Yep, I said half of 46. The rest of 46 is the start of the date, which lasts until the end of part 49, so I though it was better to split it here so I keep the parts together ^_^. Enjoy!

Part 43/?

Harry stood in front of the doorway that led to the Gryffindor secret rooms, and, if what they believed was true, the entrance to Godric's Keep as well. It had been almost a week since they had last planned to try the door. Harry hid a smile, knowing that most of those with him would not appreciate it. Harry'd known the DADA professor wouldn't put up with the way the students had been treating him for long, and he'd been right.

Connor obviously knew something about teenagers. If there was one thing most teens hated, it was being laughed at, and lots of people had been laughing for the past week. The spell had been simple, a form of the 'Ridikulus' used against boggarts, but tweaked with a bit of Tuatha de Danaan magic. It had led to most of the Sixth Years, especially the Gryffindors and Slytherins, being absolutely hilarious... as long as you weren't one of those it affected.

Of course, the spell had delayed getting to the Keep. For some reason, Neville didn't want to go while he was still looking as if he were wearing his grandmother's dress and hat. It had been an extremely hard to defeat illusion. It didn't matter what he actually wore, that was all anyone ever saw.

As for Draco, the graceful Slytherin had suddenly found himself much less graceful. Indeed, the Malfoy heir was suddenly the master of pratfalls. And he almost always had something in his hands when he went down. Severus wouldn't even let him do anything in Potions until the spell ran its course, too afraid of what he'd accidentally do. Needless to say, there was no way the young Malfoy wanted to meet the Founder of Gryffindor while in that state.

Ron wasn't able to do any spells for the past week, since they always went wrong, usually leading to hilarity from anyone in the vicinity. Hermione had been almost silent for a week, ashamed of the fact that she could only speak in rhyme. Blaise had gotten a strange sort of humor out of the fact that he routinely burst into song. Nobody was sure what the spell had done to Pansy, since she had refused to leave her room until it cleared.

O'Feahr had made it a class assignment to figure out what he had done and how to fix it. It had taken that entire week before Harry's group had managed to find a way to break it. That had been late last night. Luckily, it was a single spell; though it had multiple effects and multiple targets, it only had to be broken once to be broken for everyone. Or unluckily... there were certain people his friends wouldn't mind seeing kept under its effects. For instance, Lavender had occasionally turned into a very cute bunny, which all the girls gushed over; and Goyle announced to everyone he met that he couldn't stand people food and preferred to eat grass like the other horses. He'd lost five pounds in that single week.

Under other circumstances, Lucius Malfoy would not have appreciated anyone putting a spell on his son, but even he had to admit that watching the blonde-haired boy trip over his own feet was entertaining. And since no one had gotten hurt, he wasn't too worried about it. O'Feahr had been warned not to do it too often, a warning he had taken to heart.

The only other really important thing that had happened during that week was the publication of Thistlewaite's article. The group had found themselves very pleased with the man's writing. He'd kept to the rules set down and still managed to get out what Harry felt was the most important part, that he was not a child, and was fully capable of making his own decisions and choosing his own family. Lucius admitted to a decrease in the amount of Howlers he was getting since that day. On the other hand, Marnier's article had had to be rewritten five times before Hermione and Blaise would accept it, and it had turned out to be a bland little piece. Lucius had frowned when he'd read it, although Harry hadn't seen anything wrong with it. He'd let Lucius keep his own counsel... for now.

Harry looked over at Neville. "Well?" he asked softly. "Are you going to open it?"

"What if we're wrong? What if I'm not the Heir, or if this doesn't lead to Gryffindor's place?" Neville asked worriedly.

Harry shrugged. "Then we'll keep looking," he answered easily. "We won't have lost anything, if we're wrong."

Lucius Malfoy moved up and gently pulled Harry back to rest against him. "Open the door," he ordered.

