly.
"Yes."
"There's this official from the Elvin race that has a problem with the Minister of Magic, but we don't have a good interpreter, or at least not one that the elf trusts."
Harry frowned, but seemed intrigued. "What does this elf have against the Minister? Besides the obvious…"
"From what we've gotten out of the interpreter, it seems that Fudge wronged him somehow. It's really just a big jumbled mess. If you could do anything it'd be great. I'd owe you one."
Harry nodded vaguely. "Sure. Next week I should have some free time."
"Not before then?" Ron asked pleadingly.
"How urgent is this?"
"Very."
"Where is he? Is this elf at the Ministry now?"
"They're holding him so he doesn't attempt anything on the Minister's life."
"Are they that worried about him?"
"Yeah."
"Is the elf…"
"He's only in a holding cell. He's not in Azkaban because he hasn't actually done anything aside from make allegations." Ron corrected quickly.
"After we're done talking I'll take a trip with you to the Ministry and get him out of there until next week when we can sort this out."
"Has The Prophet caught wind of it yet?" Hermione asked worriedly biting her lip.
"Thank Merlin, no." Ron murmured tiredly.
"It's only a matter of time." Harry mumbled. "Well, let's leave that for later."
"Yeah." Ron exclaimed. "I want to hear about the secret secluded life of my best buddy!"
Harry snickered at that. "Well, it all started with this laundry day…"
…
It was already quite early in the morning that Harry had popped in… the dawn had barely just arrived when they started their long conversation… and it would take them many hours to finish it.
Severus opened his front door a bit grumpily. It was far too early to be awake during the summer. He deserved a few more precious hours of sleep for all of his hard work. He still had to brew a complicated ointment kind of polish for the furniture though, so perhaps being awoken this early wasn't so terrible. The house-elves had been bothering him about the polish for weeks and if he didn't brew it for them before he had to return to Hogwarts, then he would end up coming home to a Manor of dust. They were a group of rebellious rats, is what they were.
On his step, Severus found a very aristocratic and polished looking Lucius Malfoy. He seemed to glow with some kind of triumph.
"Good day, Severus. I do apologize for not sending word of my visit earlier, but this was rather sudden."
"Ah, Lucius, I should have known you would be the only person to call on me this early in the morning. Come in, won't you?" The Potions Master said it politely, but he really didn't have a choice in the matter. He was already awoken and dressed, and here Lucius was, standing right before him. Even if he wanted to, he couldn't simply blow off the blonde.
The blonde stepped into the house with a graceful ease of one that had stepped over the creaky threshold dozens of times before.
"Shall we-" The black-haired man began, but a house-elf popped up in the middle of his sentence offering its hands to take Lucius' thick cloak, top hat, scarf, and snake cane.
"Hmm." Lucius eyed both elf and master before removing his outerwear and handing it to the small creature. Severus was definitely not pleased with his house-elves and they seemed slightly rebellious for some reason. The little elf bowed to Lucius and disappeared with a pop promptly.
"Like I was saying," Severus snarled, not directing it toward Lucius, "let's settle in the Ground level Sitting Room. It's already warm."
The veela followed his long-time friend into said-room and both men made themselves comfortable in their personal chairs.
"What is on your mind, Lucius?" Severus inquired tiredly as he sat back. He brought out his wand from inside his robe and pointed it toward a liquor tray in the corner which promptly poured them two glasses of Scotch, then floated the two glasses to one owner each.
"I have many things to discuss with you, Severus. I have made some decisions in my life that you should know of."
The other man raised his hand for silence and sighed heavily. "I have a bad feeling about these things you wish to tell me. Let's just start with simple things, perhaps?"
Lucius sighed as well, but nodded anyway.
"How is your health of late? You appear very healed considering that less than a week ago you were… contained elsewhere."
Lucius shivered slightly at the memory. "Yes. I am doing quite well indeed. Your potions helped immensely, and seeing Draco again brightened my world… but there were also other contributions that we shall get to later as per your request."
