Chapter 18:
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"Do you think he's awake yet?" Harry asked as he paced across their common room.
"I don't know, Emerald. Do you want to go and see?" Draco asked from where he was sitting on the loveseat, his potions book propped open in his lap.
"No, because we might wake him up and after what he went through he deserves all the sleep he can get." Harry sighed and plopped down next to Draco who snaked an arm around his waist, pulling him closer.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Draco asked softly, closing his potions book so he could focus on his mate.
"No." Harry grumbled.
"Okay. Do you want to talk about your dreams?"
"No."
"Fine. What about the muggles?"
"I don't want to talk about any of it!" Harry snapped, turning to glare at Draco.
"You agreed to talk about it, Harry." Draco reminded him.
"Yeah, well, now I'm unagreeing." Harry pouted. Draco rolled his eyes and smiled fondly.
"That's not a word, submissive. Why are you so against talking about this with me? I won't hold any of this against you, Harry. None of it will make me think of you any differently." Draco said softly.
"It's not that. It's just…I don't know how to talk about it with anyone. I've never had anyone care enough to listen and believe me when I said something. I had to learn, out of necessity, to force certain feelings and thoughts and memories away. I don't know how to put into words what happened and how I feel about it." Harry sighed dejectedly as he shrugged. Draco stomped down the fury that threatened to overwhelm him as he was once again reminded of the abuse his mate had been forced to endure.
"If you can't talk about what happened do you think you can show me?" Draco asked Harry quietly. Harry stiffened in his arms and Draco looked at him worriedly. "What is it? What's wrong?"
"You mean like show you my memories? You want to look inside my head?" Harry shook his head as he stood up to pace agitatedly. "No! I've had enough of people poking around in my head, showing me things or forcing me to relive certain memories, looking for anything remotely incriminating. It's practically mind ra-" Harry choked and paled drastically as he snapped his mouth shut. Draco was at his side in an instant, reaching out a comforting hand only to go cold when Harry flinched fearfully.
"Harry? It's me, Draco. I'm not going to hurt you." Draco repeated over and over again in a soft, soothing voice for a good fifteen minutes until Harry relaxed enough to let him wrap protective arms around his shaking frame. "I know what you were going to say Harry and it doesn't have to be like that, so brutal. You can put what you want me to see into a pensieve. You'll be able to choose everything I see." Draco murmured into his mate's unruly black hair, running his hand up and down Harry's back comfortingly. "Is that okay?" Harry was silent for a moment before giving a hesitant nod.
"Yeah. I guess. Can we do it later?" Harry asked softly as he looked up with large emerald green eyes. Draco fought to hold on to his resolve but he could tell it was a losing battle.
"You can't keep pushing this away and pretending your abuse didn't happen, Harry. You need to talk about this." Draco said.
"I know that!" Harry snapped defensively as he tried to break free off Draco's hold. Draco tightened his arms around the slender waist of his mate without making his hold painful. "You don't think I know that? I do. Just because I don't want to talk about how my uncle made me his own personal whore-"
Draco pushed Harry roughly so he landed hard on his back on the floor and quickly pulled his wand and pointed it right at Harry's face. Harry looked up at his enraged expression fearfully.
"Dray?" He questioned softly.
"Shut. Your. Fucking. Mouth." Draco snarled, fury pounding in his veins. "How dare you, how dare you, say such complete and utter bullshit like that?"
"Dominant? I don't understand-"
"I didn't tell you to talk, Submissive!" Draco shouted. Harry snapped his mouth shut and shrank back from the angry blond. "If you ever say, think or so much as fucking write something as foul as that disgusting lie I will punish you. Do you understand? I will make you write one thousand lines, you will be confined to our chambers, you will not fly or go anywhere without me. You will essentially be on lock down."
"You can't do that! I'm not a child, Malfoy." Harry snapped. Draco took a menacing step forward and Harry lowered his eyes submissively.
"You will listen and heed my words, Submissive. Never. Again. Say anything like that about yourself. You are not a whore. You are an abused child who has been trained to believe certain things but it doesn't mean those things are true." Draco said firmly. Harry looked up at him with pleading eyes.
"Not true?" He breathed. Draco shook his head.
