Last one for this week! I'm already working on next week's chapter – I promise! We'll get back on schedule really soon!

Lori

********** Chapter 13 **********

Furlok had gone on to introduce Bill Weasley and then handed things off to Sirius who brought Severus forward. Once the introductions were over, Gryffindor addressed the Director of the bank. "Thank you, Director Furlok, I'm sure you're a busy being as the head of a nation as well as this fine establishment. We'll let you and young Weasley get back to your daily tasks. Consort Black, you may find interesting reading material in the chest next to the nearest suit of armor. Lord Black, won't you join us?"

"Certainly, my liege." Sirius stood and came forward summoning three chairs for himself, Harry and Draco. He could already see that Severus had taken a seat on an antique settee near the chest that their host had pointed out.

"Now then, let us get right to the heart of the matter…shall we?" Gryffindor's smirk hadn't moved.

"Yes, well…I wonder how you can really help us…" Draco sighed absently. "I mean, you're a painting not a person."

The likeness of Gryffindor allowed his amusement to show. "Do you think you've insulted me, young man? Interesting."

"I don't think he's insulting you, sir…but perhaps challenging you." Harry was slightly amused by Draco's sudden attitude toward Gryffindor.

"Indeed…I don't know how you can help us, sir. You can't possibly know what's happened in our lives that we need help with." Draco shrugged and turned to look at Harry. "We haven't told him and a portrait cannot read a newspaper or get post owls."

"Well, Lord Black informed me about the danger my heir was in several years ago when he visited the vault." Gryffindor looked over at Sirius.

"I believe I gave you a brief overview, my liege." Sirius told their host. "If you'd like the entire story, I'll be only too happy to oblige." At a nod from the portrait the tale was told. Details were given and Harry took over for the recent events.

When his guests fell silent, Godric Gryffindor seemed as emotionally drained as he would be having lived the same horror that they had. He looked at the young blond. "I apologize, Draconis. I should not have been so blasé about your situations to just assume that I could assist in some way."

Harry hadn't realized that Gryffindor had hurt Draco's feelings but the look in those grey eyes showed that he had.

"I forgive you, sir… because there is much you can tell us in order to right this one small wrong." Draco shared a look with Harry who instantly took over the conversation.

"Indeed." Harry said drawing Gryffindor's attention. "We need to know all you can tell us about your sword."

Sirius stayed silent but paid close attention in case Harry needed him to remember something later.

"Oh?" The portrait frowned as he thought. "Like what? It was made especially for me by Furlok's ancestor. I only enchanted it."

"Ok…that makes sense." Harry nodded, commenting softly. "What spells did you put on the sword, though? I mean we know that you made it sprout flames and spelled it somehow so that the sword knows when it is needed most."

Gryffindor nodded. "The sword has all sorts of interesting properties, Harrington."

"Please, sir, won't you call us 'Harry' and 'Draco'?" Harry asked lightly. "We're not usually so formal with family."

"Of course." The portrait told him nodding once. "The sword channels all manner of magic, Harry. From physical wandwork to mind magic… magic needs something to channel it – bring it from the one performing the magic to the subject being enchanted."

"Mind Magic?" Harry whispered. "Would that include shared dreams and occlumency?"

"What about memory blocking spells?" Draco was suddenly excited.

Gryffindor nodded. "I'm certain those would all be covered. Why?"

"Well, to start with Draco's parents are under a memory blocking spell that we must find a way to break." Sirius brought up just as happy to hear that there might be some way to break that spell.

"Yes, it would be wonderful if we could get past that and wake them up." Harry grinned as he went on. "Also, we each had dreams of the other as we grew up, but several months ago we began sharing dreams."

"I see." Gryffindor told them. "And you said something about occlumency?

"Mmmm…we have both been taught occlumency and our focus is the Sword of Gryffindor." Harry informed his ancestor.

The portrait seemed to freeze in place. "Both of you have the same focus…"

Harry and Draco nodded.

