Chapter 20
"Do you think he knows?" Blaise asked for the hundredth time since they'd gone to bed the night before.
"I will answer this one last time and then I don't want to hear the question again." Draco warned his best friend. "It is highly unlikely that he knows. If he does, I will be asking him how he found out."
"What if he did figure it out somehow?" Blaise persisted.
"Then..." Draco sighed dramatically, "I suppose I'll just have to get used to the company of Gryffindors at the dinner table."
"He'll be at the Slytherin dinner table if he loses, you know." Blaise frowned. "You didn't have to pick the same stakes of the bet. What made you do that?"
"You remember what we discussed about the dreams, Blaise." Draco looked around the dormitory. With the others gone, he could talk about it so, as a precaution, Draco cast muffliato around their beds. "With my heritage, I could have any number of powers I don't know about yet. Let's not forget that Potter's mere presence was enough to trigger an early awakening of them. Now that he knows he's the lost son, anything can happen."
"Well, there's only a few things that it could be." Blaise attempted to comfort him.
"Five!" Draco snapped. "There's five creatures that I could possibly have the powers of because of my ancestry."
"No." Blaise shook his head. "We narrowed it down further than that and you know it."
Draco flopped backwards on the bed. "Fine. I am exhibiting the power of two possible creatures."
"We know it's not vampires or veela because you had no active role in the dreams." Blaise reminded Draco. "You've shown no signs of turning into a wolf whether around the full moon or not, so I think we can rule out the amarok."
"That leaves the cubi." Draco sighed. (Q-buy)
"Is that what you're calling them? They're the same basic thing, you know." Blaise rolled his eyes. "The only difference is -"
"I know what the difference is, Blaise." Draco snapped impatiently.
"Just owl your father." Blaise replied calmly. "Tell him to come early and have a talk before the meeting. He should have some ideas."
Draco sighed and nodded digging into his trunk for parchment and a quill.
"That doesn't answer my question though, Draco." Blaise frowned at the blond.
Draco huffed. "It does if you think about it, Blaise. What do incubi and succubi have that the others don't?"
"Veela have mates too." Blaise reasoned.
"Veela and their mates can choose each other." Draco told him. "Cubi are only attracted to and can only use their powers with their mates. Think about that."
Blaise stared at him in shock. "You're other powers awoke when...and now..."
Draco nodded solemnly. "I guess we know for sure."
"Will you tell him?" Blaise asked quietly.
"My father? I'll have to." Draco replied, deliberately misunderstanding.
"What about Potter?" Blaise asked. "You have to tell him too."
"I don't know. The bet was amusing but it didn't impress me." Draco sighed. "I don't know if he's playing around or if he really likes me... wants me?"
"Breakfast is ending, we can't be late for double potions." Blaise said, looking at his watch.
"Go. I'll only be another moment." Draco told him, taking down the privacy spell. As soon as Blaise was gone, Draco closed his letter and called Potter's elf. "Dobby?"
"Young Mister Malfoy?" The little elf said, tilting his head in curiosity.
"I know you're not my elf but I was wondering if you'd help me. I need to send this to my father. Would you take it to my owl?" Draco asked gently, showing him the letter. "I'm going to be late for class if you don't help me."
"Master Harry Potter sir would want Dobby to help... and the young sir was kind to Dobby when Dobby was a Malfoy elf..." Dobby seemed to be sizing him up. "...The young sir was kind... So Dobby will do it."
Draco smiled at him. "Thank you, Dobby."
As soon as the little elf had popped away, Draco grabbed his books and ran to his class almost falling into his seat as the professor stood to begin the class.
"What took you?" Harry murmured.
"Writing a letter to Father." Draco whispered.
"You missed breakfast." Harry said softly, handing him an apple.
Draco stared at it. Apples were always his favorite fruit. He smiled softly and took a bite.
The class went smoothly with only theory in the first session. In the second part, they were brewing with small breaks in between steps. During one break, Draco had to correct Harry's preparation of an ingredient and they were in close proximity.
Their hands touched...
Their eyes met...
Their teacher interrupted.
Only the expected explosions took place during the class period but when Slughorn told them that the next break was ten minutes long, Draco asked to speak with Harry out in the corridor.
Once alone, he faced the other boy. "Are you playing games with me, Potter?"
"What?" Harry shook his head. "No."