"None of it. You are the greatest person I have ever met, Harry. I'm honored to be your dominant and I will not have anyone saying such horrible things about my mate, especially not you." Draco said forcefully. Harry stared up at him from the floor and nodded slowly sucking I a shaky breath.
"Maybe…maybe I could start putting memories in a pensieve. I don't want you to watch them yet and I can't give them all at once." Harry said quickly as he looked hesitantly up at Draco. "Give me…a month. A month and a half at the most. I'll…I'll have them ready then just…I can't…" Draco knelt down and pulled his troubled mate into his arms.
"I know, Emerald. It's okay. You can have two months. Everything will be okay. Does November the twenty-fifth sound good?" Draco asked softly and Harry nodded against his chest. "Good, that's good. Let's go get you something to eat now. I've been neglecting my duties as your dominant. I haven't been taking proper care of you at all."
"You're doing brilliant, Dray. Better than anyone else has. I love you." Harry whispered and stretched up to press his lips chastely to Draco's. Draco immediately snaked a hand around the back of his mate's neck to hold him in place as he deepend the kiss by swiping his tongue across Harry's lower lip.
Harry sighed contentedly and melted in Draco's arms, opening his mouth for Draco's probing tongue. They kissed languidly, tongues tangling together in a slow passion filled kiss. Draco shifted them around until Harry was planted firmly in his lap, straddling his legs. Harry draped his arms over Draco's shoulders, hands fisting lightly in his hair and Draco wound his arms around Harry's waist, pulling him closer.
"Draco." Harry sighed pleasantly as one of Draco's hands slid up under his shirt to stroke the soft flesh of his back. Harry whimpered and wiggled in Draco's lap, rolling his hips against the growing hardness he could feel pressing against him. The blond sucked in a sharp breath and his left hand tightened its hold on Harry's waist.
"Draco?" Harry gasped softly as the Veela pressed kisses down his throat, stopping to suck on his adams apple.
"Yes, Harry?" He purred throatily. Harry's mind went blank for a moment and he had to shake his head to clear his thoughts.
"Remember what we did last night? Against the wall?" Harry questioned. Draco lifted his head to smirk up at Harry.
"I definitely remember that." He moaned.
"I…can we…do that…again?" Harry asked and blushed at the surprised look on his dominant's face. "It's just that it felt so good and it never felt that way before with… I just want to feel good. I want you to make me feel that good. I want to watch your face as we lose ourselves because you looked so beautiful last night. I want to-" The rest of his sentence was interrupted by Draco's lips slamming down onto his.
"You don't have to beg, 'Ry. I would love to make you feel good again." Draco murmured as he nipped lightly at Harry's earlobe before capturing his lips in another fantastic kiss.
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Hermione sat in the common room in an armchair by the fire. Her legs were curled up beneath her and her self-updating copy of Hogwarts: A History was open on her lap. She startled at the sound of the portrait entrance banging open, loud voice shattering her peaceful silence. She recognized Ron's voice and prepared to get up and greet him when she heard something that made her freeze in her tracks.
"I already talked to him, Gin. He said he won't pay us if we can't get Potter back under his thumb." Ron snapped.
"Well how are we supposed to do that when the stubborn idiot in always surrounded by those filthy Slytherins?" She snapped back.
"Fuck if I know! Good riddance, I say. Potter was an annoying, attention seeking git. We're better off without him. I was tired of getting in constant life threating danger anyway. Maybe if we're lucky the Slytherin's will kill him before school gets out." Ron chuckled darkly.
"Don't be stupid, Ron. You heard Dumbledore, we need him. You know he's the only one who can defeat You-know-who. And after that we need him to marry me and then we can kill him. He'll leave his fortune to me and we'll finally have the money we deserve." Ginny snickered.
Hermione was frozen in horror. She could barely believe it even though she had just heard the conversation with her own ears. What could they possibly be talking about? Why was Dumbledore paying them? Why would they want to kill Harry? Just because he was confused and going through a hard time? Well, they hadn't been exactly helping him through it either. As soon as they had seen him with the Malfoy's at the train station things had gone wrong.
