Harry had not taken Draco up on his offer, muttering that he wasn't sure, and somehow, mysteriously, it had not turned awkward afterwards. But ever since then, Harry couldn't quite stop thinking about it.

It was obvious that at least part of him was on board with the idea, given what his dreams tended to after that conversation – when they weren't about strange dark corridors, a weird nightmare that had happened a few times by now – and when Harry imagined Draco touching him, he was forced to admit, though it still made him uncomfortable, that he liked the thought.

The moment he imagined anything else around it, though – like talking to Draco about it, or, Merlin forbid, asking for...that, he wanted to squirm out of his skin.

And it wasn't like he was exactly willing to discuss it with anyone.

For one, of course, it was embarrassing as hell. But even beyond that...well. He wasn't exactly on the best of terms with Alduin at the moment, given that whole fact of him having a mistress, but at least he knew Alduin wouldn't have a problem with Harry possibly being into blokes a little.

About Sirius, the other adult option, he was much less certain. He knew it wasn't an issue among wizards, in theory, but in practice...what if it was for Sirius, after all? Harry already knew they had different views of relationships, and the idea of adding that into it...better not risk it.

So that left his friends. Ron was out of the question just by the virtue of the subject matter being Draco – Ron would be incredibly biased. Plus, he wasn't exactly comfortable when it came to discussing really personal stuff. It would just be too weird to talk about this to a girl, so after some time to gather his courage, Harry decided to bring it up with Neville the next time they would be alone.

When he did, Neville seemed honestly caught off guard. "Well," he said, sounding a little confused, "so just try it, and if you find out that it's not your thing, let Draco know?"

"Won't that be weird?"

"Why should it be weird? It's not like you didn't tell him you were unsure. I mean, obviously it might be awkward, but..." Neville shrugged, in a 'what can you do' kind of way. Harry supposed he was right. Relationships – or whatever it was he was considering doing with Draco – tended to be awkward at least some of the time, he'd discovered.

"You never considered anything like that?" Harry asked after a moment, wanting the attention off of him.

Neville shrugged again. "I don't think I'd want something just, you know, physical," Neville blushed, looking away. "But as for dating...I don't think I care if it's a girl or a bloke, you know? Just...I want someone nice." He smiled a little awkwardly, and Harry felt about a thousand times worse about the direction his preferences have taken lately. It didn't seem that someone being nice entered into it at all, except if they had a nice ass.

That, on the other hand, was sometimes all he could think about. On occasion he remembered when they were in second year and talked about dating being weird, and thought back to those times with longing. At least everything had been easier.

Still, talking it over with Neville gave him courage, and so the next time Draco came to the manor, he was determined to bring up his offer.

When he did come, however, Harry took one look at him and hesitated. "You look glum today," he said carefully. "Did something happen?"

"Not here," Draco muttered, and they returned to the secluded spot in the garden – which didn't do much to help Harry's mind stay out of the gutter – before Draco elaborated: "Father came back from a meeting yesterday and could barely walk."

Harry frowned. "A meeting?"

"With You-know-who," Draco specified.

Harry's eyes widened. "You mean…?"

"I mean that bastard tortured him again, yes," Draco spat.

"Again?"

Draco's scowl deepened. "He almost killed him right after he came back, as a punishment for something or other."

"How did you find out?"

"Dad could barely move over the Easter holidays. He said it was an illness, but he was really dodgy about it, so when I saw similar symptoms yesterday I asked mum and...yeah. She told me."

Harry shook hos head. "That's terrible. I didn't...I didn't think he did it to his own people." He had warned Horatio, sure, but he hadn't actually realized it could be like this. "I mean, what's the point of serving him if you aren't even safe from his Unforgivables?"

"Well, you did say he was pretty much insane."

Harry nodded. "I'm sorry," he said then.

"Hardly your fault, is it?" Draco sighed.

"I'm surprised your mum told you," Harry said after a moment. "I mean, something like that..."

"She didn't want to at first, but then she seemed to decide I should know what it was really like, so that, you know, I'm never tempted by him." Draco scowled. "As if. She also started to teach me Occlumency."

"Wow, really?" Harry had heard about the skill form his cousin. "Alduin said it was really hard."

"It is – I haven't really made any progress yet – but Mum is really super good at it. She says she only knows one person that's better. She can lie with a totally straight face."

"I wonder how she learned?"

Draco grimaced. "Apparently her sister was a really good Legilimens, and liked to use it on her sisters, so if she wanted to keep any secrets, she had to learn Occlumency."

"Bellatrix?" Harry asked, and Draco nodded grimly.

"So she's a legilimens. Good to know," Harry acknowledged.

"I'm really, really worried about Riddle freeing her from Azkaban," Draco muttered.

"You're not the only one."