"I don't know what to think!" Draco shrugged and began pacing. "The bet shows you're not really taking me - erm a relationship with me - very seriously. Even the flippant way you flirted in front of McGonagall showed a certain lack of respect. Blaise thinks you should know the secret before we go any further."
"What do you think?" Harry asked, holding out his hand.
Draco bit his lip and blushed. Sighing, he looked down at the proffered hand. "I think it's already too late." He put his hand in Harry's.
Blaise cleared his throat from the doorway. A frown on his face said it all. "Slughorn is starting back up."
Draco nodded and moved past him but Harry found his path blocked.
"You'd better not hurt him." Blaise warned politely.
Harry blinked as the other boy turned away.
Draco sat in the greenhouse wishing the time would go faster when suddenly the headmaster entered with his father in tow and they spoke with Professor Sprout.
"Mr. Malfoy, your father would like to speak with you. The homework will be a one foot essay on the fanged geranium." Professor Sprout called. "You're excused for the weekend."
"Thank you, Professor." Draco replied as he scooped up his books and hurried to join his father. They walked slowly, allowing Dumbledore to get some distance.
"What's happened?" Lucius asked. "Tell me about this new power that has awakened."
Draco felt his concern and was grateful for it but he didn't know how to explain except to just jump right in. "After our meeting the other night, I dream-walked."
"That's absurd, dragonlords don't have that ability." Lucius frowned.
"No, but incubi and succubi do." Draco whispered.
The older man stopped and looked at him.
"I did some reading yesterday with Blaise's help." Draco told him carefully.
"Go on." Lucius muttered.
"Well, he's still taking divination, you see, and his textbook says that dreamwalking can be part of several types of bonds but most of them require a ritual or ceremony of some sort." Draco said with confidence. "Now, since I haven't participated in any rituals recently we've narrowed it down to possible creature inheritance. Our ancestor was rumored to have incubus heritage, wasn't he, Father?"
"Indeed." Lucius clenched his teeth for a moment and turned to his son. "Dare I ask whose dreams you saw?"
"I think you know." Draco blushed.
"Potter." Lucius muttered as they moved along the path.
"Yes." Draco nodded.
"Did you...in the dreams, were you...?" Lucius hesitated.
"Passive role." Draco confessed nervously.
Lucius sighed. "I'll send you a book or two from our library. You'll find them informative on this matter."
Draco thanked his father and broached the next topic. "Oh, by the way, Potter thinks he's guessed our secret."
"What?" Lucius was shocked. It was a closely guarded secret that only family members and his Gringott's account manager should know.
"I warned him that I couldn't confirm or deny his answer without losing my voice, so he's waiting for you but I thought you should know." Draco went on to tell his father about the bet that they'd made and the stakes.
"I see." Lucius considered this. "And has he forgiven you for what happened on Tuesday afternoon?"
Draco smiled to himself as he nodded. "More than that, he's given me permission to use his name in private."
Lucius sighed as he looked into his son's face. "This makes you happy."
"It does." Draco confided. "I'm also happy to report that he seems to be quite serious about us being more than mere flirtation."
Lucius sighed again, this time dramatically. "Then I suppose I know what my next step is."
"Oh? What's that?" Draco frowned as he began steering his father toward Harry's suite.
"Why, I must send an elf to fetch your baby pictures, of course!" Lucius grinned slyly.
"This is no joking matter, Father!" Draco huffed, and sent a pouting glare at the older man. "I'm not a normal fifteen year old boy! There are things about my life he might not be able to handle!"
"Draco, you mustn't forget that he is no ordinary fifteen year old boy either." Lucius whispered, attempting a comforting tone. "He is the joint product of the four strongest wizarding bloodlines in the world, aside from our own. Your association is still young and I wouldn't be surprised if there are a few things you've yet to find out about his life."
Draco realized he'd never thought of it that way before. He and Potter had yet to go on a date so there was a lot of ground to cover in conversation topics. Just then, they reached the door to Harry's suite and Draco knocked.
The door opened to reveal Percy Weasley who invited them in. "Lord Malfoy, young Malfoy... do come in. Luna has gate crashed your meeting and Lord Potter is speaking with her now but he has directed me to send you in upon your arrival."
Draco sighed, rolling his eyes. Could this Weasley be any more oafish?
"Thank you, Weasley." Lucius replied, following the redhead to the door of the office.
As it opened, they were amused to hear Lord Potter echoing Draco's earlier sentiments to Luna.
