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of-Lord-Potter-Black
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Гарри Поттер
Дом лорда Поттера-Блэка
Автор:
StarLight Massacre
Случайная встреча Гарри направляет его на путь, по которому ему
никогда не суждено было идти.
Его глаза открыты, он изо всех сил пытается контролировать гнев
внутри себя из-за лжи и манипуляций, но внезапное усыновление и
маловероятные союзники пытаются отделить его от Дамблдора.
Как волшебный мир отреагирует на лорда Гарри Джеймса Поттера-
Блэка, учитывая две светлости и связанные с ними обязанности?
Рейтинг: Художественная
литература M
– Английский – Романтика/Семейный – [Гарри П., Рабастан Л.]
Драко М., Люциус М. – Главы: 41 – Слов: 620 076 – Обзоров: 4 842 –
Избранное
: 10 459 – Подписок: 11 199 – Обновлено:
12.07.2023, 18:18:46
– Опубликовано:
23.09.2014, 17:14:48
– идентификатор: 10710981.
1. Enlightenment
Author: StarLight Massacre
Title: The House of Lord Potter-Black
Rating: R
Warning: Slash, explicit language, mentions of blood, torture and
violence in future chapters, Mpreg.
Pairing: Rabastan Lestrange/Harry Potter
Disclaimer: I do not own anything from Harry Potter; all rights go to J. K.
Rowling. I make no money for this piece of fictional writing and never
will.
Summary: A chance meeting for Harry sets him on a path he was never
meant to travel. With his eyes opened, struggling to control the anger
inside of him over the lies and manipulations, a sudden adoption and
unlikely allies work to split him from Dumbledore. With two lordships
and the responsibilities they entail, how will the wizarding world react to
Lord Harry James Potter-Black, especially when he declares that he won't
fight in their war?
The House of Lord Potter-Black
Chapter One - Enlightenment
Harry rolled over the side of his small, narrow bed until he was sitting
up, his eyes darting around the room frantically as he gasped raggedly
for breath, his heart beating a mile a minute as he tried to calm himself
down.
He swallowed back the acidic bile that was climbing its way up his
constricting throat, his uncle would be absolutely furious if he actually
vomited on any floor of his house. Not to mention that it would likely be
him cleaning it all up, after he'd been shouted at and sprayed with saliva
for an hour that was. Not a thought he relished.
He was drenched in a cold sweat that made him shiver uncontrollably,
even as he furiously kicked the thin, tangled blanket that he had covered
himself with last night from his body, ripping it from where it was
pinned underneath himself, even though it made him shiver harder to be
uncovered. He swallowed hard, past a fear clogged throat, and he
breathed slowly, in through his nose and out through his mouth. His
mind was racing around the nightmare that he'd been forced to suffer
through.
Dragging a hand over his face to get rid of the chilling sweat, Harry's
hand found its way up to his damp hair. The messy tufts were sticking up
even more than normal through the amount of sweat he'd produced,
which had slicked it in all angles while he'd tossed and turned, caught in
the nightmare that he'd been unable to wake from.
The reoccurring, horrific dream had been about Sirius, his beloved
godfather, who had died just days before the end of the last school year,
only a few short weeks ago, and the memories of it, the emotions he felt,
were still so raw and painful. It plagued him.
He swallowed hard and stood up from where he was sitting on the side of
the tiny bed. He had to get out of this house, he had to get out, being
trapped and locked up in this place with his disgusting, hateful relatives
was driving him insane. He no longer cared that he'd been told explicitly
that he was not allowed to leave the safety of Privet Drive by
Dumbledore at the end of the last year. He was in no mood to listen to
anyone. He had also seen for himself the guard that he had continuously
around the clock, more than likely Order of the Phoenix people, who
were always watching the house, always watching him and likely
reporting every single move and sound that he made back to
Dumbledore.
Harry wondered how heavy his night guard was when they logically
thought that he was in his bed, fast asleep. He kicked open his trunk and
dug out some clean clothes, dressing himself quickly before grabbing his
wand and his money pouch, making sure that he had his Gringotts vault
key in his pocket twice, just in case.
He needed to get out of here, out of this horrid, clinical, hateful house,
just for a few hours. A bit of retail therapy around Diagon Alley, having a
bit of exposure to the magical world that he'd all but been cut off from,
and he'd feel less trapped, less enclosed, he was sure.
He slipped his peeling trainers onto his feet, both socks had holes in
them, and he cracked open his bedroom door. His uncle had stopped
locking him in when Harry had 'casually' mentioned that he had a guard
watching him at all hours, day and night.
Harry first went into Dudley's bedroom. His cousin's snoring was so loud
that Harry didn't even bother being quiet as he crossed the large bedroom
to his cousin's dresser. He eased open the top drawer and snatched a few
of the notes lying crumpled up inside. He didn't take too many, if he had
taken them all then Dudley would have known, but if he only took a few
then Dudley wouldn't even notice them missing, which was sad as Harry
would have given anything for a few pennies as a child, even if he
couldn't have spent them, he could have still played with them and
known that he had something of monetary value, even if it was just a
penny.
Harry walked back out of Dudley's room and slipped down the stairs, he
knew logically that his guard wouldn't be sat on the doorstep or behind
his aunt's begonia bushes; they were more likely going to be in the corner
of the front garden, where the two garden walls met, where they weren't
likely to be found or accidentally trodden on and they'd be under one of
Moody's invisibility cloaks so they wouldn't be seen by anyone who cared
to look into the Dursleys' front garden. Harry easily outsmarted them, he
went out of the back door and fence hopped over the Dursleys' fence,
over the neighbour's fence, going around Wisteria Walk, thus avoiding
Mrs Arabella Figg, not that he expected her to be up at five in the
morning, but it was better to be cautious, just in case, and he set off in
the direction of Surrey town.
The only thing that could ruin his break for freedom now would be if it
was Moody himself who was on guard tonight, thus he'd probably have
his magical eye trained on him, but he'd gotten this far already, so he
hoped that it wasn't Moody on guard duty tonight. He really needed this
moment of rebellious freedom.
Harry slipped down Magnolia Road and past the park and he revelled in
the early morning air. He was feeling better already and the lingering
effects of his reoccurring nightmares that had been plaguing him for the
last month were eased away with the fresh air. He couldn't believe that
he was out in the open and as he walked further and further away from
Privet Drive, he found his breath coming easier and more steady from the
attack of emotions that had woken him up early that morning. Pain, fear,
and horror had grown and grown inside of him as he tossed and turned
in his dreams until he had woken like a shot, only to be confronted with
the lingering emotions and the pain of his reality.
He still couldn't believe that Sirius was gone, his last official family
member and he had nothing to remember him by, just a few memories
and his beloved Firebolt which he took excessively good care of. He
treated it at least once a week and waxed it until he was sure he would
slide right off of it if he were to actually fly it, but the polished ebony
handle gleamed in the light, he made sure to buff the goblin made
ironwork on the frame until his elbows ached and it always looked
utterly pristine with not a birch tail twig out of place. Every time he so
much as looked at it he would smile and he could see Sirius in his mind
and he would remember fondly that Sirius had bought this for him, he
had touched it and he had wanted him to have it. It helped him feel
closer to the memory of the man that he could no longer see, touch or
talk to.
It was nearing quarter past six in the morning when he made it to Surrey
town from his leisurely walk and he went into the nearest open café and
got himself a coffee. Sirius had always drank coffee, from morning until
night, Harry hardly ever saw him drinking anything else when he
actually had a choice in the matter, and when Harry had asked why he
drank so much of it, his godfather had let out that bark-like laugh that
always made Harry smile and told him that it was to keep himself awake
and functioning.
His ordered coffee was hot and bitter, despite how much sugar he'd put
into it, but he forced it down and went to the train station, he was going
to stay in London for as long as he possibly could and he was going to
need the coffee to keep himself awake while he shopped. He hadn't been
getting a lot of sleep lately, so he was going to need a lot of coffee.
An hour later found Harry in central London. The train ride had taken
him just forty minutes and he remembered exactly how to get from the
train station to Diagon Alley from his trip with Hagrid when he was
eleven. He was tapping bricks before eight in the morning and he
couldn't believe how good he felt just being out in the open air and
really, it just felt better because he'd been told that he wasn't allowed to
leave the Dursleys' house. He was feeling rebellious, he was done with
being told what to do. How dare anyone think that they knew what was
best for him! He knew his own mind, he knew himself, and he knew what
was best for himself better than anyone else. He would not allow others
to push him around just because they believed that they had the right to.
He came into Diagon Alley as it was still quiet and sleepy, shops were
only just opening up and there were yawning witches and wizards here
or there, but the bustle of the last months of the summer was not here,
not at this hour of the morning, not yet.
Harry went to a small, out of the way eatery. He wanted to call it a café,
but it was just too small. It had just three, two-seater tables and one
small stretch of counter and a tired old man yawning behind it on a firm,
solid and very padded chair.
"Good morning." Harry greeted cautiously.
"What's so damned good about it?" The old man grumbled, but he smiled
at him regardless.
"I suppose I deserved that." Harry allowed wryly.
"Ignore me. I'm a grumpy old man with too many pains and not enough
potions to cover them all. What can I do you for?"
"I was looking for a place to have a drink and maybe something to eat
while I wait for Gringotts to open for business." Harry answered.
"Come in then, what do you prefer to drink?"
"Can I have some toast? I think I need a coffee to stay awake this early
too. I tried some earlier and it wasn't all that nice, so I am hoping that
it'll taste better here."
"First time? Coffee's an acquired taste, much like firewhiskey. The more
you drink it, the more you fool your brain into liking it."
Harry laughed as he pulled a chair up to the counter and sat opposite the
man, who merely waved his wand and clinking and tinkering sounded
from the room through a door behind him.
"Don't think I don't know who you are, everyone knows Harry Potter,
even if you age and grow, that scar will always be there. What business
can you have at Gringotts, unless you mean to claim your lordship early?
Most little lords' do you know."
"What lordship?" Harry asked curiously as he took a cautionary sip of the
deep mug that had landed in front of him, it was strong and sweet and
much better than the coffee flavoured sugar water he'd bought that
morning. He was never going back to that coffee shop again.
"Your father was Lord James Potter, his father was Lord Fleamont Potter
before him, surely you have been told this?"
Harry shook his head as he nibbled on his lightly browned toast. It was
buttered just the way he liked it.
"I don't understand why you haven't been told, it is your birthright after
all. You should have at least been told and taught about what it entails,
even if you are too young to claim it without a special request from the
goblins."
"What is a lordship?" Harry asked curiously.
"Nearly all pureblood families have a lordship attached; a seat on the
Wizengamot and a voice in the Ministry, surely you know this?"
Harry shook his head with a frown. "I don't know any of this, there's
nothing about this at Hogwarts."
"They won't tell you in school, school is for general learning and only a
single handful in that school will even have a little lord who will claim
their father's lordship upon his death. Who is your guardian? They should
have told you all about this."
"My guardians are muggles."
"Not those guardians!" The man snapped impatiently. "Your guardian in
the wizarding world."
"I…I don't think I have one." Harry said with a frown.
"Of course you do, all little lords have a guardian if their parents have
passed. They need one to tell them about all the things they need to
know; the running of their house, their responsibilities in the Ministry
and the Wizengamot, how to manage their family and their finances, that
sort of stuff."
"I've never met mine." Harry said thinking hard about who could have
taken such a position in his life.
"You must have. It's usually a godparent, though I heard of the mess with
yours. Anyone could have laid claim to you as theirs after that, though I
believe the Ministry would have stopped just anyone from claiming you,
as special as you are. Because of that, the Headmaster of your school
would likely have taken over, that spineless Minister for Magic, Fudge,
wouldn't have stood up to or stopped him, so Dumbledore should have
told you all of this."
Harry frowned hard, trying to remember if Dumbledore had said
anything about him being a lord, or his father being a lord. He was sure
he would have remembered being told that he would one day be a lord.
But then, surely Sirius would have told him about this as his godfather,
or at least mentioned it to him…but then Sirius hadn't been in his right
mind and half of the very short, limited time they had actually spent
together they'd been getting to know one another after Sirius' wrongful
imprisonment, which hadn't left much time for such, seemingly, trivial
things.
"I would remember being told such things." Harry said softly. "No one has
ever so much as mentioned it to me."
"Then someone, somewhere, has done you a grave insult and a serious
injustice too. That someone would have his arse parked in your seat on
the Wizengamot."
"Are people allowed to hold two seats?"
"They can only have two seats if they're the lord of two houses, very
rarely does that happen. Those purebloods always make sure that they
have an heir to pass their seat to and failing that, there's always a lesser
male heir to take the seat, though if the heir is also the only child to
another pureblood family, they could then claim two seats when their
father passes his lordship onto his son."
"Doesn't Dumbledore have his own seat? Isn't he the Chief Warlock or
something, why would he need my seat too?"
"Who says he needs it?" The old man grunted. "Could be he just doesn't
want you in it."
"But why?" Harry said with a considering frown.
"I say ask the goblins, they'll sort you out, but only if you ask for their
help, vile beasts that they are, they won't do anything for anyone unless
they beg like a common muggle, but they're still very shrewd and they're
always willing to help for a price."
Harry scowled at hearing the man calling the goblins vile beasts, but he
said nothing. This man had helped him and Harry knew all too well the
views that some people in the magical world held of what they
considered as 'lesser beings.' It disgusted him, but just this once, he held
his tongue.
"Thank you for the advice." Harry said as he handed the last few Galleons
in his money pouch to the old man. "And for the toast and coffee too, but
you've given me a lot to think about and I really need to see the goblins
now, for more than what I bargained for it seems."
"You tell them that you want to claim your lordship early, they won't do
squat all if you don't turn around and tell them what to do and then you
get yourself to Flourish and Blotts and get yourself books on lordships to
help you."
Harry nodded his understanding and he waved away the few silver
Sickles that the man tried to hand him as he left. He really did have a lot
to think about and now that he had a real agenda for being here today,
he strode purposefully towards the bank, for more than just the quick
withdrawal from his vault that he'd been planning on earlier that
morning. He'd only wanted to do a bit of shopping and get some retail
therapy done, why did these things always happen to him?
He was sitting in an office, it was quite bare really, but he was here to
'validate his claim' whatever the hell that meant. Maybe he should have
gone to Flourish and Blotts first, but then he wasn't the fastest of readers
and he only had today to do this. He had no doubts that the end of
month rush for school supplies would leave him very little time to do
much other than to actually get just his school supplies. It would be too
busy and too hectic to do anything else and with the Weasleys watching
over him like a hawk and Ron always trailing after him too, this would
likely be his only chance to get this sort of thing done.
He'd done as the man in the small café had told him to do. He'd told the
goblins why he was there and what he wanted, as politely and
respectfully as he could manage. Just because he had to tell them that he
wanted something, didn't mean he had to do it rudely or disrespectfully,
especially as he had very high respect for the goblins in general.
His leg was bouncing nervously as he waited and he couldn't seem to
help thinking that he'd made a mistake, what if the old man had been
wrong or was just playing him for a fool? What if he wasn't a lord at all?
After all, he'd never heard of anyone in the wizarding world being a lord,
surely if all purebloods were lords then Malfoy would have at least tried
to rub his nose in it.
Before he could really work himself up the door opened and he jumped
as a particularly gruesome-looking goblin waddled in and slammed the
door shut again before climbing onto the chair behind the desk.
"You wish to claim your lordship early, I hear. What makes you think
that you deserve it early?" The goblin demanded of him.
Harry blinked and rubbed his sweaty palms on his ripped and worn, far
too big, baggy jeans.
"I…I don't know. I didn't know anything about it an hour ago." Harry
explained nervously.
The goblin reared back and blinked in shock.
"You weren't told?" He demanded angrily.
Harry shook his head. "A stranger told me that I should come here and
claim my lordship, but before then I had no idea about it or that I should
be a lord."
Snarling, the goblin snapped his fingers harshly and loudly, making
Harry flinch. Nothing happened to him, but a large pile of parchment
appeared on the desk and the goblin completely ignored Harry in favour
of reading through the stack in front of him.
Bewildered, nervous, and not entirely sure he should have mentioned
anything, Harry sat restlessly opposite the goblin and his leg started
bouncing again, but he also started getting angry, that small build-up of
cold fury he'd been getting every now and then, ever since Sirius had
died a few weeks before. He'd only felt this cold rage a few times before
then and all of those times had happened during the last year and had
been to do with Voldemort. He tried to calm himself, getting angry at the
goblins would yield nothing, except perhaps get him thrown out of the
bank, wouldn't that be a lovely spectacle for the people on the street? Not
to mention that the office building for the Daily Prophet newspaper was
just around the corner.
He breathed as evenly and deeply as he could, trying to dispel the rage
that he felt growing inside of him, his knee jumping more vigorously as
he bounced it harder against the floor.
"Your guardian is one, Albus Dumbledore. Is this information correct?"
The goblin asked him suddenly, startling Harry.
"I…yes…I don't know." Harry bumbled. "The stranger told me that
Dumbledore was my guardian, but I wasn't told that before either, I
thought he was just my Headmaster. I didn't know what a magical
guardian was."
The goblin bared his teeth and stood up and left the office. Harry wasn't
sure what he was supposed to do so he just sat where he had been left,
bouncing his foot against the floor. He couldn't believe this was
happening; he'd only come here for a quick withdrawal, but one short
meeting with a complete stranger had him here for other reasons and
now he was stuck, floundering, unsure of anything and everything that
was happening around him, despite these happenings being about
himself.
The door slammed open once more and the goblin came back into the
room and sat back behind his desk, snatching up more parchment and
reading angrily, flipping pages over to read those underneath it.
"What's happening?" Harry asked quietly, even though he wanted to
shout, scream and rage, demanding answers from the goblin in front of
him.
"I have contacted the Ministry and have informed them of this case of
lordship neglect. They are sending one of the lords involved in the
Wizardry Protection Movement. We will proceed once he has arrived."
"What's that?" Harry asked curiously.
The goblin gave him such a look that Harry regretted ever opening his
mouth.
"Do you have any inclination of how the world, of which you are a part,
is run?" The goblin demanded furiously.
"I…" Harry swallowed and shook his head. "No. I don't know anything
about this sort of stuff, I was never told and it's not taught at Hogwarts."
The goblin snorted. "That's not a surprise." He said nastily, but he
countered his harsh tone and sneer by grabbing a small piece of memo
parchment and scrawling a list on it. "Buy these books and read them
carefully, repeatedly if you must." He all but ordered and all Harry could
do was nod.
A sharp knock on the door had the goblin barking out an order for
whoever it was to enter. Harry leapt to his feet when a pristine and regal
looking Lucius Malfoy walked through the door.
"What's he doing here?" He all but snarled.
Lucius Malfoy raised a perfect, platinum blonde eyebrow. He was
wearing glorious robes in resplendent dark blue and every stitch
screamed wealth and propriety as his usual snake-headed cane, which
concealed his wand, was held in a gloved hand and even they weren't
simple gloves, but made from high-quality dragonhide, dyed a blue that
perfectly matched his robes of the day.
"I happen to be the lucky wizard chosen to come and enlighten you as to
your role in our world, Mister Potter." Lucius told him silkily. "As a
founding member of the Wizardry Protection Movement, it is my sworn
duty to help young wizards who are struggling to come to terms with
pureblood etiquette and the running and ruling of their house."
"What house?" Harry asked with narrowed eyes. As far as he knew he
didn't have any houses.
Lucius Malfoy sighed. "I understand now why you asked for assistance,
Nagnok. Do you know anything about your heritage, Mister Potter?"
"What heritage?" Harry asked, deflating a little, but he kept his hand on
his wand.
"Sit down." Lucius ordered him as he sat in the second chair gracefully.
"We are going to be here for a long while I imagine."
Harry carefully eased himself into the seat beside Lucius Malfoy, but he
remained on guard, he was burning with curiosity, but not enough to
forget that this man was dangerous. Though he hoped that he knew the
man enough to know that he wouldn't attack him in a bank, even if they
were in a private office. Lucius Malfoy cared for his public appearance,
after all, and had been deeply embarrassed when Mister Weasley had
physically attacked him in Flourish and Blotts four years ago now.
"How much do you know about lordships?" Lucius asked him.
Harry shrugged. "Nothing, a stranger told me that I should come to claim
my lordship, so that's what I did."
Lucius sighed. Harry watched him closely as he put his cane down. He
noticed with curiosity that Malfoy had put the cane down on the table in
front of him, but the snakehead, and thus his wand, was aimed at him
and, as Malfoy tugged his gloves off of long, nimble fingers, Harry
wondered why the man had put his wand out of his immediate reach. He
would be able to draw his wand on the elder man before Malfoy even
touched the snakehead of the cane…was that perhaps why he had done
such a thing? As ridiculous as it sounded, the only reason Harry could
think of was that Lucius Malfoy was trying to put him at ease and give
him subtle signs to show that he wasn't going to just up and attack him in
the bank.
"So you believed this stranger, who just wandered up to you and blurted
out that you should come and claim a lordship that you had never heard
about and you just did what he asked?"
It was Harry's turn to sigh. "No. I was having coffee with him while I
waited for the bank to open this morning and he wanted to know why I
was in Diagon so early, so I told him I was coming here and he asked me
if it was to claim my lordship early. The conversation went from there."
"We need to validate your claim, but you are underage so we need the
permission of your guardian first before we can proceed."
"My guardians are muggles and wouldn't even come here under threat of
death and Dumbledore was the one who was supposed to tell me about
this stuff in the first place and he didn't." Harry pointed out heatedly.
"He has a fair point, Nagnok, perhaps I should stand in as his guardian.
After all, I am a founding member of the Wizardry Protective Movement,
it is my duty to help and protect young wizards, to educate them. That
Mister Potter doesn't even know about his own lordship is very
neglectful, think of the power and influence that Dumbledore gains from
holding Mister Potter's proper titles from him…why, it is almost
criminal."
The goblin nodded and snapped his fingers once again and a box
appeared in front of him. He opened it and took out an empty vial and
one filled with a strange liquid.
"I will need your blood."
"Excuse me?" Harry asked, his brows lowering.
"Blood never lies." The goblin told him. "Potions can be messed with,
appearances may not be what they seem, mannerisms can be learnt, but
blood never lies."
"Simply prick your finger and place a few drops of blood into the empty
vial." Lucius Malfoy told him smoothly.
Harry looked at him strangely. "How do I make myself bleed?"
"Surely you know the charm to make a small cut? What is Hogwarts
teaching you children these days?"
Harry went red-cheeked and silently fumed. He startled when the snake-
headed cane vanished just on the edge of his vision and he heard Malfoy
sigh before his hand was snatched by one of those long-fingered, pale
hands and Malfoy had his wand out in his other hand. Before Harry could
so much as react or give him a good kick, the tip of his index finger was
split open with a small, half a centimetre long cut and Malfoy caught the
small flow of blood into the empty vial before another simple charm
healed his finger again perfectly, not so much as a red mark to show
where the cut had been moments before.
Harry fumed silently as he stuck his finger into his mouth to suck off the
remaining blood. Malfoy scowled at him, he was holding out a square of
cloth, a handkerchief, but he slipped it back into his pocket as Harry
glared at him defiantly, still sucking the traces of blood off of his healed
skin. Harry wasn't that stupid, he wasn't giving his blood to Malfoy of all
people.
He watched suspiciously as Malfoy inserted his wand back into the cane
and clunked it back onto the desk; the snakehead was again facing Harry.
He turned back to the goblin who had mixed the strange liquid in the
second vial with his blood before shaking it vigorously and then tapping
it with the tip of his finger, which he then tapped on a piece of large
parchment.
Harry watched in fascination as runes started spreading out over the
parchment, he wished he could read them. The goblin, Nagnok, then
uncorked the vial and tipped it over the parchment and Harry was
amazed when it started forming letters and then words.
"Harry James Potter, born in July of nineteen-eighty to James Doran
Potter and Lily Potter née Evans." Nagnok read aloud questioningly.
Harry bobbed his head. "That's right."
"You were legitimised on the twenty-sixth of September nineteen-eighty,
correct?"
"Legitimised? What does that mean?" Harry asked, looking from Nagnok
to Malfoy in confusion.
"Your father wanted you to have the Potter lordship, which he couldn't
have given to you if you had remained a halfblood, so he had you
legitimised by naming an appropriate pureblood as your godfather."
Lucius replied smoothly. "If you marry an appropriate pureblood, then
the Potter line will remain in the Pureblood Directory, if you marry
someone who isn't a pureblood, then the Potter family will be taken from
the Directory and your children will be unable to claim your lordship
when you pass and it will fall into the hands of the Ministry unless you
declare your seat voided."
"What if I name a pureblood as their godfather?" Harry asked thinking of
Ron.
"As you, yourself, are not fully pure and your spouse will not be pure
either, then your children cannot be legitimised whereas if you marry a
pureblood, you may then be allowed to legitimise all children you have
to claim them as pureblooded. The lines of the Potter family will remain
unbroken, they will be bent a little due to your muggleborn mother, but
still legally pure as she was still a witch and not a squib or a muggle."
Harry's head spun with all this new information and he nodded his
understanding. He wasn't planning on marrying anyone for a long while,
so he had time to figure out how important this lordship was and if he
wanted to pass it down to his maybe children.
"Why does me being legitimised show up on a blood test?" Harry asked
instead.
"To fully legitimise you, your chosen godfather would have given his
blood to you, so his blood, which was pure, would run through your
veins to a lesser extent than your parents' blood, to make up for your
mother's impure blood, but it is still picked up by the blood test
administered."
Harry nodded again.
"With the recent passing of the Black heir, Sirius, who was named your
godfather on the twenty-sixth of September fifteen years ago, you also
have the most legal claim to the Black lordship." Nagnok told him.
Harry felt Lucius Malfoy stiffen beside him and his hand slid down
further to touch his wand handle instead of merely hovering over it, just
in case.
"Would you claim this as well?"
"I don't even know what they are." Harry sighed exasperatedly.
"I would advise you to claim them both." Malfoy told him, completely
surprising Harry. "Draco is a candidate for the Black lordship through his
mother's side, but as Black's actual blood runs through your veins as his
godson, you are the closest thing to an actual son that he had before his
passing. Draco needs to focus on his studies more, I fear a lordship would
be…ill-suited to him at the moment."
"Why not just let him have it?" Harry asked curiously, wondering why the
hell Malfoy was passing this opportunity over. "It must be a huge honour
from what the man in the café was saying for someone to have one
lordship, let alone two."
"It is, but it is yours by rights and I would prefer that Draco focused more
on his studies. He is already very distracted lately, it seems he spends
more and more time with his little friends than he does studying and his
subject grades are…declining."
"He and Pansy were getting very close last year, a Ravenclaw swore she
saw them coming out of a broom cupboard all messed up."
Lucius Malfoy's eyes widened slightly and his nostrils flared, but that was
the only outward sign he gave that he'd even heard Harry.
"How would you know of these things?" He asked smoothly, seemingly
unable to ignore the conversation now that it had started playing on his
mind.
"Things like that don't stay a secret at Hogwarts. There were stories too
about Pansy taking early morning visits to Madam Pomfrey; apparently,
she'd had a pregnancy scare."
That got Harry the tightening of a fist and he saw the visible effort it took
the elegant man opposite him to keep from immediately standing and
leaving to chase down Draco and demand the truth from him.
"Thank you for informing me of this behaviour. I'll be sure to correct
Draco of his wrongdoing and inform Lord Parkinson of his daughter's
behaviours and advise that she has a purity test done. Such behaviour is
beneath us purebloods. Her betrothal match will reflect her behaviour
accordingly."
"Draco isn't the worst, just the most sought after. Blaise Zabini is the
worst; he'll sleep with anything that so much as moves."
"If we could get back on track." The goblin demanded.
"So, I'd have two lordships, the Potter and the Black?" Harry questioned
after a long silence. "Why did no one tell me this before?! No one has so
much as mentioned it in passing to me, not even Sirius."
"They obviously didn't want you to know." Lucius told him simply. "All of
the sacred pureblood families have a seat on the Wizengamot; did it
never occur to you to ask why Dumbledore, a halfblood, was the Chief
Warlock when he had no rights to a seat?"
"No." Harry replied easily.
Lucius sighed. "Dumbledore is using your own seat to preside from, in
your name of course. If you claimed your lordship then he'd have to…step
aside, to make room for you. I don't believe that he'd enjoy relinquishing
such power and then having a new Chief Warlock voted in as well, one
that perhaps won't be deep in his pocket and willing to play puppet to
him. After all, nearly every person on the Wizengamot is pureblooded;
only certain exceptions are made, as the Heads of all reputable
departments also have a Wizengamot seat."
"So, you're saying that he's sat in the seat that I should be in? Who has
the Black seat?"
"It's currently being held by Dumbledore too as the Chief Warlock of the
Wizengamot, fancy that." Lucius sneered. "Two seats that you should
have control of are being presided over by him and he didn't even tell
you about them."
Harry's hand clenched tight as the fury rose in him again. Even if he
didn't know what to do with his two seats, he didn't want Dumbledore to
have them. It would serve him right for locking him back up with the
Dursleys after Sirius' death and ordering him not to leave the house and
ordering him not to send out any owls or for his friends to send any to
him.
"I want to claim my lordship, both of them." He said firmly.
Nagnok nodded. "We will set this up for you, for a fee, of course."
"I think I have enough in my vault to pay a fee. I don't think I'll spend all
that gold on school things when I only have two more years left."
"What do you mean?" Lucius asked him carefully.
"The vault I have here. I think there's more than enough gold in there to
see me through the next two years of schooling and to pay a fee."
Lucius sighed. "This is much worse than I feared. I take it that no one has
told you the difference between house vaults and trust vaults."
Harry frowned. "I…no."
"The vault that you are using now would be a trust vault, money laid
aside for your use by your parents. Your father, as Lord Potter, would
have had control of the house vault, which would be considerably larger
than a mere trust vault. He would then lay aside trust vaults for all those
in his house and supply the trust vault with a sum of money. He could
choose a lump sum or he could choose to top it up weekly, monthly, or
yearly with a fixed sum for however many years he wished to, which
would then be taken from the main house vault. With his death and with
you being so young, that vault would have been sealed off until you
either came of age or claimed your lordship."
Harry swallowed hard. He felt sick to his very stomach. "No one told me
that either."
"After fifty years have passed and no one has claimed it, then anything
inside the vault goes to the Ministry. The Potter vault has been sealed for
fifteen years already; I can't begin to imagine the amount of interest that
has stacked up over the last decade and a half."
"It is a substantial amount." Nagnok nodded. "Lord Potter and his lady
wife rarely touched the house vault and Lord Potter chose to deposit a
lump sum into a trust vault for his son. I believe they only took out what
they needed for food and small items and Lord Fleamont and his lady
wife left their son a vast amount to begin with, after their untimely
passing. If we add in the considerable Black family vault too, which has
been sealed for eleven years after the passing of Lady Walburga Black,
then you are a very wealthy young wizard."
"Sirius was using his bank vault." Harry pointed out confusedly.
"Sirius was the rightful heir, but he never claimed his lordship after his
father passed away and neither did he claim the house vault after his
mother passed away six years later." Lucius told him patiently. "I believe
he was still using his more than considerable trust vault."
"Oh." Harry felt overwhelmed and a little shocky.
"I understand that this is a lot to take in." Lucius told him and placed a
gentle hand on his shoulder.
Harry reacted violently and he all but shoved the man's hand off of him.
"Don't touch me. You have no right to touch me!" Harry shouted, his
mind flashing to the events of the graveyard and those of the Department
of Mysteries, where Sirius had died that night.
"As you wish." Lucius said silkily. "If we could hurry this meeting along,
Nagnok."
"Of course, Lord Malfoy. Now that we have validated who you actually
are and that you are Harry James Potter, heir to the Potter and Black
families, we can now start the claiming process."
"What do I need to do?"
"This will disrupt your education." Lucius cut in. "Meetings can be called
at any time of day, though we do tend to wait until the next morning if a
situation occurs during the night, unless it is gravely urgent, of course,
and cannot wait. You will be given your lordship rings and when they
heat up, you are to make your way straight to the Ministry for a meeting.
A meeting that cannot start until everyone who has been called arrives.
Your professors cannot stop you from going to these meetings, but
likewise, you will not be allowed to slack off on your education, you will
have to work doubly hard at your studies than everyone else in that
school."
Harry nodded his understanding, he was sure that Hermione would be
thrilled if he started taking more interest in his studies and he was sure
that the moment he told her about his lordships and the Wizengamot,
then she would know more about it than him within a week and she
would be willing to help him.
"Okay."
"Can you handle such a workload?"
"What does being on the Wizengamot actually entail?"
"You will need to give your vote to laws and proclamations that you feel
should or shouldn't be passed; you will need to pass judgement on
criminals brought before the Wizengamot based on the reports we are
given and the trials we witness and we discuss matters brought before the
Wizengamot by members of the public, among other things."
"So it's all of our own opinions?" Harry asked a bit relieved.
"There are certain politics to be observed as well." Lucius told him. "For
example, Bellatrix Lestrange is a daughter of house Black. Lord Orion
Black, when he was living, couldn't go against Lord Xerxes Lestrange
without damaging his daughter's union to one of Lord Lestrange's
grandsons."
"So it's all political rubbish to do with marriage and stuff?" Harry pulled a
face of distaste.
Lucius smiled. "My wife is a daughter of house Black as well; you are the
new Lord Black."
"I won't be deferring to anyone." Harry said stubbornly. "If you don't like
your wife now, after all these years, and with Draco too, then that's your
problem and I couldn't give a fuck about Bellatrix having a happy union,
she can go die for all I care."
Lucius actually chuckled and nodded to Nagnok. "Let us wrap this up,
Nagnok, and then I can take Mister Potter to buy the books that he will
need."
"I have all of the legal documents here, fully written out."
"When did you do that?" Harry asked in amazement.
"When you first asked to claim your lordship earlier this morning."
Nagnok replied as if Harry were particularly stupid.
"Now now, Mister Potter is quite ignorant of all of these proceedings, we
need to be patient with him."
The goblin nodded and snapped his fingers and a stack of parchment
appeared before him.
"You just need to sign here."
Lucius' hand intercepted his as he went to pick up a very familiar black
quill with an abnormally sharp point.
"Never sign anything without reading it first, you stupid boy." Lucius
chastised him. "What if you didn't like the terms? What if the other party
have verbally agreed to do something that isn't in the formal document?
What if you are signing away everything you own on the trust you hold
for someone that you've known for all of five minutes? Read everything
before you sign it, even from someone you trust and have known for sixty
years, even if it's your own wife or child. You always read everything
before you sign it."
Harry swallowed and nodded, feeling very foolish, but he picked up the
first page from the large stack of parchment and he started reading it
slowly and carefully. He had never been a fast reader.
It took him an hour before he finally finished the last page and he felt
very self-conscious and embarrassed that he'd kept Lucius Malfoy and a
Gringotts goblin waiting quietly for a whole hour while he read through
everything, trying his hardest to understand it.
"Did you understand half of what you've just read?" Lucius asked him
knowingly.
Harry shook his head, feeling even more humiliated, but he saw no point
in lying. He hadn't understood a lot of what he had read on those pages.
Lucius hummed and Harry only just noticed then that as he had put a
page down, Lucius had picked it up to read it himself.
"This is all in order, nothing I didn't expect." He said. "You're free to sign
if you're willing to accept full lordship for both the Potter and the Black
houses and responsibility for both house vaults, all trust vaults attached
to them and responsibility for all patrons connected to your houses."
"Will…will you find me a book that helps me understand the things that I
didn't know? Just in case I need to do something like this again in the
future." Harry forced himself to ask, feeling sick with himself just for
asking something of this person, but Malfoy had offered him no
aggression or violence, he was just sitting there, helping him. It galled
him.
"Of course, I will." Lucius agreed amiably.
Harry picked up the quill and scowled at it, his hand clenching around it
tightly.
"This quill will be unlike anything that you have ever used before." Lucius
told him. "It is used for signing official documents only and it will draw
blood from you as you write. As you've likely figured out, blood is very
important to magic, so naturally, all legal, binding, magical contracts are
signed in blood."
"I have used a quill like this before, it was last year." Harry said grumpily.
"I fail to understand how." Nagnok said. "Only Gringotts and the Heads of
each department at the Ministry of Magic are allowed to even have one
of them. There is only a handful of them in use at any one time. The loss
of one is punishable by a hefty fine and even suspension and loss of
position at the Ministry of Magic. One has not been lost in several
decades, nor has one of these quills been given to Hogwarts School. They
are heavily regulated and all of them are tracked regularly to make sure
that they are where they're supposed to be and with the person that
they're supposed to be with."
"What did you sign with one of these quills? Was it for Dumbledore?"
Lucius asked him a bit frantic.
Harry frowned at them both. "No. Umbridge."
"What did you sign for that woman?" Lucius demanded. "She had no
reason to ask you to sign anything, least of all a magically binding
document signed with blood."
"She wasn't making me sign anything; she was forcing me to write lines
with it during detention."
Lucius looked aghast. Harry was confused, why did the man care so
much? Why was he helping him? He wasn't sure what the hell was going
on here, his brain was telling him that he should be careful, that he
should be afraid, but his body was refusing to react. He felt at ease,
curious and overwhelmed sure, but he didn't feel like he was in any
danger.
"Didn't Draco tell you?" Harry frowned harder.
"I sincerely doubt that he knew about this." Lucius insisted.
"He was part of her Inquisitorial Squad that year, of course, he knew. He
was even in the room when she threatened to use the Cruciatus curse on
me to get information that she wanted from me. I bet he never told you
that either."
The look on Lucius' face told Harry that he didn't know about that either,
he tried to hide that fact, but he seemed to be genuinely shocked, which
confused Harry even more.
"Overuse of this type of quill can cause permanent scarring." Nagnok told
him.
"I know that too." Harry said as he held out his right hand, twisting it to
the candlelight to show the pale white scars on the back of his hand, in
his own handwriting. 'I must not tell lies.'
Lucius actually seized his hand and checked the scars over, brushing over
the five words with the pad of a smooth thumb.
"This…this is diabolical!" He hissed furiously. "That a student of
Hogwarts would be treated this way, that a contract quill would be
misused as a punishment for underaged wizards. A fifteen-year-old,
permanently scarred!"
"Oh, I wasn't the youngest, she had a whole class of first years writing
lines, they were openly crying by the end and one little girl wanted
nothing more than to just go home and never come back, her shirt was so
bloodstained that the house-elves had to clean it twice to get rid of the
stain."
"What were they doing to deserve this treatment?" Lucius demanded.
"They were practising their spell casting during their break in the
courtyard. She didn't like us using magic."
"She would never have done this to Draco, never. He wouldn't have
allowed it. He would have told me!"
"Like I said, he was part of her Inquisitorial Squad. She left the
purebloods alone, anyone who was a Slytherin was safe. It was everyone
else who had to worry, even the first years."
"Are they permanently scarred as well?"
Harry shook his head. "No, they never used the quill often enough. I was
purposefully targeted because of the Ministry witch hunt against me last
year and I was in her office nearly every night. She found reasons to give
me punishment, even for things she just thought I'd done and had no
proof of, just because I told her that Voldemort was back and had killed
Cedric and that Fudge was a bumbling fool and the wizarding world
would be better off if he stepped aside. I think she loves him."
"I am so glad that you have brought this matter to my attention. I will
have that woman in Azkaban as soon as can be managed." Lucius hissed.
"She told us that she could do it, she said she had permission from
Fudge."
"A bumbling idiot he may be, and an utter incompetent fool as well, but I
very much doubt that he knew anything about this. He wouldn't have
allowed any magical child to be abused in such a way. Not when half of
the governors' children are currently attending Hogwarts and when half
of the Wizengamot have young relatives in Hogwarts."
"Where do I sign?" Harry asked as he looked at the pile of parchment.
Nagnok snapped his fingers again and a bowl of a very familiar liquid
appeared. Essence of Murtlap. Harry steeled himself, he'd done this
countless times before, once he had even done it for so long that he'd
almost passed out from blood loss on his way back to the Gryffindor
common room.
Harry scrawled his signature and ground his teeth together as the
familiar, itchy sensation came back to him, his hand had opened with his
own name and then it had healed almost instantly, but the back of his
hand was a bright, cherry red already.
He signed his name everywhere that Nagnok pointed and it took just
three signatures before his hand stopped closing over, blood quickly
covering the back of his hand and slipping down his wrist.
Lucius wrapped a handkerchief around his wrist to keep it from staining
the documents he was signing, the same one that he had offered when he
had cut his finger for him.
Harry finished signing his name and his hand was on fire, but it was
immediately submerged into the bowl of Murtlap tentacles and it was
soothed instantly.
"You're going to have trouble signing these sorts of contracts for the rest
of your life; the quill has left permanent damage."
Harry nodded his understanding.
"I sort of understood that. I knew she was doing permanent damage to
me, she knew it too, but still, she had me writing the same line over and
over, sometimes she'd press her thumb to the cut to see how much it hurt
me and if I didn't try to pull away or gasp with pain, she'd have me
coming back the following night to 'get the message to sink in more.' She
wanted to do me permanent damage."
"But you hadn't done anything further to earn an additional detention?"
Lucius clarified.
Harry shook his head. "I told you, half of the detentions I served with her
didn't have a real reason, she just kept adding them on and drawing them
out by saying I hadn't written enough lines to serve as a proper
punishment and I'd have to come back again the following night. I'd have
even more detentions then as I was missing homework because I spent
half the night with her and I was too drowsy and weak afterwards to stay
awake to finish my homework."
"How long were you doing this each night?"
"Straight after dinner until whenever she would release me, it went on
until midnight once and I almost passed out from blood loss."
"She made you write with a contract quill for seven straight hours?"
Lucius demanded furiously.
Harry nodded. "Hermione was the smart one; she figured out what was
happening and always had a bowl of Murtlap Essence waiting for
whenever I got back to the common room."
"If she were truly smart then she would have told an adult."
"All of the Hogwarts staff already knew." Harry shrugged. "They couldn't
do anything, not even Dumbledore, she had too much power at the
school by then and she knew it."
"I will sort this out, she won't get away with this, my son was at that
school and a pureblood had been injured."
Harry frowned at that as he tried to recall an injured pureblood. Lucius
sighed at him and looked at him as if he were completely hopeless.
"You have claimed two lordships, you are by rights and by legitimisation
a pureblood and you were injured by that woman."
Harry flushed a faint pink and ducked his head. "Are we done here?" He
asked, wanting nothing more than to slip away and think about
everything that had happened, least of all Lucius Malfoy actually helping
him.
The same Lucius Malfoy who had cornered and threatened him and his
friends just weeks ago, the same man who had escaped from the
Department of Mysteries with a certain few others to escape the clutches
of the Aurors and who was now sat next to him as if none of that had
ever happened! It was too much, he was going to explode into a rage if
he didn't get out of here soon, it was too weird for him to handle at this
moment.
"You just need your house rings, remember that when they heat up, no
matter what you're doing, you have to make your way to the Ministry
immediately."
"How often can I expect to be called? So I know what schedule I need to
set up for school work and how will I get there? I'm still too young to
Apparate by myself."
"Your rings will act as a Portkey while you're so young." Lucius informed
him. "It will give you fifteen minutes to get out of the school wards
before activating, if you miss that then you'll have an additional Portkey
activation five minutes later, if you miss that then you have to make your
own way to the Ministry. Remember that we cannot start until every
member is there. As for how often, it differs, we usually meet every other
month or so to catch each other up on events that might have been
missed and to discuss things that may need monitoring or changing, but
trials can happen at any moment, day or night."
Harry nodded and Nagnok handed over two ancient, chunky rings. One
was large, golden and engraved on the band was the Black family crest
and motto. It was the other ring that made him catch his breath,
however, because he knew that his father, and before him his
grandfather, had also worn this ring. It was smaller than the Black ring
but no less chunky. Both bands were thick with gold, but the Potter ring
had a small ruby inset in the band and on the face of the ruby, the Potter
insignia was carved carefully, likely by hand.
"Which fingers do they go on?"
"It will take a while to get used to it, as they will both sit on the same
finger, the Potter ring first and then the Black. They will both sit on the
fourth finger of your right hand."
"Left is for wedding and engagement rings." Harry nodded as he slipped
both rings onto his finger, surprised that they both fit him perfectly. He
loved magic.
Lucius nodded and he stood, snapping his gloves back on and picking up
his cane.
"Come along then, we still need to go to Flourish and Blotts."
"I need to withdraw money." Harry said as he took out his vault key,
remembering the whole reason he had come to Gringotts in the first
place.
Nagnok handed him over two new, small vault keys, a long rectangular
booklet that looked like Uncle Vernon's cheque book and two huge, thick
dragonhide portfolios filled with smaller folders and a lot of parchment.
"Purebloods don't carry around pockets full of coin." Lucius informed
him. "We have exchange books. You write the amount you owe onto the
slip, your vault number and then sign your name. You won't need to sign
it with blood, it's not a formal contract so normal ink will do, and then
the shop owners can then come here to the bank and exchange these slips
with Gringotts, who will take the gold from your specified vault and
hand it over. After validating the signature first, of course."
Harry nodded and smiled, slipping all three of his keys into the same
pocket along with the little book and he carried the portfolio cases of
parchment that he'd been told were the accounts for all of his vaults and
that he had to review them and change what he didn't like. One was for
the Potter family; the second was for the Black family.
"How many books will I need?" Harry asked.
"A fair few." Lucius said mockingly. "You need to act like a pureblood,
not like the little commoner you have been. Act more like Draco."
Harry snorted. "So be a selfish, self-centred, boastful prick who taunts
and bullies everyone, literally kicks the first and second years out of his
way, has no real friends and likes bed-hopping with Pansy Parkinson and
Daphne Greengrass? Yeah, that's seriously not happening."
"You're the lord of two houses; try to remember that when speaking so
crassly in a public area." Lucius bit out through gritted teeth.
"I don't know how to act like a lord." Harry hissed. "I didn't even know
about it until a few hours ago!"
"It was purposefully kept from you, I have no doubts that certain…people,
were involved too."
Harry's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean?"
"The Weasleys are blood traitors, but they're still a pureblooded family,
do you really think that they didn't know that you should be Lord Potter?
Foolish they may be, yes, but even I can't believe they're that ignorant."
"So Mister Weasley has a seat too?" Harry asked his mind was already
running around too much information to take anything else in.
Lucius Malfoy let out a small, short, sarcastic laugh. "Of course not,
they're blood traitors, Potter. When they renounced their blood, they
renounced the lordship of their family too."
"Why don't you like the Weasleys?" Harry asked in a flash of courage. "It
can't just be that they're blood traitors."
Lucius gave him a look and sighed. "Catch up, Potter. I have no wish to
shout my business up and down the street for all the shoppers on Diagon
Alley to hear."
Harry jogged a bit to catch up and stood by Lucius Malfoy's side,
matching him stride for stride as best as he could given that the Malfoy
lord had seriously long, slender legs. In fact, everything about him was
long, slender, and elegant.
"You doubtlessly know that all pureblood families are interrelated." Harry
nodded, giving his full attention to Lucius Malfoy as he listened intently.
He'd always been so curious to know why the Malfoys hated the Weasleys
and he hadn't felt comfortable asking Mister Weasley and asking Ron
only garnered him a furious tirade about 'those evil Slytherin bastards'
which left Ron red-faced and him still not understanding the situation.
"My great-grandmother Amorette Malfoy married Lord Bilius Weasley,
back when they were still a respectable family if you can imagine such a
thing."
"What happened?" Harry asked as he sensed how…sad the man next to
him seemed.
"He dragged her down and into the mud and he utterly humiliated and
disgraced her. Malfoys…we're not known for our fertility, Potter. Most of
us struggle to get two children, why do you think that Narcissa and I only
have Draco?"
"I thought that maybe you only wanted the one. Believe me, Draco's more
than enough for any parent to handle."
Lucius shook his head. "No, we are infamous for our lone child
pregnancies, male or female, it doesn't matter, we are…cursed almost,
with low fertility, but Bilius Weasley wanted more children. More than
the two that Amorette could give him. The two smart, beautiful children
that she almost died to give him. He blamed her for their lack of
children, quite rightly, but it was not her fault alone, he knew that
Malfoys struggle to conceive, everyone in the pureblood circles knew, but
he was enamoured by her beauty and overlooked all of the important
qualities."
Harry nodded to show that he was listening and following the story thus
far when Lucius looked at him to check.
"Lord Bilius had a secret affair with a muggle woman, completely
disgracing Amorette and the Malfoy family; he had four further children
with the muggle. Amorette was broken-hearted and she died not long
after she finally found out about her husband's affair nearly twelve years
later. He had named both his eldest son by Amorette and by the muggle
Septimus, almost as if he were replacing Amorette's son with a new one.
This disrespect was too much for Amorette to bear and she died from the
grief, at which point Bilius Weasley finalised his complete and utter
disgrace of her and the Malfoy family by marrying the muggle who had
given him four additional children, naming the eldest boy, the second
Septimus, his heir and bastardising the two children he'd had with
Amorette, leaving them with no family name. They were both quickly
taken back into the Malfoy family and given their mother's last name,
and they were raised by their lord uncle, Brutus, who named them as his
own heirs instead. I am the grandson of the first Septimus and the Malfoy
lordship passed down to me."
Lucius actually sighed after telling his story, after telling Harry that he
was related to the Weasley family through his grandfather, who despite
being named Malfoy had actually been born a Weasley and would have
stayed a Weasley if not for Bilius' cruel actions. It was a much closer tie
than Harry had ever imagined between the two feuding families.
"To carry on our earlier lesson of the politics involved between related
houses, so that you might understand it better, the Black family, out of
respect for the Malfoy family, actually disowned a daughter when she
married a younger Septimus Weasley, the son of the second Septimus
born of Bilius. She claimed to love him despite what his grandfather,
Bilius, had done to my own family and she refused to give up her
husband, choosing him over them. She was disowned and disinherited
from the Black family as a result."
Harry scowled. "That's a terrible story. I can understand wanting
children, but if you love someone, you deal with it. You don't just go out
and have an affair just to have more children and you certainly don't get
rid of the older children. That's despicable!"
"I am pleased that you see things from my ancestors' side. But after that,
the Malfoy family swore a feud with the Weasley family until such a time
that they disowned Bilius Weasley from their family for what he'd done
to our family; they have thus far refused to do so, so the feud carries on
to this day."
Harry went silent, thinking fast and hard. He was only just realising that
things weren't always what he'd thought they were. He'd thought that the
Malfoys were just snobby, stuck up pricks who bullied Mister Weasley
merely for his lack of money and ambition; he'd had no idea of the story
behind what had started their feud. He was ignorant and he was
beginning to think that maybe Hermione had the right idea; books
contained all sorts of information and as Mister Malfoy led the way into
Flourish and Blotts, Harry promised himself that before he went back to
Hogwarts, he would do his best to read every single book he bought here
today, even if there were twenty of them.
A/N: So this is my brand new story. It's currently 60,000 words long, so I
haven't gone into this with nothing behind it, though I am still writing
furiously for this plot and for The Rise of the Drackens, I'm working on
the both of them together, so hopefully neither of them miss out.
Those on my author Facebook page have had the chance to preview this
story and eight lovelies have seen a lot more and read it through for me. I
am happy to say that they were all pleased with it, which has given me
the confidence to post it today.
I hope you all enjoy it and I can tell you that the second chapter will be
posted in two weeks, as The Rise of the Drackens is going to be updated
next, on the First of October, until then, I hope you've all enjoyed the
start to this new story and I hope that you will let me know what you've
thought about it,
StarLight Massacre. X
2. Changing Tides
Last Time
Harry went silent, thinking fast and hard. He was only just realising that
things weren't always what he'd thought they were. He'd thought that the
Malfoys were just snobby, stuck up pricks who bullied Mister Weasley merely
for his lack of money and ambition; he'd had no idea of the story behind what
had started their feud. He was ignorant and he was beginning to think that
maybe Hermione had the right idea; books contained all sorts of information
and as Mister Malfoy led the way into Flourish and Blotts, Harry promised
himself that before he went back to Hogwarts, he would do his best to read
every single book he bought here today, even if there were twenty of them.
Chapter Two – Changing Tides
It was a little worse than Harry had first thought. He'd been forced to buy
over sixty books and a lot of them had more than five hundred pages!
He'd spent most of his time in his bedroom at number four Privet Drive,
just reading and trying to understand what the hell the authors of the
books were going on about as he encountered words that he had never
seen before, so he had no clue as to their meaning, and as such he had no
hope of understanding what the books were trying to teach him.
The Dursleys left him alone for the most part, as they had done all
summer, because of the threat of his guard. He had been interrogated by
Hestia Jones, though, an Order of the Phoenix member, when he'd come
back late at night with a charmed bag bursting with books. He'd ignored
her as best as he could, brushed off her questions and then he'd finally
lost his patience when she wouldn't let him enter the house and he'd
shouted at her that he'd been gone all day and that it wasn't his fault that
she'd never noticed that he wasn't in the house like he was supposed to
be. He'd gotten a letter from Dumbledore the very next day expressing his
'disappointment' that Harry had broken his rules and had needlessly put
himself at risk by wandering around on his own. Harry had torn the
letter to shreds in his anger that had flared bright and cold, burning
furiously inside him.
He spent his days in a virtual rage when he stopped to think about things
too much and he'd kicked his trunk more than once…he always regretted
it. So instead, he had taken to annoying his aunt, practising the cardinal
Dursley sin of asking questions to try and figure out what in the hell
these books were going on about. That had ended badly, Petunia had
thrown a dictionary at him when he wasn't looking and the thick spine,
the part of the book to unfortunately hit him, had left a knot the size of
an egg on the back of his head, but at least now he had a dictionary to
help him, not that he understood much more of what the books were
about even with the help of the dictionary.
He was back to being confined in his room, though. He didn't know what
had changed or why the threat of the guards outside the house no longer
worked, but he was back to being locked in his small, plain bedroom, but
at least he had a mountain of books to read and a dictionary to give the
illusion of helping him when in reality, it didn't help him understand
anything at all.
Locked away in a small room, however, Harry had more time to think
about everything that had happened and without the distraction of going
down to the kitchen or out into the garden, he was stuck with his
thoughts and the burning anger was making his head hurt. He couldn't
believe what he'd found out. He still couldn't believe that Dumbledore
hadn't told him that he had a seat on the Wizengamot, two of them after
Sirius had died, or that he was sitting in them in his place! He'd had no
clue about any of it; about Dumbledore being his magical guardian, the
lordships, the bank vaults he had, his claim to the Black vaults and the
Black lordship…he hadn't even known that his parents had legitimised
him with Sirius' blood! Why the hell had no one ever told him these
things?!
Everything was always about the war, always about him and Voldemort,
about that damn prophecy and how he had to kill the Dark Lord to save
the wizarding world…it was like that was all he was to them, a shield
and sword combo to be pushed in front of Voldemort, something to be
used to keep everyone safe and to hell if he was injured or even killed in
the attempt.
He scrubbed at his damp eyes with the back of his hand. He'd been pulled
around by the hand like a clueless child, doing everything they wanted
him to do and they hadn't even had the decency to tell him about his
own birthright. He swallowed hard and painfully past a bone dry throat,
it was almost as if they were expecting him to die, so any information
about what he could claim as an adult was irrelevant because they didn't
expect him to live that long.
His body froze as his mind played that thought over and over again, he
felt bile at the back of his throat and he swallowed it back down. He
didn't want to die…all he wanted was to live his life in peace, maybe
settle down with a partner, he knew he wanted kids, even if he had to
adopt them and he wanted a nice house with a big garden. He wanted to
be normal! He didn't want to be told of prophecies or be told that he had
to kill someone. He didn't want to be dragged into this war, he didn't
want to fight! Why should he? This wasn't his war! He hadn't chosen this,
he'd been dragged into it and set up like a lamb to slaughter. They meant
for him to die and they were slowly taking his control away from his
birthright…his lordships, his vaults, his property and stock holdings…
everything that his parents had wanted him to have, everything that they
had planned and prepared meticulously, from his trust vault to his
legitimisation and his lordship, it had all been slowly removed from him
and he hadn't even known about any of it!
This was all Dumbledore's doing, he knew it. Lucius Malfoy might have
been a filthy Death Eater, but he hadn't once lied to him. How the hell
did it get to the point where Dumbledore had taken everything that
should have been his away from him and Death Eaters were actually
helping him? He couldn't understand it and it made his head hurt all the
more as he tried to figure out what on earth was happening.
How had it gotten to the point where he could trust Lucius Malfoy more
than he could trust Dumbledore? He was confused and angry and he
didn't know what to do or even who to speak to! He'd even contemplated
sending an owl to Lucius Malfoy asking him for his advice, that was how
bad it had gotten. He didn't know where that moment of madness had
come from, but he was so confused and he didn't know where to turn,
how had this even happened really?
Things got even worse than that though as he had been summoned, via
Ministry guard, to go to the Ministry of Magic and he had gone willingly
enough. He had only just been let out of his room for the first time in
days to sit at the table to eat his cousin's half-chewed toast crusts when
the door had knocked. Dudley had been entertaining the verbalised
thoughts of starting up an old game of 'Harry Hunting' and Vernon was in
a particularly bad mood that morning, so he had jumped at the chance to
leave Privet Drive when ordered to go with the Ministry workers, even if
it was for a couple of hours.
His Order guard had seen him leaving, however, he could almost feel
their eyes on him, and as he'd climbed into the back of an enchanted,
green Ministry car, with all of his belongings as requested by his Ministry
guards he might add, he'd seen the pale shimmering of an invisibility
cloak as the person underneath it had spun on their heel and
Disapparated, likely to tell Dumbledore immediately that Harry had been
taken into Ministry custody.
He hadn't stayed in Ministry custody though, as soon as he'd arrived at
the Ministry in London, he'd been greeted, informed briefly of what was
going on, and then he'd been handed right on over to Lucius Malfoy,
who, he had been informed, had taken legal custody of him in the name
of the Wizardry Protection Movement.
He'd tried to fight it, shouted that he didn't want to live with Malfoy of
all people, but no one had wanted to listen, as far as they were
concerned, he had no rights as to where he even lived! He was underage
and after what Lucius had fed them, they were all eating out of his hand
and were eager to put Harry with Lucius, as a founding member of the
Wizardry Protection Movement they claimed that he was the perfect
person to take custody of him! He was told to calm himself down and go
home with his new custodian as there was nothing else he could do, he
was underage and nothing he said or did would change what had already
happened.
It was just three days after his trip to Diagon Alley and all of his things
were now in a guest bedroom of Malfoy Manor, which was almost as big
as the entire upper floor of the Dursleys' house and he was still reeling
from what had happened, the papers were going ballistic with the story
that Lucius had taken custody of the 'neglected' boy hero and had
adopted him as his own son, but Lucius Malfoy refused to comment on
anything or his reasoning behind taking custody of him except to tell the
media that Harry had been neglected. Harry was kept well away from the
public and the reporters.
He was Lord Potter and Lord Black, the papers had figured that much out
when Lucius had taken Harry to the next called meeting to introduce
him, but he still needed a guardian until he graduated and Lucius Malfoy
was now that person after filing for his custody on the grounds of severe
negligence by his previous magical guardian.
Harry didn't know who was more shocked really, him or Draco, who
Lucius had firmly told that he had to treat Harry like a brother now that
they were adopted brothers. Narcissa Malfoy had taken it in her stride,
not that she could complain much with Harry now being her Head of
House as well as her adopted son.
It was so strange, Harry had thought, as stupid as it sounded in hindsight,
that Voldemort would have been here waiting for him, but of course, that
couldn't be true. Lucius was a top, loyal follower, of that he had no
doubt, the very thought of being under the same roof as Lucius had seen
him with many sleepless nights, but the man was also a high ranking
Ministry official who was accused of being a Death Eater. Surely the
Ministry would have tabs on him and his house and they'd know if
Voldemort was here, though that still didn't stop Lucius from being a
Death Eater.
Harry didn't like being here and he made sure that he never went
anywhere without his wand, he was even bathing with it and he was
having trouble relaxing and sleeping, but everyone knew that he was
here now, so he was at least reassured a little that Lucius couldn't just do
away with him, there would be questions asked and Lucius would be in
the thick of it if he just disappeared.
So no, Harry didn't outright fear for his life being here and Lucius was
actually taking lessons with him to help him understand what being a
lord was all about and what was expected of him and he was running
through everything that he didn't understand from the files that Nagnok
had given him and from the books that Lucius had made him buy, he was
so busy that he didn't have a damn chance to just sit back and think
about what was happening, not thoroughly.
Of course, a million and one owls all swooped in on him the morning
after it had been made public, two days after he'd actually been brought
to Malfoy Manor, that he'd been 'adopted' by Lucius Malfoy due to
'unspecified negligence' which really could have been anything or meant
anything. He had several letters from the Weasleys, one incredibly long
one from Hermione, a short, inquiring note from Dumbledore and a
panicked letter from Remus who thought that he'd been kidnapped.
He sighed as they all bore near enough the same message, keep his eyes
open, keep his wand on him at all times, don't turn his back on them,
don't trust them, find out what he could from them, follow and report
their every move and they'd do their best to get him out as quickly as
possible.
"I take it from your expression that your letters bear news that you'd have
rathered not read?" Lucius inquired as he sipped tea from a fine, bone
china vintage teacup that had a matching delicate saucer. It was almost
comical to Harry to watch the Malfoys eat and drink, especially after the
two weeks he'd spent with the Dursleys watching Dudley and Vernon
shovel in as much as they could with every mouthful.
Harry scoffed. "Something like that. It's like they've all used the same
template to write them, just in different words, they all contain the same
points and 'advice.'"
"Around the lines of not trusting us and spying on us no doubt.
Dumbledore always was a transparent fool." Lucius told him and Harry
nodded absentmindedly as he rolled his eyes at Ron's letter and his
declaration of getting the twins to rescue him once more like they had
when he was twelve.
Draco was sat opposite him at the small, six seated table. The Malfoys
had a larger, much larger, table in their formal dining room, but the
family dining room was smaller and more intimate and though it seated
six, there were only four chairs. Lucius sat at the head of one side and
Narcissa on the other, Harry and Draco sat opposite each other on the
sides of the table, it had made the first few days nearly impossible as
Draco was a very spoilt, childish, petty person and kept kicking his shins,
at least until Lucius had found out and had threatened to punish him for
it if it carried on, that is.
Draco was still reeling from the embarrassment and humiliation of his
last punishment, one administered for promiscuous behaviour and
neglect of his studies, and he had no desire to earn another one. He hated
Harry even more for telling his father the rumours flying around
Hogwarts and he made sure that Harry knew about it too. He took every
opportunity he could to ensure that Harry knew he wasn't wanted or
welcome in his home, which he'd never had to share with anyone in his
life, he wasn't big on sharing, just like Dudley.
It was sad really. He'd been taken from one unwanted home to be put in
another, it truly was like he was unlovable, but as he was staying with
the Malfoys, of all people, he tried not to let that bother him.
A week after he had arrived at Malfoy Manor and had everything turned
on its head, Lucius had a day off from work and had woken him up at six
in the morning, or rather he'd gotten a house-elf to come and wake him
up at six in the morning and lead him to a room in the maze-like manor
that he still wasn't used to.
Harry had been forced to sit through an hour-long etiquette lesson before
breakfast and then after breakfast, which was perfectly balanced he
might add, a tailor and two assistants had come to measure him for
robes. That had taken three hours as they'd made him two sets of robes
on the spot, complete with shirts and trousers, to wear while his new
wardrobe was being created especially for him from a range of colours
that suited his skin tone, hair and eye colour and the seasons. Lucius had
gotten a house-elf to incinerate all of his old robes and clothes while he
was being fitted.
Lunch was even more tense than breakfast had been as Harry was furious
at being picked apart, pulled about, dressed like a toddler and then he'd
found out that all of his own clothing had been burnt without his
permission.
'You are a part of the Malfoy household, your actions reflect upon me and
your appearance reflects upon me. While you are in my home, you will dress
and behave as I tell you to.' Lucius had told him calmly after Harry had
thrown a bitch fit and let out all of his pent up rage and frustration,
which had only been growing the longer he remained here.
Sullen and still silently fuming, Harry went back to reading his new
boring book while sitting on a chair in front of Lucius' desk in his study.
He was doing work for whatever it was he did whilst supervising Harry's
lesson so that he could be on hand if Harry didn't understand something,
which was often enough that Lucius had once remarked that perhaps he
should read the book to him like a child, which had, of course,
embarrassed Harry into sullen silence.
"Are you going to start reading or would you rather continue staring
blankly at the page?" Lucius asked without looking up at him.
Harry sighed and forced himself to go back to the book. He didn't know
what was happening, everything was turned on its head and it was all
going far too fast for him to take in, he needed everything to just slow
down a little so that he could breathe and work through it all. He didn't
know what to think, who to trust or what to believe. He'd even made a
list in his bed suite at night, because such a large room, with its own
attached en suite bathroom and a sitting area with its own fire, could not
be called just a simple bedroom, so he'd taken to calling it his bed suite.
This list had on it just a few names of people he knew that he could
explicitly trust, bulletin points of everything he'd learnt so far and
another bulletin list of all the books he'd read since that summer, just so
that he could keep track of everything.
"I have made a list of all eligible young women for you to peruse if you're
not going to read that book." Lucius told him several minutes later after
Harry had spaced out yet again.
"What for?" Harry demanded angrily.
"For your betrothal, Harry." Lucius said patiently.
"I am not getting married to anyone and you can't make me!" He
exploded.
Lucius Malfoy sighed heavily. "A betrothal is a simple contract that is
easily broken if you wish it to be, but it's traditional for an heir, or an
underaged lord, to be betrothed. It's more for protection as you cannot be
betrothed twice, it is better to have a hand-picked betrothal than one not
of your making. Draco is betrothed and has been since he was six years
old, to Astoria Greengrass, which is why his 'bed-hopping' as you phrased
it, with Miss Parkinson and Astoria's older sister, Daphne, is deeply
disgraceful and is the reason why I put a stop to such behaviours. I don't
expect my son to remain virginal until his wedding night, but I had
thought that he'd have more respect for the daughters of other pureblood
lines, who traditionally are expected to remain virginal, as unfair as that
might seem to you."
"So there's no…obligation for me to marry this person?" Harry asked as
he took the list of just a handful of names.
"None." Lucius told him smoothly. "This information will be in one of the
books that you were given."
"I haven't gotten around to reading them all yet." He said with an averted
gaze.
"Hardly surprising if you just stare mindlessly at the page and don't
actually read them." Lucius said pointedly as he let his gaze linger on the
forgotten book on his lap. "I understand that some of them are quite
tedious, but it is all information that you now need to know, so I suggest
that you apply yourself more than you have and retain the information
you are taking in."
"I don't know any of these names." Harry said with a frown as he read
down the list.
"You don't have to know their names, they are in order of suitability for a
lord of your status, to have two lordships is a very attractive quality,
even if your manners, etiquette, intelligence and personality are lacking."
Harry grit his teeth together, he'd lashed out once, only verbally, but as
his guardian, Lucius now had the power and the right to punish him, as
he'd done with Draco. Harry would not soon forget that punishment and
he had no wish to ever repeat the utterly humiliating experience.
"Hmm, so you can learn. Good."
Harry sat sullenly in the chair, glaring at the parchment that had only
five names on it. He couldn't pronounce two of them.
"There is a lack of pureblooded witches in Britain." Lucius told him as if
reading his mind. "Those that are even close to your age group were
betrothed years ago. I didn't think you would like a babe as your
betrothed, nor a witch of advanced age, though I suspect Draco would
thoroughly enjoy it."
Harry remained silent as he nibbled on his lip. Lucius sighed again. He
was doing that a lot around him and Harry wondered if he really was
that much of a burden or if the man was prone to sighing over
everything.
"What is the youngest and oldest age that you would consider?"
Harry shrugged. "I don't like the thought of anyone younger than me, but
people, well, they annoy me."
"Annoy you how?" Lucius queried.
Harry shrugged again; immediately a pain in his shoulder, like being hit
with a wooden ruler, had him startling in surprise and rubbing his
shoulder as he glared at Lucius, who had his wand out.
"I have warned you several times to stop shrugging like an ineloquent
muggle." Lucius hissed at him. "Tell me, with your words, what you find
annoying about other people."
"I don't know, most people my own age annoy me, little things like the
way they act, the things they say, what they expect me to do or how to
behave, it all seems so…pointless, so childish."
"Things like what?"
"Like pranks, or stupid games, calling other people names because of
stupid reasons. I've never liked it. Everyone expects me to be this huge
prankster like my dad was, but I have no interest in doing something so
ridiculous as using other people for amusement. Or when Ron calls Draco
a ferret because of what the fake Moody did to him in our fourth year or
the Slytherins calling Hermione a beaver because of her teeth when it's
something she couldn't control, it's all so pointless, what's the point
behind it? It doesn't give either party anything so why bother doing it?
It's stupid."
"Well well, it seems I misjudged you. You are a little bit more mature
than I first thought. So you would actually prefer someone older than
yourself?"
"I suppose." Harry said unhappily.
"Shall we say forty then?" Lucius asked patiently.
Harry nodded, the feeling of a ruler smacking into the back of his head
had him gritting his teeth. "I mean, yes."
"Good. There are still no pureblooded witches of that age group in Britain
who I deem suitable for you, but it opens up quite a bit for more
European pureblooded witches."
Harry scowled and looked down at his lap. Lucius sighed once again.
"What is the problem now?" He asked less patiently.
"I'm…I'm not sure that I like women as a whole."
Lucius reared back as if he'd been slapped. Harry blushed and hunched
himself over.
"I mean…I'm not really interested in anyone, but girls seem to be more
annoying to me, so I thought that maybe boys would be better, but I'm
really not sure what I am or what I like, I've never…I've never actually
been with anyone in that way, so I don't know."
"There is no need for such a tirade, I am merely surprised. I didn't take
you for the open-minded type, perhaps I should have. I will have you
tested to see if you are able to carry children, I was going to do so
regardless, but with this development, I will do so a little more urgently
and I will write up a new list of appropriate candidates that are suitable
for you. There happen to be more pureblooded wizards than witches, so
there are quite a few of them leftover in Britain without a current
betrothal match who I would deem suitable for a lord of your status."
"What do you mean 'to see if I can carry children'?" Harry asked
dumbfounded.
Lucius sighed heavily. "Your ignorance truly knows no bounds. I will find
that book for you as well, but certain wizards are able to carry children,
others are not. Draco was tested before his betrothal and was found not
to carry the gene that enables wizards to carry children, I will have you
tested in due course, but thirty per cent of all wizards are actually able to
carry children. Most never find out, as they are heterosexual and never
let another man penetrate them in such a way and are never tested, but if
you feel that you are more naturally drawn to men, then it might be
because you need to be matched with one."
"So…so I would be betrothed to another man and that would be okay?"
Harry asked uncertainly.
"Perfectly okay." Lucius clarified. "Now, run along, read your books. I
want you to report to me tomorrow that you have made headway on the
stack that you still have left. I will have the potion you need to take
ready for tomorrow afternoon."
Harry nodded and he stood, taking the book he was currently struggling
with and bumbling through with him. He ran into Draco on his way to
his bed suite.
"Having fun, Potter?" He spat.
"Save it, Draco, I have absolutely nothing to say to you." Harry replied to
the taller boy.
"You will stop referring to me so personally!" Draco hissed.
"I've been told to call you Draco, so I will. I have absolutely no wish to be
punished again and I would have thought that you wouldn't want that
again either, unless you actually like being turned over your father's knee
and spanked like a toddler."
Draco went pink and shut his mouth. Being spanked by Lucius Malfoy
hurt and badly. He and Draco had both been uncomfortable with the
whole situation and then the next day they had had to suffer through the
humiliation of not being able to sit down properly and as squirming
would get them a hex from one or both of the elder Malfoys, they'd had
to endure the pain while sitting completely still on an unpadded, wooden
chair. Neither of them wanted to repeat the experience.
"I don't like you being here." Draco told him churlishly.
"I actually like being here." Harry said with a smile. "It's so surprising and
I never would have thought that I'd enjoy being here, but I'm learning a
lot and it won't be for long, at any rate, we'll be back in Hogwarts soon
enough. Then it'll just be one more summer, then I'll be free of all
guardians when I graduate and being the lord of the Potter and Black
houses, I'll be free to do as I please."
"Not entirely, you're still expected to act as a lord." Draco told him. "You
are linked to the Malfoy name now; I won't let you disgrace us!"
"Believe it or not I have no intention of disgracing the Malfoy name; I
have a lot to be thankful to your father for, including setting up my
betrothal for me so that I can't be taken advantage of by anyone else and
giving me a respectable match in the process."
That took the wind out of Draco's sails. "Who is it?"
Harry just winked and left for his bed suite.
"Don't you walk away from me in my own home! Tell me who you're
betrothed to!"
"It's none of your business! Though I was surprised to hear that your
betrothal was to Astoria Greengrass, especially as you were…practising
with her older sister."
"That has nothing to do with you! How did you even know about
Daphne?"
"Oh please, everyone knows about that, Draco, and about Pansy's
pregnancy scare too."
Draco went pale at the remembered fury of his father finding out that
little bit of information. He sighed.
"That was my own fault." He allowed. "I wasn't careful enough."
"I got the impression that you weren't supposed to be doing that with
them, careful or not."
Draco sneered. "How is it my fault if they slid into bed with me? They're
the ones who should be retaining their purity; it's not for me to do it for
them."
Harry conceded to that, the girls should have had more restraint, but
still, it took two people to agree to sex, Draco could have refused them.
"Why should I have?" He asked when Harry pointed that out. "If they're
offering me something that I want, I'm going to take it." He said simply.
Harry sighed. He didn't think he'd ever be able to accept such a selfish
point of view, he hadn't been raised that way, being kicked and beat
upon by his own family members, being forced into near servitude to
them…he didn't have it in him to be a selfish person, at least not to the
extent of Draco and the other purebloods.
He made it to his bed suite and Draco had let him go this time. He had a
lot to think about and a lot to read through still, not to mention trying to
get the hang of Ancient Runes, which had piqued his interest when he'd
seen them at Gringotts, and the very difficult Arithmancy. Now he had
the added worry of a betrothal set up for him by Lucius Malfoy too, to an
older pureblooded wizard at that. There couldn't be many of them left
around either if all the women were already snatched up. He was
contented and soothed a little with the knowledge that he didn't have to
marry them and that he could break the betrothal once he was a
graduated adult.
He sat in his own personal sitting room and settled down with his book,
he'd meant what he'd said to Draco, he had absolutely no desire to be
spanked like a naughty little boy again and he took Lucius' threat
seriously, so he sat and he read the tedious books that he'd been forced to
buy at the goblin, Nagnok's, and Lucius' insistence. It was going to be a
long, boring night, of that he was sure.
Harry had settled in relatively well with the Malfoy family he thought,
even as his back was smacked again with a hex that made him feel like
he was being hit with a thin piece of wood.
This time it was Narcissa Malfoy doing the hexing and he had been
assured that the hex was a common one used by all pureblooded parents
to dissuade their children from ill-mannered habits, as he'd been told by
all three of the Malfoys. Draco had even told him some of his more
prominent memories of being taught with the hex.
"Keep your back straight, your natural posture is curved because your
spine is S-shaped." He was lectured as his shoulders were pulled back and
an elegant hand pushed at the lower curve of his back, pushing his hips
forward. "You've lived with bad posture for all of your life, it will take
some time to get used to, but you will get used to it with some precise
instruction. You have the wardrobe, now you just need the posture to
pull it off, you are meeting your betrothed in a week, you need to be
walking the walk and talking the talk by then or you'll be rejected, so
learn quickly because being rejected is a huge humiliation for you and for
the Malfoy family."
Harry nodded and he held his shoulders back and loose, as he'd been
taught. He took precise, elegant strides up and around the huge
rectangular ballroom, Narcissa following him, her wand out and poised
to hit him with another smack if he put a foot wrong or tightened up his
shoulders or let them slump. It was hard work keeping the posture and it
pulled at his abdominal muscles and his back muscles, what Lucius had
told him were his 'core' muscles. Apparently, he needed to firm them up
and get them stretched and strong because all purebloods had strong core
muscles due to their posture. It hurt.
He was smacked on the hip with the hex and he yelped, only to get a
smack to the back of the head for such an undignified sound.
"You cocked your hip out." Narcissa told him. "I don't need to explain
what the second hex was for, do I?"
"No, Lady Malfoy." He replied softly and respectfully. He liked Narcissa
the most, she did not carry a Dark Mark and she had never personally
done anything to him, so he was content to behave himself more with her
around and the level of care that she took with him actually made his
heart hurt…she made him feel, for the first time in his life, that he was
missing a mother in his life.
"Good, you are one of the rare wizards who are capable of childbirth, so
you need to be elegant and poised, gentle, yet strong and determined
too."
Harry took a breath and adjusted his shoulders and his hips, keeping his
chin at a right angle to his neck, he wasn't allowed to look at the floor, he
wasn't allowed to look where his feet were stepping and he wasn't used to
it.
It had come as a huge shock to him when the potion he'd taken had come
back positive for the gene that allowed him to carry a child in his own
body. He had thrown a fit, been punished, and then he'd denied it twice,
refusing to believe the test and claiming that it had been rigged just to
mess with his head.
Lucius had had enough of his 'needless denials' and on his next day off
from work he'd dragged him to Saint Mungo's hospital and had them
administer the test. It was irrefutable now and the hospital had given him
two leaflets and a list of books for him to read. He had been forced to
accept that the test was true and he was slowly coming to terms with it.
The books were really helpful and informative too, even if he could have
done without the moving pictures of the surgery he'd need to undergo to
deliver the baby.
Lucius had actually smiled at the hospital results; apparently, there hadn't
been a pureblooded man who had tested positive for the genes in a long
while, so Lucius had said that he was going to be well sought after for a
full marriage because he had tested positive for this gene and not just a
mere betrothal when he was actually of marriageable age that was.
Which was any age over fourteen with written parental consent or
seventeen without parental consent, with the added stipulation that both
parties were no longer in school.
It was also a point of pride for the Malfoy family to have a son able to
bear children in their family, even though Harry hadn't actually been
born to the Malfoys, he was constantly being told, and he was slowly
coming to understand, that he was a part of their family now regardless
and that his actions reflected on them and that their actions reflected on
him. His humiliation was their humiliation and his achievements were
their achievements because he'd been fully adopted into the Malfoy
family. He had even appeared on their family tapestry!
Lucius was still protecting him from everything and everyone, including
the media and reporters and he refused any and all attempts to see or
talk to 'his son' as he'd reportedly said. Harry was still getting near
enough daily owls, but Lucius was a strict man and he had restricted the
use of owls for both him and Draco. Apparently, it was uncouth to send
out a mass of owls.
So, due to this restriction, the only person that Harry responded to
regularly was Remus, because the man seemed genuinely distressed and
upset for him, he wasn't concerned about the Malfoys or what they were
doing, but about him as a person, so Harry had responded that he was
fine, that he was really well and he was happy that he now had a family.
He told Remus that he was being taught the things that he needed to
know and how he was learning so much. He kept his messages brief, to
the point and elegant. Lucius reviewed all his letters and approved them,
as he did the same for Draco, and he had even refused to let Harry send
out letters in the beginning 'because his handwriting was abysmal and he
couldn't have such hideous cursive attributed to a member of his family.'
Harry's hand still hurt with remembered pain from the number of hexes it
had taken as Lucius had painstakingly instructed him on how to actually
write with a quill. His knuckles had been bruised and sore for days, but
he had to admit that his writing was a lot more readable now and it was
easier to go back over his own notes when he could actually make out his
own words.
He'd attended a second Wizengamot meeting just after his sixteenth
birthday and he understood a little more than he had the first time
around, which proved that he was learning from the numerous amounts
of books he was reading, but he mostly stayed quiet and sat as close to
Lucius as he could while in public, listening and learning. When he was
asked for his opinion or his vote, he took a deep breath and actually
thought about what was being asked, having taken in the arguments and
opinions of the other Wizengamot members at the D-shaped table, and
thought about his answer before he gave it. He believed that he
impressed at least some of them with his opinions and insight into some
matters, or maybe it was merely because he wasn't bumbling around like
a fool or just merely copying Lucius. He was young, he knew that, and as
most of the other lords were forty years or older, it really made him
stand out as a teenage boy to them. Yet on the same hand, he wasn't the
youngest person to ever claim his lordship early, one boy had been just
thirteen when he had joined the Wizengamot. So Harry was a little
uncertain about everything, he was a lot less vocal than all of the other
lords, at least for the moment while he was learning, but he was happy to
know that he wasn't the youngest person to ever be on the Wizengamot
and though he hadn't been raised knowing about his lordship or what it
would entail, he was learning quickly. With Lucius' help too, he thought
he was holding his own against the older, more informed lords quite
well. He knew that they didn't exactly take him seriously, not yet, but
they listened…not only was he Lord Potter and Lord Black, which was
abbreviated to just Lord Potter-Black for the sake of convenience, he was
also Harry Potter and because of that fact, he at least got people to listen
to him instead of just laughing and cutting him off. Which he was
thankful for as he'd been shitting himself when Lucius had warned him
that the other Wizengamot members might do just that.
He'd met a lot of people that he hadn't known existed, particularly Lord
Xerxes Lestrange, who had taken a great interest in him too. The man
was huge and he was at least the size of two people in height and
broadness, his hand was firm and rough when he stuck his hand out to
shake, only he didn't shake Harry's offered hand, he took Harry's hand
like he was a girl and he kissed the back of it with dry lips with a firm
pressure that lasted for only a moment.
Harry bit his tongue and smiled softly, even if it was a little forced,
remembering Narcissa's lessons. He was to be strong and gentle, graceful
and eloquent; he would be a consort because of his childbearing abilities,
he would be the 'lady' of the house…he'd been repeatedly hit with the
smacking hex for the bitch fit that had followed that piece of
information. He'd gone over Lucius' knee again once Narcissa had told
him of his disgusting and despicable language and behaviour upon
finding out his apparently 'superior' status once the man had come home
from work.
"I look forward to seeing more of you very soon, Lord Potter-Black."
Harry turned to Lucius questioningly when they'd been let out of the
Wizengamot meeting.
"Please tell me that you never betrothed me to him, he is not forty or
under. I'll eat both of my feet, socks and shoes included if he's under
seventy."
Lucius smiled at him. "He is seventy-four and he would make you a good
match, he is strong, reliable, and he is enamoured of you. The Lestranges
have good, strong genes."
Harry blanched, feeling a little faint and Lucius chuckled darkly. "You are
betrothed to his younger grandson, Rabastan Lestrange, who is thirty-six.
Though he will be thirty-seven later this year, we were friends in school
and, of course, we remained friends later in life. They accepted my
offered contract of you just yesterday."
"The one in Azkaban?" Harry asked with a frown.
"The one who escaped from Azkaban." Lucius corrected quietly.
"How can I be betrothed to an escaped felon?" Harry demanded.
"Not in public, my son." Lucius hissed at him.
Harry clenched his mouth shut and shifted his expression to neutral, he
corrected his posture and made sure to call upon all of his lessons to
avoid going back over Lucius' knee when they got home. If he impressed
the man now then he might get a lesser punishment, like a restriction on
his sweet treats or how many letters he could send, though he was
already quite restricted on both of those to begin with, but he had no
wish to be restricted on them even more than he already was, but it was
much better than being spanked like a little boy and then made to stand
in the corner while the pads on all his chairs were taken away.
"You're doing wonderfully well." Lucius praised quietly when they
reached the Atrium. "Keep it up and you may pass for Lord Potter-Black
after all."
Harry tried inexplicably hard and he forced the smile to stay mental and
not show it on his face as he appeared disinterested and aloof as he tried
as hard as he could to keep pace with Lucius, just slightly behind him as
Lucius' legs were really long, unlike his own short, stunted ones. He
didn't look left or right and he kept his chin up, looking straight forward.
He was doing well, he thought, especially as he'd only been with the
Malfoy family for a little under a month. He remained calm and he didn't
dodge anyone, he made them move out of his way as Lucius did. At least
until Dumbledore hurried across to them from the opposite side of the
absolutely huge Ministry Atrium…there were a few people following
him.
"Harry, my boy!" He called out to stop their progression.
Lucius immediately stepped in front of Harry neatly and placed a hand
on his shoulder to ensure that he knew where he was standing at all
times.
"Dumbledore." He greeted silkily. "I don't believe that I gave you leave to
speak to my underaged son."
"Now, Lucius, we both know that he isn't your son."
Lucius chuckled mockingly. "I think that you will find that he is legally
mine and there is nothing that you can do about that. You do not have
my permission to approach my son in such a way."
"I am his Headmaster."
"Yet it is not school term time. All inquiries that you have about my son's
education will be directed to me, if I feel that Harry isn't performing to
the best of his abilities, then I will act accordingly."
"Are you alright, Harry?" Dumbledore asked around Lucius's side.
Harry averted his eye contact, not lowering his chin below ninety
degrees, but turning his head in the opposite direction. He didn't answer.
Lucius was his legal father and had expressly said that Dumbledore did
not have permission to talk to him; Harry wouldn't undermine that by
talking to Dumbledore, not after everything that Lucius had done for him
over the last month. The man had taken him in, had meticulously taught
him what he needed to know, he was caring for him in his own way,
punishing him when it was called for, setting up everything for him and
actually taking the time to tell him everything that he needed to know to
survive in the wizarding world, no, he wouldn't go against Lucius, not
now. He had nothing to say to Dumbledore anyway. At least nothing that
wouldn't have him shouting at him in anger in an undignified display
that would get him punished when Lucius got him back home.
"I assure you that he is better than ever. He is being taught properly and
re-educated. Which reminds me, I have taken this time to change Harry's
electives for his sixth year, as is my right as his father. I am
homeschooling him myself in the missing subjects to get him caught up
before the new school year starts. That is the extent of the conversation
regarding my son's education. Come along, Harry, we have lots to be
getting on with."
Harry immediately took a step forward, a nice, even, precise step and he
fell in beside Lucius, at least until his arm was grabbed when he was in
mid-step, which jerked him backwards and he let out a sharp exhale of
air, which was the only reaction he gave to being so surprised. He hadn't
expected to be grabbed in such a way.
Lucius spun around on his heel, his wand out and aimed at one of the
men who had followed Dumbledore, the one who had grabbed and still
had a hold of Harry's arm.
"I would suggest that you unhand my son this instant." He hissed angrily.
"He isn't your son, Malfoy! You've cursed him or something."
"I would have expected this sort of blatant disrespect from a muggleborn,
but from a halfblood? Well, well."
Harry turned to see Lord Lestrange striding confidently across the Atrium
towards them.
"I suggest that you unhand the young lord. He is a son of the Malfoy
family, not one of them I'd want to cross either."
Harry felt a hand shoot out when Lord Lestrange came level with them
and it twisted the elbow of the man holding him and Harry was released
as the man went to the floor, howling. Harry made his way quickly to
Lucius' side, escorted by the formidable, intimidating Xerxes Lestrange.
"I will see you pay for this disrespect, how dare you grab my underaged
son from my side! You'll be hearing from my lawyers."
"Why don't we ask Harry what he wants?" Dumbledore said, even as he
ignored the man on the floor who was holding his elbow.
"Very well, just this once I will allow it, but you have no business seeing
or speaking to my son outside of term time." Lucius relented.
Harry assumed that it was because there was a gathering of people
watching them, they'd caused a scene.
"I wish to return to my home with my father." Harry said clearly and
concisely, speaking with care and with eloquence. It had taken several
elocution lessons from Narcissa to get him speaking properly. He enjoyed
the look on Dumbledore's face when he heard him speak, for as much as
how he was speaking as the words he had said.
"You have him under the Imperius curse!" One of the men shouted out
loudly to the crowd.
"That is a very serious allegation." Harry said. "To accuse me of being
under such a dark, debilitating curse, though I assure you no such thing
has occurred. I've always been able to throw off the Imperius curse."
"I believe that the young Lord Potter-Black is just finally coming into
himself." Lord Xerxes Lestrange said simply. "It is always eye-opening to
be taught the things one needs to know, things he really should have
been taught in his childhood, yet, for some unknown reason, wasn't. He
was a disgrace to all purebloods, I am glad that someone has finally taken
him in and has set to teaching him what he needs to know. Someone
needed to."
Harry had to clench his teeth together to stave off the smile at the look
on Dumbledore's face. Those blue eyes dropped to his right hand, where
the two lordship rings were sitting perfectly, looking chunky on his small
finger, but no less regal and important. He had obviously missed the
newspaper article about him claiming his lordships; Harry was glad that
he'd gotten to see this first reaction in person.
Harry saw immediately when the penny dropped and Dumbledore
realised why he hadn't been called to any recent Wizengamot meetings…
because he wasn't on the Wizengamot anymore.
"I would have hoped that you would have come to see me before making
such a drastic decision on your own, Harry." He said in a quiet,
disappointed voice. "This will seriously disrupt your schooling; it is a
huge responsibility to hold on your own."
"He wasn't alone when he made the decision, I was with him." Lucius said
smugly. "I told him of the disruption and what would be required of him
and he has agreed that though it will be difficult, he will reschedule his
school work to fit in his duties as the lordships he has claimed demands. I
have been helping him in the last two meetings, so he isn't technically
holding them on his own either and despite what I would have previously
thought, he's learning quickly."
Harry lifted his chin a fraction at the praise and he wanted to grin, but he
didn't. Praise from Lucius Malfoy, even in the roundabout, insulting way
that it was delivered, was high indeed.
"I think that this…conversation is concluded." Lucius said as he put a hand
on Harry's shoulder and steered him away. "Say goodbye to your
headmaster, Harry."
"Goodbye, Headmaster." Harry said dutifully as he turned with Lucius
and left. Xerxes Lestrange walked behind them.
"Such an annoying, meddlesome man." Xerxes commented to Lucius.
"Indeed." Lucius answered. "It won't be long now before he is dealt with.
I'm more annoyed with that halfblood actually laying his hands on one of
my sons, disgraceful."
"On my future grandson and the soon to be carrier of my great-
grandchildren." Xerxes said. "I would not have stood idly by and let such
a thing happen, even if you did have everything under control." He said
respectfully.
Harry sighed silently, everyone knew before him, it seemed, that his
betrothal was to Rabastan Lestrange. He didn't understand the whole,
carrier of the great-grandchildren though because he had no obligation to
marry Rabastan when the contract ended, he'd seen that for himself in
the contract that he'd signed.
"If he likes Rabastan, that is." Lucius put in silkily and Harry relaxed a
little as he was reassured that his information was correct.
"I have every faith that he will like my Rabastan. He's a prominent
pureblood, he's wealthy in his own right, he's intelligent, he's a handsome
devil and he's fertile. I had him and Rodolphus checked when Bellatrix
didn't fall pregnant after two years of marriage, there's no problem with
either of them, but Bellatrix refuses to get checked."
"I could help you with that." Harry said smoothly. "I'm her Head of
House; I could insist that she gets her fertility checked if you have
concerns about it as her marital Head of House."
Xerxes chuckled and he touched Harry's shoulder gently. "I would
appreciate that, Lord Potter-Black."
Harry nodded and he held Lucius' arm as they reached the Apparation
area.
"I will see you soon, Xerxes." Lucius said and the two of them shared a
knowing look. Harry took that to mean that there would be a Death Eater
meeting soon. Nearly every letter he got now asked about Death Eater
meetings and encouraged him to 'pass on' all of Lucius' comings and
goings or anything he'd heard the Malfoys say, even if it was out of
context. Harry wasn't going to do it, he was learning so much from
Lucius, he didn't want that to end and for all intents and purposes Lucius
was his legal father, he was family and he wouldn't sell out family.
Harry took a half step closer to Lucius and clenched his hand on his arm
tighter and then he found himself suddenly back in the foyer of Malfoy
Manor. He took a half step forward on the landing, but he was getting
much better at it than when he had used to face plant the floor on his
landings. Lucius had helped him with that too.
"You're getting much better at that now." Lucius told him, helping to
steady him a little. "Your lessons are paying off."
Harry nodded. "All of them, I believe. I understood more of what was
said in the meeting this time around."
"Yes, I was very proud of you during that meeting. How you conducted
yourself, how you thought about what you wanted to say before opening
your mouth and especially how much sense you actually made while
speaking. I was immensely proud."
Harry smiled widely, almost beaming at the praise he'd received and he
excused himself and rushed away, he wanted to delve deeper into his
books so that the next meeting that was called, he could do even better.
"You stop running in your home this instant!" Lucius called after him
sharply, not raising his voice, but making it carry to him, where he
immediately stopped and looked back at Lucius with a sheepish smile.
"Sorry." He said a bit bashfully.
"You had better need the bathroom really badly." Lucius told him as he
climbed the stairs to join him on the landing above.
"I wanted to get to my room so that I could read more so that the next
meeting goes even better." Harry said excitedly. "There were some things
that I didn't understand still, so I wanted to check up on those and I
wanted to finish the one book that I'm reading so that I could get onto
the next one."
"You're prattling." Lucius told him and Harry shut his mouth and ducked
his head to the floor. That got him a hex to the back of the head and he
lifted it up again automatically. "I never said that it was a bad thing, only
something which you need to…limit." Lucius said as they carried on
down the hallway. "I am pleased that you're so excited about your duties.
Let us hope that you show as much enthusiasm towards your betrothed in
a few days."
Harry bit his lip and nibbled at it.
"What if he doesn't like me? Just because I like older men doesn't mean
he'll want a recently turned sixteen year old for a match."
"If his grandfather has any say in the matter then Rabastan would be
proposing and whisking you off for a bonding ceremony before you went
back to Hogwarts." Lucius remarked dryly.
"Doesn't he need your permission for that? And mine too?"
"Exactly right. Something I will not be giving, my sons will finish their
formal education before they decide to start a whirlwind romance and fly
off to get married."
Harry chuckled. "I never thought of getting married so young, I quite like
the idea, just not yet. I'm still new to everything, so I want to learn as
much as I can first."
"Then go and do that reading you were so eager to do just a few minutes
ago. I will see you later this evening to see how much information you
have actually retained."
Harry nodded and he said his goodbyes and he once again veered off for
his bed suite, at a much steadier, calmer pace than before. He didn't
know what to think about having a convicted, escaped felon as a
betrothal match, but it was Lucius' decision, not his, and while he was
under this contract, he had to have so many meetings with his betrothed
and so much correspondence with him to fulfil the terms of the contract
he'd signed, but there was still no obligation for him to marry Rabastan
at the end of it, which he was thankful for. He liked having that bit of
control over it all.
He was still nervous about meeting him in a few days, though, and he
hoped that everything went well because he knew that Rabastan had
been incarcerated in Azkaban for a very long time…fifteen years if he
remembered right. Sirius had been bad after twelve years and he'd had
his Animagus form to help him, he didn't want to think of the mental
state that Rabastan was in and if he was anything like his sister-in-law,
Bellatrix, then there was absolutely no way in this lifetime that he'd even
consider an engagement at the end of their betrothal contract, let alone a
marriage.
Xerxes Lestrange smiled at the document in his hands. Irrefutable proof
that Harry James Potter was fertile and able to carry a child within his
body. Lucius had willing produced the document when he had, rightly so,
demanded proof of the nearly unbelievable claims that Lucius had made
that the son he'd adopted had the gene that allowed him to carry a baby
when he'd made the initial contract request for his Rabastan.
He laughed to himself, he should have suspected something like this…
that boy was far too small and slim to be anything other than a gene
carrier, but he had reasoned that the boy was still growing.
It was his soft face and that delicate, fragile-looking body combined with
this document, which was signed by two different healers from Saint
Mungo's that made the connection click. It had been so long since there
had been a confirmed gene carrier who actually wanted to exercise their
rare ability and have a child grown in their bodies that it was just a
natural reaction now to disbelieve someone who claimed that they
carried the gene.
The problem now was his stubborn, idiot son and his overprotective older
grandson, both of whom opposed the match. His son was easily cowed,
having abandoned his own sons to go and live in India for a decade and a
half, leaving him to raise his two grandsons, one of whom had been just
an infant, so Xerxes readily pointed out that they were more his sons and
that Rhadamanthus had no right to claim them as his own.
Rodolphus, however, was harder to convince. He felt that Rabastan
wasn't ready for the complicated bonding process of a betrothal contract
and that the meetings would be a disaster because it was too soon. Xerxes
was ready to agree with his older grandson when he thought back to the
way that Rabastan had to take the lead from Rodolphus before he could
do anything, but Lucius was looking for an immediate betrothal for his
newly adopted son before anyone tried to do so on the boy's behalf,
Dumbledore, for example. Lucius and Harry couldn't afford to wait and
neither could he. He needed Rabastan married and he needed him to
have heirs, and soon, and as an escapee of Azkaban it was going to be
very difficult for him to even question another pureblood family about a
possible marriage between them and his grandson…this way, with
Lucius' contract, he could have the marriage between Rabastan and a
fertile pureblood to get the heirs his family needed and keep his grandson
safe at the same time. It was the only way and he couldn't afford to wait
until Rabastan was more himself before accepting this contract, because
Lucius was not going to wait around. Who knew when another offer this
good would come up for Rabastan.
Azkaban had ruined both of his grandsons and Xerxes was never more
distraught or furious as the day that they had been arrested and
sentenced to life in Azkaban. He'd had his manor house searched several
times after that incident looking for 'evidence' that it had been a planned
attack, but they'd never found anything at his home because it hadn't
been planned at his home. His grandsons were both reasonably
intelligent men and had known that if he'd gotten so much as a sniff of
what they were doing then he'd have put an immediate stop to it, not
because he wasn't loyal to his Lord, and his very old school friend at that,
but because he would have known that it was a suicide mission and he
would have stopped them and encouraged them to wisely bide their time
instead of going after the Aurors, Frank and Alice Longbottom.
In hindsight it was obvious that they hadn't known anything, what with
their Lord telling them what had really happened with the baby Harry
Potter, but emotions had been running high and for them, the truly loyal,
it had been a time of great despair and a good few of them had almost
outed themselves in the emotional lack of sanity that had followed the
demise of their Lord. Or at least they had believed it was his demise until
the rumours had started spreading of him still being alive.
Xerxes had followed these rumours carefully; he had subtly searched and
gathered together some compelling evidence. He had never been happier
than when he'd seen his Lord again for the first time. He hadn't been in
the graveyard for his Lord's rebirth, though. He'd been in Albania
searching out information, which had become more than just mere
rumours to him at that time. He'd been welcomed back as an old friend
once he'd gotten himself back to Britain after he had felt his mark heat up
for the first time in thirteen long years, and after his Lord had seen from
his mind that he had been searching for him and planning for his return,
he had been named as one of his Lord's most loyal followers, as he always
had been.
He had mourned for the lost men that his boys were, though, and what
they could have been, what they could have done had they stayed out of
Azkaban, but Frank and Alice Longbottom had been famous, popular
Aurors, the reason why his two grandsons, Bellatrix, and the young Barty
Crouch had believed they'd had information on their Lord, but inevitably
the Wizengamot, devoid of most pureblood lords that day thanks to Barty
Crouch senior, had punished them harshly with a life sentence in
Azkaban.
He had tried over and over again, as many times as he could within a
singular calendar year, to appeal the sentence for Rabastan and
Rodolphus, but if he wasn't ignored completely, then he was denied
without anyone hearing his full appeal, which angered him immensely.
His house had been raided twice so far this year by the Aurors, with
warrants to search his property as he wouldn't let them onto his grounds
without one, to search for his two grandsons as he was continuously
accused of harbouring them. Something that he was actually guilty of,
but this house was old…old, crooked and misshapen. It was incredibly
easy to hide small alcoves behind tapestries, in the back of cupboards,
and even in the walls themselves, the very reason for the unsymmetrical
exterior that the Lestranges were ridiculed for, but not a single raid on
this manor house had ever yielded results, something that the other
pureblood families, with their perfect, pretty, immaculately measured
manors, couldn't boast.
His wards would alert him to the presence of Aurors on his grounds, as
they had to walk up his driveway as he refused to lift the anti-trespassing
wards on his estate, at which point he sent his house-elf to Rodolphus
and Rabastan and they hid themselves in the very walls of the manor
house until the danger had passed.
Xerxes got the feeling that the Aurors knew that his boys were here, it
was obvious that they were here, but without the proof, every failed raid
was a stain on the Auror records and built proof for him to file against
them for selective harassment, which would look terrible in the
newspapers for them as he was now of an 'advanced' age. Regardless of
who he was or what his grandsons had done, the harassment and
continuous hounding of an elderly wizard who had proved his 'innocence'
repeatedly was not going to go down well for the Aurors with the
wizarding public. Thus, he and his beloved grandsons were mostly left
alone for them to heal and when they did have any visitors he could hide
them safely without any fear that they'd be found.
He thanked his early ancestors for being paranoid bastards and being
intelligent and cunning enough to be able to build this house themselves
with so many hidden rooms, alcoves and hollow walls that everything the
Ministry would class as 'unsavoury', even his grandsons, could be hidden
safely and the Aurors who came to search his house didn't find anything
that they were looking for, even though they found the more obvious
hidden rooms, even the steps to the underground basement which were
located in the back of the pantry, they'd only found them because he had
let the Aurors see these rooms and he happily allowed them to think that
they'd uncovered his 'secret' hiding places, all of which were clean and
free of all subjects that were considered 'dark' by the Ministry, which left
the Aurors frustrated and angry at their continuous failed raids.
All of his books on dark or questionable magic were kept in a second
library that was completely sealed off on all sides and could only be
accessed by a painting on the second floor that had to be tapped with a
wand in the correct sequence before it turned into a doorway. All of his
dark artefacts were in several rooms that were all sealed in a similar way,
but never exactly in the same way, for safety reasons.
He went to find his grandsons now, not surprised to find Rabastan sat
nearly on his brother's lap, clutching at him as Rodolphus tried his best to
accommodate his more than bulky brother while attempting to read a
book.
"Rabastan, stop trying to climb your brother like a tree. Sit properly." He
encouraged as he took the seat opposite them.
Rabastan did so reluctantly, but his hand slipped down to entwine with
his older brother's. Xerxes sighed, it was likely the best that he was going
to get, which was an improvement from when the two had first been
broken out of the prison several months ago when Rabastan wouldn't
even go to the bathroom on his own and they'd slept together in the same
bed, entwined tightly around one another's bodies like lovers.
"I've just finalised the contract for you to sign. It has been confirmed by
Saint Mungos that Harry Potter is a gene carrier and he is fully able to
fall pregnant, so there are no problems in going ahead with the betrothal.
Our Lord is very pleased with this contract, tying Harry Potter to one of
his most loyal followers and with the boy actually going through with it
too, he's very pleased."
"It's too soon, Grandfather. Rabastan isn't ready for such things…it's too
intricate, the fine nuances and political manoeuvres are going to be too
much for him, for the both of us, to handle and neither of us wishes to
embarrass the Lestrange name through our actions at the bonding
meetings, in front of the Malfoys no less."
"I'm sure it'll all be fine, Rodolphus. We have some time to prepare, but
your brother will be forty years old in just a few more years, it's far past
the time for him to marry. You were married at fifteen; thanks in part to
your idiot of a father, but still, you are married. All Lestranges have
married straight out of school, Rabastan is the only exception."
"This is because I can't have a child with Bellatrix, isn't it?" Rodolphus
asked through gritted teeth.
"It certainly doesn't help." Xerxes said sternly. "After you both, there is no
heir to the Lestrange line…our family, our heritage, will die with you
both if you remain childless. Do you want that?! To be the ones to end
our proud, noble lineage because you didn't feel ready to take up your
mantles and produce a legitimate child for our line? We are the only ones
left! We are down to just four men in the entire line and there are no
more out branches of our family tree to rely on, not even any heirs to be
had from a female line, they've all died out. I have done my part, your
father, as useless as he is, has done his part by having you both. At this
moment we are on the cusp of extinction, it's time for you to have as
many children as possible to bulk up the chances of our line surviving
another generation and as you are never going to have a child with
Bellatrix then this pressure will fall solely on Rabastan as the only one
left to do so. I will see this betrothal match made and I will see you
married and with children."
"Where do I sign?" Rabastan asked.
"There." Xerxes pointed out to his younger grandson and watched
critically as Rabastan took out the wand he was using in place of the one
that was in Ministry control, split the tip of his finger and took the quill
that was handed to him, dipped it into the well of blood on the tip of his
finger and then signed his name as neatly as he could with his right hand,
on the line at the end of the contract. It was still shaky, barely on the
edge of being legible, but it was Rabastan's blood, which was the most
important aspect of the signature. Harry's signature was already signed
neatly on the contract, in blood, which made this betrothal a legally
binding, magical contract where the terms outlined in the contract had to
be fulfilled.
"I still say that it's too soon for Rabastan to even be thinking of a
betrothal contract. We are not even fully healthy, Grandfather!"
"I will hear no more of this, you have time to prepare and there is a week
before Lucius has scheduled the first meeting, we are to go straight to our
Lord afterwards, he wishes to know, from us personally, how the meeting
goes with Potter. He is counting on us and we will not let him down."
Xerxes strode away with the signed contract and he immediately sent it
back to Lucius. He mourned for the men that his grandsons could have
been, but he would not see his line end with them both. There would be
a new generation of Lestranges, even if he had to force the issue for it to
happen.
Harry bounced his knee against the floor and he shifted his shoulders
uncomfortably as Narcissa had dressed him impeccably to the back teeth,
not only in his finest, most expensive set of new robes but also in Malfoy
family heirlooms, Potter jewels and Black gold and silver. He felt like a
fucking packhorse.
"Calm yourself." Lucius insisted. "You are a pureblood, a lord to the Potter
and Black families and an adopted son of the Malfoy family. Stay calm,
clear, and be concise."
"I remember my first conversation with Astoria." Draco told him, his face
pulling into a thoughtful faraway look as he stretched his memory all the
way back to when he was six years old.
"Was it over which toys you wanted to play with?" Harry chucked.
Draco snorted. "Funnily enough, it was. She wanted to play with my
brand new toy broomstick, which I'd only gotten a few days before if I
remember rightly, and I didn't want her to touch it. I think I hit her with
it."
"You did." Lucius said. "I was sucking up to Lord Greengrass for the next
two years until I finally got him a deal that he couldn't refuse and the
power was rightfully switched back to me. The things I went through for
you."
Draco huffed. "I was six!" He insisted.
"You hit a three-year-old girl over the head with a toy broom because she
wanted to play with it."
Harry couldn't hold in his laughter and after a short burble, he had to
struggle with himself as he strived to contain his amusement, taking in
huge, deep breaths and holding it to regain his composure.
"Laugh it up, Potter."
"Less of that, Draco. You're brothers." Narcissa chastised. "I would not
have had any sons of mine refer to each other by anything other than
their first names."
"Yes, Mother." Draco acquiesced meekly.
"It's no wonder that you prefer her sister if your first meeting with Astoria
was you not willing to share anything and then hitting her."
"Less of that too, Harry." Narcissa told him. "Draco's…activities will not be
shared so loosely with others."
Harry nodded. "I understand." He said before he could get a hex to the
head for not using his words.
"Rabastan isn't so bad; you could have been stuck with any other number
of hideous and weak wizards." Draco assured him. "Of course, he is my
uncle's brother through marriage, so I'm obligated to tell you his good
qualities."
"What about his bad qualities?" Harry asked nervously.
Draco shrugged. "I've only met him a handful of times since he got out of
Azkaban and I was too young to remember him before he was
imprisoned. He never leaves his brother's side and he doesn't speak
either. He relied heavily on his brother while in Azkaban and now he
can't do anything without him. It's only in the last few months that he's
stopped clinging to his brother's arm all day every day. I'd heard that
they even had to share the same bed."
"Enough." Lucius cut in sternly. "Our guests will be here momentarily, the
Lestranges are not known for lateness. I will not risk having them hear
such talk which could then compromise Harry's betrothal."
"Will…will he even speak to me?" Harry asked. He got a smack to the
back of the head with the familiar hex for speaking when Lucius had
closed the topic.
"He will." He was told tersely and he bit his tongue to stave off his other
questions.
He sipped at his tea and tried not to spill it in the flimsy, vintage, china
cup, nor slam it down on the matching saucer. Narcissa hit him with a
hex every single time he did that and she got a sour look on her face too,
for daring to risk her finest china with his rough handling.
"I'm going to be sick." He said softly.
"No you're not, you'll be just fine." Lucius all but demanded of him.
Narcissa came over to him, however, standing behind the settee that he
was sitting on and she stroked her hands across his slim, narrow
shoulders and hummed lightly to him, calming and soothing him and
Harry sunk into her hands, into her care for him, he'd never known
anything else like it before and he found himself craving it desperately.
"Stop pandering to the boy, Cissa, he's sixteen, not four."
"He wasn't raised as we raised our Draco; he's a different boy entirely,
Lucius. We taught Draco how to handle pressure and nervousness, Harry
hasn't had that luxury."
"You handle Quidditch matches alright." Draco told him.
"That's different. I can play Quidditch and I like it, it's just a game and
the nerves make me perform better when I'm in the air. This is
completely different; this is my future marriage I'm trying to sort out. It's
not a game."
"Try and apply the same tactics." Narcissa told him kindly. "Use your
nervousness to perform better today. Just remember what you've been
taught. No nervous laughter, no embarrassing topics of conversation and
don't create awkward silences, keep the conversation flowing."
"How do I do that when he won't speak?" Harry asked.
"He will speak, just be patient with him. He's still a man, Harry, and he
will have his pride. He just needs his brother to fall back on after all of
the hardships that he's been forced through. He's just a little lost, is all."
Harry nodded and sucked in a shaky breath and let it out slowly. His
nerves spiked back up when he thought about what the hell he was going
to say, what did he say to a man who was thirty-six and had spent fifteen
years in prison?
"What do I talk about?" He asked quietly.
"Your studies." Draco told him immediately. "How you're doing in school,
what career you want, how many children you want. You're not here to
talk about niceties; you're here to set up the budding beginnings of
marriage. Show yourself off, talk about your wealth, your lordships and
how much you're enjoying the Wizengamot meetings. Do not mention the
weather or anything else just as inane and nothing to do with the war
either, or you risk offending them or making yourself look completely
foolish. Talk about anything you think will help the Lestranges realise
that you'll be the perfect bride for Rabastan."
Harry snarled and went to stand up to pummel Draco into mush, but
Narcissa jerked on his shoulders and sat him back down, swatting his
head with a careful hand as she did so.
"There will be none of that." She declared fiercely. "Don't goad him,
Draco. It's far beneath this family. You know that he will be a consort,
not a bride."
Harry calmed himself down, simmering the cold rage that had just been
there, under the surface, waiting to come out. He didn't like this cold
rage; he didn't like the thought that he'd take it out on just anyone when
the one person that he wanted to unleash it on was Bellatrix. She had
been the one to kill Sirius, it was her fault that he was dead and his body
lost to the veil. He'd even tried to cast the Cruciatus curse on her…the
next time he'd take her advice and really, truly mean it, right down to his
very soul. The next time, she wouldn't be getting back up again and his
curse would stick…
Harry felt a pinch to his shoulder and he took in a deeper than normal
breath, but he didn't show any other sign that he'd been pinched by
Narcissa. He looked to where Lucius was greeting four people, who had
been shown in by a house-elf, and he swallowed, his heart started racing
and his palms started to sweat.
He remained seated as was expected of him and he greeted Xerxes
Lestrange first as the head of the Lestrange family. He smiled genuinely;
he liked Xerxes, even if he was always sniffing around his ankles. Which
was a hilarious analogy really as the man was three times the size of
Harry at six foot six at least, whereas Harry was still waiting for a growth
spurt at five foot three.
"This is my son, Rhadamanthus." Xerxes introduced and Harry had to
force a smile at the cold, calculating glitter in those pale eyes.
Rhadamanthus was shorter than his father, at six foot two, but he had the
same amount of muscle bulk and the same broad shoulders. It seemed
that everything else he must have taken from his mother, from the pale
hair to the paler eyes.
Rhadamanthus squeezed his hand hard as he brought it to his lips, but
instead of laying a simple pressure on the back of Harry's hand with his
lips, the man flicked out the tip of his slimy tongue and licked it, the
angle made it impossible for anyone to see him doing such a thing, even
Harry himself couldn't see it, but he could feel it and he knew that the
man had just offered him an insult.
He calmed himself and forced his body not to react to what had been
done, he forced himself to ignore the glistening wet patch on the back of
his hand and he had to fight with himself to keep from wiping it. Xerxes
he liked…his son, Rhadamanthus, was a filthy pig.
"This is my oldest grandson, Rodolphus." Xerxes carried on, not knowing
that his son had just offended and insulted him and had actually
slobbered all over the back of his hand.
Rodolphus looked a lot like his grandfather, tall at six foot five, broad-
shouldered with a bulky rib cage and narrow hips, but that thick, dark
hair had thinned out and looked a little listless, there were lines on his
face that had nothing to do with age and his left hand twitched
randomly, sometimes the twitch would carry on through his arm and up
to his neck which would bulge with the effort it took the man to suppress
the tick from finishing its movement.
Rodolphus was the ruin of a man, a man who had once been young,
strong, and handsome. A man who was now plagued with nerve damage,
thinning hair, and a body that would have been stunning if not for a
serious amount of prolonged weight loss. He was too thin to carry off the
broad shoulders and the robe he was wearing was oddly misshapen
because his body was supposed to be carrying at least double the amount
of weight that it currently had.
"A pleasure to meet you, Lord Potter." The man said darkly, those dark
eyes that he shared with his grandfather glittered in almost the exact
same way that his father's had. Harry wondered if this man was going to
lick his hand too or just full out bite one of his fingers off.
He hadn't realised he'd been holding his breath until Rodolphus merely
brushed his hand with his thin, too pale lips and then backed away. He
was most definitely going to be sick, he swallowed hard.
"And this is my youngest grandson, Rabastan, your betrothed."
Harry didn't want to look, but the lessons that Narcissa had beat into him
wouldn't let him avoid looking. Rabastan seemed completely lost. There
was no other way that Harry could describe the way that Rabastan was
staring at his older brother, almost longingly, like he wanted his brother
to come back and get him and lead him to where he needed to be and he
couldn't understand why his brother wasn't doing so.
"Rabastan, go and greet Lord Potter." Rodolphus told him in a quiet hiss
as if he were trying to keep the rest of the room from hearing him.
Rabastan was tall. Taller than his father, but shorter than his brother; it
was hard to tell exactly how tall he was because he was hunched in on
himself, as if for protection. His long, thin, rake-like arms were crossed
over his belly as if to keep himself standing, his dark hair was just as thin
and lifeless as his brother's.
His face was wrinkled, like a raisin that had once been a grape but had
had all of the moisture slowly sucked out of it. It didn't look natural, it
looked like it needed feeding and then all of that wrinkled skin would be
full, perfect, and unlined once again. Harry wondered if that was what
Rabastan, and his brother, needed…feeding. Surely it couldn't hurt to
feed them both, they were rail-thin, where he suspected before they'd
been imprisoned they'd been strong, healthy, and reasonably big men.
They'd been out of Azkaban for several months now, he knew. Harry
wondered how long it usually took to counter that amount of starvation.
He knew from experience that he had to take things slowly once he got to
Hogwarts after a summer with the Dursleys or he'd be sick, that was
usually only two months' worth of a couple of missed meals too. He
couldn't imagine fifteen years in that prison, being fed the slop that Sirius
had told him the prisoners were kept alive on.
Rabastan still didn't move though, staring beseechingly at his older
brother, Harry could almost see him wondering why Rodolphus wasn't
coming to his aid and he could sense the mounting embarrassment of the
remaining Lestrange family members as Lucius, Narcissa, Draco and him
just sat and watched Rabastan expectantly. He understood that this must
have been highly humiliating for the Lestranges and particularly
entertaining for the Malfoys. Harry wasn't having any of that though, he
wouldn't let anyone sneer or poke fun at this poor, lost man regardless of
anything else.
With the whole room looking on at him expectantly and with an air of
amusement, it heaped a great deal of pressure onto Rabastan and he was
clearly ill-equipped to deal with it, so, as no one moved to help Rabastan
at all, and another hissed command, from his father this time, didn't
garner any reaction either except to spurn Rabastan to stare harder at his
brother, Harry stood suddenly, yet elegantly and he made his way to
Rabastan, who cringed away from him, but thankfully he didn't take a
step back. Harry had no wish to chase his betrothed around the front
room of Malfoy Manor.
He smiled reassuringly at Rabastan and slipped his hand into one of the
huge, but almost skeletally thin, hands of Rabastan and he tugged him to
the settee he'd been sat on. He sat down and thankfully Rabastan
followed suit. He didn't think it would be taken too kindly if he shoved
the man to get him to sit down.
Now that Harry could see his face properly, he saw that Rabastan's eyes
were a very dark blue, though they were dull with nightmarish
memories, not the dark brown of his grandfather and brother and not the
pale brown of his father. Harry wondered where the blue had come into
the Lestrange line.
Harry only realised that he was still holding Rabastan's hand when that
thin, claw-like hand clenched tight around his with an uncontrollable
spasm. Harry gasped and tried not to yank his hand away and do more
damage to it, but once the spasm had passed, he couldn't help but pull it
away, cradling his injured hand to his chest protectively. There was still
some serious strength in that ruined body, enough so that he'd thought
that Rabastan could have easily crushed his hand with a bit more
pressure.
"This is not going at all as I'd hoped." Xerxes sighed sadly as he watched
Harry inspect his hand critically.
"I told you that it was too soon, Grandfather." Rodolphus said as he came
to sit beside Rabastan and he clenched those shoulders tight in a hug,
comforting his confused, lost looking brother, who turned to him and
smiled for the first time since he'd arrived upon recognising who was
touching him.
"Dolphus." He said happily.
Rodolphus sighed and he looked at Harry with a little less venom than he
had before.
"I apologise for my brother's actions, he can't control them. Neither of us
can." He said sourly.
"I understand and I don't hold it against either of you." Harry replied
clearly after a short pause. "If Rabastan isn't ready for this, then maybe it
was a mistake."
That venomous, glittery eyed look came back quicker than a flash and
Rodolphus actually bared his teeth at him like an enraged, feral dog.
"Is that your attempt at subtlety? Your roundabout way of rejecting my
brother? He is still a Lestrange and deserves the respect of at least one
full meeting before you just up and reject him!"
Harry took a breath and calmed himself, pushing away his fear and his
anger.
"I can see how my words have been easily misconstrued." He said
politely. "I wasn't subtly or otherwise trying to break the betrothal
between us, just observing that perhaps this could have waited another
couple of months, at least until the winter break. The news of this
betrothal is new to the both of us; perhaps it would have gone smoother
if we'd had more time to digest the contents of the contract first, before
signing it."
Rodolphus had the wind taken from his sails at that and he deflated a
little, his shoulders shaking from the exertion of keeping them raised
even for a short amount of time. He looked to his grandfather.
"I see what you mean, Grandfather. He has got a tongue of silver."
"You should have seen him put down that jumped up mudblood Head of
Magical Transportation in the Wizengamot meeting. He ripped him to
pieces in a slow, deliberate way that completely ruined all of his points of
view and left him unable to come back from such a blow. A little sixteen-
year-old wisp of nothing rationalising such a complex situation and
coming up with that compelling argument, on his own mind you, and
that mudblood was completely lost for words, he couldn't even formulate
a comeback, he was just gaping and mouthing like an uncivilised beast.
I've never laughed so hard internally; I thought I was going to rupture my
spleen."
Harry let out a soft choke of laughter before he inhaled deeply and got
control of himself again, adjusting his posture and relaxing his shoulders
as he dropped his hands to his lap.
"It was my pleasure to…enlighten him on the flaws of his proposal." He
answered instead, to cover for his slip of composure.
"You've done well with him, Lucius. Imagine, just five weeks and you've
turned him into this magnificent, intelligent beauty." Xerxes
complimented.
"Thank you, Xerxes. It wasn't at all as difficult as you might believe.
There is a reasonably strong, sound mind hidden under that hair."
"You're really beautiful."
Harry looked, startled, at Rabastan to find the man studying him
incredibly hard, focusing on every feature of his face. It immediately
stopped him from pouting at Lucius' roundabout compliment or
complaining to him for making it, which likely would have earned him a
punishment later, once the Lestranges had left.
Harry had expected Rabastan to have a shaky voice, one which perhaps
cracked or went through different pitches and octaves, but it was the
opposite. His voice was strong, deep and even, an almost complete
contrast to his appearance. His voice hadn't changed over the years, but
his appearance had. Harry found himself desperate to see the healthy
body that matched that strong, deep voice.
Harry smiled at him. "Thank you for your compliment."
"Your eyes are different. Most purebloods have brown or blue eyes or
grey, but they're rarer. Your eyes are green. I hope our children have
your eyes."
"Calm yourself, Rabastan; you're here to talk about an engagement, not
about potential children." Rodolphus chastised his brother.
"Since I lost my last betrothal fourteen years ago I've had no one else of
worth express interest in me." Rabastan told his brother. "Who else will I
marry and have children with if not the one who took the initiative and
set up a contract with me?"
"What did I tell you about not sounding desperate?" Rhadamanthus
snarled.
"He doesn't sound desperate, I assure you." Harry cut in as Rabastan drew
back and reached for his brother's hand. "There's nothing wrong with
thinking about children nor asking if your betrothed would like them. I
would like them. I haven't much thought about how many I'd like yet as I
am still young, but if I'm honest; I'd like at least three."
"Most purebloods don't have more than two, Harry." Narcissa told him
patiently.
"I know, but I'm not most people, am I? I'd like as many children as I can
get, but three is a minimum. Though I am open to hearing debates."
"You won't get any from me." Rabastan told him. That made Harry smile
at him.
"Under usual circumstances, I would advise you to stick to two or three
children, but as the lord for the Potter and the Black families, I would
believe you have enough wealth to cover more if you wished for them
and that is without carrying the heir for the Lestrange line or taking into
account the wealth of your potential husband." Lucius told him.
"Rodolphus is still the heir to our line as my oldest son." Rhadamanthus
hissed.
"Don't act foolishly." Xerxes demanded of his son. "Rodolphus and
Bellatrix are not going to have children together; they can't even stand in
the same room without infuriating each other. You well and truly messed
that match up. If I had known about it, I would have stopped you, those
boys are more mine than they are yours and a Ministry hearing would
declare them as such, as you well and truly know."
Harry had done as he had sworn to do and he'd sent a clipped letter to
Bellatrix, sealed with a blob of black wax with the Black family crest
blotted onto it, which ordered her to have a fertility test. The results had
come to him as her Head of House and the test had come back positive,
she was fertile and able to have children; the problem it seemed wasn't
an issue of fertility, but an issue of actually getting the two parties into
bed together and actually engaging in activities that would lead to a child
and not to the death of one or both of them.
Bellatrix was completely in love with Voldemort and Rodolphus resented
Bellatrix for a multitude of reasons including her disinterest in him, the
disrespect she showed him, her obvious love and longing for their Lord
and to an extent, her older age over himself. That and Bellatrix was no
beauty like her other two sisters. It was widely believed that overuse of
dark magic had disfigured and twisted her and Azkaban was no spa
resort either.
"What electives have you taken this year?" Rodolphus asked him,
seemingly content to warm up a little to him from the venomous malice
that he'd shown when he'd arrived.
"I'm still taking Potions, Charms, Transfiguration, Defence Against the
Dark Arts, Astronomy, History of Magic, and Herbology, but I'm also
taking Arithmancy and Ancient Runes as I passed both of the exams I
took over the summer to catch up. I had to take both my entry-level
exams and my O. within weeks of each other."
"Which electives were you taking before?"
Harry grimaced. "Divination and Care of Magical Creatures, both of
which I was going to drop as useless subjects this year. I regret taking
them both now and in hindsight, I wish I had taken Arithmancy and
Ancient Runes from the beginning. I have so much to catch up on, but
Draco is helping me too."
"I was looking forward to Care of Magical Creatures." Draco put in.
"I was as well." Harry sighed. "Unfortunately, Hagrid's idea of a magical
creature doesn't fall below four X's on the Ministry's classification guide,
which would be brilliant if not for the lack of direction and safety. Those
Blast-Ended Skrewts were particularly dangerous and disgusting."
"I'm telling you he bred those things himself. There is no way that the
Ministry's Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures department would
have allowed those beasts out to the public."
Harry chuckled. "You just didn't know how to handle them!" He insisted
in an imitation of Hagrid.
"Funny, I seem to remember you being dragged around on your belly in
one particular class. Leashing those monsters and having to walk them
like they were mere crups!" Draco huffed indignantly.
Harry couldn't help it as he threw his head back and laughed. "Do you
remember the lesson where one of them set Crabbe on fire?"
It was Draco's turn to snort in laughter. "I couldn't forget it, I share a
dorm room with him, he was blistered all along his one side, including
his face."
"Did it make much of an improvement?" Harry inquired in his best
innocent tone of voice.
"Boys, calm yourselves." Lucius cautioned them.
"Oh, let the boys talk, it's entertaining. No one cares for those Crabbes;
Vincent was matched to a thirty-year-old witch from Slovenia. Her blood
is questionable as they claim she was born of her father's pureblooded
wife who died in 'childbirth', but there are rumours that she's the
daughter of her father's muggle bit on the side and that he killed his wife
himself to stop her from telling the truth about his halfblooded wench."
"Wouldn't a blood test clear that up?" Harry questioned politely.
"It would clear it up perfectly, but adding fire to the rumours, he refuses
to produce definitive proof that his daughter had pure blood and hides
behind a wall of indignant anger that anyone would dare ask about his
daughter's blood purity or dare call him a liar. I refused a contract
between her and Rabastan immediately and answered back that I was
insulted that he even considered his halfblooded bitch to be a worthy
match of my Rabastan."
Harry chuckled politely, but he had to wonder what Xerxes thought he
was, because Harry was actually a halfblood, even if he had been
legitimised. Was the Lestrange family actually that desperate for a match
for Rabastan? Draco had told him that the four men were the last of their
line and that even the far-out branches of their once large and illustrious
tree had thinned and then dwindled to nothing until the four men in this
room were the last of their line and Rodolphus was married to Bellatrix
who would not be producing an heir for the Lestrange line and Rabastan,
who was not a good catch at the moment because he was an escaped
felon and he was ruined by a decade and a half in Azkaban.
Harry didn't care for such physical aesthetics; he knew that given some
time and a lot of decent meals and certain potions then Rabastan and
Rodolphus would be perfectly healthy, handsome men once again. They'd
always be mentally scarred from their fifteen-year stint in Azkaban,
locked in with the Dementors, but the physical damage that had been
done by the prison and the lack of truly nutritious food would be healed
over time.
They were served tea and tiny, dainty little cakes an hour later at Lucius'
command to a house-elf; neither Rodolphus nor Rabastan touched the
food and Harry wondered why. Surely such a little cake would help
them, or at least wouldn't hurt them.
"We're on strict diets." Rodolphus told him when Harry had politely
inquired. "To help us gain the maximum weight in as little time as
possible we have to stick to a strict regime of food and potions to help us
combat the damage that Azkaban has done. Even something as small as
those cakes would throw us off of a seven-month plan and could do us
more harm than good. We need to stick to our scheduled eating times
and our specially tailored meal plans or we might be forced to go back to
square one and start all over again."
"Do not mention such things to your brother's potential suitor!"
Rhadamanthus hissed.
Harry could hold back the chuckle. "It's not as if we can't all see the
ramifications of their fifteen years in Azkaban. Why shouldn't it be
mentioned?"
"Harry!" Lucius growled at him and Harry closed himself off immediately.
He resettled himself, straightened his spine, pulled his shoulders back
and adjusted his chin to sit at a ninety-degree angle. He looked straight
ahead and kept an empty, vapid smile on his face as his hands curled
together in his lap.
"No, he's right. It's obvious that we've both been in Azkaban, look at us!
We're hardly the picture of virile health and with our uncontrollable
twitches, it's not like we can hide it. Rabastan almost crushed Lord
Potter-Black's hand!" Rodolphus spat at his father.
A soft touch to said hand had Harry curiously peeking, he couldn't help it
as his curiosity won out over a potential hex to the head for dropping his
chin, but he found Rabastan's hand touching his own, not gripping it like
he had when Harry had led him to the settee, but his shaky fingers
brushed over the top of his hand gently as he cradled it in his hand.
Harry smiled and put his other hand over the top of Rabastan's holding it
tight.
"I think we can leave it here for today." Lucius said. "The both of them
seem to be receptive to one another and that's really all the first meeting
looks for between the betrothed."
Xerxes Lestrange agreed with Lucius and Harry said a soft goodbye to
Rabastan, honestly sorry to see him go. They hadn't interacted much, but
there was a smothered vulnerability to the youngest Lestrange that Harry
couldn't help but notice and it made him want to protect the older man
and nurse him back to health. He hoped that he got to see more of
Rabastan before he had to go back to Hogwarts; he had genuinely
enjoyed his company.
A/N: I'm so very pleased at the response that this story has garnered! I'm
so happy, thank you to all of you for your feedback and reviews, I loved
reading all of them and hearing what you thought of this new fic! I
decided to give you the second chapter early as I am so pleased with the
response it's gotten!
A huge thank you to Lauren Saint for being the 100th reviewer for this
fic. I still can't believe I got a hundred with just the one chapter and I
hope that you've all enjoyed this chapter just as much!
StarLight Massacre. X
3. Hogwarts
A/N: This chapter is dedicated to Of Stories Told, for two incredible
reviews and that last one, lovelie was just epically immense. Thank you
so very much and I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as you did the
first two.
Last Time
"I think we can leave it here for today." Lucius said. "The both of them seem to
be receptive to one another and that's really all the first meeting looks for
between the betrothed."
Xerxes Lestrange agreed with Lucius and Harry said a soft goodbye to
Rabastan, honestly sorry to see him go. They hadn't interacted much, but there
was a smothered vulnerability to the youngest Lestrange that Harry couldn't
help but notice and it made him want to protect the older man and nurse him
back to health. He hoped that he got to see more of Rabastan before he had to
go back to Hogwarts; he had genuinely enjoyed his company.
Chapter Three – Hogwarts
Harry had finished all of his sixty-three books by the third week of
August, including three apiece on Arithmancy and Ancient Runes, which
Lucius and Draco were helping him with.
He'd been spanked again twice, once for throwing his book in a fit of
anger (it had gone through a window and had hit one of Lucius' prized
albino peacocks) and the second had been for fighting with Draco. It had
gone from duelling practice to a full out fistfight in which Harry had
gotten a busted lip and Draco was sporting an imprint of Harry's teeth on
the side of his ribcage…indents that had broken the skin and had welled
up with drops of blood. Draco had been called uncouth and had gone
over his father's knee. Harry had been called a barbarian savage and had
gone over his father's knee. They had been further punished by being
forced to stand in opposite corners of Lucius' study, facing the wall while
Lucius worked at his desk behind them. They had stayed there, silent and
unable to move or even fidget, for forty minutes. Which had seemed like
an eternity to Harry, who had wanted nothing more than to stretch his
legs out.
They'd been made to apologise to one another and shake hands 'like
civilised men' before they'd been allowed to leave Lucius' study.
Harry had met with the four Lestranges a further five times since his first
initial meeting and he was now a little more comfortable talking to
Rabastan and his older brother, Rodolphus, but he still did not like or
trust Rhadamanthus at all. The man, and Harry used that term lightly,
made sure to insult and belittle him as often as he could without letting
on that that was what he was doing. It was almost like he was trying to
ruin the betrothal without letting any of the others know. As if he was
waiting for Harry to blow up and break the betrothal himself so that it
looked like Harry's decision and not as a result of his own actions. Harry
swore that he would not forget a single instance where Rhadamanthus
had insulted him and he would repay him back in kind once he was in a
better position to do so. He would bide his time and he would get his
own revenge on the vile man.
Allegedly his and Rabastan's betrothal meetings were going very well;
Harry didn't know what was happening, so he just went with it and
agreed. The next time that he met with Rabastan, they were going to go
on a chaperoned walk around the gardens of Malfoy Manor. Harry had
almost laughed himself sick at that and had earned two hexes to his head
for lack of composure and he had still been wiping away tears of laughter
afterwards.
He still got a barrage of owls daily from the Weasleys, from Dumbledore,
from Hermione and from Remus. He even got letters from members of
the Order, some of them he'd never even spoken to before …but Harry
was now required by the betrothal contract to reply to letters from
Rabastan, so he could only send half the amount of the letters he had
been sending to Remus previously because his 'mail allowance' was being
eaten up by required letters to Rabastan as his betrothed.
He was surprised to find that he actually enjoyed receiving letters from
Rabastan, the man was a little hare-brained in his letters and his cursive
needed a lot of work because his random twitches meant that he had
huge score marks through his parchment, leaving behind blots and
scrawls of ink that made it difficult to read, but once Harry had
deciphered the words under the scratches and blots, he found himself
laughing and smiling at the letters. Rabastan was able to make him laugh
at just a letter and it always made him wish that their next meeting was
that much closer, so that he could see him sooner.
It was very, very difficult to place Rabastan, and hell, even Rodolphus,
into the mould of Bellatrix. Though they had been in Azkaban for the
same amount of time, Harry reasoned that Bellatrix had had to have been
insane before she'd gone to Azkaban, or at the very least she'd had to have
been mentally unhinged. He remembered how she was from the Ministry,
how she acted and spoke, the irrational mutterings and the gleam of
insanity in her dark, hooded eyes.
Comparing her to the Lestrange brothers, it was like comparing a pair of
wolves to a manticore. All of them were dangerous, but the wolves were
more likely to back away from a fight and a manticore never would. It
was incredibly violent and dangerous and would not give up until its
prey was dead. He understood that the Lestrange brothers were no saints,
of course, he did, but after everything he was finding out about people he
had thought he'd known, he was beginning to think that no one in the
wizarding world was wholly good.
He was also sure that Lucius Malfoy was drugging him with potions or
something. A few drops of calming draught in his breakfast, it's not like
he couldn't buy them easily enough, or even get them made for him, he
was friends with Snape after all, but Harry just couldn't bring himself to
care anymore, especially not as he suspected that Draco was receiving the
same treatment. They had been getting on better in recent days as they'd
both mellowed at the same time out of the blue.
Everything that he had once known was a lie, his world had been turned
upside down, what was he supposed to do now? He hadn't wanted to stay
with the Dursleys, he didn't want to impose on the Weasleys and frankly
speaking, there was nothing he could do about his adoption. He was the
legal ward of Lucius Malfoy whether he liked it or not, so why shouldn't
he take advantage of what that offered to him while he could? He was
having lessons, he was learning two new subjects, he had all the books he
could wish for, he was being taught what he needed to know about his
lordships and his estates and he was learning things that he knew
Dumbledore would never have taught him. Why shouldn't he accept all of
that for himself, even if it was from Lucius Malfoy?
He was taking all of this a lot better than he thought he would have,
especially after his blow up in Gringotts bank and the icy anger he'd been
carrying around with him, which is why he suspected the involvement of
potions, but he really did not care. He would learn everything that he
possibly could, he would set up a name and a life for himself and he
would marry Rabastan Lestrange. The man was too influential to pass up,
having his name added to the Lestrange family would give him
considerable clout and a certain level of respect and he could then pass
that on to his future children. Plus he knew that Dumbledore would hate
him marrying a Lestrange, which was part of why he had accepted the
man in the first place; so that he could spite Dumbledore and his fucking
plans. But seeing Rabastan, so hurt and lost and utterly ruined from
Azkaban, a skeleton of a man, Harry found that he wanted to marry
Rabastan to help him, not to abuse him further. He didn't have it in him
to abuse a man who was already suffering so much. Who was he to kick a
poor man who was already down on the floor and hunched over?
No, he would marry Rabastan and he would make a life for himself and
even if he had to spoon the potions into his mouth, soothe him through
nightmares in the middle of the night and massage his muscles through
the painful twitching and cramping, he would raise and nurse Rabastan
back to full health. Or as much as he possibly could as he was almost
sure that Rabastan would never be fully recovered from his long years
spent in Azkaban. A place like that with so much exposure to the
Dementors had to cause permanent damage in one way or another, but
he would do his utmost best to help Rabastan. He would get the life that
he had always dreamed of, he would have a husband and he would have
children and he would live as peacefully as he could. No Dumbledore, no
Dursleys and no war, just him, Rabastan, and their children. That's all he
wanted and he was going to do his all to get that, even if he had to take
orders and spankings from Lucius, if he had to take elocution and posture
lessons from Narcissa and even if he had to let Draco stare down his nose
at him and teach him Arithmancy and Ancient Runes in that haughty
drawl. He would sit and take it all without a murmur of complaint
because he was learning what he needed to know to advance himself. He
would make a name for himself and he would make Lucius and Narcissa
proud of him, because it's all he'd ever really wanted and now that he
was free of the Dursleys and free of Dumbledore and his responsibilities
towards the wizarding world regarding the war, he was going to do
everything that he wanted to do and what made him happy, starting with
learning as much as he possibly could, making his adoptive parents proud
in the process and he was going to start the budding of his future
marriage to Rabastan, he would get what he wanted because he wasn't
going to give up until he had his dream come true.
Today, Harry was being taken to another Wizengamot meeting, only this
time Lucius was actually going ahead of him and Harry was to use the
Portkey in his ring for the first time in preparation for the new school
year. And to prove that the lessons he'd been taking on magical forms of
travelling had sunk in, allowing him to keep his feet and walk away
elegantly once he landed at the Ministry.
He was naturally nervous as Lucius was going to be watching his every
small movement upon landing. Harry just hoped that he didn't fall flat on
his face as he had two years ago at the Quidditch World Cup…at least
then he'd had several other people fall flat on their faces like he had,
today he was going to be alone, he was going to have to land alone and
there would be no one to laugh it off with if he did land flat on his face.
He would be thoroughly humiliated and he would bring shame to the
Malfoy family and to himself. He couldn't allow that to happen.
He took several deep, even, calming breaths and waited for his Portkey to
activate, counting it down so that he was prepared for when it actually
activated instead of being caught off guard. As a result, he arrived at the
Ministry and had taken a nice, even step forward on his arrival and he
carried on taking steps forward, despite how blurry and unfocused his
eyes were and how confused and dizzy he felt.
He blinked rapidly and his vision finally cleared and his head stopped
spinning and the wave of nausea ebbed away and he found Lucius staring
at him hard, his mouth a neutral line, but his slate grey eyes glittered
with pride and as Harry made it to him and Lucius fell in step beside
him, one long, slender hand touched his elbow and squeezed.
"I am very proud of you at this moment." Lucius told him. "You have
worked hard, you've listened to everything you've been taught and today,
you didn't even hesitate to take a step forward, you looked so elegant and
poised."
Harry's lips twitched, but he pulled it back and took another breath; he
found that it helped to centre him so he could keep his composure better.
They took the lift down into the depths of the Ministry and they got off
on the second level which held the meeting room for the Wizengamot,
they only used the courtrooms for actual trials.
Harry went out of his way to greet Lord Xerxes Lestrange before anyone
else in the room and he fell into easy conversation with him. He knew
explicitly that any talk of Rodolphus or Rabastan was forbidden, as was
his betrothal or any mention that he would be joining the Lestrange
family. He'd already shoved his foot into his mouth at the last
Wizengamot meeting by exclaiming, loudly, that he was betrothed to an
escaped felon…if anyone had heard him that day then he and Lucius
could have been arrested and questioned with Veritaserum. He'd been
punished incredibly harshly for that slip-up and he'd been made to swear
that it would never happen again.
"Lord Potter-Black, it is nice to see you so close to the new school year."
Harry plastered on a false smile as he turned from the witch he had been
greeting to face the short, stumpy wizard with a thick, black moustache
that took up most of the lower half of his face.
"Of course. I have to come to every meeting called, you know that." Harry
replied in a way that showed his scepticism of the man's intelligence
without actually coming out and saying it. Lucius had taught him how to
do that too.
Harry remembered this vile wizard from his hearing last year…he'd voted
in favour of him being convicted of all crimes. Him and his little posse of
ugly, elderly witches. He'd never forgive any of them for trying to convict
him and get him expelled from Hogwarts.
"I would have believed you'd be getting ready for school."
"I'm all ready for the new term. Draco and I went with mother and father
to collect our new books, robes and equipment earlier this week, neither
of us wanted to deal with the rabble that comes from the last-minute rush
to fight and argue over the remaining dregs."
"Well, my niece's daughter is about your age, you know. Perhaps you'd
like to get to know one another so that you might get closer? She goes to
Beauxbatons, you see."
"I'm sorry. All betrothal suitors must go through my father." Harry said
promptly, grinning internally as he imagined the look on Lucius' face if
this halfblood actually petitioned one of his sons for a betrothal.
The man blustered. "A betrothal? You are a sixteen-year-old boy and
Pollyanne is just fifteen. Children your age shouldn't be thinking of
marriage or things like betrothals!"
"Might I remind you that I am Lord Potter-Black and my status as such far
exceeds yours. My father believes me in need of a betrothal. He is
currently searching for a match for me and I shall not go against his
wishes. Excuse me."
Harry strode away to stand with Lucius and Xerxes, a few other lords
with them who were either accused of being Death Eaters themselves or
their children were accused of being Death Eaters. He held back his
grimace at being in such company by the skin of his teeth. He hated the
situation that he had been forced into, associating with Death Eaters and
the like and it was all because of Dumbledore, and Lucius to an extent for
adopting him, but that had only been made possible because of
Dumbledore's lies and manipulations, not to mention the neglect of him
as his so-called magical guardian.
"Your conversation with that imbecile seemed to be quite…riveting." One
of the accused Death Eaters sneered.
"Not particularly." Harry answered calmly, his left hand fisted tight that
social decorum insisted that he couldn't ignore someone who had directly
spoken to him. "He wished to introduce me to his niece's daughter,
apparently she is fifteen, around my own age, and he'd hoped that we
would get closer." Harry stressed, keeping his facial expressions under
control so that he wouldn't sneer at the thought of being with a fifteen-
year-old girl.
"That's not quite in your desired betrothal prerequisites, is it?" One lord,
who actually wasn't a known Death Eater as far as he knew, teased him.
"Not entirely." Harry said allowing a small smirk to peek through.
"Gentlemen, and ladies, if you'd like to take your seats, I would call this
meeting to order." The new Chief Warlock, a man definitely not on
Dumbledore's preferred persons or recommendation list, called out to
them as he took his seat at the head of the 'D' shaped table. His chair was
the only one at the straight section of the table, which was otherwise
filled with folders and pieces of parchment.
The rest of the Wizengamot members were sat around the curved table
that allowed them all to see the Chief Warlock and able to see every
member of the rest of the Wizengamot too. Harry was sat between Lucius
and Xerxes again, as he had been in the previous meeting, ever since his
betrothal had been officially signed with Rabastan.
"Our first order of business for this called meeting is a case of underaged
magic in Hull. A twelve-year-old seems to have turned her mother into a
bird late last night."
"Were there witnesses?" One elderly wizard asked.
"Four. The girl was having a sleepover with her muggle friends. It seems
the mother interrupted them and told the group of girls to be quieter, it
being the middle of the night at the time, and the girl lost her temper and
suddenly her mother was flying around their heads and bouncing off of
the windows. The four muggle girls saw everything."
Harry listened carefully and patiently as the members of the Wizengamot
hemmed and hawed back and forth, each trying to be the one to get the
others to agree with their points of view, yet not giving any clear solution
to the situation. One member's solution was so harsh and over the top
that Harry felt the need to offer up his own solution quicker than he
usually would have, given that he was still observing and learning, but he
couldn't see a young, twelve-year-old witch, who he likely went to school
with, be expelled and have her wand snapped and her life ruined for an
accidental outburst of magic. He wouldn't allow it.
"I believe." Harry started carefully and deliberately after hearing enough
of his fellow members' mindless, insipid arguments and their weak points
of view. "That this is just a case of magic reacting to high emotion, where
the underage witch in question was feeling one particular strong emotion
and she couldn't maintain her control over her juvenile magic. It lashed
out, which resulted in her mother, the cause of the witch in question's
emotional distress at the time, being 'removed' from the situation. I vote
that the underage witch gets a warning and additional lessons on
controlling emotional outbursts and the four muggle witnesses are
Obliviated."
"Lord Potter-Black raises a very strong observation. The witch in question
claims to have not had her wand on her, or even near her when this
incident occurred and to give credit to her story, there was no alert from
the Trace on her wand and the last spell she had cast with it was the
levitation charm. There were no other wands found at the property."
"Then there is no case against her. I vote in favour of Lord Potter-Black.
The girl should be warned and have additional lessons and the four
muggles should have their memories of that night removed." One
member said pompously.
"Have the four muggles told anyone else of what transpired at their little
sleepover?" Lucius asked silkily.
"No, Lord Malfoy. They have been under Ministry care since the
incident."
Lucius nodded once. "Then I also vote in favour of Lord Potter-Black's
proposal."
Harry controlled himself and kept still and calm as the majority of the
Wizengamot voted in favour of his offered solution to the problem. He
was getting better and better at this and he was making a name for
himself, a real, proper name that he was building all on his own.
He was elated and overall, he was so very glad that Lucius Malfoy had
adopted him as his own son six weeks ago now. He'd come such a long
way in just six weeks, he'd learnt so much, had been taught so much and
very soon he'd be back in Hogwarts, where Draco would help direct him,
but where he'd mostly be left to stand on his own two feet, to bring pride
to the Malfoy name, but more importantly, to bring pride to his own
name.
He'd worked so hard. He'd done absolutely nothing else in these last six
weeks but read, learn, and work hard, listening to instructions and
receiving lessons from Lucius and Narcissa and even Draco. It had been
such a hectic time, where he was always doing something, where he was
always learning and being taught something new. He'd been dragged
through a crash course in Ancient Runes and Arithmancy, Draco had
tested him and then tested him again, correcting him and showing where
he was going wrong and why and he'd managed to only just scrape an 'A'
in both subjects, just enough to get into the N.E.W.T classes. But he was
still reading through several books on the subjects and when he finished
those then there would be several new books to read afterwards.
There was always something else to learn, always another book to read.
It was never-ending, but still, he wouldn't change things because he'd
been blind to the deception and he'd been lied to and led around in the
dark. He'd had no clue how deep it had gone until Lucius had opened his
eyes for him. He couldn't go back to that now. He wouldn't ever go back,
no matter what that now meant for his future. Everything had changed
and his trust in Dumbledore had been thoroughly demolished and there
would be no rebuilding anything. He was far too busy to waste his time
on Dumbledore.
His education was non-stop, but he was learning so much that he didn't
care and with Lucius continuously pushing him, he never really had the
time to just stop and think about anything. He continued with his lessons,
he continued with his books, he studied hard for the Wizengamot
meetings and he was perfect, poised, and elegant in his meetings with
Rabastan, which were going very well. Rabastan no longer needed his
older brother, Rodolphus, to sit next to him when he came to visit him
now. Rodolphus was able to sit on the settee opposite them and hold his
own conversations with Lucius, Narcissa, and Draco, or with his father or
grandfather if he chose, while Harry sat and spoke softly to Rabastan,
who had latched onto him on their fourth face to face meeting and now
looked to him to help him and direct their conversations instead of
relying solely on Rodolphus, which eased the stress off of both of the
brothers.
Harry was getting better at coaxing an answer out of Rabastan and he
was getting better at following the threads of their conversations, so that
he would be able to offer words to Rabastan when he lost his train of
thought or got tongue-tied, which not only helped Rabastan, but it
proved as well that Harry was listening and following what he was
saying, which boosted his confidence. Rabastan himself was also getting
better and more comfortable and he was slowly creeping out of his shell.
Harry had made his own observation that Rabastan's father,
Rhadamanthus, was not helping Rabastan to recover at all, what with his
hissed comments and his sneers and snarls. The man was at least civil
towards Rodolphus, but he was utterly vile to Rabastan and when Harry
couldn't hold his tongue any longer and had pointed out the unfair
treatment, his betrothed had told him that he hadn't seen his father until
he was nineteen years old and that they hadn't liked one another then.
Rabastan told him that Rhadamanthus was a complete stranger to him
and that he hadn't appreciated having a stranger coming into his life,
demanding respect and obedience, so Rabastan had not listened to a
word that his 'father' had said, which had caused friction and a lot of
animosity between them. Then, just two short, horrible years later and
Rabastan was thrown into Azkaban and neither he nor Rodolphus had
seen the man who had abandoned them as babies for another fifteen long
years.
No, Harry had decided that Rhadamanthus was poisonous to Rabastan's
recovery. He had to find a way to get rid of him and soon, especially
after all the insults he'd given to him, especially the one on their very
first meeting, he hadn't forgotten about that, he never would, and he
would find a way to repay the man who had slobbered all over his hand
and continued to insult him despite the fact, or maybe because of the
fact, that he was betrothed to his youngest son.
The vile man was hurting his future husband, he was holding him back
and was threatening their marriage prospects and Harry couldn't have
that happening, not when he had found that he actually liked Rabastan,
who was such a strong, prideful man, who wanted so much to just
protect him, but was currently unable to do so.
It was…mind-opening to see, yet heartbreaking at the same time, to
watch this ruin of a man trying to act like the strong protector that he
wanted to be when he couldn't even stand up for more than half an hour
at a time. It saddened him and it made him want to help Rabastan
achieve the strength that he craved, the man that he needed to be to be
fully happy. It was going to be a slow, painful road, but Harry was not
going to give up on this. He was not going to give up on Rabastan or his
betrothal contract. He was fully committed to his betrothal and he was
going into this contract with the thoughts of a marriage at the end of it
fully in his plans. If he'd done anything else then he would have been
discounting Rabastan without giving him a proper chance and that wasn't
fair to the youngest Lestrange, who was now legally named as his
grandfather's heir as of last week and now had the full weight and
pressure of carrying on the Lestrange line firmly on his shoulders. Harry
was his only viable prospect at the moment, which meant that if Harry
broke off his betrothal to Rabastan, then it was very likely that the
Lestrange line would die out with the deaths of Rodolphus and Rabastan,
especially as it didn't look like Rhadamanthus had remarriage or more
sons on his mind. He'd actually abandoned his two sons before, so he
obviously hadn't even wanted them, so why have more?
No, Rabastan needed to produce a child, preferably more than one, or
rather as many as he possibly, physically could, which actually suited
Harry quite well with his three child minimum request.
As Lucius had pointed out to him, most purebloods as a rule did not have
more than two children; in fact, most of them didn't even want children
in the first place but needed at least one of them to carry on their
pureblood lines. One such man that Harry knew of was Lord Greengrass.
He hadn't wanted any children at all but his older brother, Dara, had died
suddenly without any children, thrusting all of the pressure to carry on
the Greengrass name onto the shoulders of his younger brother. So Lord
Harvey had married quickly before he was even out of Hogwarts, and
he'd hoped for only the one 'snivelling brat' but his wife had had a
daughter, Daphne. He had forced himself to try again and his wife had
again given him a daughter, Astoria. Two children were about as much as
his fraying wits could handle, so he had told his lone paternal uncle,
Robert, that if he now had a son then the title of Lord Greengrass would
pass to the boy because he just could not deal with any more children.
Unfortunately, said uncle only had a daughter, Mya, thus far and there
was no clear heir for the Greengrass lordship.
Harry was different to all the other purebloods, he wanted as many
children as possible and if he had to pass on the Lestrange, Potter, and
Black names to his children then he not only needed three children at a
minimum, but he needed three boys. He grinned to himself in the privacy
of his bed suite. He was going to try for as many children as he could and
as he was going to be the one to carry them, then he couldn't see how
Rabastan could complain overly much, especially not if he promised to
name more than one child of his as a Lestrange to bulk up their depleted
family tree.
He laughed to himself as a mental image of Rabastan fussing over two
young children and three toddlers while shushing a newborn in his arms
popped into his mind. If he had his way then Rabastan was going to be a
very busy man after they'd gotten married.
Albus Dumbledore sat in a soft armchair with a cup of soothing tea as he
carefully mulled over everything that had happened this summer.
Everything had changed and all because of one boy. He sighed and
wondered what on earth had gone wrong. Where had everything turned
off of the path that he had meticulously set up over the years and
carefully laid out one event, one situation, at a time?
He'd planned for little steps off of the path, nothing ever went completely
to plan, after all, so he had given enough room to allow for such things.
For example, who would have ever believed that Sirius Black was capable
of escaping from Azkaban prison? He certainly hadn't and it had come as
a nasty shock when he had been informed that Sirius Black had escaped
from the allegedly unbreachable, inescapable prison.
Yet he had made adjustments accordingly and the path, though it was
now a little meandering, had carried on as he had planned. Black had
actually ended up being rather useful, which had pleased him. He'd
gotten the use of the Black townhouse for the Order of the Phoenix,
which had already been heavily layered with wards built into the very
foundations of the house, and he'd made Harry and Remus very happy
too, which suited his plans just fine as it created a closer tie between him
and them.
Everything had started going wrong last year, in the summer before
Harry's fifth year at Hogwarts. He had come to Grimmauld Place angry
and unsettled. The slightest little nudge set off his anger and in those
furious green eyes, he'd seen shadows of things that he would have
rathered have not seen. That was another step off of his path…he had
immediately started researching and digging into small, hidden wells of
lost information, was it even possible for a living person to be a Horcrux?
He'd given Harry over to Severus, and under the guise of occlumency
lessons, he'd instructed Severus to see if he could find the Horcrux
fragment that was no doubt buried somewhere in the boy's mind, likely
under the cursed scar that had made a sort of opening into the boy's body
for the soul fragment to enter. He'd told Severus to do whatever he
needed to do to find a connection between the boy and Voldemort, to rip
past any barrier, to delve as deeply as he could regardless of the pain and
disorientation it would cause Harry, no matter how far into the boy's
mind he had to go to find that connection. He needed to be sure, but
what Severus had found had still surprised him, even as it also confirmed
his suspicions; Harry was indeed a Horcrux. He was a piece in the puzzle
that was keeping Voldemort alive, no matter how unwittingly or
unknowingly. The boy now had to die.
It was a shame, really. He had truly liked Harry and he knew that the boy
would have gone far in life after this war, if he had survived it to begin
with that is, but now, now he had to repave his path…it had to take a
different route to the one that he had originally planned and set up, and
now, as unfortunate as it was, Harry had to die on that path for there to
be true peace in the world.
The boy had taken such a huge step off of the path this summer though.
He had never expected Harry to disobey his orders and leave Privet
Drive, let alone go all the way to London and then on to Gringotts. It had
troubled him greatly that Harry had suddenly just known to go and claim
his lordships. It had been a struggle to keep Black quiet, insisting that it
would be too disruptive to Harry's studies and that his O.W.L grades were
low enough as it was, without adding in the responsibilities of the Potter
lordship.
He had only managed to silence Black by promising him that he could
tell Harry about his lordships and responsibilities on his seventeenth
birthday when he was legally a man in the wizarding world, and they'd
then let him decide for himself if he wanted to claim his lordships in his
seventh year of Hogwarts or leave it in his care. Naturally, he would have
spun it in such a way that he'd have had a strong chance of getting Harry
to leave the lordships in his care, though he would have preferred that
Harry had not known of the lordships at all. But it had been such a relief
when Black had died without telling the boy about the lordships or the
responsibilities he had to the wizarding world. He had breathed much
easier.
Yet, something had happened this summer. Something had changed and
Harry had chosen to disobey him and he had gone to Diagon Alley.
Someone there had told him about his rightful claim to his lordships and
he had gone to Gringotts and he had claimed his rightful position. He had
claimed both of the lordships that he had been entitled to, seeing as he
was the rightful Black heir as well, now that Sirius was dead and from
one day to the next, he had lost both of the seats he'd had on the
Wizengamot and his position as the Chief Warlock too, a position of
esteemed power and influence.
He'd tried to do some damage control by offering up a selection of
wizards who he believed were 'suitable' for the position of Chief Warlock.
Of those people, Albert Runcorn, the new Head of the Department of
International Magical Cooperation after the death of Bartemius Crouch
senior almost two years ago now, had not been one of them. One move
from the boy and everything had changed and had come tumbling down
around him and his carefully laid out path had taken a right angle from
the direction he had wanted it to go in.
He had lost more than he cared to count when Harry had claimed both of
his lordships. He now had very little influence within the Ministry and
with Lucius Malfoy giving more and more subtle advice to Minister
Fudge, whispering into his ear, he was getting fewer and fewer owls
asking for his opinion or advice on things that he'd much rathered have
had a say in.
His grip on the Ministry was weakening and he had to find a way to
change that, to reaffirm his hold on the Ministry and get some power
back from it. The Potter and the Black lordships had been perfect,
becoming the Chief Warlock was even more perfect, but now that was all
gone in an instant and there was nothing that he could do to get it
back…unless the boy died. Yet, he still needed the boy to die at the right
moment. It had to be Voldemort who delivered the killing curse to
destroy the Horcrux; Harry would not survive a second direct curse, of
that he was sure.
The first time had been a fluke…he had told the boy that love had saved
him, and really it had in a way, but not because his mother had sacrificed
herself for him, but because Voldemort had killed her at all. The Dark
Lord's soul had splintered with the death of James Potter and the
unstable, fragile fragment had broken free without permission, or the use
of the dark magic which would have seen it sealed in an inanimate
object, with the death of Lily Potter and it had latched onto the nearest
living thing that wasn't its original host…Harry. So that when Voldemort
had then turned his wand on the year-old boy, the Horcrux had lashed
back at its former home and though Harry had vanquished the Dark Lord
that night with the help of the magical backlash that the new soul
fragment had given him, he had also kept him anchored to life, no matter
how flimsily, by harbouring that piece of soul within his own body.
A second curse from its host now would destroy the Horcrux and would
more than likely kill Harry in the process too. It had only been strong
enough to rebound the killing curse the first time because of the
overwhelming magic it had taken for the soul fragment to fuse to the
baby Harry after it had broken free of its host. It was a once in a
millennia occurrence and the timing had fallen perfectly for Harry, as
Voldemort had cast the killing curse just as the soul fragment was
establishing itself in his body. It was unlikely to ever happen again.
From what he had managed to find out and theorise then there would be
a very slim chance of Harry's survival if he willingly offered himself, and
the Horcrux, up as a sacrifice, but if he twisted that a little and never told
the boy of that little possibility, then it was likely that the boy would die
and he could take over the lordships once again. It would be a struggle to
win back the position of Chief Warlock, but it was all for the greater good
in the end.
He needed to have some clout in the Ministry to ensure that it was being
governed properly. It just wouldn't do to have the pureblood lords taking
over and passing unfavourable and unsavoury laws without his veto. He
dreaded to think what those lords were plotting and what laws they were
passing in his absence and Albert Runcorn would not oppose those lords
or their proclamations as he had done when he was the Chief Warlock.
It would take him an age to correct and reverse all of the new laws they
were going to be passing in his absence. He needed to find a way to get
himself back onto the Wizengamot, or at the very least he needed
someone on the Wizengamot that he could trust to relay all the laws
being passed and to tell him who was voting for what. Such a thing was
illegal, so he needed to pick carefully, but he hoped that that person
could still be Harry. He hoped that he could still influence the boy and
then he could get his votes heard by going through Harry, but he had to
get back onto the Wizengamot by any means necessary. He needed to
have the laws he wanted passed to be passed and those he didn't want to
be passed heavily opposed. He dreaded to think what would happen to
the wizarding world that he had patiently moulded over the last eighty
years otherwise.
It would take longer than he was prepared to wait, but this couldn't be
rushed. If this was not planned thoroughly, then things could go very
wrong and if someone other than Voldemort hit Harry with the killing
curse, then everything would be ruined and the Horcrux would survive to
latch onto another host and Voldemort would live on. It had to be
Voldemort; otherwise, he would have dispatched the boy himself and
then gone after Voldemort himself.
No, it had to be planned with precision. It had to be done properly and
this had to go smoothly, otherwise, years' worth of planning and
preparation to get rid of Voldemort for good would go down the drain
and without Harry to fulfil the prophecy, the world would fall to
Voldemort and he couldn't allow that to happen.
Lucius Malfoy had thrown a huge spanner into the works by adopting
Harry as his own son. He had tried to speak to Harry recently, but the
boy hadn't spoken to him until Lucius had given his permission. Harry
had changed so much in a short amount of time and he was now under
Lucius' thumb, completely it seemed from his interaction with him, but
he'd have to test the boy at school to see how far Lucius' influence on him
ran.
Harry had ignored all of his letters and those of almost everyone else that
had written to him. He'd sent a small letter to Ron Weasley and a longer,
more detailed letter to Hermione Granger, but the only difference
between the two was that the letter to Miss Granger contained a list of
what books the boy was reading, books which he had rathered the boy
had never known existed, let alone read. But the boy talked of how
excited he was to be learning so much and he had informed the girl that
he had picked up Ancient Runes and Arithmancy as electives for this
year. That had come as a huge shock to him as well, even more so when
Harry had actually scraped two A's in the subjects at the Ministry in just
five weeks, subjects that he had never taken or shown even the slightest
bit of interest in before. He suspected foul play on Lucius' part, but he
had no proof of any cheating or bribery to throw at him.
He could only hope now that he could do some damage limitation and
get Harry back to his way of thinking during the school year. Perhaps if
he told the boy that it had been Sirius who hadn't wanted him to know of
his lordships? After all, he was dead now and couldn't contradict him and
Harry would be appeased that it had been Sirius' intervention that had
prevented him from knowing of his birthright. That might work….yet, he
could only hold on to mere hope that it would work at this point, after
all, Harry had been living with Lucius Malfoy for six weeks now and
there was no telling what the man had done to the boy in that time or
what thoughts he had planted into Harry's impressionable, young mind.
He needed to work on splitting Harry away from the Malfoys, which was
proving to be difficult, much more difficult than he ever would have
imagined, but Harry would be at Hogwarts now for the year, so he had
some time to work on that, until then though, he had one more week to
wait until Harry came back to Hogwarts and then he could assess the
damage that had been done to poor Harry and he could plan and act
accordingly.
Harry was sat on the scarlet steam train, the Hogwarts Express, in a
compartment that was empty except for him and Draco. He was currently
quilling an expressive letter to Rabastan. It was already nearing two feet
in length and it was only growing longer. He was writing it in several
different coloured inks, a new colour for each new paragraph because he
believed that it would help Rabastan to keep track of lengthy letters and
allow him to easily know what he had already read and what he hadn't.
"I have a pot of silver ink if you need to use it." Draco offered, even as his
pointy nose was still buried in his book. He was looking for questions to
test Harry with on Arithmancy.
"That would be helpful, thank you, brother." Harry said with a grin,
knowing that Draco hated being reminded that he and Harry were now
legal brothers by Harry himself, as ridiculous as that seemed.
"Do not call me that or I'll curse you."
"You can try. I will remind you that I am at the very top of our year
group in Defence Against the Dark Arts and that I scored the highest
'Outstanding' grade that the examiners have given out for over seventy
years." Harry said with a smirk.
Lucius had written to the board of examiners and he had demanded a
breakdown of all of Harry's grades and his examination marks. Harry
hadn't even known that he could do such a thing, which had earned him
a withering stare when he'd voiced that thought. But, Lucius was
incredibly pleased and proud of his achievement in Defence Against the
Dark Arts…it was just everything else that he wasn't too thrilled about
and he'd sat Harry down in his study and had told him that he expected
his grades to be much higher this year…or else.
"Just hurry up and finish your love letter. You've been writing it for a
week and a half; your betrothed is going to be going out of his mind with
worry."
"Our contract states that we have to send so many letters and they have
to be a certain collective length. I've been so busy over the last three
weeks that my letters have been a little short and clipped, so I wanted to
take the time to pour out everything into this one letter because I'm sure
that once we get to school I'll be swallowed back up by schoolwork and
learning. Not to mention homework and my duties to the Wizengamot
and I need to review some more of the neglected Black family accounts.
Eighteen huge, thick folders and I have to personally read them through
and change everything I don't like, which is a lot."
"I noticed that you removed the disownment on Sirius, Alphard, and
Andromeda." Draco stated in false nonchalance, trying to hide his interest
and curiosity.
"You've been itching to question that for the last week, haven't you?"
Harry chuckled. "Yes, I welcomed them back into the Black fold. I don't
think Sirius' behaviour warranted a disownment, so I reversed that
decision and I really don't think giving money to your nephew is grounds
to be disowned, so I reversed that decision against Alphard as well. I
really don't think that marrying a muggle is grounds for disownment
either. Andromeda is a woman, she could never have had the title of Lord
Black and with only the one daughter, she is unlikely to ever produce a
son. Besides, I am Lord Black now and I fully expect to produce several
sons and daughters to carry on all three lines that I'm connected to, so I
don't see her or her choice of husband as a threat to the Black family."
"Every man fully expects to have a son, sometimes it doesn't work out
that way."
Harry chuckled. "Yes, I understand that. But I'm prepared to keep trying
and having children until I am completely incapable of having any more
children. With that amount of children planned, at least one of them has
to be a boy, surely."
"But you need at least three."
"Ah, no. You see I thought that too, but then I started thinking harder
about it. I am Lord Potter-Black. I am the lord to two houses. If I do, by
some misfortune, only have the one son and a gaggle of girls, then my
lone son will be named as the heir to all three houses, the Potter, the
Black and the Lestrange lines and then Rabastan and I will set him up
with a suitable match and then he can name his sons as separate heirs…
of course, this is all just a hypothetical situation in the event that I only
produce the one son in my lifetime."
Draco shook his head. "I never would have believed that there was a
mind capable of thinking such analytical things inside your head."
Harry laughed. "I've always been good at problem-solving. I have a
surprisingly quick mind, but only if it's actually applied to the task.
Before, it was only really fully engaged when my life or others' lives were
in danger. But if I don't push myself and have the drive and desire to do
something, then it goes in one ear and out the other."
"Then I suggest you apply yourself one hundred per cent this year,
otherwise father will be most displeased and I'll smirk at you internally as
you're unable to sit on your chair comfortably."
Harry laughed harder. "I hate that he has the house-elves take the pads
from the chairs as an added punishment. Those chairs are hard and
horrible without a cushion at the best of times, it's only worse when you
have a sore bum."
They didn't mention any more about their home life as the compartment
door was pulled open only a few moments later and Draco's Slytherin
friends came in and arranged themselves around the compartment as if
nothing out of the ordinary had ever happened and that Harry had
always been included amongst them. Harry deduced that their parents
had told them that he was a pureblooded lord of two old, powerful
houses and that they weren't to do anything to him to jeopardise their
delicate politics with him. That or they were too composed and refined to
say anything after they'd heard of him being adopted into the Malfoy
family.
Many of the lords were cosying up to him, likely aware of his
strengthening position with the firm betrothal contract between him and
the, now heir, of the Lestrange line. Not that that was public knowledge,
of course, but it was currently travelling through certain pureblood
circles.
He'd learnt that, as Rabastan was a wanted criminal, he couldn't actually
take up the mantel of Lord Lestrange when his grandfather died, so if
Xerxes died then Harry would take Rabastan's seat on the Wizengamot as
well, as his husband's bonded spouse. But, what went on in the
Wizengamot halls stayed there, so only the members inside the
Wizengamot would know of him being Lord Lestrange and as they were
unable to tell anyone outside of the Wizengamot without facing life in
Azkaban, he would be safe from any backlash concerning his choice of
husband.
Though Harry got the feeling that before Xerxes even came close to dying
of old age, Rabastan would be able to walk down the streets and live his
life normally without fear of being attacked by members of the general
public or the Ministry.
He had been living with the Malfoy family after all and sometimes the
dinner topics were a little more than just Lucius' day at work or Narcissa's
gossip from afternoon tea with the other pureblooded ladies. He didn't
know what to think about that, but he always held his tongue. He got the
feeling that he was being tested and that he was being 'scoped out' so to
say. But he'd learnt now that before he could do or say anything, then he
needed all of the information and all of the facts, his time at the
Wizengamot had taught him that, so he waited, silently, he was always
listening and retaining the information that was said and though he knew
that the Malfoys were biased, so too had been those around him before.
He needed to take each side with a pinch of salt.
He did not like Voldemort's methods, definitely not, they were far too
violent, far too discriminate and downright evil…but what Dumbledore
had done to him, ruining his childhood as he had, planning to steal
everything from him, including his bank vaults, his lordships, and his
pureblood heritage, all for himself. It hit closer to home, it made him feel
sick. All he wanted was to live, he wanted his own life and he was going
to carve one for himself, no matter what it took for him to do so and he
didn't care how many bridges he needed to burn for it to happen or how
many new bridges he needed to build, he would have his own life, no
matter who he needed to ally himself with in order to achieve it.
He swallowed hard and took in a deep breath, keeping his composure.
He'd known that this was a high possibility, siding with Voldemort of all
people, but in his mind, what Dumbledore had done to him was worse
than anything else he'd ever known…it wasn't just keeping his lordships
from him, it was keeping a part of his father from him and he couldn't
forgive that, he couldn't ever forgive someone keeping a part of his
parents from him and especially not something that his father had not
only wanted him to have but had actively taken steps to make it possible
for him to have.
Yet, it wasn't just the lordships either, it was the theft of his birthright
too, something which he had found out was a very serious offence in the
wizarding world. It was cases like his that had seen the need for Lucius
Malfoy to found the WPM, the Wizardry Protection Movement, in the
first place. To help wizards like him who were completely clueless and
being led around in the dark over their birthright. Harry had come to
learn that everyone had assumed that he'd known about his lordships, his
heritage and his status and that he had knowingly and happily left them
in the hands of Dumbledore, which is why no one had ever told him or
questioned him over it…the man's manipulations truly knew no bounds
and he couldn't forgive that either.
But it didn't even stop there. Lucius had told him that as his magical
guardian, Dumbledore had been responsible for everything in his life,
from his upbringing, to his education, to the very subjects that he took in
school.
He'd been told that he'd been put with muggles for the simple reason that
if he'd been left with a witch or wizard, then they would have
automatically become his magical guardian as well as his custodian
guardian. Harry felt sick when he thought of Sirius…who had been
innocent all along and should have been his guardian throughout his life.
Instead, he'd had Dumbledore, who hadn't told him anything, who had
shut him out and kept him ignorant and in the dark while leaving him to
rot with the Dursleys while he enjoyed all the benefits of his birthright.
Well, not anymore. Lucius was his adoptive father and his magical
guardian now, Lucius had changed him and was moulding him for the
better. He'd pushed him so hard that Harry had feared that he'd fall and
never get back up again, but so precise and guiding was Lucius'
instructions, Harry was always caught by firm hands and set back on his
feet before he could hit the floor. He had learnt so much that if he took a
moment to think about it all his head spun around until he was dizzy.
But Lucius had taken up his role as his guardian with a fierceness that
Harry wouldn't ever have expected. He'd always thought that Draco was
spoiled and allowed to get away with murder, but it just wasn't true.
Though Draco had mostly everything that he wanted and he got more
than most of the kids at Hogwarts did, for example, he got a sweet parcel
from Narcissa every month, he sent owls to both of his parents every
other day, he had everything and he was spoilt to an extent, but Lucius
was a firm and strict father and Harry had seen, and felt, for himself that
he was not above punishing either of them if they needed it. Draco was
spoilt, but he wasn't ruined like Dudley had been.
This sort of action and consequence routine was completely alien to
Harry, who with the Dursleys had been smacked about and punished on a
whim, starved and locked away in a cupboard and then in his tiny
bedroom that he couldn't get out of…imprisoned in what was supposed
to be his own home.
He admitted, at least to himself, that he'd pushed the Malfoys a little at
the beginning, testing to see if there was anything that he could get away
with, if the punishment would always be the same if he behaved in
different ways. He hadn't been able to help himself as he'd thrown bitch
fits and had emotional outbursts and displayed pure, shameful behaviour,
but always the punishment fit the crime and he'd never been beaten or
even hit with anything that wasn't a few slaps of the hand or a simple
charm that was annoying more than it was painful. He'd never been
denied food or told he wasn't allowed to have breakfast or dinner, he'd
never been locked up or even told to stay in his room. He wasn't
punished any harder than Draco himself was, they were treated as equals
and that was something that Harry had never known before and he found
himself craving it. It was so strange that he even worried that something
might be wrong with himself.
Yet, it was this mindset that made him want to prove himself even more,
he wanted to please Lucius and Narcissa, he wanted to impress them and
make them proud of him, as he'd done the same at the Dursleys when he
was younger, before he'd come to the realisation that nothing he would
ever do would be good enough for them. They were truly despicable
people, he had realised that when he'd seen the pride in Lucius' eyes for
the very first time, pride aimed at him. When he'd seen for himself those
thin lips curl slightly into a smile because of something that he'd done. If
Lucius Malfoy, of all people, could feel pride at the things he did and
what he'd achieved, then why couldn't his own blood relatives? The
people that Dumbledore had happily left him with time and time again,
despite Harry begging him not to go back and pleading with him, telling
him what they were like, but he was always forced back…always.
"It seems that you had a more interesting summer than most of us,
Draco."
Harry looked up to see that Pansy was sitting next to Draco, one hand on
his inner thigh, her fingers brushing incredibly close to his groin, while
she looked coyly up at the blonde through her lashes.
"It was eventful." Draco replied simply, but Harry frowned slightly when
he heard how throaty Draco's voice had gone. Was he ill?
Blaise Zabini laughed happily and Draco scowled at him.
"You still have absolutely no self-control, do you? I heard that the three
of you were punished severely over the summer, how can you just start
up all over again this year?"
Harry blinked and he looked from Draco to Pansy and to a flushed
Daphne, back to Pansy's hand on Draco's leg and he connected the dots.
"Father would be most displeased." Harry said calmly, pointedly, even as
he carried on writing his letter to Rabastan, his heart beating a mile a
minute at what he was actually seeing with his own eyes…they were
doing that right there in front of him!
"You would tell him too, wouldn't you?" Draco growled.
Harry sent him a wide grin. "If only to see you get punished, yes. I'd tell
him in a heartbeat because you'd do the same to me if the situation was
reversed."
Draco sighed and he pushed Pansy's hand off of his thigh and shifted
closer to the window, away from her. The pug-faced girl stared at the
distance between her and Draco and grit her teeth in anger.
"I lost my betrothal match because of what we did together. We almost
created a baby together, Draco. Why are you behaving like this? You
promised me marriage when we were in bed together. I was expecting to
hear that you'd broken your betrothal over the summer so that you could
enter one with me."
Harry couldn't control the urge to grimace at the thought of Draco lying,
all sweaty and naked, in a bed with Pansy and promising her marriage.
He felt queasy at the very thought and he almost gagged. Draco noticed
and scowled at him furiously. Harry turned to look out of the window
and fought to regain his composure.
"You know that was only said in the heat of the moment. Your pregnancy
test came back negative and we were never so lax again after that." Draco
replied calmly. "It was nothing to do with me that you lost your contract,
it was your actions that lost you your betrothal, not mine. I still have my
contract and I will honour it."
"I still have mine, too." Daphne said, she was smirking slightly, goading
the unfortunate girl.
"Only because Nott is too much of an ingrate to get rid of you." Pansy
sneered at the other girl.
"He's completely in love with her beauty." Blaise scoffed. "Even though
both Draco and I have had Daphne in our beds, and he knows that, he
still wants you for some reason."
"His father wants the Greengrass fortune, you mean." Draco replied
scathingly.
Harry was appalled that these people were speaking like this to one
another when they were supposed to be friends. He wouldn't dream of
talking like this to Ron or Hermione. This picking and biting at one
another was completely alien to him and he would never have dared
treat his friends so appallingly and he wouldn't expect anyone to put up
with him if he did act like this. He couldn't understand it, how did they
remain friends when they spoke like this and acted as they did towards
one another?
"You'll need a betrothal contract too, won't you, Potter?" Zabini asked
him and Harry turned to look at him quizzically. He had expected them
all to just ignore him, not actively talk to him.
"Who in their right mind would want him?" Pansy scoffed before Harry
could answer.
"He might be your only option left. It's him, old Lucan Selwyn, or Amycus
Carrow. That is unless you want to go and live in some other country
where you don't know the language or the culture with a foreign wizard
that you can't understand and will never get on with." Daphne taunted
the pug-faced girl, getting her own back for the earlier, scathing
comment.
Pansy went white and she swallowed heavily. "I'll write to my father and
have him petition Lord Malfoy at his convenience then."
"Such a thing would be useless." Harry said calmly.
"It is up to Lord Malfoy to accept a suitable contract, not you." Pansy told
him scathingly.
"I know that, but you see I already have a betrothal set up for me and it
actually seems more like we have the possibility of marriage after I
graduate, maybe even sooner than that if my father is amicable. We have
already talked about children and the ceremony."
"You never told me that you were actually considering a marriage." Draco
said, completely affronted.
"It has been a busy week, I apologise for not telling you sooner, but it is a
recent development. We found ourselves talking about the décor for our
bonding ceremony at our last meeting and it took the both of us almost
an hour to realise that we were actually planning our future ceremony."
"Father will be thrilled, you need to tell him."
Harry nodded. "I will, as soon as I finish this letter."
"Are you writing to your betrothed? That is a massive letter." Zabini told
him. "Is it true that you're betrothed to Thorfinn Rowle? I had heard that
your prerequisites were more towards the male gender and Rowle is
known for liking both genders."
"Don't be ridiculous. Rowle is a member of the pureblood directory, no
one on that list is going to be interested in Potter." Pansy told Blaise.
"You're only saying that to make yourself feel better because the Rowle
family turned you down." Daphne bitched.
"No, it isn't him." Harry replied distractedly before the girls could start
spitting and biting at one another again as he quilled another paragraph,
using Draco's silver ink. "I'm betrothed to Rabastan Lestrange."
Harry took huge pleasure in seeing their faces as he dropped that
bombshell on them, as the Lestranges were definitely a family in the
pureblood directory and they literally were the very last family anyone
would have ever expected him to be linked to. It's what made it utterly
perfect really because no one would believe it until given irrefutable
proof in the form of their marriage certificate, but by then it would be
too late to do anything about it.
"He wants to marry you?"
"Of course, he's very happy with our match. As is his brother and
grandfather…his father is a poisonous, petty bastard, though."
"You shouldn't speak ill of your betrothed's family." Daphne warned him
"I take it that you are a gene carrier?"
Harry nodded again. "I am and I don't speak ill of Rabastan's family, only
his father and we're both in agreement that he has no right to call himself
a Lestrange. He abandoned his own sons, his own family for decades after
all."
"I can't believe that the Lestranges wanted you of all people. They really
must be desperate."
"I will warn you that if you speak ill of my betrothed's family like that
again, I will curse you."
"As will I." Draco countered. "If you speak ill of my brother, then you
speak ill of me. If you insult him, then you insult the entire Malfoy family
and I won't stand for it."
Pansy looked at a loss as she looked between Harry and Draco and then
at the letter that Harry was still writing, he'd moved on to purple ink.
He'd stoppered the silver ink bottle and handed it back to Draco.
"Why are you writing in different inks? Such gaudy colours too." She
sneered instead. It was like she needed something, anything, to sneer at
in order to make herself feel bigger and better. It came across as utterly
pathetic to Harry.
"If I want to test out different coloured inks, why shouldn't I?" Harry
asked.
"Rabastan Lestrange will definitely not like receiving a letter set out like
that."
"You talk as if you've actually ever seen or spoken to him." Harry
remarked. "He enjoys getting letters from me, no matter what form
they're in or what colour ink I use. I could send him a singing dwarf to
relay my message and he'd still enjoy it and he'd reply as well. Do not
talk of my betrothed as if you know him or have ever even met him
before."
Pansy suffered her humiliation for only several seconds before the
compartment door was opened and Harry was looking at Ron and
Hermione. He smiled at them widely, excited to see them again after so
long.
"How was your summer?" He asked them. "You won't believe how much
I've learnt this summer, it's been amazing! I have so much to tell you!"
"How can you say that after everything that's happened?" Ron burst out
angrily.
"Excuse me? I don't seem to understand what the problem is."
"Merlin, you even talk differently!"
"Of course I do, I've been educated in elocution to help me with my role
as Lord Potter-Black in the Wizengamot. Don't fault me for that when I'm
helping to make a difference in the world we live in."
"Professor Dumbledore was making a difference!" Hermione told him, just
as angrily.
"He stole my birthright from me. He was using seats on the Wizengamot
that are rightfully mine and I had no idea about it. He stole my rights
from me and he's lucky that he isn't facing a trial and a stint in Azkaban
prison because of it."
"He said…he said…"
"I bet that there is a lot that he's said and told you about everything that's
happened, but until you hear both sides until you hear my side of things,
then you have no hope of making an informed decision. If you only take
one side as the truth without listening to the other, then you're only
being purposefully ignorant."
"Seven weeks you've spent with the Malfoys and look at you!" Ron spat.
Harry looked down at his new, pitch-black robes trimmed with silver that
had matching sterling silver fastenings that he'd had tailored for him at
Twilfitt and Tattings. The crest was still the red and gold Gryffindor lion,
as was the tie done perfectly at his throat, but Harry thought that he
looked rather good.
"He looks perfectly fine to me." Draco complimented. "Unlike you,
Weasley. How many of your brothers wore that robe before you got it?"
Ron's ears went red and Harry sighed. This was not going at all how he'd
hoped. He'd hoped that his friends would understand, that they'd be
righteously angry on his behalf when he told them what Dumbledore had
done to him…he'd forgotten that they'd been following Dumbledore's
orders too. That Dumbledore had told them not to send owls to him and
they hadn't, then suddenly, as soon as he was in Malfoy manor, he was
getting at least a letter every day from them both, most likely on
Dumbledore's orders too. That thought upset him, he loved them, they
were his friends, his first two human friends in his life and he didn't want
to let them go. It was hurting him. The way that they were looking at
him was hurting him.
"What has this got to do with you, ferret?"
"Do not insult my brother in such a way." Harry demanded angrily. "I still
want to be friends with you both, but I will not let you speak to Draco in
that way."
"Why would anyone want to be your friend now?!" Ron exploded. "You've
made your choice, you've picked them over us!"
"I haven't chosen anyone over anybody else! It is you who is breaking off
this friendship. I still want to remain friends, I just won't stand idly by
and allow you to offer insult to my brother and to my family!"
"They're not your family, Harry. You're the son of James and Lily Potter,
not the Malfoys." Hermione told him quietly.
Harry sighed raggedly in frustration. He didn't understand why everyone
kept saying that to him.
"Yes, I am. I will always be their son, as Sirius will always be my
godfather, but they're all dead, Hermione. They're all gone and I have no
one left to be my family. Yet why does that mean that I can't have
another family? A family willing to adopt me and take me in and care for
me? Why can't I have that too just because my parents happen to be
dead? Why does them being dead mean that I can't have a loving family?
They'd want me to be happy and I am."
"You had your aunt and uncle…."
"You know what those people did to me!" Harry exploded suddenly,
jumping to his feet and staring up at them furiously. "You saw the marks
on my body; you knew what they did to me during the summers. How
dare you stand there and say that I had them to love me and care for me
when you knew that they never did!"
"It was only for a few weeks, then you came to mine for the summer."
Ron tried to tell him.
"You say that as if it's alright. Oh, you only have to put up with being
beaten and starved for a few weeks, you can handle that, it's alright. It's
not!" Harry shouted. "It's not alright, it has never been alright! How dare
you try to diminish what they did to me, how dare you make light of it
and say that it was only for a few weeks when you knew damn well that
Dumbledore was going to keep me there all summer this year! It doesn't
matter if it was for only one day, I never wanted to go back there and I'd
see those people dead for what they did to me!"
Harry was panting like a wounded animal when he finished and his ears
were ringing from his own shouts. He could feel his hammering heart in
his throat and the blood rushing through his veins as he glared at the two
people that he had trusted to always stand by his side. The two people
who had just told him that he wasn't worthy of a loving home and had
told him that they didn't want to be friends with him anymore just
because he'd been adopted into a family that didn't treat him like a slave
and a punching bag.
"If you don't leave now, I'll curse you until your own mothers can't
recognise your faces." Draco promised coldly.
"Harry?"
"Go. Now." He said in splintered fragments as he tried to regain his
composure and bottle up all that cold, icy anger that had flared so
quickly and so easily within him with the merest provocation.
"You three, leave too." Draco said to Daphne, Pansy, and Blaise a few
moments later, after the compartment door had been slammed shut.
They didn't argue, they just got up and left, closing the door behind them
again. Harry didn't see if they went the same way as Ron and Hermione
or not, he didn't care right at that moment.
"Beaten and starved?" Draco questioned him immediately, once the
compartment door was closed again and they were alone. "Something
that you forgot to mention to us, Potter?"
Harry averted his gaze, looking out of the window as he chewed on his
lip. Draco moved to sit next to him and he physically turned Harry to
face him.
"Do not make me tell father that you're keeping secrets, because he will
get it out of you and it'll be better for you if you just tell me now, so that
I can inform father and he can act accordingly, rather than having him
get the information from you himself. Now tell me, what did those filthy
muggles do to you?"
Harry shook his head. "I can't believe I blurted it out like that, in front of
so many people too, I was just so angry, so very angry and I couldn't
control it."
"What did they do?" Draco demanded, not letting Harry change the
subject or avoid it.
Harry sighed. "I was left on their doorstep the night my parents were
killed."
"You were left on a doorstep?!" Draco said aghast. "A year-old baby on a
doorstep where anyone could snatch you?! Merlin, a passing foxcould
have mauled you to death!"
Harry nodded. "Allegedly, my aunt found me when she opened the front
door to put out empty milk bottles."
"You were left there all night?!"
"As far as I know. But from then on…my life was a sort of painful
existence. It's all that I can remember, Draco. Everyone assumes that
because I'm the Boy-Who-Lived, something I didn't even know about until
I was eleven when I also found out about magic for the first time I might
add, that I was treated like some sort of prince, but I wasn't. They hated
me because they hated magic. My aunt was jealous that my mother had
magic and she didn't. My uncle hated anything that was out of the
ordinary, he even hated dreams where things were acting out of the
ordinary and as I had magic and I did have accidents over the years…he
hated me too."
"So he beat and starved you?"
Harry bit his lip and nodded. "He said that he could stamp the magic out
of me and then when that failed, he tried to keep me from going to
Hogwarts, saying that he wouldn't pay for me to go, but I found out then
that I had my own trust vault and that my full tuition had been paid for
upon my birth by the Ministry. But coming to Hogwarts made everything
worse. He got more deranged and more violent and instead of just a few
missed meals here or there, he started leaving me for days without
anything to eat. He even put bars over my window and locked me in a
room that's smaller than the house-elf rooms at the manor and I'd be in
there for days at a time without being let out and then I'd only be
allowed out for half an hour or so and then I'd be locked back up again."
Draco looked grey when Harry finally got the courage to look at him and
he seemed completely unnerved.
"You suffered through that all this time and you said nothing?"
"As I shouted at Ron and Hermione, I begged Dumbledore not to make
me go back…I actually begged him, Draco. I told him that I'd go
anywhere else, but he always refused and sent me back to them. I told
him about it and he did nothing, so I never told anyone again. Ron and
Hermione knew, Ron and his brothers actually ripped the bars off of my
window to get me out in my second year and they told their mother that
I was being starved and she didn't do anything either. They saw the
bruises and scars on my body, but nothing was ever said, nothing was
done, so I stopped mentioning it. I sort of…I realised that nothing was
ever going to be done and that I'd have to put up with it, it was like I was
brainwashed into accepting their treatment of me instead of telling
anyone and everyone or even doing something about it myself. I felt like
I had to accept it and like it was right for them to treat me like that and I
don't know where that mentality started or where it came from, but it's
only since being with your family that I've realised how a real family
should be like. Missus Weasley has always said that she saw me as a son,
but she never treated me like one, she treated me like a brainless kid who
was incapable of making decisions and…it's only been your family that
has shown me what I'm missing. It's been you and your parents that have
shown me what true families are like and I don't think I can go back to
how it was before, Draco. Now that I've had a taste of it, I can't go back."
"You won't have to. You're a Malfoy now, maybe not in name, but you're
family and you're betrothed and you said that it's looking more and more
like marriage. You have a family now and you're making your own
family. You won't have to go back to that, you won't have to go back to
them."
Harry's throat felt tight and he had to swallow hard, twice, before he
could even speak.
"I just can't believe how different everything is. I've come to depend on
you and your parents so much, having that stripped from me now is
going to hurt me deeply and…everything is different now. I can see
things more clearly, I'm coming to realise my self-worth and I don't want
that taken from me. I hate those people for what they did to me."
"I'm going to owl father and tell him, he'll know what to do. Until then, I
suggest that you finish that letter to Rabastan, we're almost at the
station."
Harry nodded and went back to the letter, changing from purple ink to
navy blue and he started telling Rabastan that he needed to see him in
person to explain a few things to him. He wondered then if he should tell
Rabastan about the Dursleys, but he decided against it. It wasn't
something that he wanted to put in a letter. Instead, he told his betrothed
that there was something important that he really needed to tell him,
something that he needed to know, and that he'd explain everything to
him the next time that they met up face-to-face and he left it at that. He
signed his name at the bottom of the letter before he took out a new
piece of parchment and he wrote to Lucius. He couldn't leave something
like this up to Draco to explain, he needed to tell his adoptive father his
own version of events as well as Draco's version and as Draco sent his
letter off, Harry hurriedly tried to catch up, knowing that Draco's eagle
owl, Saracen, was faster than his Hedwig. He squashed as much as he
could into the letter before he took Hedwig from her cage and he handed
the hastily scribbled letter to her and gave her feathery head a soft kiss
before he sent her off after Saracen. He'd have to wait a little longer to
send his letter to Rabastan, he hoped that his betrothed didn't mind too
much.
All of this being dragged up, his beatings and his starvation, it made him
wonder if that was why he had made such a strong connection to
Rabastan in the first place, a person who was a ruin of a man after fifteen
years in Azkaban. A man who was so damaged and skeletal that he didn't
look healthy enough to be alive, and that was after several months of
intensive care and consumption of potent potions. Harry hadn't seen him
just after his escape, he didn't know how bad it had been right at the
beginning of his recovery but hearing what bits Draco knew was bad
enough.
He could relate to Rabastan because he had been beaten and starved for
fifteen years as well…he swallowed hard and he vowed to talk about this
with his new family and with his betrothed and his family too, especially
as he had been forced to watch Draco send off his eagle owl with the
letter that would inform Lucius Malfoy that his newest, adopted son had
been abused and starved as a child. Hedwig wouldn't be able to outfly
Saracen, he was too fast and much bigger and stronger than his little
snowy owl, he only hoped that his father read his letter too before he did
anything or tried to claim that he was hiding things from him on
purpose. He hoped too that Rabastan wouldn't mind his letter being a
little late or that he didn't think that he was hiding things from him
either. This was all such a mess; he just hoped that it was at all
salvageable after it was all said and done.
A/N: The response for this story has been amazing and seriously intense!
I hope that I can continue to keep you all interested and entertained with
this story as it progresses.
A massive thanks to Muuwi for being the 200th reviewer for this fic. I
never thought I'd be saying that after just two chapters either, I'm
incredibly happy with the response and feedback for this story. Keep it
up, lovelies.
The Huntress: Lucius did both. He took custody of Harry and adopted
him as his legal son. This does not mean that Harry has to change his
name. He is still Harry James Potter and James Potter is still his Father
on his birth certificate, but due to the adoption Lucius is his legal Father
as well, but this does not change Harry biologically and it won't affect his
name or birth certificate. He's still just a Potter.
Stachelbeere: According to J. K. Rowling, all Purebloods used to marry
Muggles. But some when before the 1930's certain families were 'purer'
than others and thus they became known as the sacred twenty-eight of
the Pureblood directory. The Weasley family deplored their inclusion in
the directory and happily pointed out that they had Muggle ancestors,
thus they became known as blood traitors.
Perfidious: I'm hoping that it'll be about twenty-five-thirty chapters long,
but I really couldn't estimate any closer than that.
I hope all of you have enjoyed this chapter. The fourth will be up soon
enough and we have some more of Lucius and Xerxes, Rabastan pops
back in and we have the first of the Voldemort scenes. I would like to
take this moment to say that I've denounced the film version of him and
gone back to the, slightly saner, version of him in the books. He was an
incredibly intelligent man, completely deluded and maniacal, of course,
but he is intelligent and I refuse to think of him as nothing more than an
insane, corpse like beast with a powerful wand. There has to be
something more to him than that, so to make this plot work, you have to
accept that he's not an insane, rambling idiot with no nose. He is actually
capable of rational thought in this fic, just to prepare you for the next
chapter.
StarLight Massacre. X
4. Anger Issues
Last Time
He could relate to Rabastan because he had been beaten and starved for
fifteen years as well…he swallowed hard and he vowed to talk about this with
his new family and with his betrothed and his family too, especially as he had
been forced to watch Draco send off his eagle owl with the letter that would
inform Lucius Malfoy that his newest, adopted son had been abused and
starved as a child. Hedwig wouldn't be able to outfly Saracen, he was too fast
and much bigger and stronger than his little snowy owl, he only hoped that his
father read his letter too before he did anything or tried to claim that he was
hiding things from him on purpose. He hoped too that Rabastan wouldn't mind
his letter being a little late or that he didn't think that he was hiding things
from him either. This was all such a mess; he just hoped that it was at all
salvageable after it was all said and done.
Anger Issues
He had been expecting it, of course. But after the events that had
happened on the train, Harry had hoped that Dumbledore would have
waited until at least the next day before summoning him to his office to
demand answers from him, but no. As soon as the welcoming feast had
ended and all the students had been dismissed, Professor McGonagall had
come right up to him and told him that the Headmaster wanted to see
him immediately in his office and that he particularly enjoyed Bertie
Botts Beans this term.
It was bad enough that his own house was shunning him, every single
one of them, and he'd been forced to sit on his own after being split apart
from Draco when they'd arrived at the Great Hall. Some of the other
Gryffindors were even glaring at him and he didn't understand it. He was
completely confused over their behaviour. So he'd been adopted, did that
actually warrant this amount of vitriol? What business was it of theirs
anyway? Why did they get a say in his life or where he lived when they
were nothing to him? He didn't understand it.
He'd kept his head down and he'd eaten his dinner quietly, trying to
ignore the glares and hissed comments going on around him. This wasn't
how he'd imagined the beginning of his sixth year to go, not merely
because he'd been adopted, against his knowledge and wishes at first,
into the Malfoy family.
He sighed and made his way up to the seventh floor and instead of going
with the other Gryffindors and heading to the Tower to get some much-
needed sleep, he went the opposite way and made his way to the
Headmaster's office for a little chat that he could have really done
without, even if he had been expecting it.
"Bertie Botts Beans." He said clinically to the stone gargoyle that guarded
the office.
He climbed the winding stairs once the gargoyle had moved aside with a
heavy heart and he knocked on the door sharply wishing that he could
just go to bed, but he cleared his mind and steeled himself for the talk
that was about to be forced on him.
"Please enter."
Harry did so and he found himself swept into a tight, crushing hug as
soon as he set foot through the door. He laughed when he smelt a
familiar scent.
"Hello, Remus. How have you been?"
"I've been going out of my mind with worry."
"I kept telling you that there was nothing to worry about." He said as he
pulled back to look at the haggard-looking werewolf.
"I know you did, but I didn't know if you were forced to write that under
duress or not, I had to see you with my own eyes. The words you were
writing, Merlin, even the way you were writing them was so different
from what I know of you. I couldn't trust the letters."
"Oh, Remus, if I'd known that then I would have set up a meeting
between us at the Leaky Cauldron to assure you that I was fine, all you
had to do was ask. Lucius helped me with my calligraphy, so my writing
is actually legible now. I don't smudge the ink all over the parchment
with the side of my hand anymore either." Harry said with a grin.
"So, you are alright?"
"Of course. I've never been better. You should see how much I'm learning,
Remus! And I've found out that I really like Arithmancy and I have a
natural affinity for Ancient Runes. It's brilliant and with what Lucius and
Draco have been drilling into me, I'm really excited to start my classes
this year."
"Well, you seem perfectly fine." Remus sounded amazed yet relieved and
his stance sort of shrunk as he relaxed. "I'm so happy."
Harry nodded. "James and Lily will always be my mum and dad, always,
and nothing will ever change that, but I never knew them. I have no
memories of them, only of the night they died when a Dementor comes
too close to me and that's not a memory that I like thinking about, it's too
painful. Yet, I never had anyone to replace them once they were gone,
not until now and Lucius…he's the only father that I've ever known. No
one else has ever been a father figure to me and Narcissa is the same.
She's a mother to me now and I'm so happy. I've never had any sort of
parental figure before, no one I could call family before. I was just getting
used to Sirius and then he was snatched away from me. Lucius is stern, of
course, but he cares about me, Remus. He's teaching me so much and he's
sorting everything out for me, absolutely everything. He's getting me
back on track to be a true grown man and I'm so grateful. He and
Narcissa are teaching me things that I actually need to know, things that
aren't taught at Hogwarts and no one else thought to teach me, things
like how to magically pay bills, how to run a magical household, how to
conduct myself in the Wizengamot, even how to care for a magical
newborn. I had no idea how to do any of that, yet it's only since I was
adopted by the Malfoys that I've been taught how to do these things."
"I know your relatives are muggles, but weren't they showing you how to
run a household?" Remus asked bemusedly.
Harry snorted harshly. "They taught me how to cook and clean and how
to garden and paint a fence and the outside of a house with no ladder.
Oh, and how to ration food, but that's about it. They were unfit to care
for a child, Remus. What did you think the newspaper article meant
when they reported that I was removed from them for 'unspecified
neglect'? It's why Lucius adopted me when it came out at Gringotts."
Harry lied.
He and Lucius had talked endlessly about him going back to Hogwarts
and it was by mutual agreement that they decided not to mention
Dumbledore's neglect as a magical guardian. Lucius wanted Dumbledore
to believe that Harry was still 'on his side' so to say, just in case
something happened to him while he was at the school and Lucius was so
far away.
So, instead of skirting the issue or changing the topic as he had discussed
with Lucius, Harry was twisting the truth slightly and the 'unspecified
neglect' that the papers had mentioned as the reason behind Lucius
adopting him was now the abuse that the Dursleys had put him through,
seeing as all of that was going to come out too. He could easily make that
the reason behind his adoption, even though Lucius didn't know about
the abuse of the Dursleys yet and it had actually been Dumbledore's
neglect as a magical guardian that had spurned Lucius into adopting him
almost two months ago now.
"You should have come to speak to me before all of this, Harry."
Harry looked at Dumbledore sitting behind his desk for the first time and
he crushed the wave of cold, icy rage before he could give himself away.
"I had very little choice in the matter. I was taken to the Ministry via a
guard without being told what was going on, just that my immediate
presence was required at the Ministry and that I was to bring all of my
belongings, then, when I arrived, I was immediately handed over to
Lucius and I was told that he'd adopted me and that he was now my legal
guardian. I admit that I was very unhappy in the beginning, I did pitch a
fit, but I was unceremoniously told to shut up, that I couldn't do anything
to change what had happened and to go home with my new custodian.
Frankly, I don't care anymore, the Malfoys are the best thing to ever
happen to me."
"Do you really mean that?" Remus asked him.
Harry nodded firmly. "I do. Everything that has happened in these last
seven weeks…everything I've learnt, everything I've been given and
taught, to how I've been treated…I don't ever want to lose that now."
"Have you signed anything for Mister Malfoy, Harry?" Dumbledore asked.
Harry scrunched up his face. "No, why would he have me sign anything?"
"Would you care for a lemon drop?" Dumbledore offered randomly.
"No, thank you. I've just eaten dinner and I'm planning on going to bed
very soon."
"Are you sure he hasn't made you sign anything?"
Harry frowned. "I'm not sure I like the way that you're insinuating that I
have poor memory, Headmaster." Harry stressed. "I haven't signed
anything, only the papers in Gringotts to allow me to claim both of my
lordships early and that was my doing, not my father's."
"This really has to stop, my boy."
"What does?" Harry asked, just a slight bite of anger in his tone.
"You know that Lucius is not your father, James Potter is."
"As I said just a moment ago to Remus, James and Lily will always be my
parents. Always. They loved me, cared for me, did everything for me and
they even died for me. I'm not forgetting what they did and I'm not
replacing them, because to me there's nothing to replace. I don't
remember anything about them, I didn't even know what they looked like
until I looked into the Mirror of Erised in my first year and I never had a
picture of them until Hagrid gave me that photo album in my first year. I
was eleven before I even knew what they looked like…what else am I
supposed to do? If someone offers me a loving, caring home where I can
learn to be a strong, independent man, but still have all the love, care,
and support that I need, I'm going to take it with both hands because I've
never had it before and now that I have had it…I crave it. I crave all of it
and I won't be able to let go, I don't want to let go of that."
"You disappoint me, Harry."
"Why? Because I choose to live in a loving home instead of the abusive
hell that I was living in before? Why does that disappoint you? No, in
fact, what the hell does it have to do with you in the first place?" Harry
demanded. "As my father said at our last meeting, you are the
headmaster of my school, nothing more. So why am I even here? Is this
meeting to do with my education? Why are my living arrangements so
interesting to you? It shouldn't matter to the headmaster of a mere school
where I'm living!"
"You know why." Dumbledore said quietly. "You know about the
prophecy, I told you…"
"Fuck that stupid prophecy, it was made by an insane old woman who
drinks far too much cooking sherry and suffocates herself with incense in
a tiny room stuffed in the top of a tiny tower. I don't believe a damn
word of it!" Harry shouted.
A hand landed on his shoulder and squeezed gently. "Watch your
language, Harry." Was all that Remus said and Harry breathed in deeply
and composed himself.
His arse would be red raw for the next week if Lucius had been there to
witness his severe loss of control and decorum, and to actually curse like
an uncouth muggle, he'd be standing in the corner with his sore bum for
several hours before being forced to sit on a hard, wooden chair.
"My opinion still stands; I don't believe that foolish old woman. She's a
drunk and she gets high on incense fumes. You can't believe a word that
comes out of her mouth. She spent all of my third year predicting that I
was going to die a horrible, grisly death, which only got worse when I
was going through the Tri-wizard tournament. Do you have any idea how
scared she made me? Predicting my death in class when I had to go out
and do those stupid tasks when I never wanted to do it in the first place!
No, I don't believe her."
"You know her true predictions…."
"No! I know that you told me that they were true predictions! But I've
made my own decision…nothing that comes out of that woman's mouth
is real."
"Voldemort needs to be stopped."
"Then why do I have to be the one to do it?!" Harry exploded. "I'm sixteen;
does that mean anything at all to you? You can't tell a sixteen-year-old to
save the world and to fight in a war that started before I was even born! I
don't care if Voldemort killed my parents, it was their choice to fight in
the war, not mine and people die in wars! I want nothing to do with it.
I've made my own choice and my decision is that I won't fight just
because my parents did. I don't have to be included in this war just
because they were. I want a nice, peaceful life and that's what I'll get…
I've seen and suffered too much death in my life already and I'm only
sixteen."
"Voldemort will never leave you alone."
"I still don't care. If he believes that rubbish, that's his problem. I'm going
to live my own life the way I want to, I have a family now and I'll make
my own one day in the future too and I'm happy to do so. I want a nice,
ordinary life. I want a partner, I want to get married and I want kids. I
want a nice house; I may or may not want a full-sized, professional
Quidditch pitch for a back garden. I don't want any pets outside of
Hedwig and I'm hoping to get an extended family too, with in-laws, the
works. I don't want to fight, I never have, so I'm making a stand. I won't
fight in this war. So you need to find someone else to be your gullible
scapegoat because I refuse to do it anymore. This war is your problem
now, not mine."
"There is no one else, you know…"
"I only know what you've told me." Harry said through clenched teeth.
"There is always someone else! You can't possibly believe that I, a
sixteen-year-old boy, am capable of murder! That I'm even remotely
strong enough to take out that evil bastard. I'm not and I won't sacrifice
my life to that beast just because you tell me to, Headmaster."
Harry turned smartly on his heel and he left the office, hurrying down
the spiral staircase and striding angrily down the corridor. He had to get
away or he was going to say something that would alert Dumbledore that
he knew that he had been his previous magical guardian…he could not
allow that to happen.
He'd done as he'd meant to and he'd declared that he was no longer going
to play a part in this war, he didn't need to blurt out that he knew
Dumbledore was a cold, manipulative fucker as well.
He needed to send another letter to Lucius, immediately. He had to tell
his father about everything that had just happened and had been spoken
about in that office, including his loss of control and his furious cursing.
He had to be completely honest, even if it meant that punishment
awaited him when he went home for the Christmas holidays. Until then,
he needed to keep his head down and he needed to study hard, Lucius
would not accept substandard grades for any reason, not even if he spent
a month in the hospital wing, as he'd been told by Lucius after Draco had
mentioned that Harry spent at least several weeks in the hospital wing a
year. He had to work hard, study harder and keep his head down until he
was out of school. It would be difficult, but he was sure that he could do
it. He just needed to try as hard as he possibly could.
The large, cavernous room was lit by a huge, burning fire in the massive
fireplace at the far end of the room and the long, narrow wooden table
was filled with seventeen bickering people and Albus Dumbledore
wearily stroked his beard with a wrinkled hand.
He was concerned; Harry's passionate speech had left him nervous, an
emotion that he didn't feel all that often. If the boy refused to fight then
the wizarding world would fall to Voldemort…if the boy didn't die then
he would never regain his power at the Ministry.
He'd called an emergency meeting of the Order of the Phoenix and he'd
told them all about Harry's explosive declaration in his office. The people
who sat at the table were arguing and shouting at one another about how
best to deal with the situation.
"You have to make the boy see sense, Albus!" Alastor Moody growled out
over the rest. "This is a war, not a game. He can't just stop and pack it up
like a set of cards! This has Malfoy written all over it."
"That was my thought also, Alastor. It is obvious that Lucius Malfoy is
planning, not to kill Harry as we had originally feared, at least not yet,
but his goal now seems to be to convince Harry that he doesn't need to
fight in the war and thus he'll remove the threat to his Lord. Harry is the
only one who can defeat Voldemort for good. With Harry refusing to
fight, Voldemort is free and unopposed to take over the wizarding world.
He already has the Wizengamot; Albert Runcorn, a secret Death Eater,
was voted in as the new Chief Warlock and with Lucius Malfoy
whispering into Fudge's ear, I'm afraid that the Ministry holds no friends
for us at the moment."
"The boy refused to pass his seats back to you?" Elphias Doge asked in
outrage.
"I'm sure that that is Lucius Malfoy's doing too. He is using Harry to
garner more votes for his proposals, with Harry now controlling the
Potter and the Black seats; he has two very influential seats and two
votes, not just one, which is very valuable. If he is merely copying Lucius
Malfoy's countenance and agreeing with every word that he puts forward,
then I truly fear what new laws and regulations are being passed."
"I asked my uncle, Dawson, about the Wizengamot meetings,
Dumbledore. He's refusing to tell me anything about them; he is
disgusted that I, an Auror, would ask him such things when it is illegal to
speak of anything to do with the meetings outside of other Wizengamot
members." Kingsley Shacklebolt said in his slow, deep voice.
Albus sighed and steepled his hands together and rested his chin on his
fingers.
"I'm afraid that everything seems to have gone wrong. We've lost the
Ministry, we've lost Harry and as a result, we may lose this war."
"We will not give in!" Moody raged. "The Ministry needs to be cleaned
out and the boy needs to be made to see sense!"
"And how would you do that?" Remus demanded furiously. "Force him to
fight? He's a sixteen-year-old boy; he's not even a legal adult in this
world! If he doesn't want to fight then I don't see how we can make him.
He's scared! He's had enough of having his life put in danger and after
what he's been put through, what teenager wouldn't? He came into this
world only five years ago and since then he has been attacked and hurt
and in constant danger, he's afraid and he's in pain. He's had enough and
I don't blame him. We need to find another way."
"There is no other way!" Emmeline Vance burst out. "If there was then we
would have used it already. We need the boy."
"He doesn't want to fight anymore! You can't just force him to do it when
he won't!"
"We're going to have to, Remus." Albus said quietly. "We need him to
fight Voldemort; we need to get rid of him once and for all. Forcing
Harry to fight is for the good of the wizarding world."
"Do not say that to me!" Remus shouted loudly. "Do not sit there and tell
me that forcing Harry to fight is for the good of the wizarding world
because unlike everyone else here I am more concerned about Harry than
I am about anything else."
"Do you not want the Dark Lord stopped then?"
"Of course I do! As Harry himself does, he said as much in the
headmaster's office! I just don't want it to be at the expense of Harry's
health or happiness. He doesn't want to fight, he's never been a violent
boy anyway and forcing him to fight and kill is going to destroy him. I
won't let you do that to him. If you can't convince him to fight willingly,
then you're going to have to find a different way. Harry has been through
too much as it is, he's tired of it."
"But what else can we do?" Bill Weasley asked. "We can't allow
Voldemort to win."
"How would you feel about being Lord Weasley?" Dumbledore asked the
oldest Weasley son. "You'd be the Order's eyes and ears on the
Wizengamot."
"I can't be though; our family gave up the lordship decades ago."
"If you personally disown Bilius Weasley then your feud with the Malfoys
will be resolved and if you then announce that you, and you alone, agree
with the pureblood ethics and traditions and denounce all blood traitors,
then you'll be able to claim the lordship for yourself. With the loss of the
Black and the Potter seats and with Lord Shacklebolt refusing to reveal
the topics of the meetings, it is now imperative that we know what the
members of the Wizengamot are voting on."
"We have refused for decades to disown one of our ancestors for
something so ridiculous." Arthur said softly. "How can we disown
someone from our family just because they loved a muggle? Because they
loved children and wanted more of them?"
"I understand, of course, but the circumstances have changed drastically.
We need to know what the purebloods are planning and what laws
they're passing so that we can counter them. The Wizengamot is mostly
made up of pureblood lords and with a Chief Warlock who is now a
suspected Death Eater, there is no telling what laws they are passing. We
need to know and we need to expose them and their plans to the public. I
imagine that they are, at the least, trying to increase the regulations on
muggleborns. Lucius Malfoy proposed such a thing two years ago and as
the Chief Warlock at the time, I shut that dangerous idea down
immediately. I fear that without me there and Runcorn as the Chief
Warlock that things will be very different if the same proposal is brought
before the Wizengamot again."
Arthur nodded. "I'll go to Gringotts tomorrow morning. The Wizengamot
would never accept me as Lord Weasley, so I understand the need for it
to be Bill, but it's going to take a long time for this to go through the
bank and that's if the Ministry doesn't make things difficult."
"As long as it is eventually accepted, that is all we need. There is nothing
we can do about the length of the process." Dumbledore sighed, wishing
fervently that there was some way to speed it all up. It would likely be
the New Year before he had any insight into the Wizengamot at all and
that was at the earliest. "I'm still unsure about what we can do with
Harry, but I'll think of something and I'll approach him again once it gets
further into the school year. Minerva, can I trouble you to keep an extra
close eye on him and who he's talking to, this dependency on the Malfoy
family might stretch to young Draco as well."
"Of course, Albus." The elderly witch agreed immediately.
"Then I believe that this meeting is concluded. Good evening to all of
you."
Albus stood quickly and swept out of the kitchen of Grimmauld Place,
thankful that Harry hadn't closed it off to them and that he seemed to
have not told Lucius Malfoy their whereabouts. Perhaps there was still
hope after all and this was just a phase of a teenage boy rebelling. He
didn't have much time left before he was sure that Tom would strike and
he needed to tell Harry about the Horcruxes. Perhaps that would incite
the boy to fight?
Even so, everything had gone wrong this summer and Harry had been
damaged more than he'd first thought if he was truly serious about not
fighting in this war. He hadn't thought that seven weeks was long enough
for Lucius Malfoy to do so much damage to all of his plans and his
carefully constructed path, but he had been very wrong and now he was
paying the price for it.
He should have tried harder to get Harry away from Lucius Malfoy
sooner, but he'd trusted that Harry would protest more than he seemingly
had. He had expected him to fight the Malfoys and to stay true to his
own parents, but he hadn't. Harry had just accepted it all easily and he
had integrated himself with the Malfoy family so completely that he was
even defending them and was now declaring that they were his own
family.
A mere seven weeks, not even two months and everything had gone so
completely wrong. He had to act fast now and he had to get Harry away
from the Malfoys if he had any sort of hope of righting the wrongs that
had been done in the last month. His plans had been ruined so
completely by Lucius Malfoy that he now had to get rid of the man, and
quickly.
This couldn't continue, he had to get Harry to fight and he had to have
the boy take a killing curse from Voldemort. It was the only way to right
the wrongs that had been done. It was the only way to shift everything
back to how it should be. One way or another, he would make Harry
fight and he would put everything back to how it should have been. It
was the only way.
Harry was drowning under a sea of homework and essays. It did not help
that he was also taking two brand new subjects either as he had to get
used to the new Professors and their teaching style, which was naturally
different to Draco and Lucius', and he was behind his other classmates in
said new subjects too; he was struggling a little with the workload and all
of the assignments he was given not only in Arithmancy and Ancient
Runes but in his other lessons too as the subject level became harder in
preparation for the N.E. . The only subject he wasn't having any problems
with was Defence Against the Dark Arts, but then he'd always had an
easy time of that, even if nonverbal spells were incredibly difficult and a
new subject matter for him.
He had taken to haunting the library as much as Hermione had in their
previous school years, though she never seemed to be in there when he
was, and he was spending a lot of time in the library lately, so he knew
that she wasn't there nearly as much as she used to be. He hardly cared
though, he didn't have the time to figure out her sudden aversion to the
library, though it was likely because he was suddenly spending so much
time inside it that she was avoiding coming in here. He hated her for that
too, he thought as he once again left his stuff on the table that he was
currently occupying and went to find yet another reference textbook on
the dusty shelves that were far too high in his opinion.
"You really are embarrassing." Said a voice several minutes later,
disturbing Harry from his intense perusal of books, trying to find one that
would actually help him.
Harry grinned and turned from the shelf to see Draco leaning on the table
he had vacated and reading through his homework seriously, frowning at
whatever he was reading.
"Is that any way to speak to me? I'm your younger brother." Harry teased.
Draco scoffed at that and then he grimaced at something he had just read
as he took the quill that Harry had left on the table, dipped it into the
black ink and crossed out something on his parchment.
"This is wrong; I suggest that you read your books more closely."
"I have been, honestly! I'm just so far behind everyone else. Can you help
me, please?"
"Of course, all you had to do was ask. Now sit down and pay attention as
I generously impart my wisdom onto you."
Harry snorted as he walked back to his table and sat down next to Draco,
who started telling him where he'd gone wrong, how and what he needed
to do to work out the right answer. With this one-on-one, more
concentrated teaching, Harry understood more because he could question
Draco as much as he needed to and ask him to go over something if he
needed to hear it again and he could have him check over his work for
him to make sure that he was handing in the best quality work that he
possibly could.
It took hours for him to finish his homework to Draco's level of
expectation. Then, when he only had assignments left where he
understood more and didn't need any further help, Draco got his own
homework out and worked on his own assignments beside him.
Draco even asked for his help on Defence Against the Dark Arts, which
made Harry feel happier that he'd needed help with Arithmancy and
Ancient Runes. He had thoroughly enjoyed teaching the DA, after all,
maybe he should have a harder think about his career choices and think
seriously about what he wanted to do once he graduated, perhaps being a
teacher would suit him better than becoming an Auror.
"Draco, what career do you want?" Harry asked with a frown.
"Hmm?" Draco hummed as he meticulously finished off his sentence. "I
was thinking of starting a career in Potions. I want to be a Potions
Master, so I'll have to apprentice to a Master for several years first before
I can get a proper career and become a potioneer."
Harry smiled. "That seems perfect for you; you've always done well with
Potions."
"I've had to work at it, but I'm proud of where I am. What do you want to
do?"
Harry sighed. "I wanted to be an Auror, but I'm fed up with all of it. I
don't want to fight anymore or spend my life catching people and
throwing them in prison, putting my life in danger day after day. I was
thinking that maybe I could be a teacher. Maybe Defence Against the
Dark Arts or Care of Magical Creatures."
"You can't be any worse than Hagrid; you know that absolutely no one is
in his classes this year?"
Harry grimaced. "I know, Hagrid isn't speaking to me because of that."
"Good riddance." Draco huffed. "Now stop procrastinating and help me
with this question."
Harry went back to helping Draco and everything was quiet and perfectly
fine at their lamp-lit table in one of the numerous study areas dotted
around the library. It was peaceful, this sort of interaction with another
person. He was doing all of his homework on time, he was doing it to a
very high standard and not just doing a half-arsed job and he was
actually enjoying it because he was doing it with someone else. Blaise
Zabini even found them and joined in on their little study group and he
even got Harry to help him with his Defence homework in exchange for
help with Astronomy, a subject that he excelled in.
It was a far cry from trying to concentrate in the loud, noisy and busy
Gryffindor common room with Hermione berating him every five minutes
for not doing his homework sooner and Ron trying to beg off on playing
chess or disturbing his thoughts to ask him what he was writing. It was
no wonder he'd never truly applied himself to his studies before. He'd
never really gotten the opportunity to try before.
"Cosying up with your new pals, hmm?" A scathing voice spat at him
from behind as he bent over the table he was sitting at, measuring the
length of his parchment.
Harry let go of his homework and turned to look at Ginny, who was
furious and puffing up in anger like her mother and brother both did and
he sighed.
"It's not like that, Ginny. As I told Ron and Hermione on the train, I had
no choice in my adoption. Lucius filed for my custody at the Ministry
after it emerged that I was being neglected at home and his application
was accepted. I never even knew what was happening until after it had
all been done and finalised. I'm finally being taught all the things that I
need to know, my father is helping me with my lordships and my mother
is helping to teach me spells to help around the home and how to care for
children. Draco is my brother now, why wouldn't I be doing my
homework with him? I haven't changed all that much, I'm just putting
more effort into my school work, why is that such a bad thing?"
"They're Malfoys, Harry! Death Eaters!"
"They aren't." Harry said calmly.
"I saw him at the Ministry! He fought against us! You said yourself that
Lucius Malfoy was in the graveyard with you!"
"Hmm…I don't recall ever telling you such a thing." Harry said
consideringly. "But I don't want to lose any of you over this. So I have a
family now, I'm being looked after and cared for, why does everyone see
that as such a bad thing when it really isn't?"
"We were your family!"
"I was never taught anything by your family, I was never told anything
and I never felt cared for like I do now. I won't apologise for seizing this
opportunity while I can."
"Why them?!" Ginny hissed.
"Because the Malfoy family were the only ones to offer." Harry said as
calmly as he could while his anger was being roused and stoked so
expertly. "No one else thought that I was worthy of a family, no one else
even tried, so why not them when they saw how miserable and run down
I actually was? I was not in a good place, Ginny. I'm finally being looked
after like every human being deserves to be, I'm being taught and
brought up properly and I don't care who it's with, I'm so very happy
now, why can't you just be happy for me too?"
"I just can't, not with those creatures."
"I saved your miserable life." Harry reminded her, his anger flaring bright
and icy cold, going from a warm simmering to blazing white-hot in an
instant. "You would be dead right now if it wasn't for what I did for you!"
"Ron came down…"
"Do you think an idiot like Ron would have ever figured out what had
happened?!" Harry demanded of her. "Do you think that he would even
have been able to get into that Chamber when it has Parseltongue
passwords? No! You would be dead without me, you would have died
four years ago if I hadn't gone down in that damn Chamber to find you
and you thank me for that by turning your back on me just for being
adopted into a real family? You really need to look in a mirror and have
a long, hard look at yourself and ask if the ungrateful bitch looking back
at you is the person you really want to be!"
Ginny ran off and Harry took in a deep breath and he sat himself down
again. He couldn't even remember standing up.
"I lost composure, didn't I?"
"Definitely." Blaise told him. "But due to the circumstances, I say you
handled that really well. Her face when you reminded her that you'd
saved her life was worth it."
Harry sighed. "I'm just so angry lately. It flares up and I lash out without
thinking, I don't even have time to think! One minute I'm fine, then the
next minute the anger surges and I'm up on my feet, shouting."
"I think you've thoroughly burnt your bridges with that load of riffraff
though." Draco said with a haughty sniff. "Now come here and write this
paragraph out again, you've gotten mixed up with your information yet
again. I'm sure you don't pay attention."
Harry groaned and went back to his homework so that he could rewrite it
yet again because Draco wasn't happy with it. He needed to stop getting
so damn angry and he needed to get on top of this mountain of
homework. He had been made the Gryffindor Quidditch Captain this year
as well and he needed to start holding tryouts for new Beaters, a new
Chaser and a new Keeper very soon as the first game was on the Saturday
of the second week of November.
He was going to be so busy this year, what with his duties to his
Quidditch team, his mass of homework and his lessons. Not to mention
his self-study to catch up with Ancient Runes and Arithmancy, keeping
up his correspondence with Rabastan, and his duties to the Wizengamot
as Lord Potter-Black. His schedule was literally jam-packed this year and
he couldn't work out where he was going to find the time for all of it, but
he would come up with something. He had to, even if it meant that he
had to drop himself from the Quidditch team. He'd hate to do it, he loved
Quidditch so very much, but his studies, his betrothal, and his duties to
the Wizengamot came first. They had to come first, even if it meant that
he had to give up the sport that he absolutely loved. He had much more
important things to deal with this year, after all.
Lucius Malfoy knelt in front of the high backed chair and allowed his
Lord to sift through his memories at his will. He allowed all of the
memories of Harry to come to the forefront, as he'd been instructed to do,
thinking about the boy's talents, his strengths, his intelligence and thirst
for learning. How he was slowly opening the boy's eyes and turning him
permanently away from Dumbledore, how he had immediately thought
to adopt the boy once the opportunity arose so that he could, one way or
another, take the boy out of the coming war, including his very real
thoughts about how he would dispose of the boy if it was asked of him,
at least before he'd gotten to know Harry as a person. He allowed his
Lord to see the growing fondness he had for the boy, how he had come to
care for Harry, who was so spirited, yet sat silently for hours devouring
every book that he gave to him.
He let his Lord see how he had immediately thought to pair Harry with a
loyal Death Eater once the boy had told him that he believed that he
liked men more than he did women and how the Lestrange family had
eventually come to his mind as a loyal, suitable family after he had
probed a little at Xerxes to hear about the state of Rabastan.
He didn't hold anything back or try to hide anything from his Lord, had
been pleased with him for his forethought in adopting the boy quickly
when the chance had arisen before Dumbledore had had the chance to
block this avenue of opportunity. His Lord who had been pleased with
Harry taking up his seats on the Wizengamot and being taught to his full
potential, and he was especially pleased with the contract that put Harry
with Rabastan Lestrange, one of his most loyal followers.
"The boy seems to be progressing well."
Lucius brought up the letters that he'd gotten, first from Draco, and then
several hours later the one from Harry and then the second letter from
Harry that had arrived with a school owl the next morning. The former
had been Harry's admission of abuse by his muggle relatives, told to him
in the letter by Draco. The second had been Harry's version of what had
happened to him by the disgusting muggles that he'd lived with and the
third had been Harry's guilty confession that he had used several coarse,
vulgar words in front of Dumbledore and that he had lost composure and
his temper several times, but ultimately that he had screamed at his
headmaster that he was not going to fight in the war, that he refused to
be a part of it and that all he wanted was a life of his own and a family.
"The boy is receptive to the idea of a family with Rabastan?" The Dark
Lord questioned them softly.
"I believe that it is correct to say that he adores the ground that Rabastan
walks on, my Lord. They are very receptive to one another."
"Is that so, Xerxes? This pleases me." The Dark Lord hissed, his red eyes
gleaming happily at all the new ventures he could delve into with the
boy out of the way and kept busy with Rabastan. "Make sure that nothing
happens to destroy this bond that they have, I will see them engaged and
then married. If I can keep the boy busy and out of my way, then there
will be nothing to stop us, my old friends. How are Rodolphus and
Rabastan coming along on their recovery plans? I will have need of them
in the coming months."
"Well, my Lord. I was initially worried about Rabastan, as I informed you
he seemed to be merely going through the motions because he was told
to do so, but now, he is throwing himself into his recovery plan and he's
working harder and asking about what else he can do to help himself. I
believe that this is fully because of Harry. He wants to get stronger and
fitter for Harry. They had no mirrors in Azkaban, they could see what
each other looked like, but not what they themselves looked like and I'm
sure that coming out of the prison and seeing his own face for the first
time horrified him and it made him lose all hope…until Lucius came to
me with the proposal for a betrothal between him and Harry. Now, since
he's met Harry and they've spent some time together, his lust for life has
come back as has his hope and his pride, his emotions are coming back
and he's showing more interest in the things and the people around him.
It's all thanks to Harry."
Voldemort nodded his bald head. "This pleases me too. Rabastan is one of
my most loyal followers, seeing him and Rodolphus wasted to nothing
angered me. The wizards who put them in that prison will pay. I am
pleased that he is becoming the man that he once was. Keep him and the
boy interacting, they must not be allowed to drift apart and we must
break the boy away from Dumbledore once and for all. If he truly doesn't
want to fight again, I will accept that, but I will not allow him to oppose
me. I will kill him if he stands in my way."
"I will speak to Harry when I see him at the next possible opportunity,
my Lord. I will see what he's thinking and if he actually meant what he
said to that old fool." Lucius said respectfully.
"Dumbledore believes that what he said was true." A new voice
interjected. "He called an emergency Order meeting the very same night.
He is concerned and afraid. He's talking about forcing the boy, by any
means necessary, to fight in this war, but he fully believes that the boy
doesn't want to and so does the werewolf, Remus Lupin, who was also in
the headmaster's office when Potter had his outburst."
"Do you believe that the boy will stand by and let my plans commence,
Severus?" The Dark Lord asked with a sibilant hiss.
"If he is anything like his old self, then no. But by all accounts, from
Lucius, Xerxes, Rabastan, Rodolphus, and Dumbledore himself, the boy
has changed significantly. If he truly has changed so much, then I don't
see any reason why he would intervene with your plans, my Lord. The
rift between him and Dumbledore is only growing larger with each
passing day."
"Look after him in the school." The Dark Lord ordered. "I will not have
that old fool damaging what Lucius and Xerxes have started moulding. If
I don't have to worry about the boy, then my plans can progress that
much quicker and that much smoother. This pleases me. Leave me, all of
you. I have plans that need to be made."
Lucius stood, bowed respectfully and he left the room immediately. He
and his fellow Death Eaters remained silent until they made it outside of
the property.
"Make sure that you do look after Harry in that school, Severus. He's my
son now and I would see no harm come to him."
"He is to be my grandson-in-law as well; you won't like what my family
will do to you if anything happens to that boy." Xerxes added. "Rabastan
is very fond of him and since he's been betrothed to Harry, I've seen a
vast improvement in his behaviour and his mental health has improved
as well. That boy is good for my Rabastan. I won't have anything stand in
the way of Rabastan's recovery."
"I will keep a closer eye on him, but as a Gryffindor, it is harder for me to
be around him at all times than if he had been in my house."
"I understand that, but the boy is a true Gryffindor at heart and I know
that even if asked that he wouldn't consent to be moved, even if there
was a way to move him, I'm sure of it. Just do what you can and if there
is anything that you see or hear, get in touch with me immediately. I will
do what I can as his father."
"How is he as a son?"
"He's more intelligent than I would have expected. There is a surprisingly
quick, focused mind under all of that hair. He's usually well behaved and
he responds well to punishments when he isn't well behaved. He is
surprisingly easy to teach, he picks up things quickly and easily and
when he actually applies himself, he can understand things to a depth
that I wouldn't have believed him capable of. You should see a new side
to him this year, Severus. I've told him that if he doesn't apply himself
one hundred per cent then he will be severely punished and he will have
all of his privileges stripped from him once he's home."
"I am surprised to see him with that hair still."
Lucius sighed aggravatedly. "There is nothing to be done for it. I tried to
have it cut back respectably, but that never worked as I planned, so I had
him use copious amounts of potions on it and still, nothing worked…I
gave up and told him that as long as he brushed it twice a day I wouldn't
have him completely shave his head. Not that you could tell that he's
brushed it at all, but I trust him to do as I say."
"Has he taken to instruction well?"
"He has taken to it wonderfully well. He needed a parental figure,
someone to give him a structured set of rules and guidelines to follow
and to give him punishments that are both fair and just to reprimand bad
behaviour and someone to be strict enough to stick to them. He has had
no direction throughout his life and hearing of how those abhorrent
muggles treated him, I can now understand why he craves a known set of
rules and a punishment that he knows isn't going to change daily. I need
to speak to him about the letter that Draco sent to me, I need to find out
how badly he was treated other than his rushed admission of being
beaten and starved, I need to break it down into more finery as well, then
I'll make a decision to see if he needs a mind healer or not."
"Draco told you that it was that bad?" Severus questioned with surprise.
"Draco told me that the boy was beaten and starved since he was a young
child. Harry confirmed that he said as much to Draco, but it could be a
lot worse from the way the boy is acting about it. Such a thing repulses
me."
"As soon as Harry tells you where they live…" Xerxes trailed off, his
strong, age lined face was pale and tight with anger. "I've come to like
that boy and what he's doing for Rabastan. He's good for my boy, that
he's been hurt deliberately in such a way…I'd kill those beasts in a
heartbeat."
"I think we're all in agreement for that, Xerxes." Lucius said. "I would be
happy to invite you to pay them a visit once I have their address from
Harry."
"I wouldn't mind a night with them. Several hours under a heavy
silencing ward with them at my mercy in revenge for Harry." Xerxes
sighed. "I'm sure it would make Rabastan and Rodolphus happy too, once
I've told them. Perhaps letting off some steam will do them both some
good and aid in their recovery."
Lucius nodded as they reached the property boundaries. "I will contact
you once I have spoken to Harry then. Good evening, gentlemen."
With that, the three of them Apparated away to their respective houses,
leaving the grounds of the heavily warded, heavily guarded, previously
abandoned manor house that their Lord was hidden inside.
Xerxes was very confused when he finally found his grandsons in the
mismatched house, only to see Rodolphus comforting a sobbing Rabastan
in the front room when he got home. He'd only just told their Lord how
well Rabastan was coming on, only to find him in this disgraceful state
upon his return.
"What in the name of Merlin has happened?" He demanded of his
grandsons.
"It's Harry." Rodolphus told him.
"Is he alright? He hasn't been injured has he?" He asked quickly.
"No. He hasn't sent Rabastan a letter in three weeks, but an hour ago a
letter turned up with Hedwig, one that looked like he'd been writing it
for two weeks, but it isn't finished. Harry cut himself off in mid-sentence,
left a cryptic ending about needing to talk to Rabastan face-to-face and
ended it with a rushed signature."
"He's going to break off the betrothal, I know he is!" Rabastan growled in
a rough voice that was harsh from his tears. "I'm not what he wants, of
course, I'm not. I'm ugly and old and decrepit! He's going to want some
young thing that's handsome and strong, who hasn't been ruined by years
in Azkaban and I'm not regaining my strength quickly enough, I know
that. I'll never be able to regain what Azkaban has taken from me and he
sees that too, he doesn't want to be stuck with the likes of me for the rest
of his life."
"I think you have the wrong end of the stick." Xerxes told his younger
grandson, easing himself down beside him. "Young Draco sent his father
a letter a week or so ago. Harry unwittingly revealed some rather…
unsavoury facts about his childhood and he's been forced to come out
with the truth. If this is about what I think it is, then he sent you that
letter in haste before the news could get to you from someone other than
himself, so that it doesn't look like he's hiding anything from you. He sent
a message to Lucius just hours after Draco did and then he must have
waited for his owl to come back before sending this letter to you. I assure
you that he is not looking to break the contract, in fact, from what Lucius
was saying he's already preparing for a quick engagement, so I suggest
that you have a ring fashioned for him ready for when he comes home
for the winter holidays."
"What happened to him in his childhood?" Rabastan demanded,
becoming the protective man that Azkaban had tried to whittle away and
that Harry had rekindled.
Xerxes sighed. "I know very little, as does Draco and Lucius I imagine, as
Harry wasn't very forthcoming with details on the train journey and his
letter to Lucius was rushed. But from what he let slip, he was abused,
beaten, and starved as a young child by those muggle beasts that he lived
with. It's why he accepted the adoption with the Malfoy family so easily,
he'd never known the love and care of a real family before and now he
craves it."
"They hurt him?" Rabastan growled. "My betrothed? I'll kill them. I'll kill
all of them and I'll make it slow, for all the years that my Harry had to
suffer from them! I will find out what they did to him, every last little
thing and I'll make sure that they suffer for every single one of the
instances where they hurt or upset him."
"That was the thought of Lucius and I." Xerxes nodded. "He's going to talk
to Harry, to see if he needs a mind healer after everything that he's been
through, as he is clinging to the three Malfoys quite tightly despite how
little time he's actually truly known them, and then he's going to find out
from him where those muggles live and he's going to invite us to go with
him to pay them a little visit. Those pieces of filth will regret every
instance that they laid a finger on him or denied him food before their
end."
The three of them slipped into contemplative silence and stayed with
their own thoughts, thinking about all the painful, horrifying curses that
they knew and would use on those muggles once they found out how
very badly they had hurt Harry.
"Does our Lord have any news or new missions for us?" Rodolphus asked
after several minutes of internal pleasure, thinking of the effects his
curses would have on mere muggles.
"No. He asks that you remain on your recovery regimes and that you
work on making yourselves healthy and combat-ready. He also asks,
Rabastan, that you do your all to keep Harry attached to you and that
you do nothing to sever the bond between you. He is very pleased with
the progress that you have made with the boy and he is pleased that you
are both getting healthier and fitter. He is content to plan future missions
and to send out lower level Death Eaters for the assassinations that he
needs to be completed. He is content to wait until you are both better
before giving either of you your own missions."
"I dislike not being able to help the cause." Rodolphus said in frustration.
"Rabastan has a mission of sorts. He has Harry and he has to work on his
betrothal, I have nothing to distract myself with."
"You could always try to get that wife of yours with a child. It wouldn't
hurt to at least try, even if you had to force her."
Rodolphus' face pinched in disgust at the thought of sleeping with his
own wife.
"I wouldn't put it past her to purposely thwart my reluctant attempts by
injuring herself while carrying the baby and then I would have done so
for nought. It would be just like her." He sneered.
"I say it often, but your father is the biggest fool I've ever had the
displeasure of knowing." Xerxes sighed. "If it weren't for the both of you, I
would be happy to call him my biggest mistake. He took too much from
that bitch wife of mine and I was always away on missions for our Lord,
so Lyvia got into his head and the sparse time that I spent with him was
not enough to combat her potent poison. I'm glad that he never had the
chance to do the same to you both, that he left you to me and flounced
off to India after the death of your mother to leave me to raise you both
in peace. You two are the sons that I always wanted to have, but all I got
was Rhadamanthus."
"You know that we see you as our father more than him." Rabastan said.
"I didn't even meet him until the year after I graduated Hogwarts and
then I was thrown into Azkaban only a few short years afterwards. The
one and only time that he actually came and visited was when Rodolphus
was fifteen and he only came back to set up his engagement with
Bellatrix and I was spending that summer in Brazil with that penfriend I
had. I never had enough interaction with him to see him as anything
other than a distant relative; he's a near stranger to me."
"I feel the same way. I was three when he left and I don't remember that
far back. All I can remember of my childhood is you, Grandfather. How
happy I was, how happy we were. How you taught us and built us up.
You are my father in my mind, even if it's not official. That man came
back when I was fifteen because he thought that I was actually a year
older than I was. He thought that I was sixteen already and he was
actually angry with me when I informed this stranger in my home that I
was only fifteen. He set up that engagement immediately, regardless of
anything else and he told me that it was my duty to the Lestrange line to
accept. You were away on a mission, Grandfather, I had no one to help
me, so I was pressured into signing the contract over that summer and I
have regretted it since."
"You boys are the apples of my eye. I care for you both, but I can't forgive
that son of mine for abandoning you both, even if it was the best thing
that could have happened for all involved. I will never forgive him for
what he did to you, Rodolphus, it is as simple as that. If he puts another
foot out of line, I will dispose of him and I hope that you boys don't think
ill of me for that if it comes to pass."
"Of course not, Grandfather." Rabastan said. "After all of our meetings,
Harry has been hinting at the same thing. He says that my father isn't
good for me and that he's hindering my recovery and if he had to, he'd be
willing to eliminate the threat to me."
Xerxes was surprised to hear that, but he chuckled darkly. "I've said it
numerous times over the last month or so, but I really do like that boy.
I'm glad that he's joining the family. He'll fit in well. I must remember to
tell Lucius that his son is planning cold-blooded murder, he'll be so proud
of how far Harry has come in just seven weeks."
"He's said now that he wants five children at a minimum. It was in the
letter that he just sent me. I'm not sure if he's testing my reactions or if he
really wants even more children than that but has been told to only have
the three children. It feels like he's working on bringing me around to his
way of thinking and his desire to have more than the three that he's been
told to have. But as of our last correspondence, he wishes for five
children."
Xerxes laughed. "You get a ring on that boy's finger this winter, Rabastan,
you hear me. You can't let a treasure like that get away from you. The
most you could expect from a pureblooded witch is one or two children.
If you had a wife like your brother then you'd have none. Five! I can
hardly wait for you both to be married. I don't care if he's testing you or
being told to only have so many by others, you get that boy with as many
children as you can."
"Tell grandfather how Harry formatted his letter for you, brother."
Rodolphus teased with a smirk.
Rabastan laughed scratchily and pulled a long, actually an incredibly
long, letter from his pocket and unfolded the piece of parchment that had
to have been at least two feet in length, if not longer. He could definitely
understand why his grandsons had come to the conclusion that Harry had
been writing it for two or so weeks.
Xerxes took the letter and looked at it and he laughed as he saw that
each separate paragraph was written in different coloured inks.
"I mentioned to him just once that sometimes I have trouble following
long passages of text because I forget where I was and I can't find where
I'd left off in a passage easily."
"So he wrote you a two-foot-long letter and put each paragraph in a
drastically different colour so that you knew exactly where you were and
if you did lose your place, then you'd know what you'd already read from
the colours. That boy is coming very close to worming his way into my
cold heart."
"Rabastan almost had a heart attack when he saw the length of the letter,
then he realised what Harry had done for him and he almost cried from
happiness." Rodolphus said, getting a shove from his younger brother in
the process.
Xerxes smiled as he read the words that Harry had written. He could tell
that the boy really had come to love his Rabastan and he couldn't be
happier…except perhaps when Harry presented him with his very first
great-grandchild. The next generation of Lestranges.
Harry was upset and fed up. This was the second time in a month that he
had to hunt all over the school and the grounds for his belongings. He
contented himself with the knowledge that this would be the last time
though. He'd gotten permission from Professor Flitwick to get an
advanced Charms book from the Restricted Section of the library. One
that contained an incredibly powerful locking charm that the imbeciles in
his dorm room wouldn't be able to break in their wildest daydreams.
As he snatched up another one of his books that had been jammed into
the visor of a suit of armour, its spine twisted and the leather cover and
the pages shredded, he vowed that he would have his revenge for this.
"What are you doing?"
Harry turned to look at his brother, and Draco and his friends actually
took a step back from the anger and hate in his eyes.
"They won't get away with this." He hissed.
"They took all of your stuff again?!" Draco demanded.
"Everything, even my robes this time. I had to transfigure my pyjamas
into a normal shirt and trousers to come looking for my things. They
even took my fucking trunk."
"I thought you were going to get a locking charm." Blaise asked.
"I got one, but it took a while to convince Flitwick of why I needed a
book from the Restricted Section. Too long. I was going to cast the charm
tonight after I'd gotten used to the spell, but it seems that they got there
before I did and they spent the night throwing my stuff all over the
castle."
"Come on, let's look for it all." Draco sighed as he headed off in the
opposite direction, looking high and low for books or clothes stuffed into
alcoves or behind statues.
Harry was so angry and it fed the cold, icy anger inside of him, engorging
it and causing it to grow bigger until he could barely see straight from
the anger. They would come to regret this; he'd make damn sure of it.
It took him hours to find everything that he'd lost, including spotting his
trunk bobbing in the lake from the third floor. By the time he'd gotten all
of his things back, and dried those that were soaking wet from being
thrown into the lake or down a toilet, it was almost dinner time.
He'd wasted an entire day, that he had previously planned to spend
studying, chasing down his own possessions. Some of which were so wet
or so damaged that he didn't even want to keep them, including the
shredded robes that he'd found pieces of all over the fifth and sixth floors.
"I sent a list to father of all the things that are too damaged or not worth
saving. He'll have new ones sent to you soon." Draco told him.
"Even my trunk has been warped by spending the night in the lake." He
groused. He was in a foul mood.
"I say that we curse them." Blaise said.
"No need. I found a very handy charm in that book that I got from the
Restricted Section. If they try to open my locked trunk again…they're
going to seriously regret it."
"What does it do?" Draco asked eagerly.
"Let's just say that they won't be using their hands again for a while."
Harry grinned.
"You know that they're going to try again." Draco said with a happy
smirk.
"I'm counting on it." Harry grinned wider.
"I love this new side of you." Blaise insisted.
"It's always been there, I just never exercised it much."
"You've always wanted to curse people?" Draco asked with disbelief and a
touch of surprise.
Harry looked at him seriously. "Can you keep a secret?"
"Of course. On my honour as a Malfoy."
"I actually cast the Cruciatus curse on Bellatrix right after she killed
Sirius, before any of this happened and before I was adopted. That fake
Moody in our fourth year really shouldn't have demonstrated those spells;
he not only showed us their effects, but he taught us all the incantations
and wand movements for the Unforgivables too."
The two sixteen-year-olds opposite gaped at him and Harry shrugged.
"She is the person that I hate most in this world."
"But, the Dark Lord, he killed…you know." Blaise said uncomfortably.
"Yes, but I never knew them. I can't even draw upon one memory of
them; I was too young to remember so they're just a concept to me,
something I knew I had, but I don't have anymore. You can't miss
something that you don't remember having. But I knew Sirius really well,
I loved him, I had memories and presents off of him. I remember how he
looked and smelt, how tightly he used to hug me, the sound of his voice,
the feel of his robes under my hands, his loud laugh, and the way he
prepared the coffee that he was always drinking from the moment he got
up until the moment he went to bed. I remember that he always put it in
his favourite mug. I loved him. I remember everything about him and she
killed him right in front of me, a memory that haunts me every single
night and leaves me bathed in a cold sweat. I hate her the most…her and
Umbridge. I'll never forgive either of them."
Harry left the two boys staring after him and he went to redo all of his
homework, as his originals had all been destroyed last night. He'd had to
borrow a quill, ink, and parchment off of Draco.
He reached Gryffindor Tower with no problems and he sighed as he went
up to the boys' dormitory and made it to his bed, where all of his
salvageable things were waiting for his attention. He had no robes, no
clothes, hardly any books left (none of them were undamaged), no trunk,
and his Firebolt was still missing. The one thing that he had off of Sirius
was his beloved Firebolt and he was not going to let them get away with
taking such a precious gift from him. They had no right to even touch it.
The broom was personalised to him anyway, so they couldn't even try to
claim it as theirs, everyone knew that he was the only person at
Hogwarts with a Firebolt, but it was an inconvenience because he was
holding a Quidditch tryout tomorrow. He needed new Beaters, a new
Chaser, and a new Keeper, and if certain members of the Gryffindor team
were as difficult as his dormmates were being, especially after the way
Ginny had reacted to him in the library, then he would need to hold
more tryouts for more players on top of the new Beaters, Chaser, and the
Keeper that he already needed. Maybe he should just replace the entire
Gryffindor team, it might actually be easier, but then he hadn't seen Katie
Bell yet, maybe she didn't care that he'd been adopted at all, he'd have to
find out otherwise he'd be the only member of the team that had been on
the team last year.
He sat on his bed and redid his homework, using the notes that Blaise
and Draco had kindly given to him because again his had gone missing in
the night. Instead of learning more about Ancient Runes and Arithmancy
and reading more to make himself understand more, he was now redoing
homework that was due in next week. Thankfully, it was a Saturday and
not a weekday, so he had the time he needed to do it all again, even if it
did ruin all of his plans for self-study.
Hopefully, all of his new things would arrive by Monday morning,
because he only had what he was currently wearing and he couldn't keep
transfiguring them into pyjamas and back and he had no socks to wear
and no change of underwear either, he felt like he was back in the
cupboard, wearing his cousin's too big, baggy briefs and a pair of trousers
and a shirt that were several sizes too big for him.
He clenched his teeth together and took in several long, deep breaths. He
would have his revenge on them, even if he had to wait weeks to
implement it. He would pay them back for what they'd done to him twice
now. It was only a matter of time and he could hardly wait to take his
revenge on them now.
Harry had been forced to hold tryouts on a borrowed school broom, but
Professor McGonagall had promised him that she wouldn't accept
thievery and she'd have his broom back with him as soon as could be
managed. He'd tried to summon it twice now, but wherever it was, it
wasn't responding to his spell.
He'd still shown up most of the applicants for the team positions on the
school broom and he'd thrown Ginny off of the team too after she had
refused to stop belittling him and had petulantly and blatantly ignored
his Captain's orders. From her face, she hadn't expected him to react at
all, let alone by throwing her off of the team. It was her own fault for
being so puerile and bitter over his adoption. If she couldn't be happy for
him, then fine, but if she couldn't even put it aside long enough to get ten
minutes into a practice session without sneering and belittling him, then
he was not going to put up with her. It made it better because he knew
that she wanted to be a professional player, her chances of that now were
slimmer, because any team she applied to could look into her school
records and see that she had been kicked off of her school team for
unprofessional conduct.
He'd made a whole new team, though Katie Bell was still a Chaser with
the new addition of Demelza Robins and a new girl to replace Ginny
named Sarah Priskin. His two new Beaters were third-years and his
Keeper was a second-year. He had a young team, with a touch of
experience from himself and Katie. If he played his cards right and
trained them superbly, then this team would be Gryffindor's triumph for
the next four years.
He had also prepared a reserve team, who were very, very young, all of
them second-years with just the one third-year selected as a Beater. The
twelve-year-old Seeker was being trained personally by him and the poor
boy had almost wet himself when Harry had told him what would be
happening from now on and that he would be having personal lessons to
help him fly and to hone his skills to be an excellent Seeker. He had this
year and the next to get this young boy into shape and up to the standard
that he expected and then when he graduated he'd leave behind his
handpicked team as his legacy.
Monday morning saw a regal owl landing in front of him with a large
parcel and Harry smiled as he took the letter from the owl's beak and tore
it open, thankful that he had as Lucius warned him that as soon as the
parcel was free of the packaging, it would all resize and the weightless
charm would disengage.
He abandoned his half-eaten breakfast and took his parcel back up to
Gryffindor Tower and into the dormitories. He tore it open eagerly and
watched as his brand new, sleek trunk resized itself. He grinned as he
noticed the personal touches on it, the dark wood, the gleaming polish,
the little carved vines around the edges, the Malfoy crest stamped onto
the front and the small inscription of his name in gold on the front of the
rounded lid, just above the seam where the trunk opened.
He grinned wider and flung it open and his mouth actually hurt from his
smile when he saw all the new books, the pristine robes (both school
ones and his brand new Quidditch robes in scarlet red and yellow) and
all of the things that he needed; plain black socks, plain black boxer-
briefs, two sets of black gloves, one pair was sheepskin for the winter and
the other pair was dragonhide for the summer. Everything that he had
lost had not only been replaced but had been upgraded with a Malfoy
twist of flair. He loved it and what he loved more was the letter and the
small, wrapped gift, right on the top of everything, with Rabastan's
distinctive, shaky writing on the front. He was just sad that he didn't
have the time to open it just yet, he had lessons in just twenty minutes.
He swore that he would do so at lunchtime. The waiting would just make
him that much more excited to open it.
He immediately cast the locking charm on the trunk and the little added
extra, he wouldn't make the same mistake twice and they were not going
to destroy any gifts that had been given to him by his adoptive father or
his betrothed.
He went to his bedside drawer, thankful that his dormmates' hadn't
bothered to look through the drawers of his bedside table, likely to avoid
waking him up as the bedside table was right next to his head, and he
took out his dad's invisibility cloak, several framed pictures of his
parents, the album that Hagrid had given to him, his three vault keys and
his exchange book. All of them went right into his trunk to be covered by
the protective charms and he smiled. All he needed now was his Firebolt
back, and he would get it back, of that he promised. He would get it back
and he would have his revenge on those who had taken it in the first
place.
He immediately changed himself out of the clothes that he'd been
wearing for the last few days (it was a relief to finally change his boxers
and actually get on a pair of socks), wearing all fresh clothing and the
pair of highly polished new shoes that Lucius had sent to him before he
slung his new backpack over his shoulder and he made his way to his
lessons feeling so much better and he was happy to know that it would
never happen again. Those imbeciles would not be able to break that
locking charm and after the brilliant effects of the additional charm that
was on the trunk kicked in, they would regret even trying to touch his
stuff.
His day passed well enough and he loved the looks on his dormmates'
faces when they saw him not only wearing brand new, high-quality
clothing but also handing in his completed homework. It made him smile
as he sat next to Draco, who he'd informed of all the goings-on and his
new delivery of items.
"Your trunk matches mine, only my name is done in silver."
"You do have a fondness for silver." Harry said with a smile.
"What is your favourite colour? I don't think you've ever said."
"I don't know. I've never really thought about it, but I am drawn to
several different colours for different reasons. Gold definitely, because it's
the colour of the snitch, blue because it's the colour of the sky, which
represents freedom to me and my love of flying, green because of my
eyes, which always make me think of my mum, yellow because of the
sun, which represents happiness. I just…I don't have one colour that I
like, I'm drawn to several of them."
"You really are special." Draco told him and Harry chuckled quietly. "And
speaking of special, have you heard more from that special person of
yours?"
Harry grinned. "He sent me a letter this morning. It was in the trunk
along with a small gift. I never had the time to open it; I'm going to do it
at lunch. I really can't wait, I want to know what he has to say and what
he sent to me."
"You have it so bad for him."
"I know, but I can't help it. It's insane. I never expected to even like him,
but I do, Draco. I really do. I want to help him, I want him to get better
and I know it'll take a long time, maybe even years, but I want to be
there for him, to help him. He's letting me do everything that I want to, if
I say I want five kids, he says fine, if I said I wanted ten of them, I'm sure
that he'd agree. He let me talk about our ceremony for three hours and he
just agreed with me. He's not at all what I was expecting."
"What, you thought he'd be an insane, rambling lunatic who fired off
curses at shadows?" Draco murmured under his breath, barely audible to
Harry, who was bending his head near Draco's mouth and even he had
trouble hearing him.
"Well, that's not exactly what I thought, but I did say to myself that if he
was like that then I wouldn't even consider him, but I wasn't expecting
him to be so caring or attentive. So…normal, I guess, despite what that
place did to him. He's damaged, jumpy and twitchy, but that will get
better with the right potions and the right medical attention, I'm sure of
it. Despite that, he actually seems near enough normal. He reacts
normally, not like Bellatrix. She not only jumped at shadows, but she also
cursed them without thinking. No, Rabastan comes across as normal to
me, did he come out of Azkaban like this, or is it thanks to his recovery
programme?"
"He was much worse when he first came out, Harry, believe me when I
say that. You didn't get to see him at his worst and thankfully I missed a
lot of it too because I was at school, but I remember seeing a bit of him
during the holidays and when I got home for the summer. Mother and
father were talking a lot about it too. You missed the worst of the effects,
back when Rabastan was clinging to his brother and refused to let go of
him, when they had to walk around holding hands and they had to share
the same baths, the same bed, and they refused to be separated long
enough to go to the bathroom separately. That was a very bad time, but
they've both improved a lot since that time and given some more time,
I'm sure that they're only going to get better."
Harry nodded his head in agreement and he then turned to actually start
on his classwork. He did like Rabastan and he was surprised that the man
was actually near enough normal, or as normal as someone really could
be after fifteen long, harsh years in Azkaban, but he was sure that given a
few more years then he'd be much better than he was at the moment, he
had already improved. Draco had told him what he'd once been like and
he was much better now than he had been then and now that Rabastan
had him, Harry was going to help him to recover as much as possible
because he wanted Rabastan to be better, he wanted Rabastan to regain
his strength and he was sure that Rabastan wanted that as well.
Together he was sure that they could get Rabastan to where he needed to
be and he hoped that he was enough to help Rabastan, was he enough of
an incentive for the man to get better? Would he want to get better for
their potential future family? Would that be enough of an incentive for
the man? If he wasn't enough, then would the thought of their future
children be enough of a drive to help Rabastan recover as fully as
possible? He didn't know the answer to that and it drove him crazy. He
just wanted Rabastan to get better and recover from his awful ordeal. He
wanted them to be a proper, normal family. He wanted Rabastan to get
better so that they could love one another and so that they could have
and love their future children. He wanted that so badly that he was
willing to do absolutely anything to make it a reality.
On the other hand though, even though he knew that Rabastan's body
would mostly heal from the damage that had been done to it over the
decade and a half he had spent in Azkaban, he was also sure that as he
spent more time with Rabastan, talked to him more and got to know him
a little more, then he would find some very dark secrets, after all, he
himself had nightmares from what he'd gone through in his life…he
would be incredibly surprised if Rabastan didn't have some nightmares of
his own.
A/N: I hope you have all enjoyed this chapter, lovelies and I hope I've
done a bit of justice to the book version Voldemort, who is a little saner
than in canon, but not too sane as he is still a vile, cruel man. But I
needed to do something to help make the plot line at least seem
realistic…so I've had to make Voldemort a little more sane and more
willing to let Harry live and I've had to make Harry more open minded
and accepting as well as more clingy to the idea of family thanks to his
lack of one and the abuse of the Dursleys. Otherwise there would be
absolutely no chance of this working, so just roll with it, lovelies.
A massive thanks to nekochan1988 for being the 300th reviewer and to
Huny Bajer for being the 400th reviewer for this fic.
Josh: Voldemort looks the same as he does in canon. Tall and thin with a
bald head, gleaming red eyes, no nose, snake like. The works.
Chaos Lady: I checked on this again, just to make sure and Snowy owls
are definitely smaller than Eagle owls. The wing span of a female snowy
owl is between 49 and 59 inches, but the male Eagle owl's wing span is
between 63 and 74 inches long, so Draco's owl would have been bigger
and much faster than Hedwig and she would have been little to Harry,
who is a sixteen year old boy after all. My Jethro is a large cat and he's
11lbs and I still call him little, it's just habit now.
The next chapter now is going to be October into November and
Hogwarts gets a visit from the lovely Lucius Malfoy. We also get some
more Narcissa and a scene of Harry/Hedwig bonding, but until then, I
hope you've enjoyed this chapter and I'll see you all soon,
StarLight Massacre. X
5. Revenge
A/N: This chapter is dedicated to Of Stories Told because seriously, that
review took me half an hour to read and respond to. Thank you very
much.
Last Time
On the other hand though, even though he knew that Rabastan's body would
mostly heal from the damage that had been done to it over the decade and a
half he had spent in Azkaban, he was also sure that as he spent more time
with Rabastan, talked to him more and got to know him a little more, then he
would find some very dark secrets, after all, he himself had nightmares from
what he'd gone through in his life…he would be incredibly surprised if
Rabastan didn't have some nightmares of his own.
Chapter Five – Revenge
Life for Harry was going well as October came to a slow end with him
taking the Thursday evening, Halloween night, to remember both of his
parents and their sacrifice for him. He really hoped that they would have
approved of his choices in life as he really was trying his best. But he'd
had no direction at all as he was growing up and all he had to go on was
the Dursleys and how they had acted and behaved and yet, despite them
being the only role models that he'd had, he knew that they were the
worst sort of intolerable people imaginable and that he didn't want to act
or turn out like them.
He had needed someone like Lucius to take over and steer him onto the
right path, otherwise, he had no idea where he was going to end up or
how he was going to look after himself when he was eighteen and
Vernon kicked him from the house. He had the money, but he'd had no
idea how to use it or what he'd need to do to get his own house set up
and running smoothly until Lucius had actually spent the time showing
him and teaching him.
Perhaps if Sirius had been alive then things could have gone differently,
but he wasn't alive and he hadn't told him about his lordships while he
had been alive either. Though now that he'd seen and spoken to Rabastan
and Rodolphus, who had also suffered more than a decade in Azkaban,
he had to wonder if Sirius had even remembered the lordships. The two
brothers were scatter-brained at times too so perhaps Sirius just hadn't
remembered and couldn't have told him. It comforted him a little to think
that Azkaban had just destroyed Sirius' memory rather than the thought
of his godfather keeping something like that from him purposefully. He
really hated Azkaban and he wanted it closed down, though he would
settle for banishing the vile Dementors from being near humans as they
really, really should not have ever been allowed around people,
regardless of what said person had done. He would change the way that
the prison system was run, he was already researching everything that he
could get his hands on and the little that he'd already found out was very
disturbing and greatly concerned him. Things really needed to change…
quickly.
November had arrived cold and bitter, dragging with it Gryffindor's first
game of the season. He'd had a little over a month to get his new team up
to scratch and the other teams were openly laughing at him because he
had such a young team and an even younger reserve team. He refused to
rise to any provocation and he just ignored Draco, who was the Slytherin
team Seeker, and Blaise, who was one of the Slytherin Chasers, when
they pressed him and teased him about it.
He had a good, solid team, despite their young age and if his worst fears
came to be realised and his young, inexperienced team fell apart under
the pressure of an actual official game, then he was still the best damn
Seeker in this school and he would catch the snitch before they were
completely pulverised. Not that he expected them to be, of course, that
was just in case the worst-case scenario came to pass, but he had every
faith in his team. They would win this game, and this entire season and
the Quidditch cup too, and show up all of those people laughing at them.
That really would show them all up rotten.
But, it was currently breakfast time and Harry had been told to go to the
headmaster's office once he was finished with his meal by Professor
McGonagall. Harry had a very good idea of what this meeting was going
to be about too.
It had taken another few weeks, a little over a full month later, but
eventually his idiot dormmates' had gone after his trunk yet again, as if
they thought that he wouldn't protect his things after the first time that
they'd targeted him. The second time they'd managed to destroy his
things had been a bit of bad luck on his part and some poor timing due to
extenuating circumstances, but a third time? No…they hadn't been able
to get into his locked trunk, nor could they lift it from where it was
placed by the end of his bed and all of his dormmates' had taken it in
turns to try and lift his trunk like the idiots that they were. They'd gone
back to sleep, frustrated and planning to talk about something else that
they could do to him the following day…only to wake up in agony late
the next morning with their hands blistered and leaking pus and clear,
sticky plasma and in some places, even blood. Half of the school had seen
Ron, Dean, and Seamus rushing through the corridors, still in their
pyjamas, and running with their leaking, grotesque hands out in front of
them towards the hospital wing, as the other students made their way to
the Great Hall for their breakfasts.
Harry had caught up to Draco and Blaise, who had only just heard about
the incident from a Ravenclaw seventh year, who had had the good
fortune of waking up early to send off a letter, and he had insisted that
he'd passed three Gryffindor boys screaming and running towards the
hospital wing on his way down to the Great Hall. He had followed them
curiously and he had found four boys in the hospital wing all in
agonising pain due to a spell that had affected all of their hands.
"What did you do?" Draco had immediately demanded when he'd first
seen him that morning.
Harry had laughed happily. "I did say that the curse on the trunk would
make them think twice about coming near my things again."
"Did it really make their hands fall off?"
Harry's eyes had widened comically at that. "No! Where on Earth did you
hear that? It just blistered their hands to teach them a lesson for stealing.
They'll be bound up with healing paste for a few days, but they'll be just
fine."
Harry had been so satisfied when he'd seen his dormmates again, it had
been no less than the lot of them had deserved; though he was very
surprised to see Neville with bound up, blistered hands too. He hadn't
been in the dorm room when the others had woken up, so Harry had
assumed that he had had nothing to do with the attacks on him. He had
been wrong and Neville had just woken up earlier than anyone else and
had made his own way to the hospital wing before the other three had
woken up and started screaming bloody murder. That had saddened him,
he had thought that even if Neville hadn't wanted to be his friend
anymore that he wouldn't sink so low as to damage his stuff. It seemed
that he was wrong about that and he hardened his heart, blocking out the
pain he felt at that particular perceived betrayal.
At least he no longer felt torn in half about being in a betrothal contract
with one of the men who had tortured his 'friend's' parents. If Neville had
stayed out of all of this and had remained amicable, if a little distant,
towards him then Harry might have had a harder time getting over what
Rabastan had done fifteen years ago in his youth to Frank and Alice
Longbottom, but now that Neville had been revealed as one of the people
who had stolen from him and as one of the people involved in damaging
all of his possessions he brushed aside such consideration for their
previous friendship. As far as he was now concerned war was war and
there were always two sides and casualties and tragedies on each.
Neville had targeted him first, had attacked him first, so he hardened his
heart and he shoved aside all thoughts of what Rabastan had done to the
Longbottom family, as far as he was now concerned, he and Neville were
nothing. Rabastan was his future and Neville had made his choice very
clear by attacking him and as a result of that, Harry had been able to
make his own choice more easily and with less guilt too. Rabastan would
have always been his choice regardless of Neville's behaviour, but
because Neville had destroyed his stuff, it took away the guilt that Harry
had felt in taking Rabastan for a husband and the eventual father to his
children and that made him feel better.
But now, today, less than a week after the charm on his trunk had been
activated, he had been called to the headmaster's office and he was sure
it was to answer for why he had such a charm on his trunk in the first
place. He'd already sent a letter to Rabastan telling him all about what
he'd done, including subtle pictures of what his dormmates' had looked
like before their hands had been treated, taken with his wand when
they'd been screaming and shouting to each other, and at him too, in the
dorm room, and then a second photo of them all with heavily bandaged
hands and arms afterwards. He'd shown these pictures to Draco and
Blaise as well, to give the Slytherins a laugh at his ex-friends' expense,
and he had then sent them on to Lucius and Rabastan.
He wasn't rushing to the headmaster's little meeting though; he was
leisurely taking his time with his breakfast, he'd eaten his bacon, eggs,
and toast and now he was enjoying a bowl of fresh fruit salad as well, all
washed down with three chilled glasses of pumpkin juice.
Breakfast was almost over when he finally drained the rest of his glass
and got smoothly to his feet. It was a weekend thankfully, otherwise, he
would have refused to attend the meeting due to the disruption it would
cause to his schooling. The look on Dumbledore's face would have been a
real picture, but instead, the man had wisely waited for the weekend to
pull him up on his charmed trunk. He hated to admit it, but Dumbledore
had probably guessed that that was what he would have done, which was
why he'd waited a full six days, and the start of the weekend, to summon
him to his office.
Harry sighed and finally made his way up to the headmaster's office for
the second time this year…it was only just the second of November! He
gave the same password as he had the first time he'd been here and
climbed the revolving stairs before knocking on the door and waiting to
be told to enter.
Remus wasn't in the room this time, but Snape and McGonagall were.
"Nice of you to keep us waiting for you for half of the morning, Potter."
Snape sneered at him straight away.
"I was finishing my breakfast, Professor. Surely you wouldn't deny me the
chance to finish eating?" Harry questioned softly. "If you wanted me here
just after I'd been told about the meeting, then why not schedule it closer
to the end of breakfast and not before I'd even started eating? Or even for
ten or eleven in the morning, which likely would have been best for all
involved, it seems."
"Do you know what this meeting is for, Harry?" Dumbledore asked.
Harry pulled up a chair between Snape and McGonagall without being
asked, despite Narcissa's lessons on etiquette swirling around in his mind
and his shoulders hunched instinctively, expecting the familiar hex to the
back of his head for his social faux pas.
"Not really, Sir. I was hoping that my Firebolt had finally been found, but
as I can't see it anywhere, I doubt that that is the reason that I'm here."
He answered, being purposefully obtuse. He knew that he was here
because of the charm on his trunk. He doubted that the headmaster was
even looking for his Firebolt. Lucius was going to sort it out for him, he'd
already promised him in his last letter to get it back for him by any
means necessary.
"You are here under the allegation of using dark magic against your
fellow housemates in the form of a curse on your school trunk."
Harry didn't even need to fake his surprise. "Dark magic? Are you
teachers at this school or not? It was an anti-thievery charm. I brought
my complaints personally to you twice about my things being stolen, and
then stolen and completely destroyed, all of which had to be replaced at
my father's expense. I was not going to allow that to happen again for a
third time, so I charmed my belongings to prevent it from happening
again. But at least now you have that proof that you wanted about who
was stealing my property, Sir, and I'm sure if they were questioned then
my missing broomstick would be found too."
"Potter has a point, Albus. Those boys were purposefully stealing, and
they damaged nearly all of Mister Potter's things to the point where they
actually had to be replaced and a very valuable broomstick is still
missing. I will not stand for this behaviour to happen within my house."
McGonagall said sternly.
"What charm did you use, Potter? I didn't recognise it, but I could tell
that it wasn't a curse and certainly had nothing to do with the dark arts.
Where did you find the book?" Snape asked him, looking sour that he
couldn't insult him, nor get him expelled for the use of dark magic.
"It was in the Restricted Section, Sir. Professor Flitwick gave me
permission to go into the Restricted Section to find a spell that would
help me to protect my newly replaced belongings and he even
recommended the book to me after I told him that people kept taking my
stuff. He said that there was a very strong locking charm in there. I found
that charm and while I had it, I read the whole book from cover to cover,
the other charm was also in the book and I added it to my trunk as well.
The way I see it, they shouldn't have been trying to steal my stuff for the
third time and potentially trying to destroy it again for a second time.
They were a bit discomfited for a few days, but no lasting or permanent
damage has been done to them. Madam Pomfrey could tell you that
herself."
"Even so, don't you think such a thing is a little…uncalled for?"
Dumbledore asked him.
Harry blinked incredulously, but he held his temper back by the skin of
his teeth.
"They not only stole off of me, but they damaged all of my belongings,
tore up all of my robes, clothes, and my homework. They smashed all of
my bottles of ink, ruined all of my books and even my trunk and they
were going to do so again and you think that me protecting the brand
new books, clothing, and trunk that my father sent to me is uncalled for?
No, I don't think so and as my very valuable broom is still missing over a
month after it was stolen then I think it is fair to say that you aren't even
looking for it. I think I'll take my father up on his offer of bringing this
matter to the attention of the school governors." Harry threatened him. "I
want my Firebolt back and I want those pestilent boys to leave me alone.
I will petition to have my own sleeping quarters if this matter…persists."
"I don't believe that this is a matter for the governors to discuss."
Dumbledore said almost reproachfully.
"Under usual circumstances, neither would I." Harry insisted. "But twice
I've been attacked in this way and almost a third time and my Firebolt is
still missing. I think that if this continues for much longer then I'll have to
inform the governors and let them decide on the best course of action to
take. I want my Firebolt back by the end of today, or I'll send an owl to
the governors. I think that's all we have to discuss, Headmaster. I have
homework that I need to do."
Harry stood without being dismissed and he turned smartly on his heel
and he left the office. He took a moment to breathe at the bottom of the
stairs as a flare of ice-cold anger had him pausing. It had taken him a lot
to hold on to his anger in the office and he needed a moment to regain
his composure.
He kicked off from the wall and made his way to the Owlery, he had a
letter to send to Lucius Malfoy, who could get the other governors
involved with this matter, especially after the Umbridge debacle. Her
trial would be coming up soon and he really, really couldn't wait to see
her sentenced.
He would get his Firebolt back and he refused to entertain the thoughts
of apologising to his dormmates' when they had been trying to steal from
him. He was not in the wrong on this issue, he was the victim of
thoughtless, blind attacks of petty jealousy and hate and he would not
put up with it. He had no reason to put up with it and he wouldn't and if
he had to call on his adoptive parents for their help, then he'd been
assured that that was perfectly alright. He would not be used or made
into a victim by anyone, he would make this stop by any means
necessary, even if he did have to charm all of his belongings and petition
to have his own rooms. He would not let them win.
Harry was grinning behind his glass of pumpkin juice when twelve
people walked into the Great Hall, including Lucius Malfoy, who had
been reinstated as a governor, and incidentally as chairman of the board
of governors when he'd shopped Umbridge to them and to the Ministry.
He had waxed poetic about his two poor sons, one of whom had been
seriously injured and permanently scarred and had almost had an
Unforgivable curse used on him by the Senior Undersecretary to the
Minister for Magic. He'd been welcomed back onto the board as the
previous chairman had been, very quickly, fired for not checking on the
welfare of the students of Hogwarts and allowing Umbridge to hurt over
two hundred students with the serious and severe misuse of a contract
quill.
"This is a surprise, Lucius." Albus said genially from the top table,
standing up from his golden chair and smiling welcomingly at the entire
board of governors who had entered the Great Hall.
"It is?" Lucius asked in false surprise. "I believe that my son told you that
I would be arriving with the other governors. May we proceed to your
office? I'm sure the children have better things to be doing than listening
in to our conversation."
"Of course. Of course." Dumbledore said with a twinkling smile.
"Harry, come with us if you would." Lucius called out to him, not having
to raise his voice in the silent hall.
Harry stood and slung his bag over his shoulder, moving to walk to his
father.
"Is it really necessary to bring Harry into this discussion?" Dumbledore
asked.
"As the student to bring these allegations forward, you know that it is
necessary for him to be present." Lucius replied smoothly. "I have been
reinstated as the chairman for the board after Mister Wibblum's ah…
unfortunate dismissal. I have no doubts that you cowed him into letting
you do as you please, but as you know, I am not so easily persuaded. I
have spent the week implementing all of my old rules and regulations;
you will find things changing for the better around this school once
more. Now, if you would like to lead the way to your office so that we
might settle this matter quickly. I have a lot to be getting on with."
Harry allowed Lucius to prod him in front so that Lucius could watch him
walk and they went up to the headmaster's office, where Lucius waved
his wand to conjure thirteen, very impressive, sumptuously upholstered
armchairs and Harry sunk into the one next to his father happily.
"Now, as Harry's father and the chairman of the board, I would like to ask
you first and foremost why you allowed my son's personal belongings to
not only be stolen more than once but also allowed them to be
completely destroyed by the other boys in his dormitory. Harry tells me
that he came to you with this complaint the moment that he'd realised
that it had happened, yet not only did it happen a second and almost a
third time, but my son's broomstick is still missing over a month later.
Yet that is not even the end of it, no, I have checked and double-checked,
but the perpetrators have not even had a single hour of detention nor any
loss of house points. They haven't been punished at all for attacking my
son or stealing his property. This is unacceptable."
"Harry did put a charm on his trunk which severely blistered his
dormmates' hands. They couldn't use their hands at all for four days,
which severely affected their school work. I believe this to be punishment
enough."
"Punishment enough? A mere theft charm on a trunk?" One of the other
governors scoffed. "I believe the charm was only used on their third theft
attempt as well, why were they not punished right from the offset? They
should have been punished from the very first instance where they stole
another student's property and not doing so has only enabled and even
encouraged their unacceptable behaviour to continue. Their parents
never even had a letter to explain that their children had stolen another
student's belongings twice and had tried to do so for a third time. Why
should Lord Malfoy have to foot the bill to replace all of his son's
damaged belongings? It should be the parents of the children involved
who bought all of young Harry's new items."
"I spent rather a lot on my son's belongings just this August, having to
replace them all again in October, just two months later, is preposterous.
This should have been stopped at the very first instance of theft." Lucius
said silkily, his voice soft with anger. "Harry has given me the names of
those involved and as governors, we have written to the parents of all
those involved and informed them of what their children have done and,
as of today, they will spend an hour every evening for the next month
serving detention with their head of house."
"A month seems a little harsh." Dumbledore tried.
"I believe that it is too lenient, but I was outvoted by my fellow
governors." Lucius Malfoy inclined his head to the other eleven
governors. "I admit that as my son is involved, I might be allowing my
personal emotions to influence my decisions, but I refuse to allow them
to get away with a slap on the wrist for what they have done."
"I hardly calling blistering their hands a slap on the wrist, Lucius."
Dumbledore cajoled.
"Harry had every right to protect his belongings after they had been
stolen twice. This is not up for discussion, we have laid out the
punishment that all twelve of us have agreed on and it will be
implemented. Now, onto Harry's missing broomstick, where is it?"
"I do not know. I have been searching and following leads, but so far it
hasn't turned up. I'm sure that Harry has just misplaced it."
"Don't you dare blame my son for 'losing' his broomstick when everyone
in this room knows that it was stolen and is being purposefully kept from
him. Do you know where the missing Firebolt is, yes or no?"
"No, I do not."
"I tried summoning it." Harry said softly, waiting just the right amount of
time so that he didn't cut Dumbledore off, yet didn't speak over his father
either. "I am the only one in this school with a Firebolt, so I tried
summoning it like I did in my fourth year for the first task of the Tri-
wizard Tournament. It came to me then, so I thought it would work this
time, only it never responded. I think, that where ever it is, it might be
under an anti-summoning charm."
Lucius chuckled. "It is in one of the girls' dormitories then. They have
anti-summoning charms built into them, as they also have charms to
prevent young gentlemen from entering the young ladies' dorm rooms.
The wards were set up to prevent said young gentlemen from summoning
the ladies' underwear."
Harry pulled a face. "People actually think to do that? That's just
distasteful." He said with a grimace.
"Yes, but I will have the girls' dormitories searched. Madam Portist,
perhaps you could do the honours, with Professor McGonagall as a school
representative, of course." Lucius said. "If we could do that now, the
sooner that this is all done with, the better."
Harry had to subtly suck in his bottom lip and bite on it to keep away his
grin. He was almost bouncing as he walked alongside his father and the
other governors. They picked up Professor McGonagall from her office
and they went into the Gryffindor common room, where only a few
students were lingering, watching them curiously, including a group of
people, two of whom had bandaged hands.
The two women went up to the girls' dormitories and the two boys
looked at each other nervously. Harry smiled. Lucius was right, his
beloved Firebolt was inside the girls' dormitories and from the horrified,
sickly look on the face of a certain bushy-haired girl, he knew whose
trunk it would be found in too.
He wished he'd known about the anti-summoning charms on the girls'
dormitories before, he might have linked it together a little sooner and
had his Firebolt back earlier, but as long as he did get his broom back, he
didn't care.
"Have you been well?" Lucius asked him quietly, moving them both a
little away from the main group of governors.
"Yes, I have been fine. A little stressed because of everything that has
been going on here, but my school work is going well, Draco and Blaise
are helping me a lot."
"I hope they aren't doing your work for you." Lucius said with a raised
eyebrow.
Harry laughed softly. "No. Draco wouldn't allow me to slack off even if I
did ask, he's just helping me a lot and he reads through everything I write
for me. He actually crossed out half of my Ancient Runes essay two days
ago and told me that I had to write it again because I'm a shame to the
family."
Lucius' mouth twitched into a smile and Harry smiled back.
"I also have a gift for my special someone. I was given the most beautiful
dragonhide and solid silver bracelet." Harry said, showing his wrist, with
said bracelet wrapped around it, to Lucius. "So I ordered something
special to be commissioned for him, it came this morning."
"I hope that it is both tasteful and appropriate."
"It's cuff links." Harry said with a frown. "Do you think that he won't like
them? I didn't want to get him a bracelet or a necklace because of his
severe weight loss, they wouldn't fit him anymore once he puts that
weight back on and I didn't want him to have anything that physically
reminds him of how much damage that place did to him once he's
better."
"That is very thoughtful and considerate of you, I'm proud of you for
thinking of such things. You've also been paying attention; you overheard
that he likes good quality, custom cuff links, didn't you?"
"Maybe." Harry said with a grin. "I miss him."
"You'll see him again soon, you'll be coming back home for Christmas.
Your mother and I have planned to invite the four of them over as our
seasonal guests."
Harry groaned. "Can't you knock the one of them off? I know I'll end up
saying or doing something."
"You will not if you plan to be sitting comfortably over the holidays."
Lucius warned him seriously.
"But him!" Harry whined. He felt the tell-tale smack of the familiar hex on
the back of his head.
He pouted but he remained silent. "I am looking forward to coming
home." He said quietly.
"I admit, the house has been quiet since you left. Draco is a quiet boy
anyway; you brought so much noise to the manor."
Harry laughed. "Draco's only silent when he doesn't have someone to
clash with."
"As long as you both don't come home and start biting at one another like
rabid dogs again."
"We've been getting along better at school, but the Quidditch season is
only just about to start, Gryffindor versus Slytherin is the first game of
the season and it's scheduled for only a little over a month before
Christmas. Naturally, Gryffindor is going to win, so Draco will be in a bit
of a mood I expect when I catch the snitch from under his nose."
Lucius' mouth twitched with the beginnings of a smile. "Don't be too hard
on him."
"There is no mercy in Quidditch." Harry said passionately.
"Indeed."
Harry snapped his head to the side and he stood on his tiptoes when he
heard the two women coming back down the dormitory stairs and he was
practically bouncing on his toes to see if they had his beloved Firebolt
with them. He grinned when he caught sight of it, but was ultimately
dismayed when he realised the hideous state that the tail was in.
He let out a horrified cry and rushed to seize it from Professor
McGonagall and check the handle for any damage. Someone had even
attempted to scratch out the golden licence numbers that proved that the
broom was his.
