Chapter 25 – A Gryffindor Family
Harry and Draco lay in bed still unable to sleep apart and quietly discussed the day's revelations. Before Lucius, Narcissa and Severus had left, Harry had given a brief synopsis of how the Clan lived. The revisions he had undergone of his Hogwarts training was closely questioned by Severus, while the Malfoys were keenly interested in his training to assume his Juanth Darastrix form. Eventually he revealed his growing elemental abilities, which provoked discussion between Lucius and Severus regarding the Dark Lord's potential counters and whether he would be prepared to oppose an elemental attack.
"Harry…" asked Draco hesitantly.
His Mate responded with a sleepy "Hmm?"
"Now that you've shared the secret, will you let me to watch your exercises in the Room of Requirement? I've never seen elemental magic and I really want to see your dragon form."
Harry covered a yawn and agreed drowsily. "You'll have to keep a shield up. Fire is my strongest element with air next and my control is pretty good, but something could rebound. I'm not very good with water yet and earth training is hard inside the castle, since I don't really want to affect the stones themselves."
There was silence for several minutes and the Gryffindor was almost asleep when he heard another quiet "Harry…"
Harry cracked one eye and glanced at his bond mate, who was looking at him curiously. "You said you had warded your compartment on the Hogwarts Express when we returned to school." At the brunette's sleepy nod of agreement, Draco continued "Were you telling your friends about your summer and being Dragon Kin?"
He ignored the chuckles from his lowaar and Azreth's impudent "Caught!" He met the blonde's gaze and nodded once. "I shared the compartment with Ron, Hermione and Neville. After they took the oath not to reveal anything without my approval, I let them know how Aironth came to me, our discussions and the invitation to spend the summer. The next day, I told them about the adoption ceremony before the Clan, as well as the lowaar. However, they haven't met my indwellers nor have they seen my elemental exercises or my dragon form."
The Veela considered that quietly. He was intensely jealous that Harry had shared such personal information with them before him, but realized that he hadn't shared his Choice until a few days later, so pushed the jealousy down. These were the ones his Mate considered his "family". He looked up at the brunette from under his lashes. "Will I be the first to see you in your dragon form?"
Harry chuckled and reached out to touch the blonde's hand. "Yes, Draco. You can be the first to see me with scales and wings." The Veela smirked slightly in satisfaction.
They lay quietly for several minutes and the Gryffindor was almost asleep again when he heard another soft "Harry…." He refused to open his eyes and just murmured "hmm" in acknowledgement. That was enough of an incentive for Draco to continue "Have you flown as a dragon?"
Harry smiled, remembering the feel of the wind beneath his wings and the air current supporting his body. Draco must have been watching him because he whispered "You have!"
Harry's smile widened and he deliberately tugged the blanket over his shoulder. "Good night Draco".
He wondered if he heard smugness in the answering "Nightly blessings Harry", but fell asleep before he thought too much about it.
Mundungus Fletcher sidled into the dark and smoky pub, his eye flickering over the inhabitants to make sure none were those he was trying to avoid. He slunk furtively towards the bartender, an older woman with stringy brown hair, a dirty apron and dull eyes.
"'ello Maggie m'love. Anyone lookin' fer me tonight?"
The dull brown eyes turned towards him, taking in his straggly ginger hair, unshaven cheeks and bloodshot eyes. She snorted crudely and held out a hand. When a sickle was placed there, she nodded towards the dark corner on the far right wall. "Bloke's there. Bought a bottle and took two glasses."
Mundungus smiled, showing yellow teeth. Two glasses meant he didn't have to buy a drink for himself; the night was looking up. He placed his grimy pipe in his teeth and touched his wand to the bowl to light it. A greenish smoke arose, smelling faintly like burning socks. The bar hag rolled her eyes and walked away from the stench as Dung skulked towards the dark corner.
The mark or customer as Dung preferred to call him was an indistinctive man, wearing a drab robe, his face hidden in the hooded cloak. While his face was unseen, the man's pale long fingered hands were visible showing embedded stains. Definitely not a gent then. He stood before the table and placed a hand on the chair.
"Sit down, Mr. Fletcher. The name's Prince." One pale hand picked up the bottle and filled a glass with firewhiskey and pushed it towards Dung. The man picked it up and offered a silent toast to the mark…customer…and knocked it back quickly, then put the empty glass down. He was pleased to see it refilled promptly and drank that one just as swiftly as the first. His glass was refilled again.
"Wha' kin I do fer ya?" Dung slurred slightly.
"I'm looking for a particular object; a book in fact. I heard that you can sometimes find things that others cannot" the man murmured from the shadows.
Dung frowned slightly. "A book? Nowt much call fer books. Wha' kind is it?"
"A somewhat rare book called 'Mind Magic: The Art of Occlumency'. I had a copy once, but it disappeared."
