Chapter V: Rumors, rumors, and more oh my!

Harry and Ron woke feeling oddly refreshed more than normal and perhaps wondered why until Harry noticed something odd about the room. Normally, Harry was the first to wake and dress while the other four boys stayed asleep. Today, however, Ron had not only woken alongside him in the dorm, but Harry noticed three of the five were also missing from the room.

Harry found it strange as did Ron until they were about to leave the room and Harry halted his friend.

"Harry?" Ron asked in confusion

Harry smirked, "I think I know why we were alone this morning Ron." He said

Ron waited for an answer.

"During our discussion last night, I locked and silenced the dorm door to prevent unwanted eavesdroppers on us. But, the emotional backlash must have exhausted me since I forgot to undo the charms yesterday." He said with a smirk

"I think we should prepare ourselves for a wide range of unappealing rumors in the rumor mill today." Harry said with a smirk

Ron grimaced and then smirked, "Do you want to pull Hermione into this joke too since she was here for some time too?"

Harry contemplated this before he grinned, "Why not? After all, Hermione can be very much a minx when she wants to be." He smirked at Ron

Ron growled at Harry, "That's my girlfriend you speak of!"

Harry laughed loudly, "I know!"

He said this as he ran out the door and Ron running after him with laughter between them both until they reached the common area.

When they had reached the common room, silence was prevalent as Hermione sat on their normal sofa with a smirk towards them both. She must have been awake for some time and had heard at least a few of the new rumors about.

"Harry, you forgot to undo the charms last night." She said quietly to her friend

Harry smirked, "I know, and I did not figure it out until we were about to find you for breakfast. Ron and I wondered if you'd like to help us with a massive prank on the school masses that will have chaotic effect." He smirked at her

Hermione seemed to pretend and ponder, "Oh I don't know, it seems all very wrong and sordid to me." She smirked, "I'm in."

Ron and Harry smirked as they both stood and held out their hands for her to take in front of the whole common area, which started even more rumors a plenty. They all left for the great hall together with smiles and secret smirks as the dorm whispered about what the heck was going on in there between the three friends they thought they knew for so long now these days.

Breakfast was fairly normal, unless you counted the innumerable stares from the other students for the new rumors flying around as well as the fact Harry had received an inordinate amount of mail that morning too than was perceived as normal for one single student.

Most of the mail was junk and Harry burned those letters on sight, however, there were a few curious pieces he held for later among the new normal ones from the Ministry Wizengamot meetings, Hogwarts School Board of Govenor's assembly and the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Sometimes being a new lord of the world you belonged to sucked; quite literally at times too. Harry was surprised though that he had yet to receive a howler from Mrs. Weasley about voiding the illegal arranged marriage contract that was between him and Ginny set-up between her and Dumbledore when he was about three years of age.

Not that either of them cared much that it had been voided. It had been broken about a few months ago when Harry visited Gringotts secretly. Ginny and he both acknowledged they would eventually shred each other a part if they were put together as a married couple and decided their roles to each other were that of best friends and brother and sister. Nothing more than this and especially not meant to be boyfriend and girlfriend.

Harry had, however, noticed that Draco was seemingly irritated more than normal today and wondered perhaps if it was well-hidden, but actual jealousy due to the rumor mill and not knowing if it was true or not; or if maybe it was something more average for the blonde of late, such as Pansy had bothering the crap out of him last night by asking constantly why she was not allowed to visit him for Christmas break at the Manor.

Harry had decided reluctantly to go over there before the soul-mate discovery between them, and now he just had more of a reason to be there. His safety, however, was imperative so no one other than he was invited there this year until they knew for sure whom their true friends and allies were among them all.

Harry hid a smirk to himself though; these new rumors could be useful in some ways with the newfound knowledge of his and Draco's true relationship to each other. Harry leaned over to whisper something in Ron's ear and the redhead then looked at him as if he had went mental before he smirked to his friend again and shrugged his shoulders before he leaned towards his girlfriend and repeated the words to Hermione.