"And it's my sword?" Gryffindor began to pace in his frame. "That is extremely unusual. Who was your teacher?"

"Severus taught us, sir." Harry informed him motioning in the direction of Draco's godfather.

"Bring him here." Gryffindor told the young princes.

Sirius stood and called his lover's name, waiting until he arrived to sit back down.

The older man bowed toward the painting. "How may I be of service, my liege?"

Gryffindor looked at the dark haired man. "You taught them occlumency?" At Severus' nod, the painting continued. "And you've seen the sword in their minds?" Severus nodded again causing the portrait to frown. "Did they learn at the same time?" Severus shook his head. "Did they know of the danger they were in when you taught them?"

"Yes, my liege. I told Draco when we began that he and Harry – or as Draco called him at the time 'the green-eyed boy' – would both be in grave danger if he didn't learn to keep Riddle out of his mind." Severus sat as soon as Sirius summoned him a chair. "Harry learned just recently after learning his true identity and Draco's unfortunate circumstances."

"There you have it." Gryffindor nodded grimly. "The sword is enchanted to sense its rightful heir and come to him when and how it is most needed. That explains everything! Harry's situation and even Draco's… it sensed that the heir's greatest need at the time was to protect the future bearer Harry's heirs, if it didn't the bloodline Harry and I share would be forcibly ended."

Harry looked up at his ancestor. "So does this mean that the sword doesn't have a physical form? What if I need it in a fight?"

"Do you have the sword I told Lord Black to give you some years ago?" Gryffindor asked.

"He does, my liege, but you told me it was an ordinary sword." Sirius answered for Harry. "It is at the castle."

"That's fine. I'll be able to show you what I'm talking about with any mundane sword." Gryffindor's lips twitched. "Harry, pick up that sword there." He pointed to a rack of weapons where only one sword was lying with several other types of weapons.

Harry took the hilt into his hand and brought it over to the small grouping of chairs.

"Good. Now hold it up as if to charge at me." Gryffindor commanded looking on with approval when he was obeyed. "Now I want you to close your eyes and ... feel the need to protect your beloved. Feel the need to protect your children. Feel the desperation – Riddle is here...in this room...with his wand pointed at Draco..."

"NO!" Harry, having followed Gryffindor's instructions, had almost seen Voldemort approaching them with his wand drawn. He was breathing heavily and barely paying attention to the reality of the moment. He turned and swung the sword through his empty chair only to be shocked seeing that it was now a burning pile of embers.

Draco came to Harry's side then and placed a hand on his arm. "All is well, Harry. Be calm and look at what you hold in your hand."

Harry looked at the sword he held and gasped. The steel was imbued with fire... as he moved it the blade glowed with an eerie light. "It's beautiful..." Harry whispered looking up at the painting.

"The Sword of Gryffindor is not a single physical sword." Gryffindor confided to his young descendant. "It exists within our blood, our minds and, above all, our magic. Any sword has the ability to become the Gryffindor Sword if you just call it to you. You will leave that sword here and use the one you have at the castle. I swear to you, my blood kin...it will happen just the same with your sword at home."

"Excuse me, sir." Draco interjected in a soft voice. "I have need of a sword as well. Please, may I have one of the swords you keep watch over?"

Gryffindor looked him over. "Very well. Since you asked so prettily... you may use the one with the silver hilt. It's kept in its own chest beneath the Director's ancestor's portrait. It is also goblin made and very reliable."

Draco nodded formally and walked over to Barlok's portrait. Lifting the lid, he reached in to pull out a finely made sword with a hilt that was indeed silver. The blade was covered with a tooled leather scabbard while, Draco was amused to note, that there were two round emeralds set into the base of the pommel. He smirked at Harry's ancestor and hefted the sword experimentally.

Seeing the sassiness in the young blond's attitude, Gryffindor called their attention back to him. "Be warned, lads, the mental capabilities are obviously able to be split between you... but that is not guaranteed for the physical ones. It has never been attempted to have two people utilize the physical properties at once."