He turned his teary gaze to Lucius who made a slight movement with his
eyebrow and Harry sucked in a huge, deep breath and composed himself,
his hands tightening on the broomstick that had been given to him by his
now-dead godfather. The very broom that his ex-friends had tried to
destroy. There was no going back from this now, they knew how very
much this broom meant to him and they had still tried to damage it
beyond repair. He swallowed all of the upset and the raging anger that
was burning him up on the inside; he glared at the table that held Ron,
Dean, Hermione, and Ginny, who were all trying to avoid the gaze of so
many authority figures.
"Miss Granger, would you care to explain why this stolen broomstick was
found in your trunk, in the state that it is in?" Professor McGonagall
demanded of the red-faced girl. The professor's lips were white and
pressed into a thin line, her nostrils flaring in anger. Harry didn't think
he'd ever seen her so angry before, not even after the troll incident, or
the Norbert incident.
"It was already like that." Ginny jumped in quickly.
"So you were involved in this too, Miss Weasley?"
"I can assure you that my son's broom was not in this state when he came
to school just a month before it was stolen. I have pictures of him playing
on it with Draco on the Quidditch pitch at the manor and it is in perfect
condition with not a single tail twig out of place. Harry takes incredibly
good care of his broomstick as it was a gift to him by someone very
special and he treasures it deeply."
"I…I have the kit up in my trunk, I service this broom at least once a
week, sometimes twice. It means so much to me, which is why I
desperately wanted it back, but this…this is severe damage. The tail is
ruined, the licence numbers have been severely scratched, likely to hide
that it is my broomstick, though as the only one in this school with this
broom, I can't see how that would have worked, and the handle could be
compromised. This is deliberate damage and defacement and I won't
stand for it."
"How much will it take to fix the broom?" One governor asked.
Harry swallowed down the tears and the anger that were both battling
for dominancy.
"It'll have to be sent off so that it can be professionally evaluated by the
company that made it and that won't be cheap. The entire tail could need
replacing and the licencing needs to be smoothened out and re-engraved.
I'm looking at a hefty bill of a couple hundred Galleons and that's only if
the tail can be salvaged. If it can't, or if the handle is at all compromised,
then it might not even be worth it to fix all of the damage. It would have
to be fully replaced with a new broom and then it would lose all of the
sentimental value that it holds for me."
Harry was so torn between utter devastation at what had happened to the
Firebolt that Sirius had given to him and such furious anger at his former
friends that his vision had tunnelled until all he could see were the faces
of his housemates, four people that just last year he had called his
friends, including two people who had been his very best friends in the
world.
A hand landed on his shoulder and he flinched away from it, startled. He
looked over his shoulder to see Dumbledore standing behind him. His
bitter, hostile anger flared colder and his head started searing in pain. He
gasped and raised a hand to the scar on his forehead and he pressed
against it hard.
Lucius was there then, with a handkerchief and a flash of burning anger
in his grey eyes as he glared at Dumbledore.
"What did you do to my son?" He demanded coldly as Harry was pulled
away from Dumbledore, his hand was peeled from his forehead and
Lucius looked at his bleeding scar, pressing his handkerchief over it
again.
"This is Voldemort's doing." Dumbledore insisted to the worried
governors. "Harry's scar often hurts him when Voldemort is being active
and it has bled before."
"Stop lying!" Harry shouted out. "Stop feeding me these lies, you're
always lying to me! This happened when you touched me! I didn't even
have a headache or anything before you touched me!"
Lucius squeezed him tightly, warning him to calm himself down and keep
his composure, even as he kept the pressure on his forehead.
"Keep your temper; you are revealing more than you know in your
anger." Lucius whispered into his ear.
"You know that this is Voldemort's fault." Dumbledore told him.
"You were always telling us that it was his fault when your scar was
hurting you, Harry." Hermione spoke up quietly.
Harry gritted his teeth. "You have no right to speak to me or to use my
given name. I told you what I was told by the headmaster, I only knew
what he was telling me, but he's lying about it. This happened when he
touched me, he did something to me."
"This is unacceptable, Dumbledore." One of the governors said angrily.
"This child is bleeding after you touched him, just what is going on in this
school?!"
"I assure you, governor Lettna, I did no such thing. This type of event is
common for Harry."
"Nothing like this has happened in the seven weeks that he has been with
me over this summer and he has been fine for the first two months of the
school term." Lucius hissed. "It is very strange, I think, that he has had
this type of reaction just as you touch him."
Harry just stood there and allowed the governors and Dumbledore to
fight it out in the middle of the Gryffindor common room. He went back
to his ruined Firebolt and looked at it sadly, even as Lucius' hand cupped
a handkerchief to his forehead. It seemed to him that his friends had
repeated bashed and forced the tail into the floor at a vertical angle,
snapping the perfectly sleek, honed birch tail twigs, making an utter mess
of them when he'd done nothing but groom and clip them since he'd
received the broomstick. It was sickening what they'd done to something
that had meant so, so much to him. He would never forgive them for this.
Never.
"Come, Harry, we shall send this broomstick off immediately and
whatever the bill, those involved will share the cost of that as well. My
my, I wonder if your parents can even afford that, young Weasleys. The
cost of destroying all of Harry's school things and my need to replace
them was going to be hefty enough, but a Firebolt in this condition to
repair as well, that is going to cost excessively."
"You can afford to buy it yourself!" Ron exploded.
"That's not the point! Why should my father have to?" Harry demanded
furiously. "Whether rich or poor, it was still you who destroyed all of my
things and they all had to be replaced. You need to take responsibility for
what you did and if you couldn't afford to replace it, then you shouldn't
have destroyed it all in the first place!"
"There is no need to lose your temper, Harry. Not over such a matter as
this." Lucius told him with a sniff. "At least now we know what happened
to your broom and we can have it repaired, no matter the cost."
Harry nodded and allowed himself to be led away, going to the Owlery
where he could send off his broom to be repaired. It was only once they
were actually in the semi-privacy of the Owlery that he let two hot tears
slide down his cheeks.
Lucius sighed. "Why are you crying? It will be fixed within a month. I'll
make sure of it."
Harry shook his head. "I know that. It's just…Sirius gave me this broom.
I've loved it as I loved him and now he's gone, so I…"
"You cling to the broom in his place." Lucius surmised as Harry fell silent.
Harry nodded. "Now it looks like this and it's all going to be replaced and
it won't be the broom that he gave to me anymore, the parts of it that he
actually touched with his own hands will be removed and replaced."
"The handle is still intact, it doesn't look to be compromised and ebony
wood is very hard and dense, thus it takes considerable force to damage.
It is only really the licencing that needs to be re-engraved and the tail
twigs need to be replaced, he would have still held this broom in his
hands, he still paid for it with his own money and the intent behind the
gesture will not diminish merely because it needs to be serviced. He still
loved you enough to buy this broom for you, he still wanted you to have
it and you will have it back once it has been repaired. The memories
attached to it will not leave you."
Harry sniffled and he nodded his head. "I understand, I just hate seeing
something so precious to me like this."
"Then let us send it off and be gone with this upsetting sight."
Harry nodded again and handed the Firebolt to Lucius, who used one of
the numerous school owls to send the broomstick off to the manufactures
company, Ellerby and Spudmore.
He watched the large owl carry off the ruined broomstick with a note
written by Lucius about what had happened to it and what he wished to
be done about it. Harry swallowed hard when it was finally out of sight
and he turned back to Lucius, his face now dry of the few tears that had
fallen.
"I have so few things to remember the people I love." He said softly.
"When anyone damages those things, I get so angry and I lose control of
my emotions. I'm sorry for that."
Lucius nodded. "I understand quite well, Harry, there is no need to
apologise. I have only ever struck Draco in malice once in my life and he
was just a boy, no more than six. He idolised me, as I believe he still
might, but he often played with my jewellery and my dress robes. I
would come home to find him in one of my most expensive robes,
trailing it behind him and walking all over the internal fabric, wearing
my chains and rings that were much too big for him. I never minded and
it used to amuse me, so I never thought to stop him. He found a lockbox
of mine in a cupboard out of his reach and he'd gotten our house-elf,
Dobby, to open it for him and as I had never told him not to open it, the
elf did as he was told. Inside was a rather ancient family heirloom, dating
back hundreds of years to Armand Malfoy. The gold was pure, meaning it
was very soft and malleable and in the hands of a six-year-old, it did not
last for very long until it broke. I was so furious that something so
precious to my family, that had become so precious to me, had been
broken by anyone, that I actually struck Draco across the face. Of course,
such an action had severe consequences, none more so than my wife
threatening to take our son and leave me. I regret what I did to my own
son, but when I saw the ruined heirloom, I didn't even think before I
acted. It is one of only a handful of times where I have acted without
thought and it has served to remind me exactly how important it is to
think before I act. I am unsure whether Draco remembers the incident or
not, but he never played with my jewellery again and he never dressed
up in my robes again and just a few months later, he hit another person
for the first time; Astoria Greengrass. I have a feeling that that was a
direct consequence of what I'd done months earlier to him, but I could
never be sure if it was a coincidence or not."
Harry had no idea what to say about that, so he stayed silent and held his
tongue. Lucius ran a large hand over his shoulder and squeezed.
"Come, I think I'll spend an hour or so with you and Draco and check
over all of your school assignments to make sure that you're exercising
your full abilities."
"I am! I swear I am. I even considered dropping myself from the
Quidditch team, though now I won't…I'm going to make that team the
best I can and I'll do it on a school broom if I have to!"
Lucius smiled at him. "Strength of character…good. Keep that up and you
might find yourself making something of yourself, now come along, I
don't have endless amounts of time to spend here and I do want to spend
some time with you and Draco before I have to leave."
Harry nodded and he turned on his heel and he followed Lucius out of
the Owlery. He took the man to the library, where he found Draco and
Blaise waiting for them with their homework spread out already. Harry
settled himself down and he very much enjoyed the time that he spent
with the three, even if it was just doing homework in the dusty school
library.
Lucius sighed as he received the breakdown invoice from Ellerby and
Spudmore. The Firebolt was in a bad way, but he had been correct, the
ebony handle was not compromised and there were no fractures or
splinters which could possibly cause a fatal accident for Harry if he flew
it, it didn't need to be replaced. The birch tail twigs, however, were
another matter entirely. They were unable to be salvaged and had needed
to be completely stripped from the broom and fully replaced. The golden
engraving of Harry's personal licencing numbers had been professionally
retouched without damaging the broom handle and Lucius was very
pleased. Very much so, especially after he'd seen exactly how much these
services were going to cost.
He had made sure to inform the Minister of the incident in the form of
small talk, which wasn't actually small talk at all but a perfectly placed,
well thought out plantation of subtle information meant to discredit the
Weasleys and Dumbledore under the guise of meaningless small talk
about his adopted son, who just so happened to be Harry Potter, a boy
that everyone was very interested in.
"Darling, I was making up Draco's monthly treat package and had the
thought to make one for our Harry too, do you think he would prefer a
gift card from Quality Quidditch Supplies or a subscription to Which
Broomstick?"
Lucius smiled and turned to look at his wife, who was taking to Harry
like a Grindylow to water.
"I believe that he would much prefer a subscription to The Quibbler,
Dear. I have seen him reading it on occasion and I believe that it amuses
him greatly. The young Lovegood is a friend of his."
"Are you sure that that girl is still talking to him? Draco says that since
the start of the school year, our Harry has been very isolated from his
house as they reacted very badly to his adoption."
"I'm sure that given the chance they would still interact. They are in
different houses. I believe that Xenophilius' daughter was sorted into
Ravenclaw and she has never reacted normally or with the general
masses. I don't believe that such a thing as a mere adoption would faze
her and it might help to remind our Harry that he does still have friends
if he cares to look for them a little harder."
Narcissa nodded and filled out the owl subscription form.
"Did Harry seem settled when you last saw him? I hate what Draco is
telling us is happening to him in that school."
"He seemed settled and well adjusted, Dear. Just angry. I have no idea
where such crippling anger comes from within him. It doesn't seem
natural how he flares up so quickly and easily and it certainly doesn't
seem to be within his character."
"His mother was always fiery-tempered." Narcissa pointed out.
"She was and I'm not saying that Harry might not have inherited that
fiery temper, but this anger he carries seems to swallow him, it blinds
him with fury until he can't even think straight. Such a thing is terrifying
to consider, but all the same, I do not believe that it is normal."
"Perhaps we should have him tested by a healer then, especially after this
revelation about his…previous guardians."
Lucius' lips pulled into a sneer, as they always did these days when
Harry's mistreatment by mere muggles was brought up. He hadn't had the
chance to talk to Harry about it while he was at the school, he'd only
been there for a short time and Harry had been upset and angry already,
but winter was rapidly approaching and he'd have both boys home for
the holidays, he would speak to Harry about it then. He would not allow
any mistreatment of his sons to stand. It was why he had taken out the
vile Madam Umbridge at the very first opportunity that arose. Her trial
would be happening as soon as the statements of all the students
involved had been collected as evidence and he couldn't wait until he
could destroy her indefinitely.
Of course, it helped that he had regained his position as a Hogwarts
governor and chairman of the board as well. He'd seen to it that
Dumbledore was kicked out of the Ministry, which could only be credited
to Harry himself for claiming his rightful lordships, he himself had the
Minister's ear and now he had considerable control over Hogwarts too.
He would ruin Dumbledore and he was sure that once he was ruined and
not trusted by the wizarding public anymore, his Lord would destroy him
once and for all, leaving their path completely clear with only the odd
bump due to the remaining Order of the Phoenix members.
The Ministry was now being cleaned out. Madam Umbridge was
currently in a Ministry holding cell, waiting for a trial that would see the
unpalatable woman stripped of all dignity and prestige and sent to
Azkaban to rot where she belonged. Lucius knew that others would soon
follow.
Harry had set in motion a series of events that would see a new reform
blossom, much sooner than they ever would have been able to implement
without him.
He was personally very pleased with the way things were progressing and
he knew that his Lord was too. There had been a few, very subtle,
assassinations over the last month, a disappearance here, an 'accidental'
death there and everything was falling into place. They were swiftly and
smoothly moving into the place that they needed to be and it was all
because he had had the forethought to put aside his own thoughts and
feelings and adopt a neglected, and according to recent information
abused, boy who was clueless, lost, and alone.
He had snatched up the Boy-Who-Lived and he had worked and worked
on the boy to bring his, rather sharp and analytical, mind around to his
way of thinking and it had worked. Only now, after getting to know
Harry personally and not through books, rumours, scathing reports or
through the jealous gossip of his own son, he found that Harry was
completely different to how he had once believed him to be. Surprisingly
sharp and adept, he was more intelligent than he had thought, and
definitely more open-minded too.
He had expected a fuss, the boy had had his world turned upside down
and he had lost his beloved godfather on top of everything that he had
learnt at Gringotts, but the things that Harry had chosen to kick up a fuss
over hadn't been the things that he had expected him to have reacted to.
He had had a harder time managing Harry's day-to-day behaviour than
he had over the betrothal contract. He had had more of a challenge
getting Harry to respond to receiving gifts, mere trivial things like books
and clothes than he had over being a Death Eater loyal to the Dark Lord.
It was very strange and he had to wonder if it all stemmed from the
revelation of abuse by those muggles that Harry had been forced to live
with just because Dumbledore didn't want to raise the boy himself, yet
couldn't risk anyone else becoming Harry's magical guardian because
then he would lose all of his power and prestige with the Ministry. Most
notably, he would have lost the Wizengamot seats he held for Lord Potter
and Lord Black, and he had needed those seats, especially after he had
been stripped of his title of Supreme Mugwump of the International
Confederation of Wizards the previous year. The Wizengamot seats had
been all that he'd had left by the way of power in the Ministry and thanks
to Harry, he had lost those too and as a result of that, he'd also lost his
title of Chief Warlock as well, as such a title could only go to someone
who sat on the Wizengamot.
He was worried about Harry being in Hogwarts. He'd talked it over with
the Lestranges and his Lord, but with all the other upheavals that Harry
had faced lately, removing him from Hogwarts was probably not the best
way to go. Yet, with Dumbledore's loss of influence in the Ministry, and
now that he was once again a governor of Hogwarts and the chairman of
the board, Dumbledore was going to start losing influence at the school
as well and once the public turned against him, then he would be nothing
and he worried that Harry would be in danger because of that, especially
if Severus was right and Dumbledore was insistent on forcing Harry to
fight by any means necessary.
He had been, they had all been, charged with protecting Harry. He had
gone from a priority target to their primary mission, and it wasn't to
capture him, but to protect him and because of Harry's cooperation and
his open-mindedness in dealing with everything that had happened to
him, everything was moving along that much more smoothly. It made a
wonderful contrast to a few months ago when they were hitting snags in
most of their plans and the boy himself had blockaded their way in the
Ministry itself. He had to admit, even with Dumbledore still in the
picture and the Order of the Phoenix still active, with Harry out of the
way everything was falling into place and he felt more relaxed and
confident that his life views would soon become law and as a plus, he
finally had a second child to care for.
He loved Draco. His son was the embodiment of his love and care and he
had always done and would always do his all for him, despite the few
hiccups they had experienced over the years. But he and Narcissa had
tried for a second child four or five years after Draco's birth, but after all
the necessary tests, he had found that he had a very low sperm count that
was getting lower with his increasing age and thus, at just thirty-one he
would be unable to conceive another child and it would be unlikely that
Draco would have more than one or two children himself.
This opportunity had been a blessing to his family really, not only
because of Harry's social standing, his rare bearing abilities, and his two
lordships but because he and Narcissa had always wanted a second child
and now they had that opportunity.
It was difficult because Harry was already a teenager, and it had now
emerged that he had been neglected and abused as well, to what extent
he didn't know yet, but such a thing disgusted him and he would sort this
out for his adoptive son. Things would have been much easier if this had
been done a decade before when Harry was still a small boy, but he had
been shaped by abuse and manipulation and as a result of that, he was
damaged and angry and he naturally lashed out.
Lucius sighed as he filed away the invoice from Ellerby and Spudmore
into a file that he had created just for Harry. It was getting quite full
already and it had only been four months since he had adopted the boy.
But, of course, between the actual adoption papers, the betrothal
contract, the healer's papers on his fertility and bearing abilities, the
documentation of the neglect by his previous magical guardian, all of the
relevant paperwork, like Harry's birth certificate and his healers notes on
his vaccinations (that he had been appalled to see hadn't been completed,
which he would rectify as soon as possible.) as well as the case that he
had built up against Umbridge and the case he would now build against
his former relatives, the file was getting very full.
He would help Harry with his anger issues, he would help him with
anything that he needed and now that they were all on the same side,
there didn't need to be any animosity between them, they could make
this work. He and Narcissa could have the second child that they had
always wanted, as well as a sibling for Draco, and Harry could have the
family and structure that he so obviously needed. They could be good
together, they could be a family until such a time that he handed Harry
over to Rabastan as a husband. That day would be sooner rather than
later as well if all the signs and indications had been read correctly, he
just hoped that Rabastan was ready to handle Harry when the time came.
Harry grinned as he thought about his new, private, rooms, which were
more like a small apartment. He had four rooms all to himself. A living
room cum kitchenette, a bedroom, a bathroom and a study room that
was the smallest room, but had three bookshelves and a study desk where
he could do his homework.
Dumbledore hadn't wanted to let him have it, not at all, but the
governors had bullied him into it and had insisted that it was necessary
for his own protection due to the hostility shown to him by his own dorm
mates'. They had insisted that they couldn't allow him to remain in a
dorm room where he was in constant danger of being attacked, so they
had forced Dumbledore to remove him from the Gryffindor dorm rooms
and he now had his own rooms on the fourth floor.
Draco and Blaise were both very jealous and they spent a lot of time over
the next few days coming around to his rooms where they would often
spend their free time doing their homework at his coffee table with
drinks and snacks from his stocked kitchenette, which the house-elves
stocked every day for him with fresh food, fruit, tea, and juice. It was
enough for snacks, but he didn't really have anything in the way of
making a full meal for himself, so he couldn't avoid going to the Great
Hall for mealtimes, but outside of that and his lessons, then he spent
most of his time in his new rooms.
His Firebolt had been returned to him better than brand new in record
time, thanks to Lucius' influence and the knowledge that it was Harry
Potter's broomstick that was being worked on, and he'd been assured that
the handle hadn't been touched, except for the high-quality varnish and
polish that it had been given after the re-engraving of his personal license
number. It was so polished that it gleamed and Harry was so happy,
knowing that this handle was the same one that Sirius had touched with
his own hands.
The first Quidditch game of the season was rapidly approaching and
Harry was so excited as he tested out his broom on his own to make sure
that it worked as well as he remembered. He sped up and down the
Quidditch pitch, pushing the broom as hard as he could, urging it to go
faster and faster, turning at the last moment on a hairpin. It reacted to
him just as he remembered, as if the broom was reading his thoughts
instead of his body movements it was that sensitive and he flew around
the Quidditch pitch for hours, just reconnecting with the broom that he
hadn't been able to fly for the last month and a half. He practised his
diving and all of his manoeuvres and he felt so much better.
The icy anger that had plagued him for the last several weeks had left
him up here in the air, in the clouds, and he felt relaxed and happy and
able to think again.
He touched back down gently and shouldered his broom and he headed
back to the castle when he started feeling a little chilled. It was
November after all and it was getting late, dark, and cold.
He made it to his rooms and he collapsed onto his settee with a groan,
broomstick in hand. He couldn't bring himself to let it go just yet. The
quiet of his rooms relaxed him and he closed his eyes to savour it, at least
until Hedwig joined him and nibbled on his ear.
"Hey girl, how are you?" He asked her as he stroked her head and
beautiful plumage. "It's been a while since we had a moment to
ourselves."
Hedwig clicked her beak at him and Harry smiled, relieving her of her
burden and grinning widely as she walked along the chair to perch on his
leg. She clicked insistently at him and he chucked as he resumed his
grooming of her soft feathers.
He put his broomstick beside him and opened the letter one-handed.
There were three other envelopes in the first and he looked at them
excitedly, knowing that one of them had to be from Rabastan. He was
right, he recognised the shaky letters on the second envelope caused by
Rabastan's weakened muscles and his cramps and he dived on it
immediately.
He opened this letter quickly, taking his hand away from Hedwig before
shaking the parchment out and letting his hand fall back to her feathers
as he quickly read the letter that had been sent to him. He could see that
Rabastan had really tried when writing this letter, but it was immediately
apparent where Rabastan's arm had jerked out of his control and he had
scored the parchment with his quill, leaving long lines of stark, black ink.
Harry still read the letter and he couldn't help grinning like a loon, a
warm feeling filling up his insides as he read it through several times. He
liked hearing that Rabastan was missing him and that he had loved the
cuff links that Harry had gifted to him and how he couldn't wait until
they could spend more time together during the winter holidays.
He hated that Rabastan had apologised for his shaky, often illegible,
cursive and the jerked lines through the writing. He'd definitely have to
sort that out once he went home for the holidays, he wouldn't have
Rabastan apologising for the damage done to him by Azkaban, it wasn't
his fault and he couldn't control it. He was already doing everything that
he could to rectify the damage done, he was on a very strict dietary plan,
he was taking all sorts of potions, and doing all sorts of strengthening
exercises to help himself. He was doing everything that he possibly could
to heal himself and Harry would not have him apologising for anything
because he knew it was going to take years for the damage to heal, it
wouldn't happen over days, weeks, or even months, but years and it was
all thanks to Azkaban.
He hated that fucking prison with a furious passion, it was unnatural and
inhumane and there was no going back if an innocent person was put in
that hellhole like Sirius had been. They came out just as fucking damaged
and no amount of Galleons thrown at them in the form of 'compensation'
helped the years' worth of recovery and therapy that was needed to try
and rectify the damage that had been done. That prison really needed to
be sorted out and those damn Dementors needed to be cleaned out.
Azkaban had ruined two people that he cared about greatly, three if
Rodolphus was counted as well, as he got on well with his future brother-
in-law, not to mention how badly the Dementors affected him personally.
He could only imagine Azkaban as hell on Earth and it needed to be
addressed and sorted out.
"I'll make him better, Hedwig." He said into the silent room. "I didn't
really understand with Sirius. I was only thirteen and though I knew the
effects of the Dementors, I passed out before they had much of a chance
to torture me. I didn't understand the effects and certainly not the long
term effects of what being in Azkaban meant. I have a better idea now
that I'm older. Sirius was innocent and he could cling to that, he had
Padfoot to use as an escape and I know now that he hid a lot from me
because I was so young and he didn't want me to worry. Looking back on
it now, I can see the pain as he moved, I saw the haunted eyes and the
gaunt face and the emaciated body, even though he'd been staying in
Grimmauld Place. Though thinking on it that probably wouldn't have
helped him either. He suffered through that for twelve years. Rabastan
and Rodolphus suffered for fifteen years, that's as long as I was stuck at
the Dursleys. They were in prison though, with the Dementors and I
couldn't imagine going through that day after day, year after year. They
have to be some of the strongest men I know, just to even survive that
place. I know most people get sick and die there or they stop eating or
they just straight out commit suicide, but they never gave up. They didn't
commit suicide or stop eating. They clung to something, for Sirius it was
hope and the knowledge that he was innocent, but what did Rabastan
and Rodolphus have? They were guilty, they did torture the Longbottoms
into insanity, so what made them cling to life?"
Hedwig hooted and Harry sighed as he dug his fingers into her feathers
and scratched down the full length of her body and his lovely owl clicked
happily in pleasure of the action.
"I suppose I'll never know now, I'm not as tactless as to ask. Though
maybe in a few years, when their imprisonment isn't quite so raw, I'll see
if I'll get an answer then, but I won't hold my breath for it."
Harry sighed again heavily and he sent Hedwig off. It was getting dark
and she'd want to hunt soon. He put Rabastan's letter back in its envelope
and left it on the table as he turned to the other two that had arrived.
One was from Lucius, just generally asking after him and if he was
alright, which Harry found difficult to admit, but it made his chest
tighten with unfamiliar emotions.
He swallowed as the letter choked him up a little and he viciously shoved
it aside. What the hell was wrong with him lately? First, the sudden, icy
anger, now he was getting choked up and weepy because Lucius had sent
him a letter. He was sure that someone was messing with his food, but
the house-elves of Hogwarts were under a contracted oath to never, ever,
put anything in the students' food. The serious binding oath had been
administered to all Hogwarts elves in eighteen-forty-three after some
nutcase in Ravenclaw had invented a new poison and had tested it out on
all the students who had bullied her by asking the elves to put the poison
in their food, claiming it was just a harmless prank. It had killed fourteen
people and had made twenty-seven others seriously sick. The governors
at the time had forced the oath on the poor house-elves and it still
remained to this day. So no, Harry wasn't worried about anyone playing
with his food or drink, but with how he was feeling lately, he could well
believe that someone had been slipping him potions somehow.
The third letter was written in unfamiliar cursive, but it had been
forwarded to him by Lucius, so he trusted it, to an extent.
The neat, elegant words were evenly spaced on the parchment and there
was no signature to speak of at the bottom of the letter, even Rabastan,
who obviously couldn't put his signature on anything, especially nothing
that he sent to him, left an elaborate letter 'R' at the end of the
parchment. It was always perfect as if Rabastan forced himself to do at
least that right when the actual letter was a mass of shaky scrawls, jerked
lines and unintentional inkblots.
Harry read the letter through and he gritted his teeth as he realised
exactly why this letter didn't need a signature…he knew exactly who this
was and his hands physically ached to tear it into tiny fucking shreds that
he would throw into his living room fire. He didn't though. He controlled
himself and breathed deeply and as calmly as he could through the urges
to tear up the letter. He was surprised somewhere in the back of his mind
that the anger he was feeling was warm and passionate, not the sudden,
icy cold explosive anger that he had been feeling recently.
The letter itself would have been quite innocent, had it not been for the
person who had written it. Voldemort himself was asking after his health
and wellbeing, though he was sure that that was just 'social niceties' as he
had phrased it two years ago in that graveyard when he had forced him
to bow before their duel. His real reason for writing was very clear
further down, when he started asking…no, demanding, he couldn't see
the Dark Lord asking anything of anyone, after his thoughts, feelings, and
his motivations.
Voldemort insisted that he just wanted to be sure of his stance, that he
wanted to be sure that he wouldn't interfere or get in the way of his
plans. Harry ground his teeth together and clenched his hands, crumpling
the letter in his one fist.
He had been doing his best to ignore the pink elephant as the expression
went, but Voldemort had stripped that away by directly contacting him
and Harry knew the red-eyed bastard would expect a reply as soon as
possible as well. He couldn't help but wonder if this was another
goddamned test as well or maybe it was just another level of the same
test. He hadn't reacted to Lucius talking of the Dark Lord at Malfoy
Manor, he hadn't reacted to being betrothed to a loyal Death Eater, hell
he hadn't even really kicked up much of a fuss about living with and
being adopted by a Death Eater, so were they now testing him further?
He couldn't stand the situation he was in, he hated that he had been
forced here, into this position and it was all down to Dumbledore. He
may have hated Voldemort, but at the moment he hated Dumbledore
even more. This situation was all kinds of wrong and he didn't like it, but
he had no one left! What was he supposed to do as the adults all fought
over him like a mere possession just because he had been indicated in a
prophecy and had survived when he damn well shouldn't have? His
options had been limited before, but now, thanks to what he'd found out
in Gringotts, he had even fewer options now than he'd had before.
He could have chosen to ignore all that he had learnt, though the anger
he carried within him, which was slowly fermenting into resentment,
would have made that incredibly difficult. How did one forgive and
forget something of that magnitude? The abuse, the neglect, the lies and
the manipulations. The complete disregard for him as an actual person
and the theft of his birthright, the little games that could have easily
killed him over the years…all to prepare him for his future purpose, of
course. A purpose he hadn't really been told about yet. He only knew that
Dumbledore expected him to kill Voldemort. He couldn't do it, he
couldn't face off against someone so powerful, so much older than
himself. He was sixteen and he was sure that he didn't know a fraction of
what Voldemort had stored up in his arsenal over the decades. He would
not be anyone's lamb to the slaughter, he didn't care what the reason
was. There was always another way. No, he could never have forgiven
and forgotten what Dumbledore had done to him. He just couldn't.
Of course, he could have struck off on his own. He certainly had enough
money for it, but again, he was only sixteen. What would he do? Where
would he go? He had had no idea how to buy a house, he didn't know
how to run one or how to pay bills. He couldn't ward his new house as he
didn't know how to, he hadn't even known if he was even allowed to buy
a house while he was still a minor! All he would be able to do was cook
and clean because that's all the Dursleys had taught him in his fifteen-
year stay with them. He had needed someone to take him in and teach
him how to do everything on his own.
He certainly would not have chosen Lucius Malfoy of all people to be the
one to take him in, but he had been the only one actually willing to take
him in and the man had started to teach him everything that he'd wanted
to know about everything and more. All he had to do was ask and
suddenly a new stack of books would be delivered to him by a house-elf
and if he had any questions after reading them, all he had to do was ask
them. It was a foreign concept after the Dursleys. It had taken him a
while to get into the rhythm of it, so to speak, where he would read the
books given to him and then question Lucius on the things that he was
unsure about. He even had his knowledge retention tested when Lucius
asked him questions in turn, to make sure that the information he had
read had gotten through and stuck in his mind. He was learning at the
Malfoy home and it was everything that wasn't taught in Hogwarts,
things that he actually needed to know in order to live a normal,
independent life in the wizarding world!
It was as if Dumbledore didn't expect him to live, so teaching him
anything on how to be an independent adult would have been just a
massive waste of time and it was that, more than anything, which
panicked Harry and made him cling to the Malfoy family, and even to
Rabastan, tighter. He wanted to live, he wanted his own family and his
own life. He didn't want to die!
He couldn't just forgive and forget what Dumbledore had done and he'd
needed someone to teach him what he needed to know to live a normal
life. Being adopted, or even just taken in by someone, really was the only
option he'd had where he sort of got what he wanted and got exactly
what he needed.
No, he would never have chosen Lucius Malfoy of all people, but after
seven weeks spent in his home and four months now of being 'a Malfoy,'
he had to admit that it really wasn't that bad. He was happy, he was
looked after, everything he needed or wanted was given to him, he was a
lot more protected now and he had a family to call his own. Things could
have been better, he knew that, but looking back at where he had come
from, he also knew that things could also be a hell of a lot worse. He was
happy with the Malfoy family and he was very happy with Rabastan.
Things would work out for him because he'd force them to if he had to
and it was with that thought that he got out his parchment and ink and
he calmly and cleverly replied to his three letters. If they were testing
him, he wouldn't let them win, and if they were just genuinely curious
and concerned for his wellbeing and his stance on things, as difficult as
that thought was to believe, well, so much the better.
A/N: This chapter was giving me some trouble, even after I'd written it
and moved onto chapter six, I still didn't like it. So the other week I
actually deleted the entire thing and started again from the very
beginning. It was only 9,000 words and now it's almost 13,000, so
obviously it needed to be scrapped and re-written and I am much happier
with the result, so I do hope that all of you lovelies enjoyed it too.
Thank you to Missing Jade Snake for being the 500th reviewer of this
story.
ptl4ever419: Dumbledore's hand was forced and he had to tell the Order
the contents of the Prophecy in order to explain why it had to be Harry
who fought Voldemort. He hasn't told them the whole of the Prophecy
however, just the pieces that he wanted them to know and that he could
use to twist their minds around the idea that they need to force Harry to
fight.
luvbiwal: Harry will not be getting a resort, but he has got his own
rooms now, so that's sort of the same thing, but he is still a Gryffindor as
an actual resort is impossible. I'm sure though at some point it will come
out that Harry talked himself out of Slytherin. Bill will actually become
an enemy, its Charlie I'm thinking of making Harry's only ally from the
Weasley family as he can be explained away much more easily with his
choice to live and work in Romania and his seeming reluctance to go
back to the Burrow over the years. But originally I was going to make the
entire family against Harry, it's only because the lovelies on my Facebook
page pleaded with me that I even considered making Charlie an ally, so
he'll be the only one.
Guest: You are picking up on some of Voldemort coming through in
Harry, yes and as you can see from the end of this chapter, Harry is
definitely not going to let bygones be bygones where Voldemort is
concerned. There is going to be a bit of friction and a few clashes here
and there too, but they are on the same side, but in Harry's view, he can
deal with that as long as it isn't rubbed in his face, so Voldemort sending
him a letter pissed him off as he was very happy to just ignore
Voldemort.
There is a sort of secrecy oath that all members of the Wizengamot
members sign, but it doesn't prevent them from talking about anything,
it's a contract that they sign when they become a member which lays out
exactly what will happen to them if they are found to have spoken of
anything of the Wizengamot meetings to someone who isn't a member,
which as you can imagine, would put off most people as it is actually life
in Azkaban. So Bill is actually risking a hell of a lot by agreeing to
become a member and to relay all information back to Dumbledore. If
he's caught, or even just suspected, he'll be up on trial and faces life in
prison, but there isn't anything that will actually force the Wizengamot
members to hold their tongues, only the threat of Azkaban.
EverettEvan99: I like sticking to canon as much as possible and as I do
put Harry in relationships, I do usually start the stories when he's sixteen,
which is the legal age for sexual consent in Britain, which does mean that
Sirius has already died. Obviously in this fic I needed Sirius dead in order
to have Harry become the Black Heir, but usually it's an unconscious
decision where I am just sticking to canon.
Of Stories Told: Dumbledore asked if Harry had signed anything because
he was worried that Lucius would have gotten Harry to sign something
that would have magically binded him to remain out of the war. It was
the same concern that Lucius had in Gringotts about Dumbledore. I found
it amusing to switch the same concern around to both men. As for the
lemon drop, Dumbledore asks people randomly if they want one to throw
them off their train of thoughts to hopefully cause them to slip up and
give out information that they're holding back.
As for Bill, if he's even suspected of talking about the meetings outside of
the other Wizengamot members, then he'll be charged, he'll have a trial
and he'll find himself spending up to a life sentence in Azkaban. I hate
the lot of them though, they are being hypocrites in this fic and my heart
aches for poor Harry. You hit the nail on the head though, he hasn't even
thought of Grimmauld Place or thought that the Order might still be
using it…especially not to plot his own death, or he would have already
told Lucius and gotten them evicted.
I can't wait for you lovelies to read Harry and Rabastan's reunion though!
It's the winter holidays now as far as I've written and Harry is home and
Rabastan is there and it's utterly delicious!
Thank you so much for your review, it made me smile and feel so
appreciated as a writer, this chapter's for you, I think that makes two
dedication in five chapters now, you're going for a record!
fairygirl90: Snape was playing both Voldemort and Dumbledore. He was
looking out for his own skin, so he was playing each side in a way that
saved himself. He is not truly on either side and he was waiting to see
who was going to come out on top before he'd even consider truly
declaring allegiance to anyone. With Harry now sided with Voldemort,
there is no way in hell that Dumbledore can win, so the only outcome is
in Voldemort's favour, so I suppose that means that Snape has finally
made up his mind on where his true allegiance will lie in order to save
his own skin.
Well, there were quite a few review responses for this, but I hope that
I've cleared a few things up, including the questions about Neville and
Luna which were actually quite numerous!
I'll see you lovelies again soon, but until then I hope you read, enjoy and
review and join me on Facebook as well,
StarLight Massacre. X
6. Conscious Realisation
Last Time
No, he would never have chosen Lucius Malfoy of all people, but after seven
weeks spent in his home and four months now of being 'a Malfoy,' he had to
admit that it really wasn't that bad. He was happy, he was looked after,
everything he needed or wanted was given to him, he was a lot more protected
now and he had a family to call his own. Things could have been better, he
knew that, but looking back at where he had come from, he also knew that
things could also be a hell of a lot worse. He was happy with the Malfoy
family and he was very happy with Rabastan. Things would work out for him
because he'd force them to if he had to and it was with that thought that he
got out his parchment and ink and he calmly and cleverly replied to his three
letters. If they were testing him, he wouldn't let them win, and if they were just
genuinely curious and concerned for his wellbeing and his stance on things, as
difficult as that thought was to believe, well, so much the better.
Chapter Six – Conscious Realisation
Rabastan Lestrange often thought of himself as a cold, unfeeling man.
Even before Azkaban had stripped him bare and had ruined him down to
his very soul, he had been cold and uncaring of almost everything that
didn't actually relate to himself.
He'd had countless trysts before Azkaban. He was a pureblood from a
prominent family, he'd been young, fit, and handsome and his inherited
body musculature hadn't hurt either. He could still remember countless
people, men and women both, and even a few who could only be classed
as boys, crying and sobbing as he informed them that everything he'd
told them had been lies just to get them into his bed.
It had naturally started at Hogwarts. His older brother had often regaled
him with tales of his trysts with women he'd had the night before,
laughing as he saw their wet, red-eyed faces over the following weeks
and Rodolphus had been so…joyful. He had liked hurting those girls. He
had told Rabastan that he liked the power that it gave him, so he had
naturally emulated his older brother and he had done the same. Only he
hadn't limited himself to just girls.
He had made something of a reputation for himself while in Hogwarts,
but he'd been at his worst when he was in his late teens and graduated
from Hogwarts.
He still remembered the face of the one woman, a mere mudblood he had
slept with just to amuse himself. He had made a grave mistake and he'd
strung her along for a month, listening to her babble about how they
were going to get married and have a family together. As if he would
have even considered embarrassing and lowering himself to marrying a
mudblood, to think that she had thought that he would ever sully his
bloodline by having a child with her. But she had amused him greatly, so
he had kept her for longer, which she had taken to interpret as true love,
insisting to her friends and family that he was a changed man and that he
was going to stay with her and start a family with her.
He still remembered the day that she had told him that she was pregnant.
He could still feel the horror and the disgust, the shock of such an
announcement. How had he not been more careful, how? He had told her
then and there that she was mere amusement for him and that he would
never lower himself to marrying a filthy mudblood and she was a fool for
even thinking such thoughts. When she had been in tears and begging on
her knees in front of him, pleading for him to reconsider for the sake of
their baby…that had been when he'd ripped his wand out of his holster
and waved his wand over her midsection in a violent slashing motion.
The curse that his grandfather had meticulously taught and instructed
him to cast, just in case there were any unsavoury 'accidents' in his
youth, had ensured that the baby within her was no more, whether it
truly was his or another man's he didn't care, he would not bear the
shame of an unworthy mudblood carrying his child. A bastard child no
less.
He had left that woman, her name and face eluded him now, on the floor
of her small, ratty home and he had never seen her again. He had never
played the 'game' again. He had realised exactly how dangerous it had
been. If she hadn't believed that they would be married, that they were in
love and that he had changed. If she hadn't told him that she was
pregnant right away…if he hadn't strung along that game for his own
amusement, then he might have had the utmost, compounding shame of
a bastard, halfblood child in the world. The embarrassment of such a
thought stung him even now. He had never told his grandfather or his
brother about that mudblood and for as long as he lived, he never would,
that haunting secret would go with him to the grave.
His trysts had trailed off after that. His grandfather had been pleased,
thinking that he had finally grown up and in a way, he had. He'd realised
exactly how dangerous the little game he'd been playing was and he'd
stopped immediately. All of his trysts over the following three years
before he was thrown into Azkaban were carefully chosen and were
mostly men. He would never have a bastard child, ever.
His roundabout thoughts brought him to Harry and he fingered his new
cufflinks holding the cuffs of his shirt closed. He loved them, they
reminded him of Harry in a way, smooth silver ovals with a ripple of
green through them that sometimes exploded with colour and made
green shadows dance on the walls when the candlelight bounced off of
them. Plain, simple, elegant, and utterly unique.
He twitched hard and clenched his regrown teeth together, fighting the
aftershocks of smaller twitches and ticks that followed. How could Harry
even stand to look at him? He'd seen himself in the full-length bathroom
mirror. He had seen the damage, the wastage that Azkaban had inflicted
on his body. He was ugly, inside and out, what would a boy as young,
beautiful, and as powerful and influential as Harry want with a broken
man who couldn't even write a letter properly?
Harry was a kind, soft person, he deserved someone better than himself,
but he was a selfish person also and he always had been, so though he
knew that Harry deserved much better than himself, there was no way
that he was going to give Harry up. Though now that his Lord was
actively seeking their marriage, he would have been unable to break off
his betrothal with Harry, even if he had the inclination to do so, which
he definitely didn't.
Harry was different and not just because he was someone influential and
from a good family, in a roundabout way. He hadn't just slept with
mudbloods or sluts of no proper bloodlines or import in his youth, he had
slept with pureblooded men and women as well over the years and he
had treated them all the same, he had played with every single one of
them. He didn't know why Harry was different to everyone else, he just
was.
He wasn't sure if it was because of Azkaban, or if it was because he was
the ruin of a man who was hideous to look upon and yet Harry was so
beautiful and he looked and smiled at him like he was still in his late
teens, with his perfectly fit body, his handsome face and all of his hair.
Harry treated him like he was still normal while other people recoiled in
horror and disgust. Some of them had even dared to sneer and hiss
comments about his appearance, though he got a feeling that they were
the people that he had played his games with in his youth. He couldn't be
sure because Azkaban had blurred the faces of all of them.
But Harry looked into his eyes, Harry sat next to him and kept eye
contact and he didn't recoil away. Harry touched and held his withered,
skeletal hands with their peeling, brittle nails with no sign of disgust.
Harry spoke to him like a person, not like a cripple on his deathbed. For
some reason that he couldn't actually fathom, Harry wanted to marry
him, he wanted to have children with him and he couldn't understand it.
He might have thought that Harry was blind, but he had stared deeply
into those beautiful, magnificent eyes for long enough to know that that
most definitely wasn't the case. Harry wasn't blind. Harry saw him and
Harry still wanted to marry him.
He might have thought that Harry had been paid by someone, anyone, to
marry him, but Harry had enough in the way of money in his own right,
he had inherited the stagnant Black and Potter vaults, which would have
made him considerably wealthy in interest alone, even if he didn't know
that both vaults would have been piled high with gold to begin with.
He might have thought that Harry had been forced or blackmailed into
being with him, but from what he had learnt of the fierce, feisty boy, that
most definitely wouldn't have been the case. Rabastan doubted that the
Dark Lord himself could blackmail or force the boy into anything and he
liked that thought. He needed a strong partner, one who wouldn't let him
call all the shots, one who wouldn't let him walk all over them,
otherwise, his own marriage would turn into one of his games…one that
he'd be unable to get away from and he didn't want that.
Harry was perfect. He was young, beautiful, fertile, and strong.
Everything that Rabastan had always wanted, and needed, out of a
partner. Everything else was just a bonus, his wealth, his power and
social standing, his kindness…that smile that could infect a room and
never failed to make his own thin, rough lips curl into some semblance of
a smile. The tiny, soft hands that would hold his own without care, hands
that would comfort him through another twitch. Those big, beautiful eyes
crinkled around the edges when Harry smiled from ear to ear. That
infectious laugh that had been tormenting him in his dreams.
He needed to see Harry again and soon. He hated that his young
husband-to-be was so very far away from him at the moment and almost
completely unprotected. He wanted Harry with him, by his side so that
he could look after him. He wanted to talk to him face-to-face, but he
was unable to and that frustrated him.
He tried to keep busy, the meticulous designing of Harry's engagement
ring was taking up most of his time, but the ache to see Harry, to hold
him, was growing bigger and deeper by the day and every letter he
received resonated inside of him. He wanted Harry in his arms and in his
bed. Yet he couldn't do the latter even if Harry was there with him. He
was physically incapable at the moment because he was a ruin of a man
and he wouldn't even be able to pick Harry up, let alone carry him to his
bed and show him exactly how much he meant to him.
It was likely a good thing that the wedding was so far away in the future
because there was no way that he and Harry would be having a proper
wedding night until he was much, much stronger and at the moment he
struggled to stay standing for more than half an hour at a time…it would
be many months, maybe even a year or more before he would even be
able to unleash his passions on Harry, but fuck he couldn't wait for that
day to arrive, it really could not come soon enough, he thought, as his
mind raced around the images of Harry and the tantalising fantasies he
created and the whimsical wondering of what Harry might look like fully
undressed and spread out on a bed. His bed. He grinned happily, it
wouldn't be long now. These next few years were going to fly by.
Harry couldn't have asked for worse conditions for flying. The rain was
sleeting down in a mush of part rain and part snow, making visibility
near impossible. It was freezing cold and his entire team, including him,
were shivering so hard they were actually vibrating, making movement
difficult. It was wet, which compromised their grips and they were
playing Slytherin, the dirty bastards.
Harry had already waterproofed his glasses so that he'd be able to
actually see, but it was about all he could do as he led his team out onto
the soaked, muddy pitch.
Urquhart was waiting for him with the rest of the Slytherins. They jeered
as Harry led his young team out to face them, but Harry had done well
with them and their small, determined faces stared up at the bigger,
taller Slytherins in outright defiance.
"Captains, shake hands!" Madam Hooch demanded and Harry thrust his
hand out for Urquhart to try and crush. The Slytherins were so
predictable. It was why he wore steel boned gloves for Quidditch. That
and it made clasping the snitch easier.
Harry watched with amusement as Urquhart tried and failed to crush his
fingers. He took a moment to look around the stadium as they got into
position and smiled as he spotted Lucius in the teachers' stand. He'd said
that he would be coming to watch him and Draco play together for the
first time.
Harry looked to his brother and smiled wider at the sodden blonde hair
that was plastered all over his pale, pointy face. He was sure that he
looked no better, but he didn't much care about how he looked, not as
much as Draco did.
He straddled his broom and waited for Madam Hooch to blow her whistle
after releasing the bludgers and the snitch before he kicked right up into
the air like a popped cork. His broom was so fast that Harry was up and
gone, looking for the snitch before the game had even really begun.
The wind drove the breath from his lungs and the rain stung his skin, but
he was so happy up here on his Firebolt and playing the game that he
loved.
"Are you sure you can actually see anything?"
Harry turned to laugh at Draco, whose hair was all over his face and his
cheeks were stained a brilliant red from the wind. He was shivering on
his broom.
"Of course. I can see fine. You, however, look like you're going to drop
dead at any moment."
"Your young team look despondent."
Harry snorted. "They look like bedraggled puppies, you mean. That
doesn't mean they're not determined to win. They're going to be fine,
you'll see."
Draco huffed and sped off and Harry laughed at having rattled his
brother's cage. He looked around for any hint of the snitch, but despite
what he'd said to Draco, he could barely see three feet in front of him
thanks to the wind and rain.
He couldn't even hear the commentary over the gale-force wind gusting
past his ears. He was soaked to the bone and he was sure that he was
going to get a cold from this…or pneumonia.
He had no idea how long he'd been flying and searching for the snitch
when he heard a shrill, amplified whistle pierce through the wind. He
snapped his head around, his heart in his throat and he only relaxed
when he realised that it was a call for a time out…Draco hadn't caught
the snitch before him. Fuck, he'd never be able to live that down if Draco
caught the snitch, especially not with Christmas just a few weeks away…
the holiday that he'd be spending at Malfoy Manor. No, he had to win
this game or he was going to have to spend Christmas locked away in
solitude.
He landed under the Gryffindor bleachers and looked at his wet,
miserable little young ones. They were huddled together like the puppy
pile he'd envisioned when talking to Draco. He couldn't help but smile as
he cast a heating charm over them all.
"How are we all doing?" He asked.
"Urquhart called the time out, the sloth." Katie sighed ill-temperedly.
"We're twenty points up, it's too close, Harry. We need the snitch."
"I'm working on it, I swear. Unless it flies up my sleeve though, it might
be a long game, just hang in there guys….and girls." He added,
remembering Oliver's ribbing when he'd forgotten the girls. "This rain
can't last forever and we're ahead, let's keep it that way and try to survive
this game. I think Pepper-Up potions all around after we're done here and
hot chocolates, of course." He added with a grin.
His two young Beaters slapped hands in a high five and Harry smiled at
their antics.
"A spoonful of sugar and all that. Medicine first though." He said with a
face.
"As long as you lead by example, Captain." Demelza teased him.
"You know I will. It just means that I'm the first to get my hot chocolate."
He said with a laugh.
Madam Hooch approached them and Harry gave her the double thumbs
up to indicate that he and his team were ready to get back into the air
and back to the game. She nodded and Harry turned serious for a
moment.
"Game faces now, people. Katie, you, Demelza, and Sarah keep up what
you're doing. You'll be alright, I trust you."
"We trust you to catch that snitch too." Katie told him and Harry nodded.
"Jimmy, Ritchie, you two are doing good too, I saw that bludger smash
into one of Slytherin's Chasers."
"That was me!" Jimmy Peakes said excitedly.
"Keep up moves like that." Harry encouraged. "Try and take out the
Keeper and the Seeker."
The two boys' faces fell. "But the Seeker is Malfoy, everyone knows that
he's your brother now. So he's off-limits."
Harry laughed. "Do you think he's going easy on us because I'm his
adopted brother? No, there is no mercy in Quidditch. He's my brother off
of the pitch, on it, he's the opposition. You take him and the Keeper out."
His Beaters nodded their understanding and Harry nodded back curtly.
"Pauley, you're doing brilliantly." Harry told the young, sodden Keeper.
"I'm letting too many in." He sniffled and Harry got a distinct feeling that
it wasn't just raindrops wetting his face.
"You'll let even more in if you dwell on it." Harry told him seriously.
"You're a second-year, Pauley. This is your first year on the team and
your very first official game and you're facing older, larger people
throwing quaffles at you and these are far from perfect conditions. Let it
go and concentrate on saving the next throw. You're doing fine and it
doesn't matter how many you let in as long as you're practising and
trying out a few of those moves we made up. I told you, this team is in it
for the long haul. In a few years, you'll all be world-class and ruling the
inter-house matches, until then practice, practice, practice. Now let's get
back out there and give Gryffindor a brilliant Christmas present by
smashing Slytherin to smithereens."
His team cheered and Harry quickly led them back out into the sleeting
rain that seemed to be coming down harder than before. Harry cursed
internally.
The game started off again and Harry searched harder when he saw
Draco doing the same. He was at a huge disadvantage because he had
glasses and Draco didn't need them. He had perfect vision without the
help of glasses.
Harry dived several times, but Draco never fell for his bait and Harry
calmed himself, if he got angry then he would miss something or he'd be
too tense to fly on a hairpin.
As the game carried on, becoming more brutal as he lost poor Demelza to
a bludger and almost had his own head taken off by another, Harry knew
that he had to finish this game and soon. The sleet was getting heavier
and harder and it was becoming more solid as it turned more to snow
than rain, which was hindering everything from vision, to manoeuvers,
goal shots and saves.
Harry went higher and looked down at the match from his vantage point
and he took a moment to breathe, the sleet driving into his back so that
he wasn't inhaling water and partially-formed snow.
A flash of gold was all it took and Harry was there one moment and gone
the next, following the snitch, getting a face and nose full of snow, the
wet and the wind biting at his face, making his skin sting, but he ignored
all of it as he chased after the tiny speck of colour in the otherwise grey
background.
He dodged players and balls alike, he was joined moments later by
Draco, who tried to barge him off course with his bigger, heavier, and
broader body, but Harry urged his Firebolt faster and he laughed in joy
as he closed in on the snitch, following it as it darted left and then dived
down into a vertical rush of air that made Harry's eyes water. The snitch
pulled up five feet from the ground and zig-zagged away, just under the
playing level of the Chasers.
Harry dodged under Sarah and then went over Ritchie as he chased down
the snitch, Draco dogging his heels all the way and Harry gritted his
teeth as the wind turned violent, ripping at his Quidditch uniform as he
turned against the wind. He wondered how the fuck the snitch was even
able to fly in these conditions.
His heart was in his throat, his excitement and anticipation were ramped
up and he threw himself after the snitch, putting his absolute all into
catching that tiny golden ball. He was panting when his hand finally
closed around it. He almost let it go again, the tiny ball was ice cold and
the exposed tips of his fingers burnt and stung where they touched the
ball, but he clamped it tight in his hand until the silver wings folded over
and lay quiet.
He was so happy and he rushed to his team and they converged on him,
laughing and thumping him on the back. He was so cold that he could
barely feel it, but he didn't care.
"Let's get back to the locker rooms and out of these wet uniforms!" Harry
shouted out happily.
"Do you think you can come out of your private rooms for long enough to
celebrate with us?" Katie ribbed him.
"After we've all gone to see Demelza in the hospital wing." He said with a
nod and he led them all back to the Gryffindor locker rooms.
He, Jimmy, Ritchie, and Pauley went into the boys' section and Katie and
Sarah went into the girls' section. Harry stripped off without caring, he
was so cold there wouldn't be anything on show anyway as he all but
moaned as he stepped under the hot water.
He was joined by the three younger boys and they were all shuffling
around self-consciously and Harry sighed.
"We're all boys, we've all got the same parts. Just get under the water and
warm up before you freeze to death." He told them sternly as he stood
under the spray and felt the tension ease out of his muscles.
"It's embarrassing." Jimmy muttered with pink cheeks.
"Why?" Harry demanded, turning around to see the three of them all
trying to hide not only their cock and balls but their arses as well. He
rolled his eyes. He wasn't much for public nudity, hell he wasn't happy
with any nudity at all, not with his scars and blemishes, but he was
freezing cold and he wanted to warm up. Besides, after seeing Rabastan
and Rodolphus…things could always be worse and if he started bitching
about his body when his betrothed had survived fifteen years of
starvation and malnutrition in Azkaban, how the hell would Rabastan
feel about his own body then?
"It just is." Pauley grumbled, but he couldn't help but give a furtive glance
to Harry before his cheeks pinked and he turned away quickly.
Harry sighed. "You do know that it's natural to look, don't you? Curiosity
is normal and there is nothing wrong or dirty in looking. When I was a
tiny, scrawny eleven-year-old and I was allowed onto the team, I didn't
care about anything because I was so happy to play. Then I noticed that
the older boys were looking at me while we showered. Naturally, I was
very freaked out about it…so I asked Fred and George Weasley why they
were looking at me and they just shrugged and told me that it was just
curiosity. That was when my own curiosity peaked and I looked at my
teammates as well the next time that we showered together. We all had a
good laugh about it and then we got dried off and dressed and went to
celebrate as normal. It's normal, guys." Harry told them, remembering
fondly his talk with Fred and George over their shower time antics.
"It's just embarrassing because…."
Harry actually lowered his eyebrows as he cottoned on to what wasn't
being said.
"You're worried about size? Merlin! You two are thirteen-year-olds and
you, Pauley, are only twelve. Trust me, you shouldn't be worried about
something so ridiculous. Your body and size will change as soon as you
hit puberty in a few years and it won't stop until you're adults. So take a
look at me, at one another, and then get it out of your systems because
curiosity is normal. Let's get dry and dressed and go to that party."
The three young boys grinned and they took a moment to check one
another out, checked out Harry and then the moment was over as Harry
rinsed himself off, grabbed his towel and rubbed himself dry. It was too
cold to mess around as he dressed quickly and then scrubbed his hair
furiously before he picked up his wand and cast a drying and warming
charm on himself and he sighed as his body, now warm and toasty,
relaxed and he was much happier.
The three young boys, also much happier, were messing around as they
dressed and Harry grinned as he threw his arms around their shoulders
and pulled them back out into the main area of the locker rooms and
they met up with the two girls.
They all got under three large umbrellas and they made their way to the
castle. Harry led them up the main staircase to the first floor and they
went to visit Demelza in the hospital wing as a priority. He was relieved
to see her sitting up, a little battered after her run-in with the bludger,
but no worse for wear.
"Did we win?" She asked them as soon as she saw them.
"Oh yeah!" Ritchie said excitedly. "Harry got the snitch! It was amazing,
Demelza!"
"Are you alright, Mel?" Harry asked her. "No lasting damage?"
"No, I'll be just fine. It was a hard hit, but nothing's broken and I should
be out tomorrow. It's sad that I have to miss the party, but Madam
Pomfrey wants to keep me in overnight, just in case."
"Likely for the best." Harry told her. "I'll send Dobby with some party
food and butterbeer for you, but make sure you rest and get better. A
Quidditch match isn't worth dying for."
"I never thought I'd see the day that I'd hear something like that coming
from your mouth."
Harry smiled as he turned to Madam Pomfrey. "I never thought I'd see the
day that I wasn't injured in a Quidditch match. It would have been better
if none of us had been injured, but I do not miss waking up here." He said
seriously. "But, I've come to realise that I have my whole life ahead of
me, I don't want to kill or mangle myself before I've had a chance to live
over a mere school game. Now, if this was a professional team in the
Quidditch World Cup, that is an entirely different matter."
Madam Pomfrey rolled her eyes and checked on Demelza.
"How is she?" Harry asked concernedly.
"She's going to be just fine. I want to keep her in overnight, just to be
sure, but other than that, she'll be fine to leave tomorrow morning."
Harry nodded and he and the team stayed with Demelza, each of them
taking their Pepper-up potions when Harry asked if they could take them
to keep on top of any colds they might have contracted thanks to the
game and they stayed until they were kicked out by Madam Pomfrey.
"Come on then, let's get to the kitchens, send up some goodies for
Demelza and then we can go to the party that is no doubt raging like a
wildfire in the common room." Harry said with a grin.
The team made it down to the kitchens easy enough, the younger ones
being awed that Harry knew where the kitchens were in the first place,
let alone how to get into them, but when Dobby broke away and all but
fell on him, that was when their mouths dropped open.
"What can Dobby be doing for Master Harry Potter, Sir?" He squeaked
excitedly.
"We won our Quidditch match, Dobby." Harry said with a grin. "We were
just hoping that we could have some snacks and butterbeer to celebrate
with."
The house-elves were beside themselves as they pushed several large
baskets of food at them filled with cakes, pastries, biscuits, bottles of
butterbeer and pumpkin juice.
"Thank you so much!" He said empathetically, knowing that they'd enjoy
hearing his praises as several of them sobbed in happiness. "Oh, there
was one other thing I needed, if I could ask."
"Of course Master Harry Potter, Sir! Anything!" Dobby replied tearily.
"One of our team, Demelza. Well, she's in the hospital wing. Could you
maybe sneak her a few cakes and a butterbeer? So she can celebrate with
us even though she won't be at the party."
Harry had gotten several more wails over that and more nods and
promises to deliver the cakes to Demelza as soon as the hospital wing
was clear.
They left with their arms laden with baskets of food and drink, all talking
and laughing happily as they made their way up to the Tower to
celebrate their win, exclaiming happily what they were going to eat first
once they got there.
That idea fell through though when they ran into Lucius and Draco just
past McGonagall's office on their way to the Gryffindor common room
with their arms laden with food.
"So this is where you've been." Lucius said, his mouth a thin line, but his
eyes were gleaming with hidden amusement.
Harry smiled. "We went to see Demelza in the hospital wing first. She's
fine, no thanks to that brute of a Beater of yours."
"I'm not the Captain, Urquhart is and I'd like to remind you that you were
the Captain and I almost had my head taken off by one of your snot-
nosed Beaters." Draco said, eyeing the thirteen-year-old Jimmy and
Ritchie.
"There is no mercy in Quidditch!" Harry said passionately. "You're the
Seeker, you needed to be taken out. Not that you could have beaten me
anyway."
Draco huffed and rolled his eyes and Harry handed his basket of food to
the others and sent them on their way to the common room, telling them
that he'd be along a little later.
Harry led Lucius and Draco back down to his rooms and called on
Narcissa's ingrained etiquette lessons and offered them both seats and tea
before he sat down himself.
"How are you?" Lucius asked.
"Exhilarated." Harry said with a wide grin. "A little chilly still, but
nothing a good night's sleep and a couple cups of tea won't cure. I already
took a Pepper-up potion."
Lucius nodded and settled down more after hearing that he was alright
and that warmed Harry in a way that had nothing to do with temperature
as he sat in his cosy living room and chatted happily with two people
who he had hated not that long ago, but were very rapidly becoming
very important to him.
"Everything is prepared for you to come home." Lucius told them. "Your
mother will be waiting for you at home, but I will be waiting for you
both at King's Cross. I'm sure that Dumbledore will be trying to keep you
here for the holidays, Harry. He might even try to force you to go
somewhere that you don't want to be, but the fool doesn't have a leg to
stand on, you are entitled to come home for the holidays. If he tries
anything, anything at all, get in contact with me and I'll come and pick
you and Draco up directly from the school at the end of the term. The
Lestranges will be arriving as our seasonal guests the day before you
come home, to ensure that they are settled into our home before you
bring all of your noise and commotions back to the house."
Harry grinned and he couldn't help but get excited, only a few more
weeks and he'd be able to speak to Rabastan again face-to-face after four
months apart. He was really looking forward to it and he'd missed his
betrothed. He wondered, and not for the first time either, how much
Rabastan had changed in the four months that he had been in school,
how much had he improved, had he gained any weight? Did he look a bit
healthier?
Naturally, he knew that the process of healing was going to be very long
and arduous, he wasn't expecting miracles. He was intelligent enough to
know that when he went home for the holidays that there was going to
be minimal change and he knew that if he showed any hint of
disappointment or upset over the minimal change then it would ruin any
progress that Rabastan had actually made and would more than likely
thoroughly dishearten his husband-to-be.
That said though, he did want to see some improvements, perhaps with
Rabastan's confidence, or his speech, little things that would show that
the slow, gradual process of healing was actually having some sort of
effect.
It wasn't fair. He wanted to be there for Rabastan, he wanted to help him
so much, but it was very difficult to do so when he was hundreds of miles
away and unable to see or speak to him on a daily basis. He had the
overwhelming need to just protect Rabastan from everything, the effects
of Azkaban, the struggle that would be ahead of them because of those
effects, the Ministry for obvious reasons and from the wizarding public
too and then there was Rhadamanthus…oh, how Harry was not looking
forward to spending Christmas with that man.
"Now, I'll leave you to your little party." Lucius told him as he finished
his tea and stood to smoothen down his robes. "Do try to conduct yourself
in a proper manner and remember that your homework is more
important than celebrating a Quidditch win with your little friends."
"I know. I was only planning on staying for a few hours, I'm not going to
stay there tonight, I'll be coming back here. I've got most of my
homework already done and what little needs to be done now, I'll sort it
out tomorrow. How is Rabastan?" He couldn't help asking.
"He is doing rather well. He and Rodolphus both. Rabastan is speaking
more and though the twitches make things difficult, he is a little more
coordinated than he was before. I don't believe that he would crush your
hand again, at any rate."
Draco snorted and Harry grimaced as a phantom pain had him shaking
his hand out. "That's definitely an improvement." He said with a small
smile.
"I will see you boys very soon, be productive, keep up with your
homework, behave yourselves and look out for one another. I will be on
the platform for you in a few weeks."
Harry shut up his rooms and waved goodbye to Lucius and Draco, who
would walk their father out on his way down to the dungeons. Harry
went back up to Gryffindor Tower and he used the password that Katie
had told him to enter the common room to a raring party and he ducked
in and found his teammates. The young ones were very, very happy to be
included in the celebratory party, getting pats on the back, slaps to the
shoulder and ruffling of their hair. They looked very happy and Harry
was proud and pleased with them all.
The party grew in volume when the Gryffindors realised that their
winning star Seeker was there at the party with them at last and he was
subjected to his own slaps, pats and hair ruffling. He was very happy and
joyous and he stayed with his team for the most part. He did get several
filthy looks and some who were obviously and blatantly ignoring him,
but he didn't care about his ex-friends. They could do as they pleased, it
was absolutely no business of his anymore, just like his own business was
not any of their concern either.
He did not stay for too long, as he'd promised to Lucius, but he'd given
his all in the match and he was exhausted and in need of a good night's
sleep. Adrenaline and exhilaration could only take him so far. So he had
a few butterbeers and a couple of cauldron cakes as he caught up and
had a laugh with the fickle Gryffindors, some of whom had been glaring
at him just the other week, but suddenly he was their favourite person
once again, just because he'd caught the snitch and led the team to
victory.
He really hated the shallowness of people sometimes….then there were
people like Katie, who had known him for years and didn't care. She had
been a little concerned, as he himself had been in the beginning, so he
couldn't really fault her for that, but after assuring her that he was fine
and happier than he'd ever been, she had been fine with everything and
they had carried on and conducted the full-scale Quidditch tryouts
together.
Why couldn't everyone be as accepting as Katie? Why couldn't they just
be happy for him instead of believing that they had some sort of right to
tell him what he should be doing or where he should be living? It wasn't
any of their business, it was his, so they needed to just leave it alone and
leave him alone. He was an adopted Malfoy now and he was soon to be a
Lestrange.
His eyes sought out Neville in the crowd as he turned to leave for his
own rooms and he once again hardened his heart. Neville had nothing to
do with this, they'd been on friendly terms once, but even then there had
been days where they hadn't even spoken to one another. Neville had
been the one to target him first, not the other way around. Neville had
tried to take his trunk with the other Gryffindor boys. He had likely taken
and destroyed his things the first two times it had happened as well and
he had likely been involved in the attempted destruction of his Firebolt
too.
Harry clenched his teeth and left the Gryffindor common room. This was
his life now and he was going to live it whether anyone liked it or not.
They had made the choice to abandon him merely because he'd been
adopted, something which had been completely out of his control. They
hadn't even given him a chance to explain anything before they'd gone
straight for his throat.
Besides, it was none of their business what he did or with who. He could
be marrying Voldemort and it still wouldn't be any of their fucking
business. He grimaced at that very thought and almost gagged a little.
That most definitely would not be happening, but the thought still stood.
He could do as he pleased and it didn't matter if anyone liked it or not
because this was his decision to make and he'd chosen to marry Rabastan
Lestrange.
He had chosen to help the poor man despite his evil past and he had
chosen to look past the rumours and stories that surrounded him. At the
moment, all he saw was a beaten, battered man who couldn't stand up
without holding onto something and couldn't control his muscles enough
to prevent himself from twitching and dribbling on occasion.
Rabastan had never done anything to hurt or humiliate him, in fact, quite
the opposite was true. Rabastan made him feel wanted and useful. Harry
could talk to him and feel as if someone was actually listening to him for
once, instead of just brushing him aside or laughing at his wants and
wishes as a mere childhood fantasy. That humiliation still stung. He'd
told his friends and those whom he'd thought of as family that he wanted
a nice wedding and a large family at dinner one day in Grimmauld Place
and the only one who hadn't laughed and patted him on the head like a
toddler who had said something hilarious had been Sirius, who had
looked wistful and a little lost as if he was caught in the past. Thinking
back on it now, he had probably been thinking back to his parents'
wedding.
It made Harry wonder, as he stepped into his private rooms and sat on
his settee, if they had all laughed and mocked him that day because
they'd known that, thanks to Dumbledore's plans, that it was unlikely that
he would ever reach adulthood. The thought made him feel sick and
dizzy as his stomach dropped out and his heart lodged into his throat.
Had they all known back then that he was being set up to die? He swore
to himself then and there that if they had known, if they'd even had a
hint that that was what was going to happen to him, he would never,
ever forgive them. In fact, if they had been in on the plans that were
setting him up to die, with the way that he was feeling right now, he felt
like he could turn around and kill them himself.
The rest of November and into December was dreary and wet. It rained
more often than not and it was seriously trying to snow as the slush gave
way under his feet as Harry made his way back into the castle after
Herbology.
Just two more weeks and he would be going home to meet with
Rabastan, who would already be at Malfoy Manor when he got home. He
was so excited that he was finding it difficult to concentrate. Not that the
teachers cared as they assigned more and more homework to the sixth
years in preparation for their N.E. , which wouldn't even be for another
year and a half as the end of year exams for sixth years would be mock
N.E. , again in preparation for their final year of schooling and the real
deal which would then dictate their entire lives after they graduated.
Harry kept up with all of his homework though and he would do as much
of it on the train as he possibly could because he wanted to spend all of
his time over Christmas with Rabastan, not doing homework for exams
that didn't even really matter. Though he was sure that Lucius wouldn't
see it that way if he came home for the summer with anything less than
all pass grades.
He'd received a sweet box, as Draco had, on the first of December and
he'd opened it to find a plethora of goodies, including magazines, books,
sweets, biscuits, and chocolate. He loved that he was being included in
this little tradition as he saw Draco opening his own gift box and
immediately taking out his favourite magazine, a new issue was released
every month and Draco was addicted to it, not that he'd ever admit to it,
of course.
Harry looked at the newest edition of the Quibbler and he frowned. Why
had Narcissa sent him this particular magazine? Sure he found it funny
and he liked reading it, as he'd proved at Malfoy Manor by buying a copy
and spending the next day laughing over every article in the family living
room, but he wasn't an actual fan of the magazine.
He looked over to the Ravenclaw table and wondered if perhaps the elder
Malfoys were trying to tell him something else. Was it alright for him to
still talk to Luna? She was a pureblood after all, so maybe that was what
they were trying to tell him. He smiled. He had always liked Luna, even
if Hermione hadn't, and her odd outlook on life had always amused him
greatly, but he had never teased her about it. He had always accepted her
as she was, perhaps she could return the favour and accept him as he was
as well. He would really like that because he was getting very lonely and
as they got more homework piled on them, Draco got more and more
frantic about doing well with his grades and Blaise it seemed was
obsessed with his newest conquest, a girl in Ravenclaw who had
apparently rebuffed everyone except Blaise, for what reason Harry
couldn't even fathom, but they barely surfaced from whatever bed they'd
stolen to lie in to eat meals and attend lessons.
Harry sighed, perhaps he really did need a friend and this was Narcissa's
way of reminding him of that fact coupled with a sort of permission to
interact with Luna at least. Or maybe he was just thinking about it far too
much.
He'd finished his breakfast and carried his treat box back to his rooms.
He'd been spending so much time isolated up in his own rooms that it
was almost like he wasn't even in a school, but like he had his own
apartment that he lived in alone. It was almost pathetic.
He hadn't been flying since he'd held a Quidditch practice for the
Gryffindor team the other week and frankly, that had been the last time
he'd spoken to anyone as well. He was getting isolated and lonely and
that wasn't good for anyone, especially not him.
He made it to the castle and he shook the slush off of his boots before
heading right back up to his rooms, the very rooms he had been insisting
that he would get out of once in a while outside of lessons or mealtimes.
He sighed and pulled some homework towards himself. He'd go and find
Luna, if he could, at dinnertime. Until then, he had a lot to be getting on
with.
He was almost finished with his homework and he had been
contemplating making himself a cup of tea and picking up his newest
Ancient Runes book after he was finished with his last assignment when
the rings on his right finger heated up and he actually jumped. He cursed
and sent a fervent thanks that no one had been there to see him.
He packed away his things, took five minutes to change out of his school
uniform into something more respectable and 'adult' looking and then
rushed like hell from his fourth-floor rooms to the outside grounds. He
missed his first Portkey, but he had just enough time to wipe his sweaty
brow and catch his breath before his second Portkey activated and he
kept hold of his stomach as he took a measured step forward and took
another and then another as his vision cleared and he could see the
evening shift at the Ministry. It wasn't as busy as it was during the
mornings, but there were still a few people lingering around, unlike when
he'd come here months before on the back of a thestral, in the dead of
night, when it had been completely deserted.
"Excuse me, visitors need to present their wand and explain their business
at the Ministry!" The security wizard shouted after him.
Harry stopped, turned and looked at the wizard who had chased after
him.
"I am Lord Potter-Black and I am not a visitor. A Wizengamot meeting
has been called and I need to get there as soon as possible, so if you'll
excuse me, I have a meeting and debates to conduct that are no business
of yours."
Harry turned on his heel and strode towards the lifts, calling one and
going to the second level, where the Wizengamot meeting room was.
He slipped into the room and smiled as he saw Lucius had been watching
the door and he had been subtly observing him, even as he spoke to
Xerxes, and Harry saw the approval in those steel grey eyes as they
scanned him from head to foot, taking in his change of clothes, his
brushed hair and his unflushed, non-sweaty face.
Harry slipped between the two men and smiled up at them both happily.
"You look far too happy to be here." Xerxes groused gruffly. "I was
contentedly relaxing with a glass of the finest, vintage Merlot with a book
that I've been having trouble finding the time to actually sit down and
read and then this very late meeting was called."
"I was just finishing my last homework assignment. I was thinking of
getting a cup of tea and breaking out my new Ancient Runes book when I
felt my rings heat up."
"Your last homework assignment?" Lucius questioned. "So you have
finished all of them bar the one?"
Harry nodded. "I was just wrapping up my conclusion. I made a few
hurried notes on a piece of scrap parchment so I know what my thought
process was for when I arrive back at the castle and finish it off."
"Good lad." Xerxes praised him, clapping him on the shoulder. Harry only
just managed to brace for it and keep his feet. "Basti misses you a lot, he
hangs onto every word you write to him."
It took Harry several moments to realise that Basti must have been
Xerxes' nickname for Rabastan, that of course, he wouldn't use his
grandson's name in such a public place where any one of the lords and
Heads of Departments could overhear them and he grinned. He couldn't
wait to see Rabastan face-to-face and now he couldn't wait to call him by
his cute nickname. He did wonder exactly how long Rabastan had had a
nickname like 'Basti' and he wondered if his husband-to-be actually even
liked it. He'd have to ask.
"I miss him a lot too. I can't wait until I get home for the holidays."
"Yes, your father has graciously invited us into his home for the
festivities. You and Basti can spend your time there together and
reconnect with one another after your unavoidable separation, I'm sure."
"They will have separate bedrooms." Lucius interjected very sternly and
even on the edge of rudeness and Harry had to hide his grin in his sleeve.
That had sounded like, and had even felt like, something only a real
father would say and Harry's heart swelled with joy and devotion. He
would never willingly give up this feeling of love and belonging. Never.
"Of course, Lucius! I would never dream of forcing such an issue between
the boys when they are so newly acquainted. That will come much
further down the line when they are both ready for it."
Lucius nodded his head tightly and he placed a hand on Harry's shoulder
and steered him to a chair. Harry grinned harder into the sleeve of his
robes for a few moments more before he composed himself and reined in
his face-splitting grin.
He settled himself in the large, comfortable chair and folded his hands in
his lap, waiting for the Chief Warlock to call the meeting to order while
he silently observed everyone else in the room. Despite the harsh words
exchanged and the tension between them, Xerxes still sat on Harry's other
side, but he pointedly looked in the other direction to Lucius, who was
sitting stiffly on his other side. Harry found the whole thing rather
hilarious.
"Lords, gentlemen, and ladies, if I could call you to order." Albert
Runcorn said just a little bit louder than the ambient noise in the room.
There was no rush for chairs as men and women leisurely took a place at
the table and settled themselves down in comfort before giving their full
attention to their Chief Warlock.
"Chief Warlock, might I bring something to your attention before we
proceed?" A woman asked primly.
"It is unusual, but I shall let your interruption stand, Madam Wilkes."
"I just wanted to draw attention to the fact that it is ten o'clock at night
and there is a sixteen-year-old in our midst on a school night."
Harry looked at the frizzy-haired witch, the same utter bitch who had
voted against him when he'd been illegally given a full trial for a mere
case of underaged magic, all thanks to Fudge. He really hated this
woman.
"Pardon me?" Harry said in the stunned silence that followed. "I am a
member of this Wizengamot. I hold two seats and regardless of what time
it is, or on what night, I am required to be here despite my age. I would
wholeheartedly suggest, Madam Wilkes, that you leave my business to
me. I do not appreciate the input, least of all from the likes of you."
The witch was blushing to the roots of her very frizzy hair and Harry felt
more than he saw Lucius and Xerxes' smirks. He got the feeling that they
were both very happy with him and with how he'd conducted himself, as
well as what he'd just said.
"You may be able to talk the talk, Madam Wilkes, but you cannot walk
the walk." Albert Runcorn said spitefully. "Please refrain from making
such ridiculous observations in this room. If you do not like the way that
this Ministry is run, then kindly leave it. Perhaps then we might get down
to why we have actually been called here."
Harry had to hide his smile, especially when all he wanted to do was
laugh. Some of the other members sniggered, but none of them laughed
and neither Lucius nor Xerxes laughed or smiled, so Harry emulated them
both and he kept himself composed and still. He promised himself that he
would laugh about this later, once he was in private.
"Now, this emergency meeting has been called because a wizard in Kent
has decided to go on a drunken traipse through a muggle city, firing off
his wand and his mouth." Runcorn sighed. "The Obliviators have already
been called in, but there is no telling how many people overheard him or
who they told in turn, but the Obliviators have done their jobs as best as
they can and the wizard in question is in custody."
"This is completely unacceptable!" One of the lords burst out, his face
already reddening. "These were no secret affairs or bastard children that
he was spilling, none of the information was personal to himself. These
secrets affect us all, could endanger us all!"
"The man was drunk…"
"It shouldn't matter if he was drunk or not!" Another lord burst out, a
vein throbbing in his neck. "This is a serious breach of the Statute of
Secrecy! This imbecile should be held fully accountable for his actions!"
"I fully agree! Alcohol abuse should not rule him out of answerability of
this heinous crime!"
Harry sat and he listened intently. This debate could go one of two ways
and it was all down to the Wizengamot and which way they voted that
would determine the future of the wizard in question.
It took hours upon hours of back and forth debating, some insisting that
as alcohol lowered inhibitions that the man couldn't be held accountable
for his actions, but others were adamant that despite how intoxicated the
man was that he should still be held responsible for his actions and for
the danger that he had put the entire wizarding world in. Harry was
getting incredibly tired and slightly irritable as the same arguments were
repeated over and over, being slightly reworded each time, yet no one
was giving a definitive opinion or solution to the problem.
"Does anyone else have an opinion that they would like to share?"
Runcorn asked, wide awake and still alert and sat stiff-backed in his
chair, despite how long this meeting had already taken.
"He had drunk two full bottles of vintage Firewhiskey, he could barely
walk in a straight line. The muggles have been Obliviated, I say that we
let Mister Jute sober up, pay a fine and then we let this matter go."
"I disagree." Harry said softly, he was very tired and he couldn't help
feeling nervous as everyone in the room turned to stare at him. This was
the first time that he was expressing an opinion on this matter, a matter
that was very much in the grey area of the law and neither Lucius nor
Xerxes had said anything in this meeting yet either. "This is a very serious
breach of the Statute of Secrecy and it cannot be brushed off with a mere
fine and a slap on the wrist. Perhaps if he hadn't been firing off spells as
well as shouting the odds about the wizarding world. The latter could be
explained away as his alcoholism, or even mental health issues, the
former cannot be ignored nor rationalised as the ramblings of a drunken
fool. He damaged six cars and several buildings and injured two people.
The DMLE had to wipe out footage from over a hundred surveillance
cameras and they had to fix so much damage before any more muggles
saw them and had to be Obliviated on top of the thirty-nine muggles who
had already been Obliviated because of this matter. The two people who
were hit with his spells are still in Saint Mungo's and they're not only
being treated magically, but they are scared and have no clue what is
going on, which could possibly cause deep psychological trauma that
could reoccur given the right trigger. This cannot be brushed under the
carpet and vintage Firewhiskey or not, this man had the responsibility of
protecting the Statute of Secrecy. The same responsibility that each and
every single one of us have to our world. This is our secret to keep and
Mister Jute should have known better than to go drinking Firewhiskey in
a muggle city. He should not be excused from his serious lack of
judgement. My vote is for this matter to be put to the Minister and to
trial. My vote is for Azkaban."
"You cannot be serious!" One wizard exploded.
"I knew you were just a child!" Another shouted out. "A mere child
playing at being a man. You shouldn't be here and you shouldn't be
allowed two votes in such serious, adult matters!"
Harry held himself still and stoic, he forced himself not to react, but
inside he was a quivering wreck at being confronted in such a way.
Having his opinion ripped to pieces and scrutinised and then ultimately
being told that he was wrong, that his thoughts and opinions were wrong
and didn't matter because of his age knocked all of his confidence. It had
him running through everything that he had heard tonight and
everything that he had said, questioning everything, thinking back to all
of the books that he'd read, all of the things that Lucius, and even Xerxes,
had taught him and he pulled into himself as he realised that perhaps he
hadn't been ready to voice his opinion on grey areas as much as he'd
thought he was.
"Are you going to sink so low as to pull Lord Potter-Black's age into this
matter once more just to try and gain precedence for your own opinion?"
Harry looked to Lord Dawson Shacklebolt, and seriously hadn't that been
a massive surprise, and he took a calming breath as his words sunk in
and he realised what was actually going on. This was all politics. He
hadn't done or said anything wrong at all, those bastards had just been
trying to make him, and everyone else, think that he'd said something
wrong in order to push their own points of view across to the
Wizengamot. The fucking underhanded bastards.
"I actually agree with Lord Potter-Black." Dawson Shacklebolt continued.
"This idiot should not be excused from the crimes he committed because
he couldn't handle his Firewhiskey. He endangered us all, he endangered
the muggles and even hospitalised two of them. I agree fully with Lord
Potter-Black, this matter should be taken to trial, the Minister should be
briefed and Mister Jute should face Azkaban over this matter."
The meeting room exploded into angry shouts and arguments and Harry
took a moment to catch his breath, which he hadn't even realised that
he'd been holding as Shacklebolt had been speaking and he took a tiny
glace to either side of himself, even though he had tried not to show such
insecurity, seeking reassurance that he hadn't embarrassed either man.
That he hadn't embarrassed his family.
Both men caught his tiny little glance and reacted accordingly. Lucius
squeezed his knee gently and Xerxes touched his back with a slight touch
of his fingertips.
"You did brilliantly." Lucius told him in the merest whisper as he watched
interestedly as Madam Amelia Bones jumped into the argument.
"Better than brilliant. You were completely ruthless and I love it. You
certainly are coming into your own. Basti will be so very proud and
pleased when I tell him. But before that, let's wrap this up, Lucius. I'm
not a young man anymore, I need my sleep and I'm sure that Harry needs
his sleep too."
"This meeting has taken a lot longer than I thought it would. It's already
gone midnight and I do have lessons tomorrow."
"Then let us pass judgement on this meeting." Lucius said before turning
back to the room. "I motion that we vote now." He said loudly, cutting
across the arguing and the shouting. "I vote in favour of Lord Potter-
Black's proposal of a trial and an Azkaban sentence."
"As do I." Dawson Shacklebolt said fiercely.
"I put my vote in favour of a fine!" One of the Heads of Department
raged.
"My vote goes in favour of Lord Potter-Black." Xerxes said calmly.
Harry had to bite his lip to stop his internal grin from showing on his
face when the Wizengamot voted in his favour forty-one to just eleven.
With business concluded, several members immediately stormed out and
Harry rose himself. He gracefully and modestly accepted the handshakes
and congratulations on his conduct in the meeting, but he soon excused
himself, taking Lucius and Xerxes with him. He was just too tired to stay
much longer and now that official business had been concluded and they
had to wait for a date for the trial, which would include the Minister
himself, to be set, he was flagging and he seriously needed his bed.
"Come, we need to get you home." Lucius told him.
"But it's a school night and I have to get back to the school." He said,
trying to suppress a massive yawn and almost walking into a wall
because of it.
"Not tonight. I will bring you home with me for the night and you can
floo over to the school tomorrow morning with ample time to make your
lessons."
Harry nodded, too tired to argue. He just wanted a bed and at the
moment, any bed would do.
"He is almost completely out of it, Lucius." Xerxes chuckled. "Perhaps you
should carry him."
"'M not that tired."
"Oh, he's slurring his words now too." Xerxes laughed. "I'm too old to be
out past midnight and he's too young."
"I still look better though." Harry laughed and Xerxes harrumphed.
Lucius chuckled as they made it to the far side of the deserted Atrium
and he said a pleasant goodnight to Xerxes and waited for Harry to do
the same, before wrapping an arm around Harry's back and Apparating
them to Malfoy Manor.
Harry barely remembered the walk up the stairs as he was shoved gently
into his room and Lucius said goodnight to him.
Harry only just had the presence of mind to strip himself down, pull on a
spare pair of pyjamas from his dresser and crawl into bed. It took him a
few minutes to wind his mind down after the last few hours of heavy
debating, but he did manage to remember to have a sleepy chuckle over
the frizzy-haired bitch, Madam Wilkes. That was proper payback for what
she'd done to him in the summer between his fourth and fifth years. He
didn't remember much after that, he remembered chuckling into his
pillow and then the next, he was fast asleep, his exhausted body and
mind dead to the world.
Harry was forced awake a mere five hours later at just six O'clock in the
morning and it was with a lot of grumbling and curses that he climbed in
and out of the shower within ten minutes and got himself dressed in his
cleaned and pressed school uniform. The robes that he'd worn to the
Wizengamot meeting were also cleaned and pressed and were hanging up
on the door of his, admittedly very large, wardrobe.
He felt slow and sluggish as he stumbled his way down to the family
dining room and met Lucius and Narcissa, who were both up, showered,
and impeccably dressed, talking to one another over their half-eaten
breakfasts.
Narcissa chuckled lightly. "Oh, well you look like you've been trampled
by a hippogriff."
"It dug its talons in on the way past and ground me into the floor with its
heels too." Harry replied grumpily.
Lucius laughed at him as his large, slender hands cupped the mug that he
was drinking from. From the smell of the contents, it was incredibly
strong coffee, which was unusual enough as it was, seeing as Lucius
never drank coffee.
"I prefer to drink coffee after late nights." Lucius told him when he caught
Harry's confused, suspicious look. "I find that it gives me the kick I need
to convince my body to wake up and get moving."
Harry laughed at that, properly laughed, and he sat smiling as a plate of
bacon and eggs was brought out for him by a house-elf along with a side
plate of toast and a bowl of fruit salad. He thanked the little elf and made
himself a mug of strong coffee, hoping it helped him as much as it
seemed to help Lucius as he started eating his large breakfast. This was
something that he enjoyed too, regular meals. He didn't have to pace
himself because he'd been starved over the summer, he didn't have to
watch out for who came into the room and he didn't have to worry about
having his meals snatched from him on a whim.
"I'm told that you conducted yourself wonderfully well in the emergency
meeting last night, Darling." Narcissa told him and Harry chewed,
swallowed, and then smiled.
He nodded his head as he looked at Lucius with a grin. "I did have an
attack of nerves and I started second-guessing myself, but I should have
known that it was all politics."
"He conducted himself brilliantly, Dear. Even Dawson Shacklebolt agreed
with his eloquently presented opinion. I am very proud of you and I am
proud to call you my son. That halfblood deserved Azkaban. Imagine
firing off spells in a muggle city, putting us all in danger."
Harry shook his head. "I can't believe that anyone would be that stupid
and I will not accept lack of judgement as an excuse just because the
imbecile thought that it was a good idea to drink two bottles of
Firewhiskey before going out into the muggle world. No, alcohol or not,
he should be held accountable for his actions. Let him off with a fine and
a warning." He scoffed. "What a joke, I was trying to save my fat cousin
from Dementors and they wanted to expel me from school for trying to
save him! There was no way that I was going to let that slide."
"I actually agree with you." Lucius told him. "Believe it or not I was livid
with Fudge for holding a full Wizengamot trial, minus the lords of course,
as none of them would have accepted such an example of misconduct, for
a mere case of underaged magic. I told him so too."
Harry smiled. He liked hearing these little things, small truths that
proved that Lucius was not the bastard that everyone had always made
him out to be. He'd assumed when he'd seen Lucius talking to Fudge after
his trial that he was trying to find out the outcome of the trial and if he'd
been expelled or not. He'd had no idea that Lucius, as Lord Malfoy, was
actually a member of the Wizengamot and should have been told about
his trial and should have been present for it. All of that had only come
out recently.
Harry finished his breakfast and he stayed sitting and he sipped at his
coffee delicately. He still wasn't used to the taste and this cup was a lot
stronger than he'd tried thus far, but it was still a nice coffee. Then again,
Lucius had bought it, so it was likely going to be the best coffee that
Galleons could buy.
He was feeling a little more awake and a little more lively, but he still
could have done with another hour, or several, in bed. That meeting had
gone on for much longer than he'd ever expected, but then it hadn't really
been a clear cut, black or white decision like the other meetings he'd
been called to thus far.
It had been an easy decision to make for him because the way he'd seen it
had been very clear in his mind, but naturally others had disagreed with
him and thus they'd spent half the night debating back and forth.
"I woke you so early because I wished to speak with you before you went
back to school."
Harry nodded, though he had to wonder what this was about. He had the
sinking feeling that it was going to be about the Dursleys and not about
the meeting they'd just had last night or anything about Rabastan.
He was actually nervous as he made his way to Lucius' study and he took
a seat with Lucius on the other side of the sturdy desk.
"I believe that I'm right in thinking that you already have an inkling of
why we're having this little talk, am I correct?"
Harry nodded glumly. Lucius sighed.
"What have I taught you about using gestures instead of actual words?"
Harry grinned sheepishly. "Sorry, I'm a little slow this morning."
"I will let it slide for today only then, as a reward for your impeccable
conduct last night. Now, onto more serious matters. I've been hoping for
a chance to sit you down and ask about your childhood since your letter
arrived at the beginning of September, would you like to explain it to
me?"
Harry chewed on his lip and averted his gaze for long moments before he
lifted his head and caught Lucius' steel grey gaze for a moment. "I don't
know where to begin." He said a little overwhelmed by the whole
situation.
"Start from the earliest memory you have of this type of behaviour, even
if it is something small." Lucius encouraged.
Harry's face screwed up as he thought about it. He shook his head and
fell back into his old habit of nibbling his lip and the inside of his cheeks.
"I suppose I was about four. They've always looked down on me and
sneered and belittled me, that was nothing new. Dudley pinched and
kicked me whenever he could, but he was only a few months older than
me and I fully believe that it should have been Aunt Petunia and Uncle
Vernon who should have stopped that before it escalated, but they didn't
care. They always turned a blind eye when Dudley and his behaviour
were concerned. I learned early on that I was different, that I wasn't the
same as them. Nothing compounded that to me more than when Dudley
caught me off guard and hit my nose really hard. It was a snap minute
decision, I don't think I even thought about it, I was angry, I was in pain,
my nose was throbbing and my eyes were watering from the pain. I hit
him back."
Harry fell quiet as he remembered that day. How he could clearly
remember certain things, but other, more inconsequential things were
blurry or lost. He could remember the pain of Dudley catching his nose as
if it had only just happened, he could remember where they were both
standing and exactly what had happened, but he couldn't recall the
colour of his shirt or what day of the week it was. He couldn't remember
if it was sunny, but he did know that it wasn't raining.
"What happened?" Lucius prompted.
"He ran to Aunt Petunia, she told Uncle Vernon and…and that was the
first time that I was smacked."
"Don't refer to those people as your family members. They are not."
Lucius told him mildly. "You are a part of the Malfoy family now. Can
you remember where you were hit?"
Harry sighed loudly. "My hand. He took my hand and he smacked it as
hard as he could before he hit the side of my head and he threw me…he
threw me into the cupboard under the stairs."
"Did he throw you into this cupboard often?" Lucius asked.
Harry nodded. "It was where I slept when I was younger."
"Pardon me?" Lucius asked in his softest, most deadly of voices.
"I slept in the cupboard." Harry said a bit breathlessly. He could feel the
icy anger inside of him being stirred awake, like a snake that was being
prodded with a stick, slowly uncoiling itself to strike.
"Draco mentioned a bedroom. He said that you had mentioned a
bedroom with bars over your window."
"That was after." Harry told him, trying to calm himself. "It was after I'd
gotten my Hogwarts letter. It was addressed to the cupboard under the
stairs and it worried them, they thought that wizards were watching the
house. So…so they told me to move all of my things upstairs, into
Dudley's second bedroom."
"Your cousin had two bedrooms?" Lucius asked, those eyes glinting like a
knife-edge.
Harry nodded. "It was a four bedroomed house. My aunt…Petunia and
Vernon shared a room, Dudley had two rooms and one was a guest
room."
"Those vile muggles had a four bedroomed house, two of which were free
for you to use and you slept in a cupboard?"
Harry nodded. "It wasn't about the space or how many bedrooms they
had free, they did it to punish me. To prove to me, even at that young
age, that I was nothing. That I wasn't worth anything to them or anyone
else. They told me lies about my parents and how they'd died as
worthless nobodies. They actually told me that my dad had killed my
mum because he was drunk and that that was how I'd been left with the
Dursleys. Orphaned and left overnight on their doorstep like a bag of
rubbish." Harry took in a deep breath and calmed himself. "They never
wanted me, I was nothing to them and they made sure that I knew it
too."
"Did you hate them even then?"
Harry considered the question seriously. "I think I did, but in my young
naïvety, I wanted to change their mind about me. I wanted them to like
me, love me even, as they did their own son. I pushed myself so hard. I
forced myself to complete all the tasks they set for me every day,
convincing myself all the while that if I did, then they would love me.
They never did. I was maybe thirteen before I stopped caring, though I
was eight or nine when I realised that nothing I did would ever be good
enough for them. That I would never be good enough. I still wanted them
to like me, but I knew that they never would. I could become a self-made
millionaire or a world hero tomorrow and they'd still see me as nothing.
As the little boy they beat, starved, trod on and locked up like an animal
and I will never forgive them for that."
"I don't think anyone would expect you to forgive them for that, Harry. I
certainly don't." Lucius assured him.
"It's difficult for me to speak of any of this. I never…it's not something
that I ever wanted anyone to know." Harry said quietly.
"I understand that, but I need you to speak of this, Harry. I need to know
what has happened so that I can help you."
"I think I'm dealing with it alright." He muttered defensively.
"Don't grumble into your chest, if you have something to say, look up and
say it clearly."
Harry sighed heavily. "I think I'm doing okay. I mean, I'm not completely
messed up, am I?"
He hated that his supposed statement turned into a question at the end
and he threw his head back against the chair, furious with himself.
"You're not messed up. You're surprisingly level-headed and pulled
together, but there is no doubt that you have suffered and that you are
still suffering because of their treatment of you. This anger of yours is
perhaps a very good indicator that something isn't right. You've become
desensitised to pain and fear because when you live with either for as
long as you have, you learn to deal with it in any way that you can,
which might not be the healthiest or the best way of dealing with such
things, but you learnt to cope. You got yourself through this ordeal and
you are perfectly functional. I believe that you have lingering damage
from those people still but you are not messed up."
Harry felt oddly reassured that Lucius didn't think that he was messed up
and he relaxed a little from his tense, defensive stance.
"Now, if the physical abuse started when you were four and the mental
abuse has been going on for as long as you can remember, it is my belief
that you may need to see a medical professional so that they might
evaluate yourself and help you to deal with anything that might need to
be dealt with."
"No." Harry said immediately and stubbornly. "I don't need any healer
poking around and asking questions about what happened in my past. Do
you know how hard it was for me to open up to you about these things
after the short amount of time we've known one another, and especially
after our own past? How do you expect me to tell actual strangers?"
Harry demanded angrily.
Lucius sighed. "I am not a healer, Harry. I am not qualified to actually
help you in a way that will…unburden you of this lifetime of suffering. If I
draw up a solid contract that a highly paid, trusted mind healer would be
required to sign before anything is even revealed to them, would that be
more of a comfort to you and reassure you a little more that this is not
intended to harm you in any way?"
Harry scowled and he felt like pouting, or doing a repeat of the end of his
fifth year when he'd smashed up all of Dumbledore's spindly, delicate
little trinkets. He had the feeling that Lucius would not sit still and just
watch as Harry raged around and trashed his study though.
"Harry? This needs to be sorted out. This could be an issue that will affect
your betrothal."
Harry's head snapped up and he stared at Lucius, his teeth clenching in
anger and disgust.
"You would use my betrothal against me to get what you want?" He
demanded icily.
"Me? No. You've misunderstood, Harry. I wouldn't use this against your
betrothal. It is in my interest to marry you into such an old, wealthy, and
influential pureblood family such as the Lestranges. If Xerxes finds out
and realises that you're not even having an evaluation when he is
pushing Rabastan through all sorts to help him recover that little bit
faster for the betrothal between you, then he might feel aggrieved and
like our family is just mocking his. If anyone is to break the contract
between you it'll be Xerxes or Rhadamanthus. Even though Rabastan is
an almost forty-year-old man, he is not in the best of health and he
therefore cannot conduct his own betrothal. His grandfather is doing it
for him and as his actual father, even Rhadamanthus, despite not being
the recipient of the formal contract or the Head of the family, can break
the contract if he has a good enough reason. You being potentially
mentally or emotionally unstable when Rabastan is in a vulnerable
condition would be just the reason Rhadamanthus would be looking for,
as I don't believe for a moment that you haven't realised that he isn't
particularly fond of you or the budding relationship between you and his
youngest son."
Harry was fuming. He was being backed into a corner and he didn't like
it. He didn't want anyone messing around with his head or trying to tell
him how he was feeling or why. He already knew that he hated the
Dursleys and would never forgive them and he knew how he was feeling.
That was all there was to it. He didn't want anyone telling him that in
order to move on he had to forgive those people for how they had treated
him or telling him that he needed to let go. He didn't fucking want to!
Yet, he didn't want to lose Rabastan over something so simple and trivial
either. He didn't think Xerxes would break the contract over this
apparent 'issue', but he had no doubts that Rhadamanthus would delight
in breaking the contract between him and Rabastan, even over something
so ridiculously small.
He seriously hated that man and he wanted to curse him until he wasn't a
threat to him or to Rabastan anymore. He saw it in those oddly pale,
cruel eyes, Rhadamanthus would do anything to hurt Rabastan, even if it
ended up killing him in the process. He wanted Rabastan to suffer and
with the betrothal between them, Rabastan was getting fitter, healthier,
and better and Rhadamanthus didn't like it.
He needed to do his all to help Rabastan. If they were married, then
Rhadamanthus would have no legal or otherwise claim on Rabastan as he
would be considered his own man, even if he still lived at home. If they
were married then they would start a main branch of the Lestrange
family and Rhadamanthus couldn't do anything to make his son suffer
because Harry would be there and he would absolutely not allow anyone
to harm his own husband, especially not his own supposed father-in-law.
He needed to do this, he needed to protect Rabastan.
"I'll do it." He told Lucius softly. "Just make sure that it remains quiet.
The last thing I want or need is for the entire wizarding world to find out
that I'm seeing a mind healer, especially after the articles everyone read
about me last year in the Prophet."
Lucius nodded and Harry all but tuned out the rest of the conversation,
he answered on automatic as his chaotic thoughts whizzed around his
head, distracting him from giving Lucius his full, undivided attention. He
was thankfully excused only a little while later so he could floo back to
Hogwarts. He chose to use McGonagall's fireplace rather than
Dumbledore's. He had a lot to think about and he didn't feel like being
questioned incessantly this morning.
He just simply explained about the Wizengamot meeting to a slightly
startled Professor McGonagall, informed her that it had run very late into
the night so that he had spent the rest of the night at home and then he
was free to go to his rooms.
Rhadamanthus was an even bigger threat than he'd believed him to be.
Foolishly…incredibly fucking foolishly, he'd underestimated the man. He
didn't know why, he knew that the Lestranges were all dark wizards, he
knew what they had done as a family and he knew they were loyal to the
Dark Lord. Why had he believed that Rhadamanthus wouldn't use lethal
force to get what he wanted, which was apparently Rabastan's suffering
and eventual death?
Harry wouldn't allow it. Rabastan was his betrothed, was his husband-to-
be and was his to love and protect and he did…love him that was. He did
and he would not allow anything to happen to the man that he was only
just coming to love. He wouldn't lose Rabastan so soon, he would protect
him and they would love one another and they would have a life
together. They would be married, they would be a family and they would
have children together.
Harry's back straightened from where he'd been bent over, gathering his
needed textbooks and the required homework that he needed for today's
lessons into his backpack, which already contained a hard case with his
quills and ink bottles inside it.
Would Rhadamanthus dare to harm his and Rabastan's children? Harry
swallowed painfully as he realised that he would, especially if the baby
was a girl because it would hurt Rabastan and make him suffer more and
Rhadamanthus was hell-bent on making Rabastan suffer.
Harry's fists clenched tight until his fingers hurt. He was breathing too
fast and his head started to spin, but all he could see was Rhadamanthus
laughing uproariously as he held the broken body of a faceless infant in
his huge hands.
He was almost hyperventilating when he came to his concluding thought.
It had been a half thought up plan…something that he had wanted to do,
to protect Rabastan more than anything, even if it would make his life so
much easier as well, yet he had put it to the back of his mind because he
had underestimated the twisted, warped mind of Rhadamanthus
Lestrange.
But now he needed to plan more thoroughly, he needed to do this, not
just for Rabastan, but because he had no doubt that Rhadamanthus
would target their children as a way to further hurt Rabastan. He could
not ever allow that to happen. He was coming to love Rabastan, he
would assuredly love him when they married, but his children were his
children and he could not, would not ever allow anything to happen to
them. He had to kill Rhadamanthus Lestrange and it had to be done
before he and Rabastan were married.
A/N: Happy New Year, lovelies! I hope that you're all alright and that
you continue to be safe and well in this year now.
I know some of you have complained that I repeat myself a lot. I can't
help this as the points I'm repeating are ones that I want to instil in you
readers more than any others and not just that, but the points I'm
repeating are often ones that some readers have been unable to grasp and
thus are confused about, so I repeat them. And then finally I repeat
myself because it's been weeks since I've updated or read through the
previous chapters and I've just forgotten that I've mentioned it, so I
mention it again. Of course I'm going to mention Harry's anguish and
confusion over everything that's happening in his life. I will mention over
and over Rabastan's condition after Azkaban. I will mention how little he
trusts Dumbledore and how confused he is with his budding trust with
Draco and Lucius. They are important points of the story and I want to
make sure that they are being brought across correctly to all readers, not
just those who grasp it very quickly and understand immediately.
A massive thank you to ptl4ever419 for being the 600th reviewer and
to Cassandra Jackson for being the 700th reviewer of this story.
PercyJacksonfan4life: You're hitting the mark, lovelie. Harry is
experiencing a lot of emotions and they're often random and extreme,
well done for linking it to the anger he had in his fifth year and to the
Horcrux. That little piece of soul is the cause of a lot of problems for our
poor Harry and will be coming into the fic later, when it is discovered.
As for Neville. I had to make him an enemy. It was a misunderstanding
between him and the trunk, he was trying to stop the others from taking
Harry's trunk, but the curse still affected him, but it's kinder this way to
them both. Harry is going to marry the person who took part in, and was
imprisoned for, torturing both of his parents into insanity. They couldn't
remain friends and even if they somehow did, it wouldn't have ended
well for either of them. This way saves Neville from having a massive
bust up with Harry and it helps Harry accept his relationship with
Rabastan more fully, without his friendship with Neville holding him
back. It had to be done.
Keep your eyes peeled for Bellatrix, a lot of other Death Eaters, and
Remus, because they'll be coming into the fic soon enough. Remus first
though, the Death Eaters a bit later.
Jannuary: Snape doesn't know that Harry is a Horcrux yet, so he can't
say anything to Voldemort about it. He is, however, fully on Voldemort's
side now. I theorise that he was playing both sides of the war, wanting to
save his own skin and wanting to see which one would come out
victorious. With Harry now allied, no matter how loosely, to Voldemort,
Snape is going to pull back from Dumbledore and put his full loyalty to
Voldemort as he'll have the best chance of survival with backing
Voldemort.
As for Rabastan's 'mission' being protecting Harry as Voldemort's
Horcrux, he will most definitely be charged with protecting him once it
actually becomes known that Harry is a Horcrux, until then his 'mission'
is to get closer to Harry and to marry him as soon as possible, something
that he is only too happy to do.
Saturnblue: The Weasleys do know exactly what happened between
Bilius Weasley and Amorette Malfoy. They still don't understand what
Bilius did wrong and probably wouldn't care even if they could see things
from the Malfoy point of view. That's what kept the feud going through
all the generations of both families.
Lucius isn't playing Harry false, not any more at least. He's come to
genuinely care for him as a second son and thus, he's going to insure that
Harry remains loyal to him forever now, as long as he doesn't do
anything to destroy that trust and loyalty, which he isn't stupid or foolish
enough to do so.
Harry's anger issues will be dealt with soon. The unnatural anger can't
just be removed, however, it's part of the Horcrux that lives within Harry
and Voldemort will not risk his Horcrux just to save Harry from a few
explosive rages, he will however try to help Harry contain the anger,
which will ultimately help Harry to control himself and the anger.
Of Stories Told: See, I have thought about Ron and Hermione being
Prefects, I'm also of the belief that the Headmaster and the Head of
House appoint them and thus the both of them need to be in agreement
to remove the badges. The Governors can try and force the issue, but if
both the Head of House and Dumbledore refuse, they can't undermine
them and take the badges away anyway. McGonagall is appalled by their
behaviour though and I believe that he is currently working on removing
the badges over the Christmas holidays and then appointing new prefects
when they come back to the school for the New Year.
I haven't really thought that much about Fleur…then Harry never stayed
with the Weasleys during the summer, the same summer that Fleur
stayed at the Burrow. It is likely that she was alarmed and as worried as
the Weasleys by the news of Harry being adopted into the Malfoy family,
but she hadn't had a chance to see him or speak to him since, so she
doesn't really know what's going on and as she wasn't included in the
Order of the Phoenix meetings, she doesn't know Dumbledore's plans to
force Harry to fight So it's likely that she's just in the dark for the
moment, but no, she wouldn't want to marry her Fiancé if she knew what
he and his family were planning on doing to Harry regardless of whether
he'd saved Gabrielle or not.
Dobby and Winky are classed as Hogwarts elves, despite being free, they
have to swear to and abide by the oath that all Hogwarts elves take
before they would have been allowed to take jobs there. The Ministry are
very strict about such things and the health and safety of the children is
paramount to anything else. So no, they are under the same oath that all
Hogwarts elves have to take, they cannot put any potions or things into
any student's food or drink.
The-Rogue-Girl: They have had a Wizengamot meeting since he's been in
Hogwarts, I consulted my timeline and it was held on the 12th of
October. I didn't show it because it was pretty much a routine meeting,
not an emergency one, so I decided to skip over it, unlike the meeting in
this chapter, which was an emergency meeting and was a lot more
exciting to show.
None of them will take Bill under their wing, he's seen as a man, not a
minor, so they'll just expect him to know, besides Dumbledore is helping
him, so he won't be completely useless and his job is mostly to just listen
and report back what he's hearing. He isn't being used by Dumbledore for
his opinions, but to relay information back to Dumbledore so that he can
covertly plan to counter any laws that the Wizengamot plan to put into
effect that he might not like. As for Hermione and Ron, they are still
Prefects, but not for much longer. McGonagall with have those badges
stripped from them during the Christmas holidays and in the same
holiday will have them replaced. She didn't want to do it during the term
because it would have caused disruption and she had to fight
Dumbledore on the issue, but she's gotten her fair judgement accepted
and she can now replace her discredited Prefects.
Now, I believe that that is all, I hope those review responses help you out
and I hope that you've all enjoyed the chapter and the start to your New
Year's. I'll be taking a 'break' from this fic now that it's up to six chapters
and I'll be turning my focus back to The Rise of the Drackens for a bit. It
won't be more than a month or two until the next chapter, but I've kept
the Dracken readers waiting long enough while I focus on this story, so
I'll be seeing you lovelies in a month or so, until then,
StarLight Massacre. X
7. Plans
Last Time
He was almost hyperventilating when he came to his concluding thought. It
had been a half thought up plan…something that he had wanted to do, to
protect Rabastan more than anything, even if it would make his life so much
easier as well, yet he had put it to the back of his mind because he had
underestimated the twisted, warped mind of Rhadamanthus Lestrange.
But now he needed to plan more thoroughly, he needed to do this, not just for
Rabastan, but because he had no doubt that Rhadamanthus would target their
children as a way to further hurt Rabastan. He could not ever allow that to
happen. He was coming to love Rabastan, he would assuredly love him when
they married, but his children were his children and he could not, would not
ever allow anything to happen to them. He had to kill Rhadamanthus
Lestrange and it had to be done before he and Rabastan were married.
Chapter Seven – Plans
Harry didn't know what was more annoying for him really. It was a
tossup of Dumbledore continuously trying to get him alone in his office
to talk, the pathetic twelve-year-old level 'prank' attempts by his ex-
housemates, or trying to find a way that he could kill a man without
drawing the suspicions of any of the students or the professors onto him
first.
Naturally, as his friend and brother, he had told Draco what he was
planning to do about Rhadamanthus, but no one else. Not even Blaise,
who knew something was going on, but also knew enough not to pry into
his personal business.
Draco had been stunned and a little fearful that he was deadly serious
about going through with this idea, the blonde was very…squeamish for
a supposed dark wizard, but Harry definitely didn't hold it against him.
After all, he himself had turned out to be very dark-minded for a
supposed light wizard.
He rationalised that everyone was different, that everyone had their own
thoughts and opinions regardless of which family, or which side, they
had been born on. After all, Sirius was a prime example of that, he had
been so against his family and the stigma of supposed 'dark' wizards that
he had actually run away from his own family while still a minor.
He had to wonder though how much of Sirius' passionate hate had been
fear or disgust at the allegedly 'dark' magic and how much of it was
actually Walburga Black's fault for being such a cruel mother. According
to Sirius' stories and dark reminiscing, she had hated him long before he
had stepped foot in Hogwarts and she had liked playing favourites
between her two sons, setting one against the other in a destructive, vile
game for her own amusement. Harry was glad that she was already dead.
Today was the first day of the Christmas holidays, they had finished all of
their lessons for the year the day before and Harry had eaten just a few
pieces of toast for breakfast as he scribbled furiously on a spare piece of
parchment. He checked over his information and rearranged the order of
words to make it sound more sophisticated and intelligent before he
transferred his words to the piece of parchment that held the finalised
piece of homework that he would hand in to his professor when the term
started up again in January.
"Come on, Harry. We won't find an empty compartment if we don't leave
now."
Harry startled and looked up at Draco who had spoken, Blaise was
standing at the doors waiting for them. The words filtered into his brain
before he nodded and quickly packed up his books, ink and all of his rolls
of parchment before he leapt up and caught up to Draco, who was
already out in the Entrance Hall.
They still ended up waiting for Blaise, who had cursed halfway to the
grounds outside and declared that he'd left his mother's gift on his
bedside table that morning. Draco had climbed regally into the front
carriage to wait for Blaise to return, but Harry went to see the thestral
pulling it.
Skeletal and bony thin, in a way it reminded him of Rabastan and Harry
felt sick for thinking such things as he stroked his hand gently over the
thestral's reptilian face. He was just nervous about seeing Rabastan again
for the first time in four months later on that night, that was all. Of
course, he was going to be nervous about such things, he hardly knew
what to expect and all of the Lestranges were going to be there. It was a
very nerve-wracking experience.
Pansy and Daphne greeted him and he nodded to them both cordially as
they climbed into the carriage with Draco. Harry clenched his fist when
he saw Theodore Nott, who was walking with a few older Slytherins just
behind, sigh heavily and turn away from where his betrothed had just
been stood. He looked crestfallen and Harry just didn't understand why
he put up with Daphne's behaviour. Harry liked Theodore Nott and they'd
had a few conversations over the last term. He was a well put together,
level headed person and he was definitely going to do well once he
graduated from Hogwarts. He just didn't understand why he wanted
Daphne so much or why he put up with her vile, disrespectful behaviour.
He watched as Theodore and the other Slytherins climbed into another
carriage and Harry went back to the thestral. He couldn't imagine
holding such an unrequited love. The cruel thing was that they were
betrothed and were going to marry one another one day. Theodore loved
her and he was going to marry the woman that he loved, but that love
was not reciprocated, not even a little bit and he knew it. Theodore had
to live a lie, knowing that his wife had slept with anyone and everyone
while they were betrothed and that she didn't respect or care at all for
him or his happiness or his status. He would never be strong enough to
do something like that, Harry was well known for his temper and he
knew that if his betrothed acted like Daphne, if Rabastan acted like her,
then he would have thrown a fit and torn up their contract, no matter
how much it would have hurt himself to do so. He would not let himself
be treated in such a way.
"Got it!" Blaise exclaimed happily, red-cheeked, panting and out of
breath, but he waved the small box with a grin on his face.
"Come on then." Harry said with a smile, pushing all the thoughts of
Daphne and Theodore from his mind.
The both of them climbed into the carriage and Draco waved his wand
impatiently to set them off towards Hogsmeade. He had a part grimace,
part sneer on his face and Harry hid a smirk as he realised that he had
been stuck in the carriage waiting for Blaise to get back with just Pansy
and Daphne for company. No wonder he was a bit bad-tempered.
The ride was slow-paced, but quiet as no one felt the need to talk while
they were moving and they found themselves at the station in
Hogsmeade quickly enough. They grabbed a hold of their trunks and owl
cages and moved so that they could climb aboard the scarlet Hogwarts
Express and find an empty compartment for themselves before the
majority of the students joined them.
Harry went first and he purposefully picked a compartment near the
front as it would be quieter than any of the compartments near the back
of the train. He planned to do as much homework as he possibly could
while he was on the train so that he could spend the majority of the
Christmas holidays with Rabastan, who was already settled into Malfoy
Manor waiting for him.
He was oddly nervous about the whole thing as he set up his books,
parchment, quill and inkwell on the small half-table in the compartment.
He hadn't actually seen Rabastan since the end of August even though
they'd corresponded through letters and gifts. His belly was knotted and
his heart was racing and he felt a little lightheaded. He couldn't actually
believe that he had faced off against Voldemort and his Death Eaters
numerous times in the past, had held off over a hundred Dementors,
survived with the Dursleys, competed in the Tri-wizard tournament and
killed a sixty-foot basilisk at twelve-years-old and Professor Quirinus
Quirrell when he was just eleven and he was really this nervous about
going home and coming face-to-face with Rabastan for the first time in
four months. It was laughable.
He blocked out Draco and Blaise who were laughing and chatting directly
opposite him and he ignored the two girls who were sitting on either side
of the door giggling at something they were talking about. The seat next
to him was empty of people, but he'd filled it with his textbooks. He was
determined to get all of his work done.
It was harder to block out the rest of the students when they started
arriving in droves and filling up the rest of the train, but Harry tried his
utmost best as he scribbled on his scrap parchment before carefully
quilling each letter onto his actual piece of homework.
It took an hour before the shrill whistle had some younger students, and
even a few immature older students, cheering. Harry pulled his hand
away from his work and held his inkwell a moment before the train
lurched forward to prevent it from spilling and from then on, every
moment would bring him ever closer to Rabastan.
Once the train had settled at a constant speed and stopped lurching
about, Harry went back to his work and only stopped once the trolley
witch came around at lunchtime. He bought two bottles of pumpkin
juice, some pumpkin pasties and some cauldron cakes to nibble on, but
happily accepted when Blaise asked to swap a chocolate frog for a
cauldron cake.
He quickly dived back into his homework as the rest of the compartment
talked, joked and laughed. He didn't join them. He had to get his
homework done otherwise his entire night had been wasted and he
wouldn't achieve what he'd wanted when he'd first started.
"You're very quiet." Daphne Greengrass told him as the four Slytherins
exhausted their topics of conversation for the moment and had lapsed
into silence.
Harry looked at her and bit his tongue at the immediate urge to scream
at her. He hadn't had much to do with Daphne since the start of term, he
mostly stayed with Draco and Blaise, but he'd had a bit of interaction
with some of the other Slytherins outside of them too, mostly Daphne,
Pansy, and Theodore Nott. Harry liked the unusually quiet Slytherin and
every time he'd caught sight of Daphne flirting with yet another boy, he'd
felt angry on Theodore's behalf. He didn't deserve such disrespect and
humiliation from his own betrothed.
Despite not having much interaction with the other Slytherins, however,
he was still kept well-informed of the latest gossip through Draco, who
was very, very gossipy. Daphne had been shamelessly loud and vocal in
bed with a Slytherin fifth-year the last he'd heard and the entire of the
Slytherin house knew of it and still Theodore Nott thought the sun shined
out of her arse.
He was sure that she was only sleeping with other people now because
she knew that she could get away with it. Of course, it was Theodore's
fault as well, he should have given himself a bit more dignity and self-
respect. He didn't deserve to be betrothed to someone who would sleep
with anything just because they could get away with it, whether he was
madly in love with her or not. Harry wouldn't even dream of
disrespecting Rabastan in such a way. Then he supposed that that was
the difference between a betrothal of convenience and a betrothal where
those involved actually felt attracted to one another and were coming to
love one another.
"I'm just thinking." He replied to her quietly. "You might want to try it
occasionally."
The rest of the compartment laughed at her because that was what
Slytherins did. As soon as one was singled out and belittled, they
compounded that fact by joining in, even if it was just laughing at others'
misfortune.
The hat might have been right in a way, he had the ambition and
ruthlessness that suited Slytherin house and he would have done well
there, but he ultimately failed at being a Slytherin because they were like
a pack of ravenous jackals. Any sign or the merest hint of weakness and
they leapt upon it, made it worse and drew everyone else's attention to it
just to make themselves look better by comparison. He just couldn't do
that.
Harry sighed before he stood up on the seat and dug in his open trunk,
up in the trunk rack, for his Herbology textbook so he could sort out the
piece of homework that he was currently working on. He'd done most of
his homework last night, staying up as long as he possibly could so that
he could knock off several assignments. He'd used his head and he'd done
all of his hardest essays first, while he was still at the school and able to
take advantage of the library and the expertise of the professors. He'd
then done his easier essays. The written essays took up the longest
amount of time, after all. Doing that had left him with just a couple of
question sheets to answer, a translation for Ancient Runes, and several
calculations for Arithmancy along with his Defence assignments and a
piece of homework that he couldn't actually complete yet as he had to
observe the night sky twice a week over the holidays and note down the
positions of the planets and the meaning of their positions for Astronomy.
"Why are you doing your homework now, we're on holiday!" Blaise told
him, looking at him as if he were completely mad.
"You might not have heard, but my betrothed is staying over for the
holidays. I don't want to waste time that I could be spending with him on
homework." Harry said simply as he flipped open his Herbology textbook
and set about answering the questions that Professor Sprout had set
them. They were quite simple to answer as the textbook told him
everything that he needed to know. He just had to embellish the clinical
information that he read to give an answer that didn't look like he'd just
copied it straight from the book. His scrap parchment came in very
handy for doing that perfectly.
"Don't remind me." Daphne sighed grumpily. "I'm staying over at the
Nott's manor for Christmas this year. My parents think that I'm old
enough now to spend the holidays with him alone, so they won't be
there. It's completely ruined my holidays. I don't want to spend Christmas
with him or his family! I'm going to use my homework as an excuse to
get away from him as much as I can."
"You should count yourself lucky that you even have a betrothal still."
Harry told her through gritted teeth, unable to continue holding his
tongue when she spoke so candidly about avoiding her own betrothal
partner. Especially when he knew that Theodore was looking forward to
spending the time with her and was excited to spend the whole of the
Christmas holidays with the woman he loved. It made him so mad, more
particularly because he himself was doing his absolute all just to ensure
that he and Rabastan spent as much time together as possible during the
holidays.
"Just because you're happy with your match doesn't mean that everyone
else is." Daphne snapped back.
"If you're not happy with your match then break the contract yourself
and find someone else, because absolutely no one deserves to be
disrespected in such a way." Harry answered, his voice rising a touch as
his anger was stirred.
"It would be a different story if your betrothed was doing the same as…"
"If I ever found out that Rabastan was so much as entertaining the
thought of being with another person while we were betrothed together
then I'd break our contract faster than he could think to apologise for his
disgusting behaviour." Harry spoke over her, his eyes hard and cold at
the very thought of Rabastan sleeping around with other people. "I
deserve better than someone who would treat me so appallingly, just as
Theodore deserves someone better than you, and if our situations were
the same and I were doing that shameful act behind Rabastan's back,
then I would most definitely expect him to throw me out on my arse! You
cannot treat someone in such a way and still expect the same level of
respect afterwards. It just doesn't work that way."
"It's just sex, it doesn't mean anything." Daphne tried to defend.
"Sex always means something." Harry told her bitingly. "Even if you think
it doesn't, it does. You entered a formal contract, you signed on the
dotted line, didn't you? You made a promise to the person who you were
entering that contract with and then you just shit all over it and all over
him by fucking as many people as you could without any thought,
without even considering your actions or the consequences of them. This
contract is a pathway to potential marriage, not an opportunity for you to
mess about before the marriage ceremony to someone you are betrothed
to and know you're going to be marrying at the end of said contract.
You're disrespecting him with every action and even every thought that
you are doing nothing wrong as you stick to your meagre defence of 'oh,
it's only sex. It doesn't matter.' Because it does matter and one day, you'll
fuck the wrong person or just one person too many and Theodore will be
gone and you'll have absolutely nothing left to fall back on. You'll be
unmarriable and then what will you do?"
The compartment remained silent and Harry kept his burning eyes on
Daphne for a moment more before he went back to his Herbology
questions.
"What assignments do you have left?" Draco asked him over ten minutes
of utter silence later as Harry had finally answered all twenty-five
Herbology questions with several decent-sized paragraphs for each.
Harry put his Herbology homework safely back into his trunk after a
quick spell to dry the ink and he pulled out his Ancient Runes
translations. He had done the essay for Ancient Runes but he had actually
asked for additional homework because he was so far behind everyone
else. Professor Babbling had been surprised but incredibly pleased with
his request for additional homework and had quickly knocked together
an extra assignment for him.
"Just the essay and questions for Defence Against the Dark Arts and I still
have the Astronomy homework to do, obviously, and then it's just my
extra homework for Ancient Runes and the extra calculations for
Arithmancy."
"That's all you have left?" Blaise asked in shock.
Harry nodded smugly. "I did all of my essays between last night and this
morning and I did all of the harder pieces first, so all I've got left to do
are all easy pieces that won't take me more than a few hours each to
complete. Of course, I left Defence for last as it's my favourite subject and
it's very unlikely that I'll get stuck or lost writing that particular essay
and it probably won't take me more than an hour or two to finish. I'm
going to have the entire holiday to myself and all the homework I'll have
left to do is just observing the planets at night, twice a week for an hour."
"How, in the name of Merlin, did you write nine essays in one night and
one morning, did you not sleep at all?" Pansy demanded.
"No, not much. I went to bed well after three in the morning and I was
back up at just gone seven this morning, I had less than three hours sleep.
I got eight essays done last night, that is the reason why I disappeared
just after I'd finished dinner. I went straight to my rooms and I started on
the hardest piece of homework that I had, which of course was the
Arithmancy essay for Vector and then the essay for Transfiguration. I had
a good, uninterrupted nine, ten hours to do eight essays and I finished off
the ninth essay this morning at breakfast and then I started on all of the
question sheets. I was determined that I was going to finish as much as I
could before I got home, even if I am completely tired right now because
of how late I stayed up and how early I forced myself awake, it doesn't
matter, because I no longer have any homework to distract me from
spending time with my betrothed."
"I can't believe you have the entire holidays to do nothing." Draco
groused as he watched Harry do more of his homework.
"It took me a day, Draco. True it has taken about seventeen hours and I'm
still not done, but if you started now, as we still have six hours left of this
train journey, in a few days you'd be all finished too." Harry told him.
Draco groaned like a drama queen, but he still went into his trunk and
got out a few pieces of homework. He didn't have the drive that Harry
had had though. Harry had wanted to finish as much as he could so he
could spend as much time as possible with Rabastan, so he had pushed
himself to finish as much as he could and now because of that drive, he
was almost finished.
The eleven-hour train ride passed very quickly for Harry. He had finished
all of his homework, eaten a snack of pumpkin pasties and cauldron
cakes washed down with pumpkin juice before he had taken the time to
check through every single one of his essays, had Draco check through
his Ancient Rune translations and made sure all of his answers on the
question sheets were correct.
"Why are you still doing homework?" Blaise asked him as he played yet
another game of exploding snap with Draco.
"I'm just making sure that it's all correct and that it makes sense. It's fine
to do it all, but I'd rather not have to re-write it all if I've done something
wrong or answered a question wrong. I'd rather do it, check it through
now while I've got the rest of the train ride to go, and then relax."
"You look fucking exhausted." Blaise told him bluntly. "I would have
taken a nap by now if I'd only had three hours last night."
"I'm going to get an early night, sleep a good nine hours and then the rest
of my holidays will be relaxing and spent with Rabastan. I'm all set."
Harry said as he snapped his parchment against the small table of the
compartment, which he had claimed as his the minute they'd set foot in
the empty compartment, and he smiled as he tucked them all away.
He took out his Ancient Runes book, sat back in his seat and opened it to
his bookmark so he could carry on where he had left it off.
"Why in the name of Merlin are you reading now instead of just sitting
back and relaxing or just taking the last half an hour to sleep?"
"If I slept now for a mere half an hour it would kill me for the rest of the
night and I don't want to meet my betrothed again, for the first time in
four months I might add, looking half-dead with bleary eyes."
"Good point." Blaise conceded. "At least it's almost eight in the night. You
don't have long to wait if you're planning on going to bed at ten."
"And that is what's keeping me awake at the moment." Harry said with a
grin. "That and a mix of excitement, adrenaline and nerves."
"Dinner will be served shortly after we arrive home." Draco told him.
"We'll have time to wash up a bit beforehand and to greet our guests, but
you won't have long to wait before you go to bed."
"I hope it doesn't come across as too rude that I leave so soon after
getting home. I didn't think of that when I came up with my plan. Will
the Lestranges take it the wrong way?" He asked worriedly as he realised
that he hadn't thought of everything after all and that he might actually
offend their guests just after he'd arrived home by leaving them so soon
to go to bed. It could give them the false impression that he didn't want
to spend time with Rabastan and that wasn't true at all. In fact, he
wanted just the opposite.
Draco chuckled. "It's our home and we've just had an eleven-hour train
journey. They can't say anything about either of us going to bed early.
Besides, you stayed awake for most of the night, you only had three
hours of sleep and finished off every scrap of homework that you had
been assigned in one day. Even the extra homework that you asked for,
for Ancient Runes and Arithmancy, just so that you would have more
time to spend with Rabastan once you got home. They really can't
complain about you going to bed early, Harry."
Harry smiled and he breathed a little easier thanks to Draco reassuring
him a little. He was just overthinking everything, he was sure. It was
probably just a side effect of only having three hours of sleep. If there
were any misunderstandings because of his early leave, he would work to
dispel them over the next two weeks where he wouldn't be leaving
Rabastan alone for a single moment. He had just two weeks with his
betrothed before he was back in school for three more long months
before he would be back home for another two weeks for the Easter
holidays and then it was the last two and a half months before the end of
the year and he'd be home for ten long weeks. Ten long, glorious weeks
that he could spend happily and entirely with Rabastan.
Meeting Lucius on the platform was what ramped up Harry's nerves until
he felt like he couldn't keep still. He'd always been good at dealing with
fear and with nerves, but this was a different kind of nervousness. He'd
never been nervous because he was going to meet the man that he'd one
day be marrying before. This was all new for him and it was that
unknown factor that was doing him in.
"Have you boys got everything?" Lucius asked as Draco said a final
goodbye to Blaise, Pansy, and Daphne.
"Yes." Harry answered softly.
"You look dead on your feet. Please tell me that you haven't been so
anxious about this evening that you weren't able to sleep."
Draco scoffed. "No. The little love-struck fool stayed awake all night to
finish off all his homework so he could spend all of the holidays
following Rabastan around like a puppy. He's exhausted."
Draco threw an arm over Harry's shoulder and Harry rolled his eyes.
"You just couldn't wait to mention that, could you?" He demanded.
"No. He also spent the entire train journey home doing homework too."
Draco said. "So he's completely done with all of his homework, but he's so
tired now that he can't walk in a straight line."
"Well well, no wonder you look dead on your feet. Come, let's get you
both home and then I'll be looking over your work, Harry. If it isn't up to
standard then all of your hard work will have been for nothing, as you
will be re-writing it under my direction."
Harry nodded. "I checked it all over on the train. It's all correct and Draco
said that my Rune translations were correct too."
"He actually asked for additional homework." Draco told his father.
"Only in Ancient Runes and Arithmancy, just to help me get closer to
where the rest of the class are."
"Well, I'm very proud of you. Now, come along, we have guests waiting
for our return."
Harry walked beside Draco, their trunks hovering behind them thanks to
a spell and they went to the bank of fireplaces that were at the far side of
the platform. Lucius stood back and he saw Draco through with his trunk
and empty owl cage and then he urged Harry forward to do the same.
Harry was nervous, but he held his feather-light trunk and Hedwig's
empty cage tight and shouted out his destination. He landed in the
receiving room of Malfoy Manor and he left his trunk and cage next to
Draco's and he waited for Lucius to arrive.
"Have you forgotten the way to the drawing room?" Lucius asked once he
had arrived in the receiving room.
"No, I just…" Harry ducked his head and then raised it again immediately
as he realised what he'd done and in front of whom.
Lucius actually smiled at him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "You
are nervous. This isn't a bad thing. But would it help if I told you that
Rabastan is a nervous wreck waiting for you? He has been since he
arrived at the manor."
Harry grinned. "That does help." He said as he imagined Rabastan sat in
the other room, Draco likely with them, waiting for him.
"Don't keep our guests waiting." Lucius told him and nudged him
forward. "Always face your fears and push through any nerves or anxiety
or you will never achieve your full potential. You will always be held
back."
Harry swallowed, squared his shoulders and left the receiving room and
went to the main drawing room while Lucius organised for his and
Draco's trunks to be taken up to their rooms.
He had no idea what he was going to say or do, he didn't know what was
acceptable or what would be a serious embarrassment to him, his family,
or to the Lestranges, but he also had no idea how he was going to react
when he saw Rabastan again.
He wondered again, and definitely not for the first time either, if
Rabastan had made any improvements in the four months since he had
last seen him. He steeled himself not to react, to keep everything positive,
even if Rabastan had deteriorated for whatever reason. He was going to
be marrying Rabastan and they would be having children together, it
didn't matter what he looked like.
He came to the door of the drawing room and he composed himself a
little, made sure that his casual robes (that he'd changed into on the train
just before it had pulled into King's Cross Station) were straight and
clean. He tried to fix his hair up a little and he took a moment to just
breathe as he inhaled deeply, before he squared his shoulders, stood up
straight and took the plunge and he walked into the room.
It took him a moment to take everything in, Narcissa and Draco were sat
happily on a settee with Xerxes who had a glass of deep, dark red wine
dwarfed in his hand. Rhadamanthus was floating in an odd armchair on
the edge of everything as if he had been excluded from everything, even
though he was still there in the room with them, and then, on the other
settee, sat the intimidating brothers, Rodolphus and Rabastan.
Harry couldn't prevent the automatic smile that blossomed over his face
when he laid eyes on Rabastan, he didn't even think to check him for
progress or signs of improvement or lapses. He just caught those deep
blue eyes and he couldn't look away and he was so happy to see him
again that the smile was involuntary and absolutely genuine.
His betrothed stood up, with a little lean onto the arm of the settee as he
did so, and Harry walked right to him and stood a little uncertainly in
front of him as he craned his head back to smile up at Rabastan.
It was the youngest Lestrange who broke the awkwardness by pulling
him into a gentle hug, his arms were shaking and Harry felt one of his
forearm muscles spasm against his back, but he ignore it.
"It's good to see you again." Rabastan told him.
"I missed you." Harry said as he slipped his arms around Rabastan and
made sure that he didn't squeeze him at all or make him uncomfortable
about his bony body.
"You are supposed to come and greet me first as the head of the
Lestrange family." Xerxes told him neutrally.
Harry pulled back from Rabastan and he blushed so hard that he felt
lightheaded. He could actually feel his face flaming like a beacon. He had
been so worried about how he would greet Rabastan when he first saw
him again that he hadn't even thought that it might have been protocol to
have greeted Xerxes first, or even Narcissa, who was his adoptive mother,
after all. He was so embarrassed that he just wanted the floor to open up
and swallow him whole, but he couldn't run away from this or take that
luxury of escape, he needed to do some quick damage control to try and
make this right.
"I'm so sorry, I didn't…I just wanted…." He stammered and that
humiliated him even further. He was a lord of two houses, he was
supposed to be smooth and eloquent and now he was stuttering as bad as
Quirrell had. He shut himself up before he could do any further damage
and tried to think of something to do to make this in any way better.
Xerxes laughed loudly and stood up, leaving his wineglass on an end
table, and he yanked Harry into a crushing hug.
"The look on your face! As if I would turn this visit into a formal one. No,
you go and sit with Rabastan and greet one another properly. I'm just
glad to see that you are well and happy."
Harry smiled at the huge man in utter relief and he sat himself next to
Rabastan, squashing himself between the arm of the chair and his
betrothed. He definitely didn't want to sit between the brothers. He didn't
want to come between Rabastan and his brother in any way. Rodolphus
had been his brother's support system for so long, through so many long,
hard years. He understood that Rabastan still needed his brother and that
he would likely always need his brother after what they had suffered and
survived through together and he also understood that because of that
dependency, even if it lessened over the years, Rodolphus would always
be extremely overprotective of Rabastan. It was something that he
understood and had already accepted.
Lucius walked into the room and he looked at Harry squashed in next to
Rabastan and one eyebrow rose a little, but he didn't say anything about
his choice of seating. He broke the small layer of ice by sitting down and
immediately drawing Xerxes into a conversation, leaving Harry free to
shift his body more towards Rabastan and start a conversation with him.
"How have you been?" Rabastan asked, beating him to the punch.
"I've been well. A little stressed over school, but nothing that's worth
complaining about." Harry said with a smile. "How have you been? Have
you been busy?"
Rabastan sighed. "It has been a little hit and miss, I won't lie. I've had
some dark days, but they are fewer than they once were."
"I would have been very surprised if you hadn't had any bad feelings or
moods. It's normal." Harry said soothingly. "I wouldn't want you to hide
those feelings or moods from me either. I want to help you, Rabastan. I
can't do that if you hide everything from me. You never mentioned any of
those moods to me in your letters."
"I didn't want you to think any differently about me."
Harry smiled wryly. "Do you think any differently of me because I told
you that I was upset on some days and angry on others?"
"No. Of course not."
"Exactly. I wouldn't have felt or thought any differently if you had just
told me that you were having a bad day or dark thoughts. I don't mind
hearing about it, Rabastan."
He got a thin smile for his efforts, though it was interrupted by an almost
full-body spasm that locked Rabastan's jaw and made him drool slightly.
"Will you control yourself?!" Rhadamanthus yelled at a shrivelled,
humiliated Rabastan. "You're an embarrassment. A complete disgrace!"
"You will not speak to him in such a way." Harry said coldly as he took
out his handkerchief from the inside pocket of his robes and he wiped
Rabastan's chin, ducking his head so that he could get eye contact with a
cringing Rabastan. "You can't help it and it's completely fine." He said
firmly. "This isn't your fault, Rabastan. That place is utterly vile and isn't
fit for human habitation. I'm already looking into ways to have it shut
down."
"You can't shut down a prison." Rhadamanthus scoffed at him. "The
Ministry would never consent to such a thing and thinking otherwise is
just a child's dream."
"I'm sure that all such ambitious plans are seen to be just 'child dreams' in
the beginning, but I am determined to see this through until the end. An
island in the middle of the North Sea, protected by all the wards and
spells that Azkaban has around it should be enough on its own. The
Dementors, however, are another matter entirely and I will not sit back
and allow people to be tortured in such an inhumane way just because
the Ministry wants to look the other way because it's the easiest option
for them to take. Those creatures should not be allowed near humans and
they certainly should not be allowed to freely feed on whomever they
please. Human guards would be better able to take care of the prisoners
and can actually evaluate potential flight risks and suicide risks, unlike
the Dementors. I won't rest until I have achieved this, even if I'm knocked
back again and again, year after year, I will achieve this before I die."
"You don't have to." Rabastan said quietly.
"Did you not listen to a word that I just said?" Harry asked him with a
hard tone. "I'm already doing it. I've already started researching
everything that I need to, to make this an issue that people will listen to.
I won't stop just because I fail once, or even several times. I won't back
down and I will keep forcing people to listen and I won't be quelled just
because people won't listen to me. I'll force them to listen and I'll make
them see that giving the Dementors such a free reign will ultimately
make them harder to control. They need to be evicted from the prison
and bound somewhere that no humans currently, or will ever, populate.
We don't need them, they are not helping us or our world, they are
actually endangering us!"
"If you keep talking like that then you'll even convince me." Xerxes
laughed.
Harry fumed at the condescending comment.
"I requested records from the Department of the Regulation and Control
of Magical Creatures and the Department of Magical Law Enforcement."
Harry said calmly, reigning in his temper and controlling it. "Did you
know that since Azkaban became a prison in the early seventeen
hundreds Dementors started going missing from the fortress? The number
of Dementors going missing increases every single year, running the risk
of exposure of the wizarding world to muggles, Dementor attacks on the
entire population of Britain, which is before taking into account that they
might have gone even further into the world than just the British Isles.
They are dangerous creatures and it greatly concerns me that they're just
leaving the prison and going missing and no one is doing anything about
it! They could be doing who knows what without any regulations placed
on them at all. Imagine if they were breeding in the remote corners of the
world without any control? We need to act now and get rid of the lot of
them."
Xerxes and Lucius shared a look and Harry quivered angrily before
turning away and ignoring them both. He didn't care what they thought,
he was doing this whether anyone backed him or not. For Sirius and for
Rabastan.
He had always hated the Dementors and to an extent, he feared them and
what they were capable of and particularly how they affected him. The
wizarding world was biased and prejudiced against any and all magical
creatures, they slammed tighter and tighter restrictions on them
needlessly, yet they happily ignored the one creature that needed
controlling the most. It was infuriating.
What Damocles Rowle had been thinking when he'd allowed the
Dementors to remain when he'd initially chosen the island to be the new
wizarding prison was completely beyond him. Couldn't anyone else see
the escalating danger? The increasing numbers of Dementors, the higher
and higher amount of them that were disappearing from Azkaban to who
knew where? The signs were all there and they were a glaring red flag.
Something needed to be done, and quickly, before it was too late.
Harry had excused himself just after dinner as Rhadamanthus had taken
it upon himself to spend the entire meal alternating between telling him
how ridiculous Harry and his thoughts were and belittling and shaming
Rabastan.
He was so angry when he reached his room that he had to beat his pillow
several times just to work through the rush of angry adrenaline.
He sat back up and he went to his trunk, taking out some of his
sentimental things and putting them around his room, the most
important of which was the framed photo of his parents that he put on
his bedside table. With his room a little more homey, he changed into his
pyjamas and climbed back into his bed with a book.
He didn't care what anyone said or did, he had his own mind and his own
thoughts and feelings and he'd be damned if he let anyone tell him that
they were wrong or childish, especially not Rhadamanthus, of all people.
He really needed to do something about him, if the scant hour and a bit
that he had spent with the vile man was any indication, then he was
determined, committed and ruthless in his attempt to completely destroy
Rabastan. Harry didn't know why Rhadamanthus wanted to hurt and
possibly even kill his own son, but he would not let him do so.
He was only sixteen years old, he was limited in what he could do, he
already knew that. Yet, that didn't mean that he was completely useless
or that he'd stand aside and allow Rhadamanthus to destroy his budding
family without even trying to do something about it. It did mean that he
needed help, the problem was, where did he go for that help? He couldn't
ask Rabastan or Rodolphus to kill their own father, he couldn't ask Xerxes
to kill his own son. Draco was only a month older than he was and Lucius
was an eternal diplomat and might have tried to talk him out of killing
Rhadamanthus and trying to work things out instead. But Harry couldn't
leave such a powerful threat to his family alive, not when he didn't know
what was actually motivating Rhadamanthus' hatred towards his
youngest son in the first place. Not when he didn't know if that hatred
would spill over onto his and Rabastan's future children. So where did he
go about finding someone to help him kill a man?
He was sure that he could pay someone to help him, but he only had one
real shot at this, if anyone, especially Rhadamanthus, caught on to his
plan, then it would all be over. The man would kill Rabastan, maybe
Harry as well for good measure, as well as any children they had. No, he
needed to do this right, even if it took a year or more of planning and
another couple of years to implement the plan, he was adamant that
Rhadamanthus had to be dead before he and Rabastan had their first
child, at least. He needed to eliminate the danger as quickly as possible
without risking his one and only shot at this and preferably it needed to
be done before he fell pregnant and before he was married and before
Rhadamanthus completely destroyed Rabastan. There was a lot to plan
and a lot to figure out beforehand, he couldn't just jump in and start
firing off curses, he was worried that it would be several years before he
had a shot of eliminating Rhadamanthus and he was scared of the
damage that could be done in that time to Rabastan and possibly even
their children as well.
Harry was so tired now that he wasn't even feeling tired anymore. He
cracked open the book he'd taken to bed and he hoped that reading it in
a warm, cosy bed would help to lower his anger and help him relax
enough to sleep as he pushed away all thoughts of planning to kill
Rhadamanthus.
It worked in less time than he would have thought it would as his eyelids
started drooping after just five minutes. He put the book down and
switched off his bedside lamp, snuggling under the covers and falling
asleep very quickly, his mind playing around naughty thoughts of
Rabastan. He'd been having these dreams for a while now and they
always made him feel more relaxed. He only woke up when a house-elf
insistently prodded him awake ten hours later, telling him that breakfast
would be served soon and that 'Master' had said to get him up.
Sitting himself up, Harry stretched languidly and with a jaw-breaking
yawn, he got himself out of bed, found an outfit and a set of casual robes
in his wardrobe and he headed for his en suite bathroom for a shower.
He took his time, but he didn't linger too long either, he wanted to see
Rabastan again to reassure him that his going to bed early had nothing to
do with him and had everything to do with Rhadamanthus making him
overly angry and his almost all-nighter the previous day. Three hours was
definitely not enough sleep to go a whole day on.
He dried himself with a quick spell and dressed as quickly as he could in
dark jeans, a nice jumper and his matching casual robes. He made sure
that he looked presentable in his full-length mirror as he brushed his
naturally messy hair before he left his rooms and went down to the
formal dining room where all the residents of the manor were already
starting their breakfasts.
Harry sat opposite Rabastan, as was expected of him, and he grabbed a
piece of toast and buttered it lightly.
"Would you like tea or coffee?" Rabastan asked him quietly.
Harry smiled at him. "Good morning." Harry greeted him happily. "Tea,
please. A bit of milk and no sugar."
The smile that lit up Rabastan's face made Harry's belly flutter and he
found it difficult to swallow as he put his toast back on his plate.
"Make sure that you don't throw the tea over your suitor. We would hate
for you to scald him." Rhadamanthus commented from a few seats down
from Rabastan, sounding entirely like he would absolutely love for such a
thing to happen.
Harry noticed the immediate change in Rabastan as everyone turned to
watch him. Harry saw how his hand clenched the teacup tighter,
straining his damaged, weakened muscles and making the cup shake
ominously as he poured boiling water into it with his other, equally
shaky hand.
He reached out and cupped both of Rabastan's hands lightly, applying a
bit of pressure before he pulled back, letting his fingers drag across the
backs of Rabastan's hands.
"I'm sure he won't do such a thing." He said lightly. "Rabastan knows that
pushing himself too hard will be detrimental to his recovery and I'm sure
that he's smart enough to know not to push himself by now."
"He almost crushed your hand." Rhadamanthus sneered at him.
"Once, when we first met." Harry replied with a small smile. "Something I
now look back on fondly. Rabastan has since held my hand a hundred
times and we've never had a repeat of that incident. I trust him and I
wouldn't care even if he did throw it over me, as long as it wasn't
purposefully, of course. I would forgive him for such actions as I know
that they are out of his control at the moment."
The distraction had served its purpose as all the attention had been on
Harry as he spoke and not on Rabastan as he made the tea, which had
taken the pressure off of him and thus had allowed him to pour the cup
of tea to Harry's liking without everyone watching him and waiting for
him to do something wrong. As a result, he didn't do anything wrong and
he handed him a cup of tea that Harry took a deep drink from. He sighed
happily and thanked Rabastan before he went back to his toast.
"I will require all of your homework after breakfast, Harry." Lucius
reminded him.
He nodded. "I left all of the assignments in a folder at the top of my trunk
so that I could get it out easily and so none of them would be damaged
on the train journey home."
"Yes, Lucius told me last night that you had spent all night and then all
day finishing all of your homework. I had wondered why you looked
particularly tired when you arrived last night."
"I just wanted it all done and out of the way." Harry said with a smile and
a glance at Rabastan. "I don't want any distractions getting in the way of
our short amount of time together."
Harry got the impression that he had embarrassed the larger man, so he
changed the subject before anyone could notice or draw attention to it.
"Besides, it's a good thing for me because I can now spend these next two
weeks just relaxing without worrying about homework because I know
that it's all done. I'm still reading my books, of course, but I won't get a
detention for not reading those."
"It's doubtful that we will have a Wizengamot meeting in these two weeks
either." Xerxes commented. "Though I've been a member for far too long
to completely disregard the stupidity of others. So we may have an
emergency meeting at one point, though I hope not. You and Rabastan
need time to bond."
Harry shared another look with Rabastan and smiled almost shyly. He
didn't know if it was strange that he could see himself marrying Rabastan
and having children with him at all, let alone so soon after meeting him
for the first time, but he did know that he had never thought this way
about anyone else before.
Then again he had never thought of it before. He'd had a childish crush
on Cho last year, they'd shared a few kisses, but she hadn't made him feel
this nervous or as excited as Rabastan did. He'd been nervous to speak to
her, because he had no idea how to go about doing it, but it wasn't the
same as this feeling he had with Rabastan.
He'd realised since that it had to be because he was actually gay and Cho
had done nothing for him. He'd gone with her because he could see that
she was a beautiful person inside and out and he'd thought that it was
only normal for him to ask her out, so he had. It had been her jealous
outburst in Madam Puddifoot's tea shop over his friendship with
Hermione that had made him rethink everything. It had been that
incident that had planted the seed in his head that perhaps being with
another boy would be better than being with a girl. It had only taken him
a few months after that to realise that he didn't want a boy either, he
wanted an older man.
Now here he was, another couple of months after the end of his fifth year
and he was betrothed to an older man and he wasn't even speaking to
Ron or Hermione anymore. He had to wonder what they would have
thought of his relationship with an older man. He obviously would never
have told them that it was with Rabastan Lestrange, of course, he could
just imagine the reaction that that would have gotten him.
After breakfast, he went and got his homework for Lucius to look over
before he and Rabastan secluded themselves in a spare sitting room to
talk. It was a little awkward, mainly due to their age difference and
Rabastan's damaged and emaciated body, but he still had a reasonably
sound mind. He wasn't insane and he was rational and able to talk, but
that was another obstacle, what did they talk about? Rabastan had been
in prison for the last fifteen years, after all, and had only recently gotten
out.
Sighing, Harry moved from his chair and went to sit beside Rabastan. He
didn't care if it wasn't the 'done thing' during a betrothal period, he hated
putting any sort of distance between them and with Rabastan being the
way that he was, it was probably more detrimental to him and planting
false ideas into his head that Harry was displeased or disgusted by his
body.
"You're not supposed to sit…."
"I know." Harry said. "But I don't care. I'm not going to sit opposite you
like this is some cold, clinical interview for a job position. I want to sit
beside you, is that a problem?"
"No. No problem." Rabastan answered. "But you really should have a
chaperone if you're going to sit this close to me."
That made Harry laugh. "Why, are you going to take advantage of me?"
He asked with a grin.
Rabastan grinned back. "Perhaps."
Harry laughed. "Is it still taking advantage if I don't care?"
"Possibly, as you are still under the age of seventeen." Rabastan
answered, but Harry realised that he was somewhat distracted.
Rabastan was staring at his mouth and his hands kept moving and
clenching as if Rabastan was trying to prevent himself from touching
him.
Harry took the initiative. He'd never been one to ignore such obvious
signs, especially not when it was something that he wanted as well, and
he usually dealt with things by charging headfirst at it. He was still a true
Gryffindor at heart after all.
He moved forward and pressed his lips to Rabastan's in a kiss that was
shorter than most toddlers gave to their mothers and probably just as
innocent and chaste. Had he mentioned before that his only experience
had been with Cho and that that had gone horribly as well?
He blushed at his horrific attempt at kissing and he stood up to flee until
he could control his raging embarrassment when a large hand gripped his
wrist and pulled him backwards until he was sprawled over Rabastan's
lap.
"Was that your first kiss?" Rabastan asked him gruffly.
Harry shook his head. "No, but it actually went better than the first one if
you can believe it, which really is saying something." He almost whined.
Rabastan chuckled and before Harry could shift, move or even think
about being humiliated over his childish and pathetic attempt at kissing,
Rabastan had taken over and intently taught him exactly how a proper
kiss should be performed.
Harry was addicted from the first moment. He was breathless and his
heart was hammering with excitement and still a touch of nervousness as
they kissed again and again, stopping only long enough to draw in a few
quick breaths, pulling back only slightly as their noses pressed and
brushed against one another as they panted heavily, before their lips met
and they were kissing again, but fuck was Rabastan a good kisser.
Harry felt the tell-tale smack to the back of his head and he broke away
from Rabastan sharply, looking over his shoulder to see the furious face
of Narcissa Malfoy.
"Well, it seems that you two have just proved indefinitely that you do
need a chaperone at all times." She said in a harsh hiss.
"It was just a kiss." Harry said, a little put out that he'd been caught in
such a position. It didn't help that he was very, painfully, hard in his
jeans either, or that he could feel an identical hardness pressing against
the side of his hip.
"No, that was much, much more than just a simple kiss." Narcissa said
dangerously. "Go to your father's study and cool off."
Harry sighed but he rolled off of Rabastan's lap and shared a sly look
with him, grinning happily when he caught the pleased, smug look that
Rabastan was wearing.
Narcissa was less than pleased and the narrowing of her blue eyes had
Harry moving just that little bit faster. He climbed the stairs and knocked
on Lucius' door, hearing the command to 'enter' and doing so.
"Harry? It was to my understanding that you were spending time getting
to know Rabastan better. I am halfway through your homework and I
must say that I am very pleased with the quality and standard of it all.
Well done."
Harry looked at the floor and scuffed his socked toes against the carpet.
Lucius sighed heavily.
"You haven't come here of your own free will. What have you done? If
you've cursed Rhadamanthus then I will be very unhappy with you."
"It's not that…though I do wish I could curse him, the loathsome bastard
that he is."
"Watch your foul mouth." Lucius commanded seriously. "What did you
do?"
"Narcissa caught me and Rabastan kissing." He said and he had the
pleasure of watching Lucius' eyebrows fly off into his hair.
"She wouldn't have sent you here for a quick peck on the cheek, or even
the lips, either." Lucius sighed.
Harry shook his head. "No…we were more than likely mauling one
another's mouths. Or at least from her face that's what it must have
looked like we were doing. He's a fantastic kisser."
"Alright, that's enough. I could have gone my entire life without hearing
that piece of information." Lucius said, putting up a hand for emphasis.
"You know you're not to have any contact of that manner until you are
engaged."
Harry sighed. "It's a stupid regulation. Like the one where I always have
to sit opposite him."
"That stipulation is there to prevent such contact as what you have just
engaged in." Lucius told him sternly. "Any sexual conduct is prohibited
until you are engaged."
Harry scoffed. "Yeah but Daphne Greengrass can open her legs for all and
sundry, yet I'm not even allowed to kiss the man who I'm betrothed to
and plan on marrying? How does that work?"
"Do not compare a rock to a diamond. You are no Daphne Greengrass and
I would have hoped that you'd have more decorum and much higher
aspirations than her, of all people. Her trysts are well known and her
reputation is in ruins, even if she doesn't realise it at this moment in
time."
"But I'm betrothed to Rabastan!" Harry said upset. "Why can't I kiss the
man that I'm going to marry? It's stupid."
"Stupid it may be to your mind, but the regulations are there to protect
you. You can kiss and cuddle with Rabastan after you're engaged to him."
"When will that be?" Harry demanded.
"When the Lestranges deem it the right time."
"Can I propose to him?" Harry asked thoughtfully.
"No, you certainly may not!" Lucius told him. "It is for Rabastan to
propose to you, not the other way around."
Harry groaned and kicked his one leg out, scraping his foot across the
carpet.
"I didn't realise this betrothal would be so limiting. I want to spend all of
my time with Rabastan, yet I have to have it dictated to me exactly what
I do. What can I do if I'm not even allowed to sit next to him?"
"Surely you can think of something other than kissing to pass the time?"
Lucius drawled.
"Not at this moment in time." Harry said cheekily.
Lucius sighed. "Whatever happened to simply talking?"
"Rabastan has been in Azkaban for fifteen years." Harry said darkly. "He's
not exactly the best person to hold a conversation with."
"You need to push past that and actually talk to him or your marriage is
doomed to fail before you are even engaged." Lucius told him sternly.
"I know. We have talked a little, it's just a little awkward because we
don't really know one another yet. Letters aren't really enough."
"Which is why you need to talk to one another."
Harry nodded his understanding.
"Now, I won't punish you for kissing one another this time, but if you do
it again you will be confined to a corner of whichever room I am
currently residing in. I'm sure the embarrassment of such a thing in front
of our guests and your future family will prevent a second infraction."
Harry snorted. "How did kissing become an infraction? I was just getting
to know Rabastan better. Intimately."
"That is more than enough on this topic. No more kissing or sexual
contact of any kind, do I make myself clear?"
"Can you run through everything that sexual content entails so that I'm
sure on the matter?" Harry asked.
"Harry." Lucius said warningly.
"Alright, alright. We're clear. I understand perfectly." He said sadly. "But
just so we're extra clear, once he proposes and I accept, then we can kiss
and cuddle all we want?"
"Within reason."
Harry pulled a face. "What does within reason mean?" He asked. "We'll be
engaged!"
"I will not allow you into one another's bed suites without a chaperone
and I do not want to see you 'mauling each other's mouths' like you were
allegedly doing today."
"Will I have any restrictions on my love life when I'm married?" Harry
demanded.
"Of course not. You'll be married." Lucius told him exasperatedly.
Harry left the study a little sulkily, he made a quick detour into his bed
suite and took a moment to calm himself down and regain control of his
emotions. It wasn't fair, but pureblood tradition was something that both
the Malfoys and the Lestranges held with utmost seriousness. Everything
had to be done by the letter and though it was annoying, Harry had
known what he was getting himself in for from the very start…to an
extent at least.
He hadn't known that he wouldn't even be able to kiss Rabastan until
they were officially engaged and that even after they were engaged their
kisses couldn't be overly passionate, but he was sure that he could wait a
little longer, he had school to distract him after all. But fuck was
Rabastan an amazing kisser, he was going to be thinking of those kisses
now until he could get another taste. Already he was getting hard again
just thinking about it.
He squeezed himself through his robes and his jeans. Damn Rabastan and
those addictive kisses! There was no way, absolutely no way, that he'd
now be able to sit in a room with Rabastan and not think of those hot,
open-mouthed kisses, or prevent himself from wishing for another one.
He banged his head against his bedroom door and sucked in a deep
breath. He could do this. He had to do this, he had another two weeks at
home with Rabastan…Rabastan who he couldn't touch or kiss. He
groaned. Who the hell knew that Rabastan had the strength to grab him
as he had, drag him backwards over his lap and snog him like that. It had
been beyond his wildest fantasies. Which wasn't really saying much as he
hadn't really thought of anything like that before. That was going to
change now, however. His dreams and fantasies were going to be a lot
more prevalent and graphic now thanks to Rabastan, and they were
going to be a lot more realistic too, now that he actually had something
to go off of.
He sighed and left his room and went back to where he'd left Rabastan,
only to find a stony looking Xerxes sitting in the dead silent room, staring
at a shame-faced Rabastan.
"Is your father cancelling the contract?" Xerxes asked him.
"No, of course not." Harry said in surprise. "I wouldn't let him even if he
tried."
Harry plonked himself next to Rabastan and took his hand, about all he
could do while merely betrothed and with a chaperone sat in the room
with them.
"You were gone a long time." Rabastan said worriedly.
"I was getting a lecture about exactly what I could or couldn't do with
you while we're only betrothed and not engaged. I even asked if I could
propose to you, but I was told that I absolutely could not and that I had
to wait for you to do it…hint hint."
The ice was not just broken but completely smashed through as Xerxes
roared with laughter and Rabastan grinned happily, his hand tightening
only slightly around Harry's. He was too aware of his damage limitations
to try and squeeze any tighter, but Harry understood the gesture and
smiled at him cheekily.
"So what can we do?" Rabastan asked. A muscle ticked in his jaw and he
growled at himself angrily.
"Apparently, very little." Harry sighed. He lifted their joined hands and
swayed them a little. "This is about all we're going to be allowed to do
until you propose and I accept."
Rabastan smiled at him and it was so naughty that Harry's heart
automatically started beating faster and suddenly it was him who was
starting at those thin, cracked lips, hoping that he'd get another kiss.
Rabastan caught the look and bent to kiss him, only for a cushion to
smack the both of them in the face.
"Enough of that now." Xerxes chastised them both, looking far too
amused to truly be annoyed at the both of them trying to kiss one
another in front of him as he summoned back the cushion that he'd
banished at them. Harry had forgotten that he was even there.
Harry huffed and rested his head against Rabastan's bony shoulder. He
made sure not to rest his full weight on him and cause him discomfort or
even pain.
An arm slipped around his waist and rested against him and Harry
pressed his own arm on Rabastan's and he sighed happily, snuggling in.
"You two look so contented." Xerxes snorted. "I can see why Narcissa
demanded that you have a chaperone at all times during this two-week
break."
"She's being a killjoy." Harry said miserably. "It was just a kiss. What's
wrong with a simple kiss?"
Xerxes laughed and Rabastan chuckled.
"It's tradition." Xerxes told him.
"I know, I know. I got the lecture from Lucius. It still doesn't make it fair,
though. There's nothing wrong with kissing."
"You two aren't even supposed to be sat next to one another, but luckily
for you both, I'm a very lenient man."
Both Harry and Rabastan laughed at that and Xerxes joined in.
"Watch it the both of you. I can force you to sit on opposite chairs."
Xerxes threatened.
"We're bonding." Harry said. "You can't interrupt our bonding!"
Xerxes scoffed. "You're lucky that I like you. You're far cheekier than you
have any right to be!"
"You like me this way, don't try to deny it." Harry said with a wide grin.
"I definitely like that smart brain of yours more than the smart mouth."
"I like both." Rabastan said.
Harry laughed and nudged him gently. "I like your mouth too."
"Enough." Xerxes warned them. "You will be confined to separate rooms
at this rate."
Harry snorted and moved so he shifted his position on Rabastan so that
he didn't become too heavy for any one part of Rabastan's body.
It happened in an instant. One moment they were all fine, talking and
laughing, the next Rabastan's arm had clenched vice tight around his
body and had driven all of the air from his lungs, making Harry gasp in
pain and choke for breath.
"I'm so sorry." Rabastan said loudly as he clutched his violently spasming
arm tightly with his opposite hand to keep it controlled.
Harry held up a hand and tried to catch his breath back, his one arm
around his ribcage to ease away the remaining pain.
"What happened?" Lucius demanded and it was then that Harry realised
that Xerxes had sent off a house-elf to get the head of the Malfoy family.
"I'm alright." He insisted a little breathlessly as he was still a bit winded.
"It was an accident. That's all."
"That wasn't what I asked." Lucius growled out as he crouched down in
front of him and pulled his arm away from his ribcage, his wand in his
hand as he checked him over for any damage.
"It was nothing." Harry said firmly and with a slight bite. People making
this much of a fuss over what had happened would do more harm than
good for Rabastan's mental health and his confidence. Harry didn't want
that at all.
"There are no broken bones. You may bruise, however."
"I've told you that I'm fine. Rabastan, I could use a drink. Will you
accompany me to the kitchen?"
He didn't even give Rabastan the time to answer as he stood up, stepped
forward, took his hand and all but dragged the man out of the room and
towards the kitchen.
"I am sorry." Rabastan repeated.
"You don't need to apologise. I told you, I'm completely fine, which is
why I don't like people fussing over me as if I was smashed in the face
with a bludger." He scowled. "I know you can't control it, Rabastan. I
know you didn't want to hurt me, so I got angry when Lucius and Xerxes
started fussing and demanding what was wrong. I'm sure it made you feel
much worse than when you actually squeezed me!"
The averting of Rabastan's eyes told Harry all he needed to know. He
moved to snuggle into Rabastan and wrapped an arm loosely around his
waist.
"It's alright, Rabastan." Harry assured him. "I still care about you and I
still want to marry you."
"I don't understand why." Rabastan all but growled. "I'm a mess and I'm
not getting any better!"
Harry chuckled lightly and nuzzled his face against Rabastan's robes.
Underneath them, he could feel how thin and unnatural his betrothed
felt, but he forced himself to ignore it.
"You are getting better and I'm amazed that you can't see for yourself any
of the progress that you've made. You're so much better now than you
were just four months ago and I'm incredibly proud of you." He said,
smiling up at Rabastan and letting him see the stark truth of his words on
his face and in his eyes.
Rabastan stopped walking and Harry was forced to stop as well, one of
those huge, but almost skeletal hands cupped his face, pressing lightly,
but Harry could still feel the strength that was hidden there, belied by its
weak and brittle appearance.
It was the smile on Rabastan's face, however, that stopped Harry short
and his eyes were drawn to that smiling mouth, to those lips.
Rabastan had him up against the wall in the next moment, their bodies
pressed tightly together and they were snogging furiously. Harry put his
arms up around those shoulders, playing with the dry, straw-like hair at
the back of Rabastan's neck.
"Watch you don't get caught doing that."
The two of them sprang apart like naughty boys to see a grinning
Rodolphus walking down the hallway towards them.
"Couldn't you have just walked past without saying anything?" Harry
groused. "I was enjoying myself."
"I can see that." Rodolphus said seriously. "Rabastan, you know that the
betrothal contract doesn't allow this sort of behaviour."
"You sound like an old man." Rabastan told his brother and Rodolphus'
face split into a, slightly deranged, grin.
"I am almost forty-one."
Harry laughed. "That's not old." He told his future brother-in-law.
"It is for him. I'll send my Christmas gift for you back and I'll buy you a
tombstone instead." Rabastan told his brother.
"Damn…does this mean I have to exchange my gift as well and buy him a
coffin?"
"A matching pair of gifts from a matching pair of complete imbeciles."
Rodolphus drawled. "Wonderful."
Harry couldn't hold back the laughter and he saw Rodolphus roll his eyes
and walk away.
"We better get to the kitchen. He's probably going to send a chaperone or
two after us." Harry said as he calmed himself down and grabbed
Rabastan's hand again.
They made it to the kitchen and Harry asked for two drinks from the
little elf who was happily scrubbing the numerous breakfast dishes. Harry
had tried to get the drinks himself, but the elf had almost had a fit. At
least it had made Rabastan laugh and anything that made Rabastan laugh
was definitely a good thing. Harry wanted to make him laugh as much as
possible while he was home. He wanted to make a good impression on
him. He wanted Rabastan to want to marry him as much as he wanted to
marry Rabastan.
"Those robes look really good on you." Rabastan complimented as he
watched interestedly as Harry bent over the table to take the plate of
biscuits off of the elf. The movement showed off the tight form of his
body and Rabastan swallowed as his imagination took off. He had to
forcibly remind himself that Harry was sixteen, which didn't really help
at all, and that as his betrothed he wasn't even allowed to touch him as
he wanted to. The engagement ring that he had designed and had had
custom made was upstairs, sitting ready and waiting on his bedside table
and it played heavily on his mind.
Harry looked down at the robes he was wearing and shifted a little
uncomfortably. He'd chosen a nice, deep blue set of robes and the jumper
underneath matched the colour perfectly, but other than that, they were
just robes. Was Rabastan teasing him or just struggling for a topic of
conversation?
"Thank you." He accepted the compliment graciously, as Narcissa had
taught him to do before offering the plate of biscuits to Rabastan. He'd
asked, and received, a copy of Rabastan's diet sheet and he knew from
that that biscuits were classed as extras, but if he ate wholemeal ones and
not too many of them, then he would be alright.
"Are you feeling better today?" Harry asked Rabastan as he sat down with
his cup of tea and his biscuits.
"I am. I had a good night last night and the kisses this morning really
helped."
Harry laughed happily.
"Are you feeling better after your late night yesterday?"
"Definitely!" Harry replied empathetically. "I slept for so long, I almost
missed breakfast. I really needed it though."
"You looked almost sick, I had wondered if it was the thought of meeting
me again."
"No! Of course not. I mean, I was nervous, I'll admit. It had been four
months since we'd last seen one another, I was nervous about seeing you
again, but I was just very, very tired."
"How much sleep did you get?"
"Yesterday? Only three hours. It almost killed me, but I feel so much
better today and all of my homework is now done and out of the way."
"I still can't believe that you did that, just to spend more time with me."
"Well, I really wanted to spend as much time as possible with you. It's not
that surprising. We're supposed to be bonding and getting to know one
another, I won't let anything get in the way or jeopardise that, especially
not homework."
The smile that Rabastan gave him made butterflies erupt in Harry's belly
and his eyes were drawn to his mouth yet again.
"Do you have any hobbies, Harry?" Rabastan asked, his voice noticeably
deeper.
"Not really. I like Quidditch, though I love just flying for the freedom of it
more, but other than that, no."
"I'd love to see you fly. Your father tells me that you're spectacular."
"Perhaps if I can get Draco to agree, I can have a friendly match with him
so you can watch."
Rabastan smiled as he bent closer and, anticipating a kiss, Harry closed
his eyes, only for lips to brush against his ear.
"I'd really love to see that." Rabastan whispered into his ear before he
pulled back and kissed him softly, cradling his head in his hands.
A throat cleared and they sprang apart like a fire had erupted between
them for the third time that day. This chaperone business was getting
old. Harry plucked up the courage to lift his head to see who had
interrupted them, only to feel his stomach drop at the sight of Draco
standing in the doorway.
"You know that such behaviour is not allowed during a betrothal period."
He said pompously.
"It was a peck." Harry tried to explain.
Draco scoffed. "That was more than a peck, Harry."
"Only a little more." Harry tried.
"A lot more. Come on, if I have to be your chaperone, I'm not staying in
the kitchen of all places."
"Why are you our chaperone?" Harry demanded.
"Any family member can be a chaperone." Draco told him, his voice
dripping with self-importance. "I am older than you after all."
"By eight weeks!" Harry pointed out incredulously.
"I'm still older and thus I still qualify as a chaperone, now come on."
Harry groaned and stood up. He took Rabastan's hand and glared Draco
down when he rose an eyebrow at the move.
"Where are we going?" Harry asked as he followed Draco through the
house, holding tight to Rabastan's hand going up the stairs when his
betrothed slowed down and struggled a little to climb the numerous
steps. He was angry with Draco for walking so fast and up so many stairs
when he knew that Rabastan would find it difficult.
"The library, just because you have finished all of your homework,
doesn't mean that I have."
Harry grinned, cheering up a little. He loved the library, which is
something that he'd never thought that he'd ever say, but the Malfoy
library was cosy, warm, and secluded. The loveseats inside were also
small, he and Rabastan would be touching shoulder to hip to knee sat
together on one of those seats.
They reached the library and Harry settled Rabastan down on a seat, as
he was looking a little pale and shaky, before he sat next to him.
"Here, read this." Draco threw a book at Harry and he caught it
reflexively.
Harry scoffed, but he opened the book and he snuggled into Rabastan, a
cushion behind his head and he started reading aloud softly.
It was all about Arithmancy, so it was terribly boring, yet it was
interesting all the same because it was all new to him, he just wished that
it wasn't such a clinical textbook, but he did his best to make it
interesting for Rabastan.
Rabastan's hand in his hair was very nice though and Harry felt like he
didn't want to move as he rested against the older man and let those
strong, shaky fingers tug and massage his hair and scalp as he read from
the textbook. Now and then Rabastan would tug too hard or his fingers
would spasm and dig into his head, but he ignored these instances and
carried on reading, not drawing any attention to the little slips.
"You have a lovely voice." Rabastan told him as he bent over him to
whisper softly to him when Harry had paused to take a breath. He kissed
Harry's hair and nuzzled the top of his head. Harry heard him inhaling
gently.
"This must be terribly boring for you." Harry said with a grimace. "I'm
reading from a textbook after all."
"Not at all. I always liked Arithmancy. Having it read to me instead of
trying to read it myself helps me keep track of the information. It's nice
not having to struggle through it on my own. No one has ever read
anything to me before."
Harry smiled and then turned back to the book, reading slowly and
softly. At least until a house-elf popped into the room and announced
that lunch was almost ready.
Harry closed the book and stole a quick kiss from Rabastan as Draco was
packing up his own books. Rabastan grinned as Harry gave him a sly
wink before helping the man to his feet.
They walked with Draco escorting them, hand in hand…well, they were
touching from shoulder to hip, or Harry was at least, seeing as Rabastan
was a foot taller than he was, but they were brushing and snuggling
together like honeymoon lovers as they made their way to the formal
dining room.
"Will you two stop that?" Draco snapped. "It's sickening."
"No more sickening than when I had to sit and watch Pansy's hand caress
your lap on the train." Harry said with narrowed eyes. "At least I'm
betrothed to Rabastan."
Draco had the grace to flush, but his silvery eyes glared at Harry and
promised him retribution.
"Do you want to play Quidditch tomorrow?" Harry asked suddenly and
seemingly randomly, but it had actually been a planned question to
disarm Draco.
Visibly taken aback, it took a few moments for Draco to recover, as Harry
had wanted.
"If you wish." He answered after a few moment's pause. "Will you have
the time?"
"Of course. I have nothing but time, unlike you. I need to keep up my
toned flexibility and speed for the match against Hufflepuff in March."
"It'll be cold." Draco warned. "It's been snowing here."
Harry nodded. He'd seen the snow through his bedroom window that
morning. "That's alright, it's nothing we aren't already used to. You need
to get used to the snow anyway, your next match is against Ravenclaw in
February, it's likely to be freezing cold and snowing then too."
Draco nodded. "We're going to flatten Ravenclaw."
"Good luck." Harry said with a smile. "I'll be cheering for you."
"A Gryffindor cheering for a Slytherin." Draco snorted.
"Well, I suppose you are my brother. I need to show you some support."
Harry said with a crooked grin.
They made it to the dining room, Harry hand in hand with Rabastan still,
and before Lucius could say anything about them not being chaperoned,
Draco walked in just behind them.
"Where have you been, Harry?" Narcissa asked, but Harry detected the
hint in her voice, the slight distrust and then the glare she gave to
Rabastan. Harry hid his smile as he realised that she was angry with
Rabastan, not himself.
"In the library with Draco." Harry answered with a smile. "He insisted on
having a turn at chaperoning Rabastan and me, so we accompanied him
to the library so that he could do his homework while still keeping an eye
on us."
"And what were you two doing?" Lucius asked nonchalantly.
"I was reading an Arithmancy book aloud to Rabastan."
"He was." Draco confirmed as he sat down.
Harry ignored the looks of the older men and he sat himself next to
Rabastan. He looked up as Lucius cleared his throat and looked pointedly
to the chair on the opposite side of the table.
"Oh, come on! What am I possibly going to do at the table with you all
sat here?" Harry said as he poured himself and Rabastan a drink.
Lucius sighed, but he was smiling. "What do you think, Xerxes?"
"Let the boys stay where they are. I'm not so old that I can't remember my
own betrothal period and how frustrating it was."
Harry grinned happily at Xerxes as he handed Rabastan a glass of water
(he and Rodolphus were strictly not allowed any alcohol at all) before he
sat himself down next to his betrothed and took a sip of his own water.
He would have preferred pumpkin juice, but he would do anything to
support Rabastan, even if it meant drinking water at mealtimes with him
to show solidarity.
The chatter around the table was light and Harry joined in happily before
going back to giving his undivided attention to Rabastan, which seemed
to bolster his confidence if his expression and progressive animation in
their conversation was anything to go on. Not even Rhadamanthus' odd
snide comments could penetrate their happy bubble as Harry took to
feeding Rabastan fresh raspberries with his fingers for dessert.
"Must you do that?" Draco complained, bringing the attention of the table
to them.
"What are you doing?" Lucius demanded.
"Making sure that Rabastan gets his daily quota of fruit." Harry answered
blithely.
Xerxes laughed, but he was the only one. Rodolphus just stared at them,
Narcissa glared, Lucius looked very unimpressed and Rhadamanthus
looked like he was barely restraining himself from leaping over the table
and choking the both of them with his ham-like hands.
"I'm still not doing anything wrong." Harry said. "We're not touching,
we're not kissing and it's not sexual. So, therefore, it's within the
betrothal limits. It doesn't expressly say that I can't feed my betrothed
with my fingers."
Draco snorted and Rodolphus smiled and Rabastan chuckled, squeezing
the fingers of Harry's left hand lightly. Harry had lied when he'd told the
table that they weren't touching because they were. They were holding
hands under the table, in Harry's lap, and their knees were touching.
"Carry on then." Lucius sighed, giving in to Harry's steely determination
and fierce defiance.
Harry grinned and plucked up another raspberry to feed to Rabastan.
"Lucius!" Narcissa cried out scandalised.
"No, Dear. Harry is correct. The contract that he and Rabastan signed did
not forbid feeding one another fruit and they are still under chaperone
supervision while we are in the room with them."
Narcissa exhaled through her nose, but she sat back and sipped at her
after-dinner tea, saying nothing more.
"I disagree." Rhadamanthus exclaimed loudly.
"There's a surprise." Xerxes grunted, giving his son a warning look.
"I don't believe that they should be allowed to sit next to one another at
all during their betrothal period. It is against tradition!" Rhadamanthus
insisted. "They are breaking strict betrothal layouts."
"The betrothal guidelines are set out according to the two families who
set up the contract." Harry said mildly. "That would mean my father and
Xerxes. Not you."
"He is my son!" Rhadamanthus snarled.
"And I love him!" Harry declared passionately. "I won't allow you, or
anyone else for that matter, to come between us for such ridiculous
reasons! I understand the traditions, I've been taught about them
meticulously and I respect them, which is why I am trying my hardest to
follow them…for the most part. That said I will not force myself to
adhere to them when the attraction between Rabastan and me is so high.
I will not bat away Rabastan's hand if he tries to touch me, I will not
recoil away if he goes to kiss me and I would very much hope that he
wouldn't do those things to me if our positions were reversed. I
understand the need for chaperones and I respect the need for tradition,
but I won't let either dictate the pace that Rabastan and I interact with
one another."
The table fell silent and Harry stared at all of them in turn for a few
moments before he picked up another raspberry and he gave his
attention back to Rabastan as he offered it up with a smile.
He had meant every word that he'd said and he was going to stick to
what he'd said. He hadn't meant to publically declare his love to
Rabastan, at least not before privately telling the man how he felt first,
but that didn't mean that it was any less true.
It had taken four months of separation and then suddenly meeting face to
face again for Harry to realise that his 'budding' love had actually been
the real thing. He loved Rabastan and he wouldn't let anyone stand in his
way of getting what he wanted. He had a chance of love and happiness,
of a family of his own and anyone who tried to stand in his way would
not like what would happen to them, because he wanted this. It had been
all he'd wanted for so long, to have it dangled in front of him, so
tantalisingly close, but just out of reach, it was maddening. Anyone who
tried to keep him from grasping his biggest wish now that it was so close
to him would pay and they'd pay dearly. He'd make sure of it.
Bill Weasley rubbed at his tired eyes and wrinkled forehead with a hard,
firm pressure. He had a blinding headache forming and it was all thanks
to the massive stack of old, dusty books in front of him.
He had never wanted to be a lord. He'd never wanted to be involved with
the Ministry and he'd never even thought of becoming a part of the
Wizengamot. This entire process was frustrating and not something that
he'd ever wanted to do. He liked Egypt, he liked being a curse-breaker.
He'd taken a desk job at the London bank a little reluctantly at the behest
of Dumbledore, he wanted to help the Order of the Phoenix, of course, he
did, but this was more than he thought he could handle.
The old laws and traditions were not something that he'd ever been
interested in and he could think of nothing more eye-wateringly boring
than sitting around a table and debating said old laws and traditions with
equally old and boring men.
He didn't know how Harry could stand it, then Dumbledore had shared
his fears with him, fears that Harry was just copying the votes of Lucius
Malfoy. A very frightening prospect seeing as the man was hell-bent on
eradicating muggleborns and raising purebloods to a higher status than
they already had and enjoyed.
He hadn't had much contact with Harry Potter, he'd seen the boy perhaps
a handful of times when Harry had been fourteen, first when he'd come
to the Burrow for the Quidditch world cup and then later when he and
his mother had gone to see him at the last task of the Tri-wizard
tournament as family members of a competing champion, as Harry had
had no family of his own. But outside of that, he hadn't really seen or
paid attention to the short, scruffy little boy who had been friends with
his youngest brother.
Now Harry wasn't speaking to Ron, he had upset Ginny, and he was
declaring that he wasn't going to fight you-know-who at all in this
coming war. He couldn't believe this same boy was the son of James and
Lily Potter. Two famously well known, extraordinary people who had
given their lives to keep Harry safe and had died at the hands of you-
know-who and now Harry wasn't even going to try and stop the evil
wizard. He didn't understand the audacity of Harry's decision not to fight
against the very man who had killed his own parents. The same vile man
who wanted to destroy their entire world.
So now they found themselves lost. They were now fighting he-who-
must-not-be-named and Harry Potter, the boy who had abandoned them
when they needed him to fight the most. He understood that it was a
frightening prospect, but they needed to band together and face that fear
and stand up to you-know-who and his Death Eaters. They couldn't give
in just because they were afraid. It went against everything that they and
their house stood for, they were Gryffindors! They were a part of the
house of bravery and now Harry had tucked up his tail and run to the
enemy just because he was scared.
Bill sighed and thunked his head into the boring book that he was trying
to force himself to read and memorise. At least Percy was happy about it
all. He was definitely back on his high horse and he was declaring that
he'd known all along that Harry had been the enemy and that Ron should
have severed ties with him years ago. He was strutting around the
Ministry in his brand new robes, carrying a dragonhide briefcase as if he
were the Minister for Magic himself. He was boasting to anyone who
would listen, and a lot of those who wouldn't listen and didn't give a
stuff, that his oldest brother was to become the first Lord Weasley in
several generations. He would have made a much better candidate for
Lord Weasley, Bill thought miserably. Unfortunately, as the oldest son of
his father, born of his legal wife, he was the heir to the Weasley family,
so only he could take the place of Lord Weasley in the stead of his father.
The only way to get out of it was if he were to die, then the lordship
would fall to Charlie, as the next oldest son of his father by his legal wife.
Which reminded him that he needed to write to Charlie again, he hadn't
heard from his brother in a while and he hadn't seen him in two years
now. He was still sending the occasional letter to their mother, but they
were becoming increasingly bare of information, which was upsetting
their mother. It made him wonder if Charlie had found a girlfriend and
was just busy with his new relationship or if something had actually
happened to him. Being a dragon handler was a dangerous job after all
and if Charlie had been permanently or seriously injured then it could
account for his short words and his tension-filled letters and his non-
existent visits.
He really needed to invite his brother home so that he could talk to him
face-to-face and see what was going on, until then he more than had his
hands full with Percy acting like a king, the twins falling over themselves
laughing at his new position as a lord, Ginny's morose brooding and Ron's
anger and jealousy issues.
Unfortunately, his great-aunt Muriel was of the same mindset as Percy
about the whole thing and when his mother had sent a letter to Muriel
telling her about him taking on the mantel of Lord Weasley, she'd sent
him a set of garish robes that might have been in fashion during the
goblin rebellion of sixteen-twelve to congratulate him. Needless to say,
he would not be wearing them to the Wizengamot meetings. Or ever for
that matter.
He was still waiting to be processed into the archives as a lord. He didn't
have the Galleons needed to speed up the process like Harry had had at
his disposal to fast track his early claim of his titles. It was made harder
for him as the Weasley family had been stripped of their lordship
generations before and getting the title back was always going to be a
hard-fought, uphill struggle.
The Ministry was stonewalling him and insisting that his application
could wait until after the seasonal holidays, which meant that he
wouldn't even get to see the inside of the Wizengamot meeting halls until
at least March. He'd thought about bribing the wizards in charge of his
application to get them to do a faster job, but he didn't want to use such
an underhanded, not to mention illegal, tactic to have his application
processed a few months early. If he got caught by the wrong people then
he would be in huge trouble and his application would be torn to shreds
and he'd be unable to help the Order with their needs concerning the
Wizengamot. He was their only chance, so he had to get this right.
He sighed yet again. At least it gave him a bit more time to read through
this mountain of books that were older than the Ministry itself. He wasn't
understanding half of what he was reading and though Dumbledore was
helping him, he could only do so much because he had his duty to the
school as the headmaster. The last he'd heard Lucius Malfoy was not
making that easy for him at the moment, either. If half of what
Dumbledore was telling him was true, then Harry wasn't making it any
easier for the headmaster either.
His hands clenched and he flipped the page of the book over to continue
reading the boring tirade of information. Harry had abandoned them to
their fate and he had joined with the enemy. In his eyes that made Harry
part of the enemy too and he'd never thought that he'd be saying that
about the Boy-Who-Lived. But then he would never have thought that
their apparent saviour would have joined with you-know-who and
allowed himself to be adopted by a Death Eater. It was only a matter of
time before he was completely corrupted and started properly fighting
against them and then what?
They couldn't give in, not ever, they had to fight the growing darkness,
with Harry or without him. Perhaps if they killed enough Death Eaters
and contained the growing darkness, they could get Harry back long
enough for him to kill Voldemort and then they could throw the
treacherous boy in Azkaban for his abandonment of them and the side
fighting for freedom for all people.
With more determination than before, Bill went back to his current
reading material and tried to understand more of what the ancient, dust
spotted book was trying to teach him. He had to be prepared for when
his application was accepted because he had to stand toe to toe with men
who had been raised and spoon-fed these old laws and traditions from
the moment they were born. He needed to be able to hold his own
because unlike Harry, he didn't have someone to dictate to him what to
say and no one to copy when it came to casting a vote.
Voldemort was exhilarated as he heard the news personally that his latest
subtle assassination plan had been a success. The chosen Death Eater had
reported to him immediately afterwards and so far, no one in the
Ministry had noticed any of the carefully planned disappearances nor
stumbled upon what was left of the bodies. Not that he expected them to
as they were well hidden and transfigured into something else on top. He
was being very cautious while the Ministry so kindly blinded themselves
to his plans.
Everything was finally coming together and it made him very happy. His
followers were more ruthless in their missions, and his loyal followers
who had been incarcerated in Azkaban were recovering well, though he
suspected that Bellatrix's mental abnormalities would be permanent.
After all, the Black family had never been known for their rational, sane
way of thinking. However, every once in a while, one of them turned up
and they compounded all of the negative Black family traits so
completely that they were almost completely unable to carry out the
simplest of tasks.
He believed that Azkaban had amplified these traits in Bellatrix, who
seemed almost incapable these days of any rational thought. She was
completely loyal to him and to the cause, of course, but unable to follow
orders to the letter. She worked wonderfully well as a threat and
deterrent, but her mind wandered aimlessly and she threw random
curses, mostly into the air, but sometimes at other people.
He had hoped that she would get better in time, but the more freedom
she got, the worse she became. He was toying with the idea of keeping
her busy with menial tasks, but it would be a waste of her particular
talents. Giving it some more thought before casting it from his mind, he
absently stroked the head of his beloved Nagini as she wound around his
shoulders and neck, a comforting warmth that a fellow human had never
given him. Nagini, and Nagini alone, was different. It's why he kept her
so close, so protected, it was why she had been chosen, the only living
thing, to be one of his precious Horcruxes, of which he'd had six, making
seven fragments of his soul, including the part that was still within
himself. Now he only had five Horcruxes, he no longer had seven pieces,
the most magically powerful number.
Severus, one of his most loyal, had already told him that that incessant
fool Dumbledore was looking for his Horcruxes. He'd already destroyed
the one…his old diary. He had been absolutely livid with Lucius over the
lost Horcrux and he had punished him harshly for losing the diary.
He was thinking of making another one, to replace the one lost, but it
took considerable amounts of magical power, not to mention the fact that
he needed a suitable victim and a fitting object to contain the soul
fragment into.
Running a hand over his smooth, bald head, he considered all of his
options seriously. He wasn't in a position to greatly weaken himself just
yet with such a use of magical power needed to make another Horcrux.
'What to do, Nagini?' He hissed in Parseltongue, his mind exploring
several avenues that seemed plausible to him.
He knew logically that he was in no position at the moment to make
another Horcrux, but the thought of having one less Horcrux than he'd
wanted when he'd set out to protect himself really stuck in him.
His eye caught the meticulous, well-formatted letter on his coffee table.
He smiled despite himself. He had read the same letter half a hundred
times already and he couldn't believe the difference in the Harry Potter
he had met several times and had once wanted nothing more than to kill,
and the forming young man who had written him the letter.
He hadn't killed Lucius over the Horcrux incident because of his amazing
forethought to snatch up Harry Potter while he could. He had sifted
through Lucius', admittedly incredible and stunning, thought process of
when he'd received the floo call from the bank and had opened that
office door to see Harry Potter sitting forlornly in one of the high-backed
chairs.
He'd gotten the surprise and the anger, the immediate thought to find a
way to use this to his advantage, a way to hand Potter over to him as a
gift. But he'd also come across the curiosity, the burning curiosity to
know why Potter was sitting in the bank, why he didn't know anything
about his heritage, his lordships or even his bank vaults.
The neglect by Dumbledore was surprising, yet entirely unsurprising at
the same time. He knew what the man was capable of, after all, but the
extent of what Dumbledore had done to the boy was overall surprising
and disgusting. He didn't blame Lucius for his protective feelings for the
boy. After all, tradition and the old laws were a large part of Lucius' life,
of any pureblood's life. Finding out that Dumbledore had been using
these laws illegally for his own gain had angered Lucius enough that he
had informed the boy of everything, had given him the help he'd needed,
which had confused Harry Potter visibly, and Lucius had then gotten the
boy to claim both of his lordships then and there, thus greatly weakening
Dumbledore's influence at the Ministry. This had pleased him greatly, as
had the forming anger and hate he could see in Potter's eyes from Lucius'
memories when he was told what Dumbledore had done to him.
Once assured from Lucius', and Xerxes', memories that the boy would not
stand in his way, even if he wouldn't outright join him, he had been
content to leave the boy to Lucius and allow the man to explore the
protective, defensive feelings that he'd developed gradually for the boy.
It was strange to see the process from Lucius' mind, the forming bond
that was only growing stronger. It may have started as a way to discredit
Dumbledore and to use the boy for his own gain, but Lucius had come to
genuinely care for the boy in a relatively short amount of time, and after
reading the letter sent to him by the boy himself, he believed that he
understood why. The change in Harry was phenomenal.
He picked up the letter and he chuckled darkly at the emotions he could
sense behind the written words. Harry had been angry and frustrated
when writing this letter, but it didn't come across at all in the words that
he'd written in very fine calligraphy. Instead, the elegant and eloquent
letter was a masterpiece in polite, respectful penmanship and Harry had
impressed him with his control and his carefully selected words. He
hadn't written Harry back. Harry's letter didn't require a reply and he'd
perceptively picked up on the merest thought that perhaps his initial
letter to Harry had been what had caused his anger and frustration in the
first place. He'd have to wait to find out, he was already planning for
them to meet face-to-face again, just to see how the boy reacted. That,
more than anything, would clue him into how the boy really felt and if
he really would step back and stay out of this war.
If Harry failed this test, then Lucius and Xerxes would have failed in their
mission and the boy would have to be eliminated. It would be a shame,
especially with his loyal follower, Rabastan, becoming emotionally
invested in the boy due to their budding betrothal. But he couldn't allow
any threat to his plans to remain alive, it was why he was orchestrating
so many assassinations now, while the Ministry was lax and not aware of
what he was doing. It would become infinitely harder to set up and
implement such assassinations when everyone was on high alert and
expecting an attack.
He sighed and sat contemplating a little more before he stood to get
himself a drink, Nagini asleep around his neck still and draped in looping
coils down and around his body. Coming to a decision, he called out for a
house-elf to call one of several Death Eaters that always stayed in this
abandoned manor house with him.
He poured himself a drink and sipped at it thoughtfully for several
minutes, thinking his forming plan through from all angles. A sharp, solid
trio of knocks at the door had him calling out a soft grant of permission
to enter the room.
"You wished to see me, my Lord." Antonin Dolohov asked, bowing low at
the waist.
"I need your arm, Dolohov." He said softly.
The man pushed back the sleeve of his robes in one quick, fluid
movement, even as he was already walking towards him.
Voldemort smiled at this show of loyalty, there had been no hesitation in
Dolohov at all and as he pressed a finger to the red mark on Dolohov's
arm, turning it jet black, he felt the slight flinch at the sensation, but
Dolohov didn't even try to pull away. He knew that it was burning, but
Dolohov looked stoically ahead, not showing any sign of the pain that he
must have been feeling.
A small pop of Apparation was heard a short while later and he turned to
his new guest.
"You called for me, my Lord?" The new voice asked carefully.
"Yes, I did. I have need of you for something. Dolohov, leave us."
Dolohov bowed at the waist yet again and left the room, closing the
heavy, solid wood door firmly behind him, leaving Voldemort to look
happily at his new arrival.
"Come, have a seat. We have much to talk about."
A/N: Thank you for your patience while I sorted out my other fics,
lovelies. I know it's been a while, but I hope that the length of this
chapter makes up for it. I need to find a proper balance to juggle all these
fics so that I don't end up forgetting any of them.
Also, about the last chapter, I did not take it down after I'd posted it,
fanfiction was having problems which meant that the chapter was posted,
but it kept disappearing every hour for an hour before showing up again.
Very frustrating as it kept this up for about sixteen hours, but once I
realised what was happening, I told those who messaged me or left
reviews so that they could find the chapter either on the next hour that it
had appeared or on one of the other sites it was posted on, but I had
nothing to do with it, it was a site fault that I had no control over.
Hopefully it won't happen again.
A massive thank you to The Green Eyed Cat for being the 800th
reviewer! Hell, 800 reviews in six chapters, you lovely readers are
amazing, thank you.
Jannuary / nazdre: You are correct in your thoughts. It was from
Dumbledore's point of view so he knew that he'd sent Snape looking for a
Horcrux, but Snape himself didn't know what he was looking for,
remember that Horcruxes are meant to be made with inanimate objects,
not living people. All Snape knew was that he was digging and ripping
through Harry's mind for a link to Voldemort and he found that link, but
he didn't realise that what he'd actually found was a soul fragment,
because he didn't expect to see one inside a living person.
Wolf D Dragon: Harry is not insane. He is perfectly in control of himself,
it's just his emotions, particularly his anger, that he's having trouble
controlling and that's because of the soul fragment in his head. He got
irrationally angry in Order of the Phoenix too because he was a Horcrux,
it's why Dumbledore stayed away from him that year, but Harry is not
insane.
Guest: The woman that Rabastan played with and forcibly aborted her
baby without her permission will not be coming back into this fic, she
was a point I used to teach Rabastan a valuable lesson and he learnt it. If
she's still alive the last thing she'd ever want was to go anywhere near
him again.
To those of you asking/begging about the twins, and there are more than
a few of you, sorry but I've made up my mind. The twins will not be
siding with Harry over their family, how can they? They don't believe in
what Voldemort is doing, they aren't going to turn their backs on the
family that they love, not even for Harry, who they did see as a brother,
but in their eyes, he's a traitor who has turned to the enemy, they aren't
going to stand by him with that, sorry.
As for the shop, Harry gave them the money as a generous gift, they had
no contract, no legal documents that said they had to give that money
back or that they'd have to make Harry a partner in their venture and
Harry never even expected it back or to be made a partner, it was just a
gift. Thus Fred and George have no legal obligation to pay it back to him
and Harry has no legal claim to it. There's nothing more to it than that.
StarLight Massacre. X
8. Winter Blues
Last Time
A small pop of Apparation was heard a short while later and he turned to his
new guest.
"You called for me, my Lord?" The new voice asked carefully.
"Yes, I did. I have need of you for something. Dolohov, leave us."
Dolohov bowed at the waist yet again and left the room, closing the heavy,
solid wood door firmly behind him, leaving Voldemort to look happily at his
new arrival.
"Come, have a seat. We have much to talk about."
Chapter Eight – Winter Blues
The first few days of the winter holidays were a little stuttered and
awkward for the two betrothed, but very quickly Harry found a niche
with Rabastan and they both fell into it easily and comfortably until the
awkwardness just melted away.
They could converse about things now, where before Harry had been
struggling to find subjects and topics that wouldn't bore Rabastan to
death and he had worried about it constantly. Now, he looked forward to
talking to Rabastan about anything and everything. As soon as he
stopped worrying about making a fool of himself, he found that Rabastan
was surprisingly easy to talk to and very understanding about their age
difference, and thus their naturally different interests.
It got easier once he found out that Rabastan really liked Arithmancy, as
in, it had been his favourite subject when he had been in Hogwarts. He'd
also found out that talking about the Ministry was a good middle ground
for them both, despite it being responsible for imprisoning Rabastan and
his brother, Rabastan was very interested in the goings-on of the Ministry
and all the politics that were at play within it.
So though it was strictly forbidden by law, Harry enjoyed sharing his
Wizengamot debates with Rabastan, who enjoyed hearing in detail about
everything that was being currently voted on and how Harry was
personally doing in the courts. It wasn't like Rabastan could go out into
the wizarding public and tell others about what Harry was saying after
all and Harry trusted Rabastan not to rat him out, even if he could have
gone out into public. That and it was never spoken of but universally
understood that most of the lords would tell their wives about the
happenings of the court. It was just one of those things that happened but
was mostly ignored until one of said wives gossiped to her friends, then it
became a problem. But most of them understood that they would get
their husbands into serious trouble if they talked, so they kept their
mouths shut and instead they gossiped about other things.
Someone knocked on Harry's bed suite door and he put a bookmark into
his current Ancient Runes book and closed it while he called for whoever
it was to enter.
He grinned when Rabastan entered his sitting room. He put the closed
book onto the square side table beside his armchair so that he could give
his full attention to Rabastan.
"I believe that you're taking liberties now." Harry told him teasingly.
"Imagine coming into my bedroom at night without a chaperone? You
could do anything to me in here." Harry winked at him naughtily.
The door slammed off of the wall and Harry grimaced as he realised that
Rabastan had not been as alone as he'd first thought. Rodolphus had his
arms crossed over his chest and a very serious, icy looking glare on his
face.
"Oh…oops. Evening, Rodolphus." Harry said with his best innocent grin.
"There's absolutely no chance that you aren't going to tell everyone what
I just said, is there?"
"Absolutely none." Rodolphus replied stonily.
Harry sighed. "I was only joking you know."
"I'm not taking that chance with my brother." Rodolphus told him
seriously.
Harry rolled his eyes and stood up from his chair and went to hug
Rabastan.
"I came to ask if you wanted to take a walk with me in the garden. I
asked Rodolphus to chaperone us because he's the least invasive and the
least intruding."
Harry smiled. "I'd like that. Just…no more flowers, okay?" He said with a
grimace, referring to the walk in the gardens that they'd taken when they
were newly betrothed and before Harry had gone to Hogwarts for his
sixth year where Rabastan had plucked a flower from a bush and handed
it to him. "I'm just really not a flower guy."
Rabastan chuckled. "Alright. No more flowers. I'm not much of a flower
guy either."
The two of them walked hand in hand down the corridor, Rodolphus
following after them like a looming, solid shadow.
"Can you try to be a little less menacing?" Harry turned to ask him as the
hair on the back of his neck continued to prickle uncomfortably. "We're
just going for a walk in the twilit garden. We're hardly going to start
rolling around in the rose bushes. Too many thorns."
Rabastan laughed, but Rodolphus' scowl only deepened, making his
skeletal face look even more sinister.
"It isn't funny." He declared sharply. "There is ancient tradition to uphold
here. A contract that has strict guidelines to follow. I will not let you ruin
my brother. I won't let you hurt him."
Harry sighed and he let go of Rabastan's hand. He went right up to
Rodolphus and stood in front of that skeletal thin, impossibly tall man
and looked at him seriously, dead in the eye without flinching or cringing
back. Lucius had taught him the importance of eye contact and Narcissa
had taught him the importance of a straight back.
"Believe it or not, Rodolphus, I have absolutely no intentions of ever
hurting Rabastan or ruining him. I'm trying my best to help him! It might
be hard for you to believe, but I do love him and I will not let him go and
I won't allow anyone to tell me otherwise. I was adopted by the Malfoys,
yes, but only because I'm underaged, I am still Lord Potter and Lord
Black. I am still my own man and I can make my own decisions if I feel I
have to. I love Rabastan and nothing is going to stand in our way because
I will not let it! The only person who can destroy this betrothal is
Rabastan himself."
"Good." Was all Rodolphus grunted, but Harry got the distinct impression
that he'd passed some sort of big brother test as Rodolphus looked much
happier and his stance relaxed a fraction.
Harry went back to Rabastan and slipped his hand back into the older
man's. They carried on their way to the garden and Harry no longer felt
the sensation of a glare boring into the back of his head, so he was a lot
more comfortable.
"He's just worried." Rabastan whispered as they started their walk around
the garden, Rodolphus falling a few feet behind them to give them the
illusion of privacy while still keeping them in his sights.
"I know. It's wonderful that he loves you so much and that he's so
protective of you. I just wish he'd realise that I'm not the enemy here. I
meant what I said, I don't want to ever hurt you."
"Yet I'm the one who can't stop hurting you." Rabastan said with a growl
of frustration.
In the scant few days since he'd arrived home from Hogwarts Harry had
had more minor injuries than he had actually had meals. Rabastan had
bruised his ribs, had elbowed him in the side of his head, given him a
black eye, split his lip, knocked him down the stairs, kicked his shin
twice, yanked some of his hair out when he'd had a spasm when running
his fingers through it, dug his nails into his elbow and dropped a heavy
jug of water onto his left hand. Harry had ignored it all as best as he
could while Narcissa had applied a bruise salve for him and healed his
minor cuts with a deft wave of her wand.
Rhadamanthus found it all incredibly entertaining and never failed to
remind Rabastan of how utterly useless and inept he was at every
opportunity. Which seriously wasn't helping Rabastan's confidence at all
and caused even more instances of spasms and muscle locking as the
thirty-six-year-old tried too hard to control himself and put more strain
on his recovering body, which then caused his muscles to twitch and to
move out of his control even more frequently.
Rhadamanthus was undoing all of Harry's calm and patient care
methodically and with a practised ease that spoke volumes of how much
he had given time and thought to the best ways possible to ruin his own
son.
"You should see my list of Quidditch injuries if you think that the few
whacks you've given me are anything." Harry said, letting go of
Rabastan's hand to link his arm through Rabastan's and reaching down to
link their hands back together.
"Please, don't joke about it, Harry."
"You've got to give yourself time to recover." Harry told him patiently.
"You can't expect a miracle recovery to happen overnight and you need
to realise that I understand that and I did before we'd even met for the
first time. I believe in you. I know that you can get better, but you have
to let go of all the small lapses you have had and will have in the weeks
and months to come. Your recovery was never going to happen
overnight, we both know that, Rabastan. It's going to take months, if not
years of help and specialised care to get you back to health and fitness."
"I know that." Rabastan snapped angrily. "But when I see Rodolphus
doing so well, I…"
"Rodolphus is a different man to you." Harry interrupted sternly. "You are
not Rodolphus, you are not your brother and you need to stop comparing
your own recovery to his. You were younger than he was when you first
went to that place and the younger you are the worse the effects the
Dementors have on your mental health and overall wellbeing. Rodolphus
is doing so well because he is a different person to you. This doesn't mean
that you are not as strong as he is." Harry added softly. "It just means that
you were both affected differently and he is having an easier time
overcoming what happened to him. He still twitches, he still has stiff,
aching muscles and joints, just like you do. He dropped a glass of water
just this morning because his hand spasmed and he lost his grip. The
difference between him and you is not how strong or weak either of you
are, it is that he can let those small instances go. He knows that they're
going to happen and he accepts that and when they do happen, he lets
them go, Rabastan. You need to learn to do the same."
"I don't know how."
"Then sit down and talk to Rodolphus and ask him how he does it." Harry
replied, not giving up in the face of Rabastan's pessimism. "I can let it all
go when you accidentally injure me because I know, and I accept, that
you can't help it, that you can't control what your body is doing. For me,
as long as you never hurt me purposefully, I can let go of being injured
by accident."
"But you wouldn't be injured at all if you weren't betrothed to me in the
first place! If you were with a man that wasn't ruined by Azkaban then
you'd be safer, you wouldn't have to worry about being hurt just from
sitting next to me. You could be happier with another man, a whole man
who hasn't ever been to Azkaban."
Harry sighed. "That's true, but you're forgetting one thing. I love you. I
love you, here and now, as you are stood before me and I am happy. I
love you. I don't want another man, whole or otherwise. I don't care if
he's the personification of perfect! I don't want anyone else because I
don't love anyone else. I love you, I want to marry you, I want children
with you. Why can't you just accept that? Why isn't my love enough for
you? What more do you want from me, Rabastan?" Harry demanded, his
temper flaring as they had this conversation yet again.
This was the fourth or fifth time that Rabastan had urged him to go off
with another man. It didn't seem to be sinking in that he damn well
didn't want to!
"I can't change that I love you, I can't change how I feel or how much I
want to help you, if you don't like that then maybe you should think
instead about what you do want and consider your options instead of
trying to push me away towards other men, making me come off like the
bad guy so that you can play the victim some more! If you can't let go
and help yourself and you can't love me as I am, then you need to be
honest and break off the contract yourself because I refuse to marry a
man who refuses to help himself and can't love me for who I am or
doesn't accept my love when I offer it so heartfelt and willingly."
Harry left the silent Rabastan and went back towards the house. He
considered going inside for a moment, but he changed his mind and he
instead went to the front garden to pet at Lucius' prized albino peacocks.
He wasn't in the mood to be around other people right at this moment.
He wanted to be alone to reflect on the anger fuelled spiel that he'd just
delivered. Why didn't he ever check his mouth before opening it? Why
did he always let his anger get the better of him? He really needed to
learn how to stay calm and speak through his anger and not because of it.
It was almost a mindless reaction now when he was angry to just speak
what came to his mind, to blurt out exactly what he was feeling or what
had made him angry in the first place. It was almost like he couldn't
control that kneejerk reaction at all.
But on the other hand, he had meant every word that he'd said to
Rabastan, but all the same, he would be completely devastated if
Rabastan decided to break off their contract, which is why he should
have controlled his anger better instead of planting the thought to break
their contract into Rabastan's head. He was just so angry, he wanted to
help Rabastan so badly, but how could he even begin to help a man who
refused to help himself?
Rhadamanthus really had done some serious damage and Harry couldn't
help but wish that the bastard would just fuck off back to India and leave
them in peace, but no, the man was hell-bent on ruining everything
because he was a sadistic prick that took pleasure from maliciously
destroying his youngest son and harming him in any way his mind
conceived. It was just Harry's rotten luck that Rhadamanthus was a very
intelligent man to boot. His mind could come up with all manner of
disgusting, psychological tortures to use on Rabastan and it was a tactic
that was damn well working as well.
There was only so much that he could do to counter that tactic, he saw
that now. He could help Rabastan all that he could, he could tell him a
thousand times that he loved him, that he wanted to be with him, but in
the end, it wouldn't matter, because Rabastan was listening to
Rhadamanthus with his fucked up little mind games and not to him and
as long as he did so, nothing that Harry said or did would matter at all.
A tear tickled his cheek and he fisted it away angrily as his other hand
stroked the super soft white feathers of the peacock in front of him. How
had everything gone so wrong so quickly?
"There you are. I've been looking all over for you."
Harry didn't look around as Lucius came to stand behind him, though
more tears fell when a hand went to his hair and tugged gently and
rhythmically. The repetitive motion was calming.
"Rabastan is inconsolable and Rodolphus is hunting the house for you.
Would you mind telling me what happened?"
Harry said nothing as more tears fell and he all but hugged the poor
peacock to his chest for comfort.
"I can't help you if you suffer alone in silence. What happened tonight to
change everything? I thought you and Rabastan were coming on so well."
"I've tried my best, but he won't help himself." Harry said thickly, his
tears having made his voice gruff.
Lucius sighed and tugged at his hair hard until Harry had no choice but
to stand up, letting the peacock slip through his arms and make its hasty
escape as he did so. Lucius turned him so that they were face to face and
he dug out a handkerchief and dabbed away his tears.
"It is almost the middle of the night, in the middle of winter and you are
crying out in the gardens. You'll make yourself sick." Lucius chastised him
as he pulled him towards the house.
Harry hesitated as he thought about what everyone would say if they saw
him looking like this.
"Xerxes and Rabastan are in the front parlour, Draco is in his room,
blissfully ignorant of everything that is going on and I believe that
Narcissa would have found Rodolphus by now and is explaining to him
exactly why he doesn't want to harm one of her sons, especially not in
her own home. Now come along."
They didn't meet anyone on the way to Lucius' study and Harry slipped
into a chair and remained silent as Lucius sat in the chair beside him, his
body turned to face him, instead of in the chair behind his desk as per
usual.
"Explain to me what happened. Rabastan is saying nothing and all
Rodolphus is saying of the matter is that he's going to find you and curse
you until you aren't recognisable."
Harry said nothing as he gathered his thoughts. Lucius wanted patiently,
and then increasingly impatiently for several minutes before he lost his
temper.
"Speak to me, Harry. Now."
"It started out fine, we were happily walking around the gardens, but
then Rabastan started yet again on how much he's injured me since he's
been here and how I'd be better off with a 'whole' man who hadn't been
to Azkaban. I love him, not anyone else. I don't want him to keep pushing
me away and towards other men!" Harry said and suddenly his anger was
just there, warm and fierce, and he threw himself up out of the chair and
he started pacing furiously, in tight motions. "Why aren't I enough for
him? Why can't he love me? I don't want another man! I understand and
accept that it's going to take years for Rabastan to get better and to
recover his lost strength and health. I understand and accept that he
actually might never be fully recovered. I know what that means for me,
for the both of us in the future and I'm prepared for it. It doesn't matter at
all to me, I still love him and I still want him, but he can't see it! He
wants to feel sorry for himself, he doesn't want to help himself and he
keeps pushing me towards 'whole and undamaged' men as if my thoughts
and feelings mean absolutely nothing to him! He hurts me more when he
says things like that than when he accidentally catches me with a hand or
a foot! When he undermines my thoughts and feelings and my love for
him as if they don't matter at all to him. I refuse to marry a man who
doesn't love me enough to fight for me and I refuse to be with a man who
won't accept that my feelings are important. If he doesn't want me,
doesn't love me and wants me to be with another man so badly then he
should stop saying it and break off the contract himself instead of trying
to make me do it so that he can keep on pretending that he's the victim
and I'm the one solely at fault!"
"You don't want him to break off the contract?"
"Of course not!" Harry answered immediately. "I love him, but I refuse to
be in a loveless marriage! I want a man who will love me and will accept
it as the truth when I tell him that I love him. Nothing I say is enough for
him, he doesn't believe a word that I tell him about anything!"
"I believe that is his father's fault."
Harry snorted. "I know that it's his fault. Why does he hate Rabastan so
much? He doesn't treat Rodolphus nearly as badly as he does Rabastan,
why?"
Lucius sighed. "What is the one startling difference between Rabastan and
Rodolphus that you have noticed?"
Harry blinked as he was caught off guard. His anger simmered down as
he thought about the strange question as he tried to think of the answer.
It came to him in a moment of insightful clarity.
"Their eyes." He said softly. "They look so alike at times that they could
be twins, but they have different coloured eyes."
"Exactly. The Lestranges have predominantly all got brown eyes, Xerxes
and Rodolphus have the same dark brown eyes and Rhadamanthus has a
pale hazel, all except for Rabastan, who has dark blue eyes. His mother's
dark blue eyes."
"No." Harry shook his head, unable to take in what was being hinted at, it
was completely inconceivable to him. "Please tell me that Rhadamanthus
doesn't hate Rabastan so much just because of his fucking eye colour?!"
Lucius glared at him but said nothing about his use of foul language as
Harry started up his pacing again at a much more violent pace, his tight
turns becoming almost jerky as he moved.
"Rhadamanthus loved his wife. He loved her from the moment he laid
eyes on her in Hogwarts and he pestered Xerxes to make them a betrothal
match." Lucius said simply. "She wasn't as keen as he was in the
beginning, but her father refused to allow her out of the betrothal
contract as the Lestranges have always been very influential and wealthy
and they're one of the sacred twenty-eight families, so they did enter a
contract and a courtship and they eventually married.
Rhadamanthus only ever wanted one child. One son and heir to carry on
his line, so when Rosia gave him Rodolphus, he was a very happy man
and Rosia was very happy with her big, healthy son and thus she began
to show more affection towards Rhadamanthus. He was incredibly happy
with the family that he had. His beloved wife was coming to love him in
return, he had the one boy child that he'd wanted and everything was
perfect in his life. Until Rosia announced that she was pregnant again a
little over two years after Rodolphus had been born. Rhadamanthus was
not pleased with the news and he tried increasingly desperately to
convince Rosia that they didn't need a second child. He failed miserably
as Rosia had always wanted more children and seven months later, when
Rosia was into her ninth month of pregnancy, she gave birth to another
baby, Rabastan. He was as hefty and as healthy as Rodolphus had been,
but in Rhadamanthus' eyes he would never measure up. He was an
unwanted intrusion into his perfect life and family. Rhadamanthus has
never loved Rabastan and he's never wanted him. He has come to resent
Rabastan and that resentment has bred a dark desire to completely
destroy him, mentally, physically, it doesn't matter as long as he causes
Rabastan as much pain and torment as possible."
Harry's fist clenched tight at that and he took longer strides in his pacing,
trying to work out the rage that he was feeling, but as Lucius' story
progressed, he was only getting angrier and more worked up. He wanted
to find Rhadamanthus and destroy him before he got the chance to
destroy Rabastan, which was apparently his life's only desire and a
fervent mission of his. Harry would die before he let that bastard
completely crush the already injured and suffering Rabastan. He swore it.
"As you can imagine, Rosia kept Rabastan incredibly close to her after his
birth, knowing as she did how passionate her husband had been in his
wish to terminate Rabastan before his birth. I believe that she even slept
in his nursery with him, which naturally, did not best please
Rhadamanthus at all. The way that he saw things, Rabastan was coming
between him and his beloved wife who had previously been showing him
love and affection, and now suddenly she was sleeping out of his bed and
was spending every single moment with this new, unwanted baby. In
reality, Rosia was just trying to keep her son safe from the anger and hate
she could see in her husband's eyes. I believe that all of her previous
misgivings came flooding back to her and she realised exactly why she
hadn't been keen on the betrothal to Rhadamanthus in the first place.
When she suddenly became sick just a few short months later,
Rhadamanthus was distraught and he found her the best possible care,
but despite all of the finest medical care and all the attention of specialist
healers that Galleons could buy, she still died just three weeks after
falling ill. Rhadamanthus was unable to deal with her death, so he fled
from it to India, leaving a near newborn Rabastan and a three-year-old
Rodolphus in Xerxes' care. He didn't come back for twelve years and then
it was only to 'do his duty to his line'."
"He came back just to set up Rodolphus' betrothal and his future
marriage?" Harry asked with a frown.
Lucius nodded. "He had forgotten how old Rodolphus was, however. He
thought that his son was actually a year older than he really was, not that
it stopped him. Rodolphus and Bellatrix didn't have much of a betrothal,
they went almost straight to engagement and then a month later they
were married. But as soon as he had trapped Rodolphus into a loveless,
hate-filled marriage that he didn't even want with Bellatrix Black,
Rhadamanthus flounced back off to India and left Xerxes to deal with the
mess that he'd left behind. Xerxes tried everything, and I mean
everything, to break the marriage between Rodolphus and Bellatrix, but
Rhadamanthus' wording of the contract had been airtight, Rodolphus had
signed and had gone through with the ceremony and the consummation
and Bellatrix's father, the late Cygnus Black, was very uncooperative.
He'd married his oldest and least beautiful daughter to a very prominent
family, after all. Why would he want to break their marriage? Especially
as Rodolphus had 'already sullied' his daughter."
"He actually said that?" Harry grimaced in distaste.
"Almost word for word. So Rhadamanthus had ruined his oldest son's life
at just fifteen. He didn't come back from India again until Rabastan was
nineteen. He'd always hated his youngest son, he even blamed Rabastan
for his wife's death, insisting that it was he who had made her so sick in
the first place, but as soon as he saw those eyes, his wife's eyes, on
Rabastan he made it his mission in life to destroy him as he believed that
Rabastan had destroyed his marriage and killed his wife, at least from the
way that he had seen things. Two short years later and Rabastan and
Rodolphus were in Azkaban, where they were unreachable by both
Rhadamanthus and Xerxes and where they stayed for fifteen long years,
but the damage had already been done in those initial two years and
Rabastan went into Azkaban thinking that he was lower than dirt and
knowing that his father didn't want him, didn't love him and believing
fully that he'd killed his own mother."
"Then he started on Rabastan again as soon as they were freed." Harry
said his hand clenching into a fist.
"Exactly. Xerxes does what he can, but the damage has been done by a
lifetime of hate because despite not being physically there he always
made sure that Rabastan knew how much he was hated and unwanted.
Rhadamanthus' brand of torture works so very well because it's the truth,
at least to an extent, and the truth always hurts worse than any lie that
can be fabricated. Rabastan naturally and subconsciously seeks his
father's love and approval, which only makes it that much easier for
Rhadamanthus to hurt him with the truth that he was unwanted and
unloved. Nothing Rabastan does or has ever done will ever change
Rhadamanthus' mind, but still, he tries and it completes a vicious circle
where Rabastan sets himself up for Rhadamanthus' torture like a pig
walking blindly to the slaughter."
"Why can't he just go back to India and leave us all alone?!" Harry
declared, changing the direction of his pacing before he became dizzy
and fell down.
"Because he wants to see Rabastan dead." Lucius replied.
"Over my dead body!" Harry hissed.
"I believe that would make him very happy as well."
Harry muttered under his breath about wanting to kill the vile man as his
pacing picked up yet another level of speed. It wasn't working at all, the
pacing was not helping him to calm down his anger. The more he heard,
the more he wanted to rage and lash out.
"Yes, Xerxes had mentioned that to me, about your desire to kill
Rhadamanthus. How serious are these desires, Harry?"
Harry looked at Lucius and then looked away again, carrying on his
pacing.
"That serious, hmm? I knew that you disliked him, you make it plain and
obvious enough, but I never thought to that extent. Murder is a crime,
Harry. If you're caught, you will face life in Azkaban for it."
"He is trying to kill the man that I love! His own son!" Harry exploded.
"Murder is still murder, no matter the reasons. You have too much
potential, too much to live for, to throw it all away by killing
Rhadamanthus. He would love knowing that he'd ruined your life in such
a way, even if you did end up killing him."
Harry had known that Lucius would try to talk him out of killing
Rhadamanthus, so he just sighed and nodded his head, sitting back down
in the chair in a show of calm. An image of Rhadamanthus harming his
child as he'd done to Rabastan popped up and he crushed it viciously. He
was still going to go ahead with his plans to kill Rhadamanthus, he just
couldn't tell anyone about them.
"If Rabastan does break his betrothal with you, then I have a backup
betrothal contract for Thorfinn Rowle."
Harry clenched his jaw so hard that the joint cracked. He didn't want
anyone else!
"If he doesn't break the contract, then there is no reason why you can't
dangle Rowle in front of him. A bit of jealousy is healthy in any
relationship. It shows, at the very least, that you both care about one
another. It might help to prove to you that Rabastan will fight for you
because I'm very sure that he isn't going to break the contract. He loves
you just as much as you love him. He's just inept at showing it."
That made Harry smile. "What does Rowle look like, anyway?"
Lucius smirked and Harry didn't like it. "He is an incredibly handsome
man. Tall and muscled, he's blonde with blue eyes and though he's loyal
to a fault, he's fiercely protective of anything he perceives as his. I didn't
pick him as a first choice because of that. He'd treat you as a possession,
not as a person who could think and feel for himself, and I didn't want
that for you."
"He sounds awful."
"Still, a bit of harmless flirting wouldn't go amiss in this situation. He
likes pretty things, so you're likely to catch his eye regardless."
"Excuse me? When will I catch his eye?" Harry demanded.
Lucius' smirk grew. "My, did we forget to tell you that every year we, the
pureblood society, hold an annual ball on New Year's Eve?"
"No." Harry shook his head. "I won't do it."
"You won't have to do a thing, Harry. Rowle will inevitably spot you at
the ball and he'll be drawn to you. As I said, he likes pretty things. The
Lestranges already know that Rowle was on my list of candidates for you.
So this little set-up should all fall together nicely."
"The New Year is over a week away, what if Rabastan and I make up
before then? He could ruin everything!"
"If you've already made up by the New Year, then it is unlikely that
Rowle taking an interest will do either you or Rabastan any harm. If you
haven't made up by then, then he could be just the catalyst that you both
need to sort things out."
"I hope we have made up by New Year…it's a little over a week away and
I don't think I could stand to stay here for that long if he isn't speaking to
me."
"Go to bed, Harry. We'll see how things pan out in the morning."
Harry nodded at the clear dismissal and he stood up and walked to the
door. He opened it and stopped just before he walked out.
"Thank you." He said quietly. "For everything."
He closed the door behind him and he went to his own rooms. He still
didn't know how things had gotten this bad so quickly, but he did know
that if he gave in and apologised, then nothing would be resolved and he
and Rabastan would never move forward. He needed them to move
forward for the sake of their relationship and the chance of a future
together.
Harry ignored the summons for breakfast the next morning and instead
he took a lengthy bath. He'd taken his Ancient Runes book in with him
and he easily read several chapters in the hot water before he'd even
started washing himself.
"Young master, Master be asking if you are coming down for breakfast."
Harry looked at the elf and he shook his head. "Can't you see that I'm
having a bath? I don't want breakfast."
The elf nodded and left him again and Harry rested back against the side
of the bath and luxuriated in the still-hot water. He really loved magic.
Hammering on the locked bathroom door ten minutes later had him
getting angry.
"I'm bathing!" He shouted out.
"It's been three hours, Potter. You can't still be in the bath!" Draco yelled
at him. Of course, Draco would be the only one egotistical enough to
enter his rooms without permission to come and disturb him while he
was in the bath.
"Well, I am. Go away, Draco."
"Stop hiding away!"
"I'm not hiding, I'm having a damn bath!"
"Tell me what happened!" Draco demanded. "Why has everything
changed? I don't like being out of the loop, I'm the only one who doesn't
know what's happening, tell me!"
Harry sighed and he got out of the bath, drying himself with a spell
before he tugged on his towelling robe. He opened the door and looked
at Draco's stubbornly set face.
"Rabastan doesn't believe a word that I say." Harry told Draco as he
walked past him and he went straight into his wardrobe to get himself
dressed as Draco took a seat on his bed. "I told him to his face that I
loved him and he turned around and he told me to go and be with
another man! I could have handled him not saying he loved me back, it
has only been a short amount of time, after all. I understand that he
might be uncomfortable with the idea of love, but to tell me to go to
another man! He said I should be with someone who hasn't been 'ruined'
by Azkaban. He just doesn't get that I love him! That I want to be with
him! He doesn't believe that I love him and he won't let me help him at
all, but most importantly, he won't even try to help himself. I'm so
frustrated with him, Draco."
"So you're going to give up?" Draco asked sceptically.
Harry actually laughed. "Merlin, no. I'm just going to show him that he
has to take me seriously or I will walk away. Father thinks I should…
tease him with Thorfinn Rowle. Apparently, he's coming for the New
Year's Eve party?"
Draco bobbed his head. "It's basically a social gathering for purebloods of
a certain standard."
"You mean pureblood Death Eaters." Harry corrected as he yanked on his
chosen clothes and came out to join Draco on the bed.
Draco winced, but he nodded his head.
"Do you think it'll work?" Harry asked him.
"It could do. Rowle is handsome and clever, but he's very possessive. You
should have seen him when he first saw me for the first time. I was
twelve, it was the first party I had been allowed to attend as I was finally
old enough and the moment his eyes landed on me, he wouldn't leave me
alone. He hounded my father for the next two years trying to set up a
betrothal between us."
"But you don't have the gene." Harry said with a slight shock that Rowle
obviously didn't care about little pureblood heirs. He was one of the
sacred twenty-eight families as well, the only male Rowle left! It should
have been one of the only things he cared about.
"Ah, you see, that was my father's problem with the contract too. Rowle
had written a stipulation into the contract. That the both of us could each
have a chosen pureblood mistress to birth our heirs for us. I was to be his
husband by law, but the way I see it now, I would have been a married
pet to him while he went and had sex with his chosen mistress. With how
possessive he is, I doubt I would have even seen my so-called mistress."
Harry actually laughed. "Seriously? Oh hell, I bet Lucius was not happy
about that."
"He wasn't and neither was mother. I was a little too young to understand
what was going on at the time, but now that I'm older and I look back on
it, I can't believe the audacity that he had. He would not be a good
husband for you."
"Or anyone." Harry stated.
"Maybe Daphne." Draco amended. "But he definitely is not husband
material for my brother. I will not have Rowle in my family."
Harry laughed. "Oh, don't worry, I know that we won't be seeing that
come about, he sounds dreadful. As for Daphne, well I actually like
Theodore and he doesn't deserve to be treated like that just because his
gutless father wants a claim on the Greengrass fortune. Maybe we should
push her at Rowle. It would be no less than she deserves."
"Theo's father has been obsessed with money ever since he invested a lot
of gold in the wrong stocks. He thought of himself as a genius investor
and delighted in 'giving advice' to everyone and he claimed to be giving
them hints and imparting his 'wisdom' to everyone else. He put the
majority of his gold into this new, upcoming company and he started
hinting to everyone else that it was going to be the next big thing and
that it was going to make them all millions. Father always refused to buy
stocks in most of Nott's little imparted hints, though he did sometimes
humour the man when it suited him. But this one venture he outright
refused to put his gold into and he advised many others to do the same.
He could read in the market what was going to happen, so when it did
crash, spectacularly, many of the lords owed father a debt of gratitude.
Nott lost almost everything and he's been trying to regain his fortune and
his former status ever since."
"And he thinks forcing his son to marry a girl like Daphne is going to
help?" Harry asked sceptically.
Draco snorted. "Obviously so. It will get him a good amount of gold at
any rate. Harvey Greengrass knows very well what his older daughter is
like and is fully aware of how she behaves, despite his attempts at
curbing her, so he'll be willing to pay through the teeth to ensure her a
good match worthy of the Greengrass name. Despite his lack of
intelligence and his lack of wealth, the Nott family is still a prominent
and pure one."
Harry rolled his eyes. "So, who else doesn't have a match, or are my
options really between just Rabastan and Thorfinn?"
Draco frowned consideringly. "Blaise doesn't have a match, but he's
outside of the sacred twenty-eight."
"What, why doesn't Blaise have a match?" Harry asked, this news shocked
him a little as he hadn't known. "I've been glaring at him for sleeping
with that Ravenclaw."
Draco snorted in amusement. "I know, it has been quite amusing to see
you chastising him for so much as looking at another person when he
isn't betrothed like the rest of us, but luckily he sees the funny side of it
too. His mother, however, never wanted to limit him in such a way. She
wants him to choose his own match."
"Really?" Harry asked in total surprise.
"She was matched by her parents and it was a very bad match. Her
husband was cruel and abusive and she had no way to get out of the
marriage. She worried constantly about him hurting Blaise as well, she
saw no other option. She killed him and covered it up and now she can't
trust any man and often gets frightened and ends up killing them too as
she's paranoid that they'll kill her and Blaise if she doesn't do so first. She
doesn't want that life for Blaise, so she's letting him choose his own
spouse, though she has stipulated that they must be pureblooded."
Harry nodded, still a little shell shocked at what he had learnt. It seemed
he owed Blaise an apology for glaring and nagging him about going off
with his Ravenclaw conquest.
"Amycus Carrow doesn't have a match either, but you really don't want to
be matched to him, Harry. He makes Bellatrix look sane and I think he's
having a sexual relationship with his own sister, Alecto. They're both odd
and very touchy around one another and at one of the social gatherings a
few years ago, Alecto got very drunk and kissed her brother full on the
mouth. They tried to play it off and laugh it away, but I seriously think
that something is going on there between them. Lucan Selwyn is looking
for a new spouse too, but he's seventy years old and already has four
children, unfortunately for him, they're all girls and all ugly, so he hasn't
been able to match them to anyone, even Goyle's family turned one of
them down and Selwyn gave them a choice of which one they wanted.
He's looking for a new spouse now so that he can try and get a son or at
the very least a better-looking daughter that he can match up to get heirs
to his line. The Selwyn's will be extant only in the female line if he dies
without a legitimate male heir. It's every pureblood lord's nightmare to
know that you are the last male of your line and you run the risk of
making your own name and house extinct."
"So really, those are my only options?" Harry grimaced in distaste.
"Well, you remember Marcus Flint, don't you? He's just thrown his
fiancée out on her arse. They were engaged and about to be married in
April, I think. Anyway, he caught her in bed with a foreign pureblood
who had come to see him on work-related business. The wizard was
staying at his manor for the week because Marcus still needed to be at
work at the time, so he opened his home to this wizard, let him eat his
food, trusted him around his fiancée and he just happened to come home
really early one afternoon and he caught them in the act. He beat the
wizard almost to death with his fists, then he cursed him to never be able
to close his mouth and threw him out of his manor. Then Marcus kept his
would-be wife locked up for four days. No one knows what he did to her,
but she came out unharmed with no signs of any magical abuse, but
Marcus is very happy and she bursts into tears if she so much as sees his
picture. As for the wizard, I believe that the healers are still trying to find
a counter curse for the one that Marcus cast, the man can't eat or drink
anything, has trouble sleeping and breathing and he can't talk. He's
getting weaker by the day and father thinks that that is Marcus' real
revenge. That man gets to die a slow, painful death knowing that the
healers can't help him and that the one person who could perhaps help
him, Marcus, isn't going to."
"I'm not sure whether his fiancée deserved whatever he did or not
because I'm not entirely sure what he did to her. But if I caught Rabastan
in bed with anyone while we were engaged I would not be happy either.
It's why I get so angry with Daphne and her ridiculous behaviour and
why I was unhappy with Blaise."
"Then Marcus is another potential match for you. He's protective more
than he's possessive and he has his own manor house. He actually bought
it himself with his own money instead of it being a wedding gift from his
parents."
"Really? He was so thick he had to repeat a year, how did he get his own
manor house?"
"He had to repeat a year because he failed in most of his core subjects in
his final exams. He is incredibly proficient in Runes, however. As you
know, Runes are very difficult to master and jobs that use Runes are very
high paying. Marcus was so skilful and talented in Runes that when he
surpassed the N.E.W.T level curriculum in his fifth year, he gained the
attention of specialists. He was so focused on Runes, that everything else
fell to the wayside, so he inevitably failed his last year, but when he
actually did graduate a year later, he already had a job waiting for him
when he got out and it wasn't an entry-level job either. He went straight
in as a specialist and he's been climbing the promotion ranks since."
"Wow. He's only been out of Hogwarts for what, a year and a half?"
"Exactly, and he already has his own manor and the title of special
consultant. Not to mention he's on a very, very large salary."
Harry laughed. "I think I need to apologise to him for thinking that he
was as stupid as Crabbe and Goyle for all these years."
"He does lack a certain amount of intelligence and he is quite stupid
when it comes to anything other than Runes, so I doubt any apology is
needed. You'll see him at the Parkinson's winter gala tonight."
"Wait, what? What winter fucking gala?" Harry demanded.
Draco rolled his eyes. "This is a season of celebration, Harry. The
Parkinson's are hosting the winter gala this year and we are hosting the
New Year's Eve party. Father managed to beat the other lords back and
claim this honour over everyone else because of you. All the other lords
are very curious about you and I think that they worried that if they
didn't give father hosting privileges this year then he would stop you
from going and they wouldn't get to sate their curiosities by meeting
you."
Harry flumped back onto his bed. "Seriously? Two parties in what, a
week? Plus Christmas is tomorrow as well."
Draco moved to sit next to him and smirked. "It won't be so bad. The
Parkinson's were given hosting privileges before Pansy lost her betrothal
match. Usually, such an embarrassment would have the family being
completely overlooked for such an honour. It's going to be hilarious to
watch them overcompensate tonight for the humiliation while they
proposition every wizard who doesn't already have a match to take on
Pansy for a wife."
"You're very sadistic." Harry told his brother, who grinned at him and
pushed him to sit up.
"It's all a part of the culture that I've grown up in. Social standing is
everything in these circles, Harry." Draco told him as he picked up a
comb and started doing his hair for him. "Nothing comes before our
family."
Harry smiled at that. "I like that family is so important, it's just…I can't
imagine being so cruel to others just to make me and my family look
better."
"That's just the way it is." Draco replied dismissively as he sorted out
Harry's hair.
"Will you help me get dressed for tonight?" Harry asked unsurely. "I don't
know what to wear and I don't want to make a fool out of myself." He
didn't mention that he wanted to look his best to try and entice
Rabastan's attention to him.
"Your wardrobe will include three winter dress robes for these occasions.
One for the Christmas Eve party, one for the New Year's Eve party and
one as a spare, just in case. I used my spare set of dress robes in our
fourth year for the Yule Ball."
Harry nodded his understanding, only to be smacked on top of his head
by Draco and his comb. A loud knock on the outside door interrupted
them.
Harry groaned. "That better not be Rabastan." He muttered under his
breath. "Come in." He called out loudly as Draco continued doing his hair
for him.
They had to wait a moment as whoever it was walked through Harry's
sitting room to reach his bedroom, but Harry was overall glad that it was
Lucius who was the one who walked in and he hesitated only slightly as
he saw them on the bed together as he slowly closed the bedroom door
behind him.
"I came because I thought that you were moping around. It seems that
that wasn't the case."
"Why would I be moping about? If Rabastan doesn't want me, then it's his
loss." He said firmly.
"That's the spirit." Draco nodded his approval as he finished combing
Harry's hair to the best of his abilities.
"So you're seriously considering breaking your betrothal?" Lucius asked
surprised.
Harry shook his head. "No. Our talk from last night still stands. If he
doesn't want me, then he'll have to break our contract himself, until then,
I'm going to fish the waters at the gala tonight, that you never told me
about I might add, and if he still hasn't bucked up his ideas, I'll do the
same at the New Year's Eve party."
Lucius nodded. "I'm not sure that you'll have a chance to implement your
plan. Rabastan was devastated that you never showed up for breakfast. It
seemed to agitate him and it seems to have affected his behaviour as
well, he broke two glasses, dropped his food onto the floor and hit his
own brother when he lost control of his arm."
Harry bit his lip and immediately the feelings of guilt and regret surged
inside him. The very last thing he'd wanted was to cause a lapse in
Rabastan's recovery when he'd been doing so well lately.
"It's not your fault." Draco told him sternly. "He's the one who won't listen
to you. He needs to learn to listen to you or he is never going to respect
you and he'll never listen to a word that you say if you give in now. Carry
through with your plan or he's just going to continue ignoring you and
disbelieving everything that you say, even about you loving him."
"But I never wanted to be the cause of him getting worse."
"You're not the cause." Lucius told him. "He is the cause and he will never
fully recover if he doesn't realise it."
Harry swallowed and nodded.
"Now, you missed breakfast and it's almost lunch. Are you hungry?"
Harry shook his head. "No. I'm just not hungry at all today."
"Perhaps I should call that therapist to see if he'll see you today." Lucius
murmured thoughtfully.
"I don't need a therapist just because I'm not hungry." Harry said.
"I'm more concerned about the reason behind you not being hungry."
Lucius replied.
"I'm fine. I just can't stomach anything. I can't believe how wrong
everything has gone."
"Things will work out." Draco assured him.
Harry nodded, but he didn't feel as confident about it. He still loved
Rabastan, he didn't think such a feeling would disappear overnight, just
as it hadn't come overnight, but the thought of trying to replace Rabastan
with anyone else made him feel sick.
"You're not going to be marrying these men." Lucius told him. "You're just
going to talk to them, be polite and perhaps let them get you a drink.
Then, if the natural order of things occurs, Rabastan should storm over
and remind everyone that the both of you are betrothed."
"What if he doesn't?"
"Then the man's a complete fool and you should definitely scout out
someone else to be your husband." Draco told him simply.
Harry laughed then and he thanked both Malfoys. He actually felt much
better for talking with them.
"Are you both staying in here? I'll have the elf send up your lunches, if
you eat your lunch, Harry, then I won't call the therapist to see you
today."
"We're staying." Draco said firmly. "Look at this hair. It'll take me all day
to fix for the Parkinson's gala."
Harry rolled his eyes. "As if it'll stay whichever way you put it." He
huffed.
"I'll sort it out for you. I picked up a potion especially for tonight and for
our own New Year's party." Draco insisted.
"I'll leave you boys to it then."
Lucius saw himself out and Harry breathed out and slumped. "Must I
really go to this party? I like Pansy more than Daphne, but she's not my
favourite person. Tracey is much more level headed and she's quieter."
Draco laughed. "She is more watchful than mouthy, but don't turn your
back on her. She can be dangerous with her wand."
Harry smiled. "What do you think of Astoria, Draco?" He asked curiously,
wondering if everyone had trouble with their betrothals.
Draco frowned. "I've never really thought about it. Our parents brought
us together for playdates when we were children and then when I went
to Hogwarts I sent her the occasional letter and now that we're both in
Hogwarts, we sit down after dinner once or twice a week to talk for an
hour to fulfil the terms of the contract."
"That's not really what I asked. Do you even like her?"
"She's not too bad I suppose." Draco answered. "She's nothing like
Daphne, thank Merlin, but she's not very talkative either. I have to
struggle to get her to say anything. I don't think she's that interested in
me."
Harry rolled his eyes. "I remember what Hermione was like with Viktor
Krum. He liked her because she was the only person in Hogwarts who
wasn't fawning over him. After all, he was an international Quidditch
player. But she was really embarrassed and shy and it took him a while
to get her to talk. Do you know what Astoria likes? Perhaps if you talked
about her interests then you'd have more luck."
Draco shrugged. "She reads Witch Weekly, she likes keeping up with the
latest robe colours, cuts and patterns, and I think she once said she likes
interior decorating."
"Please tell me that you don't just talk about yourself when you're with
her."
"Well, she doesn't talk." Draco scoffed. "What am I supposed to talk
about?"
"How about shutting your mouth and letting her talk?" Harry suggested
with a grin. "If she likes interior decorating, show a bit of bloody
interest."
"But, I don't have any interest!" Draco answered.
"That's not the point at all." Harry said. "It's called being supportive and
showing that you care about her thoughts and interests, that's why
Rabastan and I are having trouble. Because he isn't listening to me and
he's brushing aside my thoughts and feelings. Just, try asking her how
she is or how her day has been once in a while."
Draco nodded thoughtfully. "Alright. I'll make the time to do so tonight.
But don't try to distract me, I will be getting that potion onto your hair."
Harry laughed and nodded. "Okay, I'll let you do as you please with it,
but if I don't like it, I'm putting it back to normal."
"Your hair will never be normal." Draco said seriously.
They were interrupted by the arrival of a house-elf with a bowl of food in
each hand.
"Thank you." Harry said kindly while Draco just scoffed and snatched his
bowl.
"You're too soft." Draco scoffed at him.
"You're an utter bastard." Harry replied. "It won't kill you to be polite
once in a while."
Draco rolled his eyes, but he ate his lunch and Harry dug into his own
bowl of fancy beef stew with warm, fresh bread rolls. He would stay in
his rooms with Draco and he'd get ready for the party tonight. He was a
little apprehensive about everything, as he knew he'd have to be on his
best behaviour, which meant behaving like a pureblooded lord of two
influential, prominent houses. He sighed. He'd have to behave as he did
in the Wizengamot meetings and that was going to be difficult for him to
maintain for more than a few hours, less than that depending on how
bored he was or how other people acted towards him. It was going to be
a long, exhausting night.
Harry was dressed in the softest, most sumptuous and expensive dress
robes that he'd ever imagined himself wearing. They were a brilliant red
colour and made from brushed cotton. They were light, but warm and
with a fitted black shirt and tailored, smart trousers on underneath, they
looked wonderful.
He and Draco had spent most of the afternoon talking to one another and
laying out a plan of action, which had mostly just been Draco talking,
thinking up increasingly ridiculous ideas while Harry laughed until his
stomach hurt.
Draco had helped him get ready, had paired the black on black
underclothes before laying the red robe over the top for a glare of colour
to stop him from looking like he was attending a funeral, or worse, like
Snape's mini-me.
The earthy red made his cheeks look more flushed than they actually
were as it picked out the warm undertones of gold in his skin and he just
looked healthy, youthful, and full of life, he thought as he stared at
himself in the mirror.
Draco had dumped a load of potions into his hair, one to make it soft and
shiny, another to make it more tamed and a final one to style it. Harry
had to hand it to Draco, he could definitely become a hairdresser if he
wanted to. His hair looked shiny, sleek, and was styled to be tousled
instead of just plain messy. Draco had tried to make it lay flat and when
that had failed he had tried to slick it back, but when that hadn't worked
either he had compromised and worked with Harry's natural hairstyle to
make his hair look a little windswept. Harry rather liked the effect.
"Are you ready? We're going an hour early to catch up with the other
'kids'." Draco told him, rolling his eyes at the stressed 'kids'.
"Yeah, do I look okay?" He asked nervously.
"You look perfectly presentable, now come on. I need to try and catch up
with Blaise before we greet Pansy."
They met Narcissa in the receiving room and she straightened out both of
their collars, even though they didn't need it.
"You boys behave at this party, do you understand?"
"Yes, Mother." They both answered respectfully.
"Draco, you go through first and you wait for Harry on the other end, do
you hear me?"
Draco nodded with a smirk that was aimed at him and Harry rolled his
eyes, but he was glad. The last thing he wanted was to be lost in an
unfamiliar manor house, he'd only just gotten used to the Malfoy manor.
Draco stepped forward and threw a handful of floo powder into the
fireplace, turning the flames emerald green. He stepped in, called for
Parkinson Manor, and then he was gone.
"You look lovely, Harry." Narcissa told him. She was being a little strange
as her small hands brushed over his robe. "Very presentable. Remember
your manners tonight and behave yourself, but try to enjoy it too."
Narcissa shooed him off and Harry flooed over to the Parkinson's. Harry
hadn't seen Rabastan once that day…in fact, he hadn't seen any of the
Lestranges that day, but he was sure that he'd be seeing them in an hour
or so.
He arrived at the Parkinson's manor and Draco was standing impatiently,
waiting for him as soon as Harry stepped out of the fireplace, he snorted
and shook his head. Harry realised then that there was no one waiting to
receive them.
"This is ridiculous, someone should be here to greet us." Draco scoffed
before leading the way out of the receiving room and he went right up
the stairs.
Harry was a little apprehensive about this, he wouldn't have liked anyone
just arriving in his house and walking around without him knowing
about it, but then if he was going to be hosting a massive social event in
his home he would have been sure to greet people in the receiving room
if only to direct them where to go once they arrived. Narcissa had taught
him that much.
Draco led them down numerous corridors before hammering on a door. It
opened to reveal Pansy in a beautiful gown of peridot. The pale green
went well with her short, black hair and the peridot necklace, bracelet,
and earrings added a touch of repetitive colour to her pale skin and
contrasting dark hair.
"You look lovely." Harry complimented her naturally and she and Draco
both looked at him in surprise before Draco stood back and looked at her
properly.
"Harry's right, you do look nice tonight. Is anyone else here yet?"
"Daphne, Astoria, Blaise, and Theo are already here, come inside."
They went into the bedroom and Harry realised that it was just a very,
very large bedroom. Where his, and Draco's, bedrooms were split into
three rooms, Pansy's was just one massive room with a very large bed at
one end and a seating area around an ornate fireplace at the other.
"You look good enough to eat, Harry." Blaise teased him and Harry
laughed.
"My tailor picked out the colours and made my entire wardrobe, so I have
him to thank for the robes and Draco was the one who actually dressed
me. I take no credit for the way that I look tonight."
"You look nice, Astoria." Draco complimented his betrothed, being
reminded of his need to do so after Harry had complimented their host
and remembering suddenly his promise to talk to her more.
Harry looked at the young fourteen-year-old wearing a pale blue dress
that went wonderfully with her long blonde hair and her matching blue
eyes. She was wearing dark sapphires to contrast with the pale blue of
the dress and it looked fantastic.
"Draco's right, you look good." Harry told her with a smile as he noticed
the matching, small heeled shoes she was wearing. "Very elegant and
sophisticated."
Astoria flushed with pleasure at all the attention that she was getting,
which Harry assumed was mostly given to Daphne, and of course for
being called 'sophisticated'. What fourteen year old didn't want to be
praised for looking grown-up, after all?
Daphne in contrast was wearing a knee-length gown, which Harry
guessed had been forced onto her by her parents, but it was the low cut
of the top of the dress and the strappy heels she was wearing that made
her so different to her younger sister.
"Hi, Theo." Harry greeted instead, sitting himself next to Theodore, who
was wearing dark blue and black dress robes.
"Blaise is right, you're looking really good tonight, is it for the benefit of
your betrothed?"
Harry sighed. "No. Rabastan and I are having…problems." He said.
"What sort of problems?" Blaise asked in friendly concern.
"Not so easy to be in a contract now, is it?" Daphne said snidely.
Harry just looked at her neutrally before purposefully snubbing her and
focusing back on Blaise and Theodore. He'd learnt that move from Lucius
at the Wizengamot meetings and it always worked a treat.
"Just a few complications from his previous Azkaban stay and problems
with his father, that's all."
"That doesn't sound so bad." Theo told him.
"He's dressed to find himself another betrothal match." Draco put in. "The
Malfoy family deserves better than someone who isn't interested. If
Lestrange doesn't buck up, then Harry will be betrothed to someone else."
"Perhaps we could…" Pansy started before Draco cut her right off.
"You're not worthy of my brother." He told her cruelly.
"I'm gay, Pansy." He said more gently. "I have the gene and I want to love
and marry another man."
"You'll both be competing with one another then." Daphne said gleefully
at the idea.
Harry rolled his eyes, but he saw Pansy's face fall at the thought. Then
she got a calculating gleam in her eyes that Harry really didn't like. He
hoped that he wasn't about to have his leg broken or something due to an
'accidental' fall down the main flight of stairs.
A knock on her bedroom door and Pansy left to go and greet someone
else, who turned out to be Millicent Bulstrode. Harry tried not to cringe
at the sight of the tall, broad, almost square-shaped girl being confined in
a mandarin satin dress. He was sure that it would have looked lovely on
absolutely anyone else. The dress did absolutely nothing to flatter her, it
wasn't the right cut for her body shape and the colour was completely
wrong for her skin tone, hair and eye colour. Whoever had chosen the
dress for her, whether it was the seamstress, her parents, or Millicent
herself, they really needed to put more thought into such things in the
future.
"What do you think?" Blaise leaned forward to whisper into his, Draco's,
and Theo's ears. "Would you rather fuck her face-to-face in that dress, or
suck off Dumbledore."
The three of them all made disgusted noises and pulled faces and Draco
pushed a laughing Blaise away.
"That is utterly foul." Draco insisted as Pansy and Millicent did the whole
girl greeting at the opposite end of the large room.
"I know one thing for sure." Harry said, pausing to gain the guys' full
attention. "I'd look better in that dress."
That set the four of them off laughing, loudly. He got a hand on the knee
as Theo bent forward, trying to hold himself up. Draco flung an arm
around his shoulders and Blaise punched his shoulder, his purple eyes
wet with tears of mirth. Harry just laughed and revelled in the feeling of
being accepted, despite the odd circumstances. He was the only
Gryffindor here after all.
The door knocked again before Pansy and Millicent could make it over
and Pansy opened the door again to let in the lumbering forms of Crabbe
and Goyle. The boys greeted Pansy and Millicent and then came right on
over, the two girls following.
"Are we waiting for anyone else?" He asked curiously.
"No, the adults have started milling about downstairs, though." Pansy
told him.
They spoke to one another, laughing and joking, Harry keeping mostly to
Draco, Blaise, and Theo, but when he noticed something that didn't sit
right with him, he nudged Draco and nodded to a totally excluded
Astoria, who was staring at the group of older girls on her left in an
imitation of being included in their conversation, despite all of their
backs being turned to her. It must have been awful for her to be sitting
on her own as everyone else formed groups around her, it was only
because she was the youngest, he was sure.
"Astoria, I feel like a drink. Would you mind accompanying me down to
the ballroom?" Draco stood to ask, offering her his hand.
The younger girl looked so pleased with the offer as she accepted Draco's
hand and allowed him to pull her to her feet before she brushed the back
of her dress down and agreed to accompany him. She slipped her arm
through Draco's and they both left Pansy's bedroom to go down to the
ballroom that would, by now, be filling up with the adults.
"I suppose that it's time to go down now." Pansy said as she stood and
checked her reflection in her mirror before leading the way.
Harry walked with Theo and Blaise, laughing happily. At least until he
reached the ballroom because it was nearly impossible to miss Xerxes, he
was towering over everyone else and Harry knew, that if Xerxes was
here, then so too were Rhadamanthus, Rodolphus, and Rabastan. He
immediately turned and walked in the opposite direction.
"Are you okay?" Blaise asked him, turning with him to follow.
Harry smiled and nodded, trying to ignore the people staring at him.
"Yes, Draco went for a drink, so if he's anywhere, he's going to be at the
drinks table."
"Good thinking. I saw you trying to play matchmaker." Blaise winked at
him.
"I just thought that it was sad that Astoria would be excluded just
because she's younger. She is Draco's betrothed after all. I just gave him a
shove in the right direction. A shove that shouldn't have been needed as
he should have taken the initiative and done it first, without any
prompting, I might add. She's his betrothed, he should have noticed her
needs before I did."
Blaise wrapped an arm around him and pulled him to the drinks table,
where they found Draco and a very happy Astoria in a discussion about
the latest home styles.
"Would you…would you allow me to decorate our home when we're
married?" They arrived to overhear Astoria ask a little timidly.
"Of course." Draco replied amiably. "As long as I can have a personal
study to my tastes." He compromised and Harry beamed at him for taking
his advice and showing an interest in Astoria's interests.
"Oh Draco, thank you." Astoria gushed. "I'm thinking more and more that
I want to do home decorations as well as robe and dressmaking."
"I think you'll be very successful with that." Harry told her, smiling as she
spun around startled. "You obviously know how to put an outfit together,
perhaps you could use Draco to trial your robe making skills."
Astoria's face lit up and she turned back to Draco shyly "Would you let
me practice my robe making skills?"
"I don't see why not, but I have particular tastes and my colouring makes
for very few combinations that don't look ridiculous."
"I would, of course, take in all of your opinions and wishes." Astoria said
excitedly.
"You never know. I might be bringing my children to you in the future to
get their robes." Harry teased.
"Is it true that you have the gene?" Astoria asked. "It's been so long since
a boy has been born with the gene and I overheard what you said to
Pansy."
Harry nodded. "Yes, I tested positive. It helps that I like men too."
"I'm a man." Blaise said with a smirk.
Harry rolled his eyes. "What happened to your Ravenclaw?" Harry asked.
"I was going to keep her for a few more months, but if I had you, I'd get
rid of her immediately. After all, you'd be a betrothal match, not just a
girlfriend."
"I feel so special." Harry said with heavy sarcasm.
"Oh no. Rowle's spotted you, Harry." Draco said, looking high over his
head. "He's coming right over."
"Damn. It hasn't even been ten minutes yet!" Harry groaned before he
weaved his way past Draco and snatched a drink before diving into the
mingling people.
He evaded Rowle while making mindless small talk for a full half an
hour, which Harry thought was quite impressive, but ultimately, he
almost barrelled into the other man after he'd stopped at a table to refill
his glass.
"There you are. I've been looking for you since the beginning of the
night."
Harry looked up at the tall, blonde, blue-eyed man. He was broad and
muscled and if he had to guess, then Harry would have put him in his
early to mid-thirties. He was very, very good looking and his eyes were
all over Harry, taking in the tailored cut of his robes which accentuated
his trim waist and the slim line of his body.
Harry calmed himself, took a deliberate breath and took a moment to
peruse Rowle slowly as he slipped into his 'Lord Potter-Black' persona
that he used in the Wizengamot. He'd been slipping in and out of this
persona since the party had begun and he had used it in all his previous
conversations when meeting up with other members of the Wizengamot,
who all wanted to introduce him to their wives, children, brothers, and
friends. It was tiring.
"I'm not exactly hard to miss." Harry replied calmly as he indicated the
bright red robes that he was wearing. He was the only one tonight
wearing red and the only thing that came closest to his robes was
Millicent's mandarin orange dress and a few spots of pink here or there
from some of the women's dresses.
"It is a lovely colour on you." Rowle complimented easily. "It brings out a
nice flush to your cheeks…unless you've been sneaking wine." He joked.
Harry laughed politely. "No, just pumpkin juice for me. I have no wish to
kill off my brain cells before I'm even an adult."
"It's refreshing to meet someone so young who recognises that they're not
adults yet. Most of the little shin lickers here tonight would insist that
they're mature, in the process proving just how immature they actually
are. By recognising that you still have room to grow, well…I think that
you're the most mature person in this room who is actually under the age
of seventeen."
"Thank you. It helps that I sit on the Wizengamot."
"Ah, yes. Spending that amount of time around a table with very old men
tends to age people."
Harry couldn't stop the genuine laugh that came out.
"You came over to get a drink, may I have the honour of refilling your
glass?"
Harry nodded and watched as Rowle took his empty glass from his hand
and refilled it with the jug of pumpkin juice. He handed it back and his
hand lingered longer than strictly necessary.
"I'm Thorfinn, everyone just calls me Finn, however."
"It's nice to meet you, I'm Harry."
Thorfinn laughed. "You are probably the single most known person in
this room. Everyone knows about you and your adoption."
Harry nodded. "The papers have been going on about it a lot." He replied
ambiguously. Of course, he knew Rowle was talking about Voldemort
and his current orders for his Death Eaters, but Harry didn't want to ruin
his night so early on by thinking about it.
"Indeed. So, I suppose you already have a betrothal match?"
"I do. Rabastan Lestrange and I are betrothed together."
"You could do so much better than him." Rowle insisted. "I had the
thought that Lucius was punishing you by pairing you with that old
cripple. I'll have a word with him and see if he won't reconsider."
Harry frowned and blinked as Rowle looked around the room before he
patted Harry's shoulder and walked away determinedly, apparently he'd
spotted Lucius. Harry turned to look at him walking away and he was
sure that he was gaping. Rowle had asked about his betrothal despite
apparently already knowing about it and now instead of asking him if he
liked Rabastan and wanted to be betrothed to him, he was assuming that
he didn't and was taking it upon himself to 'liberate' Harry in order to be
betrothed to him himself.
He definitely understood what Lucius and Draco had meant by
possessive…they'd only just met one another and Rowle was already
treating him as if he couldn't think for himself. It didn't bode well for
anyone who married Rowle in the future, but he knew that it definitely
wouldn't be him!
He shook his head in bemusement and moved off, greeting some of the
lords he knew from the Wizengamot politely and allowing himself to
again be introduced to their wives or children. Really, it seemed that
that's all they wanted to do tonight was introduce him to everyone under
the sun that they knew.
He smiled the most at the shy preteens, he knew from Draco that these
were adult parties and that it was incredibly unlikely that anyone under
the age of eleven would be there, so he was extra kind to them when he
did see some twelve-year-olds and there was one newborn sleeping in a
tiny little gown in her mother's arms.
This entire gala seemed to be over the top and extravagant. There were
ice sculptures everywhere, depicting winter animals that he assumed
were magically made and hollow. Everywhere he looked frosted glass
tables were holding an array of drinks in frosted glasses and on frosted
glass plates there was every canapé and appetiser ever invented.
Everything was white and glittered oddly, like freshly fallen snow and
the massive glass doors on the one side of the ballroom were flung open
into the softly lit garden beyond. Draco was right, it was very over the
top and gaudily showy.
"I will not allow you to speak of my brother in such a manner!"
Harry turned automatically as he heard the furious voice of Rodolphus
and now that he looked, he could see the man hissing at Rowle. Lucius
had been standing with the Lestranges when Rowle had gone to
proposition Lucius, it seemed and instead of taking Lucius off for a
private conversation, he'd just mentioned taking Harry's contract from
Rabastan in front of the entire Lestrange family. Harry really didn't like
Rowle and he was glad that Lucius hadn't lumbered him with a betrothal
to him.
"I'm just saying that someone as young, supple, and gorgeously stunning
as Harry deserves better than some spluttering old cripple from Azkaban."
Rowle said simply.
"And what does Harry say about this?" Lucius said calmly as if he was
considering the proposal.
"He likes me." Thorfinn boasted.
Harry looked from his vantage point behind the back of a very old man
who seemed to be mostly deaf and half-asleep on his feet. Rabastan was
standing behind and between Rodolphus and Xerxes saying nothing and
that angered Harry. He wanted Rabastan to fight for him, to fight for
their future, but he was just stood there as if he was considering the
proposal himself.
"Say something, Rabastan!" Xerxes burst out furiously.
"If it's what Harry wants." He said quietly.
"It is." Rowle declared. "How could you possibly think that he'd prefer you
over me?" He sneered and indicated his own face and body. "I can offer
him this. You would likely break your own back trying to lift him and
he's such a tiny little wisp of nothing that I could lift him with one arm.
He deserves only the best."
Rabastan said nothing and Harry balled his fists up. He'd have to deal
with this himself it seemed.
"If Harry agrees to it." Lucius told Rowle, neither accepting nor declining
his proposal.
"Of course he will, it's a better deal." Rowle said cockily. "I, at least,
would be able to pleasure him properly."
Harry smarted at the disrespect and the attack on his dignity and he
would have expected Rabastan to immediately jump to his defence, but
he didn't. Lucius was just about to remind Rowle that Harry was his son,
adopted or not when Harry decided that it was time to take things into
his own hands.
"How dare you say such things about me!" He hissed.
"There you are." Rowle smiled at him. "I was just sealing the deal with
your adoptive father."
"I heard what you have just said about me." He growled.
"It's alright. Everyone here knows that I'd be able to satisfy you. That
cripple wouldn't even be able to pull a moan from your pretty lips. Unless
it was one of pain, of course."
Harry's hands clenched so tightly that his whole arm shook with the
tension. He tried to breathe deeply to calm himself, but his temper was
too roused to be calmed.
"How dare you." He bit out from between clenched teeth. "I am not some
bed slave given to you merely for your pleasure. I deserve better than
that from a betrothal or a marriage. I want someone to talk to, someone
to start a family with, to spend my life with…not merely someone who
thinks that my only use is in the bedroom!"
"There's no need to get so angry over such a comment. I take pride in the
knowledge that I'd be able to pleasure you."
Harry didn't even think as he ripped his wand out of his sleeve and sent
Rowle flying halfway across the room to smash into one of the gaudy ice
sculptures. It wasn't hollow as he'd initially thought, it was solid ice and
Rowle left a blood smear on it as he fell to the floor, unconscious. Harry
hadn't even uttered a spell, he hadn't had time to think of one, his magic
had just immediately reacted to his rage.
"If that man comes anywhere near me again then he'll lose his head."
Harry told Lucius before turning to glare at Rabastan. "Way to stand up
and defend me, Rabastan. So much for being betrothed." He spat before
turning on his heel and striding off.
He went outside to cool off, walking around the wooden decking at the
back of the house and several minutes later he found himself sitting on a
low stone bannister that boxed in a patio seating area before leading out
onto the lawn.
"Way to keep your calm, Harry." He chastised himself as he growled and
fisted his hair in frustration.
That wasn't how he wanted people to see him. As some angry thug who
attacked people at parties. Damn it, he was supposed to be a lord of two
houses, he held two seats on the Wizengamot and he couldn't even
control his own anger. It was pathetic.
He was trying to convince people that he was suitable to sit in on the
wizarding court and vote on incredibly important laws and in trials
despite his age and here he was, attacking another person at the
pureblood's winter fucking gala just because he'd lost his temper.
Damn, he knew he shouldn't have come to this stupid party, he had
known that it would be a massive mistake and now he'd gone and shown
himself up and embarrassed himself and most likely the Malfoy family
too, in front of every other pureblood family, including Rabastan and his
family, his betrothal family. He felt humiliated and lower than low, he
just wanted to hide away, but he knew that if he did that then it would
make everything a thousand times worse. It would be better to stay and
face up to what he'd done with as much dignity as he could muster rather
than run away and give everyone even more ammunition to fire at him.
He was no coward, after all, and he would face up to what he'd done. He
wished that it had never happened, but he had lost his temper and he
had attacked someone. There was nothing that he could do to change
that now.
"I saw what you did, Potter."
Harry startled and looked around, over his shoulder, to a face that was
only partially familiar to him. Then it had been over a year since he'd last
seen Marcus Flint. He no longer looked quite so trollish, though he was
still tall and massively muscular.
"Flint." He greeted with a nod.
"Why were you attacking Rowle?"
"Because he's a cocky, arrogant son of a bitch and needed to be taken
down several pegs! As if I'd allow anyone to get away with saying those
sorts of things about me!" He defended himself and his actions hotly. Just
because he regretted his rash behaviour didn't mean he had to show it to
others. He had done it and the best way to deal with it now was to stand
by his actions and act like he had been entitled to act as such. It helped
that he didn't really regret attacking Rowle, just that he'd let his temper
get away from him enough to do it in front of all of those people.
"He was disrespecting you?" The tall, muscled, twenty-year-old man
asked him tightly.
"Yes, he was and you can bet that if someone talks to me like that they're
going to end up regretting it!"
Flint nodded and he looked out over the garden, standing next to where
Harry was sitting.
"I hear from the rumours spreading tonight that you have the carrier's
gene."
Harry blinked at the topic change and calmed down. "That's right. I
tested positive at Saint Mungo's."
"You went to the hospital to be tested?" Marcus said, looking pleased.
Harry nodded. "I didn't believe the home test that Lucius administered, so
he took me to the hospital to have it done professionally."
"You would have the papers signed by the healers then?"
Harry scrunched up his face in confusion. "Yes. Lucius keeps them in his
study for me. What are you getting at here, Flint?"
"Marcus. I was working my way up to asking you to go for a walk."
Harry finally clicked on to what Marcus was getting at. "You were
making sure that I could carry your heirs before wasting any time on
me."
Marcus grimaced. "That's one way of phrasing it. A blunt, very negative
way of putting it, but still, would you like to go for a walk, or perhaps
you'd like a drink."
"A walk sounds nice." Harry replied. "If I go back in there now then
Rowle won't ever be getting back up."
He moved to turn around and slip off of the stone bannister, but he was
overall confused and oddly pleased when Marcus slipped a strong,
muscled arm under his knees and behind his back and picked him up
easily, turning around to face the lawn. The arm under his knees slid
away and Harry stretched his legs down to touch the wooden decking as
the arm around his back squeezed tight to support him before falling
away once he was back on the ground.
It was a small thing. A nice gesture and it hadn't lasted for longer than
Harry felt comfortable with and he found himself smiling at the move. It
had been completely unnecessary, of course, but he appreciated the
gesture all the same as he and Marcus started their walk, keeping to a
winding path that had been laid out for the occasion through the trees
and bushes, and he found, much to his surprise, that he was very much
enjoying himself in Marcus' company.
"Are you still playing Quidditch?" Marcus asked.
Harry bobbed his head. "Yes, I got made Captain too. I made a new team,
they're mostly young. I kept Katie Bell as a Chaser and paired her with a
fifth-year named Demelza and a second-year named Sarah. Both of my
Beaters are third-years and my Keeper is a second-year called Pauley."
"You made a young team." Marcus told him, looking at him like he was
mad.
"I did and I've worked with them all personally, even one-on-one when it
was needed. I've built up their skills, their courage, and their defiance
and their confidence too, and as a result of that we slaughtered Slytherin
in November." He said proudly.
"I knew leaving Urquhart as Captain was a mistake."
"He's a gormless worm." Harry agreed with a grin. "That team is going to
be my legacy, all my reserves are young too, but I might switch a few of
them in or out next year, depending on what the new second years who
try out are like. My reserves have reserves." He joked. "That team is mine
and they'll last for the next four, five years at least! Long after I've
graduated."
"Are you still the star Seeker?"
Harry grinned. "You know that I am."
"I hated playing Quidditch against Gryffindor when you became the
Seeker. I knew I didn't have anyone to beat you unless it was by lucky
chance, like the chance that Diggory got in my last year."
They wandered around the little path in the beautiful garden and Harry
didn't really feel anything and he wasn't sure if Marcus did either. They
weren't walking close together or hand in hand as he'd done with
Rabastan. It always came back to Rabastan. Perhaps it was because he
was still in love with Rabastan, despite being angry with him, that was
causing him problems with seeing Marcus as anything more than a
familial acquaintance.
"Draco said that you worked with Runes?" He said.
Marcus truly smiled then. "Yes. They've always been a special passion of
mine. You never took Runes, did you?"
Harry grinned. "Actually, I am taking Runes now. Lucius changed my
electives when I told him that I was unhappy with the ones I'd chosen.
I'm doing Runes and Arithmancy now."
"I could help you with Runes if you'd like." Marcus offered and Harry all
but bit his hand off at the offer. Someone who had been scouted out at
fifteen for a top job was going to be a massive help and asset to him.
"Please! I even asked for extra homework just to try and help myself get
more used to Runes. I have a good basic understanding, but I definitely
get confused still over some of the things that my other classmates would
find easy."
"I would be happy to help you. I've never offered to tutor before. I've
been busy and I am very blunt and brusque, so I doubt I'll be any good at
it, but I will get you understanding Runes better if you can put up with
me for long enough."
"I never was one for talking in riddles or beating around the bush." Harry
told him.
They made it back to the manor and without saying anything, they went
back inside to get drinks. Harry's hands clenched and he literally went
red-hazed when he saw Pansy Parkinson all over Rabastan. So that had
been her little plan, she was trying to take the man that he was betrothed
to from him!
He took a deep breath and turned to accept the glass off of Marcus.
"Are you alright?"
"Parkinson is all over the man that I'm supposedly betrothed to." He said
through clenched teeth.
Marcus looked to where he was glaring, found Pansy trying to get close
to Rabastan, and he sneered.
"You shouldn't accept that disrespect from him. She's pawing at him and
he's doing nothing to stop her."
Harry growled under his breath.
"You obviously love him." Marcus said.
"I do, but he doesn't even care about me." Harry answered tightly.
"Hmm, I'd say differently if the way he's glaring at me is any indication."
"Are you sure he's not glaring at me?" Harry harrumphed.
Marcus moved to the table to pick up a different glass and then came
back.
"No, definitely me."
Harry became interested then and wondered if perhaps his flirting with
Rowle and Marcus had worked.
"He's a fool if he'd even try to risk a true marriage with you." Marcus
commented. "He should be over here beating my face in. At least that's
what I'd do if our roles were reversed. You're worth a few busted
knuckles if I thought that I was losing you to another man."
Harry chuckled and Marcus kissed his cheek and told him that he'd be in
touch about the Rune tutoring before he left into the throng of people,
leaving Harry blushing and shyly ducking his head. From the corner of
his eye, he saw a furious Rabastan storming over, it seemed that Marcus'
parting kiss had been what had finally, FINALLY, tipped him over the
edge and got him reacting.
He was pleased and he mentally prepared himself to have this out with
Rabastan so that they could get their betrothal back on track. It was long
overdue and it shouldn't have taken him flirting with anyone to get
Rabastan to fight for him. He should have done it because he loved and
respected him and didn't want anyone speaking to or about him in such a
way, because he wanted to be with him and wouldn't let anyone come
between them, as Harry would do for him if their roles were reversed.
He took a deep breath and held it, getting himself into the right mindset
to have this talk, or at least he was until a huge, powerful shove from
behind had him flying into one of the numerous frosted glass tables. The
edge of the table dug hard into his chest, but thankfully the table didn't
break, the glass in his hand, however, shattered into several large pieces
and the glass cut his hand and arm, digging in deeply as his arm was
forced against the table and then the shards dragged across his skin as he
slipped to the floor after losing his feet.
For a wild moment he thought that Rabastan had actually attacked him,
or even Rodolphus, but when he turned around, sitting on his folded
knees as he tried to control his shock and the shaking that had started all
throughout his body, it was to see Rowle standing over him.
"You will be mine!" He hissed. "Then you'll know how big a mistake
you've made tonight!"
"In your fucking dreams, you nut job!" Harry answered back as he stood
himself up, cradling his profusely bleeding right arm and locking his
knees to try and stop the shaking. He felt like he was going to collapse
back down to his knees at any moment.
Someone pressed against his back and an arm was wrapped tight around
his waist as he was pulled back protectively, being supported and he was
grateful for the hold as he knew he no longer had to fear stumbling and
falling back to the floor where he'd be an easy target for Rowle. He
recognised the too thin, quaking body immediately and he relaxed
minutely.
"Get away from him." Rabastan growled deeply. His strong, steady voice,
as always, a complete contrast to his weak, shaky body.
"Oh, now you're interested, Lestrange? Maybe you only like things that
bleed. You two deserve one another, you're both insane and there must
be something wrong with you, Potter to actually like a cripple!"
"Do not call him that." Harry defended easily and immediately. "Unless
you want to go back into another sculpture, then we'll see who the real
cripple here is."
Xerxes and Lucius were there in an instant and Lucius, when he caught
sight of Harry's bleeding arm, he immediately took hold of it and raised it
into the air. Rodolphus waded over, saw Harry's arm and his upset
brother stood at Harry's back, an arm wrapped tight around his waist to
support him on his feet and he turned around and slammed a massive fist
right into Rowle's face with all the force of someone who had been
aiming to hit right through the thing that they were aiming at.
Harry laughed when Rowle went flying off of his feet again, landing hard
on his back. He was unconscious again and blood spurted from his mouth
and nose. Rabastan's arm clenched around his waist tight from the stress
of the situation and his betrothed tried to release his one arm with his
other arm. Used to this happening, Harry didn't panic and he sucked in a
deep breath when he was able to, not drawing any attention to
Rabastan's slip up, especially not in this public situation. Instead, he
patted Rabastan's cramped arm with his good one, letting him know that
it was alright.
"Come, Harry. This arm needs seeing to." Lucius told him, his tone
brooking no room for argument.
He nodded and he wriggled out from Rabastan's hold and took hold of his
hand instead, pulling him along as Lucius led them out of the Parkinson's
ballroom, still holding his arm up, bent at the elbow.
Draco followed with Narcissa and Xerxes came last with a grinning, very
self-satisfied Rodolphus, who was wiping blood off of his knuckles with a
handkerchief.
They left the Parkinson's winter gala and Harry found himself back in
Malfoy manor where Lucius had already called for the house-elf to get
the medical supplies.
Rabastan ushered Harry to sit down and he sat next to him looking very
worried and concerned as he used his own handkerchief from the inside
pocket of his robes to dab at the blood on Harry's fingers, taking over
Lucius' task of holding Harry's bleeding arm up. Lucius took over again
and used his wand to cut the sleeve from his robe and the shirt
underneath before carefully removing it. Harry grimaced when he felt the
pinch of a piece of glass being pulled out with the cloth.
His arm wasn't as bad as his hand, but Draco still went grey when he saw
the state of him.
"It's alright, Draco. This is nothing."
"Nothing." Draco breathed incredulously.
Harry smiled as Lucius unstoppered a vial and dipped a clean cloth into it
so that he could wash and cleanse Harry's arm and hand.
"Wormtail cut my arm open worse than this at Voldemort's rebirth. He
cut through the main vein in my forearm, all the way down from my
elbow to my wrist." He said mildly. "That bled so much that I needed a
blood replenisher."
Lucius' movements stopped suddenly and everyone present flinched at
Harry's use of Voldemort's name, but none of them said anything and it
lasted only a moment before he carried on. Harry ignored the sting and
the lingering burn of the potion as he instead watched with morbid
fascination as someone actually cared enough about him to clean up his
cuts.
Rabastan's arm slipped back around his waist and his hand gripped his
hip in comfort as he pulled Harry to rest more firmly against him,
worried still that he might collapse.
"This will be easy to heal." Lucius told him in the quiet of the room as
everyone watched Harry's arm bleed. "They are simple, straight cuts."
"My chest hurts too." He admitted. He rather liked being taken care of in
this way.
"Your chest?"
"He shoved me into one of those stupid tables, I wasn't prepared for the
attack, so I landed on the edge of it so it's probably just bruised."
"I'll take a look at it after I've sorted out your hand and your arm." Lucius
told him and he sounded pleased too. As if he liked knowing that Harry
wanted to be cared for.
Lucius took his wand to Harry's arm then, meticulously healing the cuts,
leaving nothing, not even a scar behind.
Rabastan was the one who used another, clean handkerchief to gently
swipe away the lingering blood after the cuts were healed. Harry could
barely restrain himself from grinning happily as he sat there, Rabastan
beside him, Lucius crouched in front of him, as they both tended to his
arm.
"I'm going to kill that Rowle." Rabastan swore furiously, his voice tight
with anger and a vicious promise.
"Don't kill him." Harry said mildly as he watched Lucius heal the last cut.
"Don't tell me that you still like him after he did this to you?" Rodolphus
hissed.
Harry looked up at that. "No! I didn't like him in the first place." Harry
said tightly. "I just meant that it would be much more fun to…keep them
alive, so to say."
Rodolphus' anger cleared and he grinned that wide, evil smile that
allowed Harry to clearly see how a younger Rodolphus had easily
tortured two people into insanity without losing any sleep over it.
"Yes, keep him alive so that his punishment lasts longer. I do like the way
that you think, Harry."
"What about Flint?" Rabastan asked. "You seemed to be cosying right up
to him!"
"Are you jealous?" Harry asked.
"You told me to stand up and defend you, from your face I could see that
you wanted me to fight for you. This is me fighting for you. If Flint lays
his slimy lips on you again, I'll break him piece by piece!"
Harry grinned at Rabastan, he felt utterly elated and he rested his body
against Rabastan.
"I don't like Marcus. No, that isn't quite right. I do like him, but not in
that way. He's going to tutor me with my Runes! He said he's going to be
very blunt and hard on me, but he'll get me to achieve higher than
everyone else. It's going to be brilliant!"
"But you don't love him? You don't want a betrothal with him?"
Harry shook his head. "I didn't stop loving you! Of course, I don't love
Marcus or want a betrothal with him." He insisted firmly. "You're a thick-
headed idiot, but I still love you. I met Marcus for half an hour at the
most, that's not long enough for anyone to fall in love, but I do think that
he'll be a good friend. I just wanted to make you jealous so you'd damn
well stop trying to push me towards other men all the time! I don't want
anyone else, I wanted you to realise that for yourself. So I decided to let
you see what me being with other men was going to be like."
"I'm definitely not going to do that again." Rabastan told him. "Listening
to Rowle ask for you to be betrothed to him, seeing Flint holding you,
carrying you, kissing you…I was so angry and I hated that he was doing
those things to you when I wanted it to be me. I was on my way over to
you to pull you into my own arms when Rowle came up behind you and
hit you. Then my anger transferred easily to him."
"It should have been you who hit him." Rodolphus told his brother.
"I thought it was more important to check on Harry." Rabastan answered
his brother immediately.
"Besides, you did a fantastic job." Harry told Rodolphus with a grin. "I
heard his nose break and I had a wonderful view of his eyes rolling up
into the back of his head when your fist connected with his face. I think
it was best to leave that to you when you so obviously enjoyed it, while I
enjoyed having Rabastan's hands on me."
Xerxes laughed and placed a hand on Harry's head for a moment, his
thumb moved in a stroke before it was gone and Harry felt so accepted,
so loved that his heart swelled with it. He felt that he'd finally found his
place in the world, that he'd found his own little niche to thrive and grow
in and he loved it so much.
Lucius repaired his shirt and his robes with an easy flick of his wand and
very soon after that they found themselves in the drawing room, cups of
hot chocolate in hand, or in Lucius and Xerxes' cases tumblers of
Firewhiskey, and Harry was curled up, resting himself on Rabastan, who
was playing with his soft, potion-styled hair.
Lucius had checked his chest as he changed from his dress robes into
pyjamas and he had been right, just a bruise that was going to come out
in a wonderful starburst of colour soon, but nothing more serious than
that. Harry had swallowed a pain reliever and currently, he was feeling
very, very good as he cuddled with Rabastan. Though he knew that very
soon, likely as soon as tomorrow, they'd have to sit down and seriously
sort out their thoughts and feelings. He wanted this to work, he needed
this relationship to work because he wanted it so very badly because he
loved Rabastan so much. They needed to talk to one another and they
needed to sort out their damn feelings before they had any hope of
progressing, but as he looked up at Rabastan, who was gazing softly at
him with his fingers still massaging his scalp, Harry was very, very
hopeful.
A/N: Harry and Rabastan got a little derailed in this chapter, but
thankfully they came back together at the end! The next chapter will now
be the morning after the end of this chapter, so it'll be Christmas Day and
we get to hear more from the delightful Rhadamanthus.
I don't know when the next update will be as I'm currently trying
desperately to finish another fic, Damaged Bodies, which is right on the
cusp of being completed, and I want to focus a little more on that fic for
the moment as well as Rise of the Drackens, for which the 98th chapter is
coming along nicely and will be updated in the weeks to come. I have far
too much going on with my stories lately.
Anyway, a massive thank you to Cherlindrea34 for being the 900th
reviewer and to iFicti0n for being the 1,000th reviewer for this story. I
really can't believe we got over 1,000 reviews in just seven chapters,
that's extraordinary!
I couldn't see any questions that required an answer, but if I have missed
something, please feel free to message me, I never mind answering any
questions you readers have, so until the next time, lovelies. I hope that
you've enjoyed this chapter,
StarLight Massacre. X
9. Acceptance
Last Time
Lucius had checked his chest as he changed from his dress robes into pyjamas
and he had been right, just a bruise that was going to come out in a wonderful
starburst of colour soon, but nothing more serious than that. Harry had
swallowed a pain reliever and currently, he was feeling very, very good as he
cuddled with Rabastan. Though he knew that very soon, likely as soon as
tomorrow, they'd have to sit down and seriously sort out their thoughts and
feelings. He wanted this to work, he needed this relationship to work because
he wanted it so very badly because he loved Rabastan so much. They needed
to talk to one another and they needed to sort out their damn feelings before
they had any hope of progressing, but as he looked up at Rabastan, who was
gazing softly at him with his fingers still massaging his scalp, Harry was very,
very hopeful.
Chapter Nine – Acceptance
Harry didn't remember how he'd gotten to bed last night. He must have
fallen asleep on Rabastan and been floated up to his bed as he just didn't
remember, but he'd woken up tucked up in his bed, well-rested and cosy,
though his chest was aching a bit.
He made it down to breakfast with a grimace of pain only to find a pain
reliever already waiting for him, which he shot back immediately in one
large swallow. He groaned happily as it worked within a minute to ease
away the aching pain in his chest.
"Do you hurt terribly?" Rabastan asked him, looking unhappy at the
thought.
"No, it wasn't really painful, it's a horrible ache more than anything, but
it was more painful when I breathed in. This helps a lot to ease my
breathing."
"You made an utter fool out of yourself." Rhadamanthus informed him
scathingly. "You assaulted a prominent, powerful pureblood and threw
yourself at another like a mudblood whore. You're disgusting."
