It had been a week since his breakdown in Laric's arms, and the surprising revelation of Gideon wanting to Court them all. Fionn had been fine with the idea, when they discussed it with him. He seemed to have known before any of them that it would happen. The Fae thought it would be good to have another dominant around, and they were already used to Gideon being there.
Harry was still feeling emotions that were not his own, and it was making him more jumpy than usual. The fact that Laric had insisted on taking him to the Healers today was not helping the jumpiness. When he concentrated, he could feel faint feelings of focus, and a hint of excitement.
He looked up when he heard footsteps.
"It is time to go." Laric walked up and kissed him on the top of his head. "Do not fret so. The Healers will figure out what is going on, and we can move forward from there."
Fionn moved to snuggle against Harry's side, sliding under one of his arms and bringing one to wrap around his own body.
Harry breathed in and then exhaled, nodding his head but staying quiet. He wanted to know what was going on, he did. But he was also worried he really was going crazy. He didn't remember leaving their house, or getting to the Healers. When he focused again, they were being led into one of the examination rooms.
With a gentle push from Laric, Harry was ushered inside. It was either the same room Healer Tristan usually saw him in, or all the examination rooms looked the same. There was the row of cabinets above and below the sink, with chairs on the opposite side of the door. And of course, the exam table near the far wall. Before Harry could work himself up any farther, Healer Tristan bustled into the room. He was holding a clipboard and reading something on the pages attached to it.
"Ah, Harry." Healer Tristan's voice was soothing, as it always was somehow. His midnight blue eyes sparkled under the harsh examination room lighting, reflecting the flickering of the ceiling lights as he looked up from his clipboard. "It's been a while since I've seen you here. How are you doing?"
"Could be better," Harry replied with a shrug, trying to keep his tone light but failing miserably. The fear in his green eyes gave him away.
Tristan sighed sympathetically and gestured towards the examination table. "Why don't you sit down and tell me what's been going on? I received notes from Laric but I think it would be best if I heard it from you."
Harry glanced at Laric before he moved to take a seat, Fionn moving to lean against the Storm Demon. Laric nodded encouragingly at him, offering him a ghost of a smile that did wonders to ease his worry.
"I'm not sure when it started exactly. Maybe during our Courtship with Laric?" Harry bit his lip and picked at a thread that was coming loose from one sleeve. "I'm not sure. I could feel Laric and Fionn during the Courtship. And maybe had some emotions that didn't fit, but they didn't really register since I was feeling two people already." He took a breath and looked up, only seeing encouragement and curiosity in the Healer's eyes.
"But after the Courtship ended, emotions are supposed to stop, right?"
Tristan nodded, but didn't speak yet, seeming to understand Harry wasn't actually done talking.
"But they didn't. Stop I mean. I can't feel Laric or Fionn anymore, but I keep feeling emotions that don't fit with what I'm doing. Like, I was flying and suddenly felt bored. But I love flying, and that emotion definitely wasn't mine! And I feel other things too. Like tiredness when I'm not, or annoyance and concentration and.." Harry suddenly realized he was almost in tears, and paused to take a deep breath. Fighting them back and clenching his hands on the examination table.
"This is...certainly unusual, Harry," he said eventually, his brows furrowing thoughtfully.
"Yeah," Harry said dryly. He frowned at the examination table before daring to look up again. "Do you... do you think it's possible that I might be going crazy?"
The question hung in the air for a moment before Tristan gave a soft laugh. "No, Harry," he replied reassuringly, shaking his head. "I don't believe you are going 'crazy.' Our minds are complex things and often react in strange ways. It's possible you have latent Empathy that is just starting to come out. It's possible that the Courtship bonds didn't end the way they should." He shrugged one shoulder lightly and set aside the clipboard.
"There are a few tests I can run. Do I have your permission to check your bonds, see if that tells us anything?" Midnight blue eyes held Harry's green, showing only calmness and compassion.
Harry glanced to Laric, and then back to the Healer. He slowly nodded, but didn't speak. Afraid he would start babbling or crying.
Tristan reached into a pocket and pulled out a plain silver ring. It looked old and worn. "This is one of my focuses, the spell I will be using works on me and will not touch you or your bonds. But it will allow me to see them." He rolled the ring around in his palms as he spoke, warming it slowly, then suddenly tossed it in the air and murmured something under his breath. The ring flashed and then fell back to his hands. But his midnight blue eyes were now glowing.
They seemed to see right through Harry, flitting all over him from head to toe. As the Healer looked at him, he occasionally seemed to trace things in the air with his eyes. Sometimes glancing towards where Laric and Fionn sat, sometimes looking at a blank wall. He made little humming noises, and reached out to seemingly pluck the air between Harry and the blank wall.
Nothing seemed to happen, and Harry felt nothing but a tiny prickle of sensation. But couldn't tell what was happening.
Tristan's eyebrows furrowed, his blue eyes flashing as they stared through Harry and to some unseen point only he could see. "That's... strange," he murmured, mostly to himself. He reached out again, plucking harder at the air in front of Harry as if attempting to catch a loose thread.