Harry nodded. "I understand."

"I do as well." Draco chimed in, sliding his new sword back into its scabbard. "The discussion of occlumency and the sword distracted us from the memory block my parents are suffering under. How can the sword fix that?"

"Think about it, Draco." Harry said with a grin. "We'll need to meditate and travel into their minds. After that…the memory blocking spell is like a box or something blocking a door. We'll call the sword to us and smash our way through."

"No!" Gryffindor nearly shouted.

"You were on the right track until you said 'smash'." Severus looked shocked and horrified at Harry's theory.

"My goodness boy, things like that…" Gryffindor shook his head commandingly. "Mind magic is very delicate, Harry. You go into the person's mind to find the block. Once you find it, call the sword to you and place only the tip of the sword against the blockage. It needs to be a surgical – but not physical – strike."

"A physical strike could destroy what you are going in to save." Severus told his godson's fiancé.

"Alright so I was a little off." Harry cringed to think of what could've happened if they hadn't discussed this. "I suppose that was all we needed to talk about…wait! What about the dreams?"

"I might be able to answer that." Draco told his future husband. "As children, the dreams kept us aware of each other…they kept us connected. When the shared dreams began…" He paused. "It kept me hopeful…and sane."

Severus stared at his godson. "Oh, Draco…I'm so sorry! I never imagined it was that bad."

"Well I didn't think so as a child, but as I got older…" Draco shivered. "I was a bit lonely as a child – not having any playmates my own age and all – but when I refused to marry Riddle the curse made the whole situation worse. My mother – in her capacity as my nurse – has always given me some affection…hugs, a kiss on the cheek or forehead. My father always just gave me handshakes and pats on the back. You at least hugged me once in a while. Riddle visited me nightly but never made me think he even really liked me. He held my hand once in a while or played chess with me but there was always a strange feeling of being steered or directed…controlled. In the dreams Harry and I shared, I spent almost an hour each night just being held in his arms… his fingers sometimes running through my hair. It was heaven."

With tears in his eyes, Harry put his arms around his beloved.

Enjoying the warmth of Harry's embrace, Draco cleared his throat. "It's why I latched onto him as soon as he woke me, I think. We were deprived of it for almost a full month and I missed that feeling."

"Yes, Draco. I believe you are correct. Now then…" Gryffindor looked at Harry and his betrothed with approval. "Night will have fallen by the time you return to Malfoy Castle. You'd best go, Harry. Remember all you have learned. I'm sure it will help you in the future."

Draco glanced at Harry and then their godfathers. "I think it's also useful that nobody knows this secret. We should keep the nature of the Sword of Gryffindor to ourselves. Just the four of us. Otherwise Riddle might try to circumvent it somehow."

Gryffindor smiled at them. "I agree. I'll be here if you need to talk again and there is also a portrait of me in Hogwarts Castle."

"Thank you, Great-grandfather." Harry smiled suddenly feeling much better about the whole mess. "I'll search you out when Hogwarts is retaken."

"Good luck." Gryffindor left the frame and did not come back.

Harry and Draco held tightly to each other's hands as they made their way back to the vault door. When it opened, they found Bill Weasley sitting in a new cart that would probably not fit all of them.

"What's this?" Sirius asked, getting angry. "There's no way we'll all fit in that!"

"I'm sorry, Lord Black." The eldest Weasley child held up his hands in a gesture of surrender. "The bank is under siege. We think its Voldemort. The director sent your Portkey with me. It's in the cart."

Sirius looked into the passenger seat and the Portkey they'd taken to get here several hours earlier was there so he grabbed hold of it and handed the broomstick to Severus. "Are you coming with us, Bill?"

"I can't." Bill told them. "I'm needed to help protect the bank. I'll be checking in with my mum and dad later if all goes well. Go on, now. You don't want Riddle or his agents to find you here."