Severus nodded. "I suppose the ingredients you stole from my personal potions cabinet were of some help to you?"
"I left the galleons to replace-" He added calmly.
"I saw them." Severus snapped tartly. "If you needed a potion brewed, you should have asked me to brew it for you. You remember how mediocre you were in potions at school."
"The potion was brewed perfectly." Lucius murmured with a slightly nostalgic look in his eyes as he remembered the taste of his mate from both that night and yesterday, but he also remembered to keep up the wall around his mind. Severus wouldn't want to stumble upon these things before he could break it to the man. "I will inform you of my scheme if ever the need should arise again. I promise you."
"What potion was it that you so desired?" Snape asked with a small nod.
"A temporary anti-aging potion." Lucius answered and watched with amusement as Severus went through any scenario he could think of for a reason to need that potion. "I will explain all of this later."
The black-haired man groaned in frustration. "So… how has Draco been?"
"He seems fine. He's being overworked at the Ministry though. He's happy to have me home. Draco was quite lonely before."
"He had that boy though." Severus recalled, squinting his eyes slightly in thought, probably trying to recall 'that boy's name.
"Yes, Blaise. Draco says he's not sure about him. He doesn't know if this Blaise person is his mate. We had a long discussion about mates and he seems to have lost hope for finding a mate, but he is content to merely be with me and… well… he's content for now."
Draco groaned inwardly as he opened the main door to the Manor around lunch time. He had expected it to be Harry, but, alas, again he was mistaken.
"Hello, Blaise." He greeted in a monotone. It wasn't as if he didn't like the dark-skinned man -they had been lovers for a while- he just didn't feel anything now that he was in Blaise's presence. Shouldn't he be giddy to see his lover? Even if he was only half-Veela he should feel something.
"You haven't sent message or fire called all week!" Blaise exclaimed, quite infuriated. "We were supposed to meet each other this weekend, but you just dropped off the edge of the world without saying a word for more then a week! Seven days! You haven't answered any of my letters-"
Draco was glad, at that moment, that Harry was nowhere around to comment on his inability to answer post.
"Blaise, we need to chat about that." Draco began calmly.
"Chat!" He snapped.
"You're being hysterical. Act your age!"
Blaise stiffened at those words. Was Draco looking at him like a parent to a child? Did he really just say those words?
"Is there someone else you've found? Have you found your true mate?" Blaise asked softly, still standing in the doorway.
"No." Draco answered pulling Blaise into the foyer. "My father has found his mate and it's been a huge…" He fought to find the word for what he wanted to say without misconstruing it.
"Deal?" Blaise added helpfully.
"I suppose." Draco shrugged, meeting his ex-lover's eyes. "Because my father has bonded almost completely with his mate I feel a sense of peace inside of me from their peace. It feels as if a piece of me that was once hollow is now filled. I am not whole, but… it is something, at least. Their connection seems to be heightening my own Veela senses and I can sense things I couldn't before-"
"Like being able to sense whether I'm your mate or not. You've decided to cut this off between us. That's why you haven't answered my letters." The other man determined.
Draco ground his teeth together. He knew this wasn't the truth. He hadn't answered any post because he hadn't asked for any of his post. He had told the house-elves to hold all post that wasn't urgent, so he'd never gotten around to reading Blaise's mailings. Now… he could either tell Blaise the truth and deal with the backlash… or he could allow Blaise to think what he will… Somewhere inside him a bit of Harry told him to honest, but the parts of him that were Slytherin… including that bit of Harry that was Slytherin agreed he should let Blaise think whatever he wants.
… The Slytherin side won…
"Sorry, Blaise." Draco whispered.
Blaise looked kind of glassy-eyed, but he bit back anything he wanted to say and just stepped closer to Draco and kissed him passionately.
"Oh, sorry!"
Both men pulled apart abruptly at the sound of a voice from the now-open door to the Manor.
Harry was stepping nervously from one foot to the other as he bit his lip adorably and fiddled with the belt to his fading jeans.
"Do you mind, Potter!" Blaise snapped nastily.