Harry had changed, his clothes, the way he held himself and he was hanging around Malfoy and Professor Snape of all people! The banes of his school life! No, she hadn't understood what was wrong with Harry and the cold, hateful expression he got on his face whenever he saw them had stopped her from confronting him but no more! She needed answers. She needed to know why he wasn't staying in the Tower any longer, what he was doing hanging around with Malfoy and why Dumbledore, Ron and Ginny seemed to be planning his tragic death.
Hermione peered over the top of her armchair and found no one in the common room except for her. Snapping her book shut, she made her way out of the Tower only to pause just outside the portrait as a problem with her plan made itself known.
Hermione didn't know where Harry was staying!
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Dumbledore sat in his office, leaning back in his comfy chair. It was a nice mauve color with pretty bright pink flamingos flying around on the surface. He had just concluded his meeting with Severus about what Voldemort was up to and he had to admit that there was a likely possibility that, if he did not take the necessary and proper steps, his plan would be successful. Dumbledore sighed and popped one of his beloved lemon drops into his mouth, sucking eagerly as he played with one of the many knickknacks on his desk.
"Damn the Malfoy brat! He just had to go and mate with my weapon." Dumbledore grumbled sullenly. When he had made his plans to remain famous and revered they had included training Harry, the Boy-Who-Lived-To-Defeat-The-Dark-Lord only for him to turn around and try to take up where Voldemort left off. He would swoop in and defeat "Dark Lord Potter" once again saving the Wizarding world, just like he had defeated Grindelwald.
"What am I going to do, Fawkes?" Dumbledore asked his phoenix. Fawkes let out a mournful cry and Albus stared in surprise at his friend. "What do you mean? There is a very big possibility that Harry will turn Dark. He will grow to be more powerful and power of that magnitude corrupts. I am only ensuring the safety of the wizarding world." Fawkes twittered lowly and Albus glared.
"I have not been corrupted by power or thoughts of grandeur! What I do is for the Greater Good!" Albus snapped. Fawkes gave a harsh screech and flapped his wings angrily.
"What?" Albus gasped, stunned. "You can't leave me. We're bonded, you're my familiar!" Fawkes gave a low, sad warble and Dumbledore paled as he rushed over to Fawkes perch.
"I am still a Light wizard, Fawkes. You do not have to go. Everything will be fine once Potter is gone." Dumbledore reached out to pet his familiar and Fawkes flew away from his outstretched hand, landing on the back of his recently vacated chair.
"Fawkes?" Albus gasped. He could feel a tightening in his chest and a painful pressure building in his head. "Fawkes what are you doing? Stop! I'm a Light wizard! I am! I'll be forever remembered as their Savior! Don't do this!" Dumbledore shouted as he gripped his head tightly. Albus stumbled and fell to his knees as the pressure in his head increased. He gasped and dropped a hand to his chest where he could feel a band wrapping tightly around him. He struggled to gasp in air, fighting desperately to keep his connection to the majestic phoenix.
He couldn't let Fawkes break their bond. He wouldn't! The alternative was too worrisome to think about. He hadn't gone Dark!
"Fawkes, please!" Dumbledore pleaded once more. With an apologetic trill Fawkes snapped their bond complete. Dumbledore screamed out in agony as he lost his familiar before collapsing to the floor, unconscious. Fawkes flew over and rubbed his head against the aged wizards cheek before disappearing from the office in a flash of flames.
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"Are you sure you're okay? I saw what he did to you and-"
"For the last time Potter, I am fine." Severus snapped as he scowled at the dark haired teen who was fussing over him.
"Sorry, Sir!" Harry said quickly, fearful that he had angered the older, taller, stronger male. He sat quickly on the couch next to Draco in Severus' rooms. They had made their way there to check on the potions master after they had eaten a rather large lunch. Severus had just been getting back from his meeting with Dumbledore, which they had already discussed.
They knew Dumbledore would try to keep Harry on his side, by any means necessary. Harry sadly pointed out that he was fucked either way and the two Slytherins glared at him. Harry didn't think they had many options. He could help Dumbledore only to be killed at the end or he could help Voldemort and be forced to kill and watch the world he loved be destroyed. Those were their only two options until Draco suggested that they start their own side in the war, a neutral gray side that was neither Light nor Dark but a healthy mixture of both. Harry thought it was crazy but he was outvoted when Severus agreed with Draco. It was decided that they would wait until they could talk with Draco's parents before they made any definite plans.