Neville nodded and turned to the door that had already been expanded to its full size. Taking a deep breath, he placed his hand upon a small carving of a lion, and pushed. The door opened. Immediately, Severus and Connor moved forward to flank the young Gryffindor. O'Feahr had been asked to come along on the advice of Ehlana, and no one could deny that having another fully qualified wizard along might be a good thing. There was no telling what they might be walking into.

Neville had to go first; no one else was able to go through the door until he did. Very carefully, he stepped through, sighing in relief as there seemed to be no traps or the like. Normally, he wouldn't be worried about that, going into *Gryffindor's* home. Rather, that was something one would expect with Slytherin's, but both of the spirit portraits had stressed the man's interest in privacy when it came to his home. However, nothing untoward happened, and he was looking around with interest as the two professors followed him into the room.

The room itself was very dusty. Obviously, the house elves had been let go centuries ago, and no one had been in there since. At least, there were no marks of anyone or anything's passage in the almost inch high dust. Severus looked around, bearing an expression of not at all well hidden disgust. Really, to let a Manor come to straits like this...

Quickly, the two professors cast detection spells, looking for any traces of magic or life. The dark gray stones of the walls and floor shone faintly with the magic they contained under the layers of centuries of disuse. Severus and Connor worked quickly to verify that the magics were all benign, mostly the anti-age, anti-fire and other precautionary wards they had been told about. Only when absolutely positive of the safety of the room they were in, did Severus step back through the doorway and beckon the others to enter.

Lucius found himself glad of the presence of the Tuatha de Danaan. Although he wasn't worried about the Slytherins in the group, the Gryffindors seemed to be trying their best to live up to their reputation for impulsiveness and recklessness. It took all three of the adults just to keep the teenagers from running all over the Keep, trying to see everything at once and track down the Founder's spirit portrait. Even Roan and Hermione, who could usually be counted on to keep their heads, seemed more interested in exploring than being careful.

"You're being an old fuss-budget," Harry muttered as he was thwarted in an attempt to check out a nearby room.

"Better a fuss-budget than a widower," Lucius said with equanimity.

The Keep was more like Hogwarts than a traditional Manor. Stone seemed to be the building material of choice, and numerous torches, fireplaces and wizard glows would normally work to keep the rooms from being dark and dank. However, none of those were currently lit or working, and so the atmosphere was darker and more dank than Severus' dungeons at their worst.

The only places that did not show the ravages of time and neglect were the library and storerooms. It was obvious that those who could feel the magic were impressed with the preservation spells still active on the contents of those rooms. However, now was not the time to stop and read all the tempting books. As Roan and Hermione had to be reminded a number of times.

They traveled through dining rooms and ballrooms, bedrooms and playrooms. It seemed as if every child had been given their own separate room, leading to an extremely large number. At times, it seemed as if their search would never come to the end of the House. Several even started to wonder if they would be able to find their way back out. It was obvious that Godric had had a large influence on the creation of Hogwarts. He seemed to have an inordinate fondness for corridors that seemingly went nowhere, moving staircases and odd-shaped rooms.

The portraits, or what they assumed to be the portraits, drew everyone's attention, but no one seemed inclined to talk about them. Every frame they passed was empty. No voices spoke to them from off the walls, no eyes followed their movements as they wandered the halls, no whispered rumors greeted them, nor did gossip fly from one painting to another. And it wasn't simply that the paintings were of other subjects, without people in them. The paintings lining the corridors were obviously not landscapes. There should have been people there. There simply... weren't.

After walking for what seemed like hours, the group approached doors unlike anything they'd seen so far in the Keep. They were almost as big as the ones leading to the Great Hall. They shined by the lights of their wands, untarnished by age.

"Is that... gold?" Ron whispered in awe.

"It certainly looks like it," Ehlana answered easily. Of course, she'd grown up in a world where money, or at least precious gems and metals, did indeed grow on trees.

Roan and Connor grabbed hold of the handles on the doors and pulled. Nothing happened. They frowned in concentration and put their backs into it, pulling as hard as they could. The doors didn't budge so much as a centimeter.

"Let me try," Neville said confidently.

The two older men backed up and Neville reached forward. Without the least sign of strain, he placed his hands on the door handles and tugged. The doors swung open.