"No shit. The whole country is worried – well, those with enough sense to know he's back."

"I didn't mean it like that. Just – Neville."

Draco could only grimace again in response.

-hp-hp-hp-hp-

Alduin was not exactly happy with the way things had gone with Harry regarding Melania, but neither did he see a way out. He had done nothing wrong, and knew he had done nothing wrong, and it seemed Harry was aware of it on some level as well, since he hadn't said a word more since – but he was, very clearly, colder towards Alduin than he'd been before.

He was also clearly uncomfortable around Alexandra, which meant Alduin would need to have a conversation with her about it, too.

Resigned to his fate, the next time she came over with the boys, he settled Harry with them in the nursery – Wynn was newly obsessed with dragons and wanted to show Harry his many and varied picture books on the topic, apparently; Edric just loved wearing his dragon hat and making the roar sound, which worked well enough when they wanted to play together, from what Alexandra told him and the little he was able to observe himself. It was certainly enough to fully capture Harry's attention, and so Alduin left them with him and withdrew with Alexandra to the next room.

"How are you?" He asked first, like he always did. "Is everything alright?"

She gave him a tired smile. "Everything is fine. Relax. Nothing worse than Wynn throwing a tantrum has happened. How is it going on your side?"

"Well, the political front is about what you'd expect," Alduin began to summarize. "Barty's trial is approaching, and Kingsley said the attempts on his life have gotten worse, that they need several Aurors stationed at the door at the moment. Amelia Bones is firmly on our side and apparently trying to work on the Minister, though Fudge is unsurprisingly proving stubborn. But on a more personal level...I've hit a roadblock with Harry."

At Alexandra's raised eyebrow, he explained what had happened.

When he was finished, she pursed her lips. "I can't say I have any sage advice for this – I'm as confused as you are. I'd say give him time, and maybe try talking to Nathan? He has two teenagers, he must have some idea what to do...I'd ask Molly Weasley, since she probably experienced everything there is to experience in parenthood, but we both know how conservative she is, so..."

Yes, better leave the Weasleys out of it, though Nathan was a good idea.

"While on the topic of Harry," Alexandra went on, "his birthday is rapidly approaching. Have you thought about the celebration?"

Alduin exhaled. No, he had not – his mind flashed guiltily to the time he'd spent with Melania recently, admitting to himself that he might be the slightest bit distracted and that he probably should try and keep himself in check a little – and Alexandra was right. It was going to be a security nightmare, and one that needed to be arranged in advance.

Therefore, at dinner that night, Alduin regretfully – and rather carefully, unsure of his ward's temper these days – informed Harry that it could only take place in the Manor.

"I can't guarantee your safety outside with so many other people your age, and you definitely can't go without me."

Harry scowled, but said brusquely: "I expected it. It's fine."

"The formal one should be much the same as always," Alduin added.

Harry's scowl deepened. "Wasn't security the whole reason why you cancelled garden parties this year? And you're just going to invite everyone for my birthday?"

"Alexandra's pregnancy works as enough of an excuse for regular garden parties, but hardly for your birthday. We'd have to effectively declare we were withdrawing from society for that to fly, and we'd like to leave that for as late as possible – it would rather limit the politicking we can do." Alduin explained, then hesitated. Harry still looked belligerent, so he added: "Perhaps it's time I told you a little about how security at the Manor works?"

That did seem to catch Harry's interest.

"The basis," Alduin explained, "is this: in normal circumstances, it is impossible to Apparate, Portkey or Floo to anywhere here except to the receiving room. The receiving room has strong wards on it that read intention, and if someone hostile came in, they would sound the alarm and the house would go into lockdown. However, they can be fooled by Occlumency. Now, under the first level threat warding system I triggered as soon as Riddle returned, you cannot Apparate, Floo or Portkey here without an invitation, and the wards in the receiving room are heightened so that you need actively benign intent to get in – so only a truly exceptional Occlumens would be able to fake that."

Harry took a moment to think about that. "All right...and the invitation bit, it works like the Fidelius charm?"

"A little – these spells are much older, and are what the Fidelius was based off. This protection has some limitations. The power to invite into this house is tied to blood or marriage, so someone not married to a Travers or a more distant relative than a second cousin, roughly speaking, cannot issue the invitation under any circumstances – whereas anyone can be your Secret Keeper. The person issuing the invitation must also be living in the house, must consider it their home – and everyone living in the house and being sufficiently related always can issue it, so it means more people, which equals more risk by definition. It's also – like all the wards on this house – possible to break through with enough force, unlike the Fidelius, which is truly unbreakable unless you have the Secret Keeper tell you the secret, which is of course the main reason why the spell is so powerful."

"But if the wards can be broken…?" Harry looked around the room as if he expected Riddle to appear at any moment.