The trio's female counterpart just smirked at Harry and Ron as if she knew this was coming and then masked her face as she prepared to review for Ancient Runes that morning whilst the boys pigged out on breakfast. Ron more-so than Harry where food and manners were concerned. She dearly liked Ron most of the time, but she did wish that he could perhaps get better table manners at times. She then reasoned to herself mentally that Ron would not be Ron Weasley if he was as neat of an eater as she was or even as Harry was at times.

Draco meanwhile, had noticed the odd conversations floating around today, and he tried very hard not to be jealous of them as he concentrated on his oatmeal. The fact was that he was jealous even if he knew the rumor mill was wrong on most accounts for whatever it was worth to listen to it at all.

The blonde didn't like the thought of Harry with another person other than himself and certainly not two other people at once. He didn't like the way the trio seemed to flaunt the rumor mill this morning just to make fun of whatever someone had started for whatever reasoning they had to do so. He especially did not like the seemingly odd closeness of the other two in the group to his soul-mate today because of their forced amusement and the odd whispering they did today made him feel on the edge. It made his skin crawl and want to march over there in front of the whole school and let them know Harry was his and his alone.

The only problem here was that he could not expose their bond to the school yet. It was still too early and too dangerous for either of them to do so. So, here Draco was at his house table for breakfast listening to Pansy whine about how bored she'll be over the holidays if she didn't get to visit and he was becoming increasingly more irritated and jealous as the meal progressed as he tried not to lash out and yell at Pansy to shut the hell up already.

Pansy honestly was dense at times, as most of his house-mate had already noticed his irritation and strayed clear of his temper and remained silent. Pansy on the other hand, kept going and he supposed it was partially because she knew that she could get away with it too. She was a very good friend most times, but right now; she was an utter annoyance who he wanted to smack to make them be quiet but refrained to not cause a scene.

Hopefully, Harry would explain what this was about during their 'story session' and to clear the doubt away so he could enjoy the amusement behind the joke too if it was truly a joke.

'Stop it, Draco' He scowled to himself, 'Do not even think about going there'

The blonde then tried to eat more of his meal as the stares and whispers around the school became worse before morning lessons started.

Morning classes seemed to go by uneventfully for Draco and as he headed to the room of requirement to meet Harry today, he heard uproariously laughter and his curiosity had been put into overdrive.

Harry and his two companions must have been heading this way as well, but something seemed off right now.

Ron smirked, "Did you see the look on that poor girl's face Harry? I think she'd have broken down when you told her no any politer than you had."

Harry scowled at his friend with a dirty look, "Shut up Ron, just because you have a girlfriend and the rest of the bloody school only wants me for my fame and money is no reason to joke over their emotional state no matter how hilarious we all seem to find it when I happen to say no to them all."

"Well, at least the girl wasn't like Cho the second time you turned her down. She likely would have tried to jump you from behind if she were that interested."

"I second that statement." Hermione agreed conversationally with amusement and a smirk to them both

Harry shivered in remembrance of that event before he scowled again, "Don't pick on the mentally insane because it's not polite, unless you want to pick fun and amusement on the dark lord who wants my head on silver platter. Then I do not care what you say as long as it doesn't involve me, him, and a relationship other than that of killing each other." Harry shivered in disgust at the thought before he collected himself

Draco then cleared his throat to garner their attention to him.

Harry looked up and smiled, "Am I glad to see at least someone with a level of normality that remains here in this school. Let's get inside and I'll try to explain this morning as best I can."

Draco nodded quietly.

After they had entered their safe haven, Harry sighed and then smirked.

"Let me start off by saying that whatever the rumor mill says about these new and weird threesome happenings between myself, Ron, and Hermione are; they are not true and all of us here in the room should know that by now." Harry said

"Last night I needed to talk to Hermione and Ron privately about some…sensitive issues to me and we were in the dorm at the time. I locked and silenced our dormitory door to prevent eavesdroppers on us, but at the end of the discussion; I was and had been highly emotional and was exhausted. I forgot to undo the charms on the dorm door, thus starting the rumors when Hermione may have passed by a half-asleep member of our house."

"It was not intentionally done, but I cannot say that the amusement from it hasn't made me laugh at least twice now."

Harry smirked at the blonde who was internally relieved by the news of how this all began and then smirked as well.

