A/N:
This story, under the same title and username, is found on Archive of Our Own. I am moving over there completely and will soon stop posting on here. I will post chapter 60 here too, but that will be the last chapter I post on this site. If you want to continue to read the story, you know where to find me. =)
I will not delete what I have already posted.
59. Consequences and Parselmouths
Voldemort tucked Harry closer to his body when he again began to stir and marvelled a bit at the fact that Harry himself closed any hint of distance between them. An arm was across Voldemort's chest and the other hand was clutching the front of Voldemort's robes. Harry's face was pressed against Voldemort's neck, he could feel each and every one of Harry's breaths against his skin.
Harry whimpered and squirmed and tried to get even closer, as if whatever bothered him would stop if only he got close enough. Voldemort strengthened his grip around him. So far, that had not been the wrong thing to do. He didn't know if it was some innate knowledge that he was not alone, that calmed Harry down when Voldemort hugged him closer, or if it was the pressure of Voldemort's hands that calmed him down. Or something else entirely. But it did calm him down, yet again.
It had been a long 48 hours since they came back from the cottage and the children and adults that had lived there. Harry had been more or less delirious with mental and emotional exhaustion the whole time. He had also been unable to relax or sleep for any length of time and he had used two doses of the special Calming Draught's that he had brought with him when he moved in. That had been the last two doses, and if Voldemort was not much mistaken, the last one was on its way to expire. Typically, Harry was calm again when the potion had run its course. Not so this time. And he had still been somewhat agitated, even with the potion in his system. He only relaxed when Voldemort held him, so Voldemort had decided that he would hold him until Harry was ready to get up.
Thus, he was now in bed with a naked and clingy Harry, while he himself was dressed. Harry had not been naked at first, but he had been so very far from quiet and after the third shower to wash away sweat, tears, spittle and blood, as well as cool down, Voldemort gave up on getting him to dress again.
While Voldemort's mind marvelled at the fact that Harry not only accepted his closeness when he was this vulnerable, but actively sought it out, Voldemort's body was not the least bit interested in his naked husband. Harry's distress would never be arousing to him. Harry's vulnerability, even tears and pain if freely given, yes, absolutely. Harry's distress, no, most certainly not. He felt protective and possessive, even worried, for his husband, and nothing else.
Harry whimpered again and pushed himself closer. Voldemort let a hand comb through his hair.
"Shh, you are not alone, my own. You are not alone."
Harry moved to place a leg over Voldemort's legs, but calmed down again with Voldemort's hand combing through his hair. Voldemort could feel him relax, bit by bit and then seemingly fall asleep again. He hoped that Harry would be clear headed again soon. It had to be so very tiring to be this upset, this confused, for such a long span of time.
Half an hour later Harry began to stir again.
"Monster?" he murmured hoarsely, and his body began to stiffen.
"I am here, Harry." Voldemort hugged him harder for a moment so Harry could feel their closeness. Harry relaxed and a part of Voldemort crowed in victory at the trust his husband put in him now. So much trust that he relaxed because Voldemort was there with him.
"I feel like I have been trampled by a herd of Hippogriffs."
"That is understandable. You have not had much peace these last two days, not much restful sleep either. It is just past lunch."
"Two days … Yeah, it feels like two days' worth of nightmares." Harry pressed himself closer. "Is there any Dreamless Sleep, or did I try to take it earlier?"
"You told me your magic would negate the potion and refused to take it."
"That is most likely what would have happened, yes. I think … I think I want to try it now. Just a small dose, so I can sleep and then function for some hours before it's actual time for bed."
"A sound plan." Voldemort summoned the small potion vial and Harry swallowed half of it.
"Do you have to leave the room?" he muttered while falling asleep.
"I do not have to leave the bed, my own." Voldemort kissed his hair.
Harry burrowed closer, as if there were any space left between them. His short beard tickled Voldemort's neck a bit.
"Good." It was no more than a murmur, and then he became completely limp when the potion took effect.