"They are very old and powerful wards," Alduin explained patiently. "It would be very difficult. Riddle could do it – as evidenced by what happened to the Potter Manor, which had wards much like these – but it's very far from subtle, so we do not have to worry about him doing it now. Even during the last war, he only did it once, to the Potters, because of the prophecy. No one else was important enough for him to exert so much power – and take such a risk, because while he was breaking through he was very vulnerable for the time it took him. There's also the fact that it takes time, so we'd have enough of it to flee to a Fideliused safe house."

That made Harry scowl even more deeply. "Why didn't my family, then?"

Alduin sighed. "Because abandoning your ancestral home...that is truly taking extreme measures. I would do it because you are still a child, the last of your line and crucial for this war, so I would need to save you, but normally...you would only get the heir to safety. The rest of the family would always die fighting. Families are tied to their seats, Harry, there is ancient magic in it. It's not just some house."

Harry nodded in grim understanding. "My father was already safe somewhere, so..."

"Precisely."

"Well, I wish they hadn't cared so much about their house!" Harry exploded. "Then maybe I could have grown up with some normal relatives!"

Alduin sighed again. "They thought your parents were safe," he repeated. "If they ever dreamed of you growing up the way you did, of course they would have fled, Harry. They were tied to their seat, but you were the youngest son of their house. There was nothing they wouldn't have done for you."

-hp-hp-hp-hp-

Harry's unofficial birthday party went about as well as he expected it would.

It was held a few days earlier to improve security, and the guest list was the same as usual. Alduin had agreed to weekly meetings of the Gryffindor duelling club, so Harry had seen most of his housemates a few times already, but the rest of his friends – apart from Draco – he had not seen since the return from Hogwarts, and summer did not seem to agree with many of them. Not that it precisely agreed with Harry, what with the war worries and the Alduin thing and the more and more frequent dreams of creepy dark corridors – but he was well aware that he got off lightly compared to some others.

Horatio looked as grim as Draco did these days, so Harry took him aside as soon as he could, on the pretence of congratulating him on his Head Boy appointment.

"Does your summer suck as much as Draco's?" He asked then.

"Yeah," Horatio said with feeling. "Dad's...really not well."

Harry merely nodded. He had wondered if perhaps Riddle hadn't somehow discovered Mr. Malfoy was maybe less than devoted now, but it seemed he was going left and right torturing everyone. "Do you think the others are the same?"

"From what I know, yeah."

"That sucks," Harry said with feeling.

Horatio gave him a curious look. "I wouldn't think you'd exactly complain."

Harry shrugged. "Well they wouldn't be any more or less working for him whether he did this or not, and it sucks for the families, having to see that. Whatever I think of your fathers...I don't want you to have to..."

Horatio simply nodded. "Thanks, Harry," he muttered. "I wish...well. It doesn't matter. Just...it sucks."

"Have you talked about it to Draco, or Theo or someone?"

"Not yet – honestly, I tend to avoid people from that crowd these days, mostly. There are some conversations I don't want to be a part of."

"I think you should," Harry decided after a moment. Theo wasn't there, obviously – if he hadn't been allowed to Travers Manor before, it held doubly true now – but Draco was, and Harry manoeuvred the boys together and then left them alone.

Not that that was hard – he had noticed that many people tended to steer clear away from them, especially Gryffindors. It irked him – how was that going to help anything? - but at the same time, he couldn't exactly blame them. He was beginning to understand what Alduin had been trying to tell him for years – these things were complicated.

Heading away from the two Slytherins, he came across Hermione and Su enthusiastically discussing something, and as soon as Hermione spotted him she turned to him. "Oh, Harry!" She called. "There was something I wanted to ask!"

"Yes?" He stopped and turned towards her.

"I talked to Parvati about her father's Muggle Research Institute when we were leaving Hogwarts, and she told me that she didn't know much about it but that I should try your cousin, because he's apparently involved in financing it and also running it in some way?"

Harry nodded. "What do you need?"

"Well, it's just – I've been following it ever since the scandal at the Quidditch World Cup, when I firs learned about it, and it does some great work, but there are some really obvious holes there, so I was wondering...are there any actual Muggle-Born people working there?"

Harry shrugged. "I honestly have no idea. But I'm sure he'd be happy to tell you. Come on." He knew Hermione enough by now to understand that once she got her teeth into something, she wouldn't let it go lightly, and Alduin did like talking about his interests, so he hoped this wouldn't be too inconvenient.

Su gave a little sigh, and followed.

In her eyes, Harry could read her resignation regarding how she'd spend the rest of the party, and was glad to hand them over to Alduin and escape to his other friends.

It was his birthday. He was bloody well going to enjoy it, even if he had to try extra hard this year.