"Luna! This is not the time for jokes! " Harry lamented. He was standing in the middle of the room, facing away from the door. "I'm no ordinary fifteen year old boy! There are things about my life he might not be able to handle!"
Draco's face went red but he took the lead and stepped into the room to interrupt. "I'll make a deal with you, P- Harry...If you try to handle my abnormalities, I'll try to handle yours."
Harry's eyes closed as he realized he had an audience. Sighing, he turned to look at his guests. "I suppose that's not too much to ask." He smirked as he held out his hand while trying to hide his embarrassment.
"I believe there are introductions to be made..." Draco smirked as their fingers touched. "As you're both lords, I think the etiquette is that the guest is presented to the host or the lower level to the higher... but since there are multiple layers to the proceedings I'd like to present my suitor to my father."
Harry smiled to let the blond know it was alright with him.
"Father, I'd like you to meet Lord Harry James Potter, Earl of Inverness. Harry, this is my father, Lord Lucius Malfoy." Draco finished and bit his lip.
"Lord Malfoy," Harry smoothly stepped forward and tipped his head slightly. "I know we've met previously and with disastrous results. I do hope Draco has confided to you our discussion on the train...?"
"Indeed; he has." Lucius nodded.
"So, in light of outside interference, perhaps we might attempt to find some way to start our acquaintanceship over again?" Harry asked.
"I'm listening." Lucius walked further into the office.
"Please, have a seat." Harry led them toward the desk where Lucius had begun to sit down but froze upon seeing the sword that was mounted on the wall. "That is the famed Sword of Gryffindor." Harry said as he sat. "It was wielded by Godric himself in ancient battles and then by me just three years ago." An awkward silence threatened to stretch between them but Harry refused to allow it. "Originally, my goal with this and the other meetings I've scheduled with wizengamut members was to simply know where everyone stands on the major issues. I scheduled you first because the possibility of a relationship with Draco means that you and I need to talk about some things that transpired that particular year."
Lucius looked at his son and niece with a sigh. "This is why you set the meeting time so early."
"Yes." Harry affirmed. "With the added incentive of having a true relationship with Draco, I hope for more than a truce... In fact, I propose an alliance."
"Full disclosure on both sides?" Lucius asked, a little surprised.
"Yes." Harry nodded once. "Dumbledore has made some serious errors in judgement which I am unwilling to forgive. Now, I'd like to believe that the whole situation with Tom is one of them, but I need more information."
Lucius glanced at his son who had taken a seat at Potter's right. "What kind of information?"
"All sorts... to begin with, the Weasley family means a lot to me, Lucius." Harry said solemnly. "You used them to get a dark artifact into the school."
"Harry. You promised." Luna reminded him.
"Alright, Luna." Harry nodded graciously to his young cousin. "Apparently, there is a secrecy spell that will prevent any of those present from being able to divulge information obtained during a certain time-span. Luna knows how to perform it and-"
"Yes, I know it. I taught it to her." Lucius nodded for her to proceed and when she finished he explained without pretense. "The book was something Tom had left in my possession. He left one with me and one with my sister-in-law, Bellatrix, telling us to guard them with our lives. A timed spell would let us know when to use them but...we found out later that it wouldn't tell us how to use them."
"So the spell went off?" Harry asked.
"Not exactly." Lucius shrugged elegantly. "It was kept on display in a secret room which I visited every day so that when the spell activated, I would know. At that time, however, the ministry was performing raids looking for dark artifacts. At first it was enough that the room was secret, but then one of our main allies told me that the aurors had found a hidden room at their manor. I had no choice but to get rid of it."
"And Draco needed his supplies so you took him to Diagon where you found yourself in a position to simultaneously offload the book and discredit one of your political adversaries' main supporters and you took the opportunity." Harry said boldly. "I understand perfectly... but was it truly necessary to involve innocent children?"
Lucius sighed. "Tom hadn't explained what the book was until he came back. At the time, I didn't know it was anything more than a book with a dark enchantment."
"Dobby knew." Harry murmured.
"What do you mean?" Draco asked.
"It's how Dobby came to be freed." Harry explained. "He came to my aunt and uncle's house and told me not to go to Hogwarts that year but Hogwarts was more of a home to me than Little Whinging so I refused his advice. He used magic and got me punished as well as a citation from the ministry."
Draco bit his lip and winced sympathetically.