"Don't snap at him, Sev. He's just worried. He's had a hard few days and there were some…hard discussions. He just wants to make sure you're alright." Draco said lowly, staring hard at his godfather. He loved the man dearly but he wouldn't allow anyone to snap at his mate.
"I am sorry, Harry. I am not at my best at the moment." Severus apologized, wincing inwardly at Harry's withdrawn posture.
" 'S fine, Sir." Harry whispered softly, eyes trained on the floor as he curled into himself slightly. His shoulders hunched, hands folded tightly in his lap, head bowed. He knew that the only way to escape a harsh punishment was to act as submissively as possible and if all else failed he could curl into a ball and minimize the damage.
"No it isn't but I understand if you do not wish to talk about at the moment." Severus sighed and mentally cursed himself. He knew exactly how to handle abused children! There was more than a few in his house but he just couldn't seem to do anything the right way when it came to the boy. The distant overly polite tone of his voice slightly worried Severus and he hoped that the boy wouldn't start his regression.
"Come on, Emerald. How about we go fly? We haven't flown once since school started!" Draco suggested, throwing an angry glare towards his godfather who sneered back. Harry looked up at his blond mate excitedly.
"Can we? Really? I've missed it so much. Usually when we get back from summer all the Gryffindor boys from my year would go down to the pitch and fly or just sit on the grass and catch up." Harry's voice was wistful and not for the first time Draco cursed every single Gryffindor except for Neville, Fred and George to the deepest pits of Tartarus.
"Of course we can, and we can ask Neville and the twins if they want to join us." Draco said. Harry beamed at him and was practically vibrating with excitement.
"Yes! Let's go now, okay? That way we can fly longer. Can we stay out 'till dinner? You can invite Blaize, Theo and Parkinson but I swear to Merlin if she looks at or touches you in any way I don't like I will claw her eyes out." Harry announced, his speech starting off excited and ending menacingly. Draco only nodded in amusement as they left the dungeons in search of their friends.
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Neville knelt down in the dirt and carefully placed the bubotuber plant into the hole he had dug. The plant wiggled in his hands, pus spilling from its pores, and Neville spared a second to be thankful for the gloves that were blocking the horrid pus from getting to his skin. Neville refilled the hole and leaned back on his heels with a sigh as he carefully stripped the pus covered gloves from his hands. The greenhouse door opened and Neville stood carefully, smiling when he saw Harry poke his head around the door.
"Hey, Nev!" Harry called cheerfully, stepping farther into the greenhouse and dragging an amused looking Veela behind him. Harry wrapped an arm around Neville's shoulder in greeting and Neville hugged him back.
"Hey, Harry. Malfoy." Neville nodded at the Slytherin. "What brings you here?"
"We were going down to the quidittich pitch because I had a few nightmares and my relatives were arses and I don't want to put my memories in a pensieve and Draco thought I needed some cheering up so we went looking for you and the twins but I don't know where they are and I thought you would be here 'cause you love plants so we came here first and what's that you were just planting? Do you wanna go with us?" Harry rambled excitedly and Neville raised an eyebrow and turned to look worriedly at Draco who shook his head slightly.
"Bubotuber plant. I'll go but you know I'm pants at flying. I'll just bring some homework. I think Fred and George are in the common room trying some pranks out on the first years. Want me to ask them if they want to come?" Neville asked as the three left the greenhouse and made their way back to the castle.
"Yeah, but can we come with you? We won't go inside, the others probably wouldn't allow it but we can wait outside." Harry asked. Neville shrugged and nodded.
"Sure. Come on." Neville agreed and Harry whooped and walked ahead of Draco and Neville a slight bounce in his step.
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"What's wrong with Harry?" Neville asked seriously. He and Draco were watching Harry carefully as he walked a few paces in front of them.
"I don't really know. It could be any number of things. I think it's just that the last week has been really hard on him and he doesn't know how to deal with it. He's…overcompensating, I guess. His nightmares…They're horrible. He wakes up screaming and begging them not to hurt him and I just… How could they do that to someone like Harry? I've tried to get him to talk about what happened but he clams up every time. I got him to agree to put his memories in a pensieve but it's going to be hard on him. I figured he could use a little fun in the middle of all this heartache." Draco sighed; his heart clenching painfully as he thought about his submissive's pain.