"Hermione and Ron thought it would be fun to use this as a massive prank on the school as another whole and maybe as…something else I'll get to later." He said quickly

Hermione and Ron knew to leave now and did so promptly after Hermione gave Harry a friendly hug and reassuring gaze before they left. Draco seemed content at least that the rumors were false and so he no longer felt threatened by his friends towards his mate.

Harry seemed to be contemplating something before he sighed and ran a distressed hand through his hair. This motion caused it to become disheveled in a way Draco seemed to like.

"Draco, I need to talk to you about some things. I didn't tell you them earlier because I wasn't sure this friendship between us would last, but it seems it has so I think now would be a good time to tell you." Harry said slowly as he summoned tea wandlessly without noticing

Draco stared at that momentarily before he decided to remain quiet and nodded his head in acknowledgement to the statement.

"You have noticed, I'm sure, that my magical powers when shown to the right people at a given time; they are far more trained and honed than to the average standard. Did wonder why at all?" Harry asked

Draco seemed nervous, "I did notice somewhat and more so after we started meeting together, but I did not think it was polite to ask. If you wanted me to know why then you would have told me when you believed it was the right time." He said slowly

Harry nodded and stood with his back to Draco now, "I am fragile in some ways Draco due to my past as you now are aware. However, I am also more than I appear to be at current." He said slowly to his friend and soul-mate

Draco was confused, "How so?"

"I may be the last of the Potter lineage and its only living heir, but I am also the last living descendant of Ignotus Pervell as you'll recall?" Harry asked him

Draco nodded unsurely; trying to see where this was even headed.

"I am Lord Peverell now as its last living descendant and this infuriates the Dark Lord because his branch of the Peverell lineage was more conclusive to lead many to believe he would have been lord of the house. However, when Riddle created his first horcrux to ensure his mortality on earth; he gave up the right to claim its title and since Cadmus had no heirs due to never having married…the title fell to Ignotus's heirs, or in other words, me." Harry said

"My powers maturated faster last summer than any other I have known. Maybe it was prophesized or maybe it wasn't; I am unsure. This is what I do know about the circumstances leading to the power maturation."

Harry sighed as he gazed at the fire and bowed his head in remorse somewhat and then pulled his head up and made himself not feel sorry for those despicable relatives of his.

"Last summer was the worst I had seen ever at Privet Drive to date on my many returns there. My uncle and his family as you know; they hate me and our world more than anything else I know of. Why, I could only make educated guesses at but it is whatever it is now."

"My uncle had lost his job prior to my returning there for the holidays by having a rather nasty disagreement with his boss and was then promptly fired when he became violently out of line. I know that it was not my fault he lost the job as I was not there, and deep down, I know they do too; but, like anyone else who is normal…they would rather place blame on someone else than to accept their own responsibility for failure."

"My aunt decided she no longer could live with a man who had no desire to find a new job to support his family with and so she divorced him. Technically, I should have gone with her and my cousin, but being the spiteful bitch my aunt is; she gave over my custody to her ex-spouse." Harry said darkly

Draco remained quiet and listened with full attention as this tale seemed to only get worse.

"It was about the third week of vacation when my uncle started drowning himself in alcohol again and he is not a nice drunk to put nicely. On contrary, he is an abusive and violent drunk and since his wife and son were gone from his life, he had no job now and his bills were piling up and he could not pay them; he started drinking and beating on me again more than he had used to."

"The last time he beat me up while full of induced rage, I was almost sure I was going to die that night. I had flesh wounds that were gushing blood rapidly and I had been being starved so my body was not as healthy then it was at the end of the term."

Draco's temper was starting to rise at this. How dare that bastard treat Harry in such a way as this.

"I remember thinking on my death, and finding vague if morbid amusement that the headmaster's plans would be ruined if I died there and then the community would be rioting over it as they believed he could keep me safe."

"Then I thought about the prophecy and my forsworn duty of killing the bastard who took everything from me sixteen years ago. I imagined what the world would be like under his rule and it made me hurt worse to know my friends would likely suffer torture after capture than reveal any secrets even if I was gone."