Dung flinched as the voice became low, silky and dangerous sounding. Not a bloke to cross, it would seem. But he appeared to have a few galleons and didn't mind sharing his firewhiskey, so the thief ignored his tingling senses.
He nodded at the shadowed figure. "I kin check around fer ya. Any book shops ya already checked?"
The silky voice returned "No, I knew to come directly to you. Your reputation precedes you."
The ginger-haired man preened a little. "How much do ye want ta pay fer the book if I find it fer ya?"
"I don't know, Fletcher. For how much did you sell it?" The figure leaned forward into the light and pushed back the hood revealing the cold features of Severus Snape. The smaller man tried to stand up, but found himself frozen in his chair.
"I gave you a book to give to Harry Potter, Fletcher. I stressed the importance of giving it to him immediately. I find that you never did so. That means you lied to me when you agreed to pass it on to Potter. It means you stole a valuable book from me." The obsidian eyes bored into his own and the thief felt sweat begin to bead on his face from the coldly menacing tone. "What do you think Dumbledore would do if he found out your actions caused injury to Harry Potter, his Golden Boy?"
Dung wasn't too worried about Dumbledore; a bit of repentance and head-hanging would get him forgiven yet again. But Snape…Snape was another story. He was a right mean bastard.
"Listen to me you loathsome dim-witted excuse for kneazle droppings. You will find the book you stole and return it to me; the exact book, not another copy. You will bear the cost yourself. You will then apologize to Potter and explain what you did to Dumbledore. Until then.." a dark wand appeared in his hand and Dung's eyes widened. Snape waved it in an intricate pattern and muttered something too quietly for the thief to hear, but he felt a wave of magic wash over him and stiffened in fear.
A cold smile appeared on the Potion Master's face at the thief's fear. "Until then, you will be unable to deceive anyone when it comes to buying and selling. You will buy items at the top of what is fair and reasonable and will sell items or information for less than the going market value." The malicious smile caused the man to tremble more. "When you return the book that you stole from me, I will consider lifting the curse. Until then, it is tied to my magical signature and only I can remove it."
Snape stood and smiled ruthlessly at the frozen man. "Tick tock, Fletcher. The clock is ticking. I hope you are able to retrieve and restore the book before some of your more dubious associates discover you are unable to lie to them." He smiled at the sight of the sweat rolling down the thief's face as the implication sunk in. He swept out of the room leaving a frightened thief.
Dung felt the paralysis leave him several minutes later. He reached for the bottle Snape had left on the table with a shaking hand and poured several drinks in quick succession, glad that the other man had forgotten the bottle.
Severus apparated back to Hogwarts and strode to the castle with a malicious smirk on his lips that would have made his Hufflepuff students weep. He wondered how many drinks Fletcher would have before he remembered Snape was a Potions Master and realized he hadn't consumed any of the firewhiskey.
Harry let Draco select the menu for their dinner with Hermione, Ron and Neville. The Slytherin was tempted to order something mundane like stew and bread, but the Veela in him refused to dishonor who his Mate saw as family. With a mental grumble, he selected bacon wrapped asparagus, roasted chicken with Asiago polenta and truffled mushrooms accompanied with herb whipped potatoes followed by cinnamon bread pudding with caramel sauce. After a moment, he added a tiramisu toffee trifle pie that was one of his favorites and then called Dobby to take the menu. He rolled his eyes after the eager house elf left; the unbounded energy was tiring to watch.
Harry discovered that Draco was fascinated with the Clan and gladly spent several hours teaching him words and phrases, as well as talking about how he spent his summer with the Clan. The blonde was amazed at the simple Laws that guided them.
Harry chuckled. "Draco, think about it. Scores of very large, very dangerous creatures in relatively close quarters. Without the guiding principles that their culture is built upon, they could have destroyed themselves and the world around them several times." He smirked at the Slytherin and added "Besides, when the culture is built upon respect, you can only imagine how ingenious and subtle any insults would be. It may take days before one realizes that one has actually been insulted."
As it came closer to dinner, Draco began to get tense. "Harry, I know these are your friends and you consider them family. I'm sure Granger at least will be compelled to hang on..err..hug you. Are all Gryffindors so 'touchy'?"
Harry started to chuckle until he realized the blonde was genuinely uneasy and remembered how he stood between him and the Veela Council representatives. He walked over to the other teen and laid a hand on his shoulder. "Hermione is very likely to hug me, but she probably has also read every book on Veelas she could find in the library. She is bound to recognize that this is the week the bond needs to settle. I imagine she'll try to restrain herself, but I would be surprised if she didn't fit in one brief hug. Ron and Neville are more the quick handshake types."
Even with the reassurance, the blonde became more uneasy as the time neared for their guests to appear. When the knock came on the door, he had to visibly restrain himself from putting Harry behind him.