"Draco?" Neville called softly when it seemed like the blond was getting lost in dark thoughts. Draco glanced at him and Neville reached out and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, surprising himself greatly. "It might not seem like it but you are helping him. Harry's never had it easy and he's never had someone who was firmly on his side. I was always too afraid to stand up for him. He's never known true loyalty, the whole school switches between hero worshipping him and calling him a psychotic attention-seeking Dark lord in training. Just give him time. He'll get better; just don't give up on him." Neville said. Draco nodded and smiled slightly at the Gryffindor.
"Come on you slow pokes!" Harry called from the stairs. Draco chuckled and shook his head at his mate.
"We're coming, Emerald! Don't get your broom in a knot!" Draco called back. Harry just grinned at him, his expression radiating happiness and his eyes shining with the worry, fear and guilt that he was pushing away.
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Neville gave the password once they reached the portrait of the Fat Lady and turned to Harry and Draco.
"I'll only be a minute." He said before ducking inside. He immediately spotted Fred and George huddled together in a corner and whispering conspiratorially. Gathering his newfound courage he snuck up behind them and silently leaned over their shoulders.
"HELLO!" Neville shouted into their ears and snickered when they jumped up sending their notes flowing to the floor.
"Merlin's pants, Neville!" Fred shouted, hand going to his racing heart.
"Warn someone!" George shouted, running a hand through his hair. Neville just smirked as he helped them pick up their notes.
"Make a noise."
"Clear your throat."
"Blow a trumpet."
"Set off a canon."
"Don't be such babies. Harry is waiting for us outside. He's been having a rough week so Draco wants to take him out flying. They've invited us and we're going so get your brooms." Neville ordered.
"Jeez, Nev-" Fred mumbled.
"When did you-" George continued.
"Get so bossy?" Fred finished.
"Around the time I started being on friendly terms with Slytherins and decided to protect Harry. Now let's go." Neville said as he pushed the twin gingers towards the portrait. Harry jumped on them once they stumbled out and beamed at Neville.
"Thanks, Nev! Now we just have to pick up Dray's friends and we can go. Come on!" Harry grabbed Draco's hand and started quickly down the stairs leaving the other Gryffindors to run after them. They made it to the Slytherin entrance a few minutes later and Draco disappeared inside, reappearing with Blaize, Theo and Pansy. Harry narrowed his eyes at Pansy and latched on to Draco's arm. Draco smiled indulgently down at the raven haired teen and led the way to the pitch.
Harry quickly retrieved his broom from the Gryffindor locker rooms and was in the air a second later, rolling, flipping and generally having a grand time. Draco smiled sadly as he watched his mate play a game of tag with the Weasley twins and Blaize. Draco, Neville, Theo and Pansy collapsed gracefully to the ground. Neville dug his fingers into the dirt, petting the grass and speaking in a soft voice. He grinned happily when a small golden flower began to grow until it was fully bloomed and dancing in the wind, giggling softly.
"How did you just do that?" Theo asked in awe as he gently touched one of the soft flower petals. Neville shrugged and smiled shyly.
"I've always had a way with plants. Gran thinks I might be an elemental. She said it used to run in our family, skipping a few generations before it appears." Neville said as more small flowers began to shoot up in a circle around the lounging teens.
"Seriously, Longbottom? An elemental? Why didn't you ever tell anyone?" Draco asked as he watched the flowers dance and laugh in amusement.
"Did you know that my family thought I was a squib until I got my Hogwarts letter? They kept trying to get my magic to react and lash out by dangling me out of windows or pushing me into a lake. And when school started I was incredibly hopeless so I figured that they were right and then you guys," Neville nodded at the Slytherins, "liked to remind me daily that I was totally useless and incompetent. I just never thought it was anything to do with magic since I was always pants at it before. I didn't want to give you another thing to make fun of me about." Neville said. Draco grimaced and shook his head.
"Merlin help me but I was an insufferable git back then!" Draco groaned and they all laughed.