"It made me so angry." Harry said in anxiety, "That was when I noticed a bright white light coming from my body for some reason I could not understand. This light had done more than heal me of the wounds that night. It aided my unasked call for help Draco."

"It healed me of the wounds inflicted upon me, and it started my inheritance a year earlier than planned. The inheritance boosted my magical powers, deepened my reserves, and maturated out my talents so they all would be usable before the term started."

"This is the part I neglected to tell Ron and Hermione though, as I don't think Hermione couldn't figure it out herself in time and she'll tell Ron when appropriate." Harry said as Draco looked up concerned.

"After my power was maturated and honed, the white light turned to a pale golden tone and I remember watching my spirit be transported to another dream realm much like the visions I have only not painfully."

"In this realm, it was where I met the first lord Peverell and Ignotus, my ancestor."

Draco gasped in shock to this.

"They told me of my heritage and the plans on both sides of the war to destroy me and my allies when the timing was right depending on the side the prevailed first. The first lord Peverell gave his powers magically to me followed by Ignotus."

"It did not stop there though. All my ancestors, one by one, came to me that night and they all blessed me with the knowledge of their gifts and talents and how to use them after obtaining the knowledge of them in more depth here in the living realm."

"The founders of Hogwarts all visited me that night, including Salazar. He said that his descendant may be powerful, but his grasp at life is so convoluted that he is blind to his own power. His anger and his hatred at others for the things they had no control over made him insane and he could not stand by and watch Tom destroy the school he had personally helped to build and later on the world he cherished above all else."

"Among others who came to me that night was Merlin himself who is connected directly to Godric Gryffindor and Ignotus as well as Morgan Le Fay through Salazar's lineage."

"I have great power, and I have more than one prophecy to fulfill now rather than just to kill Riddle to sustain peace here." Harry said, "But the last part is probably the most intriguing of all." Harry said to him as Draco seemed contemplative and curious as he looked to his friend in thought.

Harry stood and sighed, "I ask that you please try not to faint at what happens next?"

Draco just nodded his head to this as he had no idea now at what to do.

Harry then said some strange words that Draco did not recognize and the blonde watched in awe as a glamour fell away from his mate to reveal a new secret he had kept.

"As you can see Draco, I am also no longer fully human either. My inheritance did not cause this per se, but it did instigate it. It turned out that my mother was actually pureblood and of dark elven royalty. She was taken from her home at a young age and had not known of her true identity. I only found out because of a secret trip to Gringotts I made before I was escorted to the Order headquarters for the rest of the summer. There were once two great dark elven tribes in Great Britain. The one my mother was from was Karilith; the larger of the two and the other was known as Furemnhiere."

"I hide my true appearance, power, and abilities mainly because I do not trust the headmaster and I certainly do not want him to be suspicious of me now as well as the fact the dark lord would see my head on a silver platter more vigorously if he knew of these things." Harry finished quietly

"I see. Well that was a lot to take in but it was a welcome surprise for me compared to yesterday's story session." Draco smiled lightly, "I also believe I have come up with a better Conversion plan now that you have revealed something to me."

Harry raised a brow, "Let's hear it then."

"Harry, I understand your inheritance has given you great knowledge and power but even this cannot dictate how a family chooses it familial ties to form alliances in desperate times of war or famine." Draco said

Harry nodded silently as he listened; he knew this already but wanted to see this idea to the end.

"You are Lord Peverell now, and the lord of the only house to ever have every other pureblood nobility in his back pocket if needed. I theorize that if you still ensure your safety with those wards you want but instead ones of full power to guarantee safety; this would be wise."

"However, if you were to come down to our dorm under the cloak you have in your elven appearance and I introduced you as Lord Peverell; the others likely would listen to anything you said without reservation despite their curiosity to know how I know you."

"The older and more traditional families that remain revere the Peverell blood line and just to know someone from it is considered an honor. You could tell them that they have seen you before elsewhere. I mean you would have to leave your scar without glamour and to tell them to look closer at your appearance there."

"Soon enough, they would realize you were also Harry Potter."

"It would be here after the shock and outcry has calmed that we tell them that you and I have been meeting in secret for let's say a month, and this is for reason that will be explained if they wanted the truth of how the dark lord has manipulated the old blood lines."