Harry placed one hand on the broom and the other around Draco's waist. The blond mirrored Harry's position while Sirius and Severus took opposite ends of the broom. The tugging at their belly buttons came and they were suddenly back at Malfoy castle.

********** LTF **********

As soon as they arrived, Sirius and Severus hurried to check the defenses leaving the younger men holding the broom. Harry set the broom down on the floor and brought his arms back around his fiancé. "Shall we go and free your parents of the memory block?"

Draco blushed. "I don't know…If we do, they might not like the idea of us sleeping in the same bed before we speak our vows."

"Then we'll just have to get married…" Harry smirked as he leaned down to kiss the blond deeply. "As soon as possible."

Dobby picked that moment to pop into the room startling the boys. "Masters is being home!"

"Do you have our new rooms ready, Dobby?" Harry chuckled and kept Draco's hand as they parted to greet their elf. He looked into Draco's silver eyes. "Why don't we see them before we tend to your parents?"

"It's bound to take a lot out of us and we would be waking up in unfamiliar surroundings if we didn't." Draco bit his lip looking up at Harry through his eyelashes. "I might get frightened…"

Harry kissed the blond lightly on the mouth before turning to face the elf. "Dobby, where are our new rooms?"

"We elves is making the tower into a place for fun!" Dobby bounced on his feet. "All of Master Draco's drawing supplies is being on the first landing with a new pretty window! The second landing is where Master's chess set and other board games can be played. The third landing is to be a looking out point. It is having many windows and the Master's dressing room is becoming a…"

Dobby was cut off by Sirius who'd come back. "Dobby, the new tower is wonderful! Draco, the top level now holds our strategy room where we all meet and discuss our next move. Blaise and Ron are playing chess while the girls are in the small library section."

"That's great, Siri." Harry grinned at his godfather before looking back at the excited little elf. "Our new rooms?"

Dobby grabbed Harry's hand and then Draco's, popping them into the hallway just outside the tower's entrance pointing to the door across from the tower stairs which were no longer enclosed. "Master's new rooms!"

Draco looked at the sweeping staircase that spiraled up against the outer wall of the tower and disappeared much sooner than they used to. "You made three useful levels out of the empty tower that used to separate me from the rest of the castle… Harry I want to see it first."

Harry grinned and looked at Dobby who was only too happy to show them the way.

Draco looked around at his easel which now had a new blank canvas and his drawing table and desk. A file cabinet sat nearby to a closet. The window Dobby had told them about faced in the same direction as the one in the bedroom had and Draco could see the lovely cityscape from a more reasonable vantage point.

"There's even room to hang some of the paintings and sketches I've finished, Harry!" Draco was humming with excitement as he spied the next set of stairs that would lead to the gaming level. He tugged Harry behind him and soon they were looking into a wide space with a chess table and several open tables.

Ron and Blaise were staring so intently at the chess board that they didn't notice their friends' entrance.

Harry dropped Draco's hand lightly and snuck up behind Ron. Quietly bending so his mouth was next to Ron's ear, Harry spoke in a teasing tone of voice. "So, who's winning?"

Ron became startled and slammed his hand down on the board upsetting all the pieces and toppling the board as he fell from his chair with a yell. Blaise blinked in confusion but with Draco laughing so hard his sides were beginning to hurt the darker skinned man soon figure out what was going on.

Ron gave an embarrassed sigh that made Harry feel guilty so the young prince reached out a hand to help his friend up and was rewarded by being pulled down to join the redhead on the floor. The whole group soon sat there in stitches only being interrupted when Pansy, Hermione and Severus came down the stairs to see what had been making so much noise. The girls joined their friends but soon drew the whole group up to the top and final floor of the tower. The only thing that remained as it had been was the bathroom. The elves had knocked down the wall between the dressing room and the bedroom so the space was wider and more open. Near the windows, several bookcases lined the wall along with a comfy looking couch. In the larger area of the room, a large table was set up with a map of Hogwarts and its surrounding grounds.

Sirius joined them a moment later and started talking to Severus as Draco stepped up to the bank of windows and stared out into the city.