"Still are." Neville snorted. "You're just a git to the right people now." Theo burst out laughing at the surprised look on Draco's and Pansy's face.
"I think it's going to take them a while to realize you aren't a scared little Gryffindor anymore, Longbottom." Theo snickered. Neville turned to him and smiled as he held out a hand.
"Nice to meet you! My name is Neville." Neville said softly. Theo blinked at him in surprise. "If we're going to try this friend thing you should probably call me by my first name." The grinned and clasped Neville's hand.
"Theodore but my friends call me Theo."
"Pansy Parkinson, a pleasure to meet you Neville." Pansy said as she held out a hand after Theo.
"Nice to meet you Pansy." Neville grinned but when Pansy tried to pull her hand back he tightened his grip and wiped the smile off his face. "Just so you know if you are ever the cause off Harry's pain again I would be obligated, as his friend, to hunt you down and scar you for life in the most painful way I can think of." There was a moment of silence before Draco snorted and held out a hand.
"Malfoy, Draco Malfoy." Draco drawled.
"Bond, James Bond." A voice said from behind and above him. The group on the ground turned around to see the group in the air hovering just above them. Harry was giggling to himself as everyone else looked on in confusion.
"I don't get it. Why are you laughing?" Draco asked as he reached out and stroked Harry's cheek gently.
"You don't know who James Bond is?" Harry exclaimed in mock horror as he gazed around at everyone. "Of course you don't." He snorted. "Boring purebloods." He grumbled softly. "I'll introduce you to the wonderful world of James Bond later." Harry promised as he slid off his broom and landed heavily in Draco's lap. Draco wrapped his arms around Harry's waist and nuzzled his neck gently.
"Have fun?" He asked softly, momentarily forgetting everyone except his mate.
"Yes." Harry breathed, relaxing bonelessly against Draco. A soft giggle had Harry looking up and he narrowed his eyes at Pansy who was sitting next to Fred. George was between Fred and Draco. On the other side of Draco was Theo who was sitting next to Neville. Blaize was in between Neville and Pansy.
"Play nice, Love." Draco murmured, kissing Harry's neck softly. Harry sighed and tilted his head to the side.
"Fine, but don't touch him Parkinson or you might find yourself one hand short of perfection." Harry warned before turning to Neville. "I like the flowers, Nev." Neville nodded.
"I thought you might. They send out calming vibes, makes you happy." Neville said softly.
"You made these?" Blaize asked. "We've only been here for thirty minutes!" Neville shrugged.
"He's an elemental, Blaize." Draco supplied helpfully. Blaize raised an eyebrow and leaned closer to Neville.
"Well aren't you just full of surprises." He purred softly and Neville flushed a bright red.
"I…er, um…I'm not…" Neville stammered as he stared dazedly into chocolate brown eyes. Blaize smirked and leaned back slowly, chuckling slightly when he heard Neville's soft sigh of relief. Blaize turned back to the group and raised an eye at Harry's intense stare. Harry winked and turned away to talk to George.
The group of teens talked and laughed. Harry was completely relaxed for the first time all year and Draco couldn't be happier.
"Thanks, Dominant. This was the best afternoon ever!" Harry said softly. Draco smiled and tightened his hold on Harry as he lowered his head until their lips were molded together. Harry sighed into his mouth and Draco shivered as he swiped his tongue across his bottom lip. Harry opened his mouth to Draco's questioning tongue and melted into the passionate kiss.
"Best day ever." He whispered into the kiss.
"Harry James Potter! You have some explaining to do!" A voice he instantly recognized shouted from close by. Harry lifted his head to see none other than Hermione Granger stalking towards him.
"Damn it! I spoke to soon!"
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There ya go! Another chapter out. I'm not sure if I love it. I just feel like there's a lot going on and things are starting to be rushed but I didn't want to change anything. Oh, well. I slipped another movie quote in there! Did you see it? Did you? Did you? Did you? Of course you did, it was blindingly obvious. I might slip a quote into every chapter. If you have any suggestions feel free to pm me and I'll try to have them make an appearance.
Next chapter:
A talk with Granger
More about the one Dark Lord we love to hate
And the "Light" Lord that, I personally, hate to love
Some Weasley action
And a little something about Severus that may or may not have something to do with two pranksters.