Harry seemed to realize he was displaying a lot of his emotions openly and he quickly closed off again, becoming the hard-ass Auror he usually was. Being around his friends all day had caused him to open up his emotions completely and Draco had been startled at the show of emotions on his face when he'd caught them kissing, but now that was all gone and Blaise's sudden sharp words were causing a defensive mode in him to rear up to protect his family.
"Blaise!" He hissed sharply. "I think it's time for you to leave now." His stony expression caused Blaise to step back and try to comprehend what had happened.
"He's not… he's not your mate, is he?" Blaise demanded with a sneer and a razor sharp glare in Harry's direction, though the Auror seemed unaffected by it completely. Something did seem to cause Harry to be quite amused -his eyes dancing with mirth, though his face showed nothing of his feelings.
"That's nothing for you to be concerned about, even if he is." Draco growled, reaching out and pulling Harry against his side so the doorway was clear for Blaise to leave.
"If Potter's not your mate and you can't sense who your true mate is, then what harm is there in us being together? How can you truly tell if I am you mate or not!"
Draco stiffened as he was backed into this corner. He just wanted Blaise to leave him alone forever!
Before Draco could decide what to do about Blaise, he felt Harry yank him around abruptly and pull him into a kiss that took his breath away.
What's he doing! This is wrong! The blonde thought blearily. Why was Harry… Oh…! I get it…
After a very thorough kiss, Harry pulled away from Draco and stood over him glaring at Blaise fiercely.
"Draco is mine. I tried to be nice whilst he was saying goodbye to you, but now you're trespassing on our property, so I suggest you exercise your ability to find the exit before I exercise my ability to arrest you and throw you in Azkaban first then ask questions later."
Blaise paled considerably before reaching blindly behind himself to find the door handle, staring wide-eyed at Harry with fear. When he finally found the door he rushed outside, slamming the door behind him in his haste, and rushed to the edge of Malfoy property so he could Apparate away to safety.
Draco turned to Harry with a small smirk. "I can see why my father's crazy about you."
Harry let out a loud bark of laughter. "And why is that?"
"Because you can arrest anyone you're pissed at, you're very protective and loyal to your family, and you're one hell of a kisser!"
They both started laughing together as they turned back into the mansion.
"Where did you get the idea to scare him off like that?"
"Well, I figured if he saw you'd found your mate, then he'd leave you alone, and if I threatened to throw him in Azkaban he'd go the fuck away. There was that, and also this urge I have to kiss your father, but I'm a bit ticked at him right now, so you just happened to be able to help me kill two birds with one stone."
The younger blonde shoved him roughly. "Ass." He snickered. "Father's going to be pissed at you for kissing me. He might even be jealous!"
"I'm sure. Whatever. I don't plan on telling him though, but if you want to, be my guest."
"How long are you going to stay mad at Father?" Draco asked curiously as he began walking with Harry and putting his confrontation with Blaise behind him.
Harry shrugged. "Eh, I don't know. He'll redeem himself eventually. He can't stay away for too long. I imagine we'll be alright again by tomorrow. It's nothing serious, Draco. Don't worry yourself so much." Harry smiled evilly. "He was an ass, I called him on it and now I'm letting him suffer it out."
"I think we're rubbing off on you way too much." The blonde commented dryly.
"I think you're right." Harry laughed. "I'll eat in my room today and I'll confront Lucius tonight, or maybe he'll find me first… I dunno."
"Why are you so… perky?" Draco wondered, cocking his head to the right adorably.
Harry sighed dramatically. "I don't know. I suppose because I just told my friends everything about Lucius and myself and it feels… invigorating to get that kind of thing off your chest, you know?"
Draco smiled warmly. "What'd you tell them?"
"That's for me to know and you to find out after a short period of torture." He turned and made his way up the stairs to his rooms as Draco laughed behind him, walking off to his study area in the Library to get back to work.
"Tell me your thoughts, Severus." Lucius asked guardedly.