Harry didn't feel anything, until suddenly he felt a strong sense of confusion and a slight tug in the back of his mind. He jerked in surprise, then blushed slightly. "Uh... sorry," He stammered, rubbing his forehead as the sensation passed. The confusion had been strong, stronger than usual for the feelings that were not his. He looked at Tristan, whose glowing eyes never left him.
"Not your fault," said the Healer, his voice distant as he continued to study Harry. "You have an extra bond. No, two extra bonds. They're entwined with each other, but only half as strong as they should be if you were mated or Courting."
Laric shifted visibly, the Storm Demon's usual casual demeanor replaced by a gaze that watched the scene with hawk-like intensity. Fionn was frozen by his side, tension apparent in the way his lips pressed together in a thin line.
"What?" Harry blinked in surprise. "With who?"
Tristan hummed under his breath, dropping his hands and letting out a long sigh as he pocketed the ring. His glowing eyes dimmed a bit as he released the spell. "That, I cannot tell you. They are not in the room with you, and the bonds lead that way." He pointed at the wall. "Farther than that? The bonds look older than the one you have with Laric, but younger than Fionn's. And as I said, they are only half formed. I wouldn't be surprised if only you were getting the emotions, and not either of the others."
"But how could this have happened?" Harry demanded, frustration creeping into his voice. He had hoped for some sort of tangible solution, not more questions.
Tristan shrugged slightly. "I wish I could tell you, Harry. All I can say is that these bonds are likely causing the emotional flux you've been experiencing. The next step is to find those you're bonded with."
"And how are we supposed to do that?" Fionn asked softly, his fingers brushing against Laric's arm in a comforting gesture.
Harry stared at him, his heart pounding. He seemed not to have heard anything after being told he had two unknown bonds. "But... I don't have any other mates," he whispered.
"No," Tristan agreed, his voice somber. "You don't. But it seems that you have the start of a bond with two individuals who are not present. We'll need to figure out who they are, and how this happened."
A silence fell onto the room as Tristan stepped back from Harry and glanced at the others. "It might help if we delve deeper into your past relationships, Harry. Was there anyone significant before Fionn and Laric? A relationship that didn't end well perhaps?"
Harry raked a hand through his hair, wracking his brain for any potential candidates. He hadn't really been in a relationship before with anyone. Sure, he'd kissed Cho and for a little while there had been Ginny. But both of those didn't really get passed the first kiss. So he knew it couldn't be them.
He shook his head slowly, his eyes faraway as he combed through the recesses of his mind. "No...no one significant," he admitted. "Cho and Ginny were...they were just kisses."
Tristan narrowed his gaze thoughtfully. "Remember, it isn't always about physical relationships," he pointed out. "Bonds like these can form from emotional connections as well. Think deeper, Harry. Friends, acquaintances...anyone who might have held significance in your life. Anyone who you are still in enough contact with that the bond hasn't died off on it's own."
"Fred and George..." Fionn's soft words fell into the room, and Harry's eyes snapped to him.
"What?"
Fionn licked his lips, golden eyes steady on Harry.
"Magical backlash turned them into demons. That was after we were Courting, and before Laric. You like them, and they like you."
A deafening silence filled the room, and Harry felt his heart drop. Fred and George had indeed been a significant part of his life. Their laughter and pranks had proven to be a ray of sunshine in Harry's otherwise dark days at Hogwarts. And since their transformation into demons, their bond had somehow deepened. But he had never dared to think of them in terms beyond friendship.
"But... we never Courted." Harry insisted, sliding off the exam table and moving to curl up in Laric's lap. In desperate need for something stable. Laric's arms came around him, pulling him closer and running a hand soothingly between Harry's wings.
The healer shrugged, moving away from them to fetch a book from one of the shelves. He flipped through pages methodically, not once looking up from his task. "It doesn't always require a formal Courtship or mating ritual to form these connections. They can be spontaneous, sporadic even."
"Is there a way to confirm it?" Laric's quiet voice was steady, and soothed some of Harry's worry that the Storm Demon would be upset. He remembered how Laric had waited to Court him and Fionn until they weren't under his direct authority anymore. And George was still Laric's Vorthr...
"Yes," Tristan pivoted on his spot, holding a worn-out leather book in his hands. "There's an ancient ritual that allows for the identification of heart bonded mates. It's hardly been used since the era of elemental clans, but it should serve our purpose." Tristan finally looked up from the book, his gaze sweeping over the room and resting on Harry. "Might I suggest a moment of preparation? This can be quite... overwhelming."
Harry took in a deep breath, feeling Laric's chest rise beneath him. He nodded, not trusting himself to speak and instigated a ripple of action in the room. Fionn moved to perch on the opposite arm of the chair Laric and Harry were snuggled into, leaning against the Warrior and taking one of Harry's hands into his own.