Part 44/?

The first indication of something different from what they'd walked through up until then was the noise. While the hallways had been depressingly silent, that all changed the moment the doors opened. There was the sound of people yelling and cheering. A sound that was abruptly silenced as the group of students and their chaperones walked through the doors that had not been opened for centuries.

They looked around at the gaping faces on all of the walls. Their own expressions were not much better. Three of the walls were gigantic landscapes, reaching from the floor to ceiling and from wall to wall. There was only one excuse for a room like this; it was a place for the portraits to gather. The fourth wall had only the doors and one single portrait frame. It was as empty as the others they had passed, but the size and ornateness of the frame made it fairly obvious whose it was. Their eyes scanned all of the nicely dressed men, women and children until they all, one by one, came to rest on what must have been the focus of everyone's attention before they entered the room.

Right in the middle of the landscape right across from the door was an empty space with only two beings. A man in silver armor and a large red dragon. An Eastern Banded Ridgeback, according to Ron's whisper.

"Who art thou?" the man in armor boomed. He ignored the dragon he had been fighting, and it slunk away while his back was turned. "How did thee enter?"

Neville stepped forward bravely. "I opened the door," he said.

The spirit portrait raised his visor. "And who art thou to be able to open Godric's Keep, which no one hath been able to do for centuries?"

"I'm Neville Longbottom," he answered. "And I'm descended from every one of Godric Gryffindor's children.

The portrait stared at him, a considering expression on his face. "Aye, that wouldst work, wouldst it not? I must admit, I had not considered that possibility."

"What do you mean?" Harry asked, when it seemed no one else was going to.

"When I had set the wards upon this Keep, I did not take as much care as I should have. I did not consider that within generations, there wouldst not be enough of my blood within my heirs to enter unto their ancestral home. I must admit, I did not believe any wouldst ever enter this place again." He carefully looked over them all, and a surprised expression crossed his face. "It seemeth as though Hogwarts hath become much more integrated than last I heard. It is good to see that the enmity between Salazar and myself hath not extended beyond ourselves."

"Oh, it did," Harry smirked. "But I've never been one to follow the rules, and I'm not going to let anyone tell me who my friends are." Everyone who'd known him since he first entered Hogwarts stared at him incredulously. He blushed. "Well, not since I grew up anyway," he admitted. "Besides, it didn't really have anything to do with Houses. Ron was my first friend and Draco was a prat. Even if Ron had gone to Slytherin and Draco to Gryffindor, I would have felt the same."

He ignored both of the boys' shudders of disgust at the idea. They might be friends... sort of, but they didn't even want to consider being in each other's House.

Draco looked up at the portrait. "You know, you're not quite what I was expecting, at least from Lord Slytherin and Lady Ravenclaw's description."

"Thou believed I wouldst be angry at this invasion by those not of my family or House?" Godric suggested.

"At the very least," Draco agreed.

"It hath been almost five hundred years since I hath seen anyone not of these portraits. At this point, I wouldst gladly speak to Salazar himself."

"Do you want to come back to Hogwarts with us?" Ron blurted out. "We've already found Slytherin's and Ravenclaw's portraits, and they're living at the school. We haven't gotten Hufflepuff's yet, but we'll be looking for her next."

Godric looked at all the people in the paintings around him, and regretfully shook his head. "I canst not leave all my friends."

"Gryffindors and their chivalry," Severus and Lucius groaned with identical voices.

All four of the currently alive Gryffindors spun around to glare at the older Slytherins. With one accord, they pouted.

The two Slytherins just looked at them, eyebrows raised. "Was there something you wanted?" Lucius asked.

Godric chuckled at the interaction, but there was a certain sadness behind it. The portraits he lived with were nice enough, especially since his great-great-grandson had created this room for them, at his *suggestion*, after Godric had become a painting himself. Still, none of them were spirit portraits and as such they did not have the full breadth of personality, imagination and presence that humans, ghosts and spirit portraits had. These newcomers had brought with them a breath of fresh air, and he knew he would miss interacting with true people, even this slight bit, when they were gone. The other portraits had been fading away, graying out, their colors leaving them, until he had instituted these get-togethers. If he left the Keep, it would not be long before they all faded out of existence. He would not accept that. They had been together for too many years.