It was, of course, too much to ask for that Rhadamanthus had gotten
drunk at the winter gala and fallen into one of those damn ice sculptures
and killed himself, or even just fucking stayed at the Parkinson's, but, of
course, he was here being his easily loathable self for breakfast.
"You're just upset because you missed everything." Harry told him
tonelessly, not even looking at him as he poured Rabastan another glass
of water before filling his own glass and plate up so that he could have
breakfast.
Rhadamanthus flushed horribly, as he had missed all the drama last
night. He had been meeting with a few of his associates, but he had been
well informed of what had happened when they'd returned to the gala.
Healers had been called to escort Rowle to the hospital and it had been
all anyone could talk about for the rest of the night. Though most of
them had been gossiping easily about how the young and handsome Lord
Potter-Black had put Lord Rowle in his place after the older man had
insulted and then physically attacked him. That pissed him off too, that
they were all so enamoured with the boy.
Harry spoke softly to Rabastan as he ate his breakfast and he was very
happy that he and Rabastan were back to how they were before they'd
had their fight. Their disagreement had lasted for a mere day. If all of
their fights would last that long and be resolved so quickly then Harry
was certain that they'd have a wonderful future together, because he
wasn't so utterly naïve as to believe that they'd never have another fight
or argument again in the future.
"Merry Christmas." Rabastan whispered to him softly.
Harry smiled widely as he realised that yes, today was actually Christmas
Day.
"Merry Christmas, Rabastan."
Draco had told him how today would progress and breakfast was always
first. After they'd eaten then they would reconvene to the family drawing
room and exchange gifts. Then they'd have Christmas lunch and then
there would be wine and cheeses set up in the drawing room where
they'd stay and talk until they'd eventually leave and retire to bed.
It all seemed very formal to Harry, but then he had never really had a
normal Christmas before. He'd been locked in a cupboard for Christmas
during most of his childhood and on others, mostly when he was at
Hogwarts, it had been spent lounging around the castle or encroaching
on the Weasley's Christmas.
This…being here with the Malfoys and with Rabastan, who would one
day become his husband, it felt like he had his own family, like he was
accepted and a part of everything and not just there because he had
nowhere else to go. It felt amazing.
His excitement grew as he thought of the gifts that he'd bought for
everyone. He'd been told by Draco that only one gift per person was
acceptable etiquette, so Harry had stuck to that, though he couldn't see
himself sticking to such formal rules when he had his own home and his
own children.
He finished his breakfast and sat talking to Rabastan on his one side and
Draco, who was sitting opposite him. They were waiting for Lucius, as
their host, to finish his morning tea. Thankfully, he didn't have his usual
morning paper today or they'd be waiting for another hour, at least, for
him to finish reading it.
"Come along, boys." Narcissa stood gracefully and came to their area of
the table.
Draco stood and offered his arm to his mother, Harry walked around the
table and did the same, so that Narcissa had a son on either side of her.
Lucius stood and gestured for his guests to go before him as Draco and
Harry escorted Narcissa up the stairs, down the corridor and into the
family drawing room.
Their Christmas tree was real pine and decorated in real, solid silver
ornaments that had been polished to a high sheen and had been in the
Malfoy family for generations. There were several plain white candles in
silver holders on every other branch. It looked beautiful to Harry as he
went and touched one of the branches, leaving the scent of pine on his
fingers. He'd never been allowed to touch the Dursleys ridiculously
expensive plastic tree that was decorated in gaudy lights, tacky coloured
glass baubles and ratty tinsel.
There were several wrapped gifts under the tree, all decorated in
coloured paper with a ribbon wrapped around it, their tags poking out
and Harry's excitement grew as Narcissa smoothed down her gown and
sat on one of the settees facing the tree. Draco sat next to her, but Harry
chose to walk over to the other settee, where he sat next to Rabastan,
squeezing in tight as the Lestrange men were not small by any means.
"How are you this morning, Harry?" Xerxes asked him. "How are your
ribs?"
"I'm alright, thank you. My ribs were aching earlier this morning, but that
pain reliever took the edge right off."
Rabastan's arm slipped around his back and his hand slipped up to rub at
his bruised ribs and Harry smiled.
Once again, Rhadamanthus was sat on his own, excluded from the rest of
them by his own choice. Harry really didn't understand why he'd even
bothered to come, but he took an educated guess that it was because he
wanted to ruin the day for Rabastan as much as he could. Well…Harry
wasn't going to let him.
"Ladies first, I believe." Lucius said with a smile towards his wife.
Lucius used his wand to summon the first gift toward him and he handed
it over to Narcissa with a kiss to the cheek. She made a show of checking
the tag and reading it slowly before sending her husband a smile.
Meticulously untying the ribbon and unfolding every corner of the paper
from the large present, Narcissa uncovered a beautiful square box, which
she opened with care.
"Oh, Lucius, thank you." She exclaimed happily as she stood up and
pulled out the most beautiful dress that Harry had ever seen with a
matching shawl that was draped around the shoulders of the folded dress,
held together with a brooch made of gleaming silver and black iron,
engraved with the Malfoy crest made out of emerald and onyx.
Narcissa pulled out three smaller boxes from the bigger box and opened
them each in turn to reveal a matching set of a necklace, bracelet, and
earrings. All of the jewellery would complement her new dress
magnificently.
Harry grinned at how happy Narcissa was and he waited patiently as
Lucius distributed more gifts out, watching as his gift to Draco was
happily received and his own from Draco made him laugh.
Then, Rabastan summoned a small wrapped box and he handed it over
with a smile, Harry delicately pulled the ribbon, even though he wanted
to tear into it like an overexcited child.
Inside the box was a pendant necklace in an odd, spiky shield shape
made of an unfamiliar, highly polished black gem. It was surrounded and
etched with symbols in real gold and when he turned the pendant over,
the back was made of gold too and it was inscribed with the Latin words
mihi parta tueri. He run his fingers over it before turning it back around to
face him and he swallowed as he made out that the symbols on the front
were actually letters. They spelt out 'Lestrange' in an odd, mixed up
order, but Harry knew what this was. It was the Lestrange family crest.
He was being given the Lestrange family crest to wear as his own.
"I had this made for you." Rabastan told him as he remained silent. "Black
sapphire and gold. The inscription on the back is the Lestrange family
motto. I will fight for what is mine. It's a promise to you, that I will not
let you go now that I have you. There will be no more pushing you away
or any mentions of other men. You are mine and I will fight for you."
Harry's mouth was so dry that he couldn't even swallow as he played the
pendant, on a short, stout masculine chain of gold, around his fingers. It
was lovely, beautiful even, and the symbolism of him receiving it as a gift
was undeniable. He was not only being welcomed into the Lestrange
family and being given permission to wear their crest, but Rabastan was
also staking a claim on him, a warning to other purebloods who might
have any designs on him that he was taken, that he was a member of the
Lestrange family and he wore their crest. I will fight for what is mine.
Harry stared at those words and he ran his thumb over them, he was
going to hold Rabastan to those words for the rest of their lives.
"Do you not like it?" Rabastan asked him insecurely.
"Harry, you give thanks for gifts you have received." Lucius told him
sharply.
Harry looked up from the pendant to Lucius with wide eyes before
looking to Rabastan, who sat beside him looking nervous again. He tried
to swallow to dampen his mouth, but he couldn't. Instead, he reached
forward and hugged Rabastan tightly, ducking his head into his thick
neck and holding him, trying to tell him without the words that he
couldn't get past his tongue that he loved his gift.
Rabastan's shaky arms wrapped around his back and squeezed him tight
before he pulled back and kissed his forehead.
"I love it." Harry managed to get out at last. "Thank you."
Rabastan took it from him and fought with the clasp to get it open. Harry
didn't offer to help and he waited patiently with a smile as Rabastan
finally opened the chain and placed it around his neck before struggling
to redo it. Harry waited happily as he rubbed his fingers over his new
pendant.
"I know you can't wear it in public, it would be too suspicious." Rabastan
told him after he'd gotten the necklace done up, his voice quiet and
strained from embarrassment. "But I wanted you to have it."
Harry cuddled back up to Rabastan and held him tightly, uncaring of the
odd jut of bones under his hands as he tilted his head back for a kiss to
the mouth. Lucius cleared his throat and Harry grinned as he pulled his
mouth away from Rabastan's.
"He doesn't deserve a crest of our family." Rhadamanthus declared. Harry
had been wondering when he was going to butt in and try to ruin
everything. "They are not even engaged! He is not a member of our
family."
"Yet." Harry said loudly and sharply to Rhadamanthus before turning
back to Rabastan. "I love it, Rabastan. I'm not going to take it off unless I
absolutely have to."
Rabastan grinned at him and they laced their fingers together before
turning back to the room at large as Lucius gave out more presents. For
Harry, nothing beat the pendant he'd been given, especially not the
atrocious gift that Rhadamanthus had given him, being forced to give
him a gift merely because social etiquette demanded it.
He'd thanked Rhadamanthus for the female lingerie set and turned the
man's face almost purple by promising to wear it for Rabastan on their
wedding night as he took it from the box to show everyone what he'd
been given. Xerxes had roared with laughter and Rodolphus had been
forced to thump Rabastan on the back after the poor man had almost
choked on an inhaled sip of water.
Harry had shared a grin with Draco and winked at his brother before
snuggling into a calmed Rabastan and enjoying his Christmas morning
with his family. Of course, things would have been better and much nicer
without Rhadamanthus there sneering and making snide comments, but
he knew that he couldn't have everything his own way.
Christmas lunch had been tense with Rhadamanthus dining with them,
but Harry ignored him as best as he could, as much as polite socialism
allowed at least. He filled up on goose, pheasant, vegetables and potatoes
and then retired back to the family drawing room.
He and Draco started a game of chess and Harry's good mood steadily
evaporated. He'd gotten better at chess since he'd spent time playing
against Ron, but he was still no match for Draco.
"I win again." Draco said smugly.
"I don't want to play anymore." Harry huffed.
"Why not?" Draco demanded as he set the board back up. "You're getting
better. Slowly."
Rabastan shifted over to sit next to him and he picked up the first white
pawn and moved it. Harry grinned and settled back against his betrothed
and watched Draco make his move.
Harry made the next move after looking to Rabastan for direction and he
was much happier as he and Rabastan played together against Draco.
They still lost, much to Draco's smug satisfaction, but Harry couldn't
bring himself to care about that as he and Rabastan had had so much fun
laughing and strategising together.
The pendant around his neck was a warm weight that he couldn't stop
playing with and every couple of minutes he would lift his hand to touch
it, to play with it as he rubbed it with his thumb, feeling the contrast
between the very precious black sapphire and the equally precious solid
gold. He would have loved it all the same if it had been made from
aluminium and glass. It was the thought behind the gift that made it so
precious, so sentimental to him. It was a symbol of the love that Rabastan
couldn't voice and it was a symbol of their coming engagement. The
Lestranges were welcoming him into their family and it was a promise,
mihi parta tueri, Rabastan would fight for him. Rabastan was telling him
without words that he wanted to marry him and he would have had to
ask Xerxes for permission to give him anything with the Lestrange crest
on it as the current Head of the House Lestrange. Xerxes was welcoming
him into the family too by giving his permission for the pendant to carry
the Lestrange crest and Harry loved the feeling of acceptance he was
getting from having the pendant around his neck. He raised his hand to
touch it again and he couldn't hold back the grin.
Rabastan saw him and his arm wrapped around his hips and squeezed.
He didn't trust himself to hold around his chest because of his bruised
ribs, so he'd started holding around his hips instead. Harry loved the
thought behind the action and he sneaked a look around subtly before
darting in to peck Rabastan's lips.
His betrothed laughed so happily that it drew everyone else's attention as
Harry sat right beside him, grinning so happily and holding Rabastan's
hands.
"I love you." Harry whispered to him as he stared at Rabastan's face and
into those dark blue eyes that he loved so very much, but were the reason
that Rhadamanthus loathed his own son.
"I hope our baby has your eyes." Rabastan told him and it was Harry's
turn to laugh.
"I was just thinking that your eyes were so very beautiful." He told his
betrothed. "I want our children to have your eyes."
"We'll compromise. Half of them will take your breathtaking eyes and
half will take mine." Rabastan said with a grin as if they had any sort of
control over those sorts of things, but Harry still chuckled.
"Deal." He agreed, pausing for a moment before thinking of something.
"They're all going to have brown eyes now." He laughed. "All of your
family have brown eyes and my dad had brown eyes too."
Rabastan pulled gently on his hair. "You've gone and cursed it now." He
told him and Harry laughed yet again.
"What are you two giggling so hysterically about?" Draco demanded.
"Our future children's eye colour." Harry told his adoptive brother.
"Rabastan wants all our children to have my eyes, but I want our children
to have his blue…we compromised and then realised we'd cursed all our
future children to have brown eyes, like Rodolphus."
"And just what is wrong with my eye colour?" Rodolphus demanded.
"Nothing." Harry insisted. "If you like tree bark and mud." He mumbled
under his breath to Rabastan, who laughed in surprise.
"What was that?" Rodolphus narrowed his eyes.
"Nothing! Nothing!" Harry placated as he shifted closer to Rabastan and
buried his face in his betrothed's chest so he could hide his grin and
muffle his laughter.
Rabastan petted at his back and head and smiled down at him as Harry
laughed into him. Harry enjoyed the attention and the way that Rabastan
was looking at him with that smile on his thin, chapped lips. His
betrothed needed a drink and Harry pecked at those too dry lips before
standing up and going to pick up both of their glasses, topping them up
with water and handing Rabastan's glass to him.
"At least you know the baby will have dark hair." Draco told him.
"Not exactly." Harry said with a smile. "Dark hair is more dominant, of
course, but my mother and grandmother were redheads and my aunt and
grandfather were actually blonde. My cousin was blonde too, despite his
father also having red hair. So our children could really have any colour
hair."
"My mother was blonde too." Rabastan told him with a soft smile.
That was when their Christmas went wrong as a glass smashed and
Rhadamanthus was on his feet looking furious.
"You have no right to talk of her!" He exploded, his face going a horrible
shade of red that Harry had become familiar with due to Vernon Dursley.
"You killed her! You are the reason that she is dead, you have no right to
even think of her!"
"She loved him." Harry said firmly when everyone else remained silent in
the ensuing minutes after Rhadamanthus' violent outburst. "She loved her
son and that's what you don't like. You didn't like the new baby and you
couldn't stand that your wife loved him when you didn't even want him.
Well, she did want him and she did love him and there is nothing that
you can do to change that! Rabastan didn't kill her, you did when you
broke her heart by hating one of her beloved sons."
"You have no clue what you're talking about!" Rhadamanthus told him
furiously, that dangerous glint back in his pale eyes. "You weren't even
born when my wife died."
"I don't need to have been." Harry said, glaring back just as hard. "I know
one thing though. In the end, before she died, it was you that she hated.
She hated you for hating the son that she loved and adored. It's you who
have no right to talk or think of her, not Rabastan, because she loved
him, not you."
Rhadamanthus let out a ferocious scream and lunged at him, but it was
Lucius who shot off a body binding spell that had Rhadamanthus falling
flat on his face before he even came close to reaching him.
"I would advise you against lunging at one of my sons like some sort of
wild beast in a menagerie." Lucius said mildly, but with a bite of steel to
his tone and in those grey eyes.
"You are a fool of the biggest kind." Xerxes spat at his son. "You will go
back to Lestrange Manor and you'll stay there!"
Xerxes lifted his son with a spell and they left the room, Harry assumed
so that Xerxes could Apparate Rhadamanthus back to Lestrange Manor to
give him a real dressing down without anyone watching or hearing his
private business.
Harry turned to Rabastan and cupped his face, smiling at him.
"Are you okay?" He asked quietly.
"You…you stood up to him for me, when I couldn't even do it myself."
Rabastan said in a strange bemusement.
"Of course, I did." Harry replied with a soft smile. "I love you and I'm not
going to let that poisonous, petty bastard fill your head with lies. Your
mother loved you, Rabastan. It was him who never has, not your mother.
Love her and remember her fondly, as she did you. Never let
Rhadamanthus poison you against her, as he's trying to do. I know that
you know deep in your heart that she loved you, hold on to that."
Rodolphus sat at Rabastan's back and slipped both of his arms around his
brother in a way that would have looked too close, too intimate if it had
been anyone other than these two…the two who had survived through so
much between them. Harry knew and he understood, and because of
that, he didn't hold it against either of them.
"She did love you." Rodolphus told his younger brother. "That old fool
knows it too, it's why he reacted as he did. As Harry said, she loved you,
you and me, not him."
Harry patted Rabastan's hand and left him and Rodolphus to have some
time to themselves. He went over to Draco and asked if he wanted to
play one-on-one Quidditch, which really wasn't anything more than
releasing Draco's snitch and the both of them chasing it down.
"Sure." Draco agreed easily as he stood up and stretched.
"The both of you put a jumper on." Narcissa told them. "Lucius, go with
them." She ordered her husband. "I don't want either of them to get hurt."
Lucius sighed, but he stood up as well as Harry and Draco rushed to get
their jumpers and broomsticks from their bedrooms before they made
their way to the back reception room, where Narcissa was waiting for
them.
"I'm going to make up for my losses in chess." Harry swore to Draco with
a grin.
He allowed Narcissa to fuss around him, making sure that his jumper
collar and hem were covering him fully before she cast a warming charm
on him before moving to do the same to Draco.
Lucius joined them wearing a very expensive, calf-length winter coat and
he had his ever-present cane with him in one hand.
Harry darted outside and rushed across the back decking and down the
porch steps with Draco. He flat out ran over the lawn towards the
Quidditch pitch. They weren't allowed to run inside the house, but
outside of it was another matter entirely.
Lucius joined them, having walked at a more dignified, sedate pace, just
as Draco was unlocking his own box of Quidditch balls. He only took out
the snitch before closing the lid again.
"If I see either one of you cheating, you will be placed in a corner for an
hour. I don't care if it's Christmas, you'll still be punished."
Harry hugged Draco and got a slap on the back for his trouble.
"There's not going to be any cheating on my part." He said with a grin. "I
don't need to cheat to win."
Draco scoffed but let the snitch go after Lucius had tapped it with his
wand to activate it, its tiny silver wings beating against his hand.
Harry climbed onto his Firebolt and he and Draco watched Lucius
intently as he smiled cruelly at them as he waited, and waited, and
waited to send them both into the air.
"Father!" Draco whined impatiently as he'd finally had enough of waiting.
Lucius chuckled. "Begin." He commanded and the both of them shot off
like corks from a bottle of shaken butterbeer.
Harry whooped like a maniac as he weaved around the private Quidditch
pitch, it was smaller than a professional pitch, but it was still a decent
size, more for use by a five-on-five team (one keeper, one beater, one
seeker and two chasers per team) instead of seven-on-seven.
It was very freeing and Harry didn't focus too much on finding the snitch,
he just wanted to practice his dives and moves and Draco was doing the
same. It felt amazing to fly during the holidays, he didn't care that it was
bitterly cold, windy, and that there was a couple of inches of snow
covering everything. He just loved the freeing experience of being able to
fly around something that wasn't actually the Hogwarts grounds for once,
though flying around the Weasley's orchard, catching apples, was alright,
but it was nothing like this. This was an actual Quidditch pitch, with
actual hoops and real balls. Catching thrown apples was so easy for him,
he'd been catching golf balls thrown by Oliver Wood in his first year,
apples were bigger and slower and he could see them easier. But this,
practising with an actual, real snitch on a good-sized pitch was
incredible.
The both of them were red-cheeked from the wind and cold after just
twenty minutes, but they were both laughing and funnily, neither of
them were actually looking for the snitch, they were having a good time
just flying around and trying to outdo one another's stunts.
Harry didn't notice precisely when Rabastan had come out to watch him,
but on his next turn around the south side goal hoops, he noticed that
Lucius was no longer standing alone. Rabastan and Xerxes had come out
to watch them too and he grinned and he started showing off a bit more.
After his most hair raising dive yet, where he pulled up, away from the
ground, with less than a fraction of a second to spare, his shins sunk in
the few inches of snow that had fallen, Lucius shouted at him, actually
shouted at him, and told him that if he didn't stop doing such ridiculous,
reckless stunts then he'd have his broom confiscated from him for the rest
of the holidays.
Harry cut back on the stunts then and he went looking for the snitch
instead, his grin hurting his frozen cheeks and he ignored his bright red,
cold fingers that gripped his broom handle numbly. He was having too
much fun and he went up to a hundred and forty feet and looked down.
A dive from here would be spectacular, but he knew that Lucius would
keep good on his promise and he didn't want to push him into doling out
a punishment.
He caught a glint of gold and he grinned, already moving before he'd
fully turned his head to sight the snitch properly and that was what made
him a brilliant seeker, he moved on automatic, his body was one with his
broom as he went after the snitch with single-minded determination. He
loved flying, he loved this freedom, he loved everything about it as he
chased down the snitch, following it, weaving, swaying, diving and
climbing. He reached eighty feet and then the snitch dived and he
followed, his body low on the handle of the broom, making himself as
streamlined as possible, he only outstretched his hand at the last possible
moment to reduce air drag and just three feet from the ground, he caught
the snitch, pulled out of the dive and added a half spin to the side to
bring himself to a complete stop in the air.
He laughed so happily as he clutched the snitch and he flew a little lower
and slid off of his broom, landing on his feet in the snow. He made his
way over to the adults, watching as Draco landed too, shaking himself
with the chill in the air.
He handed the snitch back to Draco, who locked it into his trunk and
Harry went to wrap his arms around Rabastan.
"You flew superbly." Rabastan told him, hugging him tightly and letting
go before he could have an 'episode' and crush him too tightly. "You
could play professionally."
Harry grinned at the praise. "I've never wanted to fly professionally." He
said. "I like just flying more than actually playing Quidditch and I don't
think I'd enjoy it as much if I made the sport I love into an actual career."
"What do you want to do for a career?" Rabastan asked curiously.
Harry frowned. "I was talking to Draco about this at school. I was
thinking I'd like to be a teacher. Maybe for Care of Magical Creatures or
Defence Against the Dark Arts. I'm not too sure. I might change my mind
this year, next year or even once I've graduated, but at the moment I
want to be a teacher."
"That is an admirable career choice." Lucius told him approvingly as they
started off back towards the manor.
Harry smiled shyly and ducked his head. He wasn't used to sharing his
thoughts with other people, so, sharing his career choices and having
them praised was something he was very unused to as it had never really
happened before. He was very pleased and he hoped that even if he
didn't go on to be a teacher that Lucius still approved of whatever career
he did choose later in life.
They made it back to the manor and they slipped back into the drawing
room, where Narcissa was taking advantage of the peace to read a novel
with a dust jacket that was moving, lightning flashing over the tops of
trees while a bear suddenly appeared, prowling around the tiny stone
cottage in the middle of the supposed forest.
She immediately slid in a bookmark and put the book down, standing to
come and check them over, putting a pale hand on both his and Draco's
cheeks. She tutted in disapproval.
"You are both too cold. Pimsey!"
A house-elf immediately appeared in the room and curtseyed low.
"What can Pimsey be doing for Mistress?" It squeaked out.
"Hot chocolate for the young masters, now." Narcissa ordered curtly.
The house-elf was gone in the space of a blink and Harry sat down with
Rabastan on the same settee that they'd been sat on that morning. His
hand rose again to the pendant around his neck and he played with it.
Pimsey was back not two minutes later and she handed a large mug of
hot chocolate to Draco and then gave one to him.
"Thank you." He said automatically and the house-elf looked like she'd
burst into tears while the Malfoy's and the Lestranges just stared at him
as Pimsey left.
Harry took a big gulp and sighed happily as it warmed him.
"What?" He demanded when he realised that he was being stared at.
"You did that thing with the house-elves again." Draco sneered at him.
"He's done that before?" Rodolphus asked in absolute disgust.
"He does it all the time at school." Draco ratted him out.
"What does it cost me to thank someone for doing something for me?"
Harry demanded. "Nothing!"
"It's a house-elf!" Xerxes said aghast.
"They're still living! They still have emotions!"
"Granger got to you."
"I am a founding member of S.P.E.W."
"Excuse me?" Lucius demanded. "A founding member of what?!"
"S.P.E.W. The Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare. I was the
Secretary."
Draco snorted with laughter and almost choked on his hot chocolate.
"You make a good secretary." Draco told him.
Harry grinned. "I never actually did anything and there was no way that I
was going around wearing a badge that said Secretary for SPEW on it. It
was a good idea in theory, but Hermione went about it in completely the
wrong way."
"How was it a good idea?" Xerxes demanded. "Those creatures are happy
to be servants."
"Exactly, servants, not slaves and they're treated as slaves by most people.
It doesn't cost me anything to say thank you for a service they've given
me and it makes them feel better, why is that so difficult?"
"You've been doing wonderfully well, but it is times like these that
remind me that you were raised by foul muggles." Xerxes commented and
Harry glared at him until Lucius checked him with a hex to the back of
the head.
Harry took a deep breath and looked away, letting the conversation drop
and letting the room be plunged into a stiff, cold silence where the
tension just grew and grew the longer the silence stretched on. Harry
refused to break that silence, he wanted them to be uncomfortable.
Lucius was the one to break it, after realising that no one else was going
to do so and that neither Harry nor Xerxes were going to apologise. He
broke it by telling Pimsey to serve wine and cheeses, he didn't thank her,
but neither was he quite so venomous with his order. Harry
acknowledged and accepted that Lucius was trying to keep the peace, so
he didn't kick up a fuss.
Rabastan distracted him anyway, by feeding him bites of cheeses on
lightly salted crackers after finding out that not only had Harry never
tried any of the cheeses on offer but that he'd never seen or heard of most
of them.
"This one is Brie." Rabastan told him, holding out the cracker with the
aforementioned brie on it for Harry to take a bite out of.
Harry chewed and then pulled a face and Rabastan laughed and held out
a napkin so Harry could spit it out.
"That's disgusting." Draco told him.
"No, that cheese is disgusting! It tastes like it's gone past its use-by date."
Harry corrected him, washing away the taste of the Brie stuck in his
mouth with water.
"This one is Crawford stilton." Rabastan told him, having far too much
fun at his expense in Harry's opinion.
"That one even looks disgusting! I'm not trying it."
"How will you know if you like it or not if you don't try it?" Rabastan told
him.
"Taste is only one of the senses, sight and smell are two and they're both
telling me that I'm not going to like that smelly, mouldy hunk of cheese."
Rabastan burst out laughing and so did everyone else, all at his expense
and Harry bristled.
"Just try it." Rabastan encouraged, once he'd stopped laughing and
regained some control. "Look, it's good." Rabastan took a bite out of the
cracker then held out the rest for Harry to try and he scowled, but he
opened his mouth and allowed Rabastan to feed him the half cracker and
bite of cheese.
The flavour was overpowering, as his nose had told him it would be, and
he dived for the napkin to spit it out, getting more laughter at his
expense. He gulped his water and glared at Rabastan.
"No more." He insisted.
"You need to try new things." Rabastan told him, smiling at him so
happily that Harry relented almost immediately. He'd do anything to
make Rabastan smile like that more often.
He grudgingly took a bite out of another cheese presented to him, a little
hesitantly as this cheese was filled with holes, but as he chewed, he
found that he actually liked this one and he swallowed it and took the
other half of the cracker and cheese into his mouth.
"I like that one." He said once he'd finished.
"See." Rabastan said with a soft grin. "If you don't try them, then you
won't know if you like them or not. That was Emmental."
"How have you never tried any of these before?" Lucius asked him. "I
assume that the muggles have cheeses."
Harry automatically thought back to the Dursleys, who always had a bog-
standard cheeseboard on offer at Christmas, he knew as he'd taken it
from its supermarket packaging often enough, but he'd never been
allowed to so much as nibble them. He was to prepare the food while
Dudley was opening his thirty-odd presents, then he was to go back to his
cupboard and stay there.
"Of course, they did." Harry said softly. "They just never let me have any."
He said, not looking at anyone as he took the cracker from Rabastan and
bit into it. He neither liked nor disliked the double Gloucester with
chives.
All at once, the room was reminded forcibly that he had been mistreated
in his childhood by his muggle relatives and Harry watched as Rabastan
bared his teeth and clenched both fists.
Lucius sighed and pushed the platter of cheeses more towards Harry,
calling Pimsey back and ordering her to get even more cheeses.
"I want you to try all of them. Every single one." Lucius instructed him
and Harry grimaced.
"Some of them look gross."
"Try them." Lucius insisted and Harry relented and took a slice of cheese
that had red bits in it from between a garnish of fresh melon and red
grapes.
He nibbled it without a cracker and he pulled a face and handed it to
Rabastan, whose smile was a little forced.
"It has fruit in it! Who puts fruit in cheese?!" Harry demanded.
"You uncultured swine." Draco teased him.
Harry huffed and picked up another piece of cheese from the platter that
Pimsey had just served, which was more white than the creamy yellow of
some of the others. Nibbling on it carefully gave him nothing except that
it was mild and very fresh tasting. He put more into his mouth and
chewed it consideringly.
"Do you like that one?" Rabastan asked him gently and Harry nodded.
"That was goats' cheese."
Harry picked up a little cube next, of what he thought was more goat
cheese, but was very crumbly and salty on his tongue. He grimaced as he
hadn't expected it, before actually realising that he did like it a little bit.
"That was actually feta." Rabastan told him with a laugh.
"Isn't that a salad cheese?" Harry asked.
"It is a salad cheese."
"Not very traditional." Harry said with a grin.
"I think your father is just making sure you try every cheese in existence."
Rabastan told him with a small, forced grin.
"I don't like this game." Harry frowned as he eyed another ordinary-
seeming piece of cheese. "I like cheddar, can't we just leave it at that?"
"No." Draco told him simply as he ate his own cheeses, sipping on a glass
of red wine. Harry had declined the wine to support Rabastan, who was
strictly not allowed any alcohol on his recovery diet.
Harry grimaced and tried another piece of cheese. It wasn't too bad it was
just a bit rubbery for his tastes.
"That was edam."
"Not too bad." Harry sighed and he tucked himself into Rabastan.
He took some melon and a handful of grapes and he tried them, finding
them at their perfect ripeness, naturally. He then turned to Rabastan and
repaid the favour, feeding him bits of fruit, knowing that Rabastan was
allowed to eat a bit of fruit from his written diet sheet that he had
studied extensively so that he knew what his betrothed could have, and
at what time.
Harry wiped Rabastan's chin for him from the juice that dribbled down it
from the melon pieces and he did so willingly and lovingly. He didn't
care and now that Rhadamanthus was gone, no one else cared either. In
fact, Xerxes was watching them with a satisfied smile on his face and
Rodolphus looked over every now and then, nodding approvingly.
Harry ignored them both and Rabastan's back was to them so he couldn't
see. Rabastan let him know he'd had enough when he touched Harry's
hands and held onto them. Harry finished off the last bit of melon and
the few grapes himself before settling into Rabastan and just enjoying the
peace with him. He didn't know why he'd ever been afraid of spending
time with Rabastan, or why he thought it would be awkward. He laughed
now at his previous thoughts on the matter, being with Rabastan was
just…it just was. It was easy, it made him happy and the thought of a
real future, a future he actually wanted, it was the best feeling in the
world and he wanted it with all of his heart. He wanted Rabastan and he
wanted children with him. It was as simple as that.
The Christmas period flew past, too quickly for Harry's liking as he tried
to spend even more time with Rabastan. It wasn't fair that they would be
split up again in just a week's time. He didn't want to say goodbye to
him.
"Don't say goodbye while we still have time left together." Rabastan told
him as he caught Harry glowering at the date on the corner of the
newspaper that Lucius was reading.
"I can't help it. I don't want to go back." Harry said sullenly as he fingered
his Lestrange pendant hanging around his neck. He'd kept his promise, he
hadn't once taken it off, not even when he slept, showered or had a bath.
Rabastan smiled and cupped his hands, stilling them. He bent forward
and pecked his lips while a suspicious Narcissa watched them closely,
anything more than a full, second-long kiss on the lips would be repaid
with a hex to the back of the head, or whatever particular body part she
had a clear aim at.
"You have to go back, it'll only be until Easter, then you will be back
again for a week."
"It's not enough." Harry sighed. "It's not nearly long enough."
"It'll only be for a little while." Rabastan insisted. "You'll be out of
Hogwarts sooner than you know, then we'll start our family."
Harry smiled as he heard that, deliriously happy that Rabastan wanted
the same future that he did. It made him fall a little deeper in love with
the man sitting next to him.
"I finished off the last of your homework last night, Harry." Lucius said as
he folded up the offending newspaper as he finished with it. "It's perfectly
acceptable and even exemplary in some cases. Well done, I'm very proud
of you."
Harry grinned and sat up a little straighter, ignoring Rabastan's small
laugh at his actions. He'd never get enough of having praise, especially
from one who rarely gave it and barely had a nice word to say to, or
about, anyone.
"If you keep up that level of concentration throughout your schoolwork,
you should be looking at Exceeds Expectations throughout your
examinations, except for your Defence examinations, of course. I would
be highly disappointed if your standards slipped now and you got
anything less than Outstanding."
"I find the Defence work too easy." Harry admitted. "Though we are
moving onto non-verbal spells, which are more difficult as I find that my
magic works better when I channel my emotions through it in the form of
shouting, but I can still pick up the spells easily."
"Seeing Granger's face when you scored a hundred and forty per cent on
that test made my day." Draco smirked.
"You scored a hundred and forty per cent?" Xerxes asked, his eyebrows
touching his hairline. "I'm very impressed."
"Yeah, I scored perfectly on the theory exam and when it came to the
practical, I outdid what was asked of me, the Professor had no choice but
to mark me based on the skill I'd shown and I ended up with a hundred
and forty per cent of the mark."
"What did you have to do?" Rabastan asked interestedly.
"We had to disarm and immobilise a charmed dummy." Draco answered.
"Harry had to go one further."
"I disarmed and immobilised it." Harry told his brother with a grin.
"You disarmed and demolished it." Draco argued. "There was nothing left!
Not even a pile of ash or dust!"
"What spells did you use?" Rodolphus asked interestedly.
"Expelliarmus and Reducto." Harry said. "They're my favourites."
"Your Reductor curse was so powerful that nothing was left after your
spell hit it?" Rodolphus demanded.
"It's not that impressive. It's not supposed to leave anything behind, is it?"
"Yes! It's supposed to leave behind particles of the object it hits, whether
a pile of ash, dust or mist or something. It's not supposed to just
disappear entirely."
"Oh…well I haven't left behind mist or ash for the last year. I just
assumed I was doing it wrong or not putting enough focus behind the
spell before."
"He got bonus points for only using two spells, as well." Draco told the
table. "Most of the class had to use nine spells to disarm and immobilise
the dummy, it kept breaking free of the weaker spells or deflecting the
disarming charm."
"I hope you weren't one of the ones who took nine spells to combat a
simple training dummy." Lucius drawled.
"Of course not! I took three. My freezing charm wasn't strong enough."
"I can help you with that." Harry insisted. "It was the last wand
movement that let you down, you jerked your wand too hard, it's a softer
flick."
"You really would suit at being a teacher." Lucius told him.
Harry blushed. "I taught twenty-seven people in secret last year while
Umbridge was failing at Defence. Every single one of my students got top
marks in their exams that year."
"That was the secret club you were running!" Draco burst out. "It was a
defence club?"
"Yes, you have to agree that Umbridge was an inept teacher, so I took
matters into my own hands and I taught others how to defend
themselves, no thanks to you and your Inquisitorial Squad." Harry
sneered at him. "I was trying to help them fight, trying to teach them
how to defend themselves because Umbridge was a tyrannical fool who
taught us nothing. All because Minister Fudge is more afraid of losing his
office than the education of young witches and wizards."
Rabastan's hand touched his right hand, where the scars that Umbridge
had left were very visible. Any mention of what that woman had done to
him sparked fury within Rabastan and Harry could see that rage in those
beautiful blue eyes.
"Her trial is coming up soon, isn't it?" Narcissa asked calmly.
"Yes, Dear." Lucius answered. "She will be getting her comeuppance as
soon as all the evidence has been collected."
"Good, I don't want her to get away with harming my child."
Harry's gut squirmed pleasantly at that and he felt a warm sensation of
acceptance and love wash over him. He'd never get tired of that feeling,
never.
"She won't, Dear." Lucius insisted. "With the evidence stacked up against
her, she will be going to Azkaban. If our Harry doesn't have it shut down
before then."
Harry bristled with fury at the dig and he struggled to hold his tongue
and his temper. He took a deep breath and thought of how to civilly
word all of the slurs and the rage-fuelled torrent running through his
mind that he wanted to spit out all at once to defend himself.
He breathed and calmed himself as much as he could manage and he
used his most civil tone of voice to answer, trying to imagine that this
was a Wizengamot meeting and not a discussion around a private table.
"I do not want Azkaban shut down. I understand the need for a secure
prison and a justice system. I am objecting to the presence of the
Dementors only." Harry said calmly, if a bit shakily due to his suppressed
anger.
"Good. You're gaining a greater control over yourself and that terrible
temper of yours. Well done."
Harry blinked and frowned in confusion and then he blew out a breath as
he realised that Lucius hadn't been picking pieces out of him, but had
been testing his control over his anger issues. His shoulders slumped and
he blew out another controlled breath before letting his feelings on the
matter of being tested in such a way be known to all of them by turning
to Rabastan and engaging him in conversation.
Unfortunately, the Malfoy's New Year party was drawing closer, it was
tomorrow evening, and Harry was definitely not looking forward to it,
especially as Lucius had told him that he couldn't exclude an invitation to
Rowle, who had unfortunately sent his invitation back replying that he
would be attending, but Lucius had assured him that he'd warned the
man to stay well away from him during the party.
Harry hoped that Rowle listened to Lucius because if he didn't then he
would be very happy to curse him again…if Rodolphus didn't cave in his
face again. Now that could turn out to be very amusing, maybe the
Malfoy New Year's Ball wouldn't be quite as bad as he'd been imagining
after all. Maybe it could even be fun, after all, he and Rabastan weren't
fighting this time around, so he'd have Rabastan right there next to him
all night. He smiled and his hand gripped Rabastan's under the table, as
they still weren't allowed to touch while sitting next to one another. He
was actually looking forward to this now, though he definitely wasn't
looking forward to Draco poking and pulling on him for half of the
afternoon to get him ready. He wasn't fond of feeling like a human doll.
A/N: Here you are, lovelies. The next chapter of The Black Heir, I hope
you've all enjoyed it. It did take me a while to get out, but as I've said
repeatedly, this is not my priority fic, so updates for this will not be
regular or quick, but hopefully they'll all be at a length that's acceptable
as I refuse to post anything that's under 6,000 words at a minimum and
this fic so far has definitely smashed that at an average chapter length of
15,000. This chapter is actually the shortest to date, but then I've been
inundated by demands for an update and complaints of how long it's
taking me to post and that naturally makes me want to update it less, not
more and it's all too easy for me to ignore this fic in favour of my others,
seeing as I have so many of them, so please just be patient. I'm doing my
best and updates will come when they come and not a moment sooner.
Huge thanks to Avalon Callahan for being the 1,100th reviewer for this
story and to Laura for being the 1,200th reviewer for this story. Thank
you to all of you for always reading and reviewing.
Lehna: Harry is losing his temper so easily for a good reason, it's actually
in canon, we saw it most in Order of the Phoenix, I'm just playing with
that line a bit. Several readers have already guessed the reason and it has
been mentioned, in Dumbledore's POV, but there is a reason for it.
Lady Arachne: Oh no, there are several of them who are Death Eaters, or
if not outright Death Eaters themselves then they're Voldemort
sympathisers whose sons are Death Eaters. If you think that every single
Head of House of the Sacred Twenty-Eight, as well as other prominent
Pureblood families, as Lords of their lines, are on the Wizengamot, not to
mention the Heads of all Ministry Departments, that's actually a large
percentage of Purebloods who are going to be sitting on the Wizengamot
and a very large percentage of those are Voldemort supporters/
sympathisers. So Lucius and Xerxes definitely aren't the only two Death
Eaters/supporters on the Wizengamot.
NataliavonWallenstein: Hmm…I never considered Rabastan having a
Parseltongue kink before…I would imagine as Harry and Voldemort are
the only two and Voldemort would be the only one he would have heard
before and only then if Voldemort was talking to Nagini or ordering her
to eat 'enemies' then he wouldn't have linked it to sex or arousal before.
So I'd have to say no for the moment, but that might change if Harry
speaks in Parseltongue around Rabastan or starts hissing in his ear during
sex.
Also, yes, Luna will be making an appearance when Harry goes back to
Hogwarts, she is a Pureblood after all and not specifically on the shit list
or the blood traitor list, so it's acceptable for Harry to interact with her.
As for Remus, he will not be turning against Harry, that I know, as for
anything else, that will come later.
ambermaine100: Nope, now that Bill is actually accepting the Pureblood
traditions and such he can actually no longer be called a blood traitor, as
a blood traitor is a Pureblood who rejects the traditions and lifestyle of
their ancestors, though as it is actually a farce, seeing as Dumbledore is
basically forcing Bill to do this just to get him on the Wizengamot, then
he sort of is still a blood traitor, as he doesn't believe in any of it, he just
has to pretend he does to get on the Wizengamot.
As for the twins, I answered that in the A/N at the bottom of chapter 7.
Charlie will be the only one who support's Harry, but it's not because of
Harry himself, as he doesn't know about Harry yet, but because he
actually supports what Voldemort is doing, so by association they're both
on the same side and thus supporting one another.
laura (Guest): As J.K Rowling herself explained, all Purebloods married
Muggles at one time, but the Weasleys accepted and announced it to the
world that they had Muggle ancestors, thus they became known as blood
traitors, while all the other Pureblood families hid their Muggle ancestors
under the proverbial carpet and 'pruned' their trees by disowning the
members who embarrassed them.
Sapphirewaterfall: Rabastan gets very hot under the collar when he
thinks of how inexperienced that Harry is, as you mentioned, his games
were mostly with younger, inexperienced partners because he likes
teaching them himself instead of breaking them of habits he doesn't
particularly like during sex, of which there is a lot because he's very
particular with how he likes things to happen in the bedroom and he
didn't care to take the time to reteach already experienced partners when
they were all just games to him and would mostly be one night stands
anyway.
But Harry has been different from the start, Rabastan has never seen
Harry as a game, not least because Rabastan stopped playing those games
when he got the Mudblood pregnant and that was before he went to
Azkaban. He's worried that he will see Harry as a game or that he'll be
trapped in a marriage that will end up like one of his games, but by
worrying about it so much in the first place, he's already consciously
keeping Harry apart from his little games, as before he just wouldn't have
cared. So, even though he's worried about it, it's not going to happen
because he's consciously making it so that it will never happen because
Harry has always been different. Though Rabastan is going to have so
much fun teaching Harry about the pleasures of sex and teaching him
exactly what he likes in the bedroom.
Bellatrix will be coming into the story too, as will Voldemort, Charlie and
more of Bill and lots of Luna. Narcissa does get on with her sister to an
extent, but her sons (now including Harry, naturally) always come first
and she won't be afraid to rip out her wand and curse Bellatrix if she tries
to harm Harry.
As for Harry's seventh year, he will be engaged, not pregnant. He won't
be pregnant until after he's married once he's graduated, like a proper
little Pureblood. Anything else would be a huge, embarrassing scandal in
the social circles of the Pureblood families. Putting it like that I'm almost,
almost, tempted to write it, just for the scandal…no, no, we must stay on
the original plan! No babies until after marriage, strike that, no sex until
after marriage, we're doing this right, Pureblood style.
Tat5934: Xerxes Lestrange actually came before Xerxes Maddison, I
reused the name when making Myron's family, but yes, I do have a thing
for the name Xerxes. I can't help it. Nasta is also a reused name plucked
out from an older fic that I never posted, as is Sanex, Calix and Regan,
though the old Regan was a girl that time.
I hope you lovelies have enjoyed this, even if it is considerably shorter
than all the previous chapters, I'll try and do better with the next one,
StarLight Massacre. X
10. The Malfoy Ball
Last Time
Harry hoped that Rowle listened to Lucius, because if he didn't then he would
be very happy to curse him…if Rodolphus didn't cave in his face again. Now
that could turn out to be very amusing, maybe the Malfoy New Year's Ball
wouldn't be quite as bad as he'd been imagining after all. Maybe it could even
be fun, after all, he and Rabastan weren't fighting this time around, so he'd
have Rabastan right there next to him all night. He smiled and his hand
gripped at Rabastan's under the table, as they still weren't allowed to touch
while sitting next to one another. He was actually looking forward to this now,
though he definitely wasn't looking forward to Draco poking and pulling on
him for half of the afternoon to get him ready. He wasn't fond of feeling like a
human doll.
Chapter Ten – The Malfoy Ball
Harry nervously tugged at his robes, this time they were a bright,
Egyptian blue with gold embroidery along the hem, cuffs and on either
side of the gold fastenings that held his robe closed over his smart shirt
underneath.
He was once again wearing black underneath his robes, as apparently,
according to Draco, black worked really well as his base colour. But, his
black shirt had gold cuff links, which no one could actually see as his
robe covered his hands but according to Draco that wasn't the point, and
his black sapphire and gold Lestrange crested pendant was on show
around his neck. His shoes were highly polished and Harry was really
nervous. He didn't like parties, he'd never been invited to any before the
Parkinsons' winter gala the week before and that had been disastrous.
The Quidditch parties didn't count as they weren't really formal parties
and he didn't need to be dressed impeccably for them, most of the time
he'd still been in his muddy, sweaty Quidditch robes. The Yule Ball didn't
count either, he'd been forced into that because the fake Moody,
Bartemius Crouch Jr, had put his name into that damn goblet and as a
'champion' he'd had to perform the first dance. He had danced once and
then sat down for the rest of the evening. He would never have chosen to
go to the ball by himself if he hadn't been forced into it by being a
Hogwarts champion. He hadn't even bought his own dress robes for that
either, he really did have a terrible dress sense.
"You look fine." Draco insisted. "Stop pulling on your outfit or you'll ruin
it."
"I can't help it, you know I don't like this sort of situation."
"You need to get used to it, these sorts of social gatherings happen often
throughout the year."
"Please tell me that there isn't one for Easter." Harry sighed.
"No, the next one is at the beginning of the summer, though you will
attend more than I will, seeing as you're a member of the Wizengamot
and they hold a party in April and then the Ministry hold a gathering in
August and you will certainly be invited to that too as a technical worker
for the Ministry as a member of the Wizengamot. The Ministry pay you,
even if they didn't technically employ you, you're automatically on their
payroll and the employment list because of your lordships." Draco
happily informed him.
Harry groaned and rubbed at his eyes. "I don't have enough sets of dress
robes to cover all of these parties."
"Of course you do, your third set now will be used for the Wizengamot
party and before August we will have gone shopping for our new school
things. Mother and father will have parties for their birthdays, but we'll
be in school for those and then there are our own birthdays, of course,
but those won't strictly be a dress-up affair as it'll just be a few friends
and family, so dress robes won't be required. Father has worked it all out,
stop fretting."
Harry scowled at himself in the mirror. He was in Draco's bed suite and
they were waiting for the 'children' to arrive, as they had at the
Parkinsons' party, only this time they were the hosts.
"I can't wait for this to be over." He complained as he watched Draco fluff
up his baby fine, blonde hair.
"Midnight." Draco reminded him yet again. "Some of father's friends may
stay for a while afterwards, but we won't be required to stay with them,
now hand me that brush, I don't like the parting of my hair."
Harry rolled his eyes but he dutifully got Draco's brush and handed it to
him, watching curiously as Draco once again brushed all of his hair back,
parted his hair yet again and styled it meticulously.
"How does the back look? And, Merlin help me, don't just grunt 'fine'
again."
"You look stunning." Harry told him with another roll of his eyes. "There
are no creases in your robes and there isn't a hair out of place." Harry
answered dutifully.
Draco nodded in satisfaction. "Perfect then."
There was a knock on the door and Draco quickly got rid of his brush.
"That had better be Blaise." He muttered to Harry as he went to pull open
the door.
Narcissa was down in the receiving room and she was greeting everyone
as the hostess of the party and she was directing them where to go, the
children up to Draco's bedroom and any early arriving adults into the
ballroom where Lucius was with Xerxes, Rodolphus, and Rabastan.
Xerxes had banned Rhadamanthus from coming as 'punishment' for his
lack of control on Christmas Day. Harry was incredibly grateful for that.
He hadn't seen Rhadamanthus at all since Christmas Day and things had
been infinitely more peaceful and relaxed without him lurking and
skulking around.
"Thank Merlin it's you." Draco said as he opened the door and pulled
Blaise into the room.
Blaise gave a short whistle and an appreciative look to Harry when he
spotted him. "Are you still free?" He asked with a lecherous grin. "Please
tell me that you're free."
Harry scowled and looked down at himself. He didn't think he looked
that good, he'd definitely preferred the red robes to the blue, but other
than that, he looked normal. He turned back to the mirror and frowned
harder, he was exactly the same as always.
"Stop perving on my brother." Draco snapped. "He's not free anymore, he
worked out his problems with his betrothed like a man. Now come here, I
have something to tell you before everyone else arrives."
Harry chuckled at Draco's protectiveness and he ignored the both of them
as they started gossiping like old women in a tea shop about this and
that. Harry certainly wasn't interested in any gossip as he sat and
daydreamed about Rabastan and how good he'd looked in the charcoal
grey dress robes that he'd chosen to wear for tonight. Harry was almost
sure that Rabastan had ordered them especially for tonight because Harry
had commented on how good Rabastan would look in dark grey and
honestly, he did look very good in dark grey.
The door knocked again and Draco and Blaise were too busy giggling like
girls over whatever Draco had needed to tell Blaise to take any notice, so
Harry rolled his eyes and went to open the door.
He smiled genuinely at Theo and invited him in.
"How have you been?" Harry asked him.
"Alright." Theo answered unconvincingly. "You?"
"Fine, but I get the feeling that you aren't being entirely truthful, Theo.
Are you sure everything's okay?"
Harry clicked then, as he remembered that Daphne was supposed to be
staying with the Notts' for Christmas and that Daphne should have
arrived with Theo.
"Where's Daphne?"
"Who cares?!" Blaise called out from where he and Draco were sitting.
Harry sighed. "Don't listen to them, what's happened?"
"I'm not sure how much longer I can keep up the façade that nothing's
wrong." Theo told him quietly so that the others couldn't hear him.
Harry nodded. He opened Draco's door wider and led Theo out and down
the corridor, all the way to his own bedroom and he shut the door and
offered Theo a seat and then sat next to him.
"We'll have privacy here. Now tell me, why do you feel the need to keep
up the façade in the first place?"
"Because my father wants me to!" Theo told him, hunching forward and
putting his face into his hands.
"Theo, this is your life, not his." Harry said kindly. "If you don't love her
then you shouldn't be with her."
"I don't. I don't love her, I haven't for a while now."
Harry was surprised at that. He hadn't seen past the façade that Theo had
put up, though, if truth be told, he hadn't actually looked all that hard.
He'd just accepted it, which was even worse as Theo had probably
wanted someone to see past the ruse and to reach out to him, but now
that carefully constructed façade was cracking, Theo was at his absolute
limit.
"Break off your contract." Harry urged him. "You have other options."
Theo snorted. "What other options? One of Lord Selwyn's hideous
daughters? Pansy?"
"There are foreign pureblood witches." Harry told him. "Think of how
much harder it'll be for them over yourself. They have to leave their
home country, their family, perhaps not even knowing any English, to
come here to marry you, to live in your home. But, think about it Theo,
you might actually like someone else, you could actually fall in love.
Don't you even want to try for that instead of letting Daphne humiliate
you time after time?"
"She does humiliate me, doesn't she?" Theo sighed as if he'd been trying
not to think of it. "She…she actually fucked one of my father's business
associates in my bed the day before Christmas. He was fifty-four years
old and she didn't care. She made sure that it was in my bed and not the
one in the guest room that she had been given, but my own bed, at a
time when she knew that I'd come to find her. I think that was once too
many. It was too unforgivable, but my father is still insisting that I let it
go, like all the other times. He's insisting that I still go ahead with the
betrothal and the wedding, but I don't know if I can anymore, Harry."
"Then don't. You should not accept such behaviour from anyone, it's so
disrespectful, Theo and you know it too. You know you don't deserve it
or you wouldn't be having such thoughts and doubts. You're right, Theo,
what she's done is unforgivable, it was unforgivable from the very first
instance, but this, she's pushing you with the full belief that she'll get
away with it. She thinks that you'll just take it because you always have
before and she's doing it purposefully. She knows that your father wants
the money, along with the prestige and the title of heir of the Greengrass
line that'll come with her marrying you, so she believes that she can
always get away with it. Everything that she's done to you is unforgivable
and you shouldn't have to accept it. Do you really want to look at your
children in ten years and have to wonder if they're actually even yours?
Fuck what your father wants, what the hell do you want?"
"Not this." Theo told him. "Not her."
"Do you have any idea what people say about you, Theo? How weak they
think you are because you put up with Daphne and everything that she
does to humiliate and shame you? She thinks that she can do no wrong,
that she can do anything and get away with it and still have a respectable
marriage at the end of it. People think that you're a pushover because
you won't get rid of her, this isn't your father's betrothal, it's not his
marriage or his life, it's yours!"
"I've tried to broach the subject with him, but…"
"Don't 'broach the subject' with him, bloody tell him!" Harry insisted
sternly. "In his quest to get more money and power, he's going to ruin
your entire future, your happiness! How can you just stand passively by
and watch him do that to you, Theo?"
Theo looked away unhappily and Harry was saddened to see how broken
Theo was over all of this. He shook his head and reached forward to hold
Theo's hands comfortingly.
"You need to do what makes you happy, Theo. You need to break off this
poisonous betrothal and put it behind you. Your father can't dictate to
you who you love. He put you into this betrothal when you were just a
child because of greed. Because he wants the Greengrass money, you
know that yourself. Everyone knows that. He isn't thinking of the most
important thing in all of this, you. Don't let him ruin your life for money,
Theo. Please, I don't want to see you hurt."
Theo chuckled mirthlessly and pulled one hand from Harry's and covered
his eyes.
"You've only known me properly for a couple of months, how can you
care more about me than anyone else? Than my own father?"
"Because I'm not a greedy, money-grabbing prick?" Harry said and he got
a laugh for his efforts. "You're worth more than this, Theo. You deserve
more than a dirty slut who'll sleep with anyone and everyone, even a
fifty-four-year-old married stranger, and a father who cares more about
money than he does about you and your happiness. Fuck them both and
do what you want."
"What if he disowns me?" Theo said quietly, voicing one of his deepest
fears, Harry realised, by the way that he avoided eye contact. "I couldn't
take the shame of being a pureblood with no house, with no family
name."
"There is no shame on you for his actions, but there is for your own, you
gather more shame the longer you allow yourself to be treated like a
doormat by your father and by your future wife. That is your shame
because it is your choice to put up with it. If that bastard you call a
father actually disowns his only child, bereaving his own line of its only
heir, then he's a complete fucking fool. He won't risk it, Theo."
"But what if he does?" Theo argued angrily.
"Then I'll adopt you as a member of the Black family, or did you forget
that I'm the lord of House Potter and House Black?"
Theo looked totally shocked. "You…you'd do that? You'd adopt me as a
Black?"
"If you needed me to, I will. Of course, I don't expect your father to
disown his only heir, no matter how foolish he is, but if he actually did,
yes, I would adopt you. I already have to worry about producing an heir
for the Potter and Lestrange families, without worrying about the Black
line too. Three houses are just too many to juggle. I'd need three sons just
to cover all of the houses."
"I…I don't really know what to say, Harry. Thank you."
"You may not even need it, your father can't afford to lose you as his only
heir, you don't even have any sisters who could bring the lordship of the
Nott family to her husband, but if you do need it, the offer is there."
Harry insisted with a smile. "Now, you do what you want to do and you
don't need to worry about anything or about being disowned, because I'd
adopt you straight away into the Black family and I would strike your
father down to nothing. I'd discredit and ruin him in all social and
professional circles and I'd make sure that he thoroughly regretted ever
disowning you in the first place. For not seeing the son he actually has
and instead thinking only of monetary gain."
Theo stood up and pulled Harry to his feet and embraced him so tightly
that Harry was worried that his very newly healed bruises on his ribs
would come back, but he happily hugged Theo back and just held him as
Theo cried silently in gratitude and released tension and emotion into his
neck, having to slump down in order to do so.
Of course, that would have been when Draco came storming in to
demand where he'd gotten to.
"What in the name of Merlin are you doing?!" Draco raged. "Are you
trying to destroy your own betrothal? With him of all people!"
"Calm down, it's not what you think it is." Harry said calmly as he
blocked Theo from Draco's view so that he could subtly wipe his eyes and
tidy himself up a little. "I've just helped Theo in a massive way, that's all.
I love Rabastan with all that I am, you know that better than most,
Draco."
"Then you shouldn't be touching him like that!" Draco insisted.
"It's not what you think." Harry rolled his eyes.
"What would father think? What would Rabastan think?!" Draco
demanded.
"You really love making drama, Draco." Theo said as he squeezed Harry's
shoulders in thanks. "You always have. If you must know, Harry has
convinced me to break off my betrothal with Daphne."
Draco frowned then and looked from one to the other as if trying to work
out if he was being railroaded or not by a fake story.
"You aren't getting together with one another, are you?"
"I'm not gay." Theo said simply.
"I'm still very much in love with Rabastan and definitely not changing my
mind." Harry said tonelessly. "I want to marry Rabastan and have lots and
lots of babies with him."
"That's disgusting, I'd rather not have to think of that, thank you!" Draco
sneered.
"Then stop seeing things that aren't there." Harry demanded. "I'm helping
out a friend, nothing more! It's none of your business!"
"Oh? Is it Rabastan's business to know you're cosying up to another man,
do you think?"
Harry grit his teeth. "I was not cosying up to another man!" Harry hissed.
"Why don't we see what Rabastan thinks?"
Harry dived at Draco and yanked him backwards by his robes as he
turned to scurry off. They both ended up on the floor, Harry laying on
Draco's back.
"If anyone is going to say anything to him, it'll be me!" Harry shouted.
"It's none of your fucking business, Draco! Stop trying to make trouble
when you know that Rabastan and I are only just getting over our last
fight."
"Then maybe you shouldn't be secluding yourself away in your bedroom
and being intimate with another man!" Draco shouted.
"What?"
Harry's stomach vanished and his heart missed a beat as he looked up to
the open door and to the furious dark brown eyes of Rodolphus
Lestrange. For a moment, he feared that he was going to be cursed, or
even killed, and then Rodolphus stormed off and Harry knew, he just
knew, that he was going to Rabastan. That he was going to tell Rabastan
what he'd overheard before Harry had a chance to explain and everything
was going to blow up in his face again. All because he'd been helping and
comforting a friend. Why did it always happen to him?
Harry stood up quickly, stumbling a little in his haste, and he kicked
Draco in the ribs. Hard.
"If I lose my betrothal because of your loud mouth I will never, ever,
forgive you." He said seriously. "Pimsey!"
"Yes, young master, what can Pimsey be doing for you?"
"Take me to Rabastan Lestrange, now." Harry ordered her, holding out his
hand.
Pimsey took it and they were just gone. Harry took a deep breath and
opened his eyes, to see a startled Rabastan looking at him.
"Thank you, Pimsey." Harry said as kindly as he could manage at that
moment.
"Harry, you're supposed to be upstairs greeting our young guests." Lucius
told him. He was stood beside Rabastan, in a group of several other men
who were all looking at him curiously.
"I know. Rabastan, I need a word, quickly."
"What has happened?" Rabastan asked, looking him over in obvious
concern.
"Time is of the essence." Harry insisted primly.
"Okay." Rabastan agreed easily and he went to walk out of the double
doorway that led further into the manor house, the same way that
Rodolphus would be coming in, and Harry tried not to panic, knowing
that he had only minutes to get Rabastan out of the ballroom and away
from the path of an irate Rodolphus.
"No, not that way. Let's go into the garden."
"Harry." Lucius warned as the group of men he was standing with all got
smirks or knowing grins on their faces.
"You can give me a chaperone if you wish, Father." He said respectfully.
"I just really need to talk to Rabastan, right now."
"What in the name of Merlin has happened?" Xerxes asked him.
"Nothing!" Harry insisted, his gaze darting to the door without his
permission. Rodolphus would be storming through it at any moment. "We
need to go, now."
Xerxes sighed. "I'll chaperone you, but whatever you've done, this is a
poor way to try and hide from it."
"I'm not hiding from it, I'm actually trying to head it off. The 'it' being the
rage monster that is Rodolphus. Now can we please leave this room
before he comes in here and breaks my neck, please?"
"Rodolphus is angry?" Rabastan said, digging his heels in then and
looking to the doorway, looking like he wanted to go and comfort his
older brother.
"What did you do?" Lucius sighed.
"I didn't do anything. Draco and his loud mouth have done all the
damage and Rodolphus got the wrong end of the stick and now I am
trying to explain to my future husband what is going on before Rodolphus
comes storming in here with half-truths and a partially overheard
conversation and blows my betrothal to pieces."
"Well, in that case, get moving." Xerxes insisted, pushing the both of them
along. "Start walking, Basti, Rodolphus can cope without you coddling
him for five minutes while you talk to Harry."
They made it out into the garden and Harry blew out a relieved breath.
He'd managed to buy himself a little time, at least, now he just needed to
get Rabastan to understand that nothing had actually happened with him
and Theo. He pulled Rabastan quickly into a half-hidden walkway of
balled rose trees and fragrant herb bushes and made sure that Xerxes
wasn't within earshot, as Rabastan deserved to hear this first, before he
stopped and looked firmly at Rabastan.
"What is going on?" His betrothed asked confusedly.
"You know Theodore and I are friends?"
"The Nott boy, yes. What of it?"
"He's betrothed to that complete tart, Daphne."
Rabastan snorted. "That's one way to put it. I don't think there's a man in
that ballroom whose son, grandson, or nephew hasn't had a taste of her.
Some of them have slept with her personally and they're thrice the age of
her."
"Well, I've been saying for a while that Theo should break off his
engagement to her. He doesn't deserve the shit she puts him through.
He's only still with her because his father is forcing him into it because he
wants the Greengrass fortune and the Greengrass title for his own son or
grandson."
"Everyone knows this, what does it have to do with my brother?"
Harry sighed. "I finally convinced Theo to break off his engagement
tonight. He was visibly upset when he arrived, so I took him to my
bedroom so that Blaise and Draco wouldn't see and humiliate him more
than Daphne already does. It was just for him to calm down. We sat on
my settee, talking, about what he actually wants out of his life, out of a
marriage and why he thought that he couldn't have it and I convinced
him to break off his contract. He was mostly worried about his father
disowning him."
"He's an only child, the only heir, not even Nott would be so stupid as to
end his own line with a disownment, especially not merely because his
heir won't marry the whore he set him up with. No one has an obligation
to marry from a mere betrothal contract, they can be broken as easily as
glass."
"That's what I said, but he was still very worried about it, he seemed
convinced that he would be disowned if he stood up to his father and
broke off his contract, so I told him that if he was disowned then I'd
adopt him into the Black family. He was very grateful and he hugged me,
he was actually sobbing on my shoulder, but Draco burst in, got the
entirely wrong end of the stick and started shouting and Rodolphus
overheard him and he couldn't wait to come and tell you that I was
sequestered away in my bedroom with another man when that wasn't
what happened at all."
Harry fell silent and stared at Rabastan, who was blank-faced and
unmoving. One large hand clenched into a fist.
"That boy touched you?"
Harry wrapped both his hands around that fist and kissed it. "No. Well,
yes, but not like that, Rabastan. Not like how we touch one another. It
was just a hug because I'd taken the burden from him, I'd enabled him to
do what he wanted to do for once. I've given him the means to break off
his betrothal and taken the worry away from being disowned."
"The Black title should go to our children!" Rabastan hissed.
"Our children will still have the Potter and Lestrange titles." Harry
argued. "Technically, neither one of us is even a Black! I only got that
title because of my godfather, Rabastan. Otherwise, it wouldn't even be
open for us to use! Isn't two houses, two lordships, enough? I'm
struggling to juggle my responsibilities for two houses, Rabastan. Sorting
out those damn portfolios and all the responsibilities that come with
running two houses, what if we only have one son? Are you really going
to lumber him with three titles? Three lordships? It's too much!"
"So you're going to give away all of our titles?!" Rabastan demanded.
Harry took a deep breath when the red-hot anger spiked inside him. He
tried to calm himself and he squeezed the hand that he still held between
both of his own.
"I offered my friend, who is stuck in a betrothal with a witless whore
because his father is a greedy, money-hungry bastard, the option of being
adopted into the Black family if his father disowned him when he breaks
his betrothal contract because he deserves better. How is that giving
away our titles and lordships?" Harry bit out as calmly as he could
through gritted teeth.
"You barely know him."
"You know what? I don't care! I'd do exactly the same thing again, if you
can't accept that then it's fucking tough!" Harry said angrily, dropping
Rabastan's hand and moving to walk away. Rabastan grabbed him and
Harry found himself face-to-face with an angry Lestrange, those beautiful
blue eyes sparking with his fury.
"Do you want Nott?"
Harry glared back. "Are we going to do this again, Rabastan? Again?"
"Do. You. Want. Him?!" Rabastan ground out.
"No!" Harry shouted out. "I only want you, you thick-headed, overly
jealous prat!"
"So, there's nothing between you?"
"You know what? I can't deal with you anymore. Are you trying to tell
me that I can't have any friends?!"
"No! I just don't want them touching you."
Harry sighed and rubbed his forehead. "He was hugging me in gratitude,
it wasn't the same!"
Rabastan grabbed him and pulled him into a tight hug. Harry fought for a
moment before he all but melted into the embrace and snuggled his face
into Rabastan's neck.
"So, it wasn't like this?" Rabastan asked quietly.
"Not even close." Harry replied as he pushed one hand into Rabastan's
hair and massaged his scalp with his fingertips.
"You still love me?"
Harry laughed. "Rabastan, I've only ever loved you. You're the first and
only, just, please, please stop being so jealous over nothing. You'll set us
onto a road to destruction before we're even married and I can't have
that. It's not an environment I ever want to bring children into. If I was
hugging him like this and confessing everlasting love then I'd understand,
but I wasn't. I've just helped him out of a terrible situation and he was
grateful. He doesn't even like me that way, he likes women."
"I didn't mean what I said. You can have friends and you can do what you
want with your own lordships. As long as you still become a Lestrange, as
long as you marry me, I don't care about anything else. I just want you
and I want you to want me."
"I do. Of course, I do. I don't like boys, Rabastan, I like men. I love you.
How can you still doubt me?"
"I don't, otherwise I would have been upstairs cursing that Nott boy
instead of still down here with you."
Harry sighed and he pulled Rabastan back into a tight hug.
"So, we're okay and you don't mind that I said I'd adopt Theo if his fool of
a father disowns him? I'd still be Lord Black, but Theo would be my heir."
"No, I don't mind, but I still don't think Nott will disown his only son and
heir. As for us, we're going to be fine."
Harry smiled and he pulled back slightly to kiss him full on the mouth
and Rabastan responded immediately. Rabastan's arms wrapped around
him and Harry went up on his tiptoes to wrap his arms around Rabastan's
neck as their kiss grew in intensity.
The addiction to that mouth, to those lips, to Rabastan's tongue, came
back to him in full force and Harry's arms clenched tighter as the kiss
deepened and one of Rabastan's hands cupped his cheek and tilted his
head and the new angle made everything that much more perfect as
Rabastan's other hand slipped down to grope his bum…and that was
when their kiss ended as Harry suddenly found himself yanked down to
the ground and he looked up to see Rabastan picking himself out of a
rosemary bush.
He laughed, he couldn't help it as he watched an enraged Rabastan
struggling out of the herb plant, picking the needles from his robes and
his hair in furious swipes of his large hands.
"I thought that you two were getting a little too cosy." Xerxes told them
unapologetically, twirling his wand in his fingers. "I let it go on for a little
while, knowing that you needed to reconnect after your little spat, but
when it looked like you'd throw off all of your clothes right here in the
garden, then I had to step in. Can I assume that from your passionate lip-
lock that things are once again fine between you both?"
Harry looked at Rabastan and smiled.
"Everything's fine." Rabastan answered, smiling back at Harry and pulling
him into a hug. "Harry is a good friend and the Nott boy was a bit…
handsy in his gratitude towards Harry's kindness. There was nothing to
the exchange but friendly interaction. Draco has a loud mouth and
Rodolphus overheard a fraction of a conversation and jumped to
conclusions."
"Your little spats really must stop. Communication is the key here."
Xerxes told them seriously.
"We're just working everything out." Harry insisted with a grin. "We're
both passionate men, our tempers run high so we have little fights, but
we're also intelligent, rational men too, we'll work it all out and find
where everything fits."
"Is everything fitting how you wanted it to?" Xerxes asked with narrowed
eyes.
"Not exactly, but that's how relationships work, it's all about
compromising to accept another person with their own thoughts and
feelings into your own life. Compromise is an important requirement in
any relationship, not just marriage. If Rabastan fit exactly into me and
my schedule with no compromise or wriggling around or any need for me
to compromise my own life around him, then I'd have been highly
suspicious and worried. So, though it doesn't fit exactly, we're working on
it and I actually think Rabastan and I fit together really well because
we're accepting of one another's personalities and faults."
Xerxes grinned at him and Rabastan smiled softly, bending down to give
him a peck on the lips.
"You really are incredibly mature for your young age." Xerxes
complimented him. "Come on, the both of you, I think we've been away
from the gathering for far too long already. Lucius will start to question
my motives and he'll prevent me from being a chaperone in future. He's
far too overprotective of you, Harry. He's like a jealous bear when it
comes to his sons."
Harry laughed and looked at himself, he was perfectly clean and
unrumpled, though he brushed his robe down regardless. The pathways
had all been cleared of snow so that their guests could walk through the
garden unobstructed by snow, so there was nothing for him to get wet or
dirty on.
Rabastan on the other hand was distinctly rumpled and still covered in
rosemary needles. Harry chuckled and brushed him down and
straightened out his shirt and robe for him, smiling up at him once he
was done. He got another kiss, this one slightly longer than a peck, for
his care.
"I love you." Rabastan declared strongly.
"I love you more." Harry insisted with a grin, taking Rabastan's hand and
leading him back into the manor via the ballroom.
He'd almost forgotten about Rodolphus in his joy over his love for
Rabastan. Or at least he'd forgotten how very angry the man had been,
all it took was one look into his fuming face, those enraged eyes, and he
knew that he was still in trouble.
"He's going to kill me." He said with a grimace.
"Who?" Rabastan demanded protectively before he caught sight of his
older brother's face. "Let me deal with him, you go and get a drink."
"We should do this together." Harry insisted.
"Dolphus likes to act first and listen later, go and get a drink and then
come back, so I've had a chance to start talking to him."
Harry nodded and squeezed Rabastan's hand before he made his way to
the drinks table.
"Did you make up?"
Harry glared at Draco, who had Astoria on his arm, before ignoring him,
picking up a glass of pumpkin juice.
"Don't ignore me." Draco hissed.
"You'd deserve it." Harry hissed back. "You could have lost me my
betrothal!"
"I didn't mean to!" Draco whined. "I wasn't even going to tell Rabastan, I
didn't know that Rodolphus was walking down the corridor at that exact
moment!"
Harry sighed and tried to see the Lestrange brothers through the backs of
the thronging people in the ballroom. They'd moved off into a more
secluded corner of the ballroom for privacy.
"Rabastan and I are fine. I explained what happened before Rodolphus
reached the ballroom and Rabastan understands that Theo and I are just
friends. There was nothing in the hug he gave me, just gratitude and
relief. It's completely different to even holding Rabastan's hand. I'd go
one further and say that there was more intimacy in me just sitting next
to Rabastan than in the hug that Theo and I shared. There's no passion,
no attraction there. There is only Rabastan for me."
"And Flint." Draco put in helpfully.
Harry smiled. "No." He shook his head. "I liked Marcus, he was easy to
talk to, but again, there was nothing there between us. It was slightly
awkward to tell you the truth. There is only Rabastan. I'm drawn to him,
there's just something about him and I can't resist it. He makes me laugh,
he makes me happy and dear Merlin is he a good kisser!"
Astoria giggled and Harry winked at her before turning back to his
brother.
"There's only Rabastan for me, Draco. I don't want anyone else. Anyway,
enough about me, how are you, Astoria? You look very beautiful
tonight."
Astoria was in a flowing dress of the palest pink that Harry could
imagine, from a distance it might even be mistaken for white. Her pale
blonde hair was tied up in an elegant knot with pale, pearlescent pink
clips and she seemed to have made more of an effort for this party than
she had with the last. He wondered if it was because her future in-laws
were the ones hosting or if it was because Draco had actually paid her
some attention during the Parkinsons' winter gala and she was expecting
him to do the same at this party, so she'd taken more care. Maybe it was
both.
"Thank you, I am very well. You look very handsome tonight. That shade
of blue really suits you, slightly darker and paired with the black, it
compliments you very well. You should try a darker green too, paired
with your eyes it would look stunning."
Harry grimaced. "My last set of robes are dark green. Draco told me to
save them for the Wizengamot party in April."
Astoria looked approvingly at her future husband. "Yes, you always save
your best colour and the most expensive cut for the more important
parties."
Draco held out his hand, looking a little shamefaced. "I'm sorry for almost
ruining your betrothal."
Harry sighed, gripped Draco's hand and pulled him into a hug. "You're
forgiven, just don't do it again! I'm in control of two Beaters on the
Quidditch pitch who will happily take your head off if I tell them to."
Draco laughed and Astoria giggled.
"I need to get back to Rabastan. He should have calmed Rodolphus down
by now."
"Be careful. Rodolphus is the scarier of the two."
Harry grinned. "I'm sure he's like a guard dog, you just need to find out
where to rub him to get him flat out on his back."
Astoria blushed hard and even Draco looked shocked. Harry laughed.
"I don't recommend trying it!" Draco called out after him as Harry picked
up two glasses of water and made his way over to where he'd last seen
Rodolphus, from there he worked his way to the nearest corner, where a
private, hushed conversation could be held.
He found them only too easily, they were still big, tall men even if they
were slightly skeletal to look at still. Rodolphus was looking furious and
unconvinced and Rabastan was looking as equally angry and frustrated.
"You!" Rodolphus hissed as soon as he laid eyes on Harry. "You will take
Veritaserum and prove without all doubt that you were not being
intimate with anyone!"
"Rodolphus, no!" Rabastan growled out. "I don't care what you think, I
believe him! That should be enough!"
"It's not!" Rodolphus insisted with a harsh scowl that made his face seem
more like his wanted posters from Azkaban. "If he doesn't have anything
to hide, then what's the problem? Or are you afraid of finding out that
perhaps your dearly beloved boy has been messing around with others
while you've been singing his praises and raising him up on a pedestal as
the perfectly pure consort?" Rodolphus challenged.
"He hasn't been!" Rabastan insisted firmly and Harry's heart swelled with
love for this man. How could anyone think that he would ever cheat on
Rabastan? How could they not see how much he dearly loved him? He
had no need for anyone else.
"I'll do it." He said simply, cutting through their hushed argument in one
of the corners of the ballroom, where they'd gone for a bit of privacy,
though naturally everyone close to them were leaning in and straining
their ears to try and hear them, even though they'd cast a privacy ward.
"No! I won't let you! You're my betrothed, not his! It's up to me to
demand such testing, not him and I won't do it. I don't believe any of
these falsehoods and lies, Rodolphus. No!"
"Actually, I believe it's up to me if I want to do it or not and I won't stand
by and watch you two fighting with one another over something that can
easily be cleared up with a few drops of potion. I haven't done anything, I
have nothing to hide and therefore nothing to fear. I don't know why it's
so hard for you to believe that I truly love your brother, Rodolphus, but I
do. There has been no one else and I consent to your test."
"I'll send Lucius to Severus immediately." Rodolphus said shortly and
stormed off.
"I don't want you doing this, Harry." Rabastan said upset. "I believe you, I
know that nothing is going on. I trust you when you say that. What does
it matter if Rodolphus doesn't? You're marrying me, not him! He can
accept it or he can leave us alone."
Harry smiled softly and handed over the second glass of water and he
used his free hand to cup Rabastan's cheek. It was firmer than it had been
when he'd first met him, there was more flesh to it so it didn't feel like
the skin was stretched right over the bone. His Rabastan was getting
better, he was getting healthier in almost unseen ways. Harry was so
proud of him and it was ridiculous, but he couldn't help it.
"I don't want you and Rodolphus fighting, least of all over me, Rabastan.
You need your brother, you two have been through so much together and
I never, ever want to come between you both. I'm going to pass his little
test and if it at all helps him to accept that I haven't been messing you
around, I'll do it. He's so protective of you and at the moment he fully
believes that I'm playing with you and your emotions. He thinks that I'm
humiliating you and disrespecting you without your knowledge and he
isn't going to accept that I'm not until he's got irrefutable proof that I'm
not. I'm willing to give him the proof that he needs to stop all this
fighting because I don't like seeing you upset, and fighting with
Rodolphus always makes you upset."
Rabastan swallowed and hugged him tightly, pulling him into his chest.
He felt firmer to Harry, less bony and he could stay standing for up to
forty minutes now before he needed to sit down. Harry hugged him
tighter and pressed his face into Rabastan's robes.
Lucius looked furious when he came over to get him, Harry thought that
it was because he was breaking the betrothal terms by being so close and
openly affectionate to Rabastan in public, but as Lucius directed him and
Rabastan to a private sitting room, where an equally angry Xerxes was
waiting with a stubbornly positioned Rodolphus, Harry had to think if
Lucius wasn't actually offended at being asked to prove his adopted son's
intentions in such a way.
"Let's get this over with quickly." Xerxes muttered, sending a filthy look
toward Rodolphus. Harry had the insane thought that perhaps Xerxes
didn't quite believe that nothing had happened and it made him even
more determined to do this.
"Stick out your tongue, Harry." Lucius told him shortly.
Harry did as he was asked and the three Lestrange men watched closely
as three precise drops were placed on his tongue by his father.
One moment he was fine, the next his head had gone blank and fuzzy
and his body relaxed completely, his arms going straight and loose by his
sides as his back and shoulders slumped.
"You are Harry James Potter." Lucius stated.
"Yes." He replied automatically, he hadn't even thought about the
question, he'd just answered immediately.
"You are the heir to the Potter and Black houses."
"No. I am the lord of those houses." Harry answered again without
thinking about anything. It was like his brain was no longer attached to
his mouth.
"The sorting hat put you into Gryffindor house."
"I chose Gryffindor. The hat wanted me in Slytherin." Harry couldn't have
held that statement back if he'd tried, he couldn't even think, he couldn't
react, he just answered.
"You are an adoptee of the Malfoy house."
"Yes."
"Are you satisfied that the potion is in full effect?" Lucius asked
Rodolphus smarmily.
"Get on with it." Rodolphus growled.
"Harry, were you in any way intimate with one, Theodore Nott, this
evening?" Lucius asked him.
"No." Harry answered simply.
"I told you!" Rabastan insisted furiously.
Rodolphus bared his teeth. "Have you been intimate with anyone other
than my brother, Rabastan Lestrange?!"
"That wasn't one of the predetermined quest…" Rabastan started
furiously, but Harry, forced to answer because of the potion controlling
him, cut across.
"Yes."
"With who?" Lucius asked as Rodolphus looked triumphant and Rabastan
looked crushed.
"Cho Chang, we kissed in my fifth year. I didn't like it."
"Before his betrothal, before I'd even adopted him." Lucius sneered at
Rodolphus.
"Do you love my brother, Rabastan Lestrange?"
"That is enough!" Lucius commanded.
"Yes." Harry answered simply.
"Are you completely untouched and pure?" Rodolphus asked quickly as
Lucius took out the small bottle of antidote, glaring at Rodolphus.
"Yes." Harry answered just as Lucius cupped his cheek and placed more
drops onto his tongue and slowly, ever so slowly, Harry felt the fuzziness
slipping away.
His mouth felt strange as if someone had rubbed a fluffy sock over his
tongue and he was slightly disorientated, almost confused, but he
remembered everything that had happened clearly. He worked his
mouth, testing that it was back in his control as his thoughts came back
and he was able to think again.
He blinked and accepted the glass of water that was offered to him,
drinking it down to get rid of the strange, cottony feeling in his mouth.
As soon as he was done and he had handed the empty glass back to
Lucius, Rabastan was there, holding him close and tight.
"You owe him an apology for forcing him through this, Rodolphus! You
accused him falsely of impurity and you demanded answers to questions
that we did not agree to ask!" Rabastan growled to his older brother.
"Rabastan is correct. You accused Harry of all sorts and now you must
amend your mistake." Xerxes insisted, looking so much happier, his back
was straighter, his shoulders held high. He had thought that Harry had
done something, either with Theo or Marcus or even someone else, it
didn't matter. Harry was glad that he'd proven them all wrong. Or right
in Lucius and Rabastan's case.
Rodolphus blew out a heavy breath, before standing straighter, looking
him dead in the eyes and holding his gaze. "I'm sorry that I wrongly
accused you of being with others. I was merely protecting my brother
and I will always do so, but in this case, I was wrong and I'm sorry."
Harry nodded. "I know you were doing it for Rabastan, that's why I
agreed to it. But I do love him, I really do. No one else has ever turned
my head."
"What about that Cho Chang who was mentioned?" Xerxes asked.
"I only went out with her because I thought that it was what I was
supposed to do. That it was what people did, asking girls out on dates to
Hogsmeade. It was before I realised that maybe I'd prefer men instead.
She kissed me and it just…it was just terrible." He confessed.
That broke the tension and set everyone off laughing. Rabastan's arms
clenched around him and he nuzzled into his hair. Harry felt a kiss and
he smiled.
"I need to go and wash my face a moment, it feels strange and all rubbery
like it's not mine." He said with a grimace.
"An after-effect of the potion." Xerxes told him and Harry nodded his
understanding.
"Excuse me a moment."
Harry was smiling happily as he made his way through the manor to the
downstairs bathroom. Thankfully, it was free because he didn't really
want to wait. He wanted to get back to Rabastan. He ducked his face and
cupped his hands into the flow of cold water to splash his face.
He felt a little more normal and he swished his mouth out too, to get rid
of the dry feeling he had that seemed stuck to his tongue like an
unmovable coating. He'd never tried Veritaserum before, he really didn't
like the effects of it, nor the after-effects for that matter.
He hoped that now he had been proven to be 'pure' and in love with
Rabastan that all the aggression and tension would ease off, he didn't
want to fight with Rodolphus all the damn time. He was his brother-in-
law, he wanted to get on with him, for Rabastan's sake more than
anything else, but Rodolphus would be his children's uncle one day,
everything would be so much easier if he got on with Rabastan's family
and Rabastan with his family.
He sighed and lifted his head and he had no time at all to react as he saw
another reflection in the mirror, right before his head was bashed into it.
Dazed, confused, and now in pain, Harry collapsed to the floor and he
couldn't react in time when a large body dropped onto him, forcing all
the air out of his lungs as large hands wrapped around his throat and
squeezed painfully tight, cutting off his windpipe so much that he was
reduced to fighting for every breath, inhaling in painful, stuttered gasps.
"You little shit, how dare you humiliate me in front of all of those
people!" The man snarled at him.
Harry was shocked to find that it was Rowle sitting on top of him,
looking no worse for wear after Rodolphus had rearranged his face for
him exactly a week ago.
"Get…off!" Harry demanded, trying to draw in enough air to breathe.
"I am Thorfinn Rowle! I am a pureblood of prestige and I will not let
some halfblood scum pretending to be a pureblood reject me!"
"You…deluded…fool." Harry choked out, his own hands curled around
Rowle's fingers, trying to pry them off of his neck to no avail.
"Let's see if that drooling, twitching cripple still wants you when I've had
you and you're growing with my child." Rowle snarled, letting go of his
neck suddenly and ripping open the front of his robes, the gold fastenings
flying everywhere as the expensive fabric tore. "If he actually does, seeing
as the pathetic excuse for a man is desperate, then I'll just have to dispose
of him and take you for myself. It shouldn't be too difficult with the poor
state of health he's in and I'd have the biggest claim to you, being the
father of your child. No one else would even look at you, you soiled
whore!"
Harry used his hands to push at Rowle, trying to get away from him and
cursing the fact that he hadn't thought to lock the bathroom door, but he
was only going to wash his face, he hadn't thought he'd need to lock it
behind him.
The icy anger flared when a hand popped the button on his smart
trousers and forced its way into his boxers to paw at him. He yelled in
fury and tried to dig his thumbs into Rowle's eyes, only to be headbutted
for his efforts and then punched in the mouth.
He tasted blood and it infuriated him as Rowle tried to pull his trousers
and boxers off of him, yanking and tearing at the fabric like a man
possessed. He was completely committed to raping him, here on the
bathroom floor of his own home.
Harry plunged his hand into his inner robe pocket, clenched his hand
around his wand and he drew it out with a sharp slashing movement. He
didn't even think, his icy anger took over and before he knew what had
happened Rowle was gone from between his legs and he was screaming
blue murder, some four feet away from him, next to the bathtub.
Panting hard and coming down from the adrenaline high, Harry
scrambled to his feet and looked around, Rowle was holding an obviously
broken arm (he could see the bone jutting out through the sleeve of his
robe) and Harry sneered at him, his mind clouded over with utter
resentment.
"Reducto!" He shouted without even thinking about it, or the
consequences of his loss of control, and he watched impassively as his
spell, aimed right between Rowle's legs, hit his left leg instead as Rowle
had moved, wriggling around like a worm impaled on a hook.
The result was catastrophic and it rained blood in the bathroom as
Harry's spell blew Rowle's leg clean off, the severed limb all but
exploding from the force of the spell and spinning off into a corner,
sending blood in every direction, covering everything, including him. The
stump that Rowle was left with was spurting blood at an alarming rate,
creating a puddle of it very quickly on the tiled floor that was spreading
with every single second.
Rowle's screams hit a higher, more animalistic pitch, a sound that Harry
had never heard before, and Harry took a breath, finally realising exactly
what he'd done in his anger as he'd shouted out the first spell that had
jumped into his head, and he realised then that maybe it would be better
if he let Lucius handle this from here.
He walked out of the bathroom quickly and went to look into the private
room where he'd taken the Veritaserum test, hoping that Lucius was still
there. He wasn't. The room was empty.
"Pimsey!" He called out.
"Yes, what can Pimsey be do…?"
"Get Lucius here, now. Immediately, with no delay." He ordered as he
licked his lips nervously and Pimsey almost fell over herself to do as he'd
asked.
He only had to wait a few minutes before Lucius, escorted by the three
Lestranges and a huge, fearsome-looking man that Harry had never seen
before, stormed into the private room with a cowering, but determined,
Pimsey. They all recoiled a little at seeing him standing in the room,
blood-splattered and in complete disarray.
"What happened to you?" Rabastan demanded as he immediately came to
hold him, but his hands wavered and sort of hovered over his body as he
didn't know if he was hurt or not or if touching him would make
everything worse.
"You only went to the bathroom!" Lucius said, completely appalled at his
blood-covered form.
Harry stared at the unknown man, biting his bleeding, bottom lip.
"This is Fenrir Greyback, he's a family friend." Lucius told him shortly,
letting him know that anything he had to say, he could say it. This
Greyback was obviously another Death Eater.
"Rowle attacked me in the bathroom." Harry said shortly and straight to
the point.
He had the pleasure of seeing the anger flare in Rabastan's eyes, which
was mirrored in Rodolphus'.
"I suppose I didn't teach him enough of a lesson last week." Rodolphus
snarled, his large hands curling into fists, the knuckles cracking
menacingly at the move.
"Where is he now?" Lucius demanded.
"I…well, you see, he took me by surprise and when he knocked me to the
floor, well, he tried to rape me."
"What?!"
Harry closed his eyes at the volume of at least three men shouting.
"He said that Rabastan wouldn't want me if I was defiled and pregnant
with his child, so he tried to rape me."
"Then he doesn't know me very well." Rabastan growled harshly. "I
wouldn't break our contract because he'd done that to you, I'd have killed
him instead."
"He said that if you did still want me afterwards, then he'd dispose of
you, leaving himself as my only suitor as the father of the baby he'd
given me."
"I wouldn't betroth you to a man who'd murdered your love and had
raped you. Pregnant or not." Lucius insisted firmly, his grey eyes glinting
like polished steel.
"I'm not so easily killed." Rabastan snarled. "Did he hurt you, Harry?"
"He…not really, just a little. I was more scared than hurt and then I got
angry. He's a lot bigger than I am, so I couldn't stop him physically."
"He actually raped you?" Xerxes demanded fiercely, making a violent
hand gesture.
Rabastan gently tugged on his robes, opening them to show that they had
no fastenings left, that they were torn and his trousers were ripped open,
misshapen and missing a button.
"Did he touch you?" Rabastan asked dangerously.
"Yes, he did manage to fondle me, but that's not what I need help with."
"I'm going to kill him." Rodolphus declared seriously.
"Ah, well…I may have already done so. That's what I'm trying to tell
you." He admitted with a grimace.
"What do you mean?" Lucius asked, everyone, even the unknown Fenrir
Greyback, looked at him interestedly then.
"He was threatening to kill Rabastan and he was trying to rape me!"
Harry told them angrily. "Do you really think I'd just lie there and bloody
let him?! I couldn't fight him off physically, but I am a wizard still."
"What did you do?" Rodolphus asked curiously.
Harry licked his lips. "Well, I did say the reductor curse was one of my
favourites…" He grimaced and closed his eyes. "I…I may have blown off
his left leg."
Whatever he was expecting, it was not raucous laughter. He blinked open
his eyes to see Rodolphus completely beside himself with mirth, almost
bent double with his uncontrollable laughter.
"Are you hurt?" Lucius asked him calmly. "You were vague when
Rabastan asked you."
"Not really, he headbutted me and punched my mouth, he also tried to
strangle me, but all this blood is actually his from when I blew his leg off.
The blood went everywhere, he was bleeding a lot when I left, there was
a puddle under the stump where his leg used to be and it was getting
bigger and bigger as I watched. I also broke his arm, I could see the bone
poking through the sleeve of his robe."
Rodolphus started laughing harder and he stepped forward to pet his
head, ruffling his hair.
"I will go and clean up the mess in the bathroom, then." Lucius sighed.
"I'll come with you." Xerxes insisted.
"I'll get rid of the body." The man, Fenrir, insisted firmly with a gleam in
his eyes that Harry didn't like. It made the hair on his arms and the back
of his neck stand up and his skin prickled with goosebumps.
"You will keep your cannibalistic tendencies out of my home." Lucius told
him sternly.
Harry's stomach knotted and his gorge rose at hearing that.
"He was alive and screaming when I left the room!" He insisted in a
squeak.
"He won't be when I'm done with him." Greyback grinned, showing off
his pointed teeth.
Harry's eyes widened before he could stop them and he instinctively
sought out Rabastan for protection. He sidled closer and pressed against
his betrothed, gripping that large hand tightly.
"Go and finish off Rowle before I beat you to it." Rodolphus told the
frightening man.
Harry felt a hand on his shoulder and he knew it was Rodolphus' because
both of Rabastan's hands were around his chest, holding him tightly.
"Ignore him, he likes frightening people." Rodolphus told him kindly and
Harry wondered if he was trying to make amends for forcing him into
that Veritaserum test or if he liked him more because he'd blown off
Rowle's leg and broken his arm. "I'm going to go and see what Rowle
looks like." He said with a demented grin and Harry thought then that it
was the latter.
Rabastan waved his wand over Harry and the blood peeled off of him and
another spell had the pain in his mouth and head vanishing as his split
lip was healed, along with the unnoticed cut he'd had at his hairline from
hitting the mirror.
"I can't do anything for your throat, it needs to come out into a bruise
and then have a bruise salve applied and there's no fixing this robe. Let
us go and get you changed."
"I only have one robe left and it's supposed to be for the Wizengamot
party. Can't I just go and stay up in my room and not come out?"
"No, we have to alleviate you of blame by giving you a room full of alibis
while Fenrir eats what's left of Rowle. I'll buy you a new set of dress
robes as a gift."
Harry grimaced as he thought of Fenrir eating Rowle alive. It made him
feel queasy and faintly light-headed.
"Do you think we need a chaperone?" Harry asked as Rabastan peered out
of the doorway and then pulled him out and down the corridor to the
stairs.
"No, dealing with Rowle is more important and I don't want to jump you
after what that scum has just done to you." Rabastan said gently. "I want
to clean you up, get you changed so I can't see what that filth did to you
and then I am not going to let you out of my sight."
Harry smiled and snuggled in tightly to the man who was doing his all to
make him feel better after what had happened to him only minutes
before.
They reached his bed suite quickly and without incident and Harry went
into his bedroom, pulling Rabastan with him.
"I've never been in your bedroom before."
"And so you shouldn't have!" Harry teased him.
Rabastan laughed and took a seat on his bed as Harry went into his walk-
in wardrobe and stripped off his ruined robes, taking out his best green
robes.
"If anyone asks I'll say I had a slight accident with a glass of water." Harry
said as he brought the robes out. "I'm not poor enough to have the need
to repair mere dress robes! I can just buy new ones, how dare you suggest
otherwise." He sniffed in an imitation of Draco that sent Rabastan into
peals of deep, rumbling laughter.
Harry chuckled and took the robes off of the hanger, but before he could
put them on, Rabastan reached out and pulled him between his legs, his
large hands holding the dip of Harry's waist before he kissed him full on
the mouth.
It was Harry who took things further and he climbed onto the bed and
straddled Rabastan's lap, their kiss deepening as Harry opened his mouth
to allow Rabastan entry.
They had nothing to distract them, nothing to interrupt them and neither
of them had the will to stop as their passionate kiss intensified. It was
Rabastan who found the will to stop first when his hand accidentally
brushed against the damaged trousers with their missing button.
He broke apart from Harry, panting heavily and lust clouding his mind.
Harry tried to kiss him again, before giving up and nibbling his neck
instead. Rabastan groaned in pleasure before he pulled back and
separated them firmly.
"If we don't stop now then it'll be too late." He groaned. "I don't want to
hurt you, I love you."
"I love you too, that's why I don't care what Rowle did. I can look after
myself, I'm not some weak little boy who will curl up and wait for rescue.
I can and I will defend myself and what he did means nothing, absolutely
nothing to me. You are not him, not one little bit and the biggest
difference of all is that I love you, not him. So this…" Harry indicated the
both of them. "Is everything to me, everything that I want and dream
about. What he did was vile and wrong and he got what he deserved
because of it."
"Merlin, you're amazing." Rabastan grinned. "Now get dressed and let's go
before we're caught and the both of us get spanked for our behaviour."
Harry roared with laughter and he nodded, wiping the tears from his
eyes. "Okay. Alright, I think we managed to push our luck enough for one
day, but tomorrow is a new day and I'll expect more kisses."
"I wouldn't dare deny you." Rabastan swore, watching lustily as Harry
covered his tight black shirt and trousers with the stunning dark green
dress robes that perfectly matched the eyes that he adored.
"Do I have blood on me still?" Harry asked worriedly as he went to his
mirror to check his face.
"No." Rabastan answered, standing up and walking over to Harry to wrap
his arms around him. "You're just insanely beautiful and I can't tear my
eyes away from you."
Harry was mortified to realise that his cheeks had pinked at hearing that
and Rabastan smirked at him as he saw the added colour.
"I adore you." Rabastan insisted as he hugged Harry tightly. "Now come,
before I make use of that bed and ravish you completely."
"I wouldn't complain." Harry said with a grin.
"Everyone else would, though." Rabastan told him as he led them out into
Harry's sitting room and then out into the corridor. "I'd never hear the
end of how I'd taken advantage of you after you'd only just been
attacked. Your mother in particular would skin me alive."
Harry laughed at that and he reached out to lace his fingers with
Rabastan's, holding tightly and just relishing being close to this man
whom he loved.
They walked right by the bathroom door and Rabastan pulled him along,
right past it without stopping and led him straight back into the
ballroom.
"May I have this dance?" Rabastan asked him and Harry laughed.
"I'm a terrible dancer, just so you know. It'll be entirely likely that you'll
come to regret the decision of asking me to dance. It's not too late to back
out, I will understand completely, I'm a hazard."
"What are a few bruised toes?" Rabastan said with a wide grin. "I want to
dance with you."
Harry sighed. "Fine, but don't complain to me later, after I've crushed all
of your toes numerous times."
Rabastan gave him a short bow and held out his hand formally and Harry
chuckled, placing his hand in Rabastan's and letting him lead him into a
free space on the dance floor. The classical background music was just
loud enough for couples to dance to if they so wished, but it wasn't loud
enough to drown out the numerous conversations taking place all around
the ballroom. Lucius and Narcissa had argued on and off for three whole
days about the perfect, acceptable level that the music should be played
at for the evening. Harry had decided then and there that he was never
going to be hosting a party of his own. Ever.
Rabastan led the dance, naturally, and Harry followed his lead as best as
he could. It turned out to be less of a chore and much more enjoyable
than Harry had initially imagined as Rabastan kept him laughing
throughout their dances and he chuckled madly every time Harry
accidentally trod on one of his feet and he even caught him without fail
every time he stumbled with a misstep or tripped over one of Rabastan's
feet.
"I told you I was terrible." He groaned.
"I don't mind." Rabastan said with a smile. "I find you rather endearing
actually."
"Can we please go and get a drink."
Still laughing, Rabastan agreed and they finished their last dance and
then left their little space on the dance floor to make their way to the
drinks table. Harry happily grabbed two glasses and filled them with iced
water from a jug and he handed one of the glasses to Rabastan before
taking a deep drink from his own.
"Why have you changed robes?"
Harry almost spluttered in shock as Draco hissed from right behind him,
almost in his ear.
"Not here!" Harry hissed back before saying loudly, for the sake of the
several witches and wizards who were close by and listening in. "I had an
accident with some water earlier."
"You're lying." Draco insisted in a whisper.
"Shut up! Later, Draco. Later!" Harry ground out quietly through clenched
teeth.
"Why do you hide things from me?" Draco demanded.
"I'm not hiding things from you, but it's not for just anyone to overhear
either!"
"Enough." Rabastan chastised them both. "After the ball has ended, then
will be the time to converse about such matters, until then you will be
silent and mention nothing of Harry's wardrobe change."
"Is it bad?" Draco asked under his breath.
"Very." Harry answered. "Now if anyone asks, I spilt water over myself
and I changed robes because I can afford to discard dress robes so
casually."
"You will tell me what happened tonight, after the party."
Harry nodded. "I will. Just keep quiet until then. It's serious."
"Hush now." Rabastan coached them both. "You never know who has cast
an enhancement charm on their own ears and are listening in to
conversations that the participants believe are private."
Harry nodded and he touched Draco's elbow and squeezed before he let
go and turned back to Rabastan. A good look around the ballroom
showed that Rodolphus, Xerxes, Lucius and the frightening man, Fenrir
Greyback, were still missing.
"Harry, dear, where is your father?"
Harry smiled at Narcissa and he embraced her, placing a kiss on her
cheek to disguise his whispers.
"There was a bit of trouble earlier, they're in the front bathroom."
"Would this trouble have anything to do with these splendid robes that
you weren't wearing an hour ago?"
Harry nodded grimly. "It would."
"Are you hurt?"
Harry smiled as his gut clenched pleasantly at the blatant concern shown
to him. He was addicted to it already, he would never have enough of it.
"I was, but Rabastan healed me up, though I may have bruises around my
neck tomorrow."
"Someone tried to throttle you." She gasped, her clear blue eyes widening
as her small hands rose to his shoulders just to either side of his neck and
her long, slim fingers reached up to touch his jaw and chin so she could
tilt it to get a better look at his throat without touching it or causing him
undue pain.
"It's not too bad." Harry exclaimed.
"Nonetheless, I will have Pimsey go to Severus to get a bruise salve from
him. You will apply it tonight to try and head off the bruising."
"Yes, Mother." He took joy in saying. He couldn't even be put out that she
was fussing over something as small as a bruise because he adored this
sort of motherly attention far too much.
She kissed his forehead and Harry couldn't keep the grin from his face.
"I'm going to go and see what's taking them so long." Rabastan said,
bowing to Narcissa and giving him a short peck to the lips.
Harry watched him go with a smile and he sighed.
"Can I get you a drink, Mother?" He asked Narcissa politely.
"A small white wine, please, darling."
Harry grinned and went to find a white wine and some juice for himself.
Now that Rabastan had excused himself, he could sneak a glass of juice.
"Hello again."
Harry chuckled and he turned to face Marcus Flint, who looked
exceedingly good in a dark, almost black, set of blue dress robes.
"Hi, Marcus. How are you?" He asked.
"I've been trying to find someone to be my betrothed." He sighed. "It's
been difficult and has become more of a chore."
Harry looked at Marcus consideringly.
"Perhaps you shouldn't have killed a guy and terrified your previous
fiancée witless." He suggested and he got a dark grin back.
"Perhaps she shouldn't have spread her legs for one of my business
associates in my own home while I was at work earning gold for her to
spend." Marcus answered. "Anyway, I have no lack of proposals. I would
assume that some are afraid of coming near me, the rest see that I have
my own manor and a very, very large salary and it's I who don't like
them."
"You're hopeless." Harry sighed with a laugh.
"There has been one who I like, she just isn't very feminine. Her mother
died when she was really young and her father didn't know what to do
with a daughter. He adored her so much that he never denied her
anything, not even when she refused to wear a dress for parties or learn
womanly etiquette. She plays Quidditch, doesn't really like gowns and
jewellery and she looked disgusted when I gave her flowers at our first
meeting."
"What the hell does that have to do with anything?" Harry demanded. "If
you like her, what the hell does it matter what anyone else thinks? Stop
letting others dictate what you do, Marcus. If she doesn't like flowers or
jewellery, don't bloody buy her any and find out what she does like and
buy her those instead."
Marcus grinned at him and touched his shoulder. "Perhaps I should."
"You definitely should!"
"You are going to be a wonderful friend."
"We're friends now?" Harry asked curiously.
"I'm not letting you go now." Marcus insisted with a wide grin. "Especially
not if I'm going to tutor you in Runes. You do still want tutoring, don't
you?"
"Absolutely!" Harry said excitedly, almost biting Marcus' hand off with
the repeated offer of tutoring.
"We'll work around your school schedule. I can get special permission to
come and see you at weekends at the castle. It'll be nostalgic to go back,
I'll enjoy it."
"Won't that interfere with your work?" Harry asked worriedly.
Marcus chuckled. "No. You don't seem to understand what I do, Harry.
I'm a specialist consultant, I tell my employers when I'm working, not the
other way around."
Harry laughed. "Oh, that would be brilliant."
"It is, so if you work hard, you can get to the point where you can do the
same. So we'll start when you're back in Hogwarts and if you can spare
an hour or two every Saturday, I'll have you understanding and even
enjoying Runes by Easter."
Harry grinned and he reacted on impulse when he reached out and
hugged Marcus around the waist.
"Thank you! I can't wait! I'll send you a letter with Hedwig to finalise
everything! I need to go and tell Rabastan."
"Are you two back on track now after the Christmas Eve party?"
Harry nodded and he had a gooey smile on his lips as he thought of
Rabastan. "Yeah, actually it was the kiss you gave me that spurred him
into action."
"As I had planned." Marcus told him with a smirk. "I heard that Rowle
attacked you just after? I wish I'd stayed with you for a minute longer, I'd
have broken more than his nose."
Harry laughed nervously while thinking that he had broken more than
Rowle's nose all by himself.
"I was actually expecting that scum to be here tonight." Marcus carried
on, peering around the ballroom consideringly.
"He was here earlier. I had an…altercation with him, so father sent him
away."
Marcus snorted. "I knew that bastard couldn't control himself. What sort
of decent pureblood can't even control himself?"
It happened suddenly, as a distinct big cat Patronus darted into the
ballroom and an unfamiliar voice gave them a two-word warning.
"Ministry raid." The voice was shouting, echoing throughout the entire
manor house so that there was no possible hope of anyone not hearing it
and Harry had no doubts that everyone from the ground floor to the attic
had heard the warning. It still took him a few moments to process what
he'd heard before the panic set in.
"Rabastan!" He cried out in complete fear and panic, but Marcus caught
him around the waist and held him.
"Calm. Calm!" Marcus coached him. "This happens at least once a year.
They probably picked this party because of your recent adoption to the
Malfoys, we know how to handle these and Rabastan and Rodolphus will
already be gone, I promise you. If you look suspicious and panicked, that
is what will make it worse, so just calm down."
Harry breathed and looked around as a few people were popped away by
house-elves, but everyone else acted as though they hadn't even been
warned as they laughed and joked and sipped on their glasses. It helped
him to calm down and he held on tightly to Marcus.
Marcus grabbed at him, groping at his chest and he lifted his Lestrange
pendant and Harry's eyes widened. That would be a dead giveaway if a
Ministry worker saw it, but Marcus drew just two runes on the back of it
with his wand and the pendant shimmered and vanished. Harry groped
for it himself and he could still feel it, but he couldn't see it.
"I'll wipe the runes away after these idiots leave, until then, would you
like to dance?"
"As I warned Rabastan, I'm a hideous dancer and I will stomp on your
feet."
"That's okay, I'll likely do the same to you." Marcus told him with a deep
laugh.
Harry laughed too and accepted the hand onto the dancefloor. He didn't
need to act shocked when, with a racket that could have woken the dead,
tens of people in bright red robes flooded into the Malfoy ballroom.
There were shrieks from women and shouts from men and Marcus held
Harry as if protecting him as three Aurors converged on them and
prodded them with wands, looking for enchantments or potions that
would disguise their true faces.
"I found the Potter boy!" One shouted out over the din the commotion
had created in the ballroom as the noise level dropped dramatically when
the music was shut off.
Harry bristled. "Excuse me! I am Lord Potter-Black and you will address
me as such!" He exclaimed in his best Wizengamot voice. "How dare you
storm in here while we are hosting a New Year's ball! What right do you
have?"
"We have every right to investigate such a large gathering of dark
affiliated witches and wizards!"
"On what grounds are you here?" Harry demanded. "I am on the
Wizengamot, I know that you can't just set up this…this invasion without
a legitimate, legal reason!"
"We are here on the suspicion that you are harbouring escapees of
Azkaban here."
"Oh yes, I've escaped from Azkaban, I fancy an hors d'oeuvre at a public
social party." Harry sneered. "Well, have a good look around, don't forget
to look under the serving tables, your escapees might be hiding under the
tablecloths."
Harry glared down the Aurors in front of him, ignoring that the ballroom
had gone silent and that nearly all of the occupants were listening to him.
"We're just doing our jobs!" A red-faced man, who could have only been
in his early twenties, insisted.
"Not particularly well, apparently." Harry answered as quick as a snap.
"Just because you lazy, imbecilic fools can't find a trace of several
degenerates, you actually come and raid a New Year's party just to make
it seem like you're actually doing something. This is unacceptable! Just
what does the Auror department think it is doing?!" He demanded
furiously. "You are supposed to be the top law enforcers of our world,
you are supposed to be the elite at tracking and hunting down these
dangerous, convicted criminals and yet, here you are, terrorising
innocent members of the public by raiding a mere party! What could
possibly have crossed your minds to make you believe that this was ever
a good idea? You do not look good, you do not look in control of the
situation and you do not look like you're doing something to hunt down
these criminals, you look stupid! You all look lost and clueless and like
you have no leads and are merely grasping at whatever straws first come
to hand!"
Harry ignored the deathly silence of the room and what felt like Marcus
suppressing furious laughter at his back.
"Is this who the members of magical society have to protect them?" Harry
demanded when everything remained silent. "Idiots who crash a party
searching for Azkaban escapees instead of actually tracing their
whereabouts and hunting them down? You should be ashamed of
yourselves! You, who dare to call yourselves Aurors. You're all pathetic.
Who is in charge here? Which one of you actually came up with this
ludicrous idea?"
"Harry, calm yourself." A hand on his shoulder and Harry relaxed, easing
down from the edge of his anger as Lucius took over. "I'm sure that the
Aurors have legitimate information and intelligence to go on and aren't
just harassing us for the sake of it." Lucius said silkily in such a way as to
imply that that was exactly what they were doing. "It wouldn't do to
hamper their search of our home, I would like it known that we are fully
compliant with such Ministry intrusions. You need to remember, Harry,
that the Ministry have allowed several very dangerous criminals to
escape into our community. Criminals who need to be caught and placed
back into Azkaban and if the Aurors believe that we are hiding these
criminals under the floorboards, then they have every right to search our
home to check for them, no matter how preposterous it seems."
Lucius waited for a few heartbeats and then rose a sculpted blonde
eyebrow. "Well then, get to it and search, we are in the middle of a party
and we would like to get back to it before the night is over." He said
sternly. "We have to make up for this deeply embarrassing faux pas that
you've inflicted upon myself and my family."
The Aurors looked too embarrassed themselves to do anything, but the
one in charge of the raid called out to them all and rallied them and they
started searching, using spells and charms to search out any unsavoury
objects or people. They searched everywhere and then searched again,
but they found nothing and that only compounded their embarrassment
and the pointlessness of their raid.
"If that was all." Lucius drawled scathingly. "Perhaps now that you are
absolutely sure that there are none of the Ministry's wanted criminals
hiding behind the tapestries you could leave us in peace and I might be
able to salvage the party that you decided to assail purely for the sake of
seeming proactive in the search for your elusive criminals."
"We're sorry for the intrusion." The head of the raid was forced to say. He
avoided Lucius' gaze and shuffled out, after his team of Aurors.
"I apologise deeply for this humiliating interruption to the festivities."
Lucius called out loudly, while the Aurors could still hear him, just to rub
the salt in of course. "I and my family would be appreciative if you all
forgot that this Ministry blunder has happened and you carried on
enjoying yourselves as you were before they arrived."
Chatter broke out and the music, which had been silenced by an Auror
upon arrival, was set to play again.
"You did really well." Lucius told him proudly. "I'm proud of how you
held your nerve and didn't panic."
"I did panic." Harry admitted. "Marcus was the one who stopped me from
ruining everything. I was so worried about Basti!"
"They're gone now, you don't need to censor yourself." Lucius assured
him. "Thank you, Marcus, for calming him down."
Marcus bowed to Lucius. "Not at all, Lord Malfoy."
Marcus took hold of Harry's pendant and he waved his wand in an
incredibly complicated manner and suddenly Marcus was holding the
Lestrange crest again. Marcus dropped it and Harry picked it up to play
with it.
"I need to see Rabastan." He said quietly.
"Not yet. The Aurors will be waiting for anyone to Apparate or floo out of
the house and they'll lock onto them and follow them. You'll lead them
right to Rabastan and Rodolphus."
Harry swallowed and nodded, fingering his pendant harder. "I just need
to know that he's okay."
"He's fine." Xerxes strode over to inform him, pulling him into a tight
hug. "He and Rodolphus were gone as soon as we heard the warning from
a Ministry insider we use to warn us of these numerous Ministry raids.
They're safe, they'll be fine. Now stop fretting."
"I can't help it. My heart is only just calming down."
"You handled those Aurors spectacularly." Xerxes grinned at him. "You
really are coming into your own."
"You never did get me that wine."
Harry turned and pulled a face as he realised that he'd forgotten about
Narcissa's wine when he'd bumped into Marcus.
"Sorry." He replied a little shamefacedly. "I got to talking with Marcus
about him tutoring me, I couldn't pass that up, it's too good an
opportunity."
"I thank you for offering to tutor Harry." Lucius again said to Marcus.
"It's a pleasure. Sharing my love of Runes with anyone is a pleasure,
especially if that person can stand to remain in the same room as me
while I tutor them."
"I'm sure I can handle you." Harry sniffed. "I was handling you on the
Quidditch pitch when I was eleven."
Xerxes snorted and Narcissa laughed lightly. Marcus growled playfully at
him.
"I was going to try to be lenient with you at first, now you'd better watch
out."
Harry laughed and nodded. "I understand and I will always try my best. I
want to learn."
"Good boy." Lucius praised him. "You make sure that you learn all that
you can from Marcus."
"I will! Now can I please go and see Rabastan? I wanted to see in the New
Year with him."
"You're so sweet." Narcissa told him with a smile.
"I'll take you to the boys, if we Apparate around then those dullard
Aurors won't catch us."
"I don't want to put either of them at risk, but I do want to see him."
Xerxes shared a look with Lucius and then laughed. "Come on, say
goodbye to your parents and I'll take you to Lestrange Manor."
"Bye." Harry said quickly. "Bye, Marcus, I'll send you an owl soon." He
promised before he looked expectantly at Xerxes, who shook his head
and laughed again.
Harry was pulled into a hug and he felt the awful, squeezing sensation of
Apparation. Several more Apparation journeys and he felt queasy, but
Xerxes stopped and he took the time to steady him, letting him have a
moment to reorientate himself.
"Here we are, welcome to Lestrange manor. Remember that that idiot of
a son of mine is here too."
"He had better not have started in on Rabastan!" Harry growled
protectively.
"Rodolphus wouldn't have let him." Xerxes told him surely.
Harry looked curiously at everything, this being his first time in
Lestrange manor, and apart from the darker woods used it was pretty
much a normal house, though he did notice that sometimes the walls
didn't meet up flush with one another and sometimes there were dips or
odd crevices which piqued his interest and curiosity immensely.
There were slumbering portraits on the walls and Harry automatically
quietened his steps, his head filled with vivid memories of Walburga
Black, Sirius' mother, screaming the house down if anyone so much as
sneezed in that main hallway that housed her horrid portrait.
Harry was led into a family sitting room and there was Rabastan and
Rodolphus, perfectly safe and well, sitting on a settee talking to one
another. Harry all but leapt onto Rabastan.
"I'm so glad that you're okay!" He said, hugging the life out of his poor
betrothed.
He blinked as he found himself twirled around and he looked up to see
Rabastan's face. He'd been pulled around to sit in Rabastan's lap again.
They kissed, long and passionate until Xerxes pointedly cleared his throat
and they were forced to break apart, though they were both grinning like
loons.
"Raids like that are pathetic." Rodolphus insisted as he petted Harry's
hair, as his head was very close to Rodolphus.
"You should have heard this brilliant boy tear those Aurors a new one!"
Xerxes laughed. "You'll be sorry you missed it! You really are coming on
so well, Harry."
"After what he did to Rowle, what were you expecting?" Rodolphus
demanded. There was a hint of pride in his voice that made Harry feel
even more nauseated than the Apparating around had made him.
"I killed him then."
"He would have died eventually. He was bleeding out rapidly and none of
us cared enough to prevent it." Rodolphus said unconcernedly. "He
begged for us to help him. How beneath his status as a lord."
"What will happen to his lordship now?" Harry asked curiously, trying to
think of something other than Rowle's death or how he'd died.
"That's the best part. It's going to go to his least-liked aunt's younger son.
His father's sister's son whom he has never liked and never
acknowledged. She's married into the Bellini family of Italy. Her children
are all Bellinis and now one of them, the younger boy, Giovanni, is going
to become the new Lord Rowle. It's hysterical."
"I don't think salt in the wound is a harsh enough description of how
Rowle felt dying, knowing his lordship was going to the branch of the
family that he hated." Xerxes said.
"I think the biggest dose of salt came knowing that Greyback started
eating him alive and while he was conscious." Rodolphus grinned.
"What?!" Harry demanded, his face paling dramatically.
"It was nothing less than he deserved for attacking and trying to defile
you." Rabastan said quietly.
"He wanted to kill you off too." Rodolphus added to his brother with a
growl. "If Harry hadn't done such a good job, I'd have taken great
pleasure in hurting him before handing him over to Greyback to finish
off. After all, Greyback is only happy when his peculiar cravings are
sated."
"Peculiar cravings?!" Harry demanded weakly. "He ate him alive!"
"He would have bled out before Fenrir got to the good parts."
Harry heaved and at once Rabastan had him sat up and pressed against
him tightly, petting his back and hair.
"Enough, Dolphus. He doesn't need to hear any of this." He said sternly.
"If you insist."
"I do." Rabastan said forcefully.
Harry kept his face buried in Rabastan's neck, trying to keep his mind
clear so he didn't picture Rowle with a broken arm and a severed leg
trying fruitlessly to get himself away from that fearsome man, Greyback,
who was intent on eating him alive.
He squeezed his eyes closed and buried in deeper, snuggling in as far as
he could, trying to blot out the images in his mind with Rabastan. The
smell and the feel of him, those arms around him, the knowledge that he
was here with him.
"Are you okay?" Rabastan asked him, petting his back and pulling gently
on his hair. He was getting much better at being able to control that too.
Harry nodded. "I don't want to think about it. Rowle was a bastard, he
attacked me, tried to rape me and he threatened to kill you if you still
accepted me after he'd finished and kept my baby as your own, but…but
the thought of him being eaten alive by that…that, whatever the hell
Greyback was!"
"He's a werewolf."
Harry snorted. "That doesn't give him any excuse to act like that! What is
wrong with the man?!"
"He plays up his werewolf attributes to terrify others. As a result, he
works incredibly well as a scare tactic and a deterrent. He's invaluable to
us." Xerxes explained. "One mention of his name in a conversation would
have people rushing to do as you want them to do or stop them from
doing something that you don't want them to do."
Harry turned and considered that for a moment. He could definitely see
how just the mere mention of his name would strike fear into people,
especially if they knew what he was like and what he was capable of, but
enough to have them do what you want? He filed that little piece of
information away for a later date. Lucius had said that he was a family
friend and Greyback knew the Lestranges too, his future family.
"Are you sure you're alright? You still look pale." Rabastan said
concernedly.
Harry nodded. "I'm okay. I just wanted to be with you to see in the New
Year."
Rodolphus groaned and flicked the back of his head, making Rabastan
growl at his brother.
"What? That's so sickening I want to vomit. Why don't you just get
married now and save the rest of us the revolting shows of affection?
Once you can fuck one another freely you can keep your disturbing
sentiments confined to your bedchambers."
"That's never going to happen." Harry said firmly. "I am always going to
want to touch and kiss Rabastan, in our bedroom and out of it. Get used
to it, Rodolphus, or just don't fucking look!"
"You watch your language, Harry. Your father would have my hide if he
heard I'd let you speak in such a way." Xerxes chastised.
Harry huffed and accepted the chastisement and moved on, turning back
to Rabastan and shifting off of his lap before his weight could become too
much for his legs and he cuddled into his side instead.
The conversation was light and they stayed well away from the topic of
Rowle and Greyback, for which Harry was thankful as he sunk into the
settee and waited for midnight. He almost obsessively watched the clock
as it started to get closer to the New Year, though he answered questions
that were asked of him and he contributed to the conversation without
being prompted, as well.
At five to midnight he turned to Rabastan and held his hands, waiting.
Rabastan chuckled and mirrored him, before bending forward to peck at
his lips. Rodolphus scoffed loudly and pointedly looked away when Harry
turned to glare at him.
"Something to say?" Harry asked coldly.
"No." Rodolphus grunted.
"Good, keep it that way. I'm excited to be sharing my first New Year
together with Rabastan, the man that I love, what's wrong with that?"
"Nothing." Rabastan told him. "Ignore him."
Harry turned back to Rabastan and when Xerxes announced that it was
exactly midnight Harry kissed Rabastan.
"Happy New Year, boys." Xerxes said happily.
"Happy New Year, Grandfather." Rodolphus answered.
Rabastan broke away from him to say the same, before turning back to
him.
"Happy New Year, love."
Harry grinned. "Happy New Year."
"The start of a new year, the start of a new journey." Xerxes said. "This
year we welcome Harry into the Lestrange home and our family. May
you boys be happy and have a fulfilling life together."
"Thank you." Harry said with a grin. "I can't wait to graduate now. I have
another year to go, but hopefully, it goes quickly now, so that I can start
my life properly with Rabastan."
"I can't wait either." Rabastan whispered in his ear and Harry chuckled.
"For the most part, I can't wait until I can see you every day, talk to you
every day and hold you in my arms every night."
Harry blushed at that last and buried himself in Rabastan's chest with a
groan. "You had to add that last one." He moaned.
"I can't wait." Rabastan breathed into his ear. "I'd hold you close to me
through the night, place my face into the back of your head and sleep
with your scent wrapped around me, as thoroughly as my body will be
wrapped around yours."
Harry went a bright red and his breathing picked up slightly with
arousal.
"Please." He whispered. "I want that too."
Rabastan smirked at him and wrapped his arms around him, holding him
tightly. Harry ignored when the one arm jerked and tensed against him,
he was too happy to care as he used both hands to cup Rabastan's chin
and kissed him lingeringly.
"I have asked your father for his permission to take you out tomorrow
evening, well, later today actually and he has agreed. Now it's up to you,
do you want to come and have a meal with me?"
"How can we?" Harry asked. "Won't you be spotted?"
Rabastan grinned. "I've set it all up, you don't need to worry about such
things, I promise."
Harry bit his lip nervously before he nodded. "Okay, but only if it doesn't
put you at risk."
"I like you more and more." Rodolphus said from behind him. "I wouldn't
let Rabastan risk his freedom for you, don't fear."
Harry actually smiled at that. "Thank you. I wouldn't want him to risk
himself for me, so I'm glad he has you to curb him and look after him
when he refuses to do so himself."
Harry felt a hand in his hair, yet again, as Rodolphus petted him with
what he was rapidly coming to realise was Rodolphus' way of showing
him affection. His smile widened.
"Lucius expects you back at your home." Xerxes told him. "He will most
definitely not allow you to stay here tonight. He's too suspicious and too
protective of you, especially after you were attacked this evening."
Harry sighed and he cuddled into Rabastan and kissed him.
"Thank you for coming to see the New Year in with me. I'm sorry the
Ministry ruined our first New Year together."
"They didn't." Harry said with a smile.
"Alright, wrap it up before I have to forcibly separate you both."
Harry sighed. "I'll see you tomorrow?"
"Definitely. I want to take you out for our New Year's meal."
Harry grinned. "Okay, I can wait until tomorrow, but be careful."
Harry kissed Rabastan one last time and then allowed Xerxes to grab him
and Apparate him around a bit, not as often as the journey to the
Lestrange manor before they stopped just inside the Malfoy manor.
Xerxes steered him right into the family parlour and there was Lucius, sat
up waiting for him like an overprotective father waiting to see if his child
came home safe.
"No problems I hope." He said, standing up as soon as he saw them and
he came to place a hand on his shoulder, squeezing gently, and Lucius
looked him over. It gave Harry that warm, pleasant feeling that he was
addicted to. The one that made him feel loved and cared for, that made
him feel like he was actually part of a family.
"None at all. Rhadamanthus never even knew that he was there. We
stayed in the front room the entire time, though as you knew, Basti
invited Harry to dine with him tomorrow evening and Harry has
accepted."
"I expect the rules to be followed to the letter." Lucius insisted sternly.
"Harry, you will go with Rabastan, dine with him, and then you will
come home. You will not be alone with him for any other reason, do you
understand me?"
"Yes, Father." Harry replied promptly. "I understand fully and I will not
disobey you."
"Good boy, now go and get changed for bed. I believe Draco is waiting in
your room to ambush you, do not stay up too late or you'll be overly tired
for your dinner tomorrow evening."
Harry nodded firmly. "I won't. Goodnight."
"Goodnight, Harry." Xerxes told him, touching his back for a moment as
Harry passed him on his way out of the door.
It was already gone midnight and Harry was tired from the events of that
day, but he had promised to tell Draco everything that had happened and
exactly why he'd changed his dress robes an hour into the party. It was
too much to ask for that Draco would have accepted his general answer
of spilling water on himself. He sighed, he didn't much relish the thought
of being grilled for details by Draco, but he supposed he could share such
a thing with his brother, adopted or not.
He found Draco sat unhappily in his sitting room, waiting impatiently,
and grumpily, for him to return.
"There you are!" He said as soon as Harry walked through the door. "Tell
me why you changed your robes."
Harry sighed and he rubbed his head. "Give me a minute to change into
something more comfortable."
"I've been waiting all night!"
"It was a very distressing moment for me, Draco, let me get comfortable
first." Harry insisted as he walked right through his sitting room and into
his bedroom. He shucked his dress robes and trousers right away before
putting his wand and his gold cufflinks on his bedside table and then
stripping off his shirt. He found his most comfortable and warm,
favourite pair of fleece pyjamas and he all but sunk into them.
He took a breath and went back into his sitting room and sat next to
Draco.
"Well then?" Draco pressed when he remained silent.
"It really started when Rodolphus demanded that I take a Veritaserum
test to prove that I hadn't been intimate with anyone." Harry started,
easing himself into the memories of earlier that night.
"You passed right?"
Harry snorted harshly. "Of course I did. I haven't done anything with
anyone and I proved that tonight. Rodolphus was forced to apologise, but
the potion had left my mouth dry and my face all numb and rubbery, so I
went to the bathroom to swill my mouth out and to splash some water
onto my face. I didn't see the need to lock the door, so when I looked up,
I was taken by surprise when my head was forced into the mirror."
"Rodolphus?!" Draco gasped in horror.
"Rowle." Harry growled. "He attacked me, tried to strangle me, which is
where these bruises came from." He said, showing Draco the marks he
was sure were forming around his neck from the tightness he could feel
in the skin. "They're going to be much worse tomorrow and then he…."
"He what?" Draco asked quietly as Harry stopped and remained silent,
drawing a blank over the words.
"He tried to rape me, Draco." He said blankly, trying to cut his memories
and emotions off from the words he'd spoken.
"What?!" The blonde exploded. "Did he manage to…to…you know?"
Harry shook his head. "No, he ripped my blue robes and tore all of the
fastenings off of it and he did…he did manage…he forced his hand into
my boxers to fondle me." He forced out in one breath.
"What happened? How did you get away? Did Rabastan find you? Or
father?"
"No. I always take my wand everywhere, so I ripped it out and blasted
him away from me. I broke his arm badly."
"Good!" Draco replied viciously.
"That's not all I did. I was so angry, so humiliated that he'd managed to
do that to me that I didn't even think before saying the first spell that
came into my head. The Reductor curse. I blew his left leg off, Draco."
Draco went even paler than he usually was, which left him looking
sickly. "It's only intended for use on inanimate objects, it shouldn't be
powerful enough to sever living limbs. Are you saying that your Reductor
curse was powerful enough to blast off a human leg with that much
muscle and bulk on it?"
Harry nodded.
"What happened to Rowle?"
Harry sucked on his bottom lip and debated on what to tell Draco. He
decided on a partial truth as his brother already looked like he was going
to be sick.
"He bled out. I was aiming for his lap, but he moved at the last moment
and the divide was very high up his leg, near his hip. I hit the main
artery in the thigh. Father cleaned it up, along with Xerxes. Rabastan
took me back into the ballroom to give me a room full of alibis, but
Rowle had already ruined my robes, so I needed to change them."
"No wonder you didn't want anyone to know that you were wearing
different robes. I hushed up Astoria too. I told her that you'd had an
accident with a trifle and to not draw attention to it to save you from
further embarrassment."
Harry laughed. "I do like trifle."
"You're okay though, aren't you?" Draco asked, looking at him hard.
Harry nodded. "I'm fine. I've got a bruise salve to put on my throat
tonight and I'm not hurt and I can't be afraid of anything because Rowle
is dead. I'm going to be just fine. I can take care of myself, I've been
doing it for a while now. Though I have to admit that it is nice to rely on
someone now and then, it feels nice to take the pressure off and give it to
someone else for a little while."
Harry smiled and then the subject changed and he asked how Draco and
Astoria had been through the night and they made a bit of small talk
about what else had happened during the party and Draco had a good
laugh over the memory of Harry's handling of the Aurors and then Draco
was gone and Harry could fall into his bed and just sleep.
He didn't want to think, he didn't really want to do anything at all, he
just wanted to sleep and rest so that he could forget what had happened
tonight. He did remember to plaster on the bruise salve though. That's all
he really needed when going on his first dinner date with Rabastan, an
imprint of Rowle's fingers wrapped around his neck. So, he made sure to
cover every inch of his throat and the back of his neck, just in case.
Tomorrow he wanted to focus purely on Rabastan and nothing else.
A/N: I've decided to focus on this fic for a little while, just to bulk it up a
bit more and this chapter is definitely more impressive than the last,
which was such a disappointment to me. We'll see how long I can stay on
this one, and how many chapters I can add to this fic before The Rise of
the Drackens calls me back away.
Huge thanks to ForeverSiriusBlack for being the 1,300th reviewer of
this story. Thank you very much.
Yuki No Sabaku: Nope, absolutely not, they will be married after Harry
graduates. They're going by the letter here and there will be no
consideration of a marriage before Harry has graduated school in June
1998. Rabastan is getting better slowly, bit by bit, but he is not going to
make a miraculous recovery overnight, so no, he's not going to be better
in the next few chapters, or even the next dozen. Expect the Lestranges to
remain mostly how they are for the foreseeable future. It takes time to
overcome such horrific malnutrition and prolonged confinement,
starvation and suffering.
Sapphirewaterfall: Lucius and Xerxes are just humouring Harry over the
Azkaban thing. They think he's crazy for even suggesting it and they fully
expect it to cave in during debates with the Wizengamot, but they're
leaving him to learn such a lesson on his own. They don't really believe
him when he says that if he fails once then he'll just keep trying, but
that's exactly what Harry is planning on doing.
Stasia Ravenclaw: I know that Luna's official status is unknown, but as
it is unknown, she COULD be a Pureblood and in this, she is one. Just
because the Lovegoods aren't a member of the Sacred Twenty-Eight does
not mean her line isn't Pureblooded. The Potters were Pureblooded
before Harry and they aren't listed in the Sacred Twenty-Eight, the list
which was written in the 1930's well before James married Lily and had
Harry. Also Pureblooded and missing are the Crabbes, Gamps, Goyles and
the Prince line, as again this list was made before Eileen Prince went off
with the Muggle Tobias Snape and had Severus. The list is flawed and
biased, as it was written by one man, Cantankerous Nott. Not every
Pureblooded family was included and some were included who weren't
actually Pure still, such as the Weasley family and the Ollivanders.
Luna is staying as a pureblood in the story.
aliengirlguy: Why would Voldemort kill Rhadamanthus, one of his most
loyal, faultless followers who has always done everything asked of him
without hesitation?
QueenLyssa: Hmm…I'm not sure about a Blaise/Luna pairing. I'm not
sure if Blaise would eat Luna alive or if she would inadvertently push
him away with her quirks. She deserves someone who'll love her as she is
and I don't think Blaise would. I'd have to think on this some more.
musme: Don't make the mistake of thinking that Harry's opinions are my
own, lovelie. I adore cheese, particularly the blue cheeses. Danish blue is
my favourite, but I'm also very fond of Saint Agur. Harry doesn't like
them because of the overpowering taste of them. He has never been
exposed to such flavours before, so he doesn't like them in adulthood. It
all stems from his abuse by the hands of the Dursleys. Notice that he only
liked the milder cheeses because of his childhood starvation.
dead feather: Fudge set up the Wizengamot meeting himself. He wanted
to exclude the Lords as he knew what he was doing was on the blurred
line of the law, so when he changed the time of the trial, he not only
forgot to inform Dumbledore, but the Lords too. Most of them turned up
three hours late to find that the trial had already been held without them.
Fudge was in very hot water for that little move, but he explained it
away as a miscommunication.
As for the rule about not mentioning anything that has happened or been
spoken about inside the court to outsiders, it isn't controlled in such a
harsh way as to enchant the members of the Wizengamot or have them
sign a cursed paper like Hermione and the DA, such an undignified act of
distrust would not be tolerated. It is expected of them to adhere to the
rules of sitting on the Wizengamot knowing full well that they face
Azkaban if they don't. That is a big enough deterrent for most, knowing
that if they are actually caught, they will be facing imprisonment in
Azkaban.
As for the laws, they are published publically, any changes would be in
the Daily Prophet and all around the Ministry, but by then it would
already be too late. Dumbledore wants to know of the laws being
discussed in the Wizengamot BEFORE they are written in as actual laws
so that he can oppose them if he doesn't like them and bring said
discussions of the law changes to the attention of the public to gain
support for his opposition.
Black Demon Cat: The only venomous snake in Britain is the Adder and
it is not venomous enough to kill a human, or at least not an adult male
the size of Rhadamanthus with no underlying health issues. Any and all
venomous snakes are highly controlled and Harry, who has never owned
a snake in his life, couldn't just walk into an exotic pet store and just buy
a highly venomous snake. Plus people would be aware that he has a
highly venomous snake and one question under Veritaserum would
condemn him to Azkaban.
I have it all worked out and I know how Rhadamanthus dies, it just won't
be for a while, so just be patient. Harry can't just up and kill
Rhadamanthus, he'd be missed too much. Much more than Rowle, who
barely did anything and stayed holed up in his manor most days. It was
so incredibly dangerous what Harry did, he let his temper run away with
him and he's not out of the water yet. More on that later though.
I hope you lovelies have enjoyed reading this chapter! I drained myself
dry to bring you this monster chapter, but it's worth it, I love this
chapter, it's definitely one of my favourites. Until next time, lovelies,
StarLight Massacre. X
11. Promises
Last Time
Harry smiled and then the subject changed and he asked how Draco and
Astoria had been through the night and they made a bit of small talk about
what else had happened during the party and Draco had a good laugh over the
memory of Harry's handling of the Aurors and then Draco was gone and
Harry could fall into his bed and just sleep.
He didn't want to think, he didn't really want to do anything at all, he just
wanted to sleep and rest so that he could forget what had happened tonight.
He did remember to plaster on the bruise salve though. That's all he really
needed when going on his first dinner date with Rabastan, an imprint of
Rowle's fingers wrapped around his neck. So, he made sure to cover every inch
of his throat and the back of his neck, just in case. Tomorrow he wanted to
focus purely on Rabastan and nothing else.
Chapter Eleven – Promises
Plastering the bruise salve onto his throat the night before had not
headed off as much of the bruising as Harry would have liked. He'd
woken up late and showered, washing the dried, flaky paste away, to
reveal the faint bluish-green bruises of Rowle's finger imprints on the
front of his neck, wrapping right around to the base of his skull, where
eight large, dark bruises were located from where Rowle had dug the tips
of his fingers into the back of his neck while his thumbs had dug into his
windpipe.
He had been very badly bruised if keeping a salve on overnight hadn't
healed it completely and it only went to prove just how tightly Rowle
had been squeezing. Rowle had been aiming to kill him, of that he had
no doubts. Harry was glad that he was dead.
He plastered his throat and neck with even more bruise paste and
unhappily went down for breakfast. The bruise had better be gone before
his dinner date with Rabastan or he was going to find some way to bring
Rowle back from the dead just to kill him all over again. Slower this
time, much slower, without the option of unconscious oblivion or a quick
bleed out.
"You are still marred?" Narcissa asked as he joined them for breakfast.
She immediately stood up and came hurrying to him. She gently picked
up his chin without touching the paste and got him to open his mouth so
that she could check his throat for him.
"Your throat is sore on the inside. Pimsey!"
"Mistress called for Pimsey." The house-elf asked as she popped
immediately into existence in the dining room.
"Get a potion for Harry's throat from the storeroom. Come and sit down,
Harry. Drink some tea, it'll help."
Harry was settled into a chair and given a freshly made cup of tea.
"Is there anything left of Rowle?" Harry asked as he took a sip of his tea
and grimaced as his sore throat made itself known for the first time.
"This is hardly the place or the time for such conversations." Narcissa
chastised him but Harry kept his eyes on Lucius.
His father sighed. "No, I would imagine that there is very little left after
last night, Harry. Why do you ask?"
"I was going to try and find something that could reanimate him so I can
kill him all over again."
Lucius sighed. "Let it go, Harry. He's dead and he died in a painful,
humiliating and horrific way. Let that be enough and bury your
remaining feelings and grudges. It's over now."
Harry nodded and took a deep breath. He thanked Pimsey for handing
him the potion vial and he sipped on it slowly, grimacing and gagging at
the taste, but it had to pass slowly past his throat in order to soothe and
heal it.
He groped for his cup of tea and gulped it down as soon as he was done
with the potion, trying to wash away the thick, syrupy potion still
clinging to his tongue and throat.
If he had any lingering grudges with Rowle or any feelings to do with the
vile man at all then he'd transfer them into his plans for Rhadamanthus,
who was admittedly going to be much harder to kill off and whose death
would be much harder to hide as he was very involved in the Ministry.
He was an employee of the International Magical Cooperation
Department and in particular the International Magical Office of Law.
Unlike Rowle, who only performed his lordship duties to the Ministry as
he didn't work and lived off of his ancestors' wealth, Rhadamanthus
would be missed as soon as he went missing because of how involved he
was with the laws of other magical communities of other countries. He
worked six days a week and would even work the seventh if it was
needed of him and due to differing time zones, Rhadamanthus was on-
call throughout the night as well. He regularly went to work at strange,
odd hours. If he suddenly went missing with no warning, his work
colleagues and friends would immediately be alerted. It was just another
obstacle in his plans that he had to fully consider and take into account
before he could act to remove Rhadamanthus permanently from his and
Rabastan's lives.
He ate his breakfast in silence and when he was done he just sat and
waited for…something, anything. Without Rabastan to talk to and
interact with, he found himself strangely bored and unoccupied.
He was tired too, he had not slept well last night, not only because of the
discomfort of trying to sleep with a thick paste slavered over his neck and
getting into his hair and all over his pillow and sheets, but he'd also
suffered from several nightmares and as a result, his sleep had been
disturbed and broken.
The nightmares had all started normal enough, memories plaguing him
from the attack, scenarios where he hadn't had his wand on him and
hadn't been able to get Rowle off of him, where Rabastan hadn't wanted
him afterwards or had, for whatever reason, blamed him and the like, but
they had changed to the one, persistent problem that was plaguing him.
Rhadamanthus. His nightmares had changed to Rhadamanthus attacking
him, to Rhadamanthus doing those vile things to him and then
Rodolphus had been accusing him of being impure and Rabastan had
been shouting at him that he'd slept with his father and he should be
disowned for the shame of it. He'd woken up in a cold sweat, panting for
breath.
He needed to see Rabastan in order to push those nightmares away. He
hadn't personally killed Rowle, Greyback had by eating him, but there
were no doubts that he had been the catalyst to Rowle's untimely death
by severing his leg so close to his groin. He had died by bleeding out, but
if he hadn't of bled out, then Greyback would have killed him by eating
him. It was like they'd worked together to kill Rowle in a way.
"You look entirely unproductive." Lucius told him.
"It's the holidays." Harry whined. "I've done all my homework, I've been
observing the night skies for Astronomy and I won't see Rabastan until
later. I have nothing I need to do."
"Oh? Allow me to rectify that for you. Follow me."
Harry groaned and hefted himself up and slouched after Lucius.
"Stand up straight or the hex aimed at you will hit your bottom." Narcissa
called out after him.
Harry scowled and straightened his back and shoulders, measuring his
steps more so that he looked perfectly eloquent and graceful.
He was taken to Lucius' study and, after being told to take a seat, he sat
in the chair in front of his father's desk while Lucius perused the
bookcase to his right.
"Ah, here we are. Read this." Lucius told him, handing him the thick,
ancient-looking book before going around his desk to sit down in his own
dragonhide chair. Lucius pulled his paperwork towards him and picked it
up where he'd left off by dipping a quill into his inkwell and commencing
a new paragraph on the parchment.
Knowing that arguing was pointless, and would likely lead to a
punishment, Harry cracked open the book and started reading it. He
couldn't wait until later when he could not only see Rabastan again but
they could have their first official date together. He was very much
looking forward to it.
Albus Dumbledore dismissed Severus with a wave of his hand and he
sighed heavily, steepling his fingers and resting his chin on them. Things
were going from bad to worse and with the coming war, he was
frightened of what it would mean for the wizarding world as he knew it.
The Ministry were still resolutely denying Voldemort's return and with
Harry's adoption to the Malfoy family and into a respectable pureblooded
household, the wizarding public believed that Harry had 'stabilised' and
that he was no longer deranged or delusional. It didn't help in the
slightest that Lucius Malfoy had released a statement in the Daily Prophet
on his 'son's' behalf claiming that Harry Potter had never told anyone the
'lies' about Voldemort's return and that it had been a cheap ploy, by him,
to discredit Harry Potter and to use his famous name to try and confuse
and terrify the wizarding public. Lucius Malfoy had carried on to say that
Harry couldn't have said anything that he was claiming he had as he had
been deserted into the muggle world and had no access to anyone in the
magical world in order to give a truthful statement. That he,
Dumbledore, had been doing it for him and passing his own 'poisonous'
and 'dangerous' lies off as Harry's own.
Thanks to this newspaper interview his name was now mud as a lot of
people now believed that he'd been using 'The-Boy-Who-Lived', an
orphaned, underaged boy, as a way to further his own agenda.
He was losing ground and he was being discredited by everyone around
him and at every turn. There were even calls for his dismissal from
Hogwarts as headmaster and even his imprisonment on the charges of
using a minor, and a famous name to boot, for his own political gain.
Things were such a mess and he really needed to get back into Harry's
good graces and put a stop to all of these lies.
The boy knew that Voldemort had returned. He had seen his rebirth with
his own eyes, he had been one of the ingredients used in the ritual even,
and he had fought Voldemort in that graveyard and in the Ministry
Atrium. The boy had even been possessed by Voldemort. Harry knew that
Voldemort was back, he knew what it meant. He just didn't understand
why Harry was suddenly claiming that it had all been a lie. Unless Harry
had no knowledge of Lucius releasing that statement on his behalf. That
would make much more sense than Harry claiming that Voldemort's
return was a lie and as he had checked the boy for any potions or
enchantments personally, he knew that Harry wasn't being outwardly
influenced. He hadn't found anything more than a few everyday potions,
which even taken together couldn't explain Harry's behaviour and
attitude change. The only thing he could think of was a very dark curse
that was resistant to detection spells, he just didn't know how to go about
proving such a claim.
Severus was having no luck in finding out Voldemort's future plans or
attacks and even worse, Severus had no idea what Voldemort wanted to
do with Harry. He was worried that it meant death for the young boy and
if Harry was under a curse, then he would walk into the trap
unknowingly and uncaringly, like a lamb led to the slaughter by the
farmer who had cared for it. He couldn't let this happen, he had to do
something.
He needed to get Harry into his office under the guise of something else
so that he could find the curse or potion used upon him so that he could
research a counter curse and break its hold over Harry. Only then could
they have some hope, a ray of light, in this coming war. Without Harry
all was lost.
A solid knock on his office door had Albus calling out a cheery greeting,
which slipped away as Remus Lupin entered his office. Remus, as well as
a few others, knew of his concerns and his thoughts on the matter of
Harry.
"Sir, have you had any word?" Remus asked him.
"I'm sorry, Remus. I haven't. Harry hasn't once sent anyone an owl and
Hedwig has not been seen since he left for the holidays."
Remus swallowed visibly and audibly.
"I'm so worried and if it is a curse or a potion like you believe, then he's
in danger. I can't stand being here, doing nothing, while he might be,
even now, being hurt or even killed."
"I don't believe that the Malfoy's would kill Harry during the holidays,
Remus. They'll wait, build up the public's trust in having them look after
Harry and then, once they have that trust, that is when I believe they'll
harm Harry. It's too dangerous for them to act now, they'll want to wait
for a time that they can do it and pass it off as a tragic accident so that
they aren't implicated in his death."
Remus looked more distressed at hearing that. "We're running out of time
then. The public are happy that Harry is being looked after by a
pureblooded family. They're happy that he's showing more interest in the
magical world. They're happy about this arrangement, Dumbledore! We
need to do something to help him!"
"I have been trying, Remus, my boy. There is little I can do myself with
Harry being so uncooperative. If I could just find a way to get him on his
own and calm enough for a small amount of time, then perhaps I could
find the curse or potion that is influencing him and break it, but until
then, Harry is firmly under Lucius' thumb and if the talk that Severus has
heard is true, then he is going to be betrothed to a dark affiliated witch
very soon."
Remus' eyes widened. "No, please don't let that happen! Merlin, James,
Lily, and Sirius would be rolling in their graves if they knew that Harry
was being married off like a raffle prize. We have to stop this!"
"There isn't anything that I can do, Remus. Lucius Malfoy is Harry's
adoptive father and his magical guardian and as such he has the right
and the power to betroth Harry to whomever he pleases, though it'll be
up to Harry if he wishes to marry his betrothed afterwards. However, if
he's being controlled by a curse or a potion, then it may not be his true
desire. I suppose we can be thankful that Bellatrix Lestrange is already
married."
Remus was hyperventilating and he collapsed into a chair and put his
head in his hands between his knees to calm himself down.
"This can't be happening." He whimpered painfully. "We need to get him
away from Malfoy. We can't just do nothing."
"I'll see what I can do during the next school term. I will find this curse
and I will break it, Remus. Perhaps if you came to visit him during the
weekends too and remind him of his actual parents, and of Sirius too, of
course. It would be easier if he had his friends around him as well, but
alas, I believe that things there have gone too far to be brought back,
especially after the Firebolt incident."
Remus nodded. "I will talk to Ron and Hermione and see what they think,
perhaps if they're told that it's a curse or a potion they'll be more
accepting and I will definitely come to visit him. Harry already has a
family. They're dead, but they loved him and he loved them, or at least, I
thought he did."
"I'm sure that it is just the effects of the curse, Remus."
"So you think it's definitely a curse?"
"I'm not entirely sure, but it is more likely to be a curse than a potion."
Albus explained. "A potion's effects will wear off and unless Draco Malfoy
is the one dosing him while at the school, a curse is much more likely
and will last until the caster either removes it or dies."
Remus nodded at the logic of that and he sat up straight again.
"This silence bothers me." He admitted. "I sent him a gift and a card for
Christmas and I haven't heard anything back yet. I know Hagrid and
Molly sent him a package as well, but they haven't heard anything either.
It's unnerving."
"We can take solace in the fact that we know that Lucius Malfoy cannot
currently act." Albus said solemnly. "We have a bit of time to plan and
then we'll need to be prepared to act. I will call an Order meeting in a
few days, before the new term starts, until then, try writing to Harry
again and see where that gets you. If you hear anything from him, come
straight to me."
Remus nodded and took the order for the dismissal it was and he left the
headmaster's office and went back to Hogsmeade to Apparate. He was so
worried about Harry and the silence around him that he was having
difficulty sleeping and controlling Moony. He was thankful that the next
full moon wasn't until the twenty-third of January as he was getting more
and more stressed and antsy the longer he went without hearing from
Harry. The last full moon, just a little over a week ago, had really taken it
out of him, but he was incredibly worried that Harry hadn't sent him a
letter after Christmas had passed. This next full moon was not going to be
a pleasant one, even with the Wolfsbane potion. He hoped that he heard
from Harry before then, just to give himself a bit of peace of mind that he
was at least still alive and unharmed.
Draco was insistent on helping him dress and get ready for his dinner
date, of course. Harry had been ordered to bathe and then, as soon as
he'd gotten out and dried off, Draco had been on him with potions and
combs and instructions.
"Damn it, Draco! Just calm down." Harry said in frustration as Draco
darted off again to get something or other as Harry sat in a chair in just
his boxer briefs.
"This is a serious matter!" Draco told him sternly. "The first dinner date is
very important and it's a very important, intricate part of the betrothal
contract. Do you know how many betrothals are broken on the night of
the first dinner date?"
Harry was sure his expression personified bemusement. "Why?" He asked.
"Eating habits." Draco told him.
"Eating habits?" Harry said with a chuckle.
Draco nodded seriously. "Eating habits and chosen conversation topics. If
either are terrible, well, it's a probable deal-breaker."
"I've already eaten meals with Rabastan and we've been betrothed for five
months now, Draco. I think the dinner date should have been much
earlier in the betrothal calendar if it's to test eating habits and the ease of
conversation."
"It should have been at the end of your first month of being betrothed."
Draco nodded. "But that's when we went back to Hogwarts and it's
difficult with Rabastan's current status as a fugitive. It's a little late, I
grant you, but don't become complacent. This is an important part of the
betrothal contract and if your conversation fizzles out, then it could spell
disaster for your betrothal and future marriage. It'll also be a blockade on
any new betrothals if it was you who was at fault for the breakdown of
the contract."
Harry let Draco poke and prod him as he had his hair messed with and
his clothes laid out for him. At least the bruise had vanished after a full
night and half a day of wearing the medicated salve. Unfortunately, his
throat was still a little sore when he swallowed, but he'd have to deal
with that as best as he could.
"Will you stop pulling already?" Harry sighed. "I'll be late to dinner if you
don't let me get dressed soon and Rabastan has already seen my hair
when it isn't controlled and styled with potions."
"You have to look presentable." Draco bit out. "I won't let you walk off to
your first date looking like a poor, unkempt ruffian."
Harry had to bite his lips to keep from laughing at Draco. He sat back
with a long-suffering sigh and let Draco slather his hair in potions and
hair care products before he was finally allowed to get himself dressed in
the outfit that Draco had laid out for him. They were just plain robes, not
dress robes, but they were still expensive and lavish and tailor-made to fit
his body like a glove.
"You look perfect." Draco said factually, looking him over critically and
brushing out the wrinkles of his robes as he stood up.
"Do I pass? Can I go and meet Rabastan now?"
"Go on, just try not to spill anything on yourself and remember, the salad
fork is on the inside, closest to your plate and for Merlin's sake do not use
your dessert spoon for your soup."
Harry rolled his eyes. "I did that once! Once while I was learning why a
table needed four knives and forks, three spoons, three glasses and a
cup."
"Just remember where everything is placed and keep the conversation
flowing. Don't speak or laugh with your mouth full either."
"Excuse me! When have I ever done that?"
"It's just a reminder."
Harry rolled his eyes and they both walked off and left Harry's bedroom.
They went down to the living room and Narcissa took over where Draco
had left off, brushing his robes down and fiddling with his collar and the
tie around his neck that was tucked into the waistcoat that perfectly
matched the colour of his robes.
"Are you ready?" Lucius asked him and Harry nodded happily, with a
slight edge of nerves.
"Yeah, I'm really excited, but I'm still worried. We're going out in public,
what if someone sees him and recognises him? The Azkaban escapees
were broadcast on the muggle news too."
"Stop fussing." Narcissa told him, pulling him to her chest and pressing
her lips to his forehead in a brief kiss. It brought a massive grin to Harry's
face. "Rabastan has planned it all out and you're not going into the
muggle world, just stop stressing about it. All you need to do is enjoy
yourself and behave, darling."
Harry nodded and he took Lucius' arm and allowed himself to be
Apparated away. He opened his eyes and took in the beautiful restaurant
they had arrived in. Lucius pulled him away from the round, carpeted
space they had landed in, which had a beautifully carved wooden
bannister that held a variety of potted plants and flowers around it, and
went to the podium directly in front of them with an elderly gentleman
wearing a smart set of black robes.
"Lord Malfoy. Lord Potter-Black." The shrewd man greeted primly,
politely and respectfully. "Right this way. The owner of this
establishment has given strict instructions and I wish to assure you that
they will be followed to the letter. Our patrons' discretion is our highest
priority here at The Garnet Swan."
Harry was impressed as he was led through a cluster of intimately laid
circular tables, every single one of them was set for two and was draped
with the clichéd dark red tablecloths with chunky red pillar candles.
They were led up a set of wide, red-carpeted stairs, away from the main
floor and the view of all the other patrons, to a balcony that had only
three, very wide-spaced doors set into the right side wall and the two of
them followed as the maître d let them across the open corridor, which
had no wall on the left side, just another beautifully carved wooden
bannister covered in plants and flowers that looked out onto the floor
below and all the other diners eating and talking in low voices at their
little intimate tables.
They stopped at one door, the one right at the very end of the long
balcony, and their maître d bowed to them formally and then left again.
Lucius waited until he was halfway down the stairs again before he
knocked on the door once and let them into the room.
Harry grinned as he walked in to see Rabastan waiting for him at a small,
round table like the ones below them. Xerxes was sat at the other end of
the room, in one of a cluster of four armchairs gathered around a coffee
table and fireplace.
"Rabastan." Harry greeted, his steps widening and quickening until he
reached Rabastan, where he threw his arms around his betrothed and
kissed him.
"Harry, you look wonderful."
Rabastan indicated their table and Harry allowed Rabastan to help him
sit. He turned to look at the group of armchairs, which were almost at the
opposite end of the room, and he frowned at the distance.
"You're here, dining with me. Ignore them, they're just chaperones,
they're not a part of our dinner plans tonight." Rabastan told him and
Harry turned back and gave his full attention to Rabastan.
"How have you been? I've been so bored without you. Lucius had me
reading all day waiting for tonight."
Rabastan chuckled. "I admit, my day has been very boring too, but at
least I've distracted myself with making these plans and finalising
everything."
"I've had Draco poking and prodding me all afternoon." Harry grimaced.
"I'm a fashion disaster. You do know that when we get married it'll
become your job to dress me, don't you?"
The grin that Rabastan gave him was so naughty that Harry blushed.
"As long as I get to undress you every night." Rabastan told him in a lusty
whisper.
"Oh, I don't think that'll be a problem." Harry said with a smile and a
covert wink.
Rabastan laughed and Harry relaxed, settling down. This wasn't any
worse than having dinner with Rabastan at Malfoy manor. It was exactly
the same, only there were fewer people around them and they had the
seclusion and the privacy to converse and interact like lovers were meant
to.
They made small talk until a house-elf came into the room with a large
tray of food and drinks and it settled the plates and drinks down on their
table with magic.
"Thank you." Harry said politely to the elf, who squeaked in pleasure and
left them alone.
"I wish you'd stop doing that." Rabastan sighed.
"I'm not going to, so get used to it." Harry said back sternly.
Rabastan wisely changed the subject.
"I hope you don't mind that I ordered for you. I ordered when I arrived an
hour ago to help set this room up so that no one would see me. Our
family know the owner of this restaurant and I was best friends with his
son in school, so he was very happy to help set this up for us."
Harry took that to mean that the owner of The Garnet Swan, and his son,
were either Death Eaters or sympathisers, most likely purebloods too. In
fact, they probably were purebloods if the Lestranges were friends with
them.
"I'm really not fussy with my food, as long as it doesn't have eyes." Harry
said, which made Rabastan, who'd just taken a sip of water, laugh and
choke on his drink.
"Are you not a fan of seafood?" He teased once he got his breath back.
"I'm not sure. I've tried a bit of cod, but outside of that, I've never had
much seafood. So like the cheese at Christmas, I probably wouldn't like it
because I've never tried it before now and I'm set in my ways. But no
eyes."
Harry made sure to use his soup spoon for the first course and not his
dessert spoon as he had done when Narcissa had been teaching him
about table placements. At the time he'd thought that it was a waste of
time, now, looking at the amount of silverware and bone china on the
table in front of him, he was grateful.
After the light soup came a crisp, jewelled salad with a tangy dressing
and then another course was brought out, a thick, medium-rare steak
served with a baked potato and sautéed vegetables and though they were
steadily eating, their conversation wasn't awkward, uncomfortable or
forced.
It was during that third course that Harry realised that this was not a
struggle for him, that being here, eating and talking to Rabastan was not
forced nor a chore. He was enjoying himself and he was loving every
minute of being here.
"I really love you, you know." He said softly during a natural lull in their
conversation as they ate their food.
Rabastan looked up and he caught sight of the look being sent his way
and he smiled, putting his fork down and reaching for Harry's hand.
"I know. I'm working on truly accepting that when you say it. I just don't
see what you see when you look at me, clearly. But I adore you, Harry. I
love you and I want to keep you, I want to marry you and start a family
with you. I just don't want you hating me in several years when you look
at me and think that you could have had so much better than me."
"There is no one better than you." Harry insisted firmly. "I'm going to
spend the rest of our lives together proving it to you, Rabastan, but you
have been kind and accepting of me and that's all I want from a
marriage. I want love and respect and you give that to me. Why wouldn't
I stay with you when you're offering me everything I've always wanted?"
"I was going to wait until after we'd finished eating, but I can't wait any
more. I love you too much to keep you waiting."
"Waiting for what?" Harry asked, his heart going into his throat with fear
at a possible break-up.
Rabastan fumbled at something in his robe pocket and then he slid a
square box over the table towards him. Harry's fear morphed into
something else and his heart started beating impossibly faster as his
breath caught in his lungs.
"Is…is this what I think it is?" He asked softly.
"Open it and see." Rabastan told him with a croak in his voice.
Harry looked up and he noticed that Rabastan's hands were quivering
with nerves. He put his betrothed out of his misery and opened the velvet
box to show the plush satin insides and the beautiful ring nestled within.
"I'm in love with you, Harry. I adore everything about you. Will you do
me the great honour of marrying me and becoming my husband?"
Rabastan asked as Harry stared at the ring in the box.
He looked up with tears in his eyes and he took hold of Rabastan's
quaking hands.
"Of course, I will, Rabastan. Nothing would make me happier."
Rabastan pulled the ring out of its satin bed and he took Harry's left hand
and slid the perfectly fitting ring onto his third finger.
Harry smiled and admired the ring on his finger. It fitted his finger
perfectly and it was beautiful. So beautiful.
"It's platinum, blue tungsten, and diamond." Rabastan told him. "I
designed it myself and had it custom made for you."
"Thank you so much. I love it. It was truly worth the wait." Harry said
with a massive grin.
He shifted and bent over the table to kiss Rabastan and he couldn't stop
at just one kiss, he was too happy and as one kiss became two and then
several, he realised that he was engaged to this man. He and Rabastan
were not betrothed anymore, they were engaged, they were fiancés. He
shifted again to make himself more stable in the chair and he moved to
wrap his arms around Rabastan's neck and their kiss became more
passionate and they didn't break apart.
"Please do remember that you have an audience." Lucius drawled from
across the room.
Harry broke the kiss to heave in several deep, much-needed breaths.
"At the moment I don't care who's watching." He declared before he
pulled Rabastan's head into another searing kiss.
"Let the boys be, Lucius. They're engaged now after all."
Harry pulled back to grin at Rabastan and he went back to looking at and
admiring his ring. The outer edges of the ring were shining platinum with
an inside ring of bright blue metal that Rabastan had called tungsten and
it was studded with five diamonds around the band. Harry loved it. It
was definitely masculine, but it didn't take over his whole finger and it
wasn't too heavy. It was perfect.
"You've given this so much thought, Rabastan. I just love it." He insisted
happily as he tore his gaze away from the ring to kiss Rabastan again.
"But more than that, I can't believe we're finally engaged. You could have
given me a plastic ring or the end of a copper pipe and I would have been
happy just to be engaged to you."
"It had to be special. Like you." Rabastan told him.
Harry grinned and clutched at Rabastan's hands.
"With this ring, Harry, I promise to love you forever. I promise to care for
you and love you and our future family. I adore the very ground that you
walk on and I can't wait until we're married and we start having children.
I love you."
"I love you, Rabastan." Harry said. "Are you sure we can't marry this
summer?"
"I'd love nothing more, but your father is insistent on you being
graduated first. A baby really wouldn't fit in with your school plans or
your exams and as much as I hate to admit it, I'm not fit enough to look
after a child just yet. Hopefully, given another year and a half to regain
my health and past strength with this diet and fitness program, I'll be in a
better position to look after you and a child. I'll work very hard, I swear
it. I'll do everything I can to regain my health and fitness for you, for our
future."
"I don't care if you never regain your old strength, Rabastan, as long as
you're healthy." Harry said seriously. "I want you to be happy and healthy
and I'll still love you just as much."
"I want to regain my strength for you." Rabastan insisted. "What sort of
husband will I be if I can't carry you up the stairs to our bed?"
Harry grinned naughtily. "There are always levitation charms."
"What about the actual wedding night?" Rabastan asked.
Harry's grin widened and he winked. "I have enough strength and
youthful enthusiasm for the both of us." He declared.
Rabastan's look immediately went predatory and those beautiful blue
eyes darkened with lust.
"I'll hold you to that." He replied huskily. "But I still promise to work as
hard as I can to overcome my weakness."
"Don't push yourself too hard." Harry told him.
"I know, I know. Now you sound like 'Dolphus." Rabastan laughed.
"You should listen to him more." Harry said. "He's looking out for you, we
both are because we both love you. Now, where's my dessert?"
Rabastan chuckled and snapped his fingers and immediately their house-
elf server was back.
"We'd like our desserts now." He demanded.
Harry narrowed his eyes on Rabastan as the house-elf cleared away the
table and popped away.
"Can't you be a little nicer to them?"
"What? No." Rabastan said as if the very concept was unbelievable and
unreasonable to him.
Harry huffed and took a drink from his glass of water.
"Look, I'm sorry that I'm not falling over myself to thank the damn elves,
can we please not let it ruin our night?"
Harry sighed. "Okay. I love you and this is our engagement night and I'm
incredibly happy, I just…please stop being so nasty."
"They're elves!" Rabastan insisted in bemusement.
Harry sighed and rubbed his eyes. He let it go. They'd gotten engaged
tonight and he wasn't going to change Rabastan's mindset in one night. It
was going to take much longer than that, but he wouldn't allow such
abuse in his own home. Either Rabastan was nicer to the elves, or they
wouldn't have one when they moved into their own home.
Their desserts came and Harry made a point of thanking the elf before he
used his dessert spoon to eat the shaped milk chocolate mousse that had
a layer of dark chocolate ganache drizzled on the top with fresh
raspberries. It was gorgeous and it perked his mood right up.
"This is amazing." He groaned in happiness and he looked up to see
Rabastan watching him with those lusty eyes again. "What?"
"Seeing you suck on that spoon is making my imagination run wild."
Harry blushed before he burst out laughing. "Only you could look at me
eating and get aroused."
"Actually, I don't think that's true. You're just a little unobservant."
"How dare you." Harry said teasingly. "I'll have you know that I need to
be very observant to be the best Seeker in Hogwarts!"
Rabastan smiled and took his hand again after they finished their
desserts, standing up and leading them over to Lucius and Xerxes and
they sat and relaxed to let their meal go down on the group of chairs
around a low table where they'd taken their after-dinner coffee to join
Lucius and Xerxes.
"Are you happy, Harry?" Lucius asked him.
"Of course. How could I not be?" Harry said. "I love Rabastan so much
and now we're engaged!" He said excitedly, showing his ring off to Lucius
and Xerxes, as Rabastan had not allowed anyone to see the ring before
Harry himself had seen it. "I wish we could get married this summer, not
next, but I do understand why we need to wait."
Lucius narrowed his eyes. "Yes, you do need to wait. No son of mine will
be married before he's graduated and you will not saddle yourself with a
baby before you've settled into your own home with your husband. Am I
clear?"
"Crystal clear." Harry sighed. "I suppose I could content myself with
planning my wedding and studying for my exams."
"You make sure that you do."
Harry smiled and held Rabastan's hand, about as much as they could do
as they were sat in separate armchairs as this room didn't have a settee.
He would have preferred to snuggle with him, especially as they had
gotten engaged tonight. He couldn't wait to show off his ring to everyone,
he was so excited and he'd never felt as in love with Rabastan as he did
right now tonight. Everything was perfect…he should have known that it
would be too good to be true and wouldn't last too long.
Bill was disgusted as he listened to his mother cry and had to watch his
ashen-faced father attempt to comfort her.
They'd had a letter from the Hogwarts governors and a bill from Lucius
Malfoy. Ron and Ginny had been implicated in the theft and destruction
of Harry's trunk, Firebolt, and other belongings and now they were being
forced to pay for it.
Their mother had already screamed at Ron and Ginny before sending
them to their rooms, but the hefty bill was still sitting open on their
table, taunting them, and Bill felt sick looking at the amount that they
owed to the Malfoy family…all because of Harry.
It always seemed to come down to Harry Potter these days and Bill had
no idea where things had gone so very wrong. Harry had used to be a
friend of both Ron and Ginny, of the whole family, and now he was
billing them for money that he knew they didn't have.
The amount that was being asked of them would ruin their family for the
next several years, if not the next decade. They just couldn't afford to pay
this kind of money, but he understood why Ron and Ginny had to be held
accountable. They had destroyed another student's belongings, it just hit
them all the harder because it was Harry.
Harry who had been welcomed into their family, Harry who knew they
were not a well-off family. Bill just didn't understand why Harry would
send this bill to them when he could easily afford to replace the
belongings damaged in a fit of temper by Ron and Ginny without even
making a slight bump in his finances.
He understood that Ron and Ginny needed to be punished for their
actions, even if it was just replacing a set of robes or a book and giving
the boy a written apology, but to bill them for absolutely everything that
had been damaged, especially the ridiculously expensive Firebolt, it was
excessive.
"What are we going to do, Arthur?" His mother sobbed.
"We'll get through this, Molly." His father said, but Bill saw his father's
face. He saw the lost, haggard look that had paled his face and the
desolate look in his eyes as he looked at the amount they owed.
He swallowed and looked back at the letter and the bill that had been
given to them. It was disgusting and made even worse knowing that the
bill had been split between six people. Two of them just happened to be
Ron and Ginny.
He sighed and rubbed his forehead. He'd already applied for overtime at
the bank and he knew that Fred and George were furious. They'd been by
earlier and they'd sworn to give their parents as much of their profits
from their shop as they could spare to help pay the debt their family now
owed, despite both of their parents insisting that it wasn't needed and
they'd manage somehow. All of them knew that it was a lie.
Bill had even contacted Percy and Charlie, but so far neither of them had
answered. He wasn't too surprised about Percy and he hoped that Charlie
was just wrapping things up at the dragon reserve before taking a leave
of absence to come and support the family, but even with all of them
doing what they could, he wasn't sure it was enough…he was afraid that
this would utterly ruin their family's finances for years to come. If this
continued then they'd never rise above the poverty line.
"Wh…wh…why did they have to bill us for Ron and Ginny?" His mother
sobbed yet again. "Gin…Ginny wasn't even…even involved in taking
Harry's trunk!"
"I know, Molly, I know. But she still tried her best to ruin Harry's broom.
They took it in turns to try and demolish it and they need to be punished
for it and they need to be held accountable for their actions."
"But…this just seems so unfair! They're only children, Arthur, just fifteen
and sixteen!"
Bill felt awful for his parents. His father looked like he'd aged twenty
years and his mother's eyes were red and puffy from crying. He couldn't
stand seeing his parents like this and he wanted to punch Harry fucking
Potter straight in the face for this.
The flames in the fireplace turned green and Bill was almost relieved to
see Charlie stepping out and dusting the soot off of himself.
"Oh! Oh, Charlie. It's so good to see you, dear." Their mother stood up
and brushed her tears away before embracing her second-born son,
pulling him down into a crushing hug.
"Mum, what's going on? I got Bill's owl. What's happened?"
"Oh, it's just…things have broken down between the family and Percy
and now…now Harry's gone too."
"Harry? Ron's friend? What happened?" Charlie asked with a frown,
trying to keep up with what was happening. He already knew about
Percy going off, Bill had owled him about it and Charlie had owled Percy
himself, trying to get him to see sense, all to no avail.
"It's all been a complete mess." Molly sobbed as she clutched at Charlie
tighter.
"I heard about Bill becoming Lord Weasley too, just what is going on?"
"Sit down, Charlie, we have much to talk about." Arthur said.
Charlie gently extracted himself from their mother and sat down. Bill sat
next to him and their parents took the seats opposite them both.
"So, what's happened? It's only been two years. That's not that long." He
insisted.
"It's far too long, Charlie, dear. I wish you'd get a job closer to home."
"I've told you, Mum, I love working with the dragons. I'm not leaving my
job." Charlie said firmly.
"Could you at least come and visit more often?"
"This is not what we need to talk about." Bill interrupted as Charlie
fidgeted, not answering the question.
"Yeah, tell me what in the name of Merlin is going on!"
Arthur handed Charlie the letter from the governors and the bill they'd
been given. Bill watched as Charlie read them through slowly.
"What is this? I don't understand."
"I suppose it starts with Harry being adopted by the Malfoys."
"What?! How in the hell did that happen?" Charlie demanded.
"It happened last summer, what's worse is that Harry is now ignoring
Dumbledore and doing near enough the exact opposite of everything he
says."
"I take it that he stopped speaking to Ron after he was adopted." Charlie
said in righteous fury.
"Yeah, according to Ron, Harry snubbed him on the train. He was sitting
with his new Slytherin buddies and when Ron and Hermione went to talk
to him he was like a completely different person. His voice has changed,
his appearance and mannerisms have changed and even his handwriting,
all different. It's all very worrying."
"Right, what does this have to do with you becoming the new Lord
Weasley? I thought our family didn't care about such things."
"We don't." Arthur insisted. "But Dumbledore asked us to put aside our
disgust at such things so that we could have an ear on the Wizengamot."
"Why would he need us to do that? He's the Chief Warlock, isn't he?"
"I'm afraid not, Charlie. Malfoy forced Harry to claim his lordships, which
means that Dumbledore could no longer sit on the Wizengamot and was
forced to give up his position of Chief Warlock. With Harry now Lord
Potter and Lord Black, he has two very influential votes and Dumbledore
has no seat left on the Wizengamot, so he needs us to be his eyes and ears
for him."
"What does Dumbledore hope to achieve from that?"
"He hopes to head off any unsavoury new laws that Malfoy wants to pass
by getting the public behind him to oppose the laws before they're
written into official legislation." Arthur explained.
"The key here is knowledge and forewarning so that we can counter
anything that Malfoy wants to be passed which will damage our world as
we know it." Bill explained with a sigh. "Harry has proven to be
incredibly unhelpful."
"Have you checked him for potions or the Imperius curse?" Charlie asked.
"Dumbledore has, several times now, and nothing has shown up. The
only potions that Harry has been taking recently are calming draughts,
nutrient potions and a few headache relievers and there are no spells on
him that can be found. Dumbledore is hoping that it means that Harry is
under a very dark curse that doesn't show up with a basic detection
spell." Arthur said sadly.
"You don't sound so certain." Bill said with a frown and his father
hesitated a moment before sighing.
"I'm afraid that there are no spells or potions detected on Harry because
there aren't any to be found. I'm afraid that Harry is acting under his own
influence and he's behaving the way that he is because he wants to."
Arthur answered grimly.
"Our family have done so much for him though!" Charlie said hotly. "Why
would he be acting this way if it isn't a potion or a curse?"
"I saw him as a son." Their mother sniffled. "I loved him like my own and
the first chance he got, he ran off with Lucius Malfoy, of all people. Now
that stuck up, cold, snob Narcissa is taking my place. Harry's calling her
mum when I did everything for that boy and he never once called me
mum!"
"It's alright, Mum. We don't need him." Bill said, running a hand through
his long hair in agitation.
"So, what about this letter?" Charlie asked, looking back to the letter and
the bill that he was still holding in his hand.
Arthur sighed heavily. "It seems that Ron and Ginny and some of their
other friends took exception to Harry's new…life choices. They stole all
of Harry's belongings and destroyed them and tried to ruin his Firebolt,
which had to be sent for specialist repairs. Lucius Malfoy decided to bill
our family for Ron and Ginny's actions, backed by Hogwarts' school
governors, of which Malfoy is now the head of once again."
"This is ridiculous! We can't pay this much!" Charlie said aghast. "This is
more than I make in three years at the reserve!"
"Unfortunately, Ron and Ginny did destroy all of Harry's property, which
was all tailor-made robes, a selection of very expensive books, a
collection of thirty sixty-millilitre bottles of coloured ink, handcrafted
quills, a hand-carved trunk and the world's most expensive racing broom.
Thankfully, it only needed to be repaired and not completely replaced, or
the bill would be even more." Arthur said sadly.
"I can't believe that Harry is billing our family!"
"That's what I said." Bill told Charlie.
"He has every right to claim damages from us, boys." Their father sighed.
"I thought I'd raised my children better than to damage someone else's
property, but I guess I failed at that too. I'll be in my shed."
Bill watched his father leave through the back door sadly and he felt a
well of anger bubble up inside him. Harry Potter would not get away
with doing this to his family. He wouldn't let him humiliate his father
any more than he already had. He wouldn't let him stomp all over his
family as if they were nothing.
"What are we going to do?" Charlie asked him in a whisper as their
mother buried her face into her hands to hide her tears from her sons.
"I'm going to work my arse off to get on that Wizengamot and I'm going
to do my utmost to take that boy down, Charlie. No one treats us like
dirt, not after we welcomed him in like family."
Charlie nodded his head and steeled himself as he tucked away the letters
and the bill.
"We need to sort this, Charlie, especially with Percy not talking to us, this
is probably the worst thing that could have happened. Our family was
just getting back on its feet. Me, you, Perce, and the twins are all out of
the house and have jobs, it was just Ron and Gin left and now this. I'm
already working as much as I can and I've requested overtime too."
"How are you going to work five days, plus overtime, and get ready for
your acceptance into the Wizengamot and the Weasley lordship?" Charlie
demanded. "It's too much to take on, Bill."
"I've got to try, Charlie." Bill said softly. "It's worth it to try."
Charlie nodded and steeled himself to stay at his childhood home for a
few weeks. It was going to be near torture, especially as his beloved
dragons were going into their breeding season soon and the females
would have nests and eggs that the handlers were all charged with
protecting, but he had to do this. He had his orders and he had to follow
them. It would only be for a few weeks, at least, he consoled himself with
that knowledge.
Neville Longbottom ducked his head away from his gran's irate anger as
she berated him over and over for attacking Harry Potter, the lord of two
houses and a respected member of their society.
She'd had a letter from the school governors that very morning as well as
a sixth of a bill for the damage and destruction of Harry Potter's
belongings and she was furious with him.
"I didn't do it, Gran." He said tearfully. "I woke up the third time because
of the noise to see Ron, Seamus, and Dean trying to pick up Harry's trunk
and I put my hands on it to stop them from taking it. That's why I was
affected by the curse, I swear. Harry was one of my first friends, I
wouldn't have done anything like this to him, Gran."
"Lord Potter-Black and his father seem to think otherwise!" Augusta
Longbottom said harshly, but she looked over her grandson critically.
"It was only because of how it looked, Gran!" Neville insisted. "I looked
guilty because my hands were affected by the curse too."
"Then why didn't you try to explain this to them?" Augusta asked
promptly.
"Harry wouldn't let me. He started avoiding me and he'd cut me off as
soon as I started talking to him, but I did try to explain what had
happened. He just wouldn't listen, Gran."
"I don't blame him!" Augusta said. "Have you seen how much this bill is
for? And it is only a sixth of the total! If I had spent this much on you
and then I had to turn around two months later and replace it all again I
would be just as livid! This is completely unacceptable, disgraceful
behaviour for young gentlemen to engage in and I cannot believe that
two young ladies were involved in this scandalous scheme. That boy is a
lord of two houses and he is a celebrity to boot, Neville."
"I know, Gran, but I swear I didn't do it. I was just trying to stop them
from taking Harry's trunk again. I've been bullied too often to stand by
and watch others do it to someone I thought of as a friend."
"If that's true then I'll write to the governors. I'm sure they wouldn't want
to implicate an innocent young man and I'm sure that if this is true, then
you won't object to proving it." Augusta gave Neville a beady-eyed,
hawkish look and narrowed her eyes until her grandson nodded his head.
"Of course, I won't object to it, Gran. I promise I was just trying to help. I
wouldn't bully anyone else like that! Not when…not when I was the
subject of it a few years ago. It was Harry who stuck up for me back then,
I wouldn't turn on him now just because he's been adopted without any
say in the matter."
Augusta nodded, proud of the man that Neville was becoming from the
pudgy, shy, and unconfident boy he'd been when he'd first started at
Hogwarts six years before.
"Well, I am glad that you are at least thinking about this rationally. You,
as a pureblood, know that that boy had no say in the matter of his
adoption, but I for one am glad that someone took that boy under their
wing and that he's getting taught all the things that he needs to know."
"I know, Gran. I tried to tell him all of that, but he won't even look at me
and now that he's in his own rooms, I don't get to see him as he never
comes to the common room and he's not in the dorm room. I can't even
see him in class because when Slytherin have lessons with Gryffindor,
Harry sits with Malfoy and when it's another house, he finds someone to
sit with who isn't a Gryffindor."
"I don't blame that poor boy." Augusta insisted. "But if you are innocent,
then I will petition the governors to have you removed from the bill. An
innocent person shouldn't have to pay for another's crime."
Neville ducked his head and worried over that. If he was taken off of this
bill, then that would mean that the others would have to pay even more,
as it would be split between five and not six and he had already listened
to Ron moan about it after Harry had threatened to bill him for the
damages.
Ron hadn't thought that Harry would actually do it, even though it was
within his rights to do so, so he'd really been groaning about Harry
actually threatening him with the bill for the damages when he knew
that his family couldn't afford it more than anything else. Ron was going
to be awful to live with now that Harry had actually billed them all for
his damaged belongings.
Neville firmed himself, they had done wrong and they needed to pay for
it. It wasn't fair what they'd done to Harry and he knew it, it was why
he'd tried to stop them, even if it had been three onto one. Now none of
them would speak to him as even though he'd been caught up in Harry's
revenge curse by trying to help him, he still refused to take their side and
they'd turned on him because of it, even Ginny, who'd been so sweet to
him last year when he'd asked her to the Yule Ball.
It was all such a mess, but he knew that he was innocent, and he hoped
that when this was over with and he'd proven himself innocent, that he
and Harry could go back to being friends.
Harry was very happy to show off his ring to Narcissa and Draco when he
flooed back home later that night with Lucius.
"Oh, it's beautiful, Harry, darling." Narcissa gushed as she took his hand
to look at the ring closer.
"I love the blue ring with the edge of platinum." Draco said as he
examined the ring critically. "Paired with the five, beautifully cut
diamonds too, Rabastan has done well. It's a very simple design that
actually looks as expensive as it is instead of cheap. This is a well thought
out ring and as soon as anyone with any hint of knowledge about
jewellery sees it, they'll know it too."
"Who the hell has knowledge of jewellery?" Harry scoffed.
Draco smirked nastily. "Daphne and Pansy for two." He said and Harry
felt a matching evil smirk take over his own face.
"Oh, I can't wait for the train ride."
"Remember not to tell anyone outside of certain…circles about who
you're engaged to."
Harry nodded. "All anyone else is going to know is that the 'witch' I'm
marrying is a pureblood from another country."
"A witch? Why a witch?" Draco asked him with his platinum eyebrows
lowered in confusion.
"To keep my bearer genes a secret from those who don't deserve to be in
the know." Harry said simply. "It keeps me safer and it'll keep everyone as
far away from guessing that my fiancé is Rabastan as possible."
Lucius' eyes gleamed. "I'm very proud that you've given so much thought
to this. I agree, telling those not already in the know that you're engaged
to a lovely young lady from…France, shall we say? Is a very clever idea.
I'll start spreading the news covertly around the Ministry."
Harry grinned. "I want to shout from the Astronomy Tower that I'm
marrying Rabastan, but I know that I can't and I need to keep the both of
us safe and our future children safe until the time is right. If that means
lying through my teeth about an engagement to a witch in France, so be
it."
Harry was missing Rabastan more tonight than he had that morning and
talking about being engaged to some fictitious witch from France wasn't
helping. Knowing that his real fiancé was at his ancestral house, with his
vile father too, brought his own mood down. He just wanted to stay by
Rabastan's side, but unfortunately, it was too risky to bring the
Lestranges over to the manor, just in case the Aurors were still watching
their house. Though Lucius was delighting in telling him and Draco that
he'd gone to the Minister's personal home during the afternoon, while
Draco had been poking and dressing Harry up for his date, and the elder
Malfoy had ripped into the Minister for such an atrocious act of
embarrassment in his own house. The elder Malfoy hoped that the Auror
observation would be lifted very soon, unfortunately, it wouldn't be soon
enough for Harry, who was going to be going back to Hogwarts in just
four days. Normal Ministry work wouldn't be resumed until the day after
Harry was back in Hogwarts.
The Minister had all but stumbled over himself to apologise to Lucius and
Harry had learnt a valuable lesson from that story. If you're confident and
slightly arrogant, those lesser than you will fall over themselves to do
your bidding.
"At the end of the day, boys." Lucius told them as both he and Draco sat
in the living room with mugs of hot chocolate, hanging on every word of
his recounted visit with the Minister. "People will respect authority, and
the more gold you earn, the more you can pass on to those in higher
offices, like our dear Minister Fudge. If you have gold and authority and
don't use them, it's a massive waste of potential."
"You're hinting at me." Harry said softly.
"I am, yes. Whether you like it or not, Harry, you're a political figure and
a famous celebrity. You can sway the masses to your way of thinking,
you are a bigger influence than you realise and if you learnt to use that to
your advantage…"
Lucius trailed off and Harry sat thinking about those words. He couldn't
get them out of his mind, even as the conversation turned to lighter
topics. Could he really be such a huge influence? It didn't seem remotely
possible to him that people with their own brains and thoughts would
follow his orders just because of his name…it seemed utterly
preposterous. But Lucius Malfoy was a very sharp, shrewd man, if he said
that he could use his name, fame, and gold to bring people around to his
way of thinking, then he was probably right. He just needed to learn how
to utilise such weapons to his advantage.
"How do I use my fame to get people to do what I want?" He asked
curiously.
Lucius blinked, having been cut off in mid-sentence, and he turned to
him. Harry expected a punishment, not a satisfied smirk.
"Well now. I certainly didn't think you'd enjoy the idea of selling yourself
to the public. I admit that I'm rather taken aback."
"I don't like it, the very thought of it makes me feel dirty and wrong, but I
recognise that sometimes we have to do things that we don't particularly
like to reach our end objective."
Lucius smiled, truly smiled at him, and turned his body to face him fully.
"You are growing by the day, in front of our very eyes. I will teach you
how to use your name and influence to get others to do as you want. If
you're clever, it'll be much easier for you, as you're still a boy. If you can
make it seem like the idea you have is that of the one you're playing,
you'll find others suddenly doing absolutely everything you want them to
do without them ever knowing that they've been played in the first
place." Lucius told him.
Harry nodded and he steeled himself to listen to the lessons that Lucius
was going to teach him. The thought of using himself in such a way made
him feel uneasy and if he were truthful, a bit like a tool. But…but if it
helped him to achieve his goals, then he was prepared to give it a try. For
example, if he could use his fame where he could and subtle bribes
elsewhere to get people to listen to his fears about the Dementors, then it
would be worth it to feel used and a bit grubby afterwards.
He needed to test the lessons out first though, he couldn't go straight
from listening to the lessons that Lucius taught him to using it for his
cause to kick the Dementors out of Azkaban. He'd have to test it out first
and practice it on his fellow students at Hogwarts.
"Can you start teaching me tomorrow?" Harry asked, knowing as he did
that Lucius wasn't due back in work until the sixth of January, with the
majority of the Ministry workforce, and because he and Draco went back
to Hogwarts the day before, on the fifth of January, which was a Sunday
ready to begin lessons the following day.
Lucius looked at him knowingly, as if he knew that Harry wanted to
practice on his fellow students, before he nodded. "Yes, I believe that that
would be agreeable. Draco is going to visit Astoria tomorrow, I'll be free
to teach you how to use your name and command authority for it."
Harry nodded and went back to his mug of hot chocolate, his mind
racing. If he could do this properly, it might actually be worth it if he got
what he wanted in the end.
His gaze caught the new ring nestled on his left hand as he lifted the mug
to his mouth and he smiled, going back to admiring it. He loved Rabastan
and he couldn't wait until they were married. He hated that the Ministry
had ruined their last week together, especially as he and Rabastan had
gotten engaged tonight, but it was too risky to have Rabastan come here
and downright dangerous for him to go and sleep in the Lestrange manor
with Rhadamanthus creeping about. Not that Lucius would have ever
allowed him to sleep at Lestrange manor, despite him and Rabastan now
being engaged and their wedding planned for the summer of nineteen-
ninety-eight, it still wasn't proper etiquette. Harry hated proper etiquette
sometimes.
A/N: These next two months are going to be hectic for me as I'm
planning on updating a chapter for a fic every single week, which is
going to be pushing me to the limit, but last week I posted up my brand
new fic, Tainted Blood, next week will be Rise of the Drackens and then
Tainted blood again. October I'm hoping for another update of both Black
Heir and Tainted Blood along with the epilogue of Damaged Bodies and
hopefully a Scaled Bits chapter too. So I'm very, very busy, but I'm feeling
invincible after climbing a mountain three days ago! We'll see how long
that feeling lasts.
But I hope that you lovelies have enjoyed this new chapter, Harry and
Rabastan are finally engaged and they're getting somewhere! Harry is
slowly, very slowly, being tainted by the dark and it's happening so
gradually, he's not really noticing it.
I finally revealed why Neville's hands were affected by the curse, and
some of you lovelies actually thought that he was in on it, bless him! No,
he was trying to stop Ron, Seamus and Dean from taking Harry's trunk
again and he just happened to touch the trunk to do so. Harry will never
be friends with him again, not now that he's engaged to Rabastan, the
guilt would chew him up. So poor Neville is being a bit optimistic in his
hopes there.
A massive thank you to krabi for being the 1,400th reviewer!
ladyofsilverdawn: Oh yes, Harry is definitely getting darker, but it's
happening so slowly and gradually that Harry himself is not even
noticing it. He's going to turn around one day in several years' time and
realise, hey, I used to be afraid of casting a dark affiliated curse and now
I can't go more than a morning without casting one. It's going to be
amazing.
Marie Wolfschoon: Nope, I plan on writing the babies too. At least a few
of them. There's more that this fic is going to cover than just Dumbledore
and the Weasleys.
Sapphirewaterfall: Lucius was angry with Draco bed hopping because
one of the girls involved, Daphne, is the older sister of his betrothed and
the second, Pansy, had a pregnancy scare. That was what angered him
the most. It would have been a massive scandal if Draco had had a baby
with Pansy while still in school and while they were both betrothed to
other people, not to mention they were both underaged. So yeah, he was
angry.
Jantina: Harry's not in his seventh year, he's in his sixth, so Katie is in
her seventh year and is still on the team because she was in canon.
Parallel Parabox: Harry already has to be completely neutral just to stay
alive. He can't blackmail Voldemort with his neutrality because
Voldemort will just turn around and kill him if he's not. Harry can't use
Voldemort to kill him because Rhadamanthus is one of Voldemort's most
loyal followers and he's in a very prestigious role at the Ministry and he'll
either just say no, or Harry will be horrifically indebted to Voldemort and
his mental state and sanity wouldn't be able to handle that because the
things Voldemort would make him do, such as taking the Dark Mark,
would destroy Harry afterwards. It's not worth it to get Voldemort
involved. If Harry want's Rhadamanthus dead, he has to do it himself and
he will. I've got it all planned out.
Mister Kyan: Ah, but Voldemort doesn't know the full prophecy, does
he? He never learned the true contents of the prophecy, so he doesn't
know about that little detail, thus he has no thoughts on it.
Also, no, the girl Marcus was talking about wasn't Luna, who doesn't play
Quidditch and does actually wear dresses on occasion. It's a woman who
hasn't been in the fic yet and she likely won't be more than occasionally
on Marcus' arm. Though I do have plans for Luna, so she'll be in the fic
soon, once Harry is back in Hogwarts.
The Reducto curse was a good thought, especially as Harry did say his
curse reduced things to nothing, but that's only for inanimate objects, as
the Reducto curse is only meant for inanimate objects. Usually it will
leave a cut or a gash if it hits a living target, but Harry's Reducto, as
previously stated, is very, very strong. So it did have enough power to
sever Rowle's leg, but unfortunately it's not a curse that's strong enough
to kill someone outright.
I hope you lovelies enjoyed this chapter! The next chapter is back to
Hogwarts and I'm thinking of bringing in the Wizengamot again…it's
been a while since I showed Harry being a political badass, so more
Wizengamot and Ministry scenes are on the way.
If you wanted to see Harry's ring, it's sort of like this one, but it's edged
with platinum and studded with Diamonds and the inside is blue, not
silver.
Buybluesteel com/collections/men-s-wedding-rings/products/
stratosphere-brushed-blue-ip-and-silver-stainless-steel-his-and-her-ring-
with-step-edges
StarLight Massacre. X
12. Trials and Debates
Last Time
His gaze caught the new ring nestled on his left hand as he lifted the mug to
his mouth and he smiled, going back to admiring it. He loved Rabastan and he
couldn't wait until they were married. He hated that the Ministry had ruined
their last week together, especially as he and Rabastan had gotten engaged
tonight, but it was too risky to have Rabastan come here and downright
dangerous for him to go and sleep in the Lestrange manor with Rhadamanthus
creeping about. Not that Lucius would have ever allowed him to sleep at
Lestrange manor, despite him and Rabastan now being engaged and their
wedding planned for the summer of nineteen-ninety-eight, it still wasn't proper
etiquette. Harry hated proper etiquette sometimes.
Chapter Twelve – Trials and Debates
Harry grinned at Draco as his brother and Blaise messed around in the
compartment that they'd chosen. Lucius and Narcissa had escorted them
to the platform and had made sure that they were on the train, but they
couldn't stay to see them off. Instead, the elder Malfoys had gotten the
both of them settled into their compartment and then they'd gone again
as soon as they were on the train with their trunks and their owl cages.
Hedwig was on a letter delivery to Remus and Draco's owl, Saracen, was
flying to Hogwarts as he found it more comfortable.
Harry had been given several cards and a few presents by Lucius a few
days earlier. His father had extensively checked them all for any sort of
harmful potions or spells before giving them to him, which was a good
thing as he'd found a few subtly placed compulsion spells worked into
certain passages of text which, when read by him, would have urged him
to do exactly as the passages had instructed. The compulsion spells had
all been carefully removed before he'd even been allowed to hold the
letters.
He'd already owled Remus back to thank him profusely for his amazing
gift, a small portrait of a much younger Sirius, from before Azkaban, that
he could actually talk to and get an answer from, to an extent at least.
But he was just so thankful to be able to talk to Sirius again, to hear his
voice, that he didn't care if this version of Sirius had no clue what had
happened in the Ministry or anything about the Order of the Phoenix
because as soon as he told the younger version of Sirius what had
happened, he'd brushed it off and told him that the best way he could
think of dying would be in the place of his friends or Prongs' baby. Him.
Talking to this hilarious, fun-loving Sirius helped to draw out the awful,
festering guilt that he was carrying around. It helped him let go of Sirius,
even as he talked and joked around with this new one.
Harry had also gotten a tin of fudge from Hagrid and he planned to go
and have a talk with him once he was settled back in his private rooms as
the half-giant had told him in his letter that he had missed him and his
visits last term. As for Ron and Hermione's written apologies, well, they
weren't fit to wipe his arse with if he was honest. Hermione's was
marginally more sincere than Ron's, but he assumed that her parents had
had a hand in that, what with the incredibly hefty bills they would have
received during the first week of the New Year. He assumed that they
were trying to get back into his good graces in order to convince him to
pay the bill himself or to convince him to get his father to pick it up
instead of themselves. He knew that the two-sixths of the bill that had
been sent to the Weasleys would have crippled them, but he wiped away
those thoughts of guilt and remorse. They had turned on him, they had
all turned on him and they'd attacked him without provocation. They'd
all brought it on themselves. He had nothing to be guilty for, he had no
reason to be remorseful about billing them for his damaged belongings.
"What's that?!"
Harry looked up, slightly startled at the sudden, loud noise, to see that
Pansy, Millicent, and Daphne had arrived in their compartment. Astoria
had also arrived and she was sat primly next to Draco, as was her right as
his betrothed. Harry was very pleased to note that their hands were
entwined together. Draco had already told him that his afternoon with
her had gone really well now that he actually knew how to talk to her
properly, instead of taking her shy silence as disinterest.
"What's what?" Blaise asked, looking in bemusement at Pansy, who'd
made the alarming outburst.
"That!" Pansy pointed to Harry's hand, and to the stunning, gleaming ring
nestled on his finger.
"It's my engagement ring." Harry drawled slowly. He was definitely
learning the Malfoy family mannerisms.
"Oh, you and Rabastan got engaged?" Astoria said happily. "May I see?"
Harry held out his hand and Astoria's tinier one took his and looked the
ring over.
"It's so beautiful!" She gushed. "Those diamonds are amazing, very
beautifully cut, and the contrast of the blue with the silver is stunning, or
is it platinum? It certainly seems whiter than silver."
"It's platinum. Platinum and blue tungsten. We got engaged on New
Year's night." Harry said. "He took me on a dinner date to The Garnet
Swan or something. I really wasn't expecting it. I thought he'd propose in
the summer."
"Let me see!" Pansy demanded as she snatched his hand and looked at his
ring critically. Harry watched her face and he could almost see that she
was pricing it up in her head.
She huffed and sat down again. Harry assumed that she could find no
fault with the ring, or with how much it had obviously cost, and it made
him very smug.
"For the sake of the mudbloods…" Draco trailed off as Harry glared so
hard at him he could almost feel the heat of it. Draco sighed. "For the
sake of the other students who aren't in our superior circle, Harry is
engaged to a witch from France. We've been ordered not to reveal his true
fiancé to anyone not already in the know."
"Why a witch when you're obviously gay and have bearer genes?" Blaise
asked confused.
"Because it's safer for me and Rabastan if people didn't know about that
particular ability of mine. The healers aren't able to reveal anything
confidential about me or my medical records as per their magically
binding oaths and the only other copy of the record is locked in my
father's study." Harry sighed. "It'll keep people as far away from thinking
of Rabastan as possible if they think that I'm straight and engaged to a
foreign witch."
"What is this foreign witch's name?" Millicent asked him. "I'll drop it in
conversation."
"Aceline and she's from Nantes. It's too dangerous to link her to an actual
pureblood family though, so don't bring up last names." Harry warned.
"Make it a lesser pureblood family, at least." Pansy said. "With you being
a lord of two houses and incredibly wealthy, it would be suspicious if
your bride was also from an incredibly wealthy and influential family. It
won't be noticed if she's from one of the lesser pureblood families."
Draco was already nodding. "We have, Pans." He explained. "She's not
real and not who Harry is actually marrying, so it doesn't matter. The
only thing that does matter is looking after him and keeping him and
Rabastan safe. We have our orders." He stressed again.
Everyone in the compartment knew who those orders had come from and
not a single one of them dared to go against the one who had made those
orders. Harry's secret was safe, which meant that he and Rabastan would
be safe.
After they'd been moving for a while and after the witch with the trolley
had been by and Harry had eaten a few snacks and sweets, as well as
downed a bottle of pumpkin juice, he stood up and stretched himself.
"I'll be back soon." He said, speaking mostly to the puzzled looking Draco.
"I want to go and see Theo for a bit."
Daphne scoffed. "Why do you want to actually talk to that spineless
dimwit? He never has anything good or intellectual to say. He has no
brain and no spine, he's like a mollusc. Perhaps I should start calling him
slug. It suits him."
Harry's eyes flashed dangerously and his right hand clenched into a fist,
making his knuckles crack.
"Be very, very careful, Daphne. Theo is my friend and if you carry on
you'll find out exactly why I'm the top of our year in Defence."
Harry left before he could make good on his promise and he went
searching for Theo. He wanted to find out why he hadn't kicked Daphne
out on her arse yet and if he had, for whatever reason, changed his mind
about keeping his betrothal to Daphne, then Harry would make sure that
he changed it right back again. Daphne was far too poisonous to have
such a wonderfully tolerant person such as Theo for a husband. She
didn't deserve him.
He found Theo in a compartment further down the train from the one
that he was in and he was once again sitting with a group of seventh-year
Slytherins.
"Harry, how are you?" Theo greeted him like they were the best of friends
as he stood up and hugged him, instead of offering a handshake.
"I'm good, Theo. I just wanted to come and see you." He said. "I'm in the
same compartment as Daphne."
Theo grinned then. "I suppose you're wondering why she didn't blow up
at you as soon as she saw you?"
"Yeah." Harry said bluntly. "I am."
He peered around at the very interested seventh-years.
"Don't worry about them, they know all about what you did for me and
about my troubles concerning Greengrass." Theo said as he sat down and
offered a seat to Harry, which he took.
"Then I don't feel bad in blurting out what the fuck are you still doing
with her?"
That earned him several laughs, but he wasn't in a joking mood.
"I'm planning to thoroughly humiliate her, don't worry, Harry. I'm not
going to change my mind now that you've given me a way out. I've
already been owling a girl in Poland. She seems really nice."
Harry breathed out a huge sigh of relief. "You don't know how happy
hearing that makes me. When she came waltzing into the compartment
as though everything was fine and nothing had changed I was worried
that you'd actually changed your mind."
"She'll get what's coming to her." One of the seventh years said with a
nasty looking smirk to his fellow Slytherins.
"Good." Was all Harry said and he relaxed a little bit.
"How was the rest of your holiday? I heard about the Auror raid after I'd
left."
Harry grimaced. "It was utterly ridiculous! I was not pleased."
"I was there with my mother and younger sister." One of the seventh-
years said with a grin. "I heard exactly what you thought of the Ministry's
prejudice against us. Very apt."
"I think by now everyone has heard of what he said to the Aurors."
Another one piped up.
"I had to protect my interests." Harry said with a smile.
"One particular interest named Rabastan Lestrange?" Theo winked.
Harry laughed. "Yes. Exactly."
"I see you're wearing a ring." One of the seventh-years pointed out and
Theo's gaze narrowed on the beautiful white-silver and blue ring studded
with diamonds.
"Rabastan and I got engaged on the first." Harry nodded. "But for the sake
of protecting him, I'm engaged to a witch from Nantes called Aceline. The
less that those of certain circles know, the better."
"You mean Dumbledore."
"I do." Harry nodded. "There are certain things that he just does not need
to know about me or what I'm doing."
"We all understand that." Theo nodded. "I can't believe you and Rabastan
are engaged, though!"
"I know." Harry said excitedly. "I wasn't expecting it, I thought for sure
that he'd propose this summer, seeing as we can't marry until after I
graduate."
"Where did he propose?" Theo asked.
"Some restaurant called The Garnet Swan. I don't know where it was, I
didn't ask. It just didn't seem important at the time."
"That place charges half a bank vault for a salad." One of the seventh-
years snorted. "It's almost impossible to get a table too, they're always
fully booked and you have to make reservations over a year in advance,
you haven't even been seeing Rabastan that long."
"We had one of the private rooms on the upper floor."
Harry got incredulous looks when he said that.
"What did you expect?! Rabastan can hardly go out in public!" He
scoffed.
"I thought he was using Polyjuice or something! Those rooms are for the
most important of pureblood dignitaries! They even turned away the
Minister for Magic and several foreign guests once, just because he didn't
have a reservation and he hadn't booked one of the three private rooms,
even though all three of them were empty at the time! They can afford to
turn away customers with how much they charge!"
Harry grinned. "Rabastan knows the owner and his family." He boasted.
"The owner's son was Rabastan's best friend in school and now Rabastan
can eat there whenever he pleases with only a pittance of forewarning."
"Merlin, wait until I tell my sister! She's been trying to get a date to take
her there for years, but it's virtually impossible." One of the Slytherins
laughed.
"I suppose it helped that you're Harry Potter too."
"I doubt it, if the owner and his family are friends with the Lestranges
then I probably wouldn't be able to get a reservation even if it was ten
years in advance."
"Things have changed now." Theo said cryptically. "Everyone of import
knows it."
Harry nodded seriously. "They have changed, insurmountably so over the
last couple of months."
Harry stayed with Theo and the seventh-years for a while. He felt much
better knowing that Theo was still planning on getting rid of Daphne,
that he was just waiting for the right moment to utterly humiliate her to
make up for all of the humiliation and disrespect that she had offered to
him over the years of their betrothal.
He left their compartment and he made his way back down to where
Draco was, typically, it just happened to be his luck that he ran into
Hermione, Ron, and Ginny on his way back.
"Harry! Can we talk for a minute?" Hermione asked him, darting out of a
compartment to head him off.
"I have nothing to say to you." Harry said haughtily, pulling up his Lord
Potter-Black persona that he used in the Wizengamot.
"Please, Harry. We just want to put all of this behind us." Hermione tried.
"We were friends once." Ginny added. "Please, just hear us out. For old
time's sake."
"We are sorry about everything, Harry." Hermione told him after he
remained silent. "We were just angry and we overreacted."
"Overreacted?" Harry drawled slowly. "Is that what you call turning on
me for something completely out of my control?"
"We realise now that it truly wasn't your fault that Malfoy adopted you."
Hermione ploughed on. "I didn't know anything about magical adoptions,
only a little bit about muggle ones, but I've been reading up on them and
well…I know now that Malfoy held all the cards and you were given to
him without your knowledge or consent. You don't have to be alone in
this anymore, Harry. We want to help you through this."
"Please say something, Harry." Ginny pleaded after he remained still and
silent.
"I apologise for my lengthy pause, it was rude of me to stagnate the
conversation. I'm merely trying to wrap my head around the sheer
audacity you have to even approach me." He forced himself to say.
A couple of months ago he would have begged for this to happen. He had
even dreamed of it on occasion, of his friends apologising and admitting
that they'd overreacted through lack of knowledge about what had
happened to him over the summer. But now, things were just different
now. How could he ever know for sure if they truly wanted to apologise
and tentatively rebuild their friendship, or if they just wanted to get into
his good books so that he'd take the debt hanging over their heads away?
There was no way he could know for sure, so he couldn't accept their
apologies and he couldn't let them back in his life. The thought of that
made him feel like he was in actual, physical pain.
He thought of Rabastan and calmed himself down. He was engaged to be
married, he loved Rabastan with all that he was and he would have a
family with him. It was too dangerous to let Hermione, Ron, and Ginny
back into his life with any doubts or uncertainties over their loyalties or
motives. If they read one of his letters and saw something that they
shouldn't or they got so much as a hint that the person he was engaged to
was a man then he would be putting Rabastan in danger, but more than
that, he'd be putting the Malfoy's in danger too. He couldn't risk it, their
meagre friendship wasn't worth his entire future. The future that he'd
been planning and mapping out for himself and Rabastan since he'd first
heard that he was going to be betrothed to Rabastan Lestrange, whether
he liked it or not.
"That you even dare to come near me, let alone speak to me, after what
you did at the start of the school term. Where do you even get the
nerve?!" He demanded. "Do you think me so inept and utterly brainless
you actually believe that I can't see what this is really about? I know the
breakdown of the final bill for my damaged possessions was in my
father's hand on the twenty-third of December. He sent all relevant
documents to the correct person in the correct department at the
Ministry, who split the cost of all of my school replacements and the
repair work done on my broom into six equal parts and your parents
would have received the bill in the first week of the New Year. A bit
suspicious that suddenly you've all had a change of heart and want to be
friends again just after those letters arrived. How very obvious of you."
The three of them shared a look and that was all Harry needed to know
that they were never serious about being his friend again. They were
doing it because of the debt that each one of them now owed, a debt
which was a very substantial amount of gold. Being a Malfoy, all of his
belongings had been of the very best quality, handmade, hand-tailored
and that was without throwing in the repairs on his Firebolt, the world's
best, and most expensive, racing broom on top of everything else too.
They had all been expensive to buy and expensive to replace and repair
too.
"That's not why we're doing this!" Hermione insisted stubbornly.
"Liar." Harry snapped at her. "It's the only reason you're here, trying to
get me to remove the debt. Well, I'll save us all the time of day. I am
never going to accept an apology from you now. It is too late. If you'd
done this before the end of the last term, I would have considered it, but
not now. Now I know you're only trying to get me to call back the debt
that all of you owe for damaging everything I own!"
"Will you never forgive us?" Hermione pleaded softly.
"No." He said simply. "The books, robes, and the trunk I could have easily
forgiven, the material items I could have forgiven, but you maliciously
tried to destroy the one remaining thing that Sirius had bought and given
to me. You knew how much that Firebolt meant to me. Not because it's
the best broom in the world or because it's still unmatched three years
later, no, but because he gave it to me. It was one of the only gifts that he
was able to give to me and he had touched it with his own hands! I loved
that broom because of the sentimentality attached to it and now that
Sirius is dead, I cling to it harder! You tried to rip that away from me! It
had to be stripped back to a bare handle and meticulously tested to make
sure it was safe before it was repaired. You did that knowing full well
how devastated I'd be if I ever lost that one remaining physical link to
Sirius. Just seeing it in that damaged state was enough to devastate me,
you're just lucky that the handle that he'd touched with his own hands
wasn't chipped or fractured in your cruel attempt to rob me of the
memory of Sirius."
"He'd be so disa…"
"If you finish that sentence, Hermione, you will not be walking off of this
train." Harry threatened softly, his eyes glinting icily. "You knew nothing
about Sirius, you have no idea what he'd say in this situation or what
he'd be thinking, so don't even pretend that you know."
"Remus knew him best and…"
"Did you know that Remus has been to see me several times since I was
adopted and that we correspond through owls regularly?" Harry put in,
false nonchalantly.
Hermione looked startled and Harry knew that she hadn't known that he
and Remus were talking to one another. She had obviously expected him
to have cut Remus off like everyone else or for Remus to be too angry to
speak to him.
"I take it from the flush creeping up your neck that you didn't know.
Allow me to enlighten you, seeing as you are very deluded in your view
of both Remus and Sirius. Remus knew that I had no choice in my
adoption from the very beginning, seeing as he wasn't stupid enough to
think that I'd organised it myself or agreed to actually go and live with
the Malfoys. Naturally, he was worried about me and my safety, so he
came to see me at the very first opportunity he could, where I reassured
him that I was safe and being very well looked after. He's happy for me
and he told me that as long as I'm happy and safe, he doesn't care who
it's with and he told me that not only Sirius, but my parents would have
wanted me safe and happy too, no matter who it was with. So before you
even dare to try and emotionally blackmail me with my dead family
members, remember that the person who knew them the very best has
already told me that they'd be fine with my living arrangements and how
I'm currently living and conducting myself. I'm happy, Remus is happy
for me, it's your downfall if you can't be happy for me too and it's no
fault of my own."
"Please, Harry." Ginny tried.
He sighed, they'd gone back to begging. He'd had enough. There was only
so much pain and heartbreak he could take in one day.
"If that was all?" He snapped, making a move to slip around the group of
three.
"You liked me once." Ginny said softly. "Like liked me."
Harry sighed and rubbed his face with his hand.
"I think it's fair to say that that ship sailed when you turned on me and
tried to destroy my Firebolt." Harry hissed.
"It doesn't have to be!"
"Yes, yes it does." Harry said sternly. "You tried to destroy one of the only
things I had left of my family! I don't want to be anywhere near someone
who is so cruel or malicious."
"No, you see I had nothing to do with destroying your stuff. The others
had a misguided view of things, but I love you, Harry. I always have."
"No, you don't!" Harry hissed. "You don't even like me, so stop
pretending!"
"I'm not pretending, Harry! I've always liked you." Ginny said defiantly,
with a flush reddening her freckled cheeks. "Don't you remember
Valentine's Day in first year, well, your second, my first year?"
"Honestly? I'm trying to block that particular horrifying memory from my
mind." He said.
Ginny glared at him and Ron swelled with anger.
"You were a little, eleven-year-old girl and I was twelve. What the hell
did you think would come of that?" He demanded.
"I liked you even then!"
"No! You had no concept of those sorts of feelings as a mere eleven-year-
old!" Harry shouted. "You wanted the stories of The-Boy-Who-Lived! I am
not a fucking story, Ginny! I am a living, breathing person and you can't
have me."
"You liked me last year!"
"A hell of a lot has changed since then, Ginny, and even then I didn't see
you as a girlfriend. You're Ron's sister, I was nice to you because of that,
nothing more."
"You're lying! You do like me!"
Harry blew out a breath and thrust his left arm out, splaying his fingers
and letting his platinum and blue tungsten ring catch the light streaming
through the train windows, making the five large, cut diamonds sparkle.
"What's that?" Hermione asked breathlessly.
"I would have thought the most intelligent witch of our school year
would recognise a ring when she saw one and would realise the
significance of a ring on the third finger of the left hand."
"You went and got married." Hermione whispered as if she were having
problems breathing or getting her words out.
"Married? Hell no. Not yet at any rate, but I am engaged. I got matching
rings for me and my future bride, Aceline. She's truly wonderful. I took
her to The Garnet Swan on New Year's night to propose to her. Of course,
she said yes."
"You're following that barbaric pureblood tradition that forces young
women to move to a different country with near-strangers, just to
preserve bloodlines?!" Hermione demanded shrilly. "She's going to be
forced to leave her home and her birth country, her family and friends,
just for the sake of marrying you! All this male supremacy and the
patriarchal society that purebloods hold is archaic and disgusting. You
expect her to move countries just because you're the man is so sexist,
callous, and inhumane!"
"Are you quite done? Aceline is not the one moving because she's a
woman, if you actually knew anything of pureblood culture or our
traditions then you'd know why she's the one moving to me instead of
sprouting your biased, muggleborn assumptions…again. I am from the
more influential, wealthy family." Harry insisted haughtily. "I would
expect my bride, who is from a lesser family, to move into my home, of
course, as I am bringing more into our marriage than she is. If she were
from the more influential family, then I would be moving to her. Aceline
is very happy with our engagement and she is busy planning our wedding
to her desires. Price is, of course, no issue for me, she can have whatever
she wishes. Though, thankfully, she knows a bit of English, so we can
actually converse together, but I am still learning French to help make
things easier for her and her family."
Harry left the three of them speechless and he forced himself past them
and he made it back to his compartment.
"You were gone for a very long time." Draco said, looking him over
critically and visibly relaxing at his still pristine appearance as Harry sat
himself back down.
"I ran into the two Weasleys and Granger on my way back." Harry said
simply.
"They didn't give you any trouble did they?" Draco asked, his face
hardening and his hand flexing towards his wand.
"No. They did try, but I'm very capable of outwitting them. I told them all
about Aceline though." He said with a laugh. "Ginny seemed to think that
me and her would be perfect together, so I shoved my ring in her face."
"Such a ring is wasted on her. As if she knows how much it costs or even
what was used to make it." Pansy sniffed. "She'd probably mistake the
platinum for mere silver!"
"As if our father would allow you to marry so low. He'd rather you be
with another halfblood than a blood traitor." Draco told him.
"Need I remind you that I was legitimised at birth?" Harry drawled. "For
all intents and purposes, I am a pureblood and I need to marry another
pureblood to keep the line pure."
"I'm glad you understand that." Blaise said before winking at him. "But is
there no way I can change your mind? I'd be a good husband for you
too."
"No, you wouldn't." Draco snapped at his friend, giving him a glare. "If I
so much as hear of you touching my brother, you'll regret it, Blaise! I
mean it!"
"It's beside the point." Harry cut in. "I'm engaged and I'm very happy. I'm
not leaving Rabastan for anyone, for any reason."
"He might get rid of you." Daphne told him with a sniff.
"Why?" Harry asked her. "Unlike you, I haven't given Rabastan a reason
to distrust me or be displeased with me or my behaviour."
"Give it time, you're not married yet." Daphne answered.
Harry rolled his eyes. "You're ridiculous and shallow. Unlike you,
Daphne, I'm not risking everything I have for nothing and I'm not
throwing Rabastan away like he's nothing. We love one another and
we're going to get married and have a family."
"Don't delude yourself. He's with you because he's been ordered to."
Daphne scoffed and Pansy and Millicent both gasped and even Blaise
looked shocked at her daring, presumably for revealing the Dark Lord's
orders to one who wasn't supposed to know of them.
"That isn't true." Draco said calmly. "He didn't know about father
choosing Rabastan as Harry's betrothed until after the Lestranges had
accepted the contract."
"It's beside the point. Rabastan loves me for who I am." Harry said easily.
"You haven't even spoken to him, how would you know what he's
thinking and feeling? You make me laugh sometimes, Daphne, you really
do. Just because you're a complete bitch and think that way doesn't mean
that we all do and one of these days, you're going to regret everything
you've said and done."
Daphne scoffed, but Blaise looked at him curiously, as if guessing that he
knew something and he was incredibly interested to know what he did
about Daphne and her betrothal, or future lack of one. Blaise was very
observant with the things that people said, and even more so with what
they didn't say. Harry gave him a covert wink and settled himself back in
his seat, waiting for the new school term. He got out a book and started
reading up on Ancient Runes. He'd already sent a letter to Marcus about
his tutoring, now he wanted to brush up on the basics at least, just to
make sure that he didn't make a stupid mistake and make Marcus regret
offering to tutor him.
"I thought you'd already read that book." Pansy pointed out.
"I have. I'm reading it again ready for the new term, just to assure myself
that I have the basics down and memorised."
Harry ignored everyone then and sunk into his book. He had ten weeks to
survive before the Easter holiday came around and he could go back
home and see Rabastan again. Now that they were engaged, those ten
weeks were going to seem longer than the three and a half months it had
taken from September to the Christmas holidays. He couldn't wait until
he was graduated and they could get married and actually live together.
It took five days for Dumbledore to call him back into his office. The man
was learning and he had waited for the end of lessons on Friday the tenth
of January to send McGonagall to him to call him to his office.
He was annoyed as he'd planned to start his homework straight after
dinner and now he was going to be behind in his schedule and Marcus
was coming on the third weekend of term to tutor him and he still
needed to read fifteen more chapters in his review of the basics of
Ancient Runes.
His annoyance lasted until he got through the office door and he was
once again crushed into a hug by a werewolf.
"Remus!" He laughed as he hugged back tight. "What are you doing
here?"
"You never answered my letter and I sent you a gift and a card for
Christmas." Remus said frantically.
"I answered it a few days ago, Hedwig will be with you soon if she's had
to double back on herself and come to Hogwarts. Poor girl, you give her
extra treats when she finds you." Harry said sternly.
"Why did you get them so late? I made sure to send them with enough
time to reach you exactly on Christmas Day."
"I was so busy with the Parkinsons' winter gala and then the traditions for
Christmas Day and then my parents hosted the New Year's party. There
was only a week between them! I didn't mean to, but I left them on my
bedside table when they arrived and only just managed to open them this
week. I loved the painting of Sirius, Remus. Thank you. I framed it and I
keep it on my bedside table where I can easily see it. Speaking to him
again has really helped me and I've stopped having so many nightmares. I
can't thank you enough for it."
Remus sighed and visibly relaxed after Harry had explained why he'd
been so late in responding.
"You never told me that Sirius snores quite that loud though!" Harry
teased, forcing a surprised laugh from Remus. "I have to silence him at
night just to get any sleep at all!"
"We did the same in the dorms. It drove James mad as he couldn't sleep if
there was even the slightest noise."
Harry grinned and soaked up all the information being given to him. At
least until Dumbledore made his presence known.
"I owe you an apology, Harry." Dumbledore spoke up from behind his
desk. "I realise that perhaps I have handled things wrong these last
several months. Will you please take a seat and listen to me?"
Harry wondered what new tactic this was as he cautiously sat in one of
the chairs opposite the desk. Remus sat next to him and Harry took his
hand and squeezed it, giving Remus a smile.
"Now, can you explain what this meeting is about? I have homework to
be doing." He said primly, straightening his back and relaxing his
shoulders as Narcissa had taught him.
"I wanted to clear the air between us, Harry." Dumbledore insisted.
"Perhaps a monthly meeting, just once a month, to sit down and talk to
help rebuild the trust that we once had."
"I don't think that'll ever happen." Harry said simply.
"Can't you try, Harry?" Remus asked softly.
Harry looked into imploring eyes and he sighed. "I'll owl my father and
see what he thinks. He may want to be here, just to ensure my safety."
"I'm not going to hurt you, Harry." Dumbledore told him seriously, those
blue eyes looking very sad.
"Regardless, I'd feel better if someone were here with me for these
meetings. Just in case."
"How about if I stay here for the meetings, Harry?" Remus asked. "I
wanted to spend a bit more time with you anyway, you're all I have left
now."
Harry's face softened and he reached back out to lace his fingers with
Remus', squeezing comfortingly.
"Okay, but I still want to confer with my father first. He'll know what'll be
for the best. I have to wait for Hedwig to come back first though."
"You do still want to defeat Voldemort, don't you?" Dumbledore asked
suddenly and Harry got the feeling that he was under a microscope, his
very movements being dissected and scrutinised by old, blue eyes.
He acted quickly, not entirely acting either, and he grit his teeth and
clenched his hand tight. He needed to play this right. He was staying out
of this war, completely out of it, but if he could stay out of it by
pretending to still be fighting with Dumbledore against Voldemort, then
he might be able to stay out of the war for a lot longer and keep himself
and his family safer.
"Of course I do! He's a monster and he killed my parents!" Harry raged.
"He killed Sirius and Cedric too! I want him gone! I just don't see why I'm
the one who needs to do it. There are others, the Aurors, the Order, you!
Why can't all of you pitch in together to get rid of him? I've had enough
and I'm not fighting, but that doesn't mean that I still don't want
Voldemort gone and out of my life. I do."
"Good, that's good, Harry. We can work with that if it's what you want."
Harry let out a deep breath and sat back again, relaxing from his tensed
posture.
"It is. I've seen far too much in my life and I can't take any more. I've
done enough already!" He insisted. "Last year was devastating to me. Do
you have any idea how I feel having seen Sirius die in front of me,
knowing that it was my fault that he was there in the first place?! It was
the last straw, I'm not putting myself through that anymore."
"Harry, it wasn't your fault!" Remus insisted firmly.
"It was. If I'd learnt occlumency properly, then I wouldn't have had that
vision and gone charging off to the Ministry."
"Occlumency is an incredibly rare, obscure branch of magic, Harry, and
it's very difficult to do." Remus explained.
"But…I managed to cast a Patronus." He said sadly.
"Oh, Harry." Remus sat on the edge of his seat and turned to fully face
him, cupping his cheeks and resting their foreheads together. "The
Patronus charm is based on magical power, Harry. I never thought that
you'd get more than mist, but you got a full, corporeal Patronus at just
thirteen. Do you know how extraordinary that is? But occlumency isn't
based on magical power, it's based fully on mental ability, meditation,
and cutting off the emotions. Only one in one hundred will be able to
meet the prerequisites for even achieving the basics in occlumency,
Harry. It's not your fault that you couldn't get the hang of it within a few
months. It takes years and years of practice and building up to certain
levels to achieve anything in occlumency. We always thought that we
had more time, that you would be in those lessons for the next few years,
not mere months."
"Why did I believe the vision, Remus?" He asked softly, trying to hold
back the tears, but they still shone through, making his eyes extra bright
and shiny.
"Because you loved him, Harry. Because you saw him captured, trapped,
and in pain and you reacted to that because you loved him and Sirius
went after you because he loved you. You both loved one another fiercely
and the both of you just wanted to protect one another. What happened
to Sirius wasn't your fault, it was Bellatrix Lestrange's fault."
Harry swallowed and his fists clenched again. He'd tried to dissolve the
marriage between Rodolphus and Bellatrix, as a favour to the Lestrange
family, but the contract that Rhadamanthus had drawn up with the late
Cygnus Black had been airtight and there wasn't a fault or loophole that
he could exploit. He'd even asked the goblins if it could be broken, but
they had told him that it couldn't…except in the case of death of one of
the spouses. That had a new plan forming, one that included Bellatrix's
death. He could get his revenge for Sirius. He was already planning
Rhadamanthus' death, why not kill two birds with one stone and take out
Bellatrix too?
It seemed to be the only way, he couldn't dissolve the marriage between
Rodolphus and Bellatrix, so he couldn't disown her from the Black family
without offering massive insult to the Lestranges, and as they were to be
his husband and in-laws, he couldn't afford to insult them in such a way,
nor take credibility from their family by disowning Bellatrix like he
wanted to, as it would harm his own marriage. It was infuriating and it
made him hate Rhadamanthus all the more.
He calmed himself. Soon. Very soon. He would take his cold revenge on
them both and free the Lestranges from Bellatrix and Rhadamanthus
both. Then, Rodolphus could marry whomever he wanted and he could
finally have the child that he desired without his poisonous, petty father
dictating to him what to do or who to tie himself to for the rest of his life.
"I wish things had been different. If Sirius were still alive then none of
this would have happened."
"How do you mean, Harry? Are you talking about your adoption? Are
you unhappy at the Malfoys'?" Remus asked him, his eyes widening in
panic at the thought of him being hurt or upset.
"What? No! I just…I wish that things had been different. If Sirius were
still alive, if my parents were still alive, things could have been so much
different. Why is it always me? Why are my parents dead, why is my
godfather dead, why is it my name on a prophecy, why is it always me
who has to fight? Why me and not someone else?"
"Oh, Harry."
He was pulled back into a hug and he held on tight to Remus as a few
tears slipped out for good measure.
"I'm making the most of things, Remus. The Malfoys adopted me, I
couldn't control that and I had no say, but they're helping me so much!
They're the family I always needed, despite everything. I'm so happy, I
just wish that everything had been different and that none of this had
happened in the first place. I wish there had never been a Voldemort."
"It'll be alright, Harry. As soon as you've graduated, you'll be free to do
what you want to do."
"I already know what I'm going to do." Harry said with a smile, pulling
back and wiping his eyes with the sleeve of his robe. Narcissa would have
scolded him if she'd seen him do such a thing.
"You wanted to be an Auror, didn't you?"
Harry shook his head. "Not anymore. I'm done with fighting in all forms,
including being a part of the Aurors, they're just Ministry lackeys. It's a
wonder they can even function properly with how stupid they all are. No,
I think I want to be a teacher. I've looked into it and France has an
amazing trainee teacher programme and they make spaces for apprentice
teachers on the Beauxbatons teaching staff."
"You want to be a teacher at Beauxbatons?" Remus asked, completely
shocked.
Harry nodded. "It was you who made me think more seriously about
being a teacher, Remus, and then I got the bug for it when teaching the
DA. I think it'll suit me so much better than anything else."
"But, why Beauxbatons?" Remus asked.
"Because they're the only school which runs this trainee teacher
programme. I'm already learning French and really…" Harry took a
breath and made a point to make it look like he was warring with
himself. "I'm getting a lot of help too, seeing as my fiancée is French."
"Fiancée?!" Remus looked like he was going to pass out and even
Dumbledore looked shell-shocked, in a miserable, grave way that made
him look fifty years older.
"Yeah, her name's Aceline. She's amazing. We've been betrothed since
August and on the first of January I took her to The Garnet Swan and
proposed to her with matching rings as she wanted us both to have a ring
to wear."
Harry held out his left hand and let them see the ring on his finger.
"She doesn't speak much English, but she understands enough and she's
teaching me French too, so we are able to have a conversation now. It's
customary for her to move in with me, as she's from the lesser family, but
if I get into this teaching programme, then it'll make a lot more sense if I
move to France with her. She's so excited that she's even started planning
our wedding already." Harry laughed. Remus and Dumbledore did not
join in.
"Are…are you getting married this summer?" Remus asked weakly.
Harry laughed louder. "No! I'm not getting married while I'm still in
school! What sort of married life would that be, with me stuck here and
Aceline stuck elsewhere? No, our wedding is planned for two summers
after this one coming. In nineteen-ninety-nine. After we've both
graduated. I have to wait the extra year because Aceline is a year
younger than I am, but that's not a bad thing as the training programme
is very extensive and time-consuming, we might even have to put the
wedding off until early two thousand if my training keeps me too busy.
That way I can focus on securing my teaching post while Aceline gets her
final examinations over and done with and goes into her healer
apprenticeship, then we can get married."
He didn't know what had made him lie about the date of his wedding,
but his gut had told him that it would be safer to tell Dumbledore that it
was another year or two on top of what it was actually going to be. As
Dumbledore relaxed and got a twinkle in his eye, as if he were already
scheming, Harry mentally congratulated himself on his lie. He just hoped
that he'd done enough to keep Dumbledore from ruining his wedding
upon his own graduation.
"Are you sure this is what you want, Harry?" Remus tried.
Harry nodded seriously. "I love her, Remus. She's so kind and gentle,
she'll make a wonderful mother one day. She's also smart and very
thoughtful and she'll be an amazing healer too. She fully supports my
decision to become a teacher as well. She's amazing, but hell does she
have a temper. When she gets fired up, everyone knows about it."
"She sounds a lot like your mother." Remus said softly.
Harry pulled a thoughtful face. "Hmm…maybe that's why I love her so
much."
"She's not a redhead, is she?"
Harry grinned. "No. She has dark hair and beautiful, bright blue eyes. I
love her eyes."
"Now you sound like your father…I mean James." Remus said a bit
awkwardly.
Harry cocked his head. "He's still my dad, Remus. He's always going to be
my dad. I told you that at the beginning of the year. Lucius is filling in
because I don't have anyone else to do so, but James will always, always
be my dad, no matter who I'm calling father right now."
Remus nodded and he looked happier than when Harry had come into
the office, but he looked worried too, presumably over his engagement
and his plans to marry.
"Was that all? I really need to make a start on my homework. Anyone
would think that my NEWTs were this year, not next."
"Of course, Harry. I think we've kept you long enough. But remember my
offer for a truce, please." Dumbledore insisted.
Harry nodded once, curtly, before he hugged Remus one last time and
strode from the office. He got to the bottom of the spiral staircase and he
let out a sigh of relief. He'd survived yet another meeting between
himself and Dumbledore. He was doing well and he hadn't even lost his
temper this time. He really needed to owl Lucius though, he needed his
opinion on these 'truce' meetings with Dumbledore.
Instead of going back to his rooms, as he so dearly wished to, he went
straight to the Owlery and called down Draco's owl, Saracen.
"Can you deliver a letter home for me, Sar?" He asked as he groomed the
pretentious owl gently.
The handsome eagle owl cawed out loudly and nibbled his finger, a lot
rougher than Hedwig ever did, but not breaking his skin either.
Harry sat down on the Owlery floor, not caring about the straw or owl
droppings, he'd be changing as soon as he made it back to his rooms
anyway, as he placed Saracen on his lap and quilled a quick letter to
Lucius with a self-inking quill.
He tied it gently to Saracen's leg and gave him a last, firm grooming,
before getting him onto his arm and standing up, going to the glassless
window.
"Take this straight to Lucius for me, Saracen, as quickly as you can."
Harry flung his arm out and Saracen took flight, looking majestic as
always as he glided for several feet before he flapped his wings in perfect
unison.
"Bloody show off." Harry muttered fondly. "Just like your master."
Harry turned and went back to the castle and to his rooms. He was going
to have to tell Draco tomorrow morning that he'd used Saracen for an
emergency letter.
He made it to his rooms without any problems, everyone was in their
common rooms or getting ready for bed. He changed into his pyjamas,
but unfortunately, he didn't have time to do his homework now, he'd
have to do it all tomorrow. He was thankful now that he'd moved the
Gryffindor Quidditch practice to Sunday at any rate as he settled onto his
settee with a cup of tea and his Ancient Runes book. He'd read it for half
an hour and then get himself to bed. He was going to have a long, busy
day sorting out all of his homework assignments, so he needed to get up
early.
The first fortnight back at Hogwarts was so jam-packed and stressful that
Harry just wanted to drop to the floor and stay there so that he could just
rest. He had so much homework that he barely had time for anything
else. He'd held Quidditch practise last Sunday and when he'd woken up
on the Monday he'd been so sore that it had been agony to move.
It was Thursday today and Harry was desperate to finish his Ancient
Runes basics review before Saturday, which was when Marcus would be
coming to tutor him for a couple of hours. He was nervous about that as
he had no idea what to expect from it. Every spare moment had been
dedicated to reading the last few chapters of the basics book he'd been
given by Lucius last August. It was currently breakfast time and he had
the book open at the end of the Gryffindor table, reading furiously and
eating very little.
He was very stressed as he still hadn't heard anything from Lucius and
Dumbledore was pressing him for their little meetings, exclaiming that
they were very important and urgent. Harry couldn't think of anything
that would be that urgent, but he was getting increasingly ratty every
time he had to tell Dumbledore that he was waiting on his father's advice
and that he would get back to him when he had an actual answer. At the
moment he was considering telling Dumbledore to shove his little
meetings, just out of pure frustration from being hounded over it
constantly.
At ten to nine in the morning, he packed up his things and quickly made
his way, with the majority of the Great Hall, to his first lesson of the day.
Double Potions.
He was partnered with Draco, as usual, so Potions wasn't quite the
torture that it used to be as Snape wouldn't pick on Draco and with Harry
being Lucius' son now too, it was difficult for the man to insult or belittle
him and he couldn't rip apart his work either, because Draco was one of
the very best at Potions. It was only really when they were working on
separate potions that Harry sort of fell apart, but with Draco always
sitting next to him, he was always on hand to help him.
"All of you, cauldrons out." Snape ordered.
Harry sighed. It was a solo potion, not a partnered one. As if he wasn't
already stressed enough. He was too exhausted to be doing this, he was
likely going to cause an accident as Neville always did.
Harry had just finished that thought as he bent down to get his cauldron
from his satchel when the rings on his right hand heated up and burnt for
several long seconds.
He sat bolt upright and looked at his lordship rings. They had never done
that before, but he didn't hang around to question it. He immediately
packed all of his books and quills back into his bag.
"What? What is it?" Draco asked urgently.
"Wizengamot meeting. Get the set homework assignments for me, please.
Oh, and don't forget to get my extra homework for Arithmancy, Professor
Vector knows what I've done and what she's going to give me next."
Harry whispered back. "Professor? I'm going to have to leave."
"Mister Potter. What is this disturbance? Do you think you are too good
to learn potions with your peers? You chose this subject for your NEWTs
after all, and argued about your right to be included in this class despite
not achieving the required OWL grade."
"I know, Sir, I'm sorry, but a Wizengamot meeting has been called. I'm
needed at the Ministry."
Snape stared hard at him for a moment, as if he were trying to determine
if he was lying just to get out of lessons, before he nodded once and
Harry was gone, sweeping out of the classroom and all but running back
to his rooms where he threw down his bag, stripped off his uniform and
forced his limbs into the expensive robes he had chosen and hung up
waiting for his next Wizengamot meeting. He tore his Gryffindor tie off
and did his shirt up to the collar before he tore back out of the room and
all the way down the four floors and out onto the grounds and over to
Hogsmeade. He made it just in time to catch his breath and wipe his
sweaty face with a handkerchief which he had only just tucked back into
his pocket before his second Portkey activated and he took a step forward
and kept walking, expecting everyone to move out of his way as a lord of
two houses. He couldn't see at the moment anyway, so if they didn't
move, he was going to bump into them.
He automatically made his way towards the lifts to take him to the
Wizengamot meeting room on the second level, however, he met Lucius
and Xerxes right outside the lifts and they seemed to be waiting for him,
which was unusual in itself.
"You're almost late." Xerxes told him with a critical look at his face and
clothes, making sure that they were up to standard.
"Snape wasn't going to let me leave Potions until I explained what was
happening." Harry said, breathing deeply to make it seem like he was in
control of himself when his heart was racing and his chest was heaving
from his run through the castle and the grounds. "It took forever to get
from the dungeons to the fourth floor, where my rooms are, get changed
and then get to Hogsmeade before I missed my Portkey…thank Merlin
I'm not in Gryffindor Tower anymore, because I don't think I'd have made
it up to the seventh floor from the dungeons and then back down and out
to Hogsmeade before the second Portkey went off."
Lucius nodded and touched his shoulder before the three of them climbed
into a lift.
"Did you feel the difference in your rings?" His father asked him.
Harry nodded. "I was wondering why it felt different. It burnt for a lot
longer than usual."
"A trial has been called." Xerxes answered. "It's why we waited for you in
the Atrium instead of letting you arrive at the meeting room by yourself
as we have taken to doing. You would have found it empty and you
would have disgraced yourself and your family by turning up late to a
trial hearing."
"Now now, Xerxes, he wasn't late and we weren't expecting a trial so soon
in the year so Harry wasn't told about the different meanings of his rings
heating up. Let us put this matter behind us and get to courtroom seven."
"I had my hearing in courtroom ten." Harry said, more for something to
say after his unfair chastisement by his future father-in-law. It seemed to
him that Xerxes was in a very bad mood and Harry didn't want to make
things worse or draw that anger onto himself any more than it already
had been. He wanted to make Xerxes proud, not angry with him.
"That was a farce." Xerxes growled angrily. "Never before have the lords
been banned from a hearing, or even been denied the knowledge of one
taking place! We were not happy, Harry, regardless of who you were, it
was the principle of excluding us from an ancient practice which the
lords of the old families set up in the first place!"
"Fudge more than paid for his oversight." Lucius assured them both. "I
made sure to stress to him that the next time he tries to pull such a stunt
that it might cost him his job."
"I bet he didn't like that." Xerxes chuckled, lightening up a little, causing
Harry to relax slightly.
"Of course not." Lucius replied with a smirk. "It pulled him back into line
though. It seemed to me like he was getting ideas above his station."
"But…he's the Minister." Harry said with a frown. "What higher station is
there?"
Xerxes and Lucius looked at him and then each other as if to say 'isn't he
just adorable?' and Harry scowled.
"Harry, dear one, who do you think controls the Minister?"
Harry pulled a face and then remembered Lucius' lessons on implanting
information and using bribery and coercion to get what one wanted from
others without their knowledge. "You?" He asked Lucius.
His father smiled and patted his shoulder. "Someone has to control him.
We of noble blood take the backseat and rule from behind, Harry. The
public don't know that we rule, they see Fudge leading them, so anything
that goes wrong, and it does because I orchestrate things that way, they
blame Fudge and he takes all the heat and scorn for it."
"So, you're making him do things that you want him to do, without him
knowing, or the public knowing so that when things go wrong, which
they do, he gets the blame and not you?" Harry asked.
Lucius and Xerxes nodded. Harry nodded his own understanding.
"Okay. I take it that he prefers bribes then?"
"Bribes in the form of charitable donations, yes." Lucius answered. "It
makes him look good because he can be seen giving more gold to these
different organisations, so it keeps him in the public's favour. Of course, I
only donate to the causes that I believe in."
Harry sighed but said nothing more as they arrived in a corridor that was
thronged with people. He made a mental note to watch Lucius interact
with Fudge more closely, hoping to pick up on a few tips. He needed to
start practising on his school peers too. He was going to start small and
simple to begin with and then gradually move up. He wanted to one day
be as good, if not surpass, Lucius' level of manipulation and control.
"Stay close." Lucius told him, touching his elbow protectively.
They milled around for a little while, greeting and making small talk with
the other lords and the Heads of Departments until a chime sounded and
everyone neatened themselves into lines and filed into the courtroom in
an orderly fashion.
"Who are they?" Harry asked softly, looking at the large group of people
wearing plum-coloured robes. He recognised those robes from his hearing
and just seeing them again made him feel anxious and uncomfortable.
"They aren't members of the Wizengamot."
"They're members of the Council of Magical Law." Lucius answered.
"Some on the Council are also Wizengamot members, such as Amelia
Bones, but some are not, so you won't have met them before…but you
may have seen most of them from your hearing. It was conducted only by
the Council of Magical Law, and not by both the Council and
Wizengamot, which is what should have happened."
"A thing which is unheard of, as the Wizengamot is superior to the
Council." Xerxes added as they took three seats in the half-circular stone
benches centred on one wooden chair with chains wrapped around the
arms.
Harry shivered as he stared at it, remembering sitting in that chair and
the chains rattling menacingly…he had been relieved at the time that the
chains had not bound his arms to the chair.
Two comforting hands touched his knees at almost the same time and
Harry relaxed, smiling gratefully at his father and father-in-law, who had
sandwiched him between them, as per usual.
The man in front of them turned to greet them and Harry smiled wider,
greeting Dawson Shacklebolt politely and respectfully.
He actually liked the Lord Shacklebolt, as he had liked Kingsley, his
nephew, too. It was just a shame that Kingsley was so close to
Dumbledore in his Order and had stopped supporting him because he
wouldn't support Dumbledore blindly like the rest of them.
"Lord Potter-Black. You're looking very well, radiant even, would it
perhaps have something to do with that ring on your finger?"
Harry looked automatically to his left hand and his smile morphed into a
grin.
"Yes, I believe it does." Harry answered. "I got engaged on the first. I'm
very happy."
"Who is the lucky one?" Dawson asked.
Harry smiled and looked left to Lucius and then right to Xerxes.
"Can I assume that it has something to do with your family, Lord
Lestrange?"
"You can assume all you like, but whether you get the correct answer is
yet to be seen." Xerxes replied stonily.
Dawson inclined his head respectfully and aware that he'd crossed a line,
he turned back to face the front. Xerxes truly was in a foul mood today
and Harry wondered why. He hoped that it had nothing to do with
Rabastan.
"What trial is this?" Harry asked quietly. "I thought we were supposed to
receive all evidence before the trial."
"That's why we're here, Harry."
"But…" Harry cut himself off and thought about what he wanted to say
first, instead of blurting everything out in a jumble of words. "I assumed
that we'd be receiving the evidence in the meeting room and debating it
there and that we'd only come to the actual courtroom to hear the
accused's testimony."
"No, all proceedings of a trial have to be held in a courtroom." Lucius told
him patiently, taking the time needed to actually teach him. "The
evidence will go straight from this courtroom into a sealed evidence
room at the end of this hallway and vice versa. The evidence isn't
allowed to travel too far from the sealed room, there would be too much
of an opportunity of tampering and then the evidence could be called
into question and the trial might very well fall through and a criminal
might walk free."
Harry nodded his understanding. It made a lot of sense to do things that
way, to preserve as much of the evidence as possible without any hope of
tampering with it.
"Is it Umbridge?" He asked tensely.
"No. You wouldn't be allowed to be involved in the trial as you'd be a
witness." Lucius told him patiently. "I believe this is the bumbling
drunkard who thought it a good idea to send off blasting hexes in muggle
Kent. The one you voted to be brought before the full court and face
Azkaban."
"Ah." Harry said. "I remember, he should face Azkaban for what he did. I
wasn't expecting such a quick turnaround, especially when Umbridge
hasn't had a trial yet. It's only been a month."
"She's still in a holding cell while Magical Law Enforcers gather the
evidence against her." Xerxes told him. "Her offence was more grave than
shouting out about the magical world, she injured children at a school. I
wouldn't be surprised if it was another year before we were called to her
trial. The MLEs are going to make sure that they have every single scrap
of evidence they can gather before bringing her to court."
Harry nodded his understanding, just as they were called to order by the
Minister for Magic, Cornelius Fudge. Harry smiled sickly sweetly at him
when he caught the Minister's eye and he watched as the man who had
been trying to have him expelled and had, until very recently, tried to
slander him in the media and tried to make him out to be a delusional
little boy who liked attention went very, very pale.
Fudge blanched and quickly looked away from him. Harry chuckled and
on either side of him, Xerxes and Lucius chuckled too, having caught the
exchange.
"The members of the esteemed Wizengamot have voted to have a matter
brought to trial and today we will look at the evidence collected from the
alleged crime committed." Fudge called out loudly as with a wave of his
wand a hundred or so folders floated out and hovered in front of each
member of the Council of Magical Law and the Wizengamot.
Lucius and Xerxes both turned to the first page, so Harry emulated them
and did the same and he quietly read the first page, detailing the
background of the offence, how Mister Dennis Jute had downed three
glasses of vintage firewhiskey before glugging straight from the bottle
before doing the same to a second bottle.
Harry read through the folder, rustling sheets of parchment as the report
went on to detail how Dennis Jute had gone out into the muggle world
and had started stumbling about, talking loudly about dragons, telling
the muggles where the reserve in England was located even, before he
started talking about magic and swaying along the streets and that was
when he'd started firing off blasting hexes.
He'd injured two innocent muggles, destroyed six cars, numerous
buildings and even the very road that he'd been staggering down, which
had been left with a massive crater that had burst a main water pipe that
had flooded nearby houses.
The senior Obliviator on the scene that day had given a statement of
what she had seen and the damage that had been done and the work and
highly stressed environment her team had been put in and she called for
the person responsible to be held accountable. It was noted at the end of
her report that she would be one of the witnesses against the accused.
The next sheaf of parchment was from the healer in charge of the two
terrified muggles who'd had to be taken to St Mungo's to be healed and it
documented the extent of the damage done to them both, how that
damage had been healed and how long it had taken, perhaps the worst
though had been the lingering psychological trauma that had been left
behind in both muggles who'd been attacked. They'd been Obliviated as
soon as they'd been healed and released, but the healer had warned that
they would have psychological triggers relating to the event and that
they wouldn't even know the cause of those triggers because of the
powerful memory charm. Their quality of life had been significantly
reduced because of this trauma and if their triggers were engaged, then
they would possibly be spending the rest of their lives in a muggle mental
hospital to treat the damage with no apparent cause. It was utterly
galling.
Harry turned to the next sheaf of parchment and read the account of the
first Magical Law Enforcer on the scene, who detailed the utter
destruction done to the several streets that Mister Jute had managed to
wander and the statement from one of the first to apprehend Mister Jute,
who had claimed in his drunken state that he was 'cleansing' the world
for future generations of magical children.
On the next page, Harry was surprised to find a complete, full statement,
which had been made by himself, in the Wizengamot meeting hall a
month ago, outlining his view on the matter and the punishment that he
believed fit the crime that had been committed. A note at the bottom of
his statement clinically specified that the Wizengamot members had
declared in favour of Lord Harry James Potter-Black's proposed
punishment of forty-one members to a mere eleven who opposed him.
The last page was an overview, detailing the laws that had been broken,
how serious a breach of the Statute of Secrecy there had been and where
the law stood on the breaking of said laws and statutes…if Mister Dennis
Jute was found guilty, he would be going to Azkaban for his crimes. He,
Harry, would have sent someone to those soul-sucking monsters.
Harry took a deep breath and calmed himself. Dennis Jute was guilty. He
had done those terrible things to those who could neither defend
themselves nor had any clue what was going on or what they were seeing
and as he'd said in the Wizengamot meeting, he would not allow
inebriation to become an excuse for a witch or wizard's actions. Mister
Jute should have had more sense than to guzzle two bottles of vintage
firewhiskey, which was an incredibly potent drink from what Rabastan
had told him when Harry had shared his Wizengamot meeting with him.
A wizard who had that little sense had no business running amok in the
muggle world and he needed to pay for his crimes. In the meantime,
Harry would work on his proposal for the permanent removal of the
Dementors. It couldn't be rushed, he had to present it in such a way that
the other members of the Wizengamot started to believe the same as he
did. It had to be planned down to the letter, right down to the very tone
of voice he used while outlining his proposal. He had to get fifty or so
other people to believe that the Dementors were a serious danger to them
and their world, as well as to the muggles too. He had to get them behind
him and his way of thinking and that was going to be difficult enough
without rushing it and overlooking something important that could be
used against him in a debate and ruin his entire proposal. He had to
think of every single angle himself and that was proving almost
impossible as no one else, not even his family, was taking him or his
concerns, not even his cold, factual research, seriously and thus they
weren't any sort of help to him. He was on his own with his idea and his
plans, so he had to go that much slower.
Once everyone had finished reading the folder and had closed it on their
laps to show that they had finished, Fudge once again spoke to them.
"Members of the court that serve the wizarding public, the Wizengamot
have voted on this crime and have declared the accused fit for Azkaban. I
have reviewed this matter myself and all material included and I suggest
a ten-year sentence to Azkaban for the accused, Mister Dennis Jute, with
a chance of parole after serving a minimum of six years."
"Yes, he suggests. He should be giving you more credit, Lucius." Xerxes
whispered under his breath. Harry could only hear him because he was
sitting right between the two men, though he pretended not to have
heard a thing.
"Indeed." Lucius replied. "You forget, Xerxes. All I did was advise him on
the correct imprisonment term for this sort of offence."
"You did, and then you inflated it by several years." Xerxes chortled.
Lucius smirked nastily and chuckled himself. "That mudblood should be
lucky I couldn't get away with giving him a life sentence."
Harry cleared his throat angrily, staring straight ahead, but his body had
gone tense and he felt like the merest touch would send him flying at
someone's throat. The warmth of the anger settled deep in his belly, as it
always did when he heard that dreadful word. He had to do something
about that too…especially in schools. Perhaps an automatic loss of points
and a couple of nights' worth of detention for anyone who dared use that
filthy word. It was disgusting, degrading and discriminatory and those
with the power to do so needed to be doing much more to put an end to
that sort of verbal prejudice. There was name-calling and then there was
name-calling. Differences such as Draco calling Hermione a beaver and
then calling her a mudblood. Harry had been guilty of the former, calling
Draco a ferret, for instance, but he had never, nor would he ever, single
someone out purely because of their blood status, skin colour, ethnicity,
or their sexuality. It was disgraceful behaviour.
"I apologise, Harry. I should not have used such a politically incorrect
word in your presence nor in this courtroom."
Harry nodded his head tightly to show that he'd heard, but he said no
more as Fudge droned on and on about the breakdown of the sentence
and how many years were being given for what offence bearing on the
severity of the crime committed. Lucius really had worked it all out really
well if he'd managed to inflate the sentence by several years and have the
sentence of ten years work out perfectly when broken down in this way.
"This is ridiculous!" One member in the room burst out furiously. "We
cannot, in good conscience, sentence a man to ten years in Azkaban for
drinking!"
"He wasn't just drinking though, was he?" Harry burst out angrily, his
temper already riled because of Lucius' 'mudblood' comment. "No, he was
meandering his way up a muggle street, sending off blasting hexes left
and right, with no concern for the damage that he was doing, the people
that he was hurting, nor the exposure he was creating! He could have
killed several people with his little stunt!"
"He didn't kill anyone!" Someone else burst out just as angrily.
"Ah, but he could have!" Harry bit out icily, daring anyone to correct him
or to argue with him. "A blasting hex through a window could have killed
any number of people, a blasting hex to a car could have caused it to
explode, putting more lives in danger! We shouldn't have to wait for the
loss of innocent lives to act on this matter. I fully believe that it was his
intention to go out and kill as many muggles as possible that night."
"How can you even think to say that in this court with no proof?!"
"Your proof is in this very report, or did you not bother to read it?" Harry
demanded. "On page five, paragraph six it was documented by the
Magical Law Enforcer who apprehended Mister Jute that he was reported
to have said that he was 'cleansing' the world for future magical
generations. What do you take this to mean when he was in a muggle
area, filled with muggles that he was firing blasting hexes at?!"
"It was just drunken ramblings!" A woman cut across him. "He is a
muggleborn wizard who happened to have a bit too much to drink! He
never killed anyone and I don't think it was ever his intention to hurt
anyone."
"On the contrary, I believe that if he hadn't drunk quite so much then his
aim would have been that much better and we might have been looking
at countless dead instead of two injured." Harry put in calmly. "He was so
inebriated that he couldn't walk in a straight line and he was firing off
blasting hexes, not tickling charms. If he didn't mean to harm anyone,
then why choose the blasting hex?"
"Lord Potter-Black raises a very important issue." Lord Shacklebolt stated
from the bench in front of him. "Why did Mister Jute choose the blasting
hex if he never meant any harm to anyone?"
"He was drunk!" One man shouted out.
"He was aware and sober enough to say the incantation and perform the
wand movement required for such a hex." Harry replied softly. "So I ask
again, if he meant no harm, why did he choose the blasting hex? Which
has to be said is really quite complex for an inebriated man to perform.
Why not choose something simpler and less deadly than a blasting hex?"
"He was off of his face, boy! Who knows why he chose that hex?! He
likely doesn't even know himself!"
"You will refer to me as Lord Potter-Black at all times, not boy. I will not
be disrespected in such a way." Harry insisted arrogantly, making the
council member flush horribly for his political oversight. "Alcohol does
not excuse him from his actions. He did use the blasting hex, he did cause
a severe amount of damage, he did injure two people and he posed a
huge risk to muggle lives. He was drunk, yes, but he was also
apprehended claiming that he was cleansing the world for future magical
generations. If we let him go with nothing more severe than a fine and a
slap on the wrist then there is every possibility of this happening again
and this time we might not be looking at two injured but numerous dead.
I, for one, do not want that on my conscience. So yes, I want to see Mister
Jute locked away where he cannot do any more harm to the poor,
defenceless muggles, nor to the Statute of Secrecy. Ten years in Azkaban
and a chance of parole after serving six years is the price he has to pay
for his heinous actions and the large threat that he poses to us and to the
muggles."
Harry sat back more comfortably and as one, Lucius and Xerxes placed a
hand on each of his knees in silent support and comfort.
"We have already had to up the anti-muggle jinxes on the English Dragon
Reserve because of the leaked information." One wizard said gravely.
"Such jinxes take considerable power to cover such a large area and to
keep it completely concealed. The dragon handlers are beside themselves
that their dragons have been put at risk by one thoughtless man. They
want assurances that this won't happen again and that the perpetrator
will be held accountable."
"Who cares what the lowly dragon handlers think?!" One lord sneered.
"I do, for one." Harry said immediately, being drawn right back into the
debate, thinking of Charlie Weasley and Norbert and the four dragons
that had been brought over for the Tri-wizard tournament.
Charlie had been beside himself that they were using dragons for sport in
the tournament and he'd been livid that Krum had caused such damage
to the clutch of eggs of his selected dragon. He had ranted for days
afterwards, Harry recalled fondly. He'd actually liked Charlie, despite
only seeing him a few times.
"What would you do if a dragon got loose in the muggle world? Say a
dragon just flies right over the length of the British Isles, how do you
handle that sort of exposure? How do you track down every single
muggle who happened to see a real, fire breathing dragon flying through
the sky? Or for that matter how do you track down all of those who used
a camera to take a picture of it, a picture which would then be plastered
all over the muggle world? Like it or not, the dragon handlers do a
thankless service to our world through their love and passion for caring
for the dragons and keeping them happy and healthy on Ministry
approved reserves. We need the dragon handlers and the reserves to
remain a secret for the health of the dragons and the safety of us and the
muggles."
There was silence in the courtroom for a long while after Harry had
stopped talking and Harry revelled in the knowledge that he'd left these
people speechless, even momentarily. It was a good, powerful feeling and
he enjoyed it.
Things continued back and forth until midday when they were finally
able to take a break for lunch and Xerxes and Lucius took him to the
bank of fireplaces in the Atrium and through the floo to Lestrange Manor,
where Xerxes had invited them for lunch.
"Elf! Go and get Rabastan." Xerxes called out and Harry was so horrified
that he couldn't even say anything for a handful of minutes.
"Is that its name?" Harry asked stiffly.
Xerxes shot him a look. "That's right, you're all for house-elves aren't you?
If it did have a name I've long since forgotten it. Why don't you ask it?"
The bedraggled, beaten down elf appeared again to bow to Xerxes and
tell him that he'd done as asked.
"Good, drinks and a light lunch for all of us. Now!"
Before Harry could ask it about its name, it was gone again with another
bow that had its nose touching the wooden floor. It reminded him of
Dobby and his temper, already being strained by the Wizengamot
debates, flared.
Before Harry could say anything Rabastan came tearing into the room
faster than Harry had ever seen him move before and he had almost
bowled him over in a huge bear hug.
Harry laughed happily as he threw his arms around Rabastan's neck and
got distracted by the kisses being rained over his lips.
"Oh, excuse us, we'll all just leave shall we?" Rodolphus' snarky comment
burst through Harry's happy fog.
"Would you?" Harry asked cheekily.
"No." Lucius replied sternly.
"I've missed you so much." Harry told Rabastan instead of answering, still
holding tight to Rabastan.
"I miss you more now that we're engaged, I can't reason it out."
"I feel the same way." Harry laughed. "It seems more real, more
permanent now that we're engaged instead of just being betrothed and I
miss you so much more."
"Let us reconvene in the dining room, lunch will be served soon and
there's much to discuss about the Wizengamot meeting."
"I want to hear all about it." Rabastan told him interestedly and Harry
allowed himself to be led to the dining room of Lestrange manor for a
quick lunch before he was forced back to courtroom seven and to a trial
that he had helped set up and bring about a month earlier.
Harry sat next to Rabastan and they ducked their hands under the table
and laced their fingers together like sweetheart teenagers.
"What is the meeting about this time?" Rodolphus asked.
"It's the set up for the trial of that mud…muggleborn, who went on that
traipse through the muggle world firing off blasting hexes." Xerxes only
just managed to cut off the word 'mudblood' after remembering how
Harry had reacted in the courtroom.
"A shame he didn't manage to kill any of them." Rodolphus said seriously.
"Excuse me!" Harry puffed up angrily. "They're innocent people!"
Rodolphus sneered at him.
"Dolphus." Rabastan said warningly.
"Are you going soft on me now, Basti? After all we've done together."
Rodolphus demanded. "You go and get engaged and suddenly you're all
for muggles and house-elf rights."
"I'm not going soft." Rabastan said angrily. "I hate muggles as much as
you do and Harry understands that about me, but to respect him in
return, I will not speak of it in such blatant terms in front of him and if
my stopping the obvious hate I have for muggles, muggleborns, and
house-elves makes Harry more comfortable, I'll do just that."
Harry beamed at him like a lovesick fool, but he couldn't help it and he
squeezed Rabastan's hand happily.
"What's the house-elf's name here?" He asked.
"It has a name?" Rodolphus quipped quickly.
"That's what I said." Xerxes chuckled.
"You two are far too alike." Harry groused, looking to Rabastan for an
answer.
"I have no clue what it's called. It's been elf since I was a small boy."
Harry sighed unhappily and took a drink of water. The conversation
moved on to the trial and Harry contributed very little, but he was still
holding Rabastan's hand and before he knew what he was doing, he was
playing with Rabastan's fingers, his knuckles, his palm, his wrist and his
arm, smiling down as he watched his own fingers run over the skin and
brush over the black hairs. Rabastan got goosebumps from his touches
after only a few moments and it made Harry grin.
"What, in the name of Merlin, are you doing?" Harry was broken from his
peaceful playing by Rhadamanthus' very unwelcome voice intruding on
his happiness.
He sighed. "I suppose it was too much to ask to have a nice, quiet lunch."
He lamented.
"You're touching him under the table!" Rhadamanthus hissed. "Move
seats, now!"
"We're allowed to hold hands and sit next to one another!" Harry hissed
back.
"Not until you're engage…"
Harry cut Rhadamanthus off by thrusting his hand out and showing him
the ring on his finger.
"We are engaged." He said tartly. "You really are behind the times, we've
been engaged for almost a month now."
"You got engaged without even informing me?!" Rhadamanthus
demanded, his voice dangerously low.
Rabastan didn't even look at his father as he calmly pulled Harry closer
into the side of his body. Harry was the closest to Rhadamanthus and it
was obvious that Rabastan didn't like it one little bit.
"I was under the impression that I didn't need to inform you." Rabastan
answered tonelessly.
"Did you know about this?!" Rhadamanthus demanded of Xerxes and
Rodolphus, a vein throbbing on either side of his thick neck.
"Watch your tongue, boy! I am your father." Xerxes growled. "I am still
Head of this household and you are in my house!"
"Of course, we knew." Rodolphus said simply after a pregnant pause.
"Rabastan tells me everything and as soon as he had the finished ring in
his possession, he came to me for advice. He wanted to propose as soon
as he had the ring in early December. He wouldn't even let me see it
before he'd given it to Harry, it was torturous waiting to see it for that
long."
"You had the ring before Christmas and didn't give it to me immediately?"
Harry teased.
"I wanted to, I really did, but Rodolphus beat it into my head that we
would remember the proposal for the rest of our lives. I could have done
it quickly, as soon as I first saw you, but waiting made it more special."
Harry sighed. "It really did, thank you." Harry said. "And thank you too,
Rodolphus for helping to make it perfect."
"I will remember it forever as one of my happiest memories." Rabastan
told him.
Harry grinned at that but Rhadamanthus grimaced, as though he'd been
forced to suck and chew on a lemon, obviously at the thought of
Rabastan being even remotely happy. Harry felt a coil of icy anger surge
and suddenly he wanted to slash his wand into Rhadamanthus' face. It
would be so easy, his wand was in a specialised holster strapped to his
thigh, all it would take was a quick movement and his wand would be
out and he could curse Rhadamanthus before the evil man could hope to
react.
"Harry!" Lucius' loud voice broke through his red hazed thoughts and he
snapped his head around.
He must have been too tense or something in his body language had
alerted the others at the table that he was half a breath away from
attacking the Lestrange male. Lucius sounded like he'd called him more
than once and as he snapped around to look at his father, something on
his face or in his eyes made the others realise that he was incredibly
angry and that he was half a breath away from attacking Rhadamanthus.
Lucius went to stand up, likely to remove him from the room and give
him a chance to calm down under the guise of a telling off, but Rabastan
got there first and he pressed their lips together hard in a passionate kiss.
Harry relaxed almost immediately as those arms wrapped around him
and he wrapped his arms around Rabastan's neck.
"Better?" Rabastan whispered, only breaking them apart when they
absolutely needed to take in a deep breath or risk passing out.
Harry nodded. "Yes. You always make me feel better. I couldn't control
the anger by myself."
"Focus on me. He doesn't matter." Rabastan said a little more loudly and
no one in that room had any doubts that Rhadamanthus was supposed to
hear what he'd said.
Rhadamanthus had heard him and he reacted so predictably that Harry
almost laughed at how easy it was to rile him up as one large hand
tightened into a fist and his face flushed a dark red with anger. He
obviously did not like that Rabastan was no longer listening to or taking
to heart the cruel things he was saying to him. Rhadamanthus had lost
his power over Rabastan and he didn't like it at all.
The poor house-elf, unfortunately, took that moment to appear and serve
lunch, minus Rhadamanthus'.
"You disgusting little wretch!" Rhadamanthus spat, kicking the poor elf
flying.
Harry was up in a shot, before Rabastan or anyone else could stop him,
and he was cradling the poor injured elf in his own lap.
"Get out." Harry ordered Rhadamanthus, glaring at him and panting like
he'd run a marathon. "NOW!" He yelled when Rhadamanthus didn't
move.
"You heard the boy. Get out." Xerxes ordered firmly, standing up and
towering over his son.
"It's a house-elf!" Rhadamanthus argued incredulously.
"Don't make me remove you myself…not again." Xerxes warned seriously.
Rhadamanthus went near purple with anger and frustration, but he
stormed out of the dining room, to go where Harry didn't frankly care, as
long as it was as far away from him as possible.
"Are you okay?" He asked the elf in his lap.
"Young Master must not concern himself…."
"I have already concerned myself." Harry replied firmly. "What is your
name?"
The elf squeaked and looked to be on the verge of not answering…only
Harry was now an official member of the Lestrange family. He was the
fiancé of Rabastan, which made him a part of the Lestrange family and
the elf couldn't ignore him or anything he asked.
"I is being called Torey, young Master."
"Alright, Torey. Are you injured?" Harry asked gently.
"No, young Master."
Harry nodded. "Are you sure?"
Torey nodded his large head, his massive ears flapping and Harry helped
him to stand. He teetered for a moment, mostly because his brown eyes
were obscured by unshed tears at Harry's kindness, before he vanished
and Harry stood, dusted himself down and sat himself next to Rabastan
as though nothing had happened.
"That was completely bizarre and uncomfortable to watch." Rodolphus
shook his head as if trying to shake out the offending memories.
"Let us just eat lunch, we need to leave soon. The trial preparation will be
commencing in just half an hour." Xerxes replied.
Harry went back to holding Rabastan's hand and eating his lunch. He
needed to absorb as much of Rabastan's presence as he possibly could.
This was a rare thing indeed, being able to see him during term time and
he was going to make the most of it.
They finished their lunches quickly and Harry watched as Rabastan and
Rodolphus both knocked back a cocktail of different coloured and
different dosages of potions before they each drained a full pint of water,
the only sign that the potions they'd taken were utterly foul.
"I made an appointment for your healer visit, Harry." Lucius told him and
Harry groaned.
He'd been putting that appointment off for months now and it seemed
that Lucius had finally gotten fed up with his lame excuses and booked
him in without consulting him.
"It will be fine." Rabastan told him. "You need to get healthy just as I do."
Harry sighed, because really what could he actually say to that now? He
could hardly kick up a fuss about a mere healer visit when Rabastan and
Rodolphus were following a diet that was so strict they couldn't even
deviate from their set meal plans. They had to eat every single last bite
even if they didn't want to and they had to eat at exactly the same time
every day and that wasn't including the just as strict, rigorous exercise
plan they also had to adhere to or the vast collection of potions they had
to take daily.
"When is it?" He asked, trying not to sound as fucked off as he actually
was.
"This weekend." Lucius told him.
"Not Saturday?" Harry asked quickly.
"Would it be a problem if it was?"
"Yes!" Harry said in utter frustration.
"If this is because of Quidditch I'll…"
"It's not!" Harry cut in. "That's the day that Marcus is coming to give me
my first tutoring session. It'll be two full hours on Saturday afternoon,
and I already have to try and fit in all my other homework around it too."
"Lucky for you then that the appointment is Sunday." Lucius replied
calmly.
Harry went to keep on ranting, but those words cut in and he cocked his
head slightly.
"Sunday?" He questioned.
"Sunday morning, at nine sharp." Lucius replied.
Harry nodded his head and relaxed his shoulders. "Okay then. I can work
with Sunday."
Rabastan had gone quiet and red-faced. Angry red-faced. Harry frowned
at him.
"What's wrong?" He asked.
"You never said you were actually going through with that tutoring."
Harry's eyes narrowed. "Yes, I did. Of course, I was serious about it,
Rabastan. I need all the help I can get, I'm three years behind everyone
else!"
"From the bastard who tried to take you away from me! The one who
actually kissed you."
Harry made an annoyed scoffing noise. "Need I remind you that it was
your fault that we were in that situation in the first place? You kept
pushing me at other men, so I showed you what it was like if I went off
with another man. There was nothing between us, not even a spark of
attraction as I suspect that Marcus is completely straight. He only kissed
me to get you to react and you did…without even mentioning that he
kissed my cheek and not my mouth. Do not start on this again, Rabastan,
it's getting very old."
"I believe that's our cue to leave." Xerxes said firmly.
Harry shook his head "No. If I leave now, then nothing will get sorted
and these feelings will fester and drive a wedge between us."
No one said anything and Rabastan was breathing deeply, as if to calm
himself down. Harry didn't have the luxury of time, however. He was
needed back at the courtroom and then back at Hogwarts.
"Are you really so jealous that you don't want me to have tutoring that I
really need just because it's Marcus? What next, are you going to flip into
an angry, jealous rage if my healer on Sunday is male too? Am I not
allowed male friends just because I happen to be gay? We are engaged,
Rabastan, I have no idea what that means to you, but to me, it was a
promise, a commitment to one another and I'm not going to do anything
to jeopardise that. I can't believe that you're doing this again! That you're
going to put us both through this again! Did I not prove my faithfulness
and my purity in that little Veritaserum test of Rodolphus'? What more
do you actually want from me?!" He demanded.
Harry shook his head as Rabastan still remained silent and he raised his
left hand and he went to rip the engagement ring off of his finger to hand
it back to Rabastan, but his fiancé leapt up and covered his hand with his
own, tugging the other one away from the ring.
"Don't. Please don't." Rabastan begged him. "Don't take it off. I love you."
"You have a funny way of showing it!" Harry hissed. "Or maybe it's not a
question of not loving me, perhaps you just don't trust me."
"I do!"
"Then why is this a problem? If you trust me so much then why are you
so worried about me having tutoring with Marcus?! What do you think
I'm going to do?"
"Because he's bigger than you!" Rabastan burst out.
Harry blinked. He opened his mouth and then closed it again and then
narrowed his eyes as he clicked onto what Rabastan's fear actually was.
"You think he's going to try and force himself on me when we're alone,
shut up in my rooms? It's not me you don't trust, it's him."
"Exactly!"
"That didn't really seem to work for Rowle now, did it?" Harry replied
nonchalantly, ignoring the sudden appearance of clenched fists and low
growls around the dining room at the sound of Rowle's name. "I can take
care of myself, Rabastan. I'm not some stupid little kid or some damsel in
distress who'll lie there and wait to be rescued. I am fully capable of
hurting and even killing someone who attacks me."
"That's not the point." Rabastan said, getting very upset. "I don't want you
to go through anything like that again and inviting Flint into your rooms
makes me uneasy when I can't be there to help you."
Harry sighed and looped his arms around Rabastan's neck. "Nothing is
going to happen to me. Marcus isn't even gay or bisexual. Besides, he has
a new love interest."
"He does?" Rabastan asked.
Harry nodded. "He really likes her, but he said she's not very feminine
because her mother died when she was really young and she doesn't like
dresses or flowers or jewellery so she's usually overlooked by suitors."
"Eleanor Fawley." Xerxes and Lucius said together.
"She's from a lesser branch of the Fawley family. Her cousin Felicity, from
the main branch of the family, was matched to a highly prominent
Spanish wizard of the Floros family. Matching Eleanor to the Flint family
will be very welcomed by the Fawleys, who are almost extinct in the
male line." Lucius carried on.
"A fun fact for you, Harry." Xerxes said with a grin. "Both the Fawleys'
and Floros' are related to the Lestranges."
Harry chuckled. "Nothing I wouldn't expect." He replied.
"Are you two done with your domestic dispute?" Rodolphus asked,
standing up and coming to stand beside them.
"I believe so." Harry nodded.
Rabastan nodded with him and immediately after, they each received a
slap to the back of the head.
"That's for being complete morons." Rodolphus sniffed.
Harry grinned when the hand that had smacked the back of his head
remained and ruffled his hair affectionately.
"Come along, Harry, or we'll be late back to the Ministry." Lucius insisted.
Harry hugged Rabastan and kissed him.
"I'll see you soon and I'll owl you right after I've finished the tutoring, just
to put your mind at ease." Harry said. "I love you."
"I love you too." Rabastan replied, pulling him back into a tight hug. It
was then that Harry realised that it had been a while since Rabastan had
had a spasm and he was holding him tighter with more confidence and
he grinned wider. He was almost teary as he realised that Rabastan was
getting better in almost indescribable ways, but he was getting better and
it made him so happy.
Harry was forced to separate from Rabastan when Lucius cleared his
throat and reminded him of the time.
"I have to go." Harry said sadly. "I'll miss you, but I'll see you at Easter?"
"Of course, you will. I can't wait."
"Alright, this is getting painful to watch now." Rodolphus groused as he
grabbed Harry, picked him up and handed him off to Xerxes and then
took hold of Rabastan's shoulders and steered him away.
Xerxes placed Harry back on the floor and laughed at his shell-shocked
face.
"Did he really just pick me up? Me, Lord Potter-Black, like some sort of
miscreant peasant child?" He demanded in his best Wizengamot voice.
Lucius and Xerxes laughed at him and Harry grinned.
"Come along now, or we really will be more than acceptably late."
"As if it's not going to be more of the same." Harry huffed. "I'd rather talk
about these little meetings that Dumbledore wants us to have together."
"I consulted a few people and sent you an owl back, had I known this
meeting was coming so quickly, I would have held off and handed it to
you directly. But I don't think these meetings will be an entirely bad
thing." Lucius concluded.
"You don't? I thought they'd be horrible and potentially dangerous."
"They might well be, but it could prove to be very…informative."
Harry clicked then and a surge of hot anger flared as he realised that
Lucius had consulted Voldemort on these meetings and that he was being
used as a spy.
"What if he curses me?" Harry demanded tightly, through gritted teeth.
"I know you, Harry." Lucius said. "You're my son now and I have the
power to have you checked by specialist healers at any moment without
your permission as you are a minor in my care. It was how I was able to
set up a healer appointment this weekend without your knowledge or
consent. If he dares curse you or dose you with anything, I'll have him in
prison before he can say 'it was for the greater good'." Lucius told him.
Harry took a deep breath and let it out. He'd see what these stupid
meetings were about first and then he'd decide what he wanted to do.
Just because Voldemort wanted him to spy on Dumbledore, did not mean
that he had to tell anyone what information he'd found out in these so-
called 'truce' meetings. Not if he didn't want to.
He sighed, letting out all the air from his deep breath and he calmed
himself. He didn't have to help anyone he didn't want to and he didn't
have to share anything. Everything would work out fine and if it didn't,
he hoped that he'd be protected from the backlash, either by Lucius, by
Rabastan, or by himself.
His schedule was going to be really jam-packed though…if he had to put
tutoring from Marcus, healer visits, and now Dumbledore's meetings on
top of all of his homework, his Wizengamot duties and Quidditch too,
something was going to have to give sooner or later. At least now he
didn't have betrothal duties to attend to as well, as with his recent
engagement to Rabastan they were no longer required and he was
relieved because he really wouldn't have been able to juggle that as well.
He was going to have to start making a planned schedule for himself like
Hermione had used to do for her exam revision. Though he couldn't
really plan around the Wizengamot meetings as they all seemed to be
very random and unplanned. Maybe he could put forward a bill or
something to change that so that the schedule was as planned and
structured as much as possible, with the exception of the emergency
meetings. But there was no reason why trials and normal meetings
couldn't be planned in advance or held at the same time every month. It
would make things so much easier if he could plan around them.
The three of them made it back to courtroom seven and Harry gracefully
sat himself back down. He was not looking forward to another several
hours of debating back and forth over an issue that was so very clear to
him now that the new, additional information had been revealed in the
trial report. Mister Dennis Jute, muggleborn he might be, but he had a
chip on his shoulder from something to do with the muggles and Harry
was now certain that he had meant to kill as many muggles as possible
on that night…he was not going to allow the full court of the wizarding
world to let this man off of the ten-year sentence to Azkaban. It was no
less than the drunken brute deserved and Harry would not allow him to
escape justice.
A/N: A day late, but the read through for this chapter took a lot longer
than usual as it is a very large chapter, but I was too busy yesterday to
get it done, so it's up today instead.
We have another chapter next week too, from the looks of things it'll be
chapter 3 of Tainted Blood, but those on Facebook will know more as it
gets closer to the actual update day.
Thank you to Kami-no-Namida for being the 1,500th reviewer of this
story.
ambermaine100: No, the Weasleys were never particularly rich, but
when Arthur and Molly married, they had considerably more than after
they had seven children. Bringing up seven children on the paltry wage
that Arthur makes was always going to stretch them beyond their means.
As for when Harry and Rabastan marry, when that time comes, they
won't have to worry about the public or the Ministry.
HPSlashAddict: Oh yes. I know exactly what I'm going to do to kill
Rhadamanthus, and when. No one has thought of it yet either. It won't be
Basilisk venom though or anything to do with a snake. It's too obvious
with Harry being a known Parselmouth. It could be too easily linked back
to him and that's something he really doesn't want.
I hope you lovelies have all enjoyed this chapter, if you're not reading
any of my other works, then this will be my last chapter for a while. I'm
taking the whole of November off for a break and I won't be back until
the New Year for this story I think, so I'll see you lovelies then,
StarLight Massacre. X
13. Health
Last Time
The three of them made it back to courtroom seven and Harry gracefully sat
himself back down. He was not looking forward to another several hours of
debating back and forth over an issue that was so very clear to him now that
the new, additional information had been revealed in the trial report. Mister
Dennis Jute, muggleborn he might be, but he had a chip on his shoulder from
something to do with the muggles and Harry was now certain that he had
meant to kill as many muggles as possible on that night…he was not going to
allow the full court of the wizarding world to let this man off of the ten-year
sentence to Azkaban. It was no less than the drunken brute deserved and
Harry would not allow him to escape justice.
Chapter Thirteen - Health
Harry had spent the next few days just recovering from the all-day trial
as those on the Council of Magical Law had argued against the
Wizengamot's decision to sentence this man, Dennis Jute, to Azkaban. As
had been pointed out more than a dozen times, the Wizengamot was
superior to the Council of Magical Law and their sentence was final and
was not the issue being discussed in the courtroom. The meeting had
descended into chaos and had only ended once members had started
complaining about the very late hour and still nothing had gotten done
because of the pointless arguing. Harry hoped that before he had to go
back that Fudge called the Council of Magical Law into order. They had
no right to oppose or question the decision of the Wizengamot.
Harry had come back late to Hogwarts, after curfew late, and he had had
to almost scream at Filch that he was Lord Potter-Black and that he had
only just gotten back to Hogwarts after flooing into Professor
McGonagall's office. He had explained as patiently as he could, that he
had been at a Wizengamot meeting that had only in the last hour
finished, but it hadn't worked and Filch had demanded that Harry be
written up for detention. That had been when Harry had started losing
control of his already frayed temper. He had stomped his way to his
rooms, after losing Filch first, of course, as he refused to follow the man
back to his office to be written up like a delinquent and had, in no
uncertain terms, told the man that if he laid a single finger on him then
he'd have him fired and locked up. After being gone the entire day, Harry
had finally gotten back to his rooms, but he was in an absolutely foul
mood thanks to the actual trial meeting and his run-in with Filch.
Once safely locked inside his private rooms he'd stripped off his robes
and sluggishly pulled on his pyjamas. He knew he should have started his
homework then and there, but he had been far too tired, so instead, he'd
just curled up in his bed and he'd gone almost straight to sleep after the
incredibly long day locked up in the dungeon-like courtroom seven.
Now, he was paying for it, especially as Draco and Blaise had gleefully
dumped a load of assignments on him that morning at breakfast, on top
of those that he already had to do, and they both refused to help him
stating haughtily that they were too busy. Blaise was on the hunt for a
new conquest, his Ravenclaw was no longer keeping his interest now that
she was talking about their long-term future, something which Blaise
wouldn't allow and Draco was going to spend some time with Astoria. It
did not help Harry's sinking mood that from one until three in the
afternoon today he had to take Ancient Runes tutoring from Marcus. He
had too much to do and very little time in which to do it.
Harry rubbed his forehead and went back to his Transfiguration
homework, one of the hardest assignments that he had, for one of the
hardest subjects that Hogwarts offered. He didn't understand half of it
and he knew that he had to go to Professor McGonagall to ask her for
some help. He just didn't want to take the time it would eat up when he
knew that he had a mountain of homework still to do.
Sighing and biting the proverbial bullet, he plucked up his
Transfiguration books and his homework assignments, shoved them all
into his satchel and left his rooms, closing the door securely behind him.
If he was quick and he picked up this theory easily enough then he might
be able to do a few more assignments before Marcus came to tutor him.
He didn't really relish the thought of being awake past midnight tonight
still doing homework.
He made his way down the corridors and up three flights of stairs to get
to the seventh floor and he wandered the familiar path to Gryffindor
Tower. He stopped just before he reached the Fat Lady's portrait, at
Professor McGonagall's office. He knocked firmly on the door and he
waited, hoping that she was even there. He did not have the time to hunt
the Professor down all over the castle for one piece of homework when
he had a dozen more assignments that needed his attention too.
"Enter." The stern voice he knew so well called out from inside the room
and he breathed a sigh of relief that she was here before he straightened
and smartened himself up and did as asked, stepping into the office. "Ah,
Potter, just the boy I wanted to speak to."
Harry ducked his head in a small bow as a show of respect. "Sorry to
bother you, Professor. I just wanted to ask you about the work that I
missed yesterday, I'm afraid I just don't understand it."
"Mister Filch came to see me about you being out after curfew and that
you refused to be written up for a detention." McGonagall said
disapprovingly. "You have your own rooms, but that does not mean that
you can be out after curfew, you need to adhere to the same rules as
everyone else, Potter."
"Professor, as I told Mister Filch at the time, I'd only just gotten back
from the Wizengamot meeting. It went on for almost the entire day and it
was only called to a halt when some members started to complain about
how late it was getting. I went straight to my rooms from this office,
which I used to floo back into the school. My being out after the curfew
wasn't preventable and I don't believe it requires a term of detention as it
couldn't have been helped. Unless, of course, I'd stayed at home overnight
and had come back early this morning, but I wanted to start on my
remaining homework as soon as possible, so I elected to return to the
school last night."
McGonagall stared at him for several moments and then she nodded her
head once. "What was this about an assignment that you don't
understand?"
Harry smiled and got his work out of his bag and handed it over. He
spent the next hour listening to his Professor lecture and teach him what
he'd missed during his unavoidable absence. He learnt a lot more in a
one-to-one setting it seemed and that gave him hope for his tutoring from
Marcus, maybe it wasn't going to be so awful after all and at least he
already knew that his Transfiguration homework was going to be top-
notch, after all, it couldn't possibly be anything else under the personal
tutelage of Professor McGonagall.
Harry was nervous as he waited with all of his Ancient Runes books, all
of his homework assignments for that year and what marks he'd gotten
and spare parchment and ink. He even had a set of cubes that each had a
rune carved into the front of it, the pronunciation of said rune was on the
bottom that could be tapped with a wand which then revealed the
translation. They had belonged to Draco as a small child to help him
learn his runes before he came to Hogwarts, but Harry had no qualms
about using them as a sixteen-year-old if they helped him and they did,
to an extent.
He took a deep breath and then another. This was just another lesson and
he was here to learn, nothing more. He shouldn't be this bloody nervous,
but ridiculously, Rabastan's words kept coming back to him. Marcus was
much larger than him, he was much stronger, and he could easily hurt
him without anyone knowing about it for several hours. He growled to
himself and forced those thoughts away furiously. Marcus was a man
now, a grown man, and he wasn't going to hurt him. He was absolutely,
one hundred per cent sure of it, but still, Rabastan's fears had his fiancé
genuinely worried and because his fiancé was worried, he was nervous
himself. It was completely ridiculous, irrational even, but he couldn't
help it.
The door knocked and he almost jumped out of his skin before he scolded
himself harshly, pulled himself together and he stood up to let Marcus
into his private rooms and the older man whistled, impressed, as he
looked around.
"You got yourself a good deal here. I had no idea that Hogwarts offered
individual rooms to students or I'd have gotten one for myself. Three of
my dormmates' snored terribly." He added when he caught Harry's
questioning glance. "I spent half my time at Hogwarts trying to catch up
on disrupted sleep, at least until I finally figured out the silencing ward,
using Runes instead of a spell, of course."