The Potions Master scratched his neck with a groan and leaned back into his armchair tiredly. "Even though you are a pureblood veela, I have half a mind to tell you Azkaban rattled your senses a bit too much."
Lucius flinched as the memories of Azkaban came back, but he covered the nightmares up for another time.
"I know your senses aren't rattled though." Severus continued. "Potter wouldn't have succumbed to you unless your senses were right on. So, I, therefore, have no barrier to say you are crazy for becoming engaged with Potter. You both apparently have great feelings for one another…." Severus groaned again. "Lucius… if you're happy… that's all that matters. Whatever makes you feel alive. Whatever makes you happy… you deserve it. You don't need my approval."
"I know." Lucius bowed his head slightly. "I love him. I want us to spend eternity together, but I couldn't continue with Harry without filling you in. I do not wish to lose your friendship, Severus. We've been in each others lives since we could ride a broomstick, and I'd like to see that friendship hold until we're too old to piss on our own."
Severus sneered. "I hope I die before I get that old."
"The feeling is mutual, my friend." Lucius chuckled as he stood. "I must go."
"Of course." Severus stood and embraced his childhood friend briefly. "Walk on, Lucius."
The blonde turned to go, but at the door he spun to look back on his friend, "Visit sometime, would you, Hermit?" He asked with a smirk which was returned.
"Bastard."
The door to Malfoy Manor opened with a slight creak and Lucius Malfoy stepped through, closing the thick doors behind him.
"Eva."
She popped up before him within a second and bowed slightly to him. "What may Eva do for Master?"
"Have you noticed the door creaking?" He asked her as he pulled off his outer cloak and traveling jacket.
"I is having door fixed." She promised.
He nodded to her and handed her his outerwear. "Thank you, Eva. Do you know where Draco is?"
"Eva isn't knowing." She replied with a frown. "Lokey is mostly knowing. Eva is asking Lokey." She popped away quickly.
Lucius began to walk toward the staircase to make his way to his room, but before he could reach the landing Eva popped up in front of him five steps above where he was walking. She bowed again and Lucius paused his steps to hear her answer.
"Lokey is saying Master Draco is in the Library, Master."
"Very good, Eva." She popped away and Lucius continued to the main library in the house.
Draco stood up when his father entered the room. "How was your visit with Uncle?"
"We spoke about my relationship with Harry and he understands that Harry and I are together now and may be for a very long time to come." He smiled. "How was your afternoon?"
The younger blonde groaned in annoyance. "Blaise stopped by."
Lucius' brow rose in amused silent query.
"He wanted to know why I hadn't sent him any messages or answered any mail he'd sent to me."
Lucius cracked a wide smile that Draco growled at.
"I know. I know. You don't have to start with me, Father." He ran his hand over his head to make sure no hairs were out of place, then leaned back into a comfortable chair.
The older blonde stepped closer to his son and sniffed his neck with a frown.
"You smell deeply of him." Lucius announced softly.
Draco nodded with a sigh, realizing he didn't really have a choice of what he could tell his father now… unless he could worm his way around it like the Slytherin he was.
"When Blaise and I were talking, Blaise was to the point of where he was cornering me into becoming more than I wanted us to be. Harry arrived in the nick of time to help weasel me out of any kind of a relationship with Blaise. When Blaise finally wouldn't give up, Harry conned Blaise into thinking that he and I were mates and that's why Blaise and I couldn't be together. He stood really close to me and had his arms all around me in a superior acting performance. Blaise left and we celebrated our victory. It's nothing, Father." Draco shrugged. "Are you worried I'll steal your mate after all the work I've gone through to get you together?" He raised his brow in curiosity and Lucius shook his head with a snort.
"I believe you're hiding something from me, but I also believe in Harry and his judgment, so I'm not accusing you of anything. I was merely stating a simple fact. If you had felt guilty about his smell on you, you would have caved like you always do."
Draco blushed scarlet. "Father!"
"It's true." Lucius laughed. "You could never hold your own against the truth. Now, where is my mate?"