"That wasn't all." Harry chuckled. "I didn't know it then but it was he who closed the entrance to the platform so I couldn't get on the Express."
"That was the year you crashed the flying car..." Luna laughed.
"Into the Whomping Willow." Harry nodded ruefully. "Ron and I had no way of getting to school or back to his house. No way to contact the school to tell them what had happened ...and I was so used to figuring things out by myself because my aunt and uncle really only cared about Dudley."
"Your cousin?" Draco asked and was rewarded with a nod.
"So you took the car..." Lucius muttered. "I recall the inquiry."
"And the howler." Draco ducked his head.
Harry chuckled again. "Anyway, remember the bludger?"
Draco's face fell. "The rogue bludger that chased us until I fell from my broom and nearly puked?"
"And then hit my arm, breaking it so badly that Lockhart vanished the bones in an effort to fix them?" Harry nodded. "I had no idea at the time but that was Dobby too."
Lucius frowned. "Dobby was our elf. His loyalty should've been to the Malfoy family."
"Dobby's loyalty was to someone higher." Dobby came into the office from the side room. "As yours should have been."
"Who?" Lucius shook his head in confusion.
"Myrddin." Dobby said grimly glaring at Lucius. "Myrddin would not want children involved with dark objects and certainly not harmed by them. Master Harry Potter, sir is a child of the founders and they were Myrddin's friends!"
Everyone in the room stared at him; Luna with a smile.
"That brings us neatly to the topic of my guessing your secret." Harry smiled at Draco with a predatory air. "You see, Draco, my search for the founders' secret quarters has more than born fruit." He pulled out Gryffindor's journal. "Inside this journal, I found several interesting sketches...one of which is of Myrddin Wyllt with a dragon."
Draco's eyes met Lucius'. "So what exactly are you saying, Harry?"
"On the back of that one was a sketch of something else." Harry grinned as he pulled out the sketch in question. "Here is Myrddin... or Merlin as he was also known... and on the back..." He flipped it over to show a walking stick similar to Lucius' cane.
The elder Malfoy slowly lifted his cane and placed it against the sketch for comparison.
"The squiggles you see to the left are notes in parseltongue for the improvement of the original." Harry explained. "Godric wrote all about it in the journal. The original was actually a staff that had been artfully transfigured to look like tangled vines courtesy of Helga. Godric sketched Rowena's design. Salazar figured out how to hide Merlin's wand inside the staff so he could walk amongst the muggles." Both Malfoys remained silent so Harry growled. "Fine. If it must be spelled out, my guess is that you are related to Merlin."
"To be precise, we are related to Merlin and Morgana." Lucius stared at the sketch. "He mostly went by his first name, as his surname changed from time to time. As a child, it was Emrys but when he attended Hogwarts he used Wyllt.
Draco stared at Harry. "Many people through the centuries have tried and failed to guess our secret."
"I obviously had some help." Harry grinned.
"Have you revealed this to anyone?" Lucius asked, completely shaken.
"No. Even the Weasleys who were there when I found it only saw enough to speculate that Merlin was a dragonlord." Harry told them. "So I've done a bit of reading into the official history of Merlin and made a few other guesses. May I?"
Lucius nodded absently figuring that he may as well correct anything else that the boy had gotten wrong.
"So going back to the sketch, I figure that he was definitely a dragonlord." Harry spoke the words with confidence. "In the picture, he isn't just in the clearing with the creature, he's almost communing with it."
Draco nodded. "There hasn't been another dragonlord since his death...until now."
Harry finally looked surprised. "You?"
The blond nodded again. "The powers manifest in stages and usually not until one is in their early twenties."
"Then how do you know it's you?" Harry asked gently.
"I felt the presence of the dragon egg in first year, Harry." Draco confessed. "Well I felt a presence but I didn't know what it was until I saw you, Weasley and Granger in the gamekeeper's hut with the hatchling."
"According to the journal from Merlin's vault, the first ability to manifest in a dragonlord is usually sensing the presence of a dragon." Lucius informed Harry. "The next stage is to feel the emotions of a dragon or flight of dragons."
"The mother dragons last year." Harry stared at the young blond.
"Yes, Harry, I felt the anger and fear at Diggory's dog and the sleepiness of Delacour's spell. I felt the pain when Viktor Krum gave his dragon conjunctivitis and the grief when she crushed her eggs." Draco told him. "The horntail was royally cheesed off at you and I felt the triumph when it broke its chain to come chase you."