Harry laughed at the explanation, thinking fondly of his portrait of the
younger Sirius. "Do you want a drink?"
"You can get drinks in here too? Merlin, I really wish I'd known about
these rooms."
Harry grinned happily and put his little teapot on the hot plate he had to
make tea with.
"Only water, juice or tea. I can get small snacks too, like biscuits. It
means I don't have to leave very often, though I do have to go down to
the Great Hall for full meals."
Harry made them both tea and set up a plate of biscuits before he sat on
the floor by his coffee table and Marcus followed his lead and eased his
big, bulky body down to join him.
"Let's get started then. I want to see what you're capable of first, do you
have your past assignments as I requested?"
Harry nodded and picked up the parchment with all his marks from
Professor Babbling off of the table where he'd left them, including his
extra assignments that he'd asked for, and he handed them over to
Marcus to scrutinise.
He nervously waited as Marcus went through all of the sheaves of
parchment, very slowly and consideringly, one by one. At least this time
he was nervous of what Marcus would think of his work and his marks
and not of anything happening to him.
He shakily took sip after sip of tea for something to do and he breathed
evenly and deeply to calm and centre himself as he fought the urge to
fidget, a phantom pain rippling through his hands as he remembered his
lessons from Lucius and Narcissa. He could almost hear them chastising
him, telling him that he was the lord of two ancient, esteemed houses
and an adoptee of a third. He was not supposed to fidget like a small,
nervous child. It almost made him smile, but he controlled the urge as he
gave his undivided attention to Marcus. He wanted to prove that he
deserved this tutoring from such a specialised expert, that he wasn't
going to be a waste of Marcus' time. He needed this chance to get him
back onto an even keel with his classmates and if he could surpass them,
well, that would be an extra juicy bonus if he could manage it and a very
proud moment for him too. His classmates did have three years of
learning over him after all.
"This is better than I was expecting." Marcus told him sometime later.
"For someone who only picked up Runes this year and has had only six
months of teaching and instruction, you have a very good base
understanding of the subject."
Harry very nearly blew out a relieved breath, but he managed to control
himself and give a small, more acceptable nod of his head.
"I can work with this." Marcus said simply, putting the sheaves of
parchment back down on the coffee table. "You're not completely
clueless, so let's get started."
Harry listened intently and he watched everything that Marcus did,
absorbing it all as best as he could and even doing all the little exercises
that Marcus gave him. Once he was finished with each one he handed
over his answers to Marcus to mark and then he either received praise or
had it ripped apart and Marcus pointed out exactly where he'd gone
wrong.
"You've mixed up Perthro and Kenaz, Harry." Marcus told him, laying the
parchment down and pointing out his answer.
Harry deflated as he blew out a frustrated breath and he looked at the
two wrong answers and he thought harder about it. He took his quill up
and he corrected the one right away, but as for the other one he had no
clue. He shook his head.
"I don't know."
"You do." Marcus told him with no preamble. "Think!"
Harry bit his lip and all but glared at the parchment. Marcus gave him no
help whatsoever and every time that Harry insisted that he didn't know
it, Marcus would growl back that he did and to use his fucking brain to
think of it.
"We don't have all fucking day!" Marcus snapped.
Harry gritted his teeth and tried not to snap his quill in half. He was half
considering throwing his bottle of ink at Marcus' head.
He put down another rune and Marcus scoffed and swooped in to draw a
thick red line through it.
"You know that that's not right! Don't just put anything down!"
"Then help me!" Harry growled.
"I am helping you! I'm not going to just give you the damn answer, think
about it!"
"But I don't know it!" Harry pleaded.
"You do." Marcus insisted.
Harry frowned and bit his lip again, tapping his quill against his hand. He
tentatively drew another rune and looked to Marcus, half expecting a
thick red line through it.
"Well done." Marcus praised him and Harry was stunned.
"Really? That's right?" He asked, looking back at it and staring.
"Yes. Now tell me where you went wrong."
"I…I didn't think that this was the right answer because I thought my first
attempt was the right one. I overlooked this rune."
"It's a very common mistake. Overlooking one rune because you're sure
it's another. It'll throw you off the rest of them as you head in the
opposite direction to the overlooked rune. I'm surprised you got it so
quickly. So what have you learnt?"
"That sometimes, even if I think I know the answer, I can still be wrong."
"No! You've learnt that you knew the answer all along! Don't waste time
arguing about it, accept that you know the answer and find it."
Harry nodded and he settled himself down, carrying on the exercise
sheets that Marcus had taken the time to make especially for his tutoring.
"Wrong." Marcus told him, scratching out the very first rune. "Do it
again."
Harry sighed and frowned. He frowned harder as he realised that he
seemed to have made exactly the same mistake. He'd been so sure that
he'd put down the correct rune. In fact, he was incredibly sure that it was
the correct rune.
"I'm sure that that one was right."
"It's not." Marcus said simply.
"I'm sure it was."
Marcus raised an eyebrow and Harry scowled. He went back to his
exercise and thought hard, but his mind drew a complete blank over this
one. He tried a few more runes, but all of them received a red mark
through them.
He was more patient this time, trying out different ideas, but eventually,
a coil of heated anger reared its head and he started losing his temper the
more Marcus drew a red line through his attempts.
"I've gone through almost all of them!" He raged. "I'm sure that the first
one was right!"
Marcus snorted and drew a rune in red next to his many failed attempts.
Harry was horrified to see that it was identical to his first attempt.
"I had it right the first time. I knew it!" He shouted. "Why did you mark it
as wrong when it was right?!"
"Never second guess yourself. If you know it's right. It probably is."
Marcus told him.
"I thought the other one was right too."
Marcus shook his head. "No, you only thought it was right because you'd
overlooked the actual correct rune, you didn't know that it was. You
actually argued about me correcting this rune, you knew that it was the
right one, but you accepted that it was wrong, not because you thought it
was, but because I'm superior to you. That's how mistakes are made and
how fatalities occur. If you are working on something never let anyone
correct you. If you know it's right, it probably is and if you're unsure,
check it yourself or you'll end up dead."
Harry blew out a breath and tried to squash the anger that had risen in
him.
"I think we'll leave it here. It's half three, we went over a little bit. You're
not as terrible as I thought you'd be. I'll have more exercises for you next
week."
Harry nodded his head tightly. "If anything changes, I'll owl you. But if
it's too late, I'll floo call you instead."
Marcus nodded back as he stood up with all of his stuff. He threw a hand
out and shook Harry's own firmly.
"I'll see you soon, Potter. Oh, and congratulations by the way. That ring
suits you."
Harry looked down at his ring and smiled as Marcus shut the door to his
private rooms behind him. He collapsed back onto his settee and he
stayed there for several minutes, just thinking. Marcus hadn't been
kidding when he said he'd be hard and abrasive while tutoring him.
Which reminded him, he needed to send a letter to Rabastan to ease his
fiancé's frantic mind and let him know that he hadn't been attacked and
he wasn't dead on his sitting room floor.
Clearing up all the Ancient Runes paraphernalia, Harry left his spare
parchment and went into his little study room to drop everything off and
collect his beautiful set of thirty different coloured inks. It was in a
decorative sterling silver holder so that he could carry and display all
thirty bottles at once. He'd bought it after he'd realised that writing to
Rabastan in different coloured inks as he had been, had really, really
helped his, then betrothed, now fiancé. It had been a pain begging for
different coloured inks from Draco and Blaise, so now he had his own set
that he could use.
It had, like almost everything else he'd owned, been replaced by his
father in October when his dormmates' had destroyed all of his stuff.
Some of the inks had been running low, particularly the red, blue, green,
and black inks, and he'd been thinking of replacing them himself. He'd
laughed to himself when his set had been fully replaced, all the inks
coming back full and unopened, their wax seals still unbroken.
He spent the next hour and a half writing a massive letter to Rabastan,
making sure to drastically change colours with every paragraph and he
stretched out his cramping hand and left the letter to dry on his coffee
table while he went down to the Great Hall for dinner.
His first tutoring session had gone fin…if that sort of rage-inducing
teaching could be called fine. Now he just had to survive weekly tutoring
sessions with Marcus. He could feel a tension headache forming at both
temples and he groaned. He needed a headache reliever and fast. Which
did nothing to improve his mood as that reminded him that tomorrow
morning he had to get up early to go to Saint Mungo's for a health check-
up with a team of healers.
Harry looked at the ring nestled on his left hand and he brought it to his
mouth so that he could kiss it. It helped him feel marginally better.
"I really wish that I was with you." He whispered before moodily stabbing
at his food. He was not looking forward to his hospital visit, but for
Rabastan, he would endure it silently.
The next morning, at a quarter past nine in the morning, Harry found
himself stripped to his new black boxer briefs and sat on the end of an
examination bed. He wasn't cold, the room being temperature controlled
with magic, but he was uncomfortable as his thin and bony body was
exposed to the view of anyone and everyone who cared to look, which
was quite a few people as he was seeing a whole team of healers and not
just the one.
"Will you stop shifting in agitation?" Lucius commanded from the chair in
the large room that they were currently in.
"I can't help it, I am agitated!" Harry hissed as he shifted yet again in
discomfort.
He was nervous, and a little scared and insecure too. He'd put off this
visit for so long that he'd fooled himself into thinking that it would never
happen, that Lucius would just forget about it. Now that it was actually
happening, he wanted it to stop. He wanted time to stand still so that he
never had to put himself through this ordeal.
All too soon the head healer of the team who would be examining him,
who had left for five minutes while Harry had been undressing, knocked
once on the door and entered the examination room again.
"Alright, Mister Potter, I'm going to start the examination now. We'll be
including all angles here, visual, physical, and magical."
"Just to be extra thorough." Harry groused, evil-temperedly.
"We at this hospital pride ourselves on being very thorough." The healer
answered, obviously well used to difficult patients.
Harry sat still and stiff as the healer prodded, poked and touched his
bony, scarred body with his firm, sure fingers. Harry's jaw clenched, his
back locked ramrod straight and his hands were digging into the edge of
the stupid bed that he was sitting on as he endured someone, anyone,
touching his body like this. He didn't like it at all.
"Your father tells us that you've never had a booster inoculation for
Dragon Pox." The healer said conversationally.
"I've never had any vaccines." Harry bit out.
"Not even the standard muggle vaccines?"
"No." Harry said shortly.
The healer nodded as his fingers played with the knot of scarring at his
elbow.
"Where did this come from?" The healer asked him.
"Basilisk fang." Harry answered tightly, his words clipped.
"Pardon me?" Lucius asked in a silky, deadly quiet whisper.
"A basilisk bit me when I was twelve and I had to yank the broken fang
out of my arm." Harry elaborated.
"How did you survive?" The healer demanded.
"Dumbledore just happens to have a phoenix."
"A basilisk should have bitten you in half."
"It was trying to, I stabbed it through the roof of its mouth and into its
head with a sword, but a fang stabbed into my arm while I did so."
The healer made a notation on his clipboard and then touched the scar
on his left, inner forearm. It was long and straight, a couple of inches in
length.
"Where did you get this one?"
Harry glared at the healer because he'd gotten that scar from Pettigrew in
the ritual that had reborn Voldemort, but he couldn't actually come out
and say that. Not anymore.
"A crazed man slit my arm for me in a ritual that he believed would bring
back Voldemort. It's in the same place and it's near the same size as the
Dark Mark." He said through gritted teeth. He noticed that though Lucius
winced at the Dark Lord's name, the healer all but jumped out of his skin.
The healer swallowed and nodded before he pointed to a scar that was
just barely visible on his hip.
"This one?" He questioned.
Harry looked at it and prodded at it himself.
"No idea. I've got so many that I don't keep count and I'm not overly
bothered when new ones appear."
The healer looked him over more closely and he saw what Harry meant
as he noted down all of the various scars on his body on a chart of the
human body he had on his clipboard.
"I tracked down your medical file. Not surprisingly, it's quite bare. You're
going to need quite a few injections today, Harry. We'll do those now and
get them out of the way."
Harry felt sick and his whole body tensed as his heart started beating
several times faster. He watched, like a deer in the headlights, as the
healer went digging in cupboards, bringing out several little bottles and
packets of individual needles.
The healer injected him quickly and carefully and at the small, barely-
there pinch, Harry relaxed insurmountably. It didn't hurt that badly, he
didn't need to worry about the injections. He sat calmly and stoically
through the rest of the vaccines as the healer injected him again and
again, never in the same place.
"This is for Measles, Mumps and Rubella." The healer said as he switched
arms and then loaded another one up. "This is for Tuberculosis." He said
as another load of vaccine went into Harry's body, this time in the top of
his leg. "And this one is for Meningitis."
Harry took a deep, steadying breath when all the vaccines were done and
the healer had used several needles and disposed of them all in a bright
yellow bucket.
"That wasn't so bad now, was it?" The healer said with a smile, even as he
got out another needle and another bottle.
"What's that one for?" Harry questioned curiously.
"Dragon Pox. This one will hurt and it'll feel like you're burning. But if
you choose not to have this vaccine and you do get Dragon Pox, then
there's nothing that we can do except to make you as comfortable as we
can. You will die."
"He doesn't have a choice in the matter." Lucius said smoothly from his
chair. "He will be having the vaccine, even if I have to put him under a
body binding curse in order to have it done."
The healer nodded and Harry sat very still as the needle was inserted
under his skin and the vaccine was emptied into his bloodstream. It burnt
terribly. He gritted his teeth and closed his eyes as he waited for it to
pass. It didn't pass, it just kept burning, growing in intensity and it was
slowly spreading too.
"There we go." The healer said, disposing of yet another used needle
before handing him a glass almost half full of a purplish-grey potion.
"Swallow this potion now, it'll help your body to accept all of the
different vaccines that you've just been given without making you
seriously ill, though it's likely that you will still have a slight fever
because of the number of vaccines that have just been administered."
Harry gulped the endless seeming potion down from the tumbler glass it
had been handed over in and he grimaced, shaking his head in reflex to
the vile taste. That had been twice as much potion as he'd ever been
forced to drink in one go before and it was a struggle to get it down and
to actually keep it down too as his stomach rebelled and clenched
painfully. It made him heave to try and get the potion back out. He
controlled the urge fiercely and he clamped his mouth shut, continuously
swallowing to get the potion to stay down as he tried to calm his roiling
stomach.
The healer gave him a minute or two to recover from the vaccines and
the potion before he started casting spells and whatever else he was
doing as Harry sat there, trying to ignore the burning pain in his arm,
that was rapidly spreading down to his hand and up to his shoulder, not
to mention the vile taste lingering on his tongue and his rebelling
stomach.
It took hours for the team of healers around him to be happy that they'd
covered every single base that they could think of, they'd even redone the
test to check for the special gene that made him a bearer and they
checked his fertility, and when he finally got the all-clear to leave the
hospital, it was with the words malnourished and brittle hanging over his
head. He had almost as many potions to take as Rabastan and Rodolphus
and he wasn't happy about it.
"I have half a mind to pull you from the Quidditch team." Lucius told him
as he helped a lethargic, exhausted Harry back into his clothes.
"I want to carry on playing if I can." Harry answered sluggishly.
"You have the bones of a sixty-year-old man." Lucius reminded him.
"I know. I heard the healers, I was there too." Harry said tonelessly. "I still
want to play, though and the bone potions should help rather quickly. I
only have to take them for a month or two."
Lucius sighed. "Narcissa is going to be beside herself with concern when
she hears. We had prepared ourselves for some bad news, but not to this
extent! I knew that we should have done this in the summer and not
waited until now."
Harry sighed and he allowed Lucius to support him with an arm around
his back and under his arm as they left the hospital, walking slowly down
the clinically clean corridors to the nearest waiting room which would
have a floo point. He allowed Lucius to hold him tightly to his chest as
they flooed back to Malfoy manor together instead of separately like they
usually would have.
After hearing how bad he actually was, Lucius was insistent on keeping
him off of school for a couple of days, instead of the one night that they
had originally planned, letting him go back to Hogwarts on the Monday
morning. Now, he was going to be at home for most of the week, if not
the entire of the week and he was going to miss even more lessons. He
was going to have so many catch up assignments to do when he was
better.
"You rest now." Lucius told him firmly, sitting him on his bed in his own
bedroom and sort of hovering over him like he was at a loss for what to
do.
"I'm not going to break in half." Harry said in amusement, even as his
heart swelled with love at being actually, truly cared for.
"The healers said that you have brittle bones!" Lucius said sternly. Again.
It was like the older man couldn't get past that bit of information, like he
couldn't process it or didn't know what to do with it.
"Walking isn't going to do any harm. Otherwise, they would have broken
before now." Harry insisted.
Lucius sighed. "Just rest for today, you've been through a lot and you
need to rest. For today at least."
Harry nodded. "I was planning on staying on the settee in my sitting
room and finishing off all that homework that's been piling up. I told you
that my tutoring ran over by half an hour. Marcus is frustrating at best,
infuriating at his worst."
"Did you learn from him?" Lucius asked shrewdly.
Harry smiled and nodded. "Yeah, he has a very unorthodox method of
teaching, but I did learn a lot from him and I learnt several new ways of
thinking about runes and the different ways in which they can be
applied. He didn't try to attack me either."
"Ah, which reminds me, did you write to Rabastan as you said that you
would?"
"Of course." Harry answered as he took the letter that he'd written last
night, sealed in an envelope, out of his robe pocket. "I didn't send it off
because I knew that I'd see you today and I'd hoped to see him in person
too. I guess with me staying here longer than originally planned, I will
get to see him, but could you please give it to him anyway? I am getting
tired so I just want to sleep for a bit."
Lucius inclined his head as he took the letter from him before he tucked
the sealed parchment carefully into a pocket on the inside of his robes.
"I need to go and inform the others of what has happened. I will floo call
Severus as well and have him inform Draco that you will be staying here
for longer than previously thought. We all knew that you'd need several
injections and that that would take it out of you, so it won't be odd or out
of place if you don't do so in person."
Harry sighed. "I promise not to move for the rest of the day. I just want to
rest and at the moment go to sleep. I might get up to do some homework
later, but for now, I'm completely exhausted."
Lucius nodded and Harry sighed again, painfully inching out of his robes
with Lucius' help before settling himself on his bed more comfortably as
his father left him alone and saw himself out, not wanting Harry to move
in order to see him to the door as proper etiquette demanded. Proper
etiquette wasn't expected in such situations when one was so unwell.
Harry laid back and pulled the duvet over himself trying desperately not
to think about what he'd learnt today. He'd known that the Dursleys
hadn't treated him particularly well, but he hadn't much thought of the
long term damage. To find out that he was very malnourished and had
the brittle bones of an old man at just sixteen, it had frightened him. He
hadn't expected it and knowing that the Dursleys had ruined him, even
though he wasn't under their thumb anymore, it had shocked him and he
needed some alone time to take it all in.
His years of mistreatment had left his body permanently scarred, he'd
already known this, but to find out that the years of missed meals and
even starvation in his early years had left him malnourished, like he'd
been living in poverty, and with the bones of a sixty-year-old. That he
hadn't known about, all the unknown, unseen damage that had been
done to him over the last fifteen years.
It scared him to think that he might never have known about it, that it
might never have been rectified and that right now, he could still be in
their care, living at Privet Drive, which would have only made the
damage worse.
Harry breathed deeply and he pushed it from his mind for the time being.
He'd had injections, he'd swallowed several, absolutely disgusting potions
already and he had a couple of months' worth of potions to take now and
he would hopefully be completely fit and healthy by the summer. He
didn't want to think on it any longer, he wanted to rest and get some
much-needed sleep and he needed to take some time to absorb this
information. It had come as a huge, nasty shock to him.
Lucius was in a foul mood as he made his way back down the wide stairs
of his home. He strode through the hallways and he went straight to the
family parlour, where his wife was entertaining their three guests. With
the Aurors in disgrace with the Minister for Magic and being removed
from staking out his home, the three Lestranges were allowed to visit
once again, and they were here waiting for news on Harry's hospital visit.
"How did things go?" Narcissa asked as soon as he arrived in the room,
standing to greet him with a kiss.
Lucius kissed her back and he sighed. "It was worse than we were
expecting." He said quietly, sitting in a seat and greeting their guests with
a short nod.
"How much worse?" Rabastan asked in concern. "Where is Harry? I
thought that you were bringing him back."
"He is in his bed sleeping as he's exhausted. It is much worse than we
previously feared." Lucius sighed as he absentmindedly took Harry's letter
from inside his robes and handed it over.
He called for a house-elf and got himself a drink of firewhiskey, just to
settle himself after the news that he'd had to listen to.
"Lucius, do not keep such things from me. Harry is our son, not just
yours. Tell me." Narcissa said with a hard stare.
"Those muggles must have tortured him. This is the first time that I've
seen his body bared in such harsh, clinical lighting and he is covered in
scars."
"Scars?" Narcissa gasped. "He's a sixteen-year-old boy!"
"There are hundreds of them and they cover him from head to foot. There
isn't an inch of skin without a scar on it from something or other and
Harry has become so numb to such behaviours that he doesn't know
where most of them have come from." Lucius sighed, sipping some more
firewhiskey.
"I get the feeling that that isn't all." Xerxes said with a bite of anger in his
voice.
"He's very malnourished. The healer said that it was as if Harry had been
living in childhood poverty."
"Did Harry shed any light as to why that was?" Narcissa demanded.
"Remember his first letter, dear. He let slip that the muggles starved him.
Obviously, that was much worse than we initially believed too to have
led to such serious malnourishment."
"If I get my hands on them." Rabastan snarled.
"It gets worse."
"How?" Xerxes demanded furiously. "How much worse can it get, Lucius?
Those beasts tortured and starved him!"
"Harry has the equivalent bone strength of a sixty-year-old man. They are
very brittle. The healer didn't believe him when Harry said that he'd been
playing Quidditch for years. The only part of his body not affected is his
right hand and arm. Those bones are, perhaps not as strong as they could
be, but are much stronger than any other bone in his body."
"Why?" Narcissa asked curiously.
"In his second year, I went to watch Draco play in his first Quidditch
game. I saw the bludger smash into Harry's right elbow, breaking his
arm. The fool, Lockhart, insisted that he could repair the arm, but instead
he removed the bones. Harry told the healer that he was given Skele-gro,
which would have regrown the bones as they were supposed to be,
completely undamaged and healthy, but only in his right arm. Despite
this, the healer said that during the four years that Harry has had these
new bones, they have suffered slight damage too. A stark indicator of the
poor treatment and nutrition he has been receiving from those muggles."
Rabastan found it hard to breathe as he sat forward and tried to control
his rage.
"He's so deficient in calcium and vitamin D that the healer was surprised
that Harry was walking around. These severe deficiencies have resulted
in an overall more serious condition called hypocalcaemia. Out of the
possible symptoms, Harry has several, including brittle bones, bad
eyesight and suspect hallucinations. We were told that if Harry had left
this condition untreated it would have eventually led to his premature
death."
"But the healers have done their jobs?" Xerxes demanded angrily.
"Harry is now on several very strong dosage potions, including one to
give him the calcium he desperately needs, one to strengthen his bones
and one to tackle the malnutrition. I've told him that he has to drink a
glass of milk with every meal to help combat the disease. Draco will let
me know if Harry is doing as instructed when he goes back to Hogwarts
in several days."
"Did he have all of his vaccines?" Narcissa asked before the furious
silence could thicken to violence.
Lucius nodded curtly. "He didn't make a sound. Not even with the Dragon
Pox vaccine. His pain threshold is incredibly high."
Rabastan ground his teeth together and he had to force himself not to
leap out of his chair and go to throttle the muggles who had abused
Harry, his beautiful, wonderful, kind fiancé. The one amazing boy who
had looked at him and had seen a person and not a ruined cripple. The
boy who cared for him and took care of him when those who hadn't
suffered through what Harry had couldn't even give him a second
thought or a second glance. It helped his tenuous control and his anger to
think of how kind Harry was. Plus, he didn't know where those filth
lived, not yet.
"Did he say where those beasts live?" Rodolphus asked calmly as if
reading his mind. Too calmly, Rabastan realised.
Rabastan knew his older brother very well, he knew what that calmness
meant, what vicious danger it hid underneath the surface. It was with
that same calmness that they had gone, with Rodolphus' hateful wife
Bellatrix, to torture information from the Longbottoms. One of only a
handful of times that the three of them had worked together in relative
peace, all for their Lord. They had only ever worked together when it was
on their Lord's orders, every other interaction was riddled with curses
and spiteful comments and barbs, particularly now that he and
Rodolphus were ruined by Azkaban. Bellatrix revelled in reminding them
how weak they'd become, how useless.
But they were preparing for their future, for their long-term recovery,
and Bellatrix wasn't. The insane woman was just carrying on as normal,
or as normal as the unhinged woman ever got these days. He and
Rodolphus were going to get better, stronger, and Bellatrix was not going
to recover if she didn't work at it. She could try all she liked to hide the
damage and the pain under her insane mask, but sooner or later, it was
going to catch up with her and then she would be the useless one.
Rabastan comforted himself with that knowledge. He could be patient, he
could wait for his revenge when he and Rodolphus were perfectly strong
and healthy again and she was still haggard and gaunt and suffering.
"No, I suspect that he never will." Lucius sighed. "He's an intelligent boy,
but overly compassionate. He knows what we'll do to the muggles if he
ever reveals to us where they are and for the moment at least, he feels
like he still owes some loyalty to them, despite everything that they've
done to him."
"We need to change his mind and get the location of those muggles from
him." Xerxes growled. "No one treats a member of the Lestrange family,
my family, in such a deplorable manner."
Lucius inclined his head and sighed dispassionately. "I fear that Harry
will never tell us, in which case, we need to find them from the small
hints and clues that he accidentally lets slip. Those animals need to be
taught a lesson."
"They need to be put down." Rabastan contradicted harshly.
"I fully agree." Xerxes said angrily. "A mere lesson isn't enough, Lucius.
They need to pay for what they've done to that precious boy. He's a
wizard, not muggle filth like them. They should have been honoured that
he was even living with them, let alone related to such a prominent lord.
Rabastan, you listen closely to what he says, he'll be more relaxed and
less guarded with you. The minute he lets slip of their location, come to
us so we can play with and then punish those muggles in exactly the
manner that they deserve."
Rabastan nodded and he sighed heavily. Just the thought of Harry being
hurt or put in any danger made his anger surge. If he ever found out
where those muggle beasts were hiding, he wouldn't hesitate to slaughter
them like the filthy pigs that they were. He just needed to wait and bide
his time, Harry would let something slip eventually and then the hunt for
the muggles would start and he could take vengeance upon them for all
the hurt and horror that they had put Harry through. No one hurt a
member of his family. No one got away with hurting his future husband.
He didn't care how long it took him, he could be patient when he needed
to and for Harry, he could be more patient than most, but he would find
out where those beasts lived and he would play with them and then kill
them for the pain that they'd caused Harry, even if it took him years.
Harry was groggy and lethargic when he finally woke up. He had not
gotten up after a small nap to get some of his homework done as he'd
planned, in fact, he hadn't stirred at all. The burning through his body
from the Dragon Pox vaccine had tempered down a little to a more
manageable tingling feeling at the injection site, more like pins and
needles, it was annoying, but not painful.
He was sweating rather a lot and he was achy too. His body felt
completely leaden and stiff. He tried to sit himself up, but he couldn't and
it was a very uncomfortable feeling as his head spun with just the merest
effort of trying to sit up.
"Pimsey." He called out. His voice was a weak, raspy croak and he forced
a hand up to his throat, which felt dry and sandpapery.
A house-elf appeared immediately and curtseyed automatically before
she looked at him and gasped.
"Young Master, yous not looking well." She cried out in alarm, coming to
lay a hand over his burning forehead, knowing that Harry was kinder
than anyone she'd ever met and that he would not tell her to punish
herself for touching him. "Yous burning up!"
"Get my parents, Pimsey, please." He almost begged. His head had started
pounding with his heartbeat and it was starting to affect his vision, he
was having problems breathing and staying awake was taking a lot of
energy and effort. He was panicking he realised and he tried to calm
himself as he waited, unable to move and feeling like his chest was being
constricted.
Pimsey nodded and then she was gone and Harry was left to his misery,
unable to move much, his body felt like it was made from stone and
every movement was a slow agony as he carefully rolled onto his side,
even that small movement took a brutal amount of effort and he panted
harshly as if he'd been running uphill.
A hand touched his forehead what seemed like hours later and he peeled
open his eyes with an excruciating amount of effort to look up at Narcissa
with a pathetic, kicked expression, pleading silently with her to help him.
"He's fevered, Lucius. Call that healer and get him here at once!"
"Calm yourself, dear. The healer said that this was a probable side effect
of having so many injections in one go. The potion given to Harry would
have taken the edge off, but a fever was likely. He'll be ill for a day or
two, which is why we were keeping him home in the first place, but the
other potions he's on will make him very groggy and sluggish for a while.
That is why I've decided to keep him home for longer."
"Will a fever reducer work? Can we give him one?" Narcissa demanded as
she sat on the side of his bed and pushed his damp hair from his face.
"Yes, I believe that that would be for the best."
"Pimsey!"
"Yes, Mistr…"
"Get an adolescent strength fever reducer for Harry. Quickly now."
Narcissa ordered, cutting Pimsey off mid-sentence.
Harry moaned pathetically and his head lolled backwards without his
consent. Lucius' hand caught his head and tipped it forwards again. His
hand came away wet.
"He's soaked through. He needs a bath."
Narcissa put a hand gently under the duvet and touched Harry's chest.
Her hand came away damp.
"His pyjamas are absolutely soaked. Lucius, do something!"
"There's not much to do, dear. He's not well."
"Where is that blasted elf with that…?"
"Here, Mistress." Pimsey answered holding out the small vial of ice blue
potion and a glass of water.
Narcissa snatched them both and shooed the elf away as soon as she'd
come, handing the water to her husband to hold as she uncorked the vial
and tried to coax her son into drinking it. Harry just made a soft noise
and his head lolled back again.
Narcissa didn't give up, she was determined to get the potion into her son
as she slipped an arm under Harry's neck and lifted his head. Harry
opened his mouth, he really wanted the potion that he knew would make
him feel better, but his mind was very slow and he wasn't in full control
of himself, as he found out when the potion was tipped into his mouth
and he needed help to swallow it.
"You need to call that healer and ask him what we need to do." Narcissa
told her husband sternly, her tone brooking no room for arguing. "This
isn't normal, not even for a high fever."
"I'll do so now and I'll send up Rabastan. He needs to…"
"No. Don't want him to see me like this." Harry moaned pathetically.
"He is your fiancé, Harry." Lucius said firmly. "He is to be your husband
and as you have been looking after him, so he must reciprocate. I want to
see how he copes looking after you."
"'M not a test." Harry croaked out.
"Everything you two do together is a test to make sure that your future
marriage will survive for the rest of your lives and not just a few
honeymoon years." Narcissa told him. "If he can't or won't look after you
when you're ill then he doesn't deserve you."
Harry shut up then and he relaxed back in his bed. Maybe it wouldn't be
so bad to have Rabastan looking after him. He could spend more time
with him this way. Time he hadn't thought that he'd be able to have as he
was only supposed to be staying here overnight.
Harry hadn't realised that he'd dozed off again until a shaky hand
brushed roughly through his damp hair. His eyes flickered open and he
gave the best smile that he could muster to Rabastan, who was leaning
over him and looking at him with obvious, blatant concern.
"How are you feeling?" Rabastan asked softly, considerate of Harry's
pounding head.
He was sitting on the side of Harry's bed, leaning over him and his face
was lined with worry.
"Hot." Harry croaked.
"Oh." Rabastan almost dived for the bedside table and a glass of cool
water as he heard how rough Harry's voice was.
He helped Harry sit up and helped him to drink careful, measured sips of
water.
"You're still fevered." Rabastan informed him gently. "But you're not as
bad as you were last night."
"Last night?" Harry questioned with a frown.
Rabastan nodded curtly. "You dragged Lucius and Narcissa out of bed at
four in the morning then you fell asleep and you haven't really woken up
since, it's early evening now. I've been with you since Lucius told me to
take care of you. You would wake up for a few seconds every other hour
for some water, but other than that, you've been sleeping."
"Have you been with me this whole time? You could have gone to bed. I
know you need your own sleep."
Rabastan smiled at him and bent to kiss Harry's forehead.
"You are more important."
"Nothing is more important than your health."
"There is. At least to me. Your health." Rabastan told him seriously.
"It's just a fever. Right?" Harry asked, swiping his own forehead with his
arm. Even he could feel how hot he was, his arm came away damp with
sweat.
"A very bad fever, but Narcissa got a fever reducer into you quick enough
for it not to have spiked too high, but you are still very ill."
"I feel ill." Harry sighed. "I feel gritty and dirty too, though."
"Let's get you in the bath then."
"Is that allowed?" Harry frowned, his face pinched with fever and
exhaustion.
"Do you care? I want to take care of you, not take advantage of you. I
love you. Now, come on, let's get you into the bath and clean you off, the
spells that we've been using to keep you a little comfortable can only go
so far."
Harry went to sit up, but Rabastan slipped his arms under Harry's
shoulders and knees and picked him up gently before he could actually
manage to sit himself up.
"Are you okay to do this, Rabastan?" Harry asked concernedly, even as
his head throbbed with pain at the slight movement.
"I've been getting much stronger in recent weeks." Rabastan told him with
a grin. "Dolphus and I have been lifting a lot of weights. You're lighter
than the maximum weight I've been lifting recently, but I can't sustain it
for very long."
As if to prove his point home, Rabastan's arms started shaking under
Harry's body and his fiancé growled in frustration with himself, even as
they made it to Harry's en suite and Rabastan sat Harry on the bath mat,
sinking to his knees to get Harry down safely.
Rabastan stayed on his knees even as he used his wand to turn on the
bath taps, running a couple of inches of water before stopping the tap
and testing the water.
"How do you want to do this?" Rabastan asked, looking as nervous as
Harry felt.
"I don't know, I just need a bath and I'm too exhausted and too groggy to
help myself and I really don't want to drown." Harry sighed, even as his
already fever flushed cheeks flamed with embarrassment. "I don't want
you, or anyone else, to see me either."
Rabastan chuckled. "I really want to see you. We're engaged and I hope
that we will be married next year. I would love to see my husband-to-be
and when we are married, I will be seeing you a lot. I hate sex with no
lighting. I want to be able to see every inch and curve of you."
Harry blushed so hard that his pounding head felt like it was going to
split. Rabastan chuckled again.
"That is a long way off. Over a year away, so for today, I just want to
look after your health first." Rabastan assured him.
Harry bolstered his Gryffindor courage and he nodded. Lucius had seen
him near naked yesterday, as had a team of healers, if he could sit
through all of that in just his boxers then he could be naked for the man
who would become his husband in a little over a year.
Rabastan smiled at him and bent forward to push his hands under Harry's
shirt. He carefully took off the sweat sodden, grimy feeling pyjama shirt.
To his credit, he didn't linger too much or stare too much, which would
have made Harry feel uncomfortable, but he did look and he looked a lot.
When he removed Harry's pyjama bottoms, Harry saw the physical effect
that he was having on Rabastan, but instead of terrifying him, he took
courage from it. It gave him a boldness, the knowledge that he was
affecting Rabastan in such a way was enough to make him relax and he
helped himself as much as he could by helping Rabastan who supported
him into the bath and the scant couple inches of warm water.
Harry didn't make a murmur of complaint as Rabastan grabbed a flannel
and washed his sticky body, getting rid of the gel-like sweat that had
dried on his body, particularly on his back and his neck.
He lay back in the water when Rabastan directed him to. The water
wasn't deep enough to cover his face even when he lay fully back, so
there was no risk of him drowning and he didn't need to waste any
energy holding himself halfway up out of the water and Rabastan was
able to wash his hair with gentle tugs and hair-tingling massages that
made him relax and groan happily.
Rabastan smiled down at him, still massaging Harry's scalp and he just
seemed so happy to be looking after him that Harry just relaxed and let
Rabastan carry on until he was clean and feeling a little better.
"I forgot to pick you up a change of clothes." Rabastan said as he sat
Harry in his lap, wrapped securely in a towel.
"So summon them." Harry replied with a tired grin, placing his face into
Rabastan's neck and resting.
"Hmm…" Rabastan hummed before standing up with Harry in his arms
again.
He took him back into his bedroom and only just managed to place Harry
on the bed before his shaking arms gave out.
"That was too close." Rabastan growled in frustration at himself.
"You're getting so much stronger." Harry praised to remove the negativity
from Rabastan's accomplishments. "A few months ago…fuck, a few weeks
ago, you couldn't even lift me off of the floor. Now you can carry me. I
call that progress, my love. Don't push yourself too hard, too fast or you'll
hurt yourself and I don't want that."
"Dolphus is right, you are soft. You're making me soft." Rabastan groaned
before laying his body over Harry's and kissing him. "Yet, I couldn't give
a fuck."
"I'm not making you anything that you never had the potential to be in
the first place, Rabastan." Harry said seriously. "I am not trying to change
you in the least. Everything you're becoming, you're doing it on your
own."
"I know. That somehow makes it worse. I don't deserve you. I'm vile and
evil and cruel and you're the exact polar opposite."
"Well, there is a muggle saying; opposites attract." Harry smiled happily
up at Rabastan. "Perhaps that's why we mesh so well. We're opposites,
but we can each see a little of ourselves in the other, so we can
understand and get closer."
Rabastan sighed. "Perhaps. I just know that I don't want to let you go. I
love you and I want you."
Rabastan picked up Harry's left hand and kissed his engagement ring and
Harry grinned wider. He had done the same over the last few weeks in
Hogwarts. He'd taken to kissing his ring whenever he had felt like kissing
Rabastan. It wasn't the same as actually kissing his fiancé, nothing was,
but it had helped a little.
Harry pulled Rabastan's head to his and kissed him uninhibited. With no
one to stop them, things quickly escalated and climbed out of control to
the point where Rabastan had opened up the towel, leaving Harry bare,
and he was kissing over his chest and stomach.
"I love you." Rabastan told him, panting, his breath fluttering over Harry's
skin and pulling one nipple taut.
"I love you." Harry gasped. "Please."
They kissed and Harry slipped his own hands under Rabastan's shirt,
impatiently rolling the fabric up, ignoring the buttons.
Rabastan tore his own shirt off and allowed Harry to touch as he pleased.
Neither of them thought about being caught or the consequences of
breaking tradition. They just needed to be close to one another, they
needed to touch and kiss, so that was exactly what they did. At least until
a sudden wave of pain through his skull had Harry gasping and going soft
immediately as his hands let go of Rabastan and pressed against his
splitting skull, holding it together for surely this pain was splintering it in
half.
"Harry?"
"My head." He moaned in pain.
"Merlin, how the fuck could I forget that you're not well?" Rabastan
hissed, more to himself than to Harry, as he pressed a hand to Harry's
forehead. "I thought you'd flushed and gone hot with arousal, but your
fever is back."
"Was aroused." Harry told him through the pain in his head.
"That is entirely not the point." Rabastan told him as he waved his wand
over his body and dried him off completely.
Rabastan got up and pulled out Harry's clean pyjamas and got him
dressed before banishing the damp towel and tucking Harry back into his
bed.
Harry couldn't believe that their first moment of this sort had been
interrupted by a headache and a fever, he was so frustrated with himself,
but mostly, he was just very disappointed.
"Will you still stay with me?" He asked quietly.
"I'm not going anywhere. I'm not going to leave your side."
"What about your diet and exercise regime? You can't make yourself ill
either."
"I'm still doing everything I need to. I'm just doing them here, in your
room, while you sleep. You're different when you sleep."
"Different how?" Harry asked, trying to shove away the wave of
exhaustion that tried to drag him into sleepy oblivion.
"Just different. More peaceful, more beautiful. You've always been
beautiful to me, from the very first moment of our first meeting."
"It was the first thing you ever said to me." Harry smiled, remembering
with a fond grin.
"I tried to break your hand."
"Saying it that way implies intent, Rabastan. You're implying that you
knowingly tried to break my hand and you didn't. I don't hold that
against you, I never have, not even from that first meeting. I was
prepared back then and I still am now, perhaps even more so now, to
help you through the awful things that happened to you in that hellish
place. The damage that you have lingering from Azkaban and the
Dementors will not go away overnight, you have been working so hard to
regain your health and strength, how could I ever hold a few accidents
against you?"
"You're so forgiving. I love you."
Harry snorted. "Just lie down and hold me while I'm sick. My head feels
like it's tearing itself in two."
Rabastan did as instructed and slipped an arm under Harry's neck and
pulled him in close, his free hand rubbing against the side of Harry's head
and he groaned with the pleasure of the soothing touch.
"That feels better." Harry moaned happily.
"Better?"
"Much, much better."
"Try and get some more sleep. You need to rest."
Harry nodded, already giving into his enervating fever and his eyes
fluttered as he tried to resist sleep for a moment before it took him over.
He was out like a light within minutes, leaving Rabastan to hold him
close and trace his face with his free hand and his eyes as the room fell
silent around him.
Harry's fever had broken a few days later, but he was still very ill from
the combination of potions that he was taking daily. He was sluggish,
tired, lethargic, and lackadaisical. He stayed where he was put without
moving a muscle as his body felt mouldable, like clay. His awful, skull-
splitting headaches came and went depending on when he'd last taken his
bone-strengthening potions and he was still suffering from awful night
sweats that left him sticky and feeling grubby. They were an unfortunate
side effect of the strong nutrient potion he was taking twice daily.
The best thing about his illness was actually not about him at all. It was
that it had given Rabastan a purpose. Instead of moping around as
Rodolphus insisted he did while Harry was at school, he was invigorated
by Harry's illness and his need for someone to look after him. He had
become an adorable little bedside nurse and even at night, Rabastan
never left him alone and he was always on hand to help him, even if he
woke up at four in the morning needing a few sips of water, Rabastan
was there for him.
Narcissa strongly approved if her satisfied smiles were any indication as
she watched closely as Rabastan supported Harry slightly upright to
drink a few more mouthfuls of fresh water.
"Is that better?" He asked. "Do you need more?"
"'M fine." Harry mumbled, resting his aching head back down into
Rabastan's lap and humming happily as those fingers went immediately
back to massaging his scalp and playing with his hair. "Feels nice."
Rodolphus strode through the door and all the attention was on him
immediately. He had such a dominating presence that he commanded
attention just by entering a room. He said nothing, his muscles were lax
and his face happily blank, so nothing had happened, nothing had upset
him, he was just wandering around, likely looking for Rabastan to talk to
as he came over to them.
He touched his brother's shoulder before dropping his hand to Harry's
head and ruffling his hair gently.
"How are you?" He asked.
"'M fine." Harry repeated softly.
Rodolphus stared hard at him for a moment before turning to Rabastan.
"How is he?"
"More of the same." Rabastan answered. "He's taking more water than he
has been in the last few days and he's staying awake for longer. I believe
he's on the mend, now. A few more days and he'll be just fine and back to
himself."
"Good. Seeing him so quiet and still is very unnerving and knowing that
he's so sick is doing strange things to my mentality."
Harry grinned as he read between the lines of that statement, even in his
jellied state, and found that Rodolphus was worried for him and that he
cared for him. As Rabastan's extremely overprotective big brother, that
Rodolphus had come to actually like and care for him was a huge
achievement.
"Go to sleep." Rodolphus ordered firmly when he noticed Harry's grin.
"Go on, you need to rest."
Rodolphus placed his hand over Harry's eyes and in the soothing
darkness behind it, Harry's headache stopped spiking. With that cool, dry
palm against his forehead, he felt soothed and comforted. It took an
embarrassingly short amount of time for him to fall asleep behind that
hand and after only a few minutes, Rodolphus carefully removed his
hand and allowed his brother to stroke and touch the sleeping face of his
fiancé.
"Our Lord has been in touch."
"What are his orders?" Rabastan replied immediately, giving all of his
attention to his brother, but keeping his hand on Harry's head, stroking
his hair gently.
"He wanted an update on Harry and how far he's come. He's impressed
with Harry's natural progress and at the widening rift between him and
Dumbledore."
"I am too." Rabastan smiled. "He's too bright to be cooped up in
Dumbledore's cage of expectations. He has so much potential."
Rodolphus nodded. "I see it too. How he took out Rowle…a blasting
curse, not meant for use on the living I might add, that was so powerful
that it severed his entire leg! I tried not to show it, but Merlin I was
impressed that this little fluff head could be so vicious and so very
powerful too."
"Don't call him names, Dolphus." Rabastan growled immediately.
Rodolphus scoffed and sat himself down. "He is a soft little fluff ball. He's
skinny as a rake, up to my waist and he is polite to the elves. You need to
sort that out."
"No, Rodolphus." Rabastan said firmly. "He isn't trying to change me and
I won't try and change him."
"You already are changing him in small, almost unnoticeable ways and he
is doing the same to you. You're more confident, you're happier and you
take more pride in yourself than you used to. You've grown since he's
come into your life. When you first met him you were still clinging to my
hand and needing me to go to the bathroom with you. Look at you now
just half a year later. He has changed you, but for the better and I'm sure
that you're changing him too, even if neither of you notices nor realise
it."
Rabastan considered that thoughtfully. "We aren't doing it on purpose."
He finally answered.
"Perhaps not, but it is happening all the same. Neither of you can see it
because it is happening so slowly and so naturally. It's only natural to
want to be better for your fiancé, to us outsiders looking in, we can see
the changes happening. I have known you your entire life, Rabastan,
there is nothing that you can hide from me, no change to you that I can't
pick up on."
"We've spent most of our lives together." Rabastan said as he stroked
Harry's hair.
"Of course. It was unavoidable after we spent fifteen years in prison
together. Fifteen years in neighbouring cells is a long time."
"Sometimes I wonder if Harry is right about setting up a way to remove
the Dementors."
Rodolphus scoffed harshly. "You see, this is what I mean, Rabastan. The
only reason we were even afraid of Azkaban was because of the
Dementors. If they weren't there then we likely would have been able to
get out of that prison ourselves within a week and so will all the other
pieces of scum who actually deserve to be there."
"We didn't care about Azkaban at the time."
"Of course not. It was for our Lord. I would have walked into Azkaban
and faced the Dementors head-on, despite my fear if it would have led us
to him."
Rabastan nodded his agreement. "Of course. But knowing the damage
they have done to us both, how Harry, a perfectly innocent bystander,
reacts to them. He's right you know. They are too dangerous to control
and more and more of them slip away without anyone knowing about it.
I looked into Harry's research myself and he's right, Dolphus!"
"I don't care if he's right about some rogue Dementors going Merlin
knows where, they need to stay in their place in that fucking prison.
What if his little ploy does work and he gets rid of them, what then,
Rabastan? What happens to the prisoners who were being locked in by
their presence? What about the lowlifes out on the street who only stop
short of breaking the law because of the threat of the Dementors? Don't
let his pretty face warp your intelligent mind, you're better than this."
"He's not just a pretty face!" Rabastan growled.
"Perhaps not, but he's a legitimised halfblood who was raised by filthy
muggles! He doesn't understand and he's never going to if we don't head
him off now instead of indulging his dangerous ideas and fantasies. He
doesn't know what he's doing or what he's messing with, he's a boy!"
"Have more respect for him!" Rabastan snarled, almost shaking with the
effort it took to keep from shouting and waking Harry back up.
"I'll give him respect when he grows up and earns it." Rodolphus said
before standing up and leaving the room.
Rabastan breathed out harshly and went back to touching and stroking
Harry's face, thankful that he had slept peacefully through that exchange
and was none the wiser to it. He held Harry's hand, loosely curling his
fingers under Harry's so that even if he did tense his hand and clench it
into a fist, he couldn't crush Harry's hand again. He'd never do that again,
he swore it.
He needed to try and come to a compromise between his brother and his
fiancé. He adored his older brother and he'd always looked up to and
respected him, he'd emulated and admired Rodolphus all of his life, but
Harry was his own fiancé, he would one day be his husband and the
mother to his children. He needed to prove that he could support Harry
in his beliefs and thoughts, to do any less would diminish their marriage.
Rabastan sighed and he hoped that Rodolphus would become more open
to Harry's ideas and worries. If he would just listen and try to reason
things out with Harry, that would be better than outright claiming him as
stupid and deluded.
Rabastan himself didn't think that removing the Dementors was a good
idea, he could see Rodolphus' point about the Dementors being a
deterrent and keeping the lowlifes in line, but he could also see Harry's
point of view about them leaving the prison of their own accord and
putting innocent people in danger, even if they were just muggles. No
one deserved to be exposed to the Dementors, especially if they'd done
nothing wrong. It helped Harry's argument that he himself had suffered
so greatly at the hands of the Dementors and had a healthy fear of them.
That the vile creatures affected an innocent boy like Harry so badly also
helped Rabastan hate them more, but he couldn't use that to justify
removing the Dementors from the prison. It just wasn't feasible.
Harry was feeling better the next afternoon. He'd managed to eat
something a little more substantial than a thin broth and he could move
himself without feeling like he was going to vomit or split in half.
Walking still caused him to break out in a sweat and had his knobbly
knees knocking together, however.
"You're pushing yourself too hard." Narcissa said worriedly, pandering to
Harry's illness and trying to get him back into bed. She wanted to keep
him home for at least another week, but both Harry and Lucius were
insisting that it wasn't needed and that he could go back to school
tomorrow.
Harry was inclined to agree with her that he was pushing too hard
though, especially when his left leg refused to hold his weight and folded
on itself and he slipped to the floor in a heap. He groaned pathetically as
he tried to raise himself from the floor and his entire body started
shaking like a leaf.
"Need some help?" Rodolphus smirked as he walked down the hallway
from the direction of the bathroom.
Harry moaned pathetically and he breathed out a huff of air. He nodded
his head and lifted his arms. "Yes." He said simply, pushing away his
embarrassment and asking for the help he clearly needed.
"Say please."
"Don't milk it or my stubbornness will have me sitting on this floor all
day." Harry snapped.
Rodolphus laughed and he bent down and hefted Harry up, not content
to just get him to his feet, he had to go the extra mile and carry him too.
"Dolphus, I was practising walking!" Harry complained as Narcissa
followed behind with a satisfied smile on her mouth.
"You've had enough practice for one day." Rodolphus said simply and just
as they got into the drawing room, his arms started to shake.
Rodolphus controlled the movement with a single-minded determination
so that the weakness didn't show outwardly, but Harry could still feel it.
Rodolphus wasn't anywhere near as recovered as he was trying to make
out.
"Here, Basti. Keep him with you before he passes out somewhere in the
manor. He's not ready to go walking about out on his own." Rodolphus
said as he placed Harry's back into Rabastan's lap and stretched his legs
out over the settee.
Harry groaned in embarrassment and rolled over, hiding his face in
Rabastan's thigh. Rabastan chuckled and immediately started petting his
hair, tugging gently on it and scratching his scalp with his nails. It felt
wonderful.
"I warned you not to push yourself too hard." Narcissa told him.
"I know, I know." Harry said. "I just don't like it. I feel so much better
today, but I can't even walk from here to the bathroom."
"You're still ill." Rabastan fretted over him, touching and caressing his
shoulders. He stayed well away from Harry's neck. He wasn't that
confident in himself yet.
"You still have weak and brittle bones. Don't push it. Wait for the potions
to work first." Rodolphus coached him.
"I've played Quidditch for six years with these bones." Harry grumbled.
"The only bone I ever broke was my right arm and that was because of
that rogue bludger. I fell over a hundred feet in my third year too
because of the Dementors and nothing broke then either."
"What?!" Rabastan exploded. "You never told me that. How did they get
onto the grounds of Hogwarts?!"
"There were Dementors posted around the school that year because of
Sirius Black's breakout. Lucius tried his hardest to get them removed, but
he wasn't a school governor at the time." Narcissa explained.
"They were on the Hogwarts Express too, it was the first time I ever saw
one. I never knew about them before that and I passed out then too. They
were posted all around the school, at every entrance, but they were never
supposed to come onto the grounds." Harry said, rolling back over onto
his back so that he could see Rabastan's face. "But the high emotions of
the Quidditch game drew them in regardless, it was explained to me that
it would have been something of a feast to them with all the high
emotions of the game, and they swarmed the Quidditch pitch. I told you
that I have a really bad reaction to them when they're close and…and I
blacked out because of their presence. It just so happens that I was over a
hundred feet in the air chasing the snitch when they glided onto the
pitch. Naturally, as soon as I blacked out, I fell. I was almost kissed at the
end of that year too."
Rabastan looked appalled.
Harry nodded when he saw his fiancé's expression. "Yeah, that's when
Fudge finally realised that putting the Dementors anywhere near a school
filled with a thousand children was a really bad idea and he shipped
them back off to Azkaban. If I hadn't known how to cast a Patronus by
the end of my third year, then there's no way that I'd be here right now…
or at least, not with a mind of my own."
"No wonder you're so scared of them." Rabastan said gently.
"The Dementors are my boggart form too." Harry admitted.
"The one thing you fear is fear." Rodolphus said, rather impressed.
Harry nodded his head. "It hasn't been so bad now that I can cast a
Corporeal Patronus, but not everyone can. Not everyone can protect
themselves and just the mist stage of a Patronus charm is difficult to
achieve and it's incredibly draining and taxing too. It doesn't last and the
mist stage can only hold off a Dementor, only the Corporeal Patronus can
repel it."
"Can you show me your Patronus?" Rabastan asked curiously.
"He is still ill and too weak!" Narcissa cried out in denial.
"I'm not too ill for magic." Harry insisted. "It's been humming under my
skin for a few days now, begging to be used. It'll relieve the pressure to
use it a little."
Harry slipped his wand out of his sleeve and he looked up at Rabastan,
he smiled happily, almost to the point of grinning uncontrollably. He
thought of them being together, of their wedding day, their first child. He
thought back to their engagement night when Rabastan had slid his
adored ring onto his finger and asked him to marry him, to be his
husband. He kept eye contact with Rabastan and then whispered the
incantation, watching as the majestic silver-white stag burst from his
wand and charged around the room, filling his chest, and those around
him, with hope and happiness.
It ran around for a couple of seconds, before realising that there was no
danger, no enemies around and it came back to him at a walk, lowering
its head for him to touch. Rabastan's hand reached up and touched the
warm, silver stag too and their hands touched and Harry's happiness
spiked, causing the Patronus to glow even more brightly for a moment
before it shimmered out of existence when Rabastan's lips touched his
and Harry's concentration immediately switched from maintaining his
Patronus to being completely about Rabastan.
"I've never known anyone personally who could cast a Corporeal
Patronus." A familiar voice from the doorway said, very impressed.
Harry smiled at Xerxes Lestrange, he and Lucius still in their work robes,
who had just walked through the door.
"Why a stag?" Lucius asked curiously.
Harry shook his head. "You don't pick your Patronus, just like an
Animagus form, it has to mean something to you."
"What does a stag mean to you?" Rabastan asked even more curiously.
Harry gave a shy smile. "It was my dad's Animagus form, his Patronus
too. My mum's Patronus was a doe."
"Your father wasn't on the Animagus register." Lucius said with narrowed
eyes.
"Neither was Sirius or Peter Pettigrew, but all three of them were
unregistered Animagi."
"You're not entertaining thoughts of joining this…illegality, are you?"
Lucius asked shrewdly.
Harry shook his head. "No. I've never once thought of becoming an
animal. My life is too complicated as a human, without adding an animal
form on top of it. Knowing my luck I'd mess it up and get stuck with fur
and a tail." He shivered remembering Hermione with the Polyjuice potion
backfire. "You wouldn't love me then." He added to Rabastan.
"I don't know. It might be interesting to rub against fur and have a tail
wrapped around me." He teased.
Harry burst out laughing and he couldn't stop, not even when tears fell
from his eyes. A large hand brushed the tears away for him and Harry let
out a couple of uncontrollable giggles.
"You're amazing, you know that?" He said once he could breathe again.
"Of course." Rabastan grinned.
"I love you." Harry declared.
"If you two kiss once more I'm throwing my water over you." Rodolphus
told them as his hand moved to grip around his glass of water, proving
his seriousness.
"You are such a killjoy, Rodolphus!" Harry groaned.
"All you've done all this week is kiss!"
"Maybe because that's all we can do." Harry muttered, just loud enough
for the others to hear.
Rabastan laughed himself and touched his hair, running his thick fingers
through it.
"Make sure that it's all that you do, do." Lucius reminded him, sitting
down next to Narcissa and kissing her soundly before quietly striking up
a conversation with her about his day at the Ministry.
Harry shared a secret look with Rabastan…only they knew what had
gone on in his bathroom and his bedroom a few days ago when he had
been naked and wriggling on his bed as Rabastan had rained kisses down
over his bare, damp body. Not to mention the time at the New Year's ball
where Harry had straddled Rabastan's lap and snogged him very
passionately. To their credit, they had both been fully dressed on that
occasion though, which hadn't been the case a few days ago as Rabastan
had been in the process of stripping when Harry's headache had spiked
and interrupted their little moment.
Of course, in the light of day, they both knew that they shouldn't have
done it, that it was against the strict traditions of the purebloods for
Rabastan to have even seen him naked, but for Merlin's sake they had
another year and a half to go before they were married, another year and
a half to go before they were even allowed to so much as look at one
another's naked bodies. It was frustrating all to hell. Rabastan hadn't had
sex in sixteen years thanks to his imprisonment and Harry was a normal,
hormonal teenage boy and he had urges and desires to sate. It got so bad
that sometimes that he wanted to rut against Rabastan's leg like he'd seen
Marge's dog, Ripper, doing to Petunia's leg. There were only so many
times that he could touch himself before the need for something more
took over.
He groaned and rolled back over onto his belly as he felt himself
twitching. That's all he needed, an erection in the middle of his family
drawing room with his parents, his fiancé and Xerxes and Rodolphus all
able to see him.
"Are you okay? Are you feeling sick?" Rabastan asked immediately.
"No." Harry whispered back under his breath. "I'm thinking of naughty
things about you and getting aroused. It's your fault for saying that thing
with the fur and tail."
Rabastan looked a bit shocked for a moment, before he grinned, then
smirked and Harry felt a hand touch his back heavily before it eased off a
little and started rubbing teasingly soft over his spine and he groaned
again, stuffing his head into Rabastan's thigh and praying that he could
keep still and not give away the fact that he was trying his hardest not to
rub himself on the seat of the settee.
"I'll pay you back for this, I swear." He threatened, trying to get Rabastan
to stop.
Of course, his fiancé did no such thing. Instead, he made himself look
concerned and worried and he shifted his hand under Harry's body and
rubbed his 'stomach'.
"There, does that feel better?" He asked in his most concerned voice. "If
you're going to be sick, tell me."
"I'm going to rip your spine out and beat you to death with it." Harry
growled through clenched teeth. "I'm ill, you shouldn't be doing this to
me!"
"Oh? If you really feel that way then I'll just leave you alone…"
"No!" Harry hissed as Rabastan inched his hand away.
Rabastan chuckled and his large hand slid back into place and he started
rubbing again. Harry's breathing came quick and shallow, hitching every
now and then until he locked his throat, clenched his teeth and his whole
body shuddered as Rabastan teased him over the edge.
"Harry? Are you okay, darling?" Narcissa asked suddenly, breaking
through his afterglow.
"I'm fine." Harry practically squeaked as the tail of his orgasm still clung
to him.
"You don't sound fine." Lucius added.
Rabastan removed his hand from Harry's boxers and Harry curled up into
a ball.
"Are you sure you're not feeling sick?" His fiancé asked in false concern.
He shook his head vigorously.
"Is it time for one of his potions?" Xerxes asked.
"No, he's got another half an hour to go." Narcissa replied worriedly.
"Basti, is his fever spiking?" Xerxes demanded.
Rabastan touched Harry's sweaty, flushed face and he made a huge show
of biting his lip.
"I think it is. He feels overly warm."
"I will get you back for this." Harry hissed threateningly.
"Try and get some sleep, Harry." He said soothingly.
"Bathroom, now." He demanded loudly and Rabastan rolled him over and
picked him up. He took long strides out of the family room and down the
corridor to get to the bathroom just down the hallway.
He shut the door and got Harry down and then he had the gall to laugh
as if this were the most hilarious thing in the world.
"This is not funny!" Harry said as he went to the sink and wetted a flannel
to clean himself off with.
"It's fucking sexy." Rabastan said with a smirk.
"It's embarrassing!"
"Is that the first time you've had a hand job?"
"Rabastan, I took that Veritaserum test of Rodolphus', what did you think
untouched and pure meant? Of course, that was my first!"
"But…you've touched yourself, right?"
Harry nodded. "It's not the same though. It's overly more…intense when
it's someone else doing it, when I can't control the speed, the pressure or
anything myself."
"I wish I could have seen your face." Rabastan lamented. "You'd look so
stunning at the moment of release."
Harry huffed and turned his back, cleaning himself up. Rabastan washed
his hands and then dried them before wrapping them around Harry's
waist.
"You get it all?" He asked with that damnable smirk.
"Yes." Harry grunted.
"How are you feeling?" He asked, a bit of real concern showing through.
"Better." Harry actually smiled then, answering honestly.
"See, you weren't ill at all, just sexually frustrated."
Harry laughed and turned in Rabastan's arms. "No more of that, okay? Do
you know how difficult it was not to rut against the chair or moan out
loud? I couldn't take the shame or the embarrassment of it."
"No more." Rabastan agreed. "It worked me up too." He admitted.
"Thankfully, your head was in the way or I'd be sent back home in
disgrace."
"Maybe it is a good thing that I'm at Hogwarts so much. I'm sure that if I
stayed here with you and we still had to get married next year, then we'd
definitely break tradition."
"Without a doubt." Rabastan agreed easily before he pecked Harry's lips.
"Come on, let's get back to the others before they guess, correctly, that
I'm ravishing you in the bathroom of all places."
Harry was able to wobble his way back to the drawing room where he
was asked if he was okay and he just nodded, not trusting his shaky voice
just yet. Rabastan sat down and Harry curled up, his head and shoulders
back in his fiancé's lap and he yawned. He was actually really tired now.
"Have a nap, Harry, I'll wake you in twenty minutes for your next
potion." Rabastan told him quietly.
Harry groaned. "It's the vile one that gives me a skull-splitting headache
next."
"I know. I'll be sure to massage your head for you."
Harry blushed pink and he groaned again. "You're fucking evil."
"You knew that before you met me, love." Rabastan countered with a
grin.
Harry chuckled and then he yawned. With any luck, he'd be feeling a bit
better by tomorrow and he'd be able to keep his legs under him better so
that he'd be able to go back to Hogwarts and get himself out of the reach
of such irresistible temptation.
A/N: I can't believe my break went so quickly. I need another month or
two off, but if I did, then I'd probably never come back. These last stress
free months have been utterly blissful, but my break is over now and I
am back to updating at last. It might be nice to get some new chapters up
and out.
Massive thank you to cookyc for being the 1,600th reviewer and to
Hero Dean for being the 1,700th reviewer. I still can't believe quite
how popular this fic is with such a rare, unusual pairing, thank you all!
theUnseenSilence: Yes, they are all well aware that Bilius was married
to a Malfoy and then had an affair, and four secret love children, with a
Muggle, they also know that he married the Muggle after Amorette
Malfoy's death, bastardising the two Malfoy blood children he had with
her. It is common knowledge though, all the Purebloods know of it, it's
why none of them would marry a Weasley and why they were considered
a disreputable family. No long afterwards the Pureblood directory came
out and they happily shouted out about their Muggle blood and they got
branded as blood traitors. I do agree that using Rita would be a very
good idea, though, I never thought of that. Harry knows her little secret
too and if he persuades her to write what he wants, while diminishing
Hermione's power over her, then he can get her to write about
Dumbledore…especially if he has Luna on his side too, which he has.
glrt: You're forgetting Voldemort and the war in that equation, lovelie.
Very soon, as has been eluded to, Voldemort is going to take over like he
did in canon and then it'll be perfectly fine for Rabastan to go out in
public. Harry is not fighting the war anymore, so there is no way that
Voldemort can be defeated, so all of the convicted Death Eaters are going
to be exonerated and they'll be free to do as they please. Deep down,
Harry knows that this is what is coming too.
thexlonelyxprincessx: Harry is still a Horcrux like in canon, yes.
olciak123: Rabastan truly loves Harry and thinks he could do better, he
was willing to endure Voldemort's displeasure to spare Harry the 'horror'
of being stuck with him and Rowle is still a Pureblood. He is used to
getting exactly what he wants and having a little boy attack and beat him
would have been too much for his ego to handle and he wasn't thinking
clearly when he attacked Harry. He was not going to hurt or kill him in
his defence, he just wanted to rape him and possibly get him pregnant so
that he could have him instead of Rabastan. He didn't want to kill Harry,
which would definitely have incurred the wrath of Voldemort, he just
wanted Harry for himself and he sees that as fine and not breaking his
Lord's orders, which are simply that Harry Potter is not to be killed or
cursed any more.
LittleYepa: Pansy was betrothed to Cassius Warrington, who broke off
their betrothal as soon as he heard what she'd done behind his back with
Draco. He's now betrothed to Flora Carrow, who broke off her own
betrothal to be available for him to take as she likes him very much and
was devastated when he entered into a betrothal with Pansy.
I think this is all the questions that were asked, I got some very epic
reviews from the last chapter, I just hope that this one carries on the
same high standard that this fic has set. We'll be back in the Wizengamot
now in the next chapter I believe as Harry goes back to Hogwarts and his
mountain of homework that awaits him.
StarLight Massacre. X
14. Sentencing
Last Time
"Have a nap, Harry, I'll wake you in twenty minutes for your next potion."
Rabastan told him quietly.
Harry groaned. "It's the vile one that gives me a skull-splitting headache next."
"I know. I'll be sure to massage your head for you."
Harry blushed pink and he groaned again. "You're fucking evil."
"You knew that before you met me, love." Rabastan countered with a grin.
Harry chuckled and then he yawned. With any luck, he'd be feeling a bit
better by tomorrow and he'd be able to keep his legs under him better so that
he'd be able to go back to Hogwarts and get himself out of the reach of such
irresistible temptation.
Chapter Fourteen – Sentencing
Harry's prediction was true as the following day he was almost
completely fine and he was well enough to behave, at least partially,
normally. He still got the awful headaches from the bone-strengthening
potions and the night sweats weren't going to go away until he stopped
taking the strong nutrient potions and they had been completely worked
out of his system. But he could stand up and walk on his own two feet
now with no needed assistance. He hadn't been sick at all that day, not
yet, and his appetite had returned with a gusto as he'd woken up
absolutely famished.
He had more colour to him, he had slept the night through so he only
needed to rest a little instead of taking numerous little cat-naps
throughout the day and he was feeling much stronger than he had in
previous days.
Lucius had called the healer, the one who had been the team leader of his
healers at his check-up, to come and pay them a home visit at the manor
to make sure that he was doing as well as was expected and Harry was
declared fit enough and ready to be able to go back to school, providing
that he took it easy and didn't push himself too hard. There was to be no
fighting or brawling, as Lucius had instructed him sternly, and no
Quidditch either, not even practice. He was going to go back to the
school later that night so that he was at the castle with plenty of time to
sleep and rest up ready for the last day of lessons tomorrow.
It seemed ridiculous to go back on Thursday night and only have one day
of lessons before the weekend, but Harry knew that he'd have so much
catch up homework and assignments to do that even going to lessons on
Friday wouldn't help him much, but at least it would cut down on his
workload a little. He'd be doing homework furiously until Monday
morning rolled around. He'd already sent a letter to Marcus explaining
the situation and apologising profusely that he had to bail on only their
second lesson. He hoped that Marcus understood that these were
extenuating circumstances and that he wasn't sick very often. Out of
everything, he hated bailing on his tutoring lessons the most, as Marcus
had absolutely no obligation or any reason to tutor him if he didn't want
to and Harry feared that if he messed Marcus around like this, even if he
couldn't help it, then Marcus would just say fuck it and refuse to tutor
him anymore.
"How are you feeling?"
Harry smiled and turned to look at Rabastan, who had come into his
bedroom and was watching him pack up some of the things he was
taking with him to Hogwarts into his book satchel. All of his potions were
already in the bag, ready to be taken with him.
"I'm feeling much better. It's going to be hell getting used to the
headaches in the middle of the day and sleeping while being covered in
sweat, but it's only until the summer."
"I wish I could take this pain and discomfort away from you." Rabastan
said seriously as he walked over and wrapped his arms around his waist.
"And put more onto yourself? No." Harry said firmly.
"I can handle it. I've gotten much better than I was before, from when I
was actually inside Azkaban. A bit more pain won't break me."
"I don't care. You've worked hard to get yourself to this point and I'm so
proud of you and everything you've achieved for yourself." Harry said
with a proud smile.
"I'd come with you if I could so that I could continue looking after you."
"Oh, that would be wonderful." Harry laughed. "I can see the headlines of
tomorrow's paper now. 'Escaped Azkaban Death Eater turns up at
Hogwarts to be the carer of sickly Harry Potter. Dumbledore so surprised
he suffers an instantaneous heart attack.'"
Rabastan laughed. "If only." He said.
Harry nodded his agreement. "Things are never that easy though and it
would be much too dangerous, but I'll see you soon for Easter."
"It seems so close, but it'll feel as far away as the moon."
Harry chuckled and he turned, wrapping his arms around Rabastan's
neck. "I'll write to you as often as I can."
"I still love how you're setting out your letters. It's the only written text
that can keep my attention for longer than ten minutes and doesn't give
me a stress-related headache, I find it so easy to read. Thank you for
thinking of doing it that way."
Harry grinned. "It was just a thought. You said that you had problems
reading because you lost where you were in a passage and I just thought,
if it was all in different colours, then you might not forget where you
were if you knew that you'd read the green passage, but not the red one."
Rabastan kissed him as soon as he finished talking and Harry melted into
his kiss, into his body and he held on, kissing back just as passionately.
"I love you." Rabastan said firmly once they had broken apart for air. "I
have never loved anyone as I've loved you. Never as strongly, never as
wantonly, never has anyone stirred up such desire or need in me. Only
you and I love you for it."
Harry smiled happily and he wrapped his arms tightly around Rabastan's
neck.
"I can't wait until we're married. I want to be able to say that you're my
husband. I want to be able to tell everyone, though that might not be
possible, but I just want us to be married."
"Soon. A year and a half." Rabastan soothed, holding Harry's slim body
close. He didn't tell Harry that by the time that they were married in a
little over a year, that everyone in the wizarding world would be able to
know about them and their marriage, and no one would be able to say or
do anything about it.
Harry was forced to floo into Dumbledore's office upon his return to the
school, as the headmaster wanted to know how he was after his week at
home when he would have chosen, and actually preferred, to use
Professor McGonagall's fireplace as he usually would have done.
Of course, Dumbledore had brought in his secret weapon, Remus, to
make his tongue looser. He'd realised that that was what the headmaster
was subtly doing after their last meeting, when he'd told them too much,
especially about his future bride, Aceline. He was supposed to keep
things simple and easy to remember, not make up a web of lies about her
non-existent backstory. All it took was for him to contradict himself in his
lies just once and everything would fall through and he and Rabastan
would be back in danger.
He was wrapped up in Remus' arms almost before he'd even fully landed
on his feet and he smiled happily if a bit tiredly.
"You don't look well." Remus told him seriously, cupping Harry's face in
both of his hands. "And you're too warm."
"I know. That's why I was at home, Remus." Harry said softly. "I haven't
been well."
"Why not?" The werewolf demanded.
Harry sighed. "I'm on some very strong potions now, they make me tired,
sweaty, and headachy."
"What sort of potions?" Dumbledore asked quickly, with a bit of panic in
his voice.
"I don't think that's any of your business." Harry snapped.
"Harry, please. Are you alright?" Remus asked, distracting him from
offloading his anger onto his preferred target.
"I'm fine." He bit out. "Now, I need to get back to my rooms, I have a
mountain of homework to catch up on."
"I've taken the liberty of wiping the slate clean, so to say, with your
professors. They aren't expecting any of the homework set for you in the
last week to be handed in." Dumbledore told him.
Harry almost saw red and he couldn't control the wave of anger that
surged forth and he was too tired to even try to stop it.
"You had absolutely no right to interfere with my school work in such a
way!" He exploded. "If I hadn't wanted to do it, I would have had my
father contact the school to say so on my behalf! I will be doing the work
I missed and I will be handing it in, sick or not! How dare you sabotage
my work and my exams in such a blatant way, I won't stand for it!"
"I…I apologise, Harry. I thought that I was trying to help."
"Just stop sticking your nose into my business, it's nothing to do with
you!" He snarled.
"Harry." Remus said quietly, sadly.
"I'm fine!" He repeated louder. "There's nothing wrong with me and I'll be
off of the potions soon." He lied.
"What are the potions for? Please tell me." Remus begged.
"No. It's my business what I'm taking and for what reason and I won't
have anyone telling me different. The healers have told me what I need
to do and how to take the potions and I'll be fine, now leave it at that!"
"You went to see healers?"
"Of course, I did! Who do you think prescribed me the potions in the first
place?!" He answered shrilly.
"What's wrong, Harry? You're so angry." Remus bit his lip, looking so
worried that Harry almost hugged him and he had to bite his tongue to
keep the anger flowing lest he crack and said far too much again in such
unpleasant company.
"I'm angry because I have a pounding headache and he…" He burst out
pointing straight at Dumbledore. "Has been interfering with my school
work! I'm not going to let my marks drop just because of this di…this! It's
no one else's business but my own and I will choose who to share such
information with, no one else!"
"Has something else happened to make you so tense, Harry? Is it
Aceline?" Remus asked. "Is she alright?"
Harry settled his shoulders and he shook his head. "No, she's fine, we're
fine. The language barrier is a bit difficult to navigate at times, but my
French is coming on better. It's easier to write than it is to speak, but the
distance is also difficult to deal with. I haven't seen her since the New
Year party held at my parents' home over the holidays and I'm missing
her a lot more than I thought I would. But she's absolutely fine, that's not
why I'm so irritated."
"Is it something to do with the potions, a side effect of one of them?"
"It's not a direct side effect of any of them, but I'm tired, I'm weak and I'm
feeling really drained. I have a terrible headache, I'm feverish and it's not
going to go away for months."
"It's getting you down."
"Of course." Harry sighed. "Then there's the Wizengamot too. Let me tell
you, arguing the toss with a bunch of stuck up, brainless apes is not my
idea of a productive day."
"Do you have to go back?" Remus asked awkwardly, not used to talking
about such political topics with anyone.
Harry nodded. "Yes, soon too. We're sentencing another brainless ape to
Azkaban."
"Who?" Dumbledore cut in and Harry's back stiffened. He'd almost
forgotten where he was and with who. The potions were making him
even more talkative than usual. That could prove to be very dangerous if
he left it unchecked or someone noticed and had a mind to take
advantage of him in such a state.
"That, I believe, is none of your concern anymore. I am not even strictly
supposed to be mentioning it to anyone who is not a member of the
court." He said, trying to make up for the fact that he'd already said far
too much. "Remus, would you mind accompanying me to my rooms?"
"Of course not, Harry."
Harry left without waiting to be dismissed and without saying goodbye to
Dumbledore. He led Remus through the corridors and down to the fourth
floor from the seventh, to where his rooms were located.
"Please have a seat. Tea?" He asked.
"Please." Remus said, taking a seat where Harry had gestured.
Harry filled his little teapot with water and set it on the hotplate as he set
up two cups and popped in a teabag each.
"Do you still take milk and sugar?" He asked politely.
"A drop of milk and one sugar, please."
Harry nodded and while he waited for the kettle to boil he took off the
satchel he had with him and started putting all of his potions away.
"That's…forgive me for being nosy, Harry, but that is a lot of potions."
Remus said quietly. "How unwell are you?"
"Put it this way, Remus, if it hadn't been found, I would have eventually
died from it." He said wearily as he closed the cupboard door and
removed his whistling teapot from the hotplate. He distracted himself for
a moment by pouring the boiling water carefully into the two cups and
getting his small bottle of milk out of his cold cupboard.
"Soon?" Remus said strangely. Harry looked at him to see that he was
very pale. His weathered, scarred face was pulled into an expression of
utter horror and he looked like he was in physical pain as well as mental
anguish.
"A few years maybe." Harry said mildly as if he wasn't speaking of his
own premature death. "The healers told me that I might not have lived to
see twenty. I didn't even know about it. I ignored all of the warning signs,
but then, in my defence, I didn't even know that they were warning signs
so I didn't realise that anything was amiss, let alone something so
devastatingly serious that could have been fatal."
"What do you have, Harry? Tell me." Remus said sternly.
Harry sighed. "This goes no further than us, Remus. I mean it." He said
just as firmly. "Only a few people know and none of them would tell
another soul, I want you to do the same. I want you to respect me so that
I can trust you in turn."
"It stays between us and the portrait of Sirius that I have at home. I talk
to him a lot too, but he can't tell anyone else."
Harry smiled, knowing how that felt, being able to talk to Sirius again, to
offload onto him and get his honest reply, even if it was his younger self
who had last 'seen' him as a little baby, and Harry nodded his agreement.
"Remember I told you about how I was adopted because of unspecified
neglect." He started.
"Yes." Remus growled, his eyes darkening drastically.
"I told you that those people forced me to cook and clean and garden for
them, but it went much deeper than that. I never wanted it to come out
to anyone, not ever, but now it has. They hurt me, Remus. I have scars all
over my body from what they did to me while I was forced to live there
with them. It wasn't just neglect, but pretty bad abuse." He explained as
he took the teabags from the cups, splashed in some milk and added
sugar to Remus' cup before walking over to hand it to the werewolf.
"How bad did it get?" Remus was trying to look calm and peaceful, but
Harry could see the anger trickling through almost like a visible haze.
Harry sighed. "It's hard to say to be honest. How do you measure child
abuse? How do you scale it? I was never welcome there. I was treated
like their personal slave. I did everything, cooking, cleaning, gardening,
all from a very young age, Remus. I slept in the cupboard too, until I was
almost eleven and my Hogwarts letter came addressed to the cupboard
under the stairs…that panicked them and I got Dudley's second
bedroom."
Harry sighed heavier and took a deep drink of tea, relaxing himself
down.
"Needless to say that such treatment has left a serious mark on me. I
didn't realise how badly until I went to the hospital last Sunday morning
and the healers found that I have hypocalcaemia."
"What is that? Is it treatable?"
"It's treatable. I have very low levels of calcium and vitamin D, I'm very
deficient in both, so I need very strong potions to correct it as quickly as
possible. I have incredibly brittle bones, those of a sixty-year-old man the
healers told me. The bone potions I have to take cause the severe
headaches and the nutrient potions cause the sweating and the fevers. If
this condition hadn't been found, it would have killed me, Remus. I
don't…I've never been a huge fan of milk because I was never allowed
any as a child and I rarely have cheese or yoghurt or really any other
sources of calcium and though I was thrown outside to garden in the
summer, I spent most of my childhood locked in a cupboard. Those
people could have killed me, Remus and I'm still trying to get over the
shock of it. I never would have gone to the hospital on my own, in fact, I
steadfastly didn't want to go, but Lucius forced me after he heard how
those people treated me. He's kicking himself for not doing it in the
summer like he originally wanted to, for waiting until now to do it, but
he didn't want to push me too hard because everything was new and I
was still trying to settle in. Those extra few months would have made a
noticeable difference in my recovery. I just…I can't really believe it, you
know?"
"Oh, Harry."
Remus put down his teacup and came to hold him and Harry let himself
hold onto Remus, just a little bit.
"I'm so sorry that I never came to check up on you. In all honesty, I
thought that you were safe and loved. I never would have expected
anyone to treat you so appallingly."
Harry sniffed hard and rubbed the back of his hand over his eyes,
brushing away the tears that he wouldn't allow to fall.
"It all worked out in the end, Remus. I'm very well looked after now.
More than that though, I'm being taught properly and I'm actually happy.
My life changed practically overnight. I went from being an abused slave
to being Lord Potter-Black and I won't look back anymore. Never again.
Those people are dead to me now. They have hurt me time and time
again, and now I find that their treatment could have led to my
extremely premature death. They're dead to me, Remus. I don't want to
see them, speak to them or even think of them again now after what
they've done to me."
"Oh, Harry. I'm so sorry."
"It's alright, it's not your fault. It's no one's fault but theirs. But I'll
overcome this, I refuse to let them win. I refuse to allow myself to be
defined by them and their actions. I will make something better of
myself. I will be better than them."
"Enough of this talk now. Tell me about Aceline. Do you have a photo?"
"No, they're all at home. Draco doesn't like the way I 'constantly moon
over her'" He mimicked in a good likeness of Draco. "And Lucius thought
that a photo would distract me from my studies, so I wasn't allowed to
bring one. But she's a little taller than I am, hardly surprising really given
that I didn't inherit my parents' height and all this abuse and
malnourishment, now the hypocalcaemia too, it's no wonder that I'm so
much shorter than everyone else my age. But Aceline's got gorgeous dark
hair, cut shortish and these big blue eyes. I love those eyes."
"So you've said before." Remus laughed.
Harry grinned. "She's quite stubborn and headstrong, she always tries to
get her own way, but we're evenly matched in that respect. We both have
fiery tempers too. She's really kind and sweet though. She told me when I
last saw her that I was the only one she'd ever loved in such a way." He
swallowed past the rising lump of emotion in his throat, thinking of
Rabastan and their parting kiss. He'd give anything to be back at Malfoy
Manor with Rabastan right now.
"It sounds like you two really do love one another."
Harry nodded. "Yeah. It was a betrothal, one I didn't really have a say in,
but Lucius was kind. He allowed me to pick someone I actually felt
compatible with, instead of just pairing me up with just anyone who was
available. Aceline…she was just perfect right from the start. I knew as
soon as I first saw her that she was going to be the one. That she was
going to be the one that I married and had children with. She was just…
the one."
"I'm happy for you, Harry. I'm happy that you're happy."
That made him smile and he sighed. "None of this is ideal, of course. Me
being stuck in Hogwarts and she's off in Beauxbatons, but I'll be joining
her in a little over a year. Once I've graduated. I told you that I was going
into teaching, didn't I?" He said excitedly, planting more seeds so that his
lies seemed more like truths.
"You did and I'm very proud of you too. I think you'll make a brilliant
teacher."
"I hope so. But the apprenticeship is going to be highly intense and I need
to be speaking proper French by then too. So Lucius, Narcissa, and
Aceline and her parents too are giving me a seriously in-depth crash
course. It's brutal."
Remus laughed. "I can imagine. Are you finding it easy?"
Harry bobbed his head a bit from side to side in consideration. "Not easy
I wouldn't say, but I'm so determined to pick it up that I'm practically
forcing it on myself. I'm doing better than expected, apparently." He
grinned. "Of course, Draco's helping me too and Blaise, being French
himself and having French as a first language, he's utterly invaluable to
me."
"Do they help a lot?"
Harry nodded. "They help me with all my homework too, particularly
Ancient Runes. They'll be by soon to give me all the assignments that I
missed since my hospital visit and to catch up. I've got to tell them that
I'm sick and on potions too. It's not going to be a good night."
"I'll leave you to it then, Harry, but please owl me if you need to talk, or
floo call me. I…I'm staying at Grimmauld Place, perhaps I should have
asked your permission first, but…"
"Of course, you didn't have to ask me for my permission. Remus, what are
you thinking? If you want to live there, it's yours. I'd never kick you out
and make you homeless, though…how's Kreacher? I can have a word if
you'd like."
"He's hardly ever there, I assumed that he was here with you." Remus
said with a frown.
"Hmm…maybe he's in the kitchens with Dobby, I'll ask." He said mildly,
but his mind was whirring. Kreacher had slipped off to Bellatrix
Lestrange before and it had led to Sirius' death, was he doing it again? He
needed to find out and put a stop to it. He would not have his elf
anywhere near Bellatrix Lestrange.
"I've been cleaning the place up as I have a bit of spare time on my
hands, I hope you don't mind."
Harry laughed. "If you want to try and clean that dump up, Remus, that's
fine. Though I don't think anything less than a blow torch and a bulldozer
would make much difference. Maybe I should try painting it. You can't
really go wrong with sunshine yellow and burnt orange. Nice and bright."
Remus laughed. "You should come sometime and point out which rooms
you want which colour, I could paint it while you're in school."
Harry grinned. "Yeah, that sounds like a good idea, I'll owl you when I
have a free weekend. Though I might get Dobby to just take me over. It'll
be quicker."
Remus nodded, looking so much happier and Harry hugged him goodbye.
Once the werewolf was gone he put Remus' cup into the sink (anything
he left in it got washed and dried by the next morning) and he boiled his
little teapot again for a fresh cup of tea.
He sat and he waited for Draco and Blaise to come by, they'd said six
O'clock, but he wouldn't be surprised if Draco came earlier than that to
demand answers from him. He would have been so worried after getting
a cryptic message off of Snape that he wasn't coming back to school for a
week after his hospital appointment. Lucius had sent a small letter,
explaining that he was very sick and that Draco had to look after him
once he came back to the castle (which Harry didn't agree with), but that
was it, they hadn't wanted to take the chance that the letter might have
been intercepted.
Again, his prediction came true as barely half five rolled around, just half
an hour after dinner had been served in the Great Hall, and he heard a
measured knock at his door before it opened. Only Draco knew how to
get into his rooms and he obviously wasn't going to be polite enough to
allow Harry to get up and open the door for him himself.
"What's wrong with you?" Draco demanded as soon as he walked in,
leaving Blaise to shut the door as Draco came straight to Harry, sat next
to him and placed a large, pale hand over his forehead. "You're fevered!
You're not well enough to be here still. What were mother and father
thinking sending you back in this condition?!"
"Draco, calm down and take a breath." Harry said with a sigh of
exasperation, but secretly he was pleased with the attention and the
concern being shown to him. It was nice having an older brother to fuss
over him, even if said older brother was only eight weeks older than he
was. "I'm alright."
"Clearly, you're not!" Draco scowled.
"Just, sit down and let me explain. Do you want tea?"
"Tea? You're offering me tea in your condition?! No, I don't want any
damned tea! What's wrong with you?"
Harry sighed. Maybe it wasn't such a good thing to have an older brother
to fuss over him.
"I am…more ill than was expected."
"I had gathered that for myself!" Draco said a little shrilly.
"Draco, please. This is difficult enough as it is." Harry said, moving his
hand to grip at Draco's. The blonde moved immediately so that he was
holding Harry's hand, not the other way around, and he squeezed Harry's
smaller hand gently, comfortingly.
"You're going to be fine though, yes?"
Harry nodded. "I'm on a lot of, rather strong, potions, but I'll be fine by
the summer."
Draco swallowed and he took a deep breath. Blaise was all but forgotten
on the other settee, but Harry focused on just Draco for the moment.
"I have hypocalcaemia." He said softly.
"What's that?" Draco demanded immediately.
"It's a very serious, severe deficiency in calcium and vitamin D. My bones
are suffering for it and…and they're pretty brittle at the moment."
"Brittle? What does that mean, brittle?" Draco asked, almost panicked.
"It means that we probably shouldn't have had those wrestling matches
when I first arrived at the manor. Any one of which could have easily
snapped one of my bones like a dry twig."
"What about Quidditch?" Blaise asked concernedly.
Harry shook his head. "The healer didn't believe me when I said that I'd
been playing for years. I have the bones of a sixty-year-old at just sixteen.
Far too weak and brittle to be playing Quidditch. He said a fall off of a
chair could have broken a bone, let alone a Quidditch injury."
Draco swallowed audibly and he took in a deep breath, rolling the
information around his mind.
"But you're going to be fine?"
Harry nodded. "By the summer I'll be completely better, well, I should be.
I'll need a healer to sign off on that though, but for now, I'm on calcium
potions, bone-strengthening potions too, so that a mere fall won't do as
much damage, and nutrient potions to try…to try and rectify the
malnutrition that I'm also suffering with."
"Malnutrition?" Draco said weakly.
Harry nodded. "I'm afraid so. A childhood of abuse and neglect led to me
being deficient in some pretty basic vitamins and minerals. Those habits
stuck with me and I usually avoid foods that I've never really eaten
before, like the cheeses at Christmas. I was never really allowed cheese or
milk, or any nutritious food, I was mostly fed water, white bread, and
soup, which led to the calcium deficiency and malnutrition in the first
place. Being locked in the cupboard for most of my childhood led to the
vitamin D deficiency and I got hypocalcaemia because of it. There are a
few others that I'm deficient in also, vitamin A and C and a couple of Bs
too, but the nutrient potion will sort those out and I need to start trying
new healthy foods, particularly leafy greens." He said with a pinched face
that he couldn't entirely help.
"I…I can't believe that you're so…so sick!" Draco mumbled. "You don't
show any signs of illness, not really. I mean, you're far too skinny, but…I
never would have guessed."
"It gets worse."
"How?!" Draco demanded.
Harry sighed. "If it hadn't been found…well, being so deficient in so
many essential vitamins and minerals, it would have led to my death,
Draco. I could have died from this. The healers told me that the
hypocalcaemia alone would have killed me before I was twenty. Of
course, Rabastan is beside himself at the news."
"Those people could have indirectly killed you." Blaise said simply and
Harry nodded in agreement. Draco looked between them and then he
clicked on.
"Those muggle monsters?" He snarled. "Where are they hiding, Harry?
They need to be punished for this! You can't let them get away with such
blatant abuse. They could have killed you!"
Harry sighed and shook his head. "It's over now." He said.
"It's not over!" Draco raged. "You're still suffering for what they did!"
Harry nodded. "Until the summer and then I'll be completely fine."
"Why do you still look so unwell?" Blaise cut in when it looked like Draco
would cause an argument by demanding where the Dursleys were living.
"The potions are very strong." Harry said quietly. "They have some pretty
serious side effects. The bone-strengthening potion causes skull-splitting
headaches that start a few minutes after I take them and they last for
hours, the calcium potions make me drowsy and the nutrient potions
cause excess sweating, particularly at night as I have to take them before
I go to bed, but I can feel far too warm throughout the day and I do look
glassy-eyed and…vacant, even when I'm not."
"I can't believe that you're so sick!" Draco said worriedly. "Was it worse
when you'd just found out, is that why you stayed home all week?"
"I had more, one-off potions to take at first which made me pretty tired
and queasy, not to mention the mass of injections I had to have too, they
made me lethargic and listless and if you can believe it, I couldn't
actually walk yesterday. I was still lying on the settee, almost comatose,
unable to get up."
"Should you be sitting up?" Draco asked worriedly.
"I'm alright. I was trying to walk around yesterday, but my legs kept
folding under me, but I'm much better today. The healer came by this
morning and he said that I was alright to come back, as long as I don't
push myself. Quidditch practices will still be held, but I will be directing
from the ground for a while. I'm not allowed to actually fly."
Draco, who had opened his mouth to argue the Quidditch issue, shut it
again and he nodded approvingly.
"Will you be better for the match against Hufflepuff in March?" Blaise
asked falsely nonchalant.
Harry chuckled. "Don't sound so eager. I'll be fine to play in March.
You're not going to win the Quidditch cup, just accept it and move on,
Blaise."
Blaise scoffed. "We've got Ravenclaw in a few weeks now, we'll smash
them and then we'll smash Hufflepuff too and with you not at a hundred
per cent anymore, you'll be slaughtered by Hufflepuff and then
Ravenclaw too and then we'll win on points."
"Yeah, like I smashed you in the first match of the season." Harry
chuckled. "I was actually sick back then, I just didn't know that I was, but
that doesn't negate the fact that I was still very sick. I'm getting better by
the day now, with every potion that I take. I wouldn't count on me failing
because of this if I were you. You lost to me when I was at my worst and
as you fell, so will Hufflepuff and then Ravenclaw."
Draco chuckled. "If that team didn't have you…"
"Well, they do have me." Harry said with a proud grin.
"Draco, can't you do something? Get your parents to take him off the
team." Blaise whined.
Draco laughed then and threw an arm around Harry and pulled him in to
rest against him.
"If you won by getting me thrown off the team it would be a hollow
victory, it wouldn't taste as sweet." Harry told him sagely.
"I don't care! A victory is a victory." Blaise declared passionately.
Harry chuckled and, with a sigh, he rested fully on Draco.
"You two look like lovers doing that." Blaise smirked.
"I'm tired." Harry said simply.
"He's not well." Draco added as he brushed Harry's messy black hair away
from his forehead, exposing the scar for a brief moment before his
overlong fringe dropped back into place, hiding it once again.
Harry yawned and he closed his eyes for a moment, still resting on Draco
and taking the comfort of having his adoptive brother holding him and
caring for him.
The next thing he knew, he was blinking open his eyes and he was in his
pyjamas, in his own bed and it was near enough dawn.
Harry groaned and rolled over. He'd forgotten to take the nutrient potion
as he'd slept through without waking up. Lucius and Rabastan were going
to kill him. A whole year Rabastan and Rodolphus had been sticking to
their incredibly strict potion, diet, and exercise regime and not once had
they ever forgotten to take a potion, not once had they skipped a meal or
an exercise, even if they'd really wanted to. Less than a week he'd been
taking these potions and already he'd forgotten one.
He sighed heavily and he sat up. He didn't know if he should take the
nutrient potion now, or leave it until tonight and take his next dose,
which meant either a chat with Madam Pomfrey or a floo call to his
healer. He needed to tell Lucius though. It had been thoroughly drilled
into him that if anything, anything at all, went wrong, even something
small, he was to immediately own up to it.
Getting up, he went into his little bathroom and he showered, he was still
wet and sticky despite not even taking the nutrient potion, but then he
supposed that it would take a while for the night sweats to stop, even
after he was no longer taking the potions as they needed to work through
his system.
He took his shower and he dressed and got ready for his lessons that day.
He made sure that the books he needed for his lessons today were packed
in his satchel and he made himself a cup of tea. He was confused to see
that there was a clean, empty glass vial on the side.
He immediately checked his potions and there was no odd nutrient
potion. He had taken it! He just couldn't remember taking it nor getting
into his pyjamas, but he must have done. He smiled and breathed out a
sigh of pure relief. He didn't need to send that letter home telling his
family that he'd forgotten a potion because he hadn't forgotten to take it,
he had merely forgotten that he had taken it.
He breathed an even bigger sigh of utter relief and he sat down with his
tea and pulled some of his more urgent homework assignments towards
him. Draco had left a large stack of parchment on his coffee table, with a
note on each one telling him which assignment was due when. Draco and
Blaise had also been kind enough to leave him both of their notes for
each assignment and Harry groaned at how much he had to do. He didn't
feel well enough to be doing this and his head felt wobbly on his
shoulders, but he couldn't give up now, not when he'd shouted at
Dumbledore yesterday afternoon about being able to do it when he
obviously couldn't. Damn his stubbornness.
He took a deep drink of tea and he started on his most urgent
assignments, the ones that he needed for his lessons today and for
Monday morning. He had a couple of hours before he had to go down for
breakfast and until then, he was going to get as much done as possible. If
he could ever get his scattered, stressed mind to focus on the work in
front of him that was.
Things were made infinitely more difficult for him when three days later,
at eight in the morning, on Monday the twenty-seventh of January, his
rings heated up during breakfast. They stayed hot for several seconds
before cooling back down and Harry sighed.
He stood up and he drained his small glass of awful milk before he
headed back up to his rooms. He changed for the second time in an hour
and he dropped off his school bag before hurrying, as quickly as his tired,
exhausted body allowed him to, out of the castle and over the grounds.
He didn't care about letting anyone know where he was, he didn't have
the time. If anyone had a problem with it, then they could take it up with
the Ministry for all he cared. He was too tired for this.
He missed the first portkey, as usual, and he was caught by the second a
few minutes later. He stepped forward, the portkey affecting him a little
more than usual and he actually stumbled. He hoped to all fuck that no
one had been watching him, or worse, had managed to take a photograph
of him stumbling around like a fool.
"I've got you." Xerxes' calm, strong voice broke through his blurred vision
and fuzzy head, his strong arm around his back. "Come along."
"Thank you." Harry replied softly, trying to get his lost breath back and to
clear his spinning head so that he could see where he was going.
"You're not well. Such things as a bit of assistance matter little on such
occasions."
"Where is my father?"
"Just up ahead of us. I arrived a little late, I was in an argument with my
idiot of a son when my rings heated up."
"Rhadamanthus needs to drop dead." Harry snarled viciously, blinking
rapidly to bring his eyes back into focus.
"A little loud there, Harry, my son." Lucius told him, touching his back
with Xerxes, his hand just above his father-in-law's, walking on his other
side.
Harry sighed in frustration and raised both hands to grind the heels of his
palms into his eyes.
"That's not going to help." Xerxes told him.
Harry dropped his hands and blinked. He chuckled as everything was
clear. "It did help. I can actually see now."
"Are you getting cheeky with me?" Xerxes demanded in jest.
Harry turned to smile tiredly at him.
"You really don't look well." Xerxes said worriedly as he laid a hand on
Harry's forehead. Harry had tried to follow the hand with his eyes, but it
unbalanced him and he stumbled.
"Have you been sleeping?" Lucius asked him seriously as his arm slipped
tighter around his back and held him more firmly.
"Yes." He replied truthfully. "I've actually been sleeping more than usual,
it just doesn't help."
"Perhaps I should insist to your professors that you are to be given a
lighter workload."
Harry shook his head. "No. Dumbledore told me that he'd wiped the slate
clean, so I didn't have to do any of the work that I'd missed while I was
home."
"That was generous of him." Lucius said approvingly.
Harry shook his head again and blew out an annoyed breath. "I told him
to stuff it and that I would be doing the work that I'd missed while I was
at home."
Lucius sighed in disdain. "You stubborn boy."
"I've done it all now." Harry said proudly.
"At what cost to your fragile health?" Xerxes demanded.
"I just…" Harry trailed off as he wobbled a little and the two men held
him upright. "I just want to do my best and I have been resting, I've just
said that I'm sleeping more than normal, but nothing I do helps. I could
stay in bed all day and all night and I'd still feel tired because of those
damnable potions. I just want to do my very best and get the best marks
that I can."
"I know that you do and that is very admirable, Harry, but there are some
things that are much more important." Lucius told him seriously. "Have
more care with yourself."
Harry nodded. "Okay, I'll ask for a lighter workload."
"It won't be for a full term." Xerxes assured him. "Just until you aren't as
weak as a newborn foal."
"What happens if I can't get here for a meeting?" Harry asked as he
peered around the Ministry, trying to see where he was so that he could
figure out how much longer he had to force himself to walk.
"What do you mean?" Lucius asked sternly.
"What if I was still like I was back on Wednesday or Thursday, where I
couldn't walk and was sleeping more than I was awake? How would I get
here? How would I even conduct myself in these meetings while so…not
myself?"
"Ah, I see what you are trying to say. What if you were physically, or
otherwise, unable to attend?" Lucius nodded once as Harry bobbed his
head in agreement. "If you are unconscious, or otherwise occupied, at the
time of the call, then your name would light up on the member list held
by the Chief Warlock and depending on your import to the trial or
meeting, it would carry on as normal, or it would be suspended until you
could attend. No vote can happen without all members casting their vote,
however. So all votes would be suspended until such a time that you
were well enough to cast it, or until you named a proxy."
"A proxy?" Harry asked.
"Someone who has your permission to stand in for you and can cast a
vote in your name." Xerxes told him as they finally made it to the
courtroom.
Harry gritted his teeth. "Like Dumbledore was using my seats and my
votes to do as he wanted?"
"Exactly, but most people acting in a proxy position at least ask the
person they are stepping in for which way they want to vote before
casting it." Lucius sneered. "He was abusing you and your lordships to
mould things to his ideals without consulting you first. That is just shy of
illegal, which is why it was such a serious matter. If you weren't a minor,
and Dumbledore hadn't been your guardian at the time, then it would
have been very illegal and he'd be in a cell in Azkaban right about now.
Alas, I can settle for having him out of the Wizengamot, I can get much
more done without him stonewalling me at every turn."
"What about today?" Harry asked as he allowed Xerxes to help him sit
down on the stone bench of the courtroom. "I can't keep myself standing
upright, how am I supposed to argue my point with these people?"
"You only speak up when it's needed." Xerxes coached him. "Don't do too
much, try to remain seated so that you force everyone else to look at you,
and you hold on to that damnable stubbornness of yours to hide your
current illness and to hold your decorum together."
"Speak slowly, so that your voice doesn't waver." Lucius added. "Take
nice, deep breaths, perfectly timed pauses to catch your breath and
control your temper. Nothing will make you feel worse than a surge of
anger. It will make you lightheaded and dizzy and in your state, it might
just keel you over. We've all had to come to these meetings while ill at
one time or another, you'll be just fine."
Harry smiled at that and he took several nice, deep breaths as he'd been
told to, to centre himself and his head cleared a little. He shifted himself,
straightened his back and he settled his shoulders, pulling them back
while lifting his chin. He could do this. He would force himself to do this,
to make his family proud of him. He refused to be the weak link and he
pulled all emotion back from his expression. He hid how tired and
exhausted he was, how the pain in his head was spiking after he'd taken
his stupid bone-strengthening potion that morning with his morning tea.
"You are keeping up to date with your potions, yes?" Lucius asked him
quietly, almost as if he'd read his mind.
"I am." Harry answered smoothly, well into his 'lord' persona now. "I've
brought the calcium potion with me, just in case this meeting runs into
excess again as it needs to be taken at lunchtime, but I left the nutrient
potion behind, it has to be taken before I go to sleep so I can only take it
when I get back anyway." He said. "I took a headache reliever with the
bone-strengthening potion, to try and stave off the terrible headache
before my lessons so that I could concentrate, but it has done very little
so far."
"Are you in much pain?" Xerxes asked him gently.
Harry shook his head minimally. "No. It is a good thing that I'm so used
to such pain." He answered, thinking of the hideous pain he got when his
scar burnt. It hadn't done as such since he'd been adopted by Lucius.
He did still get odd, detached feelings of happiness that were not his own
and he knew from that that Voldemort's plans were progressing well.
Lucius and the Lestranges tried to hide such things from him, they tried
to talk in hushed voices about Voldemort's plans or how their little
individual missions were going, but with the connection between them,
Harry already knew. He knew if things were going well or not before
their little meetings were even called. He didn't feel the need to mention
such things, however. The less said about Voldemort in his presence the
better in his opinion. He was happier not knowing. He was happier to
just ignore it.
"You shouldn't be used to such things." Xerxes growled protectively.
Harry was saved from answering by the appearance of Mister Dennis
Jute, the accused, being led to the single wooden seat on the floor by two
Aurors. The chains clinked and then wrapped around his wrists and
forearms, trapping him tight to the chair so that he couldn't move, or
attack the members of the court. As soon as he was secured, the Aurors
left the courtroom and closed the door after themselves.
"Mister Dennis Jute, you have been brought here today, before the
Wizengamot and the Council of Magical Law to face the charges brought
against you. These charges include destruction of muggle property, the
serious injury of two muggles who had to be treated magically and whose
quality of life has been decreased as a result of your actions, and most
seriously, the breaking of the Statute of Secrecy which includes telling
muggles the location of the English dragon reserve among others. How
do you plead?" The Minister asked pompously.
"Guilty, under the influence of alcohol." The man said, as if that tacked
on excuse would make a difference.
Harry breathed in deeply, held for a moment, before breathing out. He
repeated this sequence, gearing up for a fight, as the muttering from
around the sides of the courtroom indicated that he would have a fight
on his hands to have this sentence passed. He could do this, he coached
himself, he was determined to do it.
"The accused has pleaded guilty." The Minister said loudly. "His sentence
has already been deliberated and agreed upon by this court. Lord Harry
James Potter-Black's proposal of Azkaban has been agreed upon by this
court and the sentence is a mandatory ten years."
Harry was surprised to hear his own name mentioned, but he wasn't half
as surprised as Mister Jute, who startled comically as he heard that he
was being sentenced to Azkaban, to ten years in the prison at that. His
eyes bugged out and his jaw dropped.
"I was under the influence of potent firewhiskey!" He screamed. "You
can't send me to Azkaban for that!"
"The accused is appealing his sentence." Fudge said. "We will now hear
his plea and adjust his sentence as necessary."
Harry hardened his face and shifted angrily as he heard that the sentence
might not pass after all and he readied himself for the coming battle of
wits. He wouldn't allow the sentence to be adjusted in the slightest.
"I was…I was drunk. I didn't know what I was doing and I don't even
remember doing it!" Dennis Jute sobbed, all dignity lost. "I didn't mean
it!"
"As the accused has pointed out, he was heavily under the influence of
alcohol when this instance took place, a severely reduced sentence is
needed." One member of the Council of Magical Law insisted, cutting in
and helping out Mister Jute a little by offering him an olive branch. "I
cannot go against Lord Potter-Black." He sneered as if he begrudged even
mentioning Harry's official title. "Or his proposal of a sentence of custody
in Azkaban, but we can vote to judge this matter fairly. We can rectify
this matter by giving the accused a reduced sentence of a week
imprisonment to combat the grave injustice being laid down by our
Wizengamot."
He got claps and cheers for his ridiculous tirade. Harry remained silent,
though on the inside he was fuming. Where was the justice for the two
muggles who were in Saint Mungo's? Where was the justice for the
innocent people that Dennis Jute had harmed, the property that he had
damaged, the dragons and their handlers put at risk because of one single
man, drunk or not?
"Being a drunken fool does not exclude one from the law!" Someone else
piped up. "It cannot be allowed to stand in this court as an excuse for the
behaviour shown and the complete disregard for the law!"
Harry shook his head and he sat still and silent. The reporters were here
today in force, he could see many quills scratching against parchment as
they recorded what was happening for the morning papers. He had to
control himself even more severely here, now, than he had before.
He had had enough just fifteen minutes into the 'appeal' however, after
continuous arguing back and forth that resulted in nothing but his
headache spiking to a new level of pain and the court had achieved very
little in that time. It was no wonder that such trials were so lengthy, and
how Sirius had been imprisoned with no trial after the backlog of trials
the war had created because if every trial was handled in this manner,
then he could well believe that most war 'criminals' had been imprisoned
for life without even seeing the inside of a courtroom. He cleared his
throat loudly.
The Minister, lost a little in the flood of opposition and confrontation
damning his sentence, turned to him with visible, palpable relief.
"The court will hear Lord Potter-Black!" He called out desperately.
Immediately everything quietened down and the power rush of that was
like a heady wine as it surged through him and warmed his belly. He
ignored the representatives of the press leaning forward, waiting for him
to speak so that they didn't miss a single word that he spoke and he took
a nice, deep breath, keeping his face impassive.
"I have been listening closely to the opposition and I have heard countless
mentions of 'unfairness', of injustice mentioned in relation to this
sentence. What I haven't heard is any sympathy or really any mention of
justice for those who were injured or put into harm's way because of the
accused's actions. I say to the opposition, where is your concern for those
who have been injured? Where is your concern for the Statute of
Secrecy? The accused went on a destructive spree through a muggle city,
throwing the blasting hex at anyone and everything in his way, where is
your alarm concerning his actions? Why are you sympathising with a
drunken brute over innocent people who were harmed during his
rampage? Where is your…."
"You cannot hope to understand these matters, you are just a boy, Potter.
What are you hoping to achieve, what are you trying to do here?" A
member of the opposition shouted at him. "You should be in school, not
in this courtroom."
"You will not interrupt me." Harry replied calmly after a small pause
while everyone else held their breaths to see how he would react. "If you
have any questions, you will wait until I am done speaking." He answered
to sniggers from some members of the court. "You will refer to me as
Lord Potter-Black, and as nothing else."
There was silence in the courtroom for a minute as Harry sat, waiting, all
attention still upon him and he breathed deeply, trying to think past the
awful, skull-splitting headache that he had.
"As I was saying before I was very rudely and petulantly interrupted, the
accused does not deserve leniency when he has broken one of the most
fundamental laws of our community. The Statute of Secrecy is in place
for a very serious, very needed reason and we cannot allow anyone who
knowingly breaks it to…"
"I didn't know! I was drunk, I swear it! Two bottles of firewhiskey I had!"
Mister Dennis Jute shouted out, almost hyperventilating as he watched
Harry talk him into a ten year Azkaban sentence.
Harry again waited several moments after being interrupted before
speaking again, pinning his gaze to the accused.
"You were drinking in a muggle city, were you not?" He questioned.
"I…yes, but I didn't…I wasn't…it addled my thinking."
"It seems to me that your thinking was addled well before you took the
first drop." Harry commented, to further sniggers and surprised chuckles,
even Xerxes stifled a small laugh, after he'd disguised it as a small cough.
Harry fought to control his expression so that he didn't smile himself.
"Anyone who believes it a good idea to drink more than four glasses of
firewhiskey, let alone two full bottles of it, in the middle of a muggle
city, was not behaving in a reasonable manner. You injured numerous
people, two of them seriously, and you risked the death of countless
innocent people. That cannot go unpunished. The Minister has set out a
fixed sentence of ten years in Azkaban for your serious actions, for your
crimes, and I firmly believe that that is no less than you deserve."
There were cheers to drown out the jeers from the opposition and
immediately afterwards, Lucius stood.
"The court recognises Lord Lucius Malfoy." Fudge declared loudly, a little
more settled and much less flustered than he'd been before Harry had
spoken.
"My son, Lord Harry, has raised several very prominent facts that needed
to be heard." Lucius said silkily, in the same voice that he might have
used at the breakfast table to relay an interesting snippet from the
morning newspaper. A voice not suited to speaking in a room filled with
hundreds of people, but Lucius made them cling to his every word
regardless. "I would, however, wish to go into more detail on this serious
breach of the Statute of Secrecy. Such laws are in place to protect all of
us, to protect our privacy and this law has been in effect since sixteen-
ninety-two. Every magical person has a duty to uphold this most
fundamental law. However, it is clause seventy-three that I wish to
mention specifically in this case, as the accused has obliterated this
serious clause on his spree among other things. Our esteemed members
will know that this clause is in place to protect magical beasts from
discovery, but also to protect the muggles from such magical beasts
against which they have no hope to defend themselves. The accused gave
out the address to the English dragon reserve, a reserve which has had a
surge in muggles circling around it, all thanks to the accused's actions. A
mere week of imprisonment is not sufficient enough to make up for the
damage done, nor the laws that have been broken, or the measures that
have now had to be used to protect the dragon reserve and the muggles
from said dragons who are contained by that reserve. Though of course,
the accused's friends on this court naturally disagree with us on this
point."
Lucius had only just stopped speaking when he opposition rose up and
defended themselves, claiming that they weren't friends with the accused
and that injustice was injustice, but Lucius' words had done their
damage, as he'd anticipated that they would, and Harry's lips twitched
minimally. He forced the smile back and strove for control of himself and
his expressions, he could laugh later while in private.
"That was very well handled, Lucius." Xerxes complimented under his
breath, just loud enough for Lucius, on Harry's other side, to hear him.
"Very smooth."
Lucius inclined his head. "Thank you, but I was feeding off of my
wonderful son, who set up much of this by himself."
Xerxes squeezed Harry's knee and that made him smile. He was rather
enjoying these trials, much more than the mundane meetings which were
little more than old men, and women, catching up with one another and
nothing important was actually discussed. He was, however, feeling
queasy, thanks in part to his splitting skull, and it was getting harder to
concentrate the longer this trial carried on. He needed to keep his wits
about him, but he just couldn't keep a hold of his thoughts or follow what
others were saying very well, his head felt like it was being pulled into
two halves.
The trial carried on for another two hours in the same manner. Harry
spoke once again, pointing out the seriousness of the crimes committed
and reminding those in the courtroom just how serious this matter was to
their secrecy, their safety and to the muggles' safety too. He was also
called out personally by a member of the opposition and he had had to
defend himself from the vicious verbal attack, of which he managed
easily, but it was the backing of Lord Dawson Shacklebolt, who had stood
up to speak in favour of Harry and the accused going to Azkaban, who
had truly hammered in the last nail. Once Dawson had given his approval
of Azkaban, and had firmly given his backing to Harry, many others had
begun to waver and wane in their support of the accused.
"We will vote now!" A member of the opposition spoke up, as he saw that
his support was lessening with every speech and argument that was
made, not strengthening as he might have hoped.
"All those in favour of Lord Harry James Potter-Black's proposal of ten
years in Azkaban, raise your wands." The Minister called out, raising his
own wand in the air.
Harry pulled his wand from the inside pocket of his robes and it went
into the air, but his teeth were gritted now and he couldn't see through
his blurry eyes to count.
"All those opposed." The Minister called out and Harry lowered his
aching arm back down, sluggishly slotting his wand back into the little,
thin pocket that was made especially for a wand.
He sat, with bated breath, waiting for the verdict to be called, but it was
Xerxes who clued him into the results of the vote first because he
chuckled darkly and Harry ducked his head to smile his victory to
himself.
"The court has voted in favour of Lord Potter-Black. The accused shall be
taken immediately to Azkaban and will serve a ten-year sentence for his
crimes against the wizarding and muggle populace."
"No! No, you can't do this!" Dennis Jute screamed.
Harry's body went cold and his eyes widened as he realised what was
coming. Why hadn't he thought of this little problem before? It had only
just occurred to him that the accused would be sent to Azkaban with
Dementors, that he would be exposed to the Dementors who came to
collect Dennis Jute. Harry tried to hold himself together, to use his steel
will and stubbornness to cling to his dignity and decorum, as two
Dementors entered the courtroom through the door behind Dennis Jute.
Immediately afterwards, as soon as they were in the room with him, his
carefully controlled mask crumbled and he reached out to either side of
himself and gripped tight at both Lucius' and Xerxes' hands. Sweat didn't
just bead on his head, it dripped down his face and the back of his neck,
one drop after another as he shook almost violently. He whimpered softly
as the pain in his head spiked to blinding levels and, as the Dementors
glided closer to the condemned man, his mother started screaming in his
head.
He felt arms touching him, holding him as his body was wracked with
mild convulsions as he heard his mother pleading for him, offering
herself up in his place. He felt sick and he couldn't breathe, his eyes
rolled up into his head until all he could see was darkness and in that
darkness, he heard his father, telling his mother to take him and run.
Then the next breath of air came easier, the one after that was warm and
he was able to blink. He opened his eyes to see the gravely concerned
faces of Lucius and Xerxes. He groaned pathetically.
"Come on, sit up." Lucius encouraged and Harry realised that he'd flopped
to the stone floor like a beached fish.
"Sick." Harry muttered shortly as he felt the awful sensation tickling the
back of his throat as his stomach clenched repeatedly.
"If you're going to be sick, then be sick. There is a concealment ward
around us, no one is any the wiser." Lucius insisted calmly.
Harry couldn't have controlled it even if every member of the court were
stood up and watching him. The bile, thick and bitter, clawed up his
throat and he heaved once, twice, and then that bile was in his mouth.
He couldn't stop himself and he vomited onto the stone floor repeatedly,
until his throat was sore, his head pounded and his stomach ached and
he had nothing left to come out.
"There we go." Lucius soothed once he realised that Harry wasn't going to
vomit anything more.
"Hate them." Harry declared weakly.
"I know you do. Come, let us get you home." Lucius insisted as he hefted
Harry from the floor, helping him to get his feet back under him as
Xerxes used a simple charm to vanish the mess he had left behind.
He was shivering, convulsing almost in the aftermath of his vomiting and
he felt stone cold. He was heavily supported as they made their way
down the steps to the same door that the Dementors had taken Dennis
Jute through, but thankfully they were long gone with not a trace
remaining.
Once out in the wider corridor, Xerxes came and supported him from his
other side too, wrapping a large, muscled arm around his back to support
his weight.
"I have never seen anyone with such a harsh reaction to the Dementors."
He said worriedly.
"Hate them." Harry said passionately again.
"I can see why if that is your usual reaction. No wonder you want them
gone."
"Come, you will stay home for an hour or two. I wish to see you eat some
chocolate and regain your strength. You were ill before the Dementors
arrived, this would not have helped."
"Basti?" He asked hopefully, looking up at the two older men, who shared
smirks over his head.
"I think I can be convinced to go and get him." Xerxes said mildly and
Harry smiled then. Tired, pained and small, but he smiled.
Harry clutched around Lucius' waist and he was side-along Apparated
back to Malfoy Manor. He found himself down on his knees, trying to
catch his breath upon landing.
Lucius waited patiently, lest he vomited again, as Harry got his breath
back before picking him up and supporting him to the drawing room,
where Narcissa was sat with a cup of tea and a book.
"What has happened?" She demanded as she looked up and caught sight
of what must have been his grey tinged, sweaty face. She didn't bother
marking her page, she immediately dropped the book and came to him,
ushering him down into a soft seat and Harry fell into it gratefully.
"Harry had his proposal pushed through and he won the majority vote on
the sentencing. Dennis Jute is on his way to start a ten-year
imprisonment in Azkaban, the filthy mu…muggleborn."
Harry gave the man holding him upright a weak glare.
"That's wonderful news, but how did my son get in this condition, Lucius?
You said that you'd look after him."
That made Harry feel warm throughout, knowing that these two people
talked about him, that Narcissa had warned Lucius to look after him
while they were at court, just like real parents.
"It was the Dementors, Cissa." Lucius sighed. "Harry has said that he had
a bad reaction to them and today I got to witness exactly how badly they
affected him and, as per usual, our Harry played down exactly how badly
that was too. I should have foreseen that, he has done it with everything
else, of course, he would have done it with this too."
"He needs chocolate. Pimsey."
The little house-elf popped into the room and curtseyed. "What can
Pimsey be doing for Mistress?"
"The young master needs chocolate and a cup of tea." Narcissa ordered
and Pimsey nodded once and then left the room.
Harry was sipping the tea and nibbling the chocolate when Xerxes
entered the room, a worried Rabastan following closely.
"Are you alright?" Rabastan's voice was tight and high with his concern as
he sat next to him and threw his arm around Harry's shoulders, pulling
him in tight.
Harry nodded, but he shifted himself to lay more of his weight upon
Rabastan, resting upon him happily.
"What happened?"
"Dementors." Harry said softly. "At least I didn't pass out this time."
"By the skin of your teeth." Xerxes added. "I saw your eyes rolling up into
your head."
"I hate the damnable things."
"I can understand the passion behind your words now." Xerxes nodded.
"If I reacted half as badly as you do then I would want those things gone
too so that I might never run into one ever again."
"They need to be gone." Harry said venomously. "Sent away and
contained so that they can't ever go near people ever again. They're not
natural."
No one said anything, but neither did they scoff at him as if he were a
mere whimsical child, like usual when he voiced such an opinion that
they didn't understand and Harry finished his chocolate in silence, taking
in the feeling of Rabastan stroking his arm with joy.
He drained his tea and bent over to put the cup on a side table before he
moved to lay back against Rabastan, snuggling in more firmly, trying to
ignore the slight quivering of his body that was still very cold. The tea
and the chocolate had helped a little, and Rabastan himself was helping a
lot too, but he was only just starting to feel better, more normal. Or as
normal as he could while he was so sick.
"How did the trial go?" Rabastan asked him to distract him from his
thoughts, still stroking his arm and hair gently, or as gently as he could
manage. "I assume you won the majority if the Dementors were present?"
"Oh, you should have seen him, Basti. He was magnificent, truly
magnificent." Xerxes praised. "Despite being very ill on those potions, still
weak from his healer visit, he was able to sit there stoically and hide it
perfectly. He spoke clearly and concisely, oh, you should have been there
to see his reaction when that filth interrupted him! I almost cracked a rib
suppressing my laughter."
"You almost threw me off!" Harry complained. "I could see you out of the
corner of my eye and I heard you trying your best not to laugh."
Xerxes did laugh then, loud and booming, and it made Harry smile, even
more so cuddled up to Rabastan as he was.
"It was truly inspired! 'You will wait until I am done speaking if you have
any questions.' I swear on Merlin himself I have never enjoyed a trial as
much as that one, and when that imbecile, Jute, tried to claim that the
firewhiskey had addled his thinking, our beautiful, clever boy here
turned around and you know what he said, Basti? He turned around, as
quick as a whippet, and he said 'it seems to me that your thinking was
addled well before you took the first drop' and I had actual tears in my
eyes from suppressing my laughter, I was so surprised that I had to turn
my startled laughter into a cough!"
Rabastan laughed too and Harry smiled softly as he felt Rabastan's chest
rumble with laughter under his ear.
"Are you feeling any better?" Narcissa asked him, laying a slim hand on
his head.
Harry nodded. "Yes."
"You still look a little pale and distressed."
Harry bit his lip and turned away.
"Harry." Lucius warned, his smile and laughter fading away as he realised
that Harry was, again, hiding more than he was letting on.
"I hear my parents being murdered when the Dementors come close to
me. It…it's not. It's not something that I'd ever want to hear." He said
sadly. "The only time that I've ever heard their voices and it's that. It's
them being murdered, trying to protect me. I want to hear their voices,
but at the same time I don't, not like that, and it makes me so confused
because that's the only way I'll ever get to hear them, but it's so painful to
hear them being murdered…for me."
Rabastan kissed the side of his head and Harry smiled tenuously.
"Go and take a bath, sweet one." Narcissa told him because truly, there
was nothing else anyone could say. "It'll warm you up."
Harry snuggled in closer to Rabastan and he shook his head. "I don't want
to."
"Harry, go upstairs and warm yourself up." Narcissa told him sternly.
Harry frowned. "Can I take…?"
"No, you may not take Rabastan with you. It is very improper."
Harry's shoulders slumped.
"Surely I can sit outside the door?" Rabastan asked. "Just in case he has
an accident while he's so unwell and shaky." He added respectfully.
Narcissa drew in a deep breath, but she made the mistake of looking into
Harry's wide, green, pleading eyes. She blew out all the breath in her
lungs and she nodded.
"Very well." She acquiesced. "If it will get you into the bath, so be it. But
you…" She said rounding in on Rabastan. "If you set one foot into that
bathroom I will know of it! You stay outside the room at all times!"
Rabastan nodded his head. "Of course, Lady Malfoy."
Harry stood and he tried not to show his excitement as he took
Rabastan's hand and made his way up to his bed suite and into his
bathroom. He ran the bath and looked back at Rabastan who had
dragged a chair to the wall beside the door and had sat upon it sideways.
Harry's grin was anything but innocent as he started taking off his robes.
"Harry, the door is open." Rabastan told him as if he had merely forgotten
to close it.
Harry chuckled deeply. "You have to stay outside of the bathroom,
absolutely no one said that the door had to be closed." He said naughtily.
He watched as Rabastan's throat bobbed as he swallowed hard and those
dark blue eyes widened with the realisation of what he was doing.
Rabastan took a nice, deep, calming breath and watched, riveted, as
Harry stripped off his shirt and trousers, leaving just his boxers on. Harry
got a bit shy then, but he took his own calming breath and slid the plain
black boxer briefs down and he winked at Rabastan to cover his
nervousness with false bravado. Rabastan actually growled at him as
Harry climbed into the bath and he sighed happily as the warm water
washed away the lingering chill of the Dementors.
"Oh, that's so much better." He groaned happily.
"You are purely evil." Rabastan growled, watching as Harry dipped a
washcloth into the water and started soaping up his chest and arms.
Harry chuckled and he slowed down his movements, making them less
quick and efficient and more provocative and alluring.
"I'm sure I have no idea what you mean, my love." Harry said falsely
innocent, thinking that this was definitely payback for the hand job in
the family room filled with people.
"I bet you fucking don't you little bloody tease!" Rabastan burst out
gutturally and Harry looked at him with a smile.
He chuckled at the look on Rabastan's face. "We're engaged now,
Rabastan. Very soon we'll be married and sleeping together and able to
do as we please."
"Not soon enough." Rabastan replied.
Harry got a very evil idea and he stood in the bath, letting the water run
rivulets down his skin, as he took the soapy washcloth to his lower belly,
hips and legs. He couldn't describe the noise that Rabastan made, but it
was animal-like and heavy and deep with lust.
Harry cut a glance to him and he couldn't help laughing, as Rabastan was
leaning forward in the chair, as if to get a better view. It was his fiancé's
gaze more than the water that was warming him up.
"This is torture." Rabastan groaned, but his eyes were glued to Harry's
body.
"Then don't look." Harry said simply.
"That would be even more tortuous!" Rabastan declared. "I'd be imagining
what you were doing instead of watching it and sometimes, the mind can
be worse than the reality."
Harry chuckled softly before sitting down and washing away the soap. He
lay back and wet his hair before he washed it and rinsed it. He climbed
out of the bath and wrapped himself up in a warm, fluffy towel.
"Oh, I forgot my clothes." He said with a grin and a wink at Rabastan,
who exhaled so harshly that Harry was almost concerned for him.
He danced past where Rabastan was sitting and avoided the outstretched
arm that reached out to grab him with a small giggle.
Rabastan did not allow him to escape however, he leapt up with more
strength and speed than Harry was expecting and he wrapped his arms
around him tight, his bristly chin rubbing against Harry's cheek as he
searched for his mouth to kiss him.
Harry turned around and wrapped his arms around Rabastan's neck,
dropping his towel in the process. Rabastan growled as his hands found
smooth, bare skin that was still damp and warm from Harry's bath and he
stroked his hands up and down over as much skin as he could.
Harry broke their kiss with a laugh and he slipped out of Rabastan's arms
and went to his dresser, showing off his bum in the process. He was a
little embarrassed, but let no one ever say that he wasn't brave or
courageous as he bent down to slip on his fresh pair of boxer briefs. He
turned back to look at Rabastan, who was just staring at him, his mouth
slightly open.
Harry laughed. "Are you okay?"
Rabastan swallowed hard. "Never better. You truly are beautiful. So
beautiful."
Harry smiled and went to Rabastan, wrapping his arms back around his
fiancé. "I love you." He declared seriously.
Rabastan's smile was predatory as he swooped down and kissed him
hard, once again his hands touched and stroked as much skin as he could,
even cupping Harry's bum with both hands, lamenting that Harry had
already pulled on his boxers.
"You need to get dressed before I have my arse handed to me." Rabastan
scowled, as if he couldn't believe that he was saying such a thing, but
knowing that he had to.
Harry laughed and he reached around to squeeze one of Rabastan's bum
cheeks with his whole hand, as Rabastan had done to him.
"We can't have that, can we?" He laughed as he went to get dressed,
leaving Rabastan looking slightly shell shocked.
"Did you just pinch my arse?!" He demanded as he watched Harry slip
into his trousers.
"No, I squeezed it, my love. If I'd pinched it, it would have been finger and
thumb, not my whole hand." Harry said easily, trying not to laugh as he
buttoned up his crisp, white shirt.
He failed at the look Rabastan was wearing and he was almost bent
double with laughter.
"Well, you're looking much better." Lucius said as he walked in with no
warning.
"I feel better." Harry said with a smile. "My headache is easing off too,
which can only be a good sign. That headache reliever did absolutely
nothing, though."
"Good, you're recovering. Now, come and eat something and get a cup of
tea into your system before you head back to school."
Harry followed Lucius, pulling Rabastan by the hand after him. He
noticed as they went down the stairs that Rabastan wasn't even holding
onto the bannister with his other hand. There had been a time, not even
all that long ago, when he'd had to consciously put himself on the other
side of Rabastan from the bannister because his, then betrothed, had
needed to hold on going up or down the stairs to support himself. He had
needed the bannister to get himself up or down the stairs and now, he
wasn't even holding on and he wasn't putting any extra weight onto him,
either.
Rabastan could grumble about himself still being weak, or not as strong
as he once was, but he was improving every time that Harry saw him
now and he couldn't have been prouder of his fiancé for the progress that
he had made since last summer…well, really since he'd escaped from
Azkaban over a year ago now. Harry couldn't even imagine what it had
been like for Rabastan, and Rodolphus, when they'd first been broken out
of Azkaban. He'd seen them several months into their recovery, and he
wasn't going to lie, that had been bad enough, but from what little he'd
gleaned from Draco, Lucius, and Rabastan himself, this time last year had
been a very bad time for the two Lestrange brothers. Harry was so proud
of how far the both of them had come in a single year.
"Are you feeling better, darling?" Narcissa asked him, pressing another
bar of Honeydukes' finest chocolate into his hands.
"Yes. I feel much better now." He said with a smile, sending a sly, secret
look to Rabastan over his shoulder. He got the pleasure of seeing those
blue eyes darken with lust and Rabastan put a heavy arm around his
waist. He couldn't wait until they were married together.
"It has just gone lunchtime, do you want something to eat before you go
back?" Narcissa asked him.
Harry considered that and he sighed, shaking his head. "No. I'll hold out
with just chocolate until dinner. I've got to take my potion though."
"Do that now. You don't want to fall behind with them."
Harry nodded and he took out the vial of the calcium potion and got the
chocolate ready. He was given a fresh cup of tea and Harry knocked back
the bottle of potion with Rabastan's supporting hand on his back. He
grimaced and gulped his tea, taking several chunks of chocolate to take
away the awful taste.
Rabastan was holding around his waist, rubbing his back gently to ease
him through the disgust of taking the potion.
"Are you done?"
Harry nodded. "It's all down." He insisted, pushing the empty vial away
from him. "The things I do for my future children."
"Pardon me?" Lucius asked those grey eyes narrowed.
"Oh, that's right, you were out of the room for that conversation. Yeah,
apparently the heavier pregnant I got with the condition that I have, if I
lived long enough to fall pregnant I was reminded, then the more
dangerous it would have been. The baby would have put too much
pressure on my hips and spine and both would have probably broken
before I carried to full term. The baby might have taken out several ribs
too. I might have the ability to carry a baby, but apparently, that doesn't
mean that I'm medically fit to carry one."
"But…these potions will rectify that, yes?" Xerxes asked him.
"Grandfather!" Rabastan hissed. "Harry has just said that a baby…that my
baby, could have killed him if we hadn't found out about this condition!
You need to think of the higher priority!"
"The Lestrange family needs an heir, Rabastan, and Rodolphus won't even
try! That leaves you alone."
"It's a moot point!" Harry cut above them both before a fight could start
over him. "The condition was found, I'm rectifying the damage and
healing the cause of it. I will be healthy and able to carry a baby a year
or so before we are married. It'll just be more dangerous if I carry
anything other than singletons."
"How so?" Lucius asked him.
"The healer pointed out, when he saw in my notes that I carried the gene,
that my hips were very narrow. That leaves little room for the baby to go
lengthways, it'll be all bump." He said holding his hands stretched well in
front of him to demonstrate. "If I have a big baby anyway, and with the
Lestrange genes I have to take that into account, there is going to be little
to no room left for a second baby."
"What if there is a second baby?" Xerxes asked.
"As far as I'm aware there is no record of twins being in your family or
mine." Harry said.
"Male conception is different." Rabastan told him gently. "Sometimes
twins do pop up out of nowhere."
Harry sighed. "Why am I only just hearing of this now?!" He asked, trying
to cling to his anger so that he didn't blow things out of proportion. "You
do remember that I was raised by muggles? I had no clue that there was
even any sort of gene that allowed wizards to fall pregnant, how can you
just expect me to know that sometimes multiples just spring up out of
nowhere?!"
"You're not going to be having a baby for another year and a half, we
didn't want to overwhelm you so soon." Narcissa told him gently.
Harry groaned. "It makes more sense now why that healer kept talking
about the options I had if I fell pregnant with multiples then. The healer
told me that if I did have trouble carrying, or if I did conceive multiples,
then the pressure on my body might be too much for me, and my magic,
to handle. I am not a big guy and I'm narrow. I won't be able to easily
support a pregnancy with multiple babies."
"What options are there?" Rabastan asked him.
"Selective reduction." Lucius said immediately.
Harry nodded. "In order to save one baby, the healers would…terminate
the weaker one. It might be the only way. I denied it at the time but
finding out about the state of my body and how weak it is, how delicate.
If I don't take the selective reduction, if it's needed in the first place, of
course, then I could die from the strain that the pregnancy would put my
body under and I might take the children with me too if they can't be cut
out of me in time."
"I don't want you to die." Rabastan said softly, his arms embracing him
carefully.
"Why didn't you mention this before?" Xerxes asked angrily.
"Before what?" Harry demanded, an immediate flare of icy anger surging
within him, threatening to rip away his hard-won self-control. "I found
out about it last bloody week, when was I supposed to have told you?
When I was feverish and delirious? While I was vomiting up my insides?
When I was sleeping off the ridiculously strong potions I have to take just
to keep me alive past my twentieth birthday? I could have fucking died
from this, Xerxes! I had other things on my mind than a pregnancy that
won't happen for another eighteen months! But no, you're hung up on the
fact that I forgot to tell you that my sixty-year-old, broken body couldn't
handle a pregnancy and that the severe malnutrition I'm suffering with,
thanks to a childhood of abuse, might make it difficult for me to carry
twins in the future. I had other things on my mind and I didn't care about
anything else! I could have died!"
Xerxes was the one to breathe deeply then. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have
made it seem like I cared more about your ability to fall pregnant than I
do about you. It has just been a little bit of a shock to hear more bad
news about your, already delicate, health. Of course, I care more about
the fact that you almost died, you've come to mean a lot to me and I've
come to care for you. I'm sorry if I made it seem otherwise."
Harry eased down and he nodded, before turning back to Rabastan, even
as he was still speaking to Xerxes. "It's okay. I know it's a shock. It was a
shock for me too. I'll be better by the summer with a bit of luck and
though I'm far too narrow to ever comfortably carry anything more than
singletons, I will be able to have children, just not right now."
"Then I believe it's a good thing that you're not getting married until after
you graduate."
Harry smiled tiredly and he sighed. "I might never have known. That's
what's hitting me the hardest at the moment. That's what I can't really
come to terms with, that I would never have gone for that check-up on
my own, that I would have died in my late teens or early twenties
because…because of what those people did to me."
"Don't call them people, darling. That is far too generous a term for
them." Narcissa told him savagely and that made Harry smile again.
"If you told us where they lived…" Xerxes coached gently, but Harry was
already shaking his head.
"You know that I won't. I want it over with now."
"How can it be over when you're still suffering? We should at least legally
prosecute them, Harry, and get justice for you." Lucius told him.
"I don't want to." He said simply. "I'm looking to my future now, I'm
looking ahead, not behind. That's what's important to me."
He looked up into those blue eyes that he loved and he smiled, wider as
Rabastan reached up to cup his cheek gently.
"You're important to me." His fiancé told him seriously and Harry felt
warm right down to his toes. "I will do anything for you."
Harry hugged him tighter just for a moment before he stepped back,
looking to the clock. He sighed.
"I think it was time that you were getting back." Lucius said, noting
immediately where he had looked and why. "Say goodbye to Rabastan."
Harry grinned then, as he got an idea stuck in his mind, and he slid his
hands up into Rabastan's hair and pulled his head down and he kissed
him hard and passionately. Rabastan took over easily and clutched him
tight to the front of his body and Harry couldn't stop the smile that took
over his face when he felt a twitch near his belly. A twitch that had not
been caused by a spontaneous spasm from overstrained muscles.
"Alright, that's more than enough of a goodbye." Narcissa announced
poisonously.
Harry and Rabastan broke apart and Harry chuckled softly. "I'll see you
again soon."
"I'll write to you today." Rabastan told him, his blue eyes burning with
heat. "It should be with you in a few days."
Harry smiled a crooked grin. He moved forward and he kissed Rabastan
again feeling those strengthening arms wrap around his back and hold
him close, with a lot more confidence than Rabastan had had before. He
was coming on in leaps and bounds now, as was his confidence, and it
made him so very happy to see.
"Come along. I will escort you to the school, just in case there are any
issues with your landing or your absence for the morning."
Harry went to Lucius and allowed himself to be side-along Apparated to
Hogsmeade with a last, small wave to Rabastan. He landed hard, again,
and he groaned as his head gave a feeble throb.
"Are you going to vomit?" Lucius asked him, not unkindly, still holding
his arm and around his back to keep him on his feet.
"No. My head throbbed a little, that's all." Harry explained miserably.
"Come along then. Lunch will be ending soon and I wish for you to be
back in your afternoon lessons with no delays."
Harry looked up at the imposing form of the castle in front of him and he
took a deep breath. He had survived the trial in a worse state than he was
in now, he was sure that he could survive his afternoon lessons too, even
if he had to force himself through them with sheer stubbornness and
force of will. He wouldn't allow this condition to get the better of him.
He would carry on as normally as he could, faking health and fitness if he
needed to, as he'd done during the trial. Anything else was unacceptable
as he refused to be the weak link of his family, his adopted one or the
one he would receive upon his marriage to Rabastan.
He would not let them down or give them a reason to be disappointed in
him. He would make them proud of him, whether that took the form of
eloquence and intelligent forethought in the Wizengamot, the highest
possible marks he could receive at school and in his exams and doing his
duty to his, and to Rabastan's, bloodlines, then that was what he would
do.
He would throw himself into everything that he did because at the end of
the day, all he'd ever wanted was a family of his own and to be accepted
wholly and completely and it had taken the man next to him adopting
him as a son to finally get what he'd always wanted. He could never give
that up now, he couldn't give them up, so the only thing left to him was
to defend them all fiercely and loyally with all that he was, because they
had seen through him and they had raised him up and gave him all the
help he could possibly need and the support and the tools to advance
himself and now, with one trip to the hospital, they had also saved his
life. It was clear cut in his mind now, he owed them everything, the
Malfoys and the Lestranges, and as far as he was concerned, he was one
of them now and he would, in actual fact, legally be a Lestrange as soon
as he married Rabastan. He raised his left hand up to his mouth and he
kissed his engagement ring. He was one of them and he was proud to be.
Nothing else now even mattered, not even Voldemort and the brewing
war. He would not be a part of it and whatever the outcome, as long as
his family, all of them, were safe and well, he didn't much care what else
happened around him.
A/N: This chapter has been posted two weeks earlier than planned to
celebrate its nomination and first place win in the Fanatic Fanfic Awards
yesterday. Thank you to those who not only nominated it to go up for
this award, but for voting on it to receive first place and for me to win
first place in the Favourite Veteran Author category too, thank you all so
much, I hope that you all enjoyed chapter fourteen.
The Rise of the Drackens will be posted now next week, for the fifth year
anniversary on the twenty-sixth, seriously cannot believe that five years
have passed by so quickly, but there we go, and Tainted Blood will be up
the week after that too, so we have a busy few weeks ahead!
Massive thanks to HugeYaoiLuv for being the 1,800th reviewer for this
fic!
kneeya: Probably not. This is two, very old, pureblood families we're
talking about here. They are not about to bend over backwards for mere
house elves, regardless of what Harry's past was like, in their eyes Harry
is a human, thus worth infinitely more, so they are outraged that he was
treated like a slave, that he was treated as they would treat an elf, who is
little more than a beast in their eyes. To them an elf is just an elf, a
creature to be used until its death in their service and Harry is now a
Pureblooded Lord of two houses, to even compare him to an elf is an
outrage to them and that's why they are taking it so seriously.
That said though, Rabastan would do almost anything to keep Harry
happy, so as he said in chapter twelve, he will hide his obvious dislike,
even hatred, of Muggleborns, Muggles and house elves for Harry, but he
will never not hate them. Narcissa and Lucius, even Draco, will follow
this example too, to accommodate Harry and make him slightly more
comfortable, but it will stretch to cool civility and nothing more. They
will not say please or thank you to an elf, they will not care about them
or even think to be concerned about them as Harry would, that's just how
they were brought up and they won't change because they don't see a
reason too. They will be civil to make Harry calmer and less upset, but
they won't give in to his every whim just to make him happy.
sori: Yes, their premature aged looks are a result of malnutrition and
poor living conditions. Now that they're free and are eating and taking all
the potions they need, they are getting healthier and thus they look
better. The sunken, wrinkled looks they had when Harry first met them is
slowly disappearing, their faces and bodies are filling out more with
almost unnoticeable improvements daily and Harry has noticed how
firmer and fuller they're looking from their first meeting, he can see it
more clearly than they can themselves because every time he comes
home from Hogwarts, the changes leap out at him from when he last saw
them, changes that Rabastan and Rodolphus cannot see as they happen
so slowly that they go mostly unnoticed by the brothers.
But Harry sees how their skin no longer looks like its stretched right over
the bone, but there is now flesh underneath. Their brittle, limp hair
condition and their brittle, peeling nails are improving with their now
full, nutritious diet, their completions are becoming healthier from the
grey, waxy pallor it used to be with regular time spent in the sun, their
broken, rotted teeth were all removed upon their escape and replaced
with the aid of Skele-gro and they are gaining more and more control
over their muscles with daily training and exercise. They are coming on
incredibly well, but that said they will not, no matter how hard they try,
regain their devastating handsomeness from before Azkaban, they will
always been tarnished by the fifteen years they spent there and there is
nothing that can be done about it. So though they will look much better,
healthier, than they did when they were first broken out, they will never
look as good, or be as fit, as they would have had they never been
incarcerated in Azkaban for fifteen years of their young adult lives.
Ariesp19: I have answered this in previous notes, but Snape doesn't
actually know that Harry is a Horcrux as Dumbledore hasn't told him yet,
so no, he can't tell Voldemort what he doesn't actually know. Snape was
told to rip through Harry's mind, at any cost, to find a link to Voldemort,
which he did find and relay back to Dumbledore, who is the only one
who knew what that link was and how it had come to be there because
he'd suspected it for some time. But Snape himself had no idea of the true
nature of the link he had found. He didn't know it was a part of
Voldemort's soul that he'd found, that Harry was in fact a living Horcrux.
Only Dumbledore knows that for the moment. The 'hot' anger that Harry
feels is his own emotions, the 'icy' anger that flares up almost randomly
and suddenly is caused by the Horcrux, yes.
ThexGypsyxPrincessx: I'm taking Voldemort back to book canon. He is
sane and able to think clearly. He is charismatic and eloquent, but his
methods are violent, fatal and extreme. He has a high voice, and is still
bald headed, no nosed, red eyed and bone pale. But Harry will get to
meet him later in the fic, until then, just the snippet cutaways that I've
already given and will continue to give until the plot lines thicken.
Neville will get a chance to explain that he wasn't at fault, but he and
Harry will never be friends. Harry is engaged to, and will marry and have
the children, of the man who was part responsible for torturing Neville's
parents into insanity. If Harry had to speak to and be with Neville daily,
then the guilt of being with Rabastan would eventually eat him alive. So
no, while Neville is expunged from blame in taking part in bullying
Harry, they will never be friends, they cannot be friends for Harry's own
mental wellbeing.
nightlock475: Harry and Voldemort have not met yet and won't for a
while as Harry doesn't want anything to do with Voldemort or the war.
They have sent letters to one another…well, one letter each, but that's
the extent of their contact for now.
Rodolphus is still recovering from Azkaban and though he hides it better,
he is still as scatter brained and unbalanced as Rabastan. One minute he
loves Harry for what he does for Rabastan and how happy he makes his
brother, thus he gets all the protective feelings towards him, the next
Harry does or says something that rankles with Rodolphus and he bites
out and picks it apart, because that's just who he is. Rabastan will always
be his priority and if Harry threatens Rabastan's recovery or personality
in anyway, then Rodolphus will lash out to protect him, even from Harry,
who can actually take advantage of Rabastan easily as he's in a
vulnerable state. He has only disapproved of their relationship once, right
at the beginning, when he didn't think Rabastan was ready for the
pressure a betrothal would put on him.
I think that was all that needed to be said, lovelies and all the questions
that needed answers! So until the next chapter,
StarLight Massacre. X
15. February
A/N: Dedicated to FotoDi, for one of the most analytical and thought out
reviews I've received for this fic. Thank you so much for actually digging
deeper than the surface words and looking at things from such a unique
perspective. I can't wait for the collision that's inevitably going to happen
between Harry and Bill either, it won't be long now as the panic and the
crippling debt skew with Bill's rationality and his parents' aura of utter
defeat and desperation rip away his logical thought and all objectivity as
he willingly becomes Dumbledore's political mouthpiece in his effort to
take down those who he see as responsible for his family's undeserving
punishment, namely Harry and Lucius.
Last Time
He would throw himself into everything that he did because at the end of the
day, all he'd ever wanted was a family of his own and to be accepted wholly
and completely and it had taken the man next to him adopting him as a son to
finally get what he'd always wanted. He could never give that up now, he
couldn't give them up, so the only thing left to him was to defend them all
fiercely and loyally with all that he was, because they had seen through him
and they had raised him up and gave him all the help he could possibly need
and the support and the tools to advance himself and now, with one trip to the
hospital, they had also saved his life. It was clear cut in his mind now, he
owed them everything, the Malfoys and the Lestranges, and as far as he was
concerned, he was one of them now and he would, in actual fact, legally be a
Lestrange as soon as he married Rabastan. He raised his left hand up to his
mouth and he kissed his engagement ring. He was one of them and he was
proud to be. Nothing else now even mattered, not even Voldemort and the
brewing war. He would not be a part of it and whatever the outcome, as long
as his family, all of them, were safe and well, he didn't much care what else
happened around him.
Chapter Fifteen – February
The night sweats continued, the skull-splitting headaches continued, but
Harry had already adapted to put up with it. He had adapted to be able
to cope with the gruelling side effects of his potions while still continuing
on with his everyday life.
The day that the trial had appeared in the newspapers, the day after he'd
given his own sentencing for the very first time, was the day that he
started being called ruthless and merciless. Those words had appeared
several times in the Prophet article that morning in such sentences as
'ruthless Lord Potter-Black', or 'merciless Lord Potter-Black' along with
wonderful anecdotes about him being 'stoic', 'cold', 'brutal', 'unmoved by
the defendant's desperate pleas' and 'callous in the extreme for voicing
such a sentence'. Draco and Blaise had found massive amusement in the
articles, but outside of the Slytherins and a select few others, there were
very few who found any amusement in the newspaper articles about
what he'd done and said about a 'poor' man who was obviously regretful
and hadn't meant any harm, he'd just been drunk, that's all.
His speeches were printed almost word for word, which he was pleased
about, and he did have those who supported his sentencing as they had
done more research than merely reading the surface pages of the
slanderous Daily Prophet, and they understood the seriousness of what
was done. They came and shook his hand and told him so, but they were
few and far between. But among the muggleborns of Hogwarts, his
popularity had nose-dived. Not that he cared about such things, but the
thinly veiled glares being sent at him were hard to ignore as he drained
his bone-strengthening potion, along with a headache reliever, with a full
cup of tea. All they saw when they looked at him was the 'pureblood' in
him. The one taught by Lucius Malfoy, the one who had sentenced a
muggleborn man to ten years in Azkaban prison for being drunk and
disorderly.
"Hello, Harry. Can I sit down?"
Harry looked up, a little startled at the request before he smiled. "Of
course, Luna. How are you?"
"I've been well. I wanted to check in on how you were." Luna told him as
she slipped her legs under the table and sat opposite him.
"I'm getting better every day." He insisted. "I don't see enough of you
these days, are you having any trouble?"
"Oh no. No trouble." Luna insisted with a soft smile. "I did wonder about
the DA though. I had a lot of fun there."
Harry smiled sadly. "I did too, I really enjoyed teaching, but Ron,
Hermione, and Ginny have turned on me, Luna. I just can't do the DA
anymore, half of those who attended our little sessions hate my guts now,
but if you want tutoring in Defence I can give that to you personally if
you wanted."
"Are you sure? I'd hate to put you out."
Harry smiled. "Luna, you're probably my only remaining friend in the
world. I'd do anything for you."
"I still talk to Neville sometimes. He never stole your things, Harry."
Harry smiled sadly. "I know, Luna. Once I'd calmed down and thought
about things, I realised that Neville would never have done such a thing.
Then the letter from the governors arrived about the amended invoice
the other day after he'd proven himself innocent. There's just too much
water under the bridge. I've come to hate it here." He exaggerated a bit as
he played his fingers over his engagement ring.
"You're missing someone special." Luna said, looking at him playing with
the ring.
Harry smiled then and brought it to his mouth to kiss it, imagining that it
was Rabastan's lips. "Yeah." He said softly. "I am. It's hard being engaged
and not being able to see the one that you're engaged to."
"Do you write to them often?"
Harry nodded. "I'm waiting on a letter. I'm hoping it'll be here soon, just
so I can read their words, the words that they've written with their own
hand."
"You're being very…careful." Luna told him mildly.
"Discreet, I think you'll find." Harry teased with a smile. "I don't want her
to be dragged through the press or be associated with any of this." Harry
scoffed, hitting the newspaper that he'd read and folded by the side of his
plate with the back of his hand.
Luna smiled at him. "I understand." She said. "Aisling is what the rumours
are calling her."
Harry chuckled then. "Oh, so the whispers have already started? And as
usual, they've been modified to get it all wrong. Her name is Aceline,
Luna. She's a year younger than I am and she's at Beauxbatons. I hope to
be joining her next year after I've graduated."
"I'm happy for you." Luna told him genuinely and Harry breathed a sigh
of utter relief that someone who he had once been close to wasn't
snarling in his face for his choices in his own life, whether that was his
adoption, his betrothal and engagement, his soaring grades in school, his
new attitude towards certain things or taking on his Lord Potter-Black
persona.
"Harry, come on." Draco called out, appearing at Luna's shoulder. "Drink
your milk and let's go."
Harry looked at the offending glass and tried to hide how much he
detested it. He knocked it back as quickly as he could, trying not to taste
it, treating it more like a potion than a drink.
"You should try goat milk." Luna told him as she stood up and picked up
her backpack. "It's much milder and better for you." Was her parting shot
as she bounced off past the small gang of Slytherins to go to her own
lessons.
Draco stared at her back for a long moment before turning back to Harry
with a perfect, blonde eyebrow raised.
"Leave her alone." Harry said seriously. "She's one of the bravest people I
know. To be herself, despite everything, takes a courage that most people
will never know. Luna will never conform to anyone else's ideals and I
love that about her. She's her own person and she has the right to be.
Just leave her alone."
"Come on. We'll be late." Draco replied and Harry smiled, standing up
and shouldering his satchel.
He walked with his brother, and the other small group of Slytherins, to
the first lesson of the day; double potions. He had barely sat down on the
stool when the tell-tale throb started in his right temple and rapidly
spread over his forehead, pounding behind both eyes, to the other
temple. He hissed in pain and lifted both hands to either temple to try,
fruitlessly, to rub away the pain. This was not going to be an enjoyable
lesson.
The days passed very slowly for Harry in his pain-filled bubble, about the
only good thing he'd taken from the last few days was Luna's advice
about switching to goat milk, which was milder and thus easier for Harry
to drink. He even started to enjoy drinking it. He by no means liked it,
but he was no longer treating it like a glass of foul potion at least.
He had no idea how he could keep this up for another seven potential
months. When he'd been told that he only had to take these potions until
the summer, he'd thought nothing of it. Realising now that it meant that
he would have to endure daily pain and discomfort, as well as several
serious side effects, for several months was a little harsher in reality.
He still made sure that he took them, however. All he had to do to keep
taking them day after day, to get them all down and stay down, was to
think of Rabastan, and Rodolphus too he supposed, but mostly Rabastan.
It didn't make them taste any better, but it gave him the strength to
swallow each potion, one every morning, one every afternoon and one
every night.
Today was Saturday the first of February, he didn't have to hold
Quidditch practice, he had minimal homework to do and Marcus was at
work today, so he was coming to tutor him tomorrow afternoon instead.
Harry had decided that today would be the day that he went to visit
Remus at Grimmauld Place. He wanted to catch up with Remus and find
out just where Kreacher was going when he wasn't at number twelve, if
the house-elf was even there, which according to Remus wasn't actually
all that often these days.
"Dobby." He called out and not a moment later there was a pop and
Harry had his knees seized in a hug.
"Master Harry Potter calls for Dobby."
"Yes, can you take me to Grimmauld Place, please? I want to see Remus."
Harry held Dobby's hand and in the next moment, he was in the kitchen
of number twelve. It already looked much better, everything had been
scrubbed and the roaring fire made everything look brighter and cleaner.
"Remus?" He called out questioningly, rather loudly too.
There was a clatter from above and Harry smiled as he heard someone on
the stairs.
"That'll be all, Dobby." He said. "Thank you."
The elf bowed and then left, just as Remus came into the kitchen. He
beamed widely at him and pulled Harry into a hug.
"Are you feeling any better?" The werewolf asked while looking at him
critically.
"Yes. I'm getting more used to the side effects of the potions that I'm
taking now." Harry said. "So I'm able to manage them a little better."
"That's great news." Remus said happily. "Would you like some tea?"
"Yes, tea would be great, then we can start picking out paint for this
decrepit place. It definitely looks better than when I was last here,
though." He praised.
"I've been busy cleaning, scrubbing the floors and walls, but as you said,
there's only so much that cleaning will do alone. It needs a full makeover
and a lot of bright paint."
Harry chuckled as he sat down. "Maybe new furniture too. This table has
seen better days. It's a wonder that no one has ever gotten sick from
eating off of it."
Remus shot him a smile before he brought over two large mugs of tea.
Harry drank the one given to him gratefully.
"That's nice." He said happily.
"I saw the article." Remus said carefully.
Harry snorted. "I hope you are intelligent enough to realise that it was
more than for being 'drunk and disorderly' that Mister Jute was put in
Azkaban." He said.
"I would certainly hope so."
"He purposefully drank two bottles of vintage firewhiskey and then he
went on a rampage through muggle Kent." Harry said shaking his head.
"He caused a lot of damage and he injured two muggles, who had to be
treated in St Mungo's and their quality of life has now been decreased
because of his actions. He also put the English dragon reserve at risk by
sharing its exact location and unfortunately, it has recently seen the
number of muggles around it increasing. He needed to be punished,
Remus and I admit that ten years is perhaps a bit excessive, but I wasn't
the one who determined the length of his sentence, Minister Fudge was.
A fine isn't harsh enough, community service isn't harsh enough, it had to
be a prison sentence for what he did. We can't allow anyone to get away
with breaking the Statute of Secrecy or abusing defenceless muggles in
such a blatant way! I'm not going to stand for it and if I'm merciless,
callous and whatever else the papers decide to call me, then fine, but I
am not going to let anyone off with a slap to the wrist for attacking those
without the means to defend themselves. It's not right."
Remus nodded his understanding, looking at him with something akin to
pride and Harry calmed himself down and smiled a bit shyly.
"So what colour kitchen were you thinking of?" Remus asked as he
surveyed the room they were in.
"White." Harry said immediately. "Nice, bright white and not a speck of
dirt."
Remus chuckled. "A little cliché to have a white kitchen, but perhaps
clichés work for a reason."
"I just think that white is more clean for a kitchen and bathroom." Harry
reasoned. "If it's one room in a house you want to be seen as clean, it's
where you prepare and eat food."
"You make a good point. A white kitchen it is."
Harry chuckled as Remus went to find a scrap bit of parchment and a
pencil and he wrote down kitchen dash white. Harry drank more tea
happily.
"Perhaps a hint of colour?" Remus persisted.
Harry chuckled. "Maybe with the appliances. Maybe a touch of grey or
silver? They're nice, clean colours. Especially if it's a soft, pale grey."
Remus nodded again and added a slash beside the white and added pale
grey or silver to the piece of parchment. Harry grinned. He wondered if
he and Rabastan would be doing this one day soon, picking out colours
for their home and decorating it to their preferences so that they could
merge their lives together, so that they could live together.
Once finished with their tea, they went on a tour of the house, Harry had
picked out bright yellow for the hallways, stating that it was the first
place that most people would see and he wanted the house to give off a
bright, friendly feeling as soon as the front door was opened, especially
considering the squalid street it was located on. Remus had grinned at
him and marked it down on the parchment.
They continued in the same vein for hours, going through spare rooms,
guest bedrooms, several bathrooms, picking out colours and arguing over
the brightest shades that they could imagine.
At lunchtime, they had to call a break because Harry needed to take one
of his calcium potions. He had a small sandwich before he washed the
potion down with more tea, but he still gagged on it and almost heaved.
He shook his head and wiped his eyes from the tears that had gathered
there.
"I hate these damn potions." He hissed.
"Are you getting healthier?" Remus asked.
Harry nodded. "That one is combating my calcium deficiency, so I do
need it and I will keep taking it. They're just vile."
Remus chuckled and handed him a bar of chocolate and Harry took it
with a smile.
"Now this more than makes up for the taste." He chuckled.
"How are you getting on in your lessons?"
"Great, did you know that I'm now in the top ninetieth percentile of my
year?" He said proudly.
"Really? Harry, that's great!" Remus said happily.
Harry nodded. "I've worked so much harder this year because it's
expected of me. But you know, I think all I really needed was a kick in
the arse. I needed someone to be proud of what I was doing, someone to
actually care if I was achieving well in school or not. Before it didn't
really matter, no one cared what marks I was getting, I had no one to
show my marks or anything to, so I didn't feel like it mattered. Now that
Lucius is checking through every piece of work I do and gets to see the
breakdown of all my exams and the marks given to me, I just…I want to
do better. I want him to be proud of me and now that he's pushing me
and telling me that everything I do does matter, I'm actually trying
harder and applying myself more and just look at what I can achieve
when I do! All I needed was someone to actually show me that they cared
about what I was doing in school and suddenly, I'm in the top ten per
cent and aiming higher."
"I'm so proud of you, Harry. When I was your teacher, I just knew that
you could do better if only you just tried more. You only ever seemed to
truly apply yourself to Defence Against the Dark Arts."
Harry nodded. "It's because it's my favourite subject." He said. "It was
only ever Defence that I liked, everything else was near enough
mandatory. I wanted to try Care of Magical Creatures as that was
something else that I was really interested in, but, well, as much as I love
him Hagrid ruined that for me."
Remus sighed. "How are the Runes coming on?"
Harry grinned. "Great! Marcus said I'm a natural."
"Marcus?" Remus questioned.
"Flint, do you remember him? He's a genius with Runes and he's giving
me private tutoring."
"Marcus Flint is giving you private tutoring?" Remus asked, utterly
horrified.
Harry nodded. "Yes, and since we've started I have a much better grasp
on the subject."
"But…Marcus Flint?"
Harry chuckled. "I thought the same thing at first. How could a man who
was held back a year possibly tutor anyone? But he is truly gifted with
Runes. He was scouted by a top company at just fifteen years old, Remus.
He focused so much on getting straight O's in his Runes exams that he
ignored everything else and he had to repeat a year to pass his
mandatory exams to be able to graduate, but he had a top, specialist
consultant job waiting for him as soon as he left school. He's not too
bright with anything else, but if it's one thing that he knows, and knows
incredibly well, it's Runes."
Remus swallowed but he nodded too and Harry smiled.
"It's all fine." Harry assured. "He's a professional now and he's been very
nice to me…well, he does have an unorthodox way of teaching, he'd
never be allowed to teach children." He chuckled. "But he's helping me,
so I can put up with some cussing and rather rude remarks about my lack
of intelligence."
Harry stood up and drained his tea.
"I should get back now." He insisted. "Are you sure you can handle the
painting?"
"Of course, it'll give me something to do."
Harry smiled. "It was nice seeing you again."
"It was, we should do this more often, I miss you."
Harry smiled wider and he hugged Remus. "I miss you too. I'll see about
sending you a letter as well. I want pictures when this place has been
brightened up a bit." He laughed.
Harry called Dobby as he said his goodbyes and then he was happily back
in his rooms and after saying his goodbyes to Dobby as well, he sighed,
sitting down and swiping a hand over his head. He was getting drowsy
because of his calcium potion and all he wanted to do was get back into
his soft, warm pyjamas and take a nap. He couldn't though. He needed to
ignore the urge on the weekend so that he could do the same during the
weekday when he needed to stay awake because of his lessons.
He decided to distract himself by going for a walk. It would take a bit out
of him to do so, but if he stayed here then he was going to drift off and
that would be bad for his recovery.
He left his rooms and after a bit of aimless wandering, he decided to go
to the library. He could use the time to read a bit more about the
Wizengamot and exactly how the Council of Magical Law had been
formed. They'd annoyed him a lot during the trial and they seemed to
have had a rather inflated view of themselves if they thought to question
the Wizengamot and get away with it. Perhaps that was Dumbledore's
fault as well, who had been the Chief Warlock before Runcorn. Perhaps
Dumbledore had allowed such interruptions or even allowed those on the
Council of Magical Law to overturn the decisions and rulings of the
Wizengamot in an attempt to spite the pureblooded lords. He would have
to write to Lucius to ask about it.
He made it to the library and he grabbed a piece of parchment from a
table near Madam Pince, he grabbed a bottle of ink and a quill that were
both stamped with 'LIBRARY' in big, bold letters and he took a moment
to write as such down on the parchment, more as a reminder to himself
that he wanted to send a letter to Lucius and what he wanted to include,
as with how drowsy and thick-headed his potions made him he couldn't
trust himself to remember it later.
He went to the political books and he sighed at how dusty they were. He
was probably the first person to even touch them within the last century.
He looked for what he wanted, or at least something that actually seemed
promising, and it took him a while before he actually found something,
but once he had pulled the book from the shelf he was able to sit down
and rest his aching legs. He couldn't wait for this school year to be over.
That bloody healer had better clear him as healthy by the summer, he
didn't know if he could carry this on for much longer than that.
He spent three hours lost in dusty books. Hermione would have been
proud of him…if she wasn't being completely irrational about his
adoption that was. He had written down the information he'd found out
about the Council of Magical Law and he had several more questions to
ask that he could actually pen out into a letter for Lucius, to join the most
pressing question that he wanted to ask and have answered, which was
had Dumbledore given the Council of Magical Law a higher status than
they were meant to have and had he allowed them to overrule the
Wizengamot while he'd been Chief Warlock.
He was kicked out of the library an hour from curfew at eight in the
night and he put his books back and handed in the quill and bottle of ink
that he'd borrowed before tucking the parchment into his pocket. He was
very tired now and he was dreading the thought of the nutrient potion
that awaited him when he got back to his rooms…and the three flights of
stairs that he had to climb up to reach them on the fourth floor.
Unfortunately, he didn't make it to his rooms, he got waylaid on the third
floor by a confrontation with the very Gryffindors that he was hoping to
avoid.
"Must you start now?" He sighed exasperatedly, cutting into a tirade that
he was sure had been very well-rehearsed. "Only it is almost curfew and I
would like to reach my rooms before then."
"I am trying to say sorry!" Ron fumed.
"Save your breath, I don't want to hear it." He snapped. "You made your
intentions incredibly clear when you stole my stuff and destroyed it all.
We have been through this over and over, I don't want to be your friend
anymore!"
"Harry, if we could just sit down and talk?" Hermione tried to reason.
"If this is about the bill again…"
"It's not!" Hermione insisted. "We realise that we need to pay for the
things that we took and broke, we just…we want things to work out, we
want to go back to how things were!"
"That's not a feasible goal." Harry said. "Things are never going to go back
to how they were. I'm not giving up my family and I'm not giving up my
fiancée. Things have already changed in the time that you chose to
abandon me and blame me for something that has definitely been one of
the best things that has ever happened to me!"
"Not…not about that." Hermione said. "Just, let us try and be friends
again."
"No." Harry said, lifting a hand to his head as his vision blurred. Fuck, he
really wasn't well.
"Please, just give us a chance to make things right again." Ginny tried.
"We still care for you."
His saviour came in an unlikely form, of a petite, blonde-haired girl who
stood in front of him and glared with fierce blue eyes at the three
Gryffindors in front of him.
"He has already said no!" Astoria said determinedly.
"It's okay, Astoria." Harry said gently, placing a hand on her small
shoulder and moving to stand beside her, just in case. Draco would never
forgive him if anything happened to his betrothed, but more than that,
Harry would never forgive himself if anything happened to her because
his ex-friends had started on her.
"It's not okay that they're hounding you like this. You've given an answer
and it should be respected!" She directed this last to the three
Gryffindors.
"What does this have to do with you?" Ron sneered at her.
"Don't." Harry growled protectively. "She's a fourteen-year-old girl and an
heiress of the Greengrass family and the future Lady Malfoy."
"You're marrying Malfoy?!" Ron grimaced.
"I am betrothed to Draco and I shall marry him upon my graduation."
Astoria said coolly.
"Come, Astoria. I will escort you to your common room."
"There is no need." Astoria insisted.
"My brother would never forgive me if I didn't escort you. You are to be
my sister-in-law." He said with a smile.
"You make a fine big brother too." She chuckled gently with a pleasant
tinkle to her voice.
"Look, we just want to talk, Harry." Ginny told him insistently.
"This topic of conversation is getting tiresome." He said easily. "I've given
you my final answer, my mind is not going to change, now or ever. We
are not going to be friends again and I'm not going to forgive what you
did and I'm not going to revoke the bill given to your families."
"We were so close once." Hermione said sadly.
"Well, I think you effectively ruined that closeness when you destroyed
all of my stuff in a petty, petulant attempt to hurt me by taking away the
one thing that you knew that I could never truly replace!" He said
angrily, his temper, as ever, making an appearance at last. It had likely
taken so long to flare up because of how tired and drained he felt thanks
to his potions and the underlying disease that he was taking them for.
The anger made him feel worse and that just served to make him angrier.
"Harry, don't waste your energy on these people." Astoria cautioned
gently, knowing that he'd recently been taken from school because of an
illness. He didn't know how much Draco would have told her, but she
knew that he'd recently been ill and that he wasn't a hundred per cent
still. Everyone in the school knew and the rumours were rife among the
other students. He'd even heard whispers that he was supposedly at
death's door.
"Shut up you snobby little cow." Ginny snapped.
"Do not speak to her that way." Harry demanded furiously, trying to
ignore the way his vision blurred with his anger. He really needed to get
to his rooms and just lie down so that he could rest.
"She's a Slytherin, Harry!" Ron told him as if he didn't already know it.
"She's a person, Ron! Astoria is my brother's betrothed." He growled back.
"She is to be my sister-in-law and I will not stand to have her spoken to in
such a way. Carry on and I will ensure that you're expelled for bullying."
He threatened.
"Ever since you were adopted by that Death Eater you've been best pals
with those snakes!" Ron exploded. "You've changed and everyone can see
it!"
"So what if I have changed?" Harry asked loftily. "It's only for the better."
He insisted. "I am in the top ten per cent of the year, I am getting straight
Os in every class except for Arithmancy and Ancient Runes, of which I
am getting EEs and I'm working on turning them into Os as well and I
truly think that's brilliant considering that I only picked up both subjects
this year. I have a loving, supportive family, I have a brother, a sister-in-
law." He said touching Astoria's shoulder. "But best of all, I have my own
fiancée whom I love and will marry upon her graduation, both of our
apprenticeships willing, of course."
"Apprenticeships?" Hermione murmured. "Did you not want to be an
Auror, or has that changed along with everything else?"
"It's changed because I was never really sold on the whole idea of being
an Auror in the first place. It was actually doing the DA that truly
changed my mind on that. I want to be a teacher." He said.
"You'll make a fine teacher too…Professor Potter." Astoria teased.
Harry laughed and shook his head. "Thankfully it won't be here at
Hogwarts. I will be Monsieur Potter as I will be teaching at Beauxbatons."
"You're going to France?" Ron demanded.
"As that is where Beauxbatons academy is located, yes, Ron, I will be
going to live and work in France." Harry sighed. "Aceline told me about
their amazing teaching apprenticeship. Of course, it helps that it'll mean
that I'll be closer to her, seeing as she's a student there."
"Now don't go breaking any rules, Monsieur Potter." Astoria giggled.
"You'll be a teacher, you're not allowed to get frisky with the students."
Harry laughed then. "Not even if the student in question is my own
fiancée?"
"Especially not then." Astoria told him. "It's unseemly and against
tradition."
"A good thing that I'll be kept very busy then." He smiled.
"More so when you become a father."
Harry nodded, but Hermione's face went slack.
"Aceline is pregnant?" She demanded shrilly.
Harry forced himself to look stunned, as opposed to laughing out loud.
"Of course not!" He snapped. "We are not even married yet! We are both
still in school! Such a thing would be a serious breach of our betrothal
contract! We are not allowed such contact until we are married. We
aren't even allowed to be alone together in case such a situation arises
that we've just discussed."
"All this pureblood nonsense…Harry, it's gone on for long enough now!"
"I'm sorry you feel that way, but this is who I am now. You made your
choices when you turned from me purely because I'd been adopted by a
loving family. You severed our bond when you told me that I deserved to
be kept in an abusive home and you destroyed any chance we ever had of
reconciling when you tried to destroy my belongings. No more!" He
shouted the last and he watched them jump out of their skins. "Stop
approaching me, stop trying to speak to me and stop trying to wheedle
your way back in with this false front of apologies. You don't want to be
my friend, you just want the debt you owe to me to go away!"
"It's not like you can't fucking afford to pay for it!" Ron raged.
Harry gasped and clutched at Astoria, pulling her back behind him.
"How dare you use such vulgar language in front of a young lady!" He
shouted. "Who do you think you are? She is a fourteen-year-old girl and
she doesn't deserve to hear such things from you! I could afford to pay
the bill a hundred times over, but that isn't the point! We've had this
conversation before and I'm fed up of repeating myself! I didn't destroy
my own stuff, why should I pay for it when it was you who broke all of
it?!"
"Harry, are you alright?"
Harry felt Astoria relax in his arms as Draco came to stand beside them.
Harry looked at her and then he smirked. She must have been with
friends when she'd happened upon him…she had sent her friends to find
Draco, who had come to help.
"I'm fine, just angry that this is still happening." He sighed to Draco
before turning back to his former friends. "I've given you the same
answer, again and again, so just accept it and move on!" He told the three
Gryffindors in front of him.
Blaise came to stand beside him and Harry felt his supportive touch on
his back. Blaise might have been a bit of a perverted joker at times, but
when he needed to be serious, he was deadly serious.
"You heard him." Blaise snapped. "He doesn't want to be friends with you.
He wants you to leave him alone!"
"Come on, Harry." Draco walked off, past the trio and Harry followed,
keeping himself between them and Astoria. Blaise followed behind like a
hulking, protective shadow.
"The nerve of those tossers." Blaise scoffed.
"Harry was brilliant." Astoria giggled.
"As I always am." Harry smirked.
"Careful there, brother. We might not fit your head through your door."
Draco scoffed.
Harry laughed. "If your head will fit through it, mine will."
They made it peacefully back to Harry's rooms and Harry immediately
started making tea for them all, setting out four mugs on his small square
of counter as the other three sat on the settees and made themselves at
home.
He brought the tea over and a plate of biscuits and he sat next to Blaise
with a sigh, rubbing his head.
"Are you okay?" Draco asked him then, more seriously. "I know you
haven't been well lately and that confrontation wouldn't have helped."
"I was feeling tired and drained before, but my vision kept blurring every
time the anger spiked. Why can't they just take no for an answer?" He
demanded.
"They realise now what they've lost." Blaise insisted, drinking his tea.
"You're still a celebrity, you're the lord of two very prominent, well-
respected houses and you're filthy rich."
Harry snorted. "I'd like to think that I have friends for more than just
those reasons."
"Well, it helps that we're all filthy rich and from prominent houses too."
Blaise added. "You still have us beaten on the lordships and the whole
being a celebrity thing though." He winked.
Harry laughed then and drank some of his own tea.
"You keep high company these days, Potter." Draco smirked.
"That is Potter-Black…soon to be Lestrange." He winked.
"You are taking Rabastan's last name then?" Astoria asked.
Harry nodded. "It was never a problem for me to decide. I would be
honoured to take his name."
"You would still be the lord of the Potter and Black houses, but you
would be happy to be Harry James Lestrange?"
Harry nodded happily, getting a dopy look on his face as he thought of it.
He brought his ring to his lips and kissed it almost on automatic now.
"Dear Merlin, look at your face! You're so in love!" Blaise laughed.
Harry grinned unrepentantly. "I am and I just don't even want to hide it.
Thanks again for teaching me a bit of French. I've made sure to practice it
with others around, to try and plant seeds."
"That's alright, anything that keeps your luscious arse safer."
"Oi!" Draco immediately leapt to Harry's defence, almost literally as he
sat up straighter and hovered on the edge of the settee. "I mean it, Blaise,
leave him alone!"
Blaise just laughed. Astoria giggled as she watched and Draco scowled
and sat back on the settee and he seemed to place his arm around her
without thinking. Harry watched as Astoria noticed Draco's touch and her
eyes widened a little in surprise before she smiled and shifted just slightly
to turn more towards him.
It made Harry smile to see it. He turned to Blaise and grinned.
"I see." Blaise chuckled. "Are you sure you don't want to hook up?"
"I'm sure, Blaise. Rabastan and I…we've had our ups and downs I'll admit,
but I love him so much."
"I know, it's just so much fun to wind up Draco." Blaise laughed. "Besides,
you have got to be the hottest fucker I've met…well, since you got rid of
those hideous glasses and stopped dressing like a prisoner."
Harry snorted. "Thanks, I guess." He laughed.
"I always said that you had potential, didn't I, Draco?"
"Hmm, what was that?" Draco asked, breaking off from what Astoria was
saying at the sound of his name.
"I was just telling Harry that I'd always said that he had potential,
remember I'd say as such?"
"You did, but I swear to Merlin, Blaise if you don't leave him alone…"
"I'm complimenting him on his appearance!" Blaise grinned. "Now that
he's properly groomed, of course."
"You say that as if I'd never had a bath before I was adopted." Harry
laughed.
"You didn't even own a brush!" Draco replied.
"Even when I do brush it no one can tell!" Harry said. "It goes straight
back into these odd, messy tufts."
"You wore it lovely over the winter parties." Astoria told him. "How did
you manage that?"
"Ah, that was all Draco." Harry grinned. "And a vat of potion and about
an hour's hard work."
Draco scoffed. "And the rest!" He joked. "Your hair is a nightmare to work
with."
"I can't wait to pass it onto mine and Rabastan's children." He giggled.
"Your nieces and nephews are going to have this hair, Draco."
"Dear Merlin, I didn't even think of that." Draco groaned.
"Here you go kids, off to Uncle Draco. He'll sort out your hair and outfits
for you." Harry laughed uproariously.
"I told you he wasn't as nice as he seemed!" Draco directed to Astoria,
who let out that tinkling laugh again.
Harry snorted. "I'm the nicest person you know."
"He's got you there." Blaise grinned.
"Right, I'm leaving! Come on, Astoria. I will escort you to the common
room."
Harry chuckled. "I need to take that potion and get some rest anyway."
Harry said as he collected up the four mugs and went to dump them in
his sink.
"Will you be okay?" Draco asked him, coming to look into his eyes for a
hint that he wasn't as well as he seemed.
"I'll be fine. I'm getting used to this now." Harry said quietly. "I'll take the
potion and climb straight into bed. A nice bath in the morning will help
me feel better and more human, so don't worry if I'm a little late down to
breakfast."
Draco searched his face and then his eyes critically before he nodded.
"Make sure that you get plenty of sleep, it'll help you to recover."
Harry smiled at the brotherly concern and he clapped Draco's shoulder.
"Go on, get out of my rooms before I'm forced to endure more of your
riveting company."
Draco snorted. "Has Rabastan written to you yet?"
"His letter is due any day, but you know it takes him a while to write
things. The wait is killing me though." He admitted with a laugh.
"You'd think you'd get sick of writing little love letters to one another."
Harry grinned then. "Oh, they've taken a more…private turn recently."
Draco's face fell and the look of horror directed at him made Harry laugh,
nice and deep and from the belly.
"Stop joking around."
Harry just turned with a grin still on his mouth and he winked cheekily,
going to his cupboard to fetch his needed potion.
"Please, tell me you're joking." Draco all but begged.
Harry laughed. "Just…don't read any of my letters."
Draco shivered visibly and turned. "If there was one thing that I never
needed to know, it was that!"
Harry laughed again as Draco held his arm out for Astoria and went to
the door.
"I'll see you tomorrow." Harry said as he saw the three of them out,
closing his door after them.
He laughed to himself then and shook his head. He got himself a glass of
pumpkin juice and tried to prepare for the vileness of his nutrient potion.
Nothing he did worked and again he had to think of Rabastan to swallow
it all down and keep it down. He kept that thought in his head, of
Rabastan and their future children…children that they might not be able
to have if he didn't take these potions.
He dressed in loose clothes and took one of his books to bed with him.
He was cold now, it being February with snow on the ground, but he
would soon start to sweat in the night and he'd learnt that if he wore too
much then he would keep waking up in the night, overheated, and he'd
end up being nigh on exhausted tomorrow. So he put up with being cold
and he would distract himself with the book until he was tired enough to
fall asleep. Then it was just cleaning himself up in the morning and
stripping his bed. He couldn't fucking wait until he no longer had to take
any of those potions and he was completely healthy and where he should
be in regards to his age.
February crawled along at a snail's pace as he tried to do the mountain of
homework that had been given to him while dealing with his blatant
illness and fatigue. He swiped an arm over his sweating forehead yet
again and grimaced as it came away soaking wet. There was nothing else
for it now, he would have to go and sit in the bath for a bit, he couldn't
take this anymore, he was already sitting on his living room floor
completely naked. He'd made sure to send Dobby to Draco with a note to
tell him not to visit, because he knew that as soon as Draco noticed him
missing, he would charge up here to look for him and he wouldn't
survive the embarrassment of that, neither of them would.
He grabbed one of the Ancient Rune's books that Marcus had given to
him during their tutoring lessons yesterday and he went to his bathroom,
flicking his wand and sending a charm to the bath taps to start them
running.
The book was actually really interesting, but it wasn't on the Hogwarts
reading list because 'they're fucking stupid shits' according to Marcus.
Harry had chuckled at that, but now he could see why Marcus was so
disgusted and angry that this book wasn't included in the curriculum.
Harry had understood more about the complex Runes from this book
than he had in several months of lessons.
He sat in the bath for an hour, as it went from blisteringly hot to help
him sweat out the potion, to moderately warm, to lukewarm, and then
cold.
He felt more refreshed as he stepped out and dried himself off before
actually getting dressed for the day. Maybe he would actually manage to
get down to lunch and stop Draco from freaking out over his absence.
Checking his appearance, Harry used a simple spell to dry his damp hair
and he dutifully tugged a brush through it half-heartedly. It didn't look
any different to him, perhaps a little more fluffier than usual, but Draco
swore that he'd always be able to tell if he ever came out of his rooms
without brushing his hair first and all the times that Harry had tested this
theory, Draco had somehow known.
Thankful that it was a Sunday, Harry didn't bother with his robe, lest he
wore too much and set off his sweating again. Instead, he stuck with a
casual pair of wool trousers and a cable knit jumper. He already looked
like a panda because of the huge dark circles under his eyes from a
restless night of tossing and twisting in the bed with the night sweats…at
least he hoped that that was all it was and he hadn't gone down with a
cold or something. Perhaps he should go to Madam Pomfrey and get a
pepper-up from her, just in case.
He rubbed his tired, itchy eyes as he realised then that if he did that then
he'd have to tell her what other potions he was taking so that he could be
sure that the pepper-up wouldn't interfere with them and then those
potions would be on his Hogwarts record that Dumbledore could pull at
any moment.
He scowled and decided to just suck it up and carry on, it was only a cold
if he did have anything, he'd be fine.
He made it to the Great Hall and decided that, fuck it, he wanted to sit
with Draco today, so he automatically made his way to the Slytherin
table.
"Harry, you look awful." Pansy greeted him, which sent Draco swinging
around to face him.
"Thanks for that." He said as he sat next to Draco, squeezing out Daphne,
making sure to sit the furthest side of him because Astoria had the other.
"You really don't look well." Draco told him.
"I have already noticed, you don't have to keep mentioning it." He
grumped, taking his empty bowl and half-filling it with spiced pumpkin
soup.
"Is it the potions?" Draco asked concernedly.
"It can't possibly be anything else." Harry sighed, checking his forehead
with the back of his forearm. It was dry for now, but he was getting
warm again. "The nutrient potions have been awful, I still have a skull-
splitting headache from the bone-strengthening potion I took this
morning and I have to take the calcium potion now, as soon as I've
finished eating. I just can't keep it up. As soon as one symptom goes, I
have to take another potion and put up with something else, only today
the sweating from the nutrient potion didn't trail off in the morning, the
headache hasn't gone and now I have to add drowsiness on top of it."
"Are you sick?" Draco asked. Harry just gave him a glare. "No, I meant
have you picked something else up, like a cold?"
"Probably, because I obviously don't have enough to deal with already,
let's throw a fucking cold on top of it all." Harry rubbed his head and
sighed. "I apologise for my rude language, ladies."
"No offence taken, you weren't aiming it at us and you didn't mean it
maliciously." Astoria responded primly.
"Go to Madam Pomfrey."
"I can't." Harry sighed. "Father doesn't want Dumbledore finding out
about what sort of illness I have lest he tries to take advantage of it."
"Madam Pomfrey can't tell anyone, she's sworn to the same oaths as the
healers at St Mungo's." Pansy sniffed as if she thought he was being
particularly stupid to not know as such.
Harry sighed heavily. "Every diagnosis and potion she gives out is noted
down in our school medical records, records that Dumbledore, as the
headmaster, can pull and read at any time he pleases." He explained. "I'd
have to tell her what potions I'm taking to make sure that any others she
gives me don't interfere with them and it could be pieced together what
I'm taking those potions for, thus Dumbledore would know."
"So go to Professor Snape." Blaise told him. "He is still a Potion's Master
and he does have limited experience in healing, if you do only have a
cold or something he could probably help you."
Harry groaned. "I'd rather go back to my rooms and die than talk to him."
"Then you're cutting off your nose to spite your face." Draco told him. "I
won't allow it. You will come with me to his office after lunch and I will
force you to see him."
"It's probably nothing." Harry insisted.
"But it might be something." Draco shot back stubbornly. "Now eat your
soup, you need your strength."
Harry sighed and went back to his small bowl of soup, eating slowly, just
in case he really was sick and his stomach decided to reject anything.
"Are you sure that that's all you want?" Draco asked worriedly when
Harry finished eating and Draco realised that all Harry wanted to eat was
a small, half-full bowl of soup.
"I'm sure." Harry sighed before he knocked back the calcium potion and
then glugged a full glass of juice. He screwed up his face and shook his
head on reflex, but managed to get it all down before he could gasp for
air.
Draco touched his back and his thumb rubbed gently and Harry ducked
his head, liking the way it felt. It helped to ease the tight muscles in his
back and neck as he relaxed and just sat there, head hanging down, as his
body relaxed bit by bit.
"Come on, we need to get you to see Professor Snape." Draco insisted as
he stood up and helped Harry to stand. Blaise came to stand on his other
side and they walked as normally as they could out of the Great Hall, if a
bit slower than usual.
Harry was helped down the stone stairs into the dungeon and then down
the dimly lit corridors to Snape's office. He hadn't been present at lunch
in the Great Hall, so they were hoping that he was in his office.
He wasn't, apparently, as no matter how hard Draco knocked, no one
answered.
"Great, can I just go and collapse in my rooms now, before I do so in the
middle of the corridor?" Harry snapped sarcastically.
"I suppose that would be for the best, for now." Draco relented.
They'd barely made it halfway back down the corridor when they
bumped into the very man that Harry didn't want to see.
"And what might you be doing down here?" Snape asked silkily.
"Sir, Harry's not well."
"Clearly." Snape said. "Perhaps you should have dragged him to the
matron instead."
"Father doesn't want the nature of his illness discovered. If he goes to
Madam Pomfrey, he'll have to tell her what potions he's taking."
Snape sighed heavily as if it was so burdensome to just look after the
students around him. To him it probably was.
"To my office." He ordered and swept around them to walk on ahead.
The three of them made it back to the office to find the door open and
Snape preparing things he might need with deft hands.
Blaise shut the door behind them while Draco settled Harry on a
dragonhide settee.
"What seems to be the problem, Potter?"
"If I knew then I wouldn't be asking." He said as he raised his arm and
rubbed it across his forehead in an almost habitual move…his arm came
away wet.
"It looks like he has a cold, Sir, but he can't go to Madam Pomfrey
because of the other potions he's taking. She'll have to record them down
and then the headmaster will be able to work out what illness he has."
"This is a problem?" Snape demanded.
"The potions make me tired, drowsy and weak." Harry admitted. "Father
thinks that if learnt, then others could take advantage of me in such a
state."
Snape nodded and sighed. "What are you taking and for what?" He asked
as he flicked his wand over him in sharp gestures.
"Nutrient potions for malnutrition and bone-strengthening and calcium
potions to try and rectify hypocalcaemia."
Snape actually managed to look surprised for a moment, Harry almost
smiled at that, but he kept firm control of himself.
"You have hypocalcaemia and malnutrition at sixteen years old?" Snape
asked.
Harry nodded.
"How severely?" Snape asked him.
"The healers told me that I probably would have died before I was twenty
if I had gone on undiagnosed and untreated." He said, swiping his head
again as his forehead prickled with sweat. "The nutrient potions are taken
at night, but cause this awful sweating, but it usually goes by the
morning and it hasn't today. The bone-strengthening potion causes awful
headaches, that are usually gone by now and today it hasn't gone and the
calcium potion makes me tired and woolly-headed."
Snape nodded, he already knew all of that, of course, he did. "How did
you gain such a condition at so young an age, Potter?"
Harry snorted. "Adopted by the Malfoys for unspecified abuse." He said.
"The muggles I lived with never treated me the best."
Draco made a harsh, angry noise then. "Never treated you the best?
Those beasts could have killed you! Why do you have to play down
anything and everything that happens to you?"
"I don't know how else to deal with it." He admitted, his woolly head
making him loose-lipped. "How else am I supposed to deal with the fact
that my only remaining blood relatives treated me so poorly that I could
have died from their care?"
Draco blew out a breath. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to suggest that it's not
difficult for you."
"You are alluding to very serious, severe abuse, Potter."
"Not alluding to anything." He grunted. "They locked me in a cupboard
and starved me for over a decade of my life. Coming to a boarding school
probably saved my life, or at least added a few years onto the end if I was
going to die before I was twenty anyway."
"You're not going to anymore." Draco told him. "That's what the potions
are for."
Harry nodded his understanding but swiped his hand yet again across his
dripping forehead.
"I suspect that you've picked up a cold, Potter." Snape told him. "An
illness that causes fevers, headaches, aches and pains and tiredness. It
seems as if the side effects of your potions are not going away when truly
it is just the cold making itself known. It is safe for you to take a pepper-
up potion with the potions that you are already on. Hopefully, this will
knock the cold on the head and you'll start to feel better in a few days."
Harry took the beaker of potion and sighed. After this, he was going to
become a pro at swallowing foul potions. He knocked it back and
swallowed hard, getting all of the potion down and ignoring the steam
that came from his ears for several moments afterwards.
"I suggest, Draco, that you see your brother to his bed and leave him
there." Snape said and as easily as that they were dismissed and Blaise
and Draco helped him to his feet and then made the gruelling walk back
to his rooms. Or at least it was gruelling for Harry.
"Do you want some tea?" Draco asked, already moving to his little
kitchenette and filling up his teapot.
Harry nodded. "Put lemon and honey in it for me, please?" He begged.
"The last thing I need is a sore throat too."
Blaise threw a blanket over his lap and Harry gave him a glare.
"What? You need to be kept warm and cosy."
"I'm already sweating out my body weight." He complained.
"That's normal for sick people." Blaise pointed out. "You need to be kept
warm."
Draco handed him a mug that smelt heavily of lemon and Harry chuckled
as he fished out the lemon half bobbing in his cup.
"You've never had to make tea in your life, have you?" Harry grinned.
"Shut up, I'm trying to do something nice for you." Draco replied, handing
Blaise a mug.
Blaise took a sip and grimaced.
"That or he's trying to poison us all."
Harry laughed tiredly. Truthfully, he could barely taste anything over the
lingering, spicy taste of the pepper-up potion, but he could feel the honey
as he swallowed globs of it and the amount of lemon juice caused his
tongue to prickle, but he smiled and thanked Draco anyway.
"You need to tell father." Draco said. "Rabastan too."
Harry shook his head then, more so at telling Rabastan than Lucius. "He
has more than enough to deal with himself, without me bitching about a
mere cold."
"That's not the point." Blaise told him gently. "It's not about who has it
worse or who's suffering the most. It's about communication and support.
He can still look after himself and give a bit of sympathy to you and you
can still support his recovery while taking a bit of comfort for yourself.
Just because he's in a bad way does not mean that you can't tell him that
you have a bit of a cold and feel dreadful. Just the same as when you're
in heavy labour and he tells you that he has a bit of a headache from
your screeching and that you've possibly broken all the fingers in his
hand and to let the fuck go of it."
Harry laughed at that then. "I'd kill him if he so much as mentioned
having a headache when I was in labour with his child. I've seen women
in labour on the programmes my aunt used to watch and if I feel half the
amount of pain that was etched onto their faces then the merest mention
of anyone having so much as a hangnail will set me off."
"Draco, I wish to be notified when the baby is actually born and not
when your brother goes into labour, I will not be coming around to
support either of you." Blaise said.
Harry laughed again and he grinned. "I suppose it won't be so bad." He
said. "The books I've read on male pregnancy have all been rather vague,
so I'm not sure if I should be worried, or if I'm overinflating everything
with my imagination."
"You could always speak to mother about it."
"The last I knew she'd never had a male pregnancy." Harry teased.
Draco snorted. "You knew exactly what I meant and it wasn't that!"
"I'll see now when we go home for Easter." Harry nodded.
"Write to father. Write to Rabastan." Draco all but ordered.
Harry rolled his eyes and he picked up the letters that he was currently
writing from under his coffee table. One was rather short and written in
plain black ink. The other was almost a foot and a half in length and was
a bright, rainbow of all different colours and shades.
"You have far too much fun with colour-coding your letters." Blaise
observed.
Harry chuckled. "It really helps Rabastan. He feels so much better about
himself that he can finish reading all these long letters. It really boosts
his confidence."
Harry dipped his quill into the black ink and he finished the letter to
Lucius, mentioning offhandedly that he'd come down with a cold and
that he'd seen Snape for a pepper-up potion after making sure that it
wouldn't interfere with any of the potions that he was already taking.
He left the letter to dry before moving on to Rabastan's more colourful,
more interesting letter, which he'd already finished and signed. He added
a PS at the bottom, more like a footnote than anything, telling him about
his cold, that he was going to be fine in a few days and not to worry. He
left that to dry as well before fishing out two envelopes and readying his
stamp seal…which was pretty awesome to play with. The goblins had
fashioned it for him after he became Lord Potter-Black, and it was quite
literally a merging of house crests with both family mottos on it, the
Potters at the top, as his birth family, the Blacks on the bottom, as his
godfather's, and his legitimised, family. To make it official he had to use
a darkened red wax and he happily blobbed some onto the first letter and
stamped it, holding the seal down for a moment and then peeling it back
off before doing the same to the second letter. Lucius had shown him
how to do it properly when the official stamp had arrived and even he
had remarked on how easily Harry had picked up on how the stamp
worked…he didn't have the heart to tell the man that it was very close to
a toy to him and he enjoyed playing with it.
"Please tell me that you don't leave that lying around for just anyone to
pick up." Draco sighed heavily.
"No, it's kept in this case." Harry pointed to the case that he'd taken the
stamp and the official wax sticks from. "Only I can even open the top of
it. Here."
Harry replaced the stamp and the unused wax and closed it, before
handing it over to Draco and Blaise, watching as they each tried to open
the case, with their hands and then with their wands.
"It reads my magical signature and opens only for me. It'll do the same to
the proxy that I name too."
"Who is your proxy?" Draco asked.
"I haven't picked one yet. As my husband-to-be, it really should be
Rabastan, but given his fugitive status, that's a little difficult to actually
manage. So, I'm actually trying to think of someone without offending
the Lestranges and think of someone who I'd actually trust to listen to my
wishes instead of just voting on their own desires, even against my own
opinion."
"Father would listen to your wishes." Draco said immediately.
Harry nodded. "He's on the maybe list. I just need to think about it a little
more."
"Do you want me to send off your letters for you?"
"Would you mind?" Harry asked, swiping his sweaty forehead again.
"No. I'd feel better if you stayed here and didn't wander all the way up to
the west tower." Draco insisted. "Get back into your pyjamas and go back
to sleep."
Harry sighed and he nodded, handing over the two letters and standing
up. Blaise had already collected up the mugs and set them in the sink.
Harry saw the two of them out and then went straight to his bedroom so
that he could strip off and climb into bed.
He thought that it would take him a while to drop off as it was the
middle of the day, but it took barely several minutes before he was flat
out and sleeping like the dead, resting his battered body and hopefully
letting it recover from everything that was wrong with him.
Monday morning came far too soon for him and he batted away his
blankets to try and wake himself up and he had to force himself from the
bed.
He went straight to his bathroom and he jumped into the shower, to get
rid of the congealed, gel-like sweat from his body. He barely remembered
waking up at eight in the night to get a drink, a sandwich and to take
that hellish nutrient potion, but that he remembered it vaguely made him
feel better about not missing any of his potions.
He washed quickly before he got out and dried himself off. He brushed
his teeth and then brushed his hair before he pulled on his uniform and
he had to do his tie twice to get it done up properly. He put his little
teapot on his hotplate before he went into his study room and packed up
what he needed, thankful that he was so organised now under the
influence of Lucius Malfoy and he had set all of his books out in subject
piles and all he had to do was look what subjects he had today and put
the correct pile of books and parchment into his book bag. He made sure
that he had parchment and a selection of inks and quills before he took
his bag back out into his living room cum kitchenette in time to pull his
whistling kettle from the hotplate and make himself some tea.
He took twenty minutes to himself, swallowing down his bone-
strengthening potion and a headache reliever, downing them both one
after the other with his tea, before he slipped on his shoes, picked up his
bag and made his way down to breakfast. He again chose to sit with
Draco.
"You look better today." Astoria told him.
Harry smiled weakly as his head started to split open with the side effect
of the potion that he'd taken. The bone-strengthening potion was
definitely the worst. He could handle the sweating and the drowsy, thick-
headedness, but these skull-splitting, brain-wrenching headaches were
awful and left him barely able to focus on anything.
Draco started setting him up with a glass of goat milk and some dry toast,
fussing around him and Harry smiled. Draco was a good big brother, he'd
be a good father too.
Harry peeled the toast apart, tearing off the crusts and nibbling at the
insides, sipping on the goat milk delicately. He abandoned the toast and
picked at some fruit instead, eating most of a banana and a small bunch
of grapes. Draco pushed a red grapefruit at him, already cut into wedges
for him and Harry sighed, picking up each wedge and tearing out the red
flesh inside.
He wiped his hands and chin on a napkin and drained the rest of his milk
and then sat resting.
"Do you feel better?"
"The pepper-up really knocked the edge off." He said with a weak smile.
"It's the headache that's the worst now."
"So take a headache reliever." Daphne scoffed. "What are you, a muggle?"
"I've already taken one and it always has little effect." Harry growled out
from between clenched teeth.
"Come on, let us get you to your first lesson." Draco said gently.
Harry allowed himself to be escorted to his lessons and he tried to ignore
the pain in his head. The day passed like a blur to him, a horrible,
sweaty, achy blur. Lunch was more warming soup and a slice of brown
bread, along with his calcium potion. All he wanted after that was to
crawl into his bed and sleep, but he had to go to his afternoon lessons
instead.
He struggled through his three lessons after lunch, the half an hour break
before the last lesson of the day did absolutely nothing to make him feel
any better, he was still feeling thick-headed, stupid and like he'd never
remember what his lessons had even been about until finally the bell
rang to signal the end of the last lesson of the day and the start of dinner
and he was about ready to drop.
He trudged to the Great Hall on slow, heavy feet, found Draco at the
table and dropped down beside him heavily. He chose a beef stew and he
nibbled at it, his appetite not really up to much. Draco stared at him
worriedly and Harry sighed, knowing that he was going to send his own
letter to the older Malfoys, if he hadn't done so already. Harry would
expect a visit from Lucius in the near future if Draco kept up his
penchant for over-exaggeration.
He was escorted back to his rooms, but Draco left him at the door,
leaving him to rest in peace, but Harry pushed off his exhaustion to grab
a cup of tea and pull some homework towards him. If he didn't keep on
top of it now, then he was never going to have a moment to himself from
now until the summer.
He did some of his more urgent pieces of homework and some of his
easier pieces before giving in to his exhaustion.
He stood and just left everything on his coffee table as it was, only
moving to stopper his ink. He grabbed a glass of juice and his nutrient
potion from the cupboard and he drained the latter and gulped the
former before he stripped out of his robes and uniform. He brushed his
teeth, but even that was half-hearted and sluggish, before he got into
loose pyjamas and he crawled into bed. It was barely nine at night, but
he didn't care. He was exhausted and he wanted, needed, some decent
sleep. A good ten or eleven hours would do him, he just hoped that his
night sweats didn't wake him up in the middle of the night again, he
really needed to just sleep and not wake up. He was absolutely
exhausted, completely drained and he just didn't know how to make
himself feel any better. He needed to take his potions, but they were
making him feel so sick…much sicker than he'd ever felt before when he
hadn't been taking them. He needed a break, that's all. A nice, long break
away from the sweating, the headaches and the drowsiness, the thick-
headed woolliness, the weakness, the aches and pains throughout his
whole body. He just wanted to be normal again, like he'd been back
before he'd ever been diagnosed with hypocalcaemia.
A/N: Updating today to support my readers in America by offering a
small distraction and a small dip into fantasy and away from the harsh,
unfair real world, even for a small while.
Massive thanks to Autumngold for being the 1,900th reviewer and to
Nela Night for being the 2,000th reviewer for this fic. Thank you very
much.
nix-on-the-rise: Oh Bill is definitely going to get a shock when he next
encounters Harry. He has heard a lot about him since all the shit hit the
fan, and before then, but he hasn't seen or spoken to Harry since the
Quidditch World Cup. He is in for a very rude awakening, especially
when he realises how difficult it's going to be to break himself into this
group of elitist Purebloods who are not going to accept a blood traitor
among them.
Nellie Nightshade: Astoria is Daphne's younger sister. Daphne is
sixteen/seventeen, in her sixth year with Draco and Harry and Astoria is
fourteen.
This is all for now, lovelies. I hope that you've enjoyed this chapter and
that it has at least distracted you all for a little while, the next chapter
will be up next week some when now, as it is already written, I just need
to sort out the final edit and read through, but yes, I hope you've all
enjoyed it, until next time, lovelies,
StarLight Massacre. X
16. Memory Lane
A/N: Happy birthday to Cathleen, one of the Facebookers, who asked for
a chapter today. I hope you enjoy this one, lovelie.
Last Time
He was exhausted and he wanted, needed, some decent sleep. A good ten or
eleven hours would do him, he just hoped that his night sweats didn't wake
him up in the middle of the night again, he really needed to just sleep and not
wake up. He was absolutely exhausted, completely drained and he just didn't
know how to make himself feel any better. He needed to take his potions, but
they were making him feel so sick…much sicker than he'd ever felt before
when he hadn't been taking them. He needed a break, that's all. A nice, long
break away from the sweating, the headaches and the drowsiness, the thick-
headed woolliness, the weakness, the aches and pains throughout his whole
body. He just wanted to be normal again, like he'd been back before he'd ever
been diagnosed with hypocalcaemia.
Chapter Sixteen – Memory Lane
Every single day was dragging by so slowly and so painfully that it was a
miracle that he even managed to get through all of his lessons. When the
weekend actually, finally, came Harry was more than ready for some
much-needed peace and rest and he had told Draco that he was not going
to socialise at all over the weekend. Instead, he was going to stay in his
rooms and just not do anything. He had even passed the scheduled
Quidditch training for that weekend over to Katie Bell, as his deputy,
explaining that he just wasn't up to it this week and as soon as he'd
finished a small dinner on Friday evening, he'd come straight to the
fourth floor and he'd shut himself up in his rooms. He was not planning
on coming back out until he had to on Monday morning.
What he hadn't counted on was Draco getting overly worried about his
behaviour and not just writing to Lucius, but floo calling him from
Snape's office. It was early afternoon on Saturday when there was a
cursory knock on his door before it opened. Harry was just glad that he
was lounging in his boxer briefs on the floor today and that he wasn't
completely naked again as he'd been doing before, as Lucius stepped in,
discarding his cane as soon as he had closed the door.
"Draco said that you were unwell. Your letter arrived yesterday morning,
I had assumed that you would be better by now, how are you?" He asked
immediately, coming to sit by him, on the settee, of course, Lucius
Malfoy wouldn't ever sit on the floor.
"I've felt better." Harry said with a weak smile. "Sorry for my state of
undress." He added. "I can't stop sweating and this is just easier than
changing clothes every half an hour."
"Don't apologise for sickness." Lucius chastised him, touching his face and
grimacing as his hand came away wet.
"Should I apologise for that?" He asked cheekily.
"No. Now, is this from your potions or the cold that you mentioned?"
"I don't think…well, perhaps I didn't actually have a cold, I think it's the
flu. The pepper-up potion knocked the edge off, but it's still there."
Lucius sighed. "I've brought more pepper-up, just in case. Here, take one
now. You need six consecutive doses to cure the flu."
Harry swallowed the potion handed to him and he put his head back on
the settee, even as steam came out of his ears.
"As per usual, you underestimated what you were going through and you
have caused yourself more pain and suffering as a result. You said it was
a simple cold when you actually had the flu." Lucius told him. "This
needs to stop, Harry."
Harry bit his lip and ducked his head.
"How's Rabastan?" He asked softly.
"Do not change the subject. He's fine, though now he's overly worried
about you as well, because of your track record of underestimating
everything about yourself. He knew that if you said that you had a cold,
you probably had the flu. I agreed with him and brought the course of
pepper-up potions that you would need and, low and behold, you do
have the flu, as suspected."
Harry scowled. "I don't like people fussing around me."
Lucius sighed. "Clearly." He said. "You need to take these potions every
several hours. The next one will be at nine tonight, the one after as soon
as you wake up, then lunchtime, evening, and night again. Do you
understand?"
Harry snorted. "Yeah, one with the nutrient potion tonight. Take another
one with the bone-strengthening potion tomorrow morning and then
another one with the calcium potion at lunch, one before I eat dinner and
then the last one with the nutrient potion. It really does come to
something when I can schedule taking potions by pairing them with the
taking of other potions, that's all I seem to be doing lately, swallowing
potions one after another."
"Yes, Draco did say that you were off your food too."
Harry lifted an arm to cover his eyes. "He has such a big mouth."
"It's a good thing that he mentioned it." Lucius told him sternly. "I would
expect you to come to me with any worries that you have concerning
Draco too. Now, have you eaten today?"
Knowing that he couldn't escape, he shook his head. "I had dinner last
night, but I've had just tea and my potions since."
Lucius nodded. "So you've missed breakfast and lunch and you've been
eating minimally since last week?"
Harry nodded.
"Alright. I want you to call that house-elf of yours and get some soup
from him, then I want you in bed."
"I have too much homework to do." He insisted.
Lucius looked at him and then shook his head. "Harry, I might have given
you the wrong impression, but your health is much, much more
important than what marks you get. Leave your homework and if you
can't get it done, then you tell me and I will make your excuses. You are
trying to do too much and it needs to stop. You are seriously ill and now
that you have the flu on top you are not in a good way."
"I can do it, I know I can." He insisted.
"I know that you can, but at what cost, Harry?" Lucius asked him
seriously. "Have you been keeping up your fluid intake?"
Harry nodded. "Lots of tea and a glass of juice to swallow each of the
potions down."
"That is something at least." Lucius sighed.
"I just…I suppose I don't want to admit that what I have is going to take
over my life." Harry said softly. "I don't want to think about it, I don't
want to take things easy. I feel more sick now than I ever did before I
even knew about this condition! The potions are making it worse!"
"No, the potions are healing you." Lucius told him, laying a gentle hand
on his damp head. "You have had this condition for years, Harry and it
was only getting worse and more destructive to your body. The potions
are healing the damage and healing the cause of the damage and that is
clearly making you pay more attention to those areas affected most. Do
you feel any pain?"
Harry considered the question carefully. "Not really. The headaches are
incredibly bad and I get odd aches now and then, but it's not really a
pain."
"Your body is healing slowly, but take heed, Harry, it is healing."
Harry nodded. "I keep thinking of Rabastan and our future children…
children that I might not be able to have if I don't do this here and now
and that's not fair to either of us when we both want children so badly. I
just don't want to give up on my education. I don't want to stop and focus
on my health. I want to graduate and marry Rabastan. I don't want to
hold off on our marriage if I have to repeat a year!"
"Is this what is bothering you so much and is pushing you past what you
can comfortably handle?" Lucius asked him in slight shock.
Harry nodded miserably.
Lucius sighed and he wrapped an arm around Harry's shoulders and
pulled him in to rest against his legs, petting his hair and stroking it
gently.
"You will be married in the summer of nineteen-ninety-eight." Lucius told
him. "The Lestranges wanted you married immediately. I managed to talk
Xerxes into waiting much longer than he was prepared to, just so that
you had time to finish your education first, but it was decided that
nineteen-ninety-eight would be the year that you were married,
regardless of anything else."
"So…even if I do have to repeat a year, I'll still be married?" Harry asked,
brightening up considerably, looking at Lucius' grey eyes desperately, his
own green eyes wide and pleading.
"Yes, Harry. With a bit of luck, Rabastan will be more like his former self
upon the time of your marriage, so that he can do most of the childcare,
but Narcissa and I are always on hand to help, as Draco will be. If you
have to repeat a year because of these unforeseen circumstances, it will
not be as much of a problem when compared to this year, when you are
not at full health, when Rabastan is still a shade of himself, when Draco
is in school with you. I am to be a grandparent, not a primary carer,
Harry. It is not fair for you to ask that I raise your child. I am more than
willing to help you and Rabastan out where needed, but I will not take
on your child as my own."
Harry nodded his understanding. That made a lot more sense and he
understood a lot more now why his wedding had been held back until he
was out of school. He sighed and pushed his homework away from
himself.
"I've done more than half of my set homework, but I'm not going to finish
the rest." He said. "I'm going to go to bed and rest."
Lucius actually smiled at him and petted his head. "Your potions are by
here, do not forget to take them. You should actually be better by this
Monday now, and then you can pick up your lessons again, but Harry, do
not push yourself too hard." Lucius said sternly. "You have a very serious,
life-threatening condition that is not going to go away by ignoring it or
pushing yourself too hard. Take it a little easier and find a balance
between the both, but lean it more towards your health than your
schoolwork."
Harry nodded and he sighed, swiping his arm over his forehead in what
was becoming a habit now and he took a deep breath.
"Of all the times to come down with the flu." He bemoaned.
Lucius patted him again. "Think nothing of it. You will get better now
and by this summer, you should be back to full health, exactly as you
should be."
"So, how is Rabastan, really?"
Lucius smirked at him. "It always comes back to him, doesn't it?"
"He's never far from my mind." Harry grinned, lifting his ring to his lips
and giving it a kiss.
"He is doing rather well. It seems that his short amount of time looking
after you has given him much more confidence and in recent weeks he
has improved greatly. He cannot wait for you to come home for Easter so
that he can show you his progress. He wishes to spoil you too, he is
gathering the finest chocolate eggs to gift you with upon your return.
Rodolphus has taken to calling him a mother hen because of how he
constantly hovers over the eggs, wondering endlessly if you'll like them
or not."
Harry laughed, loudly and uninhibitedly, at the mental images that those
words conjured up.
"Oh, I can't wait to see that. He did the same when he proposed, hovering
and worrying until I had given him my answer. It does not bode well for
when I fall pregnant." He chuckled.
"He is protective and willing to show it. I approve."
Harry grinned. "Tell him that I miss him and that I can't wait to see him
next month. I just want February to be over with now. Oh, and give him
a push towards dark chocolate and orange, it's my new favourite
combination."
Lucius laughed at him and patted his shoulder. "Go and get yourself into
bed. Take a jug of juice with you and some books and don't move unless
you absolutely have to. You don't have to be asleep to rest yourself. I will
see Draco now and tell him to leave you be, but to come and check on
you every evening."
"Early evening please. I've taken to going to bed really early lately. I'm at
my best in the late afternoon, early evening."
Lucius nodded. "Go now, to bed with you."
Harry nodded and he stood up, he went to his kitchenette and got the full
jug of pumpkin juice from his cold storage and a clean glass, he put them
in his bedroom before coming back out and picking up one of the pepper-
up potions and his nutrient potion. He took those through to his room as
well and placed them on his bedside.
He went back out one last time to say goodbye to Lucius, who was just
picking up his cane, and Harry saw him out politely and then he sighed
wearily as he was left to himself. He truly hoped that this course of
potions finally worked and knocked the flu on the head by Monday. He
was just so fed up with feeling sick now, he was more than ready to start
feeling better and healthier and as a result, much happier too.
Lucius arrived back at his Manor home later that evening, after spending
some time with Draco as well as checking in on Harry, and he sighed
happily as soon as he was embraced warmly by his wife.
"Were Draco's concerns valid?" She asked him as a greeting, as he knew
that she would do. She was always very protective of those she
considered as 'hers' and that naturally now included Harry. Harry who
was very sick and needed more support than originally thought if he had
tried to brush off such a serious illness and had downplayed the flu as a
mere cold.
Lucius noticed Rabastan sit forward more, and he made sure to project
his voice for all to hear as he would in a Wizengamot meeting.
"They were valid, as was feared, and once again, as he has proven time
and time again, Harry has downplayed how unwell he truly was. You
were correct in this observation, Rabastan. He has been struggling
through the last week with the flu."
Rabastan growled and rubbed his head. "I knew he should have stayed
here with me for longer! He wasn't ready to go back to school."
"He said something rather interesting too. He told me that he was
exhausting himself, despite being so sick, because he was terrified of
having to repeat a year because he thought that it would mean waiting
an extra year to marry you."
Rabastan's blue eyes widened. "He said that?"
"He did, almost word for word. I put him straight, of course. I made him
see that his health was much more important, but it would likely mean
more to him coming from you as well, to put weight behind the notion."
Rabastan nodded his agreement. "I shall include such reassurances in my
current letter to him."
"How he gets so sick but still manages to suck on chocolate is beyond
me." Lucius sighed, shaking his head, playing a little on Harry's behalf.
"He's gotten a fondness for the sophistication of dark chocolate it seems, a
thing I welcome, but he ruins it by buying the chocolate with orange
pieces in it." He shook his head again. "I will never understand that boy."
Lucius noticed Rabastan's look and he knew then that Harry was going to
have yet another egg added to the nest of them. This would make the
sixth and not one of them could be called small. Harry was going to be
eating chocolate for the next few months at least, not that Lucius
believed that Harry would complain about it, just the opposite in fact.
"Does he look alright, though?" Narcissa asked.
"He looked as I expected him to look when Draco brought his concerns to
me." Lucius insisted. "Rather tired and worn down, a bit paler than usual
and he was damp to the touch, but he was coherent and determined. He's
going to be just fine. We can appraise him more fully when he comes
home for two weeks in March. He's looking forward to that, it doesn't
need three guesses to know why." He said with a smirk at Rabastan, who
smiled happily at hearing that.
"Greyback visited while you were away." Xerxes cut in, now that they
knew that Harry was going to be alright given some more time and
needed potions.
"Of course, he did." Lucius sighed. "I expect him for two days and then
the moment I slip out for a few hours to check on my sons, that is when
he chooses to visit. Did he take the list?"
"I made sure to give it to him." Xerxes nodded.
"You made sure that he knew the one name was just to frighten and not
to maim?" Lucius asked.
"I did, of course. I will follow our Lord's orders to the letter, Lucius. You
know I would."
Lucius nodded. "Good. I will inform our Lord that the list has been passed
over to Greyback and await further instructions."
"Did you ever find out why he came to our New Year's Ball, Lucius?"
Narcissa asked him. She had not been best pleased that he had turned up
at all, though she was at least mollified that he had come in decent robes
and had actually washed himself for once.
"He was curious of Harry." Lucius sighed. "He has heard much about him
and with our Lord making sure that all of us understood that he is not to
be touched or harmed in any way, he wanted to see Harry for himself."
"I don't think he made a good impression." Rodolphus laughed.
"He frightened Harry needlessly. I won't have it." Rabastan replied
tightly, one hand clenching into a fist that made his knuckles crack as he
thought back to how unsettled Harry had been and how he had pressed
closer to him for protection. He had loved that Harry had done as such,
that he had still seen him as someone who could protect him despite his
obvious physical weaknesses, and the very important fact that Harry
could protect himself and had proven as such over and over, culminating
in the way that he had handled Rowle in the bathroom of this very
Manor.
"Harry has a soft head and a softer heart, he'll learn." Rodolphus insisted.
"I don't want him to!" Rabastan growled. "I want him to stay as he is!"
Rodolphus scoffed. "Our Lord has no use for him as he is."
Rabastan's blue eyes flashed dangerously. "Harry wants to remain neutral,
Rodolphus." He said slowly and clearly. "Our Lord has accepted this, as
long as Harry doesn't oppose him or get in the way of his plans, he is
content to let Harry be neutral. Are you going to go against our Lord? Do
you think that you know better than he does?"
"Of course not!" Rodolphus snapped back immediately, furiously.
"That is what you are alluding to!" Rabastan said furiously. "Harry is to
remain neutral, as per our Lord's wishes! Leave him well alone about
such things, Rodolphus."
"That is enough." Xerxes cut in sternly.
"I just meant that it would be better if he were to fight with us!"
Rodolphus explained.
"It took us a while to convince him that he wasn't going to be handed
over or killed outright." Lucius said mildly. "He was very nervous and
suspicious when he first came to live with us, but he has consented to be
neutral so easily because, at the heart of himself, he truly does not want
to fight. He has never wanted to fight and he does not see this war as his
own."
"His parents fought! They died in this war, how can he say that it is not
his own?" Rodolphus asked.
"He does not hold his parents' decisions as his own." Rabastan said
proudly. "He said that they had every right to choose to fight in a war,
but he has an equal right to choose not to fight in it if that's what he feels
is best, despite them choosing to fight themselves. He says that just
because they died does not mean that he has to automatically fight for
their cause or take their decision to his heart as his own and he's
absolutely right. He doesn't have to do anything that he doesn't want to,
he is a free man, allowed to make such choices for himself."
"He is surprisingly mature for his young years, but the more I hear about
the muggle beasts that he was housed with, the less surprised I find
myself when he shows such maturity." Xerxes sighed. "Most abused
children grow old before they are meant to and I am sure that this is
what has happened with Harry."
"It is impossible to rectify." Lucius said sadly. "We cannot remove years of
abuse and pain, but we can show him some decency and allow him to
make his own decisions and have his own say in such things. He is not a
young, clueless boy, he is rather switched on for his age. I have taken to
treating him like an adult when needed, not least because he needs to
present as such to the Wizengamot, but because he has earnt that level of
respect and consideration with his own actions."
"A truly wonderful job that you've done too, Lucius." Xerxes insisted.
"I cannot take all the credit for that, Xerxes. He came to me thoughtful,
curious and full of questions. I merely guided him and educated him on
the things that he needed to know. All of his cutting, scathing remarks
are all his own."
Xerxes chuckled then. "And some of them are truly golden. I love some of
the things that he comes out with off the top of his head."
"He is certainly coming into his own." Lucius smiled. "I am very proud of
him."
"As you should be, he is very well-rounded and intelligent in his own
right. He's going to make a most wonderful addition to the family and it
pleases me that he was worried that his illness would mean an extra year
before his marriage, but make sure that he understands that his health
truly is the most important thing here. He can't marry anyone if he has
died."
"Don't say such things, Grandfather." Rabastan growled immediately,
furiously. "He's not going to die! He's going to be just fine!"
"He is, yes." Lucius agreed. "But for a healer appointment that Harry
never wanted to go to in the first place, things might have been
devastatingly different. If he hadn't gone to that check-up, then he would
have most assuredly died, either from the complications of the
hypocalcaemia or from trying to have his first child."
Rabastan did not like hearing that. His face fell into a sneer and he
swallowed hard, before standing and excusing himself. He left the
Malfoy's Manor to go to his grandfather's so that he could finish his letter
to Harry, avoiding his poisonous father when he heard the man speaking
in one of the front rooms.
He wanted to remind his fiancé that they both needed to take potions to
get better, he wanted Harry to know that he wasn't alone in his struggle
to take several potions daily. He wanted Harry to know that he was
supported, that he knew exactly what Harry was going through and that
he was not ever alone in this, that he was so proud of how far he had
come and that he had to keep it up to get better, as he did himself.
He loved Harry so much and it had only been a relatively short amount
of time. It had been six months since the betrothal contract had been
signed and accepted on both sides. Six months since they had first met
one another and he had believed himself looking upon the most beautiful
boy that he'd ever seen before as he sat next to Harry…Harry who had
come to calm him when he'd been panicking and looking for Rodolphus
to tell him what to do, Harry who had placed his soft, gentle hands in his
own and had pulled him with him like a guiding light in the vast sea of
darkness, showing him what to do without judgement or scorn.
He still remembered the feel of those soft, silky hands on his own rough,
calloused hands with his peeling, dry skin and his brittle, discoloured
nails. He'd been disgusted with himself ever since he'd seen what he'd
become when he'd first looked into a mirror after his liberation. He'd
been embarrassed and humiliated to meet his only suitor since his escape
looking and behaving how he did, but he remembered clearly the
understanding smile and the bright eyes that looked at him unflinchingly.
He remembered the quiet voice speaking to him, defending him, as if he
was a person, as if he was actually worth something. Harry had been the
most beautiful person to him at that moment and he'd been drawn to him
so strongly because of his gentleness and kindness, because of his smile
and his beautiful eyes. The more he got to know about Harry, the more
he wanted to protect him and shelter him. He loved him and the happiest
day of his life had been when Harry had told him 'yes' and he had gotten
to slide the ring that he had fashioned himself onto Harry's tiny, slim
finger. It would be topped, he was sure, when he and Harry were finally
married and then again when Harry laid their perfect, firstborn child in
his arms. He couldn't wait for those days to come.
Harry was absolutely fine by that next Monday and the next week was a
lot easier for him to trundle through. He still had to take his potions for
the hypocalcaemia and the malnutrition, but he no longer had the flu and
he wasn't aching or sweating as much or suffering any longer now that
the course of pepper-up potions had done their job and knocked the flu
on the head.
He had cut down drastically on his homework too, he had on average
fifty per cent less work to do than his year mates. Where they would get
two pieces of homework, he only had one, when they had three pieces,
he had one piece and a specifically altered additional piece that was
usually something very easy. Far from being upset or angry, his
Professors were actually relieved that he had asked for a lighter
workload. They had been so worried as he walked around looking like he
was already half dead. They knew that he'd been taken out of school for a
week because he'd been so very ill, too ill for Madam Pomfrey to deal
with even, and when he'd come back he was downing potions left and
right, looking like he hadn't slept in a month and only getting worse as
he forced himself to do all his classwork and then all of his homework
too. They were happy for him to do less homework, as long as his
classwork was still up to standard and it was, and he could show that he
understood what was being taught to him and he could. They were glad
that he was looking better and they actually held him back at the end of
his lessons to tell him so too.
Today was a Saturday, a very special Saturday as he had donned a
Slytherin hat and scarf and he was sitting in the bleachers, right at the
front so that Draco could see him, as he watched Slytherin versus
Ravenclaw.
It was already a dirty game only twenty minutes in, with snow thick on
the ground, and Slytherin up to their usual tricks. Draco had almost
begged him to stay in the castle, worried that his recent bout of flu would
make an unwelcome reappearance. Harry had refused, insisting that he
wouldn't miss watching him play over the fears of maybe catching the flu
again. He'd told Draco sternly that he would not live his life in fear of
airborne viruses.
He had, however, made sure that he'd wrapped up really warm for his
excursion outside, just in case, so he had on a thick jumper, his thickest
winter robes that had a warming charm on them and his black, sheepskin
gloves. He had the Slytherin scarf wrapped tightly about his throat and
the hat jammed on his head, low over his ears.
Slytherin was steamrollering Ravenclaw, naturally, and Harry cheered
happily as Slytherin scored yet again. Now, if only Draco would catch the
snitch then he could get back into the warm and out of the sharp, biting
wind.
He cheered again as Slytherin scored another ten points, then one of the
Ravenclaw Beaters smashed a bludger into one of the Slytherin Chasers
and the green and sliver player fell down into the snow. Harry was just
glad that it wasn't Draco. Or Blaise he supposed, who was a Chaser
himself.
Urquhart got nasty then, or rather he got nastier than he'd been before,
and he blatantly fouled the Beater who'd taken out one of his Chasers.
Madam Hooch blew her whistle shrilly and awarded Ravenclaw an
obvious penalty and Ravenclaw managed to claw back ten, much needed,
points.
The game lasted for another fifty minutes, the sky getting greyer as more
snow clouds rolled in as the biting wind picked up and it got much
colder, and when Draco finally caught the snitch Harry was about ready
to head back to bed. All the jumping around and cheering he'd done to
support Draco in his match had tired him out and all he wanted now was
a nice, rich hot chocolate and a blazing fire to park his arse in front of
with a book and a blanket.
He got no such thing as he was pulled along by Theo to the Slytherin
common room to join in on their after party.
"You look good in green and silver, hold on, I want a picture to prove
that you wore this." Theo insisted and Harry laughed but happily posed
with Theo, smiling widely as Theo took the picture with his wand.
"Harry!"
He turned with a grin towards Astoria, her own blonde hair tucked under
a green and silver hat, her cheeks and the tip of her nose red from the
cold and she giggled lightly in that tinkling way of hers.
"I can't believe that you wore a Slytherin hat and scarf to the match.
What will the Gryffindors think?"
"Who cares?" Harry answered with his own laugh. "They already hate my
guts, what difference will this make?"
Draco was there then, still in his Quidditch robes, but now washed off
and warm again, and he forced his way through the cheering Slytherins
to him and Harry grinned at him before he was pulled into a rough hug.
Draco cupped his cheek and chin and forced eye contact.
"Are you okay?" He asked lowly.
Harry nodded. "I feel completely fine. I'm a bit cold, but I'll warm up
soon." He insisted and Draco stared at him hard for a few more moments,
trying to detect any hint of deception or lies, before he nodded and
grinned himself.
Blaise found his way over to them, also still in his Quidditch robes, and
he clapped Draco on the back. "I thought you'd never catch that snitch!"
He chuckled. "My arse was frozen to my broomstick!"
"I was beginning to fear the same." Draco chuckled.
"Harry, green and silver look good on you. You should wear them more
often." Blaise told him.
"Theo said the same." Harry laughed. "I'm sure it's because my eyes are
green, it picks out the colour more clearly, am I right, Astoria?" He asked,
drawing her into the conversation. She had been fluttering off to the side,
unsure if she should stay or leave the 'guys' to their celebration.
As soon as her name was mentioned, Draco turned happily to search for
her and he pulled her into a hug, placing a gentle kiss on her smooth
forehead and Harry's eyes widened to see it. Perhaps Draco was actually
falling in love with Astoria without forcing anything. Maybe all they'd
needed was a push towards one another, just to get the ball rolling so
that they could each see the potential in the other.
"You're right." She said, even as she beamed up at Draco. "If you wore
anything green then it would immediately pick out the colour of your
eyes. You'd need a nice, darker green though, maybe a shade or two
darker or lighter than your eyes if you want them to really stand out.
Anything lighter than a few shades would clash though and would draw
attention away from them."
The Slytherin party was rather muted and refined. Not least because none
of them knew where the kitchens were and they had no party food. Harry
almost felt sorry for them.
It didn't last long before they all started winding down, Harry had been
included in so many photos, for proof that he was wearing Slytherin
colours everyone insisted as he grinned and posed happily as his picture
was taken again and again. The one that he made sure that he got a copy
of was of him, Draco, Blaise, Theo, and Astoria. He wanted to send it to
Lucius and Narcissa. He knew that Draco wouldn't even think of doing
such a thing, but Harry would.
"My hair is a mess!" Draco complained when Harry got his copy and
waved it at him.
"You look fine you bloody poser!" Harry giggled as he stared at the photo.
He was still wearing the hat and scarf in the photo, but he had finally
warmed up now and they were tucked into the pockets of his robes. The
pink flush to his cheeks was now from warmth, not from the biting cold
or the blustery wind.
He said his goodbyes several minutes later and immediately Draco went
into protective older brother mode.
"I don't want you going up to the fourth floor alone." He insisted.
"I'm fine, Draco. I'm not going to be suddenly overwhelmed with the flu
virus and collapse between here and the fourth floor." Harry replied.
"What if you run into anyone?"
"Need I remind you that I'm the best in our year at Defence?" He said
dryly. "I can look after myself and I'll be just fine. I'll see you tomorrow,
enjoy the rest of your victory party."
Harry took his leave and, as he'd said to Draco, he reached his rooms
perfectly fine and he didn't see anyone who tried to stop him.
He took the small bunch of photos from his robe pocket and he looked at
the photos in his hands and he grinned, copying two of them, the one of
all of them together and one of just him and Draco, taken late into the
party almost as he'd been leaving, after he'd removed the hat and scarf.
His hair was extra messy because of the hat, but both he and Draco were
smiling, their arms around each other's shoulders and grinning happily.
Even as he watched, the photo of himself waved and turned to smile at
photo Draco.
Harry chuckled and slipped them both into the envelope with his weekly
update to Lucius, who had asked him to keep in touch because of his
potions and what Lucius called his 'delicate health'. He would send it now
tomorrow, once he'd finished his letter to Rabastan, which he was still
writing. He was going to add the Quidditch match he'd watched today
and the after-party too. He included a copy of a single photo that Astoria
had shyly handed to him, she'd taken it at the actual match and photo
Harry was on his feet, cheering and yelling, grinning a smile bigger than
Harry had thought possible. His cheeks were red from the cold, the tail of
his scarf was being buffeted by the wind and he had a hand up, holding
his hat to his head, even as he jumped and cheered.
He laughed at himself and shook his head, putting the photo to the side.
He hoped that it would help to reassure Rabastan that he was alright and
that he wasn't actually at death's door, even after his recent bout of flu,
as he pulled a nice, rich, dark blue ink towards himself along with his
quill and the half-finished letter and he started a new paragraph.
'Today was a good day.' He started. 'The Quidditch match was fun, but cold!
Slytherin won, of course. They steamrollered Ravenclaw 380 to 120, so Draco
is in a very good mood for once. I was dragged to the after-party, if that could
even be called a party, I had more fun at Nearly Headless Nick's Deathday
party when I was twelve! They don't even know where the kitchens are to get
food! Who doesn't know where the kitchens are or how to get into them?! I've
enclosed a photo that Astoria took at the match, I hope you like it…'
He got lost in his letter, pouring out his thoughts and feelings into his
words, jotting down his random musings, acting like he was sitting and
talking to Rabastan more than writing him a letter and he had fun
switching up the colours, going from blue to yellow, from yellow to red,
from red to green, from green to silver, (it amused him to put in the
Slytherin colours one after the other, especially after the Quidditch match
that day), from silver to black and then to pale purple and he finished on
orange. His letters flowed more like a rainbow these days since he'd
started a collection of such brightly coloured inks of vastly differing
shades, but he didn't care and he actually thought they were rather
creative in a way. He'd started writing them for Rabastan, to help him to
read his letters without worry or panic, but it had come to mean
something to him too, it made him feel better to know that he was
helping Rabastan's recovery in whatever small way that he could.
Rabastan had actually told him in his last letter that Harry's way of
writing and formatting his letters was helping him to focus his mind
more and he could now read further with plain text because he was more
used to reading and he could get his brain to stay focused on the words
for longer. All because Harry had had the thought to set out his letters
like a rainbow. Rabastan had told him that he was more thankful for that
than Harry could ever know, but Harry had an idea of how much it
meant to Rabastan just from reading his words.
He finished off his letter and signed it as Lucius had taught him to do,
with a clear, cursive form of his name. On official documents, it would be
Lord H. Potter-Black, but for a personal letter to his fiancé, he signed it as
just Harry.
He had more fun than he was probably meant to stamping his seal onto
the back of the envelopes to close them, but life was full of such small
pleasures and nibbles of happiness that made him smile and if using a
brass stamp to put his official seal into wax was one of them, well, it was
no one else's business.
Harry got a small bowl of soup from his cold storage that he'd asked
Dobby to bring him the other day when Lucius had visited, but of course,
the little elf had overdone it and now Harry was living off of the soup so
that he didn't have to go down to dinner, of which he'd missed because
he was too busy writing his letters.
It was late now too, so he got a cup of tea for himself, ate his soup with
some bread, took his nutrient potion and then got himself right into bed.
He'd again dressed in loose-fitting clothes so that he could help himself to
sleep a little better, and for longer, by preparing for his night sweats. He
would take a nice long bath in the morning before he sent his letters off
and went to breakfast. Marcus would be here tomorrow to tutor him and
Harry couldn't wait to show him the little note that Professor Babbling
had put on his latest essay about how much he had improved and how
impressed she was with his phenomenal progress. Harry had no doubts
who was truly to thank for such progress and his actual understanding of
the work and he believed that Marcus needed to know about it.
He smiled to himself right before he fell asleep, who would have ever
thought that Marcus Flint, of all people, could be a really intelligent,
competent teacher? It just went to show that you really couldn't judge a
book by its cover. Marcus had been the 'thick-headed troll' for as long as
Harry had known him, only compounded by the fact that he had been
held back a year and not allowed to graduate. None of them had known
the reason for that, they hadn't even asked, they'd just assumed that he
was too stupid and had gotten a T in all his exams and they'd thought
nothing more about it. Harry wanted to show Marcus how brilliant he
was and how adept he was at teaching, even if he was vulgar, mildly
abusive and very impatient, he got results and Harry was going to show
him that despite his rather unorthodox method, with the right student, he
could teach others his love and passion for Ancient Runes successfully.
As soon as things started to go right for him again and he had started to
settle back down after his bout of flu, Dumbledore stuck his nose into his
business yet again.
Harry tried to keep calm, remembering what Lucius had said about
accepting the 'reconciliation meetings' in order to spy on the headmaster.
He hadn't been happy about that, but he also remembered the thought
that he'd had at the time, that just because he heard such information
didn't mean that he had to pass it on. He could pass his own judgement
and do what he thought was best. So when the order to go to the
headmaster's office came, he squashed the automatic sense of anger and
the irritation that his study time was being cut short. He instead prepared
himself as he would for a Wizengamot meeting, locking away as much
emotion as he could, holding his body in perfect posture and breathing
nice and deep, slow and calmly.
He spoke the password (acid pops) to the stone gargoyle before standing
on the winding stairs, letting them take him up instead of climbing the
stairs himself, he still wasn't well, he wasn't going to exhaust himself
needlessly.
He knocked on the door and politely waited to be bid to enter. He kept
his face nicely blank as he opened the door and he took a seat without
being asked…well, his politeness would only stretch so far, after all, this
was the man who had tried to take the heritage that his parents had
wanted him to have away from him and had been presiding over his
estate while he'd been in the dark about its very existence.
"You asked to see me." He stated calmly.
"I did, Harry, yes." Dumbledore said, looking at him consideringly. "How
are you?"
"I'm well enough, thank you." He said blandly.
"Still taking your potions?"
"I am." He said, offering no more information.
"Are you getting better?"
Harry nodded his head curtly, just the once, refusing to answer verbally.
He'd learnt this trick from Lucius, to get less verbal with each question to
convey disinterest in a subject without outright saying it out loud.
"To the nature of your visit then." Dumbledore said softly.
Harry wanted to scoff at that…a visit implied that he was here by choice
or that he had come without being told, but he didn't, he kept a hold of
himself. Instead, he pulled his 'lord' persona around himself tighter and
kept his face nicely blank.
"These meetings are going to teach us about Voldemort." Dumbledore
told him.
Harry sighed then. "I have told you already that I'm not going to fight in
this war."
"Yes, but I am hoping that these meetings will change your mind, Harry. I
know that you want him gone as much as I do, but it has to be you who
strikes the final blow."
"I don't see why." Harry said tightly.
"Perhaps you will come to understand soon, with the help of these
lessons." Dumbledore replied. "We are running low on time. I had wanted
to start these meetings in September, to pace them out a little more for
clarity, but now we have lost the luxury of time."
Harry stared at the Pensieve as Dumbledore stood and moved over to it
and he warred with himself. He wasn't sure this was a good idea. He had
no idea how a Pensieve worked or if they could trap someone inside of
them. He swallowed and decided that if he did go missing then Lucius
would look everywhere for him, turning over every book and drawer and
hunting through hell and high water for him. He'd told Draco exactly
where he was going, despite being told, rather seriously, to keep these
meetings strictly to himself, so if he was kidnapped then he fully
expected Draco to tell Lucius that he'd had a meeting with Dumbledore
and for his father to come and rescue him.
"What's in there?" He asked despite himself.
"We are going on a trip down Bob Ogden's memory lane. We have quite a
bit to do tonight, Harry, so if you will." Dumbledore indicated the
Pensieve and Harry took a deep breath and pushed his face to the strange
partial liquid, partial gas substance inside the Pensieve.
Harry focused intently on the memory when he landed in it, on his feet,
looking around what Dumbledore had called Little Hangleton. He
memorised as much as he could, just in case he wanted to pass the
information on. He stored it all, thankful that the wooziness of the
calcium potion he'd taken several hours ago had worn off, allowing him
to think rationally and store the information that he was viewing.
They followed Bob Ogden, whose glasses were worse than Harry's old
round, black-framed ones from before his adoption, and who was
wearing a one-piece swimming costume which he had chosen to wear
with a frock coat over the top of it and paired with spats. Harry shook his
head at the stupidity of the wizarding born.
Harry couldn't help the disgusted sneer when he saw what had become of
the Gaunt's, however. He looked at the little shack, complete with a
snake nailed to the front door like a grisly, caricature knocker, and the
people who lived there. It must have been the inbreeding of the
purebloods that had reduced them to this sorry state. Morfin Gaunt had
thick, matted hair that Harry couldn't determine the colour of, his eyes
were small and dark and looked in opposite directions and he had several
missing teeth. Looking at the state of the shack, Harry could well imagine
that these people lacked the excess funds for a dose of Skele-gro. Marvolo
Gaunt was strangely ill-proportioned, with too wide shoulders and
overly-long arms. He looked like a powerful, aged monkey to Harry as he
listened to the spiel coming from their mouths, the abuse for muggles,
the disdain of muggleborns, the whole pureblood supremacy trope. He
understood their comments in Parseltongue and he tried to look past all
of that to retain the important information.
When he saw Merope, who looked much like her brother with dull, lank
hair and eyes that looked in opposite directions, then to the introduction
of Tom Riddle and his lady friend Cecilia, he started to piece things
together and he paid even closer attention.
When they finally came out of the Pensieve, the memory having ended,
Harry sat in quiet contemplation until Dumbledore interrupted his
thought process.
"Do you understand what you've just seen, Harry?"
"Yes." He said, still thinking hard.
"Would you care to share?"
"That was Voldemort's family. The last of the Gaunt's." Harry said. "Tom
Riddle is his father and Merope Gaunt is his mother. I just don't
understand how they even got together to have a baby…unless, she was a
witch after all, wasn't she? She wasn't actually a squib as her father
claimed."
"No. No, she was not. When her father and brother were imprisoned, she
found herself free for the first time and her magic flourished."
"She bewitched him then. Tom Riddle, I mean. Her magic came back or
wasn't being suppressed anymore, and that was what she chose to do
with it, bewitch a poor, defenceless muggle into loving her?"
"By means of a love potion." Dumbledore nodded before telling him what
became of Merope Gaunt; giving birth on the steps of an orphanage, after
being left by her husband when she had taken him off of the love potion
in the misguided belief that he would stay with her for the baby's sake.
"That's sick and wrong." Harry sneered. "No wonder he left her when he
came to his senses and didn't want anything to do with the baby
afterwards. At the end of the day, it was rape. She raped him by magical
means and then what, expected him to stay afterwards?!"
He shook his head and thought harder. That baby born would have been
Voldemort.
"If you would like to move on?" Dumbledore asked and Harry looked up.
He nodded.
The next memory was one of Dumbledore's own. Of the day he'd gone to
see Tom Riddle with his Hogwarts letter in the orphanage. Again Harry
watched closely, retaining all information given. Particularly the bit of
information that the young Tom Riddle had liked to keep trophies from
his 'victims' of his young, budding magic.
After that memory had ended, they'd gone into a third memory, this one
was from an older Morfin Gaunt, whose unkempt hair had grown down
over his eyes and mouth since his release from Azkaban. Harry wanted to
be sick just looking at him and the state of the shack that he still lived in,
sleeping amongst rotted food and unwashed plates with no Merope there
to do everything for him like a house-elf.
He saw the sixteen-year-old Tom Riddle and Harry once again paid very
close attention, looking at the scene in front of him and processing the
information and memorising all that he could.
Once done with this third memory, Harry was tired and it was very late.
He listened as Dumbledore told him about Voldemort's school years, how
brilliant and clever he was, how seemingly perfect and handsome. Harry
listened quietly as Dumbledore told him that Tom Riddle was obsessed
with his heritage, that he was horrified to learn that he was actually a
halfblood and that his father had been a muggle. Harry was then told
how he'd stunned his Uncle Morfin, went to the Riddle house and killed
his father and grandparents before framing his uncle for the murders and
taking the last relic of his family, the Gaunt family ring. Harry's head
hurt and he couldn't prevent the next yawn, having been able to politely
suppress all the ones previously.
"Are you feeling alright, Harry?"
Harry nodded. "I apologise, but recently I have not been staying up this
late." He confided.
"We shall leave things here for now, then." Dumbledore told him and
Harry nodded.
He stood and said his goodbyes. He hurried back to his rooms and he
immediately pulled out parchment, ink, and a quill and he wrote down
every single bit of information that he'd heard tonight, even that which
seemed irrelevant to him at the moment, and then he jotted down his
immediate thoughts on the matter, what he'd thought at the time, his
immediate reaction to all that he'd seen and what he'd learnt. Tomorrow
he would go back over it and think more deeply about everything and see
what his thoughts were then and if they'd changed in the light of a new
day, but for now, it was much too late and he needed to get some much-
needed sleep. It was nearing midnight before he managed to take his
nutrient potion with a glass of juice and finally climb into bed. He was
utterly drained and exhausted. Tomorrow was going to be particularly
brutal on him because of this little late-night trip down Voldemort's past
life, he was not going to get any better, or healthier, if he kept up these
late nights.
The knock-on effect of his very late night lasted into the first week of
March, which wasn't helped at all by a second meeting with Dumbledore
and another incredibly late night, just as he'd been getting better and
back into a routine, and he was seriously contemplating missing the
Quidditch match that Saturday. It was just that he was at his limit, he
was too tired, feeling worn out and downtrodden, but when Blaise
wholeheartedly agreed that he should miss the match when he'd voiced
his thoughts on the matter to him and Draco, he had scowled.
"You've done it now, Blaise." Draco groaned. "You've set off that innate
stubbornness! You should have just shut up and not said anything."
Blaise scowled and crossed his arms. "Forgive me for wanting Slytherin to
win the Quidditch Cup just once while we're here!"
"If you don't feel well enough, Harry, and you obviously don't or you
wouldn't have mentioned it, then don't play." Draco tried.
Harry shook his head. "It'll be alright, I'm just tired." He insisted. "Maybe
I should start taking naps during the day."
Draco gave Blaise a look that clearly said that this was all his fault before
turning back to Harry.
"You never said what Dumbledore wanted yesterday."
"The same as he wanted in February. Those stupid reconciliation
meetings, we're having one once a month." Harry said, thinking back to
the two memories that he'd been shown last night, a memory from a
house-elf named Hokey, whose mistress, Hepzibah Smith, had been
visited by Tom Riddle and she had shown him two of her most treasured
possessions, Hufflepuff's cup and Slytherin's locket. The same locket that
Merope had sold before her baby had been born. Harry had seen Tom
Riddle's eyes flash red, and so had Hepzibah. She had given the locket
and cup back to the house-elf, Hokey, for her to lock away sharpish…not
that it had done much good as Dumbledore had informed him after that
particular memory had ended that just two days later Hepzibah Smith
had been found dead and Hokey had been convicted of poisoning her in
the confusion of her old age. Like with Morfin Gaunt, Tom Riddle had
committed murder and he had successfully framed someone else to get
what he had wanted.
'He's collecting things that remind him of his magical heritage.' Harry had
thought at the time.
The other memory had been another of Dumbledore's. Of when Tom
Riddle, calling himself Voldemort openly now, had come to Hogwarts
seeking the Defence Against the Dark Arts position at the school. A
position that Dumbledore, then the headmaster, had denied him.
Harry was still trying to piece everything together and what learning
about Voldemort would mean, or at least why he was being forced to do
so.
"Has he changed your mind yet?" Blaise asked with a grin.
Harry scoffed. "It's a complete waste of time." He said. "I'd much rather be
sleeping."
"What do you talk about?" Draco asked.
Harry shook his head. "I won't bore you with the details." He insisted
firmly. "I've had to go through it once, I don't want to do it twice."
"So, you won't be fit for the match in a few days?" Blaise pestered.
"I will, I just need to get some more sleep. I might cut back a bit more on
my homework." He said, not liking the idea, but he needed a break from
schoolwork for a while, a Quidditch match was going to do the trick. If
he felt at all ill on the day then he wouldn't play and if he started feeling
ill during the match then he would call a time out and substitute himself.
He wasn't going to take any chances, he had a lot more to live for these
days and he didn't want to upset Rabastan or incur Lucius' wrath if he
ended up fainting, vomiting, or breaking a bone.
"I will help you catch up afterwards." Draco said.
"Don't help him!" Blaise cried.
Draco laughed. "He's still my brother, Blaise. He supported us against
Ravenclaw, we have to support him now against Hufflepuff."
Blaise didn't look happy about it, but he nodded anyway.
"He did look cute in a Slytherin hat and scarf." Blaise chuckled. "I kept a
picture."
"For what purpose?" Harry asked seriously.
"It's in one of my albums." Blaise said, holding his hands up. "I like you,
but it's hardly a nude pic. Though if you want to give me a nude pic then
I wouldn't object to it."
Harry laughed, but Draco growled protectively and glared at his best
friend.
"No, no one gets a naked picture of me." Harry said. "Not even Rabastan."
"Oh, your dirty letters haven't progressed that far yet, have they?" Draco
grumped.
Harry winked. "Not just yet, maybe next year." He giggled.
He had to laugh at the twin looks of shock that were being sent at him.
"I'll be seventeen in the next school year." He pointed out. "A legal adult."
"And your first action as a legal adult will be to send naked photos of
yourself?"
Harry grinned. "It's not like I'll be putting them on the front page of the
Prophet." He chuckled. "Rabastan is my fiancé and he will be my husband
and the father to my children. Why not send him naked, alluring photos
to showcase what he's getting?"
"If we are staying on this topic, then I'm leaving."
"It's almost curfew anyway." Harry said. "Thank you for helping me sort
out my latest mountain of homework."
"Of course, if you need help after the match as well, just ask." Draco said.
"You're a Malfoy too, if you fail, you make me look bad by comparison."
Harry just grinned. He saw the two of them out and then went back to
his settee. He made more tea for himself and then pulled out his notes on
the meetings that he was having with Dumbledore, looking through the
sheaves of parchment he had written, trying to figure out what it all
meant.
As usual, Dumbledore wasn't being very forthcoming with information,
so Harry was trying to figure it out for himself.
So far, all he had was that Tom Riddle, while in the orphanage, had been
a kleptomaniac who had taken toys and things from the other children
and that, as an adult, he was possibly still taking things from others, such
as the cup and locket from Hepzibah Smith and the Gaunt ring that he'd
taken from Morfin.
Other than that, he'd gotten the thought of Tom needing to feel
individual and unique, the desire to know his own heritage and the
obsession with blood purity and his fury over finding out that his father
was actually a muggle. It had made Harry wonder if Tom hadn't killed his
father and his grandparents purely for being muggles so that no one
would ever be able to find out that he was related to them.
He nibbled on his quill, trying to make a link between everything and the
objects that Voldemort was now 'collecting' instead of those he had
collected when he'd been in the orphanage. Mainly, Slytherin's locket and
Hufflepuff's cup. Relics of the founders. Physical ties to magic and to
Hogwarts, something to remind him that he belonged at Hogwarts, that
he was magical and not a muggle like his father and grandparents. It
stood to reason that he would have sought out other relics of the
founders too, so he jotted down something of Gryffindor's and something
of Ravenclaw's too. He, of course, remembered Gryffindor's sword. He
wondered if Voldemort hadn't tried to 'collect' that too. If the sword was
the only relic of Gryffindor's left, then Voldemort obviously didn't have it.
He tapped the quill against his lips and thought hard about it. He put the
sword next to the something of Gryffindor's and circled it. If Voldemort
wanted it then Harry could easily get it. It was up in Dumbledore's office,
after all, and he still had the Marauder's Map and his invisibility cloak. It
might keep his family safer if he gave Voldemort something that he'd
obviously been searching for since his teen years.
Giving up on his train of thought for the night, Harry packed everything
away, stood up and stretched. He then went to his potions cupboard and
grabbed his nutrient potion and a glass of juice, drained them both and
then he went to bed. He'd been given more than enough to think about
over the last few weeks. Now, he just had to survive until the twenty-
second, when he could go home and spend two blissful weeks with
Rabastan. He couldn't wait.
The eighth of March brought sunshine and determination in equal
measure. Harry had woken up covered in dried sweat, but that had
become normal for him now, ever since he'd started taking his daily
potions.
He showered off easily enough, dressed in his scarlet Quidditch robes and
dark yellow leggings and he shouldered his Firebolt, snatching up his
bone-strengthening potion to take down to breakfast with him, along
with the standard headache reliever which didn't get rid of the headache
that came as a side effect from the bone-strengthening potion, but he had
tried not taking the headache reliever once and he'd almost passed out
from the pain. So the headache reliever managed the pain enough for
him to focus and function more normally and that was what he needed in
spades today.
He sat at the Slytherin table, the only speck of gold and red in amongst
them all, and he ate a small bowl of porridge sweetened with honey and
lots of strawberry jam. As soon as he was done, he swallowed both his
potions and shook his head, draining a glass of pumpkin juice before he
drained the small glass of goat milk before seizing his cup of tea and
draining that too. He couldn't wait until this was all over and he never
had to look at another potion ever again.
"Are you sure that you're fit enough to play?" Blaise almost whined.
Harry smiled. "I've been feeling so much better in recent days." He said
happily.
"You truly are looking better too." Pansy told him. "You have more colour
to you and those dreadful black bags have vanished from under your
eyes."
"A couple of days of light homework and sleeping nearly fourteen hours a
night can do that. I feel better than I have in months."
"Don't ruin all your progress by breaking your neck." Draco told him,
which was probably as close as he'd ever admit to showing true concern
for him.
"I'm a pro." Harry boasted. "I know exactly when I need to pull out of a
dive on my Firebolt to avoid the ground."
"When are you going to let me have a go?" Blaise asked him.
"On the Firebolt? Whenever you want, Blaise. You only had to ask." Harry
insisted. "Just don't damage or break it or I will seriously end your life."
"Really? So when we get back from the break, I can have a go on it
then?" Blaise asked.
Harry nodded. "It'll be warmer in April too."
"Hopefully, you'll be much better after two weeks off to yourself." Astoria
told him kindly. "A nice break could be just what you need to get on top
of things."
Harry nodded. "I can't wait. I'm going to spend most of it resting, I
already know that and that's without mother and father getting involved
too. But I just want to spend a lot of it in bed, sleeping." He insisted.
"We won't recognise you when you come back." Blaise chuckled.
"That can only be a good thing when I'm walking around looking like I
died last week." He smiled.
An hour before the match started, Harry stood from the Slytherin table
and went to the Gryffindor table to collect his team and his reserves. He
got hisses and several spiteful comments from his own housemates as he
walked down the table, but he just looked at those doing as such blankly,
as if he thought them the worst of scum. He'd learnt that one from
Xerxes.
"Katie, are you ready?" He asked with a smile.
"One minute." She called back, picking up her glass of juice and draining
it. She stood and between them, they wrangled up the team and the
reserves.
"We're so early." Jimmy complained.
"I want a bit of a warm-up first." Harry told them as they reached the
Entrance Hall. "It's no secret that I haven't been feeling well lately, I need
to see if I'm fit enough to play."
"You will be, won't you?" Demelza asked him worriedly.
"I hope so, but I'm not sure. I've been feeling better recently, but I want
Dillan with us, just in case." Harry nodded to the small, slight boy he'd
been personally training when they both had a free moment, the young
twelve-year-old who was his handpicked reserve Seeker.
"I…I don't want to play!" Dillan told him desperately as they made their
way outside into the snowy grounds.
Harry looked at him. "Then why the hell did you try out?" He asked.
"I wanted to be a Chaser!"
"You're better suited to being a Seeker." Harry told him.
"I can't compare to you!" Dillan cried. "What if I don't catch the snitch?"
"Then you don't catch it and you move on to the next game." Harry said.
"Not even I've caught the snitch a hundred per cent of the time!" He told
the young Dillan, trying to make him feel better.
"Only because the Dementors made you fall!" Demelza insisted, but it
negated what Harry had been trying to do.
"I told Cedric at the time that he deserved the win, especially when he
was pushing for a rematch. The greatest thing this game can teach you is
humility and a bit of sportsmanship. It's not the end of the world if we
lose, okay? We will bow out with grace, we will congratulate Hufflepuff
on their spectacular win, because let's face it if they beat our star Chasers
and phenomenal Keeper then it will be a spectacular win, and we look
towards the game in May against Ravenclaw. We can afford one loss this
year with the points we've accumulated against Slytherin. But if we do
lose for whatever reason, we will not be sour-faced dick bags about it,
alright?"
Katie snorted. "That's an interesting way to phrase it." She said.
Harry grinned. "I mean it. Dillan, if I substitute myself it will be because I
am too ill to play, it will be a last resort okay? If I do that and you don't
catch the snitch, I won't care. I will probably be unconscious somewhere,
vomiting into my own hair or something. But, I have been training with
you myself and I know that I can count on you to do your best. I chose
you, I handpicked you out of all the others who tried out to be my
replacement if it was needed. You'd do just fine."
The twelve-year-old nodded stubbornly and set his jaw. Harry smiled and
looked at the weather conditions. It was cold still, but unlike the
Slytherin versus Ravenclaw match, the sun was out and there weren't any
clouds or anything, just the snow on the ground.
"Perfect conditions for Beaters. Jimmy, Ritchie, I want you both to hit the
bludgers out of the sun, okay? The Hufflepuffs won't even see them
coming. Pauley, depending on which half we're playing in, you might be
at a disadvantage because of these conditions, do what you can and try to
anticipate where the quaffle is coming from so that you don't damage
your eyes staring at the sun. If they have any sort of strategy then they
will try to blind you with the sun while trying to score."
Harry led the team and the young reserves out onto the pitch and they all
kicked off into the air, flying and getting a feel for the conditions. He saw
Pauley go straight for the hoops that had the sun shining on them and he
watched as the young boy tried to work out tactics with his own young
reservist. They started talking and debating with one another, pointing to
the sun and then diving to one hoop or the other.
Harry didn't feel too bad at the moment and he caught up to Dillan and
he started running through tactics with him, telling him how best to
strategise in this weather, with the sun.
"The sun will catch the snitch more easily so it'll start glittering and
shining like a homing beacon in the dark, so you'll want to watch your
opponent a little more, just in case." Harry said, using this time as an
impromptu lesson. "On such a clear day, this match should be over
relatively quickly because of the sun. In conditions like this, there's
nowhere for the snitch to hide, so the game is usually won by whichever
Seeker catches the snitch first."
"Please let it be you. I'm not ready." Dillan told him in panic.
Harry smiled kindly. "I'm feeling alright for the moment. I'm hoping for a
quick win. But you're more ready than you might think, Dillan." He
insisted. "It's nerves that are making you afraid, as soon as you start
playing, all that melts away. I'm always a little nervous before a match
and I'm sure that Katie will tell you the same thing, but these butterflies
are normal, no matter how long you've been playing or how many games
you've played, a bit of nerves before a match is completely normal."
When the other students started coming down from the castle Harry
called out to his team and got them into their changing rooms under the
giant gold lion on the red background. He huddled them around for a pep
talk, pulling them all in, even the reserves.
"Right you lot, I'm hoping for a nice, clean, quick game." He said.
"Jimmy, Ritchie, take out the Seeker and the other Beaters as a priority."
"The Beaters?" Jimmy asked.
Harry nodded seriously. "They can use the sun too, and we won't see
them until it's too late. They can do a lot of harm in these conditions, so
take them out before they do the same to us."
The two boys nodded just as seriously.
"Katie, Demelza, Sarah. Girls, we need to control the possession of the
quaffle as much as possible to give the Hufflepuffs as little opportunity to
score against us. Make your passes clean and precise, watch out for
interceptions and be aware of any bludgers coming out of your blind
spot."
Harry looked at the three girls closely, making sure they understood what
he was saying, though Katie was a dab hand at this, she knew exactly
what he was asking. He was going to miss her presence when she
graduated at the end of the year.
"Pauley, if we lose the toss and get the hoops in the sun, don't panic. The
girls will support you and control the possession as much as possible.
Don't damage your eyes by looking at the sun, try and determine where
they're coming from and which hoop they'll have the best chance of
aiming at and block it if you can, but don't dwell on it if they score. It's
expected in such conditions, especially if the sun is against us."
"And you." Katie directed at him. "Don't kill yourself. We have a reserve
this year, if you start feeling unwell or drowsy, take yourself off."
"You will take over the captaincy in my place, in the event that I am
substituted." He told her. "But I am hoping for a quick catch."
"If anyone can do it, you can."
Harry chuckled. He turned and got some water from the jug on the table
and made sure his team were ready, that their equipment was pristine
and their uniform was in place. He made sure that his Firebolt was still
perfect and then, in no time at all, they were heading back out onto the
pitch and facing off against Hufflepuff.
Harry actively looked for Draco, Astoria, Blaise, and Theo. They were sat
together at the front of the Slytherin bleachers and they hadn't worn
Gryffindor colours, as he had worn the Slytherin colours to their match,
but they did have a banner. A banner that was gold on red and simply
said 'Don't die, Potter.' It made him laugh in surprise.
His team looked at him and he nodded at the Slytherin bleachers and to
the banner right at the front.
"They truly have come to like you if they aren't cheering for your death."
Katie teased.
"Tell me about it! It's amazing to actually have a brother, even if he is a
ferret." Harry grinned.
Madam Hooch instructed the two captains to shake hands and Harry
stepped forward and did so happily and amicably, wishing the
Hufflepuffs luck, setting a good example for his young team. Madam
Hooch fully approved if the smile she gave him was any indication. She
offered him the first pick of the side of the Galleon because Gryffindor
was ahead in points, and after a quick look at his team, he chose heads. It
came up tails…they were playing in the sun.
The whistle blew and they were up in the air and Harry immediately
started coasting for the snitch. He had meant it when he'd said that he
wanted this to be a nice, quick game, his healing body wouldn't take a
four-hour match like the Slytherin versus Ravenclaw game. He'd barely
survived that one and he'd been a spectator. An enthusiastic, active
spectator maybe, but he'd been in the bleachers nonetheless and not
playing. The bludger that almost took him in the centre chest put a stop
to that thought as he rolled under his own broom to avoid it. He took a
moment to catch his breath and then turned to glare at the Hufflepuff
Beater who was looking at him hopefully as if fervently hoping that the
bludger sent at him would strike him and he'd fall. The fucking rat
bastard.
Harry flew straight over to Jimmy, his nearest Beater.
"Take that one out quickly." He said seriously, nodding to the Beater
who'd tried to take him out.
"Number four?" Jimmy asked him, keeping his eyes on the numbered
Beater.
"Number four." Harry confirmed.
"Yes, Captain."
Harry went back to coasting for the snitch, now more aware of bludgers
and other players. He filtered out the noise from the crowd and from the
game, only the occasional loud shout or snippet of commentary getting
through, but Harry had every faith in his team. He had his own job to do
and he needed to do it quickly.
He did smile when there was a collective gasp and he turned to see that a
bludger had taken out the Hufflepuff Beater who had fallen to the snow
below…Hufflepuff's number four. He laughed and looked for Jimmy and
gave the young boy a thumbs up, getting an exuberant grin back.
Harry slipped up higher and coasted again, hoping for a glimpse of the
snitch, filtering in the noise for a mere moment to hear a bit of
commentary to make sure that they were in the lead and his star girls
were doing what they did best, dominating the quaffle and the possession
of the game. He heard 'another ten points to Gryffindor, making that one
hundred points to twenty' and he cut out again. The girls were doing
brilliant and if Hufflepuff only had twenty points, then Pauley was doing
spectacular too, against all the odds and the unrelenting glare of the sun.
The game wore on and Harry kept his eyes on the other Seeker, just in
case, but he had no clue where the snitch was hiding, he hadn't even seen
a glimmer of gold that would indicate that the sun had caught it. He did
have the thought that perhaps it was down in the trenches that drained
the excess water off of the pitch, but he wasn't going to go down there,
just in case it turned up while he was down amongst the wooden beams.
The remaining Beater was hard at work, near exclusively aiming for
Pauley, and Harry wasn't having any of that. Ritchie had taken out one of
the Hufflepuff Chasers and was now going for the Seeker, Jimmy was
also aiming at the Seeker, leaving the remaining Hufflepuff Beater free
and almost unchallenged to aim at their Keeper. Pauley couldn't watch
for the quaffle and bludgers too, not with the sun in his eyes.
Harry went to Ritchie first.
"Protect Pauley, the remaining Beater is trying to take him out." Harry
said.
Ritchie looked to his friend and Harry watched him scowl fiercely. "I've
got him. Leave it to me."
Ritchie flew off, his bat raised, to protect Pauley at the Gryffindor hoops
and Harry caught Jimmy's eye and he nodded to the remaining Beater.
Jimmy nodded back and Harry knew then that his meaning had been
made plain. Very soon Hufflepuff would be left with no Beaters, which is
just what Harry wanted. He could handle their Seeker himself, it was the
Beaters that he had been worried about because of the blinding sun and
the lack of cloud cover.
There was another gasp from the crowd several minutes later and Harry
turned to see the other Beater, the number five, following the previous
Beater down into the snow. He chuckled darkly and then turned back to
coasting for the snitch, looking more with his peripheral vision than
dead-on and finally he caught the sparkle of glittering gold.
He was gone, turning on a hairpin and giving chase to the snitch at a
hundred and fifty miles per hour, everyone around him blurring to mere
colours with no detail as he flew past them. A blob of yellow bravely
tried to get in his way, but Harry dropped under his broom and hung
there in an insane move that passed him right under the blocking
Hufflepuff and allowed him to roll back up onto his broom properly and
carry on hunting the snitch at the Firebolt's top speed.
He almost outstripped the snitch, turning at the last moment and
plucking it straight from the air, holding it up in victory. His vision was
blurry because of his fast chase around the pitch and he took several
extra deep breaths.
"Oi! Stop ignoring me, are you alright?"
Harry turned then and he had to laugh as he realised that he was right in
front of the Slytherin bleachers, hovering just a few feet above them. He
moved closer, right in front of Draco.
"I'm fine." He insisted. "I thought I was going to murder that one
Hufflepuff who got in the way, but I managed to avoid them."
"I thought for sure that you were going to collide!" Blaise said. "It was less
than a second and you were under the Chaser and back on your broom.
How did you even see it, let alone have time to think what to do?!"
"It seemed longer than that." Harry insisted. "It felt like I had loads of
time to see the yellow blob, to realise what was happening and then to
roll underneath my broom as I passed under their attempt to block me."
"Well, it wasn't loads of time, it was a split second! I almost died, Potter!"
Draco told him. "Don't do that again!"
Harry laughed and held out the snitch. "I don't have to." He gave them a
cheeky wink and he flew off back to the centre of the pitch and he landed
in the snow to give Madam Hooch the snitch and he all but fell into the
arms of his waiting teammates.
"We did it!" Sarah was cheering.
"You girls were amazing! Pauley, where are you? You were brilliant too!"
Harry insisted as he found the young Keeper and clapped his back.
"Jimmy, Ritchie, you guys were so accurate with your shots! That
practice definitely paid off, boys." He praised. "Taking out the opposing
Beaters like that, well done!"
"You were pretty great too, our star Seeker." Katie told him with a grin.
"Right, we can all congratulate ourselves and say we're the greatest team
ever in a bit." Harry insisted. "Once we're warm and dry! I need to get out
of these robes and into a warm shower and warm clothes before I keel
over."
"Are you feeling okay?"
"I was, until that final chase, now I need to sit down for a bit." He
admitted. "My vision is a bit blurry still."
"Right, let's get into the changing rooms." Katie said, taking over.
Harry preceded the three young boys into the showers and he took just a
few minutes to stand under the warm water before hurrying to dry
himself off and climb back into his Quidditch robes and casting a
warming charm on them, sinking into the wave of immediate heat that
the charm gave.
"Oh, that's so much better." He sighed.
One by one he cast the same charm on the three young boys and watched
them sink into their own robes as well. He smiled.
"Come on." He chided. "Let's get the girls and go to our after-party."
"Will you get sweets and things again?" Pauley asked.
"You bet I will." Harry said, watching with a smile as the boys whooped
and charged off ahead of him.
He sighed and lifted his left hand to his mouth and he kissed his ring.
"I miss you more and more." He whispered to it. "I wish you'd been here
today to watch me win. I can't wait, just two more weeks and I'll be back
in your arms. I love you. I'll be with you again soon."
"Come on, Harry!" Demelza called out from up ahead and Harry looked
up and he smiled at the rest of his team.
He chuckled and quickened his pace to catch up to them. Just two more
weeks and he would be back at home with Rabastan. He would have just
two weeks with his fiancé and he was determined to make the most of it
while he could. He would have just two weeks of kissing Rabastan's lips
instead of his engagement ring, he would have just two weeks to sit
beside Rabastan and speak to him without waiting several days to hear a
reply to his words. He would have just two weeks to comfort and
personally support Rabastan until he would have to come back to
Hogwarts for another eleven weeks. It seemed so fucking long, eleven
weeks…but it would all be worth it when he got two full, uninterrupted
months with Rabastan for the summer. Hopefully, they would both be a
lot better by the time the end of term came around and the summer
holidays started. It was only that thought that was getting him through
this continuous hell.
A/N: A very late chapter, but I'm amazed that I actually got this one
done! Just before I go off to work too, so I'm very happy with it. This is a
few days later than normal, because it's a birthday chapter, but I'm just
glad I got it out at all!
Huge thanks to Dante's Divine Comedy for being the 2,100th reviewer!
Thank you very much.
A lot of you are asking about Theo and Daphne, don't worry, I haven't
forgotten about that, but it's not going to be soon! Theo is a Slytherin for
a reason and he's not going to rush his revenge, he's going to take his
time, so expect him to play along a little with Daphne to lure her further
into her sense of unshakable security and then when she least expects it,
he's going to rip her down and keep her down. Her and his Father, the
latter of which is why his plan is taking so long, because he needs to find
a way to keep himself secure too. So don't worry, it will come, just a little
later in the plot line, like Rhadamanthus and Bellatrix.
FotoDi: No, no one knows about Tom Riddle being a half-blood.
Voldemort has kept his Muggle heritage a well-guarded secret, as seen a
little in this chapter when Harry was having the Horcrux meetings with
Dumbledore. As for bringing Dumbledore down, the Malfoys are waiting
on the orders of Voldemort, who is biding his time for the perfect
opportunity to take Dumbledore out and leaving him with no power or
influence. He won't risk having Dumbledore running like he did in canon,
he's going to make Dumbledore think he has gotten away with it before
ordering the Malfoys to take action against him.
Rodolphus can't do anything against Bellatrix because she is a loyal
follower of Voldemort. If he killed her, there would be severe
consequences, perhaps not just for him but his whole family too,
something he will not allow to happen because he's so protective of
Rabastan. He won't risk killing Bellatrix and possibly putting his brother
in the firing line of curses as a result of his actions. So for now he mostly
ignores her and pretends that she doesn't exist. As for if she's had sex
with Voldemort, I like to think that he's inept of such things, though if
you take the Cursed Child as canon, then yes, they have had sex together.
I believe that's it, lovelies, until next week because we do have yet
another chapter to be updated, I hope that you've enjoyed the story,
StarLight Massacre. X
17. Home
Last Time
Just two more weeks and he would be back at home with Rabastan. He would
have just two weeks with his fiancé and he was determined to make the most
of it while he could. He would have just two weeks of kissing Rabastan's lips
instead of his engagement ring, he would have just two weeks to sit beside
Rabastan and speak to him without waiting several days to hear a reply to his
words. He would have just two weeks to comfort and personally support
Rabastan until he would have to come back to Hogwarts for another eleven
weeks. It seemed so fucking long, eleven weeks…but it would all be worth it
when he got two full, uninterrupted months with Rabastan for the summer.
Hopefully, they would both be a lot better by the time the end of term came
around and the summer holidays started. It was only that thought that was
getting him through this continuous hell.
Chapter Seventeen - Home
On the twenty-second of March Harry had barely been able to sleep from
a combination of nervous excitement and the night sweats brought on by
his nutrient potion. He had finally given up when he realised that he was
just tossing and turning in his bed, getting more frustrated and damp
than anything else and not getting any rest at all.
He rolled right out of the bed and took a moment to scrub vigorously at
his face with his hands and then he actually squinted at his clock and he
groaned, part in frustration and part in disbelief…it was only just five in
the morning.
At least he didn't have to deal with any homework this time around. He
had such a light workload at the moment that he had finished all of his
set homework before the end of term and he had already handed it in so
he didn't even have to worry about it. He had nothing to do but wait for
the train ride home. It was going to be hell, waiting for nine in the
morning and then enduring an eleven-hour train ride, but he couldn't
wait until he got back home and he could snuggle up in Rabastan's
arms…he'd been dreaming of such for a while now, the closer to the
twenty-second it had gotten.
He made sure that he had everything that he wanted to take with him,
which he'd already done the night before when he'd been too excited to
go to sleep in the first place. He made himself a nice cup of tea, grabbed
his most recent Rune's book that Marcus had lobbed at his head and had
told him to read before he went into the bathroom to run himself a nice,
hot bath. He spent as long as he possibly could in the bath, reading until
the water started getting noticeably cooler. Then he put the book down,
out of the way of any errant splashes as it wasn't his book, and he washed
himself off quickly, and thoroughly, and he got out.
He actually debated on what to wear for once, but remembering Astoria's
advice at the Slytherin's Quidditch after-party, he chose a nice, dark
green jumper and tight, black wool trousers. He looked at himself in the
mirror from every angle, trying to find fault with what he'd chosen. He
really needed someone to just tell him what to wear for such occasions,
he looked normal enough, though he supposed that the tight trousers did
show off his bum a bit more than usual and the dark green jumper was
definitely a good call, his eyes looked bigger and more prominent against
the green jumper, even behind his glasses.
He brushed his hair for several minutes, trying, what seemed to be in
vain, to flatten what he could, but ultimately he gave it up as an
impossible feat before he went to pick up his book bag, which he was
currently using as a hold-all just to go back home for two weeks. It
mostly had his recreational books, and the ones that Marcus had given to
him too, so that he could read them on the train and when he got home.
It was almost seven in the morning when he slipped out of his rooms, his
book bag over his shoulder. It was still early, but he didn't care if anyone
wanted to give him a detention for being twenty minutes early for
breakfast. He was much too excited about seeing Rabastan again and he
was driving himself up the wall waiting in his rooms all by himself.
The tables were empty for now, only set with clean plates, glasses, and
cutlery. Harry sat at the Slytherin table, as had become the norm these
days, and as soon as his arse hit the bench, a selection of drinks appeared
in front of him, including a jug of juice, a jug of water, a teapot and milk.
He smiled at the attention of the house-elves.
"Thank you." He said clearly and loudly, knowing that they'd be able to
hear him. "I appreciate this."
He made himself some tea and he got a book out of his bag to read while
he waited, occasionally sipping his tea as he read.
At exactly seven in the morning, the tables erupted into life, spilling an
assortment of breakfast things up to the four house tables.
Harry got himself some porridge, spooned in a large amount of jam, and
he set to eating. He also found the goat milk and poured himself a glass.
He sipped at it as he ate, disguising the taste of the milk with the overly
sugary, sweet porridge.
There were a few people in the hall with him now, at this early time of
morning, then the Professors turned up one by one and then, by half past,
more people started trickling in and the soft, occasional sounds grew to a
small din. Harry was joined at his section of the Slytherin table first by
Theo, which was perfect for Harry as he'd been meaning to speak to him
for a while.
"So, when is your big reveal going to be?" He asked curiously, as he
politely marked the page in his book and put it away, giving Theo his full
attention.
Theo gave him a smirk. "Soon enough." He said in a very satisfied way.
Harry chuckled. "Am I allowed to be in on the big reveal?"
"Well, between me and you, Harry, absolutely no one is going to want
her after this. No one." Theo said in a very cruel way. "Not anyone from
Britain, not anyone from overseas. She'll be ruined."
"Good!" Harry said with an answering cruel smile. "Does your father
know yet?"
"Absolutely not. I'm trying to take him down too. If he is proven to be an
unsatisfactory Head of House, then I can petition to take over. It's a
rarely used law and it's even rarer that it's actually enforced, but if I can
push the issue, I might just be joining you at those Wizengamot
meetings."
Harry laughed. "It'll do me some good to have some company my own
age!" He insisted with a grin.
They were cut off from their conversation by the appearance of a bubbly,
bright-faced Astoria, who was resplendent in a pale blue jumper
embroidered with sparkling gems around the neckline that looked like
actual aquamarine stones. She had paired the jumper with a knee-length,
white skirt, thick woollen tights that were also white and she had
finished it off with white shoes with delicate blue designs on them that
matched the jumper. Her blonde hair was tied back with a blue ribbon.
"You look beautiful this morning, Astoria." Harry greeted, accepting the
kiss on the cheek as she settled herself beside him.
"I could say the same." She laughed, looking him over. "That jumper suits
you perfectly!"
"I definitely like red better, but you were right about green bringing out
my eyes, and they are my best facial feature after all."
"Oh, they certainly are." Astoria agreed. "If I had such unique, perfectly
green eyes as you then I would flaunt them as often as I could! You have
the sort of eyes that other people can only dream of having."
Harry laughed. "Well, I have my mum to thank for them. Just as I have
my dad to thank for this hair, though I took his short-sightedness as
well." He added, touching his black-framed, rectangular glasses.
"Your hair looks neater today, what did you do?" Astoria asked as she
sliced a banana onto her toast.
"Nothing, I had a bath this morning and I was bored, so I brushed it for a
bit longer than I usually do just to waste some time. It's probably fluffier
than normal as opposed to neat." He grinned.
They took a break from their conversation to eat a bit more of their
breakfasts, Harry went to pour himself some more tea before noticing the
inch or so of milk still in his glass, with a scowl he put the teapot back
down and drained the last of his milk first.
"You two need to be my witnesses." He told Theo and Astoria. "I drank
my glass of milk for the morning, you both saw me. Draco won't believe
me, he'd make me drink another one!" He insisted.
Theo chuckled. "I saw you drink it." He nodded.
"I did too." Astoria smiled.
Harry grinned at them both and he went back to getting himself a second
cup of tea, well, his third of the morning actually as he'd had one up in
his rooms before he'd come down. He got a small piece of wholemeal
toast to nibble on once his porridge was finished and then he took the
time to drain his bone-strengthening potion and a headache reliever. He
shivered and shook his head in a familiar response now to the terrible,
bitter taste of them that was impossible to get used to.
He drained his almost full cup of tea and then poured himself a fourth
cup. It was as he was drinking this cup, much more leisurely this time,
talking to Theo and Astoria, that Blaise and Draco finally joined them,
Draco sitting next to Astoria immediately and Blaise sat up next to Theo.
"You're down late, one final romp in the sheets together first?" Harry
teased.
Astoria went pink and giggled and Theo laughed.
"I wish!" Blaise chuckled. "Crabbe was hogging the shower. It took Draco
forever to get ready."
"Me? You were the one who changed your shirt four times because you
didn't like the way they were sat on your shoulders!" Draco told him.
"There's nothing wrong with the shirts, Blaise, it's your shoulders! You've
bulked up since September and you need to be fitted again!"
"Okay, we've established that you're both as fussy as one another and you
both take a decade to get ready for anything, stop now, I have a
headache." Harry whined as he massaged either side of his head.
"Your potion?" Draco asked.
"What else?" He grumped. "Things started off so well this morning too."
"Have you eaten today?"
"Yes, Draco." Harry said. "I've had porridge and toast."
He waited for Draco to ask about the milk and he didn't have to wait very
long.
"Have you had your glass of milk?"
"Yes." He said in a long-suffering way.
"Are you sure?"
"I'm pretty sure I remember drinking it." Harry deadpanned.
"He did drink it." Astoria confirmed with a giggle at their behaviour.
"You would have seen me drinking it if you and Blaise hadn't gone for
that extra romp." He laughed.
That set them all off, even Blaise, but Draco sniffed.
"We didn't have an extra romp!" He insisted primly.
"Oh, just the usual amount then?" Harry inquired innocently and Astoria,
Theo, and Blaise laughed uproariously. Draco went pink as he realised
that he'd walked right into that set-up.
"Oh, shut up, Harry." He complained.
Harry chuckled. He dutifully went back to his tea and he counted down
the time that he had to wait until they could board the train. The
carriages pulled by the thestrals would start coming to the castle at eight
in the morning, which was only twenty minutes away. Harry decided to
get yet more tea to while away the last several minutes, he reminded
himself to go to the bathroom before he left with all the tea that he'd had
this morning.
"I'm going to go grab a compartment." He said at five to eight in the
morning, unable to wait any longer. "Any preference, Draco, front or
back?" He said innocently. Too innocently.
"Why do I feel like you've set that up as an innuendo?" Draco asked him
with his eyes narrowed suspiciously.
Harry's grin widened and he laughed. "I'll be near the front." He grinned.
"I prefer taking it from behind."
Blaise almost choked and he went red with coughs before he could
breathe again and Harry laughed happily, swinging his bag over his
shoulder and leaving for the grounds.
He got a carriage to himself that set off at exactly eight in the morning
towards Hogsmeade station and he was the first one on the train,
incredibly early. His first order of business was to go to the nearest
bathroom, he then found a compartment and settled himself next to the
window and pulled out the book that he'd been reading in the bath and
at breakfast. There weren't going to be many students going home for the
break, but there were enough this year that the train was being used
instead of authorised portkeys or the floo. Harry hated that he had to
suffer through an eleven-hour train ride when he could just floo home,
but he was getting to go home and see Rabastan, so he wasn't going to
complain overly much about it.
Draco and Astoria joined him fifteen minutes later and so did Blaise.
Theo was staying at Hogwarts and so was Daphne, she had a new thing
going on with a younger Slytherin. Harry hoped that Theo got rid of her
soon, he couldn't stand to keep holding his tongue, but this was Theo's
play to make, and he seemed very content to wait for what he believed
was his perfect moment. It was driving Harry mad.
None of them said very much as the train started its journey at nine in
the morning and clattered along towards London. Harry immersed
himself in his book and tried not to use his wand to check the time every
several minutes. He checked the time after he finished every chapter and
even that seemed like time wasn't passing as quickly as he would have
liked.
Harry inevitably fell asleep on the train, after he'd taken his calcium
potion at noon which made him so drowsy that he just fell asleep where
he was sat. He didn't know at the time, but Draco stood up and carefully
slipped the book from his hands and put it to the side before he gently
laid him down and swept his own cloak off to cover him with. The three
left in the compartment spoke quietly, but mostly they just read books or
stared out of the window. Blaise left the compartment for an hour to
stretch his legs by walking the length of the train and back, seeing who
else was travelling with them and where they were sitting.
Draco regretfully woke Harry as they drew closer to London, knowing
that he wouldn't sleep that night if he slept for much longer on the train.
"Was 'appening?" Harry slurred sleepily, rubbing his face before realising
that he was covered over in Draco's cloak, taking up three seats in the
compartment. He groaned. "Sorry, I don't even remember going to sleep."
"It would have been the rocking of the train after you took your potion."
Blaise insisted.
"I thought it would be better for you to sleep for a bit." Draco added. "So I
laid you down and covered you over. Do you feel better?"
Harry nodded. "I'm still tired and I'm feeling a little weak, but I'm sure
with something to eat I'll be better. How long until we get back now?"
"About three hours until we arrive at King's Cross." Draco told him. "Just
sit quiet for a while. I got you some pumpkin pasties. All those sweets
aren't good for you anyway."
Harry smiled and he took the pasties handed to him and nibbled on them
slowly, accepting the glass bottle of pumpkin juice too.
He felt much better after his nap and with something to eat and drink. He
turned to face the window and he looked out of it at the passing
landscape, trying to imagine what Rabastan looked like now, if he'd
changed or if he'd improved during his absence. He remembered thinking
the same during the Christmas holidays too, but when it had come to it,
he hadn't even bothered looking, so he didn't work himself up over it this
time. Everything was going to be just fine, he was going to damn well
enjoy his two weeks off while he could, it wasn't that much time at the
end of the day, he needed to rest and recover some of his lost strength
and that he got to do it with Rabastan was just an added bonus.
Draco helped him from the train, unnecessarily in Harry's opinion, to the
waiting platinum blonde heads of the elder Malfoys.
Narcissa fussed over him and he wouldn't admit how much he liked that
as he allowed her to cup his face and peer at him.
"Let's get you home, darling." She said to him gently, fussing over him as
if he was already at death's door. Then again, the last time that she had
seen him he had felt like he was at death's door in that awful week after
his initial diagnosis.