Harry opened the door and was surprised that he didn't immediately have an armful of his bushy-haired best friend. Instead, she smiled at him and said "Good evening Harry" and then immediately turned to Draco while Ron and Neville followed her into their suite. The two males also gave only a perfunctory greeting to Harry before turning their attention to Draco.
Hermione stepped towards Draco and inclined her head briefly. "Good evening Lord Malfoy-Black. My sincere congratulations on your bond. I wish you all happiness. Please do me the honor of calling me Hermione."
Draco nearly blinked in surprise at the traditional greeting coming from a Muggle! To greet the Veela first was the established custom, but that she respected the bond not to immediately grab his Mate was surprising.
He inclined his head and offered his hand first, raising her knuckles up to his lips while saying "It is my privilege to welcome the family of my Mate. Please call me Draco. Harry, please join me in welcoming Hermione."
He was surprised again to realize that she recognized the traditional words that permitted her to touch his Mate even though the bond wasn't settled. The young woman hugged Harry enthusiastically, but released him before Draco became uncomfortable.
The blonde turned back to Neville who offered him a surprisingly elegant bow. "Nightly blessings Lord Malfoy-Black. The Ancient House of Longbottom is pleased to offer our congratulations on your bond. We wish you great joy. Please do me the honor of calling me Neville if you so choose."
Draco nodded imperceptibly to himself. Neville was the Heir of House Longbottom and could offer commendations for his entire House. He returned the bow with grace and offered his hand. The two teens shook hands as Draco responded "The House of Black is pleased to welcome you as family of my Mate. Please call me Draco if you so choose." He turned to Harry and added "Harry please join me in welcoming Neville."
The two shared a quick handshake, also clasping one another's arms briefly before Neville stepped back respectfully. Draco turned and adopted a neutral expression as he faced Ron Weasley. The redhead was holding a wrapped package and looked uncomfortable.
Ron stepped forward and bowed correctly if somewhat awkwardly. "Congratulations on your bond Lord Malfoy-Black. May you both enjoy peace and happiness. Please do me the honor of calling me Ron."
Draco bowed gracefully and offered his hand to his former adversary. "It is a privilege to welcome you as a brother of Mate. Please call me Draco." Before he could turn to Harry, the red-haired held out the package to Draco. "Please accept this gift from all of us. It is a bottle of brandy that we suggest you open on the tenth anniversary of your bonding."
The Slytherin accepted the package and bowed again, surprised at the thoughtfulness of the bonding gift. "We thank you. Harry, please join me in welcoming Ron."
Harry had a large grin on his face when he held out his hand to the redhead. Ron shook his hand then pulled him into a brief manly hug, stepping back quickly out of deference to their bond.
With the traditions upheld and the courtesy extended to him as a Veela, Draco relaxed as they moved into the seating area by the fire. He let Harry open the package and raised an eyebrow at the quality of the brandy that was revealed. He glanced briefly at Neville, who nodded faintly in acknowledgement. The Lady Augusta Longbottom had obviously trained the Heir well.
Hermione was the first to speak. "Do you have the homework needed for the classes being held this week?"
Harry burst out laughing at the question. "Hermione, please never change. And yes, the professors have all forwarded the assignments. You'll be pleased to know that Draco likes to complete his assignments the day he receives them if at all possible. It's almost been like having you here."
Draco raised an eyebrow as the young woman blushed and then laughed. "It's a habit, I know." She smiled at the Slytherin. "It's nice to know that someone else is a good example for homework. What did you mean in your note about a Library I would be jealous of? You already told us about the Potter Manor library, which I'm looking forward to visiting." She gave a meaningful look at Harry.
Harry grinned and nodded at Draco. "We visited Castle Black and from there, the Black Library."
Neville blinked in surprise. "It's not just a rumor?" At Hermione's curious glance, he added "The Black Library is almost legendary as the Family has been building their archive for over a thousand years."
Draco inclined his head to the Gryffindor in acknowledgement. "The Black Library can only be visited by blood members of the House or those wearing a Black signet ring. It is separate from the libraries found in the various Black properties. It holds ancient tombs and scrolls with knowledge that may have been lost through the centuries. It doesn't have a magical catalogue, but I intend to create one or it would take years to catalogue the entire library. I can only imagine that it will be fairly impressive."
He successfully hid a smirk at the envy visible on Hermione's face, but even if he was so inclined, he couldn't invite her to the Library as she wasn't a blood member of the Black family. "When the catalogue is complete, perhaps Harry can copy one or two books for you" he offered.
Hermione's eyes widened at the unexpected offer. "That would be…wonderful! Thank you, Draco!"