Almost three hours later, three hours where Harry slept deeply and restfully, there came a knock on Harry's drawing room door.
"Dobby, do find out what that person wants," Voldemort said in a loud whisper.
A moment later the elf popped noiselessly into the room right by the bed.
"It be Master Harry's Hermi friend, Lord Voldemort, sir," the little elf said with a deep bow. Voldemort still didn't know how Harry had persuaded him into letting the elf use his name. It must have been during a small case of insanity on Voldemort's part. The only two that used his chosen name was his husband, and said husband's house elf. Of course, Harry found it silently hilarious, so that was probably the reason Voldemort hadn't changed his mind.
"Did she tell you what she wanted? Harry will hopefully be asleep for one more hour."
The elf didn't get the chance to answer, because the door to the hallway went up and Granger came through it.
"Everyone decent?" she asked in a half whisper, not looking through the drawing room and into the bedroom.
Voldemort gave a sigh, rearranged the pillows, himself, and Harry so Voldemort could sit up against the headboard with Harry tucked against his side. Then he pushed the sheets closer around Harry and realised that he was quite tired himself. If not physically, then mentally, because he simply could not find it in himself to get so much as irritated about the intrusion, when he should have been enraged.
"Decent enough, Granger," he said and his voice was weary. He tried to gather himself enough to at least care about that fact, but it had been 48 harrowing hours where he could do little to nothing to help his husband, his mate, through his pain and confusion. And that had bothered him more than he ever could have predicted.
Granger came into the room, moved an armchair to the foot of the bed and then placed a small table next to it before she floated a cup with a lid to Voldemort and sat down in the chair. She did everything wandless and wordless.
"That's just a simple cappuccino coffee," she nodded to the cup floating in the air in front of Voldemort. As usual she was dressed in black jeans, but this time she had a dark purple shirt instead of a sweater and she had a black open robe over her other clothes, and it wasn't her warded robe. The robe, while completely ordinary, made Voldemort wonder if she, like Harry, was taking steps to at least seem more integrated into the magical society she was a part of. Harry always wore a robe or cloak or both when in public now. Sometimes only an open over-robe over his usual clothes, but often a closed robe that hid whatever he had underneath, if he had anything at all. Voldemort silently approved of this, and if Granger was taking her directions from Harry, he approved of that too.
With a gesture Granger used magic to get the boots of her feet. "I brought a Vanilla Mocha for Harry, he has gotten a bit fixated on them, but I didn't know if you liked any kind of special coffee drink so I kept it simple." She drew one leg up and put one arm around it, holding the cup with the other hand. She toasted him and took a sip.
Voldemort eyed her for a moment, took the cup and tasted the hot beverage. He had seldom tasted any of the coffee drinks that Harry liked so much, and greatly preferred tea, but he could feel both the heat and the rush of caffeine through his body, and he needed both.
"My thanks, Granger." He took a bigger sip.
"You are welcome, Slytherin. I was busy the first part of the last 48 hours and then when I heard from Dobby that Harry was out of it, I figured my time would be best spent brewing more of the special Calming Draught. Dobby only told me that Harry was having a hard time and that you were with him. No details or anything, just enough for me to know that you did everything possible and that I had nothing to add."
"Nothing at all, Granger, after having years of experience with similar circumstances? And if Harry, Dobby and you have decided on what Dobby might convey in a situation where Harry is concerned, I have no objection."
She shook her head and some of the black curls that had gotten loose from her bun bounced around her pale face. "When Harry has a breakdown like this, there is very little to do. When he is both upset and exhausted, it's like his magic fights everything that might calm him down. I think he is in a kind of fight or flight mode all the time, days on end. The special Calming Draughts is the only thing that comes close to helping anything at all, and that takes 24 hours of intensive brewing to make. Other than that, the only thing to do is to stay with him to let him know he isn't alone and to try to stop him from harming himself when he panics."