Lucius and Draco were tall and almost stoic, walking side by side, like
two peas in a pod. Harry felt absolutely no shame in curling up in
Narcissa's arms and laying his head on her shoulder. He'd never had such
novelties before, no one to hold him like this or to care a damn about
him, so he was going to milk it while he could until it was no longer a
novelty to him.
They Apparated back to the manor, Harry holding tight to Narcissa and
then groaning at the pain in his knees as he landed flat out on the floor.
"Very graceful." Draco taunted him.
"If I could see you, I'd curse you." Harry groaned as Lucius helped him to
his feet, holding him firmly.
"Come along, Harry. Did you hit anything important?"
"No, I think I missed the pedestal of the priceless amphora." Harry said,
looking quickly to where it was, just a little to the left of where he'd
landed.
"I was referring to your body." Lucius sighed unhappily. "Did you hit your
head?"
Harry blinked. "Oh. No, I don't think so." He said as he checked that his
glasses were still unbroken after his fall, he never believed that the
unbreakable charms they'd been made with would hold up.
Lucius shook his head and steered him with a hand on his shoulder
towards the front parlour. Harry's heart started hammering nervously,
but he couldn't stop the smile from spreading across his face as he knew
what was coming.
Rabastan was actually pacing when they entered the room, his back to
them as they came in and Harry smiled wider.
"I'm not so frightful that you need to pace." He joked.
Rabastan swung around, his face a picture of worried concern and he
hurried to him automatically, his hands coming to hold his shoulders and
pulling him into a hug.
"Are you okay? When I heard that you had the flu on top of the
hypocalcaemia…" Rabastan trailed off.
"I'm fine now." Harry smiled. "There's no need to worry. I'm surprisingly
hard to kill off."
Harry ignored the stiffening and slight shifts of body weight in the room
as he alluded to Voldemort and the many failed attempts on his life, and
he instead took Rabastan's hand and pulled him to a free settee. Harry
sat, pulled at Rabastan until he sat down too and then he turned to
cuddle up with him.
"I'm sure that's prohibited behaviour." Rodolphus grunted.
"Shut up, Rodolphus." Harry said immediately. "I've missed this while I've
been away, I'm just catching up."
Rabastan smiled at him and tucked him in tighter. He certainly had
grown in confidence while Harry had been away if he was happily
holding him this close, this tightly, around his rib cage. Harry threw one
arm around Rabastan's neck and rested his head on that chest.
Rabastan didn't seem quite as bony as before either. Harry was very
comfortable lying on him and there was more flesh under his body than
there had been before. It could only mean that Rabastan's recovery
programme was working and he was so happy and so proud that he
pulled back and gave Rabastan a kiss.
"I missed you so much." He said quietly, just for them as they slipped into
their own little bubble.
"I've missed you too. How are you feeling, honestly?"
"Honestly?" Harry questioned. "A little weak and tired, but much better
now that I've knocked the flu on the head."
A careful hand brushed against his cheek and a thumb just touched at the
corner of his eye as Rabastan cupped his face gently.
"Is it truly gone?" He asked.
Harry nodded, smiling. "Completely gone. I never meant to worry you."
"I know, but I do worry for you. I'm constantly worried for you, especially
now with your diagnosis."
"I'm taking a lot of rest these days." Harry explained. "I've taken all of the
potions that I've needed to and I'm keeping up with them." He said. "I'll
be fine soon, we both will."
Rabastan smiled down at him and squeezed him gently. Harry grinned
happily because it was an amazing step forward, Rabastan willingly
squeezing him, controlling the pressure and duration of the squeeze and
doing it purposefully. Harry loved him so much and he turned his head
and kissed the lips that he had been dreaming of for weeks now.
Rabastan chuckled quietly and his other arm came around to hold him
too. Harry was overjoyed and he couldn't stop grinning.
"Sorry to interrupt your cosy little bubble, but dinner has been served."
Lucius cut in.
Harry frowned and sighed unhappily. He stood up and held his hands out
to Rabastan, who chuckled and took them, allowing Harry to pull him to
his feet. He happily threw an arm around Harry's slim shoulders and held
him to his body confidently.
"I've been concentrating on controlling my grip." Rabastan told him, as if
somehow Harry had missed that he'd done so, as they made it to the
dining room. "Dolphus and I have been practising with caus…with raw
eggs."
"You're doing so well. I'm so proud of you." Harry told him with a smile
as Rabastan settled him on his chair and then sat next to him.
Rabastan puffed up at Harry's praise and Harry hid his smile as he picked
up his knife and fork and started to eat his braised beef and steamed
vegetables.
"It means a lot to me to hear you say as such." Rabastan told him,
bending to whisper directly in his ear.
Harry put down his knife and gave Rabastan's cheek a soft touch, paired
with a wide smile and some serious eye contact. "I'm always going to be
beside you, Rabastan. I'm always going to support you. Of course, I'm
proud of you, your achievements are also my own and I share in them. I
love you and I'm so proud of you and everything that you've overcome in
these last several months. You've done so very well, keeping to your diet
and exercises, taking all of your potions and the change in you is
miraculous. You've become happier, more confident and I love seeing
your confidence grow as you get healthier, knowing that you can do
whatever you put your mind to, given the right support."
"That is all thanks to you." Rabastan told him. "Your support and love has
helped me so much, I doubt that I could ever express exactly how much
as I can't even begin to count in measurement exactly what you've done
to and for me. How you've pulled me out of my shell, how you've raised
me up and kept me upright with your support and understanding. The
way that you've helped me to focus on things that I thought were beyond
me after fifteen years in Azkaban, such as reading and writing, just by
giving me a new perspective in which to look at it. No one else thought
to do as such for me, only you. I love you."
Harry smiled, it was only one of a small handful of times that Rabastan
had ever voiced those words 'I love you' before. The first time had been
just after the bust-up at the Malfoy Ball when Draco had caught him
comforting Theo and Rodolphus had overheard the wrong thing and had
jumped to conclusions. Harry always made sure not to draw too much
attention to such heartfelt words, though he was hearing those words
more and more often now and he adored it. He gave Rabastan a look of
utter devotion and love and bent forward to kiss him, chastely, on the
lips before turning back to his late dinner, though he didn't pick up his
knife again, instead he kept his spare hand on Rabastan's knee, touching
lightly and caressing with his thumb.
"Do you boys have homework to do?" Lucius asked him and Draco,
cutting through Harry's self-made bubble.
Harry blinked and turned around to look at Lucius…he had actually
forgotten that he and Rabastan weren't alone together.
The startled look on his face as he turned and saw other people at the
table with them made Xerxes laugh and Lucius chuckle.
"I asked if you had homework to do, Harry." Lucius prompted.
"I do." Draco complained. "The Professors gave us so much homework
that I'm not going to have a single free moment!"
"I'm on such a light workload that I finished all of my set homework and
handed it in before I came home." Harry said. "I have a few books to read
off of Marcus, but we're actually not going to stop our lessons, he'll be
coming here, if you are agreeable, to carry on our tutoring sessions while
I have more time to dedicate to what he is teaching me."
"That is a very mature decision to make." Narcissa said approvingly. "I am
also very happy to hear that you've agreed to cut down on your workload
in order to give yourself more time to rest and heal."
Harry nodded. "I've had more energy and I've felt better since I cut down
on my workload." He said happily. "I'm starting to feel more like myself
again."
"That is very good news." Lucius insisted happily.
Harry nodded his agreement. "Yes, I was thinking, if I carry on like this,
you know getting better and feeling better, then maybe I could pick up a
bit more homework when I go back for the new term."
Several people groaned around the table.
"What?" He asked confusedly.
"We have been trying, fruitlessly it seems, to get you to understand how
important your health is." Lucius told him. "You feel marginally better
and immediately you speak of running yourself back into the ground."
"Oh, no, I never meant it like that. I meant taking on just slightly more at
a time, starting with the subjects that I find more difficult."
"Why?" Draco demanded as if he were stupid.
"Because the more I work on it and the more I do for those subjects, the
more I'll understand and they won't be so difficult anymore." Harry
explained. "I'll get better at them and hold more understanding and I'll
actually learn something."
"Do not push yourself." Lucius warned him. "You have all the time you
need to catch up during the summer, once you've been declared healthy."
Harry sighed. "I just want to do well."
"You are doing well." Lucius told him patiently. "You are doing so much
better than anyone ever expected of you. You have time to catch back up
with your schoolwork, not just in the last term, but next year too, just
focus completely on your health for now, Harry. It is the most important
thing here."
"Lucius is right." Rabastan told him, giving him a soft smile and a gentle
touch. "When I heard that you were sickly and going for that full check-
up at the hospital I was worried for you, then you came back and it was
much worse than we could have ever thought of, then you got the flu on
top of that too, you just…you just need to calm down, Harry. You need
more rest, more help and support. Just let yourself heal first."
Harry sighed, but he smiled. "Okay. I'll be a little more relaxed, but there
are certain subjects that I just can't afford to fall behind in. If I fell behind
in Ancient Runes, Arithmancy, Potions or Transfiguration now, then I'd
never be able to pick back up the momentum that I had. I need to stay
ahead of those four subjects if I have any chance of passing my NEWT
exams next year. Charms isn't too difficult and neither is Herbology. I'm
going to walk Defence, as always, and History of Magic has always been
a complete joke, but those four are my top problem subjects and I can't
afford to let them slide away from me."
"What you cannot afford to do is to fall sick again." Narcissa told him
firmly. "You will do so if you do not give yourself the time that you need
to rest and to heal. You had a very serious diagnosis just two months ago,
darling. Such a thing was very shocking for all of us, but it must have
been more so for you. It is not an easy thing to hear that such a serious
condition has been lingering unnoticed, or that it could have been fatal.
There is no need to hide behind your schoolwork or to hide your reaction
or your emotions to this news, it is very upsetting and you have every
right to feel that way."
Harry's heart missed a beat as Narcissa hit the proverbial nail on the
head. He averted his gaze and sighed.
"I just want to forget about it." He admitted softly. "I don't want to think
about it."
"You need to, sweetheart." She told him. "I know it's difficult, it must be
hurting you to think of such things, but you can't just ignore it. It won't
go away just because you're not thinking about it. You'll do yourself more
damage by not looking after yourself."
"I am taking the potions." He insisted. "I suppose it's just difficult to admit
that it's affecting every part of my life, that it might have ended up taking
my life if I'd let it or never found out."
"You do not need to dwell on such thoughts." Lucius told him. "The
illness, and the damage that it had done, was found, Harry. It is being
rectified and you are healing. That is all you need to think about now."
Harry nodded with a small smile. "It is difficult to think and speak of, but
I am getting better the more used to it I get. Knowing that it could all be
healed in a few more months is all that is keeping me from having a
mini-meltdown." He admitted.
"You would be entitled to have a 'mini-meltdown' as you have phrased it."
Lucius told him gently. "Do not underestimate how very serious this
condition is. It is very severe and rather shocking, it would be
understandable that you might be struggling a little with the knowledge
of it or with the gruelling potions regime that you need to stick to in
order to heal yourself. Anyone would be finding things a little difficult,
Harry, that is why I want you to slow down and to take things a little
easier."
Harry nodded glumly.
"You don't need to stress about it for the next few weeks." Draco told him,
trying to cheer him up. "You have no homework, nothing to really do
except put up with Marcus and his lessons, just relax and recover a little
bit while you can."
Harry nodded then and he shifted just slightly closer to Rabastan for
comfort. Rabastan, who immediately put down his knife and fork and
turned to him, laying one hand over his shoulders and raising his other
hand to touch his face.
"You're going to be just fine." He said calmly, that deep, resonating voice
soothing him. "We're all going to look after you."
Harry smiled and he shifted his chair right up flush to Rabastan's and he
snuggled in as close as he could.
"Harry, finish your meal please, you need to eat." Narcissa told him.
Harry nodded, but instead of moving back, he pulled his plate closer and
he ate right next to Rabastan, touching him under the table as he brushed
his shoulder against Rabastan's side and knocked their knees together.
Rabastan chuckled, but he didn't move away or discourage him from
what he was doing for which Harry was very grateful as he needed a
small bit of comfort for himself. It was still difficult for him to come to
terms with all that had happened and though he'd always known that the
Dursleys hadn't liked him and hadn't treated him well in any capacity of
a decent human being, he had never once thought of the possibility that
they might have actually killed him. It might have been a death through
a disease that they probably didn't know that he had either, but it didn't
matter to him, he had not believed that the abuse he had been put
through could have ever led to his death in any way. It was a very rude
awakening that he found himself sitting here, dwelling on the fact that
they could have been implicit in his own premature death. He found the
thought cold and disquieting.
After dinner he was back on one of the settees in the front parlour with
Rabastan, his body practically melded to the other man as he laid his
head over the strong heartbeat. It reminded him that though Rabastan
might be physically weak because of his incarceration, he was still alive.
It had helped him in recent months to lay his hand over Rabastan's chest
and to just feel his heart beating strong and surely, so at odds with his
appearance and physical limitations. It had always been the same with
his voice too…that voice that had always been so deep and so steady.
"Are you asleep?" Rabastan whispered so quietly that Harry wondered if
he had actually heard it at all and wasn't just imagining it.
He chuckled. "No. I'm just enjoying being able to touch you again."
"I won't dissuade you then."
Harry could almost hear the smile to go with those words and he rolled
his head to look up at his fiancé. The soft look that he was getting didn't
fit into the picture of a murdering monster that the Daily Prophet had
printed in January of last year, back when Rabastan had first been
liberated.
He remembered reading the article that had been front-page news and he
remembered the things that had been said about Rabastan, what he'd
done to Frank and Alice Longbottom, Neville's parents. He remembered
what words had been used to describe him, cold and cruel and merciless.
It struck very close to what the Prophet had been calling him ever since
the trial and sentencing of Dennis Jute. How he was being called exactly
the same, not for torturing two people into insanity, but merely for
sentencing a man to prison for the vile attack he'd carried out in muggle
Kent on defenceless people who had been hurt in the attack and now
suffered with a decreased quality of life as a result.
His point was that the Prophet had been saying how much of a monster
that Rabastan was, how dangerous and deranged, but as he looked up at
that soft look, the adoring smile and those dark blue eyes…it reminded
him that not everything was always so black and white, that people were
not black and white. Rabastan might have been able to torture two
people, but hadn't he himself gone to cast the Cruciatus curse, one of the
Unforgivables and incidentally the same spell used to torture the
Longbottoms, on Bellatrix Lestrange? So truly, how was he any better
than Rabastan or Rodolphus? How could he claim to be so white and
pure and light when, given the right circumstance, he had gone to do
exactly the same as the both of them? He had been more than willing to
torture and kill Bellatrix for Sirius' death, it was just that Rabastan and
Rodolphus felt exactly the same way about Voldemort and when faced
with losing someone that they considered important to them, they had
gone after those who they deemed necessary and he had done exactly the
same when he had lost Sirius.
"You're thinking incredibly hard, you're frowning." Rabastan told him
with his own frown. "Are you okay?"
Harry, his thoughts broken, looked up at those blue eyes that he loved so
much and he smiled.
"Don't worry about me, I'm fine. Sometimes I just lose myself in
overthinking everything when really the answer is rather quite simple."
"Oh?" Rabastan replied questioningly. "And what simple answer have you
come to?" He asked.
"That I love you." Harry said with a wider smile. "Two sides of a coin are
still just the one coin. It doesn't matter what method we use to get
somewhere if the end result is exactly the same."
He slipped back into his thoughts for a moment as he said those words
out loud…truly, he and Rabastan were two sides of a coin, but the same
coin nonetheless. Perhaps the lines between them were blurring a little as
they melded closer together, but they were still the same just in different
ways. After all, he had blown off Rowle's leg and then left him to bleed to
death on the bathroom floor. True, the threat of him being eaten alive
had shocked and terrified him, but he hadn't done anything to stop
anyone from going to do it either. Truly, what did that make him if not
the monster that the Prophet had been claiming that Rabastan was?
He smiled and looked back up at Rabastan, lifting a hand to touch that
rough-skinned, chiselled jaw and he let his thumb caress patterns onto
the strong chin.
"You mean the world to me." He said gently. "I'd do anything for you."
Rabastan looked rather confused, as this had seemingly come out of the
blue to him, who was not privy to Harry's thoughts and didn't know
exactly how deeply Harry was thinking, or about what.
"I feel the same way about you." Rabastan replied. "I feel like I'm missing
several links and key points here, but as you said, if the end result is
exactly the same…"
Harry chuckled then and he grinned happily. "If the end result is the
same." He echoed, feeling much better as he lifted himself up to kiss
Rabastan as deeply as he dared with several family members in the room
with them.
Rabastan grinned so happily at him then and his arms wrapped around
him more securely, boxing Harry in on all sides as Harry buried his face
into Rabastan's robes and held him back tightly, smiling at the flesh he
could feel under his hands. Rabastan was not quite so bony anymore and
he was filling out nicely. Very soon this 'recovery' stage of their lives
would be behind the both of them and their future looked bright and
happy. It would start as soon as he was out of Hogwarts, once he'd
graduated, and he could spend as much time with Rabastan as he
possibly could then. They would be married in that July, and then they
could truly start their lives in earnest, together, as they both desired.
That very next afternoon Harry's happiness of the night before had all but
evaporated and their tempers were sorely tested when Rabastan insisted
on not leaving him and Marcus alone to study.
They were using the first-floor drawing room and though they had a
coffee table separating them as per usual, Rabastan still didn't want to
leave them to it.
Marcus had tried to ignore Rabastan, to pretend that he wasn't there and
carry on as usual, but with every quip and barb that Marcus made
towards Harry, Rabastan growled and threatened to end Marcus'
miserable life.
"Rabastan." Harry sighed tiredly. "This is going to take several hours if
you don't stop." He tried. "Just go and find Rodolphus and leave us be
and I will find you when we're done."
"I'm not leaving you alone with him." Rabastan said tightly.
"We're always alone at Hogwarts, locked away in Harry's private rooms.
You're never there then, are you?" Marcus taunted.
Harry watched Rabastan's fists clench tight, his arms shaking with the
strain.
"Just stop." Harry tried, sighing in exhaustion. "I've only recently taken a
calcium potion and I just do not have the energy for this. I need these
tutoring sessions, Rabastan or I'm going to fail miserably when my exams
come around. I can't do several things at once and I just really need to
focus on this for now. Please, just let me sort this."
"I'm not leaving."
"Then just shut up and stop interrupting." Marcus demanded. "Harry,
here."
Harry took the handmade worksheets that Marcus handed to him and he
set them down. He picked up his quill and set to work on translating or
code-breaking the Runes. The code-breakers were the worst, as he had to
move the sequence of Runes that Marcus had given him into a
combination that wouldn't blow him into smithereens if ever he were to
actually carve them. There were a handful of combinations that created
different results, but Marcus was looking for just the one specific
combination and next to the sequence of Runes was just one word…such
as silence, lock, warm etcetera, and he had to use the Runes given to him
to put them into a sequence that would give him the result that Marcus
was looking for…it was insanely difficult and he needed all of his
concentration just to figure it out…with two stony silent men glaring
daggers hatefully at one another over his head, it was nearly impossible
as the tension in the room was so thick that Harry felt that he could
choke on it.
His head throbbed painfully and he had to close his eyes as he went so
dizzy that he would have started swaying where he sat.
He heard Rabastan growl and heard a barely-there chuckle from Marcus
and he was so done.
"If you can't even stop so I can concentrate on my work then there is just
no point in me doing this!" He snapped. "I can't concentrate while under
the effects of these potions at the best of times without these fucking
distractions too!" He screamed. "You obviously can't stay in the same
room with one another, so just leave me alone!"
Harry slumped forward and bumped his head on the table, just resting as
his world tilted with his anger.
Rabastan was just there then, holding his shoulders and checking to make
sure that he wasn't unconscious.
"Are you okay?" He asked and his voice was…odd. He was so worried
that his voice was strained and it could be heard as he spoke.
"I hate these potions so much." Harry said miserably.
"This is why I didn't want to leave you." Rabastan said tightly.
"You're the one who caused it." Marcus said angrily. "He has never
reacted like this before when we're at Hogwarts!"
"Be very careful what you say to me you…"
"Just stop!" Harry interjected once more. "Just stop, I can't take…I can't
do this, okay?! I need you to both stop."
He stood up and he left, locking his knees and straightening his back. He
went to find Lucius and he almost humiliated himself by losing his feet as
he stumbled into the room where he was sitting with Rodolphus and
Xerxes. They had been mid-conversation when he all but fell through the
door.
"Harry?!" Lucius said, rather alarmed. "Are you alright, what has
happened? Where is Rabastan?"
"They're being stupid cavemen!" He complained as he allowed Lucius to
help him wobble to a seat and he held a hand to his spinning head. "I've
just taken the calcium potion not an hour ago and I can barely
concentrate as it is, I don't have the energy or the mental capacity to deal
with it. If they want to fight with each other then fine, good luck to them
both, but I can't be near them."
"Where is Rabastan now?" Rodolphus asked him.
"Still with Marcus…they're probably beating each other with clubs and
grunting over who is better."
Harry's bottom lip trembled and he was just so tired and so fed up that he
couldn't prevent himself from bursting into noisy, messy tears. He did
hide his face in his hands though.
"Harry? What is the matter?" Lucius asked as he stood and held him
close, pressing Harry's head into his chest and smoothing his hair gently.
"I just can't take it anymore!" He cried. "I can't deal with the potions and
their after effects, I can't keep doing it and staying strong! I need all my
concentration just to focus on anything and they're just there, sniping and
bitching at one another as I'm trying to do the work given to me and I
can't have that when I'm on the potions. It makes me dizzy and drowsy
on its own, without anyone fighting over my head and distracting me."
He hiccupped and sniffled, trying to regain control of himself and failing.
"I'm not doing anything wrong! I just want to do the Runes work, but it's
difficult enough with the potions and I need the support of other people
too. I can't do it if I have them fighting over my head. It's hard enough
and I just can't do it."
He turned in Lucius' arms and he held on and just let himself cry.
Rodolphus stood up and the furious look on his face would have been
frightening if he didn't give him a gentle, soft touch as he scratched his
nails over Harry's scalp for a moment before he stormed off out of the
room.
Harry cried himself out for several more minutes before calming down
and just taking some comfort for himself as he stayed in Lucius' arms and
started breathing deeply and calmly, regaining himself and his
composure.
"Do you feel better?" Lucius asked him.
Harry nodded mutely, still not letting go.
"You must have a headache now, do you want a headache reliever and a
cup of tea?"
Harry nodded again and pulled back slowly, rubbing his face with the
sleeve of his jumper, getting rid of his tears. His face was itchy now
though because of his crying fit.
"Pimsey." Lucius called out, waiting only a moment before the house-elf
came into the room.
"Master called for Pimsey."
"Tea and an adolescent headache reliever." Lucius said as he focused on
Harry and used a handkerchief to mop up what parts of his face that
Harry had missed with his sleeve.
The house-elf came back with a serving tray, with three cups, milk, sugar
and a teapot, complete with tea cosy, and one vial of potion.
Lucius took the vial from the tray and he handed it to Harry.
"Yet another potion to swallow." He grunted as he unstoppered it. "Is it
okay to take it considering I had one this morning?"
"It is fine to take them six hours apart." Lucius told him. "As long as you
don't make a habit of it, there shouldn't be any lasting effects."
Harry knocked the potion back as Lucius made him a cup of tea just how
he liked it. As soon as he swallowed the potion down, he took the tea and
sipped at it, holding it in his mouth to help take away the bitter taste.
It took just minutes for the potion to work and he could feel the
headache ebb away under the effects of the potent potion as surely as the
tea washed away the lingering taste. His life was all about swallowing
potions these days. He sighed heavily and allowed himself a small
amount of comfort as he turned back to cuddle with Lucius in place of
Rabastan, who had been one of the causes of his little meltdown to begin
with.
"Do you feel better?" Xerxes asked him, looking at him seriously, with a
hint of concern.
Harry nodded. "Much better, but I'm very tired now. The crying wore me
out." He said, disgusted with himself.
"I would imagine that that had been building for a while, am I correct?"
Lucius asked him.
Harry nodded miserably. "I think so. I've been feeling the need to just let
go and cry for a while but I keep squashing it down, usually with anger.
Anger comes to me easily."
"Truly? We hadn't noticed." Xerxes said dryly.
That made Harry crack a smile and he chuckled a bit wetly.
"Though it nice to see you displaying a different emotion other than
anger for a change." Xerxes told him. "Even if seeing your tears was truly
heart-wrenching, I'm sure that is why 'Dolphus booked it out of here so
quickly. He never was good with such displays, he's likely gone to knock
Marcus and Basti's heads together."
"He won't hurt either of them will he?" Harry asked, holding his cup
between both hands and occasionally sipping at it.
"Oh, most certainly." Xerxes nodded and it took Harry a moment to
realise that Xerxes hadn't given a general disagreement as most people
would have, but had actually confirmed his words.
"I…but he won't hurt, hurt them?" Harry said worriedly, lowering his cup
and looking at the door as if he could see through it to the drawing room
just down the hallway.
"He won't kill them, but he has grown fond of you, in his own way.
Seeing you in tears would not have sat right with him and in his mind, he
has gone to sort the problem at the source in the only way that he knows
how…with violence."
Harry was saved from answering by a knock on the door before Marcus
walked in.
"Are you well enough to carry on our lesson?" He asked, showing no sign
that he'd been butting heads with Rabastan or had been confronted by
Rodolphus. He wasn't physically harmed in any way that could be seen
and he didn't seem mentally injured either. Harry relaxed himself a bit.
"Yes, I feel better now."
"Good, come here and finish these worksheets off, you've made a good
start."
Harry was almost relieved that Marcus was his usual, caustic self and he
slipped to the floor with his half-full cup of tea and he pulled the
worksheet back towards himself.
Lucius and Xerxes were near-silent as they spoke to one another, Lucius
having stood up and moved closer to the other man to give the two of
them a chance to talk quietly while leaving Harry and Marcus to work in
peace.
"No! What are you doing?" Marcus told him sharply. "Do you want to
blow off your own arm?! Remember back to our first couple of lessons,
Harry, you never put those two Runes next to each other. You know this!
I drilled it into your head over and over, an emotional breakdown does
not excuse you from stupid mistakes."
Harry frowned and rubbed his head. "I knew there was something
important about those two Runes. I couldn't remember if it was the
correct answer or one of the explosive combinations."
"Always assume that it is the latter!" Marcus told him sternly. "Then you
check for yourself to make sure. Never put any combination together if
you aren't sure of the result and even if you are sure, you check before
carving them or you'll end up dead or missing limbs."
Harry nodded. He knew that, he should have known. He squeezed his
hand into a fist and he rubbed the side of it over his forehead. He was
frustrated with himself more than anything.
He drew a thin, clear line through the Runes that he'd drawn and he
started again, staying away from the dangerous combination. He did
notice that Marcus was behaving himself a little more under the watchful
gaze of Lord Malfoy and Lord Lestrange, Harry's adoptive family and his
soon to be in-laws. He was still just as abrasive and firm on him as
always, but Harry did notice that the foul language had dropped off and
so too had the insults to his intelligence. Harry found himself missing
them in a way because they had become familiar to him. He had come to
associate them with Marcus and his Runes lessons. It was odd that they
were absent, but in the peace and quiet, Harry was able to concentrate
and get through his worksheets at a nice, steady pace. As he finished one
of the sheets, he would put it down and Marcus would pick it up and
start marking it as if it were an actual exam and then, once all of the
sheets were completed, to wind down the lesson, Marcus would talk him
through his marks and why he got less on some questions than expected
or what he was doing right.
"We have a little more time than usual to dedicate to your lessons if you
wanted, now that you're out of school for a fortnight. You said that you
had no homework?"
Harry shook his head. "No. I'm on a very light workload."
Marcus nodded. "I will see you early evening in three days then, the first
thing I will be doing will be quizzing you on the dangerous pair
combinations that we've already covered. I want them all listed and
exactly why they can't ever be paired together, understood?"
Harry nodded. "Yes. I do know them, I swear. It was just a stupid mistake
caused by distraction."
"Distractions while working with Runes often end in death, Harry."
Marcus told him seriously.
Harry nodded. "I know, I remember. I suppose it's a good thing that I'm
not ready to start messing with actual Runes just yet."
"Make sure that you don't mess with them." Marcus told him.
"I won't." Harry assured him seriously. "You've taught me well the
dangers of them, I'm not ready."
Marcus nodded his head and then collected up all the paperwork, leaving
the worksheets so that Harry could put them in his folder with the rest so
that he could use them as revision or as notes for his actual lessons at
Hogwarts.
"I will see you in three days then."
Harry nodded and stood up, holding out his hand politely. They shook
hands like adults and Harry smiled.
"Thank you." He said gratefully.
"Any time, just make sure you keep to your theory practice."
"I will." Harry nodded.
Marcus left quickly after a polite nod of his own to both Lucius and
Xerxes and then he was gone and Harry was able to sit back on the settee
and just blow out a big breath and relax.
"That certainly was eye-opening." Xerxes said. "To see how passionate
young Flint is over such things and how quickly you can learn under his
tutelage. You'd never think to see you now that you'd only been studying
Runes for just six months. It's outstanding."
"Marcus truly is a genius with Runes." Harry smiled tiredly. "It's why it
has to be him and no one else who tutors me. He has an understanding of
them that many just don't seem to be able to comprehend. I don't think
even Professor Babbling can compare to Marcus. He has caught me up
with what I need to know and given me a good base understanding of
several advanced branches in just a few months with just one lesson a
week for two or three hours per lesson. No one else could have done it.
No one."
"After what I've just witnessed I am inclined to agree with you." Lucius
nodded. "It pleases me to see you doing so well with such a new subject."
Harry smiled tiredly and he raised his hand back to his head and rubbed
gently.
"You still have that headache?" Lucius asked concernedly as he
immediately picked up on his movements.
"Hmm? Oh, no. I'm just thinking. I'm tired more than anything now. I
usually start slowing down and getting a little drowsy about now, it's
normal. Well, it's not, but it is for me at the moment." He amended. "The
calcium potion always affects me like this."
"Take some quiet time to just relax and unwind from your tutoring lesson
and see how you feel in a little while." Lucius told him.
Harry nodded and he summoned the book that he was almost finished
with from the coffee table, too lazy and too comfortable to sit forward
and pick it up. Both men chuckled as Harry did this, but he paid it no
mind, opening the book to his bookmark and finding the paragraph that
he had left off on, picking it back up and carrying on reading.
He could easily block out the soft, quiet voices of Lucius and Xerxes as
they spoke, occasionally a louder sentence or mutual laughter would
interrupt his quiet bubble, but he didn't let that bother him as he curled
up on the settee and took a bit of time for himself…that had been getting
rarer lately too, just taking a bit of time for himself, everything was
always about his health or his recovery or the mountain of homework
that he had to do, even the joy of having a nice soak in the bath had been
taken away with the daily necessity for a bath that the nutrient potions
caused because of the terrible night sweats. The summer couldn't come
soon enough in his opinion.
Rabastan had apologised to him for his behaviour, but he was still rather
quiet…he became downright sullen when Harry answered his question of
when Marcus was coming next with a curt, three days.
Rodolphus cleared his throat noisily and Harry saw the evil glare that he
sent his younger brother, who sneered and turned away, obviously
ignoring whatever warning his brother was giving to him.
Harry did not have the energy to spare for this, nor the concentration, so
he ignored Rabastan and struck up a light conversation with Draco
instead. After they'd eaten dinner, Harry held Draco's wrist and pulled
him to the sitting room in his bedroom.
"What's going on? You were so excited to spend all your time with
Rabastan." Draco asked once they were settled. "I didn't think I'd get a
look in of your time while we were home."
Harry sighed and shook his head. "He doesn't want me to have tutoring
with Marcus."
"I thought you got over all of that just after Christmas." Draco said.
"I thought that we had, but he refused to leave us alone to work and he
and Marcus started bitching and fighting over my head. I couldn't
concentrate because of the calcium potion and there was so much going
on that I got dizzy. This can't keep happening, Draco. I can't go through
life afraid to talk to anyone or go near anyone for fear that he's going to
get angry or leave me. It's not right. He needs to be able to trust me as I
trust him. He'll insist that it's the others that he doesn't trust, but I'm not
so sure that it is anymore. I've proven over and over that I can look after
myself if need be, no one is going to get to hurt me, so why else would he
behave like this unless it's me that he doesn't trust? I'm just so sick of it,
how many more times do I need to reassure him that I love him and I'm
not going to do anything with anyone else?"
Harry rubbed his hands over his face and he sighed heavily.
"I've had enough, Draco. I'm not well as it is, I can't handle this stress on
top of everything else. I need him to just stop doing this to me, to us!"
Harry sighed. "I love him, is that never going to be enough?"
"I don't know, Harry. I'll find out for you."
Harry sighed and shook his head. "Don't worry, it has to be something
that we do ourselves, I'm just not in the mood today after everything. I'm
going to rest a bit more and then get to bed nice and early so that I can
try to recover from this afternoon."
"Did it make you sick?"
"No, it nearly did. I was so dizzy that I was stumbling around all over the
place, I am surprised that I wasn't actually sick now, thinking back to it.
That would have completely ruined everything."
"Do you want anything now?" Draco asked worriedly.
Harry shook his head. "No. It's early still, but I think reading out here for
a bit and then going to bed will be for the best."
"You have your nutrient potion here with you?"
Harry nodded. "Yes, I'm all set."
Draco stood and touched Harry's hand. "I'll sort this…if Xerxes and
Rodolphus haven't done so already."
Harry smiled. "Rodolphus has been rather…vocal, in his thoughts today."
"He likes you." Draco told him simply. "You've obviously won him around
and he now believes that you are what's best for his brother, so he's not
going to stand by and watch his idiot of a brother throw away the
greatest thing that's ever happened to him."
Harry blushed at that, immediately, before he could even think to control
his reaction. He moaned in embarrassment and Draco laughed.
"You are the greatest thing to have ever happened to him, and if he could
pull his head from his arse for a single moment then he'd be able to see it
too, like the rest of us can."
"I'm just…I'm sick to the back teeth of all of this, Draco. I think we get
over it and it's put behind us and then I dare to go near another man for
whatever reason and it all blows up in my face again. It can't keep
happening and I just can't keep dealing with it. It's just not fair."
"Don't fret over it, Harry. Let me sort this, with Rodolphus' help, and we'll
put him straight again. You just focus on yourself for a little while, you
need to heal."
Harry nodded and he curled up on the settee, tucking his feet up under
his bum. Draco stood and patted his shoulder and he left the room.
The blonde was furious that Rabastan had upset Harry yet again and he
wasn't going to stand for it anymore. Either Rabastan woke up and saw
Harry for the wonderful young man that he was and treated him with the
respect and love that he deserved or Draco would throttle him and then
focus on finding someone more fitting, more worthy for his younger
brother.
He found Rodolphus first on his hunt and he stopped, hoping to get the
older man on Harry's side and to sort his brother out once and for all.
"Where is your brother?"
"I've already told him he's being stupid." Rodolphus said, looking up from
what he was doing to look at him. "He already knows that he's done
wrong and he'll make it up to Harry in the morning."
"He can't keep doing this, Rodolphus, it's killing Harry inside. He's going
to walk if this carries on."
"How serious is he about that?"
"He doesn't want to. Merlin knows that he doesn't, but he will if this
carries on. He's no doormat to be walked on and he's stubborn and
determined enough to do it, even if it hurts initially. He's not going to
stand to be treated this way, Rodolphus. If Rabastan wants him, then he
has to stop this behaviour. Harry is doing nothing wrong and treating
him like he is, it is going to drive him away. We all believed that this
issue of Rabastan's was resolved, Harry believed that he'd sorted this out
already and to have this blow up in his face yet again. He's sick and tired
of it and if it carries on, he'll call off the wedding."
"That would destroy Rabastan." Rodolphus sighed.
"He's doing it to himself." Draco said, not in the least bit sympathetic
having come from his talk with Harry. "Harry adores him, you'd have to
be blind not to see it. You know, he spends half his time at Hogwarts
talking about Rabastan and the other half wishing that he was with him
and he has actually started kissing his engagement ring like a fool! He
loves Rabastan so much and having that constantly thrown back in his
face is destroying him. It can't carry on, Rodolphus. I know you can see it
too."
Rodolphus sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. He eventually
nodded. "I see it, of course. I'd see that even if I was blind. The way they
speak to one another and how they ignore everyone else around them is a
huge indicator of their inherent chemistry. It would be devastating if they
broke up because they do love one another. Rabastan is just so insecure
and Flint did kiss Harry before, while Rabastan was at a low point and
thinking that their betrothal contract was going to be revoked."
"It was on the cheek and it was done to spur Rabastan into action, of
which it did." Draco said firmly, not allowing that to be used as an
excuse. "Marcus now has his own betrothal contract set up and Harry is
still just as in love with Rabastan as he always has been. He has done
nothing wrong, Rodolphus, and Rabastan cannot hide behind his
insecurities and lash out at him just because he's feeling threatened by
others. It is unacceptable behaviour and Harry doesn't deserve to be
treated in such a way. Sort it out or the next time will be once too many
and Harry will break off their engagement. He's already at his limit
because he's sick and stressed, this is not helping him!"
Rodolphus looked up, a steely glint in his dark eyes. "Leave it with me. I
can't say that this isn't going to happen again, with others, but I will
make Rabastan see that Marcus isn't a threat."
"Make sure that you do. Harry is upset over this and I'm not having it.
He's very ill and he could have died! I will not watch him wither away
because of this!"
Rodolphus watched the Malfoy boy storm off and he sighed, pinching the
bridge of his nose again. He tucked away the parchment reports that he
had been looking over for the Dark Lord and he took the folder with him
as he went hunting down his brother. He stopped off at his room here at
Malfoy manor, putting the folder away safely from the prying eyes of the
two young boys living here, before he went next door to see if his brother
was wallowing in his room instead of trying to fix things with his own
fiancé. He was, which only angered him more.
"What are you doing?" He demanded.
Rabastan looked up at him then went back to staring at the floor.
"Enough, Rabastan." Rodolphus demanded furiously. "Do you hate Harry
that much?"
Immediately he had his brother up in his face, baring his teeth.
"How dare you say that! I love him!"
Rodolphus shoved Rabastan back hard, sending him back into the seat
that he'd leapt up from.
"Then how about actually showing that you love him instead of being this
pathetic, insecure mess that keeps hurting him! He is seriously unwell,
Basti, what are you playing at?"
"I hate that Flint boy!"
"No, you don't. You'd never even met the boy until the Parkinsons' party.
This is all because he showed the slightest bit of interest in Harry and
you felt threatened by it. You need to get used to it, he's a good looking
boy, he's powerful, he's wealthy, he has two lordships and all at just
sixteen. People are going to show an interest in him for any or all of
those reasons. They're going to flirt with him or touch him and there is
nothing that you can do about it. There's nothing that anyone can do
about that!"
"I love him so much." Rabastan said dejectedly.
"And he loves you! Why do you keep missing that important point? He
loves you, Rabastan. He doesn't want anyone else, he picked you, so get
your head out from your arse and treat him properly! He deserves
respect, he deserves your trust."
"I don't know why he'd even want me." Rabastan said miserably as he
looked at his own arms, feeling along the one, picking out every
minuscule flaw.
"Love is about more than physical appearance, do not insult him by
suggesting that he doesn't love you because of the way you look as you
will come across as calling him shallow when he is not." Rodolphus told
him. "He doesn't care what you look like, Rabastan, he cares for how you
treat him, which is why this issue is hurting him the most. Because you
are treating him poorly and he's had enough of being treated like an
animal from when he was with those muggle beasts!"
Rabastan's eyes flashed dangerously. "I would never abuse him as those
vile beasts did!"
"Oh, but you are getting very close to treating him how they did."
Rodolphus said, his jaw set furiously. "How long before your tongue gets
away from you and you start calling him all sorts? How long before he
speaks to the wrong person and you hit him for it? How long before
someone touches him and you start locking him up and away from
anyone and everyone who might touch or talk to him? Enough is enough,
Rabastan, you can't treat him like this, he is not a possession that you
own and you can't control him or those around him. People are bound to
flirt with him and try their luck, but he loves you, so he will rebuff them
and come right back to you."
"But what if he doesn't?"
"He will." Rodolphus said firmly. "He might have a soft head and a softer
heart, but I've gotten fond of him. It is because of that soft heart that he
will come back to you. He loves you, Basti, do you not understand what
that means?"
"I do understand, I just can't believe it."
"You need to start trusting him and the things he says!" Rodolphus said
firmly. "I would kill to have what you do with him! If you want to we can
swap, you can have a wife that you can't fucking stand and no hope of
ever having a child and I will have a beautiful, young boy who truly
loves me, who fawns all over me, who is willing to give me several sons.
He is so good for you, he supports you, he helps you, he loves you, so
what the fuck is your problem, Rabastan?"
"You don't like boys." Rabastan told him. Rodolphus wanted to curse him,
in fact, his fingers actually flexed towards his wand and he had to clench
his hands into fists to prevent himself from doing so.
"I think you just missed the point entirely." He said, not allowing his
brother to squirm out of this talk.
"I just…I just want him. I love him so much. I don't want to lose him."
"This is your response?" Rodolphus demanded. "You carry on in this way,
Rabastan, then you are going to send him running for the hills. This is
not the way to keep him! The tighter you hold on, the further you'll push
him away. You can't treat him like a prisoner."
Rabastan flinched at that connection and Rodolphus had finally found the
way into his brother's thick skull.
"I'm not treating him like a prisoner!" Rabastan denied it vehemently.
"Not yet you're not, but how long will it take, carrying on in this manner,
before you start locking him up and keeping watch over him at all times?
Checking who visits him or what letters he's writing and to whom? He'll
end up being your prisoner, not your husband. But, it won't ever get that
far…"
"No, it won't!" Rabastan cut in.
"It won't get that far because Harry is an intelligent little fluff head. He
won't let himself be treated in such an appalling manner and he will
break off your engagement before it reaches that point! Sort yourself out,
Rabastan and decide what you truly want more, before you lose him, the
best thing that has ever happened to you."
Rodolphus considered his point well-made and he left his brother's
bedroom. He was so angry at him for not seeing what the rest of them
did. He was angry because Draco was absolutely right, Harry would leave
before things got that bad, before Rabastan had a chance to do as such
yet again, and he didn't want to see that happen.
He went to the opposite side of the same floor of the manor and he went
to check in on Harry. Harry who was still awake, but already in his
pyjamas, and who looked absolutely awful.
"You okay?" He grunted, a little uncomfortable with this interaction.
Since Azkaban, he could count on a single hand the number of people he
had spoken to who wasn't a member of his family. That was not going to
stop him, however, he just needed to get used to it a little more.
Harry gave him a tired smile. "I'm okay, Rodolphus."
"You sure? You look…" He cut himself off before he insulted the young
boy and made the situation worse.
Harry just chuckled, not in the least bit offended because he wasn't as
vain as the majority of purebloods who would take offence at such a
small thing. "I look bad, I know. It's been a rough day. Anger always
makes me feel worse and forcing myself to concentrate makes me tired…
well, more tired than the calcium potion makes me in the first place, but
I'm okay, Rodolphus. I just need an early night and I'll be better by
tomorrow."
"Those potions have some very severe after effects."
Harry nodded. "They're very serious potions." He countered. "I am very
sick, Rodolphus. I can't…I can't afford to hold Rabastan's hand through
his insecurities when I have done nothing wrong. I'm too ill to fight, I'm
too tired to carry on reassuring him that I'm faithful, that I love him,
every time I come into contact with another male. As everyone keeps
telling me, I need to put my health first, before anything else, even if that
means cutting off Rabastan."
"You don't want to do that."
"No, I don't. Look, I know he's your younger brother and you're very
protective of him, Rodolphus, but he is draining me of everything and
with the diagnosis I had in January, I can't keep wasting energy on this."
Harry threw a hand through his hair and it immediately stuck up in odd
directions, staying in place instead of dropping back down like normal
hair. "I love him so much, I just wish that he'd believe me. I can't go
through my life fearing what he'll do if I speak to other men, it's not fair
and it's ridiculous and I can't spare the energy at the moment, not until
the summer, at least."
"You seem to be under the impression that I'm on Rabastan's side in this."
"Aren't you always?" Harry said easily, with no heat and a small smile.
"Not always and not in this." Rodolphus said firmly. "He's out of order
and I've already told him so."
"Whether he listens or not is another matter entirely." Harry said tiredly.
"He'll listen." Rodolphus insisted. "I'll make him."
Harry sighed and Rodolphus swore that he went three shades paler when
he moved himself on the settee.
"You're not going to pass out?" He asked concernedly.
Harry gave him a knowing smile. "No. I'm just very tired. I was just about
to get to bed when you knocked. I've already taken the nutrient potion,
but it's settled wrong on my belly and I feel a bit queasy."
"Drink ginger tea or have a few ginger biscuits." Rodolphus told him. "It
worked for me in the first few months after our liberation, when I had to
swallow a different potion every two hours just to adjust to the world
outside of the prison and the combination of them used to make me feel
so sick that I couldn't eat, which was obviously bad for my recovery and
diet programme. I tried a few things and taking ginger just before or just
after taking the potions helped immensely."
Rodolphus took off out of Harry's room as quickly as he had Rabastan's,
but not before he heard the quiet, heartfelt 'thank you' from Harry behind
him. He cursed himself as a sentimental fool, perhaps Rabastan wasn't
the only one that Harry was making soft just by being around, after all.
The wretched little fluff head that he was.
A/N: I believe that this chapter will now be the last update of this year, I
have far too much to do in the remaining three weeks and there is too
much crammed into the remainder of this year that I'm not going to be
around much, so with that, I will bid you all a safe, merry Christmas,
happy holidays, and I'll be seeing you all in the New Year at some point.
Enjoy yourselves, lovelies!
Thank you to Zamik for being the 2,200th reviewer for this story!
HPSlashAddict: The Malfoy's know for sure, after the duelling club in
their second year, Draco would have certainly told his parents, but the
Lestranges and Voldemort wouldn't know, as there's no way Snape would
have mentioned it and neither has Lucius. Harry being a Parselmouth,
against all logic, will actually be the spur that Voldemort needs to start
figuring things out…the Parselmouth ability, the sort of link between
their two minds. He's an intelligent man, he'll figure it out and he won't
be happy at all when he does and confronts Harry, only to find that he
already knows.
nix-on-the-rise: Daphne will get her comeuppance, don't worry, a little
hint of it in this chapter, but that's all it'll be for a while, a hint. It's a long
way off timeline wise, Theo is meticulously planning and that will
naturally take up time. As for Ron, he's already in enough trouble with
the bill that was sent to his family, he's not going to put his neck out for
more trouble, so no, he won't tell anyone, but that doesn't mean it won't
come out in other ways…on that note, the Weasleys make an appearance
in the next chapter, well, three of them do at least.
Kami-no-Namida: No, remember how shocked he was to see Harry's
Patronus back in chapter 13? Dark wizards can't produce a Patronus
according to cannon. I might change that, but it's doubtful that Rabastan
would ever have one.
As always, lovelies, thank you for reading and reviewing, I hope you've
enjoyed this chapter and I'll be seeing you all in the New Year now,
StarLight Massacre. X
18. Insight
Last Time
Rodolphus took off out of Harry's room as quickly as he had Rabastan's, but
not before he heard the quiet, heartfelt 'thank you' from Harry behind him. He
cursed himself as a sentimental fool, perhaps Rabastan wasn't the only one
that Harry was making soft just by being around, after all. The wretched little
fluff head that he was.
Chapter Eighteen – Insight
Harry slept very late the next morning, he woke up groggy and a little
confused, covered in stale, gel-like sweat. The events of yesterday
afternoon came back to him slowly and he groaned, rubbing his eyes. He
had half a mind to just go back to sleep, but he knew that that wouldn't
do any good and it wouldn't solve anything either. Hopefully, Rodolphus'
talk with his brother last night would have had time to sink in overnight.
Harry sat himself up and groped the bedside table for his glasses. He
slipped them on and just took a few minutes to sit quietly before he
scooted himself out of his bed and went to his dresser and wardrobe,
collecting a pair of boxer briefs and socks and an outfit before setting
them out on his bed and then going into his en suite bathroom to run
himself a bath so that he could wash himself…he could actually feel the
grime layering his skin and it was very, very unpleasant. He was actually
feeling itchy it was that bad.
He didn't soak for very long, he didn't feel like it. Instead, he just
scrubbed himself off and got out, wrapping a towel around his body and
padding back to his bedroom.
He sat on his bed and just stayed there, he wasn't truly thinking of
anything, his mind was blank and he was staring at one spot without
seeing it. He didn't know why he was doing as such, he just was. He
snapped out of it by himself after a few minutes of this silent staring and
he took a deep breath, giving a small shake of his head for good measure
before towelling himself off and then getting himself dressed and ready
for the day, whatever it was going to bring.
He slouched down the stairs, not feeling like himself at all and he found
Lucius in the front parlour. He sat near him, saying nothing, not even
acknowledging anyone with his usual rounds of 'good morning.'
"Are you feeling well?" Lucius asked as he watched him, unsettled by his
rather odd behaviour.
Harry nodded. "I'm okay. I'm feeling a little strange, but I'm okay."
"Strange how?" Rabastan asked him worriedly. Harry hadn't even noticed
that he was in the room.
Harry shook his head. "It's hard to explain. Listless is maybe the best way
to describe it."
"Are you ill again? Have you come down with the flu again?" Rabastan
asked, moving immediately to sit beside him and laying a hand over his
forehead.
"No. I was very drained yesterday and I had a restless night. I think I'm
just tired."
Rabastan flinched only slightly.
"Do you know why?" Lucius asked from his other side.
"Oh, I know exactly why. Too much thinking, not enough sleep and I was
too uncomfortable with the night sweats and as soon as I noticed it, I
couldn't sleep properly afterwards."
"Let me get you something to eat."
"Yeah, great." He said sarcastically. "Just what I need, that bone-
strengthening potion and a skull-splitting headache on top of the
headache that I already have."
"Do not take that tone." Lucius warned him. "I know that you are unwell,
that you've been under considerable pressure and stress, but you need to
take those potions and keep taking them regardless of anything else."
Harry sighed and he rubbed his head. "I know, I'm sorry. I already have a
headache and I know I'm going to be in a lot of pain until the effects of
the bone-strengthening potion wears off."
"We'll look after you as soon as you've taken it." Lucius insisted. "There
are a few stronger headache relievers that you can use for a very limited
amount of time."
"How limited?" Harry asked.
"They can only be taken every twelve hours and can't be taken with
anything else." Rabastan told him.
Harry blinked and looked at him as if only just realising that he was
there. He pulled his hand from Rabastan's and shifted to put his back to
him. He could almost feel the devastation coming from his fiancé, but
until he got an actual apology, he wasn't going to accommodate him or
his needs.
Harry was allowed to eat his dry toast in the front parlour, brought to
him by Pimsey, who he thanked and gave a weak smile. She'd also
brought him tea, exactly how he liked it without being asked, a small
square of chocolate and the extra strong headache reliever, which was
much darker in colour than he was used to.
He could almost feel the questioning stares as he was giving this small
feast without asking for it, but he ignored everyone as he nibbled his
toast and sipped his tea. It took him twice as long to get through his
breakfast because he kept wincing and stopping to allow the throbbing in
his head to ease off. He finally made it to the potion and he gripped his
teacup in one hand and the potion in the other.
Taking a few breaths, he readied himself and threw the potion back and
swallowed painfully, his eyes watering as he brought the tea up with his
other hand and gulped it. Once he was done, he picked up the bit of
chocolate and jammed it in his mouth to suck on it, so that the taste of
the sweet chocolate took away the lingering taste of the vile potion.
Pimsey came back with a fresh, full cup of tea, again without being
asked, and she curtseyed to him as she took away his tray with his empty
cup and vial and the plate left on it.
"Thank you." He said gratefully as he sat back and he could just enjoy his
second cup of tea.
"How do you feel now?" Lucius asked him.
"Like I could vomit." He bitched.
"The headache?" Lucius persisted.
"Still throbbing at my temples, but thankfully easing off, slowly."
"Good."
"It won't last." Harry said miserably. "As soon as the bone-strengthening
potion hits…"
"It should have taken the edge off, at least." Lucius interrupted him.
Harry sat quietly, almost feeling the headache easing off, before he shot
forward, his half-full cup of tea tumbling to the floor while Harry cursed
as his hand went to his right temple, pressing against it hard as if he were
trying to hold in his brain.
"The after effects?" Lucius questioned, ignoring that Harry had just spilt
tea all over the carpet…it could easily be cleaned.
Harry nodded, bending down to pick up the cup, that had thankfully not
broken as he did not want to deal with a lecture from Narcissa about
breaking her fine china, regardless that a simple spell could put it back
together. He pressed his other hand to his left temple as that started to
throb too. A minute later he was clenching his hands into his hair and
squashing his head between both hands as he tried to control the pain
that he was feeling. It seemed a million times worse than normal.
Rabastan was holding him and Harry didn't even care enough to push
him off. He was growling and grunting through the pain though, trying to
control himself as he did during the Wizengamot sessions, but he couldn't
put a lid on the pain, it was just too much for him to contain, he couldn't
control it and he couldn't control himself.
"How can I help?" Rabastan asked, clearly not knowing what to do, but
wanting to do something.
"Just knock me out." Harry pleaded. "Let me sleep it off."
Harry's vision started blurring and he closed his eyes, screwing them up
as the headache spiked and he actually retched.
"Calm yourself." He heard Lucius coax. A hand was rubbing his back, one
was cradling the back of his skull…that had to have been Rabastan.
"I can't." He insisted desperately, even as he retched again. "Just put me
to sleep, please." He begged. It wouldn't be long before he was actually
sick and he didn't want to go through such a humiliating experience
while his adoptive father, his fiancé and his in-laws watched on.
The next he knew, yet another potion was being nudged at his lips. Harry
opened his mouth and swallowed dutifully as it was slowly trickled into
his mouth. He retched again, trying desperately to hold his stomach in
place and he shivered in revulsion at the taste.
It took a minute for this potion to work, it was blessedly a sleeping
potion, and it knocked him right out.
Rabastan held Harry tightly in his lap, worried and a little frightened as
the healer checked Harry over. The man had been sworn to his oaths to
reveal nothing today, mainly about Rabastan and Rodolphus Lestrange,
sitting calmly, if a bit worriedly, in the same room as Harry James Potter.
The healer was nervous, almost petrified, but he was incredibly good at
his job and he used it as an escape as he gently checked over the sleeping
boy. When he'd first been sworn to his oaths, he'd believed that, once
again, it was because he was to be dealing with Harry Potter, one of the
most well-known figures in wizarding Britain. Now, he knew better as he
shifted his gaze once again to the terrifying image of the Lestrange
brothers, who had escaped from Azkaban nearly a year and a half ago,
sitting calmly in the room, silent as they watched his every move closely.
It was unnerving, being under such close, silent scrutiny and because the
two brothers were in the same room as Harry Potter himself. His usually
rather sharp mind seemed dull and slow with the terror of being in the
same room as the two Lestrange brothers as he tried to figure out what
was happening.
Rabastan watched closely, critically, as the healer waved his wand and
prodded at Harry gently.
"He's alright." The healer said and Rabastan bared his teeth and growled
furiously.
"He's not alright or he wouldn't be like this!" He denied.
"He's alright now." The Healer said, a note of stress in his voice. "You said
that he woke up with a headache? And that he had to take his bone-
strengthening potion almost before it was gone?"
"That's right." Lucius replied calmly.
"This is simply a case of him feeling far too much pain and it made him
physically sick."
"He has a very high pain threshold."
"Everyone reaches a limit at some point." The healer insisted. "Harry is
already seriously sick, his normal threshold would be lowered because of
that. The after effects of the bone-strengthening potion might have
knocked him out on its own today, without an additional headache
beforehand. Let him sleep off the effects for now and let him rest when
he wakes up. He is going to be fine if he just takes it easy and rests."
"Are these potions working for him?" Lucius demanded.
The healer did a few more checks, trying to ignore the tense silence.
"They are yes, his bones are showing a marked improvement and so is his
level of nutrition. He hasn't missed any doses?"
"Not a single one." Lucius replied promptly, trusting that if Harry had
missed a dose then it would have immediately been mentioned.
The healer nodded. "Then I would say that come early June, or maybe
even late May, then he can gradually come off of them. He can start
taking them every other day instead of every day and he can even stage
them if he needs to, so that he is taking just one potion one day and
another on a different day, to make the after effects easier for him to
manage and if he carries on in this way, showing such good progress,
then he'll be off of them by June or July."
Rabastan let out a relieved sigh and he petted Harry's hair gently.
"He will enjoy that news." He said, almost to himself as he focused his all
on Harry in his lap.
Lucius was the one to see the healer out. To be extra cautious the blonde
was going to remove certain memories of the healer seeing him and
Dolphus here, just in case, as he stayed with Harry, holding him and
touching him, hoping to ease away his pain in his potion-induced sleep.
He stroked Harry's beautiful face with his other hand, trying not to notice
how very pale he was. He was almost grey in colour and he hated that, in
a way, he was responsible for it due to the stress that he had caused
Harry yesterday. He just couldn't control himself or his jealousy when
other men started hovering and sniffing around Harry. He got scared that
Harry would see someone better, someone stronger and that he would
realise that he could have someone who was more handsome, someone
who could lift him with ease and if he had prolonged contact with other
men, then it would be easier for others to take Harry away from him.
He knew that Harry kept saying that he loved only him, that he didn't
want anyone else, but that was so easy to say, it was just words. Harry
could easily have anyone that he wanted, being as beautiful and as
wonderful as he was, and he was just so worried that one day Harry
would meet someone else and realise what a mistake he'd made in
staying with him.
"Stop it." Rodolphus growled at him.
Rabastan blinked and stopped running his hand through Harry's hair.
"Not that, you know exactly what I was referring to. Your thoughts were
passing over your face as clear as day. He fucking loves you, Rabastan,
stop ruining your own relationship!" Rodolphus hissed.
"I can't help it." He insisted. "I don't want to lose him."
"The only way that you're going to lose him is by pushing him away
yourself! Did my talk last night not sink in?" Rodolphus demanded.
"Perhaps I need to beat it into you instead! I won't see you continue to
hurt him in such a way. I love you, you're my brother, but I get so
frustrated and angry when I see you being so fucking stupid and
throwing away the greatest thing that's ever happened to you."
"I don't want to drive him away."
"Then show some trust in him, Rabastan! This jealous hovering is going
to be the cause of him running away, not anyone else, not him meeting
up with a thousand other men, but you. Stop it."
Rabastan nodded and he went back to stroking Harry's hair and watching
over him, waiting for him to wake up. He had a lot of making up to do
and he would need to work on his self-control. He couldn't help it, but he
didn't want to be the reason that Harry turned from him. That would be
worse than if Harry did meet someone else and leave him.
Harry woke up groggily, with the dazed feeling of a drugged, potion-
induced sleep. He groaned and rubbed his eyes and peered about him
blearily.
He sat up and then went wandering, he was back in his bedroom, so
someone must have put him back to bed after his incident that morning,
but he was still wearing the outfit that he'd put on that morning, so he
hadn't been stripped or changed back into his pyjamas.
He made sure to pick up his calcium potion from where he'd left them on
his living room table and he put it in his pocket before he went back
down the stairs and he got a sense of déjà vu as he rubbed his eyes again,
a little dizzy, but this time it was likely the lingering effects of being put
into a potion-induced sleep. The headache was just a distant, pain-filled
memory, he felt fine otherwise.
Unlike earlier that morning, he made his way to the dining room, where
the rest of his family were sitting and eating. He heard them before he
reached the room.
"Should I go and wake Harry? He needs to take his calcium potion."
Draco was fretting.
"Leave him a while longer, Draco. The potion should have worn off by
now, he will wake up when he is ready and then he can have a light
lunch and then take the calcium potion. He needs the rest."
"I'm okay." He rasped as he walked into the room, still rubbing the sleep
from his eyes.
Rabastan all but leapt up as if he'd been electrocuted and he came to him
immediately, escorting him to the table and fluttering around him while
Harry squinted up at him through eyes that weren't quite focused
enough, or even fully opened yet.
He was handed a glass of water and Harry took it and sipped, the
coolness waking him up more effectively. He sighed and smiled.
"Thank you."
"How are you feeling?" Lucius asked him.
"Better than I was this morning." He said with a wry smile. "I am sorry
about that."
"How many times, Harry, you do not apologise for sickness, there is no
need." Lucius told him.
"Are you feeling better, darling?" Narcissa asked him.
Harry nodded as Rabastan settled beside him. "I do feel much better now
that the headache has gone. I wish I could sleep through all of them, but
the one this morning was several times as bad as normal. I just couldn't
handle it."
"That is more than alright, Harry. Have something light and easy for
lunch and then rest for a little longer."
Harry nodded and he asked Pimsey, politely, for some pumpkin soup.
He'd gotten a taste for it while he'd been unwell at Hogwarts. He ate
slowly, but steadily after she'd brought him what he'd asked for, as he
dipped some seeded, whole wheat bread into the soup and nibbled on
that too.
He ignored the close scrutiny that the rest of the table was giving him as
he ate, particularly Rabastan who was sitting beside him. He had not
forgotten, nor forgiven, Rabastan for the fight on his first full day back
home from Hogwarts.
Everyone else was already on their after-meal cups of tea when Harry
finally finished and he knew exactly what was coming as he reached into
his pocket and pulled out a calcium potion. He unstoppered it and
knocked it back with a screwed up face. He took the tea that Rabastan
had made up for him and gulped it down, making an odd noise as he
stopped for a breath.
"That one makes you sleepy, doesn't it?" Draco asked.
Harry nodded. "Yeah, but I think I've slept enough now after my forced
morning nap."
"I do apologise about forcing a sleeping potion on you, but you were
crying out for us to knock you out and put you to sleep." Lucius told him.
Harry nodded his understanding. "I know, I remember. It was the best
thing to do in that situation. It was probably the only thing possible to do
in that situation. I'm glad to have woken up without the headache and
after the side effects of the potion had worn off."
"Are you in any pain currently?" Rabastan asked him worriedly.
Harry shook his head. "No, not at the moment."
"I…about yesterday."
"Don't." Harry replied bad-temperedly. "I'm not in the mood to hear
anything about it just yet. At least let me wake up a little first and then
we can talk about yesterday."
Truthfully, Harry didn't want to talk about it at all. It was his, rather
childish, wish that it had never happened in the first place. It felt like yet
another blow to the gut to find out that Rabastan still didn't trust him,
that this issue still hadn't been resolved despite Harry proving his
innocence and his fidelity. Would he have to do so yet again? Would he
have to take more Veritaserum and answer those questions again? If so
would that become his life from now on? Taking Veritaserum every
couple of months to prove that he hadn't been sleeping around or
messing with anyone else? Would their children be claimed as bastards
until proven otherwise too? He just couldn't take that sort of blatant
distrust and humiliation. He touched a hand to his head as it gave a
warning throb and he moaned softly.
"Surely your headache isn't coming back?" Xerxes said, astounded.
"It's trying to." He said as he rubbed his forehead.
"Please, let me help." Rabastan all but begged him.
"Help? I rather thought that you were the cause of it to begin with."
Harry snapped.
"Harry." Lucius said, his voice pitched low in warning.
Harry held his hands up and said nothing more as a sign of surrender. He
went back to rubbing his temples. He could almost see Rodolphus glaring
at his brother, so it came as no surprise to him when Rabastan stood up
and hefted him up too, and steered him away to a small, intimate sitting
room.
"Well, it took you long enough." Harry said as he sat himself down on one
of the settees, still rubbing his head.
"You were waiting for me to drag you away to explain myself?"
Harry nodded. "Yes. As I was waiting during the Parkinsons' winter gala
for you to stand up for me, I was doing the same today. You don't trust
me and I am now having doubts that you actually love me at all. Perhaps
this so-called relationship is just following orders for you."
"How can you doubt that I love you?" Rabastan asked, his face falling in
devastation. "Of course, I'm not doing this on orders. You were always
worth more than that, right from the beginning. We were betrothed even
before those orders came through! I love you."
"It's not a serious doubt, just a little niggle that refuses to go away. You're
not acting like you trust me, Rabastan and if you can't trust me then
there is no love."
"I have told you before, I do trust you!"
"Oh yes, it's everyone else whom you distrust, isn't it?" Harry asked his
eyes hardening dangerously. "It amounts to the same thing, Rabastan! I
have proven myself, both in my purity and in being able to protect
myself, why won't you trust that I can look after myself, Rabastan? That
if something, anything, happens that I can take care of it myself, as I've
been doing for most of my life."
"Because I love you and I don't want anything to ever happen to you!"
Rabastan replied, his voice straining in his upset.
Harry immediately sat forward and placed a comforting hand on
Rabastan's knee, silently supporting him as they had this out, once and
for all. For what would be the last time, because if this issue ever came
up again, then he would walk away…from Rabastan and their
engagement, no matter how much it would hurt him to do so.
"That isn't a realistic outlook, Rabastan." He said gently. "Not everyone
likes me and perhaps I will be caught off guard and get hurt, but there is
nothing that anyone can do about that. You can't wrap me up in cotton
wool and lock me in the manor and never let me out. I am to be your
husband, not your prisoner."
Rabastan flinched and averted his gaze. "Is that how you see me? As a
prison guard?"
Harry sighed. "It comes across that way, Rabastan. It truly does. You can't
dictate what I do or where I go, when or with who. How would you feel
if I started doing it to you? Saying that you couldn't talk to whomever
you wanted, that you weren't allowed to do what you wanted to do. It's
not a nice thing to do, Rabastan, it comes across as controlling and if
allowed to continue, it could turn into abusive behaviour and I can't
allow it to continue."
"You really think that I could be abusive towards you?"
"Not with fists or with spells, Rabastan, not physically, but mentally. If
this is allowed to continue, then we're not going to have any sort of
relationship. You will be controlling me and I will come to resent you in
time. I don't want that, do you?"
"No, of course not!" Rabastan denied it immediately.
"Then please stop this behaviour. I know it'll be difficult, I know it'll take
work and some time, but please try to get over your insecurities and
jealousy. I need you to trust me, to trust that I love you and won't leave
you because I won't. I need to be able to come to you for everything, to
tell you everything and at the moment I don't feel like I'm able to. I don't
want you to shout at me or be upset just because I tell you things that
maybe you don't like or don't want to hear. The stress of yesterday
seriously affected me, to the point where I needed to be knocked out in
order to recover this morning. It can't happen again."
"It won't, I was so worried about you." Rabastan told him, breathing out
shakily. He shifted forward and placed his hands over Harry's own. "I
hate myself for causing you any sort of pain, but I can't seem to help
myself. I just…I couldn't help myself when Flint came to take your time
away from me."
Harry smiled. "I know that this is our time, that we only have a small
amount of time together before I have to go back to school, but I need
this tutoring too, Rabastan. It's only for a few hours every couple of days.
The rest of my time will be with you, of course. I love you. I want to
spend all of my time with you, but there are other things that I need to
do too."
"I understand." Rabastan said, and he truly did too. He sighed and shifted
himself until he was sitting next to Harry and he wrapped his arm around
those slim, narrow shoulders. "It's more difficult with Flint because I saw
him kiss you, and then you were attacked by Rowle right afterwards,
then Rowle attacked you again, very seriously, just a week later."
"And look what happened to Rowle when he attacked me in the
downstairs bathroom, Rabastan, or have you forgotten that I broke his
arm and blew off his leg?"
"No, I could hardly forget about that, Rodolphus brings it up often. He's
very proud of you for that display of power and ruthlessness."
"I can take care of myself, Rabastan, I'm more than capable of looking
after and protecting myself from others, I've been doing it for most of my
life, with…with the not so great upbringing I had and then being pitched
against Voldemort like a fucking weapon, I had to look after myself
because no one else did."
Rabastan froze, literally froze, and stared at him in horror as Harry
voiced his Lord's name and Harry rolled his eyes.
"Calm down, love. I refuse to call him anything so ridiculous as he-who-
must-not-be-named or you-know-who and he's not my lord. Voldemort
was the name that he chose for himself, it seems to me that he wanted
people to use it."
Rabastan said nothing, so Harry chose to change the subject.
"Now, can we please put this behind us and start over, again."
Rabastan nodded and the older man almost cheered to himself as
immediately afterwards Harry turned to cuddle into his side, nuzzling his
face against Rabastan's chest.
"No more jealousy, no more trust issues, no more doubting my love."
Harry said into his robes, his voice slightly muffled as he refused to pull
his face away from the fabric that it was pressed against. "I don't want
anyone else, I want you and it kills me inside to think that you don't
believe me when I'm being so honest and upfront."
"I do believe you!" Rabastan said immediately. "You're just so beautiful
and so damned trusting! You see the good in everyone, even me and I
know that people will take advantage of that and hurt you! I don't want
you to ever be hurt. I don't trust other people not to hurt you or break
your trust."
"That's up to them, Rabastan, if they want to betray my trust, then it's on
them, not me and certainly not you. There are going to be times when I'm
going to need to put my trust in other people for things, perhaps even
people who I don't want to trust or whom I doubt, but I'm still going to
need to put my faith in them for things that I need. If they turn around
and betray me, then they'll betray me whether you're there or not, my
love. But I can assure you that my retribution towards those who do
betray me will play out much in the same way that it did for Rowle, the
extent of the betrayal dictating the severity of the actions I choose to
retaliate with, of course."
Rabastan smiled at hearing that, but mostly he just relished having Harry
sprawled over his chest again. He could touch Harry's back and stroke his
hair as Harry cuddled in tight, his arms around Rabastan's waist, gentle
fingers caressing his ribs, it felt so nice and he hummed gently.
He settled himself down and he sighed quietly, his arms pulling Harry
just a smidgen closer. He never wanted anyone to betray Harry, but he
also understood what Harry was saying, about it being out of their
control and that it probably would happen, at least once, in the future.
He would just have to be here when it did happen, to limit the damage or
danger to Harry and to help him plan his perfect revenge, whether he
chose to do it slowly over time, or quick and brutal as he'd done with
Rowle, he would support Harry wholeheartedly, of that he swore.
Bill Weasley looked critically at his battered and scuffed pocket watch
before slotting it back into his robe pocket with an irritable sigh. He had
five minutes left of his twenty-ninth consecutive shift at Gringotts bank
and he was so tired and so tense that his shoulders and neck ached
constantly and no amount of rubbing or frequent muscle relaxants helped
alleviate the pain.
He rubbed at his sore, red raw eyes, knowing that rubbing them would
make them worse, but being unable to prevent it as another jaw-breaking
yawn made them water annoyingly. He was so exhausted, so stressed, yet
every time he thought of taking a break all he had to do was think of his
mother's crumpled, worried face as he heard her sobbing at night, the
both of them kept awake by the massive debt hanging over their heads.
He had immediately asked for as much overtime as he could get, working
later on his normal shifts, offering himself up for the weekend shifts and
even pulling double shifts, just to earn more gold to pay off Harry Potter
and Lucius Malfoy. The thought that he was working all of this overtime,
exhausting himself and making himself sick just for them, it galled him,
but it was to help his family and there was nothing that he could do
about it.
He sighed again and groped in his pocket so that he could cast another
weary-eyed glance at his pocket watch. Time mocked him as it showed
that not two minutes had passed since he'd last checked and he still had
three minutes until he could leave, five hours after his usual shift had
ended. He knew that he should just be thankful that the bank was busy
and that there was overtime for him to work. Charlie had been unable to
get much in the way of overtime, even being a senior handler didn't help
him much as there were enough of them to cover every hour of every day
and the senior Dragonologist at the Romanian reserve had every single
moment already covered and he didn't need anyone else on duty unless
one of the other handlers got injured or sick. Charlie had even offered to
cover shifts at other reserves. Of course, that meant travelling to other
countries to work with dragons that he didn't know and who didn't know
him, which put him at elevated risk, but it was all Charlie could do in
way of helping them to pay off the debt.
Bill yawned again and he daydreamed about stripping off his robes and
just falling into bed. He couldn't do any such thing though, as soon as he
was done here he'd have to immediately pick up the ancient, dusty tome
that he'd put down to come in for his extended shift at the bank and read
up about more laws that were, apparently, as old as time itself if how
backward they were was any indication. All to prepare himself for his
first ever Wizengamot meeting, which could be at any moment now that
his application had been approved at the end of March. He was almost
grateful for it really, as it gave him a stipend every month that, combined
with his wages from the bank, would go a long way to helping to clear
the debt that Harry Potter had thrust onto them.
At dead on eight in the evening, Bill tapped his wand on his desk, signing
himself out of work with his wand signature before he packed up what he
needed to and then he left the bank, exhaustion making him slow and
rather sluggish as he popped in on Fred and George, who were only just
closing up their shop.
"Are you two alright?" He asked them in brotherly concern.
"Never better." One, whom he believed was George, replied as he swept a
hand over his forehead, tugging on his unwashed, ginger hair.
"We've spent so much time researching that we barely have time to
sleep." The other told him.
"Is that where this came from?" He demanded worriedly as he touched
his fingers just below a rather nasty cut on his brother's cheek. Fred just
grunted and knocked his hand away. "You can't develop new things while
tired, it's dangerous." He lectured.
"Says you who's been pulling triple shifts and hasn't had a day off in a
month and a half!"
"I'm on desk work." He explained. "I'm not out in Egypt working with the
tombs anymore. I'm doing research for the cursebreakers who send back
patterns and need advice or I'm cataloguing treasure found in the tombs
for the bank."
"A pity you can't just take a handful of gems and sell them." One twin,
George, groused.
"Theft from the goblins is still a death offence in their nation." Bill said
seriously, though with any luck he could change that ancient, unused
law. It was diabolical that it was still a written law when it wasn't used. It
was one of the laws that Dumbledore had asked him to revoke while he
sat on the Wizengamot.
"Not in ours." Fred pointed out.
"Do you want to see me in Azkaban so much?" He demanded. "It's bad
enough that Ron and Ginny are thieves and we're all paying the price for
their actions, do you want our family to be remembered as a bunch of
thieves with me in Azkaban?"
"No. I was just saying that a handful of gold or gems would help us out
right about now. Of course, I don't want you in prison."
"Mum told me about the pranks you're pulling on Ron and Ginny too. It's
upset her."
Fred immediately scoffed and George snorted. "It's no less than they
deserve for getting us into this mess! Dad was right, it's their fault."
"Harry could have spoken to us and worked things out another way." Bill
snarled. "There was no need for him to do this, to demand that we repay
him formally for all the lavish junk that Lucius Malfoy bought for him!
The basics would have done, he didn't need all the extras as well. The
Firebolt was enough on its own, without hand carved trunks and the
finest thread count cotton robes."
The two boys nodded their agreement to that.
"It was still Ron and Ginny's fault though." George said determinedly. "We
won't stop pranking them, they deserve to know that this is on them."
"They already know." Bill stressed. "Let them focus on their exams now so
that they can at least get the best marks possible so that they can get
better jobs. Mum's already told them they have to get summer jobs to
help out the family, leave them alone, at least until they've done their
exams."
The twins looked at one another for a moment and then they both
nodded and Bill nodded back.
"Can I use your floo?" He asked.
"Sure, it's through the back. We need to start our research for the night
anyway."
"Get some more sleep." He told them seriously, eyeing up the bad cut on
Fred's cheek. "You can't take risks with inventing spells or potions, you'll
end up killing yourselves, or each other." He added, knowing that the
possibility of killing their twin would actually sink through to them. It
did as they looked at one another again, in distress this time, at his stern
words.
Bill left the twins to themselves as he flooed back to his parent's home
and he didn't even stop to take off his robes or boots or to even make
himself a cup of tea. He went right up to his childhood bedroom and to
the desk under the window and he sat down on the uncomfortable
wooden chair and he cracked open the age-spotted book that was almost
as thick as his upright index finger.
He started reading where he'd left off early that morning, trying to take
in the mind-numbing words of men long dead and who had, apparently,
been touched in the head as he read through their proposals that had
been made into laws that still stood to this day. Dumbledore had been in
the process of phasing out these old, useless laws or updating them so
that they better fit modern needs, but he hadn't gotten to finish even half
of them before Harry had snatched the votes and the Chief Warlock title
from his grasp and took up the seats himself.
He was way too young, in Bill's opinion, he himself barely understood
what he was reading or what it actually meant, so he had no doubts that
Harry, a young sixteen-year-old, had no clue what damage he'd truly
done when he'd taken those seats from Dumbledore and then refused to
give them back when asked. It was now up to him to try and fix things,
to finish what Dumbledore had started and change all of these backward
laws and clauses and regulations that were so ridiculous that Bill couldn't
even imagine them being brought up in a case, let alone actually
enforced as a law. The very thought of any of these so-called laws being
taken seriously was laughable.
It was his job now, given to him by Dumbledore, to change what he
could and to remove those laws that couldn't be changed or modified, as
well as keeping an eye on Harry and Malfoy, of course. He needed to
think on his toes and oppose anything that they put forward that could
possibly be damaging, especially anything that derailed the betterment or
advancement of muggleborns.
He went back to the book and read more about these ridiculous people
with their ridiculous suggestions as he tried to keep his eyes open and
from nodding off as he read boring tirade after boring tirade, knowing
how important this was and how much the Order was counting on him
for this.
What seemed like only moments later Bill woke up, his face almost glued
to the musty book and he wanted to kick himself as he realised what had
happened. He'd fallen asleep while reading and he couldn't even
remember doing it. He slid his pocket watch out of his robe pocket and
closed his eyes in horror. It was quarter to eight in the morning, he was
almost an hour late for his shift at the bank and he hadn't eaten,
showered, or even changed out of his robes from the day before. It was
too much, it was all just too much and he couldn't keep his head above
the water as he slowly drowned in his workload.
Getting up, he stretched and decided to look at the silver lining here…at
least he'd finally gotten some decent sleep. He decided to take a quick
shower before grabbing something to eat and then going to make his
excuses to the goblins, hoping that all of his overtime shifts had put him
in good stead to apologise for missing an hour or so from his regular
shift.
It was as he was in the shower, however, that things started to go very
badly wrong, as dead-on eight in the morning, the ring he was forced to
wear on his right hand heated up, alerting him that a Wizengamot
meeting had been called. His very first meeting and it had been called
while he was in the shower, covered in soap and shampoo.
He rinsed off as quickly as he could. He all but fell out of the bath as he
lurched at his wand for a drying spell and he quickly hurried back to his
bedroom to grab his best robes that he'd hung up and had ready for the
last few months. It had been his last purchase, in the New Year, before
that bill had arrived and they'd all had to cut back on their spending. He
was sure that his parents were missing meals, but as he never caught
them at it, because he was always at work, he couldn't prove anything
and when he asked, they both denied it. In his opinion, that was a cut
back too far, missing meals was going to do nothing but make them both
ill.
He cursed as he realised that he was dangerously close to being late for
this meeting and he almost forced his limbs into his robes and made sure
that he had everything that he needed with him. He wasn't ready for this,
not by far, even as he Apparated to the Ministry for his first ever
Wizengamot meeting as Lord Weasley. He wasn't ready.
Harry had spent the last few days just basking in Rabastan's attention and
that morning was no different as he sat with his legs twined around
Rabastan's as they finished breakfast. That was when Harry's day took a
bad turn, as his lordship rings heated up just as he had swallowed down
his bone-strengthening potion and the standard headache reliever to take
away the edge of the headache the former potion would give him.
"Not now." He moaned as he rubbed his temples as the familiar pounding
started in his head.
"What is it?" Rabastan asked concernedly.
"A meeting has just been called." Xerxes informed his grandson as he
stood up and smoothened out the invisible creases in his robes.
"Everything will be fine, Harry, it's just a normal meeting." Lucius
informed him. "You know from your early days that this is just a catch-up
meeting held every few months to keep us from being idle."
"I'd rather stay idle." Harry whined as he palmed his forehead and
squeezed.
"In your current condition, I would imagine that you would." Lucius said
dryly. "Fortunately, we are unlikely to be debating anything of any kind
this morning unless any proposals have been put forward, of course.
Now, come along. There is nothing that can be done about the called
meeting and it would not do to be late. The sooner we arrive, the sooner
you can come back."
Harry nodded and he stood on wobbly feet. He steadied himself with the
table, and with Rabastan's hand at his back, before he turned to his fiancé
and cupped both of his cheeks and lowered his head to kiss him soundly.
"I'll be back soon, my love." He insisted.
Rabastan grinned at him, even as Rodolphus scoffed at their behaviour
and Draco rolled his eyes.
"Make them all look stupid, Harry. Nothing makes me happier than
hearing that you've successfully debated older people into a dead-end or
defended yourself from such verbal attacks. You make me so proud."
Harry grinned and he couldn't help ducking down for another kiss, his
hands on Rabastan's shoulders for stability. Rabastan's hands lightly
squeezed his waist and Harry regretfully pulled away.
"I'll hopefully be back before lunch, be ready for snuggling because I'm
going to need it."
"Hurry up and leave before you make me vomit up my breakfast."
Rodolphus demanded.
Harry walked around the table and when he reached where Rodolphus
was sitting, he wrapped his back up in a hug, his arms around Rodolphus'
neck, planting a kiss on his cheek.
"Don't worry, you're still my favourite brother…in-law." He added with a
cheeky grin when Draco went to protest.
"Anytime today, Harry." Lucius chided him.
"On my way." Harry smiled, trying to bury the pain he felt under forced
smiles and bright, cheeriness as he made it over to Lucius and allowed
the man, who had summoned a robe that matched Harry's shirt perfectly,
to help him slip into said robe before he took his adoptive father's arm as
they were Apparated to the Ministry.
Harry had to hold on tight and really work to hold his stomach in place.
He'd locked his knees to stop himself from hitting the floor and he was
forced to rely on Lucius to walk him forward and Xerxes' hand on his
back to steer him as he focused his all on putting one foot in front of the
other.
They stopped by the repaired Fountain of Magical Brethren and they
started talking to one another softly, giving Harry a moment to calm
himself and regain control. He was grateful for the scant few moments
that he was allowed as he needed it to pull out his 'lord' persona so that
he could cover the dizzy wave of pain that Apparating had caused him.
Once he'd stopped seeing double, he lightly squeezed Lucius' arm and
took a half step away.
"Do you feel better?" Lucius asked him.
"Better? No, not at all. In control, yes." He answered as he subtly lifted a
hand to massage his skull.
"Let us take our seats in the meeting room then so that you can sit down.
You stay in between Xerxes and I."
Harry nodded, it was usual these days for him to find himself sandwiched
between Lucius and Xerxes. It had been the same ever since Xerxes, as
the Head of the Lestrange family, had accepted the betrothal contract
between him and Rabastan. It was almost like he was protecting his
investment, as, without him, Rabastan's only suitor, the next generation
of Lestranges would never be born. The very thought of Rodolphus and
Bellatrix sleeping together and having a baby was laughable, if a little
terrifying, not least for the poor hypothetical baby born between them.
That left only Rabastan to carry on the Lestrange name, Rabastan who
was getting much better in recent months and had been made his
grandfather's heir shortly after they'd been betrothed, but he was still
recovering from fifteen years in the maximum-security cells in Azkaban
and with Harry as his only suitor, the next generation of Lestranges were
far from assured, because if the Lestranges lost him, they'd have nothing
left to fall back on.
So, Xerxes always being beside him in public seemed like he was
protecting the next generation of Lestranges, at least Harry would have
believed that Xerxes was merely protecting his 'investment' if he hadn't
seen exactly how much Xerxes actually liked him as a person, so perhaps
now it was a little bit of both, protecting him as a person and protecting
the future Lestranges.
They made it to the Wizengamot meeting room, with its 'D' shaped table,
and Harry sat in one of the comfy, dragonhide chairs, once again flanked
by Lucius and Xerxes. He smiled courteously and greeted those around
him pleasantly, he only managed any true genuine feelings of pleasure
when he greeted Lord Dawson Shacklebolt.
"You're looking a little under the weather, if I may say so." Lord Dawson
said to him concernedly after their greetings.
"It's nothing that won't pass soon enough." Harry assured him truthfully.
"Perhaps taking things a little easier would help, it can't be easy to juggle
these responsibilities and your schoolwork too."
Harry didn't take any offence at that, he instead saw it for what it was,
genuine concern from a man who was a father and grandfather himself.
Harry chuckled lightly. "Yes, I have found that out for myself. I overdid it
last term and fell sick as a result. I have since cut back where I can, in
order to focus more on my health after I was reminded that yes, it is the
most important thing."
Lord Dawson chuckled deeply. "Ah, the infallibility of youth, thinking
that you can all take on the world and come out the victor. At least you
have learned young about such follies."
Harry inclined his head with a grin. "Indeed. Well, this time the world hit
back and gave me the flu, even then I still tried to struggle on through it,
playing it off as a mere cold, but I've since learned that taking it easy
doesn't mean giving in or admitting defeat. Sometimes travelling at a
slower, calmer pace can reveal things that weren't to be seen at a faster,
more strenuous pace."
Lord Dawson shook his head. "You truly are a marvel. Lucius, your son
has come a very long way indeed."
Lucius smirked before looking at Harry in pride. "He has, I agree. I could
not be more proud of him."
Harry wanted to grin like a fool, but he controlled himself. He always
liked hearing such declarations and he couldn't quite help himself as his
back straightened more and his hands clasped together in front of him on
the table, being sure to keep his elbows off, of course, remembering
Narcissa's lessons well, tables were for hands, not for elbows or feet.
It seemed that they were all waiting around a little longer than usual and
Harry wondered why right up until someone hurried into the room and
all but dived into the last remaining seat…they'd been waiting for a late
straggler.
Harry could not have been more surprised if Voldemort himself had
walked into the room as he realised that the latecomer was Bill Weasley.
Lucius' extra deep breath and Xerxes' sharp inhale of surprise let him
know that this had come as news to the both of them too.
"I can call you all to order, now that you're all present." Runcorn said
dispassionately.
Harry, who had been staring at Bill, watched him flush in
embarrassment. Harry probably would have done so too, if he had been
so late to such a summons, and on his first meeting too.
"It is Wednesday the twenty-sixth of March, at twenty past eight in the
morning. I welcome you, esteemed lords and ladies of the wizarding
world, and Heads of all reputable Departments of the Ministry of Magic.
Today we welcome Lord William Weasley, in place of his father, who is
unable to claim the family lordship due to a blood traitor status. Lord
Weasley has denounced his family ways and has, in his heart, disowned
the named traitor, Bilius Weasley."
Harry blinked in surprise before he narrowed his gaze. There was no way
that Bill had parted from his family or their beliefs. He'd only known Bill,
and Charlie for that matter, for a short amount of time, but out of the
two of them, Bill had been the biggest advocate of his family. He felt
responsible for them because he was the oldest. Harry didn't believe for
one moment that Bill had gone against his father's wishes and denounced
Bilius Weasley or that he cared a damn about their blood traitor status…
if anyone from that family were to do as such, he would have expected it
to be Charlie or even Percy, but not Bill.
Looking at Bill now, in his clean-cut robes, his hair brushed and tied back
and his fang earring absent, Harry barely recognised the man who
refused to allow his mother to cut his hair. It just didn't seem right,
something really was wrong here.
"This Wizengamot truly is going to shit." Xerxes growled under his
breath. "First the mudblood Heads of Department, now blood traitors
being sworn in on a technicality!"
Harry turned his head sharply and gave the man a stern look.
"Oh, of course, your delicate sensibilities would rear up over this,
wouldn't they? I suppose you believe everything that you're told, don't
you?"
"I believe he was pointing out your politically incorrect use of the
derogatory term for muggleborns while in this room." Lucius pointed out
icily. "Regain control of your anger or risk looking a fool."
Xerxes clenched his teeth and his fists, but he started breathing deeply
and calmly to regain control of himself. Several moments later he placed
a hand on Harry's knee and squeezed gently, offering a wordless apology
for snapping in his anger. Harry nodded his head once, to acknowledge
the apology and to accept it. He could very well understand why Xerxes
was upset, why any of the purebloods would be upset over this, as he had
the feeling that Bill was lying just to get himself in on the Wizengamot
meetings. There was only one reason that Bill would have thought to
have done this, and it just reeked of Dumbledore's meddling interference.
"Our first order of business today is to discuss a proposal anonymously
dropped into my tray about magical creature control. This proposal was
deeply lined with prejudice and discriminatory language and urges us,
this Wizengamot, to impose even stricter laws upon all those who have
been classed as magical creatures, including, but not limited to,
werewolves, vampires, veela, and faeries." Albert Runcorn started,
reading from the parchment in front of him in a full monotone that
clearly indicated his boredom and lack of passion in the proposal. "Would
anyone like to start this session with an opening statement?"
Harry closed his eyes and breathed deeply, trying to shove away the
pounding headache so that he could focus on the matter at hand as
immediately after Runcorn stopped speaking little hissed whispers of
conversation started up all around the room as people discussed the
outlined proposal with their neighbours.
Unfortunately for Harry, anger always made his head hurt worse and that
was exactly what was going to happen if he was forced to debate an
argument with some of the more idiotic, prejudiced members of the
Wizengamot.
He cleared his throat and caught the attention of Runcorn, who nodded
his head and indicated towards him.
"This body recognises Lord Potter-Black and will hear him." Runcorn said
firmly, shutting up all other conversations and putting Harry in the
spotlight as he became the sole focus of everyone else.
"I was merely wondering what this new proposal suggested in way of
stricter control." He inquired politely.
He wanted to know who had even thought that the magical creatures
needed even stricter control upon them and exactly how it was even
possible when it seemed to him that they were already controlled to the
point of slavery, as they could hardly take a single step without being
told to do so. The very thought of even more restrictions being placed
upon them all as a whole when they already had so much of their own
lives dictated to them, was utterly vile in Harry's opinion and he was very
curious as to how the person who had written this proposal thought that
there could be even more restrictions and controls placed on them all
when there was literally nothing else that could be done to suppress them
any more than they already were.
Runcorn looked down, shifted several pieces of parchment and picked up
what was obviously the very proposal that they'd been speaking of. Harry
waited patiently as Runcorn found the correct passage.
"Ah, here we go." He said. "I am sure that most members of this body will
agree that this proposal is nothing more than belligerent bilge submitted
by a bigot who was too afraid to even put their name to their own
proposal." Runcorn said before clearing his throat and reading from the
parchment. "…the suggestion for the control of these half breed animals
is sterilisation to prevent breeding more of their kind, then confinement
or imprisonment for the safety of others or, if accused of any crime,
immediate, unhesitant execution with no need for a hearing or trial."
Harry was so shocked that he was sure that his mouth was gaping open.
He thought to Remus, imprisoned merely for being a werewolf having
done absolutely nothing wrong and his fist clenched tight. Headache or
not, he would debate this until his dying breath if he needed to. It would
not pass.
"I took the liberty of copying this proposal so that you might all look at it
in full detail." Runcorn informed them as he pulled out a folder from the
piles across the straight edge of the table, where he had the whole side to
himself, and with a wave of his wand he sent the sheets of parchment
flying out to each member at the table.
When Harry received his sheet, he started reading it with mounting
horror and disgust. The proposal included all humanoid magical
creatures, as apparently werewolves and vampires were no longer to be
classed as human beings worthy of emotions or compassion it seemed,
but it also suggested stricter control over those born as magical creatures
too, which included veela, faeries, merpeople, and drackens.
The level of sheer hate and disgust of the proposal was almost palpable
and Harry had read enough. He sat forward, his shoulders thrown back as
he puffed up his chest and he mentally prepared himself to spend all day
debating this if he had to. He was not, while he lived and breathed, going
to allow this proposal to pass, and if it did somehow pass then he would
appeal it and appeal it until everyone came around to his way of
thinking, or at the very least got so sick of him bringing it up that they
agreed to revoke it just to shut him up, but he didn't care. He would not
allow this vile proposal to come into law.
"This body recognises the eagerness that our youngest member has to get
this debate started, so we will open this debate with Lord Potter-Black."
Runcorn said with a smile at him. Harry could almost see the pride that
this man had in him, it was the same with some of the other members
too, a lot of them had gained a marked respect for him after he'd
successfully put Dennis Jute in Azkaban.
"I agree with our Chief Warlock that this proposal is nothing more than a
bigot trying to spitefully ruin the lives of others whom they feel are
inferior to themselves, merely because of additional creature blood."
Harry started off calmly and concisely, not letting his anger rush or
muddle his words. "The laws surrounding these people are already far too
tight and restrictive as it is, but to actually suggest that they are sterilised
and imprisoned merely because of their creature status is horrendously
unjust. That anyone would even think of executing others without a trial
or even a cursory hearing has, I admit, deeply shocked me. In what sort
of world do we live where there are those who believe that this sort of
discrimination against living, breathing people is acceptable? Where
these proposals can actually be considered being made into law through
fear, hatred, or disgust? I dislike frogs, perhaps I should put in a proposal
about them all being rounded up and killed off under a new law, merely
because I dislike them."
"It is not the same thing!" Someone answered. "These creatures are
dangerous beings, we are not talking of frogs, but of werewolves and
drackens, creatures that are breeding others like them, their numbers are
growing in recent decades, they are killing more humans, they need
controlling!"
There were quiet murmurs of agreement from some and Harry had to
hold a powerful wave of hot anger back to keep from screaming at the
sheer stupidity and utter cruelty of these people who were actually in a
position to have this proposal passed into an actual, enforceable law.
"You are speaking of them as if they aren't people." Harry pointed out.
"As if they have no thoughts or feelings."
Someone scoffed at that and Harry narrowed his eyes on the one person
he was hoping to avoid, lest he give something away in his anger…Lord
Philip Nott. The elderly, spiteful swine who was more concerned about
gold and prestige than he was about his only child's happiness.
"I suggest that if Lord Nott has something to say, then he should speak up
and share with the rest of us." Harry said in a mimicry of graciousness.
"I am merely astounded that someone, anyone, can see these beasts as
people with thoughts and feelings." Lord Nott said in a mocking tone.
"How can something that can turn into an animal be seen as a person?"
"I confess utter surprise at Lord Nott's thoughts on this matter." Harry
replied immediately. "I believe that I have seen your name on the
registered Animagi list, Lord Nott. Are you suggesting that you yourself,
who can turn into an animal, are not a person?"
Xerxes coughed to cover a burst of surprised laughter and Harry heard
Lucius chuckle quietly beside him. Lord Nott went a brilliant shade of
red.
"How dare you suggest as such!"
"I did not suggest as such, you did, Lord Nott." Harry pointed out
innocently.
This time Xerxes' laughter was a little more defined under his cough and
Harry had to work hard not to let his lips twitch.
"It is entirely not the same thing!" The elderly man spat. "I have gained a
higher control of magic in order to become an Animagus, it is a learned
skill. I do not turn into some mindless beast because of the phases of the
moon or because I was born as such!"
"I will point out that your exact words, Lord Nott, were 'how can
something that can turn into an animal be seen as a person.' I would like
to point out that you did not define the animal or person type nor did
you exclude Animagi from your broad statement."
"Becoming an Animagus is a learned form of magic! It is not a curse
brought on by a bite or tainted blood!" Lord Nott roared. "It is not the
same thing."
Harry inclined his head before turning back to face more centrally.
"As I was saying before this tangent, these people have thoughts and
feelings. They are living, breathing people and to treat them otherwise is
a disgusting condemnation of typical stereotypes that we, as a whole,
should be more intelligent to realise are completely false."
"They have the tools to infect or kill anyone they please!" Someone else
said, slamming their palms onto the tabletop.
"So do I." Harry replied calmly. "I could leave this room, go to the Atrium
of this building and kill anyone and everyone in it, if I so chose. As could
each and every one of you in this room, if you so choose. Perhaps these
proposed laws should apply to everyone. Perhaps we should all be locked
up and confined because we have the tools to kill whomever we please.
Perhaps we should all be put up for execution with no hearing or trial or
even a chance to defend ourselves and our actions merely because we
have the potential to do harm to others."
"That isn't the same thing!"
"Oh, is it not?" Harry replied a hint of anger in his tone seeping out.
"Forgive me, but I see it as exactly the same thing, how is it not?"
"I believe, my son, that the difference is the choice that is to be made."
Lucius told him.
Harry turned to look at him curiously.
"If you went out into the Atrium and killed all within it, that is your
choice to make. A werewolf for example, who is not under the effects of
the wolfsbane potion, will completely lose their minds during a full moon
and has no choice but to follow the instincts of their animal side. A
vampire who has not fed can turn crazed with bloodlust and kill the
person they are feeding upon in their starved desperation."
"I see your point, Father." Harry conceded. "But there is also the fact that
many werewolves lock themselves up on the night of the full moon or
remove themselves from civilisation to prevent such attacks. As for the
vampires, all that example proves is that our current regulations in
dealing with them don't work and we need to be more open-minded in
the way that vampires are dealt with and how their need for blood is
addressed. My point was that why should they be punished for something
that they have not done just because they have the potential to do it. I
have the potential to go to the Atrium and kill others, as does everyone
sitting at this table, should I be punished for the potential to do
something even though I have not actually done so?"
"I agree with your point." Lucius replied. "I was merely assisting your
understanding of the aforementioned hypothetical situation."
Harry nodded his head and once again sat centrally and looked out at the
other members of the Wizengamot, giving the floor to them, so to speak,
to either carry on his argument, or try to oppose it.
"We are not at liberty to strike at others preemptively merely because
they have magical creature blood, such discriminatory behaviour should
not be tolerated in society and such stereotypes have no place in our
world."
"It's not a stereotype if it's true!"
"It is not true that all magical creatures act in the same way, nor is it true
that they all think the same way or believe in the same things. They are
people just like us and just like us, they all differ in their thoughts and
beliefs." Harry replied sternly. "No two living creatures, including people,
are the same or act in the same manner and to think otherwise is to be
purposefully ignorant of basic living behaviours and ignorance is not a
basis for an argument to be put forward in agreement with this proposal."
"Very well said, Lord Potter-Black." Runcorn nodded. "Would anyone else
like to join this discussion either for the proposal or opposing it?"
"My argument is for the proposal." A woman spoke up. "We need to think
of the children when considering this proposal as a law. They are our
greatest gift and they are without the means to defend themselves."
"And how, Madam, do you think this proposal will help the children?"
Harry asked mildly.
"By locking those monsters up before they can harm our children!" She
replied.
"You believe this to be the best possible way to defend the children of
this world? To lock up innocent men and women who have not done
anything wrong?" He asked, making sure his stunned surprise could be
heard clearly in his voice. "What of the other dangers to children? Should
we ban Quidditch in case they get hurt? Should we remove
Transfiguration from the curriculum in case a stray spell hits them?
Should we never teach them to Apparate in case they are splinched?
Perhaps you are suggesting that the children are wrapped up in cotton
wool and never allowed outside again?"
"I am merely asking...no, begging that this body thinks of the defenceless
children when voting on this proposal. Even if they can be hurt in other
ways, this is something that we can do to prevent at least one danger
from being able to harm them."
Harry narrowed his eyes as he met his match in the meeting. There was
no way that he was going to give up, however. Not ever.
"We cannot blame all of them for the heinous actions of a few." He said
angrily. "There are risks around every corner that threatens everyone, not
just children or innocent bystanders. If we start to travel down this road,
where will it end? If we vote to write this proposal into law and we
round up all the magical creatures, tag and sterilise them and then throw
them into prisons, what next under the vague, blanket excuse of 'oh, but
the children?' Attacks on children by magical creatures are rare, it is not
an excuse to stir up fears over child safety just to pass this vile proposal
into law, Madam."
"Perhaps Lord Potter-Black is saying that he does not care about
children?" Lord Nott cut in.
Harry so badly wanted to scream at him that he didn't even care about
his own child, let alone other children, but he couldn't spoil Theo's
surprise. It was Theo's revenge to take, not his, no matter how badly he
wanted to shout it from the heavens so that everyone knew that this vile,
cruel, heartless man had threatened to disown his own son if he didn't
marry the tramp of house Greengrass for her, rather considerable, dowry.
"He is saying that attacks on children by magical creatures are rare, of
which they are." Dawson Shacklebolt said. "Not that he doesn't care about
children, as I'm sure that he does, as do we all."
Harry inclined his head in agreement. "I do care, of course, but accidents
happen." He insisted. "It is unavoidable that…
"They are not accidents or unavoidable if we can do something about it
now, to save the future children of such horrors!"
"Condemning hundreds, if not thousands, of innocent people to
imprisonment after suffering through forced sterilisation is not an
answer!" Harry said sternly. "What if such things were reversed and
magical creatures were the majority and they voted on our lives as coldly
and callously as you are doing now. How would you feel if you were
rounded up just for being human, forcibly sterilised so that you couldn't
'breed' and then imprisoned having done absolutely nothing wrong in
your entire life?" Harry demanded, using his fingers to quote the vile use
of the word breed in such a context. "They have the potential to do harm,
as does absolutely everyone in this world, but that doesn't mean that
anyone should be punished for it before they've done anything wrong. It
is different if they are planning to do something and are caught in the
act, but if they are neither planning to do as such, nor would ever do as
such, how can they possibly be punished for it? They haven't done
anything wrong!"
"Have you never heard of Fenrir Greyback?" The woman demanded.
"How he specifically targets children? How he goes out of his way to
harm others? How he relishes in killing and maiming? He is…"
"He is one man." Harry cut in firmly. "You cannot hold others accountable
for his actions or behaviours! It is not for us to imprison all magical
creatures because of him, it is for the inept Aurors of this Ministry to
catch him, and him alone, to hold him accountable for his own actions
and crimes!"
"They're all as bad as…"
"I sincerely hope, Madam, that you are not ridiculous enough to try and
tell this body that one person dictates the actions of all the others." Harry
cut in furiously. "They are not all the same, just as we are clearly not the
same. I refuse to be lumped into the same category as the criminals
rotting in Azkaban just because they're the same species as I am! It is the
same principle here and I will not allow children to be used as an excuse,
nor the atrocious claim that 'they're all as bad as one another' falsely
insinuating that every one of them is the same as the very few who have
attacked or done harm to others."
Everything was silent within the meeting room, the silence stretched on
and then Runcorn cleared his throat.
"If no one has anything to add?" He waited several more moments before
nodding. "Then let us vote on this matter. Raise your wands if you are in
favour of this proposal to be made into law."
Harry looked around as calmly as he could while his heart was
hammering in his chest, trying to come across as confident and not at all
worried or anxious about the voting. It was too close to call, so many
people had actually voted for this proposal to go through into law, many
more than he'd been expecting. He took an extra deep breath to control
himself. If this law passed he would not make a spectacle of himself,
instead, he would remain calm and dignified and he would legally appeal
it.
"All those opposed to making this proposal into law." Runcorn asked
them.
Harry calmly reached for his wand, drew it out and thrust it unhurriedly
into the air.
"All those without an opinion or cannot decide." Runcorn called out, once
he realised that the votes did not add up to the number of people in the
room. Sure enough, three wands were raised into the air and he added
them to his parchment. "This proposal has been denied twenty-nine to
twenty-one, with three abstaining from voting in this matter."
Runcorn picked up a stick of black wax, stuck it over a candle beside him
and let three globs of the black wax fall onto the bottom of the proposal
before he selected one of a dozen brass stamps in a holder in front of him
and he held it down into the wax. He put the proposal into a tray and left
it there before putting back the stamp and the stick of black wax.
"Onto our second call of business for the day." He carried on easily.
"There is an allegation of theft from Gringotts. The goblins caught the
wizard trying to break into a vault that was not his own but belonged to
his wife, who refused him access to her vault. The wizard in question has
invoked human law in this matter, and thus it is referred to us instead of
having the goblins handle such matters. We shall now debate on the
course of action to take."
"It was his wife's vault. Surely he should have been able to have access to
it. This matter shouldn't even be brought before us." Lord Parkinson
suggested.
Harry wondered then if nearly everyone around him was a complete
dullard or if it was because he was the only one who saw everyone, no
matter their gender or species, as equal.
"Are you truly going to be so sexist as to suggest that just because a
woman has married that her property immediately defaults to her
husband?" Dawson Shacklebolt asked tersely.
"I am saying that her husband should have had access to her vault. They
are a married couple. I suppose that she has access to his vault, why
should he not have access to hers?"
"You don't know that she has access to his vault." Dawson pointed out.
"Only that she has barred him from her vault and he then tried to break
into it."
"They are married! He should have access to his wife's vault!" Someone
called out, backing up Lord Parkinson.
"What century are you living in?" One of the muggleborn Heads of
Department called out. "Are we going backwards here? Are we slipping
away from gender equality?"
"It is not a question of gender equality, they are a married couple!"
"Perhaps they are separating and she was putting aside provisions for
herself." Harry suggested mildly. "Either way, there is no question here,
she had her own bank vault for whatever reasons that are absolutely her
own and her husband was trying to break into it knowing that he didn't
have access. This is a problem for the goblins to sort out, not for this
body."
There were gasps as if he had suggested that dragons were as harmless as
baby rabbits.
"The punishment for trying to enter a vault that you do not own is death
in the goblin nation, Harry." Lucius told him gently. "They take such
things very seriously."
"Perhaps this wizard should have thought of such things before he tried
to break into someone else's bank vault." Harry said simply. "The goblins
own the bank, everyone knows that you never try to steal from Gringotts
because of the repercussions of it, there is a warning carved into the very
doors of the bank that all can see and read before they even enter the
main hall of the bank. The way I see things is that the goblins own the
bank, it is theirs to defend in any way that they see fit. This wizard
should fall to them for his punishment, whatever that might be."
"We are not handing a wizard over to the goblins to execute!" One
member shouted out as if the louder he shouted the more he could sway
others to his way of thinking.
"No? Why not?" Harry asked. "He has committed a crime against the
goblins by going into their bank and trying to steal from them. It is their
reputation that he has threatened, their very livelihoods. When you walk
into Gringotts, you are subject to goblin law, as such, it seems to me that
they didn't even have to inform the Ministry of their intent to punish
him. It is their right to do so."
"That law is outdated and should be removed from use."
Harry looked up and locked eyes with Bill. This was the first time that he
had spoken, having chosen to merely watch the previous debate, though
he had voted with Harry on opposing the proposal for a change in the
magical creature laws.
"Oh? What do the goblins think about the removal of this law? It is their
law, after all, having been one of the founding laws that the goblin,
Gringott, was most insistent upon when the bank was first built in the
fourteen hundreds. It was one of the accepted stipulations when the
magical population decided to use it as their own bank in the first place. I
do not think that the goblins would be overly happy to hear that one of
their founding laws is being debated in this manner without a
representative present." Harry pointed out simply.
"The goblins never enforce the law." Bill argued. "As with this case, it is
always referred back to wizarding laws."
"How often do people try to break into a Gringotts vault?" Harry asked.
"Not often, but…"
"When was the last known case?" Harry interrupted.
"Back in nineteen-ninety-one." Bill said immediately. "The person was
unsuccessful…"
"I believe that that culprit was never caught either." Harry smiled
sweetly, knowing that it had been Quirrell acting on the orders of
Voldemort who had tried to get the Philosopher's Stone, having failed
because Hagrid had picked it up just hours before on the very same day.
"No, the culprit got away."
"What do you think the goblins would have done if they had
apprehended the culprit? Do you think it would have been exactly the
same as in this case? I do. If that culprit had been caught then exactly the
same would have happened and I fully believe that the goblins, as the
owners of the bank, should be able to enforce their own laws in their
own bank as the founding laws, that still stand legal to this day, have
stated for the last five hundred years!"
"That is an actual law?" One woman, a Department Head, asked in shock.
Harry nodded his head. "It is a legitimate law and we are here to uphold
the law in the fullest, not to pick and choose which ones we follow."
"Could you point out this law to me, Lord Potter-Black?" Runcorn asked.
"If it is an actual law, as you have stated, then this matter is indeed out of
our hands."
Harry smiled at the Chief Warlock. "Certainly. It is…"
"You cannot be serious! A wizard being given over to be executed by the
goblins! It is outrageous!"
"Yet, it is the law." Harry pointed out. "We are here to uphold all of the
laws, not to pick and choose which ones to follow, and the laws of this
matter are defaulted back to the goblins. Chief Warlock Runcorn, the
laws on this matter are set in the founding partnership of Gringotts bank
and the Ministry of Magic when the goblins agreed to accept human
clients for the first time. I am sure if you sent for the information from
the Department of Magical Law Enforcement that you will find that I am
correct in this matter."
"We will be taking a small, five minute break lords, ladies, and
gentlemen." Runcorn told them before pulling a piece of purple memo
paper towards him and writing a quick letter upon it before tapping it
with his wand where it folded itself into a plane before zooming out of
the room.
"How did you hear of such a law?" Xerxes asked him as two dozen little
hissed conversations started up around them.
"You know, I only read about it the other week in a library book. I was
looking up information on the Wizengamot, for that issue that I wrote to
you about, over the Council of Magical Law thinking that they were
above this body. I came across a book of old laws and I thought that it
was rather interesting, not to mention informative, to read about which
laws are still legal to uphold, so I read a large portion of it. What a funny
coincidence."
"You are so ruthless, I adore you." Xerxes told him.
Harry laughed happily and shook his head. "It's not really anything to do
with ruthlessness, I just don't want anyone to get off with such crimes
when there are already laws in place to deal with these issues. It isn't our
jurisdiction to deal with this, it is the goblins' bank, it is up to them to
deal with such things. It's just like if someone breaks into my home, I am
well within my rights to deal with them myself before calling in the Law
Enforcers, why should the goblins have any less of a right to take care of
anyone who foolishly tries to break into one of their vaults?"
"You are going to become very popular with the goblins, I believe."
Lucius said.
"I'm not doing this to get in with anyone, it's the right thing to do." He
insisted before changing the subject. "What is the time, please?"
"It is a quarter to eleven, Harry, why do you ask?" Lucius asked him after
he'd slid his pocket watch from his top robe pocket to quickly check the
time for him.
"I'm just checking that I have ample time before I have to take my next
potion." He insisted. "I'm so used to taking them that I'm always
hyperaware of the time. Being here, I'm not too sure that it's polite to cast
a tempus charm in the middle of a meeting. I don't like not knowing what
time it is, just in case I miss a potion."
"You have enough time, I won't allow you to miss a dose." Lucius insisted.
"So much for this being just a meet and greet with no debates though."
He chuckled tiredly as he subtly rubbed his throbbing head.
"I forgot that you would have a headache, you've done so well today that
I almost believed that there was nothing wrong with you." Xerxes told
him looking worried.
"No, it's still pounding away at both temples, it is really difficult to ignore
it too. I'm getting through this by sheer force of stubborn will."
"Then it's a good thing that you have plenty of stubbornness to spare."
Harry chuckled. "Indeed. Unfortunately, this is going to knock me back
for today at least. It's a good thing that I told Aceline to be ready for
cuddling, I'm going to need it." Harry said pointedly.
"She will take care of you, I'm sure." Xerxes said knowingly.
Harry grinned. "She better, she has a lot of making up to do."
Harry looked down at his engagement ring and he sighed happily, lifting
it to his mouth and kissing it gently.
The meeting was unofficially called back to order after another purple
memo plane came zooming in to Runcorn, who snatched it from the air,
unfolded it and read what was inside. Harry saw the small, hint of a
smile before it was gone and Runcorn cleared his throat and sat up
straighter.
"Lords, ladies, and gentlemen, if I can call you back to order." Runcorn
called out clearly as if everyone in the room wasn't already deadly silent
and staring at him, waiting for the answer. "Our meeting shall now
resume, at five to eleven in the morning on Wednesday the twenty-sixth
of March." He said more ceremonially rather than reminding those in the
room what day it was. All meetings were recorded on paper, after all,
and it was the Chief Warlock's job to make sure that all meeting papers
were clearly set out for quick review if needed at a later date.
Runcorn kept them in suspense after that, as he wrote something down
meticulously on a piece of parchment. Several people shifted anxiously,
but Harry remained calm and relaxed. He knew that he had the right of
things, he knew and understood what he'd read. As such, he didn't shift
or fidget like a worried, nervous child. Instead, he sat straight and strong,
a blank smile on his face as he put his hands in his lap.
"The Head of the law division in the Department for Magical Law
Enforcement has written me back and he has informed me that Lord
Potter-Black's information is indeed correct."
There was an outcry from several people around the table, but Harry sat
calmly and stoically, the small, blank smile still on his face.
"It is still written into law that all matters of Gringotts business, including
dealing with trespassers and thieves, defaults to the goblins." Runcorn
called out. "We are here to uphold the law as it is written! Not in the way
that we choose to interpret it."
"That law hasn't been enforced in the last hundred years!" Bill called out
desperately.
"Only because this is the first treacherous person to be caught in that
time." Harry said calmly. "Not very many are stupid enough to try and
break into a vault at Gringotts. The last one to be caught was in eighteen-
ninety-two. Since then no one has been brainless enough to try, except
for the culprit who got away in nineteen-ninety-one. This is the first case
since then and that law is still perfectly legitimate and thus it is
enforceable. It is our job to uphold it lest we offend the goblin nation and
be the cause of the first goblin rebellion since the nineteenth century! I,
for one, will not be responsible for such, this is a case for the goblins to
sort out as they see fit! Based on the written law they didn't even need to
inform us that they had arrested this trespasser, they did that out of
courtesy, likely not expecting this whole railroad where the wizards try
to take over their business, going back on their own laws."
"That is a breach of law that will be fully investigated." Runcorn insisted.
"Now that this law has been uncovered and unburied from the depths
that had been taken to hide it, it will be enforced as it is a legitimate law.
This case is now being referred back to the goblins, who are within their
legal rights to do with their prisoner as they see fit."
"You cannot be serious!" Someone yelled out. "He is a wizard of this
country! We can't just turn him over to be executed by such filthy
beasts!"
"The goblins will also be receiving a copy of this body's discussion for
context, I do hope that you didn't have much in your vault that you
wanted to keep." Runcorn said blandly.
Harry almost laughed, instead he cleared his throat and wiggled around a
little bit as he tried to hold back his laughter.
"This concludes our meeting for this morning. All discussions have been
carried out and voted upon. Please keep your rings upon your fingers at
all times to hear of the next meeting. Barring an emergency, I will be
seeing you all at the small get together in the next month. Good day to
you all."
Runcorn officially ended the meeting and Harry stayed sat for a moment,
before he stood and rolled his aching shoulders, glad that the meeting
had finally ended. He'd forgotten about the Wizengamot party next
month. Rabastan had promised to buy him some new dress robes to go to
that, as he'd had to wear two sets to his family's New Year's party after
Rowle had ruined one of them by ripping them open to try and rape him
in his own bathroom. He wondered if Rabastan had remembered that or
if Harry would have to gently remind him.
Lucius and Xerxes flanked him on the way out, as it seemed that
everyone and his dog wanted to speak to him, or rather confront and
shout at him, he even saw some fingering their wands as if they wanted
to curse him. Of course, such a thing would have caused a massive family
feud between Harry and his own family, including the Lestranges as his
married family, and the idiot who had decided to curse him and their
family.
"How is your headache?" Lucius asked him.
"It's getting worse." He admitted. "I can't wait to get home and lie down."
"Several more minutes and you'll be back home. I'm very proud of you."
Harry smiled and he ignored everyone else as he focused only on getting
home. He couldn't wait to put his head in Rabastan's lap and have those
lovely, strong fingers massaging his skull.
Bill made his way to Dumbledore's office at Hogwarts as he mulled over
everything that had happened in the last few hours. It had not been what
he'd been expecting. From the books that he'd read he'd been expecting
arrogant, old men throwing out words that hadn't been used in
conversations for a hundred years and a lot more stuffiness. He hadn't
expected the level of opinionated fervour during the debates that had
been hot with passionate anger and argument.
He made it to the stone gargoyle that covered the entrance to
Dumbledore's office and he spoke the password that he'd been given,
waiting for the gargoyle to leap aside before climbing the stairs to the
office above. He knocked on the door and waited to be told to enter
before doing so.
"Ah, Bill. What can I do for you? Was there something you found in one
of the books that you need assistance with?"
"No, Sir. A meeting was called this morning."
"So soon? Well, no matter. Come, take a seat."
Bill did as he had been told and took one of the chairs on the other side
of Dumbledore's desk and he shook his head.
"I don't know how to explain just how…wrong everything went in such a
short space of time."
"What do you mean?" Dumbledore asked softly.
"It was like Harry's own personal show." Bill explained with a soft shake
of the head. "He wasn't following Malfoy's direction at all, Sir. Harry was
the first to speak and Malfoy barely spoke at all during the debates."
"What was the issue raised?" Dumbledore asked in alarm.
"Tightening the creature laws even further, to the point where all known
magical creatures would be imprisoned and sterilised to prevent them
from having children and if they were criminals, even small, petty
offences, then they'd be executed without a trial or even a hearing."
"What did Harry say about the matter?" Dumbledore asked quietly.
"He was dead set against it. He made such a compelling argument, all on
his own, that he swayed many of those into voting with him, opposing
the new legislation. It failed to pass by a mere margin and I'm sure that it
was only because of Harry's input that it didn't actually pass."
"I admit myself surprised that Lucius didn't step in and stop Harry from
doing as such."
Bill shook his head. "No, he looked proud of what Harry was doing and
saying. He just sat by his side and smiled at him smugly as Harry spoke
and argued with the other members of the Wizengamot. He voted with
Harry to oppose the laws. Harry really did have a way of making people
feel stupid for voicing their own opinions and because of that, no one
wanted to argue the point for the legislation to be passed. I could see the
minds of some of the silent observers changing more and more as Harry
spoke in favour of rejecting the proposal and then again when he put
aside everyone else's arguments so easily."
"Would you share these memories with me, so that I might look at them
in finer detail?"
Bill nodded his head and then, as Dumbledore's wand tip came to his
temple, Bill thought of the Wizengamot meeting and everything that had
happened that morning. A silvery strand came free from his temple and it
was caught in a glass vial as Dumbledore extracted the memory.
"Harry successfully talked a wizard into a goblin execution." Bill warned.
Dumbledore looked up at him sharply. "How was he able to manage such
a thing?"
"A wizard tried to break into a vault owned by his wife. I have no idea
how Harry knew of such a law, as it was one of the outdated laws that
you asked me to remove, but he convinced the Wizengamot that such
affairs were for the goblins to handle, even Malfoy looked surprised at
hearing that. None of them knew of such a law, but Harry did somehow
know of it and he played his part to perfection. He insisted that there was
nothing that the Wizengamot could do, that it was still a legitimate law
and that if we denied such a thing then it could spark off a goblin
rebellion. As soon as Runcorn heard that it was an actual law, he wrote a
memo to the Department of Law Enforcement and after hearing back
from them that it was a legitimate law, he swept it completely from the
books and agreed with Harry that it was an affair for the goblins to sort
out in any way that they saw fit. There wasn't even a vote for it."
"I admit that I am very concerned about the way that Harry is acting. To
condemn people to such overinflated sentences to Azkaban and now to
condemn someone to death, his behaviour is out of control, yet no one is
raising any eyebrows at it. You would think that he had always acted in
such a cruel, unforgiving manner for all the notice that he's getting."
Bill could well understand Dumbledore's point. He still remembered the
shy, sweet little boy who had come with them to the Quidditch World
Cup. To compare the two, the boy that he'd met at the Quidditch World
Cup to the boy that he'd seen just now in the Wizengamot meeting room,
they were like night and day, two very different people and it seemed
that no one even noticed, or more accurately, they just didn't care, but
they needed to. Because if Dumbledore was right, and he always was,
then Harry was the only one who could defeat you-know-who. If they
didn't have Harry, then they had no hope and they would be fighting for
nothing, they'd just be throwing away their lives with no hope of ever
winning the coming war.
Lupin was insistent on not forcing Harry to fight because though Harry
apparently still wanted you-know-who defeated, he didn't want to get his
soft, clean hands dirty. But Dumbledore was insistent that Harry had to
be the one to fight, that he was the only one able to finally defeat you-
know-who for good, but the selfish little shit that Harry had become was
refusing to have any part of the coming war, insisting that he didn't want
to fight and denying the prophecy altogether. It was utterly maddening.
The only way that they could truly be safe from you-know-who was to
destroy him once and for all, yet the only person who could do as such
was Harry, who was now being an utter pillock and refusing to do
anything. Bill wanted to shake the sense back into him, or Malfoy's
influence out, either way, he just wanted to grab hold of Harry and shake
the little bastard for everything that he'd done and had put them through
and was still putting them through. Enough was enough and if he was
condemning people to Azkaban and now even to death just to impress
the Malfoys then Bill wanted to punch him right in the face for ruining
others' lives just to try and impress his disgusting adoptive family in such
a sick, sinister way. It just wasn't right and Bill had no idea how Harry
was even getting away with it. None of them within the Order knew, but
now that he was sitting on the Wizengamot hopefully, he'd be able to
work out what Harry was doing and how they could put a stop to it. It
couldn't be allowed to continue.
"What do we need to do?" He asked Dumbledore, firming himself and his
resolve.
"There is nothing that we can do except to inform the others of what has
transpired today and then leak it out to the general population, subtly so
that it cannot be brought back onto you, and hope that a public outcry
will cow Harry somewhat from these cruel intentions. I will review this
memory now and I will call you back to discuss my findings at a later
date, thank you for arriving so promptly, it could save that poor man his
life."
Bill nodded and he took the dismissal as he stood and went back down
the spiral stairway. He had much more work to be done and he had to
somehow go in to face the goblins over his lateness into work, knowing
now that they held a wizard prisoner and would be legally executing him
at their discretion.
Everything was just so wrong and there was nothing that anyone could
do to fix it as Harry continued to prove himself as a constant thorn in
their sides, twinging and making himself known in the worst of ways at
every turn. He needed to be stopped, the sooner the better.
Harry was very blissed out and incredibly happy as he lay with his head
in Rabastan's lap, enjoying the feeling of having someone's fingers
stroked slowly and rhythmically through his hair, the nails lightly
scratching his scalp in a way that rose pleasurable goosebumps on his
arms and made him shiver happily every now and then.
He was very happy and very comfortable right where he was and he
didn't plan on moving for a while yet, and now that he'd had a light
lunch and his calcium potion, he didn't have to move either.
"You should have been there!" Xerxes carried on, he was so happy and so
proud as he regaled Rabastan and Rodolphus of Harry's morning in the
Wizengamot. Harry barely had to open his mouth between the adulation
of Xerxes and Lucius.
"I can't believe you sentenced someone to death by using the goblins."
Rabastan chuckled, looking down at him and smiling. Harry smiled back
sleepily.
"I'm afraid it was his own fault." Harry said drowsily, his eyes now closed.
"Everyone, even muggleborns or those raised by muggles like I was, know
that to steal from the goblins is a ridiculous endeavour resulting in death.
I even asked during my first ever trip to the bank what would happen if
anyone touched certain vaults and I was straight up told, as an eleven-
year-old, that the person would be sucked into the vault and trapped
inside with no hope of getting out and that such vaults were only
checked upon for such trespassers every ten years. There is even a
warning carved into the doors to the main hall that everyone entering the
bank can see! Why shouldn't the goblins be able to deal with trespassers
and thieves in any way that they deem necessary in their own bank?! If
someone tried to break into my vault then I'd absolutely want them killed
for it! Do you know how much valuable junk is in the Potter vault, let
alone the Blacks?"
"I hadn't thought to ask." Lucius replied, there was a thoughtful look on
his face. "What is in those two vaults?"
"The Potter vault isn't too bad, it's mostly money and books, but there are
a few heirlooms and things too, the Black vault, however, I'm afraid to
touch half of it. I'm sure most of it's cursed."
"What makes you say that?" Xerxes asked him.
"I touched a goblet and it gave me a rash that the goblins had to treat
before I left the bank. I didn't touch anything after that."
"If you are agreeable, then perhaps I should come with you the next time,
to circumvent any curses harming you."
Harry nodded. "That would be great, some of the stuff in that vault looks
so cool, it would be nice to touch some of it without fear that I'm going
to lose an arm or have my eyeballs burnt out. I remember half of the crap
at the Black house in Grimmauld Place and if they keep that much cursed
stuff in their house, then I'm not surprised that their vault is full of it too.
There was a music box that when it was opened played sinister, eerie
music, it just made everyone drowsy and sleepy, like we were in a trance,
and none of us could move. Thank god Ginny slammed the lid on it, who
knows what it would have done if left for any longer. We could have
fallen asleep and never woken back up again."
"You have been to the Black home then?"
"Of course, I own it now." Harry said. "Along with all the Black vaults and
estates. Sirius left it all to me in his will."
"You're a very rich boy."
"I don't care for such things." Harry insisted blithely. "Family is much
more important to me."
He looked up at Rabastan and smiled.
"I was surprised that you voted with me on the creature law proposal,
however." He said. "I thought that you were all about controlling the
magical creatures."
"There is a difference in controlling them and in imprisoning them all and
forgetting about them. How could our Lord do his work if that proposal
had passed into law? How could we use Greyback to his full potential if
all creatures are locked up or executed on sight? It was not limited to
those merely mentioned in the proposal either, it would have included
them all, giants, centaurs, merpeople…it is exactly these sorts of
proposals that send them fleeing to our Lord in the first place." Xerxes
told him. "He gives them the freedom to take their revenge, which often
brings about even harsher proposals such as this one."
"Which is exactly my point." Harry answered. "All of the current creature
laws need to be reviewed and rewritten. They're not working and it's
unfair of anyone to expect these creatures to live by such harsh, vile laws
that often prevent them from living a full, happy life or even from being
completely safe! I'll be setting that on my list of things to change too, as
soon as I have thought on all possible avenues to take to help them
instead of forcing tighter and tighter controls upon them, it's no wonder
that half of them snap and go on killing sprees. If I was subject to the
same sort of limitations then I think I would too."
"I cannot wait to see what you come up with." Xerxes said gleefully.
"Remember to cover all loopholes." Lucius told him firmly. "You need to
plan for every eventuality and put down in writing everything that the
law should cover and not leave it up for interpretation."
Harry nodded seriously from Rabastan's lap. "It might take a while, but it
needs proper planning and as you said, I need to cover all eventualities.
But I will make this right. I will not stand by as they're all vilified for the
actions of a select few. Where is the justice in that?"
"There is none." Rabastan answered.
Harry nodded. "Exactly, and that needs to change as soon as I can
possibly manage it."
Everyone fell quiet then and Harry relaxed himself back on Rabastan's
lap and just enjoyed having his head massaged. He was going to start on
a basic outline for his proposal now, while he had some free time thanks
to the Easter break. He would then look into every single law and clause
that was currently legitimate and enforceable and he would set about
changing them all for the better.
He was smart enough to see that if you controlled someone to the point
of giving them no free will at all, then of course they would fight and
rankle against such tight confines, trying to scrape a better life for
themselves and their family only to be knocked down again and again.
He thought to Remus and how he couldn't hold down a job because of
what he was, how he was so stressed and aged because of his poor living
situation, how he could barely clothe or feed himself. His jaw clenched.
He would put an end to it and he would rewrite all of these laws for the
betterment of the magical creatures who merely wanted the freedom to
live their lives without fear. He would work tirelessly to achieve this, he
swore it.
A/N: Happy New Year, lovelies! We now head into 2017 and a new year
of writing and reading. I am fully expecting our new fic of the year to be
Broken Wings, with any luck it could be posted as early as February/
March, though due to the content it will not be for everyone and it is
only going to be posted on AO3.
Huge thanks to Vengeance-Angel2010 for being the 2,300th reviewer
for this fic.
Anonymous (Guest): No, lovelie. I think you're confused over the
meaning. A trifle does mean something of little value, but it is also a
dessert of cream, custard and jelly. It was this trifle that Harry was
referring to during chapter 10.
I think that this is all that I needed to do, I hope that you've enjoyed this
chapter, and Harry absolutely stealing the show in the Wizengamot, so
until next time, lovelies,
StarLight Massacre. X
19. Easter Inspirations
A/N: For Staci, Deinara, Kali, Kalesha and the multitude of March babies
that have inundated me with birthday requests, happy birthday to all of
you lovelies!
Last Time
He was smart enough to see that if you controlled someone to the point of
giving them no free will at all, then of course they would fight and rankle
against such tight confines, trying to scrape a better life for themselves and
their family only to be knocked down again and again. He thought to Remus
and how he couldn't hold down a job because of what he was, how he was so
stressed and aged because of his poor living situation, how he could barely
clothe or feed himself. His jaw clenched. He would put an end to it and he
would rewrite all of these laws for the betterment of the magical creatures who
merely wanted the freedom to live their lives without fear. He would work
tirelessly to achieve this, he swore it.
Chapter Nineteen – Easter Inspirations
Harry woke up on Sunday the thirtieth of March, four days after the
Wizengamot meeting, with a grimace at the state he found himself in. He
must have sweated out his bodyweight last night because he was near
enough dripping wet.
Peeling himself from his sheets, he gave a disgusted 'ick' to himself before
heading straight into his en suite to run a much-needed bath.
He went back into his bedroom and picked out an outfit for himself,
laying it out on his armchair ready, before he went back into the
bathroom to sit his arse in the bath, cleaning himself off in the warm
water. He must have had a bad night to have woken up in such a state,
but today was Easter and he was very much looking forward to the
cascade of chocolate that was coming his way after breakfast, so he didn't
let the bad night get him down too much. He was going to get chocolate
later, after all, and that would make up for almost anything.
That thought got him moving a little quicker and he finished up and got
out, drying himself off and going to get dressed. He stripped his still
slightly damp bedding once he was dressed and he left it on the floor in a
tidy pile for Pimsey to sort out. She would wash the bedding and then
put it back on his bed for him, as per his usual morning routine now. He
almost literally ran into Draco as soon as he left his room and the both of
them almost jumped in the air in fright.
"Dear Merlin, calm down, Potter!" Draco chastised him.
"Sorry, I'm excited. I get a shit ton of chocolate today, I can't help it."
Draco shook his head as they went down to the dining room together. As
had become the norm, they were the last to arrive; Draco because he
liked making sure that he was absolutely perfect and pristine every
morning, Harry because he needed to take an extra-long bath to scrub all
the stale sweat from his body every morning.
"Good morning, boys." Narcissa greeted them as they walked into the
dining room.
"Morning, Mother." They both echoed.
Draco went to sit in his usual seat and Harry went to sit next to Rabastan,
kissing him in greeting.
"Morning, love." Harry said with a smile.
"How are you feeling?" Rabastan asked him, even as he began making
Harry a cup of tea, just how he liked it.
"I feel alright today, or at least I do for now."
Rabastan smiled so happily as he handed over the cup and gave him a
soft kiss on the cheek. Harry grinned, pleased with the way that things
were progressing between them. Marcus had come for another lesson a
few days ago and Harry could see the restraint that passed over
Rabastan's face, the tension in his body, as he left the room to give him
and Marcus some privacy. Harry had rewarded him heavily with praise
and happiness and he had fed Rabastan small berries dipped in natural
yoghurt by hand to show his appreciation for the show of trust.
Rabastan had very much liked his reward and it acted as one hell of an
incentive for the next time, this was especially good as Marcus was
coming for another lesson tomorrow. Harry was fervently hoping that
Rabastan could keep up this new considerate behaviour. It made Harry
feel able to work on his tutoring and then come back to Rabastan and tell
him about it, which was an amazing feeling, to be able to share his
lessons and his thoughts with his fiancé.
Harry drank his tea, nibbled on some toast, ate a banana and then he
swallowed the worst of his potions, the bone-strengthening potion that
gave him a killer headache. The headache kicked in with a painful throb
only a minute or so after he'd swallowed it, but Rabastan took his hand
and helped him to his feet. He was led to the front parlour and in a new
habit that Harry absolutely loved, he was laid down on the settee with
his head in Rabastan's lap and he had his hair stroked and his scalp
massaged by strong, sure fingers that only wavered slightly every now
and then. But Rabastan was now much more confident and it showed by
his willingness to have both hands on Harry's head when a powerful
cramp could have squashed it like a watermelon. Harry couldn't
remember the last time that Rabastan had actually had any sort of cramp
though and it was so utterly blissful to have those fingers scratching at
his scalp that he didn't worry about it. He would definitely miss this
when he had to go back to Hogwarts.
"Oh, that feels so good." He groaned as Rabastan's nails gently scratched
against his scalp, moving down to the back of his neck which made him
shiver in pleasure.
"Did you write out any more of that change of law proposal that you
want me to look over?" Rabastan asked him.
"No. I did, however, go back over the part that you already reviewed and
took your notes into consideration. I've re-written it again and if you'd
like, you could go over it again to see what you make of it now."
"Of course, I would love to. I enjoy doing this project with you." Rabastan
insisted as he continued massaging Harry's head and neck.
"I've almost finished the next part of the reform too. Once I've hashed out
all of the details, I'll add it in a coherent manner to the proposal and have
you look it over again."
"It sounds like you're doing really well with it. You only thought of
changing these laws a few days ago." Rabastan said, rather impressed
with Harry's level of passion and his dedication.
Harry cracked open his eyes and looked up at his fiancé. "I just feel really
strongly about this." He said. "I can always focus better on something
when I feel strongly about it, that's why I'm so good at Defence Against
the Dark Arts."
"You are very intelligent, Harry." Rabastan told him seriously. "You never
give yourself enough standing in such things, but you are incredibly
quick-witted and a fast learner."
"Hermione was always much smarter than I was." Harry insisted.
"There you go again, putting yourself down or comparing yourself to
others. You said that that mud…muggleborn was only book smart anyway.
Everything she knows is out of a book, but if you put her on the spot, I
bet she wouldn't have a bloody clue until she'd looked for the answer in a
book first. Not like you."
Harry closed his eyes again, after glaring up at Rabastan at the first hint
of the word mudblood. He sighed.
"I suppose not. She won't be told either. If you suggest an alternative to
anything that she's read in a book then she won't even consider it. She
doesn't seem to grasp that sometimes there can be more than one way to
do something right or even that a book might sometimes have
misinformation or a newer book could have an updated explanation that
expands on a certain theory or disproves an earlier theory entirely."
"Exactly! She's book smart, whereas you're just smart, period. You
understand that not everything you read is correct, you can think on your
feet and we've yet to meet anyone who can hold themselves in a debate
against you."
Harry smiled. "I almost met my match at that meeting, that stupid
woman."
"The one who started beseeching the Wizengamot about the poor,
defenceless children?" Rabastan chuckled.
"Have you ever heard anything so ridiculous in your life?"
"Not recently." Rabastan answered, continuing with Harry's head, neck
and shoulder massage.
They both fell silent. Harry was enjoying the head massage, easing away
the headache that he had thanks to the after effects of his potions.
"Do you feel better?" Rabastan asked him.
Harry nodded. "Much. Thank you."
A kiss to his head and Harry opened his eyes again and smiled up into
those dark blue eyes.
"I bought you something for Easter, though I've been worried that you
won't like it."
"Is it chocolate-related?" Harry asked.
"Yes, but…"
"Then there is absolutely no way that I won't like it." Harry grinned.
"Where's my chocolate?"
"Are you feeling well enough?"
"For chocolate? Are you mad? Of course, I'm well enough." He laughed,
sitting himself up and snuggling into Rabastan before giving him a few
playful pushes. "Go on! Go get my chocolate!"
Rabastan laughed with him. He stood after giving him another kiss and
Harry got himself comfortable. He was going to binge on chocolate with
Rabastan until at least lunchtime. He was going to need tea.
"Pimsey." He called out gently.
The little house-elf popped into the room and curtseyed. "What can
Pimsey be doing for young master Harry?" She asked.
"Can I get some tea and two cups please, Pimsey?" He asked with a smile.
She smiled back at him, her bat-like ears pricking up in happiness and
she squeaked happily before popping away and coming back in record
time with a tray in her hands with a teapot, complete with tea cosy, two
china cups, sugar and milk.
"Thank you, Pimsey, this is great." Harry insisted.
Squealing again, Pimsey curtseyed and left the room. Harry busied
himself with making tea for himself and Rabastan until Rabastan actually
came back. When he did come back, he was levitating a collection of
boxed eggs behind him. Harry had to laugh, especially as he remembered
his talk with Lucius about Rabastan hovering over the eggs like a mother
hen.
"Talk about going overboard, Rabastan!" He giggled.
"I didn't know which one you'd like the best, so I got a couple, then I was
worried that you wouldn't like either of them, so I…I just got more."
Rabastan said a little uncomfortably. "It never came up in conversation
what sort of chocolate you preferred and as it got closer to Easter, it
would have seemed too obvious to just ask you outright and I didn't want
to ruin the surprise."
Harry rolled his eyes. "You should have just asked me. We're still learning
about one another, I wouldn't have cared. Although, I probably would
have lamented the loss of all of these." He laughed as he picked up the
first egg that had been lined up on the table and looked at it. It was a
plain milk chocolate one and he opened the box, carefully took out the
large egg and he gave it a hard, forceful downward slam into the coffee
table so that it easily broke into two halves.
"Why did you do that?!" Rabastan asked him in shock.
"So I can eat it!" Harry replied as he took one of the halves and broke a
decent-sized fistful off of it.
"So you smash it against a table?" Rabastan demanded.
"You're going to tell me that there's a charm for that, aren't you?" He
asked with a grin.
"There's a charm for that, Harry." Rabastan said, demonstrating by
waving his wand and severing a small portion of the chocolate from the
other half of the egg.
"I like my way better." Harry grinned as he ate the snapped pieces of
chocolate.
Rabastan just smiled at him. "They're your eggs, whatever you want to do
with them is fine."
"I'm sharing them…only with you though!" Harry added quickly. "If
Rodolphus wants any he can get his own!"
Rabastan smiled and ate the small piece he had severed off. He picked up
the tea that Harry had poured for him. Rabastan preferred tea leaves, not
tea bags like Harry, so it was more difficult to get Rabastan's preferred
taste right.
"Did I do it right?" He asked softly, seeking reassurance that he was
learning about his fiancé's likes and preferences.
"You did." Rabastan told him, sitting back and tugging Harry to rest
against him. Harry went willingly, with his chocolate and tea, and he
snuggled in happily. "Do you prefer milk or dark chocolate, Harry?"
"I like them both." Harry chuckled. "If I want a massive sugar hit, I'll go
for milk chocolate, maybe one of Honeydukes' massive buckets of
chocolate frogs, though I do share those. But if I just want a snack or
something to nibble on, then I'll go for dark chocolate. I'll eat that while
I'm reading, which seems to be all the time now. I've grown to love dark
chocolate and orange, though. That is definitely my current favourite
combination." He said, waiting to see what Rabastan would do. His fiancé
did not disappoint him as he surged forward and almost grappled with
one of the boxes, presenting him with a very sophisticated, elegantly
decorated dark chocolate orange egg. It even had candied orange slices
sunken into the front of it.
"I got you a dark chocolate and orange egg!" Rabastan said excitedly.
Harry gasped, not entirely faked either as the egg was a lot more lavish
and beautiful than he'd been expecting, but he took it and looked at it in
wonder.
"How did you know?" He asked. "It's perfect! See, you did know which
egg I'd like the most!"
Rabastan smiled and watched as Harry took the egg out of the box and
then slammed it into the coffee table, breaking it in half. If Lucius, or
even worse, Narcissa, had caught him then Rabastan knew that Harry
would have been in for a punishment, but he didn't care personally as
long as his love was happy and he seemed to be absolutely overjoyed
with his eggs, and with slamming them all into the coffee table like a
barbaric muggle. Harry snapped a chunk off of the broken half of the egg
and he jammed it into his mouth, moaning at the taste. The entire egg
was infused with orange zest and likely orange oil too, it was amazing.
"Is that one your favourite?"
"For the moment. I'll have to try them all to be sure though." Harry said
with a cheeky grin.
Rabastan chuckled and cuddled him back into his body, this time half of
the orange egg came with them as Harry kept it with him and snapped
bits off to nibble on as he drank his tea. He had no worries that the egg
would melt in his hand as all of the eggs, having been made by a magical
chocolatier, were all charmed to never melt, and thus destroy the
creation or change its taste. He could hold it all day and nothing would
happen, though he'd been told that the charm would not stand up to very
high heat, such as being put in an oven, a microwave, or in boiling water.
"Did you need to do any more reading today?" Rabastan asked him.
"No, I was going to read that Arithmancy book to you and have you
explain to me what the fuck it means because I have no clue." Harry
laughed.
Rabastan snorted. "Okay, we can do that once we've drunk our tea. Don't
fill up on chocolate though, Harry, you need to get some lunch down
you."
Harry nodded, he understood that his rather fragile health needed to be
built up not only with the potions but with good food and nutrition too.
He was getting better, he was actually feeling stronger too and when
Lucius had sat him down, with Rabastan sat beside him for support, and
told him that the healer had said that his recovery was going very well
and that he might be able to cut back on the potions earlier than
expected, that he would be off of them earlier than he'd expected, well, it
had almost made him cry from sheer joy and relief. He was now more
determined than ever to see this through, to get healthy and well and off
of these damn potions and ensure that he never had to take them ever
again. Chocolate might make him feel a little better, but it wouldn't help
him recover faster, but a good lunch would he understood that. So, he
curbed his desire to eat as much chocolate as he could and instead he
stopped eating an hour before lunch would be served to leave room
enough to eat a good, nutritious lunch that would help him to recover
faster. He could always go back to his chocolate afterwards, as long as he
ate his dinner too, it wouldn't matter or even be mentioned. He was
determined to get healthy, but he was also determined to eat as much of
the chocolate as he could before he went back to Hogwarts, where he
would be thrown headfirst into the deep end with endless homework and
exam revision. After all, the exams were in the last week of May, in a
little over a month and these exams would dictate if he could carry on his
final year of his chosen NEWTs and then finally graduate. He would need
to focus his all upon them when they did finally roll around and there
would be no room for distraction or procrastination. He would pass all of
his exams and make his family proud of him.
Bill Weasley knew that something was wrong as soon as he arrived for
his shift at the bank. He had immediately been called to the office of the
goblin in charge of the Cursebreakers and told brusquely to take a seat
while he waited. He had been sitting here for ten minutes now, just left
on his own with no clue what was going on.
When his manager had eventually turned up, he looked angry and Bill
wondered if this was because he'd missed those few hours last week. He
had explained to the deputy manager at the time why he'd been late, but
this was the first that he was seeing anything of his actual manager since
then. He refused to believe that it had anything to do with the
Wizengamot meeting. Charlie had warned him that there might be
repercussions for that, even his father had mentioned that it might tick
off the goblins, but Bill didn't want to believe it.
"Mister Weasley, you have been called here today to discuss your conduct
as a representative of this bank." His manager, Gornuk, told him.
"I don't understand."
"You have taken a seat in the Wizengamot. As an employee of this bank,
you are a legal representative for Gringotts while in these meetings. We
have found you to be lacking as a representative and your conduct to be
disgraceful."
"I was only doing as I saw best." Bill said quietly.
"Regardless of what you believe is for the best, our laws are to be fully
upheld, by employees most of all." Gornuk told him fiercely.
"The law in question is rarely enforced."
"No, Mister Weasley, the law in question is rarely needed to be enforced."
Gornuk corrected him, echoing what Harry had said last week in the
Wizengamot meeting. "Regardless of how often it is used, it is still a law
that we here at Gringotts take very seriously. We pride ourselves on
being the safest place for anyone to store their gold and valuables, if we
allow for anyone to steal from one of our vaults, our reputation will be
ruined and we will lose business, thus our very livelihoods will be at
stake. You, as an employee of this bank, should be fully aware of such
things."
"I am." Bill insisted. "I just believe that putting those potential thieves to
death is too harsh. A fine, confiscating their vaults or even imprisonment,
but not automatic death. I feel that the law should be updated and that a
straight-up execution for potential theft should be removed from the
law."
"This law has worked well as a full out deterrent since it was instated as a
law, right back at the very beginning of our nation taking wizards as
clients, Mister Weasley. If we allow this one thief to get away with trying
to rob from our vaults, how do you think that that will be seen by the
general population? How long will it take for someone else to try under
this new, lax law of mere fines and imprisonment? We will not stand for
such. Gringotts will not be changing its laws to suit the wizards. We will
keep the laws, as agreed upon the founding of this bank, as they are."
There was nothing that Bill could say to that, so he said nothing. The
goblins were stubborn, but they couldn't afford to lose the custom of the
wizards, he knew that they couldn't, so if the Ministry went ahead and
changed the laws, the goblins would eventually have to settle for it.
"Our motto here at Gringotts is what, Mister Weasley?" Gornuk
demanded suddenly.
"Fortius Quo Fidelius." Bill replied immediately.
"Fortius Quo Fidelius." Gornuk nodded in agreement. "Strength through
Loyalty. You seem to have forgotten that when you started your career
here that you swore to that motto, that you swore that you would show
the bank who employed you your loyalty."
"Am I being fired?" Bill asked, his heart jumping into his throat.
"No." Gornuk told him. "You are being suspended, pending further
inquiry, effective immediately. We will contact you when you are
required."
Bill was numb as he was dismissed after so brief a meeting and he walked
on automatic out of the office and then out of the bank. He went to the
Leaky Cauldron instead of Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. The twins would
be busy anyway. He flooed back home and interrupted what looked to be
a heated argument between his mother and Charlie.
"What are you doing back?" Charlie asked him immediately, seizing any
change of conversation that he could.
Bill did not relish telling any of them that he had just been suspended
from his job, he sunk into a chair and he gritted his teeth, preparing
himself to just come out and say it.
"I've been suspended."
"What for?" Charlie asked, his blue eyes going wide.
Bill sighed. "For disloyalty to the goblins during the Wizengamot
meeting."
"Because you did not condemn that poor man to death?" His mother
demanded, her eyes flashing dangerously.
Bill nodded miserably. "I'm so sorry, Mum. I won't be able to contribute
as much as I would like now. I never meant for this to happen."
"You have nothing to be sorry for." Molly Weasley insisted firmly. "We'll
manage, we always have, what is important here is that you have stuck
to the values that you were taught. I would rather be saddled with this
debt for the rest of my days than to hear that my own son had allowed
anyone to be executed for whatever reason. You did the right thing, Bill
and that is what is important to me and your father."
Bill felt slightly better about that, but he was very thankful that he was
on the Wizengamot now, that he had that large monthly stipend to fall
back on because he knew that he was not going to be paid for this period
of suspension, thus he would have no wage coming in for however long
the goblins left him to stew before calling him in for his next meeting,
where he would possibly be fired. Though he took the fact that he wasn't
immediately fired as a small comfort. He was once again thankful that
the stipend was a rather considerable sum, especially considering that
most of the time he wasn't actually doing anything. A meeting was called
every other month, if that, yet he was still paid monthly regardless.
"What are you going to do?" Charlie asked him.
"There's nothing that I can do at the moment. I have to wait for the
goblins to decide what they want to do and then call me back to the bank
to tell me if I still have a job or not."
"That's rubbish." Charlie sighed.
Bill nodded. "At least I can catch up on that never-ending reading list that
I have for the Wizengamot. It's not like I'll have anything else to do while
suspended from work."
"At least you got in all of that overtime while you could, that will help."
Charlie tried to provide a silver lining.
Bill nodded. Charlie was right, he had accumulated a lot of overtime in
the last month and a half and that would go a long way, especially when
paired with his Wizengamot stipend. He was just worried about after that
when he went a month or two with just the stipend and no wages. That
was going to be the hardest time, he just hoped that they all got through
it alright and that his parents didn't make themselves sick through worry,
stress, overwork or through missing meals like he suspected of them. At
least Ron and Ginny were in Hogwarts and could eat three times a day
without worry, at least until Hogwarts term time ended that was. The
summer was going to be harder still on them all, but as their mother had
said, they would manage, they would have to as they had no other
choice.
Harry kissed Rabastan and squeezed his hand when it looked like he was
warring with himself.
"It'll be alright, I'll see you in a few hours." Harry said softly, pointedly.
Rabastan took a deep breath, let it out and then kissed him again, gently.
"I'll see you in a while." He answered before turning and leaving the
room.
Harry turned to Marcus and smiled, hearing the door behind him close
quietly. He went to the coffee table and sat on the floor.
"Shall we get started?" He questioned.
"First, is it true that you sentenced a man to execution via the goblins?"
Marcus asked him.
"How did you even know about that?" Harry questioned seriously. "It was
in a Wizengamot meeting, no one should know about…Draco told you,
didn't he?"
"No, there are little rumours running rife around the Ministry, everyone
has a different story or a different reason to tell, but that one thing stays
certain." Marcus told him. "So it is true, you did get a man executed by
using the goblins."
"It was his own fault for trying to rob one of their bank vaults!" He
insisted hotly.
Marcus laughed happily. "I can't believe it. Has he been executed yet?"
"No. Not yet. There will be a trial, of course, with representatives from
the Ministry present, but yes, he will be legally executed by the goblins. I
can't believe that that information got out somehow!" Harry knew exactly
how it had gotten out too, the only problem was he had absolutely no
proof of his claims and Veritaserum could only be used in exceptional
cases. He hated that law too. A few drops of potion and the truth was
right there for the asking, what better proof could there be than that? But
it was seen as unethical and extreme to use it in most cases. He was of
the opinion that the Ministry just didn't want to foot the cost of using
Veritaserum for every single case as it was a very expensive and time-
consuming potion to brew. With the number of cases passing through the
Ministry too, they would need a substantial quantity of the potion, which
would mount up a substantial cost if they needed to supply the potion to
meet the demand for it with every case.
"I still can't believe that you managed to get the majority of the
Wizengamot to agree to that."
"I didn't have to." Harry said with a sigh. "It was a pre-existing law, all I
had to do was point it out to the Chief Warlock and it was completely out
of anyone else's hands. There wasn't a vote, so I didn't need to convince
anyone."
Marcus all but cackled and it made Harry crack a smile too.
"Right then, to your Runes." Marcus said once he was done laughing over
the misfortune of others.
"Am I getting better to your standards?"
"You know that you are. Here, do these."
Harry was handed the familiar worksheets and, taking a deep breath, he
dipped his quill into his pot of ink and set to work. He still hated the
decoding exercises, but at least his impromptu essay on the dangerous
pairings that he'd handed in on their last session had been near perfect,
Marcus had said so himself. That had at least made Harry feel a little
better and less like an incompetent fool.
Harry handed Marcus the first worksheet once he'd completed it and he
started on the second as Marcus started going through the first with red
ink. Sometimes Marcus would embellish Harry's answers and have him
copy them down again, to ensure that the information had sunk in, so
when Harry saw Marcus dip his quill and start amending his worksheet,
he wasn't too worried about it…well, not overly much at least.
He finished the second worksheet and went right onto the third, leaving
the finished worksheet by Marcus' hand ready for when he finished the
first sheet. He was writing rather a lot on it with red ink and that made
Harry worry more.
He put it from his mind and he carried on with his worksheet instead,
seeing in his peripheral vision Marcus put down the one sheet and pick
up the second one. It was so tempting to reach out and just pick up the
marked sheet and check it, but Marcus was in the habit of smacking his
hand if he reached for it before he was ready to talk through them.
Harry finished the final sheet and he sat and waited nervously for Marcus
to finish marking his work. He did call Pimsey and politely asked her for
some tea for them both. She happily did as asked, even bringing him
some of his current chocolate egg, a gorgeously rich, milk chocolate with
delicately roasted hazelnuts.
He distracted himself by nibbling on the chocolate and drinking the tea.
He did not fidget, he did not stare at Marcus as he marked his worksheets
and he did not reach out for the already marked sheets.
Marcus finished the final sheet and put it down, there were red marks
and scrawls all over it, like the previous two sheets, and Harry tried to
think of anything that he hadn't done correctly, or hadn't explained fully,
but it was impossible to tell what Marcus had picked up on that he might
have missed. Marcus was the expert consultant after all.
He watched as Marcus drank down his own tea in several large gulps.
"You're killing me here." Harry complained and Marcus grinned at him.
"You've done really well."
"But you wrote so much." Harry pointed out fretfully.
"Only because I think that you're ready to move onto a higher level. I've
explained everything in more detail, here."
Marcus grabbed the first worksheet and they spent the next hour and a
half going through the three worksheets and Harry's head was spinning
with all the new information that had been given to him, but he had a
much deeper, richer understanding of the Runes now and his already
healthy respect for them had grown insurmountably. They were
wonderful, powerful, but so dangerous and volatile and if used
incorrectly, if just one Rune in a combination was even slightly off centre
with the others, then they could be fatal too.
Harry said goodbye to Marcus, with plans to meet with him again in a
few days for another lesson. They had two more lessons loosely planned
before he went back to school in just six days and Harry was determined
to show that he could improve, even in such a short amount of time.
He went to find Rabastan, his worksheets in hand as he pored over them,
committing what Marcus had said to memory.
He found Rabastan, with his brother, of course, and Xerxes. Lucius was at
work today, likely manipulating Minister Fudge to do exactly as he, or
rather Voldemort, wanted him to do.
"There you are." Xerxes greeted happily. "Basti has been rather irritating
in his wait for your lesson to end, please take him off of our hands and
give us a small reprieve."
Harry laughed and shook his head as he sat beside Rabastan, making sure
to sit on the opposite side to Rodolphus so that he didn't physically come
between the brothers.
"I'm sure he wasn't that bad." Harry said mildly as he turned slightly and
rested against Rabastan, still absorbing the worksheets.
"How was your session?" Rabastan asked, ignoring his brother and
grandfather and instead, he showed some interest in what Harry was
doing, which pleased Harry to no end.
"Harder than usual." He admitted. "Marcus thinks that I'm ready for more
in-depth learning, so I'm being sorely tested. I've come to respect Runes a
hell of a lot more now. I'm never going to be confident enough to
actually use them I don't think, at least not properly like Marcus does! I'd
end up dead." He laughed. "But moving on to understanding them more
deeply, it's frustrating and exciting all at once, because it might be
difficult to understand, but it's still new information and a deeper
perspective of what they're all about and just how they work."
"It seems like you're enjoying learning a lot." Xerxes pointed out.
Harry smiled and snuggled into Rabastan more. "I am enjoying it, like I
enjoy Rabastan teaching me about Arithmancy. When I think about it, I'm
so lucky to have people willing to tutor me like this so that I can actually
understand it all more fully. I only picked up these electives for this year,
so I'm well behind everyone else who all have three years of study on
me."
"It is a good thing that you are such a quick learner." Xerxes told him.
Harry hummed before he put down the worksheets and then focused
completely on Rabastan, giving him the attention that he needed to
reassure himself now that Harry was listening to him, that he was
interested in what Rabastan had to say. They slipped into their own little
world, ignoring that Rodolphus and Xerxes were even there as they spoke
quietly to one another. It was exactly the way that Harry liked it.
Harry frowned as he looked at all of the junk in the Black vault. Lucius
had found some spare time after he'd finished work to bring him to his
vaults and Harry had immediately pointed out the offending goblet that
had cursed him, which was silver and carved with the Black family
insignia. It was larger and older than the goblets currently being used at
Grimmauld Place, and it was the only one that Harry had come across. It
didn't seem to be a part of a set, or if it was then it was the only surviving
part of it.
Harry went carefully digging through the other items, not touching
anything that Lucius had immediately pulled aside into a pile after a
cursory sweep of his wand.
"You were right to be cautious about this vault." Lucius told him. "It is
filled to bursting with cursed objects. Do not touch anything. I will not
have you risking yourself in such a negligent way for the sake of mere
curiosity."
Harry nodded at the serious tone in Lucius' voice and he only touched
what had already been cleared. Some of the curses were easy enough for
Lucius to counter, others were being kept aside as things a bit more
serious that would need a specialist to look over, namely Xerxes. Which
is why they had a trunk with them that was being carefully filled with
cursed objects that Lucius couldn't handle or counter on his own.
Harry spied a tapestry and he approached it cautiously. He looked at it
with a frown.
"What have you found?" Lucius asked him, being alerted to a problem as
his son went still and quiet and a quick glance up saw him staring at
something.
"It has my name on it." Harry said worriedly.
Lucius immediately approached him, but his worried frown melted away.
"This tapestry is magically enhanced, Harry. Your name appeared on this
tapestry the moment that Sirius left you as his proxy and you inherited
everything after his death. You then slid the Black ring onto your finger.
When you marry Rabastan, he will appear upon it as your spouse and
then your children will appear upon it as your heirs. You are the new
branch of the Black family."
"Why is this tapestry here and not at the Black house at Grimmauld
Place?"
"You told me that you had been to Grimmauld Place."
"I have!" Harry insisted.
"Did you happen to see the tapestry at Grimmauld Place?"
"Yes, but it was damaged and burned. Sirius said that his mum used to
blast people off of the…this one would keep repairing itself, wouldn't it?"
He asked, cottoning on.
"Well done. Yes, it would. Regardless that they had been disowned, this
tapestry would still document their lives, marriages and children, as you
can see." He said, looking pointedly to the line on the tapestry that
showed Andromeda married to Ted Tonks, and their daughter
Nymphadora. "Walburga Black was a very formidable woman and she
disowned anyone who did not live up to her high standards. Whether it
was her niece, Andromeda, for marrying a muggle, her niece's daughter,
Nymphadora, for being a halfblood, her own son for not staying and
enduring her abuses or even her own brother, Alphard, purely for giving
gold to her runaway son to provide for him when she refused to do so."
Harry scoffed and then looked at his own name, Harry James Potter-
Black, embroidered on the tapestry. It sunk in that he was an actual
member of the Black family. He sucked in a large breath and he traced
his fingers over where he was placed at the bottom of the tapestry.
"If you wanted to take this tapestry and put it up at Grimmauld Place
then it is entirely your decision, it is your tapestry, it is your house."
Lucius told him.
Harry considered that. "Could I remove the damaged tapestry to put this
one up? I'm in the process of re-decorating Grimmauld Place, I would
much rather this one be on the wall than Walburga's damaged, tarnished
one."
"Of course, I could help you with that."
Harry nodded. "It might have to wait for the summer, though." He sighed.
Lucius nodded his understanding as he went back to looking at more
cursed objects.
"Why are so many of these things cursed?" Harry asked as he looked at
what seemed to be a perfectly ordinary pair of five-branch candelabra,
they seemed to be humming slightly and Harry snapped his gaze away
from them sharpish when he realised that he was stretching out his hand
to touch them without consciously thinking of doing so.
"With the Black family, who knows? They were likely items implicated in
a crime, which is why they are hidden in the family vault."
"Who wants to live with so many cursed items floating around? How can
you raise children when every innocuous thing they could touch is
cursed? No wonder Sirius left that house!"
"I believe that this is enough for now." Lucius said as he carefully floated
something else into the trunk for Xerxes to sort out, he was going to be
kept rather busy it seemed. "Was there anything else that you needed to
do today? Other than going to Flourish and Blotts." Lucius asked him,
adding on the last when Harry went to open his mouth to remind the
man that he wanted to go to the book shop.
Harry considered the question and then shook his head. "No." He
answered verbally before he got a stinging hex to the head. "I just want
to get some more books, I was hoping that I could find some more books
that the school library doesn't have on the Wizengamot and the Council
of Magical Law. I also want all the books I can find on current creature
laws. All of them, even the most innocuous of legislations that were
passed."
"Come along then. Have you withdrawn enough gold?"
Harry nodded and touched the purse that was inside his robe pocket. It
was literally just a bit of spending money for trips to Hogsmeade or for
snacks on the Hogwarts Express. For any large purchases that he needed
to make then he would use his exchange book.
They left the Black vault and made their way back up to the Alley, trying
not to blink like fools in the bright light after the dull, dampness of the
underground vaults. They went over to Flourish and Blotts and Harry
went straight to the politics section, looking for anything that might help
him with what he wanted.
An hour later he had moved from politics to history and he now found
himself in the law section. He was adding yet another book to the twenty
or so already hovering in a stack behind him.
"Are you quite done?" Lucius asked him.
"Not yet." Harry said mildly as he perused several more titles.
"I found these several for you, they're very informative for what you
require." Lucius told him, adding the books to the floating pile that Harry
already had. "You will never read all of these by the end of term."
"I actually might. I'm still on a light workload and I have much less
homework to do. It'll be difficult nearer to the exams, but between then
and now, I could read quite a lot of these books and then it is another
three weeks after my exams before the end of term, so I can spend all of
those three weeks reading if I need to."
Lucius' mouth didn't so much as flicker, but his eyes did as he smiled at
him proudly, giving his shoulder a tight squeeze before he left to once
more peruse the shelves while he waited, as patiently as he could, for his
son to finish his book shopping. He feared that they would be here for
another hour before Harry was satisfied. He was not one to discourage
such a habit in his sons, but even he thought that two hours in a book
shop was a little excessive.
Thankfully, Harry came to him only twenty minutes later, declaring that
he had enough to occupy him for now. Lucius added another three books
to Harry's pile and he stood back and watched as Harry handled his
purchase himself, using a self-inking quill and his exchange book. Harry
signed his name and handed over the cheque and he took his charmed
bag of books and met him at the door. He had come on so well and
Lucius was very proud, so very proud of the man that he had moulded
Harry into becoming.
Rabastan missed Harry already and he'd only been gone for an hour. He
had said his goodbyes to his future in-laws, the Malfoys, and he and his
family had gone back to Lestrange manor.
He had hoped to avoid his poisonous father, Rhadamanthus, but he had
no such luck as the man had been lying in wait for him to come back. He
did his best to ignore the practical stranger mumbling and complaining
about him as he quilled a letter to Harry, as he just couldn't help himself.
He did miss his fiancé and he just wanted to hold him in his arms again,
to have his head resting on his chest as he listened to Harry babble on
about this or that. Since the Wizengamot meeting on the twenty-sixth of
the previous month, it had been all focused on changing the creature
laws.
He was very happy to help Harry with this, as they, the purebloods as a
whole, couldn't be seen to accept such abominations or to support them
in any way. But Harry, who was known for being an incessant advocate
of equality for all beings, would be able to do so with no suspicions being
cast upon him or anyone doubting his motives or even anyone thinking
that there was anything deeper to his proposed laws than him wanting
equal rights for all magical creatures. From Harry's perspective, at least,
there actually wouldn't be anything deeper. But a change in the laws, a
loosening of the tight leash that all creatures collectively wore, would
help their Lord immensely. It would allow Greyback to move more easily.
It would help their creature allies to do as they were ordered without
much hindrance, it was a perfect solution. So, he allowed Harry to talk
about all the laws that he was going to change and how he was going to
change them and Rabastan was all too happy to help him to refine these
changes so that they contained no loopholes or any room for other
interpretations. It made him feel much better about his inability to help
his Lord because this way he felt like he was doing something to help the
cause, even if it was something as small as helping Harry to change the
laws. So, he got behind Harry fully and he was going to start researching
for Harry too, to help pass these laws much sooner, and to help pass the
time until he could have his Harry back in his arms again.
"You are a disgraceful stain on this family."
Rabastan blinked and looked up. His father seemed to have lost patience
with his lack of reply, or even his lack of reaction and attention, and he
had spoken the last in a louder voice so that it broke through his internal
thoughts and the soft scratch of his quill against parchment.
"Perhaps if you have something to say, you should stop mumbling under
your breath and speak more clearly, so that others can actually hear you.
Not that anyone here cares to hear what you have to say." Rabastan said,
shoving down the innate fear he carried for this man that he had
developed, and cutting off Rodolphus too, who had been about to leap to
his immediate defence, as always. But he had grown so much since he
had met Harry, he now felt able to stand up for himself, because Harry
had given him some self-worth. He now knew that he had nothing to fear
from Rhadamanthus, Harry had shown him that.
Rhadamanthus looked apoplectic with rage as Rabastan spoke back to
him for the first time. Harry truly was doing wonders for his confidence.
"You ungrateful little fuck!" Rhadamanthus spat at him, his fists
clenching, a thick vein throbbing in his neck.
"Ungrateful?" Rabastan queried. "What am I ungrateful for? As I
remember, you did not raise me. It was not you who looked after me or
taught me or fed me. It was grandfather who did so. It was grandfather
who kept me clothed and taught me to read and to write, not you. I did
not even know who you were until I was nineteen and you came back
from India, and then, two years later, Dolphus and I were in Azkaban. I
barely know you and I don't want to know you. Grandfather is the only
father that I have ever known and he is the only one that I want,
Rhadamanthus. So tell me, what do I actually owe to you?"
When it looked like Rhadamanthus was going to physically strike him,
Rodolphus shifted and made himself known as he placed a supporting
hand on his younger brother's shoulder, letting Rhadamanthus see that he
was on Rabastan's side, but not only that, but that he would also leap to
his defence and if he so much as moved in Rabastan's direction then
Rhadamanthus would be meeting him instead.
"I would suggest, Rhadamanthus, that you leave this room." Rodolphus
said coldly.
"You do not tell me…"
"Get out." Xerxes ordered.
The look on Rhadamanthus' face could have curdled milk it was that
sour, but Rabastan didn't let it bother him as he bent back to his letter to
Harry, completely dismissing his father and whatever he was going to do
as unimportant. He heard Rhadamanthus leave and then Rodolphus
laughed.
"Seeing you finally stand up to him in such a way is a very welcome
change. I'm very proud of you, Basti." Rodolphus told him.
"It has truly sunk in that he cannot do anything to me. Harry has been
telling me since we first met, but only now am I realising that he was
right. That man has done nothing for me my entire life, in fact, he has
been trying his hardest to ruin my life ever since he came back into it, so
what exactly do I owe him? Why should I listen to him? He's a stranger
to me and I barely know him. I don't wish to know him. As Harry told me,
it's better for me and my health if I just cut him off."
"That boy has done more for you than you can ever know." Xerxes told
him.
"I am well aware of exactly how Harry has helped me, and how much he
has helped me, and I know that I will never be able to repay him for all
that he has done, or will do, for me and my recovery. But, I also know
that he has not done as such for any potential returns, he has done this
out of the genuine kindness of his heart, purely because he wanted to do
so. He could have just cast me aside and found any other number of
suitors, instead, he chose me and he is helping me to heal myself, to
make myself the best person that I can be, both physically and mentally."
Rabastan stopped then, as he saw the looks on his brother and
grandfather's faces. He realised then what he had just been saying and he
repeated the words to himself mentally, then, overjoyed by his discovery,
he said them aloud too. He said them twice, just for good measure. "He
chose me. He chose me."
The Knut truly dropped for him then and Xerxes and Rodolphus both
smiled as they watched the realisation wash over him. They had both
been trying to force him to understand what they could see clearly, but it
had been a lost cause. They had been unable to force Rabastan to see
what they could, but quite by accident, he had come to the same
conclusion by himself. All it had taken was Rhadamanthus starting on
him once more and finally, Rabastan understood what they had been able
to see all along. That Harry had had a choice right from the very
beginning, that he could have sent Rabastan packing after their first
cursory meeting, but he hadn't. He had chosen to keep their betrothal, he
had said yes to the proposal of marriage of his own free will and he had
chosen to stay with him of his own free will. Harry had made his choice
and now Rabastan realised it too. It had taken him long enough too.
Harry missed Rabastan terribly. He had no idea how he was going to
survive the rest of the term, let alone how he was going to handle having
to go through all of this again for another year. He sighed and looked
around his small, private rooms, thrusting a hand through his hair as he
did so.
He noticed then that his hands were ink-stained and he rolled his eyes at
himself. He had been going over his notes from the meetings with
Dumbledore. He had kept them here, just in case he took them home and
someone read them. If the information was going to be released, it was
going to be from his own lips, at a time when he felt ready to release it.
Not because some nosy fuck went digging in his private papers.
He looked it over again and nibbled the end of his quill, a habit he had
picked up in primary school when he used to nibble on the end of his
pens. Lucius had all but squashed the habit now, but while under high
stress, and in private, Harry slipped back to his childhood habit of
playing with, and nibbling on, whatever was in his hands.
He had circled Gryffindor's sword and he knew that he needed to get it.
He had his invisibility cloak, but he also knew that in order to get into
Dumbledore's office, he'd have to beat the gargoyle. He didn't know if it
was locked, or if it was warded at night to not open, even with the
password. Then there was Dumbledore himself, who, as an old man,
would not sleep very much. There were no guarantees that he wouldn't
be in the office when Harry wandered in and tried to take the sword.
Then there were the portraits, for while they always seemed to be
sleeping, they actually had no need for sleep at all and they used it as a
way to effectively eavesdrop by appearing to be fast asleep when truly
they were wide awake and listening hard to every word spoken.
Thrusting his hand back through his hair, Harry chewed on his lip
instead, the tip of his quill was already damp from spit and the feathers
were clumping. Lucius would not be impressed if Harry wrote to him to
tell him that he needed another set of new quills because he would have
to explain why and Harry did not relish telling him that he'd been
chewing on his quills again.
He sighed, put down his quill and picked up some of his broken
chocolate egg that was lying beside him. He had done his best to
demolish all of them while he'd been on the Easter break, but there had
been too many, but he had still eaten half of all of them while at home,
except for the chocolate orange egg, which had been completely eaten
within three days.
It was as he was chewing on the chocolate hazelnut egg that he had an
idea and he perked up as he mentally explored it. He frowned as he
realised that he couldn't use Pimsey for this, she was the Malfoy elf and if
caught, it would implicate him and his family. He couldn't use Dobby,
who was a Hogwarts elf. No, it would have to be Kreacher, which
reminded him that he'd wanted to figure out what that elf was doing and
where he kept vanishing to, he had entirely forgotten when he'd gone to
decorate Grimmauld Place with Remus.
"Kreacher." He called out.
The old, sagging elf appeared in Harry's rooms and immediately bowed
to him.
"Master called for Kreacher."
"I did. Where have you been? I know that you haven't been at Grimmauld
Place."
"Kreacher has been with Mistress Bella…"
"If you tell me that you've been with Bellatrix I swear, I'll…" Harry cut
himself off with a huge inhale and he clenched his fist. "You are
forbidden from going near her, you cannot see her, speak to her, get
others to speak to her for you or contact her by any means. You are not
to follow her orders or to go to her if she calls for you, do you understand
me?" He demanded seriously.
Kreacher looked about ready to cry, or scratch out Harry's eyes, but he
bowed and murmured a general agreement.
"It might have escaped your notice, but I am Lord Black now, you follow
my orders and no one else's, do you understand?"
Kreacher again bowed and murmured another general agreement.
"I am not a cruel person, Kreacher. I am not going to hurt you, I am not
going to ask you to hurt yourself, but you are testing me to my limit. You
know how I feel about that woman! I don't blame you for your part in
Sirius' death, I know how he treated you, but I am not him and I don't
want you anywhere near her. Any orders that she has given to you, you
are to immediately disregard."
Kreacher bowed so low that his long nose touched the floor. Harry got
the feeling that Kreacher was cursing him in his head, but he allowed
Kreacher to keep his own private thoughts.
"Now, I have a task for you, one where you mustn't be caught or seen."
Harry said.
Kreacher looked up at him curiously, waiting for Harry to carry on, but
Harry was collecting his thoughts and thinking of how to word the order
so that it contained no loopholes, just in case. If anything it was going to
be good practice for when he started writing law proposals.
"I need you to get something for me, but it might be warded with spells
and the place where it's kept is warded." Harry stopped and considered
his words more. "I am an adoptee of the Malfoy family, I am Lord Potter-
Black and I am to be married to Rabastan Lestrange. You know what that
means, Kreacher. I am your Master, you will keep my secrets at all times
and hold your tongue with others. I need the sword of Gryffindor." Harry
said and he watched as Kreacher's bloodshot eyes widened in shock. "It's
kept in Dumbledore's office, but I can't go in and get it, Kreacher. I need
you to get it for me without being seen or heard. This cannot come back
to me. No one must know that it was you, no one must know that it was
me, do you understand?"
Kreacher nodded mutely.
"You will take the sword immediately to Grimmauld Place, you will hide
it in a corner of the attic so that no one can see it or find it until I go and
get it. Can you do this, Kreacher?"
"Yes, Master."
"You can pick the time when you do this, when you feel it's safer for you
to do so without being caught." Harry insisted. "Take as much time as you
need for this task, Kreacher, but come to tell me immediately after you
have done as instructed so that I know the sword is at home."
Kreacher nodded his understanding. "Yes, Master."
Harry nodded. "Not a word of this to anyone, Kreacher, off you go."
Harry watched as the elf bowed and then vanished from sight and
immediately after, Harry was hit with doubts, nagging insecurities and
scenarios where things could go horribly wrong. He chewed on his lip
some more.
If he was caught with the sword, if Kreacher was caught and Harry
implicated…he sucked in a deep breath and calmed himself. He needed
the sword to use it as a bargaining chip, it was worth the risk. If he was
caught with it, then he'd just have to say that he wanted to look at it
closer and then give it back over and try again in a year or so.
He closed his eyes and then put away the notes that he'd made. He
calmed himself and then stood up and went to get himself ready for bed
before he would take his nutrient potion. He wanted to be in bed and fast
asleep before the night sweats and fever kicked in so that he was fresh
and ready for his lessons the next day. Perhaps he should pick up a little
more homework, he obviously had far too much free time on his hands if
he was planning such daring heists.
Harry had picked up a little more homework during that next week, but
only for Transfiguration. He had gone to Professor McGonagall on
Monday morning and he'd asked her for a little more to do. She had been
a bit leery of giving him more work to do, as the first thing that she had
asked was if he was still taking his potions, and when he had told her
that yes he was, she was all for refusing him, but he had convinced her
that he was feeling better, stronger, that the potions were working, albeit
rather slowly, and she had finally relented and given him some more
challenging exercises to work on over the next week. He was on a trial
basis, however, if she believed that the work was too much for him, then
he would be back on his lighter, easier workload.
In the meantime, he felt a little happier that he had less time to worry
about anything and that his mind had less time to come up with awful
scenarios of him being caught stealing the sword of Gryffindor and being
sentenced to Azkaban as he threw himself into the new exercises and
essays with something akin to relish.
Today, a Saturday, he was distracting himself with something else, as he
tutored Luna and Astoria in Defence. Later that evening he had another
meeting with Dumbledore to learn more about Tom Riddle, the boy
before the man who would turn into Voldemort and he was not long
forward to it…or the late-night he knew was coming.
Astoria had been included in the Defence tutoring when Draco had asked
him that morning if he wanted to go to the library to study, but Harry
had told him then that he was going to be tutoring Luna. Astoria had all
but begged to be included, as she just couldn't get the hang of certain
spells. Harry had agreed, so now he was running a sort of mini DA with
just Luna and Astoria, though Draco and Blaise were coming along too.
The older two insisted that it was purely to watch, but he knew better.
He was the unchallenged top of Defence in their year and he had been
since their first year. They were coming to pick up tips or hints that they
could use as Harry tutored the two younger girls.
Luna was her usual dreamy self. Astoria was coolly polite and focused. It
had been over an hour and only now were they getting the hang of the
blasting curse, after many demonstrations, theory debates and add-ons
from Draco and Blaise, safely behind the girls on the settee, away from
the line of fire, so to speak.
"Right girls, Confringo!"
Harry used the strongest blasting curse on the chair and it blew apart
into several pieces, one of the legs even embedded itself in the wall his
curse had been so strong.
"The wand movement of this curse is just to literally point at your target,
locking your elbow as you do so. The power behind this spell comes from
imagining the object, or person, exploding." Harry told them, using his
best voice, the one he used in the Wizengamot to get people to listen to
him, imbued with the 'Professor' voice that he'd used while teaching the
DA. "Luna, you go first."
"Confringo." Luna said, pointing her wand at the newly repaired chair.
There was little power behind the spell, it did at least make the chair fall
apart, but the pieces stayed within a two-foot radius.
"Okay, Luna, you need to imagine it exploding a little better and use a
sharper pointing gesture. Astoria, you try."
"Confringo!" Astoria cried out. Her chair did explode on a larger scale
than Luna's, but it still more or less fell apart rather than exploded.
"That was good, Astoria. You need to move your wand better too."
Harry moved around behind her and held her dainty wrist, he slashed her
arm in a smooth outward motion from her chest to point dead outwards
at the chair. He repeated it and then let Astoria do the move on her own.
He moved over to Luna and he repeated his actions, standing behind her
and slashing her wand out for her.
"Astoria, go." Harry instructed.
"Confringo!" She cried and Harry grinned as the chair did explode this
time. Nothing got stuck in the wall like when he'd done the curse, but for
a young girl, it was a damn good start. She wouldn't be able to make
people explode, not yet, but she was getting there and it would at least
give them a nasty shock of pain, which would hopefully, if either girl was
ever in such a situation, Merlin forbid, give them the time they'd need to
get away safe.
"Well done, Astoria! Luna, go on."
"Confringo!" She shouted and the newly repaired chair was blasted apart
once again.
"Yes, girls! Well done!" He said. "I think we can leave things here for
now. You've both done very well and you've come so far in just one
lesson. I want you to read up on some theory on binding spells if you
have the time for our next lesson. This is just a bit on the side, okay? Do
all your homework first, I don't have the power to give you a detention,
but your Professors do."
The two girls nodded and Luna said her goodbyes, picking up her book
bag and leaving, she no longer had her wand in her hand, but she was
practising the movement as she walked, which pleased Harry, even as he
sat his arse down beside Blaise. Astoria sat next to Draco and Harry took
a moment to just relax.
"You really are a good teacher." Blaise told him.
"I'm looking into it as a career." Harry said. "It makes me happier to help
others. I'm actually good at it."
"You are, I am rather lacking in Defence, that was why I sort of pushed
myself upon you when I heard that you were tutoring Lovegood
personally." Astoria told him. "I never thought myself capable of the
blasting curse."
"You are very capable of it, Astoria, you just need to believe in yourself.
You can do it, and I believe that you've just proven that to yourself today
as well."
"My curse wasn't as powerful as yours." She lamented.
"It was never going to be. I am, after all, a rather powerful wizard." He
grinned to show that he was teasing, but Astoria still giggled at his
boasts, as he knew that she would.
"Reel your ego in." Draco told him and Harry laughed.
"You can't complain of anyone else's ego." Harry bent over Blaise to prod
at his brother.
"Will you show us the Reductor curse?" Astoria asked.
Harry gave a look to Draco, but his brother gave a slight shake of his
head. He hadn't told Astoria about his little show at the New Year when
he'd used the Reductor curse to blow off Rowle's leg. The Reductor curse
had never been intended for living targets, that was what the blasting
curse was for, the Reductor curse was meant to be a lower level blasting
curse for use on inanimate objects, but Harry, or his magic for that
matter, had never been one to play by the rules.
"Sure. The Reductor curse is a milder form of the blasting curse that I just
showed you and it usually only works on inanimate objects, or rather
non-living targets."
"What do you mean usually?" Blaise queried immediately.
"I've seen the Reductor curse used on a living target and it was not
pretty." Harry said. "It takes a lot of power to bend a curse from its
original purpose, but it can be done, so always be aware of that."
"What did it do?" Astoria asked him curiously. "Who cast it and upon
whom?"
Harry shook his head.
"It was you, wasn't it?!" Blaise demanded. But fuck was Blaise an
observant shit, Harry cursed him for it now.
"It never leaves this room." Harry insisted sternly. "I may well end up in
Azkaban for this."
The two out of the loop both looked at him, wide-eyed and very serious.
They each nodded their heads.
"It was me who used the Reductor curse on someone. It is one of my
favourite spells. I know personally what it can do against a living target
because I was witness to it."
"When was this?" Blaise asked. "Who did you curse?"
"If you ever mention it to anyone, even in passing…" He threatened.
"I won't, you know I won't." Blaise insisted.
"I won't either. Draco is my betrothed and that makes you my family.
Family will always keep the secrets of family." Astoria said primly.
"It was at the Ball my family hosted."
"The New Year party?" Blaise asked in shock, having obviously expected
this incident to have been a lot further in the past than a mere three
months ago.
"You changed your robes that night." Astoria said, recalling the night.
"You were wearing blue robes when you greeted us as host, then when I
next saw you, you'd changed to green. Draco told me that someone had
knocked a serving bowl of trifle into your lap and you'd gone to change
to give yourself time to cool off. Did you…did you curse the person who
knocked the serving bowl onto you?"
"No, Astoria." Harry said. "There was no incident with a serving bowl,
that was just a lie I'd told Draco to spread around to explain my change
of robes, he knew it was a lie, but at that point, even he didn't know
what had happened. I told him later that night after the party had ended
and everyone had gone home. But, as it turns out, the Reductor curse
used with enough power on a living target is very…messy."
"You're still not saying who you used the curse on, or why you did so."
Blaise pointed out, but Harry could almost see his sharp mind whirring as
he tried to figure out the puzzle.
"Can you think of no one who I might have used that curse on that
night?" Harry asked him, giving Blaise ample time to figure it out. He
knew when Blaise had connected the dots and finally understood when
his purple eyes widened in alarm.
"Thorfinn Rowle! He's gone missing and no one can find him. He was last
seen at the Malfoy party and he attacked you a week earlier, at the
Parkinsons' Christmas party! He attacked you again, didn't he?"
"He did, so what I did, though considered excessive, was actually self-
defence. Astoria, you need not listen to this if you don't wish to."
"What did he do?" She demanded, a fierce scowl covering her young,
ardent face.
Harry sighed. "He was intent upon ruining me and my betrothal to
Rabastan, as this was the night before we got engaged. He tried to…"
Harry trailed off, trying to prevent his mind from going back to that night
and he inhaled deeply to control himself. "He tried to rape me on the
bathroom floor of my own home with the intent of getting me pregnant
and then using the baby to force my father's hand into breaking my
betrothal with Rabastan and allowing Rowle to marry me to keep the
baby legitimate." He forced out in one go, trying to keep his voice as
steady and as emotionless as he could.
Astoria gasped and had covered her mouth with a small, shaking hand
and Blaise looked ready to murder Rowle all over again. Their reactions
made Harry more confident that they would keep this secret to
themselves.
"I wasn't about to let anything of the sort happen to me." Harry carried
on. "Rowle had already tried to daze me by smashing my head into a
mirror, I lost my bearings and the next I knew we were on the floor, his
hands around my throat telling me how I had humiliated him, a
pureblood of such high prestige that he was attacking a sixteen-year-old
in a bathroom for rejecting him. I was dizzy and in pain as he let go of
my throat and started tearing open my robes, telling me his grand plan of
how he was going to rape me and get me pregnant so that he could have
the biggest claim to me. I tried to gouge out his eyes with my thumbs,
but he headbutted me and then punched me for good measure. It was
when he broke the front of my trousers that I really panicked as I realised
that he was actually serious about raping me. It hadn't truly sunken in
before that moment, but as he tried to take off my trousers, I knew he
was actually going to go through with it. I found my wand and I don't
even know what the first spell that I used was, my anger and fear took
over and without having to say a word, Rowle was blasted four feet away
from me and I was able to catch my breath again. That first spell had
broken his arm, badly broken it, but it wasn't enough, I was so angry. I
didn't even think about which spell to use, I just picked my favourite
blasting curse, not even remembering that the Reductor curse wasn't
meant to be used on anything living, and I aimed right between his legs."
Draco and Blaise both flinched in a reflexive action, but Astoria almost
snarled in pleasure at hearing that Harry had targeted the very thing that
Rowle would have used to harm him with.
"Unfortunately, he moved at the last moment and the curse hit his leg
instead." Harry said.
"What did it do?" Blaise asked as Harry trailed off into daydreams.
"It blew his leg off with such a force that it almost exploded. It was
raining blood in the bathroom as the leg went spinning off into a corner.
The blood was everywhere, dripping down the tiles, it covered
everything, including me. The puddle under Rowle was getting larger
even as I watched, the stump he was left with was just spurting blood
everywhere and there was no stopping it, the sever was too high up to
put any sort of pressure on it as there was nothing left to hold on to. I
still remember the high, animalistic pitch of his screaming. I'll never
forget that sound now for as long as I live. After that, I hurried to a spare
room down the hall and I sent Pimsey to get father and he brought
Xerxes, Rodolphus and Rabastan with him along with…along with Fenrir
Greyback. I told them what had happened and father assured me that
he'd take care of everything. Rowle was alive when I left the bathroom,
but Greyback is Greyback." Harry said, watching as the three faces went
chalk pale. He hadn't told Draco that Greyback was involved originally.
"You never…" Draco cut himself off.
"I know. I was trying to spare you some of the grisly details. Rowle was
alive and screaming when I left, but he was bleeding so rapidly that he
might have easily bled out in the time that it took for me to explain
everything. I have no idea if I was the final executioner or if Greyback
was, I didn't want to know. Sometimes, I think it would be better if the
final cause of death could be pushed onto Greyback, then I think that it
would still be my fault because I had reduced Rowle to being defenceless
and unable to get away as he was being eaten alive. So no, I never want
to know the truth, but you can see why I don't want this spread around. I
could be a murderer for all I know, in fact, I could probably be charged
with culpable murder, as it could be twisted that I helped Greyback to
kill Rowle. Anyway, I left the clean up to my father, Xerxes, Rodolphus,
and Greyback, while Rabastan took me upstairs to clean me off and to
help me change my ruined robes for the only pair that I had left."
It was silent in the room as everyone absorbed the story, and Harry knew
exactly what a horror it was too. Then Blaise threw an arm around him
and pulled him into a hug.
"It was self-defence." He said strongly. "Any witch or wizard in the same
position would have done exactly the same if they were able to. The
Reductor curse isn't supposed to be used on the living, you could argue in
your defence that you were aiming at the floor, or even the bath, to slow
him down while you escaped, only he moved into the path of the spell
and, well, who would have ever expected a spell designed to be used on
inanimate objects to be powerful enough to completely sever the leg of a
grown man? Just remind me to never piss you off, Harry, because if you
are so good at Defence spells that you can change the designed purpose
of the spells that you use, then you are crazy powerful and I never want
to get on your bad side."
"I would never use any spell as a form of punishment or simply out of
hand. Rowle had attacked me twice, he had tried to strangle me, he had
threatened to kill Rabastan, had tried to rape me and he had punched me
in the face. Of course, I was going to defend myself against that, but I
would never use such curses lightly, not in a debate or even an argument.
I wouldn't even use such curses if we were fighting and I was furious.
Quite literally the only time I would use them would be in situations like
the one with Rowle, when I am being physically attacked and I'm fearing
for my life or future. Then I will use any curse I have in my arsenal to get
away."
"It is a very large arsenal too." Draco joked.
Harry chuckled. "It is. Which reminds me that I got the members of the
DA to cast a corporeal Patronus last year. Astoria, I think you need to
learn too."
"But that is very advanced magic! I'll never be able to do it." She
complained.
"You will. Luna can already do it and I can teach you too. Don't forget
that I could cast a corporeal Patronus at thirteen. I can get you casting
one too."
"Can you teach me that one too?" Blaise asked.
Harry nodded. "I can teach all three of you together."
"I want to learn alone." Blaise insisted.
Harry gave him a confused 'why the hell do you want to do that' face.
"Well, if my Patronus is a fucking mouse, I obviously won't want anyone
else knowing about it!" Blaise explained.
Harry laughed. "It won't be a mouse. You're quiet and observant, but
you're far from timid. You'd maybe be a lion or some other big cat that's
lazy at times, but always watchful and quick to pounce."
"He's only quick to pounce on a pretty girl." Astoria put in coolly.
"Hey! I'll have you know that I've done pretty boys too." Blaise added
with a smirk. "Speaking of which, Harry…"
"No." Harry said quickly. "Whatever it is, no."
"Leave my brother alone." Draco growled. "How many times do I have to
warn you off?!"
"You wouldn't have to if Harry gave me one night of passion with his
gorgeous, virginal self." Blaise laughed.
Harry backhanded him in the chest, but ultimately just rolled his eyes
and ignored him.
"How do you know it would be passionate?" Astoria asked curiously,
seemingly unable to help herself as she looked Harry over critically.
"Are you kidding?" Blaise replied. "Harry is one of the most passionate
people I know. Of course, he'd be an absolute wildcat in bed!"
Harry blushed pink in embarrassment and hid his face in his hands.
"Blaise!" He whined. "Stop saying such things!"
"It's true though! I'm completely jealous of Rabastan and that he'll be
getting you on your wedding night."
Harry had a thought then and, knowing how archaic the purebloods
were, his heart just about stopped.
"Please tell me that no one will be listening or watching on our wedding
night?!" He begged, remembering then that in the past it had been
socially acceptable for people to be witness to that first night, at least, it
was in the past in the muggle world.
"Of course!" Blaise replied immediately. "It's the best part of a wedding
and the only reason I go to any! You're going to look stunning in a sheer,
white robe laid out on a bed of white silk in a room large enough for all
of your guests to be witness. You'll be so passionate after Rabastan strips
you naked and has his way with you and I'm betting money with Theo
that you're loud too."
Harry was almost sick and his face must have paled dramatically because
Draco reached over and he hit Blaise, hard.
"I have no idea what barbaric practice you are speaking of, but it will not
be playing a part in my brother's wedding!" He said angrily. "Of course,
no one is going to watch you have sex, Harry. That is a private moment
between you and your new husband! No one else should see or hear a
thing, it's rude. Why did you even think of such a horrific thing? Is it
some sort of muggle tradition? Do muggles actually allow others to be
witness to such an intimate, private moment?"
"It's an old muggle tradition." Blaise said with an unapologetic grin.
"Hundreds of years ago it was actually expected to be able to watch the
bride be deflowered by her new husband on their wedding night, or to
just listen at the door and shout out encouragement, and then they'd
display the bloody sheets afterwards as proof that the bride had been a
virgin."
Astoria looked horrified and Harry was only just regaining control of his
hammering heart and ragged breathing. There would have been
absolutely no way that he would have married anyone, love of his life or
not, if that practice was actually expected of him.
"How revolting!" Draco's pointy face was pinched in disgust.
"I'm not even surprised that you know of such traditions!" Astoria
declared to Blaise. "Knowing how lecherous you are, of course, this
muggle titbit found its way into your knowledge base."
"Mother took me to several museums and old cathedrals every year when
I was younger." Blaise said with a wide grin. "Muggle and magical alike,
so that I could have a broad understanding of world history. I also know
how the muggles used to use everyday items as torture devices in place
of magic and potions."
"I think my stomach has turned enough for one night without hearing
about torture too." Harry said weakly.
"Yes, you've had enough fun at Harry's expense tonight!" Draco told
Blaise. "Enough now."
"To think that all of this has come from us talking about Patronus forms."
Astoria shook her head, her blonde hair sliding over her face. Before she
could move to swipe it away, Draco had done it for her, gently brushing
the strands out of her face and tucking them behind her ear.
Harry averted his gaze from the loving gesture and he smiled. The two of
them were getting much closer in recent months, ever since Harry had
given a bit of useful advice to Draco and gave him a bit of a push. It was
wonderful to see because Astoria really liked Draco and was happy with
their match, and truly, Harry believed that Draco was just as happy with
the match now that he realised that Astoria did actually like him, but was
just a little shy. They were much more comfortable with one another and
Astoria was no longer leery around any conversation with Draco, as she'd
proven time again now that he was paying her more quality attention
and not just sticking to the minimum hour after dinner every day that the
betrothal contract outlined for them.
They were rarely apart these days and though he disliked admitting it,
and he would never show it, Harry was rather jealous, because he
couldn't even speak to his fiancé face to face. He couldn't hold his hand
through the corridors, he couldn't cuddle up to him in the evenings in
front of the fire. It wasn't fair. He just really missed Rabastan and it drove
him mad when all he wanted to do was have an actual conversation and
a cuddle with him. He shoved it aside. He truly was happy for Draco and
Astoria, he just couldn't help but be jealous of them too, but that didn't
mean that he had to be an utter dick about it either. He just had to keep
reminding himself that it wouldn't be for long, it was the middle of spring
and summer was coming quick. He would be taking his exams in just
over a month, at the end of May, and from now until then, he was going
to be very busy studying. So, at least during the longest term at
Hogwarts, he was going to be kept busy through it. That way he wouldn't
have much time to think of anything, much less have the time to worry
and fret over it.
Harry made his way to Dumbledore's office for yet another meeting,
though this would be his first in a while since Dumbledore insisted that
he needed yet another memory and he was having difficulty in collecting
it. Apparently, Harry was supposed to have helped over the previous
summer, but he had been with the Malfoys. Harry had no idea how it was
that he would have been able to help, but he didn't care enough to ask.
He said the password to the gargoyle and walked up the stairs to the
office above, trying to push away the thoughts of what else he could be
doing right about now if he didn't have to come here and endure this
meeting about Voldemort. Though he was excited to learn more as he
hoped to fit more pieces of the puzzle so that he could solve it at last.
"Come in, Harry." Dumbledore said as Harry gave the door a cursory
knock.
He had already entered before Dumbledore had asked him to. He wasn't
feeling particularly accommodating today. His eyes automatically clocked
Gryffindor's sword, in its pristine glass case on the shelf behind
Dumbledore's head, before he looked at the man himself.
"How are you feeling today?"
"Fine, a little tired, but that is to be expected." He said cordially.
"I can see that you would prefer to get right to the point of this meeting."
Dumbledore said.
"I do have a lot of revision to get through and I need to sort out my robes
for the Wizengamot party next week."
"Ah, yes. I remember that it is to be held later this month. It will not
interfere with your studies?"
"No, I have my exam revision well in hand."
Dumbledore looked at him for a moment, before he nodded and turned to
the Pensieve in front of him.
"To business then, Harry."
Harry steeled himself for this, setting his mind to the task of memorising
everything that was going to happen in the Pensieve.
When he landed, he was in a classroom and there were half a dozen
teenage boys sitting around an older wizard with a gingery-blonde
moustache, clearly a Professor, sat in a winged armchair, his feet resting
on a velvet pouffe, drinking wine and eating small yellow squares that
seemed to be covered in sugar.
Harry found Tom Riddle amongst the boys, he was wearing the Gaunt
ring on his finger. Slightly confused as to what was going on, Harry
looked around curiously, trying to figure it out. He was actually stunned
to see a teenaged Xerxes among the boys around the Professor and his
jaw all but dropped in shock. He looked just like a younger, stronger
Rodolphus and it was uncanny and just plain weird.
Dumbledore came to stand beside him, just as Tom spoke. Harry listened
intently, not just to what Tom said, but to how he said things. He seemed
to be overly flattering and the Professor even commented on it. Harry did
find out that the yellow cubes were pieces of sugared pineapple,
however. It seemed that even at this young age Tom seemed to be overly
informed of everything and everyone around him. He always seemed to
know too much.
'…I confidently expect you to rise to Minister for Magic within twenty
years. Fifteen if you keep sending me pineapple. I have excellent contacts
at the Ministry.'
Harry almost sneered at that. Who was this Professor who was promising
such things? Where was he now? It seemed almost questionable that he
had a group of young, impressionable boys around him, promising them
such high stations of office in exchange for gifts. It seemed like
exploitation to him and he didn't like it. He would have to ask Lucius
about it…or actually, seeing as Xerxes was a part of the group, perhaps it
would be better to ask him about this strange Professor.
'I don't know that politics would suit me, sir." Tom replied. "I don't have
the right kind of background, for one thing.'
Harry's eyes narrowed. So these boys knew that he was raised as a
muggle, which meant that Xerxes knew…did they know that his father
was a muggle, or had he lied from the off about that and just claimed
ignorance of the magical world using the orphanage as an excuse. That
would be something he'd have to find out too.
That the boys, including Xerxes, all smirked at one another, Harry was
almost sure that they knew something about Tom being related to Salazar
Slytherin. Perhaps he'd even shown them that he could speak
Parseltongue as proof, or perhaps wearing the Gaunt ring was enough to
prove to them that he was at least related to such an old pureblood line,
even one as grossly inbred, impoverished and dilapidated as the Gaunts
had become.
A clock in the memory chimed and Harry wondered where this was going
as the boys all moved as the Professor shooed them away. He hid his
smirk at the shot at Xerxes however… 'Lestrange, I want your essay by
tomorrow or it's detention.' He was going to enjoy teasing Xerxes over
that.
Things became clearer to him when the boys all moved off, except for
Tom Riddle. Then the real reason he was being shown this memory
became clear when Tom started questioning his rather uncomfortable
seeming Professor about Horcruxes. Harry frowned automatically at the
unfamiliar term.
'No…well…you'd be hard-pushed to find a book at Hogwarts that'll give
you details about Horcruxes, Tom. That's very Dark stuff, very Dark
indeed.' The Professor insisted, but he was weak to Tom and Harry
frowned harder. Why was that? Did this Professor have a soft spot for
teenage boys? Was that why he was no longer teaching at Hogwarts?
Now he was going to have to find out who this Professor was and owl
Xerxes, if he had been groomed at Hogwarts by a Professor, if all those
boys in this memory had, then it was no wonder that he had such a close
bond to Voldemort, that they all had such a close bond to Voldemort, if
they had all suffered through the same abuses by the hand of one
perverted Professor.
Harry focused more on the memory, leaving those thoughts for later, he
would only get to see this memory once, he needed to absorb all he could
from it as Riddle laid out his careful flattery, the slight hesitance in his
voice, and the Professor just opened like a book, a rather reluctant book,
but he still told Riddle all that he needed to know, with just a few
flattering comments and a faux look of innocent curiosity…it made Harry
question himself, just who was grooming who here as he sensed Riddle's
excitement under his carefully controlled mask. Harry knew all about
those, what with wearing one while in the Wizengamot meetings himself.
'Well you split your soul, you see and hide part of it in an object outside
the body. Then even if one's body is attacked or destroyed, one cannot
die, for part of the soul remains earthbound and undamaged. But, of
course, existence in such a form, few would want it, Tom, very few.
Death would be preferable.'
Harry watched the Professor's face crumple at the thought and Harry
himself remembered Voldemort's words from years before.
'I was ripped from my body, I was less than spirit, less than the meanest
ghost…but still, I was alive.'
Harry saw the ardent hunger on Riddle's face and he knew then that this
was what Voldemort had done and this Professor had told him how to do
it as Riddle pressed him for details, and he caved easily. He had a
Horcrux. Something that was holding a part of his soul safe to keep him
alive. That was how he had survived that Halloween night…no one knew
how Harry had survived the killing curse, but now he knew how
Voldemort had survived the rebounded curse…the Horcrux. A piece of
his soul, a fragment of himself lingering behind, keeping him safe from
true death.
'How do you split your soul?' Tom asked, the longing on his face clear to
see now, the Professor looked very uncomfortable, but still, as he had
caved before he caved again and he told Tom all he needed to know
about splitting one's soul with an act of evil. By committing murder.
It made Harry think back to Rowle…had he, in fact, split his own soul?
Was it, right now, metaphorically in two halves? Or did it not count as he
hadn't set out to murder Rowle? Did it not count as it was self-defence?
Would his soul even know the difference between murder, manslaughter
or self-defence, or would it treat them all as one, all as an act of murder?
Perhaps he would have to actually feel that the death was a murder
before the act of soul splitting took place, he just didn't know enough to
understand. He would have to research this very rare, obscure branch of
magic a little more in-depth, it seemed, especially if Dumbledore wanted
him to learn of Horcruxes, for what else could these lessons be pointing
to other than destroying Voldemort's Horcruxes and finally destroying the
man.
'Merlin's beard, Tom!' The Professor all but yelped, tuning Harry back
into the memory. 'Seven! Isn't it bad enough to think of killing one
person? And in any case…bad enough to divide the soul…but to rip it
into seven pieces…'
The Professor looked disturbed now, deeply troubled as he gazed at Tom
as if he had never seen him properly before in his life. Harry could
already see the regret on his face, that one of his boys was not who he
thought he was, or perhaps for caving in so easily and telling him exactly
what he needed to know when it seemed that this Horcrux business was
so monstrous and vile. Yet still, he had caved and had told a teenage boy
about such things. It was this Professor's fault that Riddle knew how to
make a Horcrux, seemingly how to make seven of them, if Harry was
following the thoughts of memory Tom correctly. He might have been
able to find the information out via other means, but perhaps he never
would have found the right way to do so if he hadn't been told the steps
of making a Horcrux in the first place.
'Of course, this is all hypothetical, what we're discussing, isn't it? All
academic…' The Professor said almost hopefully and Harry cursed him
for a complete fool if he even halfway believed what he was saying.
'Yes, Sir, of course.' Riddle said quickly. Too quickly in Harry's opinion.
'But all the same, Tom…keep it quiet, what I've told…that's to say, what
we've discussed. People wouldn't like to think that we've been chatting
about Horcruxes. It's a banned subject at Hogwarts, you know…
Dumbledore's particularly fierce about it…'
'I won't say a word, Sir.' Riddle promised and he left, but Harry saw his
face as he turned, full of the same wild, unrestrained happiness he had
worn when he'd found out he was a wizard at the orphanage, a happiness
that made him seem less than human and Harry hated the Professor in
the memory, who had told Riddle about Horcruxes, who had told him
how to make them, the steps he'd need to follow, and then told him to
keep it quiet. He should never have told him in the first place.
"Thank you, Harry. Let us go." Dumbledore said, gaining his attention.
Harry sat heavily in the chair back in Dumbledore's office and he tried to
control his breathing.
"I have been waiting for this piece of evidence for a very long time."
Dumbledore told him. "It confirmed the theory on which I have been
working, it tells me that I am right, and also how very far there is still to
go…"
Harry breathed heavier and his hands clenched into fists, but he said
nothing.
"I am sure you understood the significance of what you have just seen. At
the same age as you are now, give or take a few months, Tom Riddle was
doing all he could to find out how to make himself immortal."
"No one is truly immortal." Harry said thoughtfully. "If he does have a
Horcrux, or seven as he mentioned in that memory, and that was how he
survived after he attacked me, then, from my understanding of what I've
just heard, if they are destroyed, then he can be destroyed too. The only
question really is, how many and where are they now. Did he truly make
seven of them and what did he use to encase them in?"
Dumbledore looked at him in a new light, almost like that professor had
looked at Tom, and Harry pulled his mask back to cover his thoughts and
feelings.
"Four years ago, I received what I considered certain proof that
Voldemort had split his soul and made a Horcrux."
"Where did you find it?" Harry asked.
"You handed it to me, Harry." Dumbledore said and Harry's mind went
into overdrive, back four years ago, to his second year. "The…"
"The diary." He said with a shock he couldn't hide. "It was strange from
the start, that diary, it was his diary, Tom Riddle's. That wasn't an
enchantment upon it, was it?"
"No, it was something much more sinister than an enchantment, Harry, to
be able to sap the life from a young girl whose hands it had fallen into.
To be able to think and act for itself? No, it was a Horcrux and a part of
Tom Riddle's soul lived in that diary. What intrigued and alarmed me
most was that the diary had been intended as a weapon as much as a
safeguard."
"I don't understand, how?" Harry asked.
"It worked as a Horcrux is supposed to work, in other words, the
fragment of soul concealed inside it was kept safe and had undoubtedly
played its part in preventing the death of its owner. But there could be no
doubt that Riddle really wanted that diary read, wanted the piece of his
soul to inhabit or possess somebody else so that Slytherin's monster
would be unleashed again."
Harry frowned. "That's all conjecture though, he didn't hand that diary to
anyone himself. So perhaps he only intended for it to be a safeguard, and
not a weapon, but if it was to be found, then why not kill two birds with
one stone and make it so that his Slytherin heritage was found out, as he
couldn't take credit for unleashing the Basilisk at the time."
"Quite correct, but don't you see, Harry, that if he intended for this
particular Horcrux to be passed on to, or planted on, some future
Hogwarts student so that the chamber could be opened once more, then
he was being remarkably blasé about that precious fragment of his soul
which was concealed within the diary. The point of a Horcrux is, as
Professor Slughorn explained, to keep part of the self hidden and safe,
not to fling it into somebody else's path and run the risk that they might
destroy it. As indeed happened: that particular fragment of soul is no
more; you saw to that.
The careless way in which Voldemort regarded this Horcrux seemed most
ominous to me. It suggested that he must have made, or had been
planning to make, more Horcruxes so that the loss of the first would not
be so detrimental. I did not wish to believe it, but nothing else seemed to
make sense."
Harry listened carefully to what was being said and he fit more pieces of
the puzzle together. The entire thing, the whole bigger picture, it all
made sense now, with the addition of the information about Horcruxes.
Seven of them, Voldemort had seven of them…six if you discounted the
ruined diary.
"How can we possibly find all of the Horcruxes that he has? They could
be anything, be hidden anywhere!" Harry said through his teeth. "It is an
impossible task!"
"If we take the theory that he split his soul seven ways, one part resides
inside his body, the one that will need to be destroyed last. But you have
already destroyed one Horcrux, Harry. You destroyed the diary and I
have destroyed another."
"You have?" Harry said, faking a bit of relief, but truly he was thinking,
hard and quickly.
Dumbledore nodded and he reached into one of his desk drawers and
pulled out a small box. Inside the box was Marvolo Gaunt's ring…the ring
that Riddle had been wearing in the memory he had just seen. The black
stone was cracked, straight down the middle.
"How did you find it?" Harry asked with a frown, his mind working even
harder.
"I have made it my business for many years to discover as much as I can
about Voldemort's past life. I have travelled widely, visiting those places
he once knew. I stumbled across the ring hidden in the ruin of the
Gaunts' house. It seems that once Voldemort had succeeded in sealing a
piece of his soul inside it, he did not want to wear it anymore."
"Of course not." Harry interrupted. "He would be handing a piece of his
soul to whoever was attacking him. You could take out the Horcrux and
him. Of course, he would have hidden it."
"Yes, he concealed it in the Gaunt shack with powerful enchantments,
never guessing that anyone would want to go there, that I would one day
trouble to visit the ruins. However, if we are right with our seven-part
soul theory then four Horcruxes remain."
"His trophies." Harry sighed as it clicked into place. "The locket, the cup,
the ring, his own diary. He was using his trophies. The locket and the
cup, he killed Hepzibah Smith for them…did he actually make them into
Horcruxes with her death? Or did it require two deaths? So if he made
one of them into a Horcrux, where would he have hidden it?"
"Thus you see the magnitude of the problem."
Harry rubbed his forehead. "If he went after objects belonging to the
founders, and he found something of Slytherin's and something of
Hufflepuff's…can we assume that Ravenclaw and Gryffindor were on the
list too?"
"Yes. Yes, we can." Dumbledore said proudly. "I am not sure if he ever
found anything of Ravenclaw's. I am, however, very confident that the
only known relic of Gryffindor remains safe." He said, pointing to the
sword in its glass case behind him.
"Are you sure it was the only relic?" Harry asked. "Could he not have
found something else, anything else?"
"He might have done, but I do not believe so."
"That leaves one missing Horcrux." Harry said frowning, thinking back to
the memories he had seen, and to the notes he had taken.
"I think I know what the sixth Horcrux is. I wonder what you will say
when I confess that I have been curious for a while about the behaviour
of the snake, Nagini."
"The snake?!" Harry turned his head sharply. "Can you even use animals
as a vessel for a piece of a human soul?"
"It is inadvisable to do so. To place a piece of your soul into something
that can think and act for itself is obviously a rather risky business.
However, if I believe that I am right, then Voldemort was still one
Horcrux short when he entered your parents' house, intent on killing you.
It seems that he saved the process of making Horcruxes for particularly
significant deaths and you would have certainly been that."
"Because of the prophecy." Harry said angrily, his jaw clenched. "He
thought that by killing me that he was preventing it from ever happening
when instead he fulfilled it, or at the least set it into motion in the first
place."
"Indeed. As we know, he failed to kill you. Some years later, he used
Nagini to kill an old muggle man and it is my belief that it then occurred
to him to turn her into his last Horcrux. Being a snake, she underlines the
connection to Slytherin and he is as fond of her as he can be of anything;
he certainly likes to keep her close."
Harry breathed deeply through his nose. "The ring and the diary are
destroyed. That leaves the cup, the locket, the snake and either
something of Ravenclaw's or of Gryffindor's or something else of equal
magical history if he didn't manage to find either."
Harry lifted a hand to his hair and tugged on it, chewing his lower lip as
he did so, thinking hard.
"Is that where you go when you leave the school?" He finally asked.
"Looking for where he might have hidden those objects? If we have
assumed correctly and that is what we are even looking for?"
"Yes, Harry." Dumbledore said. "I have been looking for a very long time.
I think, perhaps, I may be close to finding another. There are hopeful
signs. A location that Voldemort once knew, concealed magic…"
"And if you do." Harry said quickly. "Can I come with you and help to get
rid of it?"
Harry got that same look from Dumbledore again, an intent look, as if he
was being closely screened and measured. "Yes, I think so."
"I can?" Harry asked, thrown for a moment, as he had fully expected to
be denied and that he would have an argument on his hands…he had
gotten rather good at debating his point, after all.
"I believe that you have earned that right."
Harry chewed on his lip once more. "Father won't like it, so I would
appreciate it if he weren't told." He said slowly, carefully. "I am still
recovering and I am still on potions. He has asked that I be careful with
my health and to limit any strenuous activities. I do not think that this
would class as either. The less he knows about this, the more I can enjoy
my summer in freedom, and not locked up in my room like a tearaway
toddler."
"If that is what you want, Harry." Dumbledore said graciously, but Harry
could almost sense how pleased he was that Harry wanted to keep this a
secret from Lucius Malfoy. It was not, however, entirely for Dumbledore's
benefit…he needed a bargaining chip, something to hold over Voldemort.
He now knew about his Horcruxes, when it seemed that there were only
three people in the world who did, Voldemort himself, Dumbledore…and
him. Moreover, he knew exactly how much Dumbledore knew about
those Horcruxes and what he believed them to be. It needed to come
from his mouth though, not Lucius', not Xerxes', but his, or he would lose
all sway because he would want something in return…Lucius and Xerxes
would pass it along freely because they served Voldemort and they
wouldn't dare ask for anything in return for the information.
"Will he know? Does Voldemort feel when a Horcrux is destroyed?"
"A very interesting question, Harry. I believe that he doesn't, that these
most crucial parts of himself have been detached for so long that he does
not feel as we do. Perhaps at the moment of death, he will be aware of
the loss…but he was not aware, for instance, that the diary had been
destroyed."
"But…he didn't have a body then." Harry pointed out. "He didn't get his
body until the ritual in the graveyard two years later. Could that not
factor into his inability to feel their destruction? Could he actually feel
anything while living as a spirit?"
Dumbledore looked a little stunned at that piece of insight, but he
recovered well.
"I am not sure, Harry. But I know that he also did not react to the
destruction of the ring, which was destroyed in the summer when he did
have a body."
Harry nodded once to show his understanding. "I can't even begin to
comprehend the vileness that he's done." He said after a time. "Six
significant murders, to his mind, to make seven pieces of his soul, and
you're not even sure what the vessels are. The cup and the locket are
possible certainties, the snake too, but what did Ravenclaw leave behind?
Was there anything more of Gryffindor's beside the sword? Did he even
find anything of theirs and if he didn't what would he have used in their
place? Did he perhaps find two relics of Slytherin and use that too? It
isn't very much to go on, we are chasing after the wind!"
"We must not lose heart, Harry. It is the only way to destroy him for
good."
Harry breathed in and he nodded. "An impossible task then, you will let
me know when you have found the next Horcrux?"
Dumbledore nodded.
"Then I need to get some sleep and I fear it will be a long time coming
tonight with all that I have been given to think about."
"Of course. Remember to speak to no one about this."
Harry nodded as he stood. "I don't want anyone knowing of this. It is
better if it is done quietly."
His mind was racing as he left the headmaster's office and he hurried his
steps back to his rooms. He needed to write all of this information down,
all of the memory, which prompted his little mental note to contact
Xerxes about that questionable Professor, Slughorn. Why was he no
longer teaching at Hogwarts? Was it something as easy as retirement, or
was it anything a little more sinister? He needed to know.
He made it back to his rooms and he set his small kettle to boiling,
dumping a teabag into a mug before going to his coffee table and
unearthing his notes of the meetings with Dumbledore. He wrote all of
the information he had received down in one massive clump that almost
had his hand cramping…his fingers and the side of his right hand were
covered in black ink.
He made himself tea, sat down with it and then stared at the information
overload he'd gotten today. He couldn't believe that something so vile as
Horcruxes actually existed, but at least he now knew why Voldemort kept
popping up, why he wouldn't actually die. He was as immortal as
immortal got, but even then it wasn't true immortality, because if the
Horcruxes were destroyed, you were vulnerable once more to true death.
He sighed and gulped the tea, staring at the several sheaves of parchment
in front of him. At least now he knew why Voldemort was collecting
relics of the founders, it made his plan to take the sword of Gryffindor all
the more important…and he knew that after the meeting tonight that the
suspicion would fall even heavier upon himself when it was discovered
missing. He would need to be ready for that when it eventually
happened. Because of his ties to Lucius Malfoy, he would automatically
be implicated in the theft of the sword, with good reason too as he was
going to be the one to take it, but he would need to be ready to throw the
suspicion off of himself and onto someone else, especially if he was to go
hunting for a Horcrux with Dumbledore really soon. He would not be
taken along if his loyalty or motives were called into question. He would
be ready for whatever came his way…he had, after all, gotten much
better at hiding behind a mask recently.
Severus Snape tried to keep his mind on marking the large stack of
homework in front of him, but he found it rather difficult to remain
focused on what he was doing.
The reason for his lack of attention was his thoughts on Harry Potter, or
rather how he was being charged by the Dark Lord to protect the boy in
the school, and how he was charged by Dumbledore to spy on his long-
time friends, the Malfoys. The same Malfoys who had asked him to watch
out for Potter and his health while he was taking his, rather strong and
severe, potions.
Potter himself seemed to be completely fine. Severus noticed the slight
pinching of the face during the mornings, caused by the bone-
strengthening potion that he was taking which caused severe headaches,
and he did notice the slight drowsiness in the afternoons after he had
taken the calcium potion at lunch, both of which were normal side effects
of the potions that he was taking and to be fully expected. But other than
the slight tells that could be overlooked easily, Potter was his usual self…
well, the usual self that the Malfoys had meticulously crafted. Potter had
had to cut down on his workload, which meant that Severus had to grit
his teeth and set him simple pieces of work that would more suit
someone two years younger than Potter was, instead of the two rolls of
parchment per essay that he expected from his NEWT level students, but
it was a small sacrifice compared to the rather serious nature of Potter's
overall health issues.
He still couldn't believe that the boy was so severely ill, nor that it had
been caused by abuse while he was just a child. It brought up all sorts of
odd feelings that Severus would rather not associate with Potter, but
regardless, that was what was happening.
Putting the latest scribble that someone was trying to pass off as an essay
to one side, Severus took a moment to breathe deeply to calm himself.
Since Lucius had charged him with looking after Potter, followed up a
few months later by the Dark Lord charging him with looking after the
boy, he had kept a closer eye upon him.
It was how he was able to notice the slight shifts in mood or
temperament brought on by the side effects of the potions that he was
taking. Of course, now that he knew exactly which potions Potter was
taking, it was much easier to discern the cause of such swings of mood
and to diagnose the side effects more accurately. He had not revealed
what Potter was taking to Dumbledore.
Oh, the man had asked, but Severus had told him that there were too
many potions that had such side effects for him to be sure and that
Lucius was keeping what was ailing Harry as a closely guarded secret. It
had frustrated the man, he could tell, but Severus had remained still and
stoic behind his defence of the side effects being too vague and
ambiguous and that there was nothing more that he could do without
arousing suspicion from Lucius or straight out asking Potter what he was
taking himself.
He sometimes regretted the direction that his life had taken him because
of the choices that he had made. Lily had been everything to him and in
the end, he had pushed her away because she'd seen him in such a
vulnerable, humiliating position. Hindsight was always a curse, and as he
looked back on that day, on the memory that had truly ruined the one
good thing that he had had in his life, he could think of a thousand better
ways that he could have handled that situation, one of them even
included the death of Black and Potter, but it hadn't happened in such a
way, though both Potter and Black were now dead, leaving their legacy
behind in the form of Potter. Potter who had been abused so severely
that he might have died if his condition hadn't been found soon enough.
It was all very hard to swallow and to come to terms with the knowledge
that Harry Potter had all but switched sides. He had declared himself
neutral and in doing so, he had condemned those of the Order of the
Phoenix to fighting a war that they couldn't possibly hope to ever win.
Severus had had to subtly switch sides yet again too, without alerting
Dumbledore that he had done so, and without alerting the Dark Lord that
he had even switched sides in the first place. It was a lot of stress to
juggle and any small, slight mistake could cost him his very life.
Taking another deep breath, he picked up another essay written by a
complete dunderhead who had obviously understood incredibly little
about the lesson he had given.
He did sometimes wonder why he had been pushed into teaching when
the one thing that he hated the absolute most in the world was disgusting
little children. Oh, he knew that Dumbledore had pushed it upon him to
keep him close, to watch him as often as humanly possible as he only
went back to his own home in Spinner's End during the summer.
Oh, how he despised children. He usually only looked forward to his
NEWT level students, because he demanded only Outstanding OWL
students, thus they were very committed to their Potions work and were
often very competent brewers. This year, and the next, he was forced to
put up with Granger and Potter in his classroom. Potter was much better
attitude-wise since Lucius had taken the reins of him, but he still looked
like a clone of his father, only further enhanced when he was looking
down into his cauldron or at his ingredients and his eyes couldn't be seen.
Lily's eyes. He didn't know which was worse, not seeing those eyes and
seeing a clone of James Potter sitting in his classroom, or looking into
those eyes and seeing Lily.
Granger was another matter entirely. She was such a busybody and such
a know-it-all that she was nearly insufferable in the classroom. He tried
to engage the children, despite the fact that he didn't much like them, but
it was always Granger who answered, Granger who thrust her hand up,
all but dancing on her feet and then, unable to control herself, she would
blurt the answer out before he called upon her, not even allowing her
classmates a chance to think for themselves or the time that they needed
to come to the correct answer by themselves. That was why he couldn't
stand having her in his classroom and he had to grit his teeth every time
she spoke out of turn or blurted out a stream of information like a
textbook. He wanted to wrap his fingers around her throat and squeeze
until her eyes bulged out and her mouth stopped spewing information on
tap.
He took another breath and put aside another essay that was covered in
his spiky corrections in red ink and he picked up another one.
He was wasted stuck in this teaching position. He should be in his own
Potions lab, brewing and experimenting as he had done in his youth,
finding out ways to make better potions, to get the most out of the
ingredients, hunting down rare and unusual ingredients, finding out their
properties and calculating their unique qualities and uses so that they
could be used in newly developed potions.
He shouldn't be stuck in this castle full of bad memories and the ghost of
Lily Potter in every room, teaching bratty children who didn't even
understand the subtleties and the power of potions, let alone how to
correctly prepare and brew them. It was devastating to watch them
flounder and fail purely because they were too stupid to read the
instructions or hadn't learnt the basic properties of the ingredients that
they were using. He hated it here. He hated teaching. He just really hated
children in general.
He put aside yet another essay full of random drivel that didn't even
make sense, now covered in red ink marks from his quill with a 'D'
scrawled into the top corner and he picked up yet another essay from the
endless stack of them, dipped his quill into his red ink and prepared for
yet another mind-numbing read.
He had to get away from this castle, he needed to get away from the
children and he needed to be on his own, by himself, developing potions
in his own lab. This endless, mindless teaching was going to drive him
slowly into madness and he could no longer put up with it. He would
wait one more year, just until Potter had graduated and he would no
longer have to look out for him for Lucius or the Dark Lord. He would be
free then to stop teaching, he would be free to leave this castle and he
would be free to pursue a life of brewing and developing potions, as he
had always wanted. Just one more year, then he could be free of
teaching, free of this castle and free of all the filthy children inhabiting it.
A/N: I'm very pleased with this chapter, and with Harry's objective look
at Slughorn, as looking at that memory from the outside, without
knowing who Slughorn was or about the Slug Club, it is definitely rather
questionable that he traded connections for gifts with teenaged children.
I rather enjoyed that little addition and I can't wait now for Xerxes to
receive Harry's delicate, probing letter. That'll be hilarious.
Huge thank you to lifelovelaugh for being the 2,400th reviewer for this
fic.
Nina: No, Voldemort's interest in Harry will never just disappear. He is
very much trying to turn Harry from neutral to ally, but if neutral is all
he will get, he's willing to settle for it, though he'll never give up trying
to recruit Harry…everything will change when it comes to light that
Harry himself is a Horcrux.
This is it for now, lovelies. Chapter 20 will be posted either next week or
the week after I think, depending on how quickly I can finish it, but it's
already 10,000 words, so we'll see, but I am aiming to get it posted
before the end of March, so I'll see you all very soon and I hope that
you've all enjoyed this chapter,
StarLight Massacre. X
20. Bargaining
Last Time
He had to get away from this castle, he needed to get away from the children
and he needed to be on his own, by himself, developing potions in his own lab.
This endless, mindless teaching was going to drive him slowly into madness
and he could no longer put up with it. He would wait one more year, until
Potter had graduated and he would no longer have to look out for him for
Lucius or the Dark Lord. He would be free then to stop teaching, he would be
free to leave this castle and he would be free to pursue a life of brewing and
developing potions, as he had always wanted. Just one more year, then he
could be free of teaching, free of this castle and free of all the filthy children
inhabiting it.
Chapter Twenty – Bargaining
Harry tugged uncomfortably at the stunningly green dress robes that he
was wearing. They had arrived that morning as a gift from 'Aceline',
who'd urged him to wear them for his Ministry party as he'd look so
beautiful in them. Of course, Rabastan would have bought him robes as
close to the same colour as his eyes as he could find. His fiancé had asked
for pictures to be sent to him, wearing his gifts, all dressed up and ready
for a night of being harshly scrutinised by people he didn't give two fucks
about.
Draco, with Astoria of course, had both become as annoying as
mosquitoes as they buzzed and fluttered around him and made sure that
he was perfectly dressed, groomed and presentable. He had his hair
messed with, his nails filed and buffed by a disapproving Astoria, his
eyebrows had been groomed and he was actually starting to get pissed off
with all the fussing as Draco straightened his collar once again…for the
seventh or eighth time in the last hour.
"I'm going to be more than fashionably late if you carry on." He snapped
as Draco moved from his collar back up to his hair.
"Let me just sort this stubborn patch of hair." Draco replied distractedly.
"It's all stubborn!" Harry said, flailing his arms about in agitation. "You'll
be here all night trying to tame it."
"I'm not trying to tame it, I'm just trying to get it into some semblance of
neatness." Draco told him.
Harry sighed impatiently and tried not to give in to the urges to
childishly throw himself to the floor and roll about to ruin all their hard
work of the last two hours. He really wanted to do it, though knowing his
luck they'd just start again and he'd be stuck here for another two hours
until they'd finished once more.
"Just a little longer, Harry. This isn't going to be like the house parties
that you've been to in the past year." Astoria told him gently, sensing his
mounting frustration…or maybe it was the furrowed brow, scrunched
nose and scowled lips that had clued her in to his increasingly darkening
mood. "This is a Ministry party, reporters for the newspapers and
magazines will be there, your picture will appear in all the glossy rags
and papers. You need to look good, Harry, or they'll tear you apart and
you'll embarrass your family…both of them."
Well…when it was put like that it seemed like a good idea that he had
other people to help him dress and groom himself. He sighed heavily and
he silently endured the torture of being poked and prodded about.
Another twenty minutes and he was just about ready to tear his hair out
when Draco stood back and declared him done. Astoria looked him over
in a way that made him feel more like a mannequin than a living person
before she nodded her head too and Harry almost breathed a sigh of utter
relief. Finally!
"I do adore these cufflinks that Rabastan gave you with the robes." She
said, looking at the cuffs of the black shirt underneath, the robes over the
top being cut in such a way as to cover his thumbs and most of his
fingers but expose the little finger and the side of his hands, and the
underside of his wrist too, thus showing off the silver cufflinks with the
oval howlite stones. Or at least that was what Astoria had told him they
were, he wouldn't have known otherwise what the black veined, smooth
white stones were. He'd have probably said marble if he'd been pressed.
Astoria had given him a withering look when he'd admitted to that.
Rabastan had chosen these robes with very careful forethought and
consideration of the cut and colour, as to how best to show him off fully.
He looked good all groomed and dressed to perfection with subtle hints
of accessories, but not too overdone, as Draco had explained as he had
made sure that all three of his rings were perfectly placed on his fingers.
It might have taken two hours to get him to actually look good, but it
would be worth it to send those photos to Rabastan…and of course, so
that he didn't embarrass his family in front of the media by looking like
some scruffy waif who'd just walked in off the streets.
The cufflinks were his favourite accessories though, after his beloved
engagement ring, of course, as they were 'Aceline's' favourite cufflinks,
which meant that they'd come from Rabastan's own, incredibly extensive,
collection of cufflinks and they were his personal favourites. It made him
feel so proud to wear them, a little piece of Rabastan with him to keep
him company this night. Though he would be seeing his fiancé later
anyway because very thankfully he had permission to stay at home
overnight because the party would not end until gone midnight. Because
of that, it made more sense for him to go back home for the night than to
trudge back to his rooms at Hogwarts, though it was doubtful that he
would be staying quite that long at the party anyway. They'd be lucky if
he stayed for an hour with the prospect of spending more time with
Rabastan on the other hand.
"Am I presentable enough?" He asked impatiently, as the two studied him
from either side.
"As presentable as we're ever going to get you." Draco quipped. Astoria
gave him a small shove.
"Don't be mean to your brother, he looks stunning. We'd best not let
Blaise see you like this." She teased. "Pose for a photo first, for Aceline."
She winked at him.
Harry laughed, but he smiled and did as Astoria had instructed, feeling a
little stupid with an audience, but it was for Rabastan, so he didn't mind.
"I will have these developed for you and send them right over to
Rabastan." Astoria promised. "He will see you first when you arrive home
after the party, but you won't look this good and neat by then. You'll be a
little more rumpled and your hair would have undone all of Draco's hard
work of the last two and a half hours."
Harry snorted. "I best go then. Fifteen minutes late as I already am."
"Do try not to ruin anything before you get there. Your photo will be
taken as soon as you arrive." Draco told him. Harry nodded.
"I'll see you all tomorrow for our study session. Astoria, I will tutor you
and Luna tomorrow afternoon too, in preparation for your Defence
exam."
"Thank you very much." Astoria gave him a beaming smile.
"Don't stay here without a chaperone." He lectured, then he winked.
"Don't go getting too risqué on my settees. I was told that I'm not allowed
to replace them."
He touched the rings on his finger and he activated the portkey before he
could hear a reply from Draco or Astoria and he landed in the Atrium of
the Ministry for Magic. It was swarming with people and as Draco and
Astoria had warned him, the reporters immediately swung to look at him,
their photographers following and his photo was taken several times in
just a few seconds, being heralded by a halo of flashing, blinding lights. It
was lucky that he had landed with a smile on his face from his parting
shot at Draco and Astoria and it was lucky that he had been taught not to
squint like an owl with all the lights around him.
"Good evening." He greeted politely, ignoring all the quick-fire questions
being directed at him as he lightly elbowed his way through the wall of
people, keeping his bright smile in place and his eyes slightly wider than
usual, to counter any narrowing or blinking of his eyes due to the lights
and flashes.
"Mister Potter! Will you tell us about your bride-to-be?" One witch called
out, notebook and quill at the ready. "Do you have a picture of the ring
that you gave her? Or a picture of her for us?"
Harry acted like he hadn't heard her, but he looked down at his own
gleaming ring. No doubt that would be splashed around the magazines
too as they theorised if his and 'Aceline's' rings matched perfectly or if
they had each bought a different ring to present to the other.
He milled around for a bit, avoiding reporters asking invasive questions,
he declined a glass of champagne from a serving house-elf, making sure
to do so politely and hunched down, so he could get eye contact under
the tray, which was being held aloft, over the house-elf's head. His photo
was snapped doing that too and it would appear in at least one magazine
by tomorrow. He would have to stop this appalling practice too. There
was no reason why people couldn't walk to a table and pick up their own
drink or hors d'oeuvres, as they had done during the two parties over the
Christmas season. Abusing house-elves in this way was unneeded and he
wouldn't stand for it. He found it entirely repulsive and he would stamp
it out within his proposed, re-written, creature laws. Which reminded
him that he'd wanted to have Rabastan look over the newly reformed
section that he'd been working on. He touched his inside robe pocket and
heard the scrunch of parchment. He had, thankfully, remembered to put
it in his pocket for later. He couldn't wait to present it to Rabastan when
he saw him later.
He found Lucius in the throng of people, though truthfully he'd seen a
flash of platinum blonde from all that silky, baby fine hair that was loose
and free-flowing tonight, and he immediately made his way over to him.
"There you are, are you well?" Lucius asked him, giving his shoulder a
small, possessive touch as if to tell those present that Harry was his son
and no one would be getting to him unless they went through Lucius
first.
"I am. I had a bit of trouble getting away from Draco and Astoria, but I
managed to escape once both of their backs were turned." He joked.
"I thought you looked better than usual." Xerxes told him with a sly
smile.
"Did you get my letter? I'm sorry if it was upsetting, but I need to be
sure." Harry said seriously.
"What are you talking about now?" Lucius asked quietly.
Harry looked from Lucius to Xerxes, the both of them looking confused.
Hedwig hadn't arrived, Xerxes had not received his letter yet.
"Ah." He said. "In that case, I will explain later tonight. I had hoped
Hedwig would have arrived by now so that we could go right into the
explanation without the build-up."
"And what, may I ask, does it pertain to?" Xerxes questioned.
"Something Dumbledore showed me, that's all." Harry said, then danced
his gaze past Xerxes' shoulder and he smiled, letting the other two men
know that they were no longer alone. This really wasn't the place for
personal conversations anyway, you never knew who was within earshot.
"Lord Potter-Black, it is nice to see you." The Minister for Magic himself
approached and they shook hands, more flashes going off in his
peripheral vision. It felt like the photographers were actually following
him around or something.
"Likewise, Minister." He said, trying to make his statement sound sincere.
"Your exams are coming up, are they not? NEWTs, very exhausting
indeed, I do hope that you are prepared." The man gave a false, oily
sounding laugh and Harry got the feeling that he was being patronised.
He didn't like it. He didn't laugh or smile in return.
Some reporters tittered at the Minister's comments and he saw more than
one writing things down in their ever-present notebooks. Truly he felt
like he was a new species being studied and documented by scientists for
unusual habits or behaviours. The reporters standing close enough could
hear them, though, so it was time to show them all why the Wizengamot
meetings were all going his way, of which they would know of from the
heavily edited reports that they received when it was deemed necessary.
"I am currently revising for my exams, yes. I still find the time to read up
on law and legislation in my free moments, however." He lied smoothly,
implying that he actually had any spare time to do any recreational
reading at all. "I believe that you receive a copy of all manuscripts from
the Wizengamot, Minister? After the little, hiccup, during the last
meeting, I am actually concerned that past cases have been mishandled. I
have been looking into such, as it is deeply troubling, as I'm sure that
you'll agree." He replied in such a condescending tone that he saw the
Minister's aide, standing beside him as if they were still at work, actually
flush in sympathetic embarrassment.
"I…yes, of course." Fudge blustered, as Harry had known that he would,
being led by the hand as he'd been, he could hardly say anything else, not
with the reporters so close to them, listening hard, writing down every
word spoken. "Terrible business, this abuse of the laws. Terrible."
Harry inclined his head. "I am sure that is why you are going to conduct
a full investigation on the matter, Minister, am I right?"
"Yes, absolutely." The Minister said rather angrily.
Harry inclined his head again and tried not to show any smug satisfaction
on his face. He was getting much, much better at leading others into
doing as he wanted them to do. Lucius had been right, once you knew
how to do it, it was rather easy.
"I am very glad that this matter is being taken seriously, and that an
investigation is going to be conducted. What use are our laws if they
aren't even being upheld?"
The Minister was saved from any more of Harry's embarrassing
manipulations by the arrival of Dawson Shacklebolt, Harry turned to him
happily and engaged him in conversation, snubbing the Minister
completely. Fudge hurried off rather quickly, his young aide dogging his
footsteps.
"You are looking much better today, if I may say so." Lord Shacklebolt
said with a smile.
"I am feeling much better, thank you." He said with a genuine smile of
pleasure. "Are you well? How is your son? I had heard he'd been in an
accident."
"The fool." Dawson sighed with a shake of his head. "He was messing
around with dangerous Runes and he put them in the wrong order. Then,
saying that, my grandson, Leander, took all the sense. His father never
had much. I am handing Leander the Shacklebolt lordship once I pass.
Eben would embarrass the family to the point where we would never
recover."
"Marcus Flint is tutoring me in Runes, he has instructed me on how very
dangerous they are and to never play around with them." He said. "I take
that warning very seriously."
"As you should." Dawson said sternly. "Runes are not to be messed with,
as my fool of a son has found out, at the expense of his fingers."
"Will he get them back?" Harry asked concernedly.
Dawson shook his head. "As far as the healers can tell, it is a permanent
injury. More fool him for messing with things that he did not understand.
He is mediocre with Runes at very best."
"I am sorry to hear that the injury is permanent." Harry said softly.
"I wouldn't fret over such things. Eben is always messing with things that
he shouldn't be. I'm surprised that he's reached forty to be completely
honest with you. My nephew, Kingsley, always had more sense. It seems
that my brother, Paxton, had the son that I should have had and I had the
one meant for him. Paxton never had much sense either."
"How about your younger grandson, Deacon?" Harry asked, marvelling at
the rather sensitive information he was being told about another lord's
family. Usually, they kept their problems to themselves and within their
family, so that no one ever found out, though the Daily Prophet had
reported about Eben Shacklebolt being involved in an accident, which
was why Harry had asked.
"He and his wife are expecting any day now." Dawson said happily.
Harry remembered being taught, back last year in the summer, about all
of the pureblood houses and their relations. Deacon Shacklebolt was
married to Isobel MacDougal, whose younger sister, Morag, was in his
year at Hogwarts. She was a Ravenclaw and was betrothed to Syed
Shafiq, another family of the sacred twenty-eight. His older brother,
Asad, was betrothed to Hallie Grigoryan, one of the foreign pureblood
families. It was easy to see how all of the families were interrelated
multiple times over.
Leander Shacklebolt, Dawson's oldest grandson, was married to Olivia
Yaxley, they were not expecting a child yet, though not from lack of
trying, it seemed. The Yaxley family was related both to the Black family,
thus his own, and to the Lestrange family too. Lyvia Yaxley, Olivia's
great-aunt, had been Xerxes' wife, and the poisonous mother of
Rhadamanthus.
"Congratulations." Harry said with a smile.
"Thank you, Harry. It is an exciting time, to be expecting the arrival of a
new generation."
"Oh, of course, this will be the first of the next generation of the
Shacklebolt family." Harry said. "Kingsley isn't married and Leander and
his wife are not expecting, are they?"
"That is true enough, but Leander is taking Olivia to Spain in two months,
a bit of space and privacy might be just what they need."
Harry chuckled lightly, but their conversation was interrupted by the
appearance of the Chief Warlock, Albert Runcorn.
"Greetings, Lord Shacklebolt. Lord Potter-Black. I hope that both of you
are well."
Harry smiled, looking at Runcorn. "I am, Chief Warlock. Please call me
Harry outside of meetings."
"As you wish, Harry. Your father has informed me that you are working
on your own law reforms. I cannot wait to see what you wish to
implement, you are an exceedingly bright young man."
"Thank you." Harry said, a little smug at having his ego stroked, but he
reigned himself back in and he refused to allow it to affect him overly
much. "I am looking to make some changes and additional reforms that I
hope will improve the community overall. Some of the archaic laws and
the disgusting inequalities need to be changed as soon as possible."
"I agree." Albert Runcorn told him. "If you get those reforms to me as
soon as you can, I will see to their suitability and then it will be discussed
in the Wizengamot at the earliest convenience."
Harry stood straighter as someone hailed away Runcorn, who made his
excuses and left as quickly as he had come, doing the rounds he needed
to as Chief Warlock.
"Well, you are one of his favourites." Dawson teased. "He held that
creature bill back for four and a half months before bringing it onto the
agenda to be discussed."
"He can do that?" Harry queried, looking to Lucius and Xerxes, who had
turned back around once Runcorn had gone.
"Absolutely." Xerxes told him. "As the Chief Warlock, he can hold back
any proposal he wishes, though for no longer than a full year after it was
first submitted. He must truly enjoy your debating sessions if he is willing
to push forward your proposals immediately, instead of holding them
back for several months."
Harry preened and the three men around him chuckled and snorted in
amusement. Harry just smiled happily.
"Am I right in guessing that one of your new proposals is to do with the
current creature laws?" Dawson asked him curiously. "You were furious
with the last proposal debated."
Harry controlled the anger he felt at being reminded of that proposal in
law change, if he ever found out who that had been…he breathed in
deeply. "Yes." He said calmly. "I will be ripping up the current laws and
working towards equality for everyone, creatures and humans alike."
"We are very proud of your dedication too." Lucius insisted.
"How much more have you gotten done while at school?" Xerxes asked
him.
"A little more." Harry insisted, touching the pocket that contained the
very proposal they were discussing.
"You've brought it with you?" Dawson laughed, looking at him
indulgently.
Harry nodded. "I am staying at home overnight, I wished for my father to
look it over, just in case I have missed anything. Several eyes are better
than just my own, after all, and I am still young. I'm not arrogant enough
to believe that I can write proposals and change any laws all by myself.
I'm willing to ask for help where I know I need it and I don't think that
there is anything wrong with that."
They were interrupted again, this time by Lord Sarpedon Carrow. He had
taken in his twin great-nieces, Flora and Hestia, and his infant great-
nephew, Adrastos, after the death of his older brother's only son, his
nephew, Zephyrus, the previous Lord Carrow.
The deranged and apparently rumoured incestuous brother and sister,
Amycus and Alecto Carrow, were his third cousins on his father's side.
Lucius had told him that Lord Sarpedon mostly pretended that Amycus
and Alecto didn't exist, even when standing beside them. His sister, Ilaria
Carrow, was Marcus Flint's grandmother.
"Lucius, Xerxes. A word." He said crisply.
"Excuse us a moment, Harry." Lucius said, patting his shoulder.
Harry nodded and he ignored that it was likely Death Eater issues. He
went looking for a drink, but all he could find were trays of food and
drink being held aloft by house-elves, and he refused to take a drink from
a tray that was resting on another creature's head. The very thought of it
brought a sneer to his face, but aware of the photographers milling
around, he quickly controlled himself and his facial expressions to
something more pleasingly neutral.
He mingled instead, speaking to several lords of noble houses, known
politically in the Wizengamot as Ancients. Only the lords of the families
that were classed as one of the sacred twenty-eight families could be
classed as an Ancient within the Wizengamot, so Harry was an Ancient
through his Black seat. He would have been a New Man, a pureblood but
not a member of one of the sacred twenty-eight families, with just the
Potter seat, but as the political factions took the highest seat one held,
Harry was politically classed as an Ancient.
He wandered a little more, speaking to those he met, so as not to look
like a loner, or like he was being snubbed or excluded, as such a thing
could be disastrous for his reputation. Something he really didn't need
right at this moment, while he was blazing a line of fire through the
Wizengamot.
He tried to avoid Lord Corban Yaxley, whose older sister had been
Xerxes' wife and the mother of Rhadamanthus, but the man made a very
big social faux pas and grabbed his hand as he slipped past him. Harry
shook him off very quickly, aware that such things could be taken as
favourable attention in a picture.
"Good evening, Lord Yaxley." Harry said rather stiffly, not willing to play
nice with a man who had just grabbed at him.
"Lord Potter." Yaxley said back, offering him a rather big insult by
refusing to acknowledge that Harry was also the Lord of house Black.
"It is pronounced Lord Potter-Black, actually." He said with a forced,
sweet smile, his eyes glittering.
"If you were not labelled as a non-target…"
"But I am." Harry cut in smoothly, a hard edge to his voice. "You can't
touch me without incurring the wrath of a certain someone." He hissed,
keeping his voice barely above a whisper. "I am in direct correspondence
with him, you know." He lied easily, watching the other man opposite
him. Lord Yaxley was very good at hiding his reaction, but Harry still
detected a slight flinching around his eyes. "So if I were you, I would be a
little nicer towards me."
"You are not as untouchable as you think you are, Potter." Corban spat,
all the muscles in his face clenched to keep his neutral mask in place so
that he didn't sneer or grimace. "You'll come to a sticky end one of these
days, very soon."
"So, you are threatening me." Harry said mildly. "That is good to know so
that I can now watch you more closely. You and that vile nephew of
yours." He said, alluding to Rhadamanthus, as he was clearly the centre
of this little talk. Rhadamanthus had always insisted that he had friends
and associates. It seemed that his mother's brother, his uncle, was one of
them. "You seem to forget that I have friends in even higher places than
you do. Isn't that just galling?" He baited with a smirk. "I would watch
yourself, Yaxley, or it won't be me meeting a sticky end."
Harry gave a hard stare for a moment more, then he turned, confidently
displaying his back to Corban Yaxley, and he walked off, going back to
mingling with meaningless small talk and platitudes about everyone's
family members while insisting that his own were all very well, thank
you so very much for asking.
He was finding out that these parties were all very false and were mostly
a show of solidarity, of hereditary superiority, for the reporters,
photographers, and then once published, the rest of the wizarding world.
It was all very dry and boring, he couldn't even eat or drink anything
because of the house-elf servers. He had never wanted to check his silver
pocket watch so much in his life, but if he did and he was caught in a
photo, it could cause a scandal. He didn't want that either, so he'd have
to suffer, as he didn't think he'd been here for more than an hour yet,
even though it felt more like three. It was going to be a very long, tedious
night.
"Not mingling with the Disdains, are you?" Lord Philip Nott sneered at
him.
Of course, it would be too much to ask that he was left alone. No, it
seemed that he was being set upon on all sides tonight and if it was one
person he truly did not want to speak with tonight, it was Theo's greedy,
uncaring father who did not deserve to have such a wonderful, strong,
intelligent son as Theo.
"Such a word in these halls, in public, is a disgrace." Harry told him as
mildly as he could manage. He hated that all muggleborn members of the
Wizengamot, something that wouldn't even have been allowed a few
generations ago, were labelled as Disdains by the purebloods when truly
they should have all been called Neutrals, along with the other Heads of
Department members, which sometimes included purebloods, though
only those who were not lords of their own houses and thus could not be
classed as New Men or Ancients via a loophole. The purebloods hated
being classed as an equal to halfbloods and muggleborns, hence their
derogatory title of 'Disdains' for the muggleborn members of the
Wizengamot who were officially titled as Neutrals.
"You should be one of them." Philip spat at him.
"The only disdainful person here is you." Harry quipped back.
"I would hope that you are not harassing him." Xerxes snapped, having
obviously spotted the altercation and had come over quickly to lay a
comforting, protective hand over Harry's narrow shoulder. "You know
what I'll do to you if you are."
The elderly Lord Nott went rather pale. Harry would have too if he'd
been threatened with the Lestrange family. Lord Philip Nott controlled
the sneer that wanted to form on his face with an iron will and then he
skulked off with his tail between his legs, leaving Harry with Xerxes,
much more pleasing company in Harry's opinion. Though, of course, he
was thankfully going to become a member of the Lestrange family, so he
had no need to be afraid of them like Nott did, as he wasn't one of their
enemies…unless Rhadamanthus counted, but then Rhadamanthus hated
all of them, including his own father and his two sons. He was actively
trying to ruin his youngest son in every way possible even, so Harry
didn't count him as a member of the family.
He spent some time talking more animatedly with Xerxes, then they were
both separated by others coming and getting involved, drawing them
each into separate conversations, and then, when he next looked around,
Xerxes was halfway across the room once more and he was back to
mingling and making small talk, trying to include as many of the people
here as he could, focusing on those he hadn't yet spoken to and those he
didn't normally speak to while at actual Wizengamot meetings. Though
he avoided a rather awkward-looking Bill Weasley like he had bubonic
plague.
A flash beside him and Harry sucked in a deep breath and he actively had
to stop himself from bearing his teeth like a feral dog. He was going to
come to hate these Ministry parties, with all the reporters and
photographers floating around along with the lords of pureblood families,
the Heads of all reputable Departments and the Minister for Magic along
with his aide. It all just seemed to be an ego-fest to him, a night of
putting up with other people boasting, preening and showing off, and of
childish cliques of who knew what lord or politician and their little
groupies who were all doing their best to have their photo taken with
those of a higher status than themselves. It was just ridiculous to him.
Lucius had, of course, taken the time to teach him the power and
importance of a handshake, and of rejecting one, early on in his
education last summer. He knew how to politely avoid a handshake, and
how to outright ignore one if anyone was rude enough to insist upon it. A
photo could boost dignity and prestige, but the wrong photo could
destroy a reputation just as easily, if not easier. Which was why when
Madam Wilkes, the frizzy-haired cow who had voted against him in his
trial in the summer between his fourth and fifth years, and had then tried
to exclude him from a meeting because he had been sixteen and out of
bed on a school night, came up to him and tried to strong-arm him into a
handshake for a photo, he quickly and effectively shut her down by
twisting his hand and slipping it from her own.
"I will ask you not to grab and pull at me, thank you." He said sternly as
if chastising a naughty child.
"That was terribly rude of you, not that people like you can help it." Lord
Mark Flint, whom he'd been speaking to, sneered.
Harry had finally found some time to approach and speak to Marcus'
father, and he had praised his son heavily, naturally, which had forged
an immediate bond between them both, as Mark Flint was very proud of
his only child's illustrious runic career.
"Imagine grabbing and groping for the arm of an underaged lord, what is
wrong with you?" Lord Flint asked softly, almost hissing under his breath.
"Except for being a disgusting little mudblood, of course."
Harry stiffened, but he felt caught between a rock and a hard place. He
had been told to make nice with the other lords, Lucius had specifically
told him to be on his best behaviour. He was not to upset any other lord
during this party, while the reporters and photographers were watching
and waiting for any sort of slip up or hint of a scandal. He certainly had
no love for Madam Wilkes, but that word. THAT WORD. He breathed
deeply and evenly, as the silence between the three of them stretched on.
He needed to do something, he turned himself slightly, dismissing the
witch.
"You never said how your wife was doing." He said politely, trying to
behave himself, trying to get back onto more neutral ground so he didn't
kick-off, but his temper had already been stoked by Madam Wilkes, of all
people, trying to curry favourable press by grabbing at him for a photo. It
had only risen when he'd heard that word.
"Dosie? She's fine." Mark waved away uncaringly. He obviously cared for
his wife very little, going so far as to give her the nickname dozy, as she
had the unfortunate name of Theodosia. She was the younger sister of
Philip Nott, the aunt of Theo, for whom he had been named. "How is
your fiancée?"
"Aceline?" Harry said. "She's fine too. She's getting much better in recent
months and I'm very proud of her achievements."
Mark gave him a knowing look. Of course, he knew that he was actually
engaged to Rabastan Lestrange, if not from his son, Marcus', own mouth
then from the Death Eater meetings of which he most certainly attended.
There was absolutely no doubt in Harry's mind that the man he spoke to
was also a Death Eater and he was good friends with Lucius and Xerxes
to boot, so he knew exactly what he meant. That Rabastan was getting
much better, and fitter, and would soon be back to fighting fit.
"I am glad to hear of such things. I hope that you both have a happy,
fortuitous marriage."
"Oh, I am sure that we will. We do get on very well, after all. It helps that
we know what we each want from our marriage too."
"Oh?" Lord Mark queried in a lilted question.
Harry gave a genuine grin then. "Lots and lots of children." Harry
laughed.
Lord Mark chuckled too and shook his head ruefully. "I believe that being
as young as you are will count for you too, you have the time and the
energy to run around after lots of children. I do wish that Marcus would
hurry up and get married already, but finding that bitch of his in bed
with one of his work colleagues, well, it has damaged his pride and he is
a very prideful man. You should have heard the rants when he was still
in school and you and your merry band of Gryffindors kept besting him
at Quidditch. In the end, I was glad that he finally graduated so that I
wouldn't have to hear his howling about losing the Quidditch cup for yet
another year."
Harry gave a genuine laugh then, he couldn't help himself.
"Oh, you may well laugh, you never had to listen to him go on about it
for weeks afterwards. With every subsequent defeat, he would whine for
longer than the previous year."
"I can't imagine him whining." Harry said, thinking of Marcus. "He must
let all his defences down at home, as I suppose we all do. Some of the
things I do and say at home I wouldn't even dream of doing if others
were present. But Marcus, whining? It is not something I can picture, not
when he calls me every name under the sun and then threatens me with
bodily harm if I don't get the work he gives me perfect."
Lord Mark gave a laugh. "Yes, that sounds like my Marcus." He said with
obvious pride. "He has half the community terrified of him, especially
after the natural repercussions he gave to the bitch who hurt his pride,
and the sleazebag who slept with her in his bed, in his home. I always
warned him that she had the look of a whore about her, but he never
listened."
"A fault I believe my own father would complain about regarding me."
Harry joked.
Lord Mark looked a little pensive and then he laughed. "Indeed. Perhaps
it is the nature of sons to question the wisdom and advice of their fathers,
to push the boundaries that are given to them. Mostly to their own
detriment." Here Harry was given a warning look, but he just grinned
sweetly. Lord Mark snorted in amusement. "Perhaps such lessons do have
to be learnt by one's self and cannot be taught. Marcus has learnt his own
lesson. I believe he is now chasing after another potential wife, though he
refuses to tell me who it is so that I, and I quote his very words, 'I do not
interfere and fuck things up'. Marcus has such a delicate way with
words."
Harry snorted. Absolutely nothing about Marcus Flint could ever be
described as delicate. Lord Mark gave him a smile.
"I helped him to start the process to his new chosen wife." Harry
admitted. "He was unsure of her, but if this next engagement goes awry, I
do believe the fault will lie with me this time."
Lord Mark looked rather shocked for a fraction of a second, but he
quickly pulled his face back to neutral. "So you know who she is? You
helped him to set up an engagement?"
Harry nodded. "He already knew who he liked." Harry insisted. "I just
gave him a little push to encourage him to go after her. After all, if one
falls from a horse, there is always a better, more stable horse in a
different paddock. You just have to try them all until you find the right
one, not give up after the first attempt."
Lord Mark laughed then, a genuine laugh. "I don't believe that that is
how the adage goes."
"It's better." Harry grinned.
"I can see now, after speaking to you at length, exactly why Marcus likes
you so much." Lord Mark told him consideringly. "I did not understand
why he found you so agreeable, especially after all his childhood
complaints of you, but now I understand. You are a very special young
man."
"Thank you." Harry said, only able to speak because of Narcissa's
extensive lessons that had taught him to automatically respond to a
compliment with gracious thanks.
"I cannot wait to see what you'll do next." Lord Mark carried on,
scrutinising him. "You are tearing up everything in your wake, and only
doing good things that will help everyone immensely."
Harry took that to mean that Lord Flint was involved with finding ways
to make it easier for Greyback to move and conduct his vile business
without obstruction. He could count on this man to vote for his proposed
law change when he eventually got around to submitting it.
"I am trying. I'm currently writing my own proposals for law changes. I've
been testing the waters a little here tonight, taking the opportunity
conveniently presented to me." He said happily. That was truly the only
good thing to come from tonight, that he could spread his ideals and hint
at his proposals to come to gauge reaction.
"I will be listening and waiting patiently for your coming proposals then."
Shortly after that, Lord Mark was pulled into a different conversation
with several other men and Harry went to find Lucius. He wanted to
leave now. He'd had more than enough.
He finally found Lucius, of course, he would have been over the other
side of the room, so it took him a good twenty minutes to mingle and
small talk his way across the room, and then he sidled under his father's
arm and looked up at him pleadingly.
"Are you quite well?" Lucius asked him, for the sake of those he was
standing with.
"I'm feeling a little off." Harry said, playing his part well.
"You are not ill I hope, Lord Potter-Black." Lord Harvey Greengrass said.
Harry couldn't work out if he was sincere or not.
"I do hope not." Harry said plainly. "An illness on top of the advancing
exams would be disastrous. I believe that I am just a little tired and in
need of some quiet rest."
"Then let me see you home." Lucius said, touching his elbow and leading
him away.
Harry had his photo taken several times on the way, so he made sure to
keep his smile firmly fixed in place.
"I had believed that you'd come much sooner than you did." Lucius told
him. "I am proud of you for lasting as long as you did."
Harry smiled at the praise. "I'm just a little tired now. Keeping a mask on
and making small talk all night is very exhausting. There's only so many
times I can insist that I and my family are fine before I want to start
inventing illnesses and injuries just to watch their faces drop."
"Indeed. Come, let us see you safely to the manor."
Harry was led over to the side of the atrium, where the banks of
fireplaces were located, and Harry took a handful of floo powder.
"I will see you later." Lucius told him, touching his shoulder and then
covering him as Harry threw the powder into the fireplace and called out
for Malfoy manor.
He landed rather heavily, and he struggled to keep his feet. He had to
take several large steps in order to keep himself upright.
He sighed heavily and rubbed his face. He shook his head and then he
perked up. He was home. He went straight to the drawing room and
three faces looked up at him as he opened the door.
"You're home early, are you alright, darling?" Narcissa asked him.
Harry forced himself to greet his mother, going to give her a hug and a
kiss on the cheek.
"I'm fine, I just wanted to come home. As if I was going to stay at the
Ministry all night, making small talk with old men when I could be here."
He said as he went straight to Rabastan and kissed him hard.
His fiancé laughed happily and pulled Harry down onto his lap. Harry
arranged his legs so that he wasn't sitting obscenely. He was more likely
to be allowed to remain where he was if he at least made a show of being
chaste.
He threw his arms around Rabastan's thick neck and nuzzled into his
skin.
"I missed you. That stupid party was such a drag, but at least it gives me
an excuse to stay with you, if only for one night." He said, before laying a
kiss on a vein that was standing out on Rabastan's throat.
"Did you at least plant the seeds for your proposal?" Rabastan asked him.
"Of course. It was the entire reason I even went and stayed for longer
than five minutes." He grinned.
The topic did remind him to take out his proposal and hand it over to
Rabastan, but Rodolphus took it instead, smoothening it out on his knee
and reading. Harry huffed, but he went back to nuzzling with Rabastan.
"Is your father alright?" Narcissa asked.
"He's fine. He wanted to stay a little longer, but he saw me through the
floo."
"Good." Narcissa insisted, settling her skirt about her knees and leaning
back, picking up her book once more.
"Did you suffer any altercations?" Rabastan asked him.
"Two. Your wonderful grandfather saved me from knocking out Lord
Nott's teeth and that lovely muggleborn, Madam Wilkes, tried to grope
for my hand to force a photo of us being agreeable. I was not willing to
accept as such."
"Uncouth mudbloods." Rodolphus growled under his breath, not even
looking up from the papers on his knee.
"Oh, I was not so subtly threatened too." He added, trying to move the
conversation away from that word. It worked only too well.
"By who?" Rabastan demanded furiously, and this topic got Rodolphus'
attention and that dark brown gaze that promised pain and death was
almost piercing as he looked at him, waiting for his answer.
"Your rather vile great-uncle, Corban Yaxley. He believes that I will meet
my death very soon."
"Did you tell your father?" Narcissa asked dangerously, her own blue eyes
glinting furiously.
"No, I didn't want to do so at the party, just in case I was overheard, but I
will tell him tonight." Harry insisted.
"I think I'll pay him a visit." Rodolphus said darkly. "I think he needs
reminding that he has no son and no brothers. If he dies, his name dies
with him."
"Won't it pass to his daughter's son, if she has one?"
"No, don't let Dawson Shacklebolt's genial nature fool you. It is his older
grandson who is married to Yaxley's daughter, he will not allow the
direct successor of his line to claim another lordship, regardless that he
has another grandson as a reserve."
"Then it will pass to Rhadamanthus, as his nephew?" Harry questioned.
"Not if grandfather disallows it. He is the head of our house, if he does
not disown Rhadamanthus, he cannot take anyone else's name."
Harry clocked the use of Rhadamanthus' name, not the title of father, and
he made a mental note to ask Rabastan at a later time.
"So, between Xerxes and Dawson, they could make the Yaxley family
extinct? Or at least only extant through the women born into the family,
but married off?"
"Yes." Rabastan said, looking at him proudly. "After he has threatened
you too, well, I would say that grandfather would most definitely deny
Rhadamanthus the Yaxley lordship and Dawson Shacklebolt is very fond
of you. Olivia is young and rather neglected by her father too, so she
shines like the sun towards the kindness of her husband and grandfather-
in-law. She was very happy to be matched to such a kind husband and
family."
"It wouldn't be her decision anyway, but Dawson's, as her child is in
direct succession to his line." Rodolphus added.
"Wouldn't he do so just to control two lordships?" Harry asked curiously.
"Not a lot of people want or need the pressures of two seats. It is why you
are so extraordinary." Narcissa told him primly, before crisply turning a
page in her book.
"How are your family portfolios coming along?" Rabastan teased. Harry
complained about the state of the Black and Potter portfolios in every
single letter he sent to his fiancé.
Harry groaned. "Do not get me started on those things. Every time I open
the blasted folders something else requires fixing, or one of the
investments needs handling, or I'm being asked to buy more shares or
something else needs my approval. I swear I'm going to pick them all up
and take huge pleasure in throwing them all into the fire and just
watching them curl and burn."
Rabastan chuckled and gave his cheek a kiss.
"With two seats, and two lordships, comes a lot of hard work and
expectations." Rabastan told him. "It is a lot of work for anyone to
handle, so to some, it is not worth taking on another's responsibilities or
their family members, especially dependant family members that need
care or guardianship. It is better to allow the line to go extant only in
females, or even extinct, than to miserably fail at holding two lordships."
Harry nodded. He understood. He really did. It was hard work to keep on
top of all of his lordship duties for two houses. The portfolios alone were
enough to cause him to tear out his hair at the roots. He did not feel so
bad now for accepting, and begging, for so much help all of the time, and
he was just grateful that he had people that he could ask for such advice
and assistance that was then readily given to him.
"How are you doing with your revision, Harry?" Rabastan asked him,
pulling Harry closer to his body and shifting his leg. Harry took the
indication for what it was and he stood up and switched legs, snuggling
back into Rabastan, letting the blood flow resume to his, likely dead leg.
"Oh, that reminds me!" Harry said a bit too loudly and excitedly.
Rodolphus looked up again at his outburst, waiting for whatever story
was coming this time. With such excitement, it was going to be good.
"The Minister was there, naturally, but the idiot tried to patronise me! He
tried to imply that I should have been studying for my exams and not at a
party and he tried to tell me how hard and exhausting my exams were
going to be."
"Now this is going to be good." Rodolphus grinned. "What did you say in
reply?"
"I implied that I was doing recreational reading because seriously who
the hell has time for that during exam season? But anyway, I implied that
I was reading up on laws and regulations and I insinuated that I believed
that more past cases had been mishandled. Oh, you should have seen his
stupid face! He went bright red and started blustering and stuttering, and
I figuratively took his hand and led him through all my hoops, but a long
story short, I've managed to get him to promise to hold a full
investigative inquiry on all past cases over the abuse of the laws and
regulations. The best part was, it was within hearing distance of several
reporters so it'll be in the papers tomorrow morning, he can't go back on
his word without looking like he had a hand in the abuse of the laws."
The two brothers roared with laughter and Harry sat, grinning happily.
"I cannot wait to see that unfold. I bet our dear Minister is still thinking
about your words, and exactly what you've forced him to agree to."
Rabastan insisted.
"You are getting much better at manipulating others." Rodolphus pointed
out.
"Only when needed." Harry said placatingly. "I'll use such whims
sparingly, so as not to water down the effect."
A hand pressed against his forehead, pulling his head back, pinning back
his hair and he turned questioningly, only for a lingering kiss to be
pressed to his forehead. The goofy smile was automatic and he held on
tight to Rabastan, a man he was coming to love more than anything else.
"This is a good start." Rodolphus cut in, uncaring that he'd just butted in
on their little intimate moment. "This is the several times' edited
version?"
Harry nodded. "More like several dozen times edited, but yes. The last
three paragraphs are new, though."
Rodolphus nodded. "You've done well. I can't see any immediate
loopholes, but the more people you have to look over it, the higher the
chance that they could see something that no one else can."
Harry smiled. "I'm doing well with it. It won't be ready until next year, I
don't think. I don't want to rush it and get it wrong or have it fail through
the voting process. It needs to be perfect!"
"With some help, you could get it done before next year." Rabastan
insisted. "It will be perfect too, you'll see."
"I hope so." Harry sighed. He shifted to the side, sitting on the settee, and
he lay back, putting his head in Rabastan's lap, frowning in thought. At
least until those wondrous hands fell to his scalp and started scratching
and pulling. He all but purred like a cat.
"I love when you do that." Rabastan said. Harry could almost hear the
smile in his voice.
"I was about to say the same thing." He grinned, his eyes still closed
contentedly.
"Have you been given your exam schedule yet?" Rodolphus asked.
"No, not yet. Though there are rumours that Potions is going to be the
first exam up this year. I'm not sure how much stock to put into that,
though." Harry said. "I'm keeping to a good revision schedule though, and
I'm sure that the workload in class is going to increase in the next week
or so too, so I should be very well prepared."
"I am glad to hear it." Lucius said as he came into the room with a smirk,
Xerxes just behind him.
"How are you, dear?" Narcissa asked, standing to graciously receive her
husband, giving him a peck on the mouth in greeting.
"Very well, and you, my darling?" He asked, looking her over as if
expecting her to be injured.
"I have been well, though I believe that our Harry has something to tell
you."
"I do?" He questioned, opening his eyes to peer up at his mother, then his
brain caught up with him past the wonderful ministrations of Rabastan's
fingers. "Oh, that."
Lucius quirked an eyebrow and sat himself down next to Narcissa. "Oh
that, what?" He asked silkily.
Harry sighed and he sat up slowly, allowing Rabastan to pull back his
hands. He instead leaned against him.
"I was threatened at the party." He said with a sigh.
"By whom?" Xerxes growled furiously, one large hand clenching tight into
a fist.
"Corban Yaxley." Harry grimaced. "He insisted that I would meet my
death very soon."
"I'll kill him." Xerxes insisted immediately and firmly. Harry knew that it
was no meaningless threat either, Xerxes would literally kill him. "This
has Rhadamanthus written all over it. That little prick has been stirring
trouble up all over, I won't have my family threatened!"
Harry felt all warm inside at hearing that. To know that he was
considered as a part of Xerxes' family, but Rhadamanthus wasn't.
He loved these people, he truly did, and they loved him. Of that, there
was no doubt. They wouldn't have given a damn otherwise, but they did
and it meant the absolute world to him. He held Rabastan closer,
listening to Xerxes and Rodolphus describe the curses that they would
use on Yaxley to 'persuade him to change his mind'. He listened with a
grin, chuckling now and then at a particularly inventive curse or obscure
hex and he enjoyed the company while he had it, because when he did
go back to Hogwarts tomorrow, his workload was going to be absolutely
insane and then the exams would be upon him sooner rather than later
and everything was going to be so chaotic and hectic, but as soon as all
of that was over, he would be looking forward to an entire summer with
Rabastan. It could not come soon enough.
Harry was correct in his assumption that his workload would increase the
closer to the exams that it got. At least he, however, was not suffering
nearly as much as the rest of his year mates, who all seemed to be
drowning under endless homework and study.
Harry had less homework, true, but he was packing in more study and
revision to make up for it. He was not going to allow his illness to ruin
his education, he might be on a lighter workload, but he was going to
have exactly the same exams to sit come the end of May.
He had become an almost permanent resident in the library. He was
poring over books and all of his past notes trying to force his brain to
perfectly memorise the information as he tested Draco, as Draco tested
Blaise, and Blaise tested Theo, who would then test Harry in a large,
circular conversation of questions and answers and rather high tempers
and sharp words.
Harry had to set reminders to take his potions, to eat, and even to get
himself into bed so that he didn't stay awake all night reading. Lucius, at
least, had been right about how many books he had picked out…he had
barely cracked open the cover of the first book that he'd chosen to read
yet. He just didn't have the time for recreational reading with all of the
revision that he was packing into his day. Thankfully, there would be
plenty of time after his exams, while the younger years were taking their
exams and the older students were left mostly to themselves, to recover
from the burnout caused by the first year of their NEWT exams and the
extensive revision they had all done in preparation for them.
During all of this revision and exam preparation, he had forgotten almost
completely that he'd sent Kreacher to steal the sword of Gryffindor, so
when the old, sagging elf came into his rooms late at night in early May,
he very nearly gave Harry a heart attack.
"Kreacher, what is it?" He asked, one hand pressed to his chest in alarm.
"Kreacher has done as Master instructed. The sword is at Grimmauld
Pla…"
"Well done, Kreacher!" Harry said happily, excitedly. "Remember to tell
no one of this, okay?" Harry told him with a grin. "Go on, off you go.
Make sure that no one finds the sword."
Kreacher nodded, looking a little strangely at him for the praise, but he
did as asked. As soon as he was gone, Harry was writing a quick note to
Lucius, warning him that the house might be searched and he would
explain in detail, in person. He wrote another note to Draco, as a
precaution, as he might be searched too.
"Pimsey!" He called out a little desperately, hoping that she would come
quickly. As soon as that sword was found missing, Dumbledore would
come straight to him.
"Young Master called for Pimsey?" She asked curiously, even as she
curtseyed to him.
"Take this directly to my father and tell him that it is of the utmost
urgency." Harry said, handing the note to him. "Tell him that I'll be in
contact soon asking for him to come to the school, but to await my owl."
He said. "Do you understand?"
"Yes, young Master." Pimsey curtseyed again and took the note from him
and she was gone.
Harry breathed deeply. "Dobby!"
"Master Harry Potter, Sir calls for Dobby! Dobby is honoured, Sir." The
exuberant elf greeted him.
Harry smiled and settled Dobby down.
"I need you to take this note to Draco, okay? He won't harm you, just
give him the note and then leave, you don't need to wait for him to reply,
or for him to even say anything if you don't wish to. Do you understand?"
"Yes, Sir!"
"Not a word of this to anyone, Dobby, do you hear me?"
"Yes, Master Harry Potter, Sir."
Harry nodded and handed over the hastily scrawled note to Dobby and
sent him off. He then sat back and he laughed. He calmed himself and
then let the feelings of accomplishment wash over him. He had his
bargaining chip, he had the information on the Horcruxes and possibly
what they were, now he just needed a good enough reason to use it.
He went back to his revision and he waited, acting as natural as possible,
trying not to let his heart hammer a tunnel through his ribcage. He
calmed down a little the longer it went without anyone blasting down his
door and he was able to regain control of himself and carry on with his
revision. He couldn't believe that his idea to use Kreacher to steal the
sword had actually worked. Now the sword was safely hidden in
Grimmauld Place and his plan had actually worked. He truly couldn't
believe his luck.
At eleven at night, he had put things off as much as he could, so he
started getting himself ready for bed. He took his nutrient potion as usual
and he settled himself into bed. Even if anyone did come asking him
questions now, he would be in no state to answer them.
Albus felt old and weary. He had come to his office and he had seen
immediately that the sword of Gryffindor was gone. He had asked the
portraits, he had asked the elf who had cleaned his office, but he had no
luck with them. The portraits hadn't heard anything, they hadn't seen
anything. The elf insisted that the sword had been there when it had
cleaned the office, as it had buffed the pedestal that the sword was kept
on.
He had gently probed into the elf's memories and it was telling the truth,
it had buffed the pedestal and the sword was there. It had gone missing
between nine in the night when the elf had cleaned his office, and half-
past ten at night, when he had come back to his office.
He had called Severus and Minerva to his office and he'd informed them
of what had happened and he watched their faces as they considered who
could have done such a thing.
"I don't understand, Albus, who would have wanted it? Who would have
done this?" Minerva asked.
Albus sighed tiredly as his mind once again went to the one person who
might have done this. Harry Potter's face came to mind. Harry who
would know where the sword was. Harry who was one of the small
number of people who had been to the office since the sword had been
displayed. Indeed, on their last meeting, he had indicated towards it and
he'd told the boy that it was one of the treasures that Voldemort would
be hunting…perhaps he had let slip to young Draco, who had told his
father, who had then gotten orders for Harry to take it. Harry did still
have his invisibility cloak, no one would have seen him.
"I fear that it was Harry who has taken it."
"Potter?" Minerva gasped. "He might have had an attitude shift in the last
year, Albus, but he would never have done this!" She said sternly.
"I agree with Minerva." Severus said silkily. "Potter has been better
behaved this year than any of his previous years. He has done nothing to
warrant suspicion and he has not been meddling or poking around in
things that aren't his business this year."
"Harry is the only one who comes to mind." Albus said. "I must speak
with him and see."
"It is half-past eleven at night, Albus!" Minerva said shocked. "Potter is
not a well boy, he needs to sleep and rest."
"Surely it can wait for the morning." Severus added.
"He will have had time to hide the sword if he has taken it if we wait. It
needs to be now."
He left his office, aware that Minerva and Severus were following him.
"You cannot be serious, Albus! Potter needs his sleep." Minerva said
sternly, hurrying along beside him.
"It has to be now." He repeated more firmly.
Harry's private rooms were on the fourth floor, so he had plenty of time
to think about what he was going to say, and to convince his mind that it
was Harry who had taken the sword, and for him to convince Severus
and Minerva that he was not going to change his mind about waking up
Harry at nearly midnight on a school night.
He stopped in front of the portrait guarding Harry's rooms and he started
knocking, gently at first and then getting louder and louder as it went
longer without the door opening.
"He is asleep." Minerva told him furiously. "We still don't know what he's
taking or for what ailment, for all we know he could be on sleeping
potions!"
Albus didn't reply, instead, he knocked harder. The three of them heard a
clatter and a groan from inside the room and then the door was opened
to reveal the dishevelled form of Harry Potter, who looked dreadful with
his hair plastered to his head as if he had taken a shower and his sleeping
shirt plastered to his front, wet marks visible through the material.
Dazed and confused looking, Harry swiped his dripping face with his arm
and peered blearily at them through his wonky, hastily put on glasses.
"'Fessor?" He slurred. "S'matter? Did I ove'sleep?"
"You have not overslept, Potter. It is almost midnight." Minerva told him
rather gently, visibly shocked and concerned at his appearance and
demeanour.
Harry blinked at them, they could almost see his mind trying to make
sense of the words. He even mouthed them slightly.
"Has some…something happened?" He asked. "Draco?"
"Nothing has happened to young Mister Malfoy." Severus told him.
"May we come in, Harry?" Albus asked.
They watched as Harry forced himself to understand the words, the effort
almost passing like physical pain over his face.
"Yes. Yes, 'course." Harry said and he pushed open the door and let them
in.
They watched as he stumbled and wobbled his way to his two settees, set
opposite one another with a coffee table between them. There were
stacks of parchment, a dozen folders, and several books spread all over
the coffee table.
"Here, sit down, Potter." Minerva said concernedly as Harry led them to
the settees.
Harry almost fell into the seat and he actually grunted. It was as he was
sat down that they noticed that his body was shaking, almost violently
enough to be called convulsing.
"You are feverish, Potter, do you need to see Madam Pomfrey?" Minerva
asked as she sat beside him, able to feel the heat coming from him, even
at a distance.
Harry shook his head. "No. No 'Fessor, this is…it's normal after 'fect of…
of…"
"Of one of the potions that you're on?" Minerva finished for him as Harry
struggled to string a sentence together.
"We are sorry to wake you up at such a late hour, but it was necessary."
Albus started, then became aware that both Minerva and Severus turned
to glare at him.
"Are…are mother, father okay?" He asked.
"They're fine, Potter." Severus told him. "This is about something entirely
different."
"The sword of Gryffindor has gone missing from my office this evening."
Albus said, then he watched Harry's reaction closely.
It took a moment for the words to sink in, and then Harry's eyes
narrowed in confusion.
"Who…who would want that?" He asked with a frown.
"You remember where it was?"
"'Course, sir. On the top shelf of your office, next to the Sorting Hat. Saw
it…it when we were having those meetings."
"The case was enchanted, but still someone managed to take it."
Albus watched as Harry's confused face wrinkled as he mumbled under
his breath, trying to figure out what was being said. Then dawning
understanding blossomed, and then his eyes widened.
"Me?!" He said in a voice that actually broke, like a young boy going
through puberty. "You think it was me?! Why would I…I take it?!" He
demanded, trying to come across as indignant, but falling rather short as
his voice wavered, his hands shook and a bead of sweat rolled down from
his forehead into his eye, making him squint.
He swiped angrily at his forehead, but the sweat that he had removed
with his sleeve was immediately replaced with more droplets that rolled
down his face.
"Do you need a drink, Potter?" Minerva asked him gently.
Harry frowned some more, his mind obviously not dealing well with the
abrupt change of conversation.
"Tea, I should have offered you all tea!" He said frantically, going to
stand back up.
"No one wants tea, Potter." Severus snapped, taking out his wand and
turning a scrap piece of parchment on the table into a glass and then,
with a simple spell, he conjured a jet of clear water from his wand tip
into the glass before handing it over.
"Mother would be…be furious at my lack of manners." Harry said before
he gulped the water, trying desperately not to spill it as his shaking hand
threatened to throw the water all over himself.
"I am sure that she would be more concerned with your delicate health."
Severus insisted.
"We do not think that you have the sword, we are merely asking if you
have seen it or know of who would want it." Dumbledore said, getting
Harry back onto the train of thought of the sword.
Again Albus got glares from the other two Professors, but Harry nodded
as if it made complete sense.
"I don't know why…why anyone would want…want…" Harry stopped
speaking, frowning. "Want a manky old sword." He finally finished. "It's
not like wizards walk with them…them on their hips anymore. They're
not even allowed in duels anymore, Draco was telling me."
"When did Draco tell you as such?" Albus persisted.
"In…October." Harry managed to get out. "Hallo…Halloween. He was
telling me 'bout traditions of duelling on Halloween. He said that duelling
used to include swords."
"May we search your rooms?"
"'Course!" Harry agreed immediately, then he frowned as he realised what
was being said. "You said I wasn't…wasn't a suspect!" He accused.
"It's just precautionary, Harry. Nothing to worry about." He said jovially,
but his suspicions had lessened since he had arrived here. His mind had
already jumped to others who might have taken the sword instead.
Harry wasn't in any fit state to hold a conversation, he was confused and
dazed, if he had taken the sword, then he would have blurted something
out by accident by now, or he would have thought of it, but his forefront
thoughts were as jumbled as his speech. He was thinking mostly about
homework and revision, what he had obviously been doing before he'd
gone to sleep from the stacks of notes and revision work on the coffee
table. Then he would think of Lucius and Narcissa, then Draco, then
Remus, then his mind would wander to his bed. It did that often. The
poor boy was clearly exhausted and in need of sleep.
A quick summoning spell with his wand and nothing even moved in
Harry's neat and tidy rooms, a revealing spell (just in case Harry had put
an anti-summoning charm upon the sword) showed absolutely nothing
and a, rather questionable, trace curse showed that the sword had never
been in these rooms before. He sighed wearily.
"Are you satisfied now?" Minerva demanded of him as she all but held up
the clearly unwell boy.
"I apologise for waking you up, dear boy."
"'So…'sokay." Harry murmured softly, his eyes fluttering against his
control as he jerked himself more upright in an attempt to keep his body
awake. "You…you had to be sure." He slurred. "Hope you find…find it
soon and catch who took…took it."
"Oh, I am sure that I will. Are you quite alright, Harry?"
Harry blinked at him and swiped his forehead yet again, the fourth time
within as many minutes.
"Yes, Sir. This is normal for…for the nutrient potion." He said.
Albus almost smiled triumphantly as he broke a part of the puzzle that
had been bothering him for a while now.
"You are on others too?" He queried.
He had hoped for Harry to tell him the other potions, there was at least
one more than he knew of, as he had seen Harry taking two different
potions, one with his breakfast and one at lunch, but he didn't know if
the potion affecting him now was a different one or one of the two that
he had seen Harry take, but Harry just nodded, then his eyes fluttered
again and Minerva had had enough.
"This has gone on long enough, Albus." She said. "Potter is clearly unwell
and in need of rest!"
He nodded unhappily. Harry was much more open at the moment than
he'd been all year, but he couldn't be seen to be keeping a clearly ill
student out of bed when he'd resolved the reason he had been here in the
first place.
"Yes, we shall leave you now, Harry." He said happily.
"I'll get you tea." Harry said in a slur, making to stand up again.
"No, Potter, we're leaving." Minerva told him. "You are to go to bed."
"Bed, 'Fessor?" He asked. "Is it not morning?"
"No, Potter…Harry." Minerva said as gently as she could. "It is still night-
time, you are to go back to bed."
"Oh. Okay." He agreed with no fuss.
They watched him stumble and wobble his way to a door in the back
wall that led to his bedroom and the three Professors stayed stunned for a
moment, rooted to the spot, while things went quiet and calm in the
rooms.
"We had best leave." Albus said as he turned to the door and preceded the
other two out of the rooms.
Severus was the last one out of the rooms and he turned his back to the
other two to close the door and he couldn't help but give a smirk as he
took a moment for himself before he closed the door. Potter really was
far too clever under the influence of the Malfoys. He was most definitely
a force to be reckoned with.
Harry heard the door to his rooms shut and he peeked around the door
into his living room. Seeing it empty he threw his head back and he
laughed.
He walked back out and sat on his settee and moved around his notes
and revision work. That had gone so much better than he'd planned. He
hadn't expected McGonagall or Snape to come and interrogate him as
well, though to be fair they didn't seem to have liked the idea of waking
up poor, severely sick Potter, either.