They moved to the table when Dobby appeared to serve dinner. The meal was a success based on the pleasure on everyone's face as they sampled each dish. Harry smiled at Draco in thanks. He knew it would have been easy to serve just soup and sandwiches to his former adversaries and appreciated Draco selecting a delicious meal instead. He was pleased to see Ron exhibiting "company manners" and not inhaling his food for a change. He wondered if that was Hermione's doing.
Neville apparently had been well trained in polite conversation by his Grandmother as he helped keep the topics interesting. "Have you made plans beyond school yet" he asked.
Harry smiled and said "We're still working on our summer plans. We've thought about touring all of the Potter and Black properties to see what we have."
Draco added with a proud look at his Mate "Harry suggested having the staffs or house elves photograph each property so we that we have an idea of what they're getting into, whether they need refurbishing or more staff to bring the property up to standard."
Hermione bit her lip at the mention of house elves and Harry smiled at her with gratitude for her restraint in not saying anything. She returned the smile and offered "After seeing the Potter vault, I'm looking forward to seeing the actual Manor, Harry. I can't help but wonder if there are more treasures like the armor." Her face froze as she realized she had nearly broken her vow.
Harry chuckled. "You each are released from your vow in front of Draco. He and his family learned last night that I was adopted by Aironth."
Draco smirked at the astonishment on the Gryffindor faces. "I am only hoping that Harry will agree to go public at some point after the Dark Lord is defeated." He smiled at his Mate. "I'm rather proud of having the only living Dragon Kin as my Mate." Harry rolled his eyes and Draco hastened to add "I know you don't enjoy being in the spotlight, Harry, but you're Dragon Kin!" Ron and Neville nodded their agreement at his near reverent tone.
With a rueful smile Harry said "I am proud of the Clan, Draco. But I don't take pleasure in having yet another reason for the wizarding world to focus their fickle attention on me. When Riddle is gone for good, maybe I'll let you wear the dragon scale armor to some society event and let you be the center of attention."
The blonde gave him a guilty look. "I'm sorry for thinking only of myself, Harry. I do enjoy being the center of at…wait…you have dragon scale armor? Really?"
The brunette laughed at the sudden wide-eyed covetous look on the blonde's face. "A full golden chest piece made from one of Aironth's scales is in the Potter vault."
As Harry gently teased Draco, their interaction and the knowledge that he had voluntarily shared his Elder Dragon connection reassured the Gryffindors that Harry had accepted the bond on his own accord. It boded well for their future.
When dinner was done, they settled in front of the fireplace again. Hermione smiled at Harry and asked "How how are your projects coming? You wanted to discover your Potter heritage and seem to be well on the road to that. How are you doing with managing your publicity?"
Harry grumbled "I have Addison Brentwood working on some aspects and the goblins on others. The goblins have managed to obtain 12% of the Daily Prophet and Draco has another 14% with his Black legacy. But I'm torn between trying to force changes in the management of the Prophet or work on starting up my own paper and drive the Prophet out of business."
Ron looked at Harry with wide eyes. "Blimey Harry, put the Prophet out of business? That's quite a goal."
Hermione looked interested and Harry could almost see the gears turning in her mind. "What kind of paper were you thinking of, Harry?"
"Well, with apologies to Draco, Ron and Neville, something more like one of the credible Muggle newspapers. The Prophet has politics and celebrity stories, sports and a few other topics of interest, but it's not standardized and it's so biased it's hard to consider anything they print as 'news'. I'm thinking of something that has local, domestic and national news for Great Britain; a section for international news; business and the economy; politics; sports; arts and culture; style and fashion; health and healing; as well as something for the home where spell, charms and security could be shared. I'm also thinking there might be a section for Muggle news where the latest achievements or conflicts could be shared. It might be helpful to know there's a war on before Wizarding families go on a vacation somewhere or medical breakthroughs that might have a Wizarding application."
Ron looked confused. "What's to keep you from doing both, mate? Why can't you work on browbeating the Prophet into improving while you start to design and set up publishing for a new newspaper?"
Harry looked dumb-struck at the redhead. He opened and closed his mouth several times, causing the others to laugh. "It honestly didn't occur to me to do both. Now see, that's why I need family; to help me see all of the possibilities."
"And to laugh at you and keep you humble when you overlook the obvious" added Neville with a grin.
Draco snorted. "Gryffindors. I'm beginning to think that you should all be required by law to bond with Slytherins. You need someone cunning to look after you."
"Ouch, come on Hermione. Protect me or hex him or something" Ron laughed.
"Have I mentioned that I plan to use redheaded Gryffindors as human shields when needed" Draco smirked examining his nails.
"Hermione!" Ron whined.
Hermione shook her head. "I think you're on your own, Ronald. Although I could try distracting him with something shiny while you escape."
Harry sat back and grinned at the verbal exchanges. It was like one big family.
Juanth Darastrix = Elder Dragons
Lowaar = Indwellers