Voldemort nodded and took another sip from his cup, he felt slightly less tired now. What Granger described sounded very much like what had happened the last two days.
Granger put a black box with silver wards painted on the sides and lid down on the table by her side. "Six doses of the Calming Draught that are keyed to his blood. I hope it will be a long time before he needs it again."
They drank their coffee in silence.
"You truly plan to stay in his life?" Voldemort asked when his cup was empty, and he had floated it to the bedside table.
"No." Granger put her cup down on the side table. "I am staying in his life. End of discussion. Nothing and no one can change that fact." It was like she dared him to disagree, but he would not. No, he could not. He had promised Harry. He had given his word, and he would not break his word.
He bowed his head shortly in acknowledgement.
"When Harry got the proposal of the truce, he asked me what I thought about it. I told him that it was a decision only he could make. That no one else could or should take it for him because it was he and no one else that had to live with the decision. But I also told him that I would stay by him no matter what he chose. If he married you, I would stay by him. If he chose to keep on fighting until we were both dead, I would stay by him. There has never been any question in my mind."
"But there has been in his?" Voldemort asked, hearing what was left unsaid.
"He worried about my resolve when it became obvious that you don't have a marriage in name only. Even though I don't know exactly what you have, it's more than just words on a piece of paper and some hollow oaths. Which is what I think Harry believed would be the very best-case scenario. Anything other than that had to be worse. I think he feared that the fact that you had something else, something better, would change how I see him. How I feel about him." She looked at Harry that still clung to Voldemort beneath the sheets. "The idiot. As if."
"You are such a bitch, talking about me behind my back like that," Harry suddenly slurred.
"You shouldn't eavesdrop," Granger scolded him with a smirk.
"You are talking about me, in my bedroom with me right here, how is that eavesdropping?" He snuggled into Voldemort and seemed to fall asleep again.
Granger snorted and shook her head, but Voldemort believed the smile that filled her face to be very fond indeed.
They were silent until Harry stirred again, just a few minutes past the four-hour mark.
"Any of you seen Zi lately?" Harry asked without moving away from Voldemort. He actually burrowed closer, as if that was possible to do.
"No, I haven't," Granger said.
"I saw the girl at tea yesterday," Voldemort admitted. "For five minutes or so. I have not left you again since then. She seemed to be in a good mood, as far as I could tell. She asked me about you."
Harry gave a small sigh and began to extract himself from Voldemort to sit up beside him. Voldemort handed him the coffee Granger had brought and he took it gratefully. No one spoke while Harry drank his coffee.
"Need more Calming Draught?" Granger asked and made a gesture at the box she had placed on the table beside her.
"No, no I don't think so. Not right now. But thanks." Harry floated the cup to the bedside table and scrubbed his hands over his face. "I really want to see Zi and see that she is well, and while I feel … stable … right now, I don't know if I should risk it."
"I can find her, give her a message from you and talk to her," Granger said. "Or, we can all go to tea and I will keep her with me and protect her if you suddenly find yourself less than stable."
Thus, half an hour later Granger snapped the little girl up and placed her on her lap before the girl could accost Harry as she obviously wanted to do. The girl squirmed on Granger's lap and reached for Harry. Granger tapped her on the nose.
"Where are your table manners, Zinnia?" she asked seriously. "We sit by a table now, what would Minerva say if you acted like this at her tea table?"
The girl looked at Granger with big, blue eyes that began to shine with tears.
"No, no, Zinnia, no crocodile tears."
The girl pouted, blinked several times and gave a world-weary sigh. Voldemort silently applauded the girl's performance, her childish attempt at manipulation, and realised that he was too tired to be fit for polite company if he found the girl's antics to be amusing. But then, the girl, Zinnia, was one of his housemates now. He would have to get used to her presence and her behaviour. It was obvious that Harry cared a great deal for her and while Harry had agreed to keep the girl, Zinnia, out of their wing if she was unaccompanied, Voldemort did not doubt that Harry would see much of the girl on the days he felt he was safe to be around. She was important to him and he had kept away from her for her safety, just as he had done with Granger.