"Wow." Harry was gobsmacked. "What made the powers come on so early?"
"Due to the sorting hat's prophecy..." Lucius began as he glanced over at his son.
"Don't take this the wrong way, Harry but..." Draco broke in. "We think it was your return to the wizarding world."
"Wait, what was the prophecy again?" Harry pulled his own journal out and stood as he recited it. "The time has come to crumble or unite! The missing puzzle pieces will soon be found. Sleeping powers awaken when the lost son comes 'round. Choose what is easy or do what is right. Crumble or unite!" He looked at Draco for a moment and the blond nodded encouraging him to confide in his father. "I know the puzzle pieces are the founders' objects, most of which are missing ...lost to time."
"My dragonlord powers emerged in our first year." Draco reminded Harry. "That is when the 'lost son' came around."
"Yes but it doesn't say what the powers are that awaken, only that they were sleeping." Harry pointed out. "It could be talking about yours... or maybe it's talking about mine..."
Draco frowned in thought. "Or perhaps both."
Lucius felt his head spin. Harry had powers too? Draco wasn't surprised... What were these powers? What would they become?
"Lucius, my secret is that I-." Harry started to confess but Draco held up a hand.
"Don't be so hasty, Harry; we have yet to divulge the depth of our secret." Draco seemed to hesitate. "You forgave me for Tuesday afternoon but you have yet to hear the part of the secret that explains it."
Harry accepted this and held back but he was truly chomping at the bit so he sat down and called Dobby for some tea.
"Sometime after Merlin and Morgana had their son, Merlin's name became a household word and epithet." Lucius informed him carefully. "After Arthur died, Merlin traveled Europe's wizarding sectors trying to find a place for himself and his family to blend in and 'be normal'. In an effort to give their son a normal childhood, they used Morgana's surname."
"LeFey?" Harry asked, fiddling with his cup.
Lucius nodded as he accepted his tea from Dobby. "Their son's name was Malcolm and, when he died at an early age, they renamed themselves after him. Malfoy is the current pronunciation but it started as Malfey."
"I'm sorry. What does this have to do with Tuesday?" Harry frowned at Draco as he watched the blond take three lumps of sugar and a squeeze of lemon into his tea cup.
"You'll appreciate the history lesson." Draco murmured, blushing when his father glared.
"At that point, Merlin and Morgana conspired to transmute his blood. It was the reason Malcolm had died, you see - a disease of the blood." Lucius explained. "A side effect of this transmutation made it possible for members of his bloodline to use a phrase to convince people to tell us the truth...whether they want to or not."
"So," Draco bowed his head to take a sip of tea. "When I said the words 'in Merlin's name'... well, I was basically commanding you to tell me what I wanted to know."
Harry looked at the blond. "Hey. I forgave you for that and I'm not going to change my mind."
"I'm glad you feel that way because there's one more thing." Draco nodded solemnly. "I have recently begun to exhibit a power that isn't common to wizard-kind or dragonlords."
"Alright. What is it?" Harry frowned, unsure why the blond looked so nervous.
"The other night, I did something called dreamwalking." Draco confessed. "You mentioned to me once that you've been having interesting dreams... Well, I saw them."
"Ok." Harry stared at Draco. "I was not expecting that. Which night would it have been?"
"Wednesday." Draco nodded.
Harry thought back. That was the night he'd relived all three dreams. "What did you see?" He asked, wanting further proof.
"Hogwarts...as if it had been damaged. As if its foundations were..." Draco trailed off shaking his head.
"Crumbling." Harry finished nodding grimly barely registering Lucius' shocked expression.
"I didn't know your thoughts or see it exactly how you did..." Draco felt the need to tell him. "I was the Black Lake...all three times."
Harry carefully placed his tea on the desk and whispered. "That makes so much sense."
"Tell me." Draco asked, eager to understand.
"No, it's alright. You tell me why dreamwalking is important, first." Harry encouraged.
"Alright." Draco drew a deep breath and nodded. "One of the many rumours about Merlin that are true is that he had creature blood in him. Dreamwalking is a trait of a specific type of creature - a sex demon."
Harry steadied himself to hear the rest.
"They are called incubi and succubi and they're essentially the same creature." Draco began. "It's just that one is dominant and one is submissive."