He had fooled them, bar Snape, completely. Though Snape would have
known immediately that he was playing a part, because he would have
known exactly what side effects the nutrient potion would have and
bumbling around like a fool wasn't one of them.
He grinned, incredibly self-satisfied with himself as he took a moment to
gloat to himself about how well that had gone. He had seen straight away
when he'd opened the door that he was the number one suspect, but the
further into the 'discussion' it had gotten he had actually seen
Dumbledore trying to work out who else might have been able to steal
the sword, or who else might have wanted to steal the sword.
Now, to make things convincing, and because he was not going to be able
to sleep with the night sweats now that he was actually awake, he was
going to pull an all-nighter, or as much of an all-nighter as he could. He
might go back and get a few hours' sleep in the early hours, but he knew
that it wouldn't be enough and that was what he was counting on.
He summoned one of his new books that he'd barely had a minute to read
since he'd bought it and he opened it to where he'd left off, several pages
into chapter two, and he started reading again. He could feel the sweat
slick up his legs and back unpleasantly as his fever raged on. He was
going to need a quick rinse off before he tried to go back to sleep. Not
that it would do much good as the sweat he'd get rid of would be back
again within several minutes, but hopefully, that would be enough time
for him to get back to sleep.
At four in the morning, he'd had a quick, cool shower and he was back in
bed. He was so tired that he did actually manage to fall asleep before the
sweating started again. A major plus in his grand scheme of things as he
did actually want a few hours of sleep, and that was what he got.
He was woken up when Draco came bursting through his bedroom door
and shook him awake.
"Harry, what is going on?" Draco asked him as Harry blearily opened his
eyes.
"Uh?"
Harry groped his bedside table for his glasses and prodded them onto his
nose.
"Time's it?" He asked sleepily as he felt half dead and like he hadn't
gotten a single moment of sleep.
"It's almost quarter to nine." Draco said urgently. "Lessons start in fifteen
minutes, you haven't eaten, you haven't showered. Come on!"
Harry cursed and sat up, threw off the covers and he went into his
bathroom for the quickest shower in history as Draco set out his uniform
for him.
"I brought you some toast, hurry up so you can eat something!" Draco
shouted through the door.
Harry jumped out of the shower and a quick spell had him dry again. He
pulled on the boxer briefs he'd taken into the bathroom with him, before
going out into his bedroom and he forced his sluggish limbs into his
uniform and took the toast from Draco, eating it in several huge bites and
swallowing it painfully as Draco did his tie for him and fixed his collar.
He got a glass of pumpkin juice to take his potion with instead of his
usual morning tea.
"What is going on?" Draco asked him again. "What was that note you sent
me about? Why have you slept so late?"
"Dumbledore came interrogating me at midnight last night, he woke me
up and I couldn't sleep afterwards with the night sweats."
"What did he want?" Draco demanded furiously as he watched Harry
throw back the potion and then drain his juice.
"The sword of Gryffindor has gone missing and he blamed me!"
"Did you take it?" Draco asked him seriously.
"Of course, I didn't take it!" Harry insisted. "I was revising all bloody
night, I took my nutrient potion and I went to sleep. I had Kreacher take
it for me. I'm writing to father, there's no way he can do such a thing."
Draco just stared at him. "Why would you even want it?" He demanded in
a hiss.
"That, I'm afraid, is of no importance to you. I'll tell you what I've done
with it afterwards, just know it'll be used to protect our family. I needed
it as a bargaining chip."
"Against who?" Draco asked him.
Harry shook his head and picked up his book satchel. "You would rather
not know, Draco. Like I didn't tell you about Greyback. You don't need to
know this. Come on."
Harry forced his feet into his shoes, took the apple that Draco gave him
and bit into it, hurrying after his brother to their first lesson. They were
already late, though by an incredible stroke of luck they had
Transfiguration first.
They walked in almost fifteen minutes late and Harry didn't even need to
do anything to make himself look tired or sluggish, because he was tired
and sluggish. Today was going to be incredibly long and exhausting,
almost as bad as the Wizengamot party itself, though putting up with the
aftermath of that…all the articles on him, the magazines that had
scrutinised everything he was wearing, to how he wore his hair and how
bright his smile was, then there were the newspaper opinions of everyone
he had met, who he had shaken hands with or exchanged words with,
but more importantly, who he hadn't shaken hands with or spoken to. His
handshake and chat with the Minister had been front-page news. Then
there were the other students to deal with too, asking him to sign their
cut out pictures of him, thrusting pages of himself smiling and looking so
good in his dress robes from Witch Weekly. It took every ounce of
willpower not to snatch the pictures and tear them up. He ignored
anyone who dared ask for an autograph and he just shooed away the
other students impatiently.
"I'm so sorry, Professor, I didn't wake up in time and Draco had to drag
me out of bed. We do apologise for being so late."
"Take your seats, the both of you." Professor McGonagall told them with
no fuss or fanfare. She actually looked rather concerned herself. Harry's
little over-exaggeration had worked a treat and he had successfully
removed the suspicion from himself. Now, he just needed to keep it that
way.
It was more difficult to pretend that he was innocent when he actually
wasn't. He was watched closely, so very closely. He tried to carry on as
normally as he possibly could, but sometimes he would feel the weight of
a heavy, assessing gaze upon him and he would know that he was once
again being scrutinised. It was clear to him that none of Dumbledore's
other 'suspects' had panned out either, of course not, he was the actual
culprit, or rather Kreacher was, but still, it had been on his orders. It was
very unnerving to feel that he was being watched constantly.
He carried on with his lessons as normal, acting as if the missing sword
gave him absolutely no trouble and like he gave no thought to it after the
little night-time visit. He spent time with Draco, Blaise, Theo, Astoria,
and Luna. He avoided Ron, Ginny, Hermione, and Neville too. Poor
Neville who was always sat on his own and always trying to hail him to
talk to him. Neville whose parents were lying in hospital beds on a closed
ward, and would always remain so, thanks to the man that Harry loved
more than anyone else.
He didn't often think of the things that Rabastan had done in his youth,
of what had landed him in Azkaban in the first place, and led to the state
of decrepitude that he was slowly healing from, but when he did, it was
always with a heavy heart and a complete lack of understanding. He
couldn't see the man he loved and match him with his actions of the past.
So in a way, he was willingly and deliberately misconstruing the
personality of Rabastan, because he didn't really want to think about it.
He didn't want to think of Rabastan standing over Frank and Alice
Longbottom, torturing them gleefully with his brother, an associate, and
sister-in-law on the merest whim. On the false, hinted rumour that they
knew where Voldemort was after his failed attack on Harry himself.
So he avoided poor Neville and quickened his steps if he saw him or
heard him calling out to him from behind. The one time he had been
cornered, he had brusquely excused himself and insisted that he had no
time to talk as he had pressing matters to attend to. He felt so much guilt
in shutting Neville down in this manner, but what else was he supposed
to do? He didn't want to hurt Neville, but the hurt of being brushed off
now would seem insignificant to the hurt that Neville would feel when it
emerged that Harry was going to be married to Rabastan Lestrange, one
of his parents' attackers. That hurt would be significantly increased if
Harry pretended now to be his friend and confidant and it would be
accompanied by a huge sense of betrayal too, that he, Harry, had known
that he would be married to Rabastan, that he was actually willing to
marry him still and was deeply in love with him, when he had known
what Rabastan had done while he still smiled brightly and gave advice
and help and a comforting friendship to Neville. He couldn't. He just
couldn't do it, he was not so cruel and callous as to force Neville to like
him, to be his friend, only to betray him in such a heartless manner later
on.
No, this was most definitely for the best. Neville would get the hint soon
enough, then one day, it would all become clear to him why Harry had
abandoned him when he had done nothing wrong, when he had only
been trying to help and had been trying to stop the other members of
Gryffindor from stealing his belongings once more, as Harry was not
naïve enough to believe that he could keep his chosen husband a secret
forever. He was not so naïve that he believed that he would have to keep
him a secret forever because one day Voldemort would come out of the
shadows and all his convicted Death Eaters would be free to walk around
in public, given a full pardon for their past crimes and they would all be
allowed to pursue their lives henceforth. Which meant that Harry's
marriage to Rabastan would become public knowledge. He was not
ashamed of his love. He was not ashamed of Rabastan, who was not the
arrogant boy who had gone into Azkaban, because that place had
changed him. It had ripped the very core from him, reshaped it, tore it
apart over and over, for fifteen long, agonising years. Rabastan was not
the same person, but that did not excuse his past behaviours. Though
Harry believed fully that Rabastan, and Rodolphus, had both paid their
dues. He believed that all people deserved a second chance, a clean slate
in which to start again. Was he so naïve as to believe that they would
never do it all again if it was ordered of them? No. But he did believe
that they would not do as such for mere fun or take such pleasure in their
actions this time around, not like when they'd been young, handsome,
arrogant boys.
Azkaban had stripped them of all of that. Of their youth and health, of
their good looks and tight, muscular bodies, of their arrogance and
haughtiness. They were no longer so cocky or reckless. They now
understood the value of patience, of planning, and it made them all the
more dangerous and effective. He did not want to see the day when they
were declared fit and healthy enough to actively take part in Voldemort's
vile assassinations and missions once more, but the day was fast
approaching as they both made leaps and bounds in their recoveries. He
knew better than to even ask Rabastan to not take part, not only would
he get a flat out refusal, which would hurt him and their relationship, but
it would also endanger Rabastan's life if he ever did refuse Voldemort's
orders. He had known fully what he was getting himself into, he had
known who Rabastan Lestrange was and what he had done before he'd
met him for the first time, he had no leg to stand on in this issue, as he
had accepted Rabastan regardless. He could not now try to change him.
He was almost glad of the distraction that came in the form of the last
round of Quidditch matches. Today, Hufflepuff played Slytherin, giving
the students some much-needed relief from the loom of the approaching
exams. It was almost like the calm before the storm. Next week,
Gryffindor played Ravenclaw in the last match of the year, deciding the
Quidditch cup winners, right before the exams struck the older years,
starting with the sixth and seventh years taking their NEWTs in the last
week of May, then progressing down to the fifth years taking their OWLs
and the fourth years preparing for their OWLs in the first week of June,
then to the three younger years, whose exams were held in separate
classrooms in the second week of June. The week after that would be the
end of term, Harry was counting down the days anxiously.
He was sat, watching as Draco and Blaise played against Hufflepuff,
green against yellow. Astoria was to one side of him, Theo to the other,
and all three of them were cheering, wearing Slytherin colours. It was no
longer cold enough to wear hats or scarves, so Harry had borrowed
(without asking) one of Draco's robes and ties. The nice green and silver
combination really brought out his eyes. Astoria had already wrangled a
photo of him wearing it.
"I hate watching as a spectator." Harry complained as he tried not to
shout out encouragement from the stands. He wouldn't be heard anyway,
not with the speed at which everyone was travelling. He never heard the
crowd when he played either, only bits and fragments when he stopped
for a moment to scout out the snitch.
"You're a sideline player." Theo teased. Harry took that saying as the
equivalent of being a back seat driver and he nodded.
"I can't help it, I want to scream at them to move, or to pass, or I want to
grab Draco's head and turn it forcibly to where the snitch is just
hovering, right there!" He huffed, pointing to where he could see the
fluttering glint of gold that neither Seeker had spotted yet. "I'd have had
this game won and over with by now and we'd all be back to revising."
"Maybe that's not such a good thing." Theo laughed. "We need this one
morning to just wind down a little."
Harry chuckled and nodded his head in understanding. "Perhaps, but I
have to play next week, just a week before the exams. I think we'll all be
begging for a short match then. I hope it doesn't last longer than an hour,
it will completely mess up my revision schedule."
Theo snorted, but he said nothing about it. Likely because it was true.
None of them would want a dragged out match just a week before their
exams started.
Three players zoomed right over their heads and Astoria ducked down
quickly, on principle, and it was automatic for Harry, a completely
natural response, to put an arm out over her, just in case. It was not
uncommon for spectators to be injured at Quidditch matches, either by
the players, an off-course bludger, a misthrown quaffle, or even other
items, such as a Beater letting go of their bat or even a shoe or broken
bits of broomstick. It was always better to be safe and to take precautions
when watching a match.
The game progressed, with Slytherin and Hufflepuff being particularly
evenly matched. Blaise was doing well to score so many goals, but he
seemed to be the only one on the attack. Urquhart, the Slytherin captain,
was screaming himself hoarse at fellow Chaser, Vaisey, but still, he was
just drifting lazily around rather than taking part in the match. It came as
no surprise to Harry when five minutes later Urquhart called for a time
out and substituted the distracted Vaisey.
Hufflepuff had a new gameplay too, a new form of attack, and not two
minutes into play after the time out, Blaise was knocked from his broom
by a well-placed bludger. He toppled to the grass below and he did not
move. It took every ounce of self-control for Harry not to scream or
immediately rush to him. Beside him, Astoria gasped and Theo sucked in
a deep breath.
"He'll be alright." Harry insisted, reassuring them both. "It wasn't a high
fall, he'll be taken to the hospital wing and we will collect Draco and go
and see him after the match. Then we can spoil him with attention and
sweets."
"He's not moving." Astoria fretted.
"He is likely to be unconscious, which is a blessing if he has any broken
bones, but look, the assistants are coming to get him now." He pointed
out the two seventh years who would be thinking of becoming healers.
They would help out in the hospital wing and learn a few basics from
Madam Pomfrey to test themselves a little. There were always a few
willing to help injured Quidditch players to the hospital wing during the
matches.
Blaise was taken away, but Slytherin were shaken, and with the re-
introduction of Vaisey to the pitch to replace Blaise, things went from
bad to worse. They could see Urquhart shouting, getting redder in the
face as Vaisey and the substitute failed to pick up the slack left by Blaise's
absence. It was a very large absence too, as he had scored eighty per cent
of Slytherin's goals, and without him, it left just Urquhart as the only
other goal scorer.
None of the team could really concentrate after Blaise's injuries, knowing
that he was in the hospital wing, so it came as no surprise when
Hufflepuff started scoring more and more, catching up to Slytherin,
denting the gap that Blaise had worked so hard to give his team.
It took just fifteen minutes for Hufflepuff to catch up and then surpass
Slytherin in points, Draco seemed entirely distracted too, likely thinking
about poor Blaise, but Harry willed him to push it from his mind
momentarily, to put it aside until after the match. Blaise would be fine,
Harry had been through enough injuries while at Hogwarts to know that
Madam Pomfrey could work miracles. Blaise was in good hands.
When it seemed like Slytherin would actually lose this match, and they
had fallen eighty points behind Hufflepuff, Draco suddenly soared off to
the one side. It took Harry a moment to locate the snitch, dancing in
front of Draco's outstretched fingertips. He was on his feet, jumping and
cheering for him as Hufflepuff's Seeker tried to catch up, as their Beaters
tried to take out Draco before he caught the golden snitch, but they failed
and a moment later Draco was pulling up, the small, walnut-sized ball
clutched tight in his fist. Slytherin had won…barely, by the smallest of
margins, but still, they had won.
The three of them spent a few minutes celebrating, as the Slytherin team
celebrated their win, and then the crowds started dispersing. Harry,
Theo, and Astoria went down to the pitch, instead of going back to the
castle, so that they could wait for Draco.
He came out rather quickly, his broom over his shoulder. He didn't say
much, but he did greet Astoria with a quick, chaste kiss. He took her
hand in his own, the one that wasn't holding his broom. The four of them
made their way to the hospital wing in worried silence.
They needn't have bothered as Blaise was sat up in bed and he had
chocolate and sweet tea in front of him on a tray.
"Did we win?" Was the very first thing he asked when he noticed them
enter, his face serious and ardent.
"We won." Draco said reassuringly, and Blaise exhaled deeply in relief.
"Just barely, everything went to pot when we lost you. Urquhart had to
bring Vaisey back on."
"Why was he so distracted?" Harry asked.
Astoria snorted inelegantly. "A girl he was seeing is pregnant. His father
has promised that if the baby is his, he'll be forced to marry her and he
doesn't like her that much. He much prefers his betrothed, but she insists
on remaining untouched until she's married, yet she's a terrible flirt and
tease, so he takes his…pleasures elsewhere. He must have gotten careless.
He is praying that that baby isn't his so that he can keep his betrothal
with the woman he prefers, and not be forced to marry a girl he was just
using."
Harry imagined Rabastan sleeping with someone else while they were
engaged and his blood boiled hot. The very thought of Rabastan insulting
and disrespecting him while being tied and committed to him made him
want to rage.
"She actually still wants him after this?" Harry demanded.
"It's a common practice." Blaise explained from his bed. "A man will take
his pleasures elsewhere and his intended will look the other way until
they are married."
"Yet she will be expected to remain a virgin, like I am?" He seethed.
"That's right." Draco said easily, not understanding.
"That's bullshit." Harry burst out. He startled the other three, who all
turned to look at him.
"What is it? Are you alright?" Draco asked.
"No, I'm not!" Harry raged. "What sort of male-orientated privilege are
you sprouting? Why does the woman of the marriage, or the bearer in my
case, have to remain a virgin? Yet their partner can just swan off and
fuck who he wants, but it's okay as long as he doesn't get anyone
pregnant!"
"It's only enforced in a small percentage of cases, Harry." Astoria told him
gently, laying a soft hand on his arm. "In modern day it is overlooked if
the 'bride' isn't a virgin. Only very few people actually insist that they are
in a formal contract. The practise is dying out."
Harry breathed angrily, almost wheezing like a wounded rhino.
"That anyone still insists upon it is a disgrace! It should be a fucking
choice!"
"What makes you think that just because a woman is a virgin that she
doesn't have a choice?" Astoria demanded. "I'm still a virgin and I have
chosen to remain so. That was my choice."
Harry breathed to calm himself. "Was it insisted of you?"
"Have you met my sister?" Astoria said cattily. "Do you think that we
would have had separate contracts? It was not insisted of me, but I have
chosen to remain as such regardless. You shouldn't stereotype people,
Harry. Just because they are virgins, does not mean it is being forced on
them."
"I think you're misunderstanding, Astoria." Draco said gently. "He isn't
having a go at anyone who's a virgin or has chosen to remain so of their
own free will, he's a virgin himself and has chosen to remain so until his
wedding night. He's talking about those who are forced, possibly against
their will, to remain virgins until they are married. Harry has an issue
with the gender inequality between men and women, where a woman is
forced to remain chaste and untouched, yet her intended partner can do
as he pleases with whomever and father children on them. I believe that
he's right in this opinion. It's not fair."
Harry nodded tightly in agreement. "I am being forced by the Lestranges
to remain pure. It's part of the contract that I had to sign. It's a moot
point as I'd never want to do anything with anyone other than Rabastan,
but that wasn't enough for them. My word wasn't enough and they
recently tested me with Veritaserum to make sure that I hadn't so much
as touched anyone else." He said. "They're taking that clause to extremes
and I hate the double standards. There was nothing about Rabastan
remaining pure or being unable to touch anyone else before we were
married written into our contract. Just me."
The other three looked a bit uncomfortable at hearing that.
"They are an ancient pureblooded line and they're big on tradition."
Draco tried to insist.
"I don't care. It should be my choice, no one else's. Regardless of what our
contract states if I ever found out that Rabastan was having sex with
someone else while he and his family are insisting so much on my purity,
I would break our engagement in a heartbeat. If he can be so unthinking,
so uncaring and callous towards me, then I don't want to be married to
him." He said seriously.
"I don't think he would be having sex with anyone else." Draco told him.
"He's focusing so much on his recovery and he loves you so much. He's
utterly devoted to you."
Harry nodded. It was true enough and he had no doubts of Rabastan's
fidelity, but he didn't know if it was through his love for him, or if it was
merely lack of opportunity. He was going to drive himself mad if he
carried on thinking such things, though, so he pushed it aside.
"How are you really, Blaise?" He asked abruptly, but sincerely.
"Fine, I never even broke anything, I just hit my head on the ground
when I fell. I'm being kept here overnight just for observation as I
probably have a concussion, but once I regained consciousness, the
danger lessened."
"I'm glad." Harry smiled, laying a hand over Blaise's covered knee. He was
still wearing his Quidditch robes. "Do you want some things if you're
staying here overnight? Pyjamas, a book, perhaps a favourite teddy
bear?"
Blaise laughed. "Just the pyjamas and some revision work, leave the
teddy on my pillow, he doesn't like being moved."
It was a huge relief hearing Blaise joking around as normal, to hear that
he was going to be fine and released from the hospital wing tomorrow
morning. Quidditch injuries could be very nasty and rather serious, but it
was a miracle that Blaise had escaped without any broken bones and
nothing more than a concussion and likely a few bruises. Where the
bludger had struck him was going to be particularly painful, not to
mention colourful, when the bruise came through, though.
They stayed with Blaise until Madam Pomfrey shooed them out, saying
that Blaise needed his rest, but Draco did go back a little later, with
Blaise's book bag that contained a pair of pyjamas, a change of
underwear, the requested revision work, and a few sneaky sweets hidden
in the bottom with a glass bottle of pumpkin juice.
Harry said his goodbyes to his brother and to Astoria and he went back
to his own rooms, leaving Draco and Astoria to spend a bit of time
together on their own for the afternoon. He knew exactly how awful it
was to constantly have a chaperone, so he refused to put the two through
as such. If Astoria was steadfast in her choice of remaining as a virgin
until her wedding night, then they didn't even need a chaperone, so it
was a waste of his time. Unlike with everyone else when he was with
Rabastan, he didn't care about the two having a good snog together.
Instead, he got some of his revision work out, made himself a cup of tea,
and he settled down in perfect peace to do some work on his own, sat on
the floor against the settee at the coffee table. He tried not to recall the
memory of the recent conversation. He would not doubt Rabastan's love,
and he wouldn't protest the clause in his contract that insisted that he
remain a virgin for his wedding night. There was no one else he would
have wanted to sleep with, no one else he would have given it to, and
once he had entered into a contract, into a relationship, he would never
have been so disrespectful as to sleep around, just as he wouldn't have if
he had not been a virgin upon the signing of his contract. Either way, he
would not have had sex with anyone else while in a relationship, so he
would not protest, but he did think it highly unfair for the partner who
would fall pregnant in the marriage to be held to such standards when
the other partner wasn't.
He breathed deeply to calm himself and he went back to his revision. He
had far too much going on to fret about the unfair terms of his contract
now. He should have done that last summer if he had had any true
trouble with the enforced clause, but again, last summer he had still had
a lot going on and everything was a lot newer back then. He had
struggled just to keep his head above the water, what with learning to
live with the Malfoys, clashing with Draco, learning a whole new set of
behaviours, of expectations and punishments. Then there was learning to
look after his lordships, the family portfolios, the duties to the
Wizengamot, learning how to speak in those meetings so as not to look a
fool. It was a lot of work, a lot of duties to uphold, but now he was more
on an even footing, it was too late. He and Rabastan were now engaged,
their wedding day had been set. It was too late to bitch about the terms
of their contract and though he had agreed to the Veritaserum test,
because he had known that he was still 'pure' as Rodolphus had phrased
it, he still couldn't help but remember Xerxes' look of relief, as if the
other man had expected him to fail.
Harry sighed and tried to push that from his mind too. He was much too
distracted it seemed, he'd never get any revision, or any of his homework,
done at this rate. It did not help that the school owl he had sent off
would be arriving either tonight or tomorrow morning and he would be
expecting his father to come about Dumbledore dragging him out of bed
at midnight to accuse him of theft…it was inconsequential that he had
actually taken the sword, a priceless relic of Godric Gryffindor, for his
own purposes.
Sighing again, much heavier this time, he stood back up and left his
revision where it was. He instead picked up his cup of tea, one of his
recreational books, and he headed to the bathroom for a long, relaxing
soak in the bath. Perhaps he was still taking on too much, regardless that
it seemed that he had gotten better at juggling all his responsibilities. The
portfolios needed to be checked twice a day, just in case, then there was
the new legislation that he was writing up, both for the dramatic change
in creature laws and the one he was doing for the investigation of the
Dementors and their steadfast removal from Azkaban. The latter of which
he was doing with absolutely no help, he might add.
Then there were the meetings with Dumbledore, the discovery of the
Horcruxes and by extension the secret of Voldemort's inhumanity. Then
there was the sword, his bargaining chip, which was now hidden in
Grimmauld Place, he would need to go and check on that too, to make
sure that Remus wouldn't find it. Perhaps if he kept Remus so busy with
decorating then he wouldn't have the time to look in the depths of the
attic for hidden treasures.
He sat himself in the bath, he cracked open his book and he started
reading, letting his mind focus only on the words on the pages, not on
anything else. What was done was now done, and he would have to live
with that, with the choices that he had made, and the things that he had
done. It was too late to change them.
It had taken three days for his owl to reach Lucius Malfoy and his father
immediately took an emergency day off of work to come and visit him.
Harry had been expecting him and he opened the door to his rooms early
on Sunday morning, the eleventh of May, the day after Slytherin's narrow
win over Hufflepuff.
"Good morning, Father."
"Would you care to explain why our home was searched yesterday
afternoon?" Lucius asked as soon as the door was closed behind him.
"I warned you beforehand."
"You did. Thankfully, as I needed that time to ensure that nothing was
amiss and that your letters and gifts from Rabastan were removed from
the house to Lestrange manor. You have piqued the interest of your soon
to be in-laws as well. I believe that we would all like an explanation,
Harry."
"Would you like some tea, Father? This explanation might take a while."
Harry said courteously.
Lucius sighed and he nodded his head curtly before he sat himself on the
settee and laid his cane beside his leg. He took note of all the books and
pieces of parchment spread over the coffee table, which, while never
completely clear, was usually not as messy either. Picking up several
pieces of parchment and rifling through them he realised that it was all
exam revision and he replaced it with a proud smile.
Harry brought over two cups of tea and he took a plate of biscuits that he
had carried over, balanced on his forearm, and he placed it on the table
between them. They each took a sip of their tea and then Lucius turned
right back to business.
"Why were we searched and how did you know of such a thing?"
"I was the cause." Harry admitted immediately. "I took the sword of
Gryffindor and I've hidden it well away from Dumbledore and no one will
be able to find it. Dumbledore immediately suspected me and he actually
dragged me out of bed at midnight!"
"I am aware of such, Severus floo called me to tell me that you had put
on a very good, very convincing show."
Harry chuckled. "It was rather convincing. I even slipped in a little hint of
true information by pretending to let slip about my nutrient potion. It is
the most general of the three that I'm taking and it ties back in with your
adoption of me due to abuse."
"Why did you steal the sword? Why do you need it?"
"It will tie into some of my plans for later." Harry said. "At the moment
I'm still hashing everything out, but I knew that I needed it, so I took it
when the opportunity arose and then removed the blame from myself by
acting more ill than I truly was."
"The search on the house was orchestrated by Dumbledore to look for the
sword." Lucius sighed. "He believed that you would have hidden it at
home."
"I can't believe he'd think that I'd be so dull." Harry giggled.
"You were 'dull', as you say, for taking it in the first place!" Lucius
chastised.
"I needed it!" Harry defended.
"Pray tell, for what purpose?" Lucius demanded. "Why would you need a
sword?"
"I need it as a bargaining chip. It's goblin made, I know for a fact that the
goblins want it back." Harry lied.
"So that rules out one of your vaults as a hiding place." Lucius said
thoughtfully. "You'd never keep it here. So that leaves Grimmauld Place."
Harry rolled his eyes. "If you don't know where it is, you can't be
implicated. If I am caught, there's no reason for me to drag anyone else
down with me, not that I'm going to be caught, of course, but as a
precaution, it's safer not to tell anyone until after the fact."
Lucius sighed, knowing exactly how stubborn his son was, especially
when he believed that he would be protecting those he cared about by
keeping silent.
"I hope that you know what you're doing, Harry."
"I do." Harry told him.
"Good, now tell me more about that old fool and what he did to you.
Severus has already told me as such, but your note said to await your
owl, so I did, now I need to know about what happened from your point
of view."
"Well, I needed to act like nothing was wrong, so I finished off the
revision that I was already doing, got ready for bed and took my nutrient
potion as normal. I had no clue he was going to hammer down my door
at nearly midnight on a school night. I thought that he'd at least wait
until the next morning."
"No, quite what the man was thinking I dread to hear."
"Anyway, I overinflated the side effects of the nutrient potion, of course, I
was already sweating out my body weight and you could feel the fever at
several paces, but I acted so dazed and stupid. McGonagall was definitely
on my side, she was furious!"
"I will inform the governors and I'll drop it in meaningless small talk with
the Minister. With any luck, Dumbledore will not be returning for your
seventh year."
Harry grinned. "Thank you."
"I hope you know what you're doing." Lucius told him again, more
seriously this time.
"I do. I have a plan and so far, it's working out perfectly." Harry said
happily.
"Do try to focus more on your exams than on your schemes and plots,
Harry."
"I will." He said, then he frowned as he thought of something. "What
happens if a meeting is called during an exam?"
"It won't. You have been excluded from the calling list for the duration of
your exams."
Harry let out a relieved sigh.
"Of course, if there are any votes or debates, they will be held off until
you can be there in person. If anything is urgent then it will fall to your
proxy, though as you haven't named one…"
"I have." Harry interrupted with a smile.
"Who have you named? Surely not Draco?"
Harry laughed. "No, I named you."
"It was nice of you to inform me of this decision."
Harry just grinned. Lucius sighed. Sometimes there was no chastising the
boy, he just didn't seem to care and if he had a mind to, he wouldn't let
things bother him. This was one such time and Lucius let it go…he
seemed to be doing that a lot where Harry was concerned.
"How is your revision coming along with your illness?"
"Great. I still have less homework to do than my year mates, though I
have picked up more work for Transfiguration and recently for Potions
too, but I'm still on much less than the others, so I'm packing in more
revision. The exams are a few weeks away now and there have already
been several cases of hysteria and a couple of panic attacks. I can't wait
for them to all be over so I can get in some much-needed rest and
relaxation! Not to mention reading."
"How are you going with those several dozen books that you bought?"
Harry grinned. "Alright, but not as well as I would have liked due to the
exams creeping closer. I've read two and I'm on a third now."
"I'm very impressed. I didn't think you would get through the first book."
Lucius said.
Harry smiled. "I never thought I would either, but I couldn't sleep after I
was woken up by Dumbledore for his little accusational chat, the night
sweats were awful and made it impossible to sleep. So, I stayed up
reading."
Lucius sighed and he drained the rest of his tea. He grabbed his cane and
stood. Harry did the same.
"Let us see if we can't get rid of that meddling old fool with this incident
now." He said.
"I hope so, I've had enough of him interfering with everything." Harry
said.
"I shouldn't think it would be too long. There are quite a few who have
turned against him now in recent months, most of them because of you,
actually."
"Me?" Harry questioned.
"Indeed. You have more fans than you realise. You tell them to jump and
they will do so without question. It is rather galling."
Harry laughed. "If you say so. If it helps me get what I want, I don't really
care that they'll do what I say."
"Of course not." Lucius despaired. "Oh, here, this is from Xerxes. I believe
you greatly amused him with your last letter. Indeed, he could barely
speak through laughing after reading it and he would chortle now and
then as he quilled your reply."
Harry said goodbye to Lucius, taking the proffered letter, and he grinned,
going back to his coffee table as he split the wax on the letter. What he
wouldn't give to be a fly on Dumbledore's wall when Lucius tore him a
new arsehole.
He shook out the letter and read it. Firstly, Xerxes deplored that anyone
had shown him a memory of his younger self. Second, he said that if he
so much as mentioned the threat of detention for his late essay then he
would curse him into a vegetative state and thirdly, he had insisted
firmly that he had not been groomed while in Hogwarts. Apparently,
according to Xerxes, Professor Slughorn had liked to think that he had a
hand in the successes of those who he had invited into his 'Slug Club' of
which Xerxes had been a member, along with all the other boys in that
room. He exchanged connections and 'legs up' for acknowledgement in
the future, including gifts, such as tickets for shows or sporting events,
sweets, invitations to parties or introductions to other important people.
He sounded utterly vile to Harry, and still very manipulative and
parasitical. Far from reassuring him, Xerxes' letter was making Harry
dislike the man he had never met even more, though at least he believed
Xerxes when he insisted that he hadn't been groomed, or anything much
worse and sinister, which was at least a slight weight from his mind.
Unable to concentrate and unable to do anything productive now, Harry
decided to visit Remus and see how well Grimmauld Place was coming
on. It would be a better use of his time to check that the sword was
actually still safe. It might help to cool his anger too, instead of thinking
of a grown man manipulating children into sending him gifts and
invitations.
"Dobby." He called out.
"Master Harry Potter, Sir calls for Dobby."
"Hi, Dobby, can you take me to Grimmauld Place, please? I want to visit
Remus."
"Of course, Sir. Anything for the great, noble Harry Potter, Sir."
Harry tried not to laugh, or roll his eyes, at Dobby's exuberance and
instead he held out his hand and suddenly he found himself in the
kitchen of number twelve and he startled Remus so badly that Harry
heard a cup smash.
"I'm so sorry, Remus!" He said. "I suppose I should stop with these spur of
the moment visits." He laughed.
He couldn't help but notice that Remus hid several documents from his
general view before coming to hug him.
"Nonsense. This is your house, Harry. You can come whenever you like,
though a few moment's warning would likely save my poor heart from
failing. And it would save the china too." He added with a rueful grin as a
wave of his wand repaired the cup and another cleaned up the spilt tea.
Harry grinned, pushing the documents out of his mind for future
thoughts.
"I got so sick of revision, I needed a break, so I decided to come and see
how the decorating was going and so far, this looks amazing!" He said
looking at the bright, clean looking kitchen. It was bright white, with
pale grey accents, just as he'd asked for.
Gone was the grungy table that had to have been centuries old. It was
replaced by an even bigger table that was a lovely pale wood, perhaps
pine, (but Harry was no expert on different woods or how to recognise
them) with several dozen matching chairs.
The counters had been ripped out and replaced, the walls and ceiling had
been freshly painted, the floor was newly tiled and the appliances were
all new too. The only thing that had stayed the same was the large
fireplace, but the brickwork had been scrubbed vigorously until they
were once again red and not soot-stained black.
"It looks incredible in here. I feel like I can eat without catching
something or getting food poisoning! Well done, Remus."
"I can't take the credit for the fireplace." He said, taking note of where he
was looking. "Kreacher came back suddenly and he just started scrubbing
them for 'Master Harry Potter.' I take it you found him after?"
"Yes, the little beast was hiding in Walburga Black's bedroom. He told me
that he'd made a nest of sorts under her bed. I ordered him to dismantle
the nest, to stop hiding and to start help cleaning up."
Remus smiled at that. "Come on, I'll show you the rest of the rooms that
have been done. I don't think they'll be ready in time for the summer
though, Harry."
"That's okay. We're doing our best, or rather you are while I'm in school."
Harry laughed.
"I've been trying to get to the guest bedrooms too, but the main rooms
are taking so long to clean up, then there's ripping out the old furniture
and repainting and getting the new stuff in."
Harry sighed. "Yeah, the main rooms have to come first, then the unused
rooms. The kitchen was the main one for me. Then the living rooms and
drawing rooms, the bathrooms and the hallways. Please tell me that that
troll's leg and the house-elf heads have been removed?"
"They've been removed." Remus said with a grin.
Harry let out an exaggerated breath. "Thank fuc…Merlin."
Remus gave him a look and Harry grinned innocently.
"You are so much like your father, and Sirius's influence must have
rubbed off on you at some point too."
Harry grinned wider. "Good! I'd hate to be too uptight and stuffy,
Professor Lupin."
Remus gave him a grin of his own at that. "Come on, I'll show you
around."
Harry loved the main hallway. It was bright yellow, just as he'd wanted.
It looked so bright that he was almost convinced to shade his eyes. He
grinned.
"This is perfect! Just what I wanted!"
The carpet underfoot was a nice cream colour, charmed to repel dirt and
stains, the ceiling was white, all the light fixtures were gold and the
portrait of Walburga Black was gone.
"Did you have to remove the section of wall?" Harry asked innocently.
"No, I set fire to the portrait, contained it to just that one section and
once the portrait was completely burnt off, I repaired the wall and then
painted it."
Harry laughed. "Thank Merlin she's gone. How does the dining room
look?"
"As per your wishes, it's a little darker, but with the added red you picked
out, it doesn't look dingy or gloomy. I also made sure not to break a
single plate or glass."
Harry walked around the room and he was very happy to see that his
idea of pairing a bright red with a darker wood worked perfectly
together.
It was the same throughout the house, all the hallways were yellow, with
gold and white accents, making it bright and colourful all the way
through. The drawing room, whose curtains had once been filled with
doxies and had had dead puffskeins under the sofa, was now bright blue
and a medium shade of rosewood as an accent.
"I'm going to tear down that tapestry too." Harry said conversationally.
"There's another one in the Black vault that's much more elegant and
beautiful and what's more, it isn't damaged and as the Lord of House
Black, I'm on it."
Remus nodded but otherwise stayed silent as Harry walked around his
house, looking and marvelling at all of the changes.
"Is there anything that you don't like? It can always be changed." Remus
said.
"No, I love it! I don't want to change a thing about the redecorated
rooms." Harry insisted. "When I first came to this monstrosity of a house,
well, I never once believed that there was any redeeming it. I thought it
would just be better to bulldoze it and start again from scratch. Seeing it
like this, I realise that I was wrong. I just wish that Sirius had been alive
to see it like this. It would have made him so much happier."
Remus placed a hand on his shoulder and squeezed comfortingly. Harry
sighed heavily.
"I'd best be getting back. I have a lot of revision to get through. I need to
pass these exams if I have any hope of being a teacher."
"How is…how is Aceline?"
"She's great!" Harry replied happily, glad that Remus was at least trying.
"She's come on so well and her English has really improved, as has my
French, and now that we can understand one another more we're getting
closer. She's so supportive of everything that I do and I told her about
this house as well, how it was being cleaned up and painted and getting
all new furniture."
"Is…are you doing this redecoration for Aceline?" Remus asked him,
shocked.
"Of course! I would have been humiliated to have brought her to this
house and to even contemplate asking her to live here with our children!"
Harry shivered. "No."
"You're going to live here with her?"
"After we marry, of course." Harry insisted. "Until then I'll be living with
her family in France as I do my teaching apprenticeship in Beauxbatons
while waiting for her to graduate. Once I've completed that I'll apply for
a job at Hogwarts, if I get that then we can transfer our lives back over to
Britain and I can move in here with her and any children that we'll have
at that time. So I might have to start converting some bedrooms into
child-friendly versions, not to mention set up a nursery too, but that can
wait until all the main rooms are finished, they are more important for
now. We have another three years at least until any children start
appearing."
"Is Aceline's favourite colour yellow, by any chance?" Remus asked
wearily.
"It is, how did you know?" Harry asked, trying not to laugh at the
thought of Rabastan's favourite colour being bright, sunshine yellow. His
favourite colour was green…the exact shade of green as Harry's eyes, to
be precise.
"Just a feeling." Remus said weakly.
"Thank you so much for all that you've done here, Remus! It's actually
beautiful now. How I would have imagined it would have looked in its
heyday, at the peak of its prime, when this area was well to do and
coveted highly. Before it all went to rack and ruin."
"Anything for you, Harry." Remus told him and Harry gave him a hug
before calling Dobby to take him back to Hogwarts.
It was only when he was safely back in the castle and Dobby left that
Harry allowed his mind to drift to the parchment documents that Remus
had quickly hidden from his sight.
"Kreacher." He called out.
"Master calls for old Kreacher." The elf warbled as he appeared in front of
him.
"Yes, Kreacher. I want you to do something else for me now. Something
that requires stealth, silence and for you to remain invisible."
"What would Master have of poor, old Kreacher?"
"I want you to spy on the Order of Phoenix meetings that go on at
number twelve Grimmauld Place." Harry said firmly. "I want you to listen
to all of them, document exactly who was there and what they each say.
Am I clear?"
"Yes, Master." Kreacher said, a lot happier now that he knew that he
wouldn't have to steal anything else from highly warded rooms.
"After each meeting ends, you will bring the information to me when I'm
alone, alright?"
"Yes, Master." Kreacher answered.
"Thank you, Kreacher." Harry said, dismissing the elf.
He sat back on one of his settees and he lost himself in his thoughts. He
should have done this a long time ago. Kreacher had been his from the
very moment of Sirius' death. He had known that the Order was still
meeting at Grimmauld Place, he should have thought sooner to have
Kreacher spy upon them for him. Because of that error, he had missed
out on almost a year's worth of meetings, a year's worth of information.
He sighed, there was nothing to be done for it now. He'd just have to
hope that the information that Kreacher would bring him from now on
would be enough for him to glean the Order's plans from.
After all, if he knew what his enemies on all sides of him were doing, it
would be a hell of a lot easier to counter their attacks, to manoeuvre his
own plans through their own defences and to have a heads up on
anything that he needed to know, such as anyone getting close to finding
his Fiancé, any plans to attack or humiliate his parents, or any plans
involving himself.
He truly should have thought to have done such a thing sooner, maybe
then he wouldn't have been caught off guard by Bill appearing in the
Wizengamot and he might have been able to handle his sudden
appearance better, but he did have a lot going on, he just hadn't thought
to do as such, but at least the sword was still safe and hidden and it
didn't seem likely that Remus would have the time to even look in the
attic, let alone find the hidden sword in it. The redecoration was going
really well, but there was still a lot more left to do. He would need to
find a safer, more secure place for the sword soon though, just in case,
until the time came for him to use it as the bargaining chip that it was
taken to be. He truly hoped that Voldemort liked it and that, as
Dumbledore believed, he would want it very, very much. His entire
bargaining ploy was riding on just how much Voldemort wanted this
sword, and how much he would want to know that Dumbledore knew
about his Horcruxes and was hunting them down.
A/N: I'm getting to the very good parts now and I can't wait, in the next
chapter we have more Quidditch, exams and Horcrux hunting. Then we'll
have the much anticipated summer and endless Harry/Rabastan
interaction. Of course this includes Rodolphus and Xerxes too and the
hated Rhadamanthus will make a comeback…no it is not yet his time to
die, unfortunately, but he will die.
A huge thank you to every one of you who has reviewed and to Basker
for being the 2,500th reviewer and to lilikaco for being the 2,600th
reviewer. Thank you!
Tempest-BDA: The secrecy clause within the Wizengamot is not
monitored by wards or spells. It is generally understood, and accepted,
that the members of the Wizengamot will speak of their day or the
proceedings of the Wizengamot with their wives and family, of which a
blind eye is turned. The problem starts when one of those people, who
isn't a member of the Wizengamot, goes gossiping. Then the Wizengamot
member is put on trial and is usually sentenced to imprisonment for a
lack of due care to the sensitive information discussed within the
Wizengamot.
The problem with Bill is that he's not speaking to his family, he's
speaking to Dumbledore, who knows what will happen to his only eyes
and ears on the Wizengamot if he is too obvious in releasing the
information. He called an Order meeting and he had several Ministry
workers start 'gossiping' about the goblin execution and before the lunch
hour, it was all over the Ministry, everyone heard it from someone
different and the 'source' couldn't be found. Thus no one can be penalised
for it as they can't be found. They're being very clever about how they
release the information so as not to be caught and they will continue on
in this same manner to avoid being found out and Bill being found as the
leaked source. It's not the first time that something has been leaked in
such a way either, so it's not as if it's a new method or that leaked
information is a new thing. It's just infuriating that this was such a huge
leak and the perpetrator couldn't be found.
DizzyZina: No, as I said above. It is generally frowned upon to speak to
anyone of the meetings, but it is accepted that most people will speak to
their wives/partners/family members about what transpired or what was
being discussed, as Harry himself does with Rabastan. There's no magic
involved, though if you're caught out, you're penalised heavily.
Baelife: Ha! No, unfortunately the candelabra aren't Horcruxes, they
were just cursed objects, like the music box that made them all sleepy in
the fifth book. That would have been a great find for Harry though if
they were!
LicaSchmidt: Bill will make a difference, even if it's just supporting
Harry's proposals so that they can be passed. It was his first meeting and
it's all new to him and he will naturally be snubbed by all the other
Lords. He just needs to settle down, even Harry was quiet and more
watchful during his first few meetings. He will not be punished for telling
Dumbledore about the meetings because he won't be found out.
Dumbledore is very clever about how he's releasing the information to
the public.
I believe that this is all that needed doing this time, thank you so much
for reading and reviewing, lovelies, until the next update,
StarLight Massacre. X
21. Horcrux Hunting
Last Time
He would need to find a safer, more secure place for the sword soon though,
just in case, until the time came for him to use it as the bargaining chip that it
was taken to be. He truly hoped that Voldemort liked it and that, as
Dumbledore believed, he would want it very, very much. His entire bargaining
ploy was riding on just how much Voldemort wanted this sword, and how
much he would want to know that Dumbledore knew about his Horcruxes and
was hunting them down.
Chapter Twenty-One – Horcrux Hunting
Harry really wasn't feeling this last Quidditch match of the season as he
oversaw his team's preparations. It was just a little over a week away
before the exams started in earnest and he was overly stressed as it was,
without this final match to play, and he just wanted to get back to his
revision. He did not need this impromptu break right about now.
"Are you okay, Captain?" Demelza asked him with a worried frown.
Harry gave her a reassuring smile. "I'm a little distracted because of the
approaching exams, nothing more, but you know that I'll perk up during
the match, once the adrenaline starts flowing."
"I never did understand why they played the last match of the year just a
week before the exams start." Katie sighed, looking as tired and as weary
as Harry felt. Then she was in her seventh and final year, these were her
final exams and they were so important to her future that Harry had half
expected her to come to him and ask if she could sit out of this match
and could he please substitute her on the pitch. He would have done so
without complaint if only she'd asked. He understood now that there
were so many more important things than an inter-house Quidditch
match, even if it was a match for the Cup.
"It would have been better to play it in the last week of term. I know
everyone is lazy and such in that last week, but to actually hold the
match a week before the NEWT exams start?" Harry shook his head,
trying to ignore the voice in his head that was automatically running
through his revision schedule. It was going to throw him off and put him
a few hours behind to play this match.
"We're aiming for a quick match, yeah?" Pauley asked him, looking
around at his tired team curiously.
Then he was only a second-year, his exams were not that taxing and the
biggest thing for him right now was choosing his electives for next year.
He didn't understand why Katie and Harry were killing themselves with
revision, or why they were so worried about these exams because he had
nothing to personally compare them to. He would learn, he would almost
certainly go through exactly the same when he reached his OWL years
and then again when he reached NEWT level.
The team were all very young, the only other person on the team who
could maybe understand was Demelza, who was a fifth-year and taking
her OWLs this year. Harry wondered if the startling increase in workload
had shocked her as much as it had him coming from his fourth year into
his fifth. That workload would increase substantially again, and the
topics would become harder and more complicated as she entered her
sixth year, her first year of NEWT level. Harry was expecting, and
preparing, for his own workload to all but bury him next year, as he
would no longer have an illness to pander to and thus he'd be on the
same workload as the rest of his year mates, which would come as a bit
of a shock to him after his light workload this year to compensate for his
illness and the severe side effects of the potions he was taking to heal
himself.
"As quick as humanly possible." Harry agreed with a nod. "I have a
revision schedule to keep to."
"What is our play then?" Katie asked him seriously.
Harry considered that carefully. He wanted the game over with quickly,
but that didn't mean that he wanted to throw the game away either. He
wanted to win because Gryffindor would take the Quidditch Cup for the
second year in a row if they did. Though technically it would be the third
year in a row as no one had won the Cup in his fourth year. Quidditch
had been cancelled that year due to the Tri-wizard tournament and
Gryffindor had won the Cup the year before too, thanks in part to Harry's
Firebolt. He touched his broom now, just stroking his hands over it and
remembering Sirius.
"I think the best way we can play this is to concede as few goals as we
can. Pauley, this will put pressure on you, but I know that you can do it."
Harry said, his eyes seeking out his second-year Keeper, whose young
face was set and determined. He was a dab hand at this now, he had been
on the team all year and he'd put up with all sorts thrown at him because
of how young he was, but he'd proven everyone wrong, even in their last
match against Hufflepuff, where the sun had been in his eyes all but
blinding him, and still, he hadn't given up and Gryffindor had won.
"Girls, I need you to do all you can to support Pauley, to keep Gryffindor
in front on points. Keep your passes smooth, your shots on target and
we'll be fine. Ritchie, Jimmy, I want you boys to…"
"To take out the Beaters?" Jimmy guessed.
Harry smiled. "No. Not in this match. We want a quick win, but no matter
what, winning is better. Take out the Seeker and the Keeper. In that
order of preference, but don't foul either. Only aim for the Keeper when
the quaffle is in scoring distance. Girls, if you can assist with this please."
His team all nodded and he nodded to them as well, one sharp dip of his
head. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly.
"I will, of course, hunt that snitch down and I will catch it as soon as I
can, with or without the rival Seeker on my tail. The Firebolt is
unmatched."
"And so is the man atop it." Katie teased him.
Harry laughed and shook his head.
"Ravenclaw are going to give us a good game, a hard game. They aren't
going to meekly roll over and just let us win." He said with a sigh. "Even
though they aren't playing for the Cup, they're playing for dignity, they
will try to stop us from winning the Cup, just on principle. Though none
of us want to see Slytherin as Cup winners. They are going to be the only
ones truly rooting for a Ravenclaw win, outside of the Ravenclaws
themselves, of course."
"We've got this Cup in the bag. Three years in a row!" Demelza grinned.
"Let's get out there and win it for Gryffindor." Harry said, looking at his
watch and seeing that it was nearly time anyway. It wouldn't hurt to
scope out the conditions beforehand. It was light, bright and hot being
May, but there was some decent cloud cover today, the nice, fluffy white
kind as summer fast approached.
They were cheered heavily as they came out of their changing rooms,
their robes almost blinding red in the bright sunlight.
"Pauley, watch the sun and remember our last match."
"Don't damage my eyes looking directly into the sun, anticipate where
they're going to throw the quaffle and cover my blind side." Pauley said
seriously.
Harry smiled. "Good lad. If you carry on like this then I wouldn't be
surprised if England called you up to the national team, Merlin knows
they need a new Keeper and as they still won't take on the phenomenal
Oliver Wood, well…they need to do something and I have no idea what
they're waiting for. At this rate, we won't even qualify for the Quidditch
World Cup in two years."
"I didn't know that you followed the national team." Katie said.
"The national team, yes, club teams, not so much. Though as Draco
supports the Falmouth Falcons, then I hear about them almost every
week and what the scores were because Draco tells me."
They had a short wait for the bright blue team of Ravenclaw to wander
onto the pitch with them. The Slytherins cheered for them, as expected.
Blaise had actually told him that he was going to be jeering for him to
lose today that morning after breakfast, as Harry had sat at the
Gryffindor table with his team that morning, running through game plays
and tactics, and not at the Slytherin table as he usually did. He smiled as
he thought of it.
The fourteen of them got into position, Madam Hooch holding out a
Galleon coin. Once again, as the leaders on points, Gryffindor got to
choose and Harry chose heads. Heads came up and he happily chose his
preferred half of the pitch, putting Pauley in the shaded half of the pitch.
It wouldn't last and soon both sides of the pitch would be in the sun, but
hopefully, Harry could catch the snitch before that happened.
He shook hands with Davis, graciously wishing him and his team well
and that they all had a good game under the very approving eye of
Madam Hooch as he displayed good sportsmanship. The snitch and the
bludgers were released into the air and Madam Hooch picked up the
quaffle, watching them all as they stood still, in position, waiting for her
signal.
She threw the quaffle high into the air and Harry shot off like a cork from
a shaken bottle. He immediately started looking for the snitch. He needed
to catch it quick and end this game. He wanted to get back to his revision
and his preparation for the exams, which were only a week away now.
This game truly had come at the worst time, but next year would be even
worse for him, as he prepared for his last year of NEWTs. He made a
mental note to spend some more time training Dillan, his reserve Seeker,
just in case he needed to substitute himself.
He ended up hovering near the Slytherin bleachers, his eyes scanning
everywhere. He ignored the barbs being shouted at him from the sea of
green and silver spectators as he flicked his gaze around, trying to spot
the glint of gold in the sky. He watched as Pauley made a spectacular
save and he smiled softly. That young boy had come on so very well in
just a year and his budding confidence had skyrocketed, as well as his
popularity as he became the star Keeper of the Gryffindor team. Harry
remembered what that felt like, his first year on the team, after every
spectacular win their team faced and every time he caught the snitch. It
was an addictive feeling.
The Ravenclaw Beaters had been told to take him out, Harry deduced, as
they were, in fact, not even focusing on anyone else and it was a
frustrating annoyance as he dodged one bludger and then had to quickly
duck the other one. He zoomed off and tried to put some distance
between himself and the Beaters, as a bludger was less likely to make
contact with him if it was hit from further away. Unfortunately, the
Beaters followed him…they truly had been told to take him out, by any
means necessary.
He ducked another bludger aimed at his head and he could feel his
temper rising, but he refused to revoke his own orders…Ritchie and
Jimmy were to focus on the Seeker and Keeper of the other team, not the
Beaters. Unfortunately, this meant that his wish of a quick game was
rapidly dwindling as the Beaters didn't give him a single moment to
search for the Snitch. As soon as he started looking for it another bludger
came out of nowhere to interrupt him.
Zooming off higher this time, going up twenty feet above the gameplay,
Harry took a moment to reassess the game from high above everyone
else, almost getting a bird's-eye view of the gameplay and then he started
searching for the snitch once more, almost letting his gaze pass lazily
over everything, without seeing anything, as the little glint of gold was
usually spotted by the peripheral vision. Typical for this game now, a
bludger almost took off his face. He was getting pissed off. He just
wanted to go back to the library, or to his private rooms, and revise for
the upcoming exams. This game was never going to end if those Beaters
didn't leave off of him and he could see the Ravenclaw Seeker taking
advantage, searching desperately for the snitch as he was held up and
distracted by the Beaters.
He dived suddenly, going below the gameplay this time, trying to keep a
Ravenclaw Chaser between him and the Beaters at all times, but as there
were two of them, Beaters that was, then they could come at him from
both sides and pin him between them.
He'd had enough of this, he would have to rescind his orders and have
Jimmy and Ritchie take out the Beaters, and he signalled to Madam
Hooch that he wanted a timeout. Her whistle blew and Harry went to the
other half of the pitch, where the Gryffindor bleachers were located. It
was a prickling sensation in his skin as the hairs on the back of his neck
stood up, the gasp of outrage from the crowd, the look on Demelza's face,
who had already landed for the timeout, as she looked behind him at
whatever was happening. He heard the shrill, piercing blast of Madam
Hooch's whistle, being blown furiously and urgently, but before the noise
had finished, he felt it…the bludger strike to his back that pitched him
forward three feet, into open air off of his broom. He fell several feet to
the soft, lush grass below, landing on his front, only just managing to put
his arms out to protect his head, to stop it from hitting the ground as
Blaise's had during the match last weekend.
He was dazed, but still conscious. He took a moment to evaluate himself
and he was very surprised to find that he was alright, that he didn't seem
to have broken anything, or indeed hurt anything at all. He was winded
though, very winded as he struggled to draw breath into his shrivelled,
burning lungs.
His team crowded him then, having come running, but it was Katie, as
the oldest and most reasonable, who pushed all the others away from
him and then knelt to help him take a breath, rubbing his back until he
could draw in a deep, painful, but much-needed breath of air.
The first one broke the ice and he was able to draw in more and more
oxygen, breathing quickly and desperately until his panic died down and
he could draw in deeper, slower breaths. After he started taking in deeper
breaths, and his panic receded, his head stopped spinning and he could
relax a little.
"Are you okay to get up?" Katie asked him.
"That was a fucking foul!" Was the first thing he said.
"Blatant and in full view of everyone!" Pauley agreed angrily. "They really
are desperate if they can sink that low."
"He's trying to claim that he never heard the whistle." Jimmy said,
coming back over to his team. "Madam Hooch doesn't believe it for a
second. As soon as the match starts up we have a penalty shot."
Harry nodded carefully, and miraculously nothing twinged, nothing gave
off any sense of pain and he carefully eased himself upright. Both legs
and both arms still worked, he rubbed at his neck and there was no pain.
"You know, I really do think I'm alright." He said, surprise colouring his
voice. "It only hurts when I twist to my right, it hit my shoulder blade on
that side. I'll be able to carry on."
"I think you should go to the hospital wing, you haven't been well this
year, Harry." Katie told him.
"I'll go for a check-up after the match." He said. "But I really do feel fine, I
said before that I wouldn't kill myself over a game anymore, and I meant
it. If I didn't feel completely fine, then I wouldn't go back on, but I do feel
fine."
He stood up and he tested his body for breaks or bumps, but as he'd said,
the only point of pain was the impact site of the bludger. It would
undoubtedly be bruised, but he could live with a few bruises.
"I called the timeout mostly to change my orders, take out those effing
Beaters, boys. Now even more so, the little fouling gits." Harry said,
stretching his right arm. It pulled on the patch of soreness in his
shoulder, which was spreading. He really needed a quick catch now.
"We already took out their Keeper, they're going to bring their reserve on
for the next part of the match." Ritchie said. "But their reserve isn't any
good, so the girls should do fine."
Harry nodded. "Good work, boys."
Madam Hooch, finished now with chewing out the little snot who had
fouled him, came over to them.
"Potter, hospital wing, now." She ordered.
"I'm fine, Madam Hooch, honestly." He said. "I'm not in any pain and I
haven't broken anything. I'm fine to carry on."
"I won't risk it."
"I'm fine." Harry stressed. "If I wasn't I would be the first to take myself to
Madam Pomfrey, my father would have my hide otherwise, but I really
am okay."
He was scrutinised by those hawk-like yellow eyes and then she nodded
curtly. "If you feel unwell at all during play, stop immediately before you
kill yourself." She ordered.
Harry nodded his understanding. "We are ready to resume play." Harry
insisted.
Madam Hooch nodded and indicated both teams, they resumed their
positions on the field, awaiting her whistle to resume the game.
"It looks like Gryffindor Captain and Seeker, Harry Potter, is going to
restart after that disgusting bit of cheating by one of the Ravenclaw
Beaters. It is good to see him on his feet and unharmed from such a low
and desperate foul."
The crowd cheered for him, no one liked to see fouling or cheating, well,
outside of Slytherin that was, and once Katie had taken the penalty shot
against the Keeper, scoring of course, Madam Hooch's whistle blew and
play resumed.
Harry started out slow, testing himself, but he seemed completely fine
and unhurt and he started scouting for the snitch.
The crowd booed when the Beaters immediately started aiming for him
again, it made Harry chuckle. Make one foul and suddenly any attempt
on him was condemned. It didn't deter the Beaters, well, not much, they
were disheartened by the booing, jeering and catcalling, but they still
took aim at him and tried to knock him off…at least they were doing it
legally this time and not trying to foul him after the whistle had blown.
A small while later and Harry was avoiding bludgers like usual, and he
was desperately hoping that the game would end soon, and that was
when he saw the flash of gold out of the corner of his eye. He was gone,
chasing after it and he tried to dodge or beat the bludgers that were
suddenly sent his way. He grinned as he realised that he had dodged the
both of them and his way to the snitch was clear. His Firebolt
unmatched, he caught up to the snitch in a heartbeat and his hand closed
over the cold ball and he held it aloft happily.
The whistle went as the commentator shouted out that Gryffindor had
won the match, that they had won the Quidditch Cup for the official
second year in a row, even though everyone knew that it was really the
third year in a row, because of the interrupted year where no one had
won.
Harry was surrounded by his team, just in case anyone decided to hurl a
bludger at him after the whistle had blown, but it was all over now, there
was no changing that Gryffindor had won or that they had the Cup.
They paraded around the pitch for a while, as Harry accepted the Cup as
the Captain, then let all the members of his team have a hold and a lap of
victory with it. Not wanting to waste too much time celebrating when he
had revision to get back to, Harry landed and called his team down with
him, but immediately after they had landed Harry was hauled off by his
teammates, not to an after party, but to the hospital wing. They never
even took the time to shower or change. It took just eight minutes after
that before Draco, Theo, Astoria, and Blaise found them there. Harry had
been stripped topless and he was just being examined, his arm
outstretched as Madam Pomfrey waved her wand over his shoulder,
checking it. The Quidditch Cup was in his lap.
"Are you alright?" Draco demanded, ignoring everyone else.
"Yeah." Harry said with an easy smile. "There's nothing wrong with me. I
told you before, I'm very difficult to kill."
"You should have come straight to me." Madam Pomfrey chastised him
yet again, for maybe the ninth time in fifteen minutes. "Imagine if you'd
been seriously injured?"
"I wouldn't have gotten back up if I was seriously injured, Madam
Pomfrey." He quipped.
"Is he hurt?" Draco asked Madam Pomfrey.
"Surprisingly, he isn't." She replied heavily. "There is a bit of bruising
here, on the back of his shoulder, but there is no serious damage or
anything of notable concern."
"In other words, I'm completely fine and I can go and celebrate!"
"For all of an hour before we're back to revising." Katie laughed.
"Exactly, so let's go get to it quickly, because I want a bit of relaxation, a
bit of fun, and then it's straight back to the hard grind before the exams
hit us." Harry insisted.
His team cheered and Harry smiled. He hugged a tearful Astoria, who
had been very worried about him, clapped Blaise and Theo on the
shoulder and he gave Draco a quick, brotherly hug, before allowing his
team to haul him off to Gryffindor Tower…he hadn't been inside it since
the last Quidditch party that had been thrown for their win against
Hufflepuff. He was much more used to his own rooms now, but he was
happy to show his face for an hour, eat some snacks, have a laugh, and
then leave again, back to his own, private rooms. He couldn't afford to
lose sight of his objective, he would pass all of his exams this year, but
for that to happen, he needed to be ready when those exams hit. He
needed to be prepared and confident, and he would be. He would pass all
of his exams.
The exams hit with a flurry of activity and last minute revision panic.
Harry himself was rather calm and collected. He was nervous for his
Ancient Runes exam, purely because Marcus had said that if he got
anything other than an 'O' then Marcus would personally beat him into a
hospital bed in St Mungo's for the humiliation of failing the exam while
under his personal tutelage.
Harry was just excited to get the exams over and done with, because it
would be June now in just a week and then it would be a mere three
weeks and he would be back home, with Rabastan.
His History of Magic exam went better than any of the previous years,
purely because he was reading so many ancient books on History for the
Wizengamot. He actually had expectations for something other than a
'Dreadful' on this exam. He'd even settle for a 'P' as long as it wasn't
anything lower, but he was hoping for an 'A' at the very least, even if he
did think that he deserved an 'EE' just for the sheer length of some of his
more knowledgeable answers.
"Stop daydreaming and test me!" Draco demanded, prodding him with a
book.
Harry rolled his eyes but dutifully took the book and opened it to a
random page. The Muggle Studies exam was in progress currently, which
meant that they had at least another hour to study for their theory
Charms exam which was to take place shortly afterwards. Draco was
definitely highly strung over the whole exams and doing well and such.
"How can you be so calm?!" Theo demanded of him a short while later,
looking very frazzled and stressed whereas Harry was quiet, composed
and decidedly very calm seeming.
"There's no pressure on me." Harry said easily. "If I fail then I have a
readymade excuse. I can resit my exams, or even repeat a year if needed
because of my illness. So I actually feel rather relaxed and prepared."
"I hate you." Blaise declared.
Harry laughed. "Well, you sure changed your tune!"
"No, I still want to fuck you, but I hate you too."
"Real classy, Blaise." Harry snorted. "Just know that it'll never happen."
"More's the pity. I'm a good fuck."
"I'll take your word for it."
"Oh, please, just let me at you once, you'd be perfect! I need to blow off
some steam."
"Shut up!" Draco snapped, very evil tempered and looking more and more
like he was going to aim a curse at Blaise.
Blaise scoffed but went back to his revision. Harry did the same, testing
Draco on Charms, Theo sometimes cutting in to embellish an answer or
to correct Draco, Harry revealing who was right or not, to much
sullenness from both young men.
Things carried on in this same vein for four more days, the exams took
over everything that they did, over their very thoughts. Draco's temper
got worse, Blaise started ranting in French if the ambient noise went
above a mere whisper, (Harry now able to understand a little more of
what he was saying too, because of his French lessons with Blaise and
Draco,) Theo withdrew from everyone and Harry was just trying to get
through his exams while dealing with the side effects of his potions,
which was just as difficult as it had been when he was debating in the
Wizengamot, but it was doable. The potions affected his alertness, his
focus, and kept him in constant pain so that he could barely think, but he
was determined to get through what he needed to.
It was the last day of the exams today, he could survive one more day.
Just one more day. After the very last exam that afternoon he would be
completely free to do as he liked. He planned to spend most of the
remaining time now reading outside on the grass, by the clear lake, in the
bright, warm sunshine. Very soon it would all be over and he couldn't
wait. He had done well in his exams so far, or at least he judged himself
to have done alright, and he only had one more exam left, his Ancient
Runes theory. They didn't have a practical exam in Ancient Runes, it was
all theory until next year when he would have to at least display some
aptitude with them. He hoped that with another year of tutoring from
Marcus that he would be able to complete this adequately and pass his
NEWT exam in Ancient Runes, both theory and practical. Though he felt
very sorry for Blaise, who was last alphabetically in their whole year, and
thus he would be the very last person called up for all of his practical
exams. Going last would be hell, waiting for that long with all the nerves
and just wanting the exam to be over with, Harry wouldn't have wanted
to do it, but Blaise insisted that he was very used to it now after six years.
But he digressed, the exams finished today and Hogwarts closed for the
summer in just three weeks and in just two days he would be going back
to St Mungo's for another assessment to see if he could reduce how many
potions he was taking. It could not come soon enough in his opinion,
even if it had come a week too late to help him through his exams, it
would just be amazing to come off of them at last.
He'd barely had the time to write to Rabastan in the last week or two, but
thankfully his fiancé understood and didn't hold it against him. Harry had
sent him a letter detailing Slytherin's narrow win against Hufflepuff and
Gryffindor's storming defeat of Ravenclaw, he did mention the shit who
had fouled him, purely because Draco would tell everyone and he didn't
want to look like he was hiding anything. He did make sure to stress that
he was just bruised, and not injured at all and there were definitely no
broken bones, so at least they knew now that those bone-strengthening
potions were actually working.
Rabastan had replied just before the exams had started and he was
furious on Harry's behalf, of which Harry could tell because his
handwriting, usually so carefully controlled because of the nerve damage
that Rabastan had suffered, was sharp, jerky, and all over the place.
Some words dipped down suddenly, some were elongated and much
bigger, while others were smaller than usual, as if Rabastan had curled
his hand and kept the quill focused in one place. Harry could barely read
it, but he did his best.
He sent another owl at breakfast, on the morning that the exams started,
reaffirming that yes, he truly was completely fine, that Madam Pomfrey
had said so, yes he was sure that he hadn't broken anything and no, he
really did not want Rabastan and Rodolphus to kill a fourteen-year-old
boy over an inter-school Quidditch foul.
He changed the subject to his exams, he whined some more about the
family portfolios, he complained about Marcus being a git with all the
last minute Ancient Runes tutoring he'd sprung on him the day before
and he ended his last letter with declarations of love and that he couldn't
wait to see Rabastan again next month.
He hadn't had a reply yet, whether because it was taking a while for
Rabastan to answer, or because he was being considerate of his exams
and didn't want to be a distraction, but Harry truly was very distracted as
he struggled through the morning exams with a crushing headache and
through the afternoon exams being drowsy and sleepy. He was thankful
that they only lasted for a week, he doubted that he could have kept up
with the pressure heaped on his shoulders if it had gone on for longer.
His theory exams all went rather well considering his 'condition' and
naturally, Defence Against the Dark Arts was his forte and he performed
everything perfectly during the exam, even a Patronus charm for extra
points during his practical exam. He remembered doing as such last year,
for a different examiner, for his OWLs. It made him smile to watch his
bright white stag prance around the hall before shimmering out of
existence.
He was so glad when the exams ended and the moment he was told to
put his quill down, that the exam was now over, he all but slumped in his
seat with relief. All that revision cramming, all of the stress, the testing
and tempers, it was all over with now. There was nothing that any of
them could do to change what they'd already done. He felt like he could
breathe for the first time in months. Now it was time to just kick back
and catch up on the massive amount of reading he had to do…his 'to
read' pile really was getting rather ridiculous now and something had to
be done. He fully planned to start immediately. If he played off on a
headache, no one would stop him from going up to his rooms alone and
he could read, uninterrupted, for several hours. He had an unending
supply of tea, pumpkin juice and biscuits, he'd have to come down for
dinner, but he could go straight back up to his rooms once he'd eaten. It
sounded like utter bliss to him.
Harry was once again sat in just his black boxer briefs on an examination
table as the senior healer got to work. Even the healer had noticed how
much he had filled out since his initial examination.
Harry looked at himself critically then, as that was mentioned aloud,
trying to notice any differences, but he had changed so slowly over the
last several months that he couldn't see the changes to himself like the
healer, and even Lucius who was sat beside him, could.
"You've come on so well, Harry." The healer told him.
"Can I come off the potions?" He asked immediately, getting right down
to the reason that he was here. "Or at least cut down on them?"
The healer smiled at him. "Yes, you can and significantly too."
Harry perked right up. "How significantly?" He asked happily.
"Well, you can say goodbye to your bone-strengthening potions and those
headaches that they cause." The healer said with a smile and Harry
actually whooped in joy. The healer laughed. "You'll have to keep taking
the lower dosages of the calcium potions for another month now, the
nutrient potions too, alternating them on differing days, then we'll assess
you again, but you might be kicking all of these potions goodbye by the
end of this month, maybe in early July at the latest, ready just in time for
the summer holidays."
"It's going to be so amazing to stop taking them. I've forgotten what it
feels like to be normal." He said. "I've been struggling through with those
headaches, the night sweats and fevers and the drowsiness that to
suddenly be without them is going to be strange, but it's going to be
fantastic too!"
"I'll bet." The healer told him. "You've put on a good amount of weight
and there's more flesh to you than when we last met. None of your bones
are poking out so sharply anymore, you've actually achieved the
minimum weight for your height and age group. Keep going, Harry,
you've done so well, but there is still a lot more room for growth. You
can still do better, but you're on the right track, Harry. Well done."
Harry couldn't stop grinning and he looked to Lucius for praise
automatically, and that was truly the best thing about all of this, that he
felt that he had a true set of parents in Lucius and Narcissa and he could
turn to them for readily given praise at times like this, like a real family.
"You've done very well." Lucius told him. "I can't wait until we get home
and we can tell your mother this wonderful news. But this doesn't mean
that you can start filling up on sweets and treats, you'll be sticking with
your healthy meals first, and then any snacks or desserts can come
afterwards." He added sternly.
Harry nodded his understanding. He hadn't really noticed that his bones
had vanished. He looked at his own chest, noting that he could barely see
his ribs now, which had once stuck out prominently. His elbow joints
were less stark than they once used to be and his hands looked less
skeletal. He just looked so much better and he could hardly keep the grin
from his face.
He got dressed in record time, knowing that Rabastan was waiting for
him back at home for news on his health. He knew that the
hypocalcaemia had worried and shocked all of those around him. It had
shocked him! But now it was almost over. He was healthier, fitter,
stronger. He could stop taking the bone-strengthening potions, so he
would no longer have to suffer with the skull-crushing headaches, he was
on a lowered dose of the calcium and nutrient potions and he could take
them both every other day, the calcium potion first and then the next day
just the nutrient potion. He was finally seeing the results of his heavy
potion regime. He was finally being allowed to cut down on the terribly
strong potions. He would be off of them completely in just another month
or so. It felt amazing. He felt amazing.
He was escorted back to Malfoy Manor, to tell everyone the good news
before he had to go back to Hogwarts and tell Draco the good news too.
As soon as they landed in the receiving room, Harry ran off, Lucius
chastising him from behind for such undignified behaviour, but Harry
didn't listen as he ran into the front parlour and he didn't even stop as he
carried on running and he leapt onto the settee beside Rabastan and he
flumped straight onto his fiancé's chest, holding him tight.
"I take it that it's good news from the wide grin on your face?" Xerxes
asked in amusement as Rabastan laughed at Harry's antics, holding him
back just as tightly.
"Amazing news!" Harry said happily. "I made the minimum weight for my
height and age group and I can stop taking the bone-strengthening
potions! No more headaches!"
"That's wonderful, Harry." Rabastan told him happily. "Is there any news
on the other potions?"
Harry nodded. "I'm on a lower dosage for both and I can take them every
other day now, and not every single day." He said happily. "I'll be off
them all completely in another month."
Rabastan all but grappled him into a hug and Harry got a big kiss on the
lips too, which made his grin widen impossibly further.
"I'm so happy for you." Rabastan told him.
Harry nodded. "It feels wonderful to know that it was all worth it in the
end, several months of daily headaches, drowsiness and nights full of
fevers and sweating, but it's actually coming to an end now, I can see the
end to it and it makes it so worthwhile to know that my health is back on
track and I'm exactly where I should be…or almost where I should be.
And look! My ribs have gone too!" He said, pulling up his shirt and
showing off his flat, toned belly as much as the barely visible ribs. He did
not miss that Rabastan's eyes stayed lower than his ribs for a very long
while, staring at the toned abdomen on display, before actually looking
at his flesh covered ribs.
"I'm so proud of you." Rabastan told him. "For putting yourself and your
health first, for taking all those potions without once missing a dose,
despite the rather awful, and severe, side effects that they caused. You
just got on with what you needed to do regardless, you still had your
lessons, you still attended and took part in your Wizengamot debates and
you have gone through all of your exams while on those potions and you
did so admirably."
Harry grinned so happily, so widely, that his face started hurting as he
tucked his shirt back down and cuddled back up to Rabastan. "Now we
just need to get you and Rodolphus healthy too."
"We might take some more time yet." Rodolphus said from beside him
and Rabastan. "But seeing how you have overcome your illnesses, going
through your course of needed potions, it helps us to realise that they do
work, that we can get better if we stick to them. It has given me a kick to
keep going. I've remembered that it will all be worth it in the end."
Harry sat up, straddling Rabastan's lap and he reached over to hug
Rodolphus too, much to the older man's discomfort. Harry was still a soft
little fluff head, but Rodolphus sighed and scratched at Harry's scalp with
his fingernails regardless. The boy just didn't care, especially not about
social boundaries, and he would have done as he had whether Rodolphus
acknowledged it or not. At least this way it kept Harry happy, and these
days if Harry was happy, then Rabastan was happy.
"Harry." Narcissa said sternly. "Rearrange your lower body, please."
Harry sighed and he pulled back from Rodolphus and he moved his one
leg to be with his other leg on the one side of Rabastan's body.
"If only we were alone." Rabastan whispered into his ear. Harry grinned
up at him, a naughty gleam in his eyes.
"If only." He added in a soft, sultry whisper.
Harry settled himself on Rabastan's chest and then Xerxes inquired about
his exams and Harry went off on one again, regaling them all with how
every exam had gone in his own opinion, what questions he had
struggled with and which ones he had answered with several long
paragraphs.
"My theory Potions could have been better and Arithmancy definitely
could have been better, I'm hoping to get an 'A' in it, but I might have slid
down into a 'P'. If that's the case then I will definitely resit the exam."
"I'm sure that you've done fine." Rabastan assured him. "It's the nature of
these sorts of serious exams that make you over analyse everything and
expect the worst when you've done more than enough and have passed
them all."
"Merlin, I hope so!" Harry said, snuggling in tighter.
"Do you have time for some tea before you go back?" Narcissa asked him.
"Well, I don't have any exams or any lessons, I'm literally just waiting for
the official end of term now, Mother, so I don't see why I can't stay for
dinner too." He said with a grin, looking hopefully at Lucius.
His father sighed, but he smiled too. "As you wish, Harry. You can stay
for dinner, as long as you are back before curfew."
"Yes!" Harry cheered. "Everything's going my way today." He grinned.
Lucius sighed again at his son's antics, but he couldn't be mad with
Harry, not today. They had received some very good news earlier, and
Harry was entitled to celebrate it a little. He was correct too, he had
finished all of his exams and his school year was technically over, even if
they officially let the students leave in the third week of June. He could
allow Harry to remain here for another couple of hours, at least. As a
reward of sorts for keeping to his potions and finally reaching his goals of
getting healthy again.
It was a very large relief after the shock and the fear of finding out that
Harry had been so very ill that there was a possibility of his untimely
death. A great weight had been removed from his mind now that Harry
was truly on the mend and almost off of the potions course that he'd been
forced to take to improve his ailing health. His youngest son was now no
longer in danger of dying as a result of the poor treatment he had
received from those muggle beasts. He would one day find out where
they lived, for he was a very patient man, but he never forgot such
transgressions and he now held a grudge for them. He would one day
find them and exact revenge upon them for the appalling treatment they
had administered to his youngest son. One day.
Harry had been enjoying his endless free time and he had read a dozen
books in just a few weeks, even as Draco, Blaise, and Theo dragged him
outside for a bit of fresh air. They were treating him a little rougher than
before, now safe in the knowledge that Harry was almost completely
healed and that a mere push or fall wouldn't break any of his bones like a
dry twig. Harry hadn't realised exactly how careful and gentle they had
been with him until they started treating him like he was normal, as if he
was just like them.
Today was one such day. Harry, who had almost finished the current
book that he was reading, had brought a second book outside with him
as well so that he could pick it up as soon as he finished the final ten
pages of the first book. He was reading almost constantly even as he
occasionally watched Blaise and Theo enchant objects to throw at one
another. They were practising defence and offence at the same time, as
Harry looked up from turning the page to see Blaise shield himself from
having his head taken off by a rock.
Draco was sat near him, Astoria very nearly in his lap as she rested back
against him, chattering on about the few weeks of summer work that she
had been accepted for at Twilfitt and Tattings. She was going to watch
the seamstresses and learn from them. She was going to take another step
closer to her dream job of designing and making robes. Her excitement to
start was almost palpable.
It was Wednesday the eighteenth of June and Harry just could not wait to
get back home now. On Friday they would be catching the train back to
London. In just two days from now, on the twentieth, he would be home
again. Rabastan was already at Malfoy Manor waiting for him. Harry had
tried to use his illness to get sent home early, the day after Draco's
seventeenth birthday, which had been a few weeks before, on the fifth of
June, but Dumbledore had refused and had told him that he wanted to
speak to him once more before he left. Seeing as it was now the first of
the last two full days of term, Harry was beginning to think that he'd
been fobbed off with an excuse to keep him here and away from his
family for a few extra weeks to limit the exposure he had to them. If he
found out that that was the case then he was going to go ballistic.
It was just after dinner, however, when a seventh-year Hufflepuff student
approached him with a letter from Dumbledore. It instructed him to go to
the Headmaster's Office, and that he truly enjoyed Cockroach Clusters.
Harry sighed and resolved to get this little meeting over and done with.
He wanted to go to bed. Well, no, he wanted to read yet another several
books and then go to bed, after taking that damnable nutrient potion that
would give him those awful night sweats, but still, he would rather be
doing anything other than this.
He trudged his way up to the seventh floor and to the headmaster's
office, giving the password to the stone gargoyle before heading up to the
office. He barely knocked before letting himself in and he didn't wait to
be told to enter. He was annoyed enough as it was.
"Ah, Harry. Come sit, I have something important to tell you."
Harry did as suggested and he sat himself down, wondering what this
meeting was even about.
"I promised you on our last talk that you could come with me when I
next found a Horcrux, if you still wish to that is."
Harry blinked. "You've found another one? Where?!" Harry asked, trying
to keep the eagerness from his voice. He would have double the
bargaining chips if he had the sword and a Horcrux in his possession.
"I believe it to be hidden in a cave on the coast. A cave that I have been
trying to locate for a very long time. You remember, of course, the time
that Tom Riddle terrorised two children from his orphanage on their
annual trip?"
"Yes." Harry answered, easily recalling the memory shown to him.
"Harry, I promised that you could come with me…"
Harry wondered then, immediately, if the missing sword was going to
cost him missing out on this trip. He controlled himself firmly and he
refused to look at the empty plinth above Dumbledore's head where the
sword should have been.
"…and I stand by my word, but it would be very wrong of me not to
warn you that this will be exceedingly dangerous."
Harry almost breathed a sigh of relief, but he refused to show anything of
the sort through his expressions or body language.
"I want to go." He said after a short pause. "I have earned the right to be a
part of this fight and I deserve the right to go after these Horcruxes and
finish him for good."
"Very well, then." Dumbledore looked at him closely, almost studying
him.
Harry almost glared back, his back straight, maintaining eye contact but
steadfastly thinking of exams, his family, how cute Draco and Astoria
were together, Draco's seventeenth birthday, of which they'd had a small
party for him in Harry's personal rooms, a party that had gotten very
much out of hand in a very short amount of time, and his last meeting
with Remus, walking around the sunshine yellow hallways of Grimmauld
Place.
"I will take you on one condition." Dumbledore said.
"I didn't realise that my right to destroy the man who killed my parents,
and would have killed me too, would come with conditions." Harry said
fiercely.
"Listen to me, Harry." Dumbledore told him firmly. "You are to obey any
command that I might give you at once, without question. If I tell you to
run, you run. If I tell you to hide, you are to hide and if I tell you to leave
me and save yourself, you will do as told. Am I clear?"
Harry considered what was being asked of him. He chewed the condition
over in his mind, thinking that perhaps this was part of some sort of test
of his loyalty, or perhaps his willingness to listen to any order given to
him by Dumbledore. In the end, he decided that it was worth it with a
Horcrux at the end of the road and he decided to take the chance that he
was being given. The risk was worth it.
"You have my word." He said calmly and clearly, meaning what he said.
"Very good. I want you to fetch your Invisibility Cloak and then meet me
in the Entrance Hall, Harry. Quickly now."
Harry stood and he left the office, leaving Dumbledore to stare out of the
window at the sunset. Harry went back to his rooms and he collected
several things that he wanted to take with him, including a small pendant
in the shape of the Malfoy crest that Lucius had given him almost a year
ago. He rarely wore it, but he'd been told that it was a very specific, very
powerful Portkey that would take him back to Malfoy Manor if it was
activated. It would be very useful to him if he got into any danger.
He took the cloak from where he kept it and he took the time to write a
small letter, just in case anything happened to him or any spells were
placed on him. He left it where he knew Draco would find it.
He left his rooms at an unhurried pace, making it seem like he was just
merely strolling around the castle instead of his plans to leave it on a
very dangerous adventure. If Lucius, Narcissa, or Rabastan found out,
he'd be dead. Hopefully, the fact that it was about Voldemort, and
technically saving him from destruction, would put him in good stead if
anyone ever found out about this. After all, he was, technically, aligned
with Voldemort himself now. He would not be a follower of his, NEVER,
but he knew about Lucius, the Lestranges, Greyback, he knew that all of
them were Death Eaters and he was doing nothing about it. He would not
stop his fiancé from doing what he wanted, though he would not allow
their children to be involved in anything of the sort. Rabastan would
have to do that over his cold, dead body first.
Harry met up with Dumbledore at near enough eight O'clock at night,
right where he'd said he'd be, beside the oaken front doors to Hogwarts.
"Wear your cloak now, Harry." Dumbledore told him. "So that no one sees
you leaving the castle."
Harry nodded and he took the cloak from his pocket and wrapped it
around himself. Dumbledore nodded and then set off, Harry trotting
along beside him. His mind was already full of things they might
encounter, the dangers they might meet and he had a moment of doubt…
was this even real or was he just being lured out of Hogwarts to be kept a
prisoner until he agreed to fight in the war? He consoled himself, he had
the pendant, it would take him home and his family would look after
him. If anything ever happened to him, Lucius would immediately take
charge and get him back, even if Harry said he didn't want to go back,
because he would know then that he was being controlled with potions
or a curse. Harry would never, willingly, give up on a family now that he
had one and Lucius knew it.
"Are we Apparating?" He asked then.
"Yes." Dumbledore said. "You can Apparate now, I believe?"
"No." Harry said immediately. "The potions I'm taking interrupt focus and
concentration, it was too dangerous for me to learn this year. I'm going to
be learning and taking the test for my licence this summer."
"Oh, well, no matter, I can assist you." Dumbledore told him.
Alarm bells rang and Harry frowned. He once again reminded himself
that he'd left a letter for Draco and he had the Malfoy pendant. All he
had to do was touch it and think of home and he would be there in the
blink of an eye.
Harry startled as he heard a ruckus up ahead and he squinted in the
darkness to see what was happening.
"…and stay out!" Madam Rosmerta shouted loudly at a grubby-looking
wizard whom she was forcibly throwing out of the Three Broomsticks.
She looked up and noticed Dumbledore as the wizard grumbled and
stumbled off into the darkness…Harry didn't like that either and he kept
an eye on him while keeping half an ear on Dumbledore. "Oh, hello,
Albus…you're out late."
"Good evening, Rosmerta, good evening." Dumbledore said politely.
"Forgive me, but I'm off to the Hog's Head…no offence, but I feel like a
quieter atmosphere tonight." He smiled then and looked off in the
direction that the troublesome wizard had headed.
Dumbledore said his goodbyes and then carried on, Harry trotting after
him once more as they turned a corner into a side street. Harry saw the
sign for the Hog's Head pub and grimaced as he remembered the
disastrous meeting to set up the DA…they should have just held it on the
bloody Quidditch pitch, they would have been less likely to be found out
that way.
"We should be fine here." Dumbledore said, breaking him from his
thoughts. "Place your hand on my arm, Harry."
Harry took a breath and did just that, calling on his Gryffindor bravery,
and the overwhelming sense of curiosity that he had. Dumbledore turned
and pulled Harry with him, there was the horrible sensation of being
squeezed through a thick, tight rubber tube, the sensation of being
compressed, of his eyeballs being pushed back into his skull, of not being
able to breathe. Then, as quickly as it came, just when he thought he
would suffocate from the sensation, the tube ended and he came out the
other side and he could gasp in lungfuls of air…Apparation was definitely
not his favourite way to travel, he'd even take the floo over Apparation
and he hated travelling by floo as well.
When he came back to himself, he could smell salt and hear rushing
waves. A light, refreshing breeze played with his hair and he looked
around him, out at a moonlit sea and bright, starry sky. It was beautiful
here. He pulled his cloak from his body and stuffed it into his pocket and
then he turned to observe every inch of the place where they'd landed.
They were standing on an outcrop of rock, the water ferocious and
dangerous-looking as it churned and crashed below him. Behind him was
a towering cliff, a sheer drop, black in the night, smooth like a mirror,
and very foreboding.
"What do you think?" Dumbledore asked him.
"That I would not bring children here." Harry said simply. "It's not exactly
the most pleasant of places to bring them for a day trip."
"They weren't brought here precisely, there is a small village halfway
along the cliffs behind us. I believe the orphans were taken there for
some sea air and a view of the waves. No, I think it was only Tom Riddle
and his young victims who visited this spot. No muggle could reach this
rock and no boats can approach the cliffs. I imagine that Tom climbed
down using magic, and he brought two small children with him, likely
for the pleasure of terrorising them."
Harry was done with talking. "Why are we here? Where do we need to
go?"
Dumbledore beckoned him over to the very edge of the rock, Harry was
amazed to find little niches in the rock, like handholds. Harry resigned
himself to climbing down it, to a lower rock that was in the ocean.
It was a treacherous climb, very slow going and Harry couldn't even
imagine a young Riddle and two smaller children doing this. It was a
miracle that none of them had fallen into the dangerous waters and
drowned.
"Lumos." Dumbledore said quietly, his wand tip exploding into blinding
light and Harry could suddenly see much clearer. He didn't appreciate the
view of the dark water below, nor the sheer cliff in front.
"Do you see?" Dumbledore asked him, holding his wand higher and
pointing it forward. There was a small fissure in the rock face of the cliff
that Harry assumed they needed to get to. "You do not object to getting a
little wet?"
"No." Harry replied automatically, still staring at the fissure, wondering
what lay beyond it, deeper into the cliff. His heart was hammering and a
strange sensation of excitement, curiosity and apprehension was building
up in him.
Dumbledore slid from the rock with no more preamble and Harry
watched him, as he swam towards the fissure in the base of the cliff, his
lit wand held between his teeth.
Harry marvelled that the man had asked if he minded getting a little wet,
but hadn't actually asked him if he could swim. He couldn't and as he
followed Dumbledore before he lost him, he realised that he was in
danger the moment his waterlogged clothes started weighing him down
in the icy water. He followed the shimmering light as best he could as it
shrunk and headed deeper into the cliff, thinking that it had been much,
much easier to do this when he'd had webbed hands and feet.
He sort of doggy paddled, struggling in the dark, dangerous waters, his
fingers numb, his body cold and now aching…this had been a mistake
with his illness, he was likely going to get the flu again from this, or
hypothermia. His family were going to kill him…if this little adventure
didn't do so first that was.
He made it through the fissure and he had to swim…sort of swim, down
the cramped tunnel that was slimy and pitch dark. A small way into the
tunnel and it curved off left and Harry followed it, seeing through his
sodden hair that the tunnel extended far into the cliff. It was stunning, in
a dangerous, natural sort of way.
He doggy paddled after Dumbledore, following the light from the wand
tip, his legs striking out against the walls of the tunnel every now and
then, as they were barely three feet wide and then finally, he saw
Dumbledore rising out of the water and he was relieved when he found
the stone steps, clambering numbly up them, water streaming from his
sodden clothes and hair. He was shivering uncontrollably, almost
spasming in the freezing air. He was almost certainly going to get sick
from this, he could only hope that it didn't interfere with his healing or
being able to come off of his potions in a few weeks.
"Yes, this is the place." Dumbledore said suddenly, while Harry was
trying to wring out his clothes so that they weren't so heavy, there was
nothing that he could do about the spine-deep chill that was making his
very bones ache.
"How can you tell?" Harry asked, looking up at the little cave they were
in, at the rock walls and ceiling.
"It has known magic." Dumbledore said simply. "This is merely an ante-
chamber." He carried on, turning slowly, looking at all the walls,
concentrating on things that Harry couldn't see or feel. "It is Voldemort's
obstacles that now stand in our way, rather than those that are made by
nature."
Harry watched, in slight bemusement, as Dumbledore caressed the walls,
wandering around and speaking in languages he had not heard before. It
was all very odd as he touched as much of the rock as possible, stopping
occasionally, running his fingers back and forth over one patch of rock,
until finally, he stopped, his hand flat against a particular patch of stone
wall.
"Here." He said "We go on through here. The entrance is concealed."
Harry didn't ask how he knew it was this patch of rock over any other. Of
course the man knew given his level of understanding magic.
Dumbledore drew his wand and for a moment, the outline of an archway
appeared there, illuminated by a bright white light. Then the outline was
gone and Harry frowned at it.
"What does it need?" He asked through his chattering teeth.
"Oh, Harry, I'm so sorry, I forgot." Harry immediately found himself on
the end of Dumbledore's wand and all of his frozen muscles tensed, but at
once all of Harry's clothes were dry and warm and he sunk into them like
he would a hot bath. It felt amazing.
"Thank you." He said gratefully. Maybe with this, he might not actually
get sick at all. He should have demanded that Dumbledore dry him off as
soon as he got out of the water, but he'd been too awed and shocked to
find himself here, in this place.
Dumbledore went back to studying just that one patch of rock and Harry
tried not to sigh or break his concentration. He was warm and dry now,
at least he wasn't quite so miserable as before.
"Oh, surely not." Dumbledore spoke up suddenly, making Harry jump in
his skin. "So crude."
"What is it?"
"We are required to make payment before we pass." Dumbledore told
him, taking out a short, silver knife from his robes.
Harry clicked as he put those puzzle pieces together and he grimaced in
distaste. "A payment of blood?" He asked.
"Yes, blood. I did say that it was very crude." He said, sounding disdainful
and disappointed. "The idea, as I'm sure you've gathered, is that your
enemy must weaken themselves in order to enter. Once again Lord
Voldemort fails to grasp that there are much more terrible things than
physical injury."
Harry watched as Dumbledore raised his hand and the knife. He thought
about offering to do it himself, but he didn't really want to. He didn't
want to be injured and it would make him feel better, even slightly, to
watch Dumbledore bleed. It wouldn't make up for all the old man had
done to him, but it would help.
There was a spurt of scarlet as the blood splattered on the rock wall, dark
drops glittering in the low light from the wand tip, which Dumbledore
then ran over his own arm, healing the wound instantly.
The silver outline of the archway had appeared in the wall once more,
and this time it did not fade away. The blood-splattered wall that had
hidden the archway had just disappeared, leaving an opening into total
darkness.
"After me, I think." Dumbledore told him as he headed into the darkness.
Harry could not have agreed more as he followed on the man's heels.
He pulled out his own wand and whispered a soft 'lumos'. He wanted to
be able to see on his own, without relying on Dumbledore.
The inside of the cave was eerie…they were standing on the edge of a
great, black lake, it was so vast that Harry couldn't see the other side and
the cavern was so high that the ceiling too, was out of sight.
A misty green light shone far away in what looked to be the middle of
the lake. Harry guessed that that was their destination, that that was
where the Horcrux was being kept.
"Let us walk, stay close to me and be careful not to slip into the water."
Harry almost scoffed at that. He was no errant toddler who was unsteady
on his feet and would slip or misstep so easily, but he held his tongue and
said nothing.
They walked around the edge of the lake, Harry following Dumbledore,
watching where he stepped and looking out for anything suspicious. It
was the silence that was getting to him though, and the still, close air was
making it hard for him to breathe, it was all very, very unnerving.
"Oh." Dumbledore said suddenly, almost startling Harry into leaping
backwards. Harry sneered at his back, so much for not misstepping into
the water, he was going to fucking jump into it if Dumbledore kept doing
that.
Dumbledore had detected something in the air and he started running his
hands over thin air. A moment later he seemed to grab something.
Keeping his hand clenched in mid-air, he raised his wand in the other
and tapped his fist with the tip.
Immediately, a thick, coppery green chain appeared in his fist. Another
tap of the wand and the chain started to slide through Dumbledore's
hand, coiling like a snake with a clinking sound that echoed horribly,
loudly, off of the rocky walls. It put Harry's back up as he looked around
cautiously.
Harry sucked in a breath of surprise as a tiny, ghostly boat broke the
smooth surface of the lake, glowing as green as the chain.
"Magic always leaves traces behind." Dumbledore said conversationally as
the boat hit the rock with a small bump.
Harry let Dumbledore get into the boat first, and he followed carefully,
refusing to go into the flimsy-looking thing first, despite Dumbledore's
firm insistence.
Harry couldn't sit in the boat properly, instead, he crouched sideways
with his knees jutting over the edge of it, even as he tried to curl up as
much as he could so that no part of him was outside of the tiny vessel,
which began to move forward via magic, as neither of them were rowing.
There was absolutely no sound as the ghostly green boat moved forward
and that was eerie too. He looked down, seeing no ripples in the smooth,
glass-like water as the boat moved through it, he could no longer see the
cavern walls and Harry reminded himself firmly that he had the pendant
around his neck and he could use it at any point to get himself out safely,
that he could be back home in as little as a moment if he needed to.
Then he saw it. A ghostly pale hand floating just below the surface of the
water. He sucked in a shocked gasp.
"Professor, there's a human hand in the water." He said, bile rising in his
throat as the hand floated away like some macabre version of a fish. He
shivered as a roll ran down his spine, he could feel his heart hammering
in his chest and hear his rather quick, ragged breathing in the deathly
silent cavern.
"Yes." Dumbledore replied as if he'd known that there would be. Harry
wanted to demand why he hadn't been told about it, to prepare him for
it, but then his mind wandered back to this being some elaborate test of
Dumbledore's, to see how he reacted to such things with an immediate,
natural response. If he ever found out that that was the case…
Harry's thoughts cut off, he stopped breathing, his heart lodged in his
throat as his wand illuminated another patch of water and he saw a dead
man lying face up, staring at him through dead, misty eyes, his hair and
robes swirling around him as he floated just below the surface of the
lake.
"What are they?" He asked, his voice much higher than usual, even to his
own ears.
"We don't need to worry about them for the moment." Dumbledore said
calmly.
"That wasn't what I asked." Harry said, decidedly not calm.
"There is nothing to be feared from a body, Harry, any more than there is
anything to be feared from the darkness. Lord Voldemort, who secretly
fears both, disagrees. But once again he reveals his own lack of wisdom.
It is the unknown we fear when we look upon death and darkness,
nothing more."
Harry said nothing, but he found the very thought of dead bodies, and
body parts, floating around in the water below him very unnerving and
disturbing. He didn't like the thought of it at all.
"It is alright, Harry." Dumbledore told him, mistaking his unwillingness to
argue as fear. "Such creatures that dwell in the dark and cold fear the
light and warmth, which we will call forth if the need arises."
"Fire." Harry sighed, a little more settled now that he knew how to deal
with the dead bodies. He did hope that they stayed where they were, in
the water, but he was not so naïve as to think that they would, especially
not when they took the Horcrux, as they were obviously here to protect
it.
The boat bumped gently into something, Harry could only see
Dumbledore's back, so he didn't know what it was, though he did hope
that it wasn't a body, but it was much more likely that they had reached
the middle of the lake, that they had reached the place where the
Horcrux was hidden.
Dumbledore climbed out of the boat and then turned to help Harry.
"Be sure not to touch the water." He warned again.
Harry climbed carefully out of the boat onto the little island of dark rock.
He looked around, but he couldn't see any of the walls, there was only
the island with a basin, which was on a pedestal, on top of the small
chunk of rock they were standing on.
Dumbledore approached the basin and Harry followed. He looked into
the basin to find it filled with an emerald green potion, the source of the
misty green light that was illuminating the cave with an eerie green glow
that could be seen from the entrance to the cave…which couldn't be seen
now.
Dumbledore pushed back the sleeve of his robe and he reached out his
hand to touch the potion.
"Don't touch it! You don't know what it is or what it does." Harry snapped
angrily.
"I cannot touch." Dumbledore said, looking at him. "See? I cannot
approach any nearer than this. You try."
Curious, but also very cautious, Harry did so slowly and carefully and he
encountered an invisible barrier that stopped his fingers from getting any
closer to the basin. No matter how hard he pushed his hand against the
barrier, his fingers encountered only solid and inflexible air.
"Out of the way, Harry." Dumbledore told him.
Harry bristled at the rudeness of the dismissal, but he stood back and just
watched instead, letting Dumbledore take all the risks and reminding
himself that he had his pendant if he needed it.
"This potion cannot be reached by hand, it can't be vanished, parted,
scooped up or siphoned away, nor can it be transfigured, charmed or
otherwise made to change its nature."
"Then there must be something that you're missing." Harry pointed out
simply.
"Oh, no, I believe I know the answer." He said, twirling his wand and
then catching the crystal goblet that appeared out of thin air. "It must be
drunk."
"Ah." Harry replied, understanding all at once. "Are we back to
weakening our enemies before they get the Horcrux that's hidden here?"
"We are, Harry, yes."
"What do I do if it kills you?" Harry inquired seriously.
"Oh, I doubt that it'll kill me. Lord Voldemort would not want to kill the
person who reached this island."
Harry severely doubted that but then he didn't really know Voldemort
like Dumbledore did, so he didn't argue.
"Voldemort would not want anyone who reached through his defences
this far to be immediately killed. He'd want to know how they got here,
and why they were here first, Harry and then I would imagine that he
would kill them himself. Do not forget that Voldemort believes that he
alone knows of his Horcruxes and he would want to know how someone
else had come to know of them."
Harry nodded then, conceding the point. That did sound like Voldemort,
but moreover, it sounded logical.
"It is going to be your job here tonight, Harry, to ensure that I drink this
potion, regardless of what it might do. It might paralyse me, make me
forget why I'm here, create so much pain that I am distracted or render
me incapable in some other way, but you must ensure that I keep
drinking it."
If Harry hadn't known any better, he would have believed that this was
why he had been brought on this hunt; because it took two people, but
Dumbledore had not had any clue what he would encounter tonight, so it
was impossible for him to have known that it would have needed two
people to take this Horcrux. Unless this was an elaborate test of his
loyalty or something that had been set up by Dumbledore in the first
place, or else Dumbledore had come here beforehand to scope it out,
realised that it took two people, and then come back to include him.
Harry didn't know what to think about any of this anymore.
He nodded his head in agreement to hide his cautiousness and he
watched, in almost morbid curiosity, as Dumbledore lowered the goblet
into the potion and it sunk down as if the barrier had never existed.
When the goblet was full, Dumbledore raised it to his mouth.
"Your good health, Harry."
Harry's face contorted at that, taking the words as a jibe at his poor
health and the potions he had to take and for a moment, he hoped that
the green potion would cause unbearable pain. Shocked by the turn of his
own thoughts, Harry pushed them away sharply. He'd been spending too
much time with Rodolphus it seemed.
Dumbledore had drained the goblet and, almost apprehensively, Harry
watched and waited for something to happen. Nothing did except
Dumbledore had closed his blue eyes and plunged the goblet back into
the potion, refilling it, and then drank it once more.
This carried on in silence, with no visible or discernible effects, for three
more gobletfuls of the potion. Halfway through the fourth, Dumbledore
staggered and fell forward. His eyes were still closed and he was
breathing heavily. His face was twitching, his grip on the goblet was
slackening.
Harry reached for the unsteady goblet before it could fall, holding it
steady.
Dumbledore panted and then he spoke in a terrified voice that Harry had
never heard from him before.
"I don't want…don't make me…don't like…want to stop."
"You can't." Harry said sternly. "You've got to keep drinking."
Harry forced the goblet back to Dumbledore's mouth and he tipped the
potion into his mouth, which was open on another plea not to continue.
Harry felt sick and repulsed, but he steeled himself.
Over and over he forced himself to refill the goblet and he kept tipping it
down Dumbledore's throat, forcing him to drink the green, glowing
potion, not knowing what it was doing or what the final result of it
would be.
"Don't hurt them, don't hurt them." Dumbledore moaned. "Please, please,
it's my fault, hurt me instead…"
Harry was putting his money on the potion being some sort of psychotic
concoction that forced the drinker to see things that weren't there,
perhaps even feeling the pain of whatever they were seeing too.
He refilled the goblet and forced the green potion down Dumbledore's
throat. Again and again, he did this. Doing so quickly, to maybe empty
the potion before the effects got too bad or too much for Dumbledore to
handle…or maybe just to get out of this creepy, eerie cave quicker,
because he really didn't want to stay here for much longer. He wanted to
leave, but they needed the Horcrux first and the only way to get it was to
tip whatever this potion was down Dumbledore's throat at all costs.
"Please, please, please." Dumbledore moaned, as if in actual pain. "Not
that, not that, I'll do anything…" He promised.
Dumbledore started yelling then as if he were in acute pain. Harry
scooped up the tenth gobletful of glowing, green potion and he felt it as
the goblet scraped the bottom of the basin. He looked and he saw how
much the potion had gone down. He could see a dark, blurry outline of
an object at the bottom, clearly the hidden Horcrux. They were almost
there.
"I want to die!" Dumbledore screamed in anguish. "Make it stop, make it
stop, I want to die!"
Harry forced the potion down the man's throat, then another gobletful,
and no sooner had it been drunk than Dumbledore was yelling for Harry
to kill him at the top of his lungs. Harry felt wretched and he rather
thought that this was going to traumatise him…he should not be exposed
to this sort of horror. He was only sixteen after all.
Dumbledore suddenly fell backwards and Harry's heart about stopped, it
had been beating so fast that Harry thought he was having a heart attack.
He dropped to his knees and prodded Dumbledore with his wand.
"Rennervate." He murmured. Nothing happened. "Rennervate." He said
louder, stronger, his voice echoing repeatedly in the cavern. He didn't
like that, he didn't want to cause any noise in this place, he didn't want to
disturb the bodies in the lake.
Dumbledore's eyelids flickered under the askew half-moon glasses.
Harry's heart leapt.
"Water." Dumbledore croaked.
Harry blinked at the request, but he nodded, understanding more than
anyone that drinking that much potion would leave a terrible taste in the
mouth.
He stood and went to get the goblet from where he'd left it in the basin.
He saw the golden locket lying underneath it, the potion low enough now
for it to be grabbed and he took it, slipping it into his pocket. This is
what he'd come for, this was an actual Horcrux hunt, not some sort of
elaborate test, though perhaps it was still that after all, he'd need to tread
carefully from here on out.
He pointed his wand at the goblet in his other hand. "Aguamenti." He
said clearly, watching as the goblet filled with fresh water. He hunched
down beside Dumbledore and held it out to him, helping him to drink…
only the goblet was empty.
Harry closed his eyes as he realised what was happening. Voldemort had
planned this meticulously, his last attempt to protect his precious
Horcrux. He hauled Dumbledore to the boat, the man still moaning for
water. There was only one way for someone to get water in this cave, he
realised, as he looked at the mirror-black surface of the lake…he was not
feeding anyone water that was swimming with dead bodies. He was not
even going to touch that water. He moved to get into the boat himself,
but the water started churning, everywhere marble white heads and
hands were reaching out of the lake and too late, Harry realised that
Dumbledore himself had dipped a hand into the lake to bring the water
to his parched mouth.
He was frozen to the spot, almost sick with fear as a sightless, milky pale
man emerged onto the rock in front of him, reaching for him. Harry's
heart almost burst with fear.
Men, women and even children crawled out of the lake, looking with
sightless, cloudy eyes, grabbing at him, trying to drag him into the lake
to drown him, to make him like them. Their hands were ice cold, and
strong in a way he'd never known before, pulling, dragging and he all but
froze in terror before his mind kicked back in as he was pulled uselessly
over the rock, as something else grabbed his leg and pulled, knocking
him from his feet as he was dragged down onto his back as he was easily
pulled into the water of the lake to be drowned.
"Incendio!" Harry yelled, throwing as much power into the spell as he
could, keeping the fire around him as he scrambled back from the water,
panic almost making him completely stupid as he just wanted to get
away from the horrors around him, before he calmed himself slightly and
kicked the boat off of the rock and clambered in, trying to keep the
bodies away with his barrier of fire.
"The Horcrux, Harry." Dumbledore moaned, his face as pale as the bodies,
his forehead dripping with sweat.
"Don't speak." Harry said sternly, though his voice wavered like a child's.
"Save your strength or you're going to die, who knows what that potion
was, what it did, or what it is still doing."
Harry watched, his throat burning with the urge to vomit the fear-
induced bile that was building up, as the bodies shrank away from the
fire, away from the light and warmth, but they were still all around the
boat, surrounding them just outside the impassable fire. Harry wondered
if he'd have to keep this spell up until they were free of the cave
entirely…he would not be able to swim if he had to keep his wand in his
hand.
They reached the bank with a gentle bump and Harry clambered over
Dumbledore, his wand held aloft, and he got his feet back on the rock. He
hauled Dumbledore out after him.
"The Horcrux, Harry, or it was all for nothing." Dumbledore tried again,
but his voice was so faint that Harry was worried that he'd drop dead on
him at any moment. Harry didn't bother answering him.
The little boat sank once more, as soon as Dumbledore was out of it, and
as it did the bodies too sunk back under the water, which was calm and
peaceful once more, mirror-smooth and with not a ripple to show for
what had just happened, ready for the next unfortunate fucker to come
this way and try their luck.
Harry took Dumbledore's arm, keeping himself and the man well away
from the edge of the lake and he kept his ring of fire around them both,
just in case, because those bodies had really creeped him out and he was
scared, almost terrified out of his mind and he kept having visions of a
hand reaching out of the lake to grab at his ankle to yank him into the
water, as had happened back on the rock with the basin, and his leg
throbbed with the reminder of it and he knew that he would have a
bruise there…he'd be having nightmares later, of those icy cold, dead
arms wrapping around him and dragging him to his death in this horrific
lake that no one would ever find.
"I am weak." Dumbledore muttered, almost to himself.
"Don't worry, I'll get us back." He said, before murmuring to himself.
"Somehow."
"The protection was…after all…well designed." Dumbledore carried on
faintly. "One alone could not have done it…you did well, Harry, very
well."
"Don't talk." Harry said more firmly, worried about how slurred
Dumbledore's speech was, how much his feet dragged, how heavy he was
becoming.
"The archway will have sealed itself again…my knife."
"There's no need. I injured my arm when I fell on the rock." Harry said,
giving up telling the man to stop talking, he clearly wasn't listening to
him.
"Here." Dumbledore said, pointing to a particular spot. Harry wiped his
blooded arm on the wall and the archway opened once more after the
payment of blood, letting them out free and back into the water-filled
crevice.
It was a million times more difficult to doggy paddle with the dead
weight of Dumbledore too, and Harry swallowed a lot of seawater,
choking on it, burping slightly as he heaved into his throat, to remove the
water from his lungs and stomach. He wanted to stop and take a break,
he was so tired, but he knew that he would sink the moment he stopped,
so he forced himself to carry on…this was definitely going to adversely
affect his healing body. He wasn't well enough to be doing this. His
family were going to kill him.
Once they were safe on a rock, the nearest one that Harry had seen, he
took a moment to rest and recover, shivering and soaked to the bone, he
was utterly miserable as he tried to figure out how to get the deathly ill
Dumbledore back to Hogwarts when he couldn't Apparate and certainly
couldn't use his Malfoy pendant Portkey. It came to him suddenly and he
sighed.
"Dobby!" He called out.
The exuberant house-elf landed on the small rock, happy for all of two
moments, then he looked around and saw where they were, his face
falling and his ears drooping, all before he could even greet them.
"There's no time, Dobby." Harry said, panting with panic and exhaustion.
"We need to get back to Hogwarts, now. Take Dumbledore, I can get
myself back safe, but not him. Get him to the Medical Wing."
"No!" Dumbledore moaned weakly. "Severus. I need Severus."
Harry looked at the pale, weakened old man and thought that a medi-
witch was going to be much more useful to him than Snape, but he didn't
have time to argue. He didn't really care at this moment in time.
"Take him to Snape." Harry told Dobby. "Quickly."
The house-elf nodded and Harry watched them go, then he grabbed his
pendant in a tight fist and he thought of home, of Lucius and Narcissa, of
Rabastan, and a moment later he slammed into the ground of the
receiving room, soaking wet, icy cold, deathly pale and struggling to
breathe through fear, horror, cold, and a delayed reaction of panic.
Lucius was alerted to something wrong at half-past nine that night when
the charms he had put on two matching pendants, worn by both of his
sons, started tugging on his consciousness. He flicked out his wand,
cutting off Xerxes in mid-sentence and alerting Narcissa to something
being wrong.
A simple spell alerted him that it was Harry's charms that were going
haywire. Harry who only wore his pendant occasionally, despite Lucius
trying to insist that he wore it permanently. He hadn't told Harry that it
contained a monitoring charm, only that it was a powerful Portkey, so
Harry only wore it when he believed that he would need an escape route.
It was very telling in itself that he was wearing it currently, and he
obviously needed it too, as the charms on it were going berserk. His son
was not only in danger but he was scared too. He stood immediately, his
robes snapping behind him.
"What is it, Lucius?" Narcissa demanded.
"Harry's charms are going off." He said tightly, moving to the receiving
room down the hall, to the floo connected fireplace.
"Harry rarely wears his pendant." Narcissa said, understanding
immediately as her face hardened as she heard that her son was in
danger and she followed her husband silently.
"I know, let us see what the problem is." Lucius said as he went through
the floo to Hogwarts. The headmaster's office was empty, which was
unusual for this time of night.
Lucius didn't bother calling out or waiting, he set straight on the path to
Harry's private rooms and once he reached the portrait door, he opened it
with his wand, not bothering to knock. He would waste no pleasantries
when Harry's charms were informing him that he was scared and in
danger.
"Harry?!" He called out loudly, worriedly.
"Harry, dear?" Narcissa called out as she headed to his bedroom and
bathroom, both of which were dark and empty of her younger son. "He's
not here, Lucius!"
"This might explain things." Lucius said tightly, an unfurled letter in his
hands.
"What does it say?"
"It is for Draco. Harry has gone off with Dumbledore for the night. He
asks that if he comes back acting differently, then he is to be checked for
potions or spells, but otherwise gives no indication of where he has gone,
what he might be doing, or when he might be back."
"Has the charm stopped alerting?"
"No." Lucius sighed. "It is getting stronger. Wherever he is, he is in danger
and he's scared. His charm has never gone off like this before."
"We must find him." Narcissa said fiercely.
"We do not know where to start looking, dear. At least he has his pendant
on him, he can get home if he needs to."
"Then we need to be there for him." Narcissa insisted, striding back off to
the headmaster's office. If she found out that he had needlessly harmed
her young son or put him in danger, she would curse him, repeatedly,
and she wouldn't stop.
She flooed back to her home and was nearly accosted by Rabastan as
soon as she landed. Xerxes must have called him immediately after she
and Lucius had left.
"Where is Harry? Is he okay? Is he safe?"
"We didn't find him. He left a letter. He's left the castle with Dumbledore
to do only Merlin knows what!" She fretted. "I will have his hide when I
next see him! How dare he worry us in such a way?"
"He…he's gone?" Rabastan asked faintly. "With Dumbledore?!"
"Yes, we have no idea where he might be, he never said." Narcissa said,
sitting in the nearest seat, all but collapsing into it as Lucius came
through the floo.
"Where would he have gone with that man?" Xerxes asked.
"I couldn't say." Lucius sighed.
"We need to do something." Rabastan said, very distressed at the idea of
his young fiancé being scared and in danger.
"There is nothing that we can do."
"Isn't there a tracker in the pendant that you gave to the boys? I had a
similar one for Rodolphus and Rabastan when they were boys and I had a
tracker in those." Xerxes said.
"There is, but it isn't picking up Harry's location, which usually indicates
that he's at Hogwarts, only he isn't. Wherever he is, it is highly influxed
with magic that is blocking the tracker from working, likely by design. "
"So Dumbledore has taken him to a place where a tracker won't find
him?" Rodolphus asked. "Is this on purpose, do you believe? Or a
coincidence?"
"We cannot say for certain, but nothing with that man is a coincidence."
Narcissa said furiously. "Harry's letter said only to check him for potions
or spells if he came back acting differently. I take that to mean that Harry
himself is worried about what this little jaunt of Dumbledore's is for."
"Dumbledore wouldn't risk brainwashing him personally." Rodolphus
said. "If it ever came to light that he was brainwashing students, he
wouldn't have a leg to stand on. There must be others there willing to get
their hands dirty."
"Moody." Rabastan growled. "He's Dumbledore's friend and he wouldn't
hesitate over forcing Harry to do Dumbledore's bidding. He's a very
powerful wizard too, he could do it."
"We should have taken him out fifteen years ago." Rodolphus growled
darkly.
"This waiting is unbearable!" Narcissa interrupted worriedly. "He has his
pendant on him, why doesn't he use it?"
"He needs to be able to touch it, dear." Lucius reminded her. "If they have
his hands tied…"
"If they have dared tie him up to curse him, or to force a potion on him, I
will not stop until they are all dead." Rabastan declared, a cruel gleam in
his dark blue eyes and a sneer curling his mouth.
"I will not wait as my son is scared and in danger, Lucius! I want him
here, now."
"There is nothing that I can do, Cissa, we don't know where he is." Lucius
tried to calm her. "He has his pendant on him, he is a smart, powerful
boy, he can look after himself. Look what he did to Rowle in our own
bathroom, none of us expected that of him. He will be underestimated by
others also."
"He is only sixteen, Lucius. He shouldn't have to look after himself."
"No, he shouldn't, but he can if he needs to, dear. He's not some useless
little boy who needs to be shielded and protected at all times and he's not
stupid either. He rarely wears that pendant, despite my steadfast
insistence that he wears it at all times, but he took it with him tonight for
a reason."
Narcissa took a deep breath and she nodded her understanding. Harry
had taken that pendant as a means of escape, if he needed to he would
use it, unknowing as he was of the monitoring charms on it also.
It was agonising though, watching as ten O'clock came creeping ever
closer, and with Lucius saying that the tugging of the charms was only
getting stronger. Harry was being put in more danger than ever and his
fear was only increasing.
"What could they possibly be doing to him?" She fretted as Lucius told
them that Harry's charms were registering off the scale with fear and
danger…his very life was currently being threatened and he was so
scared that he would be almost on a level of blind panic, which could be
dangerous in itself.
"I dread to think on it, Cissa." Lucius said, very worried himself.
Harry's fear suddenly ebbed a little, and the charm measuring the danger
to his body and life decreased too. Only slightly, but it was enough.
"I believe whatever it was to be over now." Lucius said. "The pull of the
charms has lessened."
"Have they taken it off of him?" Narcissa asked quickly.
"No, it is still registering, just not as high as before. The danger and fear
have passed slightly, but he is still feeling some lingering effects."
"You don't think Dumbledore would have taken him back to Hogwarts?"
"We will wait and see if his pendant places him back in Hogwarts or not.
He is still in the area of high magic and cannot be located at the
moment."
They waited in silence, all of them worried and fretting, all of them
trying not to imagine what was happening to Harry.
Then, all of a sudden, everything changed. Lucius stood up straighter,
inhaling a little deeper, just a moment before a soaking wet, incredibly
pale Harry landed on the receiving room floor, coughing and shivering so
violently that he looked to be almost convulsing. He was struggling to
breathe.
Narcissa leapt up, but Rabastan reached him first and he used brute force
to rip the soaked clothes from Harry's body, using a strength that he
hadn't had since before Azkaban. The clothes were so wet that they were
dripping and they were ice cold, as was Harry's pale, bloodless skin
underneath. He smelt of salt as well, he'd been in the ocean, so late at
night too, he was going to be freezing…it was then that they noticed the
blood splattered over him, he had been injured too.
Lucius pointed his wand at the fire and ignited it, watching as the flames
roared into existence, before he aimed his wand at Harry and dried him
off. Rodolphus helped Rabastan to strip off his robes and shirt to share
body heat and the younger brother flinched as he came into contact with
Harry's frozen skin, pulling him from a puddle that had already formed
on the floor, but Rabastan got over the shock of the cold quickly, holding
Harry tight to his body and shuffling over to the fire, sitting directly in
front of it.
"Pimsey!" Narcissa called.
"Mistress calls for Pim…"
"Hot chocolate, now." She ordered, before turning back to Rabastan. "Is
he conscious?"
Rabastan used his hand to pull Harry's head up to face him and he found
himself looking down into wide open, terror-filled eyes and his heart
seized in his chest, if Harry was not breathing so hard, so rapidly and
noisily, then he might have believed his fiancé to be dead in his arms.
"He's conscious but unresponsive. He's just staring outwards without
blinking."
"Let me see him." Xerxes commanded, and as their expert on all curses,
he bent down and checked Harry over, murmuring in languages as old as
time itself, while his wand passed over the young, frozen boy curled in
Rabastan's lap, shaking so violently that he was jerking uncontrollably.
"He hasn't been cursed and he's not under any effects of potions. He's just
frozen with cold and fear. He needs to be warmed up and comforted."
Narcissa knelt carefully by Rabastan's shoulder and she touched the icy
face of her younger son, running her thumb gently over his cheek and
chin, brushing her fingertips over his neck and jaw. Over and over she
touched, stroking him rhythmically, her heart breaking as she listened to
him hyperventilate, his eyes wide and staring at things that they could
only guess at. She watched as Rabastan stroked Harry's back, ran his
fingers through his hair, murmured to him gently to try and soothe him,
to bring him back into this room, with them, and take him from where he
had been before, stuck in whatever nightmarish things that had driven
him to this state in the first place.
Harry's breathing eased down, his shivering lessened, and then eventually
he blinked for the first time, then again, and then he seemed to come
back to himself and he realised where he was and who was around him.
He slipped his arms immediately around Rabastan and he held on tightly,
turning his head slightly to press it against Rabastan's naked chest.
"Did…did you know that you can animate dead bodies?" He asked into
the silence, his wavering voice very high and frightened. If they had not
watched his lips move, they would never have guessed that the words
were Harry's own, his voice was unrecognisable.
Narcissa's stomach dropped at the horror that those simple words
implied.
"You were exposed to an inferius?" Rodolphus asked sharply.
Harry said nothing more, he just clung on tight to Rabastan, his
breathing laboured and his skin still icy to the touch.
Lucius moved to find the source of the blood and found Harry's elbow
and forearm bloody. It looked to be grazed, as if he had fallen on it, and
it would scab over once healed. He cleaned it with his wand and
conjured a dressing for it. It was as he was directing the bandage to wrap
around Harry's arm that he spotted the first signs of bruising coming out.
He stopped the bandage from winding around the small grazes and
looked more closely at the deep red marks that were beginning to go
dark…it was in the shape of fingers.
"Were you attacked by this inferius?" He asked in horror.
Harry nodded jerkily and he curled up tighter into Rabastan. "They were
everywhere!" Harry said, breathless with fear and his voice still too high
and abnormal.
"There was more than one?" Rabastan asked him seriously.
"More, more…" Harry trailed off and his body convulsed.
"Why were you exposed to this sort of thing? What possible reason could
Dumbledore have that would warrant this sort of danger?"
"Dumbledore…he's weak." Harry said. "Attacked us both. He's going to
die. I barely managed…I only just got us out alive. We almost died."
Harry sobbed then and Rabastan held him tighter.
The four of them looked at one another over Harry's head. Nothing was
making any sense. Harry and Dumbledore had been attacked by inferi
and Dumbledore might actually die from the attack.
"Harry, listen to me. Why were you taken from the school? What
happened? Where did Dumbledore take you?"
Harry just shivered and curled up tighter.
"I think he needs to rest first." Rabastan said, stroking Harry's head and
back.
"See if he'll drink this, it'll help." Narcissa said, handing over the hot
chocolate.
Rabastan held it carefully up to Harry's mouth, thankful that he had
recovered enough, that he was now stable enough to do this without
injuring Harry further, or spilling the warm drink on him.
Harry sipped at the drink tipped against his lips, then as the warm drink
soothed and warmed him, he gulped it, his hands coming up to cradle
Rabastan's hand that was holding the cup steady for him, drinking all of
it down in one go.
Rabastan gently wiped Harry's top lip and was grateful to see some
colour returned to him.
"They tried to drown me." Harry said, quivering like a leaf. "There were
hundreds of them, even children. One grabbed my arm and was pulling
me to the water, another grabbed my ankle and pulled me off my feet. If
I hadn't remembered that they were afraid of fire, I would have died."
"Where were you?"
"I don't know." Harry replied.
"Why did you go there?"
"I was taken there, Apparation, I didn't know where it was or why."
"You were in the ocean?"
Harry nodded jerkily.
"I think you need to go up to bed and rest."
"Hogwarts. I need to get back right away." Harry said.
"You are not going anywhere except to bed!" Lucius told him firmly.
Harry stubbornly shook his head.
"Harry, you are deathly pale and ill, you need to go to bed." Narcissa told
him more gently.
Harry shook his head again. "I need to get back to the school, quickly."
"For what purpose?" Lucius demanded.
"I can't tell you yet." Harry said, gaining more colour and more of himself
as time passed in front of the blazing fire, wrapped in Rabastan's arms.
"This is unacceptable, Harry!" Lucius burst out angrily. "You do not get to
put your life in danger, going off with Dumbledore and then telling us
that you were attacked by inferi and then not offer any sort of
explanation! You are already very unwell, just because you have been
able to cut down on your potions does not mean that you can suddenly
become negligent with your health! You are staying here and that is final,
I will hear no more on the matter. Now, you are to go up to bed, you will
go to sleep and you will stay there until a healer has come to see you
tomorrow and we see how much damage you have done to yourself
during this dangerous venture."
Harry looked at him strangely. As if he hadn't thought that he would be
ordered around. If that was the case then Lucius would remove such an
impression from his younger son. Adopted or not, Harry was his son now,
and he would not have allowed Draco to do the same, and he would not
let Harry get away with it either. He was their father and he would be
listened to, he would be respected and obeyed.
"Do not give me that look." He said. "You are my son and you will not
come here, looking to be at death's door, telling me such things, and then
just swan off back to school as if nothing has happened. You are staying
here, where we can keep a close eye on you, and where we can have you
assessed by a medical professional. Now, go to bed."
Harry looked like he might actually refuse and Lucius was starting to lose
his temper.
"Do not disobey me, Harry. You will not like the consequences after what
you've told me tonight."
Harry bit his lip and furrowed his brow. He suddenly looked several
years younger…pale and vulnerable, and Lucius regretted his rather
harsh words. He hunched down smoothly and brushed the hair from
Harry's face. He was reminded sharply that Harry was just sixteen, that
he'd only been with a real family for less than a year. He had not had the
greatest start in life and he was still getting used to people caring about
him and what happened to him, just because he was family and for no
other reason.
"Everything will be fine." He assured the young boy, whose green eyes
were even more shadowed and haunted than they'd been before tonight.
He was never going to forgive Dumbledore for this, for exposing Harry to
such dangers, to the inferi that had clearly traumatised Harry. "Just go to
bed, go to sleep. If you need a dreamless sleep potion, you may have
one."
Harry nodded immediately at that suggestion, and Lucius understood
Harry's reluctance to go to bed all at once. Whatever had happened
tonight, it was much worse than just meeting up with the inferi,
something else had happened, or something more than Harry was saying
had happened, if he was too afraid to go up to bed on his own and go to
sleep. He had been traumatised and he'd need support through this, all
because Dumbledore had thought it a good idea to expose a young boy to
such things. The man needed to be mentally assessed.
Pimsey was called again and sent away just as quick to get the potion and
Rabastan helped Harry to take it.
Harry moved by himself then, reaching out for his robe.
"Leave that, Harry. It will be sorted for you." Lucius told him gently.
Harry shook his head and dragged the soaked mass towards him. He
searched it and pulled out a small vial…his nutrient potion.
"Ah, I see. Take that one too and then we'll get you up to bed, okay?"
Harry nodded, holding the vial out to Rabastan, who opened it and
helped Harry to drink the potion inside it, grateful that he now had the
motor skills to actually be of any assistance to Harry. Despite the
situation, he was very pleased, deep down, to be needed in such a way,
to be able to help his young fiancé who had turned to him in his moment
of fear and need, relying on him, as he had relied heavily on Harry back
at the beginning of their betrothal. It felt amazing to now return the
favour to Harry, who had not hesitated to lean on him in this moment of
terror and shock, trusting him, trusting that he would help him through
this, to comfort him and do what needed to be done to ease, even
slightly, the fear and panic that he was feeling still.
Harry reached back to the robe and started pulling some things from the
pockets…his wand, his invisibility cloak and something gold that glinted
that Lucius thought might have been a Galleon or some such. It was the
cloak that angered him the most, as Dumbledore had obviously asked
Harry to take it with him to prevent anyone from seeing him leaving the
school with Harry, an underaged school boy.
"Take him up." Lucius said to Rabastan. "Make sure that he is warm
before leaving him. I have a visit to make tonight."
"To Severus?" Narcissa asked.
Lucius nodded and watched as Rodolphus helped Rabastan to stand from
the floor under Harry's weight and he watched as Harry was carried to
bed, still paler than usual, but at least he was no longer staring dead
ahead with those too-wide eyes that wouldn't blink.
He wanted answers, and he wasn't willing to demand them from Harry
tonight with him in the state that he was. That left him only one option…
Dumbledore. Dumbledore who, according to Harry, was near death. So
he was going to go and see Severus and see what he made of everything,
and see if he might have been told about what was happening. Either
way, he would get to the bottom of this, and he would not have Harry
dragged into anything of this sort ever again, he was a boy still, a
sixteen-year-old boy, but more than that, he was his son and he would
not have anyone putting his son in such dangers.
A/N: Today is our third year anniversary, which is the only reason I'm
posting this chapter up, as I swore that I would stay on my Dracken
universe fics for the remainder of 2017. I will carry on posting for this fic
in 2018 now, lovelies, so don't be alarmed just because I'm not posting,
this fic is not being abandoned, I have not hit a wall or writer's block
with it, rather the opposite, I am just focusing on my Dracken fics for a
few months, that's all.
Those on my facebook also know that real life is kicking me at the
moment. My beloved cat, Jethro, has been diagnosed with severe
hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, or in layman's terms heart disease. It is
severe, he's been declared terminal, and the vets don't know how he's still
alive. He has days, maybe a week or two left, and I have to have some
difficult talks about euthanasia in the coming days now. So I think the
best way to describe myself at the moment is emotionally unstable,
which will only get worse when he does inevitably pass, so everything is
up in the air at the moment, so I might need some time to myself when
that happens, but for the moment he's okay, he's stable and I'm keeping
him comfortable.
But outside of that, I do hope that you've enjoyed this chapter, now that
I'm moving the plot along quickly, and the next chapter we'll be in the
summer months, but that won't be until 2018 now, as I have too much of
the Drackens to deal with at the moment, but this is our third year, it's
special, and I wanted to celebrate with you readers by giving you a new
chapter.
A big thank you to itshannieee for being the 2,700th reviewer for this
fic.
rigger42: The Healers wouldn't have noticed the Horcrux, no one is
looking for it. No one expects it to be there, not even Snape realised the
Horcrux was there and he went digging through Harry's head to find a
link to Voldemort for Dumbledore. For this same reason, Voldemort
never realised that Harry was a Horcrux in canon, so neither will he in
this fic, he will only find out about it when Harry himself tells him, when
he in turn finds out.
FotoDi: He probably is being a bit lax with his tongue, but as Astoria
pointed out, she is going to be family, and you don't shit on your family.
Blaise isn't going to say anything either, but thankfully no one was there
in the infirmary, Harry isn't so stupid as to not check his surroundings,
but he probably should be more careful, but he's still young, and rather
temperamental so he does have little blips. He will learn with time and
age, hopefully before that lax tongue and the temper get him into
trouble.
As for Dumbledore bugging Harry's room, there would be an outcry if it
was found out that any Professor, let alone the headmaster, was putting
any monitoring, or listening charms, in a student's room, it would be the
end of Dumbledore, who only has his teaching position left to cling to
thanks to Harry. Lucius has protected Harry's rooms against such things
in any case, there are a dozen things that Lucius has done for Harry that
Harry doesn't actually know about, such as the monitoring charm on the
pendant shown in this chapter.
PamK13: Oh, I'm sorry for the confusion, lovelie. Harry still wears
glasses, but when Lucius adopted him he took him to get his eyes
properly tested and bought him new, stylish glasses that suit him much
better. Blaise only meant with his comment on Harry's glasses that he
was glad that he'd gotten rid of his old, hideous ones. So, Harry does still
have glasses, yes.
Riddle-Snape: No. The sword was hidden in the sorting hat, and Harry
put the sorting hat on and asked for help, thus Harry got the sword, it
doesn't just disappear and reappear in someone's hand just because
they're in need. But there needs to be some act of bravery or great need
for them to be able to get the sword, such as Harry getting it from the
hat, or pulling it from the ice where Snape had put it. But Harry already
has it, so it's not going anywhere, especially not if Voldemort gets it and
hides it, or rather gets Harry to hide it for him.
Anyway, thank you all for listening and understanding, for reading and
reviewing, and I will see you all with more of this story in 2018 now,
until then, lovelies,
StarLight Massacre. X
22. Opportunistic Encounters
A/N: This chapter is dedicated to the wonderfully amazing Kit and Pipa,
who celebrate their first month wedding anniversary together, today.
Congratulations on your anniversary, lovelies and have a happy
Valentine's Day together!
Last Time
Lucius nodded and watched as Rodolphus helped Rabastan to stand from the
floor under Harry's weight and he watched as Harry was carried to bed, still
paler than usual, but at least he was no longer staring dead ahead with those
too wide eyes that wouldn't blink.
He wanted answers, and he wasn't willing to demand them from Harry tonight
with him in the state that he was. That left him only one option…Dumbledore.
Dumbledore who, according to Harry, was near death. So he was going to go
and see Severus to see what he made of everything, and see if he might have
been told about what was happening. Either way he would get to the bottom of
this, and he would not have Harry dragged into anything of this sort ever
again, he was a boy still, a sixteen year old boy, but more than that, he was
his son and he would not have anyone putting his son in such dangers.
Chapter Twenty-Two – Opportunistic Encounters
Harry woke up confused and aching. It took just a moment for his mind
to catch up with where he was, why and what had happened and he
forced himself upright and he looked around to see that he was in his
bedroom back at Malfoy Manor. He groped for the pendant around his
neck and gave it a tight squeeze. He exhaled with sheer relief that he was
home safe before he turned to where he'd left his things the night before.
He'd purposefully placed the invisibility cloak over his wand and the
locket when Rabastan had carried him to bed.
He took the cloak off of the bedside table and he picked up the locket,
but immediately he realised that something was wrong. He remembered
Slytherin's locket from the memory that showed Hepzibah Smith showing
it off to Riddle…this was not the same locket that had been in that
memory.
Afraid that someone had switched out the lockets while he slept, he
opened it desperately, only to find a piece of parchment within it. He
carefully took it out and read the message inside.
The locket was a fake, but no one in this house had taken the real one…it
had been taken before he and Dumbledore had even arrived there at that
cave, perhaps even years before. Someone had found the Horcrux first
and taken it…destroyed it according to the letter from R. A. B. Harry
cursed, as this meant that he had suffered through such trauma for
nothing. Because it meant that he didn't have an actual Horcrux to use to
bargain with Voldemort.
He consoled himself, he still had the sword. He had the knowledge of the
Horcruxes and perhaps that would be enough.
He reclined back against his pillows and he frowned, trying to work out
who this R. A. B. might be, why they would have gone against Voldemort
without telling anyone and, more importantly, had they actually
destroyed the locket or not? If not, where was it and who had it now?
He sighed and put the locket back under the cloak and he laid back
down, vaguely remembering being threatened not to move from his bed
until he'd seen a healer. He did feel rather bad and despite the amount of
sleep he must have had, he was very tired still.
He did wonder how Dumbledore was doing, or more importantly if that
potion had killed him or not. He wondered if Snape had figured out what
potion it was, and how to remedy it, or if he'd even had the time,
considering Dumbledore had been getting weaker and weaker very fast,
before they'd reached the outside of that cave even.
Harry closed his eyes again, his head throbbing and before he knew it
there was a hand on his face, stroking gently, and he was peeling open
gluey eyes to look up at Rabastan, who was sitting on the bed beside him.
Harry moaned unhappily at being woken up, but he rolled until his body
was in Rabastan's lap, wanting to be closer to him.
"Is the healer here?" Harry asked sleepily.
"He's been and gone." Rabastan told him with a smile. "You were fast
asleep and there was no waking you. You were given a pepper-up potion,
but other than that, you're going to be just fine."
Harry nodded and he yawned, shifting more to wrap his arms around
Rabastan's waist.
"You must never scare me like this again." Rabastan told him sternly.
"How could you just wander off to who knows where with Dumbledore,
Harry? Him, of all people!"
Harry hummed sleepily. "It was important."
"So you said last night, but you have refused to elaborate. What was so
important that you had to risk yourself in such a way? That you had to
leave the school so late at night and put yourself in danger?"
"You wouldn't like it." Harry said simply, twisting onto his back so that he
could look up into Rabastan's face, so that he could see those beautiful
dark blue eyes.
"I already don't like this, not one bit." Rabastan said. "I don't like you
being alone with that man."
"Unfortunately, it's necessary, Rabastan. I wouldn't be doing it otherwise.
Don't you remember the struggle that my father had to get me to go to
those 'meetings' in the first place? I never wanted to go to them in the
first place, but father made me, and then things came to light during
them and I realised I'd have to play a very intricate, dangerous game.
Last night was the penultimate moment in that game. I had to go…if I
hadn't then Dumbledore would have known that my loyalties have truly
switched to the other side and my life would have been in even more
danger, can't you understand that?"
Rabastan sighed then. "I understand." He said. "I'm sorry for nagging, I
just…I was scared when we couldn't find you, when we didn't know
where you were or what was happening to you. For all I knew, you could
have been dying at that very moment, and I couldn't have done anything
about it. I wish you would have at least told me that you were going out
last night, then it wouldn't have been such a panic."
Harry reached up one hand and he cupped Rabastan's face with it.
"I love you." He said clearly and firmly. "I would never want to worry
you, but sometimes things are beyond our control and we have to follow
them through. I didn't know I was going out last night, that's why the
letter to Draco was basic and hastily written, I only had a few moments
to collect the things I needed to take with me and to write that letter and
then I was gone. I barely had ten minutes warning myself, but when you
and Rodolphus get better, you're going to start going on 'missions' again,
aren't you?" He asked, then he carried on just as Rabastan opened his
mouth, maybe to simply agree, maybe to argue his reasons for going on
the missions, but Harry never gave him the chance to say anything
because he already knew that Rabastan would not ever go against orders
from his Lord. "And don't you think I'll be sat at home, worried out of my
mind about where you are and what you're doing and if you're hurt or
not while I can't do anything about it? There's nothing we can do about
it, Rabastan. What will happen is going to happen, and I don't like it any
more than you do, but we have to do what we need to do in order to
survive. To keep ourselves together, as a family, because I love you and I
will not lose you or let you go."
Rabastan blew out a breath and he nodded unhappily. He felt the same
way. He wanted to argue with Harry, wrap him up and keep him safe,
point out that he was only sixteen, but he couldn't because Harry was
right. He couldn't treat the man who would become his husband as lesser
than himself, they were to be equals, which meant they both shared the
same privileges and the same level of respect from the other, regardless
of the age difference. He couldn't go out on dangerous missions and then
demand that Harry couldn't do the same. Harry was not a child, despite
his young years, and thanks to the muggle beasts who had ruined his
childhood, Harry had never really been a child in the first place, so he
had absolutely no right to try and force Harry into a box to keep him safe
when Harry had never been used to such treatment. He had to swallow
down the fear and remind himself that it would be the same fear that
Harry would swallow when he went out on his own missions.
He'd never really had anyone to care for him in such a way. Rodolphus
did, of course, but he would be right there beside him. They would
usually be on the same mission, supporting and helping one another, able
to keep an eye on one another, it wasn't the same as sitting at home,
wondering what was happening or if anyone had been hurt. This level of
concern for his wellbeing was completely new and as he looked down
into those emerald green eyes, he knew that he would never be able to
stand seeing them filled with tears, fear or pain.
"You're staying home now." Rabastan told him. "For the summer. The
others will be on the train tomorrow, so your father didn't see the point
in sending you back just to come home again tomorrow. Not in your
condition."
Harry nodded his understanding. "I want to go back and get the things I
want to bring home, but it shouldn't take longer than an hour."
Rabastan nodded. "I would offer to go with you, but I can't. Instead, I will
be waiting here when you get back."
Harry smiled and he sat up then, his back to his fiancé's chest, pushing
his bum back into Rabastan's lap, and tipping his head back to kiss him.
"Thank you for understanding." Harry said. "Now, am I allowed to get up
or not?" He teased.
"The healer said that you'd be fine with a pepper-up, so I believe that to
mean that you're fine to get up."
Harry smiled. "I'll floo to Hogwarts and pick up my stuff now, so I can
just relax for the rest of the summer without having to worry about
anything."
Rabastan nodded. "Don't let anyone tell you that you have to stay there,
your father has already contacted the school and he's told them that
you're staying home."
Harry nodded and he stood up and stretched.
"I'm glad to be home early with you. I wanted to come home after the
exams, but Dumbledore said I had to stay there, I know now that it was
because of last night." Harry sighed. "His little test." He added with a
sneer.
Rabastan reached out to him and pulled him back over to himself and
kissed him gently.
"Don't fret over it, Harry. You passed the test, yes?"
Harry nodded.
"And he now thinks that you're truly loyal?"
"Not just yet. I need to return something to him first. Our reason for the
test." Harry sighed.
Harry picked up his cloak, snatched the locket from under it and dangled
the locket out facing Rabastan.
"An old Black family locket?" Rabastan frowned.
Harry cocked his head. "It belongs to the Black family?"
"Yes. Every family gives their children something to keep protective
charms over them, and it is usually an emergency portkey too, like the
pendant that you and Draco have. The Black family used lockets, like that
one. I remember your godfather, and his younger brother Regulus,
wearing one each that looked similar to the one you're holding. You can
tell it belongs to the Black family because of this." He said pointing to the
odd markings around the edge. "Of course, Sirius stopped wearing his
when he was about thirteen or fourteen."
Harry could have snogged his fiancé.
"Did Regulus have a middle name?" Harry asked.
Rabastan frowned at him. "Yes. It was Arcturus."
"So, he was Regulus Arcturus Black?" Harry asked.
"Yes."
"Poor bastard."
Rabastan rolled his eyes but said nothing.
"Maybe Dumbledore just wanted me to hand over a Black relic to him.
Who knows? Either way, to pass his little test I have to hand this piece of
rubbish back to him and then he'll think me truly loyal. I can fool the old
man properly. I grabbed it because he was weak and dying and he'll want
it." Harry sighed as if hard done by. "I'll be back in an hour, love."
"I'll have some tea and a light meal waiting for you. You've been asleep
all morning, you need to eat."
"Ah, it's the calcium potion today, at lunchtime." Harry nodded his
understanding. "Okay. I won't be long."
Harry took the locket with him into the bathroom and he closed the door
to give himself a moment. He jumped and danced around a little in silent
joy. Rabastan had unwittingly given him the clue to the Horcrux. Regulus
Black had been a Death Eater, he'd known that from Sirius, but no one
had known that he'd turned sides before his death. Regulus had somehow
known about Voldemort's Horcruxes, but more than that, he had found
the hiding place of one, perhaps even more than one, and he'd taken
Slytherin's locket and replaced it with his childhood Black locket.
Harry washed quickly, then he opened the locket, took out Regulus' note
and he used a pair of hair scissors to carefully cut off the R. A. B. on the
bottom of it. He set fire to it with his wand and he grinned. He would
find the Horcrux after all, or at least find out if Regulus had destroyed it.
He dressed quickly, tucked the locket into his robe pocket and he left his
bedroom to floo over to Hogwarts. He wanted to pack up his stuff and
bring it back, then he'd need to find a moment to call Kreacher to him. If
anyone would know old Black family secrets, it would be Kreacher.
Dumbledore was sitting up in his bed when Harry went to see him,
climbing the stairs in the headmaster's office to the private rooms above.
The old man was in his pyjamas and a dressing gown but he was awake
and upright at least.
"Ah, Harry. Are you feeling alright?"
Harry frowned. "Not really. Father wants me to stay home, I only have an
hour to pack my stuff to take back with me."
"I had heard, yes." The old man said wearily.
"How are you feeling?" Harry asked.
"Much better now that Severus has seen to me." Dumbledore said quietly.
"Did you pick up the Horcrux, Harry?"
"It's not even a Horcrux." Harry said, making it a point to look upset. "We
went through all of that for nothing!"
"Are you sure, Harry?" Dumbledore demanded, sitting forward and
looking at him with those piercing blue eyes.
Harry took the locket out of his pocket and handed it over. "Someone got
there before us and left this in its place. They said they were going to try
and destroy it, that they were going to destroy him. We have no way of
knowing who it was, or how many Horcruxes they found or if they've
even stopped. I got the diary, you took out the ring, we know the snake is
always with Voldemort, but how many Horcruxes has this person taken
out? Did they even find a way to destroy the locket? Or have they just
hidden it somewhere else where we'll never find it?"
He made a show of looking frustrated and angry as Dumbledore opened
the locket with fumbling hands and read the age crinkled note inside it.
He looked more ill, weaker and older now than he had last night while
Harry was dragging him from the cave.
"It was not for nothing, Harry." He said calmly, though how he could be
calm after hearing this terrible news, Harry had no clue. "We know now
that somewhere, we have an ally."
"Yeah, but who?!" Harry scowled. "How do we even find them, we can't
exactly advertise for people destroying Voldemort's Horcruxes, can we?
And are they really helping us, I mean, how are we ever going to destroy
that monster with someone else interfering and moving the Horcruxes
about? We don't even know if this person managed to find a way to
destroy the Horcrux that they stole! They're just making everything more
difficult for us!"
"Calm yourself, Harry. You are not well." Dumbledore said and Harry
breathed out and his shoulders slumped.
"I just…I'd hoped that we'd come one step closer to killing him last night.
I woke up this morning to find that the locket was a fake and we have no
Horcrux. It's a massive letdown."
"I understand." Dumbledore said calmly. "But we must not lose heart."
"I can't help it. We were facing a mountain before this…before we found
out that someone has been moving the Horcruxes and leaving behind
fakes."
"We do not know how many they have managed to find, it could just be
this one."
"Or it could be all of the remaining ones." Harry said, scrubbing a hand
through his hair. "Why did he have to go and do this? Why did he have
to make seven Horcruxes?"
"Because above all else, he fears death, Harry. He fails to grasp that there
are worse things than death, and he has tried to make himself immortal."
"I suppose that nothing worth doing is ever easy." Harry conceded.
"Anyway, I'm glad that you're alright, Sir. I wasn't sure either of us were
going to survive last night."
"You are bruised."
Harry looked at his arm and scowled at the black bruise there. "One of
the inferi grabbed me and was trying to drag me into the lake. I've got a
bruise on my ankle too. I, thankfully, remembered that they were afraid
of fire soon after."
"Yes, very good."
Harry nodded. "I hope you get well soon." He lied as convincingly as he
could.
"Me too, Harry, me too. One more thing before you go. Might I have your
memory of last night, so that I might review what happened? I was, I
think you'll agree, more than a little distracted."
Harry nodded. "Of course. You'll have to tell me what to do though, I've
never done it before."
"Just think very hard about what happened last night, and I will do the
rest."
Harry rather thought that Dumbledore just wanted to make sure that
Harry hadn't switched out the lockets himself, but he hadn't. The memory
would clearly show the wrong locket in the basin in the cave from an
outsider's perspective. Harry had been too panicked, too busy to look at
what he'd grabbed, he'd only seen a locket and he'd just assumed that it
was the Horcrux, that it was Slytherin's locket, but Dumbledore would be
able to see it clearly when he went back to review the memory. He'd be
able to see that it was the wrong one immediately…and it would match
the locket that Harry had just given him perfectly, as it was the same
locket that Harry had picked up.
A wand tip touched his temple and Harry had to fight not to leap away
from it. He watched as a silvery strand came from his head and was
dropped into a crystal vial that Dumbledore had conjured.
"Thank you for this, Harry."
Harry nodded. "Despite all that happened last night, if you do find
another Horcrux, please let me know so I can come along again. I need to
destroy that monster and if this is the only way, then despite how
impossible it seems, I want to help."
"Of course, my boy."
Harry nodded and he turned and left the headmaster's office without
saying anything else. He went straight to his private rooms and it was
only when he was in complete privacy, with the door firmly closed, that
he laughed. He laughed loudly and unrestrainedly for some minutes
before he could calm himself back down. He loved it when one of his
little plans came together so very well and went off without a hitch.
A simple summoning charm had everything packed into his trunk. Then
he got to the reason that he had wanted some privacy here. Kreacher.
"Kreacher!" He called out.
"Master calls for poor old Kreacher?" The house-elf warbled, appearing
immediately after he'd been called.
"Yes. It has recently come to my attention that Regulus Black, your old
Master, might have been in possession of a locket that he was trying to
destroy. Do you know where it is?"
"Master will try to destroy it for Master Regulus?"
"I want to get rid of it." Harry said truthfully, sort of…he was going to
give it back to Voldemort as a bargaining chip, not destroy it, but some
misleading information would help him here.
Kreacher burst into tears. "Master Regulus ordered Kreacher to destroy it,
but Kreacher could not. Kreacher tried everything, even biting it, and I
could not fulfil Master's wish."
"It's okay, Kreacher. I'm sure that Regulus would have understood. It's no
ordinary locket, and it is very hard to destroy because of what it is,
because of the magic around it. Can you get it for me? So that I can get
rid of it?"
Kreacher threw his arms around Harry's knees and cried into him. "Yes.
Yes, Master. Kreacher kept it safe, with his other treasures, even when
Mundungus Fletcher tried to steal it, Kreacher kept that safe…he took
everything else, Miss Bella and Miss Cissy's pictures, my mistress's gloves,
the Order of Merlin; First Class, the goblets with the family crest, but
Kreacher would not let him take Master Regulus' locket. Kreacher bit him
when he tried."
"Tell me what happened to Master Regulus, Kreacher." Harry said, sitting
down and watching the elf closely.
The elf took a deep breath and began telling him how Voldemort had
needed to test the defences on the cave, how he had chosen a house-elf
and Harry was almost sick as he realised immediately where the story
was going.
"So Master Regulus came to Kreacher, and asked Kreacher to take him to
the cave, and…and Kreacher had to obey."
Harry could almost picture it, almost exactly how it had played out with
him and Dumbledore, how Voldemort underestimated underaged
wizards, and magical creatures too, allowing them to slip through his
defences via a loophole.
"Master Regulus drank the potion, he gave Kreacher his old locket and
told Kreacher to switch them. He ordered Kreacher to leave without him."
He sobbed. "He drank…he drank all the potion…and Kreacher swapped
the lockets…and…and he watched as Master Regulus was dragged
beneath the water…"
Harry couldn't stand it and he went to his knees and he hugged the
elderly elf.
"It's okay, Kreacher. You followed his orders as well as you could. He
would not blame you. Hand the locket to me now, so I can get rid of it
and take it from your mind."
Kreacher nodded and he vanished. It took him a moment before he was
back, the thick, heavy gold locket in hand with its large 'S' done in
emeralds on the front.
"Thank you, Kreacher. Put this from your mind now, and tell no one that
you had it, and no one that you gave it to me, okay?"
"Yes, Master."
Harry went to the mantelpiece and he picked up an old Black ring that he
hated because it was thick, heavy, and gaudy. It had been in the Black
family for generations. It was at least two hundred years old and to his
understanding, it had once belonged to Phineas Nigellus Black, who had
gotten it from an old undocumented, unnamed uncle when he had
become Headmaster of Hogwarts.
"I want you to have this, Kreacher. It's an ancient Black family heirloom,
it is hundreds of years old, and I consider you a part of the Black family,
so this is yours now." He said, handing the stunned elf the ring.
Harry conjured a small length of black string, he slipped it through the
ring in Kreacher's shaking hands and then he tied it around Kreacher's
neck, like a necklace. He didn't tie it too tightly and he left it to dangle
down Kreacher's chest, where the elf touched and played with it.
"Thank you, Master."
"Think nothing of it, Kreacher. Go back to what you were doing now. I'll
be fine. I'm going to be at Malfoy manor now, for the summer, so if you
need me, I'll be there."
Kreacher nodded, his blue eyes filled with tears and he left with a small
pop. Harry, jubilant now with his achievement, placed the locket into his
trunk, wrapping it in a pair of socks at the bottom.
He charmed the trunk weightless and he lifted the handle and he walked
out of Hogwarts, exuberant and now much happier than he'd been
before. He had the sword of Gryffindor and now he had Slytherin's
locket. He would ask for a face to face meeting with Voldemort and he
would force the man, if he could even still be called that, to agree to his
terms in return for his own Horcrux, and for the sword of Gryffindor, and
the information on the Horcruxes and the two that were already
destroyed.
Feeling much more accomplished, Harry went to the fireplace in
McGonagall's office, as it was closer, and he flooed back to Malfoy
Manor.
Rabastan was waiting for him and Harry dropped his trunk handle and
threw his arms around his fiancé instead. Harry kissed him and he sighed
happily.
"Is everything alright?" Rabastan asked him.
Harry nodded. "Yes, perfectly fine. Unfortunately, Dumbledore survived
last night. With how he looked I was hoping that he would…ah, but it
doesn't matter. We can't have everything in life, I suppose."
Rabastan chuckled. "Come on, I've had lunch laid out. No doubts Dolphus
is already eating."
"He never was one for manners." Harry sniggered.
"No, but you'd think he'd at least wait for us."
Harry laughed. "I'd be very surprised if he had."
They made it to the dining room and sure enough, Rodolphus was
already there and already eating.
"There you are. How do you feel today?"
"Tired and achy. I'm covered in bruises too. But I'm okay, thank you."
Harry said as he allowed Rabastan to help him to sit and then he tucked
into the grilled chicken breast and fresh vegetables. He particularly liked
the roasted butternut squash. He'd never tried it before and he'd found
that he really liked it.
Once he'd finished eating, he knocked back the calcium potion and
grimaced, but Rabastan was ready with a cup of tea and Harry smiled at
him in thanks as he gulped it down to get rid of the taste of the vile
potion.
His healthy lunch eaten, he could now nibble on some treats and he
happily ate several biscuits with more tea.
"Basti told me why you did such foolish, dangerous things last night."
Rodolphus piped up.
"I expected him to." Harry replied evenly. "I did as I had to. It wasn't my
choice to make it seem like I was still Dumbledore's man, it was my
father's. I will not be blamed for doing what I did when I never wanted to
do it in the first place."
Rodolphus nodded. "Does he suspect you?"
"No. Then, he only thinks I'm in league with the Malfoys. Not the
Lestranges. He'd likely lose his mind if he knew I was even speaking to
the both of you, or your grandfather outside of Wizengamot meetings for
that matter." Harry pointed out.
"Wait until he finds out you're going to be married to Rabastan."
Rodolphus laughed.
Harry snorted. "That really would finish him off, though I hope he's long
dead before it comes out. It's already going to fuel the rumours that I'm
being drugged with potions or put under the Imperius curse without him
still around to fan the flames."
"What are your plans for the summer?"
"I don't have any. I wasn't given any summer work to do, because I'm so
sick that the Professors think I just need to recover all summer and I'm
not doing anything…except going to the Ministry party in August. That's
going to be torturous."
"You'll do just fine." Rabastan told him. "It'll be just as stuffy and boring
as the Wizengamot party you went to in April, but remember that it's all
about planting the seeds for your proposals."
Harry nodded his understanding. "It's the only point to going. I'm going
to test the waters more, see what I need to work on, what I need to stress,
and then I'll have a much better idea of how things might go. It's not just
the Wizengamot I need on my side, though they are the most important
as they are the ones who are going to vote it through or not, but I need
the Ministry on side too. This law-making business is very painstaking."
"Of course." Rabastan agreed.
"How are your family portfolios?" Rodolphus asked with a shit-eating
grin. Rabastan glared at his older brother for bringing it up.
Harry groaned theatrically. "Do not even get me started on those damn
things. I think I might just throw them out of a window and forget where
they are. Those damn portfolios are continuously updating, I just…I wish
I'd left them in the damn vaults! I mean it, they're a pain in the arse."
"Language, Harry." Lucius told him, entering the room.
Harry rolled his eyes. "Of course you come home just as the first curse
word I use leaves my mouth." He complained.
"All the more reason for you to not use such base, vulgar language."
"I like base, vulgar language." Harry insisted. "It makes me happy."
Rabastan chuckled and Lucius snorted. "Of course it does." The elder man
said disdainfully.
"It's because you're a base, vulgar little boy." Rodolphus pointed out.
"And don't you ever forget it." Harry grinned.
"I was trying to insult you." Rodolphus told him.
"Really? Wow, you really need to try harder." Harry laughed. "I get worse
than that from the newspapers, especially after the sentencing of Mister
Jute."
Rodolphus smirked and rolled his eyes, while Rabastan chuckled and
threw his arm around Harry's shoulders, resting his arm on the back of
Harry's chair.
"Did you see Dumbledore at all while getting your trunk? Which, I will
add, has been left right in front of the fireplace and almost caused me to
break my neck when I came home." Lucius said, raising a platinum
eyebrow.
Harry closed his eyes and grimaced. "Sorry." He said sincerely. "I will
move it now." He added, standing.
"I have already done so." Lucius replied, waving a hand for him to sit
back down. "Now, did you see Dumbledore or not?"
"Yes, when I first arrived at the school. He is regretfully still alive."
Rodolphus snorted into his cup of tea and almost choked on it with his
amusement.
"See?!" Harry teased, pointing to him. "That's what you get for trying to
insult me. You almost choke. Anyway, he was in bed, but he was awake
and sat up, we spoke a bit, then I went to my rooms, packed up and left."
"Did you affirm your supposed loyalty?"
Harry scoffed. "Yes. Bloody idiot that he is. But, I suppose it works in my
favour, for now. Or rather it keeps me safer and stops me from being in
danger, on that front at least."
"You would be safer if you stopped stealing swords." Lucius told him.
"Hey! No speaking of that." Harry teased. "I don't want word getting to
anyone that I have it, especially not those goblins! I'm going to make out
I found it on accident and then pretend to give it back to them while
subtly worming something in return."
"Do you even know what you want from them?" Rodolphus asked him.
"Nope, which is why I don't want anyone chatting about it. I need to
make out that I've taken it to them immediately, not waited several
months to figure out what I want from them in return first."
"Very well." Lucius nodded. "Just…be careful, Harry."
He nodded happily. "I will be."
Harry went back to his tea, and he sunk into his thoughts for a moment.
He needed to tread carefully around Voldemort, he would be in much
more danger, but worse than that, he would be putting his family in
danger too, something that made him feel physically sick, and very
scared too, but this was something he had to do. Thankfully, he didn't
just have the sword anymore, he had an actual Horcrux, and he made a
mental note to reward Kreacher some more for giving it to him, because
the chances that he'd even had it, that he had fought to keep that one
treasure from Mundungus, who he was going to have to prosecute now
that it had come to light that he had stolen Harry's possessions, was a
sheer stroke of good fortune. He'd do that a little later when he didn't
have so much on his mind and when he wasn't so happy and excited over
getting the real Horcrux for himself.
A few days later and Harry was perfectly fine and well, he had had a few
nightmares and because of that, he'd found out that his parents had set
Pimsey to watching him through the night. With every nightmare, they
came to soothe him and calm him and let him slip back to sleep,
sometimes with a bit of dreamless sleep potion, sometimes not. Once it
had been Rabastan who came to soothe him and Harry begged him to
stay, and his fiancé had, sleeping next to him in the bed, the duvet
separating their bodies so that they didn't get into too much trouble come
the morning when they were found sleeping in the same bed together,
but Harry had slept peacefully, cuddled up tight by Rabastan, despite the
duvet separating them.
Draco had come home last night and Harry had spent three hours with
him in his own sitting room, catching him up on what had happened, and
why he had suddenly come home two days early without any word or
warning.
Draco was furious on his behalf at what he'd been put through by
Dumbledore, and some rather creative names and curse words were used
to describe their headmaster afterwards. Harry also told him about the
little 'test' that Dumbledore had put him through, about Rabastan
recognising the old Black family heirloom that he was expected to hand
over.
"You still handed it over knowing that it was an heirloom of your
family?" Draco had asked.
"I had no choice." Harry had sighed. "I had to hand it over, even knowing
what it was. It was the locket that was the test, not the ocean, not the
inferi, it was the Black locket more than any of that, or rather, it was
handing it over that was the test. That's why he let me pick it up, I'm
sure, just to see if I'd even give it back. I did, so now I've passed his
stupid test and all is well."
Draco had sighed himself and shaken his head. "All this creeping about
and pretending that you're on his side when you're not. I couldn't do it."
"Thankfully, no one is asking you to do anything of the sort." Harry
teased his brother then, and their serious conversation devolved more
into playful banter and a catch-up on what Draco had done with his last
few days at Hogwarts. Blaise had moaned and complained all through the
train journey that he hadn't gotten the chance to say goodbye to him,
apparently.
It was now the following morning and Harry had been up early, had
eaten his breakfast and he was struggling through the family portfolios
when Rabastan found him.
"There you are, I was worried." Rabastan told him.
Harry looked up, startled, and then he smiled. "Why? I'm completely fine.
I was actually able to sleep last night without those terrible night sweats.
I didn't have any nightmares either, not that I remember."
"That's wonderful news." Rabastan said, sitting beside him, then looking
like he regretted it when he realised what Harry was actually doing.
"You don't need to look so frightened. I'm almost done." Harry insisted
with a cheeky smile. "I'm just checking share prices. Though…what do
you think of this? It keeps dipping suddenly, recovering and raising a
little, then dipping again. I don't really know what's happening."
Rabastan shifted closer and he looked at the page that Harry had pointed
out with his wand, which was detailing the share prices of this particular
enterprise and he frowned as Harry moved his wand slowly across the
page, taking the shares back hour by hour and he noticed the
unexplained dipping and the almost immediate raising right before the
market closed for the night. No one would ever notice it with it being so
late in the night, only Harry had noticed, and it was very strange
unexplainable behaviour.
"I don't understand that either. It dips suddenly and steeply, but it always
raises higher than it fell, it's unexplainable. I would query the goblins,
something about that isn't right."
Harry indicated the letter he was writing. "I already am, I just wanted to
be sure that this wasn't normal. I mean, I've never seen it before with any
of the other companies I have shares with, but I've only been sorting
these portfolios for a little under a year, not all that long really, but truly
it looks like someone is messing with the share prices, buying them in the
controlled dips, when the share price is all but worthless, and then selling
them when it soars for a massive profit. In which case, it needs to be
sorted quickly if someone is abusing their position."
"Absolutely. The portfolio will only show a few days' worth of
information, not a lot of lords take the time to check through every inch
of their portfolios every day like you, so the dips and rises will go
unnoticed, but the goblins will be able to look back much further and
they'll see what you have."
Harry nodded and he finished off his letter with a glob of dark red wax
and he picked up his specially made seal stamp from the wooden case
beside him and he smiled slightly as he pushed it into the wax. He still
enjoyed playing with his official stamp.
"I'll send this off immediately. I'm not happy with the dips and rises…if it
is somehow legitimate, I still want to sell all the shares I have
immediately, on the next rise, of course."
Rabastan nodded at that idea. "I think that would be very wise. You
wouldn't want to find that this is some cover-up for a business going
under, where the bosses are buying shares in bulk to try and raise the
price until they inevitably go bust."
"Absolutely not, and to be caught up in such a scandal when it does come
out would be highly embarrassing for me and my reputation would take
a blow. I can't allow that to happen just now, while I'm still trying to
build myself up. Let me sort this a moment. I'll be right back." Harry
promised, giving Rabastan a quick kiss and going to find Hedwig so that
he could send the letter straight to the goblins. He wanted their opinion
on this instance as quickly as possible.
He went back to the drawing room, where he had set up a little
workstation with his portfolios, and he went to pack everything up and
collect Rabastan for breakfast.
"All done." Harry said happily.
He was even happier to see that Rabastan had packed his stuff up for him
while he'd been sending his letter.
"I hope you don't mind me touching this, I probably should have asked
first." Rabastan said worriedly.
Harry just laughed. "Rabastan, you are to be my husband, the father of
our children, of course I don't bloody mind you touching any of it. Please,
feel free to open them up and check them over whenever you want." He
sniggered.
Rabastan smiled and he pulled Harry into a kiss. As he all but fell against
his fiancé, Harry was shocked and pleased to feel muscle beneath his
hands. Actual muscle, not bone, not the semi-state of bony, fleshlessness
he'd had recently, but there was muscle there, actual solid muscle. Harry
wanted to cry in joy, but he calmed himself and he didn't draw attention
to it, but this was yet more tangible proof that Rabastan's regime was
working, that he was getting better and healthier all the time.
"Come on, I'm hungry." Harry said with a grin.
"Are you feeling alright?" Rabastan asked, wondering just why Harry
seemed so energetic today.
"Of course. I never had to take that nutrient potion last night. So I slept
well and I'm actually hungry this morning. I want something to eat, so
come on. It won't last, I have to take that potion tonight, so tomorrow I'll
be all miserable again."
Rabastan smiled at him and took his hand, enclosing it in his own and it
felt amazing to be able to do this now, knowing that there was no chance
that he would crush that tiny hand placed trustingly in his own. He
would never cause any purposeful harm to Harry, nor allow any harm to
come to him, and now that he was better, he was in more control of
monitoring the harm that he caused to Harry via the spasms and such
that he had. He hadn't had a body lock-up or any spasms in the last
several weeks actually, now that he thought of it. He frowned as he tried
to remember the last time he'd had done anything of that sort…it had
definitely been longer than a month. When had the last time been? He
couldn't remember it clearly, but it was almost two months ago since his
last incident. He smiled to himself and looked down at the tiny Harry
walking beside him. He loved the boy so much, for everything that Harry
had selflessly done for him…and for treating him and loving him like a
person, and not seeing the crippled mess that Azkaban had rendered him.
Harry had always seen him, the person underneath the shell, the person
he had the potential to be, and that was why Rabastan would always love
him, and why he did not need any orders from anyone, not even his Lord,
to carry on loving Harry and to keep him close. He did so because he
wanted to do so, because he wanted to be close to Harry, to hold him and
love him. He wanted to marry him and he wanted children with him. He
wanted to spend the rest of his life with Harry, loving him and looking
after him and their children. It was all he wanted, and all because Harry
had seen past the dribbling, crippled husk he'd been when they'd first
met, because Harry had wanted to help him, had wanted to get him back
to full health and fitness, because Harry was willing to see their betrothal
through to engagement and marriage despite everything, instead of
giving up on him or even refusing him outright and finding someone else.
"You're very deep in thought." Harry's soft, clear voice cut through his
thoughts and Rabastan looked back down to the boy at his side. Those
bright emerald eyes were smiling up at him and Rabastan automatically
smiled back.
"I'm just thinking about how lucky I am to have you."
Harry scoffed automatically because he truly did not understand his own
appeal, his own self-worth, and Rabastan hated that, but he would
continue to do all he could to show it and say it, to prove to Harry that
he was utterly perfect in every way in his opinion. Despite some very
strange ideals and viewpoints on certain issues, such as his treatment of
house-elves, and on the Dementors too. Rabastan shivered uncontrollably
as he thought of them, and he pushed those memories away. He would
not ruin a good morning by thinking of his time in Azkaban. He was
never going to go back, he would kill himself first, so there was no need
to think about such things.
"Good morning, Harry. Rabastan." Lucius greeted them. "Up a little early
this morning?" He asked.
"I've been up for hours, Father." Harry said. "I've been sorting out the
family portfolios now that I have some more time and something caught
my eye. There is a particular company that I have shares in which is
showing…questionable behaviour." Harry sighed. "I wanted to see what
was going on, so I watched it for two hours. It dips very sharply, stays
low for only a few minutes, then it rises steeply again and it's like the dip
never even happened. I went back to the information from last night, and
it did exactly the same, right before the market closed when people were
less likely to notice it. I thought that perhaps someone is tweaking the
shares, lowering the price and then buying bulk shares while they're
worthless and then selling them when they rise for a substantial profit.
Rabastan also pointed out that the company could be going under and
the bosses are trying to hide it by buying bulk shares themselves to mask
the problem. Either way, I have written to the goblins and either I will be
a whistle blower on whatever operation is going on, or I'm going to pull
out and sell all of my shares with this company during the next sharp rise
in price."
"Well, this is certainly a heavy topic for breakfast." Lucius said. "But I am
proud of you for taking such a serious interest in your family portfolios,
and for noticing this abnormality. It is most definitely nothing good and I
would pull your shares immediately, as soon as you could."
"But if it's only someone selfishly skewing with the price to profit
themselves…"
"It won't matter." Xerxes interrupted. "The moment that article appears in
the papers, that company will be ruined and the shares will be worthless
anyway. Get whatever shares you have with them out now, while you
can. If you wish you can always reinvest at a later date once the article
has lost its urgency and the company has recovered somewhat."
Harry huffed. "It seems like I'm going to have a trip to Gringotts today
then. I'll pull my shares before Hedwig reaches them and blows the
whistle. That way, I make a profit for myself and I'm safe from whatever
backlash there will be from this."
"I am at work today." Lucius frowned.
Harry's face crumpled in thought. "I should be alright on my own. No one
would expect me to go to Diagon Alley just days after Hogwarts lets out
and no one would dare approach me, just let them even try." He said
fiercely.
"I don't like you going unescorted." Lucius insisted. "You haven't been
well."
Harry looked up at his father. "Let me do this on my own. It's important
for my character building to hold such meetings without anyone holding
my hand."
Lucius sighed, but he nodded once. "Alright, Harry. Just be careful. You
are still an underaged member of my house. I should not even be
considering allowing you out without an escort, I wouldn't allow Draco
out alone either, and it is only because you are the lord of two houses
that I am allowing it now, no other reason. You take exceedingly good
care with yourself, do you hear me?"
"Yes, Father." Harry said.
"Please do be careful." Rabastan said, not very happy with the decision
that had been made. "I would go with you if I could."
"I know you would. I would have you beside me in all things too, but at
the moment…it's just not the right time."
"Soon enough." Rodolphus said from across the table. "Things are
progressing quickly now. We are almost ready."
"Rodolphus, not here." Xerxes snapped at his older grandson, looking
pointedly at Harry.
Harry snorted. "Do you truly think so little of me that you honestly
thought I wouldn't notice what's going on right under my very nose? I
know what's going on, I know what's happening and what will happen."
"And what do you think of it?" Rodolphus asked him.
Harry stared straight into those dark brown eyes. "I just want to be able
to walk down the street with my fiancé without fear of being attacked or
being persecuted." He said, moving his hand to lay it on Rabastan's,
squeezing it. "I want a life with him, a family, and I want it publically.
There's only one way that can happen and despite what anyone thinks, I
love Rabastan more than I care about whatever else happens. I have my
limits, as do we all, but I would take that out on whoever committed
such a thing, not on Rabastan."
"Such as what?" Rodolphus asked.
"Hurting children." Harry said immediately. "Or innocent bystanders,
people who can't defend themselves. Things like that. I won't lose myself
just because I've fallen in love with Rabastan and there is no way in hell
any of my children will be joining you or your activities. Not ever." Harry
said.
"If they choose…"
"They'll do it over my dead fucking body!" Harry snapped loudly at
Rodolphus. "It's not happening, they're not being exposed to any of it, end
of discussion."
"Watch your language, Harry. You're lucky that your mother isn't here."
Lucius told him. Harry rather thought he was just changing the subject
quickly with whatever topic was convenient. Such as his bad language.
Harry nodded and he started eating his breakfast. He ignored everyone
else, or rather their last conversation, and instead he prepared what he
was going to say to the goblins when he reached the bank, practising
some conversations with Rabastan and planning out different answers to
different lines of questioning. He'd have to wear formal robes for the
occasion and he'd have to look good. He'd have a shower now after
breakfast and he'd very reluctantly enlist Draco's help to get ready, and
then he'd make his way to the bank. He wanted to sort this little…
situation, quickly, before it escalated and truly, Xerxes was right,
whatever way this played out, it was not going to end well for him or for
the shares he held in this company if he did nothing. He wanted his
investment pulled out, his shares cashed at a profit before everything
went tits up and he was linked to this coming disaster.
It took an hour and a half before Draco declared him presentable enough
to go to an important bank meeting and Harry was frustrated and
exhausted before he even set off because of it.
He was wearing a nice black robe that was tailor-cut to his body. It was
one of the ones he used to go to Wizengamot meetings, which Draco
insisted was just as important as this meeting with the bank.
Rabastan had given him a nice pair of silver cufflinks, just a little extra,
he'd insisted as he'd fixed the cufflinks to his shirt for him, looking down
at him proudly, and a little lustfully.
Harry smiled to remember that, as he walked through the doors to
Gringotts and then made his way directly to the head goblin. He knew
from Lucius that most people wouldn't approach him, as he was not the
right goblin to see if you just wanted to merely make a withdrawal from
your vault, you had to want something important from Gringotts if you
actually dared approach the head goblin.
Harry stood and he waited patiently, ignoring all the hisses and little
whispers flaring up behind his back as people recognised him, and then
he went and approached the head goblin too, and people actually craned
their necks to see what he was doing.
"How may we help you today, Lord Potter-Black?" The head goblin asked
him, having finished writing in the large book in front of him.
"I wish to discuss a particular investment that was made in the past. It is
in regards to selling the shares in said company and severing all ties to
it." Harry said brusquely.
"Of course." The head goblin said amicably. "Ironjaw will see you through
to an office where you will be met by a goblin capable of handling such a
situation."
"Thank you." Harry said easily, inclining his head a little and then
following Ironjaw, who had come trotting from the back wall as soon as
his name was called.
He soon found himself in a nice little office, not unlike the one he'd been
in when he'd come to inquire about his lordships in the first place, and he
rehearsed what he was going to say. He kept his knees together and his
hands in his lap, forcing himself to sit straight-backed and not to fidget.
He was willing to prove himself ready for this level of independence, he
would not act like a child and come across as impatient or bored. He had
been the one to call this meeting, after all, he was here on his own terms.
A goblin entered not too much time later and Harry greeted it politely as
it took a seat behind the desk.
"I understand that you wish to sell some shares today, Lord Potter-Black."
The goblin, introduced as Narglock, said straight down to business. That
was why Harry liked the goblins, they never beat around the bush and
you could always rely on them to be blunt and right to the point. He
liked that.
"That's correct, the particular company in question was one invested in
by my grandfather, I, on the other hand, wish to pull out." He said as he
handed over a piece of parchment with all of the company details upon
it. He'd meticulously written it out after breakfast that morning, Lucius
over his shoulder just to be sure that he did everything correctly and had
all the information that was needed, in his very best handwriting.
The goblin looked over everything and then a small flare of magic later
and another piece of parchment came to the goblin's hands.
"The share price for this company is currently at one hundred and seven
Galleons, five Sickles and twelve Knuts a share." The goblin told him. "Is
this an acceptable selling price for you, Lord Potter-Black?"
"It is, yes." Harry replied, knowing from his observations that the share
price would be levelling out today before it would start dipping again
over the next week before it would dive sharply in several days, but if the
past information he had was an indicator, then it would be at its highest
today, just after the steep nose dive late last night, right before the
market closed.
"You own six thousand, five hundred and forty-eight shares. Do you have
the corresponding certificates?"
Harry opened the folder in his lap and he handed over the elaborately
embossed, ancient share certificates that had been tucked away in the
portfolio on the page corresponding to the company…his grandfather on
the Potter side had been very meticulously organised and the portfolio
had come to him neat and orderly…the same could not be said of the
Black portfolio, which was a mess of papers, certificates, bits and pieces,
all jammed in haphazardly wherever there was a space. It had taken him
forever to sort it out and he was still finding the odd piece out of place.
He definitely blamed Walburga Black for that, who had been the last
person to have the portfolio before him.
The goblin examined every single certificate, adding up all the shares by
hand to ensure that they matched the records, and then snapped them on
the desk and laid them in a neat pile.
"You will receive in excess of seven hundred thousand Galleons. Did you
want this sum added to your vault, or would you prefer to invest it in
buying shares for another company?" The goblin asked, pushing over a
piece of parchment with the exact sum of gold he was getting upon it.
Lucius had already told him the figure he was looking at, the amount of
gold he was actually dealing with, but still, looking at the exact figure
that he was going to receive still stunned him for a moment. It was more
official now over Lucius telling him the possible sum he would receive
when he sold his shares. This was tangible, concrete, and it was
substantial.
"I would prefer it to go into my vault if you would." Harry said once he
was certain that his voice wouldn't break midsentence. "Until such a time
that I can personally see to any new investments. It will likely be after
I've graduated, however." He added.
"Very well." The goblin said simply, taking out a stamp, dipping it into a
large, round inkwell and then stamping the bottom of the parchment
with the exact figure upon it.
At once the pile of share certificates vanished and a duplicate of the
stamped parchment appeared on the desk. Narglock took the duplicate
and Harry got the original and he tucked it into the folder that he had
brought the share certificates to the bank in. This official document
would be going back into the family portfolio on the page that detailed
the company investment information.
"This concludes our meeting, Lord Potter-Black. We thank you for coming
in this morning to conduct your business. The gold will be transferred to
your vault immediately from the company vault and is ready to be spent
immediately."
Harry smiled then. "I think I'd rather keep it in the vault for a while,
without spending it." He laughed. "Thank you for your help and
assistance, I am most pleased."
Harry inclined his head and the goblin did so back to him. Harry left the
office and Ironjaw was standing a respectful distance away, waiting to
lead him back to the main part of the bank, so that he might leave,
without the indignity of getting lost within the maze-like bank.
Overall, his meeting hadn't even taken him an hour. Feeling very
accomplished and very, very happy to have done this on his own, and
successfully he might add, he treated himself by going into Flourish and
Blotts. He did curb himself to only a few books though, aware that his
current 'to-read' list was astronomical and that his family would be
expecting him back soon, and that they would only worry until he had
arrived back home, safe and sound.
Everything was fine, he bought his selected books, handed over the coins
from his purse, and he left the shop, heading for the Leaky Cauldron so
that he could floo back home. Unfortunately, word had spread of him
being in the Alley that morning and the news had reached a certain pair
of red-headed twins.
"I don't want any trouble." He said as soon as they stepped into his path.
"You should have thought of that before you turned on our family and
landed us with crippling debt."
"Ron and Ginny destroyed everything I owned, right down to my clothes
and my shoes, not once, but twice!" Harry said back firmly. "I let the first
time slide, it was just homework, books and things the first time,
inconsequential and materialistic, and my father replaced them at his
own expense, but the second time…" Harry shook his head in disgust.
"They took everything they could lay their hands on, and they destroyed
it all; my underwear, my quills, the new books I'd ordered to replace the
first lot that had previously been destroyed, all my school uniform and
casual clothes, my very trunk was found bobbing in the lake, water
warped and useless. I still could have forgiven that, it was all still
material possessions, easily replaced. It was the destruction of my
Firebolt that truly got to me."
Harry stared at the two red-heads in front of him for a moment as he
tried to push away the hurt and upset that the incident still caused him.
The memory of seeing the Firebolt in such a state of disrepair. He
swallowed hard, heavily, and he took a deep breath.
"You know exactly what that broom means to me, and so did they when
they stole it and tried their very best to destroy it too! They knew how
attached to it I was, how much it meant to me and they tried to destroy it
anyway! The only thing I had that was gifted to me by my dead
godfather! That could never be forgiven because though it could be easily
replaced, the sentimental value of it would be gone. Sirius touched that
broom with his own hands, he paid for it with his own money, it was a
thoughtful, loving gift just for me, and I can never forgive them for trying
to take that away from me! So yes, I have saddled your family with the
price of the replacements, because whatever else you might think of me,
they still destroyed all of my belongings, and like anyone else, they
should pay for the damage that they caused with their own hands."
"But…"
"No." Harry cut in. "There are no buts here. I would have gladly taken up
the financial burden of replacing everything yet again, as I did the first
time, if only they had left my sentimental things alone. My blood family
are dead, my godfather is dead, do you have any idea of what that's even
like?" He demanded. "Knowing that all you have are photos of them, not
even any memories? All I have off of my dad is a cloak, all I have off
Sirius is a broom, and I have nothing from my mum. Can you even
imagine how tightly I cling to those sentimental things because of that?
How painful it was to see one of those items in pieces because of what
Ron and Ginny did to it? They did it to hurt me, knowing that it would
rip right through me, and I agreed to send them the bill to hurt them in
turn, to punish them so that maybe they can feel even the slightest bit of
pain that I felt when I saw that Firebolt in that state! Do you
understand?" He demanded.
"If you hadn't turned on them in the first place…"
"Is that what they're telling you?" Harry scoffed. "Of course that makes
them seem like the injured party, but it didn't happen like that."
"You snubbed them on the train."
"No, I actually didn't. I greeted them happily, excitedly, asking them how
their summers had been like I always did, and they sneered and
condemned me for an adoption that was pushed through by Lucius
Malfoy and the Minister for Magic. An adoption that I didn't know about
until after it was finalised and didn't even have a say in!" Harry said
furiously. "They denied me the family I'd never had and told me that I
deserved to stay in an abusive household just because it was the Malfoys
who had adopted me first!"
"Abusive household?" The twins looked at one another.
"You ripped the bars from my window when I was just twelve!" Harry
hissed. "What, did you think those bars were there to stop people from
getting in? To keep me safe?" He demanded. "You knew I was locked in
that room because you picked the lock on my door to get my trunk from
downstairs. You knew I wasn't being fed or looked after properly, and
then there were the newspaper articles about me being adopted because
of neglect. That wasn't a lie! Lucius found out about the abuse I was
suffering through and he threw a fit, something about no child deserving
to live in such a state and he adopted me immediately! It…" Harry
swallowed heavily, trying to blink to control the tears that wanted to fall.
"It was the kindest thing that anyone had ever done for me, permanently
removing me from that horror, from the pain that I was suffering through
daily. So yes, he's my family now because he was the only one who cared
enough about me to adopt me into his own family, to remove me from
that terrible situation. I was being hurt and abused, starved and beaten,
and now I'm not. So I don't care who it is, Voldemort himself could have
adopted me, and I'd have been damn grateful for it because anything,
living with anyone, would have been better than going back there." He
finished. "Ron and Ginny, Hermione too, they all tried to tell me that it
wasn't that bad, that I was only being abused for a few weeks of the year
and I should just put up with it, but I shouldn't have had to! No one
should have to just 'put up' with being abused, regardless of if it's a few
weeks or even a few measly minutes, it's not right. I shouldn't have had
to deal with it or put up with it for any amount of time and of course the
first offer to take me away from that permanently and I was going to
jump at it! Believe it or not, the Malfoys love me, they truly love me and
I've learnt to love them. They're helping me, keeping me safe and they're
building me up to look after myself like all parents should! Draco and I
got off to a rocky start, but we've come to love one another as brothers
too. I deserve this, I deserve a real family and I won't let anyone take that
away from me!"
"Mum said…she said that you'd been forced into a marriage." One twin
tried weakly, looking at the ring on his finger.
"I'm not married yet." Harry said, more calmly now. "I am engaged, but I
chose Aceline for myself and despite the language barrier, we're getting
closer. If we didn't get on, or one of us didn't like the other, we could
have ended the betrothal at any time and looked for other partners that
we liked more. I chose her, she likes me too and we are falling in love.
That's all anyone needs to know. We will be married in two years, once
she graduates the year after me, and I'm sure we're going to be very
happy. I am going to be a teacher, she wants to be a healer and we're
likely going to be living in Grimmauld Place, which is currently being
redecorated. I am perfectly fine and happy, but most of all, I have the
family that I always wanted and needed. Now, if you don't mind, I've
spent entirely too much time here already. I will not ever forgive Ron or
Ginny or Hermione for what they did, I will not remove the debt and I
want no further contact of any kind. I just wanted a family, to be happy,
and I have that now."
Harry pushed past the speechless twins and he made his way quickly to
the Leaky Cauldron before he was accosted again. He clutched his bag of
books closer and bit his lip hard, he just wanted to be left alone to live
his life how he wanted to live it, with the family that he now had. Why
was that so much to ask for?
Fred and George Weasley were distracted for the rest of the morning, so
for once they actually closed up shop for lunch and they flooed to the
Burrow. Ron and Ginny were home for the summer and the two of them
had agreed to question them both on what had happened last year, on
the train.
"Fred, George, this is a surprise." Their mum said, wiping her hands on
her apron and coming to hug them both. She was smiling, but she had
lost more weight and her face was gaunt and sunken. This debt was
making her sick.
"We decided to come for a quick visit. Are Ron and Ginny here?"
"Ginny has a job in the town. She's got a job as a waitress in the little
café. Ron is home though, he should be up in his bedroom."
The twins nodded and they moved off into the house, going to the attic to
find their youngest brother. He was on his bed reading the comics that he
loved so much. Fred moved to go forward, maybe to hit Ron upside the
head, maybe to tear the comic from his hands, but George stopped him.
"What are you two doing here?" Ron asked.
"You mean why aren't we working our arses off to pay for the debt that
you brought onto this family?" Fred scathed.
"That was Harry's fault!" Ron said immediately.
"No, it was yours and Ginny's for destroying his stuff! What if someone
came in here and destroyed all of your stuff? Would you accept it and
pay for it yourself, or would you try and push those expenses onto the
one who'd destroyed it? Harry was within his rights to pass the bill onto
you and Ginny!"
"He could afford to replace…"
"You're missing the point, Ron." George said.
"He always was the most dense." Fred added.
Ron went red and he stood up to face them better.
"If Harry hadn't turned on us…"
"He didn't though, did he?" Fred demanded.
"He greeted you normally on the train, all of you, and it was you and
Ginny who turned on him, wasn't it?"
"He'd been adopted by the Malfoys!" Ron raged. "Those poncey, stuck up,
snobs! He was acting all normal like it hadn't happened or didn't matter!"
"He was being abused at home." Fred cut in harshly.
"So? He was only there for a few weeks every summer! He let himself get
adopted by the Malfoys, he just accepted it and he was acting like
nothing had even happened! He's fraternising with the enemy!"
Fred and George just looked at one another, before looking back to their
red-faced brother.
"You truly think that Harry should have stayed in an abusive home?"
"It was only for a few weeks!" Ron bellowed. "Then he always came to us,
or to Grimmauld Place."
"That isn't the point, Ron, he was being abused!" Fred shouted back. "Of
course he'd prefer anything other than that, are you mad?!"
"It's the Malfoys!" Ron shouted back. "Death Eaters, his enemy!"
"He's not going to see it that way when he's been abused, Ron. His
enemies are those who were hurting him, and that's not the Malfoy
family. You need to stop looking at this through your eyes and see it
through Harry's instead. He's been abused, and abused kids aren't the best
at making decisions. He would go to anyone who offered him a way out
of the pain and fear and that's exactly what he's done. The Malfoys
offered him a way out, he's taken it, as anyone would."
"He's the Boy-Who-Lived! He's supposed to help us defeat you-know-who,
not cry about a few weeks living with the muggles and run off to you-
know-who's biggest followers!"
"Harry isn't seeing it like that, Ron, you're too young to understand what's
happening here."
"Or too stupid." Fred put in.
"We should leave this here. We have what we came for." George said. "We
need to get back to the shop."
Fred nodded his agreement and he followed George from the attic room,
but he turned to his brother at the door. "Get a job, Ron. Help us pay off
the debt that you saddled us with. Ginny's doing her bit, you need a job
by the end of the week, or you'll have me to deal with."
He heard Ron throw something at the door behind his back, but Fred
didn't care. He'd had enough of Ron's theatrics for one day and he now
blamed Ron and Ginny more than he had before for this revelation. If
they'd just been calmer towards Harry, if they had tried to understand his
situation a little more, from his perspective, then perhaps none of this
would have happened and Harry and Ron might still be friends and this
debt wouldn't be hanging over them.
He needed to speak to George, they needed to seek out Charlie and Bill
and let them know what had actually happened, as they had all blamed
Harry for this situation, when it was completely Ron and Ginny's fault for
telling him that he needed to continue living in an abusive home and that
he didn't deserve a family, of course that would have driven Harry away
from them and further into the arms of the Malfoys.
How they could have been so cruel and unconcerned about their friend
he didn't even know. If Lee had approached him and George and
confided to them that he was being hurt and abused at home they
wouldn't have even hesitated to support him in whatever he wanted to
do. Perhaps being adopted by the Malfoys was a bit much, but as Harry
had explained, it hadn't been his choice and he'd had no say in the
adoption. The Ministry had happily handed his custody over to Lucius
Malfoy, so really, could Harry even be blamed for that?
Harry arrived home with no further issues and he breathed out in relief
as the familiar sight and scent of home hit him. He immediately went to
his bedroom to drop off his bag of books and his folder, putting the latter
away safe in the Potter family portfolio, where it belonged, and then he
went to seek out Rabastan. Harry found him talking softly in the drawing
room with Xerxes, Rodolphus, Narcissa, and Draco, who looked to be
doing homework.
"There you are, you took your time." Draco pointed out, very quickly
abandoning the summer work.
"I couldn't help going to buy some books." Harry explained, not willing to
bring up the little tiff with the Weasley twins.
"I knew it." Xerxes laughed. "I told you he'd have to slip into the
bookshop before he came home. How many books did you end up
buying?"
Harry smiled and he sat beside Rabastan and snuggled in, kicking off his
shoes automatically so he didn't get a telling off for putting them on the
settee.
"Only four. I managed to curb myself with a time limit." He explained
with a cheeky grin. "And a reminder of just how many I still have to
read."
"How did the meeting go?" Rabastan asked him. "You seem to be in good
spirits, but I can't tell if that's from the meeting going well or the spree in
Flourish and Blotts." He joked.
"It was fairly straightforward, all very easy. It was just done, as soon as I
asked for it." Harry said happily. "I knew you were just scaring me with
those stories and all those alternate scenario practice conversations."
The adults all looked at one another as if expressing doubts.
"They weren't just stories, were they?" He asked.
"No." Xerxes said seriously. "Are you saying that they didn't even question
you as to why you were pulling out of this company completely and
selling all of your shares?"
"No. I wasn't even asked to give an excuse. I said I wanted to sell all of
my shares and pull out my investment in this particular company and
that's exactly what happened. I got exactly seven hundred and two
thousand, seven hundred and twenty-one Galleons, there was a
remainder of four Sickles and fifteen Knuts too, but I am now over seven
hundred thousand Galleons richer. Rabastan, my love, do you fancy an
extravagant, exotic holiday with me?" He teased.
"Your parents would never allow it without a chaperone." Rabastan
teased back.
"We could be persuaded if particular measures were put into place as a
safeguard. Harry will be seventeen in July, a legal adult, he can be
trusted to have a small break away from our constant supervision."
Narcissa said. "We trust him to behave in the manner that we expect of
him."
Harry looked at her, his beautiful emerald eyes very wide. "Really?" He
said, his voice high with child-like excitement. "Please, Mother! We'll
behave, I promise! I've never been on a holiday before. Oh, where should
we go?" He asked Rabastan, his excitement now palpable as he sat up on
his knees, almost bouncing in his excitement and happiness.
"You've never been on holiday?" Draco asked, aghast.
Harry's face darkened and his shoulders slumped. "Draco, those people
begrudged me food, clothes, and my own room; they kept me in a
cupboard. Of course they never took me on holiday with them, they
always left me behind and then rubbed my nose in it when they got back.
I've never left the country before and if it wasn't for Hogwarts, I'd have
never even left England before."
There was silence and Harry slumped in his seat and turned to hide
himself in Rabastan, very embarrassed and ashamed now, he felt like the
freak that Vernon and Petunia had always accused him of being.
"Excuse me." He said tenuously, jumping up and walking very quickly
away.
"No, you are not excused." Narcissa told him sternly, but Harry didn't
listen and he kept walking away, then running the moment he was out of
the room.
He shut himself in his bed suite and he sat in his living room, breathing
deeply to control the urge to cry. Every time something happened to
make him even remotely happy, he was brought crashing down again
with a harsh reminder that he wasn't normal. He was trying so hard, but
nothing he did was working, he couldn't paste over the cracks in his life
and pretend that they hadn't happened in the first place, because things
like this just revealed those cracks and exposed them in stark contrast. He
wasn't normal, maybe it was time to stop pretending that he was.
A/N: Happy Valentine's Day, lovelies! I hope you're all enjoying your day
with whomever, or whatever, you have decided to spend it with. But, this
chapter is for you all, whether single or snuggled in love.
Massive thank you to Universal creature for being the 2,800th
reviewer for this fic and to AshbelleRyland for being the 2,900th
reviewer for this fic! We're closing in on 3,000 reviews, lovelies!
jadeevans30: No, Harry still has those notes from the library on the
Council of Magical Law, they're packed away in with more bits of
parchment and more notes from other things, he was right and he didn't
remember them the next day after his potions, he was very sick. He will
find those notes, and the questions that he wanted to ask, when he
unpacks his trunk for the summer.
I think that this was all, lovelies. We've started our month of The Black
Heir now, so next week we'll have another chapter for this fic, but until
then, lovelies,
StarLight Massacre. X
23. Summer Secrets
A/N: For Heidi, one of the Facebookers. Happy birthday, lovelie, I hope
you enjoy the chapter.
Last Time
He shut himself in his bed suite and he sat in his living room, breathing deeply
to control the urge to cry. Every time something happened to make him even
remotely happy, he was brought crashing down again with a harsh reminder
that he wasn't normal. He was trying so hard, but nothing he did was working,
he couldn't paste over the cracks in his life and pretend that they hadn't
happened in the first place, because things like this just revealed those cracks
and exposed them in stark contrast. He wasn't normal, maybe it was time to
stop pretending that he was.
Chapter Twenty-Three – Summer Secrets
Harry had hidden in his room for the remainder of the day, and the night
too. He'd taken his nutrient potion on an empty stomach and gone to bed
miserable and hungry. It was almost like being back at the Dursleys,
except this time it was his own fault.
He was not allowed to sulk for any longer than overnight. The next
morning, as Harry was scrubbing himself clean of stale sweat, Rabastan
came striding into his bedroom, pushed open the ajar bathroom door and
inhaled a deep breath ready as he took a single step into the bathroom,
intent on giving Harry a piece of his mind, and then he stopped, he
exhaled sharply, almost painfully, and he stared at the sight of a
gloriously naked, and dripping wet, Harry staring back at him.
"This is why we aren't trusted together without a chaperone." Harry said
mildly, going back to washing himself.
Rabastan couldn't say a word, he just stared. It was almost like he was
seeing Harry naked for the first time, but he wasn't, though the sight still
affected him as if it were the first time.
Immediately, the sight of so much glistening skin affected him, his blood
pooling south and his breath coming faster, his heart racing. Harry was
beautiful, so very beautiful, and he couldn't stand to look at him knowing
that he was not allowed to touch him. He wanted to lay Harry down on
the bed and show him just how much he loved him, how much he cared,
but it was forbidden of them. He'd never hated tradition so much.
"Are you just going to stand there?" Harry asked him curiously. "Hello…
Rabastan?"
Rabastan blinked and then he breathed. He took several steps toward
Harry and he pulled his fiancé into his own body.
"Rabastan, you'll get wet!" Harry complained.
"I don't care." He said huskily, before bending down and kissing Harry's
lips…hard.
Harry sucked in a shocked breath and he moaned into the kiss, wrapping
his damp arms around Rabastan's neck and holding him tight. A hand
reached down and cupped his bum, squeezing and bringing forth a soft
noise from Harry's throat.
"I came up here intending to shout at you." Rabastan admitted. "For
walking away without facing your problems head-on, for leaving me
alone all afternoon and all night, but most of all, for missing two meals.
But the speech I had all planned out fled my mind the moment I saw
your bare, wet skin."
"I should run around naked more often then." Harry chuckled, then he
sighed and went serious. "I never meant to leave you alone, I always
want to spend time with you, all of my free time actually, but…I just hate
being reminded of what I went through. Draco made me feel like an
oddball for never having gone on holiday before and I didn't like it. I just
wanted to be alone, but this morning I woke up feeling better and all the
misery I felt yesterday has been pushed aside once again."
"We're having that holiday." Rabastan told him. "There are a few
properties we can go to that are completely private and belong to either
my family or yours. No one will see us and if we choose right, then we
can even go out into public, as much as the thought of mingling with
muggles disgusts me."
"You'd do that for me?" Harry asked, those beautiful eyes going wide and
sparkly with happiness. Rabastan would never be able to say no to
anything Harry asked with that gaze directed at him.
"Of course. I'd do anything for you." Rabastan said gruffly, meaning every
word.
Harry hugged him tighter and moved to kiss him. Rabastan squeezed the
bum in his hand again, loving the feel of the flesh being in his hand. He
lifted Harry from the bath and he walked back into the bedroom,
carrying Harry.
He knew it was wrong, but he couldn't help himself, he didn't care for
tradition at that moment, he only cared for touching and kissing his
naked fiancé.
Rough hands stroked over silky, damp skin, as much of it as could be
touched and Rabastan was breathing heavily, his body almost trembling
with restraint as he kissed Harry hard and passionately, trying to put all
of his energies into the kiss so that he wouldn't be tempted to go any
further and completely destroy the pureblood traditions.
Maybe that holiday together wasn't such a good idea, but the look on
Harry's face as it had been brought up, the excitement, the happiness, he
couldn't rip that away from his young fiancé. He would just need to learn
to control himself so that he didn't spoil anything.
Harry seemed to be thinking along the same lines too, as he groaned and
pushed Rabastan away, taking a moment to breathe.
"We need to stop or we're going to go too far to come back from." He said
sadly. "You wanted a virgin bride, so we need to stop."
"It wasn't my choice." Rabastan insisted. "I would have much rathered the
more casual betrothal and engagement, but grandfather insisted and
Rodolphus backed him up because he never even had a betrothal. He was
forced straight into engagement and then a few weeks later he was
unhappily married. He wanted me to have a long betrothal, a long
engagement, to make up for what his lacked. I don't blame him, or
grandfather either, for wanting to give me more time to recover, and for
you to get used to the idea, but now that we're both ready for the next
level of our relationship, we're blocked from it."
Harry nodded. "It seems ridiculous that we can't develop things naturally,
as we feel that we should. It should be our choice, not theirs, but I
understand where they're coming from. I just don't particularly like it."
"I feel the same way." Rabastan sighed. "Come, you need to get dried and
dressed before we're caught. We'll never get that holiday then."
Harry laughed. "Let them try to stop me, I want a holiday, I'll get one."
"My, you are getting quite the spoilt, pampered attitude." Rabastan
teased.
Harry grinned at him and went to get dressed for the day.
"You said you came up to shout at me." Harry said from his walk-in
wardrobe.
"I did, yes. Mostly about ruining your health by skipping two meals. You
can't afford to do that when you're not well, Harry. You wouldn't let me
or Dolphus get away with it, would you?"
Harry sighed. "No. I'd be right up in your faces about it, reminding you
how important it was to keep to the scheduled, structured meal plan and
how stupid it was to miss two meals."
"You really pissed me off doing that." Rabastan said. "Because I knew that
if it had been the other way around, I'd never hear the end of it."
"I am sorry." Harry said, coming out fully dressed, minus a robe. He never
wore robes unless he was going out or they were expecting company.
"Sorry isn't good enough when it concerns your health." Rabastan said
fiercely. "Do you want to be sick again? Do you want to go back on those
potions every day?"
"No." Harry said, dropping his gaze to the floor.
"I don't want to bitch at you, Harry, but it's important. Your health is
important to me, and it should be important to you too. You could have
died from this disease. Do not give it a chance to take hold again, or for
another disease to creep up on you."
Harry nodded his understanding and he went to kiss Rabastan, to
reassure him that he didn't hold the harsh words against him. He'd
known that skipping meals was a stupid, terrible thing to do, especially
when Rabastan and Rodolphus still needed support through their own
recoveries. They forced themselves to eat even when they felt sick, or just
straight up didn't want to eat anything. He could have still been moody
and alone and called Pimsey to bring him his meals in his bedroom, but
he just hadn't cared last night, he'd wanted to wallow and sulk in his
misery, and that's what he'd done, and now this was the result. Rabastan
was unlikely to be the only one to chew him out over this incident either.
"Come, let us go down to breakfast and you can eat something. You'll
never be able to catch up on the meals that you've missed, but not
missing any more is key now to help you recover some strength."
Rabastan told him, taking his hand and leading him down the stairs.
No one said anything as they entered, but Harry could feel the tension in
the room immediately, he was hyperaware of such things from his time
at the Dursleys, it made him so uncomfortable that he was automatically
preparing his fight or flight reflexes.
He sat beside Rabastan as he normally did, though he was right on the
edge of his chair, and his fiancé poured him tea while Harry served them
both, as usual. He tried to ignore the awful tension that he could feel, but
it affected him anyway.
He had to choke his food down, as he would only upset Rabastan further
if he missed breakfast too, and he had been hungry upstairs, but this
awful tension was killing him. It had never meant anything good in the
past and he was half expecting to be hit.
"You're very tense, Harry." Narcissa told him. "You're almost vibrating,
relax and sit back, darling. You are allowed to eat." She told him.
Harry took a breath and he slid back in his chair a little. He ate more
easily, a little less tensely, more assured now that he had permission to
eat in peace. Rabastan's hand touched his back, likely in silent support,
but Harry almost leapt from his seat. His elbow went into his cup of tea
and sent it all over the table. He closed his eyes in mortification, feeling
his cheeks heating up.
"I only touched your back, Harry. What's wrong? Are you in any pain?"
Rabastan asked, not understanding.
"No, he's not." Lucius said, immediately realising what had happened. "He
is expecting to be hit."
Rabastan snapped his head back to his fiancé. "You were expecting me to
hit you?!"
"Perhaps not you, but someone, anyone." Lucius explained seriously.
"It's an automatic response when I've displeased those around me." Harry
said quietly. "I learnt when I was very young that to displease the people
around me is to…I learnt to expect pain from it. Those reflexes haven't
truly worn off yet, if they ever will."
"It's raised your fight or flight adrenaline reflexes." Xerxes sighed.
"Not…not truly, it's sort of like that, maybe they're linked, but…but back
then, fight or flight wasn't truly…I mean, I couldn't fight back, and I had
nowhere to flee to, so can it really be called fight or flight if even those
options are removed? It was more curl into a ball and hope it ended
soon, or huddle down and try to present a smaller target so maybe I was
overlooked."
Harry looked at their horrified faces and he started to get upset.
"I don't want to speak about this." He said as firmly as he could, making
himself another cup of tea with shaking hands.
"You need to." Lucius told him. "They need to be prosecuted for what
they've dared do to you."
"I don't want to prosecute them!" Harry said. "I want to forget about it."
"How? How can you possibly do that, Harry? Tell me." Lucius demanded.
Harry said nothing. There was no answer, what could he say? There was
no way that he could forget what those people had done to him, and
maybe if he were any sort of lesser man he would just tell them where
the Dursleys lived and let them deal with it, but he wasn't that sort of
person and he didn't want any of this dragged up, but what could he do?
No matter what he did, his past life kept worming its way in and the
more he revealed, the more those around him were affected by what he'd
been through. He didn't want that.
"I just want to be normal." He said.
"You are normal." Rabastan burst out.
"It is not your fault that those people harmed you." Lucius told him
firmly. "You are normal, as Rabastan says, you've just suffered through
horrific abuse as well. You need to let us help you through what was
done to you, but we can't do that if you keep running away from the
mere mention of it and locking yourself up in your room all night."
"I don't feel very normal." Harry complained.
"I'm sure that you don't, but you are. People don't get over abuses that
they've suffered on their own, Harry. You need help."
"If I said anything to make you feel that you weren't normal, I'm sorry. It
was not my intention at all." Draco told him, speaking up for the first
time.
"You made me feel like a freak for never having been on holiday before."
Harry said quietly.
"Then I'm even sorrier than I can say. I didn't mean to hurt you or make
you feel abnormal. You're not. It's those muggle monsters who are the
abnormal ones for thinking that it's alright to harm a child. They are the
ones who should be sorry, not you."
"On the subject of this holiday that you wish to go on. I am happy
enough to trust you to go, if you still wish, but precautions will be taken."
Lucius told him.
Harry peeked up at that. "Really?"
"Yes, absolutely. You will be seventeen in July. I think a week away in
August will do you some good. It will have to be one of the more
secluded, private villas, but I'm sure that you'll enjoy yourselves in ways
that won't break your contract and will not result in an early pregnancy."
Harry blushed, but he ducked his head to grin too.
"You might have to refresh me on the terms of the contract so that I can
find loopholes to exploit, but there will absolutely not be any babies
before marriage." He said. "My final NEWTs are this coming year now, I
can't afford to lax my attention on my studies right now and I still haven't
finished my potions regime. I'm not fit enough to carry a baby, not just
yet, and I know it."
Lucius nodded in satisfaction. "We can trust you to have a week to
yourselves then. I will make the preparations and sort everything out, I
will tell you when you're going as soon as everything has been finalised."
Harry was much happier then and he turned back to speak to Rabastan
excitedly, his fiancé promising to do anything and everything that Harry
wanted while on holiday. Rabastan's biggest challenge would be keeping
away from anyone who might recognise him and inform the Ministry of
where he was…or worse, with whom. It could put Harry in grave danger
and he would not ever want that. He was in a position now where he
could take care of himself, he was much stronger now than he had been
when he was first broken out of Azkaban, but Harry would be exposed
and this whole intricate plan would come crashing down about them.
They weren't ready to strike yet, it would be time very soon, but not yet
and until that time came, he needed to be careful and he needed to
protect Harry at all costs. He would have because he loved him,
regardless of the orders given to him, but those orders only made it more
imperative that he took exceedingly good care of his little fiancé, to do
otherwise was to lose his love, but also to disappoint his Lord. Both were
utterly unacceptable.
Harry was confused for all of a moment when he saw the cowering man
on his knees in front of him. Then he realised exactly what was
happening and he fought for control of his emotions so that Voldemort
didn't realise that he was there. He crept around and away from where
Voldemort was standing.
He looked around from his new vantage point and he seemed to be in a
fairly normal drawing room, there were two settees set opposite one
another, an armchair off to the side, two low coffee tables, a large,
almost ornate bookcase and a roaring fire. The only thing out of place
was the cowering man on the colourful rug.
"You have disappointed me." Voldemort said, in the high, cold voice that
Harry knew marked him at his most dangerous.
"I'm sorry, my Lord." The man all but screeched in his terror. "I'll do
better, I'll try harder, I swear. It'll never happen again."
"I cannot trust you." Voldemort said softly, almost to himself. Harry
swallowed, he could feel the burning anger behind the words, the
frustration, the fury at this man's failure. He got a flash of thoughts and
Harry almost cowered himself at what he saw there, he knew what was
coming.
"You can, my Lord, I am trustworthy, I am loyal! I am truly loyal."
"Liar." Voldemort said simply. "I can always tell when I am being lied to,
you can never lie to me, for Lord Voldemort always knows. You joined
me because you were scared. You are not loyal to me, you are not loyal
to our cause and that was why you failed. You did so deliberately."
The man on the floor looked petrified now, going as stiff as a board and
as still as ice in his fear like he'd been caught in the gaze of a Basilisk's
reflection. "N…no. No, my Lord. I assure you, I am loyal." The man tried
to argue, but it was no use. Voldemort knew the truth, he knew the man's
thoughts and there was only one way to punish such disloyalty.
"Avada Kedavra."
It was said calmly, the wand coming from the sleeve of the robe in the
blink of an eye, and then the man was dead on the floor, only a slight
widening of the eyes showed that he'd known what was coming, but it
had happened too fast for him to react any more than that. He couldn't
have gotten away even if he had had more time.
Harry knew what was coming next, he'd seen it, he'd felt it, he could see
the rage thrumming through the man in the room, he knew that it hadn't
abated in the slightest with the death of the failure lying on the rug.
Harry was sweating, he felt sick with terror, and then he was gasping for
air as he woke up to be assaulted by noise and light and touch and he
fought free, struggling, clawing, crawling to the edge of his bed so that
he could vomit over the side of it.
"I told you that he was sick, Lucius! We need a healer."
"Two missed meals a few days ago would not have caused this sort of
reaction, Cissa. It's something else. I've only ever seen his scar bleed once
before and it was when Dumbledore touched him. Dumbledore insisted
that it was the Dark Lord's doing, but Harry shouted out that he was
lying."
"'Abastan." Harry called out, weakly, his head splitting with so much pain
that his vision was bleared. He couldn't see anything more than colour
and indistinct moving blobs, his attention divided and it made the pain
worse as he tried to focus on something, anything.
"I'm here, my love." Rabastan's very worried voice came from his right,
followed by his blurry face.
"Careful! Be careful!" Harry warned, trying to latch onto him to hold him
close, it took him two attempts to find Rabastan's shirt and clutch at him.
"Harry, what…?"
"Be careful!" Harry repeated louder. "Dolphus, careful!"
"You're not making any sense, sweetheart. Let me call a healer and…" He
heard Narcissa's voice off to the side of him.
"No!" Harry shouted out, turning, letting go of Rabastan and groping for
his glasses on his bedside table.
The world came back into view and he moaned as his head spiked with a
higher pain. There was blood pouring down his face from his scar.
"Is it Dumbledore?" Lucius asked.
"No! It's him!" Harry panted. "He's angry. Very angry, he's going to call
you both, soon, tonight." Harry said, looking at the two brothers. "You
need to tread carefully, be careful! Someone…someone failed to do
something, a mission, it was very important and now you're going to be
asked to do it. It's dangerous and very intricate. He doesn't want to ask
you, he doesn't want to…to set back your recovery, but he needs it done
and he trusts you both to do it, but if you fail, he'll kill you too. It's too
important to risk, it needs to be done!" Harry babbled.
"How do you even know…?" Rodolphus asked him but Harry interrupted
the question before it was even fully voiced by rolling and vomiting over
the side of his bed for a second time.
"Are you hallucinating?" Xerxes asked.
"I'm not fucking hallucinating!" He screeched. "It wasn't a bad dream, it's
nothing to do with Dumbledore. It's him! He used my fucking blood in
his resurrection and ever since this has been happening. I can see in his
fucking head and I watch him torturing and killing people. I know what
he's planning, I know what he wants to do. I already know!"
Harry fell back against his pillow, panting, exhausted, his chest was
rising and falling rapidly as if he'd just run a marathon, and he was
shivering from a mixture of shock and the cold sweat dampening his
body…he had not even taken a nutrient potion last night.
"He's going to ask you to do this mission." He said more calmly, staring at
the two brothers. "The body of the failed Death Eater will still be on the
floor when you enter the room, to serve as a warning, as a visual for
what will come to you both if you fail too. He looks calm. He sounds
calm, but underneath he is almost boiling over with rage. One wrong
word, one misstep, and you'll both be tortured. Be very careful." He said,
quivering like a leaf at the very thought of Rabastan and Rodolphus
being tortured. It would almost certainly destroy any and all of their
current progress and set them back months, if not an entire year or more
in their recovery. "Please, be careful and try not to speak too much. That
will only infuriate him more. Stick to the bare minimum, agree to
anything and everything that he says, just get out of there quickly, before
he loses his already frayed temper."
"Harry, I don't know what you've seen in your dreams, but…"
"They're not dreams!" Harry bellowed before he moaned at the pain in his
head spiking further, making him feel like his skull was about to split
open with the pressure.
"The Dark Lord has said that he won't use Basti or Dolphus until they're
healed, until they've fully recovered from the time they spent in Azkaban.
They are truly loyal, he knows this and respects it." Xerxes told him
gently, trying to soothe him.
"He has no other choice. He trusts them to do it, he can't afford another
failure. It needs to be done before the end of summer, as soon as possible,
and there have been too many setbacks already, this latest failure almost
blew the entire plan, it was almost uncovered and then he'd never get
another shot at it. I got…I got a sense that I had accelerated these plans,
but I don't know why or how I did so, but I swear it wasn't on purpose.
He was thinking of me and he thought back to the other times I'd
interfered in his plans. I don't know if he's angry with me for it, which is
why he's chosen you both for this mission, or…I don't know. He…he
needs this done, as quickly as possible. It has to be Rabastan and
Rodolphus, he will ask them tonight, he will call them soon. Be careful!"
He called out to them again, willing them to believe him.
"Just get some more sleep now, Harry." Rabastan told him gently, one
hand cradling his face, the other resting on his chest as if to hold him
still.
"Promise me." Harry demanded, straining against the hand on his chest to
sit back up. "Promise me you'll be careful, that you'll be safe."
"I will, I promise." Rabastan said and Harry all but deflated under his
hands, letting go of his tension and relaxing, allowing himself to be
pushed back against the pillow.
Rabastan stroked his hair and face, soothing him and allowing Harry to
relax enough to drift back into a restless sleep. He stayed for a moment
longer, making absolutely sure that Harry was asleep before he indicated
the bedroom door and preceded everyone out.
They went back down to the drawing room that they'd been in when
Harry's bloodcurdling screams had brought them running to his room,
only to see him thrashing and convulsing, his face covered in blood and
sweat, caught in sleep still. It had frightened him to see Harry like that.
They were all silent, sitting still and absorbing what they'd just observed
and what Harry had told them.
"It was just hallucinations right?" Rodolphus asked, breaking the terrible
silence at last. "Brought on by the resurfacing topic of his past abuse?"
"It's possible." Lucius said.
"No." Rabastan interrupted, shaking his head. "He was serious. He was
scared for us. Whatever this is, it was real to him. Real enough to drive
him to that state, real enough for him to feel the need to warn us about
it, and real enough for him to make me promise to be careful. He's had
nightmares before, and he's never felt the need to ever do that before.
This is different."
"But to actually suggest that he has some sort of link to our Lord, Basti."
Rodolphus said, shaking his own head.
"Your brother is right, Rabastan." Lucius sighed. "This is likely just Harry's
stressed mind playing tricks upon him."
"No, Harry was right." Rabastan insisted. "Our Lord did use Harry's blood
in his rebirthing ceremony, who's to say the effect that had upon both of
them?"
"Are you even trying to imply that you think that he and our Lord are
linked in any way?" Rodolphus demanded.
"I am saying that it's possible, we don't understand the ritual involved.
Harry wasn't supposed to survive the ritual and he did, maybe that
caused a backlash or other complications, you know as well as I that
ritualistic magic is dangerous at the best of times without it going
wrong!"
"But to think that he can actually see into our Lord's mind?" Rodolphus
scoffed angrily.
"You don't know what he saw or why! I'm saying that we should heed
him, just in case. We'll soon see if he was dreaming or not."
"You mean if we are summoned?" Rodolphus said astutely.
Rabastan nodded his head. "If we are summoned and given a mission
failed by someone else, we will know that Harry speaks the truth, and he
really can see into our Lord's mind. Remember his outburst a few days
ago too, about him knowing what was going on, and to not think him a
fool? That may have something to do with this too. Perhaps he didn't
mean that he'd been eavesdropping on our conversations at all."
"This is…it's ridiculous." Xerxes shook his head. "Our Lord is powerful
enough to block out anyone he pleases from his mind, to think that
Harry, who isn't even proficient in Occlumency, can breach those
defences, it's actually laughable!"
"I am only saying that we should be cautious, Grandfather." Rabastan
said, unhappy that Harry was being slated in front of him.
"Of what? Harry's dreams and fantasies?"
"He was upset!" Rabastan said furiously, finally losing his temper. "For
whatever reason, he believes what he saw to be real, and he deemed it
important enough to warn us about it. Whatever he saw, for whatever
reason, it upset him, truly distressed him, and I will not have him
ridiculed for it in front of me!"
The room was silent after that, as they all absorbed those words, and
then, very suddenly, both Rabastan and Rodolphus grunted and clutched
their burning forearms together. Xerxes' eyes widened.
"Do not tell me you've actually been summoned." He said faintly, looking
from one to the other.
The brothers didn't answer, they both lifted their wands and conjured
their Death Eater masks, placed them on their faces and as one, they
Apparated with a crack, following the link to their Lord via the Dark
Mark.
Once they landed, they shared a look from behind their masks, all at once
remembering Harry's dire warnings, and they lengthened their stride and
quickened their pace, not wanting to keep their Lord waiting. It was time
to see if Harry's 'dreams and fantasies' were actually true, and see if he
really could see into the Dark Lord's mind…it was time to see if Harry
really was linked to their Lord in some way, as he fully believed that he
was.
Harry was up and awake not half an hour after he'd fallen back to sleep,
full of anxious, nervous energy and he went downstairs to find Xerxes
and Lucius talking quietly to one another. Narcissa was not in the room
and Harry assumed that she'd gone to bed as it was rather late. The
conversation stopped as he walked in and sat down to join them in the
wait for Rabastan and Rodolphus to return.
"You should have stayed in bed, Harry. There's nothing that you can do."
Lucius told him.
"Down here or upstairs, it makes no matter. I wouldn't have slept either
way. At least this way I can see him again sooner, hold him and touch
him to make sure he's alright."
"What exactly did you see?" Xerxes asked him.
"Oh, in my fantasy do you mean? In my hallucinogenic dreams?" He
glared.
"Harry, what did you see?" Lucius asked him sternly.
"It's…it's less about what I see, though I can watch everything he does
perfectly, but it's more about how I feel, what I think. We're linked, so
when I have these visions we share emotions and thoughts. He was so
angry that this person had failed his mission, so angry that he killed the
Death Eater for his failure. It was a very important mission. He couldn't
afford the lost time with the failure, it has to be done before the end of
the summer, and before anyone cottons on to what he's doing or why,
particularly Dumbledore, and this latest failure almost got him caught
out. He immediately thought of Rabastan and Rodolphus to replace this
man for the mission. He was reluctant to call them, but he needs this
mission completed in order to move forward with his plans. It's very
important to him and he trusts Rabastan and Rodolphus to do it. But he
was furious, that anger was there, boiling away under the surface despite
his rather calm exterior. I know that if they make one false move, or say
one wrong word, then it'll be too much, and that anger will boil over and
he'll punish them both. They need to be careful."
Lucius and Xerxes shared a look and Harry lay back against the settee
cushions wearily. Everything was so complicated, he was so abnormal
that even his adopted family and his in-laws were casting him strange
looks now. Why couldn't he have just been normal?
Thankfully, he didn't have to put up with it for much longer, as with twin
pops, Rodolphus and Rabastan were back in the room. Rabastan
discarded his Death Eater mask the moment he saw Harry sitting on the
settee watching him. Rodolphus did so more leisurely.
Rabastan sat next to him and Harry snuggled in close, laying his head on
that chest, listening to the heart beating underneath, it was nice and
steady, very calm, even as Harry's hands searched Rabastan's body for
injuries or any tremors that would indicate him being tortured. There
were none.
"Will we have to cancel our holiday?" He asked into the awkward silence.
"No." Rabastan said immediately.
"It will be done before August." Rodolphus insisted arrogantly. "I would
not want to ruin your first holiday, your first with Rabastan."
Harry smiled tenuously and he craned his head back and puckered his
lips, begging for a kiss that Rabastan almost dived upon him to give.
"Perhaps you should go back up to bed, Harry, now that you're sure that
Rabastan is alright." Lucius suggested softly.
Harry snorted. "You mean so you can talk about it and discuss what to do
as if I wasn't the one to personally witness it? As if I don't know what's
happening and what's going on? I know it involves someone called Pius
Thicknesse and someone called Rufus Scrimgeour. It also involves
replacing Fudge. You don't need to keep me in the dark about these
things. I already know." He said fiercely.
"There's a difference between hearing the orders and then listening to the
mission set-up." Rabastan said gently. "I'd rather you didn't see this side
to things, Harry. There's no need, you've already watched a man being
killed tonight, you don't need to listen to the plans to kill more."
"So Harry was right about that too? The body was left on the floor to
serve as a warning." Xerxes asked.
"He was right." Rodolphus said. "I have no idea how he is right, but he
was. As if Basti or I would ever care for the death of a failure to our Lord.
Of someone who wasn't even truly loyal."
Harry sighed and he stood. He bent to kiss Rabastan again.
"I'll see you in the morning." He insisted. "Don't stay awake all night,
you'll mess up your own sleep pattern."
"Goodnight, Harry." Rabastan said quietly, giving the tiny waist between
his hands a gentle squeeze.
The four of them watched him leave the room and then turned back to
one another, everything remaining silent for several minutes as Lucius
called for tea to be served along with a tumbler of Firewhiskey each.
"So Harry is linked to the Dark Lord." Xerxes sighed, picking up the
tumbler immediately when it arrived and savouring a sip.
"Everything he said, it was true." Rodolphus said, nursing his own glass of
Firewhiskey, even though perhaps he shouldn't drink alcohol with the
potions he was on. Rabastan was more sensible and he was sipping on a
cup of strong tea.
"He knew about the body, about the failed mission and he knew what the
mission was too, we have to dispose of Rufus Scrimgeour and make way
for Pius Thicknesse to take over as Minister when Fudge is inevitably
kicked out of office over the summer. He knew. Which means he's been
keeping an eye on our Lord's movements, on his plans, perhaps for years,
and he hasn't done anything to interfere in those plans, at least not
recently, or purposefully." Rabastan pointed out. "None of the plans and
missions within the last year have hit any blocks or unexpected
resistance. He's stopped being the Order's informant on such things since
his adoption."
"I never would have expected that." Xerxes said, shaking his head.
"It is not so hard to believe when you scratch at the surface. Family is
important to him. Very important." Lucius insisted. "I am surprised that
our Lord wants to dispose of Fudge, however. I am not questioning the
mission, but I believed him to be doing rather well."
Rabastan smiled grimly then. "It's thanks to Harry that these plans are
needed, he was right about that too. This mission is because of his
actions, though that was not why Dolphus and I were chosen."
"Harry? What could he have possibly done to set a mission into motion?"
Xerxes said questioningly, and then understanding dawned on his face.
Lucius laughed as he too cottoned on. "Oh my, would this have anything
to do with the 'inquest' that Harry manoeuvred Fudge into?"
"Exactly that." Rodolphus said with a nod. "As soon as the results of that
inquest are published, Fudge will be finished and someone needs to be in
position to take over. It is tipped to be Scrimgeour, who is next in line
after Fudge, so he needs to be eliminated and then it has to be rigged so
that Thicknesse, who is under the Imperius curse at the moment, is the
next Minister for Magic. We have to ensure that."
"Well, Fudge will take care of himself." Lucius said. "Or rather Harry has
taken care of that for us. Scrimgeour is the main concern, he needs to be
eliminated as soon as possible. Thicknesse is already under the Imperius
curse, so that is of little concern, we just have to make sure that he is in
position, ready to take over."
"We?" Rodolphus asked.
"Believe it or not, but your brother will become my son-in-law, that
makes him family, and as family of his, it makes you family too. You are
no longer family friends, but just family via the marriage to Harry."
"They're not married yet."
"If everything stays on track then they will be. Harry is committed, I
would hope that you were too, Rabastan."
"I am." He answered immediately. "Harry and I will be married."
"Which takes me back to the point of you being family, not just family
friends." Lucius added. "As such, your problems and concerns are also my
own. I will have nothing upsetting Harry's happiness and his heart is set
on marriage and children."
"Then let us get down to planning then. Boys, I hope you are up to this
mission, how are you both feeling?" Xerxes asked them seriously.
"Like I have a purpose again." Rodolphus insisted. "I've been waiting for a
year and a half for the chance to prove myself. I'm feeling better,
stronger. I'm ready for this."
"Good. Basti?"
"The same, only I was such a wreck when I first got out that I didn't have
much in the way of thoughts for anything. Harry changed that. Harry
was my purpose and now that I'm feeling stronger and healthier, I am
ready to prove myself."
Xerxes smiled at his two boys proudly and he took in a deep breath and
he set out to help them plan their mission. If it needed to be done by
August so that Rabastan and Harry could still have their little holiday
together, then it would have to be fully planned in the next few weeks,
which was rushing things a little, and then the plan would need to go off
without a hitch in order for success. The boys were certainly pushing
things, but Xerxes understood. The very thought of disappointing Harry
was painful after seeing how happy and excited he was to be going on his
first-ever holiday, and wasn't that just a very sad thought, that he was
going to be seventeen, a legal adult before he had his first ever-holiday?
Xerxes sighed and set himself to assisting his boys to get this done as
quickly as possible while still ensuring success; with Lucius' help as well,
they would assuredly succeed. Harry would not be disappointed, their
Lord would not be disappointed, Rabastan and Rodolphus would be back
to doing missions, as they'd been wanting to do for months, or a year and
a half in Dolphus' case, and things would progress much more smoothly
now. Especially as it seemed that Harry was, not entirely on their side,
but he was no longer interfering or getting in the way, and more
importantly, he wasn't informing the Order, or Dumbledore, of their
Lord's plans, and as such, everything was going much more smoothly. He
did worry about what would happen if the Dark Lord found out about
Harry's little gift of seeing into his thoughts and plans, but he truly hoped
that being paired with Rabastan in a marriage and with shared children
(when the time came), and the fact that Harry was no longer passing
such sensitive information back to the Order, that their Lord would be
content to leave Harry alone. The other option would be to eliminate
Harry, which would destroy Rabastan, and perhaps turn his steadfast
loyalties too, and that worried Xerxes. It worried him to death.
The next morning Harry was awake well before anyone else, his lingering
headache had made it very difficult to fall asleep, and almost impossible
to stay asleep, so he had gotten up and he went perusing through his
family portfolios, looking for more dangerous abnormalities taking place
in the early hours while most people would be asleep, and less of those
who were awake would even think of looking in their portfolios at this
time of the morning.
He had taken up the kitchen table, as he wanted to sit upright in a chair
for once, not lounge on the floor at a coffee table. His portfolios were all
open, he was watching the stock prices of shares he owned in foreign
countries rise or dip or remain level, while those he had in British
companies were still, frozen overnight…that was how he had caught out
the strange movements of the company he had pulled out of, they had
been moving at night, when they should have been frozen, hoping that
no one would notice, and no one had for who knew how long.
Harry checked the Black family portfolio and he smiled at the name
Andromeda Tonks that had been added back, ever since Harry had
officially removed the disownment status on her and Nymphadora, who
were once again members of the Black family, and under his protection.
Not that he was expecting any thanks for it, considering who he was
living with, but that didn't mean that he wouldn't help them out if they
needed it as the official head of house Black.
He was also working a little more on his creature law reforms. There
were several ancient books open around the area he was sat at, each
showing the same article of law, but worded in different ways. Harry was
making use of all the different wordings to make sure his new laws were
airtight and had no loopholes to them. He would have Lucius, Rabastan,
Xerxes, Rodolphus, Narcissa, and even Draco read through it to make
sure. He would have his law read by as many eyes as he possibly could,
just to make sure that it was airtight and that there were no loopholes.
"Well, you look very productive, and so early in the morning too."
Narcissa said approvingly as she walked in.
Harry looked up and smiled. "Good morning, Mother. I have been
productive this morning. I have several more paragraphs for my creature
reform law written out and I'm keeping a close eye on my stocks and
shares, just in case. I was up early and decided to do this over carrying
on my recreational reading. This is more important."
Narcissa came over to kiss Harry's cheek and she sat on the edge of his
little workstation and ordered some tea and fruit granola from Pimsey.
She ate her breakfast and drank her tea, all the while silently observing
her younger son as he worked diligently, reading several books, one after
another, then going back to the parchment in front of him, dipping his
quill in a standard black ink and then writing carefully, so that he didn't
smudge the ink, nor make his handwriting illegible through rushing.
When the morning paper came, the owl landed on the back of Harry's
chair and he took the single Knut from the centre of the table, where it
was left the night before in preparation, and he showed it to the owl,
gently stroking the feathered head and cooing softly to it. Narcissa smiled
to see him, he was so gentle and loving, she had never known anyone
quite like Harry, and she already knew he would be just as loving and
fiercely protective when he became a mother himself.
Harry paid the owl, let it drink some water from his own glass, then saw
the bird away with a smile. Then he turned to the paper in his hands and
made to hand it to her, as he knew she liked reading the paper in the
mornings, but he stopped as it flipped open over his fingers and he
caught sight of the front page. He yanked it back to his own face, reading
so quickly that his eyes were darting, his mouth slightly opened, his lips
sounding out the words he was reading silently, and Narcissa was rather
worried about what the paper contained. She was getting ready to send
Pimsey to wake Lucius, regardless of his late-night, when Harry threw his
head back and he laughed so hysterically that it was almost frightening
in itself.
"Whatever is the matter, darling?" She asked him.
His laughter trailed off into the sweet giggling that he still did sometimes,
when he was particularly, genuinely amused, and he smiled at her and
handed over the paper.
She read the front headline and the Knut dropped all at once and she
chuckled herself. The picture was of Harry himself, covertly taken, of
when he had gone for the meeting at Gringotts a few days ago. He was
dressed sharply, a folder tucked under his arm and he was wearing a very
self-satisfied smile that made him look incredibly handsome. The article
was all about Lord Harry James Potter-Black selling his shares in a
company for massive profit, rumoured to be in the hundreds of thousands
of Galleons, just days before he exposed an embezzling scheme which
had caught out several top company bosses who had been rigging the
share price to dive dramatically, lowering the price to mere Knuts, before
hiking them astronomically to be sold at an inflated profit that the
company couldn't sustain. Harry selling all of his shares had all but
drained the company of funds, leaving none for the bosses who had been
so carefully playing the share prices, and now the company was forced
into liquidation and all of the bosses were facing fines and possibly even
a prison sentence. They had nothing for their crimes and Harry had
gotten close to three-quarters of a million Galleons for his eagle-eyed
observation of his family portfolios and for his quick thinking in selling
his shares during one of the astronomical price hikes. She was so very
proud of him and she couldn't wait to brag about this when she went for
afternoon tea with the other ladies in a few days' time.
She handed the paper over proudly to Lucius when he came down for
breakfast, only half an hour later than usual and she watched his face, his
expression, as he saw the front page.
"Well, you certainly take a good picture, Harry." Lucius said, interrupting
Harry, who, having eaten his own meal, was currently fawning over a
sleepy Rabastan, feeding him and, in Narcissa's opinion, heavily flirting
with him.
"I thought so too." Harry grinned.
"You have your picture in the paper?" Draco asked. "Why?"
"My letter must have reached Gringotts yesterday." Harry said with a
much wider grin.
Lucius turned the paper for the table to see the photo and the bold
headline. Rabastan laughed and pulled Harry's face around to kiss him
soundly on the mouth.
"The company is now in immediate liquidation, so thank you, Father,
Xerxes, for advising me to sell my shares immediately." Harry said. "The
bosses were embezzling and they've been left with nothing. Well, nothing
but heavy fines and a possible prison sentence, that is."
"Of course." Xerxes replied amicably, taking the article from Lucius, who
had finished reading it, and he read it for himself.
"Rabastan, can you read this for me, please." Harry begged the moment
Rabastan had finished eating, or rather the moment he had finished hand
feeding Rabastan his breakfast.
He dug in his pile of books and folders and he brought out his proposed
law reform. Instead of being rainbow coloured, as his usual format for
Rabastan, there were coloured bullet points instead, marking the start
and end of a paragraph. It was a step up to get Rabastan reading and
focusing more normally, while also still giving him a helping hand if he
still needed it.
"Is this…?"
"The creature law reform, yes. I did a lot this morning waiting for
someone to wake up to keep me company. It was a long wait." He teased.
"You shouldn't have gotten up so early then, should you?" Rabastan
teased right back.
Harry laughed. "I couldn't sleep, at least this way I was productive about
it."
"Very productive, these new paragraphs are forming the backbone of
your reform. Well done." Rabastan praised and Harry puffed himself up
happily. He loved it when Rabastan praised him for anything. "You really
will be ready to submit this reform before the end of the year if you keep
this pace up."
Of course, that just made Harry puff up even more and he heard Draco
snigger. He sent his brother an evil glare, but he turned and rested
himself on Rabastan happily, shifting his chair closer to manage it,
waiting for Rabastan to finish reading what he'd written to get his
feedback on it.
"This is wonderful." Rabastan said once he'd finished, huffing at
Rodolphus right after when his older brother held out a hand for the
parchment, demanding it be handed over silently.
Rabastan handed over the parchment and Harry watched anxiously as the
elder of the Lestrange brothers read it through carefully. Harry didn't
even make it a secret that he was waiting for Rodolphus to finish and
give his feedback, as he stared at the man obsessively.
"You need to calm down." Rodolphus said suddenly. "I can feel you
staring and it's distracting. Rabastan, take him for a walk or something so
that I can actually read this in peace for ten minutes."
Rabastan chuckled and he stood, pulling a reluctant Harry up to his feet
and leading him away. They only went down the hall, to the front
parlour, and Rabastan sat them on the settee and set to distracting Harry
by kissing him and stroking that unruly hair through his fingers.
Harry sighed happily and snuggled in tight, feeling very loved and
mellow. Despite the rather…eventful night that he'd had, he was feeling
more secure now that Rabastan, and Rodolphus too, had come out of that
meeting unharmed and though he knew what their 'mission' entailed, he
didn't want to think about it. He tried to tell himself that it was none of
his business anymore, it didn't really work, but distracting himself with
Rabastan helped, doing the creature law reforms helped, as did working
on the proposal to remove the Dementors for good. It was all to distract
him from the conflict going on inside himself over what he was doing,
over what he wasn't doing, the people whom he was condemning to
death, like this Scrimgeour, just because they were in the way.
He sighed and tipped his head to the side, an invitation for Rabastan to
start kissing his neck. Harry had found, very recently, that he very much
enjoyed this. He made a soft, happy noise as Rabastan's lips touched the
skin on his neck very gently. A tongue came out, just slightly, to taste
him, and Harry let out a ragged breath, trying to control the urge to
moan aloud.
His hands, almost without conscious thought, rose to wrap around
Rabastan's head, to keep him in place, to keep those lips against his neck.
He shuddered as pleasure made his body tingle in a very unfamiliar, but
very welcome way.
"Don't stop." He pleaded breathily, very happy to stay like this.
"If we don't, we're going to get into trouble." Rabastan warned.
"At the moment I'm failing to care overly much about that." He said,
peeling his eyes open, with some effort, to look at Rabastan's dark blue
eyes.
Rabastan laughed and bent down to kiss Harry's neck one last time before
he pulled back and separated them somewhat. Harry groaned in
disappointment.
"Very soon I will have you all alone, in some luxury villa, perhaps even
on a beach with a sea view, and I will not stop kissing your neck, your
entire body, every inch of it." Rabastan promised his young, ardent
fiancé, whose green eyes were wide and dark now with lust.
Lust for him…it was a heady feeling to think…to know that this young,
beautiful boy wanted him, was sexually attracted to him, and wanted his
touch, welcomed it, was all but begging for it. It made Rabastan feel like
a man again.
"We will find those loopholes in our contract together." Rabastan carried
on. "And I will take huge pleasure in exploiting every single one of them
with you."
Harry's breath came out on a moan, his eyes half-closed and he nibbled
on his bottom lip. Rabastan had to pull Harry's head to his, to give him
another kiss. He felt skinny arms wrap around his neck, he could feel
Harry arch into his stomach, and he knew that they had to stop this now,
before things went any further, because if they were left like this, then
they really were going to end up with a baby too soon.
He kissed Harry hard and passionately, squeezing the young body to his
own with his arms, and when air became a necessity, he separated them
and he stood. He had to take control here because Harry was too
headstrong, too stubborn, and if they went too far then Harry would
stand by that decision and damn the consequences. It was one of the
traits in him that Rabastan loved, but it could bring trouble too.
He pulled a dazed-looking Harry to his feet and he walked them around
the corridors a little bit, to give them some time to 'recover' and then he
took Harry back into the dining room, where the occupants were all done
eating and had moved onto tea and conversation. Harry's proposal was in
his grandfather's hands, and Lucius and Rodolphus seemed to be
discussing the proposal.
"I am very proud of you." Lucius said the moment Harry walked through
the door. "Your wording is very specific and cannot be misinterpreted, it
will go a long way to helping the magical creatures."
Harry nodded and Rabastan saw him puffing up. He smiled but said
nothing about it. He found it sweet that Harry felt such pride in the
things he did, though it was very upsetting that he was so affection
starved that he looked for such praise so often. Rabastan hoped that soon
there would come a time that such things weren't a novelty to Harry
anymore, and he came to realise that such praise and commendation
from those around him and those he worked with were given to him
because of his hard work and dedication, and that if he carried on in the
same vein, then he would get much more used to it because he deserved
it.
"I could find no faults with it." Rodolphus said with a slight incline of his
head. "There are a few things I would add if you are willing to hear
them."
Harry immediately hurried forward and sat beside Rodolphus. "Of
course." He insisted. "I'm all ears."
Rabastan sighed and sat beside his fiancé and he smiled as he watched
him talk animatedly with his brother and grandfather. Harry was coming
on so well, he fit the mould of pureblooded lord perfectly, even if he did
sometimes slip from it with his strange ideals on certain issues, but
Rabastan could live with that. He could live with anything that Harry did
because he adored the very bones of the young man sitting beside him.
He loved Harry and he would do anything for him, he would even die to
keep him safe if it was needed, and he was sure such sentiments would
pass over to their children when they had them too because their
children would be little extensions of Harry himself and he would love
them just for that.
Fred was pacing the small space between the coffee table and the settee
in the living room of the flat that he shared with George, staring at the
fireplace, waiting for his brother, Bill, to arrive. Charlie was already
sitting on the settee with George, looking confused and slightly worried.
It had been three days since he and George had confronted Ron, and they
had had plenty of time to think. This was the first opportunity they had
had to get both of their older brothers over for a chat, but Bill was
running late.
"What is this about?" Charlie asked again.
"We're waiting for Bill." Fred ground out.
Thankfully, the fireplace flared green at that moment and Bill stepped
onto the carpet.
"Finally!" Fred burst out agitatedly.
"I was finishing the readings for the Wizengamot. You know I'm playing
catch up." Bill told him. "Now what's wrong?"
"We need to talk." George said, calmer than Fred and less worked up.
Bill sat and Fred joined them. His foot bounced against the floor with the
tension he was feeling.
"What is this about, at least?" Charlie asked.
"Harry." George said, watching as Charlie suddenly went still and Bill's
face flushed with fury.
"What has he done now?" Bill asked furiously.
"It's not what he's done. Ron and Ginny lied to us." Fred spat out.
"Lied to us, about what?" Bill demanded. "It wasn't Ron and Ginny's
decision to saddle us with such a crippling debt."
"It was their fault, though." Charlie pointed out. "Dad was right, he taught
all of us better and we always knew that if we broke something that we
would have to work to pay for it."
"He turned on them, they were upset!" Bill shouted.
"He didn't." Fred cut in harshly. "He didn't turn on them, we confronted
him in the Alley…"
"Oh, you mean when he was out getting even richer? Making more
money than we could ever hope to see in our lifetimes?" Bill burst out,
referring to the front-page article that had been on the Daily Prophet that
morning.
"He told us what really happened on the train, what…"
"What he says happened!" Bill interrupted. "He could be ly…"
"We confronted Ron afterwards." Fred interrupted right back. "We threw
what Harry had told us in his face and he admitted to it!"
"Harry greeted them normally, like a friend, and it was Ron, Ginny, and
Hermione who turned on him." George said calmly, a rock in a turbulent
ocean.
"So, Ron and Ginny lied to us, so that we would blame Harry for
everything." Charlie murmured.
"He was being abused with the muggles." George said into the silence.
"They were abusing him so badly that he would rather live with anyone
else. He said that he would have even gone to live with you-know-who if
it meant he was out of that house, that's how bad the abuse was."
"The paper, it mentioned something like that." Charlie recalled. "The
article said he was adopted by the Malfoys and stipulated that it was for
unspecified abuse or something."
"Exactly. Harry told us that when Malfoy found out about his home
conditions that he was furious that he was forced to endure it and that no
one was doing anything about it. Harry was living with the Malfoys just
days later. Just days after. How often does that happen with adoptions? It
usually takes a few weeks at least, it must have been really bad for it to
have gone through and been approved within days."
"That was probably Malfoy throwing around his money, you know he has
Fudge's ear." Bill pointed out.
"Or his abuse was so horrific that those who found out about it
immediately moved to permanently take him away from it." George said
darkly. "He was right, we ripped the bars from his window and had to
pick the lock on his door to break him free when he was twelve. Ron
even told mum that the muggles were starving him. Ron knew about the
abuse. He knew, Bill."
"He was only a kid himself…"
"No, if any of our friends had come to us and told us, actually told us that
they were being abused, we would not have hesitated to support them in
anything and everything." Fred said. "Harry was always small and skinny,
but worse than that, he always looked sickly. He was being severely
abused from what is being implied, Bill. I don't blame him for wanting to
live somewhere else, anywhere else, regardless of who it was with."
"The worst part is that his friends, those who were supposed to have
supported him and cared for him, told him to just 'put up with it', that it
would only be for a few weeks of the year."
"They said that to him?" Charlie asked in shock.
"Ron told us himself that that was what he'd told Harry." George nodded.
"They didn't know what he would be suffering through in those weeks!"
Charlie said angrily. "They didn't know if it was just starvation and being
locked up or if it was worse!"
"From what we can read between the lines it was much worse." Fred
pointed out. "Harry said that he was beaten too, that it was every day.
That sort of abuse…no one deserves to live like that and you can't tell me
that you think otherwise."
"I don't." Bill said eventually, letting out a harsh sigh. "I still don't like
him for what he's done to us, but at least I understand now why he is
trying to slot himself into the Malfoy mould. Abused kids do that."
"You can't blame him for the debt, Bill." Charlie said. "He was legally
entitled to charge Ron and Ginny for…"
"It's not Ron and Ginny who have to work to the bone to pay for it." Bill
cut in furiously. "He billed them, knowing that it would be the rest of us
paying, knowing that that sort of debt would cripple mum and dad!
They're not well, this debt is making them sick and I will never forgive
him for what he's doing to them."
The twins and Charlie looked at one another, but they had nothing to say
about that.
"If only they hadn't gone for his Firebolt." George sighed.
"The rest of his junk was overly expensive too. I looked at the invoice."
Bill said harshly.
"He said that if they hadn't gone for his Firebolt, one of his sentimental
possessions, he never would have billed them. He said he wanted them to
feel just the slightest bit of the pain that he had felt when he saw the
Firebolt in that ruined state." George explained. "It was going for the
Firebolt that Sirius gave him that upset him so much."
Bill opened his mouth, perhaps to argue, but Fred beat him to it. "If they
hadn't been so cruel as to go for the Firebolt none of this would have
happened."
"You don't know that." Bill pointed out. "Harry says that he wouldn't have
billed us if they hadn't touched his Firebolt, but who knows what would
have happened if they hadn't?"
"He loved Sirius." Charlie said softly.
"Clearly." Bill scoffed. "Sirius hated the Malfoys, especially as Narcissa
was his cousin."
"You can't say what Sirius would have thought of this. None of us know
and Remus doesn't have a problem with it, so maybe Sirius, who loved
Harry too, would have cared more that Harry was being abused by those
muggles. Maybe he too would have cared more that Harry was out of
that situation than he would have cared about who it was with."
"I doubt it, Sirius hated his family."
"But he loved Harry. More than anything." Charlie said. "Love conquers
hate, Bill."
"I don't care. I hate that little shit for what he's done to our family,
despite what he went through, despite everything, he chose to put that
debt on us, knowing that it would punish all of us, it barely even touches
Ginny and Ron. It's us that it falls on. On mum and dad, and I'm not
going to forgive him for that."
"I understand that." Fred sighed. "But Ron and Ginny have to take some
of the blame in this."
"It seems more like it was a series of events that led to this." George
added. "Telling him he should stay in an abusive household, them turning
on him and isolating him and pushing him further towards the Malfoys,
then the Firebolt. It wasn't just one thing that tipped the scale, it was a
lot of things, but going for his Firebolt is what pushed him over the
edge."
"Ron and Ginny certainly had a big part to play in this." Charlie said.
"The blame isn't all on Harry."
"I don't care what you say, I'm standing by mum and dad." Bill insisted.
"So are the rest of us!" Fred burst out. "Do not accuse us of not caring for
our family, Bill. You know it's not true, but what Ron and Ginny did
made everything worse, if they'd been kinder, more understanding or
even just more concerned about Harry then this would never have
happened to us!"
"It did happen." Bill said. "Now we have to deal with it and support the
family as much as we can. We can't change what happened, and we can't
change Harry's mind about the debt. We have to just get on with it."
Bill stood and turned on his heel, going for the floo. Fred sat back and
blew out a frustrated breath. Bill had a point, there was no changing
anything with this information. They still had the debt to pay off, and
Harry had already told them that he would not take away the debt
because he wanted them to feel the pain he'd felt at seeing his ruined
Firebolt.
"Bill's right, even knowing that it was Ron and Ginny who were the
catalysts, it changes nothing." Fred said sadly.
"I wouldn't fret so much over this." Charlie told them. "Harry has changed
now, and it's for the better in his mind, so he won't want to go back to
what he was. It's best to just keep your heads down."
The twins nodded and Charlie sighed and stood. He patted both twins on
the shoulder. He left them to it and he flooed out, back to his childhood
home. No one was in sight and he was thankful for that as he slipped out
the back door, went halfway down the path and he turned on his heel.
This development needed to be reported.
Harry's summer had set out to a good start. Just a few weeks after he'd
come home he'd stopped having nightmares about being dragged to his
death by inferi, he and Rabastan were getting much closer, which was
more or less code for they couldn't keep their hands from the other and
were more often than not found snogging furiously and heavily petting
one another by someone in a secluded area. Harry had had three talks
already about the terms of his contract and he had been reminded several
times that he could not have a baby until he was married…no, he could
not even fall pregnant until after he was married. Narcissa insisted that
she would never be able to live with the sneering of the other ladies if he
fell pregnant out of wedlock.
Rodolphus had laxed his stance a little, after it had been pointed out that
their betrothal contract had been signed almost a year ago, and they had
been engaged now for six months. They had had a longer engagement
than most pureblooded contractees, even if they had had a shorter
betrothal, but as Harry had pointed out, he had only been brought into
these sorts of traditions less than a year ago, of course he wasn't going to
have a betrothal as long as Draco had, who had been betrothed to Astoria
almost since infancy.
It was Narcissa who was the problem, as she steadfastly refused to have a
son who was pregnant before he had graduated and before he was
married. So she was very severe with them having no contact that could
result in them having sex. It was driving Harry mad, as he was so
sexually frustrated that he just wanted to jump Rabastan, to hell with the
consequences.
Narcissa had taken up her game recently, and Harry was horrified to
come down one morning to a pile of wedding planning brochures and
catalogues, two thick pads of parchment and swatches of coloured
fabrics.
"No." He said immediately, wondering if it was too late to run back to his
bed suite.
"Your wedding is next year." Narcissa said fiercely. "You are entering
your final NEWT year now, when do you think you'll have time to plan
this wedding if not now?"
"Next summer!" Harry said.
"Absolutely not. I refuse to allow you to have a last-minute, hastily
planned wedding with nothing in place." Narcissa said sternly. "Now sit
down and let us sort this out."
"Where's Rabastan?" He demanded, looking directly at Xerxes.
"He is out." Xerxes told him. It was said in a particular way that Harry
knew that Rabastan was doing something for the mission set to him by
Voldemort…that and the fact that he was risking himself by going 'out' in
the first place. He wouldn't do that if not for his mission.
"I am not planning a wedding without him. What if he doesn't like
anything I choose? This is his wedding day too!"
"It is typical for the bride to plan…"
"I'm not a bride!" Harry snapped immediately, angrily. "I might carry the
gene, but I'm a man, and I will be treated as one! Rabastan will be an
equal part of this wedding, so he will have equal responsibility in
planning it."
Narcissa blew out a breath. She nodded sharply. "Okay, this will be your
big day, if you want Rabastan to have an equal say, then we can sort that
out. But there is no reason why you can't make a start and run any
decisions by him when he is home."
Harry sighed and sat down next to his mother. He unhappily pulled the
nearest catalogue towards him and flicked it open…and he saw wedding
dresses.
He turned his head to look at his mother in barely concealed fury and she
huffed out a breath at his look and flicked the catalogue further towards
the back, where there were more traditional dress robes for men and
more modern suits with half robes attached.
"I would rather it if you didn't buy your wedding clothes from a
catalogue, I would insist on having them tailor-made, but I got this to
give you some ideas as to what you might like." She told him.
Harry got an idea then, and he swiped one of the pads of parchment and
picked up a quill. He wrote down what he wanted and then Narcissa
looked at what he'd written.
"Harry." She sighed. "Astoria is a fifteen-year-old girl. She has no formal
training in making robes."
"She's apprenticing under the seamstresses at Twilfitt and Tattings this
summer." Harry said. "I want her to make my wedding outfit for me."
Narcissa looked like she was regretting this wedding planning already.
"Let us move on to the cake." Narcissa said quickly.
"I want it in the shape of a snitch." Harry said immediately, seriously,
then he burst out laughing when he caught sight of his mother's pinched
face. "As long as it's chocolate I don't care." He said with a smile.
"Do you want a floral cake then?" She asked him poisonously.
"No, no flowers." Harry said immediately.
"Then do not tell me you don't care what it looks like as long as it is
chocolate flavoured." She snapped at him.
Harry groaned and he pulled the nearest cake brochure he could see
towards him, flipping through it disinterestedly, looking at all the overly
elaborate floral decorations, all the girly, frilly looking designs and he
sighed. Clearly, it was a good thing to start planning this now, as there
was nothing he actually liked and that meant he would have to design it
all himself. He wanted Rabastan here, in his opinion if he had to suffer
through this then his husband-to-be needed to suffer too.
"Is there anything that you even partially like?" Narcissa asked him
desperately over an hour later, as Harry flipped through his third
brochure.
"No. I hate all of them." Harry declared. "They've all got flowers on them
and both Rabastan and I hate flowers, or they've got lacy detailing or
frilly bits. I can just imagine having this cake…" Harry said jabbing his
finger at the page he was currently on. "…and serving it up to Rabastan.
Oh, here you go love, have a pink, icing ruffled heart to eat. It's just not
us."
"What about this one?" Narcissa asked, turning the brochure she was
looking through to face him, her own pad of parchment by her hand with
nothing written on it.
"It is covered in purple butterflies!" Harry said, aghast.
"You can change the colour scheme to fit in with your own." Narcissa
insisted.
"Oh yeah, that's just what I've always wanted on my cake. Insects." He
said. "No, I don't like it."
"What about this one?" Narcissa asked.
"It has bows on it." Harry shot down. "Take them off and maybe it's
salvageable."
"It would be plain without them. Is that what you want, a plain white
cake?" She demanded.
"If those are my only options, then yes." Harry said. "I would rather it be
plain than covered in bows, lace, frills, flowers, hearts, or butterflies."
Narcissa sighed and opened the next wedding magazine and Harry turned
the page in his. This was getting painful now. Where the hell was
Rabastan?
"I like this one." He said with a grin, watching as his mother all but dived
on what had caught his interest. Her face fell as soon as she caught sight
of what he was looking at.
"You are not having a tower of doughnuts."
"Why not?" Harry asked. "I like doughnuts. I think it's clever and
contemporary."
"You are having a normal, traditional wedding cake." Narcissa told him.
Harry sighed, looked up at the ceiling and then turned the page.
"Ooo, what about this one?" He said, showing her the white cake covered
in black feathers that he was looking at. "I like this one."
"It has feathers on it, Harry." Narcissa said, completely aghast at her son's
taste.
"What's wrong with feathers?" Harry asked.
"It's for a wedding cake." Narcissa told him impatiently.
Harry sighed and pushed the catalogue away from himself. He was bored
of this now.
"Okay, Harry, let us put this aside for now and try to find a colour
scheme."
"I want blue." He said immediately. "Dark blue."
"May I ask why?" Narcissa asked him, looking at him warily, feeling
weary already. She had set her heart on just attending Draco's wedding,
it was the bride's family who planned the wedding, and when Draco had
tested negative for the gene, she had known then that he would have a
wife, who would be planning their wedding with little to no input from
Draco, let alone her. Then Harry had come into their family and he had
tested positive for the gene, and he preferred men. She had some small
hope of being able to help plan a wedding after all, but Harry was not big
on tradition and he was a very headstrong young man. He had his own
ideas and if tradition didn't fit into those ideas then he would ignore
them or push them off. He didn't care for tradition or for what other
people thought of him.
"Because of this." He said simply, raising his hand and showing off the
blue tungsten ring on his finger. Harry kissed it, as was his habit
whenever he and Rabastan were separated, and Narcissa relaxed a little.
She could understand his choice of colour scheme, if he was attached to
the ring that Rabastan had designed personally, she could work with
that.
"Dark blue and white?" She asked, actually pulling her pad of parchment
towards her, finally feeling like they were getting off the mark. "White, to
represent the platinum and the diamonds?" She explained, so he didn't
reject the idea.
Harry considered that and looked at the ring, studying it, and he smiled.
"I like that idea, but only if Rabastan agrees."
"I'm sure that he would." A rather frazzled looking Xerxes said from the
other end of the table, where he and Lucius were trying to discuss
business or some such. They were getting edgy just listening to them
trying to plan the wedding.
"I want to run everything past him first." Harry said stubbornly. "This is
his wedding too."
"He's not going to care, Harry. Not as long as he is marrying you. You
could dress him in a pink, flowery dress, put him in a wig and high heels
and serve him a heart and bow cake and he would endure it all because
he would be marrying you."
"I don't want him to 'endure' our wedding. I want it to be as wonderful
and memorable to him as it will be to me. For that to happen, I want him
to know all the details of the planning and have a say in them, but more
than that, I want him to agree to everything and have an equal part in
the planning. And as much as the thought of him in a flowery pink dress
and heels amuses me, I would rather have us in matching dress robes."
Harry insisted.
"You want dress robes?" Narcissa said, looking at him much more
happily.
Harry nodded. "Yes. I know Rabastan wants to keep to tradition in certain
aspects. He would never wear anything resembling a muggle suit, so it'll
have to be dress robes. I will not have house-elf servers though." He said
suddenly, having just thought of it, remembering the Wizengamot party
he'd gone to in April. "I will either have a self-serve wedding, or there
will be human servers."
Narcissa sighed and noted that down too, knowing that Harry would
never change his mind on that issue, regardless of what anyone else
might say and to argue with him over that issue would be a pointless
waste of time and energy.
"Human servers it is." She said as brightly as she could.
"Can I have them half-naked and oiled up?" He joked.
"No, you may not." His mother said.
"Who do you want half-naked and oiled?" Rabastan's furious voice asked
from behind him.
Harry turned with a huge smile and he leapt up to greet his fiancé, who
had been gone before he'd woken up that morning, and whom he hadn't
seen all day.
"The servers at our wedding." Harry chuckled. "I was only joking. This
wedding planning is boring, come and sit down and suffer with me."
"I…it's usually the…"
"If you even dare say to me that the bride plans the wedding, I'll happily
curse you out of existence and then there won't be a wedding to bother
planning." Harry said through gritted teeth. "I am not a woman, I am not
a bride, I am to be your husband, if I have to endure this then you can
damn well do it with me! Now, sit down before I have you turning up on
our wedding day wearing a flowery dress, pink heels and a matching hat
and handbag!"
Rodolphus laughed before reaching out to ruffle his hair affectionately.
"Listen to him, Rabastan, that stubborn nature of his will actually have
him keeping his word." Rodolphus told his younger brother before going
to sit up at the other end of the table with his grandfather and with
Lucius.
Rabastan unhappily sat in a seat by Narcissa, leaving a seat between
them for Harry to sit down.
"How far have you gotten?" Rabastan asked, committed to doing this just
to make Harry happy.
"I've got an idea on a colour scheme, if you agree." Harry said tentatively,
all the fire and fury going out of him suddenly and he turned more into
an insecure, unsure little boy.
Rabastan sat forward and he had more interest in this planning now, as
he came to understand that Harry was afraid of disappointing him. It
wasn't fair to put all this pressure on Harry, tradition be damned. It was
usually the bride's family who planned the wedding, but Harry was not a
traditional bride, he was right, he was a man despite the fact that he
would be bearing their children, and he didn't deserve to have the
pressure of an entire wedding upon him, especially when he was so
affection starved and so afraid of disappointing those around him. It
would be enough to drive the poor boy into a nervous breakdown.
"How do you feel about dark blue and white?" Harry asked after a small
pause, perhaps to gather himself, or even to prepare himself for rejection.
Rabastan considered that, and he saw Narcissa touch her wedding ring
behind Harry's back and all of a sudden, he understood and he was very
touched that the ring he had designed and had custom made for Harry
meant so much to him.
"Like your engagement ring." He said, a lump almost obstructing his
throat. Harry nodded slowly. "Of course I love the idea. Dark blue and
white it will be. Now, what else have you decided?"
Harry looked slightly embarrassed, but Narcissa just looked tired.
"We've decided that you will wear traditional dress robes and that Harry
wishes for human servers." She said.
"That's it?" He asked, stunned. "How long have you been…?"
He looked at Harry blushing and Narcissa looking tired and his heart
dropped.
"About four hours." Narcissa said. "Harry doesn't like anything that he has
seen thus far."
"It's all so girly and it's just not us!" He defended. "Look at this." He said,
grabbing another catalogue and flipping through it, angrily turning the
pages, showing feminine cake after feminine cake. Truthfully, Rabastan
didn't like any of them either.
"Traditional wedding cakes do have flowers and bows on them, Harry."
Narcissa tried.
"I don't care, they're hideous." Harry insisted. "I did like this one." He
admitted, showing a white cake with black silhouettes of feathers on it.
"You're not having a cake with feathers on it for your wedding, Harry."
Narcissa said sternly.
Rabastan was grateful for her stance, as he didn't like that cake either. He
was sure this was why the bridal family always planned the wedding, so
that the bride and groom didn't end up arguing over every detail, thus
putting the actual wedding at risk of even going ahead in the first place.
"I'm sure we'll find something suitable that all of us can agree on." He
tried diplomatically.
"I assume you don't want any flowers to be involved in the wedding?"
Narcissa sighed.
"I don't like flowers." Harry said stubbornly.
Narcissa sighed. "I can hardly show my face in public having let you get
married on a Quidditch pitch with half-naked servers and an undecorated
cake."
"I never said I wanted it on a Quidditch pitch and I was joking about the
servers. I want them fully dressed, and matching the colour scheme. Dark
blue suits, white accents." Harry said, puffing out his cheeks angrily.
Rabastan could feel Harry's tension, and how anxious he was, and he set
to take control of this situation for his younger fiancé.
"It is almost time for lunch, I believe that we should leave things here for
now and pick them back up later. Four hours of planning is enough for
one day regardless of how much has actually been achieved. We have a
starting place with the colour scheme, a bit of time to think about
everything else could be good."
Narcissa sighed and started packing away, she knew what he was doing.
So did Harry, but he was much happier about calling a halt to the
planning as he turned to him and puckered those plump lips at him. He
happily dived down to kiss Harry for the first time today.
"I would happily wear the flowery dress and the hat if it meant marrying
you." Rabastan whispered to him. "I might have to pass on the heels and
handbag though."
Harry laughed, as Rabastan had known that he would, and he felt
wonderful for having made Harry happy, even as he watched his young
husband-to-be stifle his laughter and look around to make sure he wasn't
being watched. He wasn't, which settled him down and brought his
attention back to him.
Harry reached out to cup Rabastan's cheek and he brought their mouths
together for a sweet, chaste kiss this time. He wanted to deepen it, but he
couldn't in current company, he would likely get a stinging hex aimed at
him and he hated those.
Lunch was a simple salad, with lots of raw vegetables and a steamed
salmon fillet to bulk it up. Harry prodded at something strange in his
salad and he frowned at it, before unearthing more strange things under
the lettuce leaves that he'd never seen before.
"What's the matter? Are you not hungry?" Rabastan asked worriedly,
watching Harry poke an olive around his plate with his fork, but never
actually eating anything.
"Harry, you need to eat." Lucius said sternly.
"I…it's not that." He said, startled at being spoken to, looking around the
table and hunching his shoulders as he realised that he was the centre of
attention. "I am hungry, I just…" Harry blushed and then sighed. "I don't
know what it is."
Rabastan was furious at those muggle beasts on Harry's behalf, but he
calmed himself so that Harry wouldn't feel worse.
"They're olives, love." He said gently. "They're soft and they have a salty
taste to them. They're very good for you. Dolphus and I have a handful of
them as one of our approved snacks on our diet plan. Try one."
Harry speared the pitted olive on his fork and he looked at the dull,
murky green coloured oval with distaste. He nibbled it like a squirrel
with an acorn and Rabastan tried not to smile at him. Harry was adorable
sometimes.
"It's better if you just put it all in your mouth at once." Rodolphus
insisted. "I'm not much a fan of the taste either, but the health benefits of
them cannot be ignored, thus I force them down."
Rodolphus took his own advice and popped his own olive into his mouth,
he barely shuddered anymore, but Rabastan remembered the faces he
used to pull, how he would declare that taking potions tasted better. He
himself enjoyed olives, though he did prefer them stuffed and slathered
in garlic.
Harry took Rodolphus' advice and he put the whole olive in his mouth
and chewed. Rabastan was expecting a pulled face, for Harry to maybe
even spit it back out as he usually did with new foods that he'd never
tried before, but Harry only chewed thoughtfully. Then he swallowed.
"I think I like them." He said, finding and spearing another olive and
putting it straight into his mouth, chewed and swallowed. "I do like them.
But, what are they?" He asked, jabbing his fork at the quartered fig.
"That is a fig, Harry." Rabastan told him. "It's very sweet and the seeds in
the middle are crunchy. Both figs and olives are fruits."
Harry picked up the quarter of a fig with his fingers and he bit into it.
Rabastan was again expecting him to maybe spit it out, but Harry
surprised him again by humming happily and taking a bigger bite from
the fig.
"I really like it." He said with a smile.
Rabastan smiled back at him and slipped his hand to Harry's thigh under
the table, squeezing it lightly. He was proud of how much Harry had
grown. He was proud that he was unafraid to face things he didn't know,
even if it was just food. It was a big deal for Harry, which made it a big
deal for him too and he was willing to show his pride in Harry's
achievements in any way that made Harry happy.
"I love you." He said softly, just for Harry's ears and a flutter went
through his belly when Harry turned to him and smiled so happily, those
beautiful green eyes sparkling with the unexpected declaration.
"I love you too." Harry said. "Thank you for wanting to marry me, and
thank you for putting up with me, even though I'm making the planning
a million times worse."
"This is going to be our big day, we're only ever going to have one. I
understand that you want it to be perfect, not just for yourself, but for
the both of us. Thank you for that. We have all summer to plan it, an
entire year to change our minds and to get it prepared and ready in
advance. We'll get there in the end, and it will be perfect. You will be
perfect."
Harry grinned so happily. "And then afterwards we'll have a honeymoon
and maybe, just maybe, I'll be coming home off of that with our first
child."
Those words caused a bolt of lust to spike through him and he had to
clench his muscles and press his thighs together, lest anyone see his
embarrassing problem. By Merlin, Harry certainly had a way with words
and the thought of a honeymoon, with them married together and left
completely alone to do as they pleased with not a chaperone in sight…
Rabastan could imagine, very well, that Harry would come off of that
pregnant.
He could not wait for that to happen, just one more year and it would be
a reality. He would have a beautiful, kind, supportive husband, and he
would have a child. The thought was almost enough to bring tears to his
eyes. He had a future now when he had fully believed, before meeting
Harry, that his life had ended at nineteen when he had been sentenced to
life in Azkaban. Not even his escape from the prison had given him his
life back, he had been a husk, a jerky, dribbling cripple who had needed
others, mostly Rodolphus, to help him bathe and sleep. It had only been
Harry coming into his life that had given him his life back, had given him
a purpose, a reason to pull himself together and sort himself out…for
Harry, who had given him back a future, and would give him a family of
his own.
A/N: We're moving now with this fic, and I have a lot to cover during
Harry's summer break, including the Ministry party and a holiday for
Harry and Rabastan too. So there will be a lot going on in the next couple
of chapters. There will also be more from the Wizengamot and now that
Harry is 'involved' with the mission, there will be more Voldemort
coming up too. So some exciting chapters are coming.
A massive thank you to MikaToshino for being the 3,000th reviewer
for this fic, and to all of you who have reviewed for helping me reach this
huge milestone. Thank you!
StarLight Massacre. X
24. Classified Meetings
Last Time
He would have a beautiful, kind, supportive husband, and he would have a
child. The thought was almost enough to bring tears to his eyes. He had a
future, when he had fully believed, before meeting Harry, that his life had
ended at nineteen, when he had been sentenced to life in Azkaban. Not even
his escape from the prison had given him his life back, he had been a husk, a
jerky, dribbling cripple who had needed others, mostly Rodolphus, to help him
bathe and sleep. It had only been Harry coming into his life that had given him
his life back, had given him a purpose, a reason to pull himself together and
sort himself out…for Harry, who had given him back a future, and would give
him a family of his own.
Chapter Twenty-Four – Classified Meetings
Harry was incredibly happy as his seventeenth birthday approached, as it
meant that he was getting closer to his first ever holiday, and it was
going to be with Rabastan, which made it all the better, but what made it
perfect was that they were going alone, they wouldn't have a chaperone
with them. Of course, they were being trusted to stick to their contract,
and have no sexual contact or make any babies, but Harry was sure he
could find some way around that little clause. The former clause, not the
latter, he didn't want any babies just yet.
Though one of the best things to happen recently was that he had gone
for another appointment at St Mungo's and he had been given a clean bill
of health, which took a huge weight from his shoulders to know that he
was now completely healthy. He was no longer taking any potions, not a
single one, so he didn't have any of the awful side effects to deal with
anymore. He was elated because of it and he had celebrated with a small,
spur of the moment party with just his family. He officially no longer had
hypocalcaemia. He would have to keep up drinking and eating calcium-
rich things, such as milk, yoghurt, cheese and certain vegetables,
particularly leafy greens. He would need a few follow up check-ups, just
to make sure that his calcium levels didn't drop now that he was off the
calcium potions, but he was healthy, his bones were as strong as they
should be, he was where he needed to be, of course he had been told that
he could still stand to gain more weight, but that was a slow progress
thing and if he carried on how he was going, then he would be just fine,
and it felt absolutely wonderful.
He was officially learning how to Apparate at the Ministry, and he always
had Rabastan and Rodolphus to help him while at home too. Draco had
taken his test, and he had passed and now had his Apparating license. He
was always willing to help Harry too, with some of the theory aspects of
Apparation that long time Apparators forgot about, as they had been
Apparating for so long that it just came as second nature to them without
needing to think of it, so that made Draco invaluable to Harry learning
the theory of Apparation that he would need to know and show to his
examiner and would actually help him get his own license.
Other than that, and a bit more stressful, frustration inducting wedding
planning with Narcissa in which very little actually got done, Harry had
had unlimited free time with Rabastan and now that they were into July,
things were progressing nicely and though he complained that time was
going much too quickly because he wanted to spend all his time with
Rabastan and not have to go back to Hogwarts, he truly was enjoying
himself immensely.
This carried on in the same way until out of nowhere, on the fifteenth of
July, he received an owl from Dumbledore, asking him to please join him
at Grimmauld Place as soon as he could.
"Who is that from?" Rabastan asked him, a hint of something dark and
dangerous in his voice.
Harry gave him the look that that comment deserved and pointedly went
back to reading the letter, or rereading it, as he had already read it once.
"I apologise for my tone of voice." Rabastan said, this time more neutral
in his tone, and less accusational. "It is just that I don't recognise the owl
and I was wondering who it was from."
Harry gave Rabastan another look, considering his words and comparing
them to his expression.
"It's from Dumbledore." Harry said blandly. Then he sighed unhappily. "I
need to go and deal with this, I am going to have to leave you for a few
hours."
"He wants to meet you during the summer months? What could he
possibly want with you?" Lucius asked.
Harry snorted. "Need I remind you that it was you who pushed me to
prove my loyalty to him by meeting up with him in the first place? I can't
just ignore him during the summer or he's going to become suspicious."
He said, folding up the letter with another sigh and stuffing it in his
pocket. "I need to sort this out. I shouldn't be too long."
"Are you going on another jaunt?" Lucius asked him seriously.
"No, we're going to talk about the last jaunt, I believe, now that he's
recovered somewhat from the ordeal." Harry said, finishing off his cup of
tea. "I will take my pendant just in case."
"I wish that you would wear it all the time." Lucius sighed.
"There's no need." Harry said. "I only need it when I want quick access to
a Portkey."
The adults all looked at one another covertly. If only Harry knew that the
pendant wasn't just a Portkey.
"It's more than just a Portkey, Harry." Draco put in and Lucius' heart rate
spiked, wondering how his temperamental son was going to handle that
news. Of course, he should have known that Draco, with his love for
gossip, wouldn't be able to keep his mouth shut.
Harry, the bright boy that he was, took a moment to mull that over, and
then his eyes narrowed.
"That's how you knew I was outside of the school and in danger. What
else is in that thing?" He demanded.
"Only a few spells to help keep you safe. All pureblooded children wear
one." Lucius tried to pacify.
"I'm not pureblooded. I'm a halfblood." Harry bit out. "Why didn't you tell
me it was more than just a Portkey?!"
"Because I was worried that if I did then you wouldn't wear it at all."
Lucius said calmly, ignoring Harry's jibe about being a halfblood. He was
technically a halfblood, everyone knew that, but he actually wasn't just a
halfblood as he had been, thankfully, legitimised shortly after his birth,
so saying otherwise was just splitting hairs.
"What else is on it?!" Harry demanded.
"Simple monitoring charms to alert me when you, or Draco, are in danger
and a locator charm so that I might find you if you are in danger."
"So you can track my locations with it?"
"Believe it or not, but we trust you both to some extent and we do not
constantly monitor either of you. True, during Draco's first year,
particularly in the early months, we did check up on him a little more
often than strictly necessary, but it was the very first time that he'd ever
been away from our sides for more than a few hours. Now that he, and
you, are older we wait for the charms to alert us to something being
wrong before we use the pendants to check up on you. It does not stream
information to us twenty-four hours a day, we are not interested in where
you go or what you are up to unless it endangers your life. It is merely
for you to have an escape route if needed, or if you are unable to use the
Portkey, it will alert me that you are in danger and it will tell me where
you are so that I might come and get you if you are unable to get yourself
out. It is for your protection, for our peace of mind, Harry, it is not meant
to shackle you or take away any privacy or independence, it is to keep
you safe."
"Why couldn't you just tell me that from the beginning?" Harry asked.
"Instead of lying to me and telling me that it was just a Portkey?"
"As I said, I was worried that if I told you then you wouldn't wear it at
all."
"You should have had more trust in me than that." Harry said. "If you'd
actually explained what it really was then I would have worn it
permanently. I understand its use and purpose now. Before, I thought it
was just an emergency Portkey, so why would I need to wear it all the
time, especially when at school? You need to trust me and you need to be
upfront with me about these sorts of things because I hate being lied to!
That is the main reason Dumbledore and I fell out, because he kept things
from me, because he lied to me and tried to explain it away as being for
my own good, and I hated him for it!"
Harry took a breath and consciously lowered the volume of his voice
when he realised he was working his way up to shouting.
"I am learning to trust you all, but how do you expect me to do that when
you're lying to my face and keeping me in the dark about everything?
The lies will always come out, one way or another, and just like with
Dumbledore, after every lie that is exposed, I will lose some trust in you.
If you can lie to me about one thing, what else are you lying about? If
you can keep me in the dark about something as small as this, what else
are you hiding from me? Those doubts build, the distrust causes a rift and
if it goes too far then the trust will be gone and I will cut you from my
life, just as I did to Dumbledore and those who I once called friends. I
won't stand for it."
Harry stood and he turned to Rabastan and gave him a quick, chaste kiss,
more to prove that this argument had nothing to do with him before he
stormed out. He went up to his bedroom and took out the pendant that
had caused this new strife and he sucked it up, slipping it over his head
and tucking it under his tee-shirt.
"Kreacher!" He called out.
"Yes, Master? What can Kreacher be doing for his Master?" The house-elf
asked, a lot more amicably than usual. He'd changed (for the better) ever
since Harry had given him the ancient Black heirloom that was hanging
proudly around his wrinkly neck.
"Can you take me to Grimmauld Place, please Kreacher?" He asked
politely before his mind flashed up a warning and he quickly added more
instructions. "And if anyone there asks you about the sword, or who took
it, or who ordered it to be taken, you lie, do you understand? Even if I
ask you about it directly, you do not mention it in the hearing of other
people, only ever when we're alone. You say that you know nothing
about the sword going missing, you don't know who took it, I never
ordered it from you, and you don't follow anyone's orders but mine,
okay? Oh, and say nothing about me ordering you to spy on the Order of
the Phoenix either, lie about that too."
Kreacher mumbled for a moment and then he looked up. "Yes, Master. I
understand."
"Well done, Kreacher. Now, let's go."
Harry held out his hand and Kreacher took it. A moment later they were
in the kitchen of Grimmauld Place which was brimming with activity
that stopped the moment he arrived. He kept his temper by the skin of
his teeth when he noticed that the Weasleys were here once again for the
summer. Judging from the level of chaos and mess, and all of that just in
the kitchen, they must have arrived only that morning.
"Ah, Harry, there you are." Dumbledore replied jovially from the brand
new kitchen table.
"I apologise if I am late. I was just finishing breakfast." He said tonelessly.
"No matter, no matter. I do like what you've done with the place."
"I can't take the credit for that. Remus has been decorating for me while I
was at school, but truly Sirius should have thought of this before. The
house is barely recognisable with a few coats of paint and new furniture."
"Yes, Remus did make mention that you were redecorating for your
bride-to-be, Aceline, isn't it?"
"Yes." Harry replied.
"Do you have a photo of her, perhaps?"
"Not on me, no." Harry replied, making a show of checking his pockets,
just in case. "I didn't think to pick one up and, believe it or not, but I
don't need to carry a photo of her on my person at all times. Is this why
I've been called from home?"
"Ah, no, forgive me. Come, I wish to speak to you alone."
Harry nodded and he turned back to Kreacher. "You are dismissed,
Kreacher. You may go back to what you were doing."
"He is getting in the way of the cleaning." Mrs Weasley told him.
"As the cleaning is his job, I would leave it down to him." Harry pointed
out civilly.
"Some of the guest bedrooms are filthy still."
"The guest bedrooms are the least of my priorities. The main rooms are
the biggest priority for me and are first on the list and they are coming
on very nicely. The guest bedrooms will wait."
"The members of the Order need places to sleep, Harry dear. That has to
be a priority, oh, and all of the upper floor bedrooms have been locked
by Kreacher and…"
"As this is my house, I say what is the higher priority and people
squatting in my house deserve to sleep in the filth. I told Kreacher to
keep people from entering certain rooms as I don't want people
rummaging in anything they shouldn't, especially not Sirius' bedroom! If
you want to stay here, then fine, but you'll sleep where I tell you to sleep
and you will stay out of rooms that I don't want you in!"
"The attic has also been locked." Dumbledore said mildly.
"So? Why would you possibly want to go into that dusty, decrepit attic?
Kreacher is cleaning it currently and I don't want anyone getting in his
way. I'm turning it into a potions workshop for Aceline."
"I thought she was a healer, not a Potions Mistress?" Hermione pointed
out.
Harry turned his head to look at her as if just realising that she was there.
"She's not either as she is still in school, but if you were as clever as you
would have everyone believe, you would remember that aspiring healers
need an 'O' in Potions, because they have to recognise poisons, botched
potions, and potions that have been tampered with, and know how to
remedy them all in order to actually treat people. Healers make and use
potions in their line of work, Hermione. Aceline could easily become a
Potions Mistress once she graduates if she wanted to, but she doesn't as
she wants to help and heal people, but as Healing and Potions go hand in
hand, I am having a potions workshop built here for her, so she can test
and brew her own medicines to do what she loves to do, which is helping
sick and injured people."
"Could I question Kreacher about…?"
"No, you cannot question my house-elf about anything! How dare you
even suggest as such." Harry snapped at Dumbledore, turning back to
glare at him.
"I was only worried that perhaps he might still be in league with Bellatrix
Lestrange, it would be quite easy for him to be passing on information
about the Order meetings to her once more." Dumbledore pointed out. "It
was Kreacher who tricked you into believing the lie that led to Sirius'
death and it was Kreacher who told Bellatrix how to get to you, through
Sirius, which was the formation of the vision that was sent to you."
"Do not even dare try to blame Kreacher for that. He did as he was told,
as all good house-elves do. He hated Sirius, and Sirius hated him. I can
understand why Kreacher wanted Sirius gone, but it was not him who
killed Sirius, it was Bellatrix and the blame for it goes solely on her for
casting the spell that killed him!"
"Even so, he might still be in contact with her, so it seems prudent to…"
"He is not in contact with her because I forbade it when I first got
ownership of him! I ordered him not to contact her, not to go to her, not
to follow any of her orders. He hasn't been near her and nor will he,
because he has to listen to me!"
"He might have found a way around your orders if he was so inclined."
"He isn't." Harry bit out.
"He is wearing an old Black family heirloom…"
"That I gave to him as a reward for his loyalty." Harry said with his eyes
narrowed.
"It belonged to Cygnus Black, Bellatrix's father…"
"It was Phineas Nigellus Black's, given to him when he became Hogwarts
Headmaster by an uncle. Whoever it was passed down to afterwards is
none of my concern and I will point out that Cygnus Black was also my
mother's father and Andromeda's father before you point out just that
bitch of a woman, which makes him my technical grandfather."
"You are not blood-related to any of them." Hermione pointed out.
"I was adopted, Hermione. Blood or not they're my legal family! Now,
what is this all about before I leave and ban you all from staying in my
fucking house?!"
"Harry, you know that we use this house as a safe haven for the Order."
Dumbledore said softly.
"I'm getting to the point where I don't even care! I don't like being
coerced, cornered or set upon with all this bullshit, now why am I even
here?"
"I wished to speak to you about certain things."
"Then hurry up and get to the point! I have things to do, I'm rather busy,
despite it being the summer."
"Dear, you're not well. You shouldn't be taking on so much." Mrs Weasley
told him. Harry was upset to see her in such a poor state, she was very
thin and haggard looking, though she still had a smile for him, she was
still concerned about his health, which made him feel the deepest of
sympathy and something almost akin to grief, but he hardened himself
against such feelings. Whatever happened to her was not his fault.
"Actually, I got the all-clear last week. I'm perfectly healthy once more.
I'm also doing my training for my Apparation license and I'm planning a
holiday for me and Aceline during August too. Then there are my
Wizengamot duties too, and the Ministry party to prepare for. I don't
have the luxury of time, so if you please, why am I here?"
"Please, come to the dining room, Harry." Dumbledore insisted and Harry
sighed and followed.
This was his house, however, so he sat at the head of the table without
being asked and he indicated that Dumbledore should sit in the chair
beside him.
"There are certain things that need to be shared with you now, Harry."
Dumbledore started.
"Then, by all means, share them. It would be a first." He quipped.
Dumbledore sighed heavily. "I have handled things badly in relation to
you, I see that now. For that, I can only apologise. I believed it best to
keep you innocent, to treat you as the child that I thought that you
were…"
"I have never been either of those things!" Harry hissed. "Thanks to those
abusive monsters that you left me with I was never a child and because
of their appalling treatment of me, I was never innocent. You treating me
like a child only ever endangered me more, which is why I can't stand to
be near you for extended periods of time! So stop waffling and get on
with it, I'm growing impatient."