Astoria gave Voldemort his teacup and he saw the glance she gave the girl, Zinnia, her daughter. Tender and joyous and almost scared. The girl, Zinnia, calmed down and agreed to sit on Granger's lap while taking her tea. After everyone had gotten their tea and light conversation had been held for about fifteen minutes, Harry put down his cup and looked at the girl, Zinnia.
"Zinnia?" Harry asked and had the girl's, Zinnia's, attention at once. "You know how on some days Kingsley can push you on the swings with his hands, or help you climb trees or run around with you, and how you on other days can't climb on his lap or even give him a hug if you aren't very careful?"
The girl, Zinnia, nodded with all the graveness a child could show. "Yes. It's because of the injuries he got in the war. Some days they aren't so bad and he can run with us and push us on the swings and everything, and some days they are really, really bad and everything he does hurts and we have to be very careful with him."
"Exactly. I have something like that too, just, not in my body. It's in my mind. Some days I feel much like normal and can do all the normal things. Other days I have to be careful because it hurts in my mind and I get so very tired and even afraid. Because of that, I won't be around all the time, Zizi. Some days I will have to keep to myself and with other adults because I'm in pain and confused. That has nothing to do with you, alright? I love you so much and if I could spend every day with you, I would be so very happy. Do you understand? It has nothing to do with how much I love you and how much you mean to me, and in time I will hopefully get a bit better, at least."
"Just like Kings," the girl, Zinnia, said seriously. "He has a lot more better days now than when you first brought him to us."
"Yes, just like that. It will be slow, but I will get better." Harry swallowed and Voldemort could see uncertainty flicker in his gaze for a moment before he pushed it away.
She nodded. "I love you too, Harry. You are the best godfather ever."
"Thank you, Zi. I will always strive to be that for you. I couldn't ask for a better goddaughter."
She smiled brilliantly at him and then looked straight at Voldemort.
"May I meet your great snake now, sir, please?"
Granger sputtered a laugh and Astoria blinked while Draco paled. Harry rolled his eyes.
Voldemort blinked. He had actually forgotten the fact that Harry had told him to keep Nagini away from the girl, Zinnia, unless Voldemort was with them. At the time he had thought it strange. Harry knew that Nagini would not hurt anyone in the Manor unless he ordered it or they attacked first, but he had complied, thinking that maybe the girl, Zinnia, had been told horror stories about Nagini and would be afraid. Apparently, he had been mistaken, because the girl, Zinnia, positively radiated excitement.
Voldemort looked at Harry who shrugged with a small grin, and then Voldemort sent for Nagini. It did not take long before Nagini slithered into the conservatory and he watched as the girl, Zinnia, went from almost vibrating with excitement to jumping up and down on Granger's lap. Granger laughed and the girl, Zinnia, began to clap her hands.
"Oh, oh, she is so beautiful, and she lives here with us?" The girl, Zinnia, looked at Astoria. "Truly? I may speak to her whenever I want?"
Voldemort pondered her choice of words while he watched the conversation taking place in front of him.
"Maybe not all the time," Astoria corrected, "she isn't ours, even if she spends a lot of time with us. And only if you show her respect, but yes, I should think you may see her often, if that is what you wish."
"That is brilliant! I have always wanted a snake! Everyone always told me no." She wriggled free of Granger's grasp and slid down to the floor where she slowly got closer to Nagini with a hand stretched out towards her. "You are so beautiful," Zinnia hissed in parseltongue. "So big and so beautiful. May I pet you, please?"
Nagini reared up in surprise and there was a squawk of fright from Draco and a squeak of excitement from Astoria, both very unusual and very undignified. Granger and Harry looked at each other and snickered. Voldemort himself almost lost all composure. What was the chance that there were three parselmouths in the same room?