"It's amazing…" Draco whispered. "It looks totally different, Harry."

Harry just nodded and stood behind him.

Draco spun on his heel to face Harry. "I love it! I'm so glad they changed it all! Let's go see our rooms."

The blond wasn't disappointed as Harry simply held out one hand in invitation. They hurried down through the two new levels and into the large hallway beneath Draco's art studio. Not stopping Harry walked over to the door leading into their rooms.

The doorknob seemed to lick Harry's palm, which worried him until Draco commented on it and Dobby appeared. "The elves have made it so the door will only open to the Masters' magical signatures or an elf."

Harry recalled Pettigrew's escape and asked if that meant an animagus could sneak in as their animal form behind an elf.

"Dobby was to be making sure of it himself, Master Harry Potter, sir. No animagus forms is being allowed to cross the doorframe. Animagus is to be transforming back to human form in order to be entering or leaving rooms." Dobby explained.

Harry patted the elf's head. "Thank you for protecting us that way, Dobby."

"The sitting room is lovely." Draco smiled. "It looks like an iced cream sundae!"

Harry looked around and had to agree. The floor was a dark chocolate colored wood while the area rug was a swirl pattern of brown on white. The couch was a soft cream color speckled with random colors. A couple of medium sized, round, red pillows laid against the back of it while a faux fur throw blanket the color of caramel waited to be snuggled up in. "It really does! I love it!"

"Dobby tries to be thinking of things Master Draco likes and Dobby is knowing that sundaes is making Master Draco happy when he is being sad." The elf looked up at his masters with wide hopeful eyes. "Dobby is doing good?"

Harry grinned at the little creature. "You've done very well, Dobby. Let's see the bedroom next."

Draco flushed a pretty shade of pink as Dobby opened the next door.

The bed was the first thing to catch their eyes.

"Canopy…" Draco whispered reaching out to touch the soft white cottony material as it flowed from the posts. "So soft!"

"Canopy bed curtains is to being changed matching the seasons, Master!" Dobby explained excitedly. "This is being the Autumn and Spring curtains. The winter curtains is to being heavy enough to keep cold out and warm in while the Summer curtains is to being sheer to let the air flow through and keeping Masters cool. Colors is able to being changed also."

Harry looked at the bedding. A forest green velvet comforter with burgundy embroidery was lying on top of burgundy silken sheets. The pillowcases were white with green and burgundy patterns.

"I want to climb right in, Harry! Don't you?" Draco said stroking the comforter.

What Harry wanted to do was lay the blond down atop that comforter and ravish him…but his answer was simply a silent nod. The windows were adorned with heavy dark drapes. The room felt warm and cozy…welcoming.

"It's perfect, Harry." Draco commented running a hand over the upholstered ottoman on his side of the bed. "I think the elves have done a wonderful job. Look, my favorite books are at my bedside but the rest are now in one of the libraries. I have a studio for my painting and drawing! I'm not stuck in that tower anymore. I can wander the castle…do things…have gatherings! Harry, I want to have a party!"

Harry took his lover into his arms. "Draco-love, I want that too…but right now it's too dangerous to have the public come into the castle." Draco pouted but Harry went on. "The first public party we can have will be a victory celebration after Riddle is taken out of the picture."

Draco sighed. "Fine…I guess you're right."

The older boy lifted his lover's chin so they were looking at each other. "Yule is coming, Draco. Just because it isn't public doesn't mean it's not a party."

The silver eyes shimmered as they met his green ones. "Really?"

Harry kissed him hard on the mouth leaving Draco clinging to him. "Really. Now why don't we rest and eat dinner before tending to your parents." Draco nodded as Harry kissed him again and led him into the sitting room. "We'll sleep for the night in bed but rest on this lovely couch."

"Dinner is to being served in one hour, Masters." Dobby told them before popping out of the room and leaving them in peace.