"I can see that our little adventure hasn't had any effect on our
relationship…"
"I almost died." Harry said through clenched teeth. "I was unwell to begin
with and that little jaunt almost killed me and we got nothing out of it!
Did you truly expect my stance to change because of that? It wasn't even
a real fucking Horcrux. I almost died for absolutely nothing. Fair enough
if I had risked myself to destroy that monster once and for all, but it was
for nothing!"
"As I said before, we know now that we have an ally in the…"
"Oh." Harry interrupted loudly. "Have you found out who it is then?" He
asked sarcastically. "Do we know who is helping us, how many Horcruxes
they've destroyed or merely moved? You should introduce us so that we
all know we're on the same team."
Dumbledore sighed again, looking weary and tired, putting his head into
his hand.
"Anyone who is moving these Horcruxes is no friend of ours." Harry
reiterated firmly. "They are not an ally, they're interfering and getting in
our way! They're making everything a million times more difficult for us
and we are never going to find these blasted Horcruxes if this idiot keeps
fucking moving them!"
"We must not lose hope, Harry."
"It's too late for that." Harry snorted. "I already thought it was an
impossible mission before I found out that there was someone getting in
the way, now it's even more so."
"So you wish to give up?" Dumbledore asked him, inflecting his tone with
disappointment. "You want to roll over and allow Voldemort to win."
"He's going to win anyway if we can't find whoever this person is, from
the seven billion people in the world."
"I believe whoever it is, they are either a current or former Death Eater,
from the wording in the message that they left in the locket."
"Oh great, let's just go around asking all the Death Eaters if they know
about the Horcruxes and if they might be trying to destroy them. I'll take
from A to M and you can have N to Z and we'll question them all to see
who might be our secret ally." He rolled his eyes and rubbed his
forehead.
"You are not being helpful, Harry."
"Helpful?!" He demanded. "How can I possibly be helpful in this
situation? Oh, yes, we'll absolutely find this prick who took the real
locket and they'll tell us where all the others are and we'll have
Voldemort dead by the end of the year. And then I'll grow in pink, fluffy
wings and fly off into the bloody sunset and live happily ever after over
the rainbow."
"Harry, you need to listen to me, because I believe that you yourself are a
Horcrux."
Harry's heart seized in his chest and he suddenly had trouble breathing…
he gawped at Dumbledore, feeling like his brain had frozen.
"What?" He whispered, his throat tight and his voice a strangled croak.
"I believe you to be a Horcrux." Dumbledore repeated, watching him and
his reaction closely.
"Is this a joke? Some sort of test?" He pleaded.
"I'm afraid not."
"How do you know?!" Harry demanded, finding his voice.
"I had my suspicions in your first year. When you told me that your scar
would prickle now and then."
"You knew as far back as then and you…"
"I didn't know for certain until your fifth year." Dumbledore interrupted.
"When I had Severus look for a connection between you and Voldemort
under the guise of Occlumency…"
Harry sucked in a huge breath and a wave of icy anger washed over him.
"Under the guise of Occlumency…those lessons weren't even real?!" He
demanded furiously.
"I needed a reason to check on my fears, an excuse to look for the
Horcrux that I believed was there."
"I went through hell with Snape in those lessons! I blamed myself for not
learning Occlumency fast enough for Sirius' death, and all along they
weren't even real lessons!" He raged.
"This was much more important, Harry. It is doubtful that you would
have ever learnt Occlumency, which is an incredibly difficult branch of
magic, regardless of…"
"Nothing was more important to me than Sirius!" Harry screamed. "If I'd
only been given the chance I could have learnt it, but we'll never know
now and because of that, Sirius is dead! Because you had Snape digging
in my head for a Horcrux instead of helping me to protect my memories
from Voldemort! Did he know about the Horcrux too?" He demanded
after a heavy pause to collect his racing thoughts into some sort of order.
"Have you both been laughing about this behind my back?"
"Occlumency would not have worked with a Horcrux inside of you."
Dumbledore said simply. "You have a piece of Voldemort's soul inside of
you, that creates a connection that cannot be broken or blocked. He
would have still sent that vision to you regardless of whether you were
the greatest Occlumens in the world or not."
Harry tried to absorb that, breathing heavily, being battered by his
tumultuous emotions at hearing that with a Horcrux inside him he hadn't
even stood a chance to stop that vision from coming through.
"Did Snape know about it?" He demanded furiously, unwilling to let that
little bit of information slide. He'd kill the greasy bastard himself if he'd
known about this. It would be just like Snape to allow Sirius to die, to let
Harry suffer thinking that it had been his fault for not learning
Occlumency.
"Severus did not know at the time, nor does he know now, that you are a
Horcrux. I had him search for a connection between you and Voldemort
and once he found that connection, I and I alone, knew that what he had
actually found was a soul fragment attached to you. Severus never knew
what that connection was or that you are one of Voldemort's Horcruxes.
How could he have possibly guessed at such a thing? He believed, and I
encouraged this thought, that the connection you had came from the
ritual that you were involved in during Voldemort's rebirth."
"I didn't start having those visions until I was fourteen." Harry said
heavily.
"I believe that the ritual to bring Voldemort back, the ritual in which he
used your own blood, strengthened the bond of the Horcrux in you to
him. Which is why you went from your scar prickling now and again, to
having full visions and even feeling his emotions after that ritual."
Harry breathed quick and deep and loudly, trying to control himself.
"Have you had any more visions, Harry?"
Harry looked up at those blue eyes in that wrinkled face. "No. I haven't
had any full visions. I've felt his emotions now and then. The most recent
of which was intense anger."
"But you don't know why that might have been or what had caused it?"
"No. I'm trying to block out those visions. They hurt, my scar bursts open
and pours blood down my face, if he realises that I'm there then he casts
the Cruciatus curse on me. I try to block those visions out as much as
possible. When I start feeling emotions that aren't my own, I distract
myself, I don't go digging anymore. I don't want to know what he's doing
or why or what is making him feel as he does. I don't care anymore."
"It could be a help to us to know what he's plan…"
"Then you do it! You put yourself on the line to see people being tortured
or killed, you put yourself forward to be on the receiving end of the
Cruciatus curse! I'm not even seventeen yet!" He raged. "I don't want to
see this shit and I don't want to be on the end of it!"
"They will only stop when Voldemort is destroyed."
"Oh, so I have to take mental torture and abuse now, to have a happy life
later, when it's too fucking late?" He sneered. "No. How do I get this
Horcrux out of me?"
"The only way is through your death." Dumbledore said.
Harry gaped at him again. "Excuse me?!" He demanded.
"The only way is to have Voldemort kill you, to remove the Horcrux that
he created. If we leave you until last, then that leaves Voldemort
vulnerable to death afterwards."
Harry mouthed silently for a moment. "Leave me until last?" He echoed.
"Leave me until last?! No! This is not happening, you're going to have to
find another way! I am going to be married, I am going to have children!
I am going to make something from the ruins of my life and I am not
going to die just because you tell me I have to!"
"It is the only way, Harry. If there were any other way, I wouldn't have
mentioned this to you, but you need not fear death. It is just the next
great adventure."
"That's easy for you to say you ancient, bat-shit crazy old man! I'm not
finished living this life! I am not going to die before I've even started
having a life. I have a fiancée, I have plans and things to do, and I have
dreams and aspirations that I want to fulfil! I am finally forging a place
for myself in this world and I will not give up on that to die in my teens!"
"It is the only way, Harry. The only way to destroy Voldemort for good."
"No. You know what? No! I've had enough of always being the lamb
brought to slaughter. The one who has to sacrifice everything so people
like the fucking Weasleys can live their lives in peace with one another.
I've had enough. Do not contact me ever again. If you find a Horcrux, I
don't even want to know. I don't want to help destroy them when it
means that I'll come one step closer to my own premature death! You can
do it on your fucking own! I am going to have a nice, normal life. I am
going to have a nice house, a good job as a teacher, I am going to have a
beautiful wife and beautiful children and I will be left alone!"
"How can you have a normal life when Voldemort still lives?"
"Fuck Voldemort and fuck you. You can take him out, I don't care
anymore. If I have to leave the country, I will. I'll stay in France."
"He won't leave you alone, Harry."
"Then I'll keep fucking moving. I'm done now! This is too much. Much
too much, no more."
He stood and he stormed out. Ron was there when he went back into the
kitchen and of course, the redhead tried to get in his face, tried to shout
at him, but Harry really was not in the mood and he reached up and
seized Ron's shirt collar, yanked it down and off to the right with both
fists and he threw Ron from his feet. Ron hit a chair and he and it went
sprawling. Hermione gasped and Mrs Weasley screamed, but Harry was
too angry to care. He was so angry that he felt like his head was going to
split open.
"Harry, please listen to me." Dumbledore, who had apparently followed
him at a quick step, tried desperately.
"Stay away from me!" He yelled out loudly. "Kreacher!"
The elderly house-elf appeared and immediately moved to stand in front
of Harry, protecting him, as soon as he felt the tension in the air.
"You don't have to do that, Kreacher." He said more calmly, though his
rage was boiling away, just under the surface.
"Harry, please. Let us speak some more." Dumbledore tried, right before
Remus came skidding into the room, having heard the shouting and the
commotion.
"Harry, are you alright?" He asked, out of breath and looking a little
dishevelled. "What's going on? I didn't even realise that you were here."
"I came to be interrogated at Dumbledore's behest. I'm leaving now, but
I'll be back to see you when you're not surrounded by liars and crackpots.
I still love what you've done with the place."
"Some of the bedrooms have been locked by Kreacher, I can't get into
them to finish decorating."
"That's okay, Remus. I told Kreacher to shut certain rooms if anyone
other than you were here. He's just doing what he's been told to do by
me. You can have the summer off decorating, just enjoy yourself a bit,
catch up on some reading like me."
"Now that Kreacher is here, perhaps you could ask him to move some of
the furniture, it is almost like it has been bolted down." Mrs Weasley said
from where she was kneeling next to a red-faced Ron, a hand on his chest
to keep him from moving, likely to attack Harry.
"Don't move my furniture around." Harry snapped. "It's how I want it, I
don't want it moved."
"All of the beds have been moved and several of them have disappeared
altogether. There are no twin rooms anymore and the girls need to share
a room because all of the upper bedrooms are sealed."
"Tough." Harry said. "If you weren't all squatting in my house then maybe
there would be a room each for them. Remus, did you start the design for
that nursery that I asked for?"
"Yes." Remus said looking between Harry and Molly before he turned and
went to get a folder from the kitchen counter. "Here it is."
"You are planning nurseries already?"
"Of course. I have a year left in school, Aceline has two. Hopefully,
shortly after she graduates, we'll be married and she'll be pregnant. I
want this done and sorted well before then."
"You have plenty of time for that, dear." Mrs Weasley told him.
"I have less time than you think." Harry said. "I'm graduating in a year
and after that I'll be spending a year in France, doing my teaching
apprenticeship. I won't have time for any of this when I'm focusing my all
on that, on my fiancée, and on the Wizengamot. That's why I'm doing it
now, I want it done before I graduate, all ready for when Aceline and I
move in, in two, maybe three years' time."
Harry took the folder from Remus and he looked at the designs. He
nodded.
"Look, Kreacher, see this, this is what I want the third-floor spare room to
look like." He said, crouching down and showing the house-elf. "If you
could focus on the cleaning, Kreacher, Remus can handle the decorating,
remember I wanted all neutral colours. Beige, pale green, pale yellow and
such. I'll find the furniture myself."
"This is mental!" Ron burst out from the floor, still sitting with his
mother's hand holding him down. "You can't plan babies and nurseries
already."
"I've already said that I'm on a tight schedule." Harry hissed, standing
back up. "If I don't do this now then I won't have time later. It's called
being organised and planning ahead, not that you even know the
definition of the word." He sneered. "This looks perfect, Remus. If you
could make a start on this with Kreacher after the summer that would be
wonderful."
"Kreacher, are you in contact with Bellatrix Lestrange?" Dumbledore
asked the little house-elf.
Harry gritted his teeth and clenched his hand. "I've already told you that
he isn't! He only listens to me!"
"Then give him the order to see what he says."
Harry blew out a breath. "Answer the question please, Kreacher."
"Kreacher is not in contact with Missy Bella." Kreacher answered. "Master
forbade contact."
"Did anyone order you to take Gryffindor's sword?"
"What sort of question is that?!" Harry exploded. He could feel his own
face heating up and going red with fury. "If you accuse my house-elf then
you accuse me, and I was cleared of that during school term!"
"He might have been ordered to take it by someone else in the Black
family."
"Oh, so you're accusing my family now, are you?" Harry raged.
"Have Kreacher answer the question and we'll see." Dumbledore replied.
Harry blew out a heavy breath. "Okay, let's settle this right here.
Kreacher, did you take the sword of Gryffindor from Dumbledore's
office?"
"No, Master." Kreacher replied easily, and Harry himself breathed a little
easier, though he was now incredibly grateful that he'd given those
orders just before he came here. He'd had a little niggle of doubt that
maybe Dumbledore would try this. His little niggle had been correct,
Dumbledore was getting predictable.
"Did I, or anyone else in our family, order you to take it and hide it?" He
asked.
"No, Master."
"Do you know anything about the disappearance of the sword?" He asked.
"No, Master."
"Thank you, Kreacher."
Harry turned back to Dumbledore. "Are you fucking happy now?!" He
demanded. "I had nothing to do with the sword going missing, I had no
clue that it had gone missing until you dragged me out of bed at midnight
to accuse me of stealing it. I don't know where it is or who took it so look
elsewhere for it instead of trying to pin its disappearance on me and my
family. Now I'm fucking leaving, do not contact me again! Just stay well
away from me!"
Harry held his hand out to Kreacher and a moment later he arrived back
in Malfoy Manor in an absolutely foul mood. He dismissed Kreacher as
kindly as he could manage while he was so very angry and he started
pacing furiously. His mind was spinning, his thoughts racing, but his
mind was now firming to his purpose. He had been planning to stay
neutral, he was content to stay out of the way of things, just for
Rabastan, without adding in the Malfoys, Rodolphus and Xerxes too, but
now…now if the only way he could stay alive was actually to protect
Voldemort and his fucking Horcruxes, what would that mean? Could he
still remain neutral? Had it actually been very naïve of him to think that
he could remain neutral in all of this in the first place?
He knew what he needed to do now though, as a priority, he needed to
finally have a face-to-face with Voldemort, and he needed to tell the idiot
to move his fucking Horcruxes from wherever he'd hidden them, because
Dumbledore was hunting them down, and he knew just where to look.
He stopped his pacing and he strode down the hallway to the family
drawing room, his anger almost palpable. He all but shoved the door
from its hinges as he threw it open and it actually hit the cabinet behind
the door with a loud crack of wood on wood.
"Harry James Potter, what do you think that you are doing?!" His mother
cried out in part shock part anger as the crystal ornaments inside the
cabinet rattled dangerously.
Harry was breathing heavily, his fists clenched so tightly that his arms
were shaking. He must have looked rather deranged with his fury flushed
face, his stuck up hair and white clenched fists because Narcissa backed
off and the two older Lestranges both had their wands out and ready, just
in case.
"What has Dumbledore done, Harry?" Lucius asked, standing up urgently.
"Did he give you anything to eat or drink or cast any spells on you?"
Rabastan, undeterred by his visible fury or his deranged countenance,
came to him quickly, touching his face and then slipping his arms over
his shoulders and winding them around his back, just holding him. They
were all rather relieved when Harry held Rabastan back, putting his face
in Rabastan's neck and breathing out a huge breath. He was visibly
shaking with rage.
"I need to see him." He forced out, his voice strangely calm in complete
contrast to his wild appearance.
"Who?" Lucius asked. "Dumbledore?"
"No, Voldemort. I need to see him, now."
"We can pass on any message for you, Harry." Lucius said quickly. "You
don't need to see him."
Harry sucked in a breath and he glared out from Rabastan's arms.
"I need to see him now!"
"What has been said?" Xerxes asked.
"What has Dumbledore planned?" Rodolphus asked, more alarmed that
there might be a threat to his Lord.
"I don't have time for this! I am connected to him, if I really wanted to
contact him, I could do it myself and he'll be furious because of it! Take
me to him, now! We might not have the luxury of time." He added, trying
to get them moving.
"We've always been summoned, Harry. We've never just turned up."
Rabastan explained patiently.
"He will make an exception for this, it's too important."
Rabastan nodded and he trusted his fiancé so much that he was willing to
do as asked, he was willing to face the wrath of his Lord to do as Harry
asked. He just gripped Harry tighter and spun on the spot, Apparating
Harry to the manor house that their Lord was residing in.
"Please watch your tone, Harry." Rabastan warned him. "Be quiet and
respectful. This isn't a Wizengamot debate. He speaks, you listen."
"As I am here to tell him things, that won't really work, love." Harry
pointed out as they approached a manor house via a white gravel
pathway that cut through an immaculate lawn.
"Harry, this isn't a game, my love. I won't see you hurt, I can't see you
hurt." He said desperately.
"He's not going to hurt me. Not with what I have to tell him." Harry said
confidently.
"Harry!" Rabastan chastised him sternly. "Be respectful and don't anger
him."
"Listen to him." Rodolphus said, storming up behind them.
"Why are you here?" Harry demanded.
"To make sure that neither of you gets killed." Rodolphus said simply.
Harry sucked in a breath as they reached the house and the door creaked
open on its own, though Harry knew that it was likely an invisible house-
elf.
"Thank you." He said politely.
"Stop that." Rodolphus snapped immediately. "This isn't the place for your
oddball quirks."
Harry sent him the look that his comment deserved. But he reasoned that
these two men were just afraid for him. He had, until recently, been the
number one target for these people. The truce, or whatever it could be
called, was tenuous at best, though perhaps this little meeting would
actually go some ways to strengthen it.
That and neither of the Lestrange brothers knew exactly why he'd
suddenly demanded to come here for this meeting right out of the blue.
They had no idea that he had several, very huge and valuable, bargaining
chips to play with. Voldemort couldn't kill him, he might get hurt and he
would be prepared for that, but he was confident with the information
that he had, that despite the anger it would cause, he would not be the
target of that anger…he just hoped that Rodolphus and Rabastan
wouldn't be convenient targets.
They had to go up a set of stairs and down a corridor, before turning onto
another corridor that had only three doors off of it, and Harry lost his
flared temper completely when he saw Wormtail standing there
nervously, in front of the right side door, wringing his hands and
twitching.
"Get out of my fucking face." Harry hissed poisonously.
"Ha…Harry, wonderful to see you again, and in such company." The man
quivered, his small eyes darting from him to Rabastan, then to the taller,
more intimidating seeming Rodolphus. "What would your parents think
of seeing you with them…what would Sirius and Remus think?"
Harry wanted to curse him, to tell him that he wasn't fit to mention their
fucking names. Instead, he took a breath and he was clever with his
answer, having learnt how to think on his feet in the Wizengamot, as he
was sure that Voldemort was on the other side of the door, listening to
them.
"I would hope that you weren't trying to ruin this tentative truce by
reminding me of the family that I lost thanks to you?" He said through
gritted teeth. "It would be a shame if I called an end to the truce because
of you and your words and went back to…interfering in delicate matters."
Wormtail looked terrified and his little eyes darted to the door that he
had been standing outside of. Harry's hunch had been correct, Voldemort
was listening from inside that room.
"Now, I suggest that you be a good little rat and get out of my sight
because just looking at you makes me want to try my hand at the
Cruciatus curse and I don't want to embarrass myself in front of my
fiancé and his brother when I fail again."
"You've cast it before?" Rodolphus asked in total surprise.
"Only the once, on your beautiful, wonderful wife, the bitch that she is. I
couldn't make it stick, though. Then I should have known that a first
attempt wouldn't work."
"Try it again." Rodolphus encouraged enthusiastically, pulling Harry
forward, into his own arms, and setting his body into a fighting stance.
"Wand out, try it. It could be your wand placement that made you fail the
first time."
"I didn't come here for this." Harry said.
"Just try it." Rodolphus almost purred in his ear, holding him steady by
his upper arms, sliding the right one down to cup Harry's elbow,
positioning his hand.
Harry stared at Wormtail, who was cornered in the corridor, the only
escape being behind Rabastan, Rodolphus, and Harry, who had his wand
pointed at him, as Harry assumed that the two remaining doors, those
that didn't have Voldemort behind them, were either locked or were dead
ends too. Harry took in a deep, ragged sounding breath, thinking of the
cowardice of this man who had betrayed his own best friends just to keep
living his miserable, measly life, and the fury was just there. This was the
man who had killed his parents. Not Voldemort. This was the man who
had sold them out, his own best friends who had loved and trusted him
and would have gladly, unhesitantly, died for him if the roles had been
reversed. This man, who was a snivelling coward and was darting his
small, watery blue eyes all over, as if even now he was looking for an
escape from the pain that he deserved.
"Crucio!" He yelled out, pouring all that hate and loathing into the curse.
Wormtail hit the floor screaming, tearing at his own body and his own
thin, colourless hair, writhing and bending in unnatural ways.
Harry cut the curse by moving his wand away and he was panting hard,
feeling exhilarated, joyful for having caused this lowly rat a modicum of
pain that he had caused Harry, that he had caused Sirius and Remus, had
caused his parents in their last moments when they realised that they had
been betrayed by one of the few people that they had trusted with their
lives, with their infant son's life.
Rabastan grabbed him, turned him and kissed him…hard. Harry smiled
into the kiss and hugged him tightly.
"You're happy." Harry pointed out breathlessly.
"We both are." Rodolphus said, ruffling his hair with a large hand,
scratching Harry's scalp lightly with his nails. "Well done, tiny boy. That
was very impressive."
"That felt good." He said with a grin. Then his smile slid from his face.
"This is wasting time though, I'm here for a reason."
He turned to the door and he was polite enough to knock and wait for an
answer.
"Come to me, Harry Potter." A soft, cold voice beckoned.
"Wait here." Harry said to the two brothers. "I'll be fine." He told them,
hoping that he was actually right. He gave Rabastan one last, long look
and he opened the door and he closed it behind him.
Voldemort was alone in the room, standing by a blazing fire. It was the
same large drawing room from his vision and Harry approached him
unhesitantly, he did not fear this man, or what he'd seen him do in this
very room to others.
He stood on the opposite side of the central coffee table and he stared at
Voldemort's back, waiting for him to turn around so that they could have
a conversation.
Voldemort finally did turn to look at him and those red eyes examined
him from top to bottom, as if looking for any changes that might have
occurred, before boring into his eyes.
"This is a surprise, Harry. I had been under the impression that you did
not want any contact with me, as your first and only letter to me
explained rather plainly."
"The situation has changed since then. Is this room now secure? You
wouldn't want word of this getting out to anyone else I wouldn't
imagine."
"The room is secure. Now that you have piqued my interest and my
curiosity, what is this little change of heart about?"
"I have a one-word topic for you. Horcruxes." Harry said simply.
He watched as Voldemort's face changed. He watched it go from mild
amusement, from curiosity and a rather strange indulgence to stone-cold
fury. There was a flash of something dangerous and inhumane in those
scarlet eyes, but Harry had seen that happen before and he refused to
allow it to quell or cow him.
"What did you say?" That soft voice demanded, going higher and colder.
Harry didn't bother repeating himself. Voldemort had heard him
perfectly. "Dumbledore knows. He's hunting them down and destroying
them. I know of two that have been destroyed already, but some of the
others are uncertain. What is certain is that they're all compromised and
they're unsafe wherever they are now."
Harry watched the fury grow, and he was glad that no one else was in
the room with them, particularly not Rabastan, or Rodolphus either.
"Which two have been destroyed?" Voldemort finally demanded.
Harry sighed and he took a seat, relaxing himself and showing no fear. It
was the only way to maintain even the slightest bit of control in this
situation, even if he was…perhaps not frightened, but worried about the
outcome of this little meeting.
"I know that you made seven, or that you intended to make seven. I know
that you used the treasures that you collected in your youth, including
relics of the Hogwarts Founders."
"Which two?!" Voldemort hissed, his red eyes flashing dangerously,
warning Harry not to test him any further.
Harry met those eyes unflinchingly. "You will not harm me or my family,
not ever." Harry said.
Those eyes almost spat fire at him and Voldemort started playing with his
wand.
"I could torture it from you."
"You could, but knowing what I do, I would never break under torture,
and I think you know that, which is why you are merely threatening it,
and haven't just done it already, without any sort of warning."
"I could hurt Rabastan, he is just outside the door."
"You could, though it would put him right back to the start of his
recovery and he'd be all but useless to you. Then, knowing as I do how
valuable this information is, and how valuable Rabastan and Rodolphus
are to you, I would think it better to just safeguard my family instead, so
that everyone wins."
"If I agree?" Voldemort asked after a heavy, tension riddled pause.
"I would tell you everything I know and I would also offer what
assistance I could. After all, Dumbledore still believes that I want you
dead because of what you did to me and my family before. He doesn't
understand me, or how I think and feel, so he doesn't understand that the
family I have now comes before the one I lost."
"Then I agree." Voldemort told him. "I would agree not to harm you or
any of those you call family in return for this information."
Harry nodded his acceptance. "Dumbledore believes that your Horcruxes
are your old diary, the Gaunt family ring, Slytherin's locket, Hufflepuff's
cup and your snake, Nagini. He also suspects that you've found some relic
of Ravenclaw's, though he doesn't know what it is yet. Is he close?"
"Yes." Voldemort said rather stiffly, looking murderous.
"The ring and the diary have been destroyed. I accidentally destroyed one
when I was twelve. I didn't know what it was or what it meant. I also
killed the Basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets, so I apologise for that.
Dumbledore found and destroyed the ring last summer. He also…he
found where you'd hidden the locket. He took me with him to a cave by
the sea to get it in June, it was my hope that perhaps I could snatch it
and perhaps keep a hold of it, but there was no need. Someone had
beaten us to it and left a fake in its place. I figured out who that was and
I found the real Slytherin's locket. I have that safe now and Dumbledore
doesn't know that I have it. I gave him the fake locket and sent him on a
merry trip having destroyed the crucial piece of the clue that would have
led to the perpetrator, so he won't figure out who took it, thus he'll never
figure out where it might have ended up or that I now have it."
"You have it? You will hand it to me, now." Voldemort hissed at him,
almost slipping into Parseltongue.
Harry nodded easily. "Pimsey." He called out, thankfully remembering at
the last moment that Kreacher believed that he was going to destroy the
locket for Master Regulus.
"What can Pimsey be doing for young master?" Pimsey asked, facing him
and curtseying, but Harry could almost see the tension running through
her tiny body.
"There is a locket in my school trunk, which is in my bedroom. Can you
get it for me, please?"
Pimsey curtseyed again and she vanished. It took a fraction of a second
before she was back in the room with them and she immediately handed
him the locket. Harry dismissed her right away and then he held out the
locket to Voldemort, who took the undamaged Horcrux in gentle,
reverent hands, almost as if it were a baby.
"I won't tell you what to do, but I would recommend that you went and
collected all of your Horcruxes and put them all in a new location.
Locations that Dumbledore would never figure out."
"What changed?" Voldemort asked him. "Why now? Especially as you
have already admitted to knowing about this beforehand."
Harry took in a breath and he looked away. He tried to control the anger
within himself.
"You know that we are linked. That I can sometimes feel your emotions
or crash your mind, just like you can do to me?"
"Yes." Voldemort's red eyes narrowed questioningly.
"Dumbledore told me today, not an hour ago actually, that the reason we
are linked is that, when you came to kill me that night, you accidentally
made me into a Horcrux, and the only way to kill you for good was to
destroy all of your Horcruxes, which would also include me. I don't want
to die. I want to live my life, I want to marry Rabastan and have a family
with him, and I want a nice, normal life. I don't want to be killed because
you made me one of your Horcruxes."
Voldemort stood abruptly and he approached him. Harry stayed still and
quiet, showing no fear. Voldemort waved his wand right in front of his
face and those red eyes widened.
"The prophecy was your greatest downfall." Harry told him. "By coming
after me, you made me one of the things keeping you alive. In order to
kill you, I have to die. To keep you alive, I have to stay alive."
"Then it seems that keeping you safe has just become an utmost priority."
Voldemort told him.
"There's one more thing I wished to see you about. A goodwill gesture if
you will, to seal our deal on not harming me or my family, which
includes my future children."
"And what might this gesture be?" Voldemort asked, the anger gone now
to be replaced by more curiosity.
"You've lost two Horcruxes, but you've gained me as a Horcrux. I was
your eighth piece of soul, the one you didn't know that you'd made. By
my count now, you are one short of the seven pieces that you wanted.
What if I told you that I'd found a relic of Gryffindor? My goodwill
gesture for our deal is handing you the relic with which you could make
your seven Horcruxes again."
Those red eyes gleamed and lit up with joy.
"Then I fully agree to your deal. I have searched for a relic of Gryffindor
for many years, and never heard of such an item. How did you come
across this relic?"
"It smashed into the top of my head and almost knocked me unconscious
when I killed the Basilisk." Harry said. "It's made of goblin silver, so it
only takes in that which makes it stronger to my understanding, which
means it's filled with Basilisk venom. Dumbledore took it off me, after all,
I was only twelve. But I stole it back this year, acted completely confused
about the whole thing, and sent him running off in the wrong direction
again. I'm very good at doing that."
"So it seems, then he doesn't truly expect you to be working with me."
"I'm not truly working with you. I still want to remain as neutral as I
possibly can. I only came here today because of what Dumbledore told
me, about me being one of your Horcruxes. I don't want to die, I have a
life that I want to live. I've planned out so much that to be told that I'm
expected to just lay down my life in a sacrifice…that I have to die just for
everyone else to live. I mean, why is my life so worthless? Why am I the
one who has to sacrifice everything, everything, including my own life just
for other people, total strangers, to live their lives in peace and comfort?
No, I'm not going to do it! I want to carry on building up my life, I want
to change the world one law at a time and I want to get married and
have children of my own. I will not allow anyone to destroy those plans."
"You need to be protected at all times. As one of my Horcruxes, you are
instrumental to my survival."
Harry sucked in a deep breath and he shook his head. "I don't need to be
put in a bubble or restricted from socialising, Dumbledore was insistent
that it had to be you who cast the curse. Something about only one who
had created a Horcrux being able to destroy it. Unless he wants to burn
me to death with fiendfyre, but I can't see him ruining his reputation in
such a way, I'm still Harry Potter after all, regardless of anything, he can't
just kill me out of hand."
"I will take no chances. The Lestranges are loyal, I would have you tell
them of this and they will know to protect you. They are the only ones of
my followers who know of the Horcruxes. Bellatrix has one in her vault
at Gringotts for me."
"Her vault from the Lestranges, or the one that went with her from the
Black family?"
"Ah, of course, as Lord Black you are able to walk into any vault of your
family and remove items as you wish without their permission, or even
their knowledge."
Harry nodded. "So if you wanted it back without anyone knowing,
perhaps leaving a duplicate in its place, I could do that without going
through Bellatrix, who is not the most stable of people."
Voldemort actually looked pleased and Harry tried not to show how torn
up he was about this whole meeting, how conflicted he felt. He consoled
himself and soothed his turbulent thoughts, this was the only way he
could carry on living. This was the only way he could marry Rabastan,
have children and actually raise them with his chosen husband. This was
the only way he could actually live, and living was all he wanted now.
He had made the only choice that he'd had left to him after Dumbledore's
talk that morning. Now he had to stick to that decision and if that meant
working, even slightly, with Voldemort, then that was what he had to do.
It was a small price to pay in his opinion.
"Can I tell my father about this or just the Lestranges?" Harry asked,
standing up.
"Your father only, in addition to the Lestranges." Voldemort said sternly.
Harry nodded. "In that case, it was a pleasure speaking to you today.
Kreacher." He called out.
"What can Kreacher be doing for Master?" The elf asked him, staring at
him through too wide, bulbous eyes. Of course, Kreacher would
remember the man who had tormented him by forcing him to drink that
green potion. The man who had led to Master Regulus' death.
"I need the sword, Kreacher."
Kreacher nodded and he popped away. He came back with the sword in
his hands and Harry took it and dismissed Kreacher right away, as he had
done with Pimsey so that he wouldn't be in contact with Voldemort for
too long.
"Gryffindor's sword, as promised in exchange for the protection of my
entire family, both current and future." Harry said, handing it over
carefully.
He saw Voldemort run his thumb over the engraving of Godric
Gryffindor's name.
"Thank you, Harry Potter. I will honour our agreement with the precious,
invaluable gift that you have given to me. Go now, and tell those what
has transpired here. They need to know about this to better protect you."
Harry nodded. He turned and walked to the door, he opened it and there
was immediate movement from his left. He shut the door and smiled as
Rabastan embraced him, almost looking for injuries of any sort.
"I'm alright." Harry said with a smile. "I've told you before, I can handle
myself. Come on, I want to go home. There are things I need to tell you."
"Have you got permission?" Rodolphus demanded.
"Yes, Dolphus. Stop fussing. I've been told it's something that you've
already been told about, but what I have to say is going to make more
sense if I have the time to properly explain it, and it includes the little
jaunt that I went on with Dumbledore too."
"Are we finally going to find out the huge secret surrounding that?"
Harry nodded and he tugged on Rabastan's hand to get him moving. They
started walking through the house and Harry continued holding
Rabastan's hand. He liked the strength and warmth of it holding his own.
Then his rather pleasant visit was ruined.
"I'd heard that you were here." The pitched voice of Bellatrix Lestrange
came from behind them.
Harry turned and the fury was immediate and powerful. His wand was in
his hand before he'd even actually thought about it.
"Going to curse me again, ickle baby Potter?" She taunted him spitefully.
"Why don't you fuck off before I disown and disinherit you?" He hissed.
"If you could do as such, you would have already done it." She said back
with a nasty smirk.
"Do not make me take you to hand again." Rodolphus threatened. "You
might not recover as well as you did the last time."
Her face flushed an angry purple at the threat from her husband and she
reached for her wand.
"Don't you even dare." Rodolphus said easily, his own wand in his hand.
Rabastan made to pull Harry away, behind him, but Harry didn't move.
He wasn't afraid of Voldemort and he certainly wasn't afraid of this crazy
bitch.
"Dolphus." Harry said softly. "If you do take her to hand, aim to kill." He
said easily. "Death will leave you free to find a more suitable wife, one
who will actually give you children and as Lord Black, I will not
persecute you for her death, nor hold it against you."
Harry turned and he took Rabastan's hand, they started walking off and
Rodolphus laughed and he turned and came with them, protecting their
backs, but Harry took a look back, and he saw Bellatrix holding her arm.
She'd been summoned and had to answer immediately or risk
Voldemort's fury. Harry guessed that Voldemort knew everything that
happened in this house, despite it not being his own, and of course,
Bellatrix threatening to harm him, one of his own Horcruxes, and just
after he had agreed to safeguard Harry and his family, it would have
infuriated him. Harry would not want to be Bellatrix for the next half
hour or so.
They walked in silence and Harry breathed in the fresh air. It was bright
and sunny outside, the sky was blue and cloudless. It was such a perfect
day, a day that had been marred by such momentous news that had
changed everything, including his own mindset and his plans for staying
completely neutral, as that option was now no longer available to him.
He sighed and held on tighter to Rabastan's hand.
"Are you sure that you're alright?" Rabastan asked him.
"Sorry, love." Harry said, running his free hand through his hair. "I just
have a lot on my mind."
"Hopefully, sharing these thoughts will help unburden you somewhat."
Rabastan said worriedly.
"That or it's going to burden you too." Harry said.
"I'm sure I can handle whatever it is." His fiancé promised as they reached
the outer gate of the property. Harry said nothing.
Rabastan held him tight and close, more so than usual, as they Apparated
back home.
"Pimsey." Harry called out gently once his feet touched solid ground
again, and once he'd recovered his breathing from the awful feeling of
being constricted through a drinking straw.
She appeared immediately after he called her and she curtseyed to him.
"Thank you very much for your decorum earlier, I was very pleased with
your conduct." He said with a smile. "You did really well. Can we please
have some tea served in the drawing room?"
"Yes, young master, of course." She said happily, tears in her eyes and her
ears flapping as she nodded furiously. She vanished and Harry smiled and
led the way from the receiving room to the drawing room.
"You speak to that elf as if it's human." Rodolphus complained.
"To me she is." Harry answered. "This isn't the time to argue about it
though, Dolphus. There are incredibly important things that I need to
discuss with you all. Life or death things. My life, my death."
"Have you been threatened?" Rabastan demanded, his fury being stoked
at the very thought of anyone putting Harry's life in danger.
"Of course he has, he just waltzed into the Dark Lord's headquarters
without even a cursory note or message to give him any forewarning of
the meeting, let alone actually waited for permission for such a meeting."
Rodolphus pointed out.
Harry sighed. "I'll explain in a minute, but I haven't been threatened. At
least not directly, it'll all make sense in a minute, just let me sit down and
explain it all."
Harry made it to the drawing room and he was thankful that neither
Draco, nor Narcissa, were in the room with Lucius and Xerxes, so he
wouldn't have to go through the arguing or embarrassment of asking
them to leave, or even the humiliation of throwing them out of the room.
He stood to the side and allowed Rodolphus to go past him into the
room, Rabastan had stopped and waited for him.
Harry closed the door and tapped it with his wand, locking the door and
then silencing the room.
"What is going on, Harry?" His father asked him. Those grey eyes looked
him over critically, assessing him.
"I've been told to let you all in on what has happened, including the little
jaunt with Dumbledore, and exactly what the prick said to me this
morning."
Harry stalked to the settee and he sat on it, tugging Rabastan with him.
As soon as his fiancé was sat down, Harry turned to snuggle into him,
kicking off his shoes as he did so.
"I take it that you weren't harmed today?" Xerxes asked.
"Of course not. I'm very, very important." He rolled his own eyes at his
comment and huffed.
"What are you waiting for?" Lucius asked.
"Tea." Harry said. "Though I suppose starting the story wouldn't hurt. I
should start really by saying that those meetings with Dumbledore
weren't about us reconciling, we both knew that our relationship was
much too damaged to ever be anything other than what it had become,
which is now rather frosty and poisonous, from my end at least."
"So those meetings were a guise for something else." Lucius sighed as if
already having suspected as such.
"Exactly. Our personal relationship had deteriorated to the point of no
return, but he hoped that our professional relationship could be spared
still, for the sake of the greater good."
"And what was the greater good?" Rodolphus demanded, looking furious.
He already had an idea of what Harry meant, it was just a shit that it was
the right one.
"Obviously destroying Voldemort." Harry said. "What else would it be
with that man?"
"You went to those meetings, sat there and plotted how to destroy our
Lord, when…"
"Shut up, Rodolphus." Harry cut in sharply. "He is not my fucking Lord.
He's yours. I sat in those meetings because I'd been told to. I never
wanted to go near him ever again after what he did to me! But, I realised
the importance of those meetings early on, so I carried on going, yes, and
now it has come in incredibly useful because I know what Dumbledore is
doing, you thick-headed, brainless ape! Did you consider that in your
spiel? That perhaps I carried on going to those meetings so that I'd know
what Dumbledore and his little Order are planning, did you?!"
"Is that why you went to see him today?" Xerxes asked. "To tell him what
Dumbledore was planning?"
"I was always planning on it, but I wanted to see how much information I
could glean from Dumbledore first." Harry said. "Then I had that meeting
with him this morning, and everything changed."
Pimsey arrived then with the tray holding five cups, a bowl of sugar, a
little pitcher of milk and a large teapot covered with a knitted tea cosy.
Harry sat forward and he thanked her, getting and maintaining eye
contact to show his sincerity, before making the tea himself for everyone,
dismissing Pimsey back to whatever she had been doing before he'd
called her.
He sat back once he was done and sipped for a moment, then he sighed,
knowing that this had to be done, but it was not, by any means, going to
be an easy conversation.
"Everything I say here and now, it cannot leave this room. I was given
permission only to tell those of you here now, no one else."
The four men all nodded and Harry took a huge gulp of tea and put the
cup down.
"I've been told that three of you know about the Horcruxes."
It was amusing to Harry to see three grown men going as white as sheets.
"How do you…?" Xerxes whispered in shock.
"The meetings Dumbledore and I were having, it was all about them, in a
roundabout, indirect way. Taking a trip through Voldemort's memory,
learning about him, how he grew up, and how he thought and acted, all
as a way to predict his future steps, so that we might stay one step ahead
of him and cut off his plans before he had a chance to act them out.
That's how I saw that memory of you with the perverted teacher who I
thought was grooming students. Dumbledore guessed about the
Horcruxes from the memories he collected and he showed them to me, he
shared that information with me. I not only know about the Horcruxes,
but I know how many and what they are, I even know where some of
them are actually hidden because Dumbledore knows."
Harry looked at his hands and debated how to even mention himself
being a Horcrux. He didn't know how these men would react when he
told them that he was an instrumental piece of the puzzle in keeping
their Lord alive. He sighed heavily and looked up.
"I was collecting all the information and I was going to use it to strike a
deal with Voldemort. I tell him what I know…which is what Dumbledore
knows, and in return, he leaves me and my family alone."
"You were arrogant enough to think that you could blackmail the Dark
Lord into doing your bidding?" Xerxes demanded furiously. "I actually
credited you with a modicum of intelligence before this, Harry, but truly,
what in the name of Merlin were you thinking?"
Harry snorted. "I was thinking that I could exchange what he wanted, for
what I wanted and as he has agreed to my deal and has actually already
done my bidding, I'm going to have to say yes, I was arrogant enough to
blackmail him into doing what I wanted, and it worked perfectly."
"He…he agreed to your deal?" Rodolphus asked in shock.
"He had no choice as I didn't leave him any. I lied to you all, the stolen
sword of Gryffindor wasn't to bribe the goblins, it was to bribe him. I
knew from those memories that Dumbledore showed me that he wanted
it. He wanted it so desperately that he would have given me anything
that I asked for, just for that sword, without anything else I had to offer
him. So, I've safeguarded my family, all of you, Draco, our future
children. They're all safe because I knew what he wanted and I had the
balls to steal it from Dumbledore and use it as a bargaining chip."
"Why not just give him the sword then, why offer the information as
well?" Rabastan asked. "If the Dark Lord wanted the sword so
desperately, you could have kept the information that you knew back,
but you didn't, so why did you share everything?"
"My dear, Rabastan." Harry smiled cheekily. "In my scant year of being
under the influence of you purebloods, I've learnt a thing or two…or
several, about these little games and social manoeuvrings. I offered him
everything that I knew, to make him believe that he was getting more, or
the better deal, out of the exchange. That's how this all works. You make
someone think the idea you planted in their heads was their idea in the
first place to gain backing and support for it, you give people more than
they expect to wrangle what you want from them, without them realising
that they've done exactly as you wanted them to do in the first place. It's
all delicate, intricate puppeteering and I am getting very, very good at it."
"I'm not sure if that actually frightens me or not." Xerxes said. "That
you've gotten so good at these 'games' as you call them, to successfully
play them on the Dark Lord."
"He got the better half of the deal." Harry shrugged. "In his mind at least,
so I don't see why anyone would complain."
"There is something that you aren't saying." Lucius said, speaking up for
the first time since Harry had started explaining. "Something made you
act today, something made you feel that you either had enough
information to go to the Dark Lord or perhaps that you were running out
of time in order to do so. What did Dumbledore say to you this morning
that made you so angry, that made you act immediately, when before
you had been content to watch and wait?"
"He…" Harry stopped and licked his lips, looking at Rabastan and
wondering if this would change their relationship. If his fiancé would see
him as more of a mission than a partner after this.
As if reading his thoughts Rabastan took his hand and kissed it.
"Whatever it is, it changes nothing. I love you here and now, as you are."
Harry took strength from that, and he put his trust in his fiancé. He
would trust that Rabastan meant his words, that their love would
conquer any thoughts of him being just a Horcrux or just a mission to
protect his Lord.
"I found out today that I'm a Horcrux too. That's how I survived the
killing curse as a baby."
There was silence. Utter, deafening silence.
"How is this possible?" Xerxes finally asked.
"He'd split his soul so many times before that night that it was unstable,
two deaths in the same night, my parents, was too much for his soul to
take and a part of it split off without his knowledge and attached itself to
the only living thing in that house. Me. Then he cast the killing curse on
me, but the Horcrux fought against the attack for its new host, which was
me. Which is how I survived and how Voldemort got to be a floaty spirit
with no body for a decade. Anyway. He can't hurt or kill me now without
weakening himself, as I'm a piece of his little puzzle that's keeping him
alive."
"What does this have to do with Dumbledore?" Lucius asked.
"He knew. He knew that I was a Horcrux, and he told me this morning
that…that in order to destroy Voldemort for good, I had to die."
Rabastan clenched him almost crushingly tight and Harry accepted the
hold without complaint. He felt the need to be closer than close to his
fiancé after the fear and shock of that day.
"I wasn't going to accept that once again I was the one who would have
to sacrifice everything for other people to live. That I had to make the
ultimate sacrifice and give up my own life, my future, my family, my
plans for marriage and my dreams of children, just so that strangers
could live their happily ever after when my life went from misery to
misery, from one disaster to another. At least until last year that is. I
just…it was the last straw and I knew I had to do something, then and
there, to stop this from happening, to prevent my own premature death. I
already did that once with the hypocalcaemia and I was not willing to
ever do it again. So I went to Voldemort with all the information that I
had, with the sword of Gryffindor as a gift and the knowledge that I was
one of his Horcruxes, to strike a deal with him because I want to live.
Yet, the only way for me to live in the peace that I want so desperately,
I…I have to be on his side, not Dumbledore's, because Dumbledore would
see me dead purely because I was a Horcrux. To him I am nothing else
except a tether, anchoring Voldemort to life, and to get rid of Voldemort,
that tether has to be cut and there is only one way to get rid of a
Horcrux…you destroy it so completely that it can't possibly come back."
"So, you are no longer neutral?" Rodolphus asked, almost happily,
proudly. "After what you did to that rat, I would like to see more of what
you can do. To test you to see how you react."
Harry sighed. "I am sort of still neutral, I don't want to fight, that hasn't
changed, but now there is a natural lean towards Voldemort. Truly, if it
means that I get to live, that I survive, I was always going to go to the
side that allowed me to have a life, but I will never be one of his
followers, I will never wear his vile mark, I will never torture people just
for the hell of it, Wormtail excluded, as he isn't a person, but a rat. I
couldn't do what any of you do and harm innocent people, kill just
because I've been told to do so." He shook his head. "So no, I'm still
neutral, but I'll help out where I can, as Dumbledore would never expect
me to turn, or to be a spy, so I believe, even after this most recent bust-
up, that he will still trust me enough to tell me sensitive information. I'll
just have to be careful how much I reveal or pass on because any of it
could be false, a mere test of loyalty and failure could mean my death."
Rabastan kissed him and, surprised, Harry turned to him and smiled,
cupping that face in his hand and pressing firmly.
"I love you." Harry declared easily. "I was always going to take the path
that allowed me to stay with you, no matter what it was, or with who, as
long as I could be with you, as long as we could still have our family and
live in peace."
"I'd do anything to make that a reality for you." Rabastan told him, oddly
choked up by Harry's words. He should be stronger than this, much
stronger, but he'd never really had anyone love him as much as Harry
did. He'd never loved anyone as much as he did Harry.
"You don't need to. I did it for us. So, I've sort of earned a lot of points
today, I safeguarded our family, including our future children, and I
saved your Lord from imminent destruction. I will take repayment for
such in the form of loving affection." Harry teased.
Rabastan took him seriously and started nuzzling his neck, just how
Harry liked, and Harry let out a very unmanly giggle as those lips caught
a sensitive patch of skin that had him wriggling.
"If Dumbledore knows about you being a Horcrux, he could kill you."
Rodolphus pointed out. "You need to be protected."
"I'm a person, Rodolphus, not an object." Harry said sternly. "There are
only a few ways to destroy a Horcrux, all of which require that the host,
or vessel, is destroyed beyond all magical repair. You would know that
this is incredibly difficult to do. A Horcrux can be undone by the maker's
hand, which means Voldemort himself needs to kill me and he's not going
to now. Then of course there is being exposed to or ingesting, potent
magical venom, such as Basilisk venom, Acromantula venom, Manticore
venom etcetera. Then there is fiendfyre, which is hideously difficult to
control, so you know, most sane people won't even attempt it. Besides,
Dumbledore can't just turn around and kill me, there would be an uproar.
At the moment I'm still a student, and he's still my headmaster."
"Uproar or no, I don't want him near you now." Rabastan said firmly. "He
knows that you won't sacrifice yourself, you've told him as such, so he's
going to kill you, Harry. It's the only way he can get rid of our Lord. You
are literally standing in his way of achieving that. He has to go through
you, Harry, and there will come a time that he will try to do so, you need
to understand that."
"Of course, there will come a time, after he's found and destroyed the
other Horcruxes. Horcruxes that he'll never find because that little jaunt
with him at the end of the term was to go and collect one of them."
"What?" Lucius exploded. "You went and you stole one of the Dark Lord's
Horcruxes?"
"No, someone got there before us, so I literally almost died for no fucking
reason, but in my defence, I went to keep Dumbledore from getting it, in
the hope that I could take it for myself and then use that to bribe
Voldemort with."
"I…I have no words." Xerxes said, looking as gobsmacked as he sounded.
"Obviously it didn't work quite in that way, as someone had stolen it first.
But they'd left a fake Horcrux behind, with a note. I stole the fake and
then happily gave it to Dumbledore to prove my loyalty, after 'trimming'
the clue inside it so only I could figure it out."
"That locket. The Black locket that you showed me." Rabastan said with a
sudden realisation.
Harry nodded. "Regulus Black switched his allegiances. He found out
about the Horcruxes because Voldemort used Kreacher, the Black elf, to
test the protections on the locket Horcrux. Regulus then ordered Kreacher
to take him to the place it was kept and he switched out the Horcrux
with his own childhood locket."
"How did you figure that out? Regulus died decades ago when he was
only eighteen." Rodolphus said.
"You asked me about Regulus, about his name. You asked me if he had a
middle name."
"It was you who led me to the real Horcrux, my love." Harry said with a
grin. "The clue inside the fake Horcrux was signed R. A. B. When you
recognised the locket as belonging to Regulus…well, Regulus Black, that's
two of the letters of the signature, so I asked you if he had a middle
name, and you told me that it was Arcturus. R. A. B. It all fit. So I went to
Hogwarts right after, having cut the signature from the clue, and I gave
the fake Horcrux with the altered clue to Dumbledore in a show of
loyalty, called Kreacher to me once in private and low and behold, he
had the real Horcrux in Grimmauld Place all along, after all that time. So
I got the Horcrux, gave him an old, ugly Black ring to secure his loyalty
in a more natural way instead of just master and house-elf, and then I
gave that Horcrux to Voldemort just now, after securing protection for
my family, of course."
"You bribed the Dark Lord with his own Horcrux, Harry." Xerxes said
weakly.
"Yep, and it worked wonderfully well, as I said. So, I suppose what I'm
trying to say is that Dumbledore will never find all of the Horcruxes.
Never. So there's no need for any of you to worry about me. He literally
came out and said that I could be 'left for last', that the other Horcruxes
would come first."
"He said that to you?" Rabastan demanded furiously.
"He told you that you could be killed last?" Rodolphus said in horror.
Harry nodded. "I suppose that hearing that, that's what made me blow
my calm. I was so angry, and I guess I was a little hurt too. He knew…he
knew before I was adopted, back when I actually trusted him still, back
when I thought the sun shined out of his arse and he hung the moon and
stars, and even back then, he was planning on having me killed."
Harry's voice hitched without his permission and Rabastan turned to hold
him. Harry rested on him and gripped a fistful of his robes.
"It just seems like the ultimate betrayal. That I trusted him so much and
he was planning to kill me. When he pretended to be so nice to me,
acting like he actually cared about me, when all along he was looking at
me and seeing just an obstacle. It was no wonder that he never cared
what my home life was like, or that I undertook all of those dangerous
little adventures I went on. My life was worthless to him, it didn't matter
if I was injured, ill or unhappy, or even abused at home, despite that I'd
told him about it because he knew that in the end, I had to die anyway."
"I love you." Rabastan told him. "I care for you, about you, I would do
anything to keep you safe and happy. You are with people who care for
you now. You don't have to rely on him anymore."
Harry nodded and he held onto Rabastan tighter. "I just never thought
him capable of such callousness."
"He's false, Harry." Lucius said. "He puts on a front of care and
compassion, but he was willing to sacrifice you in a single moment, just
to achieve his own goals."
"It was no wonder he never told me about my lordships or my seats on
the Wizengamot. He was expecting that I'd be dead before I was old
enough to claim them. So in his mind, there was no point in even telling
me in the first place, so he could just run along and be my proxy and
then once I was dead, just take over for good, claiming my lordships for
himself, as I was the last claimant for the Potter line, and one of the last
for the Black line. Things could have been much different if I hadn't
listened to one grumpy old man in a fucking coffee shop."
"Thinking like that won't help, Harry. You did listen to that man, you did
go to claim your lordships and I adopted you as my son." Lucius pointed
out. "Yes, things could have been very different if none of that had
happened, but it did happen, so push it from your mind."
Harry nodded. He understood. Thoughts like that could drive a person
mad. He snuggled back into Rabastan and tried not to think, he tried not
to linger on what might have been, what could have been. He decided to
focus on the here and now, and the fact that his plan had worked
perfectly. He had managed to bribe Voldemort to protect his family. It
had cost him the sword of Gryffindor and Slytherin's locket, but he
considered them gifts well spent as it meant he could safeguard his
family, and that was the most important thing in the world to him. His
family.
A/N: We are almost at the end of our month of Black Heir updates, I
might be able to get another chapter out, maybe two at a push, then I
will be flitting off elsewhere, to other fics for a while, though I will be
coming back to this fic throughout the year, as often as I can.
Thank you to Akita Kira for being the 3,100th reviewer for this fic!
Lyra (Guest): No, Xerxes was thinking of just Rabastan when he thought
of that. He himself would never turn against his Lord, and one of his
oldest friends, no matter what happened, despite how much he likes
Harry and enjoys his company, nothing comes before Voldemort to him.
unknown (Guest): Draco obviously knows about Harry's Parseltongue
abilities, as he was there in the duelling club when Harry used it in front
of the school (when everyone thought he was setting the snake onto
Justin Finch-Fletchley) so Draco knows, so there's no reason to think that
Narcissa and Lucius don't know also, because Draco would definitely
have told them about that. But so far only Draco has heard Harry do it in
person.
StarLight Massacre. X
25. Birthday
Last Time
Harry nodded. He understood. Thoughts like that could drive a person mad.
He snuggled back into Rabastan and tried not to think, he tried not to linger
on what might have been, what could have been. He decided to focus on the
here and now, and the fact that his plan had worked perfectly. He had
managed to bribe Voldemort to protect his family. It had cost him the sword of
Gryffindor and Slytherin's locket, but he considered them gifts well spent as it
meant he could safeguard his family, and that was the most important thing in
the world to him. His family.
Chapter Twenty-Five – Birthday
Harry's birthday came closer and closer, but he barely noticed as he was
kept so busy between writing his own laws, having general Wizengamot
meetings that were more like meet and greets to catch up on how
everyone and their families were, having lessons for his Apparation
license, then there was the actual wedding planning too. He was kept so
busy that he barely noticed August creeping ever closer. At least he was
no longer holding onto the sword or the locket Horcrux and he could let
go of those schemes now, as he had already seen them to fruition. It felt
good to successfully see something that he'd planned come to a well-
deserved end.
As for the wedding planning, well, he was barely any closer to getting the
wedding of his dreams than he'd been at the beginning of summer. At the
rate he and Rabastan were going they wouldn't be ready for a wedding in
ten years, let alone next year.
The entire planning was just frustrating, if he liked something, then no
one else did as, for all Rabastan's agreements, Harry could see the
hesitancy in his blue eyes. Rabastan didn't like the same things that he
did, but he was agreeing to it just to make him happy, which did make
him happy, but it also frustrated the hell out of him. If he'd wanted a
wedding completely his own way then he wouldn't have insisted that
Rabastan be involved in the planning in the first place. He didn't want to
be happy…well, no that had come out wrong, he didn't want to be
placated and pacified, he wanted Rabastan to look forward to this
wedding, to being a part of it for more than just the end result. He
wanted this wedding to incorporate the both of them, but in the rare
event that they did truly agree on something, it was Narcissa who didn't
like it and she called a veto and told them to find something more
suitable.
"You look like someone told you that you have to go back to those
muggles." Rodolphus told him at dinner that day.
"Dolphus!" Rabastan chastised harshly.
"No, I'm serious." Rodolphus said, jabbing his clean fork at Harry. "Look
at him."
"I'm fine." Harry insisted. "I'm just…well, I'm just glad that I'm only ever
getting married once."
"What if you and Rabastan don't work out?" Draco asked.
"Why wouldn't we?" Harry demanded.
"What if he dies?"
"Don't say that!" Harry said, a shrill note of horror to his voice.
"No, I mean it, will you only ever marry once if he dies?"
"I suppose that depends on if they have children or not." Narcissa tried to
placate.
"No, it doesn't!" Harry said furiously. "If Rabastan…if he…I wouldn't
want to marry anyone else."
"Not at the moment."
"Shut up, Draco!" Harry said, getting upset.
"Let us draw a line under this conversation." Lucius said sternly. "Let us
move on."
Harry took a breath and he let it go. It wasn't something he wanted to
think about, after all, no one ever got married with the thought of
divorce or getting married to someone else already in their heads. Or at
least they shouldn't.
He was already feeling stressed because of what he'd learnt the other
week. He was still a Horcrux, and he was always going to be a Horcrux…
unless he was killed in such a way that he couldn't be brought back, of
course.
He'd done little else other than think of it since that day, the fifteenth of
July, when Dumbledore had dragged him to his own home, which he'd
also found was filled with squatters for the summer, and had told him
that he was a Horcrux and that he'd known for definite for over a year.
Harry's hand clenched hard under the table.
The betrayal of it was too much for him to process. He didn't know what
Dumbledore had been hoping for, if maybe he'd been expecting Harry to
do absolutely anything, even lay down his own life, just to rid the world
of Voldemort. He considered that if perhaps none of this would have
happened, if he'd still been as blindly loyal to such a callous, false man as
he'd been before his adoption and enlightenment, if he might not have
done anything that Dumbledore had asked of him, even offering himself
up to die because he was a Horcrux. Would he have ended up sacrificing
himself in his teens if he hadn't been adopted and realised that he did
have some self-worth after all?
That's truly what it came down to. He'd been abused throughout his life,
and he'd had little confidence and even less self-worth. Harry frowned as
he thought that. Had that actually been what Dumbledore had been
counting on? Was there more to Dumbledore leaving him at the Dursleys,
more than just not caring because he was supposed to die in a sacrifice?
If he ever, EVER, found out that he had been left in an abusive home to
make it easier to force him to sacrifice his life in the end then he would
do more than just ignore the man…he'd kill him.
"As you're all being very quiet…" Lucius spoke up, breaking the tension
that Harry hadn't even realised had descended on the table. "Draco, how
is your betrothal going? Are you still meeting the terms?"
"Yes, Father." Draco answered. "I was hoping to perhaps invite Astoria
over for lunch one day?"
"Of course, your betrothed has an open invitation in our home, Draco."
Narcissa insisted.
"Speaking of betrothals, I heard a rumour from Marcus that Cassius
Warrington is thinking of breaking his betrothal with Flora Carrow."
Harry said, trying to distract his mind from his torturous thoughts about
being a mere sacrifice by immersing himself in the conversation.
"What? Why?" Draco demanded, much more interested in this topic of
conversation than his own betrothal, which was going wonderfully well.
Draco was a real gossip when it came to his peers. "She broke her own
betrothal to be with him, she well and truly burnt that bridge, she can't
go back, she has no other options. I thought they'd be fine together, what
went wrong?"
"Well, Marcus is still friends with Warrington, they meet up every now
and then for a catch-up, and apparently, when he goes to see her to fulfil
the terms of the betrothal contact all the conversation is one-sided, and
all Flora does is stare at him or fawn over him. He liked it at first, it
stoked his ego, but now he's starting to get annoyed with it. He wants a
wife, not someone who, as Marcus put it 'follows him around like a dog
on a leash'. So yes, I think they're going to be breaking up soon if it
carries on."
"I wonder who Cassius will pick next." Draco said consideringly. "He'd
never go back to Pansy, so unless he has his eye on a foreign witch,
sticking with Flora is his only option."
"You never know, maybe he is looking at a foreign witch." Harry said.
"Do you know who it is?" Draco asked eagerly.
Harry shook his head. "You know that gossip isn't my cup of tea, so I
never asked. Though if Marcus knew, he never said a name. He never
even said if Cassius had his eye on anyone else, he just said that he's
thinking of breaking his betrothal."
"You're terrible at getting details." Draco complained.
Harry laughed. "At least with things I have no interest in. Why would I
care what that sloth, Warrington was doing?"
"Sloth?" Rabastan asked in bemusement.
Harry nodded. "Big, ugly, arms that were so long his hands were almost
touching the floor. He looked like a sloth."
Rabastan started laughing and Harry rolled his eyes, but Rabastan's
laughter made him smile. He liked making Rabastan laugh.
"You are highly critical of others' appearances, especially for someone
who never even combs his hair." Rodolphus pointed out.
Harry cocked his head in thought. "I don't think so. I just compare people
to animals that they resemble. You can't tell me that Warrington doesn't
look like a sloth when he's that big and slow."
"What animal do you resemble then?" Rodolphus asked him.
Harry shrugged. "I couldn't say. I've never looked at myself objectively,
it's always been critically, focusing usually on one spot at a time, so I
never really look at myself as a whole."
No one said anything and Harry went back to his after-dinner tea. After a
few more minutes Draco excused himself from the table, he was going to
do homework in the drawing room, and Harry decided to join him. He
had no summer homework himself, thanks to his illness during the last
school year, but that didn't mean that he was slacking. He was doing odd
bits, practising and doing some worksheets for Marcus, who was still
giving him tutoring in Ancient Runes. He'd started on graduate-level
work and saying that it was difficult was a serious understatement.
Unlike his previous tutoring sessions, with the graduate-level work, he
was getting more questions wrong than he was getting right, and it was
frustrating to no end. He knew the basics by now, he could even do easy
equations and translations, but if the runes were put into any sort of
complex sequence, that was it, he got lost in the middle, as sometimes
certain runes cancelled out others and those needed to be taken into
account too, as well as any dangerous pair combinations, or even two or
more runes that couldn't go in the same sequence together, let alone
paired next to one another. In short, it was difficult, headache-inducing,
and left him feeling exhausted and evil-tempered.
Then there was the Arithmancy help that Rabastan was giving him,
which was just as difficult, but as it often left off with a cheeky snog and
some heavy petting, he didn't mind that so much.
"Do you want Transfiguration or Potions?" Draco asked him.
"Potions I think. If I don't start doing better then I'll either kill myself, or
someone else, or Snape will kill me." Harry complained, accepting the
sheet of questions handed to him. Draco had already finished this piece
of homework, so at least Harry would have help if he got stuck.
Harry sat up on the settee, Rabastan beside him, and he read through the
indicated chapter in his Potions book, which was long and tedious, and
then he finally moved on to the question sheet.
"Draco, what's NCD mean?" He asked in confusion.
Draco looked up at him and from the look on his face, Harry had said
something that was probably learnt in the first year of Potions.
"Neutral cutting distance." Rodolphus answered. "It is a default term used
in Potions. Ingredients that are labelled as NCDs are always cut at a half-
inch length. There is usually a number right after it, which indicates how
many half-inch pieces are needed."
"Ohh, I see." Harry said. "It's a good thing I'm not brewing this potion
right now then, without an actual measurement I'd have thrown it in
whole, and with the number after it, I'd have thrown in that many whole
ingredients."
"Numbers for whole ingredients always come first, Harry, not after."
Draco told him.
"How did you get into the NEWT level class?" Rodolphus asked him.
"Father bullied Snape into letting me in. I've survived this far by always
being paired with Draco. Everything else was just sheer dumb luck."
"You're actually lucky to be alive, and it will be a miracle if you actually
pass your exam." Draco told him.
"The potion I had to brew was the right colour and consistency." Harry
defended.
"Without knowing such basic terms and abbreviations I have no idea
how." Rodolphus put in.
"You're being very catty today, Rodolphus. Put your claws away and go
and find someone who's willing to have sex with you and get rid of all
that poisonous tension. There must be someone willing to jump into bed
with you, I mean, you're not Rabastan, but you're sort of good-looking
enough that maybe a one-toothed, hunched hag would have you. You can
have a nice romantic meal of raw liver with a side of human heart, you'll
like that."
Harry could see Draco covering his grin with his book, and Xerxes behind
Rodolphus covering his mouth with his hand, but, used to his antics by
now, Rodolphus just shook his head and turned away from him, saying
nothing.
Harry chuckled and went back to lounging on Rabastan, who was playing
with his hair as Harry read through the question sheet. He had to admit
though, it made a hell of a lot more sense now that he understood what
NCD meant as he hadn't understood why one potion needed eight
Valerian roots. Now he knew that it needed eight, half-inch long pieces, it
made a lot more sense to him.
He rubbed his head back against Rabastan's lap and sighed. He smiled
when the hand that had stopped for a moment went back to scratching at
his scalp. He could almost feel the smile being sent to him, but he kept
his eyes on the sheet in front of him. He really loved it when Rabastan
played with his hair.
It took him an hour to finish the set of twenty questions and he rolled
over onto his side, his head still in Rabastan's lap, and he flicked the
parchment at Draco.
"Have you finished all of them?" Draco asked him, sitting back from his
own homework to look at Harry's, flexing his fingers and relaxing as he
took a break.
"Yes. It was much easier once I understood what NCD was." Harry
chuckled, going over onto his back again and looking up at Rabastan.
Rabastan started playing with his hair and he brushed it back from
hanging in Harry's eyes. He bent over to kiss that scarred forehead. Harry
turned to look at him and he grinned up at him with those sparkling
eyes.
Harry sat bolt upright in the next moment and cursed, looking much
more lively.
"What? What is it?" Rabastan asked worriedly.
"Wizengamot." Harry said hastily, running from the room and going to
his bedroom to change himself. For anything to have been called this late
at night, it had to be an emergency or a criminal debate. Whatever it
was, Harry was no longer feeling pleasantly lethargic, instead, he was
wired and buzzing.
He stripped and changed, straightened the collar of his robe and then he
ran back down to the drawing room.
"There you are, let me look at you." Lucius said, giving him a once-over,
straightening Harry's tie. "Very presentable."
Harry quickly went over to Rabastan and he gave him a quick kiss.
"I'll see you in a while, love, but if it gets on too late, just go to bed."
Harry told him.
"I'm not a child, Harry." Rabastan frowned.
"I know that, but I don't want this impacting your recovery. So if it's
getting late, go to bed." Harry replied firmly.
"Harry, have your lover's tiff later." Lucius chided.
Harry nodded, but he kissed Rabastan again and then he touched his ring
and he found himself suddenly in the Atrium of the Ministry.
He started walking slowly forward, he didn't want to be seen loitering
about by himself. He only started walking more quickly when Xerxes and
Lucius flanked him from either side. They went straight to the
Wizengamot meeting room and they took three seats next to one another
at the 'D' shaped table. Harry was, as always, in between the two older
men.
"Lord Potter-Black." Lord Dawson greeted him happily, sitting on Lucius'
other side. "I hope that you are well?"
"I am, thank you." Harry replied. "Yourself?"
"I'm as tough as treated dragonhide, don't you fret about me." Lord
Dawson smiled at him.
Harry smiled back and he greeted several others who walked behind him
to reach seats of their own. He did take note that Bill had actually
managed to get here on time for this meeting, but he didn't let his gaze
linger. He didn't want anyone to think that he had any interest in Bill at
all and he didn't want to be accused of being bitter about him being
involved in the Wizengamot, despite the fact that Harry knew that Bill
was here under false pretences. There was no way that Bill had
renounced his family, nor disowned his parents or the blood traitor
Septimus Weasley as he insisted that he had. Harry knew, but he said
nothing. He didn't want anyone to think that he was bothered by it,
though as their families were at a stalemate feud, more so now since his
relationship with them had deteriorated, it was very difficult not to allow
it to bother him.
It took several minutes before Runcorn came striding in, slamming the
door shut behind him and locking it…if anyone was late this time then
they were not getting in the room. They would have to suffer the
indignity of missing out on this meeting and then they would need to be
debriefed so they could vote. It would be highly embarrassing, though
looking around the room it seemed that everyone was already there.
"We have an international situation." Runcorn said, speaking even before
he'd sat down, which only proved how serious that this was…and how
embarrassing it likely was for them as a country.
Harry thought back to the international laws that he'd read about, but he
was rather lacking in this area and he fretted about it. He couldn't
successfully debate something that he didn't know. He'd been focusing a
lot of his time and energy on the laws and regulations of this country and
that was difficult enough to memorise and get right.
"Don't panic." Lucius whispered to him. "We can't be expected to know
the laws of every country, we will be debriefed."
Harry exhaled silently and slumped a little in his seat in relief before he
settled himself and straightened his back, giving Runcorn his full
attention.
"Who has done what and in which country?" Lord Paimon Parkinson
asked primly.
"Some idiot decided to try and pick up a priceless artefact that was on
display from one of the newly excavated tombs in Egypt. The artefact
was cursed, so if he had picked it up then it probably would have killed
him, but he was stunned and then arrested by the Egyptian guards. He is
trying to press charges for the injuries he received when he was stunned
and he's claimed that he had been harshly treated since his arrest."
Harry resisted the urge to smile as it wouldn't be appropriate, but he did
find it amusing that this man was complaining about injuries caused by
someone, a guard, who had likely saved his life by stunning him. It was
rather ironic.
"I see you." Xerxes muttered, sending him a small smile.
Harry coughed gently to hide a laugh and Lucius gave him a stern look, a
warning for him to improve his decorum and Harry took in a deep breath
and regained control of himself.
"What are the charges against him?" A woman asked.
"Attempted theft, naturally." Runcorn said as he perused the parchment
report. "There is talk of charging him for attempted suicide too, as he was
trying to touch a known cursed object, though no one knows what the
curse does yet, so no one knows if it causes death or injury or insanity."
"This item was on display to the public?" Lord Nott demanded.
"It was guarded and cordoned off in a ten-foot area by itself. The man
rushed the barrier and the guards reacted immediately to stun him before
he touched the artefact."
"What was the artefact?" Harry asked then. "Why was it out in the open
and not in a display case, for example, if it was known to be cursed and
that the curse has unknown effects?"
"It is a very small artefact, but it emits a noise at a frequency that shatters
everything placed around it."
"If the artefact has unknown effects, could it have entranced this man or
forced him to attempt to pick it up?" Harry asked carefully. "If it emits a
frequency wave high enough to shatter anything that is used to encase it
then it seems to me that it was intended to be kept out in the open. If it
does have a compulsion charm on it, to attract someone to touch it so
that they'll be cursed or even killed, perhaps as a protective measure for
other, more valuable, treasures in the tomb, then this could be a case of
diminished responsibility."
"Lord Potter-Black raises a genuine concern." Lord Dawson Shacklebolt
said. "Is there any way to have this artefact tested for such things?"
"We can request as such if you all believe it to be necessary." Runcorn
insisted.
"Is the artefact still on display?" Harry asked worriedly.
"It has been taken from the public display." Runcorn said, after looking
through his pile of parchments to find the required information. "It is
currently residing in a back room."
"Lord Weasley." Harry called out, the words tasting like ash in his mouth,
but he kept things civil. "I am aware that you were a curse breaker for
Gringotts in Egypt, what is your take on the possible curses this object
might hold? Is it at all possible that this artefact could have compelled
this man to try and pick it up?"
Bill couldn't quite conceal the glare that he gave to Harry, but Harry
ignored it and instead looked at him patiently, waiting for Bill to answer
now that Harry had put him on the spot.
"The Egyptians were very jealous with the treasures in their tombs." Bill
said. "They would have used any spell or curse at their disposal. I have
come across numerous curses, including flesh-eating, eyeball-melting and
one which deafened everyone around it permanently. It isn't outside of
the norm if this artefact has, in fact, tried to force someone to pick it up
to protect other treasures."
"Then it needs to be tested, carefully." Harry said. "We need to know
what it does in order to properly charge the man accused. Though, I
think it safe to say that his counterclaim against the guards should be
thrown out, as they have, in effect, saved his life."
"I will ask those in charge of the artefact to work with cursebreakers to
test this object." Runcorn nodded and made a notation on a piece of
parchment in front of him. "We will adjourn until it has been thoroughly
tested."
"Will this man be remaining in Egyptian custody?" Someone asked.
"We have already petitioned to bring him over into British custody."
Runcorn said without looking up. "If found guilty of his crimes, however,
he will be imprisoned in Egypt, as per our laws that relinquish all rights
of our citizens if they commit crimes in other countries."
Runcorn sat back, took out a stick of white wax and started melting it
over the parchment. He selected one of a dozen brass stamps and
carefully eased it into the wax.
"I will keep you all informed of how this case progresses, but it might be
several weeks before we see the conclusion of this, depending on how
easy the testing of the artefact goes. Goodnight lords and ladies.
Gentlemen and madams."
Just like that, as quickly as they had arrived, they were dismissed and
Harry stood leisurely and took some time to catch up with Lord Dawson
Shacklebolt, then Lord Mark Flint, Marcus' father.
After several minutes of catching up with the family life of those around
him, Harry said his goodbyes and he walked off with Xerxes and Lucius,
going back to the atrium to floo home.
"It's going to take me ages to get all sleepy again." Harry told the two
men with a grin.
"An hour or so of relaxation, perhaps some hot chocolate instead of tea
and you'll be snoring your head off." Xerxes told him, laying a hand on
his lower back.
Harry chuckled. "Oh, I hope so. That sounds blissful."
The three of them flooed home, Harry going first, and then they made
their way back to the drawing room. They had been gone barely an hour,
Draco was still doing his homework even. Harry kicked off both shoes,
while simultaneously removing his tie, and he climbed onto the settee
and snuggled into Rabastan happily.
"You were incredibly quick, is everything alright?"
Harry nodded against Rabastan's chest.
"The case has been postponed until we have more information, so it truly
was just going in to be debriefed of the situation."
"What is it?" Draco asked interestedly, sitting back to give all three of
them his attention.
"An international situation, which was why it was called so late." Harry
explained, even as his hand drew happy patterns on Rabastan's chest.
"It happened in Egypt." Lucius elaborated. "A British wizard tried to touch
a cursed artefact from a newly excavated tomb."
"What an idiot." Draco scoffed.
"Our Harry rightly pointed out that perhaps the artefact had a
compulsion charm upon it, to entice certain people to touch it and thus
curse them." Xerxes said.
"I insisted that the artefact should be tested, just in case. Though
everyone agreed with me that his counterclaim for damages should be
thrown out, those guards likely saved his life. I won't have them punished
for it."
"Would you like some tea, darling?" Narcissa asked him.
"No thank you, Mother. Some hot chocolate might be better, as this
excitement has ruined my previous sleepy attitude. Anything with
caffeine now and I'm likely to be awake all night."
Narcissa nodded and called out for Pimsey. She ordered drinks for
everyone and Harry turned back to Rabastan, his head still resting on his
fiancé's chest.
"Are you alright? You're rather quiet." Rabastan whispered.
Harry hummed gently. "I'm fine. I'm just trying to reclaim my sleepiness.
That sudden meeting ruined it." Harry said. "A hot chocolate might help."
Rabastan kissed him and then put a hand on Harry's head and shoved
him down into his lap. Harry made a startled noise and flailed his one
arm a little.
Rabastan chuckled, but once Harry had settled in his new position, his
head in Rabastan's lap, Rabastan started running his fingers through
Harry's hair, scratching at his scalp, making Harry moan softly in
pleasure. He settled more comfortably on Rabastan's leg and closed his
eyes, enjoying the feeling of those fingers in his hair. He could barely
bring himself to sit up a little, to drink his hot chocolate when it came,
but several large gulps and it was gone and he could happily lay back on
Rabastan and then those fingers were back in his hair, rubbing and
scratching and gently pulling.
Harry didn't remember falling asleep. He woke with a groan, but he was
shushed by Rabastan's voice, swaying gently as he was carried. He was
placed in his bed and the duvet was pulled up over him. He twisted and
rolled and opened his eyes just a fraction.
"Shh, Harry. It's alright, I've just put you to bed, it's late."
"Stay." Harry croaked out.
Rabastan chuckled. "I would love nothing more, but I think your mother
would string me up by my bollocks after the last time. It's alright, just go
to sleep."
Harry, very tired, sleepy and a little confused as to whether this was real
or a dream, just nodded and snuggled into his pillow. It helped when
strong fingers started scratching at his scalp. He was sleeping again
within minutes and he didn't remember the next morning that he'd even
woken up in the first place.
Harry woke up early on the thirty-first of July. He was seventeen today, a
legal adult. He kicked off his duvet with a grin and stood up. He went
into his bathroom and he started running the bath before doing his
business. He shut off the tap and stripped, climbing into the bath and he
set to washing himself methodically.
He was excited for today because it was the first birthday he would be
having with his new family. With Rabastan. His sixteenth birthday didn't
really count, as it hadn't been celebrated as such. Everything around him
had been new, he hadn't been settled, he hadn't even known the manor
layout at that time, he hadn't really known the Malfoys for all that long
either, and he and Draco had still been sniping and biting at one another.
He'd only been adopted a mere two weeks beforehand, on the thirteenth
of July, and he had been in no mood to celebrate anything. His friends
had all been much too worried about his adoption and new living
arrangements to wish him a happy birthday and Xerxes hadn't accepted
the betrothal contract until the first of August so Harry had yet to even
meet Rabastan at that time. So his sixteenth birthday had been a bit of a
write-off, though it was still better than any birthday he'd spent at the
Dursleys. But this year was so much different, everything had changed in
just a single year. He had a family now, a real family, and he had a fiancé
now too, and he was going to get to celebrate his coming of age properly,
though he didn't much care for the party he had been told was being
thrown for him later that afternoon, though he would be happy to see
Theo, Blaise, and Astoria again.
"Where are you?" Draco's voice whined from his bedroom.
"I'm having a bath, Draco." Harry called out. "Stop being so impatient."
"You're seventeen today! And we can actually have a party, do you know
how rare that is?" Draco demanded.
Harry sighed, but he had to smile. "I know, my birthday actually falls in
the summer holidays. Are you going to hijack my own party?" He
laughed.
"No. Today is still going to be all about you, but having a party during
the summer will be good for us."
"For you more like, you big gossip." Harry chuckled.
"I like keeping up to date with what's going on around me, unlike you.
You just like living in your little selective bubble."
"It's very cosy." Harry quipped immediately. He could almost see Draco
rolling his eyes.
"Are you not done yet?" Draco complained again.
"You take three hours in the bath and two in the shower, don't you even
dare try to rush me." Harry said as he rinsed himself off.
"I'm excited." Draco insisted.
"You'd think it was your birthday." Harry laughed.
"I still get to celebrate with you and share your party, so hurry up."
Harry chuckled, but he climbed out of the bath and dried himself off with
a warmed towel. He dressed casually for the moment, his party wasn't
until later, though a smart robe would suffice for that, he wouldn't need
dress robes.
Draco slung an arm around him the moment he appeared and used it to
steer Harry out into his living room and then out into the corridor.
"Excuse me, I might not be finished yet." Harry teased.
"You never take any care of yourself." Draco replied. "I'll sort your hair
for you after breakfast, once it's dried a little. That's all you have left to
do, and you wouldn't do that if it wasn't for me."
"But you enjoy playing with my hair so much, Draco, why deny you the
pleasure of it?"
"Of what?" Rodolphus asked from behind them, striding forwards with his
longer legs and catching the end of their conversation.
"Sorting out my hair, of course." Harry grinned. "Morning, Rodolphus."
Rodolphus grunted. "Happy birthday. You've finally come of age."
Harry bobbed his head in agreement. "A legal adult."
"Merlin save us." Draco added.
"Especially with us both now being legal adults." Harry laughed.
"When are you going in for your Apparation licence?" Rodolphus asked.
"Next week." Harry said. "I hope I do well."
"You'll do fine, I'm sure."
"Is Rabastan up?" Harry asked as they made it down the stairs.
"He's been up, making sure everything is perfect for you, for at least two
hours now." Rodolphus rolled his eyes to show just what he thought of
such behaviour.
Harry sped up a little and Draco snorted, but let his arm slip from his
shoulders and let him go.
Harry hurried into the dining room, spotted Rabastan and he grinned
happily, hurrying his steps again to reach his fiancé.
"Rabastan!" He called out happily.
Rabastan turned and smiled. "Harry. Happy birthday." He greeted,
wrapping his arms around Harry and bending to kiss him.
Harry turned their kiss of greeting into something more and he broke
away from it breathless and grinning.
"Dolphus says that you've been up for hours, what have you been doing?"
"Rodolphus should learn to shut his mouth." Rabastan said with a sharp
look to his older brother. "I've just been making sure that everything is
prepared for us."
"Prepared?" Harry questioned.
"You've turned seventeen, Harry. Did you truly think that I wasn't going
to take the time to wine and dine you?"
"Without the wine, of course." Lucius cut in smoothly. "He is of age now,
but he is still in school."
"We're going out to dinner?" Harry asked with an excited grin.
"Of course." Rabastan told him.
"Did you manage to get reservations?" Harry asked.
Rabastan chuckled and pulled him back into a tighter hug. "The good
thing about having friends in high places is using that friendship to avoid
such nonsense. We will be in a private room once more, is that alright?"
Harry smiled happily. "As long as I'm with you I don't care if it's on the
moon."
Harry heard someone making gagging noises behind him and he rolled
his eyes. It could only be Draco or Rodolphus…though his money was on
Draco.
Harry had to have his breakfast first before he was allowed any cards or
gifts. He didn't mind, he had gone so long without getting anything from
anyone that it was still a bit of a novelty to have presents for his
birthday. In the end, he'd always told his friends to send him food, even
if it was just sweets and cake.
So, he took his time, he ate slowly and with the manners that Narcissa
had taught him, which pleased his mother greatly as she nodded
approvingly.
"Hurry up." Draco demanded, just sitting and watching him.
"Draco, do not rush him." Narcissa chastised him immediately.
"I'm only just getting into the parameters of being normal." Harry said.
"Normal weight, normal diet, normal appetite. It feels good to eat as
much as my body needs for once, without getting full too soon or being
denied what I need. I like taking my time with food."
"Take all the time you need." Rabastan assured him. "We like seeing you
eating too. I mean…we like seeing you healthy."
"I knew what you meant." Harry smiled, leaning over to peck a kiss on
Rabastan's lips.
He did eat a little faster though and he finished up a few minutes later.
He drained the last of the tea in his cup and stretched, sending a smile to
Draco.
"Okay, I'm ready now for the next part of today, what have you got
planned, Draco? Seeing as you are the one fussing the most." He giggled.
"I want you to open my gift first." Draco insisted.
"Come on then." Harry smiled, standing. He automatically turned to
Rabastan, holding out his hands and pulling his fiancé to his feet.
Rabastan chuckled, and wrapped a strong arm around Harry's waist,
walking beside him to the drawing room, where Lucius had set up all of
Harry's birthday things.
Rabastan was right there, he saw Harry's reaction with his own eyes, and
he swore that he would take the time to spoil Harry more, as he watched
those eyes widen and Harry gasped softly in shock as he looked at all of
his presents. He looked poleaxed, and Rabastan felt his heart twinge
painfully. He had never loved anyone as much as Harry, and seeing him
so visibly shocked just from receiving a dozen gifts was… it was
heartbreaking.
"Here's mine." Draco said, sitting down and holding out a wrapped gift,
having not noticed Harry's shocked reaction.
"Aw, you even wrapped it in red for me. Thank you." Harry chuckled, as
he took the gift and sat beside his brother. Rabastan quickly sat beside
him, wrapping his arm back around him. "I'm almost afraid to open it."
Harry said. "You're too excited for my reaction."
"I'd never hurt you through gifts." Draco said firmly.
Harry shoved at Draco and once everyone was settled around him, he
started opening the gift from his brother.
"Oh, you dick." Harry laughed.
"Harry!" Narcissa chastised sternly.
Harry made a show of looking apologetic, but as he pulled out a mass of
Slytherin apparel, smirking at Draco all the while, Rabastan was sure that
he didn't feel the slightest bit apologetic as he stood and held a Slytherin
jumper up and against his body, checking the fit. It would be snug, but
there was room for growing too. By the winter, Harry might be filling the
jumper rather well.
"You're already an honorary Slytherin." Draco told him. "Now, when we
go around together it won't look so odd having you wearing your
Gryffindor scarves and jumpers."
"You do know I'm still going to wear my Gryffindor colours, don't you?"
Harry grinned.
Draco nodded. "But with a selection to choose from now, you can
alternate a little better."
"Thank you. I do like jumpers." Harry grinned.
"This one is from me." Xerxes said, handing over a neatly wrapped gift.
It was really the first time Rabastan had seen Harry falter, and looking at
him he seemed discomforted, shy almost, as he said thank you and all but
curled up to try and hide himself. He was worse than he'd been at
Christmas because others had been opening gifts then too. Now, on his
own, with all the focus on him, he'd turned back into the insecure little
boy he'd once been. Rabastan reached out, wrapping his arm around his
shoulders and pulled him into himself so that he could lay a kiss on his
temple.
Harry gave him a smile, even as he continued opening Xerxes' gift. He
lifted the lid of the box off and he gasped. He ran his finger down the
spines of the books inside, before sending a grin to Xerxes.
"Did you think that I don't have enough to read already?" He giggled.
"Thank you, these are wonderful. They're going to be so helpful and
informative. Especially this one." He said, plucking one book out and
sliding it from between the others, holding it out to show that it was a
book on how to write laws.
"I knew you'd like that one the most." Xerxes said. "When I saw it, I just
had to get it for you."
Harry was already thumbing through it, looking at the contents under the
index page. Rabastan smiled to see him. All shyness seemed to be lost as
he looked through the book.
"Look at that later, here, this is from us." Narcissa told him.
Harry closed the book and put it to the side of himself. He was shy once
more as he reached out for the small wrapped box. Rabastan knew what
it was. It was what every wizard got upon his seventeenth birthday, his
own pocket watch. It was a traditional gift that marked his coming of
age, but Harry didn't have any clue about this tradition, or at least
Rabastan was rather certain that Harry didn't know, as he looked curious
and when he pulled out the very elaborate, expensive pocket watch, he
seemed to be very surprised as if he hadn't actually expected it.
"It's beautiful." He said reverently as he turned it around in his hands,
looking at the carefully carved designs upon the casing.
It was gold, with swirling intricate carvings that ended with traditional
English oak leaves. There were no flowers, for which Harry seemed
grateful. Then Rabastan knew how much Harry hated flowers. He wasn't
fond of them himself, but he would have to ask Harry why he felt so
venomous towards flowers, especially to the degree he exhibited. There
had to be a reason and Rabastan had a sinking feeling that it was to do
with those muggle monsters he'd been housed with as a child. The ones
that had abused him. All of Harry's quirks stemmed from those muggles.
Harry popped it open and he smiled automatically…a sad, almost pained
smile. Rabastan moved so that he could see the inner casing, where a
picture of Lily and James Potter had been inserted side by side with a
picture of Lucius and Narcissa. It was a very touching gesture, one that
Rabastan knew that Harry would love and appreciate. He was never
going to forget his biological parents, to think otherwise was foolish and
ridiculous, but he also had adopted parents now too, and this pocket
watch, that he would likely wear on his person at all times for the rest of
his life, showed both sets of parents equally.
The watch face was also nothing to sneer at, it was, of course, not a
simple affair. It was a timepiece of extraordinary elegance. The numbers
were all in Roman numerals, as was traditional, but the face was black
and all the numbers glowed gold, a hint at the Lestrange family colours.
Harry understood that himself, as his hand rose to the Lestrange pendant
he'd received at Christmas that he could only wear during the holidays,
holding it for a moment before letting it go.
"Thank you, it's beautiful." He repeated softly.
"You're a man now." Narcissa told him. "It's usually more traditional that
you get a family member's watch handed down…"
"I understood why Draco was the one to receive it." Harry said
immediately.
Narcissa and Lucius both shared exasperated looks while sighing in
tandem.
"There is more than one Malfoy pocket watch in this house, let alone the
vault, Harry." Lucius told him. "It is not for that reason that we
commissioned a brand new watch for you."
Harry remained silent, watching them, waiting for the explanation he
knew was coming.
"You're a brand new addition to our family." Narcissa told him proudly.
"A new member, and very much loved. We decided that to honour your
adoption that we would have a brand new watch made for you, instead
of giving you a Malfoy watch, and because we couldn't find a Potter
watch for you. This way, it is one all your own, a Potter, a Malfoy, and a
Lestrange watch made just for you, to honour all the families you have
been in, and will be in in the future."
Rabastan was close enough to see that Harry's eyes had gone liquid and
that he was just a hair's breadth away from tears. Harry swallowed
thickly and sniffed hard.
"Thank you." He said, his voice a little more gruff than usual, but no one
commented on it as Harry tucked the watch into his top pocket, in place
of the special pocket it would have in all of his robes.
"This one's from me." Rodolphus cut in, looking very uncomfortable with
all the emotion in the room, and wanting to move Harry on before he did
actually start crying. If it was one thing Rodolphus would not be able to
handle it would be Harry crying in front of him. He usually dealt with
such displays of emotion from those he cared about with anger, but this
time he wouldn't have anyone to focus that anger on, so he was moving
Harry on and away from the emotional gifts.
"Aw, have you actually gotten me something, Dolphus?" Harry asked,
rubbing his face and reaching out to accept the gift. "It's not a human
organ, is it? I'm pretty sure only you would enjoy that."
"That's why I gift them to others. I enjoy it, why shouldn't everyone else?"
Harry gasped. "You made a joke, Rodolphus! I never thought I'd see the
day."
Rabastan snorted, but he smiled too. He liked seeing Rodolphus and
Harry get on well with one another.
"Who is to say that I was joking?" Rodolphus said back, and his face was
completely stoic and deadpan. If Rabastan didn't know his brother so
well, he would have missed the twinkle of mischief in those dark eyes
and would have perhaps thought that he was serious.
"If this is any sort of organ, you can have it back." Harry said, playing his
bluff. "I'll get the house-elves to cook it for dinner for you."
"When do you have to cook a meal for us?" Rodolphus asked.
"What?" Harry frowned.
"It's tradition that you cook your in-laws a meal."
"Why? It's not like anyone in the pureblooded society actually cooks
anything, you all use house-elves." Harry pointed out.
"It is still traditional that pureblooded ladies know how to cook."
"It's gone past that phase of the relationship." Draco pointed out. "It
should have been in the betrothal stage. I thought, considering that
Harry's a man, that that tradition wasn't going to be upheld."
"It only wasn't because Harry was in school. Then Rabastan proposed
rather quickly. But all traditions will be seen to."
Harry narrowed his eyes at Rodolphus, and Rabastan wanted to curse his
older brother, he even started fingering his wand to do just that.
"We will not ask him to cook on his own birthday, today is for him."
Narcissa cut in, knowing Harry as well as she did by now, she could see
the imminent explosion and she was trying to head it off before it
happened.
"Why wasn't I informed of this?" Harry asked, his tone polite and calm,
but his stormy eyes showed the true emotions behind them, the rage that
was just waiting to pour out.
"We didn't want to put too much on you all at once." Lucius said quickly.
"We wanted to wait and ease you into pureblooded culture as much as we
could. Xerxes and I agreed that as long as all traditions were meted out
before the actual wedding, then we wouldn't fuss over the timing, given
that you have been betrothed for less than a year when most betrothals
last for a decade or more, as Draco's has."
Harry took in a huge, deep breath in an effort to calm himself, and
Rabastan reached out to him, to aide him. He felt much better, and less
tense when Harry gave him a loving smile.
"Shall we tick it off the list then?" He asked. "I'll do it this summer, before
the holiday if possible."
"Perhaps after it would be better." Rabastan suggested.
"If you think so, love." Harry nodded to him.
"I just don't want to expose you to Rhadamanthus just before we go on
holiday. Truthfully, I'd rather not expose you to him at all, but…"
"He has to be there…for tradition." Harry scoffed before he blinked and
then frowned consideringly. "He doesn't happen to have a potentially
fatal allergy to shellfish or peanuts or something?"
Rodolphus snorted and Rabastan felt his lips curve upwards.
"No, my love, I'm sorry."
Harry snorted. "Probably too much to ask that he had. Maybe I could
poison him with too much salt…or cyanide."
"You will end up in Azkaban for murder." Lucius reminded forcibly.
"I was joking." Harry insisted. "I'm not quite that stupid."
"Enough of this talk now, open your remaining gifts." Narcissa
encouraged him.
Harry looked at his hands, at Rodolphus' gift, and he almost looked
shocked to see it there, as if he had forgotten about it.
He unwrapped the gift, and rather wary, Rabastan watched as Harry
opened the box to reveal a human heart.
"Dolphus!" He chastised, ready to leap up and curse his brother after all
as Draco, who had been watching also, quickly recoiled in horror.
Harry, however, laughed. "Oh, you think you're so funny."
Harry lifted out the heart with his bare hands and he actually took a bite,
and then Rabastan saw the card tucked into the corner of the box…
Honeydukes. It was made of chocolate. He sat back in relief and shook
his head. Of course, only his idiot brother would have commissioned a
chocolate heart for Harry's gift.
"The way you talk of organs and human hearts so often, I thought that
you must be hinting at me to get you one." Rodolphus smirked.
"Thank you, I see why you enjoy them so much, it's delicious."
"I swear I'm the only sane one here." Draco said, still looking a pale grey
colour as he watched his brother eating the very realistic, faux heart.
"Being sane is overrated." Harry teased, taking another bite from the
chocolate heart. He made a surprised sound and came away with
something all around his lips and mouth. He looked at the part he'd just
bitten and then laughed, loudly and happily.
"Harry, dear, please wipe your mouth…and not with your sleeves this
time." Narcissa told him exasperatedly.
Harry who was still laughing, and had automatically lifted his arm to use
his sleeve, made no other attempt to clean himself, so Rabastan reached
into his robe pocket and took out his own handkerchief and tenderly
wiped Harry's mouth for him.
"You had it filled with chocolate mousse." Harry accused Rodolphus with
a grin.
"I knew you'd like it." Rodolphus nodded, smirking very smugly that his
gift was so well received.
"Thank you, love." Harry said to him, leaning over to kiss him once he
made sure that all chocolate smears were cleaned from Harry's face. He
tasted of the chocolate now too. "And thank you, Rodolphus, for a very
delicious gift."
"Open your other gifts, I want to see what you got." Draco prodded.
"Please tell me that one isn't from who I think it is." Harry sighed as he
placed the chocolate back into its box, reaching out for the haphazardly
wrapped one, of course the tag read that it was from Rhadamanthus.
"It's traditional, he has to get you a gift." Xerxes said though he looked
faintly worried about what it might contain. Rhadamanthus' mood had
been more erratic lately, ever since Rabastan had finally stood up for
himself and fought back, and he and Rodolphus had verbally disowned
him as a father.
"I wonder if he's gotten me more women's lingerie. He's gotten me quite
the collection now."
Harry opened the box and frowned at the canvas board. He lifted it and
then turned it to face himself and he actually laughed.
"What is it?" Rabastan asked, rather worried and anxious to see what it
was.
"I think it's a visual representation of all his fantasies about me."
"What do you mean?" Narcissa asked furiously.
"I wonder if this could be taken as a direct threat." Harry said
consideringly, flipping the canvas to show them that it was a painting of
Harry. Harry who was strung up to a tree by his own intestines that had
been ripped out of a gaping hole in his belly, a large pool of blood
underneath him, covered in various injuries, including a broken arm, a
twisted leg and he was missing half of his head.
"Should I be offended that he's pictured me naked, or was it supposed to
be more humiliating?" Harry frowned again, popping his head over the
top and looking back at it. "Maybe it just shows the injuries better to
have painted me naked, though I am very offended that he hasn't given
me pubic hair, though I understand that he's done that to compare me to
a child."
Rabastan snatched the painting from him and threw it across the room,
he stood in the next instant, his wand out, and he set fire to the canvas.
Only it didn't burn…Rhadamanthus had expected them to try to burn it,
and he had put a fire-proof spell over it.
"Hey! That's my gift, Rabastan. Don't damage it." Harry demanded,
standing up and going to collect it. "Besides, if he kills me I fully expect
you to show this to the court as evidence."
"He isn't going to touch you!" Rabastan hissed.
Harry rolled his eyes and kissed his fiancé. "Calm down, he wants a
reaction, that's why he spent so much time on this." He said, waving the
canvas.
"I don't want you to keep it." Rabastan growled out, his voice straining
with tension, which made Harry look up and truly take notice.
"Alright, if it upsets you so much I'll get rid of it."
"It is a picture of you dead, of course it upsets me!"
Harry nodded. "Kreacher." He called out, even as he placed the canvas
back in the box and put the lid on it.
"What can poor, old Kreacher do for his master?" Kreacher wheezed.
"Take this box for me, Kreacher. I never want to see it again, I never want
to find it anywhere. Get rid of it and no matter what anyone says, you
never bring it back to me or anyone else. Put it somewhere where no one
will find it, and leave it there. Do you understand?"
"Yes, master." Kreacher nodded, bowing deeply, the Black ring tied
around his neck swinging forward.
Harry handed him the box, and then Kreacher was gone with it and
Harry curled up next to Rabastan, his hand touching, soothing his fiancé.
"There, it's gone. Do you feel better?" Harry asked seriously.
Rabastan nodded, but he didn't really feel any better. He couldn't get that
picture from his head. He kept seeing Harry dead and he couldn't handle
the rage that brought out in him. He looked at Rodolphus and those dark
brown eyes were staring at him. They caught one another's gaze and
Rodolphus nodded, just once, more a dipping of the chin than anything,
but Rabastan understood its meaning as plainly as if Rodolphus had
spoken. They would speak of this later. Rhadamanthus would not get
away with the wordless threat to Harry's life, neither of them would let
him.
At five in the afternoon, Harry was groomed and dressed in a robe,
cufflinks from Rabastan gleaming at his wrists, his brand new pocket
watch was in its special pocket in his robes and he grinned as Blaise came
into view and he threw his arms around the other boy.
"How are you feeling? The last I heard you were at death's door." Blaise
said by way of greeting, squeezing him tight for a moment before pulling
back to get a better look at him.
"I'm perfectly fine." Harry smiled. "Thank you for coming."
"Of course. I wouldn't miss your birthday party. We don't have much of a
chance to celebrate anyone else's birthday as they always fall during term
time, this is a very special occasion and it needs to be celebrated
properly."
"That's what Draco said, but I have my suspicions that he just wants to
use it as an excuse to catch up on gossip."
"You know your brother." Blaise chuckled. "Where is he anyway?"
"He's here somewhere, entertaining Astoria. Let's see if we can't hunt him
down."
Draco wasn't that difficult to find, his platinum hair was like a homing
beacon, Astoria standing small and pretty beside him, looking wonderful
in a pastel pink dress.
"There you are, you're late!" Draco accused Blaise.
"I'm not late, I've been greeting Harry." Blaise insisted.
"You were supposed to come first, before everyone else, so that we could
catch up!" Draco said.
Harry and Blaise shared a look and Harry laughed, patting Blaise's back
and moving to go and find Rabastan. His fiancé kept disappearing on
him. He found Xerxes first.
"Where is Rabastan, do you know?" Harry asked curiously.
"He's just making sure that the restaurant is keeping to his high
standards." Xerxes said with a grin. "He keeps floo calling the owner to
make sure everything is going according to plan."
Harry rolled his eyes. "If he keeps doing that then they're more likely to
spit in the food." He joked.
Xerxes looked aghast at the very suggestion. "They are a famous, world-
class, gourmet restaurant, Harry. They host celebrities and important
dignitaries from all over the world! They would never sully their
reputation by doing something so barbaric and disgusting, I assure you."
Harry chuckled. "I was joking, Xerxes." He said soothingly.
"Joke about things that are less disgusting and disturbing." Xerxes told
him, patting his shoulder. "I'm an old man, I don't want those sorts of
images in my head."
That made Harry laugh outright. He shook his head and wandered away
with a grin. Leave it to Xerxes to be disturbed by the thought of someone
spitting in his food when the 'missions' he went on included torture and
murder.
He mingled a little more, but as most of the guests were his and Draco's
friends, very few of them who were accompanied by their parents, it was
a more pleasant experience than when he had to mingle in the
Wizengamot or Ministry circles.
Whispers, giggling, and a flash of intense, luminous orange caught
Harry's attention and he was overjoyed to see that Luna had decided to
come to his birthday, but he was also angry that his so-called friends
were laughing at her unusual dress and pointing at her. He strode right
over and greeted her happily, pulling her into a hug.
"Luna, thank you so much for coming." He said.
"Thank you for inviting me, Harry. Happy birthday." She smiled at him.
The radishes were back in her ears, Harry noticed. He was so glad that
she hadn't changed a thing about herself to come to this party. Luna
would always be Luna, no matter where she went, and he adored that
about her.
"How have you been? The end of the last term was so hectic I never got a
chance to speak to you. How did your Defence exam go?"
"Oh, it went much better than it would have if you hadn't tutored me."
Luna said dreamily.
"I will, of course, help you and Astoria next year too. If you still want to,
that is." Harry said with a grin.
"I like being with you, it's almost like having friends."
Harry blinked. "Luna, we are friends." He stressed. "Like it or not, but
you're stuck with me now, probably forever." He grinned.
She smiled back at him. "That doesn't sound too terrible."
Harry laughed and linked his arm through Luna's and took her to the
drinks table. He picked up a champagne flute of sparkling grape juice and
chinked his glass against Luna's.
"Don't worry, it's just grape juice, all non-alcoholic. Despite being of age
now, I've been reminded that I'm still in school and still living under my
father's roof. His house, his rules." Harry whispered conspiratorially.
Luna giggled and took a sip from the flute.
"I suppose this is all to make me feel like a man, without actually putting
me at threat of making a bumbling fool of myself by getting rip-roaring
drunk." Harry mused. "But, you can't beat a glass of simple grape juice."
Luna laughed then and Harry joined her. It was too much for Draco, who
sidled over with Astoria still on his arm.
"Luna, it's lovely to see you." Astoria said, all polite manners. Of course,
the two had been taking Defence tutoring from him all year, so they were
at least on a first-name basis and Harry had warned Astoria that the
moment she was uncivil to Luna, he would stop tutoring her
immediately.
Luna nodded. "I was happy to have been invited."
"Of course you were." Harry told her. "You're probably the only person
here who is actually my friend. All these others are Draco's friends."
Harry whispered the last with a grin. "I don't even like half of them
either." He added.
"Theo's arrived and he was looking for you." Draco told him. "He is more
your friend than mine."
"Oh, two friends at my own party, I'm being spoilt." Harry laughed.
"You're impossible to deal with sometimes." Draco sighed.
"Only sometimes?" Harry's grin widened.
"Yes, but please be aware that you have invited your friend to be around
your fiancé." Draco stressed to him and Harry's stomach dropped and his
blood turned to ice. He swallowed hard…he'd overlooked that. How
fucking ridiculously stupid of him to have invited Luna when he'd known
that Rabastan, and Rodolphus, were going to be here tonight. He was
usually the one who was so stringent on Rabastan's security, he'd
invented a fake fiancé just to help keep Rabastan that slightest bit safer,
and here he was inviting Luna to his party when he'd known that the
Lestrange brothers would be here.
"I'm looking forward to meeting Aceline." Luna said in that spacey,
dreamy way of hers.
Harry inhaled deeply and he forced a smile. Would it be too dangerous to
expose Luna to the truth? If it went badly he…he could always Obliviate
her of seeing Rabastan. He pressed his lips together for a moment before
taking a drink.
"Aceline isn't real, Luna." He said softly.
Astoria gasped and Draco looked at him as if he'd lost his mind. Maybe
he had.
"I know." Luna said easily. "I knew you were lying about her, but I knew
that you'd have a reason to do so. Aceline might not be real, but you do
have a fiancée because you weren't faking any of the love you felt, or the
loving actions you showed, but I knew there was more to Aceline than
you were saying."
"I'm sure you're the most perceptive person I've ever met." Harry smiled,
letting his heart calm down. "Do you have any thoughts on why I made
up Aceline?"
"I'm not one to speculate on such things." Luna told him in a rare moment
of seriousness. "But that you invented a female fiancée makes me think
that your fiancé is actually male, and you did it to protect the knowledge
that you are a male barer."
"Bloody hell, Luna." Harry laughed. "That's spot on. You should enter the
Ministry as a human lie detector or something, that's incredible."
"I would never reveal your secret to anyone." Luna told him. "You're my
only friend, Harry, and you've shown me kindness where others do not. I
knew the moment you told me about Aceline that she wasn't real, and I
told no one of my thoughts."
Harry smiled. "Thank you, Luna. You really are the bestest friend ever."
"I thought I was your best friend!" Draco demanded.
"You're my brother, you don't count." Harry grinned. "You have to be my
best friend, but outside of you, Luna is my best friend, like Blaise is
yours."
"I hate Blaise." Draco sniffed.
"Oh, don't give me that. If you weren't completely straight I'd question if
the two of you weren't carrying on some secret affair together."
Draco looked outraged at the thought, but Astoria giggled, her cheeks a
little pink.
"See, even your betrothed agrees with me! You can claim to hate Blaise as
much as you want, but we…" He pointed to himself and Astoria. "…know
you far too well to believe such declarations. You adore Blaise, and he
adores you, regardless of the things you say to each other, or about each
other to other people. If you lost Blaise you'd be devastated and vice
versa."
"So, will I meet your fiancé at all tonight?" Luna asked him into the
silence that followed Harry's passionate statement to Draco. Harry
blinked and looked at Luna, breaking eye contact with Draco to look at
her instead.
"I suppose that depends on how well you deal with shocks, and if you can
keep another, bigger secret." He said seriously.
Luna looked at him, through large, protuberant blue eyes and she smiled.
"You are my only friend, Harry." She said simply. "I don't want to lose
you. If you of all people can love this man, I can give him a chance."
Harry hugged her tight and swallowed hard. He knew that words were
easy compared to actions, but that Luna was willing to give Rabastan a
chance, just because he loved him, that meant the world to him.
"He's taking me out to dinner later, that's why the party is so early."
Harry explained excitedly. "He's taking me to the same restaurant that he
proposed to me at. It's going to be so romantic."
"Harry, you're gushing." Draco pointed out.
"Well, unlike you I don't hide my feelings or think that there is anything
shameful in showing my love." Harry said. "I love him with all of my
heart and I love that he's taking me out to dinner to the same place that
he proposed. It's romantic and coming from him, it's even more
wonderful."
"He doesn't show romance all that often?" Luna questioned.
"No." Harry sighed. "All this stuck-up, snobbish, pureblood etiquette
bullshit." Harry declared. "I'm going to have to prod him to be more
romantic, like tonight."
"If anyone can get him to be more romantic, it's you." Astoria giggled.
"You have this way of making everyone around you behave exactly as
you want them to. Everyone just wants to see you happy, Harry."
That made Harry smile. "I've spent a lot of my life being unhappy and
alone, I suppose that just comes across subconsciously. I do tend to go
overboard when it comes to happiness and friendship because when I was
younger, I had never experienced either."
"And now you're making everyone else miserable." Draco declared.
"You're no longer in the same situation, now cheer up before I go and get
Blaise."
Harry grinned. "How would that help?"
"Blaise always makes you smile, even when you don't want to."
"I think you're talking about yourself there." Harry pointed out.
Draco sniffed. "If he can do it for me, he can do it for others."
Harry laughed and only then did Draco seem to realise the double
meaning of his words and he went pink himself.
"Shut up." He declared. "Your mind is filthy."
"Looks like you have a bit of competition, Astoria. Keep Draco close."
Harry teased.
"If he wishes for an affair with Blaise, as long as he is discreet…"
"I'm not having an affair with Blaise!" Draco interrupted.
"What?"
Harry turned and his grin widened as he saw Blaise and Theo had made
their way over to them.
"Draco, you said you wouldn't tell anyone about our affair." Blaise said.
"You wanted to keep it a secret."
Harry laughed, loudly and uninhibitedly. He had to let go of Luna just to
hold his own stomach as his laughter pulled a muscle.
"Blaise! This isn't funny!" Draco insisted.
Blaise couldn't keep the joke running, as he couldn't stop himself from
laughing.
"It sort of is funny." Blaise grinned.
"Tell them that we aren't having an affair!" Draco growled.
"I was raised not to tell lies." Blaise said solemnly.
"You're lying now!" Draco shouted, his pink flush going a darker red.
Harry lost it and he started laughing all over again.
"What have I missed?"
Harry turned automatically and wrapped his arms around Rabastan,
grinning up at him.
"Draco and Blaise are confused over whether or not they're actually
having an affair together." Harry explained, before letting out a rather
unmanly giggle.
"We are not having an affair!" Draco raged.
"You hurt me with your wounding words." Blaise said, holding a hand to
his heart. "I thought that you loved me. Or at least that is what you say
when we are naked in bed together after…"
"Stop! Just stop!" Draco demanded as Harry laughed so hard he needed
Rabastan to keep him upright. "This has gone beyond a joke now, stop it."
"I still love you, Blaise." Harry declared.
Blaise's purple eyes lit up and he took one step forward before Rabastan
pulled Harry further into his arms and glared at him.
"If you take another step I will curse you out of existence." Rabastan
promised.
"Basti. Don't be cruel to my loving friends." Harry scowled for a moment
before it slipped and he grinned. "Have you suitably shouted at the chefs
about our meal tonight?"
"Who told you…? Dolphus." He sighed. "I'll kill him too."
"No, Xerxes told me." Harry grinned. "I punished him enough by making
him feel sick when I told him the chefs would spit in our food."
Harry witnessed the shudder that went through every pureblood except
for Luna, almost like an ocean wave, and he laughed happily.
"That is repulsive." Theo told him, his face pinched, making him look
more like a rabbit than usual.
"Is that what muggles do in restaurants?" Astoria asked, in perhaps the
same way one might ask after a myth or a ghost story.
Harry laughed again. "No, Astoria. It's a common fear that if you piss off
the chefs or the wait-staff that they'll spit in your food, but it doesn't
happen. As pointed out, these establishments, both muggle and magical,
have a reputation to uphold and wouldn't dare tarnish their good names
with such petty revenge as tainting food for their own customers."
"Good." Astoria said, laying a dainty hand over her heart. "The very
thought of it is awful, without it being real."
Harry smiled at her, before turning back to Luna.
"Luna, I'm trusting you with this knowledge because you're my best
friend…"
"Hey!" Blaise cut in.
Harry grinned at him. "You're Draco's best friend, Blaise…and perhaps
more than that." He waggled his eyebrows, and Blaise started laughing.
"That joke is getting old very quickly." Draco snarled at him.
"That joke will never be old now." Harry giggled. "But, Luna, this is my
fiancé, Rabastan Lestrange. Basti, this is my best friend, Luna Lovegood."
"Pleasure to meet you." Rabastan greeted, his scowl evaporating as soon
as he heard that Luna was from a pureblooded family, even if the
Lovegoods weren't all that reputable thanks in part to their eccentricity.
"This is why you won't make peace with Neville, isn't it?" Luna asked
him.
Harry nodded. "I don't make any excuses for Rabastan's past behaviour
and I won't condone it, but I fully believe that a person's past shouldn't
define their future. Rabastan and his brother Rodolphus more than paid
their due by spending fifteen years of their lives in Azkaban, a fate that
many others wouldn't have even survived. I don't want to rub this in
Neville's face, however, so I won't ever be friends with him again,
because as soon as he finds out about this, and I know that one day he
will, that'll be it, and he'll feel worse for the friendship he made with me.
It's better this way. I will be civil, of course, but I can't be friends with
him knowing that he'll never accept the love I have for Rabastan or that
he'll never accept the man I've chosen as my husband."
"I understand." Was all Luna said.
"You…you do?" Harry asked, hardly daring to believe what he was
hearing.
"We don't choose who we fall in love with." She said simply. "But I know
that out of everyone here, that you're the one who deserves love the
most, regardless of who you have finally fallen in love with."
Harry let out a strangled sound, which was almost a sob, as he turned
and pulled Luna into a tight, bone-crushing hug, pressing his face into
her neck.
"Thank you, Luna. Thank you." He said, clutching her tightly.
"I'm sure that you're keeping him in line, too." She whispered into his ear.
"He listens to every word I say and I'm in no danger. He loves me too."
Harry told her back. They squeezed one another tight for a moment,
before stepping back. Harry brushed his damp eyes and turned to
Rabastan, burying his face in his robes.
"I'm sure I deserve love the most." Blaise said. "Seeing as Draco is denying
our affair ever existed and I now find myself without a beautiful lover."
That got Harry laughing again, as was likely the point, as Draco just
glared at Blaise, but said nothing about the mentioned affair this time.
"Don't look at me." Theo insisted when Blaise sent him a look. "I'm
heterosexual."
"I'm sure if you gave men a go that you'd enjoy it." Blaise insisted. "You
never know, you might prefer it."
"No." Theo insisted.
"Harry…" Blaise started.
"Spoken for!" Harry interrupted quickly, grabbing Rabastan's arms and
wrapping them around himself.
"Damn it, you're the only openly gay friend I have!"
"Then you need to broaden your friend criteria." Harry said. "Just leave
me out of it, I'm very happy with Rabastan."
Harry got a gentle squeeze for that and it made him smile.
"Are you sure? You'd enjoy it." Blaise dared to press.
"I'm sure I would enjoy it, but the only one I ever want to be with is my
husband."
"Monogamy is boring."
Harry laughed at that. "Maybe Astoria would allow you to enter a
polyamorous relationship with her and Draco."
Blaise turned the full-blown pleading eyes onto Astoria, who giggled, her
cheeks flushing pink again.
"Absolutely not." Draco said. "No more talk on this matter, now."
Even Luna giggled at Draco's almost desperate pleading and Harry tipped
his head back to grin at Rabastan. His fiancé bent his knees so that he
could kiss Harry's forehead, and that made him smile.
"What time is our reservation?" He asked. "I want to change before we
leave."
"You have plenty of time, it'll be a late dinner, as our reservations are for
eight."
Harry nodded. "Good, I can have cake first."
"You've been eating chocolate all day, how can you want cake as well, all
before your dinner?" Draco demanded.
"Don't underestimate my ability to eat cake, Draco." Harry grinned. "I'll
have at least two pieces before I leave for dinner."
"I couldn't possibly eat sweet things before my main meal." Astoria said.
Harry smiled sadly. "Unfortunately, I never really had much of a choice
until recently. I ate anything and everything I could and sometimes cake
or chocolate was the only thing that I did have to eat. So, eating sweet
things, then eating a main meal, it doesn't really bother me."
Rabastan's arms hugged him tighter, almost crushingly so, but Harry
didn't mind. He patted the hands around him, then rested his own over
Rabastan's, as silent permission to carry on hugging him.
"You've almost eaten that chocolate heart too." Draco pointed out. "It
hasn't even lasted a day."
"It's delicious, that's why. I can't leave it alone." Harry laughed.
"Did your fiancé get you a chocolate heart?" Astoria asked.
"No. Rodolphus got it for me, and he had it shaped like a real human
heart. I think that he might have been trying to disturb me with it or
something, but it's just too delicious to not eat it. Plus it makes him laugh
every time he sees me walking around with it cradled in my hands, biting
chunks from it. He's a very special kind of lunatic."
Rabastan snorted above him and it made Harry grin.
"It is disturbing." Draco said, looking unnerved. "It looks real."
"That's the point of it, Draco." Harry insisted. "Besides, that mousse in the
middle is the best thing I've ever tasted in my life. I'll be sad when I
finally finish it off."
"Tomorrow then." Draco smirked.
Harry grinned back and nodded. "Probably."
"I will buy you more." Rabastan insisted. "Though perhaps in a more
appetising form."
Harry turned and grinned at Rabastan, the naughty glint in his eyes as he
thought of a more 'appetising' body part that he would like in his mouth
and Rabastan must have caught onto his train of thought because he
suddenly swallowed heavily.
"We'll be alone in a villa soon." Rabastan bent to whisper to him, stroking
a hand through Harry's hair.
Harry's grin widened. "I can't wait."
"Theo, you didn't come to collect me!" An angry voice broke through the
happy moment.
Harry turned back and sneered as Daphne confronted Theo.
"Daphne…" Harry greeted, waiting for her to turn around to look at him.
"Who invited you?" He demanded.
"What?" She said, her face pulling into a confused frown as everyone else
laughed.
"This is my birthday party…who invited you to be here?"
"Astoria got an invitation…"
"Astoria's invitation was for Astoria." Harry pointed out. "You didn't get
an invitation because you were not invited."
"I have to be invited!" Daphne said through clenched teeth.
"Well, you weren't, because I can't stand you and I didn't want you here."
Harry said simply.
"That isn't how these parties work!" Daphne insisted to him.
"I don't care how they work, it's my party and you were not invited."
Perhaps sensing trouble, a rising argument, or a complete repeat of Harry
cursing Thorfinn Rowle, Narcissa sprouted up out of nowhere to take
control of the situation.
"What is the fuss, darling?" She asked him, laying a hand on his shoulder.
"I didn't invite Daphne to my party, but she has turned up anyway."
Harry told his mother. "I didn't invite her because I didn't want her here."
"It was rude not to invite her, darling, and she is here now, so perhaps…"
"No." Harry said. "That isn't a good message to send out." He said
stubbornly.
"What message is that?" Narcissa asked, trying to be patient, recalling all
of the wedding planning she'd been through with this boy for the last
month. If she could be patient through that, she could be here too.
"That if you aren't invited somewhere you can just show up anyway.
What would be the point of sending out invitations if people just show up
regardless of receiving one? No, I don't want her here."
"He makes a good point." Rabastan said when Narcissa looked to him to
help her out. Of course he would steadfastly stand behind his fiancé,
regardless of any social faux pas, or downright rudeness.
Narcissa sighed and looked once more at Harry's set, determined and
very stubborn face, before putting her shoulders back and looking at
Daphne.
"I'm afraid that I'm going to have to ask you to leave, Daphne. As Harry
has pointed out, this is his party and he sent out the invitations himself.
You were not invited and thus it was very presumptuous of you to turn
up today. If you have brought a gift you may take it back with you when
you leave."
"She didn't buy him a gift." Astoria piped up. "She doesn't even like
Harry."
Daphne glared at her sister, but Narcissa deescalated the issue by laying a
hand on Daphne's lower back and pushing her towards the floo.
"Theo!" She called out. "Come with me."
"He's staying here. Unlike you, he was actually invited." Harry called out,
reaching out to grip at Theo's wrist, just in case he did decide to follow
Daphne.
Theo smiled at him. "There's no need for that. I wasn't going to leave
anyway. Not with her."
"You need to stand up to her, Theo." Astoria insisted. "You can't let her
walk all over you like this."
"I'm starting to, Astoria." Theo said, looking back over his shoulder.
"Daphne won't know what has hit her when I'm through."
"It's about damn time." Blaise said firmly.
Harry sighed and smiled, turning the conversation away from Daphne,
and the revenge that Theo had planned for her, and back onto happier
things. He didn't want to ruin Theo's revenge, and he didn't want to ruin
his own party by focusing on Daphne of all people. He wanted to enjoy
tonight, and enjoy it he damn well would.
Harry had opened his mountain of presents and cut his huge cake and at
half seven he'd said goodbye to all of his guests except Blaise, who it
seemed was staying here for a sleepover with Draco. Harry's grin had
been so wicked that he hadn't needed to say a single word to make
Draco's face pink up and even Blaise had looked a little discomforted.
"We always have these sleepovers." Blaise had tried to explain, but that
had just made Harry cackle madly.
"It's not like that, Harry!" Draco had insisted.
"Oh, sure. No, you have these little sleepovers together at seventeen, no
it's perfectly legitimate." He'd teased.
"We sleep in separate bedrooms!" Draco blustered.
"What do you do together in your room before you retire for the night?"
Harry asked, waggling his eyebrows.
"Enough of that talk, darling." Narcissa chastised. "Go and get ready so
that you aren't late for your reservations."
Harry had nodded, and sent another purely wicked look to Draco and
Blaise, before going to get changed into something incredibly fancy and
ostentatious for the restaurant. He had to be seen entering the restaurant,
this time completely alone, as was expected now that he was a legal
adult, and he would be meeting Rabastan in one of the private rooms so
that no one saw his escaped convict fiancé.
It was expected that his arrival at the restaurant would cause a stir and
that there would be news articles on it in the morning, especially with
how he was being viewed at the moment, what with him cashing in
shares worth several hundred thousand Galleons very recently. His outfit
would be ripped to pieces, any jewellery or accessories he chose to wear
would be dissected and valued, and of course, just who he was meeting
in one of the private rooms would be up for hot debate. He sighed and
reminded himself that he needed this sort of favourable exposure for
when he tried to pass his own laws. It would go much easier if he was
well-liked and not outright despised. Perhaps he should look into
donating some time or money to charitable events, that would certainly
put him in good stead with the public. He'd think on it later.
"Let me look at you." Narcissa insisted as he came down at five to eight.
She fussed with his collar, his tie, his cufflinks (a gift from Rabastan for
tonight), his hair and even the chain to his pocket watch, before
smoothing down the front of his robes and checking the shine on his
shoes.
"Perfect, well done, darling."
"I'm learning." Harry grinned as he tugged on his left cuff to settle it more
comfortably.
"Remember your manners." Narcissa told him. "And for Merlin's sake
behave yourself."
Harry smiled. "I'm always polite and well behaved…biting Draco aside."
"Biting? When did you bite him?" Blaise asked, grinning.
"Jealous?" Harry grinned back.
"The maître d' will know exactly who you are if he isn't completely blind
and he will take you straight to your private room." Narcissa carried on
fussing.
"Cissa, dear, let him go." Lucius insisted. "He will be fine and I am sure
that he will conduct himself perfectly without anyone there with him to
hold his hand."
"Be careful with him, Lucius."
"I am only going to Apparate him to the doors, Cissa, he will be fine."
Lucius reiterated. "Harry."
Harry took Lucius' arm and this time, instead of being Apparated directly
into the restaurant, Lucius dropped him off right outside the front doors.
His father took a moment to make sure that everything was in place, and
that the Apparation hadn't mussed up Harry's outfit or hair, before briefly
touching his shoulder and then he was gone again.
Harry smiled and he took a deep breath before turning to the doors. He
strode forward and, as he'd known would happen, the doors opened by
themselves.
"Thank you." He whispered politely to the two invisible house-elves he
knew would be there.
The Garnet Swan was no less lavish than the first time he'd been here. All
dark red carpeting, dark wooden bannisters that held an array of floral
decorations and dim, intimate lighting. He kept walking forward
confidently, coolly, with a nice smile. He passed the circular area for
guests Apparating directly into the restaurant and he went to the wooden
podium just beyond it, where a man wearing beautifully cut black robes
was standing primly. He was a different man from the one he'd first
encountered, but he was no less professional as he immediately hurried
from behind the podium to greet him.
"Lord Potter-Black." He greeted calmly, in a rather sophisticated voice
that seemed wasted on a maître d'. "Please, right this way."
Harry once again followed the man through the sumptuous restaurant,
still with its dark red carpets and tablecloths, still with its small, circular
intimate tables with red pillar candles, though all of the flowers had
changed. It being the summer there was colour and flowery perfume
everywhere from the blooming displays. Red and dark purple seemed to
be the most abundant, but there were also pinks, whites and green
everywhere. It was very beautiful.
He was once again led up the stairs to the balcony with no wall (only a
bannister) that looked out over the restaurant, and it seemed that
Rabastan was being very romantically inclined tonight, as Harry was led
to the door on the far end…Rabastan had gotten them the very same
room that he had proposed in.
The maître d' bowed to him, then turned right around and left him to it.
Harry loved the efficiency of the staff in this restaurant, they were
respectful, professional, and they knew exactly how to do their jobs, and
Harry very much appreciated that.
He knocked on the door, just so he wouldn't startle Rabastan, before
opening the door and he was already smiling as he shut it behind himself
and his gaze found Rabastan.
"Happy birthday, love." His fiancé greeted.
Harry smiled. "Thank you. It's been a great day, and it's about to get even
better."
Rabastan led him over to the table and seated him himself, bending to
kiss him, before going around to the other side of the table and sitting
down himself.
"Did you arrive without any difficulties?"
Harry nodded. "Everything was fine, though I'll be happier when I have
my own Apparation licence."
"Not long now, a few more days." Rabastan soothed.
"If I pass." Harry fretted.
"Of course you'll pass. You're Apparating fine at home, you know how to
use coordinates to arrive at the desired destination and Draco is helping
you with the theory. You're going to pass and it'll all be fine."
Harry smiled. "I hope so." He said before he sighed. "I've been so focused
on myself and fretting about my licence. I'm sorry, how are you today? I
don't think I've asked once and I'm sorry for that."
Rabastan smiled at him and took his hand, pulling it to his mouth so that
he could kiss it.
"Harry, love, I'm perfectly fine. Today is your birthday, it should be all
about you."
"I just love you so much, I don't want you feeling neglected at any time."
That just made Rabastan laugh. "Neglected? Oh, Harry…wait until I tell
Dolphus that."
"I'm being serious." Harry said.
"I know, and that just makes it all the more amusing to me. I don't feel
neglected by you. Not once could I possibly use that word to describe our
relationship. I love you."
That made Harry smile, and he inhaled deeply before he actually looked
at Rabastan, who was in beautiful blue robes, with all matching
accessories.
"I didn't realise that you were on the menu tonight, love. You look good
enough to eat." He said, appraising his fiancé with an approving eye. He
noticed immediately that the robe and the shirt underneath fit Rabastan's
body better, and that he'd gone for a cut that accentuated his body,
instead of trying to hide it. He looked wonderful.
"I…" Rabastan blinked, looking rather uncomfortable, but he was visibly
pleased. "I'm glad that you approve."
"Approve? Damn, Basti, I think we should have asked for a chaperone
after all, I don't think I'll be able to keep my hands to myself tonight."
"Who says that you have to?" Rabastan demanded. "I fully expect a bit of
kissing after dinner, before we have to go back."
Harry grinned, looking over to the group of chairs at the other end of the
room, where they would take after-dinner coffees. He would definitely
have a bit of Rabastan for dessert too. That thought made him chuckle
and he turned back to look at his fiancé.
"You're looking good tonight too." Rabastan told him, giving Harry the
once over. "Green really is your colour, no matter the shade."
"I prefer the darker greens. I would utterly refuse to wear lime, mint, or
neon." He grinned.
Rabastan laughed. "The darker greens really bring out your eyes. I adore
your eyes and I know you disagree, but I hope our children have your
eyes."
"Well, at last conversation on this topic we'd settled on five, was it?"
Harry grinned.
Rabastan nodded. "Yes."
"I say we could go for six." Harry grinned at him. "If we spread them out
a little over the years, we won't be completely overrun. I'm young enough
that it won't adversely affect me, so…six, yes?"
Rabastan recalled the conversation he'd had with his brother and
grandfather, back before he and Harry were even engaged, about Harry's
love for children and his desire for more and more of them. Every time
they brought up the topic, Harry added another child. He needed to sort
this once and for all.
"Harry, I've told you before, and I will tell you again, you can have as
many children as you want from me. I am certainly not going to deny
you anything and as a member of an almost extinct house, the more the
better for the Lestranges. Five children, six, or seventeen, it doesn't
matter. Let's just say we keep trying and however many we end up with,
that'll be the perfect amount."
Harry grinned at him and Rabastan knew then that he'd said just the
right thing. He was getting better at doing that where Harry was
concerned.
A house-elf interrupted them with a silver tray with their starters upon it,
and they were both silent as the elf laid the table with plates and drinks.
"Thank you." Harry said with a genuine smile, and Rabastan sighed
silently but kept his mouth shut. He didn't want to ruin tonight, and he
already knew that Harry wouldn't stop thanking the elves just because he
was told to. In fact, he was likely to do it all the more because he'd been
told to stop. So he said nothing and plastered a smile on his face when
Harry looked at him.
"I, again, took the liberty of ordering for you, I hope you don't mind."
"No, you got it right the last time, and you know me better now, so I have
complete faith that you've terrorised the chefs into preparing something
I'll like." He grinned.
"I have not terrorised the chefs." Rabastan insisted with a smile. "I just
had to make sure everything was perfect for tonight."
"It is perfect, thank you."
They fell silent for a while, eating their crisp salads. Harry was very
pleased to see olives on his plate as he'd grown very fond of them. As a
starter, it was rather small, and Harry judged himself to be hungrier now
that he'd finished eating it than he'd been before he'd started eating.
Thankfully, the moment their plates were cleared away, their mains were
brought out. It was fish this time, instead of steak, but Harry didn't mind
fish as long as it was filleted, and he couldn't see a visible head or tail.
Naturally, the fish was cooked to utter, flaky perfection and Harry
enjoyed it, but he mostly just enjoyed spending time with Rabastan, even
when the both of them were silent and just eating in one another's
company.
"Just one year left now." Harry said, laying his knife and fork down after
he'd finished eating. "We'll be neck-deep in wedding preparations this
time next year." He grinned.
"All this work, a year in advance, for just one day." Rabastan shook his
head. "Not that I think you don't deserve the best wedding of your
dreams, only that I never expected myself to be neck-deep in everything."
Harry grinned. "My little revenge, love. If I have to be forced through it,
so do you."
"That evilness is why Rodolphus loves you so much, and so quickly, you
know."
Harry laughed. "Oh, I know. He's great though, especially if he keeps
giving me those chocolate hearts, with that mousse inside. Damn, that
thing is tasty."
Rabastan chuckled, but he bent forward and picked up Harry's hand, just
holding it in his own. Harry remembered a time when Rabastan had been
too afraid to even do that, just in case he had a body spasm and crushed
him.
"We really have come a long way, and it hasn't even been a full year yet."
Harry mused quietly.
Rabastan hummed his agreement. "We have both had health issues to
overcome, and we truly have come a long way from where we started.
Hopefully, by the next New Year, I will be just as healthy and ready to
take on our married life, and our children."
Harry smiled automatically at the mention of their wedding and children.
He was seventeen today, a legal adult. Just one more year and he'd be
graduated from Hogwarts and he'd be just weeks away from his wedding
and the ensuing honeymoon. The same honeymoon that he hoped to
come home from pregnant with his first child. The very thought of that
honeymoon, and the activities that would make him pregnant, had his
gut clenching in excited arousal.
The house-elf interrupted them again to collect their used plates, before
vanishing quickly and silently. Another house-elf brought them dessert
and Harry smirked up at Rabastan when he saw the chocolate mousse.
"Thank you." He said to the teary elf before picking up his dessert spoon.
"Don't you think I've had enough chocolate mousse for one day?" He
grinned.
"As you were planning to go home to eat more of that heart, no."
Rabastan told him.
"Touché, my love." He laughed, sinking his spoon through the dessert and
bringing it to his mouth. "Well, I'm going to be very controversial and say
that Honeydukes' mousse is better." He declared after swallowing.
"You'll break my friend's heart saying that." Rabastan said, taking his own
spoonful.
"He should make a better mousse." Harry teased.
"I'll eat it if you don't want it." Rabastan threatened and Harry laughed.
"You'd have to try and get it away from me first. It's not as good, but it's
still nice and I will eat it."
"I would never take food from your mouth. Not unless it was offered."
Harry's smile fell for a moment at the serious note in Rabastan's tone,
before he smiled, loaded up his spoon, and held it out to his fiancé.
"Offered like this?"
"I was thinking of it being offered to me with your body as a plate, but
this will do."
Harry laughed happily as Rabastan took the mousse from his spoon.
"We'll be married soon, if you bring the mousse on the honeymoon, you
can lick it from whatever body part you want to." Harry winked.
"Must we wait so long?" Rabastan teased with a naughty smirk. "We are
going on holiday in two weeks, what if I bring the mousse to the villa
with us?"
Harry's grin widened impossibly more, and he laughed. "Oh, love, I do
like the way you think sometimes. This will be the best holiday ever."
Neither of them said aloud that it would be his first holiday ever, they
both knew that already and they didn't want to bring down the mood of
the evening by mentioning it.
"We'll just have to control ourselves enough to stop short of penetrative
sex."
Harry chuckled. "Oh, that is going to be difficult. How much trouble do
you think we'd be in if I came back off our holiday no longer a virgin?"
"I would probably be skinned alive, and that's only if my grandfather got
to me before your mother."
Harry snorted and almost choked on his laughter.
"Your mother is a scary woman." Rabastan insisted.
"Oh, I'm not arguing with that, she is." Harry chuckled, grinning up at
Rabastan. "I just love that you're afraid of her."
"Afraid is a bit too strong an emotion, I merely have a healthy respect for
her when it comes to her protecting her two sons."
That softened Harry's grin to a more loving smile. "Yeah, she's great." He
said.
"You're going to be just as wonderful a mother to our children, between
the two examples you've had, you can't be anything else. Both of your
mothers are fiercely protective, very scary women. There is nothing they
wouldn't do for their children. You are going to be the same, I know it."
Harry thought of his mum, who had willingly died for him. Both she and
his dad had willingly given up their lives to protect him, their son. He
took a deep breath and he gave a small smile to Rabastan.
"I'm going to be exactly the same, and do exactly the same as they did if
the need arises." He swore. "If it comes down to my baby or me…there's
not even a moment of hesitation in my body, Rabastan, and that feeling
is only going to get stronger when I actually have a baby."
Rabastan sighed. "I thought that perhaps you'd feel that way. I'm just
going to have to protect you, as it seems you won't protect yourself."
Harry snorted. "You knew that about me before you met me, love. I'm all
about the crazy, recklessness of a Gryffindor."
"You should have been a Slytherin." He said remembering Harry's answer
when he was performing Rodolphus' little Veritaserum test.
"I should have been if the hat hadn't taken into account my own wishes,
but I wasn't. I was put into Gryffindor and I adsorbed all that bravery,
courage, and reckless abandon and now I'm a diehard Gryffindor and
you'll have to learn to live with that."
Rabastan snorted. "You being a Gryffindor doesn't bother me. It's just a
school house, and when you graduate, it will no longer matter."
Harry chuckled and he stood, holding his hand out to his fiancé.
Rabastan took it and allowed Harry to pull him to his feet. They migrated
over to the collection of comfortable chairs around the coffee table and
they sat next to one another.
Before they'd had a chance to sit down a house-elf had removed their
dessert dishes, and a moment after they'd sat and made themselves
comfortable, shifting their weight and settling themselves down, another
house-elf was serving them tea and coffee, and a plate of little hand
crafted chocolates.
"Thank you." Harry said politely, reaching for a cup of tea and a
chocolate. He handed the first cup over to Rabastan, before taking a
second for himself. "This restaurant truly is world-class. The service is
amazing."
"I'm glad you like it here." Rabastan told him.
They both sipped on their respective teas for a short time, sitting silently
and just enjoying one another's company.
"What are your plans now for the rest of the summer? Besides the
holiday, your Apparation testing, and, of course, your Wizengamot
duties?" Rabastan asked him.
"Spending as much time as possible with you?" Harry grinned. "Well, I
have that Ministry party coming up soon, that's going to be utterly
torturous, but at least mother and father will be there for that. I'm going
to work a little more on my law reforms, though I fully expect your
assistance with that." Harry grinned, making Rabastan chuckle. "And I
was actually thinking of getting involved with a charity now that I'm a
legal adult."
"Why?" Rabastan asked. "Just donate some money and make a speech
about how it's close to your heart like everyone else does."
"You see, that's the thing. I don't want to be like everyone else, and I
don't want people thinking that it's all for show."
"Is it not going to be?" Rabastan asked.
Harry bit his lip. "It sort of is, I need to be seen more favourably if I'm
going to have any chance of passing these law reforms. After putting that
Jute in Azkaban, I'm coming across as cruel and barbaric, and I can't have
that. He deserved to go to prison for what he did, but the public backlash
was a little more intense when it was reported in the papers because they
didn't really understand the laws that were broken or the danger it had
exposed us to. So, I thought that maybe getting involved in a charity
would help, I don't know, make me seem more human, like a person. If I
just donate money, it won't really be a big thing because, as you've said,
every pureblood does it at some point in time and it'll just be brushed off
as me throwing about my gold to show off how rich I am. But, if I
actually dedicate some time to that charity, it'll be different. It'll show
that I actually care."
"But you wouldn't care, it would be a lie."
Harry shook his head. "Not if I chose the right charity, Rabastan. If I
chose one that I really could feel passionate about, that I could throw
myself into, it wouldn't even need to be a lie."
"Something with children would be best." Rabastan told him, caving to
Harry's idea. It was a good one, and of course Harry would feel
passionate about those lesser off than himself, that was an intrinsic part
of Harry's nature.
Harry nodded. "I thought perhaps either children, magical creatures,
which would set me right up for my law reforms, or even helping Saint
Mungo's as a whole."
Rabastan shook his head and swallowed his mouthful of tea.
"Everyone always donates to Saint Mungo's. It is the biggest receiver of
all donations, funding, and volunteers in magical Britain." He explained.
"Oh. Oh!" Harry said. "If I help a lesser-known charity, I can help bring it
into the spotlight and campaign for more funds."
Rabastan nodded. "Exactly that. If you went with a lesser-known charity
then you'll be seen more favourably than just jumping on the bandwagon
with Saint Mungo's. If you're serious about this idea then we need to
scope out the perfect charity for you to help and it needs to be carefully
researched so that it doesn't look like you've picked at random."
Harry nodded and sighed. "I'll see if father won't help research it for me
while I'm on holiday so that I can jump right in when we get back. Or
perhaps mother."
"They should help, they want to build you up as well, and this will help
your public profile."
Harry sighed, and drained the last of his tea, before smiling at Rabastan.
"The things I do to become a better politician."
"You'll rule the world one day, love. I'm sure of it." Rabastan grinned.
Harry stood and he moved quickly to slip into Rabastan's lap. "Now,
enough politics talk, what was it that I heard earlier about some after-
dinner kissing?" He purred.
Rabastan's dark blue eyes went almost navy as Harry straddled his lap
and he wrapped his arms tightly around Harry's back, pulling him closer
to himself with a groan as it rubbed Harry right over his own groin.
Harry shifted himself further forward and angled his head to capture his
lips in a deep kiss, it took just a single moment of lip touching lip before
their mouths opened to introduce their tongues. Rabastan's arms clutched
at Harry tightly, pressing them even tighter together, and Harry's arms
slipped around Rabastan's neck, locking them into their passionate kisses.
It took a rather short amount of time for Harry to start rocking
desperately in Rabastan's lap, but then he was a teenager, a virgin at that,
and he needed in a way that he'd never needed before and he just wanted
what was forbidden. He wanted to have sex with Rabastan right here,
right now, in this damned chair…or on the table they'd eaten off, he'd
even take the floor, he didn't care where, as long as he got Rabastan now.
"Stop." Rabastan said desperately, his hand coming to cover Harry's own.
Harry hadn't even realised that he was going for Rabastan's trouser
fastenings. "You know that we can't, love. I want to. Merlin, I really want
to, but we can't. Not yet."
Harry breathed out deeply, trying to calm himself back down. He
nodded. He understood. He hated it, he hated it so fucking much, but he
understood.
"I think we need to call it a night." He said, attempting some humour, but
as he stood up from his fiancé's lap and had to press a hand to himself
through his trousers, his erection clearly outlined, he knew that they
couldn't leave immediately.
The only thing that made Harry feel the slightest bit better was that
Rabastan was clearly in the same boat, as he stood too and his erection
was also clearly visible pressing against his trousers.
"I wonder if Rodolphus is waiting with the Veritaserum again." Harry
grinned. "I hope one of his questions isn't 'Did you rub yourself to
hardness against Rabastan's stomach' or we're screwed."
That made Rabastan laugh. "I truly don't think they'll have expected us to
do so much in a restaurant, Harry."
"We're in a private room with no people about, do they not know me at
all?" He joked.
Rabastan chuckled and held out his hand. Harry took it and cuddled into
Rabastan's chest, just breathing and calming down. The close proximity
wasn't helping, and neither was Rabastan's hands stroking over his back,
but he refused to be parted from Rabastan and he could actually be
credited with a small amount of control. He'd been getting better and
better in the Wizengamot meetings, and focusing that control on calming
down and willing away his erection, it slowly started working.
"Are you ready to go home?" Rabastan asked him.
"You have more control than I do and you're not a horny little teenaged
virgin, give me a few more minutes." Harry chuckled.
Rabastan snorted, but fell silent again, stroking his hands over Harry's
back and then up into his hair, like he did when he was trying to make
Harry sleepy.
"Oh, that's working." Harry declared happily, resting his head on
Rabastan's chest more fully.
"We'll go home now and side-track them all with your brilliant idea of
gaining public support by choosing to do volunteer work for a chosen
charity. They'll be too busy focusing and debating on that to ask if we
were a little handsy with one another."
"I think we were a little more than handsy, love." Harry giggled. "That
was full-on snogging and heavy petting."
"They don't need to know that."
Harry laughed before taking in a deep breath and stepping back. He
slipped his arm around Rabastan's and squeezed.
"Let's go then. And thank you, Rabastan. Tonight was wonderful, made
all the more so by being in the very same room that you proposed to me
in. It was very romantic and enjoyable and I loved it."
Rabastan couldn't help but bend to kiss Harry at hearing that, and he
enjoyed feeling Harry's small hand stroke through his hair at the back of
his head. He broke the kiss rather quickly, so they weren't tempted to
return to their former conditions, and he smiled.
He pulled Harry close and Apparated them right back to Malfoy Manor.
They walked hand in hand to the front parlour and they shared a quick
kiss before they entered.
"There you are, we were getting worried." Narcissa told him, slotting a
bookmark into her novel and placing it to the side.
"Why?" Harry asked curiously.
"It's almost eleven." Draco grinned at them.
Shocked, Harry pulled out his brand new pocket watch and opened it. It
was twenty to eleven and he laughed, looking up at Rabastan.
"I suppose losing track of time to such a degree is the biggest compliment
you could have given me." Rabastan smirked.
"You already knew that I enjoy being in your company."
"So much so that you don't realise that two and a half hours have
passed?"
"Well, clearly, as that's exactly what happened." Harry grinned.
"Were you well behaved?" Narcissa asked him, looking him over as if she
could see through his robes and spot every single place Rabastan's hands
had touched his skin.
"Of course, Mother." Harry insisted. "We were in a restaurant! We did
actually spend most of our time talking."
"Harry has come up with a brilliant way to curry himself more favour
with the public." Rabastan announced. "Tell them, love."
"I was thinking of maybe championing a charity." He said with a bashful
shrug. "Sort of showing everyone that I'm a person, and not a barbaric
monster that the papers portrayed me as when I sentenced that Jute to
Azkaban."
"The timing could be called into question." Rodolphus pointed out.
Harry shook his head. "I only became a legal adult today. I know
underaged wizards can help out in charity work a little, maybe fundraise
and help out, but they're limited in what they can actually do. They
couldn't champion a charity like an adult could, or get completely behind
something and really help them out. I can do that now. I might still be in
school, but if I start now, this summer, it'll look better than if I only start
doing it next summer, when I'm graduated. I could, of course, use school
as an excuse, but if I do it now, as soon as I've become a legal adult,
showing everyone that I'm not making any excuses for not helping, I
really think it'll help my public profile and put me in a better position
when it comes time to publish my law reforms."
"I have no idea where you've been hiding that brilliant mind for so long."
Draco told him.
"Oh, shut up." Harry grinned. "Where's your boyfriend? Kicked him out
already?"
"No, Blaise was tired of waiting for you so he's gone to bed." Draco
growled.
"Wow, wore him out so soon? I always thought Blaise was at the peak of
his stamina. It's disappointing to be proven wrong."
Draco went pink but Harry chuckled and changed the subject to get back
on track.
"So, what do you think?" He asked everyone generally, though he was
mostly directing the question to Lucius.
"It's a wonderful idea if you have the determination to see it through."
Lucius told him.
"I'm going to pick a charity I feel strongly about, it's not all going to be a
public show, I want to help and do what I can, so I will definitely have
the drive to see it through and I actually hope to champion my chosen
charity for the rest of my life."
"People go mad for children's charities." Rodolphus pointed out. "You'd be
better off picking one that involves protecting kids in some way."
"Rabastan said the same, and I agreed." Harry nodded. "I would have
chosen a children's charity, or a magical creature charity, to build up to
my proposed law reform."
"Why not do both?" Draco told him. "If you're going to convince people
that you're charitable, the more of them that you involve yourself with
the more they're likely to believe it."
Harry blinked. "That's genius! I can just help out with both charities and
that will be more convincing."
"It's going to be a big dedication, Harry, and it might take up quite a
chunk of your free time." Narcissa warned him.
Harry sighed. "If this is about the wedding planning, I'll sort it. I can
juggle it all."
"It's a lot to juggle." Rabastan fretted.
"I'm having a wonderful holiday with you, I'll get to unwind and destress
for a little while, and then I'll be ready to jump in head first. I'm fully
healthy once more, I've gotten a clean bill of health from all of my
hospital follow-ups, and truly, if I could juggle homework, classwork,
exams, all those Wizengamot debates and a trial too, successfully I might
add, while I was on three different potions with all of their vile, severe
side-effects, then I can handle this. If I do all the groundwork now, in
August, then I won't really need to do much during the school year.
Everyone will know I'm still in school, but it needs to be now, not next
year."
Narcissa sighed. "I will look up suitable charities for you to spend time
on. Do you have any requests?"
"Please, not just pureblood charities or ones that have a criteria for the
people they'll help. I'm trying to come across more favourably, not look
like I'm prejudiced." Harry said seriously.
"Then we will set up portfolios for you to look over once you are back
from your holiday." Lucius told him. "That way you can choose it yourself
from a selection that we've laid out for you."
Harry smiled. "Thank you."
Harry finally sat himself down and turned to snuggle into Rabastan. He
sighed happily and ducked his head under his fiancé's chin and he drew
lazy patterns on his chest. His aspirations were only growing the more
time he spent immersed in politics and in these social circles. He never
would have thought to volunteer or donate to a charity before, not
because he was unkind or didn't want to help people, but purely because
it just hadn't crossed his mind to do so, and he hadn't had the means
before now either. It would have been impossible to help out any charity
or even to just volunteer some of his time while he'd been locked up at
the Dursleys. He hadn't even realised that he'd had so much money until
Lucius had explained the difference between family vaults and trust
vaults to him.
He sighed silently and tucked his head more against Rabastan's chest,
hearing the steady, soothing thud-thud of his fiancé's heart under his ear.
He pushed aside all of his thoughts and just rested. He'd had a damn
good birthday, the best one he'd ever celebrated before, which wasn't
saying much when he'd usually always spent his birthdays with the
Dursleys, but today had been special. Very special to him and he was
never going to forget it. He was so grateful that he'd listened to that
grumpy old man in the little café. He was glad that Lucius had seen his
true need and had adopted him as his own son to help him onto the right
path.
He considered then if perhaps he wasn't Lucius' own charity case to make
him seem better in the public eye and it made him smile to himself. He
was sure that he could one-up Lucius on the charity front, after all taking
in a war orphan as your own son was perhaps at the height of charitable
actions, but Harry was thinking bigger, much bigger, and with the
amount of gold he had at his disposal now, he could make dreams come
true, and he would be sure to have reporters there when he did so, not to
diminish his actions, but merely to highlight them. He was a legal adult
now, and it was time to build up his public profile ahead of his law
reforms. This was his time to shine, and he swore that he would shine the
brightest out of everyone else. He would do his all, and work his absolute
hardest to ensure it.
A/N: Happy Valentine's Day, lovelies. This has been a very long time
coming, just a few weeks off a full year since our last update, and for that
I can only apologise. It was never this chapter that was the problem, its
chapter 26 that has blocked any and all progress on this fic. I'm trying to
rectify the issue, and I have been trying for the last year, but it has
brought me to a complete and utter standstill. I just cannot get over the
block, so I've decided to power through regardless, which might mean
our next chapter might not be up to the usual standard I give you but I've
run out of ideas for solutions now and forcing my way through the
chapter is the only thing I can think of left to do. Not even re-writing it
helped, I'm still hopeless stuck in the same place.
So I'm giving you all this chapter, I'm going to force my way through the
next, and get onto the things I find much easier and pleasing, and hope
that you can all forgive me the lapse. I have no idea what the problem is,
only that the smut is causing some serious problems. It might even be
because I'm not allowed to go full circle with the sex scenes, because
Harry and Rabastan aren't allowed to have sex yet, so forcing myself to
stop short could be the problem. I just hope that I can get through it.
Thank you to kamui5 for being the 3,200th reviewer, to Ashton C
Knight for being the 3,300th reviewer, and to AllyTheRiddle for being
the 3,400th reviewer. Thank you, lovelies.
AroVolturi: A magical oath was automatically made when Harry insisted
that Voldemort safeguard his family in exchange for a gift, it created an
oral magical oath, which isn't as severe as an Unbreakable Vow, which
Harry knew that Voldemort would never agree to, and it didn't require a
witness or a caster, but there will be consequences if Voldemort goes
back on his word now that he accepted Harry's gift. There will be
thoughts and musing on this oath later.
daithi4377: Harry hasn't kicked the Order out of Grimmauld Place
because he's using Kreacher to spy on them. He can't do that if he closes
off Grimmauld Place, so for now he's biting his tongue and putting up
with it, because it benefits him more to have an ear on the Order and
their plans, especially those plans concerning himself.
NotJustOneFandome: Wow, actually, having Ron become a Dracken
poacher is a really good idea. Or having him become a poacher of any
magical creature would be a wonderful en for him, as Harry could then
sentence him to Azkaban for it. It might have to wait for him to graduate
first, and oh god imagine what Charlie would think? Having his baby
brother killing and harvesting magical creatures for profit? I'm going to
have to think on this idea more, it could be a really fitting end for Ron.
MyInnerMonologueIsScreaming: Harry and Rabastan can't have sex
because Xerxes, and to a lesser extent Rodolphus, are insistent upon
Harry being a virgin before his marriage. Narcissa and Lucius are
insistent that he doesn't fall pregnant and have a baby before he's
graduated, so in that case he could have had sex and used contraceptives
to prevent pregnancy, but it is the Lestranges that are cock blocking
Harry and Rabastan because it was written into the contract that Harry
and Lucius signed that Harry has to remain a virgin.
That's all the questions I could round up, I don't think that there were any
more, but if I have missed anything, lovelies, please feel free to ask. I
hope that you've enjoyed this chapter, and fingers crossed that I can get
back on track with chapter 26, because it's given me a year of frustration
and I want it to end. I'm going to spend the rest of the day trying to break
the smut block now and hopefully get back to updating this fic.
StarLight Massacre. X
26. Hideaway
Last Time
He considered then if perhaps he wasn't Lucius' own charity case to make him
seem better in the public eye and it made him smile to himself. He was sure
that he could one-up Lucius on the charity front, after all taking in a war
orphan as your own son was perhaps at the height of charitable actions, but
Harry was thinking bigger, much bigger, and with the amount of gold he had
at his disposal now, he could make dreams come true, and he would be sure to
have reporters there when he did so, not to diminish his actions, but merely to
highlight them. He was a legal adult now, and it was time to build up his
public profile ahead of his law reforms. This was his time to shine, and he
swore that he would shine the brightest out of everyone else. He would do his
all, and work his absolute hardest to ensure it.
Chapter Twenty-Six – Hideaway
The first week of August was a mix of hectic and calm. Hectic as Harry
dug through several portfolios that Lucius and Narcissa had quickly
compiled for him, and one that Xerxes had handed over, to try to find the
charity that he was going to champion, and calm as he took the time to
sit and rest with his fiancé, or just his family in general, reading, or
maybe just sitting and talking.
Harry had noticed the tension in Rabastan, and Rodolphus too, though,
and he knew that the deadline for their 'mission' was coming up. They
had wanted it done and completed before August, but that had now come
and gone, and he knew that the next deadline was the holiday. The two
Lestrange brothers most definitely wanted this mission completed before
Harry and Rabastan went on their holiday, which was less than a week
away now, and as Harry got more excited about the holiday, Rabastan
and Rodolphus got more stressed and frazzled, which was putting a
damper on things, and it was putting a strain on their health and
recovery.
Harry assumed that their mission wasn't going that well, or according to
plan, which worried him because of what had happened to the last Death
Eater who had failed this particular mission for Voldemort, but he
refused to ask about it, or interfere with anything. He knew that
Rabastan wouldn't appreciate it either, he was all about protecting
Harry's innocence of such things. So he said nothing, and he didn't bring
up the fact that Rabastan and Rodolphus were going out more and more
often despite the fact that all of them clearly knew that he knew what
was going on, he was happy to play ignorant if it made Rabastan feel
better.
He did think that they had taken on too much too soon, though. In his
opinion, this monumental task was beyond the both of them, and they
should have been allowed more time to recover first. They had only just
started getting back into the parameters of normality, and this mission
could ruin all of that in an instant, but neither brother was willing to put
their delicate health above an order from their Lord, so Harry said
nothing, and he pretended not to notice all the trips out, or the furiously
hissed conversations that stopped abruptly if he walked into a room.
All of that came to a head on the sixth of August, however, when a pair
of very tired, but visibly cheerful, Lestrange brothers were already sitting
at the kitchen table when Harry woke up early that morning.
"You both look…I think I'm going to go with exuberant." Harry pointed
out, thumping down the Black and Potter family portfolios and going to
the very tired Rabastan and kissing him good morning.
"We had a productive night." Rodolphus told him, sounding very self-
satisfied and smug.
"Would it be better for me if I didn't ask?" Harry questioned.
"Yes, it would." Rabastan said immediately. "And good morning."
Harry nodded and sat beside Rabastan and opening up both portfolios
and going through his painstakingly tedious morning ritual of checking
on everything.
"Is there anything that I can help with?" Rabastan asked.
"Yes, if you want to, can you check on my shares and see what they're
doing this morning?"
Rabastan nodded and did just that, checking on every company that he
had shares in while Harry checked that each company was still
something that he wanted to be invested in. Sometimes the board of
directors in each company took a vote, and while usually harmless, there
had been a few questionable and downright inhumane actions taken.
Harry had immediately and vehemently pulled out of three companies
that the Black family had been investing in because they tested their
experimental spells and potions on house-elves. Harry knew that one of
the companies had since gone bankrupt because he had pulled his
financial backing from it so abruptly. Good riddance.
Harry was just about done checking both portfolios for the morning, with
nothing suspicious to report which pleased him, when the Daily Prophet
owl swooped in and went to land on his usual chair, only to swerve at
the last moment to come and land on Harry's shoulder.
"Hello, and good morning to you too." Harry chuckled, as the owl, a big
ball of fluffy feathers, nuzzled into his neck and clicked at him as Harry
dug a finger into soft belly feathers.
Harry giggled as the feathers tickled and he reached over to grab the
Knut from the centre of the table, showing it to the owl before sliding it
into the little leather leg pouch, taking the rolled-up newspaper from the
other leg.
"Thank you. You made a very good delivery and you should be proud of
yourself. Well done."
The owl actually puffed up, like Hedwig did, and Harry giggled again to
see it, giving those puffed-out breast feathers several gentle strokes
before allowing the owl to fly off.
"Do you treat owls, mere animals, the same as humans now too?"
"Rodolphus, please, don't start me off so early in the morning. I get it,
you see anyone or anything, that isn't a pureblood human as lesser, but
don't hold me to the same standard. My mother was a muggleborn, I was
raised with muggles. I love animals and treat every sentient being,
whether they're human, creature or animal, with the respect that they
damn well deserve for being alive. To do otherwise is just cruel, and
despite what those Prophet articles wrote about me, I'm not now, nor will
I ever be a cruel person. Let it go."
Harry went to look at the paper, but Rabastan made an abortive move
towards it, and Harry's Seeker instincts had him jerking it away from the
snatch. He lifted a questioning eyebrow at his fiancé.
"Something that you don't want me to see?" He asked blandly.
"I would rather that you didn't know the details." Rabastan said, staring
at him seriously.
Harry shook his head. "Whatever you've done has been reported in the
newspaper, love. If I don't read it, and I'm questioned on it, then that'll
look more suspicious. What's done is done, there is no changing it or
hiding from it now."
Rabastan sighed, but he nodded, though he seemed to shrink in on
himself. Harry knew then that the details were going to be hard to
stomach. He just knew that they had succeeded in their mission last night
and Rufus Scrimgeour, the man who had been standing in the way of
Voldemort's plans, had been eliminated.
Harry closed his portfolios, stacked them on top of one another, and
pushed them to the side, making room for him to lay the paper on the
table. It was front-page news, as an old photo of Rufus Scrimgeour took
up the front page with the blazing headline 'Head Auror Found Dead'.
Harry gave the reporter credit for being able to make the headline
rhyme.
Harry read the article slowly and thoroughly, as it detailed how the
wards had been forced on Scrimgeour's home late at night, how the door
had been blasted in and a ferocious fight had taken place inside the
house. There were pictures of overturned furniture and spell scorched
wallpaper. Scrimgeour had been found inside the house by authorities
alerted to the property by a tripped ward at a quarter to midnight, signs
of brutal torture on his body, and very much dead. Harry was relieved to
see that the Ministry had no leads, though they believed that the attack
had been at the hands of someone that Scrimgeour had put into Azkaban.
Rabastan and Rodolphus had been brought in by several top, senior hit
wizards, but not one of them had been Scrimgeour, and they had been
sentenced by Barty Crouch Sr, and thus their names were not on the
relatively short list of possible suspects, as most of the people that
Scrimgeour had brought in were still safely locked up in Azkaban.
Though the reporter who had written the article had also pointed out
that it could have been the work of the relatives of someone who had
been sentenced to Azkaban.
Harry read every article in the paper, turning pages slowly as he sipped
on his tea, taking in and absorbing all the articles of relevance, before
sighing, draining the last of his tea, and handing the paper over.
Rodolphus took it eagerly, more than happy to dissect the article on
Scrimgeour and give a helpful commentary. Things like 'that's not what
happened' or 'they've exaggerated that, we barely used four cutting
curses, let alone a dozen' and Harry sighed more heavily.
"Are you okay?" Rabastan asked softly.
"I won't pretend to like what you've done." Harry said simply. "And I
think you already knew that given that you tried to stop me from reading
the details, but neither will I bitch at you, Rabastan. As I said, what's
done is done. I know that you had no way to refuse the orders given to
you and I would very much rather have you here with me, alive and well,
even at the cost of another life. I didn't know this Scrimgeour, I'd never
met him, and though any loss of life is a sad event, I'd still much rather
you be here with me."
Rabastan felt confident enough then to reach out and take Harry's hand,
giving it a gentle squeeze.
"I love you." He said gently.
That made Harry smile automatically, and he turned to look his fiancé in
the eyes. Those beautiful dark blue eyes.
"I love you too." Harry said, before bending over to give Rabastan a kiss.
"This does mean that we are free to go on that holiday now in three
days." Rabastan pointed out.
Harry nodded. "I was getting worried that perhaps we'd have to delay
that, or cancel it altogether."
"I never would have done that to you." Rabastan declared immediately.
"Regardless of how stressed Rodolphus and I have been for the last week,
we were always going to get the deed done before that holiday."
"I would not have allowed him to miss it." Rodolphus insisted without
looking up at them, still scouring the newspaper article with a small,
cruel smile.
"I'm packed already." Harry giggled. "I'm so excited I can't wait!"
Rabastan smiled to see his excitement, and he caught Harry's shoulders
and pulled him into another kiss.
"I'm glad to see you so happy." He said sincerely.
Harry grinned at him. "I'm happy to be happy if it gets me so many kisses
so early in the morning."
Rabastan laughed at that and kissed him once more, but Lucius took that
moment to walk into the dining room and they had to stop or risk being
chastised like naughty toddlers.
"Good morning, Father." Harry greeted happily.
"You are very flushed this morning." Lucius told him, giving him a stern
look.
"I'm just excited for the holiday." Harry explained. "I've already packed
I'm that excited."
"Just remember that you have your testing today." Lucius told him.
Harry nodded. "I Apparated downstairs this morning, for practice. I'm
doing well and I'm hopeful that I'll pass."
"I am sure that you will. Remember your theory and the three Ds."
"Destination, determination, and deliberation." Harry repeated dutifully.
Lucius nodded happily. "Good. Keep your calm, keep your head and
you'll do fine."
Harry nodded and grinned, he was happy enough, and while slightly
nervous about the test, it was alright and he was sure that he would pass.
He was Apparating in the house well enough, and he knew the theory,
now all he had to do was show both to his instructor and he'd have his
licence.
Once Lucius was up, and reading the paper, with barely a glance to the
Lestrange brothers over the front-page article, the morning progressed as
normal, as Harry lounged on Rabastan in the front parlour.
"If you killed Scrimgeour before midnight, why were you and Dolphus
still awake this morning?" Harry asked curiously, as Rabastan smothered
another wide yawn.
Rabastan looked at him like a deer in the headlights, clearly warring with
himself about what to say.
"We had to debrief our Lord of the successful mission." Rodolphus put in
before Rabastan finished his internal debate.
"That took seven hours?" Harry asked curiously.
"It did take some hours, yes. We were home just before three in the
morning." Rabastan said a little hesitantly.
"But…why didn't you go to bed?" Harry asked them.
"We decided it was better to stay awake for a few hours, as we need to
take our potions, rather than get two hours of sleep and wake up to take
them." Rodolphus insisted. "But now that I am settled, I will be going to
bed now for several hours. Basti, you should too."
"I will see Harry off to his licencing test first." Rabastan insisted firmly.
"I'm going to be fine. If the tables were reversed I'd be going to bed, you
know I would. I did it before, remember? When I stayed awake nearly all
night to finish my homework and after dinner, I went straight to bed?"
Rabastan grinned to remember the first day of the winter holidays. "I
remember, but I would still rather be here when you leave."
Harry sighed. "Okay, but promise me that you'll get some sleep today."
"I shall."
Harry laid back on Rabastan and re-read the important points from his
Apparation theory book, as he waited for his test time to come around.
He was to be tested at half-past eleven, so when eleven O'clock rolled
around he was dressed impeccably, his shoes shined, ready for his trip to
the Ministry. He kissed a very tired Rabastan goodbye, and he headed
through the floo to the Ministry for his test, and Rabastan headed to bed,
to get a few hours of sleep.
He had chosen to go alone now that he was a legal adult. Lucius and
Narcissa didn't like the idea of it, but Harry had insisted. It would look
better if he, Lord Potter-Black, did these sorts of things alone now that he
was legally an adult, despite the fact that he still had a year left of
schooling.
He used floo powder to get to the Ministry, now much better at landing
than he had once been, back when he used to slide out of the grate on his
back, and he walked straight-backed, head high, right past the security
guard, who had been taught all the names and faces of the lords and
ladies, thus did not bother to stop him as he went past the golden gates
and into a smaller hall, with twenty lifts behind golden grilles. Harry
made his way to an open lift with several other people and tucked
himself in the back, so no one would be standing behind him.
He heard the whispering and tittering going on in front of him, and he
aimed a blank, steady stare at those who turned around to get a better
look at him, but he affected to ignore it for the most part. He was above
such things now, he was seventeen, a legal adult and he needed to
behave as such.
The lift stopped on level seven, admitting several of the pale violet paper
aeroplanes, but no one got in or out. On level six, the Department for
Magical Transportation, Harry extracted himself from the lift and ignored
the conjecture going on back in the lift. Surely it was obvious that he was
going for his Apparation licence given his age and destination?
He walked past the Floo Network Authority and carried on down the
corridor until he found the correct door for the Apparation Test Centre.
He took a deep breath and calmed himself, focused his mind, and he
walked into the office. He would be coming back out with his Apparation
licence, he was determined to pass first time.
Harry had passed his test with absolutely no problems and he had taken
great pleasure in Apparating legally from the Ministry atrium to Malfoy
Manor two hours after leaving it that morning.
Draco had been the first to shout out his congratulations, striding to
Harry before he'd even got his bearings back to pull him into a hug.
Harry had told everyone that he'd passed first time, with not a single hair
out of place, and that his instructor had called him a natural.
Rabastan had given him his own congratulatory hug and Harry had held
onto him happily, going to sit down next to him on the settee, where his
mother had said how proud she was of him, of both him and Draco for
passing their licence testing and she had even suggested, with the hint of
a smile, that if they both passed their exams with top marks too, that
they could have a small party to celebrate, now that they were both
growing into very fine young men.
It was about ten O'clock at night now, and Harry had said his goodnights
to everyone, especially Rabastan who was very much in favour of getting
an early night, as he was about ready to drop from exhaustion after
pulling an all-nighter and getting just an hour and a half of sleep during
the day.
Harry was taking his time getting himself ready for bed, as he thought
about which book he wanted to read for a bit before going to sleep. He
was already in his pyjamas and he'd brushed his teeth and washed his
face, and as he came back into his bedroom he went to his bed and took
out a little hand-drawn countdown sheet from the back of his bedside
drawer and he crossed off another day towards his holiday as he'd once
done to count down the days until he could go back to Hogwarts. It was
perhaps a little childish, given his age and status now, but he figured that
no one else had to know of the little habit he'd formed, as he smiled at
the chart. Only two more days to go and he was so very excited.
He was interrupted by the appearance of Kreacher not two feet from him,
and Harry's heart leapt into his throat at the sudden presence of the
house-elf in his bedroom.
"Kreacher." He gasped, a hand to his heart. "What is it? Are you okay?"
"Master told Kreacher to report to him only when he was alone."
Kreacher explained and Harry, now suitably calm and breathing easier,
nodded his understanding.
"Is this about the Order of the Phoenix?" He asked. He really should have
expected something like this after the news in the Daily Prophet that
morning.
Kreacher nodded his head, his ears flapping.
"A most important meeting has just ended." Kreacher told him.
Harry nodded. "Come and tell me about it, Kreacher."
Harry went out into his sitting room and he sat on the rug in front of his
fireplace and he offered the spot in front of him to Kreacher, who
hesitantly sunk down onto his knees in front of him.
"What were they talking about?" Harry asked calmly.
"You, and the Dark Lord, and the Daily Prophet."
"I assume this has to do with the death of Rufus Scrimgeour?"
Kreacher nodded his head again, his bat-like ears flapping furiously.
"Yes, Master. They know the Auror's death has to do with the Dark Lord."
"Do they know why?" Harry asked, thinking hard and considering what
he was being told. Of course they would have called an immediate
meeting to discuss the nature of the front-page news. It wasn't too much
of a leap to figure out that it was Voldemort's doing, but did they know
why Voldemort had wanted Scrimgeour dead?
"No, Master." Kreacher insisted. "They don't know why the old Auror was
killed."
Harry breathed in deeply. "That's good. What were they saying about
me?"
"That you is not being cooperative." Kreacher said.
Harry laughed. "Well, that's one way of putting it. Did they make any
suggestions on how to remedy my uncooperativeness?"
Kreacher nodded his head, his ears flapping once more.
"They is wanting to force you to fight, but they is not knowing how."
"Still with that line of action, are they? I had hoped for better from
them."
"No, Master. Your wolf was not letting them force you."
Harry smiled. "Yeah, Remus is being great. I'm worried that they'll go
behind his back and do it anyway, though. I'll make sure to be on my
guard for such things."
"He was very angry with them all, he was standing and banging his fists
against your new table."
"The full moon isn't until the seventeenth." Harry mused. "He must really
be fed up with their shit if he's losing his temper that badly without the
influence of the moon."
"Dumblydore was telling the others that you were lost, and needed to be
brought back to the light." Kreacher told him as if forcing himself to
recall the exact words.
"That would have set Remus off." Harry nodded. "He's seen me, I've
spoken to him, and explained my reasoning, and he knows that I'm not
lost. I just don't want to be a puppet any longer. He understands that."
He wasn't going to be the one to sacrifice his own life so that others could
live. He'd already had a pretty shitty life with the Dursleys, and they had
almost killed him via the hypocalcaemia he'd gotten thanks to their lack
of care.
He hadn't properly explored what it meant to be living, and up until his
adoption, he'd been merely existing, trying to survive in a world that
seemed to be dead set against him. No more. He wanted to live his life to
the fullest that he could. He wanted the whole experience, love, family,
marriage, children, and his own home and career. He wanted to explore
all of life's little pleasures, every corner of the planet. He would build
himself up to be the best person that he possibly could be, and he would
start changing the world for the better. To be a kinder, more tolerant
place to live in.
"Did everyone apart from Remus agree with Dumbledore?" Harry asked
curiously.
"There were some who did not voice an opinion, Master." Kreacher told
him. "Not that Kreacher could see. Some agreed with Dumblydore, some
just nodded along. Only Master's wolf stood up for him."
Harry sighed. "I expected no less. Thank you for coming to tell me,
Kreacher. You have done well. Keep watching them and report
everything to me."
Kreacher bowed and then he was gone. Harry fell back onto the rug with
a groan, looking up at his Artex ceiling that was patterned with fans. Just
what he bloody needed. Dumbledore trying to justify forcing him to fight
by claiming that he was just lost and needed to be manipulated back into
doing Dumbledore's bidding. The worst part of that was that there were
clearly other members of the Order who believed Dumbledore and agreed
with him. Though Harry was thankful that Remus didn't seem to be one
of those people.
Harry hefted himself up, going back into his bedroom and he climbed
onto his bed, slipping under the covers and laying still, but his mind was
racing.
Of course Scrimgeour's death would have been the main focus of the
meeting. It was easily worked out that it was Voldemort's doing, even
with the Ministry trying to claim that it was the work of a witch or
wizard with a grudge against the Head Auror. That had actually
happened in the past, some lowlife got released from Azkaban after their
sentence was over and took their revenge upon the one they saw as
putting them there, which was never themselves for their behaviour, but
always the one who had either captured them, or the one who had
sentenced them.
But Harry could understand that it was easily pinned on Voldemort, it
didn't take a genius to realise that he was the one behind a prominent
figure in wizarding society being killed, but the Order didn't know why.
They didn't know that Pius Thicknesse was under the Imperius curse,
they didn't know that in the next week or so that Fudge would be booted
out of office and that the next Minister for Magic had been a tossup
between Rufus Scrimgeour and Pius Thicknesse. It had been orchestrated
so that Thicknesse was the only viable option left for the job, thus putting
Voldemort in charge of the Ministry of Magic itself.
Harry sighed and he was at least grateful that the Order had no idea who,
exactly, had killed Scrimgeour, or for what purpose. Hopefully, by the
time that they realised that Voldemort was manoeuvring Pius Thicknesse
into place to be the next Minister for Magic, it would be too late to stop
it. But if Kreacher got any word from the Order about those plans, and
about Pius Thicknesse, then Harry would have a very big decision to
make. Did he ignore the information and plead ignorance, ruining all of
Rabastan's work and planning? Or did he effectively help his fiancé, and
Voldemort and his agenda by association, by letting them know that the
Order was onto them and they had to alter their plans accordingly?
Harry sighed more heavily and rubbed at his head before turning over
onto his side, pushing a hand up under his pillow. He tried to make his
mind blank so that he could fall asleep, but the more he got mixed up in
all of this mess, the harder he found it to switch off his thoughts, and the
harder he found it to sleep. He was only just seventeen, he shouldn't have
so much on his plate that it prevented him from sleeping.
Harry breathed in, and breathed out, forcing his breathing to slow down,
purposefully only thinking of Rabastan, and nothing about Scrimgeour,
the Ministry, Dumbledore, or Voldemort. He just wanted to sleep and
rest, but it was a very long time in coming, and it took him forever to be
able to relax and forget about everything that he'd learned today. He was
taking on too damn much, he would have to learn to juggle it all better
before he let slip something that was vitally important to the wrong
person, or forgot to do something that exposed either himself or worse,
Rabastan. He couldn't allow that to happen, he needed to get better, he
needed to learn quickly and improve himself. No good would come of
him forgetting himself and potentially betraying his family.
The second week of August was by far Harry's favourite part of the
summer holidays. It marked the start of his holiday with Rabastan and he
was delighted by the small Fijian island that was owned entirely by the
Malfoy family. There was only one large, lavish villa on the entire island,
which was covered in tropical trees to the south, behind the villa, and a
large, sandy shore to the front, which the villa opened right onto.
The week before had been very busy preparing for the holiday, packing
what they'd need, and Harry had needed to take his Apparation test for
his licence too, and he had of course passed, as everyone had insisted
that he would from the beginning.
But now, as he woke up to his first day in a tropical paradise, the doors
that led onto the beach front thrown wide open to let in the breeze that
blew in from the ocean, he sighed happily, completely relaxed.
An arm tightened around him and he grinned sleepily. This was the best
part of being away from everyone. He and Rabastan were sharing a bed
together, and yes, they had to be careful. Harry had to go home off of
this holiday as a virgin still, which he thought was utterly ridiculous.
What did it matter if he lost his virginity now? He was marrying
Rabastan anyway. He understood that he couldn't have a baby right now,
not with his NEWTs coming up, but to force them to abstain completely
from sex was ridiculously over-controlling in his opinion. He sighed and
pushed those thoughts away. He wouldn't let the overly elaborate
pureblood traditions ruin this holiday for him. This was just the first of
many, and once they were married no one could tell him what he could
or couldn't do with his own husband. He grinned. Their honeymoon was
going to be their first holiday as newlyweds, their first holiday where
they could have sex and do whatever they wanted with one another, but
for now, for this holiday, he had to be contented with just being allowed
to sleep in the same bed as Rabastan without anyone barging in on them
and glaring, or chastising them for doing more than holding hands.
He wriggled on the very comfortable bed and rolled onto his back to look
at Rabastan, who was still sleeping beside him. He took in a deep breath
and smiled. He was too excited to stay here while awake, however, he
wanted to go and explore the island. He wanted to actually go and look
at the ocean now that it was daylight…his first ever look at the sea had
been on the way to and from the cave that had held the locket Horcrux,
or rather the fake one, and that was not a good memory.
He wanted new memories, better memories, so he slid from the bed,
grabbed his glasses from the bedside table and jammed them on his face
before he walked right out of the bedroom doors and onto the beach. It
made him smile as the beautiful white sand was already warm under his
bare feet.
He could hear the waves, and it did remind him of the cave, but the
brightness, the warmth of the already rising sun, it was all new and he
pushed away any comparisons between the two. This was good. This was
new and beautiful. It was everything that that cave, and the visit to the
icy cold ocean at night, wasn't.
He padded right down to the edge of the sand, where the water was
lapping and he just stood and listened. Looking out at the calm, crystal
clear water of the beautiful ocean. He felt a sense of peace here, like
nothing could hurt him or upset him. It was a wonderful feeling and he
closed his eyes, feeling the sun on his face, and the sand under his feet
and he just breathed in the salty air. He never wanted to leave.
Arms wrapped around him, but Harry knew that they could only belong
to one person. This island was warded, and only one person was here
with him.
"It's beautiful here." He said softly.
"I'm glad you like it." Rabastan's sleep gruff voice sounded in his ear.
"I love it. This is…it's going to sound stupid, but when I was a child
before I knew I was a wizard, this would have been the sort of place I
would have called magical."
Rabastan kissed the side of his head and Harry turned in his arms to put
his own arms around Rabastan's neck.
"I needed this." He said, before pulling himself up to kiss Rabastan's
mouth.
Rabastan actually picked him up and Harry wrapped his legs around him.
"Are you okay to do this?" Harry asked breathlessly.
"I've been getting stronger in recent weeks." Rabastan said. "I don't find
your weight too much to handle anymore."
Harry kissed him again just for that.
"You know, this is the part where normal couples would go straight back
to the bedroom and not come back out for a good few hours." Harry
sighed. "Want some breakfast instead?"
Rabastan laughed. "I would much rather take you to bed, but you know
the moment you go home you'll be tested, they don't trust either of us
together, so I think breakfast is the safer option."
Harry was placed back on his feet when they reached the villa, and
passing through the bedroom he led the way to the large, beautiful
kitchen. It had been fully stocked for their holiday and would remain so
for the duration of their visit.
He went to the fridge and looked at everything, just to check what they
had in. They had arrived late last night, to make up for the time
difference, and checking the fridge and cupboards had not been high on
either of their priorities. Harry grinned as he remembered exactly what
they had done before curling up in bed together, it was just a shame that
they couldn't have done more.
Harry pulled out several things and went searching the cupboards for the
utensils he needed. He was perfectly fine now, the hypocalcaemia was
completely reversed, but Rabastan was still on his potion and diet
regime, and still needed to stick to that, so Harry catered around those
requirements. He knew Rabastan's diet sheet by memory anyway.
"At least you'll know before next week if I'm a good cook or not." Harry
smiled, referring to the formal, several-course dinner that he had had to
cook for his family and his in-laws.
"You're not going to allow the house-elves to cook?" Rabastan asked,
shocked.
Harry shook his head. "I won't have any house-elves here unless
necessary. I'm on holiday."
"How can you be on holiday if you're cooking?" Rabastan demanded.
"I enjoy it! Now stop complaining and let me cook."
Harry cracked six eggs into a bowl and whisked them up. He was going
to start with a simple omelette with wholemeal toast. Leaving the eggs,
he grated cheese (the normal cheddar and not any of the gross cheeses
he'd had over Christmas), before he diced up some red onions,
mushrooms and a mix of green and yellow bell peppers.
"What are you even making?" Rabastan asked him, watching intently
from the small, four-seater round table.
"Wait and see, nosy."
Rabastan chuckled at him, but he did sit and watch him quietly, as Harry
put the bread under the grill and went to find two plates.
"Would you like tea with your breakfast?" Harry asked.
"Please, love."
Harry gave a happy smile to Rabastan and filled the china teapot with
water and put it on the hob next to his pan of frying onions, mushrooms,
and peppers. He never would have done that with a normal teapot, for
fear that it would crack, but it was a magical teapot, and it had been
warded against such things. Harry found two cups on a wooden mug tree
and he set them up ready along with the strainer and tea leaves, as he
knew that Rabastan preferred them to tea bags.
Relaxed and calm, and very used to juggling the different components of
making a meal thanks to the Dursleys and the threat of a physical
punishment if he messed anything up, Harry kept his eye on the bread,
flipping it over when the one side was nicely browned. He poured the
beaten eggs into the pan of fried vegetables and left it alone while he
took out the toast and set to buttering it, before moving to take the
whistling teapot from the flames and scooping in a few teaspoons of tea
leaves and leaving it to steep.
"It smells delicious." Rabastan insisted.
Harry sent him a quick smile over his shoulder but turned back to keep
an eye on his eggs. Once cooked to fluffy perfection Harry placed the
grated cheese over the top and folded the one half over the other before
he sliced the toast into halves and put them onto their respective plates.
He went back to the teapot and poured out two cups of tea through the
strainer, taking them over to the table, before coming back for the teapot,
as Rabastan was undoubtedly going to have another cup before he
finished eating.
Going back to check on the omelette, Harry made sure that the cheese
had suitably melted before slicing it in half in the pan and putting one
half on each plate.
He made sure that everything was switched off before taking both plates
over to the table and serving Rabastan happily.
"Enjoy, my dearest love." He grinned as he sat beside his fiancé.
He started eating to distract himself, but it was impossible to miss
Rabastan's surprised moan of delight.
"This is amazing, Harry." He declared passionately.
Harry hummed happily, chewing and swallowing. "I'm glad that you like
it. I made sure to stick to your diet sheet. There's no reason healthy food
can't be delicious too."
"I'm really looking forward to you cooking a formal dinner now."
Rabastan laughed, cutting another, bigger, piece of the omelette and
popping it into his mouth.
"I'm really going to be cooking it for you. You're the one I want to like it,
no one else."
"If it is anything like this then you have nothing to worry about."
Harry smiled and ate his own breakfast. He liked hearing that Rabastan
enjoyed his cooking because he was adamant that they would not be
having any house-elves in his own home as Rabastan couldn't treat them
with respect and dignity. As that was the case, then all of the cooking
would be put onto himself, but he really didn't mind that if the
alternative was having an abused creature living in terror and pain in his
own home.
Once he'd finished he put his plate in the sink and stretched.
"I'm going to grab a shower, Basti." He said. "I want to explore every inch
of this little island before the day is over."
"If that is what you want to do." Rabastan nodded, even as he cut up the
last bits of omelette.
"Call me if you need anything!"
Harry hurried to the beautiful bathroom, all pale stone and glass, and he
stood under the waterfall shower head, wondering how in the hell he was
going to drag himself away from this beautiful paradise in six days.
"I thought that you wanted to see the island? Or do you just want to stay
in the shower all day?" Rabastan teased from the other side of the glass.
"Of course, I'm not complaining, the view here is spectacular."
Harry laughed and shook his head. He left the water running and slipped
from the shower so that Rabastan could get in. It was the first time he'd
ever seen Rabastan naked and truthfully, he wouldn't be winning any
bodybuilding contests, but it wasn't as bad as Harry had been expecting.
There were still some odd juts of bone that shouldn't have been there,
most prominent of which were Rabastan's collar bones and the top part of
his ribcage.
"I'll look better in several more months." Rabastan said quietly, rather
insecurely, and Harry immediately shot his gaze up to Rabastan's face.
His smile was automatic, and genuine, as he stepped back into the
shower, and cupped the face of the man he loved.
"I've never been so shallow as to care about the physical appearance of
people I care about, Rabastan. I just want you to be healthy. I want you
to be fit and healthy, ready to chase our children, and me, around our
own home. I want you to be healthy enough to enjoy life, to enjoy our
relationship. I want you to have fun and stop caring so much about what
you look like. It doesn't matter to me, it never has."
Rabastan pulled him into his body and held him there, dipping his head
to kiss him soundly. Harry did not care in the slightest about touching
those odd lumps or the concave dips. The potions were working on the
more serious internal damage first, as the most important.
He took the time to explore silky, wet skin, running his hands all over as
their kiss deepened and intensified.
He broke apart from Rabastan with a tortured moan and stepped back.
"Do you think that will be on the test when we get back?" Harry
complained, having to physically put space between them to remind
himself that he couldn't have what he most desperately wanted.
Rabastan was breathing hard too and his eyes were rather dazed and
unfocused.
"Okay, so no being wet and naked together. I'm going to go and get
dressed. I think this holiday is just going to frustrate me more than relax
me."
"I'll make it up to you." Rabastan called out, his voice gruff and Harry
shivered to hear it.
"I very much look forward to it." Harry shot over his shoulder, as he
made a hasty escape to the bedroom.
He felt a little awkward, aroused and naked as he was, standing in full
view of the beach with the open French doors, but he calmly reminded
himself that no one else was here. No one could see him. Still, he dried
himself off and dressed rather quickly.
He was stood outside, on the little wooden slatted porch that kept the
sand from getting into the villa. Rabastan came out to join him and
wrapped his arms around him. Harry was wearing shorts and a plain tee-
shirt, but Rabastan was still wearing his formal trousers and a white
buttoned shirt, which was unbuttoned at the collar, but he was wearing a
pair of cufflinks. Neither of them were wearing socks or shoes and Harry
was at least thankful that Rabastan had forgone the usual set of robes.
"It's much too hot to be dressed up like that." Harry sighed.
"I'm a wizard and I can cast a cooling charm, but please, continue to wear
less and less, I enjoy the view." Rabastan told him, giving Harry an
appreciative look.
Harry laughed but slipped his arm through Rabastan's.
"I can't wait to see every inch of this island."
Rabastan allowed Harry to pull him wherever he wanted, following
leisurely as Harry sometimes darted off to look at bushes or trees, and
once he'd run down to the ocean to kick his bare feet in the water. He
was like a child, but Rabastan found that he couldn't hold it against his
young fiancé, not when this was Harry's first holiday in his life, not after
what he'd heard those disgusting muggle beasts had done to him.
As the sun set that night, they were still outside the villa, having come
back briefly for lunch and dinner, and Rabastan found the peaceful calm
relaxing, as he lounged on the still-warm sand, Harry lying beside him,
his head, as usual, was pillowed on his chest. They were listening to the
crash of the waves, and the night calls of insects and birds. Harry had the
most beautiful smile on his face, even as they watched the sun set beyond
the horizon.
"This is perfection." Rabastan said softly.
Harry looked up at him, his smile widening, those beautiful eyes that
Rabastan loved so much flashing golden in the light of the setting sun.
"Must we go back?" Harry asked, brushing his nose against Rabastan's
chest before looking back out at the sun sinking beyond the ocean.
"We have much that still needs to be done, foremost among them your
seventh year of schooling. You cannot do anything in this world if you
haven't graduated."
Harry hummed. "I suppose it would be difficult to become Minister for
Magic if I haven't graduated."
Rabastan chuckled and raised a hand to Harry's fluffy hair. "Nigh on
impossible." He agreed. "No one would be willing to hire a person who
has not graduated their fundamental education. Not even Harry Potter."
Harry shot him a stern look, then chuckled himself. "I suppose not. I just
hate it there. It's a shame because before any of this happened, Hogwarts
was my home. Now, I just don't want to be anywhere near Dumbledore."
"One more year." Rabastan said soothingly.
Harry sent him a full grin then. "We'll be married in a year. This could be
our honeymoon."
Rabastan laughed and bent his head to kiss Harry. "Our honeymoon will
be better." He whispered, loving the way that Harry shivered against him.
Harry turned the tables on him by swinging a leg over his lap and turning
to face him, straddling him. He automatically sat forward and wrapped
his arms around Harry's back.
Their lips met in the next instance, gently at first, but a moment later
their mouths opened and the kiss became more passionate. Rabastan
tried to keep a clear head, just for the sake of their families and tradition,
but it was difficult to keep focusing on that when Harry was so eager and
willing in his lap.
Rabastan had to place a hand on Harry's chest and physically push him
back to separate them. They were both breathing hard and he had to
swallow at the look on Harry's face.
"Let's go to bed." Harry all but purred at him, standing and offering his
hand.
"We shouldn't in this state." Rabastan insisted, trying to be the voice of
reason.
"Yes, we should." Harry argued. "It's about time that we found all those
loopholes in our contract. Last night was a great start, but all we did was
kiss and cuddle. I need more."
Rabastan swallowed hard as Harry grinned down at him, giving him such
a predatory look. He took a breath and took Harry's hand, standing. This
was a bad idea. They both knew that they didn't have any self-control
when it came to such things, and doing this, it was bound to get out of
hand. But neither could Rabastan resist, Harry was like a Siren, a
beautiful, tempting Siren who smiled at him in such a naughty way, who
had a hold of his hand pulling him along, so very beautiful and alluring.
Harry led the way back into the villa, right into their bedroom, and he let
go of Rabastan's hand to strip off his tee-shirt. He climbed onto the bed
and kicked off his shorts, leaving himself in just his boxer briefs.
Rabastan was again completely dumbstruck by Harry's beauty, as he took
in all the pale skin on offer.
"I distinctly remember you promising to kiss every inch of my body."
Harry told him with a grin.
Rabastan swallowed so hard that his Adam's apple bobbed. He had
promised that to Harry. He'd also promised to use his naked body as a
plate to eat chocolate mousse. He could feel his blood heating up, as he
unbuttoned his shirt.
Harry immediately sat forward and reached for his hand, taking care to
remove the cufflinks. He put them both back into their case on the
bedside table before turning to grin at him again. Rabastan's heart missed
a beat and he considered that this was the first time he had ever fallen in
love with anyone. He was hopelessly besotted with Harry, he wouldn't be
able to bear it if Harry left him now.
Missing scene. Can be found on AO3 - links in profile.
Harry was breathing hard, his body shaking, his eyes closed, and he
looked utterly perfect to Rabastan. He couldn't help bending over to kiss
those glistening lips as he waited for Harry to regain his breathing.
"So, that was amazing." Was the first thing that Harry told him, opening
his eyes to grin up at him.
Rabastan laughed and reached down to tug the duvet over them both, as
the open French doors let in a chill sea breeze that caught the sweat still
glistening on their skin.
"You are amazing." Rabastan told Harry seriously.
"Are we going to sleep now?" Harry asked confusedly, as he was covered
over.
"Yes. I do not think it wise to test our control any further tonight."
"But, I haven't reciprocated."
Rabastan snorted indelicately. "I'm afraid if you did then we would go too
far. We have done enough, for tonight at least. There is always
tomorrow." Rabastan placated, as it looked like Harry might argue. He
would have to teach Harry that sex was not tit for tat and that sometimes
he could have a sexual favour without being expected to return it.
"Fine, but tomorrow night, you're mine." Harry declared.
Rabastan laughed.
"No, I mean it. I want to learn, and I want to try out all the ways you've
taught me tonight, and try out a few of my own ideas."
"We're not going to survive this holiday." Rabastan sighed.
"But what a way to go, my love." Harry grinned cheekily. "Death by
sexual tension."
Rabastan laughed again, but threw an arm over Harry and pulled him in
tight to his body. Harry pillowed his head on his chest and snuggled in.
Rabastan noted that his glasses were off and on the bedside table, next to
the box containing his cufflinks.
He settled the duvet more comfortable around them both and turned
slightly, not enough to dislodge Harry, but enough to make himself more
comfortable on his back. He very, very much enjoyed having Harry in
bed with him.
Their holiday was peaceful and Harry was enjoying himself immensely.
On their fifth day, they were inside, on the clean, pure white settee, just
lounging together. Harry was laying on his back, his head in Rabastan's
lap, reading the law book that Xerxes had gifted to him, while Rabastan
sat, staring at the wall, stroking Harry's hair.
"How are you getting on with it?" Rabastan asked him, turning to look at
him, breaking his own thoughts.
Harry considered the question, before sighing, sitting up and closing the
book.
"Honestly? It's a very dry read." He admitted, putting the book on the
coffee table and pushing his glasses back up his nose.
Rabastan turned to face him and Harry smiled at him.
"I know that you'll get through it."
Harry hummed. "I'll have to if I ever want to write and pass my own
laws. Like most things, the process is much more difficult than I
previously expected."
Rabastan gave him a soft smile. "Of course the process is difficult, my
love. Most people don't even bother to try to change the laws because the
process is so difficult and intricate and, at the end, it can still be
stonewalled or outright rejected. I'm proud of you for even trying to
undertake the process, but I'll be even more so when you actually achieve
it because I know that you will."
Harry gave a big grin to Rabastan. "I can hardly fail with so much
support around me."
"We, your family, want to build you up and watch you succeed. Your
successes are also our own, so of course we're going to try our hardest to
help you achieve what you wish to."
Harry smiled and turned to lay himself against Rabastan's shoulder.
"My schedule is so full, but I'll always make time for you. Of course, I'll
also be forced to slow down when I am pregnant. I would hate to risk our
child, but I'll cut out what I can."
Rabastan kissed the side of Harry's head. "I will, of course, do my all to
help you."
They lapsed into a comfortable silence. Truly, if nothing else, this holiday
had proven that they could, in fact, live together quite happily. They
didn't need several other people around them to steer the conversation,
they didn't need distractions or outside influencers. They were very
happy on their own, with one another as company.
Harry was, in fact, imagining that they were already living together and
that this idyllic, peaceful villa was his own home. The home that he
shared with Rabastan. It was a wonderful fantasy, as this villa was now
perhaps one of his most favourite places in the world.
"What were you like when you were younger?" Harry asked curiously.
"I would rather not colour your view of me by telling you of such things."
"I love you, here and now, despite knowing what you've done, and what
you still do. I don't think telling me how you grew up will change that."
Rabastan sighed. "Well, Rodolphus and I were always close as children.
We were the other's primary friend being only three years apart from one
another. We played together, we learnt together at our grandfather's
knee. He was my big brother and I adored him to the point of emulating
him."
"Oh, I can see how that went wrong, with how psychotic Dolphus is."
Harry giggled. "I hope he keeps getting me chocolate organs."
"He wasn't always such a way." Rabastan sighed. "He has always been…
protective over me. He saw me as his, and he protects what is his with the
jealous passion of all purebloods, but he was never so violently inclined."
"When did that start?" Harry asked, trying to imagine Rodolphus without
the threat of violence that constantly hung around him.
Rabastan gave him what could only be described as a sad smile, and
Harry knew…he just knew exactly what had changed. His unhappy
marriage at the tender age of fifteen.
"When he got married." Rabastan told him, confirming Harry's thoughts.
Rabastan sighed and pulled Harry in tighter, wrapping an arm around his
shoulders and raising his hand to play with the hair at the back of his
head.
"It has never been a happy marriage, not once were either of them happy
with one another. Bellatrix, she was older than Rodolphus, and she had
none of the beauty that your mother has. You know that there were even
rumours when Narcissa was born that her mother, Druella, was
unfaithful. She was forced to take a test, like you were, to prove these
rumours false. Both of Narcissa's older sisters resembled one another, but
Narcissa took all the beauty, all the grace, that neither of her older sisters
had."
"She was matched very early on, wasn't she?" Harry asked.
"Oh yes, she was matched very quickly after her birth. To Evan Rosier."
Harry's eyes widened.
"Oh yes, she wasn't matched immediately to your father, she was
matched to someone else first. But, like with most pureblood families, it
was only to keep her safe, at least it was on the surface. You see, Evan
Rosier was Druella Rosier's younger brother and he was my grandfather.
His daughter, Rosia, was my mother."
Harry's head spun at the intricate web that was being laid out. He
considered actually writing all of this down to keep track of it.
"But, you're about the same age as my mother. She was born in nineteen-
fifty-five, and Rodolphus was born the following year."
"Narcissa was betrothed to her uncle to stop anyone from taking
advantage of her. So the Blacks could legitimately claim that she was
betrothed and not looking for suitors. As a very beautiful baby, and born
a member of the Black family too, she was in very high demand,
especially after her two less desirable sisters."
"How did she go from being betrothed to her own uncle to marrying my
father? And how were you and Rodolphus born just a year after, when…
your grandfather's wife had died, hadn't she? But she'd already had a
baby, your mother?"
Rabastan smiled at him. "Exactly that, Harry. My mother was already a
grown woman, just a month or two after Narcissa was betrothed to Evan
she was matched to my father, Rhadamanthus, and that is how
Rodolphus and I were born. But Evan was free and able to be matched to
his niece because his wife was already dead at this point."
"So Evan Rosier's wife had died, and he was matched to his own niece,
what happened then?"
"It was supposed to be for security, to give the Blacks a chance to regroup
and hunt down the perfect match for their beautiful baby girl. Evan
Rosier had a much darker purpose in mind, however."
"He actually wanted to marry Narcissa himself? His own niece?!"
Rabastan nodded. "He did."
"But betrothals are easily broken. I read through our contract critically, I
damn near analysed it and the wording and both of us could have broken
it at any time!"
"Not all betrothal contracts are the same, Harry, and your father was very
canny with his wording. But Druella trusted her brother. Her husband,
Cygnus, also trusted him, they both believed that he was doing them a
great service by giving them the room they needed to find a suitable
match for Narcissa without being hounded into the ground and
potentially insulting other families in the process."
"They couldn't break the contract?"
"No. When they finally made a match between the Malfoy family and
moved to give Narcissa the proper, respectable match that she deserved,
with the only son and heir of the Malfoy line, Lucius, Evan refused to
break the contract. He insisted that he would be married to his beautiful
niece, that he could get a son for the Rosier line from her, as his elder
brother, Lord Vincent, was childless at this time. In fact, I believe his only
child, a daughter, is even younger than you are."
"So how did the Blacks break the contract and how did mother end up
marrying father after all?" Harry asked, trying to absorb all of this
information.
"Just because Cygnus and Druella couldn't break the contract didn't mean
that Narcissa herself couldn't break it. They had to wait until she was
seventeen, a legal adult, and she had to break the contract herself, after
being forced to comply with all the betrothal prerequisites and interact
with the man who tried to force her to marry himself. She grew to hate
her uncle, she despised him, as most other purebloods did too. It is the
worst nightmare of pureblooded parents; their child being locked into a
contract that they can't get out of. Most times it's a verbal oath that
they've made in their ignorance, or it's a legal contract that they've signed
unknowingly because they signed something without reading or
understanding it properly."
"I've had a lot more care with my words since reading about binding
verbal oaths." Harry nodded. "I understand the significance of giving a
gift and expecting nothing in return and giving a gift in exchange for
something else. I know how to word something to create a verbal oath,
and I've also learnt to recognise when someone is trying to turn a simple
exchange into a verbal oath."
"I assume that you did as such with the Dark Lord?" Rabastan asked,
disapproval heavy in his tone.
Harry nodded. "I did, yes. I made a verbal contract with him, he
safeguards my family, including future generations, and I exchange that
for Gryffindor's sword so that he could make his new Horcrux. He knew
that I was turning the exchange into a verbal contract, I could see him
mulling it over carefully, but in the end, he really, really wanted that
sword. So he agreed, thus completing the verbal contract between us."
Rabastan just sighed, but he said nothing. At the end of the day, it had
already been done and the Dark Lord had agreed to it himself. There was
nothing more to be said on the matter.
"It was Lucius who was the deciding factor in their marriage." Rabastan
carried on. "He, or his parents, could have easily made a match with
someone else. He was handsome, he was the sole heir of the Malfoy
family and he was a very desirable prospect to many. In fact, he was not
short on admirers, he could have had his pick. Ask him about the little
fan club that he had in school, he hates being reminded of it."
"Fan club?" Harry asked, giggling, trying to imagine it.
"Oh yes. The girls in Slytherin house were besotted with him, or with
Rodolphus. Sometimes both."
"Not you?"
"I am three years younger than Dolphus, but five years younger than
Lucius. When he was a seventh-year, with girls fawning around him from
all houses' mind, I was this scrawny little second-year who was still
growing into himself." Rabastan grinned. "No one paid any attention to
me, especially not as Dolphus was fifteen himself, and already sleeping
his way through the houses."
"Did you do that too?" Harry asked. Rabastan's face immediately closed
off and Harry had his answer.
"I…I don't know what to say."
Harry smiled softly. "Rabastan, I know that you're no virgin. I don't care
how many people you've slept with, as long as you're not doing that now,
behind my back, I don't care what you did in your youth. But, just a word
of warning, if you ever, ever, cheat on me, I'll have more than your
bollocks decorating my mantelpiece."
Rabastan snorted. "Why would I want to cheat on you? You are the best
thing that has ever happened to me in my life. I love you."
Harry smiled and bent forward to kiss him.
"So, you did emulate Rodolphus and start sleeping around?"
Rabastan sighed. "Yes, but we were cruel about it." He admitted. "We
slept with these girls, and in my case boys too, and then broke it off after
a week or two, and then laughed and joked as our ex-partners had to go
to lessons with red-rimmed eyes and tear tracks on their faces. We used
to take perverse pleasure in it."
"Why on earth would anyone go out with either of you if they knew that
that is what you did?" Harry asked, his face creased with a frown.
Rabastan grinned. "We were very handsome, Harry. Our inherited body
shape of wide shoulders and trim waists meant that these girls didn't
really care what had happened to the girls before them, they wanted us,
and they all believed that they would be the ones to change our minds,
that they alone could keep us. We exploited that mercilessly too. The
virginity clauses were much tighter when I was in Hogwarts. The
pureblooded girls could not have any relations with anyone or they
would lose their respectable betrothals and potential marriages and
would be utterly disgraced and shunned by society."
"So it was all halfblooded and muggleborn girls, and boys?" Harry asked.
"Or pureblooded boys who didn't have the carrier gene. It was very
common for pureblooded boys to sleep together in their youth, as long as
they never carried the gene. Of course, there were always girls who tried
to escape or cheat the tests and they were considered fair game once they
were disgraced, but they would try to trap a boy into marriage with a
pregnancy, so that was a very dangerous route to go down. If they
claimed that their baby was yours, and a test proved that it actually was,
then you would be forced to marry them for the legitimacy of the baby."
"Did you ever have any pregnancy scares?" Harry asked, thinking back to
Draco and Pansy, and to the Slytherin Quidditch chaser, Vaisey, whose
piece on the side was pregnant. He wondered what had happened with
that and if Vaisey had been forced to marry her after all, to keep the baby
legitimate, just as Rabastan had just described.
"No." Rabastan said firmly. "Rodolphus and I were always careful, and
our grandfather taught us both fertility charms before we even went to
Hogwarts. I will be teaching our sons the same. I don't want the
humiliating shame of a baby born out of wedlock in my family."
Harry nodded. "Hopefully, we will raise them well enough that they
won't even need to use those charms, but I understand where you're
coming from."
Having expected a fight over that, Rabastan deflated a little at hearing
that Harry actually agreed with him. He turned to kiss Harry's temple and
watched as those eyes lit up and a smile curved those plump lips. Harry
would never, never, find out about that mudblood bitch whom he had
potentially impregnated. Never.
"So, Narcissa broke the betrothal with her uncle and then married my
father?"
Rabastan hummed gently. "After Evan had proposed to her and had been
vehemently rejected."
"Of course she rejected him." Harry scoffed.
Rabastan nodded. "Yes, but he was so in love with her, as she grew to be
very, very lovely. He convinced himself that he was in love with her and
that she would reciprocate his feelings after seventeen years of forced
interaction. Love is blind and stupid at times."
Harry nodded his understanding. "I am so glad that she was able to break
her betrothal, I couldn't imagine the horror of being forced to marry and
have sex with my own uncle." An image of Vernon popped into his head
and Harry shivered in revulsion and snuggled into Rabastan to get rid of
it.
"He died in nineteen-eighty; an Auror raid. I don't believe that anyone
missed him." Rabastan told him.
They lapsed into silence again, sitting comfortably and calmly together.
"So, Rodolphus was made more violently inclined because he was
miserable?" Harry asked after a while, remembering what had started this
conversation before they'd taken a tangent.
Rabastan sighed and looked at Harry seriously. "That sort of unhappiness
can turn people into the worst versions of themselves. Rodolphus has
never been a saint…"
Harry snorted and even Rabastan chuckled.
"No, he's never been a saint, but he was never so deranged as he was,
forced to do his marital duty with Bellatrix once a week, she who didn't
love, or even like him, either. He started changing from that day, slowly
at first, but then much faster. He was quicker to anger, quicker to lash
out. He started learning more and more dark curses, and he wasn't afraid
to test them out on others. He lost all lust for life. He still carried on his
games though. I think, perhaps, that he was trying to force Bellatrix's
hand, or perhaps even Cygnus' by being unfaithful and he hoped that the
marriage would be broken. He stopped having sex with her when he was
seventeen, a legal adult, when the repercussions would fall solely on him,
and not our grandfather as our head of house."
"I hate Rhadamanthus even more now."
Rabastan sneered automatically at the mention of his father.
"I have always hated him." He declared passionately.
"No more talk about that now, we're on holiday, I won't let him spoil it."
Rabastan breathed out slowly to calm himself. He smiled and turned to
kiss Harry's lush mouth, distracting himself with more pleasurable things.
They would be going back to Malfoy Manor in just two more days, and
they had to make the most of the peace they had here while they could
because as soon as they went back they would be forced to adhere to the
strict chaperoned interactions that tradition dictated. Harry had promised
to show him what skinny dipping was after his fiancé had mentioned it
yesterday. All Rabastan knew was that it involved them being together,
swimming in the ocean at night, but something about Harry's naughty
grin made Rabastan believe that there was more to it than that and that
it probably wouldn't be allowed by the terms of their contract. He
couldn't wait to find out what it was.
Harry had been sad to say goodbye to Fiji, and the stunning villa that
they had stayed in, but it was nice to be back home though, as he and
Rabastan landed in the receiving room of Malfoy Manor and made their
way to the drawing room, where their family would be waiting for them.
Harry and Draco embraced the moment they saw one another and gave
each other a slap on the back.
"I actually missed you, Potter." Draco told him. "I never thought I'd say it,
but I have so much to tell you and catch you up on."
Harry laughed. "You big gossip."
"No, it's huge." Draco told him, excitedly.
Harry wondered if Theo had implemented his revenge on Daphne early,
despite insisting that he was going to do it over the winter holidays.
"I'm curious now, what's happened? I was only gone for a week."
"It's Pansy!" Draco told him with utter relish.
"Is she pregnant?"
"Not yet." Draco told him with a grin.
Harry frowned. "She's been betrothed again?"
Draco nodded, but he was much too happy about something.
"To Lucan Selwyn!" Draco laughed, unable to keep it in any longer.
"But, he's a seventy-year-old man! He sits on the Wizengamot and he's
hideous and slow-minded. Aren't all four of his daughters already
grown?"
"That's right."
"But, that's disgusting!" Harry said, utterly appalled.
"She's being punished for her transgressions!"
"Her transgressions with you!" Harry pointed out heatedly.
"It wasn't just me!" Draco replied, offended. "I was just the one to almost
get her pregnant. It was you who blew everything out of the water,
though."
"Me! How?"
"Don't you remember? It was you who told my father what happened,
and about Pansy's pregnancy scare. Father told her father, and she was
forced to take a test. She'd never had to do one before, her parents were
clueless as to what she was doing, and so was Warrington."
Harry frowned. "I didn't fully realise the implications of my words at the
time. It was the same day I found out about everything. The day that
father was called to see me at Gringotts."
"No, but don't feel so bad, it was her own fault. I said before it's up to
them to safeguard their own virginity. It's not my job to do it for them.
But at least she's betrothed again." Draco's nasty smile came back.
"Apparently, according to Blaise, Lucan Selwyn actually told Pansy's
father, Lord Paimon, that he would have preferred her untouched, but he
was grateful for the chance to get his own son."
"Didn't the Parkinson's try elsewhere first?" Harry asked.
"Well, you killed Rowle, so he was no longer available and the new Lord
Rowle, Giovanni, is not entertaining any witch from Britain."
Harry just glared at Draco for bringing that up when he'd just gotten
home from a wonderful holiday.
"Amycus Carrow flat out refused her. Blaise was disgusted that she'd even
dare go behind his back and formally ask his mother for a betrothal,
remember that I told you that Blaise was free to make his own match?
Well, he refused her, of course. Then I think Lord Paimon went and asked
Mark Flint, who laughed him out of the door when he asked for a match
with Marcus, and then he moved on to try and petition Theo, because
Pansy knows that he wants to sack off Daphne, but Philip Nott steadfastly
refused, not even when Pansy's dowry was doubled. He really wants that
Greengrass fortune. Finally, Pansy begged her father to try to break your
betrothal to Rabastan, so that she could have him."
"What?!" Harry demanded, all sympathy for her going right out the
window.
Draco nodded. "I know. It's such shameful behaviour to act so
desperately, but, of course, you and Rabastan are engaged and Xerxes
refused to even entertain Lord Parkinson, so, furious and humiliated after
his run of desperate pleading to find his disgraced daughter a match, he
decided to punish her for her actions by betrothing her to the only man
who would still have her. Lucan Selwyn."
"That…I have no idea what to say anymore."
"They're going to be married over the winter holidays." Draco told him,
smirking. "Lord Paimon doesn't want to run the risk of this betrothal
going south, or old Selwyn dying. So everyone is going to avoid Pansy
like the plague now come September, or at least the boys will, as she'll be
trying to trap someone, anyone, into marriage with a pregnancy."
That reminded Harry of what Rabastan had told him in Fiji, of the
disgraced pureblooded girls trying to trap the boys into a marriage with a
pregnancy when he had been attending Hogwarts. "It's no use telling me
that, I'm not going to want her. It's you who needs the reminder after you
almost knocked her up once." Harry said.
Draco shook his head. "I'm paying much more attention to Astoria. I…I'm
coming to love her. I'm not going to risk anything with Pansy, not again,
and I would never disgrace Astoria by sleeping with Pansy again. I don't
think I'd survive how miserable I'd become if I did get Pansy pregnant
and was forced to marry her over Astoria."
"Good. Astoria is much better for you."
"Harry, you have not even said hello." Narcissa interrupted.
"I'm so sorry, Mother. Draco has monopolised all of my attention." Harry
grinned.
Harry hugged her and got a kiss on the forehead. He went to Lucius next
and ignored the outstretched hand and just hugged him. He heard Lucius
sighing, but in the next moment, his father chuckled and held Harry tight
for a moment.
"You are supposed to be a man now, Harry. Do try to remember that."
"I will. In public." He insisted as he went to hug a laughing Xerxes.
"You have been missed terribly." Xerxes told him, smiling down at him as
Harry hugged him.
"Don't you come near me." Rodolphus insisted firmly, holding out an arm
as if to ward him off.
"Who says I want to?" Harry demanded before he grinned and darted
under Rodolphus' outstretched arm to hug him around the waist,
squeezing tight for a split second before darting off back to Rabastan,
laughing.
Rabastan was chuckling, and as Harry snuggled into him he laid a
protective arm over him, just in case Rodolphus retaliated.
"You are certainly in fine spirits." Xerxes commented.
"I've just come home from holiday, of course I am. Oh, the villa was so
beautiful! Our bedroom opened right onto the beach!"
"I think the most important thing to ask here is did you behave
yourselves?" Narcissa asked him.
"Define behave." Harry asked innocently.
"Harry." Lucius said warningly.
"We're not expecting a baby, we didn't have sex and I'm still a virgin." He
said blandly.
"Look me in the eyes and say that again." His mother insisted.
Harry looked her dead in the eyes. "We never had sex, I'm still a virgin,
and we're not having a baby until we're married."
Narcissa stared at him for another moment, before she smiled and
nodded. "I told you that they would behave."
"We should give them Veritaserum, just in case." Rodolphus insisted.
"No. I am satisfied that they stuck to the rules laid out for them."
"We said that we would trust them together, and we did so. We will trust
their word on this." Lucius added.
Harry and Rabastan shared a look, and Harry grinned, moving and
pulling Rabastan after him as he moved them to a settee, sitting next to
his fiancé and snuggling in.
"Rabastan. Did you do anything?" Rodolphus demanded of his brother.
"No, Dolphus. As Harry said, he is still a virgin, and we didn't have sex."
Rodolphus stared at his brother as if trying to force him by sheer force of
will to answer truthfully. He nodded once, sharply, and settled back into
his own seat.
"Has anything else of note happened?" Harry asked.
"There was one Wizengamot meeting called." His father told him. "Here
are the notes of the meeting that I requested for you, but as your proxy, I
voted in your name."
Harry took the parchment from his father and started reading through it.
"It was the additional information for the Egyptian artefact?" He asked
curiously, even as he started reading.
"It was. The artefact was meant to be a decoy, it was practically valueless
at the time it was sealed in the tomb, and only has any value now
because of its antiquity. But it was imbued with several very dark and
dangerous curses, one of which was a compulsion charm that attacked
those who were mentally weak to such things, much like the Imperius
curse."
"So it was diminished responsibility?" Harry asked, flicking his eyes up to
his father for a moment, before reading through the court notes and
shaking his head at some of the debates. He really wished he'd been there
for this, he'd have had so much fun ripping into these arguments.
"I knew that you would see it that way, so that is how I cast your votes."
Lucius told him.
"Thank you." Harry replied distractedly. "What is to become of the
artefact, it can't be destroyed, the history of it is too rich."
"It is going to be safely stored, now that it has been found to be more
dangerous than previously thought." Xerxes told him.
"The meeting was nothing more than this?" Harry asked.
"No. We received the additional information and the results of the testing
carried out, it was debated for a short time, and we were asked to vote
accordingly, and many voted in favour of diminished responsibility."
Harry handed the notes back. "Thank you for taking over my
responsibilities so that I wouldn't have to interrupt my holiday."
"Think nothing of it."
"Was that all?"
"Well, Lord Paimon did insult me terribly." Xerxes sniffed. Next to him,
Rodolphus clenched both hands into fists.
"What did he say?" Rabastan demanded furiously.
"He tried to get me to break your contract with Harry so that you would
be free to marry his sullied daughter. He was under the impression that
you would prefer a disgraced wife over a pure husband. He seemed to
think that you had shown no interest in boys before Harry and that you
had only accepted the contract as Harry had been your only suitor. He
fully believed that you would want his daughter when she was offered to
you and that you would turn your back on Harry for the chance of having
a wife, no matter how disgraced she was."
Rabastan quivered he was so angry and upset. "What did you tell him?"
He asked, even as he turned and hugged Harry to him as if he would
suddenly disappear.
"Do not look so fearful, I would never insult our new family by trying to
break your contract." Xerxes waved away. "I approve of Harry, you know
this. I told Lord Paimon exactly where he could go, right back out of the
door before I cursed him into a dark smear on my polished floors."
"As if I would want that sullied little bitch!" Rabastan hissed.
Harry patted Rabastan's hands and pulled on his fingers gently to release
the grip on him. Rabastan got the message and he loosened his hold,
which had tightened in fury, rather than the uncontrollable body spasms
that Harry had gotten used to in their betrothal period.
"I'm sorry, my love. I did not mean to hurt you."
"You didn't, it was just a little too tight." Harry smiled.
"That that pug-faced, fatuous, cockalorum even dared try to break our
bond! I could kill him with my bare hands."
Harry looked at Rabastan with a grin, committing the insults to memory
for later use.
"As if they could have." Harry said, cupping Rabastan's face and giving
him a kiss to calm him.
"I would never have allowed it." Xerxes agreed.
"They need to be punished for this transgression!" Rabastan growled
angrily.
"I believe they already have been." Harry put in calmly.
"How do you know that?"
Harry pointed at Draco. "He's my brother, he told me about this the
moment I came home."
"What happened?" Rabastan asked.
"Would you like to do the honours, Harry?" Xerxes smiled at him.
"I'd love to. Pansy has been betrothed to Lucan Selwyn. They're to be
married over Christmas."
Rabastan's blue eyes gleamed maliciously and he chuckled darkly. "How
very fitting for a disgraced daughter."
"After hearing that she pestered her father to break our contract, I lost all
sympathy for her. Not that there was much to begin with, not after she
pawed at you during her family's winter gala."
"I had told her to stop her shameful behaviour." Rabastan insisted. "It is
bad conduct, especially for a wanted criminal, to shove underaged girls.
Though when I saw Flint laying his lips on you, I did lose my patience
and push her aside."
"Did I say that I was accusing you of anything? If it came across that way,
I'm sorry, my love. No, I was merely pointing out that I have disliked her
since she did that to you. No one gets to touch you like that."
Harry hugged Rabastan and kissed over his neck up to his mouth.
"Harry, please remember that you are with company."
"Oh, of course. Come on, Rabastan."
"No." Narcissa snapped quickly. "We trusted you on your holiday, but
you're home now."
Harry sighed unhappily. "I can't wait for next year."
"You'll be coming home from your honeymoon this time next year."
Draco pointed out.
Harry grinned. "It's going to be some honeymoon too, with all this sexual
build-up beforehand."
Xerxes laughed, but with a sharp, warning snap of his name, Lucius put
an end to Harry's teasing.
"So, did you at least do anything productive on this holiday?" Narcissa
asked, trying to steer the conversation to less dangerous waters.
Harry licked his lips. "Define productive." He joked.
"I know that you took a book with you, I saw you packing it. Did you get
any reading done?" Narcissa asked patiently.
"I did, yes. I'm nine chapters into the law-making book that you gave me
for my birthday, Xerxes."
"Nine chapters is very good going. I thumbed through it to make sure it
was acceptable and some of the passages I caught were so tedious they
almost put me to sleep on my feet."
Harry laughed. "Oh, that happened more than once. Rabastan would
either wake me up calling out for me because I'd fallen asleep somewhere
and he couldn't find me, or he'd prod me awake because I was slumped
over the bed or the settee."
"It sounds like you weren't getting enough sleep." His shit of a brother
pointed out.
"It was too warm and too bright to sleep much." Rabastan rushed to his
rescue before they were both lynched.
"It was warm through the night, but when the sun came up, dear Merlin
it was hot. It was amazing. Thankfully, the villa was nice and cool and
shaded, so neither of us burnt." Harry added.
"You remembered not to sleep last night?" Narcissa fretted. "To combat
the time difference?"
Harry nodded. "We're absolutely exhausted, but we kept ourselves awake
skinny dipping."
Rabastan almost choked next to him, and Harry grinned as he saw the
others sharing confused looks.
"What is skinny dipping, or do we not want to know?" Lucius asked with
a sigh.
"It's night time swimming." Harry explained. "We were swimming in the
ocean for half the night to keep ourselves awake."
"It was very cold but very refreshing." Rabastan insisted. "It did keep us
awake."
"He didn't like it as much as I did." Harry grinned.
"I will have tea served for us all." Narcissa insisted. "Then you can both
go to bed and catch up on your sleep."
Smaller conversations broke off, as Narcissa called Pimsey to serve them
tea, and Harry turned to Rabastan sadly.
"You know, I've gotten used to sleeping with you in a bed. I'm not sure I'll
be able to sleep without you tonight."
Rabastan smiled at him and threw his arm around Harry's back, pulling
him into a tight hug.
"It won't be much longer. Your last year in Hogwarts will fly by, we'll be
married in less than a year now. Everything will work out, you'll see."
Harry smiled happily at Rabastan and accepted the teacup handed to him
by his fiancé. It was made just how he liked it. He hadn't been the only
one learning about the man he was to be married to and that made him
so very happy.
A/N: This chapter truly is the bane of my existence. I've re-written it four
times now, this is version five, and I'm still not entirely happy with it, but
I'm sick of looking at it, so I'm posting it regardless, just to start moving
on. I think the lovelies on my Facebook page are right, and I'm just
associating bad feelings with it, and I can't help but hate it, no matter
what I write, because I've been staring at and working on it constantly for
a month now, so I am hoping that you lovelies like it better than I do.
A huge thanks to Makurayami Ookami for being the 3,500th reviewer.
Skye: I think there is always going to be friction and conflict between
Rabastan and Harry over the Death Eater issue, or at least between
Rodolphus and Rabastan/Harry, but Harry will always have the last word
on that. He will not allow any Dark Arts around his babies, and I think
Rabastan would be okay with this, it's Rodolphus the crazy uncle who
will be the problem and start talking about inappropriate things in front
of the kids, because he's already doing it now in front of Harry, despite
Rabastan and Xerxes clearly not wanting to let Harry know about such
things as they try to warn him off. So yeah, I think if anyone will have a
problem with Harry raising his children not to be followers, it will be
Rodolphus more than Rabastan, or even Xerxes.
Tambry: Lord Bilius Weasley was married to Amorette Malfoy, and he
was the last Lord Weasley, he was disgraced and shunned, but he was
still Lord Weasley, even after marrying a Muggle and fathering children
on her. His oldest son with his Muggle wife, Septimus (who is Arthur's
grandfather, not to be confused with Septimus II, who was Septimus I's
oldest son or Septimus Malfoy, who was his oldest son with Amorette
Malfoy.) was told to renounce his muggle Mother and her blood, and get
another Pureblood to legitimise him, like Harry was legitimised by Sirius,
or renounce his Lordship and the seat on the Wizengamot. He chose to
renounce the Lordship, and thus became a blood traitor, as he
metaphorically turned his back on his own blood purity and heritage. It
is Septimus who is the legal blood traitor, despite Bilius' less than stellar
behaviour, so it was Septimus Weasley, Bill's paternal great-grandfather,
that he had to renounce in order to reclaim the stagnant Weasley
Lordship. It is the Malfoy family, and Lucius in particular, who are
demanding that Arthur disown Bilius Weasley for his actions, as it was a
daughter of the Malfoy family who was disgraced and humiliated, so they
believe that to be the only way to fix the insult, despite both Bilius and
Amorette being long dead, but that doesn't play a part in the legal
process, which dictates that it is Septimus I who is the first blood traitor
of the Weasley line because of his refusal to renounce his muggle mother,
and his refusal to have himself legitimised.
Anyway, now that this chapter is finally posted, I'm going to try to move
on from it, and hopefully in a few weeks I'll have another chapter to post,
but if you follow me on Facebook I'll keep you all updated on the
progress of that.
StarLight Massacre. X
27. Prophet Run-ins
Last Time
Harry smiled happily at Rabastan, and accepted the teacup handed to him by
his fiancé. It was made just how he liked it. He hadn't been the only one
learning about the man he was to be married to and that made him so very
happy.
Chapter Twenty-Seven – Prophet Run-ins
Everything was a lot more frustrating for them after they'd come back
from their holiday, as the two of them were once again chaperoned and
unable to interact as passionately as they had enjoyed in Fiji. There was
always someone there to give a false cough to break them apart if they
started kissing too heavily, or started getting a little too flirty or handsy
with one another. It was incredibly annoying and frustrating.
Rabastan really didn't help matters as he'd started to leave his hand
pressed to Harry's back...his lower back, where his fiancé's hand would
casually slip all the way down to touch his bum. Harry would turn to
glare at Rabastan, but the infuriating man would just stare ahead, a slight
smirk playing at his mouth. The bastard knew what he was doing.
Of course, Harry didn't take this treatment lying down, he had decided to
retaliate against Rabastan, so when his fiancé put his hand to his back
and started slipping it lower, Harry would suddenly lie down, put his
head into Rabastan's lap as he usually would, only he'd turn to face his
body, instead of out into the room. Rabastan had frowned at him the first
time he'd done this…until Harry had started mouthing around his lap.
It was becoming a game to them both, a dangerous, but very arousing
game. Rabastan had suddenly started wearing dragonhide trousers, which
weren't as flexible as cotton, thus prevented Harry from mouthing at him,
but Harry still laid down, he still faced towards his lover, and he started
rubbing his chin over Rabastan's lap instead. The both of them were so
highly sexed, being unable to relieve the growing tension between them,
that this was enough to make Rabastan react, so Harry was still up on
'points' in this little game. Though Rabastan had sworn retribution, and
Harry couldn't wait to find out what Rabastan came up with.
They were still planning the wedding in their free time, though. Narcissa
wouldn't allow them to get away with not planning absolutely every
detail in advance, but, like all the times they'd done this before, it was
very frustrating, slow going, and not much got done, mostly because the
three of them couldn't agree on anything.
"Harry, please be reasonable." Narcissa tried.
"No. I've said I want Astoria to make my robes for me. Rabastan can
choose whoever he wants, but I'm sticking with Astoria."
"She's going to be underaged at the time of your wedding. You cannot
exploit a minor to make clothing for you, it's not proper."
"I'm not going to be exploiting her, Mother!" Harry said angrily. "It'll be
good practice for her, good exposure, and she's doing really well in her
apprenticeship! Besides all that, if Twilfitt and Tattings aren't taking
advantage of a minor by forcing her to work over the summer for no pay,
then I won't be either!"
"Have you even asked her yet?" Narcissa demanded of him.
"Not yet."
"Then don't you think you ought to before getting so stubbornly set on it?
She might not want the pressure of making your wedding robes when
you have rightly pointed out how many people will be scrutinising
them!"
"You know what, plan this wedding how you like, as clearly my opinion
doesn't even matter!"
Narcissa and Rabastan watched as Harry stormed out of the room
angrily. Rabastan went to stand to follow after him, and Narcissa turned
to face him.
"Do not go to him." She ordered sternly. She could see how angry that
made Rabastan, but she was fed up with all of this now. "You will stay
away from my son until his father has spoken to him!"
Rabastan gave one grudging nod of his head, but she could see clearly
that he didn't like it, not at all. She stood herself and went to the drawing
room, where she knew her husband was sitting, enjoying his afternoon.
"Are you finished with the wedding planning so soon?" Lucius asked her.
"No, our son has decided to storm off like a child. Go and speak with
him."
Lucius sighed and placed his teacup to the side of him before standing.
"He went in the direction of the back door, I believe he has gone outside."
She said, taking her own seat.
Lucius left the drawing room and followed in Harry's footsteps. His
younger son was indeed outside, once again fussing over the albino
peacocks, as he was wont to do when feeling overly emotional.
"I know I was childish, temperamental, and overdramatic." Harry said as
soon as Lucius' shadow was cast over him. His voice was hard and angry.
"Why do you feel this way?" Lucius asked, standing so that he could see
Harry's face, even as his son stroked the poor peacock being smothered in
his arms.
"I don't know!" Harry exploded. "I just do."
Harry fell silent, stroking the peacock softly. Lucius left him to think, left
him in silence. He didn't have to wait long for Harry to start speaking
again.
"It's supposed to be my wedding!" Harry ground out. "Why can't I have
my wedding how I want it?"
"You believe that your mother is being unfair?" Lucius questioned.
"Of course you would side with her." Harry sneered. Not at him, his son
wouldn't dare, but at the patch of grass in front of him.
"She is my wife, it is my duty to side with her in all things outside of our
own little squabbles, as you must side with Rabastan in all things, and
vice versa, but in this particular case I don't know what has actually
transpired between the two of you to spark this most recent argument."
"She thinks it's wrong of me to ask Astoria to make my wedding outfit."
Harry said sulkily.
"Please remember that you are now of age." Lucius sighed. "It is not
seemly to have such blow-ups over something so small."
Harry's sneer deepened and Lucius heard his jaw click from where he was
clenching his teeth so tightly together.
"Perhaps we are putting too much pressure on you. I have voiced
concerns that I believe that you are taking on too much at once. Perhaps
this blow-up is proof of that."
Harry let the poor peacock free and watched it dart off back to the
others. He threw himself back onto the grass and covered his eyes with
his forearm.
"The tension between me and Rabastan really doesn't help. It's grating on
us both, and yes, we both understand the need to adhere to tradition, but
that doesn't make it any easier. We're suffering for a tradition that neither
of us wanted to follow in the first place!"
"Your mother and I chose to force you to stick to tradition to protect you,
Harry. We have not done as such to harm you."
"I know that, but it's not easy, and I know that nothing worth doing is
ever easy, but I just wasn't expecting it to be this difficult either. I wasn't
expecting to love him. I wasn't expecting to want to do those sorts of
things so soon and now that I want to do it, I can't."
Lucius was at a loss. He didn't know how to help Harry through these
sorts of situations or feelings.
"It's just not fair." Harry groaned. "Why do I have to stay a virgin just
because I have the gene?"
"The Lestranges insisted upon it." Lucius told him. "I agreed because I
wanted to give you time to get used to your betrothed. I couldn't have
imagined how well you would have responded to Rabastan, or how
quickly the both of you formed a bond. I was expecting it to take years,
not a matter of weeks, so I prepared for such an eventuality. I didn't
foresee this problem, of you wanting the contract to move quicker.
Truthfully, I was expecting you to dig in your heels and go to your
wedding kicking and screaming."
Harry let out a soft chuckle, and Lucius eased down a little, feeling
relieved.
"Truthfully, I still might go kicking and screaming if mother has her way.
She vetoes everything that Rabastan and I actually agree on, which isn't
much to begin with. I shouldn't have shouted at her, but I stand by what I
said. If she keeps vetoing us on everything, then she can plan the
wedding and to hell with what Rabastan and I want. We aren't being
listened to anyway so what's the point of putting ourselves through the
frustration of the planning of it when what we want isn't even taken into
consideration?"
"I will talk to your mother, but you should know that she is very excited
about this wedding. She will not have a say in Draco's wedding. As has
been pointed out it is the bridal party who plans the wedding; you have
become an exception, as you do in most things due to that stubborn
nature of yours, and you are making Rabastan plan the wedding with
you, which isn't a bad thing. I'm not saying that it is." He added when
Harry opened his mouth, likely to shout at him. "But you should know
that it isn't the done thing. So Narcissa wasn't expecting to plan her
child's wedding, not until you came into our lives and into our home. I
still remember those wonderful, peaceful days."
That made Harry laugh again and he gave the goofy grin of his that was
very endearing, as it was a very genuine smile in a culture that was so
very controlled over all displays of emotion.
"I will ask that you do not spoil your mother's enjoyment, but I will also
remind her that this is not her wedding and that she cannot veto
anything that you and Rabastan both genuinely agree upon, as this will
be your wedding day. Is that fair?"
Harry nodded, sitting up. "I will apologise for my words, and for storming
out also. I just want to feel like I'm being listened to."
Lucius placed a hand on Harry's head and bent to kiss the forehead that
turned up to look at him.
"We have come to love you as our own, Harry. You have every right to
speak and have your thoughts heard, but that doesn't mean that people
have to agree with you. You can't win every argument. You can try, of
course, but you will only be setting yourself up for failure and
disappointment. You need to sit down and talk this out like an adult, and
even then, you need to understand that you won't win around everyone's
point of view, some will still disagree with you. Even if you believe
wholeheartedly that you are right, and you see that it is the right thing to
do so clearly, others will see just as clearly that you are absolutely wrong
and they will argue as such. That is the beauty of life, and human nature,
as frustrating as it can be at times."
Lucius watched as Harry sat on the grass, a thoughtful frown on his face,
as he took that little bit of advice in. He had worried that debating so
successfully in the Wizengamot meetings was setting Harry up for a
harder fall when he did eventually come across something that he was
outvoted on, outdebated on, or just simply overruled.
All of them had had to taste disappointment at one time or another, some
more than others, but it was just a part of being on the Wizengamot, and
all of them had had to learn to taste the bitter disappointment, and even
humiliation, of a resounding loss. Harry had yet to do so, however, and
he had shared his fears with Xerxes that Harry would take his first loss all
the more personally because of this spell of successful debates so early on
in his political career. He had to get Harry to understand that he would
not always win, and others would not always agree with him, and those
who voted with him on one matter, could as easily vote against him on
another. He did not want to see Harry's confidence knocked so
thoroughly that he did not recover from it, but that is what would
happen if Harry believed that he would always win, and then he
suddenly lost.
"Mother believes that she is helping us, so she won't be swayed when she
vetoes us, despite it being what Rabastan and I want, is that what you're
saying?" Harry asked, looking up at him.
"It is. But instead of storming out here and harassing my peacocks, you
need to stay calm, sit and talk your way around someone else's point of
view, but you also need to understand that some people will not be
swayed, and will not listen to your arguments."
"Are you still talking about mother or the Wizengamot?"
Lucius' felt his lips pull into a smirk. "You are a very clever boy…man."
He corrected himself. He needed to remember now that Harry was a
man, Draco too. Where had the time gone?
"So this is a learning opportunity?" Harry asked.
"It is. You've been very lucky with the subjects we've had to debate thus
far, and the business with Gringotts was a very lucky stroke, as you had
read that old law only recently when that issue came up. I am
exceedingly proud of you for these achievements, naturally, but you need
to understand that one day you will lose a debate or a vote and there is
nothing that you can do about it. Everyone loses a debate at one point or
another. I have lost debates, Xerxes has, even your friend, Dawson
Shacklebolt, has lost a time or two. You will feel very passionately, and
very wronged, and emotions will be running high and patience will be
thin. You cannot storm out of a Wizengamot meeting, Harry."
"Will you still be as proud of me if I lose?" Harry asked, the hint of an
insecure little boy poking out.
Lucius laid a hand on Harry's narrow shoulder, and he squeezed gently. "I
will be just as proud of you, depending on your reaction to your loss. If
you act like a spoilt child not getting his own way, I will be deeply
embarrassed and ashamed of you, but if you remain calm, and accept
that you have lost with dignity and with the understanding that you
cannot win everything, then I will still be just as proud of you, Harry.
Everyone loses a debate or two, and everyone comes up against a brick
wall once in a while, it cannot be helped. It is your reaction to the loss
that will reflect badly on you. I don't want you to think that you have to
win every debate, or even take part in them if you feel that you have
nothing to say, to make us proud of you, but neither do I want you
storming around and throwing a fit because things do not go your own
way."
"That wasn't why I walked away from mother!"
"No, you believed that you weren't being listened to, and your opinion
was not being valued or respected. I understand this, but neither can
your behaviour continue in such a manner. You're an adult now, Harry.
You can't walk out on your problems, do you understand me?"
Harry nodded. "I understand. I just want my wedding to be how Rabastan
and I want it."
"I will tell your mother to be more lenient with you both and this matter
will be settled. Now, is there anything else that you want to ask?"
Harry looked up at him, and there was that damnable twinkle in his eye
and the naughty look he'd come to associate with Harry, and he knew
that something cheeky was coming his way.
"Yes, actually. When I was on holiday Rabastan told me that you had a
fan club when you were in school."
Lucius fought hard to suppress the blush that he felt forming on his neck
and cheeks. "I'm sure that I don't know what you mean." He said calmly.
Harry laughed, once more the happy, bubbly teenager. "You do know.
Tell me about your fan club!"
"Rabastan must have been mistaken."
Harry laughed harder, and he trailed off to a stream of happy giggles that
made Lucius smile. A man he might be, officially and legally, but in many
ways, Harry was still just a boy. A seventeen-year-old still in school.
There was more room for him to grow and mature, and there was the
potential for more growth too. Harry was coming on wonderfully well,
but he had a ways to go yet, and he would need more direction from
them in that time. He just hoped that Harry stopped being so very
emotional, it was detrimental to his image and standing in the political
circles, and he would not have Harry ruining his own chances of success,
not when he was doing so wonderfully well.
The day had come for Harry to make a formal, three-course meal for his
family, and his potential future in-laws. Only there was nothing
'potential' about him marrying Rabastan. Xerxes would be his
grandfather-in-law and Rodolphus his brother-in-law. He refused to claim
Rhadamanthus in any way, shape, or form. The man could kiss his arse
for all Harry cared.
He'd made up with his mother the same evening that he had stormed out
on her and the wedding planning. He would have done it immediately,
but he'd gone to Rabastan first and found out that she had forbidden his
fiancé from coming to see him and that had rankled Harry's cage and
made him angry all over again. Rabastan had calmed him by holding him
tight and stroking his hair and back, kissing his forehead and talking to
him quietly.
He had eventually calmed down and he had made up with his mother
over the issue of the wedding planning. Narcissa had promised to be
more understanding towards his, and Rabastan's, wishes regarding their
wedding and they had called a truce.
That had been two days ago now, and today he was spending half the
day in the rarely used kitchen, which had been set out like the dining
room upstairs, only with a perfect view of Harry working at the counters.
He'd even had to go out and buy all of his own ingredients, as part of the
process.
He'd agonised for the last few days over what to make, and fretted about
how everything he'd chosen would be received. Once he'd set up his meal
plan, however, he felt more comfortable with everything and he'd made
sure that he knew the recipes for what he was making, memorising the
processes, and working out how long they'd each take so he knew what
to do first, and then going out and shopping for the ingredients himself,
which he'd had to do that morning after his breakfast.
"So, what are you making?" Draco asked curiously, as he watched Harry
roll back his sleeves and wash his hands from the dining room table
which Harry had already laid meticulously for the meal.
He'd had to do that while everyone watched too, while they sat at the
table and all but stared at him setting it, and the vile Rhadamanthus had
not made that a very comfortable experience, as Harry put down his
placemat and plate, before arranging his cutlery with the man all but
breathing down his neck. Thankfully, Xerxes was not only sat next to
Rhadamanthus, but he'd been close enough to watch closely, and hear
anything spoken, so Rhadamanthus had made no move to touch him, and
had not said a word.
"Well, I thought to start we'd have omelettes because I can make those.
Then a salad, because it's easy. I mean, how can you mess up a salad of
all things? And then for the main course, I was planning on pizza, just
throw it in the oven and it's fine. For dessert, I bought a dozen chocolate
frogs. I haven't made them myself, but I will arrange them in a very
pretty way on a decorative plate."
Harry kept a straight face as he looked at his family, and his future in-
laws, who all looked horrified. Lucius sighed.
"Is there any chance that you're joking?" He asked, exasperated and
sounding like he already knew that the answer was a resounding no.
"There might be the smallest possibility that in this specific case, I was
joking, yes." Harry laughed.
"Oh, thank Merlin." His mother declared, laying a hand over her chest.
Harry laughed harder, before turning and unpacking the stuff he'd bought
specifically for this meal. It was a bit weird that everyone was watching
him, but the Dursleys had gotten him used to that anyway, as they had
mostly glared at him from the kitchen table as he cooked, shouting at
him to go faster as if he could somehow make food cook quicker by
glaring and shouting as loudly as they could at him.
He had to make the full meal, from scratch, right in front of everyone, so
he started by laying out what he needed and preparing everything. He'd
been thinking heavily on this for a few days now, as serving the right
food was just as important as doing it right, given that Rodolphus and
Rabastan were still on strict diets. He'd definitely taken that into mind
when he'd chosen what to cook.
He started by peeling and preparing the vegetables he was going to use,
and adding the peelings and scraps to a saucepan, he added water and
threw in a handful of fresh herbs he'd bought and set it to boil to make
vegetable stock.
"You're cooking the wrong parts." Rhadamanthus cut in.
"No, that's your dinner." Harry couldn't help but quip. He immediately
felt better when he heard Rabastan chuckle.
"Harry." Lucius called out warningly.
"Will you please just let me cook? Unlike the rest of you, I actually know
what I'm doing."
"Because you're a little house-elf."
There was no need to guess who that comment had come from either.
Harry wanted to take the knife in his hand and ram it through
Rhadamanthus' thick neck.
"I would be very careful." Rodolphus hissed to his father. "He has a knife
in his hands."
Rhadamanthus scoffed. "As if the little muggle knows how to use it."
Harry assumed that being called a muggle was meant to be insulting. All
it did was amuse him.
"You know that muggles have knives and know how to use them, don't
you?" Harry asked calmly, carrying on his vegetable preparations.
The table behind him lapsed into silence and Harry breathed a sigh of
relief. He carried on his work, dicing up the peeled onions, carrots, and
parsnips very small. He was going to start them off with a clear soup
made with vegetables and vegetable stock. Something nice and light.
He'd been told that three courses were sufficient, a starter, a main, and a
dessert, but he was planning on making little chocolates as well, to go
with after-dinner tea and coffee, which he was also expected to make and
serve. He'd do the desserts next after he'd set the soup to cooking, as it
was going to take a good hour to boil the peelings for stock. It was a
good thing he'd been told that this was usually something that took half a
day. It was just after lunch, everyone would be full for a few hours at
least. Draco had even brought some of the last pieces of homework he
had left to do, and he was finishing it off at the table. Harry had
understood that Draco had asked their parents if Astoria could come, but
they had said no, apparently as they didn't want to put that much
pressure on him. If Harry had been consulted he would have happily
agreed, he felt no pressure, he was actually happy and relaxed now that
he knew what he was going to cook and had worked out the best order in
which to cook it all in timewise. That had been the hardest thing though,
choosing a set meal that was something that would impress, would taste
nice, and stick to Rabastan and Dolphus' diets.
As soon as his vegetables were ready, he put them aside, neatly
segregated on a plate, and he started making his desserts. He was going
to make a more indulgent chocolate mousse because he knew it would
amuse Rabastan, and maybe even Rodolphus too. He'd made sure that
there were enough posh little glass bowls here at the manor before he'd
gone shopping, but he had picked up the most expensive, luxurious
chocolate that he could find.
He took a small chunk of it over to Rabastan and fed it to him before
kissing his cheek. It made his fiancé laugh.
"It's good, isn't it? It's the best chocolate I could find." Harry grinned.
"Where's mine?" Draco demanded.
Harry grinned at his brother, but he dutifully went back to the counter
and he put some of the unneeded chunks of chocolate into a bowl and
took it over for Draco.
"Here. There's a mix of milk and dark chocolate."
He went back to the counter and pulled out one of the pots of whipping
cream, pouring it and some milk into a saucepan and bringing it to a boil.
Harry watched it like a hawk, waiting for it to boil, and when it did, he
poured it over his broken pieces of dark and milk chocolate and he
stirred it continuously until it was nice and smooth. It smelt amazing
already.
He broke six eggs, taking out the yolks, and he whisked up the whites
until they were fluffy, trying to remember how the recipe he'd found said
to do this, as apparently, it was against the 'rules' of this little task to
have a written recipe with him. It was supposed to be spontaneous. He
felt sorry for when Astoria would have to do this. He could only hope
that she didn't poison his brother.
Harry gradually added sugar to his whisked egg whites, making a
meringue. Merlin, he hoped this mousse tasted nice now. He'd never live
it down if it didn't.
Grabbing his bowl of chocolate and cream, Harry took the meringue and
carefully folded it into the chocolate one spoonful at a time. It smelt even
better now and he was at least hopeful that no one would spit it out…
well, he wasn't sure about Rhadamanthus, but this wasn't for him. It was
for Rabastan more than anyone else.
"Of course you'd make chocolate mousse." Xerxes teased him, watching
him closely from the table.
"What? I really liked Dolphus' gift!" Harry grinned.
"Did you like mine as much?" Rhadamanthus asked him with a sly smile.
"Oh yes, it was wonderfully artistic. I didn't know you were so creative.
I've hung it up on my bedroom wall. It's great." Harry replied blithely,
even as he separated the mousse into the decorative bowls. They'd need
two or three hours to set, which gave him time to put his soup together
and serve it, and cook his main course. "You should take up painting as a
full-time job, it might drain all that tension from you. I've heard hobbies
can do that."
Harry had decided that the best way to deal with Rhadamanthus was to
pretend as if nothing bothered him. That painting had deeply disturbed
him, and it had severely upset Rabastan too, but to show that to
Rhadamanthus was paramount to showing your weak spot to an enemy.
He would use it to do more damage, to upset them further. So Harry was
opting to show that he didn't care about such things as it was the only
way he could think of to survive this encounter.
He put the eight bowls of mousse onto a tray and went to pop them into
the fridge, it was time to start his little after-dinner chocolates and
chocolate caramels.
He was humming gently as he worked, without realising it, as he put
some butter and cream into a saucepan and heated it gently until it was
melted. Putting that aside, Harry grabbed yet another saucepan and put
in sugar and honey with three carefully measured tablespoons of water
before bringing it to a boil, stirring continuously, making sure none of it
splashed his hands. There was nothing worse than boiling hot sugar
syrup coming into contact with bare skin. Harry amused himself by
imaging himself tipping the saucepan of boiling sugar syrup over
Rhadamanthus' head, making sure to get it into the brute's eyes.
Using even more chocolate, because who didn't like good chocolate,
Harry lowered the heat under the caramel and left it alone, while getting
another saucepan of water boiling on the hob and putting the bowl of
dark chocolate over it and he waited for it to melt, keeping an eye on his
caramel as it bubbled away happily, going a nice golden brown. He really
didn't want it to burn or he'd have to start all over again, and that would
be humiliating enough, as he was sure that Rhadamanthus wouldn't let it
go and wouldn't let Harry forget about it, which was likely to throw him
off the rest of the dishes too. Harry took a deep breath and calmed
himself. He wasn't going to burn anything. It was going to be completely
fine because he was going to keep a good eye on everything. His body
still remembered the punishments for burning food in the Dursley home,
he had more than learnt how to juggle multiple pots and pans at the
same time, he was not going to let anything burn here.
He reached for the butter and cream mixture he'd put aside and carefully
added it to his caramel and stirred it in before putting it back onto the
heat and set it to boil before lowering the heat to simmer the mixture. He
checked on the melting chocolate, giving it a stir, before checking his
caramel every minute or so, using a teaspoon to take out a small amount
of mixture, dropping it into a bowl of cold water, and trying to roll it into
a little ball.
As soon as he could make a little ball he took the saucepan from the heat
and stirred in the melted chocolate, beating it until it was fully
incorporated. He poured it into a tin he lined with baking parchment,
levelled it off carefully, and he took that to the fridge too.
"Are you ever going to get around to cooking anything that's not
chocolate?" Rodolphus asked him.
"Yeah. But these need a few hours to set in the fridge first." Harry said
distractedly, as he cleaned up as he went, mainly so he didn't run out of
saucepans. "It would have been better if I could have made the desserts
yesterday."
"You know you're only supposed to make one dessert?" Draco told him.
"There is only one dessert." Harry sighed. "You'll see when it's done."
Harry started making the little after-dinner chocolates, swiping a hand
over his face. Maybe he should have started with these damn things,
instead of starting with the soup. A quick glance in the other saucepan
showed that the peelings and herbs were simmering away happily, and
he breathed a sigh of relief.
He started once more by heating up the remaining cream until it boiled,
breaking up more chocolate while he waited. He poured the cream over
the chocolate and mixed it until smooth. He then left it, as it had to cool,
and he took a moment for himself, grabbing a glass of water to drink.
"Are you having fun?" Rabastan asked him, smiling.
Harry couldn't resist going to him for a chaste kiss. He would have loved
to deepen it, but not with a table full of people watching them.
"I'm having a lot of fun. How often do I get to poison seven people at the
same time?" He joked.
"Only seven?" Xerxes asked.
"I'm not going to be eating any of this! I like my stomach inside my body,
thanks." He exclaimed with a grin.
Rodolphus laughed and reached up a hand to ruffle his hair, but because
of the heat and humidity in the kitchen, not to mention him sweating, his
hair stayed stuck up in odd tufts, exactly how Rodolphus had ruffled it.
"Dolphus!" Harry whined. "I'd just gotten it how I liked it!"
"All over the place and sticking out in every direction?" Rodolphus asked
him, one eyebrow raised in incredulous askance.
Harry grinned. "Yeah, exactly. And now you've gone and ruined it."
He had to leave the table and go back to his chocolates, but at least he
would only ever have to do this once. Once was more than enough.
He measured out the right amount of butter, putting it on a plate by his
hand, before he pinched off little pieces, beating it into the melted
chocolate and cream mixture piece by piece. Once done, he made sure all
the butter was mixed in properly before throwing the whole bowl into
the fridge with everything else, before finally starting on the actual soup,
draining the peels and scraps from his stock before adding his diced
carrots, parsnips and onion and setting them to cook.
"Oh, you're finally starting on something that is not chocolate." Xerxes
teased.
"Don't tempt me to add chocolate to everything." Harry said, shooting a
grin over his shoulder.
"I'm sure you'd find a way to do just that."
Harry just laughed. "I'd love to do that. You know I have heard of pasta
made with cocoa powder. So I know chocolate pasta is a real thing."
"That sounds disgusting." Rabastan insisted.
"It sounds amazing!" Harry contradicted with a wide grin.
Harry went to his shopping bag and he pulled out a multitude of spices
and herbs and tried to remember the recipe for this. He'd gone halfway
between fish and meat, and he'd chosen tuna steaks. He'd never had them
personally, but he figured this was a new experience for the people
sitting behind him, and it could be a new experience for him too. They
were always encouraging him to try new things, and if he didn't like it,
he'd steal Rabastan's chocolate mousse. He grinned to himself as he got
out a small bowl and a mortar and pestle.
He carefully measured out paprika, cumin, and chilli powder and added
them to the mortar, he tore several leaves of coriander and added them
in as well, before slicing and squeezing in some lemon juice. He frowned
as he tried to remember if that was right, he had the feeling that he'd
forgotten something. Then he saw the garlic bulb lying innocently on the
counter and he rolled his eyes, grabbing it and peeling it, breaking off
three cloves and adding them too, before grabbing his pestle and he
started grinding them all into a paste for his tuna steaks. The reviews for
this recipe had been raving, which is why he'd chosen it, but dear Merlin
he hoped those reviewers had been right.
It took some serious elbow grease to grind all the ingredients into a paste,
but tired, his arm aching, Harry finally managed it, and he smiled
happily at the paste he'd made.
Everyone behind him was talking softly, he could hear them, and if he
focused he could even make out what they were saying, but the
conversation was light and Harry blocked them back out again as he
went to the fridge and pulled out his bag of perfectly filleted fish. He'd
gone to an actual fishmonger, and he'd paid a fortune for the eight large
fillets, but it would be worth it if this came out as well as he was hoping.
He got an oven-proof dish and laid the eight steaks into it, and he used
most of the sauce to cover them over before leaving them to marinate in
the fridge.
He couldn't stop though, as he took his chocolate mix from the fridge and
checked on it, making sure that it was malleable. It was and he was
grateful.
"Back to the chocolate, Harry?" Xerxes asked, laughing.
"Absolutely!" Harry declared passionately. "Chocolate is the best."
"Please remember that I am a seventy-five-year-old man, Harry. My
digestive system can't handle all these sweet things."
"Pfft." Harry scoffed. "As if you don't know you look and act half your
age!"
"That doesn't mean that I can eat like I'm half my age." Xerxes pointed
out, laughing.
Harry chuckled as he grated chocolate onto a plate and used a spoon to
scoop out some of the mixture and he rolled it between his hands to
make a ball. He then rolled it into the grated chocolate and put it aside.
This took forever to do and when he was done, he put them back in the
fridge to chill. He cleaned up what he'd used so far, washing and drying
all the plates and pans, checking on his soup and using a clean spoon to
pull out some of the vegetables, trying them to see if they were soft.
"How are you doing thus far?" Narcissa asked him.
"Everything's done except the main course." Harry said, turning with a
smile.
"Will that take long?" Narcissa asked.
Harry shook his head. "Not overly long, am I running out of time?" He
asked, slipping his pocket watch from his pocket and checking the time.
"No, dear, you have as much time as you need, but you should be
thinking of serving soon." Narcissa told him fondly.
It was already gone half past four in the afternoon, he'd been cooking for
three hours already, and the time had actually flown by. Harry was
shocked by how much time had passed, but then he'd hardly stopped for
a breath since he'd started cooking.
He grabbed another saucepan and filled it, setting the water to boil while
he picked up the bag of baby potatoes. He washed them and then tipped
them into the saucepan. The tuna steaks and asparagus would only take a
few minutes to grill. The potatoes would take the longest.
Harry made sure that everything was done, he checked everything off of
his mental list and went to the fridge to make doubly sure that he'd done
everything that he'd needed to and to check on everything, of course. His
tuna was marinating, his desserts and chocolates were setting, and his
soup was simmering on the hob, the vegetables cooked and tender. He
took another spoon to it, to check again, just in case.
Carefully pouring his soup into a serving bowl with a ladle, Harry was
ready to start serving his meal at twenty to five, after making sure that
everything else was on track as expected, and rather nervous, he levitated
his bowl of soup over to the table and he served everyone himself,
making sure not to spill a single drop. He was expected to sit and eat too,
so he filled his own bowl and sat next to Rabastan to eat, but he couldn't
help but keep a close eye on the boiling potatoes, even as he jammed
vegetable soup into his mouth. He kept an eye on his pocket watch too.
"This is bland and tasteless." Rhadamanthus complained of his soup.
"It matches your personality then, doesn't it?" Harry quipped back, as
quick as a flash, in absolutely no mood to deal with Rhadamanthus'
caustic comments.
Next to him, Rabastan snorted a laugh, and Harry nudged his shoulder
with an elbow. The soup was bland, but it was far from tasteless with the
vegetables cooked to perfection. He'd wanted to start off with something
nice and light, ready for the spiced fish main course.
Once everyone was done and had had a few minutes to settle after
eating, Harry collected up the used bowls and took them to the sink. This
was another part of the test, his time-keeping skills. Had he timed
everything perfectly, or was this about to crash down around him?
He stabbed the boiling potatoes with a knife, checking how tender they
were before he turned and grabbed the last thing in his shopping bag.
Two bunches of asparagus. He washed them, trimmed their stems, and he
rubbed them with olive oil before sprinkling them with salt and pepper.
It was time to see if this fish was as nice as he was expecting, as he went
to get the marinated tuna steaks from the fridge and set the grill on high.
He checked the potatoes again and he smiled happily. Everything was
coming together nicely. He laid the steaks on the grill and he timed them.
The fishmonger had been insistent that they'd only need four minutes to
be cooked to perfection, two minutes for each side.
He drained the potatoes, putting them in a serving dish with a little bit of
butter and a sprinkling of chopped parsley, before he turned back and
turned over his tuna steaks, adding the asparagus to the grill to cook for
the last few minutes. He was glad that the magically enhanced kitchen
was big enough to do everything he needed.
He was impatient to serve, but he calmed himself and timed the fish
instead. He got the one piece that would be for him and he cut it,
checking the inside, and though it was pink in the middle, the fishmonger
had insisted that this was how it was meant to be eaten, like a nice, rare
steak. He popped a bit into his mouth, praying that it was actually
cooked and he wasn't about to poison himself. It tasted wonderful and he
was very pleasantly surprised. Harry did the same with a spear of
asparagus and he tasted it. Everything was cooked and he was nervous as
he put the steaks on a platter and the asparagus in another serving dish.
He levitated the three dishes behind him to the table. He served
everyone, then himself, before going back to the counter to get the little
bowl of leftover marinade.
"Dolphus, don't you dare eat that." Harry told him.
Rodolphus sighed and lowered his fork. "It smells wonderful and I'm
hungry. I want to eat it now. What have you missed?"
Harry went to him and spooned on some of the sauce, sticking his tongue
out at him. He went to Rabastan next, kissing his cheek and adding the
sauce. He served everyone sauce, leaving Rhadamanthus for last because
Harry just hated him and he wanted to tip his plate over his fucking
head, but he settled for going back to his own seat, next to Rabastan, and
eating. Of course Rodolphus was already eating, and from the way he
was eating, he very much enjoyed the tuna steaks.
"I must say, Harry, you really are full of surprises." Xerxes told him. "This
is one of the best meals I've ever had."
Harry snorted. "Has everyone else been feeding you cat food?" He asked
innocently.
"Don't disparage yourself." Lucius told him sternly.
"We should think of replacing the house-elf with you." Rhadamanthus
told him. "I hear that you're used to being a slave to others."
Rabastan tensed next to him and Harry laid his free hand on his thigh.
"I am, yes, but I think you're the only one here who is crass enough to
make light of child abuse. Then that's only to be expected after the way
you treated your own children. You'd get on well with my muggle
relatives for that reason."
"Do not dare compare me to filthy muggles!" Rhadamanthus exploded.
"Why not? You're exactly like them." Harry insisted, glaring at the man.
"Imagine being on the same level as abusive muggles. You really are
disgusting."
"Harry, enough now." Narcissa cut in. "This is supposed to be a nice,
relaxed meal."
"Was that ever possible with him sitting at the table?" Harry inquired,
faux politely.
"Harry." Lucius warned him this time and Harry sighed and went back to
his food, cutting another piece of tuna steak and putting it into his mouth
to prevent himself from saying anything more. He was really enjoying
this new food experience.
"I really like this, I'm glad I decided to buy it." He said casually. He was
blatantly changing the subject, but no one cared.
"I love a nice tuna steak, and you have definitely lifted my expectations
for future dishes. The spices are well balanced and not overdone. They
complement one another, and the fish too." Xerxes said, his plate almost
completely clean.
"It's new for me too. I never even knew you could get a tuna steak. I like
it."
"You chose a new taste experience for yourself?" Rabastan asked him
proudly.
Harry nodded and swallowed his piece of asparagus. "Yes, I thought that
it would be new for all of you, so I should make it new for myself too. If I
didn't like it though I was going to take your mousse. Though I still might
do that regardless."
Rabastan laughed and touched his face gently, pulling him around for a
soft, chaste kiss. They both tasted of the marinade.
"I would have gladly given it to you." Rabastan told him. "Though I am
glad that you have tried something new and liked it."
"As soft and as pathetic as ever. By the looks of things, you will become
the wife of a house-elf." Rhadamanthus cut in.
Harry felt the fury thrumming through Rabastan and stroked his neck to
calm him. He kissed him again.
"You will not say such things about my son." Xerxes demanded firmly.
"I wouldn't love you if you were not the man you are before me right
now." Harry said softly, for Rabastan only as Xerxes took Rhadamanthus
to hand. "If you were different, we wouldn't be getting married."
Rabastan breathed out slowly, and cupped both sides of Harry's face,
pulling him into a harsher kiss. Harry stroked through Rabastan's hair,
which was thicker and healthier than it had been back when they'd first
met, trying to calm him more with soft touches.
"Thank you." Rabastan whispered to him.
Harry pulled back and smiled. "Never thank me for such things. I love
you, and I will support you in everything."
Rabastan slung an arm around Harry's shoulders and kept it there, and
the both of them went back to finishing the last bites of their food.
Draco looked a little uncomfortable. He was sitting opposite
Rhadamanthus, and he was looking quite pale. He wasn't enjoying this
meal at all.
"Draco, do you like it?" Harry asked curiously, trying to draw his brother,
who was sitting next to him at the end of the table, into conversation.
"It's delicious." Draco told him. "So much for poisoning everyone." He
teased.
Harry laughed. "I've said before I'm a good little chef, I was never going
to be so abysmal as to poison anyone. At least not accidentally." He
added.
"Where is this mousse you've promised?" Rodolphus demanded. Of course
he'd already finished eating.
"You've donated it to me." Harry teased.
"Absolutely not." Dolphus insisted. "I refuse to give you any of my food,
so be a good boy and fetch me my mousse."
Harry laughed. "You're lucky that I actually like you."
Harry waved his wand and collected all the used dishes, going to place
them on the side of the counter, near the sink, and he went to get his
mousses out of the fridge. He checked the one that was his, making sure
it was set and he smiled happily when he found that it was. He took the
tray to the table and he placed one in front of Rabastan, then Rodolphus.
He went the other way and put his own down, then served Draco,
Narcissa, Lucius, Xerxes, and finally Rhadamanthus.
"You're the expert at mousses, is this one better than The Garnet Swan
and Honeydukes?" Rabastan teased him.
Harry put a spoonful in his mouth and hummed happily, his eyes
widening. "It's good." He said. "Really good."
"This is my favourite part of your meal." Draco told him.
"Sweet things always were more your thing." Harry grinned.
Draco scoffed. "Don't pretend that it's not your favourite thing too."
"I can't help it, Rodolphus has gotten me hooked on mousse. You had
better keep that up too!" Harry said pointedly to Dolphus.
"It's not fun when you know what to expect." Rodolphus told him.
"So what were those other things you were making?" Draco asked
interestedly, once all eight bowls were empty, in a very, very short
amount of time too.
Harry winked at his brother and stood, collecting all the bowls with a
wave of his wand and repeating the process all over again. He filled a
teapot and a kettle and set both to boiling. He set everything up for tea
and coffee, putting the ground coffee beans into a carafe before going
over to the fridge to collect his chocolates and caramels. He used the
sharpest knife he could find to cut the little chocolate caramels into
diamonds. He put them into separate bowls, but there were far too many,
so he left the remainder where they were. He would take them to bed
with him and have a very happy nibble later on when he could finally
relax after completing this expected contractual task for his betrothal.
He took the teapot and the carafe of coffee over to the table and went
through the rounds of asking everyone what they wanted to drink,
pouring their drinks carefully, even if he did want to pour
Rhadamanthus' over his face and scald him.
"So what are those and can I eat them?" Rodolphus asked.
Harry put the two bowls on the table and picked up a chocolate caramel,
popping it into his mouth. They were soft and wonderful and he hummed
happily. He snatched the whole bowl.
"No one can have these. These are mine."
The table laughed at him, as Rhadamanthus sneering on the end didn't
count, but it was Rodolphus who wormed the bowl from him and passed
it around.
"Well, this certainly went better than any pureblood family ever expects."
Xerxes chuckled happily. "Most families pass just the one recipe down,
mother to daughter, or to gene-bearing son." He added quickly. "And they
never really go very well. This has been delightful, and delicious."
"I'm glad that you enjoyed it. I do like cooking, though maybe not while
being stared at from ten feet away while I'm trying to cobble together a
three-course meal in one afternoon. As I said, I would have been happier
making the desserts, and these little chocolates, yesterday. Though with
how nice and moreish they are I don't think they'd have lasted the night."
He giggled as he took a chocolate truffle and bit into it.
"Not with you in charge of them, at least." Rabastan teased him.
"I might have been convinced to share them with you." Harry grinned.
"Well, in that case, you should have made these yesterday and shared
them with only me."
Harry laughed. "I have a lot left over." He whispered.
"Then we have a date." Rabastan told him.
Harry smiled at him and he gave Rabastan a kiss. "I love you. Thank you
for putting up with me."
"I believe that that is my line." His fiancé insisted.
"Nope, I said it first."
"I'm just going to have to say it more often then."
Harry snorted. "You can try." He challenged.
After tea and coffee was drunk, and little chocolate treats were nibbled,
Xerxes told Rhadamanthus to leave and they all left the kitchen to
reconvene in the drawing room. The little bowls of chocolate truffles and
caramels came with them, and despite his complaints that his seventy-
five-year-old digestive system wouldn't be able to handle all the sweet
things, Xerxes was seriously trying to eat as many as possible, which
amused Harry.
His meal was a success, it was over and done with and everyone had
enjoyed his food, and even Rhadamanthus hadn't complained as much as
Harry had expected, so he considered everything well received, and the
full meal a success. He was pleased that this part of the contract was now
fulfilled. Now he just had to survive the Ministry party with as much
grace and he'd be much happier and less stressed. Maybe Lucius was
right after all. Maybe he was taking on far too much. He still hadn't
found a charity that he wanted to champion, and it was now just over a
week before he would be back in Hogwarts for his final NEWT year. Time
was running out and he was feeling the pressure of everything, pressing
on his shoulders, making his neck ache. He groaned mentally to himself.
Lucius was definitely right, he was taking on far too much, but he was
determined to juggle it all, he wouldn't fail in his plans now that he'd
made them, he'd just have to knock several things off of his plate soon, so
that he eased his workload, as he had absolutely no plans on visiting the
hospital wing, or even Saint Mungo's because he'd collapsed due to
overwork. He could do it, he knew that he could.
Harry had just barely finished going through his family portfolios for the
morning when the Daily Prophet owl landed on his shoulder and nuzzled
into him. The Malfoy family had five owls that were regularly selected to
deliver their morning newspaper, and all of them had come to know
Harry very well, as he smiled immediately and reached out to stroke soft
breast feathers.
"Good morning to you too." He greeted with a grin. "Here, have some
bacon."
The owl took the strips of bacon that Harry tore off for it, eating
gratefully. Harry reached for the Knut in the centre of the table and
showed it to the owl, tucking it into the little leg pouch.
"You made a very good delivery, thank you for your service." He praised,
gently ruffling the feathers between those large, yellow eyes. "Have a safe
flight back."
The owl hooted softly and took off, and Harry shook out the paper to
read it. A morning habit he had emulated from Lucius, who had given up
on trying to read the paper first in his own home, as all the delivery owls
were so very attached to Harry and immediately swerved to him every
morning.
It was Harry's evil laugh that got him the most attention.
"And what, may I ask, has happened to make you laugh like that?" Lucius
asked.
"Fudge was fired last night." He said happily. "The inquest results were
published yesterday afternoon and it found so many discrepancies and
errors in the handling of our own written laws that he was given the
option of resigning, or being booted out of office. He tried to talk his way
around it, promising to cooperate fully with the Magical Law
Enforcement Patrol, but he was fired before he'd even finished his
sentence."
Harry read on a little further, but he found something troubling.
"Oh."
"Oh?" Xerxes queried this time.
"Thicknesse has competition, it seems."
"From who?" Rodolphus demanded angrily, his right hand twitching as if
to reach for his wand.
"The Head of the DMLE, Amelia Bones."
"I told you we'd end up having to take out that bitch!" Dolphus exploded.
"We should have taken her out with Scrimgeour!"
"We didn't have orders to do so, Dolphus." Rabastan cut in.
"Thicknesse was always going to have competition, boys." Xerxes
reminded them. "It would be unseemly to have just the one candidate for
such an esteemed, and lucrative, position."
"How is a new Minister selected?" Harry asked curiously.
"We are a democracy, Harry. A complete countrywide, public vote will be
held, where all those over the age of seventeen, including yourself and
Draco, will be called to the Ministry to register your vote." Lucius told
him, slipping into his 'teacher' voice. The voice that made Harry sit up
and take notice.
"Amelia Bones is going to be an incredibly popular choice." Harry pointed
out.
"I imagine we will all be called in in the next few days." Xerxes told him
casually. "We will have our orders, and we will be sent out to blackmail
and coerce more votes for Thicknesse."
"I see." Harry, folded the newspaper and handed it to his father, having
not read more than the front-page article. His mind was racing, and he
would need to see what the Order's reaction to this 'race' between
Thicknesse and Amelia Bones was. He would expect Kreacher tonight.
Two new owls swooped into the room, dropped two, thick, heavy letters
onto the table and immediately flew back out again, and Harry's heart
started hammering in his chest, even as Draco lurched forward and found
his own exam results.
Harry reached for his results more leisurely, taking a gulp of tea to
unstick his tongue from the roof of his mouth. He was so nervous as he
opened his letter, which seemed thicker than Draco's, and heavier than it
should have been. He wondered if Dumbledore hadn't slipped him a note
of some kind.
"Well, don't keep us waiting anxiously." Narcissa encouraged.
"Straight Os." Draco said, with a very satisfied smirk as he passed his
exam results over to his mother and father.
"Oh, well done, darling!" Narcissa praised, smiling happily.
"This is very well done, Draco. I'm very proud of you." Lucius added,
perusing the sheet.
"Harry, are you that nervous over your results?" Rabastan asked him.
Harry took a breath, and he ignored the badge in his envelope and
instead found the result sheet and pulled it out. He scanned through all
the subjects, and his grade mark beside them quickly, then went back
over them and he sighed heavily, his shoulders slumping.
"Are you going to make us beg, darling?" Narcissa teased.
"Eight Os, and one EE." Harry said, grimacing at that one blot on his
sheet.
"What was the EE for?" Draco asked him.
Harry snorted. "Arithmancy, of course. It would never have been Runes.
Marcus would have had my head decorating his front parlour if I'd gotten
anything other than an O."
Harry handed his sheet over to his parents to look over, but he couldn't
help feeling just a touch of disappointment that he hadn't achieved
straight Os. He made a mental note to try harder, much harder, in
Arithmancy from now on.
"After the year that you've had, I am exceptionally pleased with your
marks, Harry. You didn't use your debilitating illness as an excuse, and
one Exceeds Expectations, in a run of Outstanding's, does not diminish
the effort you put in. Well done, I am proud of the both of you for these
marks." Lucius told them, and he couldn't keep the smug smirk from his
mouth as he looked proudly at the two sheets in either hand.
"I have a bigger worry anyway." Harry sighed, reading his welcome
letter.
"What?" Rabastan asked worriedly.
"I think they really are trying to kill me with overwork. Apparently, my
exceptional transformation and dedication to my studies during my last
year has warranted them giving me this."
Harry pulled the Head Boy badge out of the envelope and showed the
table. Draco was the first to laugh.
"Shut up, Draco." Harry snapped, but he couldn't help but chuckle at his
brother's amusement.
"You have been made Head Boy?" His mother asked him.
Harry nodded and put his chin into his hand, looking at the badge
pinched between his finger and thumb.
"Do you think I could give it back and say I don't want it? This is bound
to be some trick. I've had more detentions throughout my schooling than
my year mates put together, though most of them were from Snape
before I was adopted. "
"The decision was based on your conduct during the last school year."
Lucius pointed out. "That alone shows how hard you have worked."
Harry scoffed. "It shows how desperate that Dumbledore is to try and get
me back on side."
"We have talked about you not disparaging yourself, Harry." Lucius told
him firmly.
Harry sighed. "What else can it be but a trick?"
"Your exceptional hard work despite a very debilitating disease and
carrying on despite the severe side effects of ridiculously strong potions?"
Draco questioned. "I saw you day in, day out, remember? You looked
awful on your good days, Potter. You've got nine pass grades, and I can
bet that you were close to an O in Arithmancy as well, you likely only
just missed out. You were feeling really bad on the Arithmancy testing
day."
"I don't want to be Head Boy."
"You can take points from other people for hassling you."
Harry blinked, and then he laughed. "No one will come near me again."
"Exactly!"
Harry groaned. "It's mostly because I know that Hermione will definitely
be Head Girl."
"So? It's not like you both have to walk around hand in hand!"
Harry laughed harder. "Alright. I get it. Damn, Head Boy, who'd have
thought that?"
Narcissa stood and came to kiss his cheek. "I am very proud of you for
achieving this honour." She told him.
Of course that made Harry go all gooey and soft-hearted and he grinned
happily. Narcissa brushed the hair from his face and kissed his forehead
again.
"I believe that I promised you both a small party. We'll celebrate Draco
getting straight Os and Harry being made Head Boy. You can each invite
two friends, though your betrothed do not count in this."
"Theo and Luna." Harry said immediately.
"I only want Blaise."
Harry laughed uproariously, and Draco realised his slip of tongue too
late, and he pinked up and sighed.
"Will you ever let that go?" He demanded.
"When you make it so easy? Absolutely not."
"I am not having an affair with Blaise!"
Harry giggled. "I don't believe you."
"Settle yourselves, it is entirely too early in the morning for all this
activity." Lucius chastised them. "Eat your breakfasts."
The two of them shared a look, before doing as they were told, though
they were looking through their required equipment sheets and booklist.
"They want us to buy how many books?" Harry demanded. "They need to
sort out a better system for this, I mean, the older years don't need their
books from their early years, can't we just set up an exchange system? We
just pass our books down when we no longer need them instead of
spending an absolute fortune on twenty-three books!"
"Harry, please remember that you are exceptionally wealthy in your own
right and that I will be buying your school equipment for you." Lucius
reminded, turning a page of the paper without looking up at him.
"Yeah, but not everyone can afford that luxury!" Harry pointed out. "I'll
see if I can't set something up as Head Boy."
"Already planning to change the school?" Draco teased. "You haven't even
pinned your badge on once yet."
"Harry, you're expecting too much from yourself." Lucius told him,
looking up at him. "You're taking on too much as it is, just let this matter
lie. There are second-hand book shops that sell all of these books for a
discounted price for those who can't afford to buy them brand new."
Harry blew out a breath, and he let it drop…for now at least. But he was
right, he certainly didn't need the books he'd bought for his first five
years of schooling. If he could get enough students to 'donate' their old
books, then some of the younger years wouldn't even need to buy any
books. And when he graduated and no longer needed any of his books,
then he could donate all of his and then perhaps those taking their
NEWTs wouldn't have to spend a fortune on buying twenty-three
required books.
"I am not at work for the rest of this week from tomorrow, so we will go
early in the morning to collect your school supplies." Lucius told them,
closing the newspaper and passing it to Xerxes.
"I need to be fitted for new dress robes for the Ministry party." Harry
reminded.
"I have not forgotten. We will make time to have the both of you tailored
with new robes and dress robes."
After breakfast, Harry stayed sat with Rabastan, but he quickly headed
off his mother, who likely wanted to do some more wedding planning, by
calling Pimsey and asking for the portfolios that he'd collected for the
charities. He really needed to choose one before the end of the summer,
and September was looming ever closer. He needed to pick one, or two of
them, quickly.
He pored over them, reminding himself that this was not a small, trifle
decision. He would be championing this charity for the rest of his life.
The problem was there were so many to choose from, and the adults
around him kept adding more, and all of the portfolios tugged on his
heartstrings. He needed more than that though, he needed one of them to
inspire him, to ignite his passion, and his desire to help to the point
where he was determined to do something, anything, to fix it.
Rabastan wasn't so much helping him as just keeping him company, and
Harry appreciated that. Lucius and Xerxes were both in work today, and
they were certainly going to scope out the opinions of their colleagues
and start subtly pushing more people towards Thicknesse over the very
capable Amelia Bones. Harry really hoped that she wasn't another
casualty of this war, just because she'd been chosen to run against
Thicknesse.
Harry took a break for lunch, eating on automatic as his mind was still
mulling over the details of the charity portfolios. He needed to write
himself a damn schedule to keep up with everything that he was trying to
do. There would come a point where he forgot something very important
and damaged his own image, and such a thing would be disastrous when
he was trying to reach the top and change laws.
Harry had finally chosen his two charities to champion, and once chosen
he had gone immediately, on his own, to see to both charities and not
only did he donate a substantial sum to both, but he dedicated some of
his time as well.
The first charity that he had chosen was a coalition of all magical
creatures, or classified non-humans, that aimed to try to get witches and
wizards to understand magical creatures. Harry had been deeply struck
by their uphill battle to get people to listen to facts, and not the fear-
mongering, and their fight to get even the merest of donations to keep
themselves afloat and able to help others who needed it.
It had been absolutely no hardship to spend time with the founders, and
some of their representatives, learning more deeply about what they did
and what their goals ultimately were, and Harry was pleased to have his
name linked to this coalition. What had made up his mind was that it was
a representative of all magical creatures, and not just one group or
another. This way Harry could help all of those classed under the
umbrella term of magical creature, or non-human, at once, without
needing to choose a dozen or more charities that only helped one
creature or another.
The time had flown by and before he knew what was what, three hours
had passed and Harry was up to date with the goings-on of the charity
and he'd parted with a very large sum of money to help. He'd also
promised to help out as much as he possibly could, after all, this wasn't
just about flashing his gold, it was about helping and making a
difference, and he was determined to do as such.
The second charity had been gifted to him by Xerxes, and it was less of a
charity and more of a self-funded foundation that took all magical
children under the age of eleven and taught them the basics of magical
education early. It was a sort of magical daycare for those who didn't
have house-elves at their beck and call, and busy parents with no
alternative childcare. They got a small subsidiary from the Ministry of
Magic, but they were still rather underfunded and not really taken all
that seriously given that the daycare enabled both parents to work,
knowing their child was well looked after. Harry had wanted to help
immediately after reading the portfolio.
After talking through all options with his fiancé and his family, and his
thoughts and feelings on both charities, he'd selected them for his two to
champion with the approval of the others, and as his mother had pointed
out, children's educations were just as important as their health and was
taken just as seriously.
His trip to the little daycare, which was run by five women and two men,
was very enlightening. They looked after seventy children between them,
and they barely made enough to give themselves a decent wage, and
often they were buying snacks and drinks out of their own pocket. They
asked for any and all donations from the wizarding public, but it wasn't a
popular choice for people to give some spare Knuts and Sickles to, they'd
rather donate to Saint Mungo's. Everyone donated to Saint Mungo's.
It was the hard-working parents of the children who were giving the
most, and Harry just wanted to help. He didn't have to give any of his
time, in fact, he couldn't as he wasn't properly qualified, but sitting and
playing with a group of kids for an hour he could do, and he did, after
donating enough Galleons to ensure that every child in the daycare could
come in for free for the next six months. He also gave the selfless workers
a bonus each and paid for new outdoor equipment for the children.
But the two charities that he had chosen were perfect, because the
daycare just needed money, and perhaps him to pop in every couple of
months to show his face, but the coalition of magical creatures needed
his time more than anything, and he was willing to do what he could on
the weekends. He had already come to terms with the fact that this
meant that he probably wouldn't be playing Quidditch this year, not with
him entering his seventh and final NEWT year, and without the
hypocalcaemia to hide behind, he was going to be on the same workload
as his year mates. It was going to be a struggle to juggle everything, but
he had one more year left, and then he would be graduated. Things
would calm down then. He'd have no school, no homework, no school-
related stress, nothing of that sort. Though he would be married, and
possibly pregnant, so he'd have to learn to deal with those new stresses
too. The baby would be the most difficult to handle, as he didn't really
know how to look after a baby, or what it would entail…oh, he knew the
theory of it, the expectations and what would be required, but he had yet
to experience it personally, he'd never even held a baby before, so like
most new parents he was going to have to learn on the job, and that
could potentially be incredibly stressful. He was going to have to learn to
juggle his career and his family, but he swore he would never sacrifice
his family for his career. Family was everything to him, he'd grown up
without one, and he would not allow his children to grow up without
him. He would keep his priorities right, his children would come first,
always.
"You're very deep in thought, Harry."
Harry startled at the sudden loud voice and turned to blink at Rabastan.
His fiancé chuckled and bent to peck a kiss on his lips. Harry blinked
again, trying to make sense of what was happening.
"You were so lost in thought I wasn't sure we would be able to get you
back." Rabastan grinned.
Harry snorted. "I just have a lot on my mind."
"Would you care to share these thoughts?" Lucius asked him, sipping his
morning tea.
Harry shook his head. "It's nothing to be concerned over, I'm just figuring
out the best way to juggle everything I have going on. I'm thinking of
making myself a schedule, or at the very least a reminder board so that I
don't forget anything."
"Please prioritise the more important things." Lucius told him. "Your own
education comes before anything else, am I clear?"
Harry nodded. "I understand, but that doesn't mean that I don't want to
do everything else too."
They were interrupted by the arrival of the post owl, and as usual, Lucius
lost out on his chance to read the paper first, as the owl immediately
swerved to Harry and landed on his shoulder, where he made an
immediate fuss of the owl and petted it gently, using his fingernail to
scratch between those big, bulbous, amber eyes.
He took the paper after dropping the Knut into the little leg pouch and as
the owl took off, Harry unfolded the paper and almost dropped his
teacup.
He spilt his tea, but managed to save the cup, even as he frantically
scanned the article. He wondered who had been behind this slandering
article. It made him wonder just how much influence Fudge had had on
the editors, as the moment he was booted from office, the editors posted
this crap about him again. Fudge had always been reliant on Lucius
Malfoy, or perhaps frightened of him, and he had shown openly that he
had no personal love for Harry, not with the way he belittled him as
often as he could in public. But he had stopped the editors calling him all
sorts in the newspaper the moment he'd been adopted by the Malfoys,
likely out of fear of Lucius.
"Is something the matter?" Narcissa asked him concernedly, watching him
spill the tea he'd been lifting to his mouth, almost dropping one of her
teacups and only barely saving it by the tip of his little finger.
Harry said nothing, still reading as quickly as possible, ripping open the
paper to carry on to the next page, and then the next, while trying to
calculate how devastating this would be for his budding political career.
He needed to retaliate, quickly but effectively, to contain this damage.
Damage he hadn't foreseen.
"Harry."
Harry snapped his head up to look at his father.
"What has happened?" Lucius asked him calmly.