"Succubi are not so much submissive as they are the bearers of the species while incubi are..." Lucius struggled to find the words. "Yes alright, they are all male while succubi are a mixture of male and female."
"Another point to make is that..." Draco glanced at his father. "This type of creature only manifests its powers in the presence of its mate."
"So since you've experienced this, that means you've inherited some of this creature's abilities." Harry murmured under his breath. "Does that mean you have a mate and it's...?"
"Yes." Draco said carefully. "That would be you."
Harry's jaw dropped.
Seeing his surprise, Draco became exasperated with him. "Well, I've never seen anyone else's dreams!"
"Draco, he is processing." Lucius muttered, rolling his eyes.
"Mate?" Harry asked, numbly. "Is it like the veela?"
"No. Veela and their mates can choose each other." Lucius tried to explain.
"I'll explain later." Draco smirked. "The important bit is that any powers that are specific to the cubi will only work if we are together."
"Physical proximity?" Harry asked. "Or in a relationship?"
"Relationship." Lucius informed him with pinched lips.
Draco blushed. "Don't mind him, Harry. He's just not happy that I'm part succubus."
Harry took this in. "We are certainly not normal teenage boys."
Luna giggled at the reminder of their earlier discussion.
"The dreams, Harry." Draco's blush became deeper. "You said you'd explain why I was the lake in your dreams."
"Alright, well, let's start with my secret." Harry nodded and turned to look at Lucius. "I- I've begun to manifest some... control... over the elements." When Lucius had nothing to say, Harry explained that the candles flared or wind whipped up when he was angry, and so on. Since the older man remained silent, Harry went on to explain his thought process of the meaning of everything in the dreams as he'd talked it out with Sirius.
"So, you think that the damaged support wall represents Granger?" Draco asked to confirm. "What about the outer walls that were completely destroyed?"
"I'm not sure." Harry shrugged. "It could be my aunt and uncle or perhaps some fringe acquaintances?"
"And I was the lake because...?" Draco trailed off hoping he would elaborate.
"Well, to start with, you're a member of Slytherin house. That's the house that's connected to the water element." Harry paused, sipping his tea while trying to find the right way to explain. "Water has always had a strange effect on me..."
"What do you mean by that?" The blond boy asked.
"Water calms me when I'm sad or angry but it also exhilarates me when I'm tired and soothes my restlessness at other times. It can frighten me but mostly it's just..." Harry mused. "The lake is a steady presence beside Hogwarts which is my home and if I'm Hogwarts..." Harry mused. "Well..."
Draco stared at him.
"You were the first wizard I met who was my age, Draco." Harry said softly. "You've challenged me, which is exhilarating. You've frightened and angered me...water changes for the occasion. You've already changed from what I knew."
Draco became lost in thought as the others moved on.
"Why were the foundations crumbling?" Luna asked as if she already knew the answer.
"Well, I've been thinking about that." Harry told her and turned to the Malfoys. "Take Zack. He rarely exhibits the Hufflepuff house traits but he's ambitious and knowledgeable."
Draco hummed. "Luna, you're smart but you're also sly and brave and not afraid of hard work."
"She's fairly well rounded." Harry agreed. "I'm brave if I need to be but I'm also able to think on my feet and I get along well with all sorts of people and I can even be a tad on the cunning side."
"Draco, you have the occasional hot head but most of the time you're intelligent and calculating." Luna smiled at the cousin she'd known her whole life. "You're also considerate of those people you feel close to and kind to younger years no matter which house they're in."
"The Weasleys are all very different in their own ways but I think I see what you're saying." Draco commented thoughtfully. "The youngest brother has a short fuse to a large explosive but he can think strategically. The twins are mischievous which is a kind of cunning."
"They're also smart enough to make their joke products and they're ambitiously chasing their dreams of opening a shop." Harry pointed out. "Ginny has friends in all houses but she also has a competitive spirit and dreams of quidditch stardom."
"Percy is pursuing a ministry career." Luna pointed out. "Bill is a curse breaker for Gringotts and Charlie works with dragons."
"What does all this mean to you, Luna?" Harry asked, somehow knowing that she'd have the answer.
"Uh, uh, uh! That would be telling!" She giggled again.
"The foundations aren't crumbling literally, but metaphorically!" Draco realized. "The ideals on which Hogwarts was founded are crumbling!"
Harry nodded confidently. "The houses don't have to define us but they should teach us how to balance our traits with the traits of the other houses."