"Off in a quiet place I'd imagine. He said that he'd had a good day with his friends, and he was in a good mood when he returned. He was displaying his emotions so openly… it was nice to see, but Blaise caused him to close up again, so he might be a bit closed off, but I think he'll open up easily enough. Good apologize for being stupid, or something." He suggested and earned a glare from his father.
Draco raised his hands in surrender and Lucius left the room with a silent wave of his hand in good-willed exit.
It was relatively easy to find his mate in the Ground Floor den facing the West. He knocked gently on the door before opening it and finding his mate.
The night was crisp outside the windows his mate stared longingly out at.
It was Friday night and his mate was sitting in the den, staring blankly out at nothing. What was wrong with this picture?
"What are you doing?" Lucius asked after watching Harry sit in the window-seat of the den, staring up into the starry night, with an occasional glance at the crescent moon every now and then. Those beautiful bright eyes scanned the night as his arms laid before him, folded over the stone sill of the window.
The veela's words did not, however, distract the youth from his sky-gazing. He merely breathed in deeply, then released the breath.
"Looking at the sky." He answered simply. Lucius had been waiting for the sarcastic comment to come from the youth's mouth like 'What does it look like I'm doing, you dolt!', but none came. His temperate mood surprised Lucius. He seemed… lifeless; without emotion, almost.
The veela made sure to erase all trace of aristocracy from his demeanor as he stepped closer to the large window-seat. He looked for signs of Harry not wanting him close, but when none appeared he sat himself beside Harry.
"Beautiful." Lucius whispered tenderly, his whisper barely more than a breath, but it carried to the silent man beside him who nodded numbly.
"Yes, it is." Harry –not realizing they were speaking about two completely different topics- suddenly moved and Lucius feared he would leave, but instead Harry merely stood to unlatch the window and push both sides open, then he replaced himself in the window-seat –continuing to stare up at the velvety sky, now with no window framing to obstruct his view.
A gentle wind blew into the room, and in that moment Lucius nearly fell over in shock.
As that wind blew, Harry seemed to move in slow motion, as if coming alive with that simple wind; sitting up slightly and breathing in with the wind as if cleansing him. The breeze caressed and swirled around his beautiful mate in a tender gesture. It seemed almost that this movement of air was causing a slight flush to come to his mate's face, though his eyes were closed. He seemed almost to be receiving a caress from a ghost of an invisible kind. The feelings running over the youth's face were of sadness and loss, but also acknowledgement, love, and life. His seemed, almost, to be swaying to some hypnotic beat. The man's eyes opened slowly, though they seemed clouded in desperation with a long arm reaching out through the open window to return the touch. The gesture was almost one that was showed from a child to their mother before a long stint of absence –the child wanting the mother's embrace once more before they must part again. All of his movements reminded Lucius of a silent play he'd gone to when he was a small boy where the characters expressed themselves through their faces, emotions, and body movement like this.
The wind did die though -with one final brush across Harry's face, ruffling his hair gently as it passed and left without picking up again.
Harry's eyes seemed to un-cloud as he came back to himself. He leaned forward again and crossed his arms over the sill of the window, placing his head into the crook of his arms as he seemed to rest for a long moment without movement.
Lucius was breath-taken by the act. He wanted to feel jealous at first that this thing… this anomaly had touched his Harry. Even worse, Harry seemed to expect and, most certainly, welcome the gesture from whomever had directed it.
It was at that moment, as the jealousy burned inside of him, that Lucius saw the pain and love filling Harry's eyes. His gaze was not directed at anything in particular. It was an empty stare of anguish.
Lucius couldn't bring himself to disturb Harry's thoughts with his questions yet, though he ached to ask who it had been and how Harry had known whomever it was.
Just as Lucius was reaching out to caress a stray hair from his mate's brow, Draco strode into the room a bit loudly.
He seemed unfazed by the display before him. His expression was more gentle than Lucius had ever seen it in the company of others. Did Draco know about this? Why hadn't he been informed if Draco had known?