Harry wrapped the caramel colored blanket around them and let Draco settle into his arms. He took this time to enjoy the simple pleasure of holding the slim blond. They talked about their past Yule celebrations and the parties they'd been to or always wanted to have. They talked about their wedding and how Draco wanted it to be. Harry just smiled knowing it would be wonderful as long as it was Draco he was marrying – and him that Draco was marrying.

Dinner wasn't a formal affair. They spent it in the dining room with the others discussing Yule and the small gathering they'd be holding.

"Why don't we take care of that very important matter and then have dessert in our rooms?" Harry whispered into Draco's ear.

Draco's eyes lit up as he agreed. "Ladies and Gentlemen, we'll see you tomorrow. Good evening." He led Harry to the rooms where his parents slept and called an elf to bring two chairs.

Severus, having guessed what they were about to do, came with them bringing Harry's sword. "It is best to do this when the person is asleep, Draco."

"I know. I read about mental healing during my Occlumency training." Draco told his uncle. "You see, we'll split the bed and do this one at a time. Harry and I will sit on opposite sides of the bed and each take a hand before taking each other's hand. We'll bring Father out of it first, I think."

"I see. You exceeded the depths of my training." Severus commented as he magically split the bed for them, moving Narcissa's section to the side.

"Not like I had anything better to do than read." Draco pouted for a moment before instructing Harry where and how to sit. They each took hold of one of Lucius' hands. "Now, Harry, we need to envision a room with a single door. I'm the key to getting into his mind because I'm blood kin. You will follow and I'll help take out the memory locking spell when we get there."

Several moments of deep breathing led Harry into a very relaxed state. He pictured a plain room just as Draco had described…one door and the two of them. The door was not a normal wooden door, nor was it metal. It seemed to be made of shimmering magic.

Draco stood from the chair he'd been sitting on and motioned for Harry to follow him. He lifted the shimmering material like a curtain and led Harry down a corridor. They walked for what seemed like a long time before coming to a wall of boxes.

Draco touched one of the lower containers with his wand and gasped. "This box contains memories of my parents' wedding! We can't just blast through these, Harry."

Harry nodded and looked around. He noticed, as he did so, that the boxes could be moved and shuffled. He pulled his sword and called the urgency to mind that summoned the powers of Gryffindor's sword. He placed the tip on a box that could shift slightly to the left. The sword's flames disappeared but the spell Harry spoke lifted the box enough to move it. The next box moved a little more…and the next until they saw it…another door. Draco and Harry stood back and looked at the work they'd done.

"Riddle chose important memories and used them to blockade all access to the rest of his mind." Harry had no doubt that if Draco's father had been subjected to a mind healer using conventional methods, he wouldn't come out of it with all of his mind intact. "Let's open the door and see if there are more boxes that need to be moved."

Draco lifted the next curtain and there was indeed another room and another wall blocked with more boxes. Using his wand, he touched one. "This is full of memories of his childhood, Harry."

Once again they moved the boxes around until there was free access to yet another door and moved on to the next room. It took several rooms and more than a few boxes before they came to a room with only two boxes sitting inside. Hesitantly, Draco touched one with his wand and came away with tears in his eyes. "My mother's pregnancy and my birth! These are the memories that will let him believe I'm his son instead of his distant cousin!"

Harry touched the other box with the tip of the sword and saw Lucius being crowned as King. "Your father's coronation, Draco-love. The other rooms were all blockaded to hide these two sets of memories! We can go now."

Draco led the way back to the room they'd started in. Once there, he and Harry looked into each other's eyes and blinked.

Harry saw a flash of light and blinked. When he could see again, he looked at his beloved and saw Lucius awake and looking around.

Draco's hand squeezed Harry's and let go. "Lucius…?" He asked his father.

Lucius shook his head violently pressing his fingers into his temples. "NO! No…no…what did I do?"

"Draco, go with Harry and let me handle this." Severus swallowed a lump that formed in his throat. "You can tend to your mother when your father understands what has happened."

********** LTF **********