"A hatchling speaker?! Master, the hatchling is a speaker?!" Nagini looked as flabbergasted as he had ever seen her. Being a snake, that was not much, but still.
"So it seems, my dear," he told Nagini as calmly as he possibly could. "Do be kind to her."
"I'm not a hatchling, I'm a human girl. We do not hatch from an egg," Zinnia said and giggled when Nagini came closer and flicked her tongue over Zinnia's hand.
"You are a small two-legger. Small snakes are hatchlings. You are a hatchling," Nagini told her and butted her head into Zinnia's hand to get petted. Zinnia petted dutifully without hesitation and with a smile that lit up her face in happiness. "Mummy, look, I got to pet the snake!" Zinnia looked at Astoria.
Astoria smiled back at her, even if she could not understand the child's words.
"You are speaking parseltongue, Zizi," Harry told her. "It's only you, me and Voldemort who can speak and understand parseltongue."
"Of the two-leggers," Nagini corrected.
"Yes, of course," Harry said.
"Mummy, Daddy, I got to pet the snake!" Zinnia said again.
"I can see that, dearest, you are very lucky," Astoria said while she held Draco's hand in hers. He was a bit too pale to be healthy, but Voldemort was well used to that reaction from him. It did not seem like Draco was considering separating snake and child, at least. Voldemort almost pitied the man, to be that afraid of snakes and living under the same roof as parselmouths and to be married to a snake enthusiast and the father of another.
"Zinnia, ask Nagini to come around here," Granger told the girl, Zinnia, and pointed at the space behind her and Astoria. "If Harry needs to leave, it's better if no one is between him and the door."
"Yes, Hermi," Zinnia said and asked Nagini to follow her to the space where Granger wanted them. Nagini followed the child without complaint. They were discussing the best place for scritches.
Harry turned towards Voldemort and grinned with a lot of teeth. He had known, of course, just as Granger had, and none of them had thought to warn him. Voldemort raised an eyebrow at him and Harry's grin broadened.
"Brat," Voldemort hissed and Harry winked, just to prove Voldemort's point, he was sure.
Granger chuckled into her teacup and Harry leaned over to poke her shoulder, which made her giggle. Astoria observed them first with bemusement and then with more scrutiny. Voldemort was reminded that in this room more people than not understood parseltongue, a state of affairs he was truly unaccustomed to. He still did not know how Granger could understand the language, but considering how much Harry and Granger knew and could do, he could not be too surprised. Zinnia, on the other hand, who was a true parselmouth …
It was as if Harry knew what Voldemort was thinking because he looked from Voldemort to Astoria and Draco.
"One of the many magical rituals Hermi and I excavated from the chest of time was a new, or very old, kind of godparent bonding ritual. It was one of the first ones we found, as it happened over seven years ago now. The godparent ritual that has been used in Britain the last few centuries is but a shadow of this one. If even that."
"There was hardly any comparison at all," Granger said. "And Neville and Hannah agreed at once to use it, as soon as we mentioned it and that it was safe for Zinnia to use. It gifts something both ways, you see. Zinnia gets something that will help her in life from her godparents, and we get a bond to her that helps us make sure she is safe. It is only the gravest of circumstances that will get through to us. Normal scrapes, even broken bones, will not be noticed, but true fear and danger will get us to come running. And of course, we are completely incapable of scaring her or bringing her any kind of harm."
Voldemort looked at Zinnia who now was stroking Nagini from her head to far down her tail in long strokes. Both looked very pleased. Nagini was actually hissing in pleasure.
Harry nodded. "Magic decides what gifts from us that will help Zinnia in life. As far as we know, she got parseltongue from me and some of Hermi's exceptional gifts of learning and understanding."
"Not the full load, fortunately," Granger said with evident relief. "That was something of a curse to grow up with."
Harry leaned towards her, put a hand at her neck and brought their foreheads together.
"You did good in the end, Hermi, you did very good. Remember that."
Granger huffed, but hugged him back.