"After this we can begin to tell them your true story, and at the end of it if they have prevalent questions for us; we should answer them. Then we move on to where I will say something about how I brought you there for more than this and such."

"This will lead you to explaining the truth of your stay in the hospital wing and the visions that kept you there. It will tell of how the dark lord used my father and covered up his hand murdering him by doubling his body for the aurors and how you wanted me to know the truth before I was led to believe whatever he wanted me to."

"We could even allow you to show them what a 'true death eater' does on a raid or a mission if there is any more doubts in the group by then. However, this could be dissolved by showing them your Peverell lineage ring and all the others molded into it." Draco said softly

Harry listened patiently to this idea as his brain automatically processed it and filed it away in organized areas for review as he smiled at Draco brightly now.

"I think this idea will work much better than the previous one, Draco. Plus, it doesn't have any foreseeable loopholes other than how I'm not going to alert Professor Snape's or the headmaster's curiosity if I do the full protection ward on your common room? " Harry said

"I suppose perhaps I could ask the castle's sentient spirit to protect the wards presence from those who do not need to know of them…" Harry said more to himself than to Draco as the blonde seemed amazed at this.

"Harry, you can sense the castle's spirit and communicate with it?" he asked

Harry nodded in agreement to this with a sheepish look now, "Yes, I can Draco."

Draco grinned, "That is amazing. I heard stories of people who could do this because the castle took a liking to them over their time here, but I did not know that you were one of them." He said

Harry grinned, "Yeah well, I can do it and I can say it is fun at times. Considering the amount of pranks I got away with because of the gift."

Draco smiled before he frowned, "Oh yeah, there is something I wanted to ask you about but I am just unsure how to go about it."

Harry looked at the blonde with concern now, "It's nothing serious right?"

Draco bit his lip, "Well, that depends on perspective."

Harry nodded and stayed quiet.

Draco sighed, "I guess perhaps the best way is to just say then. Harry, have you noticed the new level of content between us when we are near the other at all? Or perhaps a better way of putting it is to say have you noticed the new and odd feelings and sensations between us when close together."

Harry smiled, "I wondered if you'd ask about it or not. I did not say anything because I wanted to see if you'd say anything after all of my secrets got spilled to you. Draco, yes I am aware of them. I know we are considered soul-mates, and I do not have any objections if you don't either and we take this slowly so the bond adjusts well."

"The other thing is, we cannot be open about the bond like most couples would be of their own. It is far too dangerous right now for both of us and I have war to finish and a political movement to start after it." Harry said softly

Draco sat beside Harry now, "I understand this, and I know we can be open when the timing is right. I can wait that long."

"Oh yeah." Harry smirked, "I almost had forgotten. The rumor mill started this morning gave me a mean idea for a prank on the school. I only want to get your blessing first however, since you are my soul-mate and would need to be aware of it first too."

Draco looked suspiciously at Harry now.

"Hermione, Ron, I thought to use this new rumor about us having a secret threesome orgy as a cover-up for when Ron and Hermione meet up together and I could find you to do the same. Since all three of us would therefore be missing, and all three of us would likely come back more disheveled than before…there would no reason that the rest of the school shouldn't believe the rumor even if the truth of it is slightly more complicated and involved." Harry smirked at the blonde with amusement and laughter hidden behind his eyes.

Draco smirked too now, "Something tells me I like this new side of the golden trio I thought I knew for the last five years."

Harry smirked, "You wish. There are more oddities about our little group than one probably would ever wish to know and I do mean that literally."

Draco's eyes gleamed, "Care to share some then?"

Harry scoffed, "I do not kiss and tell on my friends, but perhaps in time I might be persuaded to do some of this with something more pleasurable." He leered at Draco with a salacious tone.

Draco shivered slightly as he shrugged his shoulders, "Fine, fair enough then."

The two then quickly finished the last of their lunch and morning class homework before carefully separating and going different ways for their afternoon lessons while hoping not to be tardy today either. Draco also had his mind on other things as he left other than lessons.

They involved Christmas holidays, Malfoy Manor, Harry at his home, his presence, and his bed.