Lucius stared at the teenagers. They figured out the prophecy before the adult witches and wizards who were supposed to be experts in their fields. "So, Lord Potter, you said you know what the puzzle pieces are?"
"I'm not convinced that you didn't know the diary was dangerous but..." Harry turned to face him carefully. "If things between Draco and I are going to be what we think... then you may use my name in private meetings."
"As Draco does?" Lucius asked lightly, though he was quite surprised.
"Perhaps Potter in this type of setting while adding the 'Lord' in public." Harry told him. "To answer your question though, Lady Helena was good enough to fill me in on the fact that each founder left behind an object that was meant to remain in the castle. It seems that only Gryffindor's is still here."
"Uncle Luc? Do you know anything about the objects disappearing?" Luna asked.
"I recall that the Ravenclaw object was a crown of some sort. Slytherin's object would likely have been something to show the opulence of pureblood society. By the time I began attending Hogwarts, they'd already been gone for years." Lucius told his niece. "Perhaps Tom will know what happened to them."
"Then I suggest that we break for the night, Father." Draco said. "Mother is probably expecting you and -"
"We missed dinner in the great hall, Draco." Harry broke in. "Perhaps you'd like to stay here?"
Draco nodded agreeably. "I'll just see my father out, then, shall I?"
"Only to the door, Draco." Lucius smirked at his son. "Severus will be curious and while I may not be able to give him details, I can give him my impressions of the situation."
"One last question for tonight, if I may, Lord Malfoy." Harry called. "Rumor has it that you're a frequent visitor in the Headmaster's office since the end of our second year. I'd like to know why."
"I have many reasons to visit the castle, Potter." Lucius turned around and took a breath before answering. "At first there was the broom donation to the Slytherin Quidditch team and other visits that were similarly oriented to school business but then I began feeling guilty about losing Tom's diary and attempting revenge on you for freeing Dobby and I decided that the best way to stop feeling like that was to try spying on Dumbledore."
Harry nodded thoughtfully. "It didn't work. Did it?"
"No, and he used the opportunity to try and potion me." Lucius informed the young lord. "I was lucky. Merlin's blood transmutation filters toxins in fairly short order."
"I'm not surprised he would try something like that." Harry snorted in derision as he quickly summarized the visit he'd made to Gringotts in July.
"So that's why you continue to suspect Severus." Lucius murmured.
"Not entirely. My personal knowledge of the man wasn't any better." Harry corrected the older man hesitantly. "He was barely civil to me from the moment I arrived. Turns out that he has a special hatred for my father and godfather that I will probably never understand. I don't know how that transferred to me but I wasn't given any reason to doubt my instinctive distrust of him - especially considering his treatment of Remus while he was teaching in our third year."
Draco shook his head. "I don't think Uncle Severus would knowingly participate in something like that."
"Perhaps he was duped in some way or under the imperius curse." Lucius soothed his son.
"Draco, we don't want to think bad things of him." Luna sighed. "We don't even want to think them of Dumbledore. We just don't know anything for certain and we're speculating."
"I know, Luna." The younger blond sighed. "I just hate the idea of someone so close to me ...to us ...being so awful as to deny a baby his family heritage and birthrights... and even basic courtesy."
Harry watched as Lucius placed a hand on Draco's shoulder. "I'm unsure of how to ascertain the truth of the matter without divulging the events of this discussion. He is a master Occlumens and so, is immune to the family's ability."
Harry focussed on the floor and sighed. "On one of the days I am meeting with a member of the wizengamut, he could take issue with my going to the ministry alone and 'have business there'..."
"And therefore declare it a convenient solution." Lucius nodded. "After the meeting, I will join you in Arthur's office and we can speak to him together. I will only tell him you wish to meet with him outside the scope of the headmaster."
Harry nodded. "Agreed."
"I'll be in touch, Potter." Lucius gave him a formal head bow. "And since Draco will not be 'Malfoy' to you any longer, I suggest that you might address me by surname."
"With the 'Lord' added in public?" Harry smirked.
"Indeed." Lucius lifted one eyebrow.
"Thank you, Sir. I accept." Harry bowed his head and let his guests leave the room.
Draco returned a moment later and approached slowly. "Father has gone and Luna will join Ginevra because, apparently, she brought something back for her to their room."
"Dobby, Italian food, if you please?" Harry asked as he held out a hand in hopes of accepting his companion's.