"Is there a way to change the wards?" the bushy haired girl, the only female Gryffindor of the group, asked.

"Without my blood, I truly dost not know," Godric admitted. "Perhaps... if mine heir is a mage?"

Neville shook his head with downcast eyes and Godric sighed.

"He might not be one, but he's got access to four, right here," Harry spoke up, moving forward. "Would that help?"

"Gryffindors?" Godric asked hopefully.

Harry shook his head sharply. "I'm the only Gryffindor. Oh, my name is Harry Snape, by the way. My husband, Lucius Malfoy, is the Heir of Slytherin, and my adopted father, Severus Snape, is the Heir of Ravenclaw," he nodded to each of them as he named them.

"Doth that mean thou art Hufflepuff's?" Godric asked.

"Nope," Ron answered proudly for him when he looked as if he'd let it go with a headshake. "Merlin's."

"Interesting," was all the original Gryffindor answered. He came to a decision. With no more hesitation, he moved from the big canvas, to his smaller one. It swung open. "Come in," he invited.

Slowly, the students moved toward the hole in the wall. O'Feahr moved in front quickly. Once again, none of the adults were allowing the children to go anywhere they had not gone first.

Once they all had entered the room, which seemed to be a small study, Godric looked at the Tuatha de Danaan. "Are you a teacher?" he asked.

Connor nodded. "Defense Against the Dark Arts," he admitted. He nodded over to the black-haired adult. "Professor Snape is the Potions teacher."

"And the rest of thee?" Godric asked.

Neville gasped. "I'm sorry, I completely forgot!" He quickly ran through the introductions.

Godric greeted them all politely. He then nodded towards a book that had been left upon one of the side tables. "That speaks of the creation of the Keep and all of the spells and wards I placed upon it. If there truly is an answer, it should be within that journal."

Severus spoke up. "How did you keep this place concealed for so long?" he asked. "As far as I am aware, no one has any idea where it is, but it is too large to be completely concealed under invisibility charms. I, myself, have been to Godric's Hollow, and although Salazar assures us that's where the Keep is, I have never seen any sign of it."

Godric smiled. "Why doth Godric's Hollow bear that name?"

Severus responded to the Founder, covering a look could that only be recognized as 'confused' if you knew him well. "I believe it is because the town was built within a depression between hills."

"Let us just say that Godric's Hollow is only surrounded by two hills, not three," Godric admitted.

Severus actually looked impressed. "I would not expect such cunning from a Gryffindor," he said reflexively.

"Dad!" Harry groaned.

Part 45/?

Everyone quickly found something to do. Hermione and Severus worked together on the journal. Roan and Connor both wanted to join them, but it was very difficult for more than two people to read a book at the same time. Instead, they searched through the rest of the library and quickly found interesting books, as did most of the rest of the group. Ron and Ehlana weren't into books as much as their peers, but both easily found things to interest them. Ron found a very old and crotchety wizarding chess set and settled down to play against them. He'd found that playing against the really old sets was one of the best ways to learn new strategies that hadn't been in play for centuries. Ehlana went looking through the artifacts on display and it wasn't long until she was calling out excitedly for the older Tuatha de Danaan. She had found several artifacts that she was sure had originally come from Underhill.

Godric watched the activity around him with an almost melancholy air. He hoped these new people would be able to do what they were obviously hoping to be able to do. His privacy was one thing, but five hundred years of loneliness had proved he needed to rethink his position on that particular issue. Not having anything really to do, he just watched. As such, he was the first one to notice when the black-haired Gryffindor's... what was his name? The Heir of Merlin... ah, Harry Snape, that was it... enthusiasm started to flag. He thought he was the only one to notice when he went from wandering around the room examining everything, to pulling out a book and settling on the couch, to curling up next to the one he'd called his husband and letting his eyes drift shut. Then he realized he couldn't be the only one, because as the boy's eyelids got heavier the noise level in the room got lower.