Astoria was watching their interaction again, her eyes narrowed, then they grew wide. She almost choked on the tea she had just taken a sip of.
"You … you … no … It is …Dragon had a tail …but … no," she whispered roughly when she could talk again, more to herself than to any of them. "Dragon had a tail, but …" She looked at Voldemort. "Those three, my Lord …"
Both Harry and Granger turned to look at Astoria, their teeth bared in something that no one would consider an actual smile.
Voldemort understood Astoria's predicament. It was hard to believe, even for him who knew of Granger's shapeshifting powers. His best guess was that Astoria had seen Harry's interaction with Dragon and compared it to his interaction with Granger. Then she had combined it with the fact that the three idiots that had begun the whole situation that ended with Zinnia living in the Manor, were not supposed to follow a dragon, but Granger. Astoria knew that and she had obviously recognised the three idiots.
"Figured something out, did you?" Harry asked.
Astoria paled, but lifted her chin. "You didn't become a shapechanger on your own, Harry," she stated with great conviction where she moments before had had none.
"Of course not," Harry agreed mildly.
"The first time we met after the truce you called me a lovely creature," Granger said with a smug grin.
Astoria blinked slowly at her. "You were the cat?" she whispered breathily. "I knew it! Cats are strange, but that cat acted unusual even for a Kneazle! Then I was right!"
Granger shrugged. "I appreciated the compliments. The second time you saw me was quite a shock, I believe. No compliments then."
Astoria hesitated.
"Dragon, you can turn into a dragon?" Draco whispered.
"One of the bigger animals I have managed, to be sure, but yes. I like being a dragon," Granger said.
Draco whistled and leaned back in his chair.
Voldemort had already known this and had gotten over the astonishment and the incredulity he had felt at first, but he could well understand the surprise Astoria and Draco felt. The fact that there existed one shapechanger that apparently had no restrictions on their shapes was incredible. That there were two such individuals defied all reason. And yet, that was the truth of the matter.
As Harry had said moments before; of course he did not become a shapechanger on his own. When had Harry and Granger ever let the other do something alone if they could avoid it? It was more remarkable that Harry had been able to interact with and talk about Granger in her other shapes, without any indication that she was anything but an extraordinary creature or animal. He, or they as Head Bones also had mentioned Dragon, had gone so far as to give Granger's dragon shape a nickname, simplistic as it was.
"I got to ride Dragon," Zinnia told Nagini smugly.
Of course, the child had known too, Voldemort mused. All the children, and the adults, at that safe house had known.
"Snakes are not made to fly, hatchling," Nagini told her in turn.
Zinnia nodded to that and continued to pet the great serpent that by now had wound her way around the small human body, while making sure not to be too heavy on the small bones.
Draco and Astoria had some questions about the shape changing before Granger changed the subject.
"Blaise Zabini," she said and looked at Astoria and Draco. "You both know him quite well, right?"
"Blaise is not easily known, but yes, I would say we know him quite well," Draco said.
"I met him at the Ministry last week when I was going to meet Susan for lunch," Granger said. "We began to talk while I waited for Susan and as he is quite charming and I don't have any knowledge about him that automatically makes him ineligible to date, I said yes when he asked to take me out on a future date. That was supposed to be a couple of days ago, but I postponed it to this coming Friday. Anything I should know?"
Astoria smiled. "He wants a family about as much as you do, I think."
Granger nodded. "That's always good to know. Last one didn't, or at least not with me. I was stupid and gave him the benefit of the doubt, as I knew little about him. He will now have to struggle with the soapsuds curse for the next year or so."
Voldemort knew what that meant. He had used the specific word that Harry and Granger despised. A strange thing to do on a date.
Harry snarled and Granger took his hand in hers.
"As far as I know, Blaise is honest in his dealings with potential partners, as well as kind," Draco said. "You might not fit each other in the end, but the chance you will feel hurt or ill-used is slight. On the other hand, the chance that you will have a good time is great."