Tristan set about arranging the room to make more space in the middle of the floor. Opening one of the cabinets, he pulled out a lidded bowl. Taking off the lid, he started sprinkling multicolored dust in a circle on the floor. Leaving the bowl on the counter, he opened various drawers and started pulling objects out in pairs. Going around the circle, he set two of each item inside the circle near the edge. Harry didn't recognize most of them. But he did see 2 candles, 2 sticks of incense, 2 rocks, and 2 small bowls of water.
Finally, Tristan stood looking at the circle with his hands on his hips. He moved one thing then another, just a touch here, a twist there. Then looked at the trio watching him.
"Alright, into the circle with you Harry. Sit in the center, and try not to move anything or smudge the circle." He waited for Harry to gingerly step over and sit cross legged in the center. "Each set of objects represents one of the Demon elements we have here in the Realm, as well as things for Djinn, Gargoyles, Fae, Incubi and Succubi. Whatever ones levitate and move in front of you, will represent your unknown bonds. As they hover, you need to look closely, and you should see a face in each object. That face will belong to the half-formed bond you have."
Harry just nodded. He couldn't speak, his throat felt tight and he wasn't sure if he wanted to know it was Fred and George, or hoped it was some random person in the Realm. He'd already managed to turn them into Water Demons. How was he going to tell them if he'd also bonded them to him?
While his thoughts were spiraling, Tristan had stepped back and started to read from the book. A light wind began to blow in the room, shadows flickered in and out, the scent of a storm rose, smoke swirled, the warmth of sunshine, and slowly things started to move. Two bowls appeared from his left. First one hovered in front of him, and tilted slightly so he could see the water within it, then the other. Identical faces peered out at him, but he could tell the first had been Fred, and the second George.
As he registered their faces, the bowls suddenly fell and the dust making the circle vanished. The ritual was over, and he raised his eyes to his mates. Harry's gaze was unconsciously pleading, his green eyes watering at the edges, shimmering under the soft lights.
Laric and Fionn were still as stone, seemingly holding their breath. Harry felt himself start to tremble, but Laric was immediately there, wrapping his arms around him and pulling him back against his chest, murmuring soothing words in his ear. Fionn moved closer as well, reaching out to take Harry's hand into his own.
Harry allowed the silent comfort of his mates to momentarily distract him from the revelation, closing his eyes and focusing on their heartbeats. The familiar rhythm was calming, giving him a semblance of control over his spiraling thoughts.
"It's Fred and George." He whispered, eyes closed as he sagged against Laric's chest.
"It will be alright. We will talk to them together."
Harry pulled back just enough to look up at the Storm Demon. "But we're supposed to be getting a Courting request from Gideon. How is it going to be all right? He won't want us when I'm half bonded to other people. And what about Fred and George? I bonded them against their wills!" His voice rose on the last word, the horror suddenly hitting him. He had basically forced them into his mateship without a word of permission! Even if Fionn had been right in saying they liked him that way, which Harry still wasn't sure of, they would hate him for this, wouldn't they?
Laric just squeezed him tighter, his brow furrowed thoughtfully. "We do not know for sure they did not want this, Harry. The bond would not have formed if there was not a connection...a mutual one."
"But I should've asked them!" Harry's eyes were wide, guilt settling heavily in them.
"Harry," Fionn's soft voice chimed in, still holding onto his hand. "You didn't know what was happening at the time. And it isn't something you could control. So how could you have asked them?"
"But still-" Harry began, only to be cut off by Laric's firm voice.
"Enough of this self-blame, Harry," he commanded gently. "We have not even spoken to them yet. Let us not assume the worst."
Harry's mouth clicked shut, and he tucked his head under Laric's chin, nodding silently.
"And as for Gideon... If he truly wishes to Court us, then he must accept all of us, in entirety. And it is not like he did not already know you are a trouble magnet." Laric's voice held a teasing note.
Harry let out a weak chuckle at Laric's comment, feeling some of the tension in his body ease. The thought of Gideon knowing about his tendency to attract trouble was somewhat comforting and amusing. He knew the Warrior was aware of his knack for getting into unpredictable situations, and had even joked about it in the past.
Fionn was silent for a moment, before speaking up again, "Besides, didn't you say Gideon could keep up with the twins? Perhaps he will be more understanding than you think."
That consideration seemed to bring a sliver of hope back to Harry's eyes. He turned towards Fionn, taking in his hopeful expression and then glanced back to Laric.
"You both really think so?" His voice was barely above a whisper, as if fearing that saying his hopes out loud would somehow shatter them.
Laric shared a glance with Fionn before giving Harry a nod, his face serious but not unkind. "We do. We will be by your side through this, Harry. We are in this together, remember?"
Harry nodded, feeling a surge of warmth at his mate's words. He blinked away the moisture that threatened to spill from his eyes as he gave them a small smile. "I'm lucky to have you both," he managed to mutter out, his voice thick with emotion.
"Yes, you are," Laric teased lightly, pressing a kiss to Harry's hair. His arms tightened around Harry, a comforting reminder of his unwavering support.
Fionn gave Harry's hand a squeeze, holding his gaze steadily. "And we are lucky to have you. Don't ever forget that."
With that settled, they collectively took a deep breath and prepared to confront the reality of the bond with Fred and George.