Lucius gently moved Harry until he was lying curled up with his head on his lap. Connor came over with a blanket he'd conjured, but waited for permission before laying it over the sleeping boy. He looked up and his eyes caught Severus' across the room. He was surprised to find approval in those dark black eyes. It was the first time he'd ever received more than a grudging acceptance from the other professor. He smiled back slightly before going back to his research.

Lucius gently laid his hand on Harry's head, petting his hair tenderly. He frowned, however, as he gauged the amount of magic in his young husband.

"Is something wrong?" Severus asked, ready to move over to his son immediately if it was necessary.

"He's more depleted than he should be," Lucius said softly, though his voice could be heard by everyone in the room. That wasn't really difficult, since no one else was talking; everyone was listening to be sure their friend was alright.

"Is the child pregnant?" Godric asked.

Lucius' gaze pinned the portrait immediately. Although Gryffindor was much different than they'd expected, he still remembered what the others had said about his prejudices. If this was one of them, he'd make sure that the painting never left this room. "Yes, he is," he admitted, glaring coldly.

Godric just nodded. "He does not consider this place to be safe," he said. "My fourth son did have that same problem. He had accidentally absorbed some residue of a cursed magic and it almost hurt his child. After that, he would only pull magic from places and people he was absolutely positive were safe. It was not a studied reaction, and it took us much time to figure out why he wouldst be so drained. If the boy spends at least a small amount of time each day in a place he considers safe, he will be fine. Or if thyself or his father can spare magic for him, that will help as well. I assume that Hogwarts is his safe place?"

"I seriously doubt it," Draco drawled. "It's probably either the Manor or Salazar's chambers in Hogwarts. But the last Headmaster was worse than the Dark Lord, and we know he used aura magic on us when we were unconscious. There's no way he would consider any place Dumbledore had been to be safe."

"How long hath it been since he last was at this Manor?" Godric asked.

"A couple of months," Draco admitted.

"And how long hath it been since there has been a problem with the magic around him?"

All those listening looked at each other. "Well," Connor finally said. "I... um... mistakenly took him to Underhill about three weeks back," he admitted.

"Thou art of the Tuatha de Danaan?" Gryffindor asked, surprised.

"I am," Connor agreed.

"Doth Nuada still lead your people?" He asked. "It hath been many years since I last spoke to Silverhand."

"I will send him your regards the next time I send back a report, if you wish," O'Feahr offered.

"That wouldst be most kind," Godric answered. He turned back to the discussion they had been having. "If young Harry hath not been back to the Manor of which thee speak in months, it is not the place wherefrom he gathers his strength. Mayhap it is Salazar's chambers. If it is, he needs to spend some amount of time there each day."

"That's not a problem," Severus murmured. "It's his favorite place in the castle right now."

"So," Blaise asked with a grin, "is it his favorite place because he feels safe and can gather magic there, or does he feel safe and magical there because it's his favorite place?"

If anyone had been close enough, he would have been bopped on the head for that, but he'd shown great foresight in being far away from anyone who might feel the need for that response.

"I needeth to check on my people, it will be but a moment, wilt thou be alright here by thyselves?"

"We'll be fine," Lucius said dismissively. Godric nodded and disappeared.

"It's his favorite place because it's the only place he can get away from himself," Lucius reminded the Slytherin.

Blaise nodded. "You know, if he wants to go out as Jade, I can take him. I'd protect him with my life."

Lucius and Severus shook their heads simultaneously. "As good a dueler as you might be, you're not a mage, and he's not going out with but a single Slytherin for protection. Even if no one knows who he is."

"You know, I still don't really understand why he feels the need to dress up like a girl sometimes, but we could always say that Jade is my foster sister. It would explain why no one knows who she is, and would even allow Draco to take us out on the town without anyone thinking anything of it." Ehlana offered.