Draco's eyes caught his father's before the older man could speak. The younger Malfoy merely shook his head with that sweet tender smile, gesturing in that motion that Lucius should remain silent now and things would be better that way.
"Harry." Lucius' eyes widened with surprise and concern as Draco used his mate's name. What was this world coming to when unknown spirits would surround his mate one moment, and his son would call his mate properly by his name the next? This must be serious. He only spoke like this when he needed to be serious. "Would you like something to eat?" Draco asked kindly.
Harry didn't respond at first as both Malfoys turned their gazes of concern to him. He blinked for the first moment in the long while that Lucius had been staring at him, but he made no other indication that he had heard Draco. Lucius expected his son to become agitated at being ignored, but Draco merely smiled a bit more warmly, even though Harry couldn't see him.
"Didn't stay to talk then?" He asked as he shoved his hands in his pockets.
Surprisingly, Harry's eyes pivoted so they could narrow on Draco's overly-sweet, smiling face. He continued to stare at Draco as the blonde nodded once.
"Ah, then I suppose you'd like some hot cocoa?" Draco wondered a bit cheerily. Both young men were quite fond of hot cocoa.
He approached Harry who dug his head further into the crook his arms made, causing his eyes to disappear as well. "It always comes back." Draco whispered gently in assurance against Harry's ear as he leaned closer. "Now," Draco stood up firmly, his expression more determined, "come out to the dining hall so we can sit by the fire and enjoy some hot cocoa." It was more of an order than a request, causing Lucius to raise his brow in query. Draco then turned his attention to his father. "Father, would you like to join Harry and I for some hot cocoa?"
Lucius looked down to Harry, thinking that it would be a cold day in hell before the younger man would agree to move from his position, but he nodded to Draco nonetheless.
Draco then smiled a charming smile to his father and took hold of Harry's nearest arm. He gave a swift tug and Harry stood with an airy sigh, his head hanging a bit as he was pulled along to the dining room by Draco.
It was odd that all of Lucius' assumptions and predictions about Harry's behavior that night had been so off. He hadn't been able to pin anything that Harry would do. He had thought Harry would have grumbled at Draco and told him to fuck off, but instead Harry had conceded to be brought elsewhere from the ominous window.
As the first sips of cocoa went down his throat, he seemed to return to life and Lucius smiled inwardly. Good. He thought.
He had been a bit sore with Draco about the information earlier and about treating his mate so oddly, but now, it seemed, Draco had saved Harry from a bit of a depression. Harry was getting his spark back within the hour that they spoke together and by the end of the hour Draco was back to spitting comments at Harry and calling him 'Potter' whilst teasing him as they sent sharp barbs at one another playfully.
Lucius would remember to question Draco about this later on. How had Draco managed to miss telling him all of these things?
Later:
"Why didn't you tell me about this!" Lucius asked in aggravation as he and Draco sat in the study with the door locked and several silencing charms around the room.
Draco sighed in frustration. "Look." He growled as he scraped his fingers through his hair both ways agitatedly. "I understand that your veela instinct is driving you to the point where anything I don't tell you about him is going to piss you off when you find out about it later, but this was…" Draco paused as he leaned back in the chair and stared up at the ceiling. "For one thing, this isn't the sort of thing that is explained in a letter, so it would have had to wait until you got here, but it wasn't furthermost on my mind when you arrived. I also didn't expect him to be dropping by so I wouldn't have had any time to tell you about this anyway, then with all the things going on lately I'd forgotten about this little thing. Harry –"
"Why don't you just explain what is going on?" Lucius snapped with a snarl barely hidden in his tone.
Draco hardened his expression as he began to explain the facts without tiptoeing around the subject at all.