"That recommendation is quite glowing. In the future, I think I will have to try to find people that know my dates to get to know about the pitfalls in advance. If I don't get truly lucky this time around, of course. Here's to hoping." She held up her crossed fingers.
Voldemort knew what the crossed fingers represented, but Astoria and Draco exchanged a slightly confused look as they often did when Harry and Granger used practises and language that were typical for the Nomagi.
Harry did the same. "Have fun, and good luck."
Astoria smiled coldly. "And if he should end up hurting you, just send him my way."
"Hey, if he hurts Hermi you will have to wait your turn," Harry said.
"Nagini could probably eat him for you," Zinnia said gravely, showing that she had followed the conversation. "You could eat a bad person for Hermi, couldn't you? If they are mean? He wouldn't be more than a bump on your stomach." Zinnia stroked said stomach.
"Zinnia, dearest, do not volunteer snakes to eat people. It isn't nice," Astoria said just as Nagini answered.
Voldemort noted that Astoria did not specify if it was the volunteering of a snake or the eating of a human that was not nice. Knowing her, it might very well be the former and not the latter.
"I only eat two-leggers that my Master gives me. Other two-leggers are not to be eaten, my Master says."
"Oh, maybe it isn't healthy for you; that's alright then," Zinnia said and turned towards Astoria. "Nagini said that she only eats two-leggers that her Master gives to her. Maybe it will be bad for her to eat too many?"
"Yes, that might be right," Astoria said, as if they were discussing the weather or how they liked their tea. It seemed like the two of them truly were family that simply had not found each other before now. Looking at the satisfied smiles between Harry and Granger, Voldemort believed that he was not the only one who had noticed.
Draco nodded, so pale that he was almost green. Voldemort decided to make sure he was not close by the next time he gave Nagini a human to eat, unless Draco had done something to deserve punishment, that was. Astoria mostly kept him in check, so the times Voldemort had to punish Draco were few and far between.
"You all seem to forget that I'm perfectly able to get people to regret their life choices all on my own," Granger stated. "Also, that we are hoping for a good outcome on this date, yes?"
"Yes, you are quite right," Astoria said. "The seventh try will work out. Seven is a charmed number after all."
Granger smiled. "Among the Nomagi there is a saying 'Third time's the charm'."
"Well, three is a charmed number too. Is that something I should read up on, for my Nomagi studies?"
"No, I can make a list of the most typical sayings and distribute it. If you ever hear something else, you can always tell them that you haven't heard it before. No one knows all the sayings there are."
The conversation went naturally over to the Nomagi education that had just begun, one evening every other week in addition to reading material. Voldemort and his staunchest supporters all went to learn from Harry and Granger. His supporters were not happy about it, but Voldemort would not hear any complaints and he kept them from harassing the teachers. He hoped, silently and desperately, that if the magical world managed to learn enough to not make waves among the Nomagi, they would be able to keep hidden until they had a better solution to keep them separated and safe from the Nomagi.
Everyone, even the most stubborn of the blood purists now knew that the Nomagi could kill them all in a matter of months, if not weeks. The new wards that combined blood and ley lines that Harry and Granger worked on could hopefully give them more time than they would have had, but nothing would save them if they didn't find a solution to hide indefinitely. Voldemort had already decided that they either needed an island that they could ward to Hell and back, as Harry had so aptly put it, or they needed to look at a more magical solution from the beginning. Right now, he didn't know what that solution could be. He just knew that he needed to find it, and soon.
The clock had been ticking for decades already.
A/N:
There you have it! I know a lot of people have wondered about that very smart cat and maybe about the dragon too. It was just Hermi checking up on her best friend as best she could. ;p How many of you guessed that Dragon was Hermi, and was that before or after she showed Voldemort that she is a shapeshifter too?
Thank you so much for the comments, the favs and the follows! They are much appreciated! I love to read what you think about the story and the characters! It makes writing this story even more fun! Each and every comment makes me smile!
Hope you liked it! Please review!