"It wouldn't explain why I went to the ball with Lucius," Harry put in with a yawn. Everyone looked at him in surprise. Not even Lucius, whose lap he was using, had known he was awake.

"Perhaps it would," Connor said slowly. "After all, as a foster daughter to a Goddess of the Sidhe, Jade would be an envoy from a separate world, would she not? As such, does na it make sense that the Minister, lacking a date of his own, would take her to the ball?"

"Perhaps her safety was placed in his hands?" Hermione suggested thoughtfully, finally looking up from the book she was reading. "As such, it would be up to Mr. Malfoy to make sure she was safe and happy, thereby giving him an excuse for taking her places... when Harry is busy of course. Especially, if Draco and Ehlana went along with him. That way it wouldn't be construed as a date."

Harry slowly sat up and looked at her, considering. "We'd have to have a good reason for Harry not to be with him, and there couldn't be any public displays, but I can do that as Harry now, so that won't be too bad. I'd love to be able to get out of the castle... maybe go see Jeri and the girls..." Everyone could hear the longing in his voice.

"We will work something out," Lucius promised. He couldn't hear that tone in his lover's voice and say anything else.

Harry reached up and gently kissed his husband, then smiled happily at him before settling back down, laying his head on Lucius' lap and snuggling into the blanket covering him before falling back to sleep.

Part 46/?

Several hours later, they reluctantly left the Keep. They hadn't found any answers to the current problem, but they were not the type to give up before finding a solution. They would be back. They all promised to Godric they would return, before reluctantly leaving. Soon there was no sign they had ever been there, except a half-played chess game, and a sparkle of hope in an old portrait's eyes.

"Did you find the old reprobate?" Salazar asked as they exited the portal. He seemed disappointed to find they had not brought his picture back with them. There might even have been a hint of worry on his visage.

Harry nodded. "He didn't want to leave the other paintings." He glared at the Slytherin Founder. "He was very nice. Not at all like you described him."

"I never said he wasn't nice, just that he was a bit... stiff." Salazar argued.

"Well, we quite enjoyed meeting him," Hermione announced. She turned to the other portrait that had been waiting for them. "Do you have anything about wards in your library? We need to try to reset the wards so that Neville isn't the only one that can open the door." The two of them set off down the corridor, starting to pass ideas back and forth about the possibilities. Roan dropped a kiss on his boyfriend's lips and rushed off to join them.

Most of the other students turned to stare at Blaise. He just looked back and raised one eyebrow. "Was there something you wanted?"

"When did you move to kissing?" Harry burst out. "And why didn't you tell us?"

"Come on, Blaise, we want details," Draco agreed immediately. He might be straight male, but he could be as gossip hungry as anyone.

The students started walking down the hall, still bothering the Slytherin teen. They wouldn't give up until they had all the interesting bits, but knowing Blaise, he would be able to hold them off for a while.

Connor looked at the two adult Slytherins he had been left with, and decided it was time to take his own leave. "I be needin' to send word to my king," he suggested.

Lucius and Severus watched with restrained smiles as the DADA professor headed away from them at a fast clip.

"What are you planning for tomorrow?" Severus asked.

Lucius frowned thoughtfully. Tomorrow was going to be the first time he and Harry were out in public as a couple. He couldn't do anything with Harry that he'd already done with Jade, the last thing they needed was a correlation drawn between the two. "We're definitely going to end up at the Golden Lyre; I've been wanting to take him there for months. As for the rest of the day, I haven't spoken with him about it yet, but I was considering taking him to Mytholious Garden."

Severus nodded. "He would enjoy that, I believe. Of course, he's probably never even heard of it."

"There is that," Lucius considered. "Perhaps I should leave it as a surprise."

"For more than one reason," Severus responded humorously. "If he knew, he'd probably feel it necessary to invite the rest of his group, since most of them have probably never been, either."

"You have a point," Lucius agreed. "Even Draco has only ever been once, and that was four years ago. I believe I will keep it a secret. I do not wish tomorrow to turn into a field trip."