"Fine. This is it. He came over for one of his visits. He was standing on the balcony of the second story, off of the East Wing when I came across him in the dark of night. I had a candelabra with me to light my way because it was so dark in the corridors. He was just standing there. The moonlight seemed to illuminate only him as he closed his eyes. A wind picked up, like you saw before, but much stronger and more controlled. He looked truly like an angel the way he stood there embracing the wind and whomever had sent it. The candles went out and the only illumination I had was his unearthly glow. In that moment, I understood why you wanted him so much. I understood your attraction to him entirely, as if I were looking at him through your eyes with your senses. Suddenly, I heard a whisper. As if a far off voice were speaking and could barely be heard by me, then Harry began speaking. He was crying. I saw the pain in his face as he spoke things like 'I love you', 'I miss you', or 'I wish you were here with me'."
Lucius' face began to show his hurt that Harry would speak such things to anyone but him.
"I know what you're thinking." Draco murmured sadly. "I thought the same things. I thought that he was speaking to a lost lover that had somehow been able to connect with them from the other world, but no. After the wind finally went away, I confronted him about it. Quite the wrong thing to do, actually. I nearly hit him, he frustrated me so. My adrenaline was pumping from seeing what I had seen, and my assumption was that when you found out you would want to kill yourself, or would die of desperation that you couldn't be loved because you had to fight with a ghost to win his heart. I finally got a response out of him without telling him a thing about you in any way. I thought he would explode with anger and spill everything from his heart and I would feel more angry, but instead he spoke three words… three words that made me ache for him. He said 'Shut up, Draco.' I felt the hurt in his words. He was in so much pain and my yelling only made it worse. I stayed quiet as I assessed how fragile he really was. We had been on friendly terms earlier. There was nothing of our rivalry left, but I wanted there to be. I wanted him to shout back at me, but he remained so sad and calm. 'It was my godfather.' He told me softly. 'He was killed by your relative Bellatrix Lestrange in our Fifth Year.' He paused after saying that and I vaguely remembered when Bellatrix had been quite happy in the summer before Sixth Year, but I couldn't understand why. He finished by saying 'I never got to say… anything to him. Tell him goodbye, or "I love you".' He went on a rant about how he had never been allowed the time to get to know his godfather, and how he loved him dearly." Draco paused and sighed heavily as he realized his father was once again docile. "Well, that's what happened. It happened in different forms a few more times and I realized the way to calm him was to offer him hot cocoa laced with a bit of a pepper-up potion."
Lucius nodded in understanding now. Things made sense. He had to find his mate now. Harry would probably still be up and about unless he took a potion for sleep. The contact from his godfather earlier would probably keep him awake all night.
He kissed his son's forehead and wished him goodnight. Draco nodded his understanding and gestured for Lucius to leave and find his mate, or maybe it was more 'leave me alone now'?
After searching the many quiet places to think in the Manor -the library, the many Sitting Rooms, the Conservatory, the Hall- Lucius thought that perhaps Harry would return to the room he ha first seen his godfather in. It was off to the East Wing, and from there it was simple to find Harry. Most of the East wing was bedrooms, but the one den on the second floor was alight from the inside and cracked open slightly.
He's in here. Lucius thought with a sigh of relief as he pushed the door open further. There his mate sat in much the same position as he had found him in before. He would say something this time though.
"Harry, what are you looking for up there?" Lucius asked, referring to the endless sky above.
Harry leaned back from the window this time, so he could see Lucius clearly. There eyes connected, green with gray, and he smiled sadly at Lucius. The veela realized that somehow knew that Lucius knew… He wasn't uncomfortable or shy about the ghost or the way he had acted, and he seemed glad he didn't have to explain the story of it all to the older veela.
"A star." Harry answered as he stretched out on the window-seat, scratching lazily at his flat stomach as he knocked open the window gently and welcomed the cold normal breeze that fluttered in.
"Which star?" Lucius queried as he approached the youth. He stood a few feet away so that he could be near his mate without crowding his –obviously desired- space.
With a sad smile Harry answered, "Sirius' star."
A/N: Due to me being a jackass and this whole chapter already taking me two months to complete, I'm going to forego reviews this time, though I'm thrilled that when I was sifting through nearly three hundred emails in my mailbox there were a few reviewers. I appreciate you all so much and hopefully I'll update in two weeks. -crosses fingers-