"Is it something to do with Thicknesse?" Rodolphus asked angrily.
"No." Harry replied just as angrily, his voice tight and strained. "It seems
that Fudge was keeping the Daily Prophet editors on a tight leash, with
him gone they've decided to pick up where they left off, slandering me
and calling me stupid, ignorant, crazy, unstable, and dangerous."
Rabastan tensed next to him and Harry could almost feel the anger
coming from him.
"They've found out about the charities I'm backing, they're demanding to
know why I'm doing this now, asking why I didn't do it sooner if I
actually cared about these things, they're accusing me of just flashing my
wealth, donating with dirty gold, and trying to exercise my sense of
superiority over normal people. Apparently, I'm a spoilt brat who needs
to be taken down a notch."
"Hand that to me." Lucius demanded silkily, his voice gone dangerously
low.
Breathing hard, Harry handed over the paper. The article was an obscene
four pages long, all dedicated to slandering him, bringing up his false
claims of Voldemort's return a year ago, to him cashing in shares worth a
rumoured several hundred thousand Galleons, and they'd even brought
up him being on the Wizengamot, with two seats and two votes, being
able to sentence people to Azkaban, and of course they'd brought up
Mister Jute again, and apparently, he was being blamed for that man
being executed by the Gringotts goblins too, as if he had been the one to
wield the headsman's axe himself, instead of just pointing out the valid
law. They were asking the British wizarding public if a 'child' should be
allowed to be a part of the parliament of their country, a decisive factor
in which laws were passed or not, presiding over court hearings and
trials, and allegedly, he was 'shouting and screaming' in the Wizengamot
meetings, at older, more respectable witches and wizards who knew what
they were actually doing if he didn't get his own way. They were calling
for a shakeup of the Wizengamot, a fundamental change, which meant
that no one under the age of thirty could be a part of the Wizengamot, all
aimed at forcing Harry out and giving his two seats, and votes, to the
Ministry, until he came of a 'decent' age to take on the responsibility of
actually having a seat on the Wizengamot.
Harry was so angry that he was shaking. He wondered if the editors
hated him that much, or if this was just a way to sell newspapers, by
using his name, or if there was someone else behind all this. Dumbledore
came to mind, it would be just like him to try to get him booted from the
Wizengamot after he had been the cause for Dumbledore losing two
seats, two votes, and the Chief Warlock position. He wondered if Lucius
being his adoptive guardian now meant that Harry's seats and votes
would go to him, or if this 'fundamental change' that the editors were
calling for would put his seats in someone else's hands. Perhaps the
Minister for Magic…perhaps even giving them back to Dumbledore, who
Harry had noticed was not slandered in the article like he had been.
There hadn't even been a mention of him when they ranted about his
claims that Voldemort had returned 'from the dead'. Harry thought that
that was rather telling.
"Lucius, you must do something. They can't treat our son in this way! I
won't allow it." Narcissa was hissing angrily.
"There's no coming back from that sort of damage, is there?" Harry asked,
his teeth gritted and his fists clenched, as he saw Lucius' worried frown.
"We will do what we can…"
"But the damage is already done." Harry finished, sucking in a huge
breath, trying to calm himself.
He shoved himself away from the table and stalked away, up to his
bedroom. He locked the door behind him. He wanted to be alone.
He couldn't believe that this had happened. He hadn't expected it and it
seemed that neither had his family. It had come as a nasty shock and now
his political career might be over just as soon as it had started. Especially
if there was a shakeup of the Wizengamot and he was booted out and
barred for another thirteen years. He calmed himself, no, that wouldn't
happen. The lords of the pureblooded houses, the Ancients, would never
allow it, and they still made up almost half of the Wizengamot, with the
New Men, again nearly all of them purebloods, making up almost the
other half. Only the Neutrals included any muggleborns at all, as they
were made up of the Department Heads of the Ministry, and they
numbered only seven in a Wizengamot of fifty-three.
Harry wondered then if that was the motive. Using him as an excuse to
try to remove the purebloods from power and get more muggleborns into
the parliament of wizarding Britain.
He sat on his settee, in his little living room, and tried to think of a way
out of this mess, but he was so angry that he could barely think. He'd
wanted so little in his life when he was growing up, and no one had
cared. Now that he had a family, and a future, the moment he started
trying to work towards achieving something, he was knocked right back
down to the floor.
The door handle rattled, and then someone sighed from the outside of his
room and knocked sharply. Harry ignored it.
"Harry. It's Rabastan. Open the door." His fiancé called out.
Harry was half tempted to ignore him too, but then he realised what he
was thinking. He was not angry with Rabastan. Not at all. His political
career might be finished, but he didn't have to flush his future family
down the toilet as well.
He stood and unlocked the door, opening it. Rabastan entered the room
carefully, closing the door behind him, but he watched Harry as if he
were some sort of wild beast waiting to attack. Harry slipped his arms
around Rabastan and buried his face in his chest.
Rabastan held him tightly then, wrapping his own arms around his back
and squeezing him.
"I know that you are upset, you have every right to be." Rabastan told
him. "But this will be dealt with."
"How?" Harry asked miserably. "They've cut off my legs and kicked me
while I was down for good measure. No one is ever going to take me
seriously again, Rabastan. Anything I propose now is just going to be
rejected out of hand."
Rabastan chuckled, and Harry immediately pulled back from him and
gave him an incredulous glare.
"No, I'm sorry, my love. I don't mean to make light of your upset, but do
you really think that the pureblood lords will accept this lying down?"
"If the public turn against the Wizengamot…"
"How can they? The Wizengamot is the ruling body of this country,
Harry. It is the Wizengamot who makes the laws and enforces them, they
are not going to vote to diminish their own power."
"Not all of the lords like me, I've insulted a few, debated and argued with
others."
Rabastan chuckled again. "Yet you are still Lord Potter-Black. Do not
underestimate how deep pureblood culture goes, Harry. Every single
pureblooded lord will be behind you on this matter. They will not vote to
diminish their own powers, just to get you out of the Wizengamot."
"I'm still ruined. Seventeen years old, still in school, and my future career
has been destroyed right in front of me."
"Stay tall and strong. That article is a pack of lies, we can fight this."
"The Daily Prophet is the only newspaper in this country." Harry pointed
out. "How can I fight against what they're saying about me when I can't
tell the public my side of their accusations?"
"We can start by telling those in the Ministry the truth. Your father, and
my grandfather, can start by saying what really happened, and letting it
spread that way. There is also suing the paper for libel, as well as
defamation of character."
"It's not going to be enough, and it won't be done quickly enough to stop
people from forming the wrong opinion of me. All I need now is for the
charities to throw my money back in my face and run for the hills, they
were both named and shamed for accepting 'dirty' money from me. This
isn't going to help either of their organisations now. I've ruined them
both."
"You need to stop wallowing and feeling sorry for yourself now."
Rabastan told him firmly, taking him by the shoulders and looking at
him. "You need to build yourself back up, and don't take this lying down.
Show that it doesn't affect you, even though I can see that it is tearing
you up inside."
"I've always wanted so little." Harry said sadly. "I wanted to be loved and
cared for like any normal person is. I wanted a family who looked after
me, who helped me when I needed it. When I was being abused, no one
cared. No one loved me enough to care that I was suffering through that,
it was just brushed under the carpet. I was dying from that
hypocalcaemia, I was crying out for help, and I was ignored by
everybody. Now that I have a family, and dare to dream big, I'm just
some spoilt little brat who needs to be taken back down. Well, I've been
down, all the way down. I was treated like a slave, I was beaten and
starved, locked in a cupboard. I almost died, but I've somehow survived
it. I'm not going back to what I was before. I'm not going to be anyone's
punching bag or scapegoat. Not anymore, never again. I will fight this,
Rabastan. To my last breath, I'll fight them. They're not getting away
with doing this to me, making me feel like this just for daring to have a
dream."
Rabastan held him tight, stroking his back, as Harry shook in his arms.
He was already talking himself out of torturing and murdering those
editors because it would swing back on Harry and the Malfoy family. But
that didn't mean that he didn't want to do it, and there was no harm in
imagining it, as he held his devastated, beloved fiancé in his arms. What
he wouldn't give for an hour or two with those editors if he could get
away with it.
No one had thought to cancel the little celebratory party that had been
scheduled for that afternoon. It had slipped everyone's mind with the
morning newspaper and the first anyone remembered was when Blaise
flooed into the house and went looking for Draco.
Harry seriously wasn't in the mood to celebrate his exam results or being
made Head Boy. He was still upset, still angry, and of course, Blaise had
read the article as well. By now everyone would have read it. The six of
them were holed up in Harry's living room, and the atmosphere was
almost grave.
"No one who actually knows you is going to believe that, Harry." Theo
pointed out, having joined them only minutes after Blaise, you could
always count on purebloods to be punctual.
"Not many people do know me." Harry sulked. "I don't really like having
a lot of people clamouring around me. I prefer to keep a handful of really
close friends, and no more."
"Daphne is already laughing about it." Astoria told him, looking
apologetic. "She's been in such a good mood since Pansy's betrothal
announcement was made. She even spent time collecting an ironic card
and a gift to send to Pansy congratulating her on the news. This article
has just buoyed her mood all the more. She hasn't forgiven you for
having her dragged out of your birthday party, so this is payback in her
eyes."
"The worst part is not being able to get my own version of events out.
The Daily Prophet is hardly going to accept an interview from me, calling
them out on their bullshit, are they?"
Harry blinked as he said that, and then turned to Luna.
"Actually, Luna. Your father run that interview for me last year, do you
think he'd do it again?" He asked excitedly, remembering when Hermione
forced Rita Skeeter, who she had kept in a jar, to write the interview for
the Quibbler.
"Oh yes, it was the bestselling edition he's ever had." Luna replied
dreamily.
"We need to do this properly!" Draco insisted, running to get parchment
and a quill, very eager to help now they had an option.
"None of us are journalists!" Theo said. "How are we going to set this
out?"
"It'll be easier if we just answer each one of their points with Harry's
defence." Blaise insisted. "They believe he's old enough to be slandered in
this way, like an adult, but at the same time, they continuously call him a
child. He can't be both. We should use that against them."
"I'm seventeen now." Harry pointed out, sitting on his knees by his coffee
table.
"But you're still in school." Astoria told him. "Even if you are seventeen,
it's generally considered that you're still a minor until you've graduated
because you still can't use magic outside of school."
"But the trace on my wand has gone." Harry frowned.
"Because you're expected to know how to behave." Blaise said. "But if
we're caught doing magic outside of school, while we're still attending,
we'll be prosecuted for underaged magic still. Trust us on this matter,
Harry. You're officially an adult under our laws, but if you broke the law
or got into trouble while you're still in school, you'll be tried as a minor
still."
Harry nodded.
"Let me go and get that paper, so we can address each point." Draco said,
standing back up and going to hunt down the paper, hoping that it hadn't
been thrown into the fire yet.
"I'll be your interviewer." Luna said, taking the parchment and quill,
dipping it and writing down some notes for herself.
"Do you think it'll be better to do it in order of the accusations, or the
most important issue first? Which is, of course, the Prophet trying to
overturn the Wizengamot." Harry asked.
"I think doing it in the order of accusation will work better because then
those reading both articles can follow your answers to the Prophet's
accusations." Theo told him.
Harry nodded and looked over as Draco came rushing back into the
room, the scrunched-up paper in his hand.
"Right, we'll do this properly, run it by father, and then see about having
it printed." Draco said, taking charge. "The first issue is them slandering
the charities that you chose to back, and them calling the timing into
question, as well as stating that you'd made the donations with dirty
money."
"Yes, me flashing my wealth and exerting my sense of superiority over
the masses." Harry scoffed.
"We'll start with that, as it seems to be finding out about you donating to
these charities that set off the article in the first place." Theo said,
grabbing another quill and some scrap parchment. "They are calling the
timing into question, what is your answer to that?"
Harry shrugged. "I've only just come of age." He said. "What could I have
done before that? True, I am a lord, but I was adopted, not emancipated."
"So the 'why now' question is answered with you've just come of age."
Theo noted down. He seemed to be doing as such for Luna so that she
could embellish his notes with her own to create full answers.
"We also need to address the flashing of 'dirty' gold, because we know
Harry wouldn't do something like that, so we can't let others think that
that is what he was doing." Astoria pointed out.
"I spent three hours just talking with the coalition representatives. I've
already promised to do what I can on the weekends. I'm donating my
time as well as gold. I don't want to flash my wealth, I have never done
that before in my life, I just want to help."
"They're not going to believe that you're a caring person, because this
article has also brought up the sentencing you declared while sat on the
Wizengamot, and they've made you sound cruel and callous." Blaise said.
"We need to address that really well, and get your thoughts exactly on
that issue, Harry before people will change their opinion."
"Well, the goblin execution was already a written law." Harry pointed
out. "I just reminded the Wizengamot of that fact. It's not as if we debated
and I just shouted out for someone's execution. I was just upholding the
law."
"What about the other one, the one sentenced to Azkaban?" Theo asked,
writing down Harry's answer for Luna.
"He was a danger to our society, he was firing off blasting hexes at
muggles, any one of which could have caused serious injury or death.
Two muggles even had to be treated in Saint Mungo's. I didn't call for
him to be sentenced to Azkaban for being drunk, I did it because he
posed a very serious risk to the muggles, and he broke several laws and
decrees while doing so, including the Statute of Secrecy."
"That's a good answer." Draco nodded. "The Prophet never ran the article
like that back when this first happened, they didn't print the truth, now
you have the opportunity to do that."
"The next point I can see is they somehow have an issue with you selling
your shares and then using the dirty money collected to donate to
charity. I don't know why they have a problem with this as you're
entitled to sell them when you want as soon as they've matured. I can
guarantee they were decades old, weren't they?" Blaise asked, scanning
the article.
"Yeah, they were from the Potter portfolio, a business investment of my
grandfather, Fleamont's." Harry said. "I have no idea why they have an
issue with it, unless it's because I sold my shares and cashed in, and then
blew the whistle on the embezzlement. Oh…I wonder if one of the
editors of the Daily Prophet was a shareholder in that company. Me
selling my shares bankrupted the company, it had to go into liquidation
just to pay me off, and the company directors were sent straight to
Azkaban. But I was the only one who profited, there was no money left
for any of the other shareholders."
"I bet anything that that is what happened." Theo insisted. "But that's not
your fault. You're entitled to sell your shares at any time, and you were
the only one eagle-eyed enough to spot the embezzlement happening in
the first place. The company would have folded if you'd sold your shares
or not, it was only because you sold them when you did that you got
anything at all."
"The next point is…is his return and them calling you deranged and
unstable." Blaise said.
"Father already addressed this issue, the Prophet even ran his interview
last year." Harry pointed out.
"I'll find out the issue date so that that can be printed and those who wish
to can look it up and see that answer." Draco told him.
"Moving on to the last point then. You sitting on the Wizengamot."
"They can ask anyone they like, I don't shout and scream at the other
members." Harry insisted firmly. "I debate with them, occasionally make
them look stupid, but I am never the one to raise my voice. Not even
during the trialling of Dennis Jute did I once raise my voice, even though
other, apparently more mature, distinguished, members were shouting at
and disrespecting me. There were members of the press there then. I
think they would have run something at the time if I'd been shouting and
screaming for not getting my own way."
"None of us believe that you'd behave in such a way." Astoria assured
him.
"This is where they're calling you a child the most. To do with the
Wizengamot." Blaise said, reading the article. "They're trying to make it
seem like you aren't mature enough to handle the responsibility of having
a seat on the Wizengamot, or two seats in your case, and they're trying to
exaggerate your behaviour to make it seem more childish and immature
by insinuating that you have tantrums to get your own way. It's pure libel
aimed at getting you off of the Wizengamot. I just don't know why."
"I've been rocking the boat a lot, making waves." Harry said. "I'm trying
to set up my own law reforms, any one of which could be motivation for
having me removed from the Wizengamot as quickly as possible. My
magical creature reform laws could have been in the Chief Warlock's
hands before the New Year, and certainly before I graduate. I made it no
secret that I was writing these reforms either. I've been talking about
them a lot, trying to garner support for it, all it would take was for
someone to not want those reforms even brought before the Wizengamot
to be debated upon."
"Did you only tell the members of the Wizengamot?" Theo asked him.
Harry shook his head. "The Minister also knew of these reforms."
"Do you think he's trying to take you down with him?"
"That or he's told others about what he overheard at the Wizengamot
party back in April. It would be just like him to rant and rave to other
people about the inquest I manoeuvred him into, or even about the law
reforms I was hoping to pass. If anyone didn't like the sound of that
creature reform, then it could be them aiming to block me and have me
removed from the Wizengamot. I know there were photographers there
that night, but I can't remember if there were journalists or even the
editors themselves, there. I wasn't interested in them at the time."
"You're saying that perhaps one of the editors overheard about your
reform?"
Harry nodded. "Perhaps they overheard, didn't like it, but this is the first
chance they've had to act upon it. With Fudge out of office and Britain
between Ministers at the moment there's not really anyone who can exert
any control over them or what they publish."
"We'll get your version of things out now." Theo insisted, as he wrote the
last of his notes before passing them over to Luna, who had been taking
her own notes.
Using both sheets of notes, Luna started writing the main 'interview' out
on a fresh piece of parchment.
"It's a shame that we can't get someone to validate your conduct in the
Wizengamot. Father obviously can't do it as he'll be called biased." Draco
sighed. "You said you were on friendly terms with Dawson Shacklebolt,
do you think we could get a statement from him?"
"I don't want to drag anyone into this. All the members of the
Wizengamot know how I behave during a meeting, and it's certainly not
how the Prophet has said I do. They'll all know that it's a lie."
"Then they should want to stand up and claim it as such." Astoria said
fiercely. "I'll ask my father to do just that. He always speaks well of you
when he talks of the Wizengamot."
Harry smiled for the first time since that morning. "Hopefully, some of
them will, especially when this interview is printed. I'm just upset that
anyone felt the need to do this to me."
"They won't get away with it." Draco soothed him.
"I'm glad to have all of you with me. I'm glad to know that you don't
believe any of this."
"Why would we believe any of it? We know who you really are." Blaise
insisted. The others made murmurs of agreement.
They spent the time waiting for Luna to finish writing out the interview
by playing a short game of what they would do to the editors, and the
journalist who had written the article, if they could get away with it,
before Luna interrupted, claiming that she was done. She handed it to
Harry, and everyone else was hanging over his shoulders as they all read
the 'interview' with Harry Potter.
"This is really well-written, Luna." Theo praised.
"We need to show father." Draco said.
"I'll do that, you stay here. It's rude to leave guests." Harry said.
Harry stood and took the interview downstairs, to the drawing room,
where he seemed to have interrupted a very serious debate.
"Harry, how are you feeling?" Rabastan asked immediately, standing and
pulling him into a hug as Harry came closer.
"We're debating the best course of action to take. Clearly, we will be
suing for libel, and telling everyone the truth, but we know it is not
enough." Xerxes insisted.
"I might have the answer." Harry said, handing the parchment to his
father.
"What is this?" Lucius asked, reading the first few paragraphs,
understanding what it was, but not what it was for. "The Prophet would
never run an article that proves them wrong, Harry. You know this."
"It's not for the Prophet. Luna's father happens to be an editor himself. I
once published an interview in The Quibbler, I think it's time I did it
again."
"I spit on the Quibbler!" Xerxes exploded. "We'll find another way, Harry.
You don't have to resort to this."
Harry shook his head. "No. This is immediate retaliation. Luna said this
article could be in tomorrow's issue if her father prints an emergency
edition. People bought the Quibbler once to read what I had to say, I'm
hoping that they'll do so once again."
"Answering all of their issues with cool logic and the truth." Lucius said
softly, passing the parchment to Xerxes. "I will pay Xenophilius if I need
to."
"There should be no need. Luna has said he'll run it if she asks him to. He
did before. I just want a chance to answer these lies with the truth, and I
hope that that will be enough to get people to realise that I've been
slandered. Suing them for libel will also help immensely."
"It would be better if you had a member of the Wizengamot stand up in
your defence." Xerxes told him.
"We thought of that, but father can't do it because he's biased and I don't
really want to owe anyone favours. I did think of Dawson Shacklebolt,
but I just don't want to ask."
Rabastan laughed at that and so did Rodolphus.
"I was talking about me, Harry." Xerxes chuckled. "You're to become my
grandson, the mother to my future great-grandchildren, what affects you
and your family also affects me and mine. If I stand up and defend you
and your conduct in the Wizengamot, it might get the ball rolling, so to
speak, and others may well stand up and defend you in the same
manner."
"Would you really do that for me?" Harry asked, looking hopeful.
Xerxes stood and came to cup Harry's cheek. "With that look on your
face, I'd do anything for you." He insisted seriously. "Get me a quill and
some parchment, I'll give a written statement for your friend to add to
this interview, and we will do what needs to be done to see it published."
With the interview and now an added written statement in hand, Harry
hurried back up to his bedroom, his face flushed with excitement.
"Did he say yes?" Draco demanded.
"More than that, Xerxes gave me a written statement! He's a member of
the Wizengamot, and none of the public knows that we have a personal
connection to one another, so he can't be labelled as biased."
"Really? That's amazing! With a written statement from a Wizengamot
member, it validates everything you've said!" Theo exclaimed happily.
"Luna, are you sure your father will want to run this interview?"
Luna nodded, her radish earrings swinging. "Yes. I know he will."
"Send me a copy, won't you Luna?" Astoria asked. "I don't want to miss
this."
Luna smiled happily. "Of course."
"Me too!" Blaise grinned. "This is going to be great. Harry Potter taking
down the Daily Prophet."
"They've taken themselves down by running this libellous article." Harry
sniffed.
"Send me a copy too, Luna." Theo insisted.
"Daddy will be so happy to be selling so many issues. I will get it to him
right now."
Harry walked with Luna down to the entry room, which was the only
room connected to the floo in the manor, and he hugged her tightly in
goodbye.
"Thank you for this, Luna. Thank you."
"Of course, Harry. Anything for you."
Harry saw her off safely before going back up to his room to hang out
with the others. He was in a much better mood than he'd been that
morning, and now that he'd actually done something about the libellous
article, he felt better, and happier, too. They would still be suing the
Daily Prophet, but answering their accusations with his own article made
Harry feel like he'd done as much as he could to try to protect his
character from complete and utter ruin. Maybe he could try to save as
much of his political career as he could, and he wouldn't have to scrape
and struggle to get people to take him seriously. He was not just some kid
playing at being an adult. He had never really gotten the chance to be a
kid at all, and he refused to allow anyone to label him in such a way
now, not when he was sitting on the high court, and parliament, of
wizarding Britain. Not just because they wanted him booted out,
especially not if this had anything to do with his planned law reforms. He
would keep going, he would keep writing for that creature reform law,
and he would get it passed by any means necessary. Even if the media
tried to block him and slander him, he would stand tall and strong, and
carry on despite their efforts to stop him. He would never let them win.
A/N: This has been a long time coming, I know. I have been
exceptionally busy with a particular unposted fic of mine called The
Antlered Lion, and it has taken all of my focus and concentration for the
last few months. I am only going to be here for August, then in
September I will be going back to The Antlered Lion, and I hope to finish
it before the end of this year, but as always, I will be back to this fic, and
my others, before you know it, lovelies. It is not going to be abandoned,
and to confirm this you can join me on Facebook, I am always active and
updating everyone of what I am doing on there.
A huge thank you to Chef 101 for being the 3,600th reviewer for this fic.
Moonstone18: The other Weasleys are considered Purebloods,
technically, as they are all still magical, but they are officially classed as
blood traitors, as they refused the legitimisation, and turned their backs
on their blood status.
Pixie8859: Harry will become confident enough with his familial
relationship with Lucius and Narcissa to tell them that he loves them one
day, at the moment he's still wary of rejection to say such sentiments out
loud, but he definitely thinks it.
I think that this was all, lovelies, but I'll be back in exactly a week with
another update for you, then I might skip over to Rise of the Drackens, or
Iron-Bound Commitment, I don't know yet, but until then,
StarLight Massacre. X
28. Diagon Alley
Last Time
He was not just some kid playing at being an adult. He had never really gotten
the chance to be a kid at all, and he refused to allow anyone to label him in
such a way now, not when he was sitting on the high court, and parliament, of
wizarding Britain. Not just because they wanted him booted out, especially not
if this had anything to do with his planned law reforms. He would keep going,
he would keep writing for that creature reform law, and he would get it passed
by any means necessary. Even if the media tried to block him and slander him,
he would stand tall and strong, and carry on despite their efforts to stop him.
He would never let them win.
Chapter Twenty-Eight – Diagon Alley
Harry was very satisfied the next morning, as an emergency edition of
the Quibbler was delivered to him at breakfast and he saw that his
interview had been published, along with Xerxes' written statement, to
back up his claim.
He scanned the article, before passing it on to Lucius. He was much
happier today, and they were going to Diagon Alley this morning to buy
their school supplies, seeing as they hadn't gone yesterday due to the
Daily Prophet uproar.
"I'm glad to see you smiling again." Rabastan told him. "I hate seeing you
so upset."
Harry smiled wider and turned to give Rabastan a kiss. "Now that I feel
I've done something, I'm not so upset anymore. I'm still angry that this
happened at all, but I'm hopeful that I can salvage at least some pride so
that I can start building upon it."
Rabastan cupped his face and kissed him again. "You have done more
than enough, this will not fall on you, but on them. They chose to target
you as an adult and then demeaned you as a child, you are not an
orphaned boy with no one to protect you any longer. You have a family
now, one who will stand with you until the end of time."
Harry wrapped both his arms around Rabastan's neck and put his face to
his throat, holding on for comfort. Rabastan stroked his back, which
helped Harry to relax.
"I wish you could come with us. I hate shopping." Harry chuckled.
"I think it is safe to say that I hate shopping even more than you do, my
love." Rabastan grinned.
"Misery loves company?" Harry queried, peeking up at his fiancé with a
small smile.
"It does, but unless there is something I want specifically that cannot be
ordered via owl, I will not go shopping."
"Fine, but you better be ready to hug the shit out of me when I come
home."
Rabastan laughed, sudden and uncontrollable, it got the attention of the
table, but neither of them cared as they stayed wrapped up in one
another's arms, in their own little bubble.
"I'm sure I can manage that." Rabastan told him, once he had regained
control of his laughter.
"Harry, drink your milk, please." Narcissa interrupted.
Harry blinked and turned to look at her.
"I'm sorry?" He asked.
"Drink your milk." She repeated.
Harry made an 'O' with his mouth and turned to the little glass of goat
milk that he hadn't touched yet. He turned away from Rabastan a little,
which was likely his mother's intent, and he picked up the glass and
gulped it all down. He did prefer goat milk to cow milk, but truthfully he
didn't like either and he'd rather not drink any milk at all.
Rabastan's hand on his back helped, though when he'd finished the glass
that hand slid all the way down to the waistline of his trousers, Harry
shot his fiancé a warning look. A look that was ignored by a smirking
Rabastan.
"Are you sure you want to start this dangerous game again, my love?"
Harry asked softly. "Remember what happened the last time?"
One of Rabastan's fingers slipped under the waistband of his trousers and
boxers and Harry's eyes widened in shock.
"You lost this game the last time, Rabastan." Harry pointed out
desperately.
"Perhaps I want to win this time?" Rabastan told him innocently. Harry
almost snorted in amusement, Rabastan could not pull off the innocent
look at all.
"You know that that won't happen." Harry said firmly. "I'll win once more
and you'll have to change your boxers in the middle of the day again."
Rabastan laughed happily, far too amused at being reminded that he'd
lost control and had orgasmed under Harry's manipulative mouth in the
middle of the drawing room.
"This time it'll be you." Rabastan promised.
"You've already done that to me!" Harry reminded in a hiss. "I don't want
that to happen again! Me doing that to you was just payback."
"Oh?" Rabastan replied, still trying to keep up the innocent look. It made
Harry's lips twitch into a smile. "Well, you paid me back for that incident,
and now I'm paying you back in kind."
"That's not how it works!" Harry hissed, but he gasped as Rabastan
shifted closer to him, and his wandering hand slipped around the front of
Harry's body.
Rabastan bent right in close. "I think that that is exactly how it works, my
love." He whispered straight into Harry's ear.
Harry tried to act normally, he tried to ignore the hand in his lap, but he
was so sexually frustrated that he reacted almost immediately to any sort
of touch. Truthfully, he reacted to the merest implication of touch, and
he was already hard by the time Rabastan's fingers had skipped over his
hip and touched him properly.
He sat ramrod straight, trying to suppress any sound that wanted to
escape. He even tried to cross his legs, but he wasn't sure why he did it,
whether it was to try and knock Rabastan's hand away, or keep it where
it was, seeing as all he did was trap Rabastan's wrist between his thighs.
He heard the dark chuckle of his love and it went straight down his back
and made his dick throb. He was trembling, ever so slightly, trying to
control himself. A small whimper slipped out and Harry saw Rabastan's
smirk flare.
"You bastard. I'll get you for this." Harry hissed, even as he shuddered
and suppressed a wanton moan.
"I can't wait to see you completely unrestrained." Rabastan said, his smirk
softening into a smile.
"Likewise." Harry forced out.
"Boys, are you ready to go to Diagon Alley?" Narcissa asked, placing
down her empty teacup.
Rabastan's hand slipped away, and Harry felt like screaming in
frustration. He was teetering on the edge of orgasm, and now he had no
relief at all. He was left hard and aching, frustrated and angry. He would
definitely be paying Rabastan back for this.
"I am, Mother." Draco replied, standing from his chair.
"Harry?"
"I just need to use the bathroom." Harry said, as normally as he could.
Though his voice was slightly more hushed than usual, no one noticed, or
if they did then they didn't think anything of it.
He stood and hurried from the room, aiming to go and take care of
himself for a moment. He was already thinking of revenge plots.
Rabastan would not get away with what he'd just done at the breakfast
table.
Harry was enduring the looks being sent towards him with as much
dignity as he could manage. What did please him though was that nearly
everyone he saw was holding, or reading, a copy of the Quibbler. Some
of them were in small groups so they could read over one another's
shoulder, but Harry was certain that everyone was talking about that
article, whereas yesterday they had likely been talking about the Daily
Prophet article.
Draco stayed close by him, supporting him as they shopped.
"It looks like your idea to publish in the Quibbler was a good idea." Draco
said, smiling.
"It worked last year, I'm just glad that it worked this time too. Hopefully,
everyone will read it and realise that the Prophet is making up lies about
me again. The lawsuit should help even more."
"Boys, do you both have the same set of books to get?"
"Yes, Mother." They both replied together.
"We'll do Flourish and Blotts last then. Robes first, I believe, as it'll take a
while to have you both fitted."
They were taken to Twilfitt and Tattings and Draco grinned as he saw
Astoria working, hauling big rolls of fabric for the seamstresses.
"Be kind!" Harry hissed at his brother.
"Of course I will, I'm just happy to see her." Draco said, lifting a hand to
smooth his hair back.
Harry smiled, but he hid it from Draco. He'd done similarly embarrassing
shit when he'd been preparing to meet Rabastan before. He still did those
things sometimes, and he refused to give Draco grief about it.
"Draco." Astoria greeted, quickly brushing down her trousers and blouse
before one hand reached up to pat at her hair, which had been pulled
back into an elaborate bun. "It's lovely to see you." She said, even though
she looked utterly mortified.
"We were supposed to come yesterday to get our school things, but…
well, those plans were changed in light of everything." Draco explained.
"Are you feeling better, Harry?" Astoria asked him.
Harry hugged her gently and kissed her cheek. "Much better, thank you,
Astoria."
Harry made himself scarce then, going over to his mother and leaving
Draco and Astoria to talk to one another. Lucius had left them at the door
to the shop and he'd walked off on his own.
"You'd like five sets of black robes, four sets of dress robes, and two
winter cloaks, is that correct Missus Malfoy?" The head seamstress
clarified, even as she got Harry to stand on a luxurious footstool.
"Yes, the one set of dress robes is to be completed by the end of this
week. Harry will need them soon."
"I would say that greens, blues, and reds would suit you best." The
seamstress told him, looking at him and all but dissecting his skin tone,
hair and eye colour. "You're definitely in the cool, winter group." She said
which made no sense to Harry at all.
"That really means that you can wear all the bold, bright colours that you
want without looking bad." Astoria told him with a smile.
"You told me once that the darker the shade the better I'd look." Harry
told her.
"Astoria is right. A nice bold colour, darker rather than paler, would suit
you the best." The seamstress smiled, giving a proud look to Astoria. "You
can even try black, grey, purple, or even pure white, and it will look
wonderful on you."
"I'd rather stay away from pure white." He insisted.
"I don't know, Harry. White robes, over green or blue, or even black,
would look lovely." Astoria told him.
"Black is my preferred under colour." Harry nodded.
"As long as you steer clear of muted pastels, and all yellow and orange
based tones, you can't go wrong." The seamstress told him, using her
wand to direct a measuring tape, noting down everything in a small file
that had Harry's name on it. It was his personal profile file that would
record his measurements and his 'colours' so if he requested dress robes
in the middle of the year then he wouldn't have to come in for a
consultation. He'd just send in his measurements if they'd changed, and
what colour he'd like them to be.
He hadn't done this the last time. Narcissa had taken his measurements
and ordered what she wanted directly, as Harry had been rather difficult
when he'd first been adopted. He had a much better idea of how to
behave, how to speak, and what he liked more than he had last year.
"Do you prefer your robes loose, or tight-fitting?" The seamstress asked
him.
"Tight-fitting." Harry said immediately.
The woman nodded, noting that down and the measuring tape suddenly
started wrapping around his neck, then his chest, then his belly, down to
his hips.
"You're very slender." The woman commented. "A more modern cut robe
would compliment you the best. You would be lost in thicker, more
traditional robes and we'd lose all definition of body shape."
"This is a nice colour, Harry." His mother said, turning one of the thick
fabric books to face him, showing the swatch of cloth attached to the
page. It was a brilliant scarlet colour.
"I like that." He said.
"It would match wonderfully with your colouring." The seamstress told
him approvingly. "Red will give you a healthy pink colour to your skin."
"I found this colour working here too." Astoria said, rushing to get
another fabric book and flipping through it. "If you wanted to try a splash
of purple." She added.
Astoria turned the book and showed him a bright, bold royal purple
colour. It was close to blue, but it was still definitely purple.
"The blue hue of this fabric will compliment you perfectly, a wonderful
suggestion, Astoria." The seamstress praised.
"Pairing that with black would look so elegant." Narcissa smiled.
"Alright, I'll try purple." Harry relented with a laugh.
Once he was measured, and Draco was having his turn being scrutinised
and picked over, Harry was flipping through all the fabric books marked
as 'cool winter' trying to find not only colours but fabrics that he liked
too. He was feeling all of the little colour swatches, running them
through his fingers to test what they felt like on his skin. He did have fun
feeling a satiny silver piece of silk through his fingers. It felt amazing, but
it would look awful on him, no matter his skin tone and colouring, he
already knew. Draco would likely pull it off, though.
It took almost two hours for them both to be fitted and have all their
colours chosen for dress robes, especially as Harry needed to find four of
them. He'd chosen a nice dark sapphire blue for himself though, it was a
shade or two darker than the Egyptian blue robes that Rowle had ruined,
but Harry liked the feeling of the cotton material too.
Of course, the needed emerald green was added to the list, on the darker
side naturally, as was the deep, royal purple that Astoria had picked out
for him.
He was fed up with talking about clothes once they were out of the shop
and he stretched himself in the August sun, feeling, and hearing, his back
crack.
"Lucius, there you are." Narcissa called out.
"All done?" He asked, striding toward them.
"Yes, dear."
"I've had their next year's potions ingredients sent to the house." Lucius
reported. "I've also bought their parchment, standard ink, and a new set
of quills each. Did you order all of their robes?"
"Yes, dear. They will be completed on time and delivered to the house."
"You remembered to order our Harry his dress robes for this weekend?"
"I'm not senile, Lucius." Narcissa told her husband and both Harry and
Draco ducked their heads and shared a grin with one another.
Lucius chuckled himself and wrapped his arm around his wife and they
turned to Flourish and Blotts. Harry and Draco needed twenty-three
books each. The same twenty-three books at that, which Harry thought
was ridiculous and excessive. Harry would also look for more
recreational reading material, particularly anything on law-making, or
the current laws that were still in effect and enforceable.
"Harry, I assume you will be buying more than the required books on
your list?" Lucius asked him.
"Yes, Father." Harry replied immediately.
"I will gather your school books then, but you are limited to one hour
only, am I clear?"
Harry nodded and he hurried off to the second floor, which he'd learnt
held most of the law and political books.
The first floor, which is where all of the school books were displayed for
convenience, had been busy and loud. In contrast, the second floor was
more peaceful and there were fewer people up here so he could peruse
the books without fighting people to get access to the bookshelves.
He had never once thought in the past that he would have any sort of
interest in politics of any kind, he'd never thought of writing or reforming
laws, and he'd never once thought of becoming the Minister for Magic,
but here he was, a member of the Wizengamot, and aiming right for the
top office. He wondered if Voldemort would force Thicknesse to stand
down for him, when the time came, or if Harry would have to be voted
in. That, of course, brought his thoughts back to the Prophet article and
the public perception of him. He'd never get voted in for anything if
people still believed the libellous Prophet articles published about him.
"You have a keen interest in politics."
Harry blinked and looked up from the book he was scanning through,
making sure it was what he was looking for, to look at the man who had
sidled up to him.
Harry smiled. "Yes. I've become very interested in politics and in learning
the laws of the country too."
"Might I suggest you read this book?" The man told him, reaching to the
top shelf, that Harry couldn't even see let alone reach, and he pulled
down a big, heavy book to show him.
Harry put the book he'd been flipping through into his to-buy pile and
took the thick book from the stranger.
"Ancient laws and customs?" Harry queried, looking up in bemusement.
"Would it shock you if I told you that this is the most comprehensible list
of all current, enforceable laws in this country? That this book is the
basis for all wizarding customs and traditions?"
Harry checked the date on the book and his eyes widened in surprise.
"Fourteen-forty-two."
The man nodded. "Yes. Yet the laws in this book are almost all still in use
today."
Harry flipped through a few pages, searched the index page, and then
turned to the first chapter to see if he could read it. It was written in
Middle English. He was going to need a translation dictionary.
"Thank you, I'll be sure to read this." He said distractedly.
"I read the Daily Prophet article."
Harry's head snapped up at that. He took a deep breath to soothe his
immediate anger.
"The Prophet has always written gossip about me, they're little better
than Witch Weekly." He insisted calmly.
The man was watching him closely. "I read the Quibbler article as well."
"Your thoughts and opinions are your own. I wasn't intending to change
minds, only to tell the truth. Take from both articles what you will, it's
not for me to make up your mind for you."
The man laughed then. "My wife is right, you are going to rule the world
one day."
Harry blinked in surprise, feeling wrong-footed by this stranger.
"Daniel Parker." The man introduced himself. "I work in the DMLE. I'm a
Law Enforcer."
"Oh, so you know all of the laws?" Harry replied, much more interested
in the man in front of him.
Daniel laughed. "We can't know them all. We have dedicated people who
keep a track record of all the current laws in filing cabinets. Though it's
usually the Head of the law division, old Winston Craken, who handles
all Ministry requests for current laws."
"Were you perhaps on duty when Dennis Jute was apprehended?"
"Smart boy." Daniel smiled. "I was, yes. My team were the first on the
scene. I read what the Prophet wrote about that incident myself, and I
knew then that they were skewing with the perception of it. Them
bringing it back up again yesterday only made me angrier. I saw first-
hand what that madman did, the damage he caused and the clean-up was
immense. I was happier when I came to Diagon this morning to find
people raving about a special Quibbler edition. Naturally, I was curious
and bought it myself, only to find that you'd answered all of those
baseless accusations against you."
"I'm happy to know that there are at least some people who are willing to
see the Prophet for what it is."
"My wife is beside herself for them targeting a child in such a way, and
yes, we both know you're seventeen now, and a lord at that." Daniel told
him, laughing at Harry's narrow-eyed glare. "But you are still in school,
and we have kids in their twenties and they're still children to us, we
don't mean any offence."
Harry nodded his understanding and eased down. That had been in the
Quibbler article too. Pointing out how he was still in school, being
claimed as a child within the Prophet article, yet being targeted, attacked
and slandered as if he were an adult.
"Anyway, I just thought I'd help, seeing as I saw what sort of books you
were going for, and I had to read that book myself to become a Law
Enforcer. I would have tapped out and quit if my wife hadn't forced me
to stick to it. But it's incredibly informative, it should have everything
you're looking for in one book."
"Thank you." Harry replied, adding the book to his little stack.
"No problem, keep doing what you're doing, not all of us are imbeciles
who believe everything the Prophet prints."
Daniel walked off with a wave, and Harry mused at the rather strange
interaction. He went up to the third floor and went searching for a
Middle English to modern English dictionary.
"There you are!"
Harry turned to look at his relieved father.
"Do you have any idea how frantic we were when we couldn't find you?"
"I'm sorry." Harry replied, looking at his pocket watch and seeing he'd
gone ten minutes over his hour limit.
"Are you alright?" Lucius asked him.
Harry nodded. "I can't find a decent translation dictionary for Middle
English."
"I assume that it's relevant and needed?"
Harry nodded. "One of my books is in Middle English. I need a translator
to understand it."
"Very well."
Lucius started helping him find a decent translation dictionary but he
pulled Harry away from the shelves as soon as a suitable one had been
found. He clearly thought that Harry couldn't be trusted, and was keeping
him away from temptation.
Harry paid for his books, accepted the charmed bag, and then Lucius was
leading him out and down the road to a bustling restaurant. Narcissa and
Draco were already sitting at a table and his mother sighed when she saw
him behind Lucius.
"Where was he?" She asked Lucius, even as Harry sat down.
"He was still in Flourish and Blotts. He was up on the third floor."
"What could you have wanted up on the third floor?" Draco demanded.
"A Middle English to modern English translation dictionary. One of the
books I picked up is written in Middle English."
"You're so weird." Draco declared.
"Pot. Kettle. Black." Harry said shortly.
"Boys, enough. We're out in public." Lucius told them, reminding them to
show a united front.
"I've ordered you both tea and a sandwich." Narcissa told them.
"Thank you, Mother." Harry smiled, but he dug a hand into his bag and
pulled out the old book that looked like it had been on the shelf since it
was first published.
"Dear Merlin, Harry, you'll be fifty before you finish that book." Draco
told him.
"That's probably true, as this is the book written in Middle English." He
sighed. "Hopefully, the translator will help, and I'll gain a better
understanding of it."
"Ancient laws and customs?" Lucius read. "Is there any particular reason
you want to struggle through this book, Harry?"
"I've been informed that this is still the only book that has nearly all the
current laws and traditional customs that we still follow today." Harry
explained. "Of course, I would have hoped for a book in modern English,
but beggars can't be choosers in such things."
They were served tea and their sandwiches, which was like a small treat
before they went back home, and Harry put the book down to eat. He
wasn't reading it properly yet, he couldn't as he needed the translator,
but he was looking it through regardless. If he was understanding
properly, this book had all of the pureblood traditions and customs inside
it, and he wanted to see if they were still being used, or if some things
had been modernised to better fit in with modern life. He was very, very
interested in it.
"Now, do you boys want anything else?" Lucius asked them. "Additional
inks or parchments? New gloves or boots?"
"I need more parchment, definitely." Harry replied. "Maybe a work
journal to translate this book."
Lucius nodded. "Draco?"
"I want to buy Astoria a gift." He said, a little pink in the cheeks, but
determined.
"I will go with you to assist you in choosing something suitable." Narcissa
told Draco.
"Very well, I will accompany you, Harry." Lucius told him.
Harry gathered his bag of books and made sure that his new book was
safely inside and that he wasn't leaving it anywhere. He and Lucius went
one way, and Draco led his mother off in the other direction.
"We will pick you up some additional inks as well." Lucius said.
Harry nodded. He was no longer using a dozen different colour inks to
write his letters to Rabastan, instead, he was using coloured bulletin
points to mark each paragraph, but writing in plain black. This was a step
up for Rabastan and he was focusing more, and he now had the ability to
read and retain information, and he could read by himself, without the
need to continuously mark where he was with a finger. He did still lose
his place in long lines of text though, which is why Harry was upgrading
his letter system to include Rabastan's improvements, but also giving him
a net to fall back on if he needed it. By next summer Rabastan could be
reading letters, and other texts, without the need for any assistance at all
and Harry would be so proud of his suffering fiancé for such
improvements.
Inside Scribbulus' Writing Implements Harry went hunting for a proper
work journal. Lucius picked him up several additional bottles of black ink
and several sheaves of additional parchment, each one bundled into a
pre-set number of sheets with twine. Lucius had picked him up the larger
bundles of parchment, which each contained twenty-four sheets of
parchment.
Harry found the perfect work journal. It was huge, but leather-bound and
rather elegant looking. Harry picked it up and took it to his father, but as
this was all additional equipment and not his normal school stuff Harry
paid for it himself.
"Now, are you done?" Lucius asked him.
Harry nodded. "Yes. I've gotten everything I needed." Harry smiled.
"Then let us go home."
They made it with no issue to the Leaky Cauldron, so that they could floo
home, but it was inside the pub, where a copy of the Quibbler was in
nearly every hand, that things interrupted them.
"Excuse me, Mister Potter?" A distinctly Irish voice cut through.
Lucius immediately placed his hand on Harry's shoulder and pulled him
in closer to his body.
The speaker was a small woman, who looked rather nervous, but even
without Seamus Finnigan standing miserably beside her, Harry would
have known who she was, as Seamus bore such a strong resemblance to
her. Harry still remembered the fight he'd had with Seamus in their fifth
year, and he remembered that his mother was a devout reader of the
Daily Prophet…she had believed the lies about him the first time, and he
wondered if she believed them this time.
"May I help you?" He asked politely.
"My son has something to say." She said fiercely, pulling Seamus by his
sleeve to stand in front of her.
"I'm sorry." Seamus told him, stood there, looking at his feet, but
nonetheless sounding sincere.
"Tell him what for!" His mother demanded.
The packed pub was almost silent. The patrons watched on with interest,
and Seamus' ears went red at the attention, but his mother wasn't going
to let him get away with not saying whatever it was she was forcing him
to say, no matter how many people were watching.
"I'm sorry for taking your school stuff and destroying it all last year." He
said, not quite whispering, but still, it was so quiet in the pub that Harry
was sure that all but those sitting right at the back could hear him
perfectly.
"I assure you, I never would have believed it of him!" His mother cut back
in. "I have him working here during the summer, to pay off the debt he
owes."
Harry nodded, not sure what else to say. "I'm just sorry that it came to
this." He said softly.
"You were within your rights to claim compensation for the damage
caused." Lucius told him firmly.
"Absolutely." Missus Finnigan agreed. "I didn't raise my son to be a thief,
nor did I raise a bully. I just wanted you to know that I do not accept his
behaviour and he is being punished for his actions."
"Thank you." Harry told her.
"We will take our leave now." Lucius said smoothly, gently manipulating
Harry away from the two people and towards the large, open fireplace.
The pub burst into a cacophony of noise, as people discussed what they'd
just seen, and what they'd read in the Quibbler, and Harry flooed home,
ahead of his father. He really needed a sit-down and a cuddle with
Rabastan, perhaps a nice cup of tea and some biscuits, before he started
work on translating that book.
He carried his bags to the drawing room, and he smiled to see Rabastan.
He still needed to think up a suitable retribution for that morning, but it
could wait until he had had a cup of tea and a cuddle as he climbed onto
the settee and wrapped himself around his fiancé.
"How many of those books are for recreational reading?" Xerxes teased
him, looking at the Flourish and Blotts carrier bag.
Harry grinned. "A lot of them. I picked up a dozen new books."
"Your brain is going to burst if you carry on."
Harry laughed at that. "I wouldn't mind that, I'd rather it bursts from
accumulating knowledge than anything else."
Harry was given a cup of tea by Rabastan, and he kissed his fiancé in
thanks, slipping himself under Rabastan's arm and resting on him. He
sighed in contentment. He really hoped that the Quibbler article did
enough to sway the public opinion of him. He would continue to better
himself though and hope that the article, and the lawsuit that Lucius was
going to handle on his behalf while he was in school, made the public see
him for who he really was and he could then carry on as he had been
before this had happened. There would always be those who didn't like
him, and there would always be those now who chose to believe the
Daily Prophet article over everything else, he couldn't control that. All he
could do now was to not give people any more cause to take the Prophet
article as the truth because the damage was already done, but that didn't
mean that he had to give up and let them win. If he was going down, he'd
go down swinging, and then they'd all be sorry.
The Ministry party was tomorrow night, and his dress robes had arrived
that morning so that he could try them on and check the fit and the cut.
They were perfect and they suited him well. Rabastan had barely been
able to keep his hands to himself, which of course made Harry very
happy, and rather smug too.
There was no rest for him, however, as he had so much to do between
now and the first of September, which was only four days away, and a
Wizengamot meeting could be called at any moment, so he always had to
be prepared for that.
Despite how busy Harry was, Marcus had still bullied his way in for a
visit, demanding Harry's exam results. He smiled savagely as he saw
Harry's Outstanding mark.
"I knew you wouldn't let me down." He said, clapping Harry on the back.
"After all of your threats, I didn't dare." Harry teased.
"You're a competent student. I knew when I first started teaching you that
you'd do well. I'm proud of you."
"It's all thanks to you, Marcus. I would never have been able to get
through the workload, and understand it, without you."
"You didn't do too badly on Arithmancy and you only picked that up last
year." Marcus pointed out, but Harry got the feeling that he was
deflecting attention away from himself.
Harry shook his head. "Rabastan was helping me with Arithmancy, and
so was Draco. I had tutors in Arithmancy too, but you are clearly a much
better tutor. You really know what you're doing, Marcus."
Marcus scoffed and again deflected the attention away from himself by
pulling a large stack of parchment from the shoulder bag he'd brought
with him.
"Sit down, we have to start on your NEWT tutoring, you go back in four
days and you've fobbed me off with excuses for the last fortnight."
"I really was busy, Marcus."
"So I've seen in the papers."
Harry stared at the tabletop, trying not to get upset or angry that the
Prophet was turning those who knew him against him.
"I don't believe a word of it." Marcus told him. "I wouldn't have believed
it even if I hadn't spent the last several months tutoring you personally.
I'm just glad that the Quibbler article you released was more the truth,
that Lord Lestrange fought your corner has helped immensely too. At
least in the pureblood circles that is, those mudblood haters still hold the
actions of his grandsons against him."
"I noticed." Harry said softly.
"Don't look so worried, Lord Dawson Shacklebolt has come out in your
favour, and those haters definitely listen to and respect him."
"He did, when?" Harry asked, picking his head up.
"Yesterday allegedly, but I heard it this morning, when I was at the
ministry. Everyone is more willing to believe you, and your Quibbler
interview, now that Lord Shacklebolt is corroborating the story and your
version of events."
Harry smiled.
"I thought that might cheer you up. But now, onto business, Harry. I have
a fortnight's worth of material to cover with you, and you're back in
school in four days."
Harry sat down in front of the coffee table, and he was more than willing
to sit and learn from Marcus for a few hours, despite that it was going to
eat into his precious time with Rabastan. He knew now that Marcus
would get him the results he wanted, so he was willing to stick with it
and put in the hard work and graft to see the results he knew would
come his way. He was already missing Rabastan's company, however, but
he couldn't trust Marcus and Rabastan in the same room with one
another, otherwise, he might have invited Rabastan to join them. That
would have been nice, but not to be due to their attitudes towards one
another.
Marcus gave Harry several written tests to do, that were set out like his
last exam had been…only much more difficult.
"Have you been keeping up with your practice?" Marcus asked him,
watching him as Harry meticulously drew the runic answers.
Harry nodded. "Yes, I made sure I kept up with it. I might have put off
our lessons, but I made sure to keep up with my practice."
"Good."
Marcus sat back and watched him for a while, but as soon as Harry was
done with the first sheet, Marcus swooped on it and started marking it to
keep himself busy.
This carried on for a while, quiet and peaceful. Harry enjoyed it, though
he noticed the increase in difficulty on the questions. He assumed that
this is what it meant to go into his final NEWT year, and he mentally
prepared himself for the large jump he would experience once he was
back in Hogwarts, and no longer on a lighter workload. It felt wonderful
to be healthy, and no longer in any danger or at risk, but he was not
going to enjoy being buried alive by homework.
"Good work." Marcus told him, laying the last sheet down. "You've
remembered everything I taught you. I want to go through every sheet
with you, then we'll move on to something more difficult, which you will
be doing now that you're a seventh-year NEWT student."
"I'm understanding more and more. I've been reading the books you
recommended too, and they have helped a lot."
Marcus smirked. "I told you that they would."
"I've only got half a book left to read."
"Try and get that read before you go back to school." Marcus warned him.
"I know it's a big ask, but I have more books for you and they will be
more useful for you now that you're going into your final NEWT year."
Harry grimaced, but he nodded. "I'll get to that, it just means I'll put
down the recreational books that are actually interesting."
Marcus looked offended that Harry wasn't finding his precious runes
interesting, and it made Harry chuckle.
"I like them well enough, I just have a lot of reading material to get
through and I do find certain subjects more interesting than others.
Particularly law."
Marcus gave him a knowing look. "Of course you prefer law to anything
else, what with how you're ruling the Wizengamot."
"Knowledge is key. It helps that I'm somewhat likeable too."
"Somewhat." Marcus echoed with a smirk.
Harry could only laugh. "Not everyone was going to like me. I've made
my peace with that."
"Good, it's disgusting to suck up to people who'll never like you, no
matter what you do. I learnt that in school, I assume you did too?"
Harry smiled wryly and thought of the Dursleys, who never gave him any
praise, attention, or even acknowledgement, despite his best efforts.
"A little earlier than that. I was never desperate for everyone's approval, I
turned down friendships as much as I made them." He answered while
thinking of Draco holding out his hand and being spurned. If only he had
met Draco first, perhaps the fiasco with Ron never would have
happened…but then his friendship with Ron, and Hermione too, had
been genuine for the years they'd been together. They had enjoyed one
another's company, had gotten on well, and yes, they'd had their bumps
and fights, Harry grimaced as he thought of Ron's jealousy over being
named the second Hogwarts champion during the Triwizard tournament.
Yet that didn't mean that it hadn't been real, right up until his adoption
last year it had been a real friendship, of that he was certain. It was just a
shame that his friends had thrown away what they'd had, all those years,
merely because he'd been adopted into the Malfoy family and had started
a political career, one which was his by birthright.
"You always were a little recluse." Marcus smirked.
Harry snorted. "I preferred it to being fawned over for the scar on my
head. I think of poor Krum now and again, and how he was followed
everywhere he went by a gaggle of girls."
"That was the year after I graduated." Marcus reminded him.
"Oh, I forgot. There was no Quidditch that year, so I never had a reason
to see, or miss you." Harry grinned.
Marcus rolled his eyes, but pulled out more sheets of parchment,
thumping them down in front of Harry. "Let's get back down to studying.
Let's see how you do with these questions, and then we'll go through
them and see how you did. If a question is too difficult, leave it blank and
I'll walk you through it after."
Harry nodded and started looking through some of the questions. He
grimaced. This was going to take some time…and all of his
concentration.
Again Marcus took the sheets as Harry finished them, marking them
slowly and critically. Harry was frustrated that he had to leave several
questions blank. He knew better than to guess a runic sequence when he
wasn't even fifty per cent sure. Marcus had well and truly made him
understand the dangers of messing with runes and some of his horror
stories were gruesome enough to stop Harry from trying his hand at
carving his own runic sequences, but it was still frustrating. Harry
prepared himself to settle down and focus when Marcus went through
these questions with him. He wanted to learn and become better.
"Right, I'm going to show you exactly where you went wrong in some of
these." Marcus told him, laying the first sheet down between them. There
were a lot of red scrawls and corrections on it, and Harry felt his
frustration level rise. "No, don't get angry." Marcus all but ordered him.
"You did really well, better than I thought you would even, but you fell
into the trap of most people studying runes, you've used the simplest
runic sequence, that while it will still work, isn't the most effective.
Consider this instead."
Harry watched critically as Marcus dipped his quill into the red ink and
drew out his own runic sequence. Harry translated each rune
individually, then checked it for dangerous pairs or counter-effective
runes in the same sequence on automatic, as Marcus had taught him to
do. He saw immediately what Marcus was trying to show him.
"Oh…oh!"
"You see?"
Harry nodded. "It would be stronger."
Marcus nodded. "This is what you're going to be up against in your final
year now. Your answer wasn't wrong, but neither was it the answer that
Professor Babbling will be looking for. Or your examiners for that matter.
You've gone past finding the simplest answer to each equation, now it's
time for you to look for the most effective way of pairing runes together
in a sequence."
"Can I try the sheets again?"
"I've brought more for you to try. For now, I'll walk you through these
ones." Marcus insisted.
Harry was already seeing, and understanding, what Marcus had been
trying to teach him. He'd come a long way from not understanding runes
or being foolish enough to accidentally place dangerous pair combos in
the same sequence.
After they had gone through all of the sheets, Marcus gave Harry yet
another pile to try. Going into this pile of sheets, knowing now that he
was looking for more effective sequences, and not just the 'right answer'
helped very little when it actually came down to working through the
questions. It was still hard, difficult work, and Harry understood exactly
why Marcus was so highly paid. He couldn't believe that the 'thick troll'
from Hogwarts actually understood this gibberish and was one of the
country's leading masters of Runology. It just went to prove that you
truly couldn't judge someone without first knowing them. Marcus might
not know anything else, but he was a veritable genius with runes.
"You've done about as well as I expected." Marcus told him two hours
later after he'd marked Harry's answers. "There's room for improvement
though."
"There is always room for improvement." Harry insisted, feeling tired and
wrung out. They'd been in this 'lesson' for four hours already. Harry was
surprised that Rabastan hadn't come bursting in to check that nothing
untoward was happening.
"For you, there's room for immediate improvement." Marcus told him
savagely. "I will accept you getting nothing but an O for your final exams.
This isn't good enough, Harry. You're hovering around an A at the
moment, but it's a low A, almost a P, and I will not risk my reputation for
a fail grade, am I clear? You will do better or you'll find out exactly what
damage I can wreak with the right runic sequence."
Harry nodded, a thrill of fear skipping down his spine as he remembered
what Marcus had done to his fiancée, and the man that she had cheated
on Marcus with. He'd tortured them with runes, and in the man's case,
murdered him with them. The Aurors had been unable to pin any
evidence on Marcus, they couldn't even link the 'curse' back to him,
because he'd used runes and not a curse, and Marcus hadn't been
charged. He knew that Marcus wasn't bluffing, and he made a stern note
to himself to practice his runes before his next lesson. He was sure that if
he could show an improvement, any sort of improvement, then Marcus
would be pleased and wouldn't withdraw his tutorage, or worse, kill him
or torture him in some gruesome way that no one but Marcus could
reverse.
"Our lesson ends here. I want to see an improvement by our next lesson
or I will not be happy. Here are some more books for you to read. I don't
expect you to have read them all by our next lesson, I know how much
you are taking on, but neither will I accept excuses. You take this
tutoring seriously, Harry, or I'll put an end to it."
Harry nodded as he accepted the three books passed over to him.
"Thank you, Marcus." Harry said softly.
Marcus grinned then and he ruffled Harry's hair all over his head.
"You're a bright man, there's more intelligence in you than you realise.
I'm riding you hard, but I know you can do it. You only picked up
Ancient Runes a year ago, and now you're at the NEWT level. That's four
years of learning crammed into one and you kept up, Harry. You earned
your Outstanding mark in your exams, just be aware that this year is
going to be the most difficult you've ever gone through, the workload is
going to be near impossible, the difficulty is going to be brain-bursting,
and I will not accept you getting anything less than an O."
Harry nodded. "I'll get it."
Marcus clapped him on the shoulder. "Good. I'll accept no excuses for
anything other than an O, now see me out, I've got my own work to
complete."
Harry led Marcus to the reception room, where the floo was located.
"Thanks again for taking time from your own work to teach me, Marcus."
He said.
"Course not. It gives me bragging rights that I was the one to teach a
complete novice perfectly enough for him to get Outstandings on all his
exams. It helps that that novice is you too, Mister chosen one."
Harry scowled at the name that he hated. Marcus snorted a laugh.
"I'll see you again in a few weeks." Marcus told him, before flooing out of
Malfoy Manor.
Harry's shoulders slumped and he felt a crushing weight of expectation
and exhaustion settle over him. His seventh and final year at Hogwarts
was not going to be a nice, easy ride. He was going to have to fight for
every single inch, and the thought of that exhausted him.
He carried his armful of books to the front parlour, where he assumed
Rabastan was waiting for him. He didn't expect to see Rabastan being all
but held down by Rodolphus.
"What's going on?" He asked, quickly putting the books on the coffee
table and hurrying to his fiancé. His mind was filled with terror,
wondering if Rabastan was ill, or if he'd had a setback in his recovery.
"Harry." Rabastan called out, fighting off Rodolphus' hold and reaching
forward to yank Harry into his arms and up beside him on the settee.
"What is it? What's happened?" Harry asked desperately.
"You're scaring him." Xerxes chastised Rabastan harshly. "There is no
need for this display!"
"Will someone tell me what is going on?!" Harry demanded.
"He didn't like that your lesson was taking so long." Rodolphus told him.
"Twice he's gotten up to go and disturb you, and twice I've had to prevent
him."
Harry closed his eyes and deflated a little, exhaling slowly to keep
himself calm.
"Why did it take you over four hours?" Rabastan asked him, an edge of
anger to his voice. "What tutoring session takes that long?"
"We had a double lesson today." Harry explained as patiently as he could.
"I'd put off the tutoring for a fortnight because I was so busy with other
things, so Marcus demanded a longer lesson this time, to make up for it,
in light of me entering my final year. I'm not going to pass if I don't put
in the effort, and Marcus refuses to carry on teaching me if I stay at the
level I'm at now. He told me I was on a borderline P. A fucking P,
Rabastan! I won't stand for it, and neither will he. I have to put in the
time because I refuse to get anything other than an Outstanding in my
exams, do you understand me?"
"Nothing happened?"
"Nothing ever happens, it's all in your head!"
Rabastan looked furious, Harry was furious, but then a miracle happened,
and Rabastan released all the tension in his body and reached out to pull
Harry into a hug. Confused, but pleased that the aggression was gone,
Harry sunk into the hug.
"I'm sorry." His fiancé told him. "I'm working on it, I promise, but I
missed you."
Knocked off his stride, Harry didn't really know how to react to this
sudden change, but he was willing to acknowledge Rabastan's efforts, if
this is truly what it was, and not just a cheap ploy. He'd soon find out if it
kept happening and Rabastan didn't actually make any progress or
changes. For now, he was willing to accept it at face value, as he had no
way to test it until it came time for another tutoring session with Marcus.
"It makes me happy to know that you're working on this unfounded
jealousy."
Rabastan pulled back to kiss Harry's forehead, and it brought a goofy
smile to his face.
"You're both sickening." Rodolphus told them. "Squabbling and arguing
like children, and then engaging in whatever this is." He said, waving a
hand at them to show he meant their closeness and tender behaviour.
"I like being sickening." Harry declared. "Especially if it makes you extra
uncomfortable. It's my goal in life to be so sickening that it forces you to
leave the room."
"You're not allowed to be that sickening, it's against tradition." Rodolphus
growled at him.
"That isn't going to be an excuse forever." Harry pointed out. "We'll be
married this time next year."
"You wouldn't dare." Rodolphus told him, glaring at him and his younger
brother.
"Challenge accepted." Harry said lightly, turning back to Rabastan,
dismissing Rodolphus.
"Rodolphus!" Xerxes called out warningly. Harry paid no attention to the
elder Lestrange brother.
"Did you learn a lot?" Rabastan asked him, watching as Harry squinted
and rubbed his forehead, a clear sign that he had a headache.
"Tons. I also have a clearer picture of what to expect in this coming year.
I'm still upset that Marcus told me I'm doing this level of work at a P
grade. I hate the very thought of it, and imagining opening my exam
results to see a P is going to give me nightmares."
"You have time to improve." Rabastan insisted.
Harry nodded. "I just hope I improve quickly, before Marcus decides that
enough is enough and refuses to tutor me anymore. Then I can only
expect a T."
Rabastan scoffed. "You're at a P now, you won't forget the things you
already know, so a P is the baseline. I know that you will improve the
longer you put your mind to it."
"I hope so. I can't deal with the shame of failing my exams."
"You're not going to fail." Rabastan told him seriously, and with a lot
more certainty than Harry currently felt. He knew the difficulty of all his
lessons would increase this year, more so for him than for anyone else,
because he'd been on a decreased workload due to his severe illness last
year. Harry could only hope that he could keep up.
"Let's talk about something else. My brain is mush from that tutoring
session, I don't want to talk about lessons and school anymore."
Rabastan nodded and moved their conversation away from anything to
do with school, his tutoring, his law reforms, and most particularly the
wedding planning…anything and everything that might make Harry
upset, or cause his headache to worsen. They kept things light, and
Rabastan brought up the one subject that he knew would make Harry
smile again…baby names.
"I don't know, Basti, I think Crustaceous Lestrange has a nice ring to it."
Harry teased.
"That is not how pureblood naming works." Rabastan laughed.
"You're telling me that, but the evidence speaks for itself. Look at
Cantankerus Nott, you can't tell me his name isn't a play on
cantankerous."
"I'm not naming my child, my firstborn son, Crustaceous."
"But we could call him Crabby for short!" Harry actually giggled. "If he
takes after you and his uncle Dolphus for temperament then it'll be the
perfect name."
"No, Harry." Rabastan denied, still chuckling.
"Spoilsport. I had it all worked out."
Rabastan looked at his fiancé fondly, holding him tight to his side. It was
going to be hell surviving yet another school year without him. He had
missed him dreadfully last year, while Harry was in school, and he knew
that this year would be worse, as Harry and he were closer now than ever
before. He would see him only briefly, and infrequently, through this
coming year. Christmas and Easter were about all he could expect, he
wouldn't put it past Harry to stay during some of the mere week-long
breaks to catch up on school work, and his personal work too. He
wouldn't hold that against Harry, no matter how much he would miss
him and would want to see him again.
Rabastan kissed the side of Harry's head and he smiled as his fiancé
turned to smile up at him with loving eyes. He was willing to support
Harry's dreams, even if it meant not seeing him at every opportunity. He
would just have to make sure that these next three days, all they had left
before September, were as perfect and as wonderful as he could make
them.
Harry was startled out of his skin when he was getting ready for bed and
Kreacher appeared out of nowhere behind him.
"Holy fucking Merlin!" Harry cried out, laying a hand on his chest,
breathing heavily. "Kreacher, what is it?"
"Master told Kreacher to report after Order meetings." Kreacher told him.
Harry, now calming down, realised that he needed to find a better way to
get Kreacher to report to him, seeing as one of these days he would get a
heart attack for his trouble. He nodded and he led Kreacher out to his
living room, and he sat them both in front of the cold fireplace, on his
fluffy rug.
"What were they saying, Kreacher?"
"They is being trying to force you to fight this next year, with potions."
That alarmed Harry greatly, that Dumbledore would resort to drugging
him and forcing him to fight.
"What did Remus say about this?" He asked softly, to try and distract his
mind from the panic that wanted to take it over.
"He was not there. It was a meeting of only five people, Master."
"Who?" Harry asked.
"Dumbledore, Moody, Tonks, Kingsley Shacklebolt, and Severus Snape."
Kreacher reported dutifully. Harry had made him learn all of the names
of the Order, and to listen out for new names, in place of the scathing,
disparaging insults that Kreacher had used previously to describe the
people in his mistress' home.
Harry breathed in hard. He wondered if Snape would tell his father, he
wondered if Snape was here already, or perhaps reporting to Voldemort
first now that the meeting was over.
"Did they plan to have a house-elf taint my food while I'm at school?"
"The headmaster could do it." Kreacher insisted. "But they agreed it was
too dangerous. It was planned for the train, before you even reached the
school, Master."
Harry always bought some sweets on the train, usually chocolate frogs,
and he always, always, bought a bottle or two of pumpkin juice. If the
witch who had charge of the trolley gave him a 'special' bottle of
pumpkin juice put aside just for him, or worse, she was cursed to do it,
then he could be dosed very easily.
"So it has come to this." He said quietly to himself. Being forced to fight,
to give up his freedom, and perhaps his very life, for a war he had been
born into. He had made his stance very clear, that he didn't want to fight,
and still they were going to force him to fight. Talking him into it hadn't
worked, neither had appealing to his sense of justice and fairness,
guilting him into fighting hadn't worked, so now the last resort…potions
to alter his mindset to force him to fight when they knew full well that he
didn't want to.
"Thank you, Kreacher. Please keep listening to them, and find out what
they're planning. They need to be stopped."
Kreacher nodded and left, and Harry headed to his door and went to find
his father. He had come to bed early so that he could get a good night's
sleep ahead of the Ministry party tomorrow evening. He knew that his
family would still be awake.
A quick, intense burst of pain seared through his forehead, which let him
know that Voldemort was angry…so Snape had reported to him first.
Well, he would likely be ordered to come and tell Lucius, and the
Lestranges, so that they could look out for him being dosed. It wasn't
needed as he already knew.
There must have been something on his face, something to let his family
know that he was furious, as they looked around as the door opened, and
then they stood quickly. Lucius hurried straight to him, as did Rabastan
and Xerxes.
"What is it, were you sent another vision by the Dark Lord?" Rodolphus
asked, almost eagerly.
"No, though you will be hearing from him soon, though perhaps not
directly." Harry said.
"Are you hurt?" Narcissa asked, coming over now it seemed that Harry
was in control of himself, and his emotions.
"No. I'm just angry."
"What has made you feel this way if you didn't oversee something from
the Dark Lord?" Lucius asked him.
"I have a spy on the Order of the Phoenix." He said bluntly, and if he
weren't so angry he would have found amusement in the shocked,
disbelieving looks being sent to him.
"Is it that half-breed wolf?" Rodolphus asked him.
Harry levelled a poisonous glare at Rodolphus.
"Do not speak of Remus that way, Rodolphus. I'm already angry, and I'm
not above throwing a curse at you."
"Is it…Remus?" Xerxes asked, hesitating just enough over his name that
Harry turned his glare to him.
"I'm not going to reveal the identity of my spy, but it's not Remus. He
wasn't invited to this meeting, only five people were there, including
Dumbledore."
"What do they plan to do, Harry?" Narcissa asked him, trying to steer the
conversation back onto more important details.
"Dumbledore has finally gotten tired of trying to talk me around. He's
going to slip me a potion to force me to fight in the war."
"You're not foolish enough to accept anything that he gives you." Lucius
pointed out.
"The house-elves in the kitchens are forbidden from tampering with any
food also." Xerxes added. "Even the headmaster couldn't order it and
avoid questioning later."
"He plans to do it on the Hogwarts Express before I even reach the
school. I always buy something from the snack trolley, and I always buy
pumpkin juice as well. If they have reached this last resort, then we must
believe them capable of anything, perhaps even cursing the trolley witch
to slip me a tainted bottle, or a spiked chocolate frog."
"I will buy your snacks the day before you leave." Narcissa insisted
fiercely, a dangerous glint in her eye at hearing one of her sons was at
risk. "You and Draco will take them with you, and you will not buy
anything from the trolley."
Harry shook his head. "It's a matter of time now that they've decided to
go with their last resort. They're going to find a way to get those potions
into me, I can't go a whole year being afraid to eat and drink."
"I will research immunity potions and spells." Xerxes said. "I know I've
read something about it, I just have to remember where."
"We only have three days." Rabastan said, sounding rather choked,
clutching Harry tightly to himself. "It won't be long enough to research
anything or implement it. I refuse to lose you to potions!"
"You won't." Harry assured him, smiling gently. "Dumbledore won't win,
not in this. Not in anything."
"If he manages to dose you once, and can keep that up…"
"How can he? I am the legal ward of the Malfoy family, no matter what I
say, or anyone else says, nothing will change that until I graduate. As
soon as I'm pulled from school, and detoxed, I'll be myself again, and I
can accuse Dumbledore of malpractice."
"We will not risk it." Lucius said firmly. "Accept nothing from anyone, am
I clear? Even if Draco hands it to you."
"You don't think they would curse Draco, do you?" Narcissa demanded, a
note of worry in her tone that both of her sons might be targeted in this
little plot.
"As Harry has said, we must believe them capable of anything." Lucius
insisted. "If his original plan does not work, then we must assume that
Draco could be used, against his will, to get to Harry."
Harry hated the thought that he would be putting Draco in danger, and
his fist clenched tight as his anger swelled. Why couldn't Dumbledore just
leave him alone? Though he knew exactly why. He'd even been told why.
He was a Horcrux, a piece of the puzzle keeping Voldemort rooted to life.
In order for Dumbledore to rid the world of Voldemort, he, Harry, had to
be killed.
'You can be left until last.' Dumbledore's words echoed through his head,
chilling him, and the swell of despair threatened to overcome him, before
he inhaled deeply, and calmed his breathing. It wouldn't happen.
Regardless of how hard Dumbledore and his Order tried, he would not
follow blindly down the path that had been set out for him to walk.
"How do we protect them both?" Narcissa demanded. "I won't stand to
have my sons put in such danger, Lucius. Perhaps the Dark Lord can help,
he must know a way to protect them."
"We cannot just walk up and ask this of him." Rodolphus cut in.
"He wishes for Harry to be protected at all times." Rabastan argued. "He
might want to be informed of this."
"He already has been." Harry interrupted before the argument got any
more heated. "Snape was at the meeting, probably because he would be
the one asked to brew the potions to control me. He's already gone to
Voldemort, I felt it."
"The Dark Lord will know what to do." Rodolphus insisted firmly. "He
will send Snape with orders."
Lucius nodded his agreement. "I'm sure that he will. Harry, it might be
best if you went to bed, I will inform you of what has happened in the
morning."
"This is my life, my mind, that is being played with, I deserve to hear
what is going to be done about it."
"This will require time, Harry. The Dark Lord will not have an immediate
answer to this issue, we will likely be ordered to find a way to protect
you, while he does the same. Severus will be coming to inform us about
the Order meeting, as no one knew that you had your own spy. The Dark
Lord will assume that we don't know of what has transpired, and thus
Severus will be coming merely to inform us about it, with the order to
help you and keep you safe."
Harry couldn't argue with that logic, yet it didn't stop him from being
annoyed. He'd wanted an early night, if he waited to greet Snape then
not only would it be very late, but he would also risk Kreacher being
found out and then stopped from spying.
"Okay, I'll go to bed, but do not tell Snape about my spy, act as if this is
the first you're hearing of this news. I will not have my own spy network
threatened, or shut down, because of Snape."
Lucius nodded. "Agreed. Now, up to bed with you. Tomorrow will be a
rather busy day, and I'm sure Draco will drag you off for an hour or two
to make sure that you're presentable enough for the get-together."
Harry groaned then, knowing that Lucius was right and that he would be
made to play dress-up for Draco, who would fuss and faff around him,
and particularly his hair, until Harry was suitably dressed and groomed.
Rabastan chuckled at his theatrics, and not caring that all eyes were on
them, Harry gave Rabastan a lingering kiss.
"Get yourself some rest." Rabastan told him. "We will figure this out for
you. I won't lose you."
Harry smiled and reached up to give Rabastan another kiss, this one a
shorter peck on the lips before he left the parlour and went back to his
bedroom. Sleep was not going to be easy coming, he already knew. His
mind was racing, and it was going to take him some time to settle down
enough to fall asleep. He had a lot to think about, a lot to be angry about,
and a lot to work out.
He had just three days before he would be travelling to London, and then
boarding the Hogwarts Express for his final year. He didn't have the
luxury of time, yet neither would he accept that there was nothing that
he could do.
He climbed into his bed and he sat and considered this latest predicament
seriously. He didn't know of anything that could protect against potions,
but Xerxes had definitely seemed certain that there was a way to make
him immune to their effects, and he had to trust that Xerxes knew what
he was doing, especially as he was something of a specialist when it came
to rare and obscure curses.
That made Harry think of Marcus, a specialist in Runology. Harry
frowned to himself as he considered that maybe there was a sequence of
runes that could be used to make him immune to potions, or at least
nullify their effects to some extent. He made a mental note to floo call
Marcus early tomorrow morning. At the least, it would make him feel
like he was doing something, and not just waiting for others to come to
his rescue.
A/N: Here we are, lovelies, our second update of August. I'm thinking
that next week I will be jumping over to Iron-Bound Commitment, as I
don't have another chapter for this fic yet, but we'll see how it goes.
Huge thank you to Ariesp19 for being the 3,700th reviewer.
Suntitan: The facebook page is under star mass, my profile picture is
currently Sebastian Stan and Chris Evans. I tried to send you a PM but
you have it disabled.
Din7: They have not realised that yet, because they don't see house elves
as people, the Purebloods see them as tools to use as they need, so they
can't compare a human (Harry), to something they don't even really see
as a living thing. It will come out one day, when Harry is more
comfortable talking about his past life, and makes the link for them. At
the moment Rhadamanthus calling Harry a house elf is more because
they know the muggles he grew up with made him cook and clean, which
is a house elf's job in a Pureblood family. No one has actually linked that
Harry's life mirrors that of the house elves with the rags for clothing, the
lack of his actual name, or the physical punishment, the latter of which
Harry tries to play down.
Rodolphus will not be paired with anyone else after Harry manages to
kill Bellatrix. He's seriously done with marriages and he doesn't want
another one, and now that Rabastan is the Lestrange heir, the pressure is
off of him to produce heirs for the Lestrange family. Of course Xerxes
would prefer it if both Rodolphus and Rabastan had heirs, but as Harry
wants as many children as he can wrangle from Rabastan, that isn't much
of an issue as it would have been if Harry was a traditional Pureblood,
who usually only have one or two children. So Rodolphus will be the
scary, crazy, inappropriate uncle, but he will not marry again, and he
will not be a father.
We will be seeing more of Pansy, and more of Marcus and his blooming
romance with Eleanor Fawley too, but as Harry will be back in Hogwarts
we naturally see more of the former than the latter, but I'll see what I can
do in chapter 29.
I believe that this was all, lovelies, I will hopefully be seeing you again
soon, but if not, don't fret I've just gone back to The Antlered Lion. I will
always come back to this fic regardless of how long it takes though, so
maybe a week, maybe a couple of months but I'll come back eventually, I
always do,
StarLight Massacre. X
29. Ministry Mishaps
Last Time
He didn't know of anything that could protect against potions, but Xerxes had
definitely seemed certain that there was a way to make him immune to their
effects, and he had to trust that Xerxes knew what he was doing, especially as
he was something of a specialist when it came to rare and obscure curses.
That made Harry think of Marcus, a specialist in Runology. Harry frowned to
himself as he considered that maybe there was a sequence of runes that could
be used to make him immune to potions, or at least nullify their effects to
some extent. He made a mental note to floo call Marcus early tomorrow
morning. At the least, it would make him feel like he was doing something,
and not just waiting for others to come to his rescue.
Chapter Twenty-Nine – Ministry Mishaps
Marcus had listened to Harry talk with a dark scowl on his face, his
eyebrows furrowed almost into a single line, but he didn't interrupt.
"…so really I was just wondering if there were any runic sequences that
could prevent the potion used from taking effect, or perhaps just make it
milder, so I don't feel it as much?" Harry finished softly.
It was barely five in the morning, but Harry knew that Marcus woke up
at this time to get ready for work on Fridays so that he could finish
earlier to start his weekend, so he knew that this was his best chance of
getting a hold of Marcus, without waiting all day when the time he had
was already very limited. It also helped that today was the day of the
Ministry party, so all those who were scheduled to work today were on
half-days anyway.
"Do not try anything by yourself." Was Marcus' immediate warning.
"I won't." Harry insisted, shaking his head for emphasis. "That's why I'm
asking you. Xerxes thinks that there's a spell that can nullify the effects of
potions, but he needs time to find it, but if it's not quite what we need,
well…" Harry trailed off. He shook his head again. "I'm going back to
Hogwarts in three days, Marcus. I need to keep myself safe, so I'm trying
everything, and asking everyone I can. I trust you." He added softly.
"Leave it with me. I'll spend my day researching for you, but I can't
guarantee anything. I've never seen any sequence that prevents potions
from working, not if it's been ingested."
"I understand." Harry said. "I know it's a long shot, but I need to try, I
can't just do nothing. I can't just let this happen to me."
"I'll go in early now, and I'll floo over in the afternoon so make sure that
you're there. I don't want to do it at that stupid party, just in case we're
overheard."
Harry nodded. "Thank you, Marcus. So much."
Marcus looked a bit uncomfortable, but he nodded and then cut the
connection. Harry pulled his head from the fire and checked himself for
soot.
He needed a distraction or he was going to drive himself mad thinking of
this, so he picked up his family portfolios and went to the dining room to
spread them out over the large table. He was the only one awake at this
hour, but it wouldn't be long before everyone else was getting up to start
the day. His parents, Lucius in particular, always came down for
breakfast at about six.
The portfolios were thick and rather tedious, but Harry had gotten used
to looking through them and he was in the habit of checking on them
every morning before breakfast. Nothing seemed amiss, nothing caught
his eye or made him suspicious, so he closed the portfolios and instead,
he opened a book. This was boring too, but he was more able to deal
with it as it was something that he knew he needed to do to better
himself. He was not doing well with the book recommended to him by
the Law Enforcer from Flourish and Blotts, as he was having difficulty
translating it, thus he judged it too early in the morning for that, so
instead, he was reading a different law book, one that was actually
written in modern English, which he could actually understand without
the use of a translating dictionary.
"You are up exceedingly early, Harry. I hope that the issue from last night
didn't keep you from sleep." Lucius greeted him.
Harry nodded and looked up at his father. "It's not so much that it kept
me from sleep, only that I had someone in mind to ask for help and I had
to get up early to do so."
"Who did you ask?" Lucius asked worriedly.
"Marcus. I've learnt that runes have a lot of uses, some of them very
unexpected. I thought that I could ask to see if he knew of any sequences
that could help."
"I see. And did he have any insights?"
Harry shook his head. "Not off the top of his head, but he's going to do
some research all day while he's at work and then visit in the afternoon.
At the very least, it's something that could help. Did Snape have anything
to say?"
"He has been ordered to make the potion as requested. It would put him,
and his position as a spy, at risk if he purposefully botched the potion.
Dumbledore would never believe that he had made a mistake on it by
accident."
Harry sighed, and he closed his book. He'd come to the same conclusion.
He was an important little piece of Voldemort's puzzle now that it had
emerged that he was actually a Horcrux, but he was only important as an
'anchor' to keep Voldemort alive and kicking, and it wasn't even as if he
was the only Horcrux left, he wasn't. He was not vital to the war effort
like Snape was as a spy. So he had realised, while thinking of this issue
last night, that in this situation Snape would be more important, more
useful to Voldemort than he was and he understood that this meant that
resolving the situation wasn't as simple as having Snape mess up the
potion used to dose him.
"I figured that that would be the case, that's why I'm seeking out ways to
nullify the potion's effects. If Xerxes can't find a spell or a curse to help,
then I thought that maybe Marcus could find a runic sequence to help."
"It is a good idea, I'm proud of you for taking this so well."
Harry shook his head. "What else can I do? These sorts of disasters are
going to plague me, whether it's the Daily Prophet slandering me, or
becoming the target for Dumbledore's little ploys to get me back on his
side of the war. I'm never going to be left alone, I can't escape from it,
and a lot of that is due to this." He said, raising his hand to press his
fingers against the lightning bolt scar.
Harry sighed and shook himself from the feelings of hopelessness and
rage.
"It's something I've gotten used to over the years that I've been a part of
the magical world. I'm always going to be a topic for speculation when
people get bored of the current crisis of the day. Especially now I've
essentially entered into a slanging match with the Daily Prophet."
"You will leave them to me. As your father, it is my duty to protect you
from such things."
"I'm an adult and a lord too." Harry pointed out.
"Not in this." Lucius said firmly. "You are still in school, and I will not
have your studies interrupted to fight a legal battle on top of everything
else that you're taking on. You are not yet graduated, and until you are, I
can still fight your legal battles for you. In fact, it will look better all-
around if I am the one to do it."
Harry wanted to argue, but he stopped to think about it first. Did he
really want to add a court case to his ever-growing list of things he
already had to juggle? Did he really want to have meetings with lawyers
and handle a court case, if it went that far, by himself when Lucius could
easily handle it for him? The answer was no. He really didn't want to add
that to the list that he already had growing and multiplying with every
project he added.
"Are you sure you wouldn't mind?" Harry asked.
Lucius looked at him proudly, giving a smug smirk, and Harry tried to
ignore that it was aimed at him or he was going to do something
ridiculously embarrassing, like bursting out into tears or squirming in
happy delight.
"I'm going to insist that I am the one to handle this, Harry. I don't mind,
in fact, it will brighten up a rather dull routine that I have fallen into of
late."
Harry grinned at that, but he and Lucius were distracted by Xerxes
coming into the room, already dressed for work, but he stopped behind
Harry and dropped a kiss on his head which made Harry smile goofily,
before carrying on to his seat.
"How are you this morning, Harry?"
"Fine. We were just talking about last night and what Snape said."
"It's unfortunate that we have to play this situation carefully." Xerxes
sighed, looking as regretful as he sounded. "None of us want to put you at
risk, nor risk having you controlled via a potion, but we can see the logic
behind the orders. You can as well?" He directed at Harry.
Harry nodded simply.
"Good. I would hate for you to think that we didn't care about you
because we most certainly do, but we need to find a different way of
handling this other than having Severus botch his potion and potentially
being found out as a spy."
"I know, I understand that. It's too simple a solution for this mess. It's
better if I find a spell, or something similar, to protect myself from the
potion, and then claim I've been using it for the last year."
Xerxes nodded his approval. "That is what we had decided as well. I will
do my best to find something to help."
"I got up early to ask Marcus if there might not be an obscure rune, or a
sequence, that could help too. I can trust him to help."
Lucius and Xerxes shared a look, likely because Marcus was a Death Eater
and would be obligated to help considering Harry was now off-limits as a
target to them, but Harry didn't know that for sure, nor did he care. He
just didn't want his own mind to be messed around with by potions and
he would ask anyone he thought he could ask for help, without
Dumbledore finding out that he had a spy on the Order because then
Snape would be the most likely suspect and that would put Harry back
on Voldemort's shit list.
Rabastan was his distraction as he came into the dining room and made a
beeline for Harry.
"Have you told him?" He asked his grandfather and Lucius.
"He's well abreast of the situation, Basti." Xerxes insisted. "He's even
seeking out other avenues of help. We all know he's an intelligent young
man."
"You're alright?" Rabastan asked him, sitting beside him and reaching out
for Harry's hand, which he freely gave over to his fiancé.
Harry nodded. "Perfectly fine, Rabastan. I was, of course, upset and angry
at hearing that someone, anyone, is planning to change me with potions,
but I'm not going to let it happen. I will delay their plan as much as
possible until a solution is found. I'll get Draco to floo call home if I start
changing my behaviour. He's in the best position to do so as we spend
every day together, then I can be pulled from school and I'll be safe."
Rabastan kissed his cheek, but Harry turned to kiss him properly. He
smiled softly to see the worry in Rabastan's dark blue eyes.
"Don't fret over things that haven't happened yet." Harry said softly.
"I can't help it."
Harry nodded. "I know, and if the shoe were on the other foot and it was
you at risk of being dosed with potions, I would be pissed too. I just don't
want this to affect what little time we have left, nor dominate the
conversation when we'll be apart for most of the year in just three days."
"I can understand that." Rabastan told him, stroking a hand through
Harry's hair gently. "No more talk of it just yet, then."
That was why Harry had come to love Rabastan. Harry could see that he
was worried about the situation, that he wanted to talk about it, just to
try and talk out a plan of action, but Rabastan was willing to put that to
the side in order to indulge him, just because Harry didn't want to talk
about it.
"How are you feeling about the Ministry party later?"
"I'm not looking forward to it." Harry admitted. "I'm not really the social
butterfly kind of person. I'm more the wall moth who likes to crawl into
the darkest crevice to hide."
Rabastan laughed loudly and gave him a real grin that brought out an
answering goofy grin from Harry. He loved seeing Rabastan being truly
amused, especially as his fiancé had had little to be happy about
throughout his life. Harry hoped that he'd be able to keep Rabastan
happy and keep him laughing for the rest of their lives together.
The morning passed so slowly that it felt almost like torture. Draco had
been told about what had happened and he was worried and visibly
stressed. Harry hated that he was affecting Draco so much. He had
enough to worry about going into his final year, without adding Harry
potentially becoming Dumbledore's plaything to the list as well.
Rabastan was also stressed and visibly seething. He wanted to kill
someone, Harry could see it. It didn't help that Rodolphus was fanning
the flames by making a list of people to 'punish' and then kill for making
Harry a target. At the top of that list was, of course, Dumbledore, and
Rodolphus was going into exact, painstaking detail of just how he would
torture and kill everyone on that list.
All it was doing was winding Rabastan up, to the point where it was
making him tense and angry, and making him unable to hold a
conversation, which affected Harry too, and that put Harry into a really
bad mood because this was exactly what he didn't want happening. He
had precious little time with Rabastan left as it was, and now it was
being tainted by the axe that was hanging over them.
Harry was almost glad when Marcus flooed into the manor, just after
midday, as Harry really needed a break from the tension. Unfortunately,
Marcus was going to be a breaker for Rabastan too, who was going to
want someone, anyone, to be his target, and he hated Marcus, which
made him a very convenient target indeed.
"How was your morning?" Harry asked politely, under the stern gaze of
his mother. "Can I get you anything to drink?"
Marcus gave him a smirk, knowing exactly what was going on, but
Marcus had never been polite a day in his life and he was always blunt
and abrasive.
"No, we'll cut straight to the point."
Harry nodded. "Did you find anything?" He asked, trying not to sound as
utterly desperate as he felt.
"I did, but it's not exactly what you were looking for."
"What…what will it do?" Harry asked, trying to keep his composure.
"The sequence will significantly weaken the effects of any potion that you
directly ingest."
"I'm no longer taking daily potions for my health and I can handle a
headache without the use of potions. This is better than nothing, surely?"
Harry asked, looking at Lucius, Narcissa, and Xerxes, and then over to
Rabastan sat beside him, and Rodolphus on the other side of his fiancé.
"We have nothing else." Lucius announced. "Even if it was used
temporarily until something more complete could be found, it would be
helpful."
"There's a catch." Marcus admitted.
"There always is." Harry sighed. "What's the catch?"
"The sequence has to be carved into your throat. It will hurt."
"Will it be visible?" Harry asked, immediately thinking of his plan to say
he'd been using the method for the last year. He could hardly do that if
he suddenly started sporting runes carved into his neck.
"It will involve an extra rune, but I can make it invisible." Marcus told
him.
"You're not going to carve anything into him!" Rabastan said angrily,
reaching out to hold Harry tighter to his chest.
Harry sighed heavily. "Rabastan, which would you rather, me having
runes carved into my skin to keep me safe, or me losing control of my
body, of my thoughts and actions, because I was drugged with a potion?"
"We still have time to check. He could carve anything into you and you
wouldn't know it."
"I hold Harry as a friend." Marcus said angrily, glaring at Rabastan. "He
has asked for my help and I have found something to help him.
Unfortunately, most runic sequences have to be carved onto the object
they need to affect, in this case, Harry himself."
"You can be pulled from Hogwarts the moment you start displaying signs
of being under the effects of potions." Rabastan told him.
Harry frowned at Rabastan. "Think instead of the things I might be forced
to admit to before that can happen, Rabastan. Imagine the information
that Dumbledore could get from me if he asked for it while I was under
the influence of a potion. If he asks about Aceline, I would put you at
risk. I'd put Rodolphus and your grandfather at risk, and I would put
Voldemort and myself at risk too. All it would take was one mention that
I had met Voldemort face to face, that I had told him about that lovely
little secret Dumbledore was holding so close to his chest, and that's it, I
would be eliminated, perhaps even on the spot."
"I hadn't thought of that." Lucius murmured worriedly.
"If Marcus has found a way, even just slightly, of allowing me to keep
control of myself, and my damn mouth, then I need to take that option,
Rabastan." Harry said, before turning to Marcus. "How long will it take to
carve the runes?"
"As long as is needed." Marcus told him firmly. "I won't rush while I am
carving runes into your neck, Harry."
Harry nodded his understanding. "The pain mentioned, will it be like a
tattoo, or…"
"More like I'm branding you with red hot metal."
Harry closed his eyes and breathed deeply. "Okay, I can handle that."
"How can you be so sure?"
"I have a very high pain tolerance." Harry admitted.
"I don't care how high you think your pain threshold is, this isn't going to
be like anything you've ever had done to you before. I'm already going to
be putting you under a body bind to keep you still." Marcus told him.
"There's no need for that."
"There is." Marcus told him sternly. "I told you that you never mess
around with runes, Harry. If you so much as shift your weight this could
go very wrong, with dire consequences. You will be under a body bind, or
I will refuse to do this."
Harry closed his eyes, but he was intelligent enough to realise that he
needed to do this, that he needed Marcus' help, thus he had to put
himself under Marcus' stipulated conditions.
"Okay." Harry said. "You can do as you see fit, as long as I am protected
from Dumbledore."
Marcus nodded. "The floor is best."
"Can he not even be on a bed?" Narcissa asked worriedly.
"Beds are too soft, they move, Mother and because of that, every time
Marcus moved around me, he'd unintentionally move my body." Harry
said. "I won't move if I'm flat on the floor."
"The sooner we start this, the better. We both have to attend the Ministry
party tonight and you will need time to recover."
Harry nodded and stood. He went to a free area of the floor and happily
laid himself down.
"Are you comfortable like that?" Rabastan asked, coming with him and
kneeling beside him, taking his hand and Harry couldn't help smiling.
"Not really, but I'll endure it."
"Are you going to be able to prevent yourself from getting in my way?"
Marcus demanded of Rabastan.
"I'm here for Harry, nothing else." Rabastan growled.
"Please don't fight over my head. If I have to have runes carved into my
damn neck, you can be civil for as long as it takes."
"Of course." Rabastan told him immediately, all but clutching Harry's
hand.
Harry closed his eyes and pretended that he was just trying to drift off to
sleep. He relaxed all of his muscles, even when Marcus moved his head to
the side and arched his neck for him, exposing his throat. Then the full
body bind washed over him and he froze solid, every muscle locked how
it had been and every cell in his body wanted to fight off the effects.
Harry tried not to panic as he felt himself become a living statue and he
had to force himself to not fight the curse like he did when under the
Imperius curse. It was so very difficult to force himself to relax, to just
allow this to happen. He focused intently on Rabastan's hand holding his
own, gently touching and stroking him. He could still feel, he just
couldn't move.
Marcus started straight away, his wand coming up to start carving the
first of the runes and Harry would have certainly jumped out of his skin
without the body-bind curse, as it felt like a red hot knife was being
plunged into his skin and sliced, excruciatingly slowly, into different
shapes.
He wanted to cry, he wanted to scream, but he was held in a sort of
terrible stasis, where he was awake and aware, but he couldn't move an
inch, he couldn't even squeeze Rabastan's hand for comfort. He had to
just lie there, feeling every minuscule slice that Marcus made. Every
second felt like an eternity.
He tried to occupy his mind, tried to think of several other things, his law
reforms, the book he was trying to translate, he even thought about his
wedding and the first time he would get to have sex with Rabastan.
Anything to keep his mind from the agonising pain that he was locked
into.
"Are you almost done?" Rabastan demanded.
"Do not rush runes." Marcus growled back. "It's dangerous to rush. I could
kill him with a single, small misshapen rune. Just sit and hold his hand
and do not distract me."
Harry would have one hundred per cent backed Marcus up if he had been
able to make any sort of noise at all. But he couldn't, all he could do was
lie there, his eyes closed, his body frozen, as he felt a million daggers
carving into his flesh. The runes were not just skin deep, no, they were
going right down, through tissue and muscle, and it felt like Marcus was
carving them right into his very bones, ripping and tearing at any flesh
that got in the way in the process.
He could feel Rabastan holding his hand though. He could feel Marcus'
hand on his throat, as the other held the wand that was carving runes.
Harry lost all perception of time, it could have been ten minutes or
another several hours, but Marcus did eventually pull away from him and
he removed the body-bind curse immediately once he was done.
Rabastan had pulled Harry up into his arms before Harry even realised
that it was over. He was trembling so badly that it was almost
convulsions.
"How are you feeling?" Rabastan asked him, brushing a hand over his
face and through his sweat-soaked hair.
Harry just shook his head. He didn't think he could even open his mouth,
he couldn't make any sort of noise, his throat was a red-hot agony,
burning, aching. He couldn't even take a potion to get rid of the pain
because, thanks to the runes now carved into his flesh, the damn thing
wouldn't work.
"The pain will eventually wear off." Marcus told him, standing from the
floor. "I will continue to look for something more specialised to what you
need so that you can take a headache reliever but any mind-altering
potions won't work, but this is all I could find on such short notice."
"We are more than grateful to you, Marcus." Narcissa said genuinely.
Marcus nodded and Lucius went to see him out, while Harry curled up
into a ball in Rabastan's arms and tried to remember to breathe. The
shaking was not lessening.
Rodolphus was there, to help his brother to his feet, and Rabastan carried
Harry to the settee, laying Harry down gently before sitting on the edge
to be close to him.
"Perhaps some cold water will help? Or warm tea?" Narcissa asked.
"Pimsey!"
The little house-elf popped into the room. "Mistress called for…"
"Fetch cold water and warm tea for Harry." Narcissa snapped at the poor
creature.
Harry tried to force himself to talk, but all that came out was a garbled
mess of a pained grunt.
"Can you look at me, Harry?" Rabastan asked him.
Harry peeled his eyes open and looked at Rabastan.
"I know that you will be in pain, but can you take a drink for me?"
Harry reached out for the glass of water, holding it in trembling hands
that threw some of the water over himself, but he managed to drain it in
several large, hard swallows. It did very little to dull the pain so he
grasped for the warm tea, and he tried sipping on it instead, hoping that
that worked.
"Think…think…have to wait…wait it out." Harry garbled, fighting the
urge to clamp his hands around his own neck. That wouldn't help either.
Rabastan stroking his head and back was helping him though, as Harry
forced his broken feeling body to turn, and he curled up in his fiancé's
lap.
"Don't stop." Harry whined when Rabastan paused his actions.
Rabastan immediately started stroking his head and back again and
Harry relaxed slightly. The trembling lessened to a quiver.
"This will at least keep him safer." Xerxes said.
Harry blinked and opened his eyes, to see Rabastan grinding his teeth
and scowling. He wasn't happy about this.
"We could have found a different way. One where Harry wasn't harmed."
"We didn't have the time, Basti." Xerxes sighed. "He is protected now, as
well as he can be. We will not stop looking for another way, but until we
find something that works, this is the best we have."
"Best way." Harry forced out of his raw throat. It felt like it had been
shredded by a thousand claws. "Needed…something. Anything."
"Don't speak." Rabastan urged him. "Wait until your throat feels a little
better."
"Is it visible?"
"The runes aren't." Rabastan told him. "But your throat is very red and
inflamed."
Harry nodded minimally. He'd had an idea that it might be. He cuddled
back into Rabastan and wondered how in the hell he was going to endure
the Ministry party, which started in just four hours, when he felt like he
couldn't even open his mouth and he could barely speak.
It had had to be done, however. Dumbledore could very well be at this
party and if he found an opportunity to spike him tonight, Harry couldn't
take the chance that Dumbledore might actually do just that. He would
need to be on high alert, and now that he was feeling like complete and
utter shit, he could well imagine he was going to get a headache that he
couldn't get rid of, (especially as he couldn't even take potions for it
anymore) from this night, and that put him in a bad mood before he even
arrived at this damn get-together, but it was needed, and it was crucial
for him and his desires. The things he did, and put himself through, just
to raise his political profile.
Harry was feeling unsettled as he was forced to wear a brand new pair of
dress robes that had been delivered via owl the day before. The Ministry
party was tonight, and truthfully, if his parents weren't coming, along
with Xerxes, then Harry might have called it quits and not bothered
going at all. He didn't tell anyone that, he kept it to himself because he
knew what the reaction to that bit of perceived cowardice would have
been, but he still wasn't as excited for this get-together as he'd been
before that Daily Prophet article had been released four days ago. There
was no guarantee that the Quibbler article had changed anyone's mind
about him and he knew that his political rivals would use the Prophet
article to their advantage. He was going to have to fend off questions,
snide comments, and cleverly disguised quips all throughout this party.
Unfortunately, Harry didn't feel like he was in the right state of mind to
do such things tonight, not after having runes carved into his neck just a
few short hours ago.
He'd been furious when that article had been published, and publishing
his own version of events in the Quibbler had calmed him down a little,
but it felt more like stretching a plaster over an open wound. The worst
part was that there was nothing that he could do about it. He'd done as
much as he could and even then he knew that it wasn't enough, there
would be those who took ruthless advantage of this situation to kick him
while he was down, and he was going to have to face some of those
people tonight under the guise of such a polite and civilised little party. It
was going to be much worse for him as well, considering that he had
gotten Fudge fired and had triggered an election. Fudge might not have
been entirely competent, but he'd had his friends and supporters within
the Ministry too.
"You look worried." Rabastan told him, even as he fixed a pair of his own
cufflinks on Harry's shirt for him.
"I suppose I am worried. Tonight is going to be difficult." Harry sighed,
opening up to Rabastan and trusting in his fiancé, and hoping that he
wouldn't sneer at him or call him a coward.
"I would go with you if I could."
Harry smiled. "Unless you can find a girl who looks like 'Aceline' then
that is going to be quite impossible, Rabastan, but thank you for the
sentiment."
Rabastan bent and kissed him and it made Harry's smile stretch to a grin.
"You have nothing to worry about, Harry." Rabastan told him, running a
thumb over his cheek and smiling down at him. "You can handle these
pathetic little men. You have been doing so during the Wizengamot
debates, and even during the court debates. Just keep reminding yourself
that they are not your equal, you far surpass them all."
Harry laughed at that, but Rabastan turned serious.
"I mean it, Harry. Do not see those people as equal to you. You are Lord
Potter-Black, you will be married into the Lestrange family. You are
above all of them, and they know it, that is why they will use the
disgraceful Prophet article against you, because it is all they have to cling
to."
"I suppose I just feel out of my depth here, Rabastan. It has only been a
year since I started doing these sorts of things and getting myself
involved in the politics of the wizarding world. I feel unprepared and
now this Prophet article has just hammered that home."
Rabastan chuckled. "If that's true then how have you already won several
debates and served up a court order?" His fiancé asked him slyly.
Harry pulled a face and thought about that critically.
"It isn't that you are unprepared, or out of your depth, Harry." Rabastan
told him gently. "It's just that the Prophet article has knocked your
confidence. You are questioning yourself, second-guessing your own
thoughts, but if you let that continue then you're only allowing them to
win. It is what they want."
Harry considered that, before reaching up and dragging Rabastan down
into a kiss.
"I won't let them beat me."
Rabastan pulled him back into a kiss. Things very quickly escalated, as
the tension between them only continued to rise the longer they were
forced to carry on with no sexual relief. Rabastan broke them apart
reluctantly and tried to keep a cool head. It helped to close his eyes, so
he didn't see Harry standing so willing before him.
"I would dearly love to rip these robes from you, throw you on that bed,
and keep you up all night, but you know we have to wait until we're
married."
"You bastard, you had to put that image in my head, didn't you?" Harry
laughed. "I'm going to be hard all night now."
"I would rather you keep that image in your head than harbouring any
self-doubts." Rabastan told him.
Harry could only shake his head, but he had cheered up considerably.
"Thank you, Rabastan." He said softly, reaching out to him and resting his
head against his chest. "I love you."
Rabastan rubbed his back, in place of stroking through his hair, which
Draco had spent over an hour sorting out for him, and would likely
murder Rabastan if he realised that the man had dared touch it.
There was a knock on his door just before it opened and Narcissa poked
her head through.
"Harry, it's almost time to go. Are you ready, darling?"
Harry cast himself another look in the mirror and tugged uncomfortably
at his collar and cuffs, before running his hands down his outer robes to
smoothen them down.
"I think so." He said, looking at himself critically, trying to spot any
imperfections. He checked his neck for any lingering signs of redness, but
there were none. His skin was as pale as it usually was, and starkly
unblemished considering there was a bit of lingering pain in his throat
still. The best thing was that he could now speak in full sentences, and
unless someone listened very closely, they would not realise that
anything was wrong. Even then, Harry would merely say that he had had
a bit of a sore throat for the past few days and just brush it off.
"You look wonderful." Rabastan told him, coming up behind him and
wrapping his arms around his waist. "Stop fretting, you will be in your
element tonight and if, for whatever reason, you aren't or anyone dares
do or say anything to you, then you come home and tell me and I'll
murder them for you."
Harry pulled away from Rabastan. "You had to ruin it with that last part,
didn't you?"
Rabastan just looked at him. "I'm not sorry and I will do as I said if
anyone dares upset you."
Harry snorted. "I just won't tell you then."
"I'm to be your husband, you should tell me everything."
"Given the nature of our relationship, or rather your rather unusual career
I thought we'd made peace with not telling everything to one another."
Rabastan sighed himself. "I don't want you to be angry, but neither will I
accept you being upset by a lower class of people. Not for any reason."
"I think it might be best if you both left your conversation as it is."
Narcissa interrupted, well aware of her younger son's rather explosive
temper.
Harry nodded, but he still reached out to Rabastan to kiss him farewell.
He was annoyed, but not so angry as to turn from his fiancé.
Narcissa took Harry's arm and led him rather quickly down the stairs to
the reception room before Harry and Rabastan started arguing, or worse
fighting. It was the last thing they needed at the moment. They already
had a rather volatile relationship due to their differing views.
"There you are, let me look at you." Lucius stated, moving to Harry and
holding him at arm's length by the shoulders. He gave Harry a lingering
once over and he smiled. "I must say, you really do clean up nicely,
Harry."
Harry laughed. "It just takes a lot of work to get to this state. An hour and
ten minutes for the hair alone."
He had gone to reach up to touch his hair, but checked himself and
lowered his hand again.
"Don't you touch it!" Draco cried out at the same moment, striding over
to make sure that Harry wasn't ruining his hard work.
"I'm not touching it!" Harry insisted. "Merlin, you'd never know it was my
hair."
"Not tonight it's not. Tonight it's a masterpiece, my masterpiece, and you
can't touch it." Draco said sternly.
Harry chuckled. "Fine, but I already can't wait to ruin it when I get
home."
"You can do what you like with it when you're home." Draco waved
away. "But only once you are home and not a moment before."
"Where is Xerxes?" Harry asked curiously.
"He's gone on ahead so that no one becomes suspicious of him being
overly involved with the Malfoy family, or you." Lucius explained
distractedly, checking his own cuffs and tweaking the one cufflink
minimally to the left.
Harry nodded. That made sense, especially as Xerxes was trying to be an
unbiased, impartial voice on the Wizengamot, on Harry's side, not the
Daily Prophet's. Hopefully, he could chide a few more lords into coming
forward to declare for Harry's version of events published in The
Quibbler. The more members who did so, the greater the weight fell in
Harry's corner, and potentially the more people who believed him.
"Try to enjoy yourself." Rabastan told him, giving him a last hug.
"It's not the sort of thing I enjoy." Harry insisted. "I probably would have
enjoyed it more before that article was released, but…" He sighed and
trailed off. "There's no use saying such things now. What's done is done.
I'll see you in a few hours, Rabastan."
Harry gave his fiancé a last kiss, then Apparated himself to the Ministry,
ahead of his parents, and as he'd been taught the smile was already
plastered on his face. He stepped forward the moment he landed, but he
was almost blinded by the flashes of cameras. The shouted questions
came a moment later, once the reporters realised who had actually
arrived, and they almost deafened him.
Harry extracted himself from the situation with as much grace as he
could manage, keeping his polite smile in place, but refusing to answer
any questions, most of which were circling around his Quibbler article.
The press representatives were only allowed to occupy this small corner
of the atrium. They weren't allowed into the party proper, so they
couldn't follow him, or hound him, and he fervently thanked Merlin for
that small blessing.
Harry walked straight through the crowd to the opposite side of the hall,
as far away from the cameras and reporters as he could get, and he took
a breath. He'd survived the initial brush with the press, now all he had to
do was survive the Ministry workers and their respective partners, which
would be easier said than done, especially as the Prophet had given them
plenty of material to batter him with.
Some people to his left gasped in shock and surprise and Harry heard an
indignant 'Hey!' when he turned and found Marcus pushing his way
through the crowd to him. He smiled, he couldn't help it.
"How are you?" Marcus asked, demanding in a whisper.
"I feel fine. My throat is still a little sore, but there's no sign of them,
Marcus. You truly are a genius with runes."
"I was worried that you wouldn't have enough time to recover before this
mandatory torture."
"I didn't realise it was mandatory." Harry frowned.
"It's not for Wizengamot members, but I am directly employed by the
Ministry, so I regretfully, have to be here, at least for an hour or so,
unless I can otherwise provide a valid reason for my absence. Apparently,
threatening the lives of my stupid fuck co-workers is not a valid excuse
either."
Harry snorted. "Don't they know that you don't make idle threats?"
"Yes." Marcus said shortly. "They know that, they just don't care. I think
my runic peers are hoping I'll wipe out some of our hopeless, stupid arse
underlings and that's why I'm continually forced to come to these things.
I swear if any of them keep trying to sidle up to me I'm going to blow
some heads off."
"I've managed a leg." Harry said with a small, secretive grin.
"I know." Marcus said, giving him a sly look.
"Who told?" Harry asked, shocked that Marcus knew about Rowle.
"Your family are very…proud shall we say, of all your accomplishments."
Marcus told him. "News of something like that gets about in certain social
circles, Harry. You should have known that most of us already knew."
"But…what if someone tries to use that information against me?" Harry
demanded.
"You don't lack for friends in high places if you catch my meaning."
Harry did, and his heart thudded in his chest as he realised that Marcus
was alluding to Voldemort himself.
"Of course, no one wants to have Greyback after them either." Marcus
added. "Don't underestimate how terrified people are of just the merest
threat of him, and he likes you, which means that certain people in the
know will have to toe the line around you if they don't want to wake up
to a ravenous werewolf on a full moon."
"I didn't know he liked me." Harry said, not knowing how to take that bit
of news.
"After the bloodbath that I'm told you caused?" Marcus scoffed. "Of
course he likes you. You gave him a meal out of it too, he doesn't often
get to taste pureblood flesh and I'm sure he relished the rarity."
"Please don't." Harry moaned weakly, feeling himself get a bit
lightheaded, as he undoubtedly went pale at the least, or possibly even
green.
Marcus chuckled at his weak stomach. "I'm just saying that he likes you,
so don't be afraid to drop his name into conversation with certain people
who are bothering you or threatening you. Just the whisper of his name
will be enough to make most sane wizards back off."
"What if he doesn't like me name-dropping him?" Harry demanded. "What
if he takes exception to me using him like that?"
"Ah, I see you're very unfamiliar with how grunts work." Marcus told
him, smirking now. "Harry, Greyback is tolerated, despite what he is,
because of his ruthlessness and his unquenchable bloodthirst. If you give
him what he wants, he's more than happy to repay the favour. You gave
him Rowle, a pureblood lord, and a rare, delectable treat. Greyback
doesn't often get to eat a pureblood and certainly never one who is alive
and squirming still, and he doesn't like cold meat or cold blood. You gave
him a very rare gift and what he considers an expensive one at that. He
would be willing to do anything you ask, he would harm or maim, or
even kill, anyone that you asked him to, to repay you for that treat you
gave him."
"I could never!" Harry burst out, completely horrified.
"You might never have to, Harry." Marcus told him, his smirk almost
morphing into a smile. "Use the threat of him, but never give the order. I
promise you, most sane wizards will back off immediately. Greyback
won't contradict your threats, because he owes you for Rowle. In fact, if
anyone went up to him and asked why you were using him as a threat
against them, then they would be pretty much marking themselves as
targets to Greyback. Any fool who does that deserves to die."
Harry was revolted, but his logic was overruling his automatic, initial
disgust. A few other lords were giving him trouble, and they were
threatening him too. If merely name-dropping Greyback would have
them backing off and leaving him alone…but, could he do it? Could he
threaten another person's life even if he never actually went through with
it? What if they went crying to Greyback, and as Marcus said, they
identified themselves as targets to the man who was looking to repay him
a favour?
Marcus had given Harry a lot to think about, and as they naturally
separated, and started to mingle, Harry's mind was elsewhere. He was
mentally debating with himself on the pros and cons of name-dropping
Greyback to those who were being rather persistent in their threats to
him. Namely Philip Nott and Corban Yaxley.
"Lord Potter-Black."
Harry startled at the calling of his name, and he smiled automatically,
reflexively. It turned natural when he turned to see Dawson Shacklebolt
approaching him.
"Lord Shacklebolt. It's wonderful to see you."
"Likewise, I hope you are well?"
Harry nodded, smiling. "I am, and yourself?"
Dawson dipped his head. "Of course."
"How is Lady Shacklebolt?"
"Lenore is just fine, she got fed up with my hovering around her and she
went to speak to other ladies by herself." Dawson rolled his eyes and
Harry chuckled politely.
"How are Leander and Deacon? If I remember rightly Deacon was waiting
for his first child to be born?"
Dawson smiled then and it softened his whole face. "Yes, Deacon and
Isobel welcomed a feisty little boy back in May. They named him Dax. I
don't particularly like the name, but he is strong and healthy and that's
truly all I can ask for. He's three months old now and he's ruling the
roost."
Harry laughed at that. He wondered if his own child would be ruling the
roost at three months old…it was more than likely with him and
Rabastan as parents, and that made him smile.
"How are your reforms coming along?"
"Really well. I have…had a recent setback." He said hesitantly, trying to
put into words how he was feeling. "But it's not going to stop me from
trying to achieve my goals."
"I would have been disappointed in you if it had." Dawson told him. "I
expect great things from you, and allowing mere reporters to derail your
progress would have been a huge disappointment."
"Indeed."
Harry turned and smiled at Lucius, as he came and laid a hand on his
shoulder.
"Thankfully, Harry is more intelligent than that and he has his family to
support him."
"Nothing I didn't doubt." Dawson said, smiling widely at them both.
"Please excuse me."
Harry was left with just Lucius and he tried to spot his mother, but
couldn't see her.
"She is catching up with her friends." Lucius answered his unasked
question, knowing exactly what he'd been looking for. "Have you had any
run-ins yet?"
"I haven't been here for twenty minutes yet." Harry pointed out.
Lucius just gave him a look. Harry chuckled.
"No, I haven't had any run-ins. Marcus found me first, and then I mingled
for a little while, and then I was speaking to Dawson. His new great-
grandson is named Dax."
"There are a lot of people here, some of them you have never met, but
they all believe that they know you, so be careful, and remain calm."
"I will. I'll make sure to be aware of the people around me. I mostly want
to talk about my law reforms anyway."
Lucius snorted softly but gave him a proud look regardless. "Go ahead
then, go and change the world."
The two of them went their separate ways and Harry started mingling. It
was rather boring, waiting to catch eyes with someone, smiling politely,
offering a handshake and an official introduction. Then it was a few
rounds of asking awkward questions about family and loved ones. 'Oh, do
you have any children? How old are they? Yes, they do sound like lovely
children.' Harry hated it, all of it, and when you took the time to scratch
the surface it was all the same, just the exact same conversation over and
over, merely with different people, and it was tedious.
"Ah, Harry, dear boy."
Harry's spine stiffened on reflex as he heard that voice. His mind jumped
to Dumbledore's plan to spike him with a potion that would alter his
mind, and he had to take a breath to calm the immediate simmering rage
within him. He used the willpower that he had been taught to use to
keep his expression neutral, to keep his rage hidden, and he turned.
"Headmaster." He greeted with a curt nod.
Dumbledore was standing with Amelia Bones and Harry relaxed a
fraction. He would be aware not to take anything handed to him, but he
doubted that Dumbledore would try anything with the sharp-eyed, no-
nonsense Amelia Bones standing next to him. The man wasn't that stupid,
and Harry didn't believe that he was that desperate either. Not yet.
"Madam Bones." Harry gave her a more genuine smile.
"Lord Potter-Black, it's lovely to see you." She told him, smiling back at
him.
"Likewise. I haven't yet had a chance to speak with you and I have been
looking forward to it."
"Ah, will this have anything to do with your rumoured law reforms?" She
asked knowingly.
Harry chuckled. "It would, yes."
"Well, I admit I have been excited to get my hands on the drafts you've
drawn up. Have you brought them with you?" She asked eagerly.
"This is meant to be a party." He chuckled, trying to calm his own
excitement. He didn't want to come across as too eager.
Madam Bones snorted derisively. "I would find more excitement in my
fruit bowl than in this room."
Harry wondered just what sort of fruit the woman had, but he did pull
out his copy of his proposed law reforms, and he handed them over.
"Are you ready for the new school term, Harry?" Dumbledore asked him,
pretending at curiousness.
Harry nodded. "I am. I've finished all of my shopping for my school
supplies and I'm packed up and ready to go. This year will be rather
difficult for me, given my last school year and my illness, but I'm
determined to keep up now that I'm completely healed and healthy once
more."
"I was surprised that you did not bring Aceline with you."
"Really?" Harry asked sceptically. "I would have thought that given the
Prophet article a few days ago that it would have been obvious that I
wouldn't expose my fiancée to this media circus."
"I am investigating the reasoning the editors had behind publishing that
article." Madam Bones told him, flicking her eyes up from the parchment
she was reading. "I was disgusted by the content of it, and by how they
attacked a student to boot."
"The Prophet has always been a law unto themselves." Dumbledore put
in.
"Perhaps this incident has shown that they shouldn't be." Madam Bones
said firmly. She was not a woman to take anyone's shit, and she didn't
like that the paper had run that story, so she was going to get to the
bottom of why they'd posted it. Harry liked her.
"My father is pressing charges against the paper too." Harry told them.
"He was angry that I was targeted in such a way, and he's suing them for
libel on my behalf."
"You're not going to try to handle that yourself?" Dumbledore asked.
Harry shook his head. "I would much rather let my father handle such
things so that I can focus on my education, and on my Wizengamot
duties. I would hate to spread myself too thinly and have it affect the
more important aspects of my life."
"A very wise decision." Amelia said approvingly.
Harry nodded back, feeling pleased that he'd taken the decision to hand
the lawsuit off to Lucius instead of taking that on himself. He'd felt
strange not doing it himself, and passing that work off to someone else,
but he was sure that that was left over from the Dursleys' treatment of
him. He needed to try harder to break free of their toxic teachings.
Amelia carefully handed back both of his law reforms and she was
smiling, as she watched him tuck them safely away in his top robe
pocket. He had copies, of course, he wasn't quite that stupid to bring his
only copy to a public event, but he'd rather it if the reporters didn't get
photos of someone ripping up his reforms to put on the front page. The
last thing he needed was to be the subject of another article so soon.
"Those are coming along very nicely, Lord Potter-Black." She said. "A bit
more work and you'll be ready to present them. I couldn't see any
obvious loopholes and your wording is exemplary. Well done."
Harry smiled and thanked her. He tried not to show exactly how pleased
he was with her praise. But he saw Amelia Bones as completely impartial,
and thus her opinion meant more. If she saw his law reforms as a good
thing and she couldn't find any loopholes then he was certainly on the
right track.
"I would most definitely back these law reforms if they were proposed."
She told him. "You're doing good work, don't let that gossip rag pull you
down, or prevent you from finishing these reforms." She told him
seriously. "Or, for that matter, stop your charity work. Not all of us are
brainless sheep. Some of us, not many mind you, can actually think and
deduce things for ourselves."
"That means a lot to me, Madam Bones." He said honestly.
Though his words didn't give justice to exactly how much her support
meant. He'd been floundering in the last few days, caught up in his anger,
in his upset, instead of focusing on what was truly important…his work.
His image, his standing in society, his law reforms, and his charitable
work. He had allowed that article to harm the very things that would
prove the papers wrong about him, about his character. The papers, and
the sheep who believed every word they printed, could only harm him if
he allowed them to, and that had been exactly what he was doing by
allowing that article to affect him so much, allowing them the power of
doubt over himself, and what he was doing. No more.
He caught up with Madam Bones a little more, forced himself to speak as
neutrally as he could to Dumbledore, and then he excused himself, and
he once again started to mingle among the other Ministry workers.
He had noticed that more than one employee of the Ministry started
whispering behind their hands to someone as he passed, sniggering as
they no doubt discussed the nasty rumours about him. It was easy to tell
the low-down Ministry workers to those who were higher up, and thus
more intelligent. Those lower down tended to be the ones sniggering and
pointing at him as if he couldn't see them, those who believed that the
Prophet's articles were absolute truth and fact, and thus akin to law.
Those in higher offices were better educated, and thus took any article
they read with a pinch of salt and a dose of scepticism. It was this that
Harry found reassuring, that there were those within the Ministry who
had read that article and had frowned at it, and many of those workers,
like the Law Enforcer, Daniel Parker, had done in Flourish and Blotts,
had made it a point to come up to him and tell him pointedly that they
didn't believe a word that the Daily Prophet published, and like Madam
Bones, they encouraged him to keep going, to keep doing what he was
doing.
Feeling happier, and more reassured, and now glad that he had come to
this little Ministry gathering, he chanced upon his mother, who beckoned
him over.
"Here he is, my younger son." She introduced him, and Harry's heart
missed a beat and then swelled to epic proportions as he was introduced
as someone's son. He liked it…more than liked it. "Harry, sweetheart, this
is Lady Lorinda Parkinson, Lady Bedelia Fawley, and Lady Desdemona
Yaxley."
"A pleasure to meet you, ladies." Harry greeted politely and with as much
charm as he could muster.
They fussed over him, over his hair, how he was dressed, his accessories.
Harry was glad that he'd allowed Draco to dress him and do his hair, and
that Rabastan had accessorised him, as every inch was scrutinised and
picked apart.
Lady Lorinda, who was Pansy Parkinson's mother, didn't like his cufflinks
and thought them an odd choice to pair with his outfit. She sneered when
Harry told her that his fiancé had picked them out for him. Lady Bedelia,
who was married to Lord Humphry Fawley, didn't like the cut of his
robes and she sniffed over the quality. She didn't believe that they had
been made at Twilfitt and Tattings and insisted that they must not have
put as much effort into his robes as they did others. Lady Desdemona was
married to Corban Yaxley and she was related, via that marriage, to
Rhadamanthus Lestrange. She just glared at him, acting as if he were
beneath her notice.
"I must go and mingle, Mother." He said with a smile, turning to her and
kissing her cheek.
Narcissa smiled happily. She seemed rather pleased and Harry wondered
why, but after a look at the other three women, and their shocked and
almost longing looks, he guessed that perhaps their sons weren't as
affectionate towards them, especially not in public. Harry cared little for
such things. He'd come to love Narcissa, and Lucius too, and he would
show it as often as he could, in whatever form that he could.
He walked off, leaving Narcissa and her 'friends', and he went back to
mingling, and though his throat was getting a little dry, he refused to
take any of the drinks on offer, as once again the trays were resting on
the heads of house-elves. It disgusted him and he swore that he would
change this custom before the next Ministry party, which was the
Wizengamot get-together in the following year, in April.
He mingled a little more, being introduced to people he'd never
remember, being polite and courteous, ignoring those who were clearly
talking about him behind their hands, and catching up with the other
lords, and speaking to some heads of departments too, showing as many
of them as he could his law reforms, or just talking about them and what
he had planned if they didn't seem overly receptive of the idea.
"I see that you're so desperate for attention that you keep showing your
face, despite that rather amusing article written about you."
Harry turned, already working to hide the sneer that wanted to show
itself on his face. He just barely managed it.
"Yaxley." He greeted frostily. "Sitting on the Wizengamot, I would have
thought you'd have known that most everything in that article was a lie.
Then, it's just like you, and other cowards like you, to ignore the truth in
favour of lies if it suits you better."
Corban Yaxley sneered at him, but Harry remained calm.
"I'm not losing any sleep over that article." Harry said, giving a sardonic
little smile. "My father is handling the lawsuit against them and I truly
don't think they have a chance against him. I will continue in the same
vein as I have been. I will continue to attend Wizengamot meetings, I will
continue with my law reforms, and I will continue to show my face, as
you put it. No one is going to stop me, especially not the Prophet, or the
likes of you."
Yaxley's hand clenched into a tight fist and he looked positively
apoplectic with rage.
"Your time is coming, Potter." He spat furiously. "I would be more
respectful to proper wizards if I were you."
"If I'm going to be killed off anyway, why would I?" Harry asked. This
wasn't the first time that Corban Yaxley had alluded to his death, or that
it would be sooner rather than later. He was Rhadamanthus' uncle, and
the two of them were as close as purebloods ever allowed themselves to
be; they shared the same sick humour and, apparently, the same hatred
of him too.
Yaxley didn't seem to have an answer for Harry's little quip, so he
reverted back to more threats.
"I had always hoped that I was the one who would get to take your final
breath from you." He said, hissing under his breath so that no one else in
the overcrowded room could hear.
"Now that was a definite threat." Harry said, his mind already thinking of
ways to counteract it, but only one kept coming back to him, and he
blamed Marcus for it. "I think you should remember that I have friends in
dark places, as well as high places."
"I was playing these games before you were born, Potter." Yaxley spat at
him. "I know how they work, and your friends are nothing compared to
mine."
"Fenrir Greyback would disagree with you." Harry said gently, softly,
watching Corban closely. He saw a barely-there flinch in those cruel eyes,
but that was all the reaction that Corban gave, but it was all Harry
needed.
Corban scoffed, trying to play Harry's bluff.
"Greyback doesn't scare me." He said and Harry chuckled derisively.
"Then you're more stupid than I first realised." Harry said.
Those eyes narrowed dangerously and both fists clenched this time.
"You're the child here, Potter. You're the one who doesn't know what
they're doing, what sort of trouble you're causing or bringing down upon
yourself."
"I feel that I should point out that all of your threats are exactly the same,
just worded slightly differently each time. That makes you rather
boring…and very stupid." Harry said as innocently as he could manage.
Yaxley took a step closer to him, getting into his personal space, and he
bent his head so that he could whisper into his ear.
"If Rhadamanthus hadn't wanted to kill you personally, I'd drag you out
into an alley and leave your despoiled body with the rubbish for the
rats!"
"Neither of you will kill me. Neither of you have enough brain cells
between you to manage it." Harry insisted calmly. He wondered if he
could push Yaxley to do something here, now, in front of hundreds of
witnesses.
"I'm not afraid of you. I'm not afraid of Greyback."
"Is your only child, your daughter Olivia, afraid of Greyback?" Harry said,
his threat very subtle, but clear.
He'd never go through with it, he felt guilty for even putting voice to it.
Olivia was married to Leander Shacklebolt. He was Dawson's oldest
grandson and the next Lord Shacklebolt once Dawson died. Yaxley didn't
know that he'd never go through with it though. Marcus had insisted that
the mere threat would be enough and as Harry saw the fear, the panic, in
Corban Yaxley's eyes, he realised that Marcus was right. The threat alone
was enough.
"You wouldn't dare." Yaxley insisted, but though he tried to control it,
hide it, Harry heard the waver in his voice and he saw the flinching at his
mouth, he could see the fear in his eyes as Harry threatened his daughter.
His only child.
Yaxley might not have cared for her much, he might have wished he'd
had a son instead of a daughter, but it was the principle of it. The Yaxley
line was almost extinct in the male line as Corban was the very last one.
Unless Corban himself had another child, a male heir to carry on the
name, then Olivia was the only born Yaxley left and she had married into
the Shacklebolt family and taken the Shacklebolt name. His only hope for
the continuation of his family was if she produced two sons, one to carry
on the Shacklebolt line, the other the Yaxley. His worst fear was
something happening to Olivia before she had those two sons…
something like being mauled to death by Greyback, or worse, being
turned into a werewolf and the Yaxley line becoming half breeds.
"There are a lot of things that I'd dare to do, Yaxley. Continue to cavort
with Rhadamanthus, continue to threaten me and work against me, and I
will retaliate with my friend Greyback to take out the only thing you
have left, and that is Olivia. Watch your step, or I will end the Yaxley line
and force you to watch as I do so."
Harry turned on his heel and walked away, presenting his back to Yaxley
as a way to showcase that he wasn't afraid of him. He'd taken the dog's
teeth, so to say, and now Yaxley had no bite and was reduced to being all
bark.
"Are you well, Harry?"
Of course Xerxes was waiting in the wings and he followed after Harry
and laid a comforting hand on him.
"I wasn't sure if I should come over to save you or Corban."
Harry gave a rather dark chuckle. "He's definitely the one who needed
saving. But I did get all the verbal proof that I needed to now know that
he is working with Rhadamanthus and that he and your darling son want
me dead."
"Corban admitted it?"
Harry nodded. "He couldn't wait to tell me that if Rhadamanthus hadn't
laid claim to me then he'd love to be the one to take my last breath."
Xerxes' face looked like that of a demon. He was so furious at that
moment that he looked inhuman.
"It has been two hours, Harry, perhaps you'd like to go back home to
Basti?" Xerxes offered.
Harry nodded. "After that, I think I will. It won't be good to tempt him to
try anything here."
"He wouldn't dare." Xerxes growled.
"He might after what I said to him."
"Go home, Harry." Xerxes insisted, laying an arm around him almost
protectively as if Corban was going to start firing curses at him. "Make
sure that you tell Rodolphus and Rabastan."
"Are they going to get themselves into trouble by going after him?"
"Perhaps, but it'll be the best thing all around."
Harry shook his head. "It's better to leave that one alive, at least for a
while longer."
Xerxes looked confused, but Harry couldn't elaborate here…far too many
people, far too much chance for someone to eavesdrop on them, and
what he had to say wasn't something that he wanted someone to
overhear.
Xerxes went to say something, but held his tongue, looking at someone
behind Harry. Harry hoped that whoever it was hadn't heard Xerxes
namedrop his grandsons.
"Harry, do you know who this is?"
Harry tensed as he heard Dumbledore's voice. He turned, making his face
as plain as he possibly could.
"Of course I know Lord Xerxes Lestrange. We sit together on the
Wizengamot." Harry said, a hard edge to his voice.
"His family are some of Voldemort's top supporters, Harry. His grandsons,
along with Bellatrix, were the ones who tortured Frank and Alice
Longbottom into insanity."
"Do not mention her name to me!" Harry hissed furiously, his hands
clenching into fists.
"Whatever my grandsons have done is no business of mine. I haven't seen
either of them since they were sentenced all those years ago." Xerxes said
smoothly.
"You continually apply for an appeal for them both."
"They are the only Lestranges left to carry on my line, of course I appeal
for them both, though I would settle for just one of them as long as he
could still produce heirs. They weren't given a fair trial, none of them
were. A life sentence is for murder and no one died."
"They robbed Frank and Alice of their lives. They robbed young Neville
of the chance of having loving parents." Dumbledore said, and there was
something steely in his tone.
"But neither of them died." Xerxes repeated. "A life for a life,
Dumbledore. Those are the laws."
"Being a Death Eater is grounds for life imprisonment."
"Not back then it wasn't. Not when they were sentenced. That's why the
Aurors would have rathered bring in dead bodies than prisoners." Xerxes
pointed out. "Because of that unfair trial, I lost my grandsons and the
continuation of the Lestrange line when I needn't have. I will appeal as
often as I humanly can to rectify the abuse of the laws."
"There's been a lot of that going around." Harry nodded. "Fudge was fired
after I triggered that inquest into how the laws have been mishandled
over the years."
"You have made it much easier for me to appeal the appalling lack of
lawfulness concerning my grandsons' case. Thank you, Lord Potter-Black."
"Is that what you wanted, Harry?" Dumbledore asked. "For the Lestranges
to be given a pardon for their crimes? For torturing Neville's parents into
insanity?"
"I want the laws of this country, of our society, to be upheld." Harry said
sternly, trying not to clench his jaw…or his fists. "We have written laws
that are being ignored, we have certain parts of legislation being upheld
while other parts are ignored as if people can just pick and choose what
to follow or not. It's an utter disgrace."
"The laws are ancient, Harry, some of them are no longer applicable."
"I'm not saying that the laws don't need updating, they do, and I'm fully
aware of that. But the laws must be updated and not just left as they are
while the Wizengamot, and the Council of Magical Law too, are free to
interpret them as they please, using bits and pieces of one law and
ignoring the very context of it for their own purposes. I am trying to
update the laws, but it'll take time. Until then, I refuse to allow anyone to
get away with not following the laws, as they are written, to the letter."
"That could put people in danger, Harry." Dumbledore warned him.
"Then the laws should have been updated a long time ago and not left in
such a despicable condition." Harry said dispassionately, staring down
Dumbledore, refusing to give in.
"You truly did allow that man to be executed by the goblins, didn't you?"
"The law is the law." Harry said viciously. "The goblins are our allies and
we accepted their laws in relation to everything to do with Gringotts.
They run our banks, look after our valuables, and in return we allow
them to govern Gringotts how they please, and that includes executing
thieves."
"A man lost his life over that decision, Harry."
"He shouldn't have tried to rob a bank." Harry said carelessly.
"Why are you harassing my son?" Narcissa's voice cut through the
conversation, as she materialised at Harry's side. "This is supposed to be a
relaxing get-together, a chance for Harry to learn and explore, it is not a
chance for you to harass him outside of school term."
"It's alright, Mother. I was just heading home anyway." Harry assured her.
"I will escort you." She insisted, slipping her arm through his.
Harry led her away and to the floo banks.
"I saw him harassing you and even though Xerxes was there, I knew he
couldn't say too much, lest he gave away that you knew him rather well."
Harry nodded. "He's relentless when he wants to be. He keeps trying to
get me to feel guilty about the things I've done, but I won't. I'm proud of
how far I've come."
"So you should be." Narcissa said immediately, before bending forward
and laying a kiss on Harry's cheek. "Now, go home and rest, spend some
time with your fiancé while you can. You don't have much time before
you're back in Hogwarts."
Harry sighed, and he nodded. "I know. I don't really want to go back, but
I do understand the importance of completing my education, if for no
other reason than I want to become the Minister for Magic one day."
Narcissa's eyes lit up at hearing that. "You truly want to become the
Minister?" She asked him, almost excitedly…then it would be a huge
family honour to have her son become the Minister.
Harry nodded. "I've been thinking about it a lot lately, and given the state
of everything, right down to our outdated laws, I feel that I must become
the Minister in order to fix everything."
"I'm so proud of you, Harry."
"I haven't done it yet, and there are no guarantees that if I do try and run
for office that I'll be voted in." He chuckled.
"But that you are aspiring so high is something to be proud of in itself."
"I need to work extra hard this year, I'm aiming for all Os, but I will also
need to put a lot of work into the Wizengamot and also into my law
reforms. I'm going to be very busy."
"Your family will help you as much as we're able."
Harry smiled. "Thank you, Mother. Enjoy the rest of the party, I will see
you back at home."
They parted ways and Harry took a handful of floo powder and called out
for Malfoy Manor. A moment later and he was gone from the Ministry
party and he was arriving back home. He took a breath and immediately
reached up to rub a hand through his hair. He had been dying to do that
all night. It made him smile.
Of course, those who hadn't gone to the party were in the parlour…
Rodolphus and Rabastan were talking to one another and Draco was
reading a book. Harry wondered if Draco knew exactly how much he was
like Narcissa.
"Harry, you're home earlier than expected." Rabastan told him but he still
stood to receive him.
Harry walked to him and threw his arms around his fiancé, squeezing
him, and tilting his head for a kiss.
"It was so boring!" He complained. "I can't put into words how much my
brain has been damaged from the boredom!"
Rabastan chuckled and led Harry to the settee. Harry kicked his highly
polished shoes off and rested up on his fiancé's lap.
"Did you at least keep your hair in order before you came home?" Draco
asked, giving his hair a horrified look.
"I hope so, but I had to knock the soot out of it after flooing, so it's like
this because I came home."
"If I see a single photo of you with that messy hair at the party, Potter…"
"Relax, Draco. I didn't touch it until I flooed home."
"Did you get to talk about your reforms to anyone?" Rabastan asked him.
Harry nodded happily. "Yes, about the only good thing to come from
tonight. That and I didn't run into Rhadamanthus at all. Dumbledore
tried to harass me over the decisions I'd made though as if he could at all
influence me or my thoughts anymore, and your dear great-uncle Yaxley
started on me yet again, he almost cursed me in the atrium."
"What?" Rodolphus demanded.
"That's okay, I'm learning more and more about the things I can do, and
how to protect myself, and I'm getting much better at threatening people.
But he got so angry that he let slip some things that he probably
shouldn't have."
"Such as?" Rabastan asked him.
"Nothing we didn't already know, but it has been confirmed, verbally at
least, that Rhadamanthus wants me dead and he's told Yaxley that I'm
off-limits because he wants to do it himself."
"What did he say exactly, Harry?" Rodolphus asked him darkly, an edge
of something murderous to his tone.
"That if Rhadamanthus hadn't already wanted to kill me personally then
Yaxley would just love to be the one to take my last breath."
"I think we are overdue a visit to our uncle, Rabastan."
"I handled it." Harry said. "I don't like how I handled it, but I still did it."
"What did you do?" Rabastan asked him, holding him tighter and using
one hand to cup his chin.
Harry sighed. "It was Marcus' idea really. He told me how 'grunts' work,
and that because I'd pretty much fed Rowle to Greyback that Greyback
owed me a favour, so I threatened Yaxley with him, or rather I
threatened his daughter, Olivia, with him."
Rodolphus laughed. Properly laughed and he messed up Harry's hair with
a large hand.
"Well, I suppose that's one way of getting him off your back." Rabastan
said, then shook his head.
"It was a genius move." Rodolphus complimented. "Threatening the one
thing he actually cares about, the continuation of the Yaxley line, if he
continued to harass and threaten him. Olivia is his only child and there's
no way he or his wife will have any more now, Mona is too old to bear
children. Olivia is the last chance for the Yaxley line to continue."
"If Dawson ever found out that I'd threatened his granddaughter by
marriage…"
"Corban won't tell him, he won't admit that he's threatening to kill you,
but if he did, then Dawson would understand. If you had threatened
Leander, or whatever great-grandchildren he could have had, that would
be different, but Leander could always get another wife to carry on the
Shacklebolt name."
"He likes Olivia and Leander loves her. I don't think it'll be that easy."
"Yaxley still won't admit to wanting you killed, Harry." Rabastan
reassured him. "Dawson need never know."
Harry breathed a little easier at hearing that. He was glad that Dawson
would never find out that Harry had threatened Olivia with Greyback,
that Yaxley wouldn't be able to tell him because he couldn't admit to why
Harry had threatened his daughter with Fenrir Greyback, of all people.
He relaxed a little more and he snuggled into Rabastan. He wouldn't get
the chance to do this for much longer. He hated that he had to go back to
school, but what he'd told Narcissa was the truth. He had decided. He
wanted to become the Minister for Magic and he couldn't drop out of
Hogwarts if that was to become at all reality. He would have to work
harder than he ever had before and build up his social profile too if he
had any sort of shot at the top office. The Prophet might have already
ruined his chances, but he would still try. He had a year to rectify the
damage they had done, he had a year to move all his pieces into place,
and then, once he had graduated, his bid for the very top position would
begin in earnest.
It would likely take several years to work his way up that high, no one
would want an eighteen-year-old as the Minister, but he couldn't afford
to wait too long, not with the state of the wizarding world currently.
Perhaps if he changed some laws, and passed his reforms, then people
would trust him more and would be more willing to vote him into power.
He only needed a chance and he was going to do his damnedest to give
himself that chance. He took a breath and smiled, running his fingers
over Rabastan's chest. He could do this, he knew that he could.
A/N: A little bit of Black Heir to try and brighten up your lockdowns,
lovelies. I struggled to get this finished though, so next week will be the
start of a brand new fic, Servus ad Harenas, which is already completed,
so that I can continue to update weekly. I might be able to get chapter
130 of Rise of the Drackens done, which will take priority over Servus ad
Harenas, but I am certain that the next update will not be for this fic, I'm
not ready to come back to it just yet.
Guest: I don't know where you live, lovelie, but there is a vaccine for
tuberculosis, it's called the BCG vaccine (Bacillus Calmette-Guérin
vaccine). I had to have it when I was 15 or 16, after the skin test you
mentioned showed I had no immunity, and I still have the scar on my
upper arm from it.
I hope that you're all staying inside, and staying safe, and I'll see you all
next week, lovelies,
StarLight Massacre. X
30. Train Journeys
Last Time
He would have to work harder than he ever had before and build up his social
profile too if he had any sort of shot at the top office. The Prophet might have
already ruined his chances, but he would still try. He had a year to rectify the
damage they had done, he had a year to move all his pieces into place, and
then, once he had graduated, his bid for the very top position would begin in
earnest.
It would likely take several years to work his way up that high, no one would
want an eighteen-year-old as the Minister, but he couldn't afford to wait too
long, not with the state of the wizarding world currently. Perhaps if he
changed some laws, and passed his reforms, then people would trust him more
and would be more willing to vote him into power. He only needed a chance
and he was going to do his damnedest to give himself that chance. He took a
breath and smiled, running his fingers over Rabastan's chest. He could do this,
he knew that he could.
Chapter Thirty – Train Journeys
Harry was never so upset, or disappointed, as when the day came for him
to say goodbye to Rabastan and board the Hogwarts Express to attend his
final year at Hogwarts.
He'd held his tears back by the skin of his teeth as he held tightly to
Rabastan, but his fiancé couldn't possibly miss the fact that his eyes had
welled up with tears that he refused to allow fall. Harry was convinced
that Rabastan had held him tighter, and for longer, because he was
visibly upset at the thought of their parting.
He was on the train now, settling into a compartment with Draco and
Blaise, and wishing that he was still at home with Rabastan.
"You look thoroughly depressed." Blaise told him, looking a little
concerned.
Harry gave a half-hearted, one-shouldered shrug
"I know you're going to miss him, Harry, but as soon as we get to
Hogwarts, we'll be kept so busy you'll barely have a spare moment to
think of it." Blaise tried.
Harry sighed and he actively tried to stop sulking like a toddler. "It's
more than that. Sit down, let me fill you in on what has happened before
anyone else arrives."
Blaise sat next to him and Harry quickly gave him a rundown of what
had happened in the last few days. Xerxes had been unable to find any
sort of spell or curse to help him, so Marcus' runes were still carved into
his neck. Harry couldn't feel them, couldn't see them, and if he hadn't
been able to remember the hideous pain of having them carved slowly
into his flesh, he might have thought that it had never happened.
"That's…that's…I have no words to describe how depraved that is!" Blaise
hissed, his purple eyes wide and horrified. "You said he's going to try to
drug you here, on the train?"
"Mother has given us enough snacks and treats to put Honeydukes out of
business, so we won't have to buy anything from the trolley." Draco
explained. "If he doesn't succeed here, now, he will undoubtedly try
again, as soon as he possibly can. He needs Harry under his thumb, and
the only way he can do that now is via potions."
"And Marcus has carved runes into you to help?"
"It won't work perfectly, but they will greatly diminish the effects of any
potion I ingest. Depending on exactly which potion is used, it could be
rendered completely ineffective, or I could start showing some mild
behavioural changes, but nothing should be strong enough to completely
change my way of thinking. Not with those runes."
"Thank Merlin that Marcus actually likes you. He wouldn't have done that
for just anyone."
Harry nodded. He was well aware of just how lucky he was that he and
Marcus counted one another as friends. He didn't know what he would
have done if he'd had to come back to Hogwarts, back within
Dumbledore's sphere of influence, without any sort of protection at all.
He'd have never slept easy again. Or eaten or drank anything without the
thought in his mind that he was about to become a puppet.
All talk of it stopped immediately as the compartment door opened and a
very subdued Pansy peeked in. Gone was the self-assured girl who was
arrogant and snobby and in her place was a tired, pale-looking shade,
and Harry felt a twinge of sympathy for her. Pansy didn't look like she'd
slept at all in the last week.
"May I sit with you?" She asked, and her tone clearly said that she
expected to be thrown out on her ear, perhaps with laughter.
"Of course you can." Harry said immediately, before Draco or Blaise could
say anything biting or scathing.
Pansy dragged her trunk in behind her and Harry helped her to stow it
away safely. She sat the furthest from them, almost curling into herself.
Harry and Draco were right up against the windows, and Blaise was
sitting next to the blonde for now. Harry knew that wouldn't be the case
when Astoria arrived, as her betrothed Astoria had every right to sit next
to Draco.
Theo arrived next, and he greeted Harry happily, brushing past Pansy as
if she weren't there and taking the seat next to Harry.
"How have you been, Harry? Have you been better since The Quibbler
article?"
"Calmer at least." He insisted. "I did all I could to answer to those
allegations and I saw at the Ministry party that some are on my side, but
there are also those who believe that The Prophet's words are law."
"Fucking sheep." Blaise cursed. "If they had two brain cells to rub
together they'd see through what The Prophet was doing."
"That's the problem. Most people don't use their brains, they don't want
to think, they just blindly accept what they're told or what they read.
They don't realise that The Prophet is running a smear campaign against
me. It doesn't help that they're unchecked and unchallenged by any other
newspaper. They're the only fucking newspaper in Britain! I mean, how
can that possibly be in any society? One newspaper? One news source?
It's ridiculous! There should be multiple papers, multiple sources for
news. That way The Prophet wouldn't be able to get away with posting
whatever the hell they liked and calling it news."
"Exactly that." Blaise agreed. "I only read The World News. There's no
gossip column, no 'celebrity' pages, it's all just real world news, and guess
what? That Prophet story about you wasn't deemed worthy enough for
those pages."
Harry snorted, but he smiled too. "Because The Prophet made it up. It's
not news if it's a made-up smear campaign."
Blaise nodded his agreement. "So, you have the people who read just The
Prophet, those who believe they're reliable and only publish real news
articles, and those people have likely turned against you. Then you have
people like me who only read The World News, which is more
comprehensive and is a reliable news source and those people don't even
know what The Prophet is printing to go against you, and then there are
the people who read both papers, who likely realise that The Prophet is a
load of shit and don't believe what they wrote about you in that article
either."
Harry chuckled. "It's just too bad so many people only read The Prophet
in this country then."
Blaise shook his head. "You'd be surprised at how many people read The
World News, even if they do read The Prophet as well. Don't give up just
yet, Harry."
The compartment door opened again and Luna slipped in. "Hello, Harry."
She greeted happily.
"Hey, Luna. How are you?"
"I'm very well, actually." She said, smiling at him. She stood in front of
Theo until with a grumble he slipped sideways and Luna claimed the seat
next to him.
"I'm glad to hear it." He said genuinely, throwing an arm around her and
giving her a hug.
Before anyone got too settled, the door opened again and Daphne and
Astoria were entering. Draco stood immediately to greet Astoria in the
cramped space of the full compartment.
"Draco." Astoria said happily, placing her arms around his neck.
Harry watched with a grin as Draco's hands held around her waist, a little
too low to be appropriate.
"Hands up a bit, Draco. I'd hate to tell father that you were groping
Astoria in public." He teased.
Draco gave him an annoyed look, but Astoria just giggled, a little pink in
the cheeks.
"Maybe I should tell father that I found you and Rabastan frotting with
one another in the library yesterday!" Draco reminded him and Harry
threw his head back and laughed.
"You can't hold that against me." Harry pointed out. "He caught us
himself not ten minutes later. He looked more exasperated than angry.
Then, he's caught me and Rabastan together too many times now, and all
his punishments and angry rebukes haven't done anything to stop us, so
he's given up. We just need to see through this year and then we'll be
married and able to do as we please anyway. With this being our last
year, Luna and Astoria excluded, of course, I'm going to be kept far too
busy to think about anything other than passing my exams."
"It's poor Rabastan who is going to be suffering." Astoria pointed out. "At
home all day every day, waiting for you to come home to him, his
thoughts driving him mad."
"Don't you mean more mad?" Daphne scoffed. "He's already half-insane. Is
he still a dribbling, convulsing wreck?"
Harry was on his feet, his wand under her chin before he'd even
consciously thought about doing it. The urge to protect his fiancé was
instinctual, and instantaneous.
"Say another word about him. I dare you." He said lowly, through anger
gritted teeth.
"Harry." Theo said, resting a hand on his shoulder. "She isn't worth being
expelled over. This is your last year, don't ruin everything you have
worked for now."
Harry continued to glare at Daphne, breathing hard through the urge to
curse her…or just straight up kill her. He blinked at that last thought.
Was he angry enough to actually kill someone? The roaring in his head
said yes…he was angry enough to kill Daphne, at least. He relaxed his
stance, bringing himself back from that angry edge so that he didn't do
anything he'd regret, but he kept his wand under Daphne's chin, still
glaring.
"Harry." Draco tried, standing up, but clearly unwilling to make himself
Harry's target, as he stayed back and didn't touch him.
"If you dare say another word about him, it'll be your last." Harry warned
her, before pulling his wand back carefully and slipping it back up his
sleeve.
The compartment seemed to take a collective breath as he sat back down,
and a moment later everyone seemed to relax…everyone except Daphne
that was, but then she had been on the business end of Harry's wand,
which was no small thing considering that Harry was still top of their
year in Defence. Though, no, not just top of their year, he'd consistently
gotten above Outstanding marks year after year. He could do things that
he wasn't supposed to be able to do, like being able to cast a corporeal
patronus at just thirteen when adults struggled to even get to the mist
stage. He had always been gifted in Defence Against the Dark Arts and he
saw no reason not to try to push his limits.
"You'll be in the same boat next year, won't you, Draco?" Blaise tried,
going back to Astoria's comment, but ignoring Daphne's.
Astoria smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes. She looked worriedly at
Harry, as if she perhaps thought that he'd fly at her next for carrying on
the conversation, but Harry wouldn't. She was betrothed to Draco, she
was family. Besides, she hadn't been the one who had said anything
disparaging about Rabastan.
"He will. He'll be the one stuck at home, fretting, while I finish my final
year."
"I'm sure I can find a job to keep myself busy." Draco told her.
"You could always throw yourself into that Potions apprenticeship that
you wanted to do." Harry said calmly. "That'll keep you busy."
"Exceptionally busy." Theo agreed. "A Potioneer apprenticeship is
gruelling. More than seventy per cent of applicants drop out after the first
month."
"Less than three per cent actually go on to become Potioneers." Draco
said, a hint of nervousness to his tone.
"If anyone can do it, it'll be you." Harry encouraged. "Not only will you
get the Potioneers apprenticeship, but you'll also get the Potion Master's
apprenticeship too, and you'll complete them."
"The chances of that are really slim." Draco insisted, but Harry wasn't
having it.
"You'll get through both, you're clever enough, and determined enough,
Draco." He said firmly. "You understand potions in a way others just
can't. Creating a potion for you is effortless."
"It's not!" Draco told him. "It's hard fucking work!"
"No, me trying to create a potion is hard fucking work." Harry pointed
out. "You might put in a lot of hard work, but you make it seem
effortless. I'm surprised I haven't blown everyone into space by now.
You're going to get through it, Draco. You'll be fine."
"Like you'll go into teaching." Draco said, a slight flush to his cheeks. He
was changing the subject, and Harry considered teasing him some more,
but ultimately decided to allow Draco to change the subject.
"I'm not going into teaching anymore." He said simply.
"What? I thought you wanted to be the professor for Defence or Care of
Magical Creatures?" Draco pointed out.
Harry nodded. "At the start of last year that is exactly what I wanted."
"And now?"
"Politics." Harry said simply. He shrugged a shoulder. "I've decided to go
all-in for a political career. It's going to eat up so much of my time
anyway, and I'm going to want that time to properly dedicate myself to
it, without being distracted by anything else, like lesson planning or
homework grading. It would be a disservice to the children under my
care, and to the political aspect of my life too if I try to split myself
between them. So, I've thought about it and ultimately I've chosen
politics. I believe I'll be happier, and using more of my potential, if I
chose a political career over a teaching one."
"You'll be so good at that." Astoria told him. "You're already a trailblazer
in the Wizengamot, father says so all the time."
"And not that you'll care, but it's also more fitting to your station. As the
lord to two houses, it'll be better for you personally to choose a career in
politics." Blaise told him.
"The critical point will be after I've graduated. I'm going to find the time
this year to finish my law reforms and I hope to have them finished and
submitted by the New Year. Then the remaining months of the school
term they will hopefully be passed through the Wizengamot, and then
both the Wizengamot and the Council of Magical Law, and end up being
passed as a law by the time I graduate. As soon as the exams are over,
that is when I'll truly come out to shine."
"You already are shining." Theo insisted. "My father also speaks of you in
the Wizengamot. Never in nice terms, of course, but I can read the
subtext of what he's saying, and while you're frustrating him so much
that he rants about you, I realise from what he's saying that you're doing
good. Really good."
"Suck his dick why don't you, Theo." Daphne sneered. "It'll be more
dignified than crawling before him on your belly."
"Well, it'll be the only dick here that you haven't already sucked." Theo
shot back.
Blaise laughed first, followed by Draco, and Harry let out a soft,
contemptuous snort, mostly at Daphne's face, which was a picture. She
clearly hadn't expected Theo to answer her back, which is usually what
would have happened. But Harry was sure that Theo had reached his
limit by now, and with his little revenge plot coming to fruition soon, if
he had still planned it for the winter holidays that was, Harry was fully
on board with him not allowing Daphne to push him around this term.
"How dare you speak to me like that!" Daphne said angrily.
"No, seriously, Daphne." Theo said, his own anger rising. "Out of the four
males in this compartment, how many dicks haven't you sucked? Just
Harry, right? And I'll bet that that is because he refused to let you and
not because you didn't want to!"
Two high flags of colour on Daphne's cheeks proved that Theo was right.
Harry had known that Draco had slept with her, he knew that Blaise had
slept with her too, but then Blaise would have anything that moved so
that wasn't surprising, but Harry hadn't known that Theo had also slept
with her. It was odd that she had allowed Theo into her bed given how
much she seemed to hold her betrothed in utter contempt.
"Pansy is just as bad!" Daphne screeched as if that somehow made her
own behaviour better.
"I've been with Draco and Blaise." Pansy said quietly from her little
corner. "I've not been with Harry or Theo, or anyone else for that matter,
not like you have."
"Well, now you get to be with old Lucan Selwyn!" Daphne spat nastily.
Harry watched as Pansy shrunk back into her seat and went as white as a
sheet. He actually moved forward a little, as he expected Pansy to pass
out at any minute.
"You'll let us know how the old man performs, won't you?" Daphne said,
smirking now that she saw the reaction she'd gotten. "It'll be like old
times, comparing how the boys performed with each of us. I want to
know if you'll suck your husband's cock as enthusiastically as you did
Draco's."
"That's enough!" Harry snapped.
"Oh, is the virgin getting all bashful?" Daphne asked of him. "All this talk
of sex and dicks must be getting you a little flustered. Does your husband
still have his cock or is it still in his brother's pocket?"
"Get out." Harry commanded through gritted teeth.
"Hit a nerve, have I? Shall I take that to mean he doesn't have a dick?
Then, after all of those years in Azkaban, even if he did still have a dick,
it's doubtful it would actually work. Maybe your betrothal to him was a
ploy to stop you from breeding impure children."
"I said get out!" Harry hissed and something on his face must have caught
Daphne's attention, as she faltered a little, and drew back, but she didn't
let it bother her, as she smirked at him, and let out a mocking laugh.
"I'll leave you to your impotent husband then. That goes for the both of
you." She added, slipping her gaze from Harry to Pansy before she finally
stood and left the compartment.
"Harry, take a breath." Draco encouraged. "You'll ruin all of your future
plans if you murder her."
"Only if I'm caught." He said easily, still glaring at the closed door.
"You should let the Nargles take care of her." Luna said softly from beside
him.
"Have any mistletoe lying around, Luna?" Harry asked her, smiling.
"It is easily found."
Harry smirked and an idea started forming in his mind. He would have to
wait for Theo to implement his revenge first, if anyone deserved it, it was
Theo for what Daphne had done to him over the years, but there was no
reason why he couldn't take his own revenge…and Nargles would come
in very handy with his own growing plans.
Harry had been forced to sit at the Gryffindor table for the welcome feast
because of the new students, but his mind was busy plotting and
planning. He had a lot to do and he'd only added to that with his growing
thoughts of retribution to dole out on Daphne.
He'd hated having to go to the Prefects' carriage on the train to meet the
twenty-four prefects under his care. This was made worse by Hermione
being the Head Girl. He'd known that she would be all along, as there
was no way her achievements over the years wouldn't afford her that
honour, but the fact that she had tried to hand him a pre-made schedule
sheet that she actually expected him to follow, after all of their
differences in the last year, was frankly laughable.
He hadn't gone so far as to disrespect her in front of the bright-eyed
prefects, but when the little meeting had been over, he'd silently handed
her the sheet back with a scathing look, and made his way back to the
carriage with Draco. He would look after the other students, he would
look out for the first years, and he would patrol the corridors as was
expected of him, but he'd do it on his own terms, and not anyone else's,
especially not Hermione's…not now.
The Gryffindor prefects had charge of the new first-year students after
the feast, so Harry was free to go to his own private rooms on the fourth
floor. He tapped the keyhole of the picture of the door with his wand and
it unlocked for him.
Harry inhaled deeply and he smiled. He couldn't wait to make these
rooms his own again. The first thing he did was go to his kitchenette and
put the kettle on the hob to make himself tea. The house-elves had
thoroughly cleaned the room and it was dust free and perfect.
He went to his bedroom and his trunk was neatly placed at the end of his
bed. With a swish of his wand, it opened and his clothes went to hang
themselves in the wardrobe, or fold themselves in the dresser, while his
plethora of books flew from his trunk to his little study room to line
themselves up on his bookshelves. He would put them into order later.
He liked to keep his set school books on a separate bookcase from his
recreational books just for ease of selection, and then he would separate
his other books into ones he needed to read for the Wizengamot, those he
needed to read for his law reforms, and ones he needed to read for school
work, like all of the Ancient Runes books that Marcus kept piling onto
him. It would be nice to settle back in though and start getting back into
the rhythm of everything.
He would need to make a schedule for himself tomorrow when he got his
lesson plans from Professor McGonagall at breakfast. He intended to stay
on top of everything this year, which included his classes, all of his
homework, his runes tutoring with Marcus, his Wizengamot duties, his
law reforms, and his charities too.
He went back out to his living room and he made himself a cup of tea. He
would set up a little homework station for himself, he preferred to do
everything at his coffee table, rather than at the little desk in the study
room, but he kept all of his assignments and work in the study room so
that he didn't lose any of it. He was a lot more organised now that he was
under the Malfoys' care and he was eternally grateful for it because
without a proper schedule, there was no way he could take on as much as
he was and he wouldn't survive the embarrassment of forgetting to do
something important when it inevitably caught up to him.
He had also promised to carry on teaching Defence to Astoria, Luna,
Blaise, and Draco, so he would need to fit that into his schedule too.
Harry took a sip of tea and looked around at the familiar room. He felt
comfortable and relaxed here, and he most certainly did better on his
own, without anyone around him. It was nice to be able to leave his
things lying about without fear that anyone would take or damage any of
it…or look at any of his private notes, either about his law reforms or the
Wizengamot.
He went to the settee and sat down, placing down his teacup. He
summoned some parchment, his quills and ink, and he set them on the
coffee table, how he liked them.
He took a piece of parchment and a quill, and he dipped it, and then
started writing down things he wanted to try to teach to the two younger
girls, and to Blaise and Draco too, maybe Theo as well if he was
interested. He didn't want to do anything that required any heavy
thinking, not right before bed, and certainly not with the exhausting day
he was expecting to have tomorrow.
Harry put the Patronus charm at the top of the list, he was of the opinion
that everyone should try and learn it. Dementors were no small thing to
try and combat and a person's only hope was a Corporeal Patronus. He
had loved teaching it to the DA, and despite knowing that many of them
had turned against him in light of his adoption, he still didn't wish the
Dementors on them, so he couldn't bring himself to regret teaching them
to protect themselves against the foul creatures. The more people who
knew the Patronus charm the better in his mind.
He added some advanced spells, some curses, and things he had found
useful, and which would protect his friends and family too. He would try
to teach them throughout the year, as much as he could, because it was
doubtful that he'd be able to spend the time teaching them anything once
he was graduated and embarking on his political career in earnest. He
would always look after them, though. They had come to mean the world
to him. Like Hermione, Ron, and all the Weasleys had once been.
He pushed those thoughts aside, it still hurt to think about it, that they
had turned their backs on him just because of his adoption. His fist
clenched. He was stronger than that now. He was Lord Potter-Black. He
was an adoptee of the Malfoy family. He was going to be married into the
Lestrange family. He would be strong and he could overcome the
betrayal.
Harry drank his tea and then put his list of things to teach the others
aside and he went to his bedroom. Tomorrow, classes started and
tomorrow his workload would threaten to bow his shoulders. This was
his last night of relative peace and relaxation. He was sure that as soon as
tomorrow night he would be a stressed wreck, trying to figure out how to
fit everything he needed to juggle into a schedule like a jigsaw puzzle. He
blew out a breath and turned off the lights, heading to bed. It would do
him well to get a full night of sleep before any of this started. He had no
idea when the next time he'd get to sleep a full nine or ten hours would
come.
As soon as Harry had gotten his lesson timetable after breakfast the next
morning he had started trying to schedule everything out. He would need
to focus more on Arithmancy this year, to bring his Exceeds Expectations
up to an Outstanding, but he would also need to keep up with all of his
other subjects too. Marcus would kill him if he got anything other than
an O in his final exam for Ancient Runes, and he had threatened to stop
tutoring him the moment he started showing signs of slacking off, which
would mean that Harry would absolutely fail his final exam in June. He
couldn't allow that to happen.
"Mister Potter." McGonagall interrupted on her way back down the
Gryffindor table.
Harry looked up at her, a little startled to be addressed a second time
after he'd already gotten his timetable.
"Yes, Professor?"
"I have you named as the Gryffindor Quidditch Captain still, do you wish
to accept the position this year?"
Harry bit his lip and considered it seriously. He looked at his rapidly
filling schedule that he was making for himself. Did he want to play
Quidditch? Did he want the responsibility of captaining the entire
Gryffindor team? He'd always enjoyed just flying more than he had
actually playing, but he did find it good stress relief, and if ever he would
need some stress relief it would be this year. It was also his last year to
play, and he'd played through every year of Hogwarts. It would be nice to
finish with the Quidditch Cup, and he liked teaching his young team, and
the reserve team too, all of his tricks.
"Potter?"
Harry looked up at her and he smiled. "I'll carry on for now." He said.
"But if my schedule becomes too much later in the year then I'll pass the
captaincy on to someone else and retire from the team. I do like playing
Quidditch, but my academics are more important this year. I have too
much I want to do to threaten it for a game."
"It was this attitude that saw me putting your name forward for the Head
Boy position." McGonagall told him, looking proudly at the badge pinned
to his robes. "You have done so well in this last year. Your parents would
have been proud of you."
Harry was shocked speechless at hearing that, and too choked up to
reply, he nodded his head gratefully.
McGonagall smiled at him, likely understanding that he was too full up to
reply verbally, and went back to the top table, and almost before she'd
taken two steps, as he'd likely been hovering close by, Draco came and
sat next to him and snatched his timetable from his hands, comparing it
to his own.
"We're in every class together." He said, smirking in a very satisfied way.
"I can look after you better now."
Harry chuckled. "You didn't need to do that last year."
Draco gave him a look. "You were very ill last year." Draco reminded
him…as if Harry had somehow forgotten that little fact.
"I know and I got through it. I'm completely fine, Draco, and I'm off of all
of those potions now. I'm healthy, and I'm going to be fine."
"I want you close." Draco said firmly. "He's going to try to give you
something to change your behaviour. The closer you are to me, the
sooner I'll see the change and call father." Draco added under his breath.
Harry sighed, but he nodded. He could understand that, and he knew
that Draco was worried. Hell, he was worried. He blew out a calming
breath, he'd done all he could to protect himself. Marcus had seen to that.
Harry caught himself just before his hand rose to touch his throat.
Rubbing at it would certainly be a red flag. He took another breath and
looked at Draco.
"Everything is going to be fine." He said, with more certainty than he felt.
"I'm still going to keep you close. It doesn't matter what you say to me. I
have a responsibility to you as my younger brother."
Harry scoffed at that. "All of one month older."
"Exactly eight weeks older." Draco said pointedly. "But it doesn't matter if
it had been eight minutes, I'm still older than you and that makes you my
responsibility, Harry, regardless of what you think of it."
"This pureblood culture is bullshit."
Draco gave him a stern look this time, and Harry grinned cheekily at
him.
"That look doesn't work on me." Draco said. "You might have everyone
else wrapped around your finger, but not me."
"Give me a little more time." Harry replied.
Draco snorted a soft sound of amusement. "I know that look now. It'll
never work on me, even if your fiancé does visibly melt every time it's
directed at him."
Harry laughed. "Well, he has very good taste, if I do say so myself."
Draco smiled at him then. "All of this 'pureblood bullshit', as you so claim
it, is what has brought you to this point, Harry. You wouldn't be here
without it, so try not to be so vocally disapproving. Just remember that
you wouldn't have Rabastan without the betrothal practices of pureblood
culture."
"I know that, but some of it is bullshit, and you can't tell me otherwise."
Harry insisted.
Draco just sighed, but he did drop the subject.
"We have double Potions first." Harry said after a few minutes of silence.
"A nice, easy start to a Tuesday morning." He added sarcastically.
Draco nodded his agreement. "Straight into Ancient Runes afterwards.
That'll be a killer too."
"Tuesday is going to be one to watch, if ever I'm going to kill anyone, it'll
be on a Tuesday, likely in double Potions."
"I will partner you, if I'm able, to limit any damage you do." Draco said
seriously, giving him a look. "If we're doing individual work, sit next to
me, and I'll help you understand what we're doing."
Harry nodded. "I'm not as terrible as I once was, but I certainly
appreciate the help."
"Well, you managed to scrounge an O for your exam, so that must be true
to some extent. Though how you managed to do it is still up for debate."
Harry chuckled, and checked what else they had on a Tuesday.
"Herbology after lunch, and then Astronomy, and Charms."
"Merlin!" Draco suddenly cursed. "Look at Fridays, are they trying to kill
us off?"
Harry went to the end of the schedule and he groaned empathetically as
he saw what Draco had. Double Runes to start, Potions, Transfiguration,
double Arithmancy, and then a trip to the Astronomy tower for an hour
between ten and eleven at night.
"Two double lessons in one day? Potions and Transfiguration as well?"
Draco threw a hand through his hair and he was looking stressed already.
It was only Tuesday…it was only their first day back.
"We're light on Defence." Harry said, frowning at his timetable.
"It'll be more practical work this year, Harry. We don't really need to
study a lot for Defence. You don't need to worry anyway, you're so good
at Defence that you could have one lesson a week and still get an O at the
end of the year."
"I'm more than happy to carry on tutoring you, Blaise, Astoria, and Luna.
I'll even tutor Theo if he'd like. I don't mind."
"It might be too difficult this year, Harry." Draco pointed out.
Harry shook his head. "No. I'll make time to help you all. In exchange, I
will take Potions tutoring from you and more French lessons from Blaise."
Draco smiled, then laughed. "Alright then. Drink your milk."
Harry looked with distaste at the small glass of goat milk, that he had
entirely forgotten about, and he picked it up and drained it in one go as if
it were a potion. He would never like milk, he could blame the Dursleys
for that. In fact, he could blame the Dursleys for a lot of things.
"What are you doing here?" Draco asked, looking at the schedule that
Harry was writing out for himself. "Are you actually planning every
single minute of your time?"
"Pretty much." Harry sighed, looking at what he'd done so far.
Now that he had agreed to remain as the Quidditch Captain too, he
would have to put aside at least two hours every Saturday for training
and practice. He would have to hold tryouts as well, as soon as he could,
to replace Katie Bell who had graduated in the summer, and now he was
in need of a new Chaser for the team. He hoped to find someone who at
least fit in well with Demelza and Sarah because he already knew that
he'd never find a replacement who was as good as Katie had been right
off the bat.
"Come on, we'd better set off to the dungeons." Draco said, but he looked
a little excited to Harry, a little too happy to be going to lessons, and he
was definitely a lot more eager for this double dose of torture than Harry
was.
Harry groaned but dutifully stood up, putting his unfinished schedule
back into his bag. He knew that the homework was going to be piled on
now that their final year had rolled around, and he didn't have a severe
illness to hide behind anymore. He wouldn't put it past Snape to set an
essay requiring two rolls of parchment in their very first lesson.
Harry shouldered his backpack and followed after Draco, heading to the
Slytherin table first and foremost to pick up Blaise, and then trudging
down to the dungeons. He wasn't going to enjoy this double period, and
he was very sure that he wasn't going to enjoy the workload that was
going to be piled onto him either.
Harry had been correct about Snape setting two rolls of parchment for an
essay on the potion they had been forced to brew in their very first lesson
back at Hogwarts. The oily git was getting to be predictable.
If that wasn't bad enough every single teacher, in every lesson, had the
same idea, and by the time that Saturday rolled around, Harry felt that
he had already been in school for an entire month, and not just four days.
He had invited Draco, Blaise, and Theo to his private rooms for a sort of
homework club. Astoria had been given an invite but she had turned it
down in favour of being with her own year mates. Harry suspected that
she just didn't want to be a distraction to Draco.
Harry laid out a plate of biscuits and set up some tea for all of them, and
then he sat and stared at his own homework pile. It was worse than even
he had feared. He had essays for every subject except Astronomy, and on
top of essays, their professors had also set equations, charts,
questionnaires, and in the case of Ancient Runes, translation work. They
had at least three pieces of homework for each subject.
There was a knock at the door and Harry went to open it. He smiled at
seeing Draco's harried face, as his brother hefted his book bag and an
armful of notes and books into Harry's rooms without preamble,
slamming them down on the coffee table and slouching.
"Thank you for inviting us, Harry." Theo said politely.
Harry nodded. "I just thought it would be quieter here, given that there's
only four of us, as opposed to the library, or the Great Hall, which will
have more people."
"We have everything we need here too." Blaise said, sitting down next to
Draco. "You have a kitchen and a bathroom."
Harry nodded and handed out tea, before sitting himself opposite Draco
and next to Theo.
"Do you want to tackle Potions first, Harry, or Defence?" Draco asked,
looking between both essays, which he had started.
"I've already finished all of the Defence homework." Harry said, shoving a
hand through his hair in frustration.
"Of course you have. Give it here then." Blaise cajoled him, smiling, and
holding out an expectant hand.
Harry had put all of his work into separate folders, just to keep
everything organised, so he handed over the folder labelled Defence
Against the Dark Arts, and took Draco's Potions notes to try and get that
hellish essay out of the way.
"Have you finished anything else?" Theo asked him.
"Astronomy and Herbology. I'm almost done with Charms too. It's
Potions, Transfiguration, and Arithmancy that are the problems for me."
"Have you finished that essay for History then?" Blaise asked him.
"Haven't even started it. I figured I could just throw a load of bollocks
into it and Binns wouldn't even notice."
"Harry." Draco said in a warning tone. "You have to do your work
properly. Don't force me to tell father that you're cutting corners. He
won't be happy."
Harry sighed but nodded. "I just have no interest in any of Binns' lessons.
I want to learn about actual history, maybe political history which would
actually be some help to me, not frigging goblin rebellion after goblin
rebellion. It's painting them in a bad light."
"How so?" Theo asked.
"Because it's only showing their negative history. The goblins have done
so much for us as a whole, and we don't learn about anything other than
their rebellions against wizards. They're treated as less than contemptible
and are viewed almost on the same level as house-elves. It's a disgrace.
They are not lesser than us!"
"You have some very strange views, Harry." Blaise pointed out.
"I don't care. You should all read some of the books that I have in my
pursuit of bettering myself for the Wizengamot. Our nation owes a debt
to the goblins for all they have done for us over the centuries, and how
do we repay that? By teaching students, impressionable children, that all
the goblins have ever done is rebel and rise up every couple hundred
years. It's unashamed prejudice and I won't have any part in it."
The three others were silent, staring at him, and Harry realised that he'd
gone on one of his impassioned speeches again. Then Theo surprised him.
"Do you have those books still? I'd like to read them."
Harry blinked at him, and Blaise and Draco turned to stare at him as
well.
"Of course. I can lend them to you." Harry said, standing and going to get
the books in question.
"Why do you want to read them?" Harry heard Draco ask as he went
through to his little study room. He could still hear them perfectly.
"I'm going to be Lord Nott after my father, and following Harry's example
is better than following my father's. Learning to be impartial, and
unbiased, is going to be difficult after listening to prejudice my entire
life, but surely if every member of the Wizengamot was unbiased,
unprejudiced, then our governing body would be much fairer and more
effective. Harry has the right idea, so I'm going to follow his example,
and I'm going to unlearn all of my biases and make myself better so that
when I sit on the Wizengamot I can be a better person."
Harry was so proud of Theo and he was glad that they had become
friends. Now he just needed to work on Blaise and Draco as well. And
Astoria and Pansy too. The more people he could get thinking for
themselves, and casting off their biases, the better.
He'd never let himself hope that his stance on certain things would lead
to him opening minds, but that is exactly what had happened. It would
likely never work with Rabastan, and certainly not Rodolphus, but if he
could get the younger generation thinking for themselves and actually
learning by themselves, and throwing off lifelong, ingrained biases, then
he could maybe, hopefully, make the future a little bit brighter, a little
bit more inclusive and tolerant.
"Here you go, Theo. These two books are the ones you want. You don't
have to read through them all, the sections of goblins are in the index
pages, and though they are rather long, they're very informative." Harry
explained, handing over the books.
"Thank you, Harry. I will return them as soon as I'm done."
Harry nodded, and then set himself back to his homework. He needed to
get all of it done, and the sooner the better. He hadn't touched any of his
extra-curricular books, or projects, in the five days he'd been back at
Hogwarts. What worried him, and was stressing him out the most
though, was that he hadn't even had the time to write to Rabastan. He
hadn't even touched his law reforms since he'd arrived and he wanted,
needed, to figure out a better schedule for himself. One which included at
least a little bit of free time for him to write to his fiancé and allowed
him to finalise those law reforms.
Rabastan read the rushed letter that Harry had sent him with a fond
smile. He'd known that Harry's final year would be stressful and that his
fiancé would be inundated with homework, so he didn't mind the lack of
written correspondence with Harry. He'd known that it would happen.
But still, reading the rushed letter, in which Harry assured him that he
would write as often as he was able, gave Rabastan a small burst of
affection for Harry.
"How is Harry doing?" Rodolphus asked as he walked into the room,
taking one look at his face and knowing that what he was reading was a
letter from Harry.
"Very well, if a little stressed from all the work he's piling onto himself.
He is most definitely taking on too much, Dolphus."
"He's not going to be told, Rabastan. It's a mistake that he needs to learn
on his own." Rodolphus told him firmly.
"I don't want him collapsing due to exhaustion, or making himself sick
again."
"There is nothing that you can do to stop him." Rodolphus told him,
giving him a glare. "Harry is a force unto himself, he will do exactly as he
wants, regardless of anything that you say because he fully believes that
he can take on everything he's doing and keep on top of it. We know
better, but he doesn't, not yet. But he will, and if he carries on as he is,
then it'll be soon."
Rabastan frowned at his brother. He didn't like hearing it, but he couldn't
refute the assessment. They both knew that Harry was trying to do too
much, especially in his final year of school, and that it would lead to
stress and exhaustion. But Rodolphus was also right in that Harry
wouldn't be told. It was one of those mistakes that he had to make for
himself, in order to learn from it. He was in the mindset of the
invincibility of youth, and until that mindset was changed then Harry
would carry on thinking that he could take on such a heavy workload
with no consequences. Rabastan just didn't like the thought of Harry
collapsing due to exhaustion and overwork, however, and he was worried
and stressed himself.
Then there was the court case where Harry was to be a key witness.
Dolores Umbridge. Rabastan had seen the permanent scar she had caused
Harry through the abuse of a contract quill. I must not tell lies. Rabastan
felt sick when he thought of that scar permanently marring Harry's skin.
The same as he felt when he'd gone to Fiji with Harry and seen all of the
scars on his body. He was just seventeen and he already had so many
scars on his body. It was a disgrace. He vowed that he would try to find
where those muggle beasts lived, and then he would kill them for the
pain and damage they had done to his beloved.
As one, both Rodolphus and Rabastan hissed through their teeth and
their right hands went to their marks, which were burning with their
Lord's call.
They stood as one and conjured their masks and black robes, dressing as
quickly as they could, before, with a final look at one another, they spun
on the spot and Apparated to their Lord's current home.
They landed a moment later and they headed quickly up the gravel path
to the dark manor ahead of them. They were not the only ones here, and
not the only ones to be called.
"A full meeting." Rodolphus commented needlessly, but Rabastan heard
the excitement, and the anticipation, in his brother's tone. Something big
was going to happen.
It was likely that this was a meeting to deal with the vote for the next
Minister for Magic, that they would be getting orders to support Pius
Thicknesse, and bribe, coerce, and threaten others to do the same, and
perhaps some of them would be getting orders to take out Amelia Bones.
Rabastan knew that Rodolphus would relish that order, if indeed it was
ordered of him.
The two of them went to their place at the very long table, recognising
almost all of the other Death Eaters present by their individual,
personalised masks. Their grandfather was stood behind the head
position of the table, as one of their Lord's most loyal and valuable
followers, and one of his oldest surviving friends, he had earned the trust
and respect of his position at their Lord's back, and Rabastan was proud
to be related to him.
Rodolphus sat at their Lord's right-hand and Rabastan sat next to him.
Unfortunately, Bellatrix was to his other side, but she was sat attentively
staring at the high-backed seat at the head of the table as if their Lord
were already sat there, and she paid him, nor her husband, any mind.
Snape had the honour of sitting at their Lord's left-hand side, and directly
opposite Rabastan was Rhadamanthus, glaring at him as if just his gaze
alone could bore a hole through his head. Lucius Malfoy had the pleasure
of sitting to his other side, with Corban Yaxley on his left.
Others were filling in the lower half of the table, including Mark Flint
and his son Marcus, who was steadily moving positions up the table. His
understanding and work with Runes was valuable to their Lord and the
things he could do with those Runes were terrifying, and he was tutoring
Harry to do the same. Harry was already a force to be reckoned with, if
he had the same understanding of Runes as Marcus did then he would be
a very formidable person.
There were a few Death Eaters that he couldn't name. Those whose masks
were newly crafted and unrecognisable. New additions to their ranks.
Below all of these new additions, and held in complete and utter
contempt, was Pettigrew, cowering on the left-hand side of the table,
right at the end. Rabastan smirked as he remembered Harry casting a
perfect Cruciatus curse on the rat. Harry was growing and he was going
from strength to strength. He'd only needed an opportunity and the
support of a caring family, one who loved him. He had two now, the
Malfoys and the Lestranges.
Their Lord came sweeping into the large, cavernous room and he
surveyed them all through gleaming red eyes. Rabastan's spine reflexively
pulled straighter.
"Dolohov, switch places with Sarpedon." Their Lord commanded softly,
on the way to his seat, his snake Nagini slithering at his heels.
Rabastan smirked at the public favouring, as Dolohov was forced to move
a seat lower and Sarpedon Carrow moved a seat higher. His last mission
must have been a success, and a storming one at that, to have Dolohov
pushed lower down the table.
"I have called you here collectively, as I have a mission for you all. The
election is coming up, and we cannot risk losing it. Pius Thicknesse must
win."
"I will kill Bones, let me kill her, my Lord." Bellatrix burst out
passionately, her chest heaving.
"It's not that simple." Snape cut in. "If you kill Bones, there will be a delay
in the election while someone else is selected to run against Thicknesse
and the campaigning will start over again. Thicknesse needs an opponent
and we cannot choose who it might be."
"You raise an excellent point, Severus." Their Lord praised, smirking.
"Undoubtedly Bones will be a popular candidate, but we need Thicknesse
to win. This is where you all come into the matter. I don't care what you
do, or how you do it, but ensure that Thicknesse wins this election."
Rabastan rumbled his agreement to the order, along with everyone else
at the table. There was little he could do personally, or any of the rest of
them who were escapees of Azkaban, but they could wear their Death
Eater robes and masks, and they could threaten those who proved to be
unwilling to cast their vote for Thicknesse.
Harry was going to be a real challenge, as this would be his first voting
experience, and he had proven time again that he was stubborn and a
law unto himself. If he was seen to back Thicknesses' campaign
publically, then many others would do the same, just because he was
doing so. The issue was actually trying to convince him that backing
Thicknesse was for the best and to ignore his own thoughts on the
matter. Rabastan sighed silently as he thought of that, the chances of
actually getting Harry to vote blindly, without forming his own opinions,
was slim to none.
"We put all other matters aside in favour of this." Their Lord told them.
"We must have Thicknesse in place before our plans can move on. Lucius,
will young Harry interfere in this matter?"
Lucius considered the situation, but he sighed, as he came to the same
conclusion that Rabastan had.
"I don't believe that he would interfere purposefully, my Lord." Lucius
said smoothly, calmly. "But trying to convince him to vote for Thicknesse
might pose some…difficulty. He will undoubtedly wish to research both
candidates, and will then choose whichever person he believes will be
the best option."
Those red eyes flashed with anger for a moment and then their Lord
calmed, and he smirked, and Rabastan relaxed a fraction.
"If Harry cannot be convinced to vote for Thicknesse, then ensure that he
does not publically back Amelia Bones." Their Lord commanded. "If he
will not vote for Thicknesse, then make him keep his vote private. I do
not want to read any articles, see any photos, or hear any quotes of him
endorsing Bones in any way, am I clear?"
"Yes, my Lord." Lucius insisted, but he looked as worried as Rabastan felt.
Would Harry cooperate, or would he do as he wanted regardless? They
could only sit him down and explain the situation to him and then Harry
would decide for himself what he would do.
"Rabastan, I expect you to aid in this matter. As Harry's lover I would
expect him to listen to you if he doesn't listen to his father."
"Yes, my Lord." Rabastan agreed immediately, but he was still just as
worried. Harry would no more listen to him than he would Lucius if he
had his mind made up.
"That was all." Their Lord insisted. "Charlie, stay a moment."
Rabastan stood to leave the room, walking calmly, confidently, and on
his way he saw that 'Charlie' was one of the lower-level Death Eaters, one
with a new mask, sitting stiffly, his back ramrod straight. The only one
not moving in a sea of black robes that were heading for the large double
doors.
"Do you think that Harry will heed you?" Rodolphus asked. "I can have
words otherwise."
"No. Don't you dare threaten him, Rodolphus!" Rabastan hissed angrily.
"We have orders." Rodolphus told him, narrowing dark brown eyes.
"Going straight into threatening him won't work." Rabastan insisted. "He
will do the opposite all the more. Harry isn't one to be coerced or
threatened, Dolphus. Let me handle this."
"You're too soft on him!" Rodolphus growled. "You'll fail in your orders to
our Lord."
"I won't, but I will not allow you to threaten my fiancé!" Rabastan
growled right back. "I know how to handle Harry, how to get him to
think things through. I can get him to think this is the best thing all
around, but I need you to stay out of it!"
Rodolphus didn't look too pleased about that, then he hated failing their
Lord in everything and he would do anything and everything in order to
achieve the goal of their Lord. He liked Harry, Rabastan even believed
that Dolphus loved him in his own way, he was sure, but that wouldn't
stop him from threatening, or even harming Harry if that is what it took
to follow their Lord's orders. Rabastan had once believed that he would
be exactly the same. Now though…now…when it came down to it and he
thought about whether he would rather harm Harry or risk failing an
order…no…he would never, never, be able to harm Harry. Not even if it
meant taking a punishment for failing an order. He could never harm
Harry.
Rabastan Apparated back home, and from the receiving room he went
straight to the side cabinet in the parlour and poured himself a measure
of firewhiskey. He knocked it back in one hard swallow and eased
himself down. Harry wouldn't want any of his family harmed, he was
soft-hearted, but that would play into their favour. Even if Harry wanted
to back Amelia Bones, even if he wanted to shout it to the heavens, if on
the other hand, it meant his family suffering for the choice, or being
harmed, Rabastan was almost completely certain that Harry would
choose to remain silent, or even back Thicknesse, to keep them safe.
Exhaling and feeling the stress leaving his body and feeling more secure
now that he was more sure that Harry would agree to back Thicknesse,
he went and sat down, as his grandfather and brother came to join him.
"Harry needs to be made to see things from our point of view." His
grandfather said before he'd even really cleared the doorway. He went to
the side cabinet and poured himself a drink, as Rabastan had, before
going to sit down and sipping on it.
"Leave him to me." Rabastan said firmly. "Our Lord gave this mission to
Lucius and I. Not to either of you."
"I don't want to see that boy harmed." Xerxes said with a growl.
"And you believe that I do?" Rabastan demanded. "I will do anything to
keep Harry safe. To protect him! Anything!"
"I didn't mean to insinuate that you would want to see him harmed."
Xerxes sighed, sitting back more comfortably. "I've come to admire that
boy, he's going to do great things when he is a little older and I won't
have anything happening to him."
Rabastan eased down and sat back himself. He sighed. "We all know that
Harry is stubborn, but I don't believe for a single moment that he would
back Bones if it meant putting his family in harm's way."
"Not even if it meant furthering his own political goals?" Rodolphus
asked.
Rabastan let out a single, sharp burst of laughter. "Do you know him at
all, Dolphus? Harry cares more for family than he ever would about
himself, or his ambitions. He would have been a Slytherin otherwise."
"Under that Veritaserum test, he said he was supposed to be a Slytherin.
That was where he was supposed to be sorted." Xerxes mused.
"But he chose Gryffindor." Rabastan insisted. "He put friendship, and
family ties, before his own ambition. He would have done better in
Slytherin, he would have likely met his ambitions much sooner, but that
wasn't what he wanted. Family comes before ambition, no matter what
he wants out of his life, family will always be at the top of the list."
"I hope you're right, Basti. We can't have Harry interfering in these
matters, not after he swore he wouldn't meddle in our Lord's plans after
his adoption."
"Leave it to me." Rabastan said, knowing that he would have a better
chance of getting Harry to listen.
Rodolphus would threaten him and Harry's hackles would rise, and he
would refuse to back down on principle as per his stubborn nature. His
grandfather would cajole and condescend and make Harry feel patronised
and stupid, and he would refuse to do as he was bid out of anger and
humiliation.
His best chance was to sit him down and calmly explain the situation and
not hold anything back. It was time to have an honest conversation with
his fiancé.
He would have to try to get Harry to agree to meet him for a dinner date
at The Garnet Swan this weekend so that he could see and explain in
person, as quickly as possible. It wouldn't be easy given Harry's heavy
work schedule, but this was exceptionally important, and it couldn't wait.
Harry needed to back Thicknesse, or at the very least he needed to not
publically support Bones. With the debates coming up soon and the vote
on everyone's minds, it was imperative that he spoke to Harry as soon as
possible so that he didn't cast his support for Bones before Rabastan
could explain the situation to him. He really hoped that Harry could
spare him an hour or two in the evening on Saturday, as this
conversation couldn't be put in a letter, he couldn't floo call him, and he
couldn't visit him in person. Harry needed to be the one to come to him
and then Rabastan needed him to understand the situation, and agree
with him.
He sighed again and slumped a little. He was almost certain that Harry
would put his family first, he knew his fiancé and he would put Galleons
on Harry choosing family over ambition, but there was just a tiny niggle
of doubt in the back of his mind that was constantly reminding him that
Harry was stubborn, that Harry was wilful, that Harry refused to be
pushed around or dictated to.
He would write a letter to Harry, and hand it to Lucius to take to
Hogwarts. He would floo call his friend and book a private room for this
weekend at The Garnet Swan in the hopes that Harry agreed to a dinner
date. He hoped that Harry understood the situation, and agreed with him
as well. Rabastan didn't want to think about what might happen if he
didn't.
A/N: After the completion of my new fic, Servus ad Harenas, I have now
come back to this fic. This is the only chapter I have, and next week will
be RotD, but after that, everything will be up in the air, but I do hope
you readers enjoyed this chapter, things are moving along nicely, and
Harry is now back in school. We have more Wizengamot scenes coming
up, and then both the Umbridge trial, and Theo's revenge. Things are
going to start getting exciting again.
StarLight Massacre. X
31. Scheming
Last Time
Rabastan sighed again and slumped a little. He was almost certain that Harry
would put his family first, he knew his fiancé, and he would put Galleons on
Harry choosing family over ambition, there was just a tiny niggle of doubt in
the back of his mind that was constantly reminding him that Harry was
stubborn, that Harry was wilful, that Harry refused to be pushed around or
dictated to. He would write a letter to Harry, and hand it to Lucius to take to
Hogwarts. He would floo call his friend and book a private room for this
weekend at The Garnet Swan, in the hopes that Harry agreed to a dinner date.
He hoped that Harry understood the situation, and agreed with him. Rabastan
didn't want to think about what might happen if he didn't.
Chapter Thirty-One – Scheming
Harry was surprised when Snape held him back after their Tuesday
morning double potions lesson and he waved Blaise and Draco away and
went up to the front desk, where Snape was standing, glowering down at
him.
"Is there something wrong with my work, Professor?" Harry asked calmly.
"No. Mister Malfoy has done an adequate job of instructing you out of the
corner of his mouth all lesson." Snape said, having a little dig, but Harry
refused to rise to the barb. "A letter for you, passed through the floo to
me by your father."
Harry took the sealed envelope curiously.
"Thank you, Sir." He said, turning and walking to the door.
Draco and Blaise were hovering anxiously outside and Harry waved them
both off.
"I'm fine." He insisted. "Father gave him a letter to pass to me."
Draco nodded in acceptance and Blaise slung an arm around him.
"What is it about? It must be important." Blaise said.
"No doubt it is. Let's go to the courtyard."
They had a break now before they had Ancient Runes and Harry had the
feeling that this letter was of utmost importance for Lucius to have sent it
via Snape and not with an owl. It was clearly time-sensitive information
that couldn't wait even a few extra days for an owl to deliver it to him.
Harry sat on a bench and Draco and Blaise sandwiched him in on either
side as Harry broke the Malfoy wax seal and took out the parchment
within.
"That's not father's writing." Draco said immediately.
"It's Rabastan's." Harry said quietly, standing up, suddenly wanting to
read the letter by himself.
He unfolded the letter and he read it through quickly, hoping that his
fiancé was alright and that nothing had happened.
Harry's shoulders slumped as he reached the bottom, and he relaxed a
fraction, throwing a hand through his hair before flattening his fringe
back down automatically.
He sat back down between his friends and sighed.
"Well?" Draco demanded impatiently.
"He wants us to meet up, he has something to tell me. Something very
important that can't be put in a letter or passed on through someone else.
He's gotten us a private room at The Garnet Swan for this Saturday."
Harry chewed on the inside of his lip anxiously, wondering what this
could be about and why Rabastan suddenly wanted to meet up…and so
urgently.
"Well, you already know that he's not going to break things off with you."
Draco said sternly, likely reading Harry's thoughts from his expression.
"He loves you, Harry. He loves everything about you, even your annoying
habit of putting yourself in danger."
Harry nodded, feeling a little reassured at least.
"I just don't know what it could be about." He said.
"Maybe he just wants to see you?" Blaise offered.
Harry shook his head. "No. His tone was urgent."
"How do you know that from a letter?"
"Because of the way he's written it. It's not rushed or hurried, but there's
no teasing, he's straight to the point and almost hard in his words. Our
letters are usually light, teasing, with a bit of sexual tension running
through them. This letter has none of that, which is how I know that this
is serious and urgent. If he thought I would accept then he would have
made the dinner date for tonight."
"Can you offer that?" Draco asked. "You're not going to get any good
work in while you're so anxious and distracted. The sooner you get it
over with, the better your studies will be."
Harry nodded. "I'll make time after lessons today, I can manage it if I skip
study hall. Let me write a reply."
Harry got a quill out of his bag, used the bench as a table, and wrote out
his plan for Rabastan, about meeting him tonight, instead of in four days.
He wrote his reply on the back of Rabastan's original letter. It would be
safer to send it back to Rabastan anyway, just in case he lost his bag or
someone took it from him seeing as he was outside of his private rooms.
The three of them hurried back to the dungeons, where Harry handed the
letter to Snape and endured the 'I'm not an owl, Potter' jibes before they
had to hurry out of the dungeons for Ancient Runes.
Harry hoped to hear back from Rabastan soon. Draco was right, he wasn't
going to be able to concentrate until he knew what it was that had his
fiancé so wound up.
His answer had come as soon as lunch. Rabastan had made their
reservations for that night and Harry nervously allowed Draco to dress
him up a little. Not as much as he did for a Ministry party, but enough to
look good for his fiancé.
"You should be at dinner." Harry tried to tell Draco.
"I'll go as soon as you look presentable." Draco said distractedly.
"I'll be in a private room for the most part, I think this is adequate,
Draco."
Draco stepped back and looked him over. He nodded his agreement.
"Yes, you look good. I'll be here when you get back."
"You don't need…"
"I want to know what was so important that he decided to contact you in
the middle of the week, knowing how stressed you are with your school
work, to give you a cryptic message and a dinner date for the weekend."
Harry sighed, and he nodded. "Okay, I won't be too late anyway, like you
said, it's a weekday, and we have lessons tomorrow."
Draco gave him a pat, and Harry spun on his heel and Apparated to The
Garnet Swan, only being able to do so due to his two lordship rings on
his finger. Being a lord had its perks, after all, and one of them was
bypassing the ancient wards surrounding Hogwarts so that he was able to
Apparate from within the castle.
Arriving at the restaurant, he stepped forward automatically and took a
deep breath to ease his straining, constricted lungs.
"Lord Potter-Black, we have been expecting you." The maître d greeted
smoothly. "Please, allow me to escort you to your room."
"Thank you." Harry said politely, as he followed the head waiter, and
ignored the people suddenly whispering behind their hands and nodding
in his direction.
He was led up the beautifully carved stairs, the bannisters wrapped with
autumn leaves and blooms, all in shades of orange, red, and yellow.
Harry loved coming here and seeing the seasonal décor, which wasn't as
gaudy as things were at Hogwarts.
It was subtle, a changing of the flowers, a change in the amount of
lighting, but Harry loved the addition of the real fires burning all around
the restaurant.
"Your room is here, Lord Potter-Black." The maître d told him, indicating
the first door, and bowing to him before leaving quickly so that he didn't
get any sort of peek into the room. The staff here really were well
trained.
Harry knocked softly, just for politeness, before he opened the door and
slipped inside. He couldn't control the automatic smile as he caught sight
of Rabastan.
"Harry, you look lovely." Was Rabastan's rather husky greeting, as he
came to embrace him.
Harry angled for a kiss, and he received it. He was, at the least, more
reassured with that than he'd been before.
Rabastan saw him to his seat and gave him another kiss before sitting
opposite him.
"I ordered for you, Harry, if that's okay?"
Harry nodded. "You know what I like or dislike now, I trust you to order
for me."
They were again served by a house-elf, who snapped their fingers and the
dishes floated onto the table.
"Thank you." Harry said softly, ignoring Rabastan's grimace of distaste.
"I wish…"
"Not a word about it, my love." Harry said, almost threateningly.
Rabastan blinked at his tone, then blew out a breath and let it go.
"How are your studies going?" He asked instead, forcibly changing the
subject to something that was unlikely to cause an argument, especially
with what was coming after.
"This year is going to kill me off, I swear. The teachers are trying to kill
us off too. Our first week and we had three pieces of homework per each
subject and that hadn't let up in the slightest. It's only the third week of
term, Rabastan, and I already have a mountain of homework."
"I wish you would listen to me when I say you're taking on too much."
Rabastan told him worriedly.
"I can handle it. I have a schedule and it's working well. If things get too
much I'll drop from the Quidditch team."
"You're still on the Quidditch team this year?" Rabastan asked, his worry
jumping even higher, if possible.
Harry nodded, even as he dug into his starter. "Yes, I've played all
through my Hogwarts stay, right from my first year, and it would be nice
to do the seventh too. But, as I said, if things start getting on top of me,
then I'll drop from the team."
"And everything else you're piling onto yourself?"
"I'm doing well now that I've established a schedule and a rhythm.
Everything has slotted in nicely."
"Are you getting enough sleep?" Rabastan asked him.
"Yes." Harry answered, smiling at his fiancé softly. "You don't need to
worry, Rabastan. I really am doing okay. I'm not on any potions, I'm
healthy again, and yes, I'm getting enough sleep and enough to eat and
drink too."
"Speaking of potions, have you noticed anything?"
Harry shook his head. "It's strange. I would have expected him to try as
soon as he could, after realising that I didn't buy anything on the train.
He is either suspicious of my sudden change in habits and is holding off
for a while, or Marcus' runes have worked much better than expected and
I haven't noticed any potion effects."
Rabastan reached out and caught one of Harry's hands, squeezing gently.
Harry squeezed back with a smile.
"Everything is going to be fine, Basti." Harry assured him.
Rabastan swallowed hard and wished that he had Harry's optimism.
They caught up over dinner, and then dessert, just enjoying one another's
company, but it was when they left the table and went to the cosy sitting
area with after-dinner tea and coffee that Rabastan suddenly became
more nervous. He had no idea how Harry was going to react to this
request, but he already knew that Harry wasn't going to be happy being
told what to do, or how to vote.
"So, not that I haven't enjoyed a dinner date with you, I will always enjoy
this, but why the sudden request, Rabastan? Why the cryptic letter sent
via Snape? I'm curious, and worried as well. Will you tell me what this is
for?"
Rabastan sighed. "I don't think you're going to like it."
Harry sighed himself. "Tell me what it is and then we'll go from there."
"We've had our orders to ensure that Pius Thicknesse wins the election."
Harry frowned, having not expected the election to be what this was
about.
"Oh, okay, but what does that have to do with me?" He asked.
Rabastan looked a little shifty, and Harry closed his eyes, trying to quell
the anger he suddenly felt.
"I have to vote for Thicknesse as well, don't I?"
"I'm sorry, Harry. I know that this is your first voting experience, I know
that you'd rather do your research and vote for the candidate you feel is
the best, but that will interfere with The Dark Lord's plans, and you
promised that you wouldn't do that in order to be neutral in the coming
war."
Harry gritted his teeth and tried to control the wave of anger. He
breathed through it and calmed himself.
"I am not a Death Eater." He said furiously. "He doesn't get to order me
around!"
"Harry, please." Rabastan begged him. "He said that you can vote for
Bones if you want to, as long as you don't publically back her. Ideally
though, we'd like you to publically back Thicknesse."
"I haven't even got around to looking into either candidate. Rabastan,
have you thought about how this will look for me if I publically back
Thicknesse? If he's a terrible candidate then my decision-making skills
will be called into question. I'm trying to pass my own laws, no one will
take me seriously if I back the worst candidate for Minister!"
"He's under the Imperius curse, Harry. He does as we want, he says what
we want. We'll make him the best candidate because we want him to be
voted in." Rabastan swore. "If you still didn't want to back him, that's
fine, but please, don't endorse Amelia Bones. You can keep your choice
private, you don't have to share it with the world. If you are asked, just
say that you're keeping your voting habits private, you will not be the
only lord who does so, I promise you."
Harry inhaled deeply, trying to calm himself. He didn't want to fall out
with Rabastan over this. He wouldn't let Voldemort come between them.
If voting for Thicknesse was required of him, then that is what he would
do. He wasn't happy about it, but at least this would give him a bit more
free time for other things, instead of heavily researching both candidates
to pick which one he thought was the best option.
"I'll do it. But I'm not fucking happy about it, Rabastan!" He said. "You
know that I don't like being played with. I don't like being told what to
do."
"I'm so sorry." Rabastan told him sincerely and Harry eased down a little
as he recognised that Rabastan truly was sorry about it. This wasn't his
fiancé's fault, the orders had come from Voldemort.
Harry sighed. "Well, at least I don't have to scrape out some time to do
the research on both candidates. At the next election though, I get to
choose, regardless of what Voldemort wants!"
Rabastan swallowed, but realising that that was the best he was going to
get, he agreed. He would deal with the here and now, and then, if it was
needed, he would deal with any future elections when they cropped up.
He reached out and pulled Harry into a soft kiss, and all the anger and
tension seeped out of Harry, as he sunk into the kiss.
"I'm not a Death Eater." Harry said, almost worriedly, under his breath.
"You're not." Rabastan assured him. "You are not anywhere near being a
Death Eater, Harry."
Harry still looked worried and Rabastan pulled him from his chair and
into his arms, sitting Harry on his lap. That made Harry smile.
"You're getting stronger."
"I am almost at the end of my potions regime. I will be able to cut down
on them very soon, as you did."
"Really?" Harry asked excitedly. "That's wonderful news!"
Rabastan smiled at him and cuddled Harry tightly to his chest, trying to
ignore the way his heart was pounding, and his gut was clenching, just
from having Harry sitting on his lap.
"I swore that I would be as strong and as healthy as I could be on our
wedding day, and I mean to hold to that promise, Harry. Both Rodolphus
and I have been getting much better in recent weeks."
"That makes me so happy." Harry told him, wrapping his arms around
Rabastan's neck and hugging him close.
"I do love you, Harry. I want what is best for you, always, but sometimes
my hands are tied. This is one of those times. I want…need to keep you
safe."
"I'm one of his Horcruxes, Rabastan. He won't kill me."
"But he can hurt you, he can hurt your family."
"I made a verbal oath with him, Rabastan, when he accepted my gift, he
swore on his magic that he wouldn't harm any of you."
"There are loopholes in everything, Harry. He might not harm us
personally, or even give the order, but he can send Rodolphus and me on
the most dangerous missions. He can do the same to Xerxes and Lucius.
He won't kill us personally, or by word, but he can still see us harmed or
killed or even back in Azkaban."
Harry was furious and the red hot anger swelled inside him. His fists
clenched and he gritted his teeth.
"If he even dared, I would take him out so fast…"
Rabastan's hand clamped tight around his mouth, stopping his tirade.
"Shhh. Remember where you are, Harry." Rabastan said quickly, in a
harsh whisper.
Harry nodded his understanding and took a breath to calm himself. He
had foolishly let his mouth, and anger, get a hold of him and he had
forgotten for a moment that The Garnet Swan was owned by a Death
Eater. Rabastan had been right to shut him up.
"The notion stands." Harry said quietly. "I love you more than anything
else, Rabastan. I would do anything for you, even vote for Thicknesse if
that is what you want me to do."
Rabastan guided him into a soft kiss, before resting his forehead on
Harry's. "I don't want to force you to do anything, but it'll keep us all
safer."
Harry sighed heavily and let it go. There was nothing he could do about
it and he refused to put Rabastan, or his family, in any danger. His own
hands were tied and despite not liking it, he would vote for Thicknesse.
Though, depending on the promises Thicknesse made to the wizarding
populace, how he spoke, and how he conducted himself Harry would
decide then if he would back him publically or not. He wasn't about to
risk his own future political career for Voldemort and if Thicknesse came
over as weaker, and less suited than Amelia Bones, he would vote
silently.
Draco had been waiting in his private room for him when he Apparated
back to Hogwarts, and Harry was never more happy that his lordships,
and place on the Wizengamot, allowed him to get through the strict
Apparation wards on the school as he really didn't feel like trudging his
way back to the castle from Hogsmeade.
Harry had told Draco what the urgent letter had been about, and
confided to his brother about his feelings on 'having his wings clipped' in
such a way when he'd been looking forward to the elections and
researching the candidates himself, and then voting how he felt was
right.
He was still angry about it, but he was kept infinitely busy with his
homework and his extracurricular activities so he didn't have much time
to stew in his anger. Which was a good thing, after all, as he needed to be
focused on his studies, on his law reforms, his lordships, his duties to the
Wizengamot, and his charities as well, he really didn't have time for
anything else.
He had held tryouts for another Chaser and he'd brought in Demelza and
Sarah, who would be working with the new selection, and he'd given
them a say in his choice. The three of them had decided upon a fourth-
year named Cory Lutz, who had tried out for the first time, and despite
not being in the reserve team last year, he showed excellent promise.
Harry was holding practice as often as he could spare himself with his
heavy workload, but thus far everything had been going well for him.
A knock on the door to his private rooms had Harry looking up at it with
a confused frown. It was quite late, Draco and Blaise had only left fifteen
minutes ago.
He looked around to see if they had forgotten anything, but nothing stuck
out as not belonging. He was on high alert, thinking that perhaps it was
Dumbledore as the door knocked again, a little more urgently this time.
Harry hid some of his more personal work, mostly some notes on his law
reforms before he stood and he opened the door, his face pulled into a
neutral mask ready for a confrontation. He couldn't control the shock that
broke through his mask when he saw Pansy standing on the other side.
"Pansy?" He asked needlessly. "What are you doing here? Curfew will be
soon."
"I wanted to speak with you. Can I come in?" She asked quietly.
Harry was wary. He remembered Draco's warning that Pansy would be
trying for a baby with absolutely anyone she could so that she could get
out of her impending marriage to Lucan Selwyn by trapping the father of
her baby into a marriage instead. Yet, he didn't see the harm that just
listening to her would do. He wasn't about to hop into bed with anyone
who wasn't Rabastan, no potions would work on him thanks to Marcus'
runes carved into his throat, and he was strong enough to break through
the Imperius curse so he wouldn't be easily controlled via a spell.
"Sure, come in and make yourself at home. I'll make us some lavender
tea."
Harry did just that, as Pansy looked around his private rooms, and then
perched awkwardly on one of his settees. Harry took over two cups of tea
and handed one to Pansy while sitting opposite her.
"What did you want to talk about?" He asked.
"I…Astoria told me that Draco had said to her that you were upset with
me."
Harry tried to think why, and he must have looked confused because
Pansy looked away and a faint red hint crawled up her cheeks.
"Because I tried to break your engagement to Rabastan so that I could be
betrothed to him."
The penny dropped and Harry sighed. He had calmed down a little over
that, after he had put himself in Pansy's shoes. Of course she had tried to
break his engagement to have Rabastan herself. His fiancé was looking
very good in these last few months and he was getting stronger, fitter,
healthier. He was becoming the man that Azkaban had almost snuffed
out indefinitely. Rabastan was handsome and he was only thirty-seven,
though he was turning thirty-eight in a few months. Compared to slow,
ugly, seventy-year-old Lucan Selwyn then Rabastan could have been
Prince Charming himself.
"I don't blame you for that, Pansy." He said calmly. "If I were in your
shoes then I would do the exact same thing, but Rabastan and I are in
love. We love one another very deeply and there is no way that I'll accept
anyone breaking our engagement, not even if I disagree with the position
you've been placed in."
Pansy's eyes welled up with tears and she didn't even try to hold onto her
composure as they fell smoothly down her cheeks.
"Please help me." She begged. "It shouldn't matter if I slept with two boys
or two hundred, I don't deserve this punishment."
Harry felt helpless as he didn't know what to do. Unless Pansy did end up
pregnant by someone else, then she couldn't contest her father's betrothal
of her to someone else, and despite the fact that it made him feel sick, he
couldn't prevent her marriage to Lord Selwyn.
"I don't know how." He said honestly.
"Have a baby with me." She pleaded.
He was shaking his head before she'd even finished. "I told you, I love
Rabastan. I'm not going to do anything to jeopardise my own marriage,
Pansy. Rabastan means everything to me."
Pansy started sobbing uncontrollably, and Harry put down his cup and
went to sit beside her, wrapping an arm around her. She turned into him
and unleashed all the grief and horror that she was feeling onto his
shoulder and Harry swore that he would help her, maybe that would tie
into his plans for Daphne also.
"Pansy, please, don't cry. I'll help you."
"You will?" She asked, lifting red-rimmed, puffy eyes to look at him.
"You'll have a baby with me?"
"No." He said firmly. "Not like that. I won't risk myself or my own
happiness, Pansy. But the situation you're in now is disgusting and I
won't have it. I'll help you, but you have to be ready to move the moment
I tell you to. Options will be limited, but I swear it'll be better than Lord
Selwyn."
"Anyone will be better than him, Harry. Please." Pansy begged
vehemently and desperately.
"Leave it with me." Harry promised her.
"Thank you." She told him, throwing her arms around him and squeezing
tight. "Thank you so much."
Harry patted her back and then pushed the tea at her again.
"Go back to the common room, just go to bed, and I'll sort this for you,
Pansy. No sabotage, no throwing yourself on someone else, okay? Focus
on yourself and on your school work, leave everything else to me."
"I only have until the winter holidays." She told him. "I…I'm set to marry
him before Christmas."
Harry nodded his understanding. "I'll make it a priority, Pansy, I
promise."
She drained her tea and stood. Harry stood with her. He saw her out and
then cursed himself for a fool. He threw a hand through his hair and sat
back on his settee thinking about what he had promised and how it was
going to be virtually impossible to keep that promise.
The sadistic streak that had been steadily growing in him since his
adoption rose up and said that he should put Daphne in her place,
exchange her for Pansy because of her cruel taunts and her arrogance, for
the way that she treated Theo and everyone else around her as
commodities instead of people. But how? How could he manage it? Was
it really any better putting Daphne in Pansy's place? It was still giving a
young girl to an old, ugly man.
That sadistic streak was back and Harry thought that it was better to
have Daphne in that place than Pansy. For while he thought that neither
girl deserved that sort of horror, Pansy certainly didn't deserve it. His fist
clenched. He didn't really like Pansy and he still remembered how she'd
spoken to him, treated him, this time last year, but truly all she had done
was have sex with Draco and Blaise. A bit of teenage experimentation.
Her only crime was apparently having a pregnancy scare out of wedlock
which had lost her her betrothal to Cassius Warrington; the arrogant,
stuck-up, sloth.
He hated the double standards, the sexism and blatant misogyny
throughout pureblood culture. His daughters would not be crippled by
any such demands or clauses or endure the same stringent contacts that
he himself was subjected to merely because he carried the gene that
allowed him to fall pregnant. His fist clenched tight as he remembered
Rodolphus' little 'purity' test with Veritaserum. He had been forced to
prove that he was a virgin because no one had been willing to take his
word for it. He would never allow anyone to do the same to his children.
They would not be disrespected in the same way that he had been. He
was much more likely to curse the person who dared ask for such 'proof'
of purity.
His mind made up, Harry sat forward and grabbed a piece of parchment
and a quill. He tapped the quill against the table for a moment while he
thought about how best to put his proposition down in a letter.
There was nothing else for it, he'd have to go all out and use threats and
blackmail and hope that it didn't come back to rip his political career to
pieces. He'd promised Pansy that he'd help her and he would do just that.
"Kreacher!" He called out, even as he quickly sealed the letter with a blob
of generic white wax and no identifying seal.
A faint pop and the old elf was there, bowing to him.
"What can poor Kreacher be doing for his master?"
"I need this letter delivered, Kreacher. It can't go via owl, it must not be
intercepted, and no one but the addressee must see it. Am I clear?"
"Yes, Master." Kreacher replied, taking the hastily sealed letter from
Harry and then disappearing with another crack.
Harry threw a hand through his hair and sighed wearily. He really hoped
that this didn't backfire in his face.
Charlie tried to mask his emotions as he entered his childhood home to
find Dumbledore sitting at the kitchen table with his parents fluttering
around him. Bill was sitting nearby with a new stack of ancient-looking
books from their old headmaster and he was already looking through the
one.
"Charlie, there you are. Where have you been?" His mother asked and
Charlie wanted to scowl. He was twenty-four, he had only come back
here because he'd needed to, otherwise, he'd happily be in Romania still,
with his dragons.
"I was looking for pub work." He lied. "Any extra income will help to pay
off Harry's debt quicker."
As usual, at the mention of the debt, his parents went pale and sombre
and Bill went red with anger.
"I am hoping that I have come here to help with that. As well as to help
the Order." Dumbledore told them, with that damnable twinkle in his
eyes.
"How?" Bill asked.
Dumbledore turned to him and Charlie felt his heart accelerate. He tried
to calm himself down, Dumbledore didn't know. He couldn't possibly
know.
"How would you feel about becoming a lord like William?" Dumbledore
asked him.
Both Charlie and Bill grimaced, himself at the thought of putting himself
under the same stress as Bill, and Bill for being called William when it
wasn't the name he preferred.
"How can I?" He asked, taking a seat at the table and trying to appear
relaxed. It was all part of the ruse, the part he had to play. He needed to
seem comfortable, open, and honest about wanting to help. He could do
that.
"I have found the needed laws that will allow you to claim the Prewett
lordship."
"I'm not a Prewett." Charlie pointed out. "I'm a Weasley."
"Harry isn't a Black, yet he has the Black lordship from Sirius."
Dumbledore said calmly. "Your mother is a Prewett and that is a closer
tie than Harry had to Sirius. We need as many people as we can get on
the Wizengamot, the more eyes and ears the better, and the more votes
we have to try to limit any damage that Voldemort and his followers are
trying to do."
"I'm not sure I'll be as good at it as Bill." He said, putting up a token
protest. He wondered if this would be a good or a bad thing in the long
run.
"I'll help you." Bill insisted. "I've gotten better at this now that I've settled
in."
Charlie nodded. "Okay, I'll do it. But I'm still not sure how much use I'll
be in the actual debates."
"I thought the same when I first started, but it's not so bad." Bill told him.
"Will I have to pretend to be a poncey pureblood and renounce our
ancestors?" Charlie asked.
"You will, but it is only a front."
Charlie sighed. "Okay, tell me what I have to do."
"I have the application here, though you'll need to go to Gringotts first, to
denounce Bilius and Septimus Weasley and claim the Prewett lordship."
"Shouldn't Bill be Lord Prewett? He is the oldest." Charlie tried.
"He should, yes, unless you were to be disowned, legally, but not in
truth."
"You want us to disown Charlie?" Arthur demanded. "No. We can't do
that to one of our children!"
"It is for the greater good." Dumbledore said calmly. "With Bill and
Charlie on the Wizengamot, that is two votes that we didn't have before."
"You're asking too much of us." Molly told him. "You're asking us to
disown one of our children! Our Charlie!"
"Mum, it's okay." Charlie told her.
"It would only be legally and the decision can be reversed once all of this
is over, you'll just have to re-inherit Charlie at Gringotts." Dumbledore
told them simply as if this wasn't going to be the hardest thing his
parents had ever done.
"I don't think I could do it, even knowing that it wasn't true." She turned
to look at the clock on the living room wall, which could just about be
seen from where she was sitting.
"You must be strong in this. We need more voices on the Wizengamot or
Voldemort will win the Ministry without a fight. He already has the
majority control in the Wizengamot. He will target the Council of
Magical Law next, once he is done putting his choice for Minister in
position."
"There are talks of late-night visits and threats being whispered around
the Ministry." Arthur said quietly. "The Death Eaters are trying to
influence the vote in favour of Thicknesse."
"We must ensure that Amelia Bones wins, though after Rufus Scrimgeour
was killed, her life will be in constant danger if she does win."
Arthur shook his head. "Thicknesse is a popular candidate. He's speaking
well and addressing some key points that are making people interested.
Those who are torn between the two are being threatened by Death
Eaters and those who are openly planning to vote for Amelia Bones are
disappearing."
"These are dangerous times." Dumbledore agreed. "That is why, now
more than ever, we need to take every opportunity that we can."
"But to disown one of our children!" Molly complained.
"Our children mean everything to us." Arthur agreed.
Charlie felt a stab through his heart and he tried not to let his guilt show.
He steeled himself, everything he was doing, it was for the dragons under
his care. The dragons that no one ever thought about. That no one cared
about. If he changed his mind now, then the dragons would be the ones
suffering for it and he couldn't watch them struggle and suffer any
longer. Enough was enough, no matter what, no matter who, he would be
on the side of those who were looking out for his dragons.
"You have to do this." He told his parents. "We need to do what is best as
a whole. I'm not going to be offended."
"But, Charlie…" His mother started, but he held a hand up to stop her.
"If you don't disown me and allow me to take the Prewett lordship, then I
will disown myself and do it."
"Is this what you want, son?" Arthur asked him.
"No, of course not. But it's what we must do. The decision can be
reversed, but we need to do it now, just like when Bill took the Weasley
lordship."
Arthur swallowed and closed his eyes, looking so pained that Charlie
almost regretted everything. Almost.
He steeled himself and thought of the Dragonologist's face when he sadly
told them, the handlers, that the Romanian reserve had been defunded
yet again and how it meant they wouldn't be able to feed all of the
hatchlings they'd had that year…that some of them had to be culled
despite them all being perfectly healthy. His heart throbbed with agony
as he remembered having to personally kill a dozen perfectly healthy,
thriving hatchlings and his resolve strengthened. He could do this. For his
dragons, he could do anything.
"We'll do it. I'll go to the bank and disown Charlie." Arthur said as if
every word were glass being ripped past his throat.
"Thank you." Dumbledore said. "This will help the Order immensely."
"Bill, can you help me learn?" Charlie asked his brother.
"Of course. Come here, let me show you. At least now I can talk to
someone who's going to know exactly how boring and dry it is to learn
all of this."
"Gee, thanks." Charlie said with an eye roll, as he moved to sit next to
Bill.
He still didn't know if he'd done the right thing or not, he would have to
go and ask, but not tonight. He had only just come back from another
private meeting and his family would be very suspicious if he went out
again tonight.
He didn't know how he had gotten caught up in any of this, he'd only
wanted to keep his dragons safer. He'd wanted new laws to protect them
and all dragons. Trade in illegal eggs were still going on and many of the
perpetrators weren't being prosecuted to the full extent of the current
laws, which only encouraged others to take the risk. It needed to change
and he had sworn that he would do all that was asked of him in exchange
for someone to address these loopholes, to think of the dragons as he did,
to help and protect them like he did.
Now it was too late to turn back. He had signed himself over and in
return, he was going to get legal protections for the magical creatures
that people ignored and didn't think about.
It was a situation that was bad on both sides, between a rock and a hard
place as his muggleborn friend liked to say, and Charlie felt like he
couldn't live with either decision. But he had made his choice now. He
had chosen his dragons, and truthfully, if Harry had abandoned the
Order, if he was truly the lover of Rabastan Lestrange and working for
The Dark Lord, and all signs pointed to such, then the Order had lost
before they'd even stood up to fight. He would need to find a way to keep
his family safe throughout this coming war and hope that they forgave
him when all was said and done when the truth came out at last.
Harry sat on the settee in his private living room and he played with the
dragonhide and silver bracelet on his wrist. It had been a gift from
Rabastan, one of the first, and he treasured it.
He was swamped under homework and all the extracurricular work that
he was doing, but he was managing, somehow, to keep his head above
the water. Not at the moment, however. He was procrastinating, his mind
distracted by other things, other thoughts.
All of the little plots and intrigues he had going on were coming to a
head and it was making him stressed. He felt frayed and frazzled. There
was too much going on in his brain and it felt like he couldn't have a
quiet moment to himself.
He had struggled through a tutoring session with Marcus, who had shown
him no sympathy or given him any leeway. His homework was piling up
in an almost comical fashion and here he was, putting it off yet again in
favour of agonising over Pansy's situation and how he was going to help
her.
He'd heard back from his little scapegoat and he sounded very unwilling
to even meet with him, but Harry had threatened him and backed him
into a corner until he had no choice but to agree to a meeting with him.
Their meeting was set for that weekend and Harry was nervous, and
worried. Stressed didn't even come close to covering how he felt. He
couldn't concentrate on anything else and he wondered, not for the first
time, why he had made this his business when truthfully, it had nothing
to do with him.
He sighed. He knew why. It had been Pansy's face, her tears as she
begged him for help. The horror of her situation that he had seen plainly
on her face, stamped into her eyes. He hadn't been able to ignore that.
Everyone said that he was too soft and perhaps he was, but he would
rather be soft than hard. He would rather be empathetic than apathetic.
He would rather be kind than cruel.
But that left him in this situation, where he was stuck helping people
when he already had so much on his own plate, where he was definitely
biting off more than he could chew. Well, there was nothing else for it,
he just had to hope that his first plan worked out how he wanted. He
didn't have a plan B to fall back on, it was either this, or he would have
to tell Pansy that he couldn't help her and that she had to marry Lucan
Selwyn in December.
His door knocking brought him out of his thoughts and he stood to go
and open it, knowing that it was likely Blaise and Draco, maybe even
Theo. He was partially right as Draco and Blaise entered his room, but
they were followed by Pansy.
"To what do I owe this pleasant, unexpected visit?" He asked
sarcastically.
"You're so rude sometimes, Potter." Draco told him. "We're guests to your
living quarters, you're a host now, so offer us tea."
"Get your own damn tea." Harry said playfully, even as he sat back down
on his settee.
Draco rolled his eyes. "Mother would be furious with you right now if she
could see you."
"Mother isn't here." Harry pointed out, taking it one step further and
kicking his feet up on the coffee table.
Draco sat down opposite him, glaring at him, and Harry laughed, but he
did get up to go and make tea for his guests.
"Harry, have you done any homework at all?" Blaise asked, sitting beside
Draco and opposite Pansy, but he was looking through the massive stack
of parchment at that end of the coffee table, to find a dozen pieces of
unfinished homework.
"I've had a lot on my mind." Harry said, and he couldn't help his
automatic glance at Pansy. Thankfully, both Draco and Blaise missed it,
but Pansy didn't, and she bit her lip, looking guilty.
"Harry, this is pretty much everything we've been given." Draco said
angrily. "Get back over here and do some of it, you can't let yourself get
behind like this. Some of these essays are due tomorrow!"
"We'll help you if you need it." Pansy offered in a quiet voice.
Harry made the tea and brought it over. Draco had already gone through
the pile to find his most urgent pieces of homework.
"This is too much to do tonight, you'll be in detention!" Draco hissed at
him. "Is that what you want? Even less time to work on your homework?"
"You know it's not." Harry said wearily.
"Why haven't you done any of this?!" Draco demanded, getting angry,
two spots of pink colouring his cheeks.
Harry threw a hand through his hair. "I've had a lot on my mind, Draco.
It did get pushed to the wayside. I'm sorry."
"Tell that to father when he receives a report of your first term, to find
out you've been in detention several times for missing homework! He will
force you to give up your extracurricular activities, including Quidditch
and your law reforms!"
Harry scowled and dared anyone to force him to give up anything when
he didn't want to. He inhaled deeply and tried to calm himself.
"Let's get you started at least." Blaise said. "Between all of us maybe we
will get all the essays you need done by tomorrow finished."
Harry nodded. He hoped so, he really didn't want detention. He didn't
need anything else eating into his sparse free time. He had been thinking
of too much, though. He had been distracted and he had neglected his
schoolwork. He needed to be better, to do better. He knew it, but he had
so much on his mind and with him pretty much blackmailing someone to
marry Pansy…he swallowed. Merlin, he hoped that didn't blow up in his
face.
"Right, we're starting with Potions because Snape will give you detention
if you don't do it." Draco said authoritatively. "It has to be your
handwriting, Harry, so grab a quill."
Harry did just that, thankful that, despite their own homework to do, that
they were willing to help him.
"I'm good with Arithmancy, so I'll write down all the answers to this
questionnaire for you." Blaise told him. "You'll have to copy it to another
sheet, however."
"I'm good with Transfiguration." Pansy said, looking for the essay. "If I
write down bullet points, you can structure your essay on that."
"Thank you." Harry said gratefully.
"Do not let this happen again, Harry." Draco told him seriously. "If you
need our help, ask us. You help us with Defence work and with Ancient
Runes as well because Marcus has forced you so far ahead. You can
return the favour, just ask!"
Harry nodded. He hoped that it wasn't needed though. He hoped that
once he forced through the marriage of Pansy, that he could go back to
his perfectly structured schedule. It was that which had thrown him off of
everything else because he had been doing perfectly fine before then. All
he needed now was a Wizengamot debate to be called and he would be
sent straight back into crisis with his homework. He could not wait until
this school year was over and he'd never have to come back to Hogwarts
or worry about homework ever again.
Harry was naturally rather nervous as he nursed a butterbeer. It was
Saturday evening and Harry was in a secret, magical part of Riva del
Garda, a very beautiful little town in northern Italy, to meet with the
man he was trying to blackmail into marrying Pansy.
If any of his family knew that he had not only left the school but had
actually left the country, then he might as well sign his own life away
now. Rabastan would be particularly furious if he ever found out. Harry
hoped desperately that none of them ever did.
He was only six weeks into term, it was the second week of October, and
already Harry felt pulled apart at the seams. This little venture really
didn't help matters, but he had promised to help Pansy so that is exactly
what he'd do.
The chair opposite him was jerked out angrily and a young man sat
down, glaring holes into him.
"Giovanni Bellini, I presume." Harry said coolly. "Or do you prefer Rowle
now that you've taken over your cousin's lordship?"
"Rowle." The man opposite him growled. "I'll have you know that I don't
appreciate being ordered around or blackmailed by little boys still in
school!"
"Yet, here you are." Harry said, sitting up straighter, glaring right back at
the young man, who was only twenty-four.
"You don't have anything on me! I had nothing to do with my cousin's
death."
"We both know that." Harry said, giving a small smile. "But you are the
one who gained the most when he died."
"I have never even met my cousin, he hated my mother, so you can't
force me to marry this sullied girl!"
Harry's eyes narrowed. "So even you think that women should remain
virgins until they're married? The outdated, archaic practices of decades
past when you're only twenty-four yourself."
Giovanni flushed and gritted his teeth. "I don't. Not usually." He
admitted. "I had heard she'd had an abortion though. I will not accept
anyone who has done such a heinous thing as aborting an unborn child!"
Harry held his sneer back and bit his tongue on exactly why it was
perfectly acceptable for women to choose what to do with their own
bodies. Arguing the toss with the new Lord Rowle wasn't his objective
here.
"She had a pregnancy scare. She was never actually pregnant and she
didn't have an abortion."
Giovanni looked like he'd rather not believe him. Then, he was naturally
going to be looking for any sort of way out of this situation.
"I demand her medical records!"
Harry took a file out of his bag and slid it across the table. He had
expected this and he'd gotten Pansy to access her own files and give a
copy of them to him. She was seventeen now, a legal adult, and she
didn't have to go through her parents to gain a copy of her own records,
which was very fortunate for them.
Giovanni snatched the file and waved his wand over it several times in a
very complicated manner.
Only once he was assured that they hadn't been tampered with did
Giovanni actually open the file and start reading. He was going to be
looking for any sort of discrepancy, for all Harry knew a fucking broken
bone would be the excuse to pull out of this marriage.
Harry wasn't going to allow him to pull out though. He had Giovanni
bent over a barrel, which is why Harry had chosen him. It was a
dangerous double-edge, though. At any moment Harry could be the one
bent over the barrel. He couldn't allow that to happen, he had to keep the
upper hand here.
"I still do not accept this proposition!" Giovanni said, slamming the file
closed on the table.
Harry assumed that he couldn't find any fault with it considering he
didn't bring anything up.
"You will accept it." Harry said calmly, threateningly.
"What will happen if I do not?" Giovanni asked him through clenched
teeth.
"I will frame you for Thorfinn's murder." Harry told him.
Giovanni slammed his fist into the table so hard that other patrons at the
outside café turned to look at them.
"I didn't do it, you cannot pin it on me when I didn't do it!" He whispered
harshly.
"Yes, I can." Harry said simply, confidently.
"I don't believe you. You are bluffing just to get me to agree. I will not!"
"You will if you don't want to end up in prison."
"I am innocent!" Giovanni hissed at him. "My innocence will keep me
from prison, you little worm!"
Harry chuckled. "If you actually thought that was true then you wouldn't
have even come here."
"You seem sure of what actually happened to my cousin, when we, his
family, do not even know. He just disappeared one day in December last
year and all tracers say that he has died. He was last seen on New Year's
Eve at…at your parents' home." Giovanni trailed off and then finished his
sentence in a soft sort of horror and the young man looked at him with
wide eyes, as if suddenly realising the implications of what he'd just said.
Harry smirked at the man opposite him.
"I know exactly what happened to him." Harry hissed back, adopting the
same tone as Giovanni.
"Then you are the one who murdered him! It is you who faces prison if
this is found out, not me."
"You owe your lordship to me." Harry told him.
"That is nothing compared to murder."
"If anyone could pin his murder on me, it would have been done already."
Harry said confidently, even knowing that if it came down to it, he could
claim self-defence. Rowle had been trying to rape him at the time, but
considering that it had been almost a year since the incident and he had
not disclosed what had happened to any Law Enforcer, and had, in effect,
tried to cover it up, he probably wouldn't have a leg to stand on in an
actual trial. "There was no evidence, no leads, were there?"
Giovanni sneered at him but said nothing so Harry took that to mean that
he was correct.
"I can plant evidence and set anyone I want up for the fall of his murder.
I know what happened, I know everything, and seeing as you gained the
most from his death, setting you up to take the fall is very convenient for
me. If you get Pansy Parkinson pregnant before December and then
marry her once she graduates, then I won't set you up for a murder that
we both know you didn't commit."
"How about I just go to the authorities and get them to test you with
Veritaserum!"
Harry scoffed. "We both know that neither of our Ministries uses
Veritaserum in trials. It's too complicated to make, it takes too long to
brew, and it's way too expensive. The British Ministry won't even hear a
word said against me, so even if you did go to the Italian Aurors they
wouldn't be able to touch me and I wouldn't even be questioned. But you
will. If I come forward and make a statement against you, with what you
gained with Thorfinn's murder, you'll be arrested and in a holding prison
within the hour!"
Harry could hear Giovanni grinding his teeth. The twenty-four-year-old
looked like he wanted to leap over the table and murder him. Perhaps he
did. Harry would want the same if their roles were reversed. He
reminded himself that this was for Pansy. Pansy who was set to marry
Lucan Selwyn in just two months, a man who was near enough sixty
years older than she was.
Harry felt the vomit crawl up his throat as he thought of poor Pansy with
Lucan Selwyn, and he swallowed it back down under the guise of taking
a drink to appear casual and relaxed.
"What is your answer? I don't have all night, Lord Rowle. I will be missed
from school sooner or later."
Giovanni was young, he was only twenty-four, and he didn't even have
the experience that Harry did with the Wizengamot, he had yet to have
his first debate even, despite that Thorfinn had been dead for almost a
year. The application was rather lengthy, after all, especially for those
who inherited a lordship but lived in a different country, exactly like
Giovanni, who wasn't even a citizen of the United Kingdom he was now
going to have to serve.
His father had told him that Giovanni would have had to take a British
citizenship test and prove that he knew the laws of the United Kingdom
before he was approved to sit on the Wizengamot. The man opposite him
had only just passed both and he would be included in the Wizengamot
as soon as the next meeting.
"Why do you care about this girl?" Giovanni demanded. "What is she to
you? You are engaged to another girl, are you not?"
"That's right." Harry said simply. "Aceline."
"Why not forsake the girl and take Parkinson for yourself if you feel so
strongly about her predicament?"
"Pansy is just a friend and I promised to help her. Aceline is my love and
I am devoted to her. You are stalling, Lord Rowle. What is your answer?
Pansy or prison?"
"I will not help you, it'll be you who is in prison. Not me."
Harry smirked. "I didn't really want to use this, but…"
Harry pulled out another folder from his bag and slipped it across the
table. Giovanni snatched it and opened it and after just a few seconds of
reading, of looking at what the file contained, his face bleached pale, his
eyes widened, and his mouth dropped open. Harry could hear his choked
breathing from where he was sitting.
"This isn't real." He whispered as he looked at the incriminating evidence
that would see him in prison for life for Thorfinn's murder.
"We both know that." Harry said grimly. "But when faced with this sort of
evidence, they're not going to ask too many questions, and if you try to
protest your innocence, they'll just assume that you're lying to save your
own skin. I can frame you for his murder and I will have you in prison if
you don't do as I tell you."
Giovanni looked at him with loathing and Harry understood fully that he
had just made an enemy for life. He'd known that before he'd even
written the first letter to the new Lord Rowle. If it saved Pansy from her
horrific fate he didn't care.
"I agree to your…proposal." Giovanni said quietly, all the wind taken from
his sails.
"You will get her pregnant before December, you will accept her father's
demands to marry her to keep your child legitimate. You are allowed to
ask for a paternity test before you marry her, to ensure the baby she has
is yours, which it will be. You will treat her kindly and with respect. If
you dare harm her, abuse her, or treat her as anything less than your
wife, a human being, then I will use this file to have you in prison and I
will free her from you and her obligation to marry. Am I clear?"
Giovanni was breathing heavily and both fists were clenched tight. He
nodded curtly.
"I will set up a meeting with the girl and I will use fertility charms to get
her pregnant by the time limit stipulated. You had better pray that I
never get any dirt on you, Potter." Giovanni told him harshly. "With all
luck, our paths will never cross again outside of the Wizengamot."
"That depends on how well you treat Pansy and your children." Harry
told him. "This file is going to be kept safe and it will hang over your
head for the rest of your life. You raise a fist to her, if you so much as
raise your voice, I will find out and see your arse to prison."
Harry reached into his bag yet again and this time he pulled out a
contract. He pushed it over to Giovanni, who looked furious to see that
he was going to be held to an actual written contract as well as being
blackmailed, but Harry refused to take any chances.
Giovanni read the contract through critically. Harry got the feeling that
he read it through more than once from the amount of time that he took.
Harry didn't blame him there. Giovanni was twenty-four, he knew how to
read a contract for loopholes.
Giovanni let out a shuddering breath and took the self-inking quill that
Harry gave him and he signed his name, before using his wand to cause a
small wound on his thumb. He squeezed the blood up to make a good-
sized drop before he used it to place a bloodied thumbprint next to his
name.
"Thank you for this." Harry said, gathering the contract to himself and
putting it securely back in his bag along with the two folders he'd
brought with him.
"Don't." Giovanni hissed at him, shoving himself away from the table and
standing angrily. "Remember my words, Potter, and stay out of my way."
Harry said nothing, he didn't quake or quiver, he stood himself and met
Giovanni's gaze head-on.
"It's you who needs to stay out of my way." Harry said right back. "Don't
cross me, don't harm Pansy in any way, and I'll never have the need to
use the contents of that file and you won't go to prison for something that
you didn't do."
"You're a little monster." Giovanni spat at him.
"All the more reason to stay away from me. Have a pleasant evening,
Lord Rowle."
Without giving Giovanni a chance to reply, Harry spun on his heel,
thinking hard about his room at Hogwarts and when the feeling of his
lungs constricting eased, he opened his eyes to see that he was safely
back in his rooms at Hogwarts.
He blew out a long, hard breath and he dropped his book bag and walked
to his settee so that he could collapse down onto it and relearn how to
breathe. He'd never had to blackmail someone before and he felt dirty.
Giovanni's face kept appearing behind his closed eyes and his parting
words rang in his head. Was he a monster? In Giovanni's eyes, probably.
It was done now, and he could tell Pansy what he'd done and who her
husband was going to be. It could wait until tomorrow. It was late and he
was exhausted and drained.
He wouldn't have to think about it anymore, though. Giovanni had
signed the contract, he had agreed, no matter how reluctantly. He and
Pansy would be expecting a baby by December, at which point Pansy
could break her engagement to Lucan Selwyn and her father, Lord
Paimon Parkinson, could demand that Giovanni married her instead so
that the baby was legitimate.
Harry could start to focus on just himself again. He could start to get
back into the flow of his homework and keep himself to his schedule
again. He had kept his promise to Pansy and he had made himself a
lifelong enemy in the process, but it was over now. He could show Pansy
the contract and then leave her to deal with the business of getting a
baby from Giovanni and then forcing her father to draw up a contract
with him. He'd done his part and he was glad that it was over.
Harry sat forward and rubbed his hands over his face. He still had a mass
of homework to do, but he was too tired to even think of it right now.
Tomorrow he decided. Tomorrow he would get back into his schedule
and start pulling himself together and getting himself back on track.
He would get back to his schedule and he would tackle his homework
pile, and everything else he still had to do too, but not now. Tonight, he
was just going to grab an early night and catch up on some of the sleep
he'd lost because of this situation. He'd never claw it all back, nor get rid
of the stress he'd gathered on his shoulders, but he'd do what he could
now to ease it down.
Groaning and standing up, Harry moved to his bedroom and stripped off.
He considered having a shower, but he felt that he just couldn't be
bothered. Instead, he tugged on his pyjamas and climbed into bed.
He picked up his book for the first time in weeks and cracked it open. It
felt nice to be getting back to his version of normal. He settled his
shoulders into his pillow and started reading. He would only read a
chapter or two and then he would go to sleep. Tomorrow was going to be
stressful enough and he couldn't stop his mind from going around in
circles. He tried to shove everything out of his mind and focus on the
words in front of him. He really, really hoped that his family never found
out about what he'd done.
A/N: Poor Harry might be a little deluded in thinking that his family will
never find out about his cross-country jaunt, but that is for a later
chapter. But Pansy is now safe from Selwyn, but Daphne's future is very
unclear…we know that Theo is getting rid of her, we know that Harry
has plans for his own revenge…she will be in need of a betrothal/
marriage, but there's not going to be many people who'll touch her with
her reputation. Not that I like slut-shaming her, but I think we can all
agree that if anyone takes it too far, it's Daphne. I think it was sleeping
with Philip Nott's business friend in Theo's bed that did it. It was at that
point I starting thinking that she was irredeemable, but that's again for a
later chapter.
This fic wasn't set to get an update for a few more weeks, when I took my
Christmas break from uni, but given the happy news coming from
America today, I actually feel so happy and relieved for all of my friends
in America that I decided to edit this chapter and update it. Human
decency, human rights, and equality will prevail. Well done, lovelies, and
I hope you've enjoyed the chapter.
StarLight Massacre. X
32. Belonging
Last Time
Groaning and standing up, Harry moved to his bedroom and stripped off. He
considered having a shower, but felt that he just couldn't be bothered. Instead
he tugged on his pyjamas and climbed into bed.
He picked up his book for the first time in weeks and cracked it open. It felt
nice to be getting back to his version of normal. He settled his shoulders into
his pillow and started reading. He would only read a chapter or two, and then
he would go to sleep. Tomorrow was going to be stressful enough, and he
couldn't stop his mind from going around in circles. He tried to shove
everything out and focus on the words in front of him. He really, really hoped
that his family never found out about what he'd done.
Chapter Thirty-Two – Belonging
Harry was well rested and very relaxed the next day, thankful that it was
a Sunday because he'd allowed himself a bit of a lie-in, even with his
rather early night.
He showered languidly, feeling so relaxed and happy. He dressed himself
in a pair of trousers and a sumptuously soft jumper and on his way out
he picked up his book to take down to breakfast with him. After he'd
eaten, everything was going to be focused on his remaining homework.
He was going to spend the entire day, until whatever time he finished
everything, just doing his homework, starting with the pieces that were
due tomorrow.
"Harry, there you are. I was getting worried." Draco told him.
"I just decided to have a bit of a lie-in. I feel much better, so I'm going to
spend the day doing homework. You're welcome to join me. All of you
are." He said, looking to Blaise, Theo, Astoria, and Pansy.
Pansy looked at him anxiously, knowing as she did what he'd been
planning on doing last night. He gave her a quick look, more of a
warning not to mention anything here, and he sat down next to Draco
and served himself breakfast before cracking open his book and resting it
on a jug of pumpkin juice so that he could read while he ate.
"Harry, may I have a word?" Pansy asked the moment he finished his
food and had pushed his plate away.
Harry wished that she'd been a little more discreet, as her question got
the attention of everyone sitting near them.
"Of course. Come up to my room with me, Pansy. We will have privacy
there."
"I'll come too." Draco said quickly, already standing.
"Pansy wants a quiet word, Draco. Give us ten minutes and then follow us
up." Harry said, standing himself.
"Harry." Draco said warningly.
"Ten minutes, Draco." Harry said back firmly. "Come on, Pansy."
She was nervous, she was hovering beside him. She didn't even know
who he had bartered the match to, so Harry didn't say anything about her
behaviour. He would be exactly the same in her shoes. In fact, he would
probably be much worse if he'd been in the same situation as Pansy.
She at least had the sense not to say anything until they were securely in
his rooms. As soon as he shut the door, she turned on him.
"What happened? Did he agree?"
"Sit down a moment, Pansy, please. You need to remain calm. I know it's
difficult. I would be raging in your position, but let me tell you
everything properly."
"Harry, please. I'm having nightmares of…of Selwyn. I can't marry him.
Please tell me you got this man to agree, at least."
"He's agreed. He has signed the contract and he will get in contact with
you soon to ensure conception before December."
Pansy sagged to her knees right there on the floor and tears spilt from her
eyes.
"Thank you." She croaked. "I can never thank you enough for this."
"You don't know who it is yet."
"No one can be as bad as Lucan Selwyn!" Pansy declared passionately.
Harry thought of young, handsome Giovanni Bellini, now Rowle, and he
sighed. He went to make tea for them both, thinking about how to word
what he needed to say. He had made an enemy of Giovanni and thinking
that the pureblood wouldn't want revenge after this was the height of
arrogance and stupidity. Pansy was going to be a lifeline here, as she was
going to be married to Giovanni and living in his home. Harry picked up
both teacups and took them over to the coffee table, setting them down.
He pointed Pansy to the settee and sat himself down wearily.
Pansy pulled herself up, wiped her eyes, and she sat opposite him and
drank a deep gulp of the tea, trying to regain her composure.
"I've made a lifelong enemy of him, Pansy. He really, really didn't want to
do this. He didn't want to be married. I've essentially forced him to marry
someone that he doesn't want to and that does sort of stick in my throat.
But I couldn't see you married to Selwyn. It's…it's too horrifying to even
imagine."
"I understand that he may never love me, or even like me. That wasn't
what this match was about." Pansy said. "I never loved any of my
matches. Not Warrington, and certainly not Selwyn. I…I might have
loved Draco once, but after how he treated me…" She trailed off, looking
at him sharply, realising that he and Draco were now brothers. Family.
"You deserved better." Harry said easily, knowing that it was true. Draco
had slept with her, gotten careless, had a pregnancy scare and had
ultimately avoided all consequences of it in the end. What had happened
to Pansy in the aftermath of that situation was horrendous and it still
made Harry angry.
"I will be strong and endure any treatment this man may give me and I
will be thankful that it is not Selwyn."
Harry looked at her, aghast. "No!" He burst out. "Absolutely not, Pansy. If
he so much as raises a fist to you, hell, if he so much as raises his voice to
you or your children, then you tell me. I…I've blackmailed him, with
something that is better left unsaid, the less you know the better. But I
included your care in the contract. If he treats you as anything less than
an equal person in this marriage, you are to tell me immediately and I
will have him for breach of contract and free you yet again, via him
going straight to prison."
"You did that for me? But why? I never asked that of you, I just asked
you to get me away from Selwyn. That would have been enough."
Harry reached forward and gripped her hand. "You never deserved the
horror of being matched to a man sixty years older than you. You don't
deserve to be beaten or humiliated by anyone just because you've gotten
free of Selwyn's match. If he lays a finger on you, Pansy, if he ever makes
you feel threatened or unsafe, promise that you'll tell me."
"I promise." She said, but more tears were falling now and she hastily
brushed them aside. "Will you tell me who he is?"
Harry sighed and wondered how this news would be received.
"There was only one person who I could blackmail, with whom I could
use a secret as leverage. I've got you into a contract with Lord Giovanni
Rowle."
"He…He's only twenty-four, isn't he?" She asked. "But, he wasn't even
looking for anyone from Britain."
"Like I said, I've blackmailed him into it. He really didn't want it, Pansy.
He fought me every step, but I held all of the cards, he just didn't know
it. He's furious with me."
"If he moves against you, I'll tell you."
"You'll be his wife, he'll be the father to your children, Pansy. Don't make
those sorts of promises."
"No. I know where my loyalty lies. You were the one who saved me from
Selwyn, not anyone else. I will never forget that you are the reason I will
have a husband that I won't recoil from. A husband who won't give me
nightmares of a future that I didn't want to live through."
Harry squeezed her hand gently. His heart clenching as he read the truth
plainly in her eyes. She had been contemplating suicide. Perhaps more
than just contemplating it. Maybe she had even planned when and how
she would do it, as a backup in case she didn't find anyone to help her
break her betrothal to Selwyn. If that was the case then she owed him her
very life.
Harry felt sick as he realised that if he hadn't helped her, if he hadn't had
leverage over Giovanni and had been unable to help her, then she might
have killed herself before term broke up for Christmas a little less than
ten weeks away. The thought left him feeling cold and embittered that
Pansy had been put in this position, and himself by extension as he'd felt
obligated to help her.
He wouldn't have been able to handle Pansy's death knowing that he had
either turned her away when she'd needed a friend, or he had failed her
and been unable to help. He felt her decision to commit suicide hang
heavy in his mind and he felt relief that he had been able to help her
after all, even if it meant painting a target on his own back.
His lips pulled into a self-deprecating smile, it seemed he would always
be a martyr. Well, those habits ingrained in him would take a little longer
than a year to break. He pushed those thoughts aside and turned his
thoughts back to giving Pansy all the information she needed to know.
She wasn't pregnant yet. She wasn't out of Selwyn's clutches yet.
"If it helps at all, he was very handsome." He told her, aiming at
reassuring her. "He can speak English too, so you'll be able to
communicate with him. He doesn't know about Rabastan, though, Pansy.
He believes the ruse that I'm engaged to Aceline."
"He won't hear it from me." She swore.
"He will be in touch to conceive the child before December. He's going to
be using fertility charms. Do you know how to do the same?"
"I can find out." She insisted, nodding.
"This will all be for nothing if you can't conceive a child, he's going to try
his damn best because he's signed a contract that he can't back out of.
You need to do the same. If I thought that your father would accept just a
marriage proposal, then I wouldn't have pushed for a child, but given
how…unreasonable he's been over all of this, I think it'll be safer if you
have a child that Giovanni can lay claim to."
"You know I will do anything needed to get out of this situation. The last
thing in the world I want is to be forced to marry Selwyn in December.
The only way to break it is to fall pregnant with someone who can be
forced to marry me, I know that, and I know my father. He's trying to
punish me for the embarrassment I've caused. I'm being made an example
of and I'm clever enough to realise it."
"You haven't caused any embarrassment." Harry said angrily. "It shouldn't
even be an issue. That your own father is treating you like this is
despicable."
"You've gotten me out of this situation now, Harry." Pansy told him. "My
father will have to accept my marriage to Rowle if I have a baby by him.
Rowle can demand that I am married to him to legitimise the baby, his
baby. You've saved me and I'll never be able to thank you enough, but
truly, thank you."
Harry nodded. They were disturbed by the portrait door knocking
furiously. Harry checked his watch. Eight minutes. Harry smirked and
planned to leave Draco outside for two more.
"You don't have to thank me, Pansy, but keep in mind that he will contact
you, maybe as early as tomorrow, so make sure that you're ready as it
may involve sneaking out of the castle to meet him in Hogsmeade, and
always remember that if he dares harm you, even if it's only verbal, you
tell me. I can free you from him if he's breached the contract I've drawn
up. You don't deserve Selwyn and you don't deserve a marriage of abuse
as an alternative."
Pansy stood and so did Harry. She hugged him tightly and Harry held her
back, giving her a gentle squeeze.
"Thank you." She told him softly, but the moment was ruined really by
the continued hammering of the door.
"Well, are you ready for homework club?" He asked with a grin. "If I don't
open the door now, I won't put it past Draco to break it down."
Pansy brushed her face free of tears and sat back on the settee, sipping on
the remains of her tea in a ploy of normalcy. Harry went to open the
door.
"Why didn't you answer right away?" Draco demanded of him, storming
into the room without waiting to be invited in.
"I said ten minutes. Not eight."
Blaise laughed. "I told you we were early. Really, Draco, you should
know better timekeeping."
"Oh, shut up." Draco snapped.
"Stop flirting and get in here. I have so much homework to get through."
"What were you talking about?" Draco asked suspiciously, clocking
Harry's teacup opposite where Pansy was sitting.
"If it was something we felt like sharing, we wouldn't have come up here
to speak of it away from you. Mind your own business, Draco. It's nothing
for you to be concerned about."
"You are my younger brother." Draco said, grabbing Harry's arm and
pulling him in close. "I told you that she would be looking for anyone to
get her pregnant. Coming up here with her alone, it looks bad, Harry." He
whispered to him.
"Have more faith, Draco. In both me and Pansy. You know I love
Rabastan more than anything. I'm not going to jeopardise my own
marriage. Respect me enough to know that."
"You are jeopardising your marriage!" Draco told him, still whispering.
"What do you think Rabastan will do if he hears about these little private
visits?"
Harry sighed heavily and pulled his arm out of Draco's grasp. "I'd expect
him to respect me enough to believe me when I say that nothing has
happened and that we were just talking. If he believed me when I was
just talking to Theo, knowing that I'm gay, he'll believe that I wasn't
doing anything with Pansy! Now sit down, drop this subject, and help me
catch up with my homework!"
Harry went and made more tea and he served his guests, then he sat
down to sort out the state of his homework pile. He had helped Pansy as
much as he could. He'd done everything possible to get her out of her
marriage to Lucan Selwyn and now he could relax and forget about it. It
was up to Pansy to carry on what he'd started and she and Giovanni
needed to be pregnant in the next month. His part was done, despite the
fact that he would always be involved considering that he had made a
lifelong enemy out of Giovanni, but seeing the relief on Pansy's face,
seeing her shoulders ease of the heavy burden placed upon them knowing
that she had been planning her own suicide… it was worth it.
Harry was disturbed from his small amount of free time, in which he'd
been doing some more work on his law reforms, when Kreacher popped
into existence right in front of him.
Harry leapt back, his heart hammering, but he at least managed to quash
the undignified screech that he wanted to emit.
"Kreacher." He gasped, a hand on his heart. "Are you okay?"
"Yes, Master." The elderly elf told him, his wrinkled hands playing with
the Black heirloom ring that was looped around his neck.
"Has there been an Order meeting?" Harry asked.
"Yes, Master." Kreacher told him, bobbing his head.
Harry's heart missed a beat and he wondered if this was anything to do
with him being dosed with potions.
"Dumbledore is asking someone to spy on the Wizengamot meetings,
Master."
"Bill Weasley." Harry said nodding.
"No, Master. A new person."
Harry frowned, wondering who on earth would agree to spy on
Wizengamot meetings if not Bill.
"Did you hear a name, Kreacher?"
"Charlie Weasley." The elf told him, bobbing his head.
"But…how?" Harry asked in confusion. "How could he have possibly
gotten Charlie onto the Wizengamot? Bill is already Lord Weasley."
"Dumbledore has set up a plan, Master. He has made Arthur Weasley
disown Charlie, so that Charlie can claim the Prewett lordship."
"Well fuck." Harry said, throwing a hand through his hair, thinking about
this new development.
There was no way that Arthur, or Molly, would have ever disowned
Charlie through choice, so this was definitely one of Dumbledore's little
plots to try and gain an upper hand in the Wizengamot and to try to sway
the voting into his own favour.
One more vote wouldn't make much difference, the Ancients still held
majority control of the Wizengamot, and always would, but with Bill and
Charlie, both of them holding Ancient seats, voting against the rest of
them, it would likely spill over to the New Men and the Neutrals and that
could sway them to vote with Bill and Charlie and against the other
Ancients.
Harry did a quick tally, but he already knew that the Ancients were
outnumbered if the New Men, Neutrals, and some of the Ancients voted
against the rest of them. There were currently twenty Ancients, including
Bill as Lord Weasley. Adding in Giovanni Rowle, and now Charlie as Lord
Prewett that would make twenty-two Ancients. Bill and Charlie would
likely vote against anything and everything they put forward, which
dropped them back to twenty, and now that Harry had made an enemy of
Giovanni, he couldn't be counted on, as it was likely that he might vote
just to oppose Harry.
There were only seven Neutrals, as there were only seven Ministry
Department Heads, but there were twenty-six New Men, all of them were
purebloods still, and most of them were Death Eaters.
Harry calmed himself, adding Charlie to the Wizengamot was still not
going to be enough to derail his plans, or Voldemort's for that matter.
"Okay, thank you for telling me, Kreacher." Harry said.
"There is more, Master."
Harry sighed. Of course there was. "Okay, what else?"
"Dumbledore is going to try to force you to stay at Hogwarts over the
winter holidays." Kreacher told him.
Harry closed his eyes, wondering if this was just a ploy to distance him
from his family, or if it was going to be another Horcrux hunt. He didn't
want to give up his very sparse free time with Rabastan, or his family, for
any reason. It was going to be the last time he saw or spent any time with
Rabastan as he likely would stay at Hogwarts for the Easter week as it
was going to be so close to the exams. He was not going to miss out on
Christmas with his family, he couldn't ignore Rabastan for pretty much
an entire year, it wasn't fair to his fiancé.
"They plan to force a potion into you while you are at your own home,
Master."
Harry blinked. "They want me to go to Grimmauld Place?"
Kreacher nodded.
Harry rubbed his forehead, thinking hard. Grimmauld Place was his
property after Sirius had died. He'd willingly allowed the Order to
continue using it as their Headquarters, not only to make it seem as if he
was still on their side and willing to see Voldemort taken out, but the
biggest reason was clearly so that he could use Kreacher to spy on them
and their meetings. That way he always knew what they were doing so
he could try to stay one step ahead of them. That was invaluable to him
and more than worth allowing the Order, and the Weasleys, to continue
using his house despite the fact that he didn't like them much.
"Thank you for keeping me informed, Kreacher." Harry said, his mind
already ticking over everything that he'd been told.
Kreacher gave him a short bow and then left, and Harry stayed on the
settee, thinking about this new development. Charlie taking on the
Prewett lordship was something he'd have to speak to Lucius about
because Dumbledore was clearly trying to bulk up the Wizengamot
numbers with his loyal followers, as many as he could possibly manage.
Likely in the aim to derail the Ancients' plans and probably Harry's own
law reforms too.
As for going to Grimmauld Place over the winter holidays. He shook his
head. Given that it was a time of celebration for the purebloods and they
had two parties to navigate with the Winter Gala on Christmas Eve, and
then the New Year's Ball too, it was ridiculous to think that he would stay
anywhere other than with his family, but he would hear Dumbledore out,
and then just refuse. Christmas was a time for family and now that he
had a family, he wasn't going to miss out on this time with them, no
matter what Dumbledore asked of him.
He looked at his creature law reforms on the coffee table and then at the
time. He sighed and started packing everything away. It was getting late
and he wouldn't be able to concentrate on it now. He was too busy
fretting over what Dumbledore was going to say to get him to forsake his
family over the winter holidays and get him to stay at Grimmauld Place,
of all places, likely with the Weasleys, who all hated his guts because of
the debt he'd saddled them with.
There's no way that he could put himself through that. He didn't want to.
He tried to push it from his mind and he started getting himself ready for
bed. He wouldn't agree to go, he wanted to spend that time with
Rabastan and nothing was going to take that small amount of time, and
joy, from him.
Pansy's mood had visibly brightened over the next few weeks and Harry
had noticeably settled down as well. He was calmer and more focused on
his studies and the quality of his homework had improved too.
It didn't take the observant Slytherins long to figure out that Harry and
Pansy's behaviour had changed at the same time and rumours were
rampant after Pansy had been seen researching fertility spells and going
for early morning visits to Madam Pomfrey.
She had told Harry, in another secret visit to his rooms that had angered
Draco, that she'd already had two visits with Giovanni, who had treated
her courteously and gently, and that she was now in the early stages of
pregnancy, which had been confirmed by Madam Pomfrey. Her father
had been told via a letter sent by owl, as was the school's custom for such
things and considering that he hadn't stormed the castle Harry assumed
that it hadn't reached him yet.
Harry had breathed a massive sigh of relief. Giovanni had kept to his end
of the contract and Pansy was so much happier that she was all but
skipping down the hallways. She had managed to escape her betrothal to
Lucan Selwyn and despite knowing that Giovanni probably wouldn't have
chosen her as a wife if he'd been given any sort of choice, she was much
happier with him for a husband, naturally.
"Harry, a word, now." Draco demanded of him that morning, the moment
Harry put down his fork.
Harry raised an eyebrow. "Okay, come with me to my rooms, just be
aware that we have lessons in half an hour."
"It won't take that long." Draco told him, all but glaring at him.
Harry knew what it was about, even as he picked up his book bag and
slung it over his shoulder. Draco was practically bristling next to him as
he strode off with long, angry strides. Harry followed him more calmly
and he tried to plot out what to say to assuage Draco's anger.
They reached his room and Harry unlocked the door and let Draco
through.
"What is this about, Draco?" He asked, even as he shut the door.
"You know exactly what this is about!" Draco shouted, rounding on him,
his cheeks already pink with anger.
"Pansy." Harry said.
"Yes, Pansy!" Draco raged. "She's pregnant."
"I know." Harry said easily.
"Is that baby yours?" Draco demanded through gritted teeth.
"Of course not." Harry replied.
"A paternity test will prove it, Harry. I told you that she would be trying
to get pregnant by anyone possible and you've been spending so much
time with her, sequestered up here with her in private. Is that baby
yours?"
"No."
Draco seemed to take a breath and he calmed down a little.
"Promise me that that baby isn't yours." Draco said, one last time, staring
into Harry's eyes.
"It's not mine." Harry answered calmly.
"But you know whose it is?"
Harry nodded. "Yes. But that information can't come out yet. My
involvement must remain a secret. Pansy asked for my help, Draco. I was
never going to ignore her plight."
"She tried to take Rabastan from you."
"She would never have gotten him from me, but Draco, I understand why
she did it. Can't you? Put yourself in her shoes for one moment and
imagine that you were being forced to marry Lucan Selwyn. Wouldn't
you try anything and everything possible to get out of that? Even if it did
mean trying to take someone else's betrothed, or fiancé, from them? Hell,
I'd probably go the whole way and try to take someone's husband from
them before I'd marry someone so much older than me. Wouldn't you?"
"I suppose so." Draco replied after a moment of thought.
"I calmed down from when you initially told me that she had tried to
take Rabastan from me and I thought about it more deeply. I put myself
in her shoes, and yeah, I get it. I understand why she did it, so when she
begged me for help…of course I did everything I could to help her,
Draco."
"But…it's not your baby? Because you know the rumours going around
are that it is your baby."
"It's not mine. I would never have risked my own marriage for anyone.
Not even Pansy. I found someone else to help her."
Draco eased down completely and he sighed heavily in relief. Harry
chuckled at him.
"You know you'll have to prove it, don't you?" Draco asked him. "All the
rumours are that you're the one who got Pansy pregnant. Father will hear
about it and so will Rabastan."
"I won't have to prove anything. Pansy will come out and say who got her
pregnant and so will the man who actually fathered that baby. I'm not
involved. I was just trying to be a good friend and give a support system
for Pansy during this difficult time."
"I can't tell you how relieved I am to hear you say that. Right then, I
suppose we shouldn't be late for class. It is Halloween after all."
Harry hummed. "You know I don't celebrate it."
"I know, but that doesn't mean I can't still celebrate."
Harry smiled, clapped Draco on the shoulder, and they both left his room
for double Ancient Runes.
Word had gotten out now about Pansy. It wouldn't be long before the
adults knew and then Paimon Parkinson would likely storm the castle to
demand answers from his daughter, and probably him as well seeing as
everyone thought that he was the father of the baby. He wondered who
would be the little snitch to send Lord Parkinson that letter. Knowing her
personality, and her proclivity for stirring the pot, his money was on
Daphne.
Harry smiled to himself as he took a seat with Draco and made sure that
his Ancient Runes homework was placed neatly on the edge of the desk
ready. He had slipped easily back into his schedule and he was nicely
caught up with his homework, with just a few pieces left to do over the
weekend. It was Friday today, Halloween, and he wouldn't celebrate or
do any homework tonight. This was his private time, his way to honour
the parents that he had lost. Despite everyone's fears, he was never going
to forget James and Lily Potter. There was no way that he could. He still
heard his mum's screams in his head when Dementors came too close, or
when he had the odd nightmare, and his Patronus was still a stag. He
loved them, despite the fact that he'd never gotten the chance to know
them. They had given their very lives for his, on this very day, sixteen
years ago. He swallowed hard, this was his day to remember them and
their sacrifice, but later tonight. Now he had to focus on his studies, on
his classes, but later, he promised himself as Professor Babbling called
their attention and started taking the register, he would honour them
fully and properly.
November had just started, it was Wednesday the fifth, and Harry was
feeling much better about everything. He was still perpetually tired and
he never had a free minute with everything that he was juggling, but his
schedule was working. He was just about keeping ahead of everything
and he'd increased the quality of his work too.
Breakfast was in full swing when Dumbledore came into the Great Hall, a
visibly angry Paimon Parkinson next to him, and Harry heard Pansy
inhale deeply. He gave her a small nod. He knew that she could do this.
"Miss Parkinson, could you come with me, please." Dumbledore said
gently.
"Yes, Headmaster." She said, standing, ignoring the little hissed
conversations that sprung up all around the hall.
"Mister Potter, you too." Dumbledore told him, turning those blue eyes
onto him.
"What is this about?" Harry asked, not rising to his feet.
"You know exactly what this is about!" Lord Parkinson hissed at him,
trying to appear calm, but he was absolutely furious.
Harry stood and decided to go with Pansy purely for support. It looked
like she might need it given how angry her father was.
"Has my father been called to represent me?" He asked.
"You're a man now." Paimon spat at him.
"I'm still in school." Harry replied calmly.
"Mister Malfoy has been contacted and he will join us shortly."
Dumbledore assured him.
Harry nodded and he escaped the breakfast table. He had managed to get
away without drinking his glass of milk, which was about the only good
thing about this situation.
They made it to the headmaster's office, and Lucius was there waiting for
him. He looked angry too, and very disappointed.
"I want him expelled!" Paimon burst out, pointing a finger at Harry, the
moment they were all in the office.
"Why? What have I done?" Harry asked, moving to sit in the chair in
front of the desk without being asked. Lucius' eye twitched at Harry's
behaviour, but he said nothing in front of these people. Harry would
expect a lecture about it later, however.
"Miss Parkinson, please sit down." Dumbledore offered, pointing to the
last chair.
She sat next to him and gave him a fearful little glance. He smiled back
reassuringly.
"Would anyone like a sherbet lemon?"
"Enough of the games here, Dumbledore! I want to know what you're
going to do about this situation!"
"I have heard your complaints, but when Miss Parkinson was first found
to be pregnant, I had a talk with her myself. She is perfectly happy to
remain with child. She isn't due to give birth until after she has
graduated."
"You knew that she was betrothed to someone else. As are you!"
Parkinson rounded on Harry.
"Trying to marry your seventeen-year-old daughter to a man of seventy-
one should be illegal." Harry said simply.
"She's my daughter to do with as I see fit!"
"No, she's not. She's a person, her own person, not some slave you lay
claim to just because you're her father."
"That's enough, Harry." Lucius told him, laying a hand on his shoulder
and putting himself between Harry and Paimon.
"You won't marry her yourself, you wouldn't risk your own marriage."
Paimon said, breathing heavily. "Lord Selwyn will surely accept her still,
with the baby or without it."
Harry narrowed his eyes. "Without it?"
"If you don't lay claim to the baby, or to Pansy, a termination is easily
arranged."
"I'm not getting rid of my baby." Pansy said firmly.
"Silence!" Paimon roared at her. "You've done enough, you've
embarrassed your family for the last time!"
"Don't speak to her like that!" Harry butted in angrily. Lucius' hand
clenched tight on his shoulder, but Harry wouldn't be quelled.
"It's okay, Harry. I'm sorry that you've been dragged into this." Pansy told
him.
"There's nowhere I'd rather be. I told you that I would support you
through this and I mean it."
"So the letter sent to Lord Parkinson is true." Dumbledore asked him
softly. "You are the father to Miss Parkinson's child."
"Me? I'm not the father." Harry said. "I've just been supporting Pansy and
helping her to break free of the cruel betrothal she was entered into."
"You're not involved in this?" Lucius asked him.
Harry snorted. "Well, I am, but not in the way I'm being accused of.
Pansy's baby isn't mine. I love Aceline and I would never do anything to
harm her, or disrespect her, though it seems that everyone around me
will always think the worst of me." He said, aiming the jibe right at
Lucius, whose eye twitched again.
"Then whose baby is it?" Paimon demanded. He rounded on his daughter
again, presumably as she was the only one who knew.
"Lord Giovanni Rowle." She answered. "I met him on the last Hogsmeade
weekend."
Paimon went a reddish-purple colour and Harry was ready to spring to
his feet if needed. He'd seen that colour on Vernon before and he'd
always taken it as a warning sign for violence to come.
"You will have a termination. How dare you do this to your family!"
"After what you've done to her, I believe it's warranted." Harry put in,
ignoring Lucius' hand still digging into his shoulder trying to get him to
shut up.
"Stay out of this, it has nothing to do with you!"
"You're the one who insisted that I come, so you've already involved me."
Harry pointed out.
"I'm not having an abortion. I will not marry Lucan Selwyn!" Pansy said
angrily. "I have a baby by Giovanni and we will be married together. It's
law that Giovanni has first refusal because of the baby I carry!"
"I will get him to refuse." Paimon promised her, his tone threatening.
"Then we'll see what Lord Selwyn wishes done about this. If he wants
that baby gone, you will have a termination."
"I won't." She said firmly, strongly, and Harry respected her massively for
sticking to her guns. Then, if on the other hand, he had to marry Lucan
Selwyn, he would give it everything he had too.
"This is not helping." Dumbledore said, giving Lord Parkinson a steely
glance. "Miss Parkinson has decided that she doesn't want a termination
and I will not let you force her into something she doesn't want. As one
of my students, her wellbeing is my concern."
"Where was your concern when she went running around Hogsmeade
opening her legs to all and sundry?!"
Pansy flushed in embarrassment and Harry's anger mounted.
"Maybe she wouldn't have needed to if you hadn't decided to punish her
by marrying her to a seventy-one-year-old man!" Harry cut in.
"Shut up, Potter!"
"It's Lord Potter-Black to you."
"Do not speak to my son in such a way, Paimon." Lucius warned in that
silky voice he did when he was most angry. "You've already falsely
accused him of fathering your daughter's child, putting his own
engagement in turmoil."
Harry's heart skipped a beat at hearing that, knowing that the Lestranges
must have been told the false news as well. He calmed himself, he could
fix this, he wasn't the father to Pansy's baby, he hadn't slept with her, or
anyone, and he could prove it again if needed. Though the thought of not
being trusted enough by his own family made him feel sick. Surely they
knew he wouldn't have risked his marriage to Rabastan? Why hadn't they
received this news with scepticism and an immediate denial? Why were
they always willing to believe the worst of him?
"I received a letter that insisted he was the father…" Paimon tried to
argue.
"Which has since turned out to be false." Lucius said firmly.
"Given that this letter couldn't have come from me or Pansy, I don't
believe the person who sent it had any idea of what had actually
happened and they were just trying to stir up trouble." Harry put in.
"Clearly. Dumbledore, I know that it is a Wednesday morning and that
my son has lessons to attend, but I will be taking him home until
lunchtime. He will be back in time for his afternoon classes."
Harry inhaled and blew out a ragged breath, psyching himself up for
what was to come. He wondered if Rodolphus would jump down his
throat before he could even open his mouth or if he would just
immediately rip his head off.
"I will ask your Professors to collect any work that you will miss, Harry."
"Thank you." Harry said, nodding, and then he was all but pulled from his
seat and marched over to the fireplace.
Harry flooed through first and his father was just a few seconds behind
him.
"I cannot even believe the behaviour I have just witnessed from you. Why
did you meddle in Parkinson's betrothal?"
"Because she begged for my help." Harry said tightly.
"You should have said no!"
"I was never going to. I was never going to ignore her when she'd begged
for help. If I had been in her place I would want someone to help me as
well!"
"You are very lucky that you aren't in the same position, or I would…"
"Don't you dare tell me that you would have betrothed me to Lucan
fucking Selwyn!" Harry shouted. "If you dared try to put me in the same
position as Pansy I would have…"
"Harry, watch yourself." Lucius warned him.
"NO!" Harry yelled, turning and storming off, going to search for
Rabastan to assure him that Pansy's baby wasn't his.
This was exactly what he didn't need in his life right now. He felt like he
was pushed out onto the fringe of his own family. Like he was no longer
a part of it. Maybe he never had been a part of it and it had all been a
thin veneer that he wanted so desperately to be true that he had
convinced himself that it was real. The thought upset him and fuelled his
anger.
He didn't know what he'd do if he couldn't convince Rabastan that he
hadn't done anything wrong and that thought scared him. He felt
deranged, so angry that he couldn't think straight, and he was trembling
with all that pent-up rage. Why had his own family believed him capable
of fathering Pansy's baby? He could understand Draco asking him, he had
seen their serious chats, had heard the rumours around the castle, but his
family at home hadn't been privy to any of that. They had received a
letter from someone out of the blue claiming that he had fathered a baby
on Pansy and they had just believed it. There had been no immediate
instinct to defend him as he would them. Maybe, after the year he had
spent with them, even after all they had done for him, they still didn't see
him as a real member of the family.
"Harry, come back here, right this instant!"
"Fuck off!" Harry shouted back, his rage so intense that he couldn't
control it.
He slammed his way into the front parlour but was stopped from
reaching Rabastan by an overprotective Rodolphus.
"Don't go near my brother."
"You can fuck off as well, Rodolphus! Whoever sent that letter was lying!
Pansy's baby isn't mine!"
"Are you sure?" Xerxes asked him angrily.
"Of course I'm sure!" Harry exploded. "I'm gay, I don't like women, I don't
even really like Pansy all that much, I think she's a right bitch. Anyone
who thinks that I would actually sleep with her, let alone get her
pregnant, is a fucking idiot!"
"Look at me and tell me it's not your baby." Rabastan demanded of him.
Harry met those blue eyes he loved so much and maintained steely
contact, even as his heart broke a little at the confirmation that they
didn't trust him. None of them did.
"That baby is not mine, Rabastan. It's Giovanni Rowle's and he's claiming
the baby and taking Pansy as his wife! That baby is nothing to do with
me! How could you even think that it was?"
Rabastan swallowed heavily and he stood, coming to hug Harry tightly,
shoving Rodolphus out of the way in the process. Harry held an arm up,
straight and firm to hold Rabastan away from him, glaring at him.
"I knew you wouldn't do that to me. But when that letter arrived, I was
worried that you'd been forced into it by your soft heart."
"No, his soft heart was what saw him meddling in the first place." Lucius
said angrily. "He's not the father to Parkinson's baby, but he's the reason
that she is pregnant and why the new Lord Rowle is involved."
"I wasn't going to watch as she went through the horror of a marriage to
Lucan Selwyn!" Harry said angrily.
"It wasn't your business to meddle in."
"It became my business when Pansy came to me and begged me from her
fucking knees to help her. I told her straight that I wouldn't risk my own
marriage, but I would do everything I could to get her out of that
contract, and that's exactly what I did."
"You should have left it alone!" Lucius argued.
Harry thought again to Pansy's confession, how one way or another she
wouldn't be married to Selwyn, and his resolve hardened. He wouldn't be
bullied into thinking he had done the wrong thing when he knew now
what the price would have been if he hadn't helped.
"I've done nothing wrong." He hissed, still holding Rabastan at arm's
length.
"The Parkinsons won't see it that way." Rodolphus told him.
"Why do you care?" Harry demanded of him.
"I don't." Rodolphus assured him, looking at him through dark eyes. "You
will be a member of my family, however, so whatever messes you get
yourself into, you involve the rest of us."
Harry narrowed his eyes. "Am I a member of the family?" He asked. "With
the way you all continually turn on me, I don't believe I am."
"No one has turned on you." Rabastan burst out. "Harry, of course we
haven't."
"It feels that way when you receive a simple fucking letter claiming I've
gotten Pansy pregnant and you all just believe it with no question!"
"We debated about it." Lucius told him, easing down, lowering his
shoulders, and removing the anger in the room. "We decided then that
perhaps you'd been…not quite coerced into it, but driven by your
feelings."
"You could have just asked me!" Harry told them. "You didn't need to
debate anything, you didn't need to decide anything from one letter from
a questionable source! You're all men of politics, why didn't you seek out
my side of things before deciding that I'd done as I was accused?!"
"We're truly sorry, Harry." Lucius said and that he did look genuinely
remorseful eased Harry down just slightly, enough for Rabastan to move
past his arm and hold him properly.
"I feel like I'm not trusted. You're supposed to be my family, yet I don't
feel like I belong."
"You belong with us!" Rabastan insisted firmly.
Harry shook his head. "Why don't any of you trust me?"
"You do like meddling in things you shouldn't." Xerxes sighed heavily.
"You have messed with the betrothal between the Parkinsons and the
Selwyns even if you aren't the father of the baby. That betrothal was very
lucrative for the Parkinsons. The dowry alone was a fortune that not
many could, or would, refuse."
"It would never have gone ahead anyway." Harry said. "Pansy was
already planning her suicide."
"You know this?" Lucius asked seriously.
Harry nodded. "She told me herself. If I had meddled or not, Parkinson
would never have gotten his hands on that dowry, and this way at least
one of my classmates hasn't needlessly died. I couldn't have lived with
that guilt, knowing that if I had refused her pleas for help that she would
have committed suicide in just six weeks."
Harry swallowed heavily and his body shuddered of its own volition. He
looked at each of the four men seriously.
"You really don't know me at all if you thought that I could have ignored
someone begging me for help with a suicide hanging over my head. Yeah,
I feel bad about forcing Giovanni into this, but not as bad as I feel
knowing that Pansy would have killed herself before the end of term to
escape the horror of being married to Selwyn. I've done nothing wrong,
not in my own opinion."
"Pray tell, how did you get young Giovanni Bellini to agree?" Xerxes
asked him.
"He prefers Rowle." Harry said, before turning back to Rabastan and
clutching him tightly. "I…I never wanted you to find out what I'd done,
but I never expected to be dragged into it like I was."
"What did you do?" Lucius asked him, an edge to his voice that promised
that a punishment was coming.
"I blackmailed him." Harry said.
After a brief pause of silence, Rodolphus laughed and he ruffled Harry's
hair like he normally did and Harry's anxiousness eased off, just a little.
"What could you have possibly blackmailed him with, Harry?"
"His cousin's murder."
That got all of their attention and they stared at him with slack mouths.
"Do you have any idea how dangerous that was? You could have ended
up in Azkaban!"
"Well, I didn't." Harry said simply, belying how scared he'd been of that
very thing happening. "I…I compiled a file of evidence from what
happened and then twisted it to show that Giovanni and his mother were
the ones who killed Thorfinn, in a bid to claim the Rowle lordship. He
really didn't want to agree, but after I showed him that file, he didn't
really have any other choice."
"I really wish you wouldn't do things like this, Harry." Lucius said
wearily. "You're already taking on too much, without meddling in these
sorts of affairs as well. It had nothing to do with you and now you've
made an enemy of Giovanni, and the entire Bellini family, as well. Not to
mention the Parkinsons and the Selwyns."
"Maybe a bit more than enemies." Harry said. "He's threatened to ruin me
if he ever gets the chance."
"Which could well happen if he knows that you're engaged to Rabastan!"
Lucius reminded him.
"He doesn't. He believes I'm with Aceline."
"Well, that is a relief to hear, at least." Lucius sighed.
"It's over and done with now. Pansy is pregnant with Giovanni's child and
he will marry her to claim his child. I've saved her the fate of being
married to that gross old man, or the hard decision to take her own life.
She has a future now, and a brighter one than she had been granted
previously. I feel as if I've done nothing wrong, quite the opposite, so no
amount of shouting at me will convince me otherwise. It's over and done
with and I've started to focus back on myself and my studies. I'm doing
very well, despite the little wobble caused by the stress of blackmailing
someone, and my personal schedule is working for me."
"I am glad to hear that." Lucius said.
Rabastan led Harry over to the settee and they sat cuddled together.
Harry tried not to fret that he was missing Ancient Runes, Arithmancy,
and History of Magic while he was here and that it would put him
behind. He just had to enjoy that he was back in Rabastan's arms, no
matter how briefly.
"I'm juggling everything I need to rather well."
"You're still taking on too much and it will lead to you collapsing."
Rodolphus told him matter-of-factly.
"It hasn't happened yet." Harry pointed out.
"You've been back in school for two months." Rodolphus said. "I'm
estimating just after the Easter holiday, when your final exams are
looming and your homework is piling on top of you."
"It always is so nice to hear how much you care, Rodolphus." Harry said
sarcastically. "I mean, actually plotting on when I might collapse, really?"
"You're doing it to yourself. You won't be told, so I'm going to see how
you look over the winter holidays and then amend my estimation if
needed."
Harry rolled his eyes, but it did poke at that part of him that was
stubborn, that liked to prove people wrong. He would manage himself,
and his responsibilities, and he would make it through the year without
collapsing.
He turned back into Rabastan and tipped his head up to smile at his
fiancé. The smile was a little weak and tenuous and from the look on his
face, Rabastan knew it. His arms clutched him tighter still as if that could
undo what had already been said and done.
"How are you?" Harry asked. "I've barely had a moment to write to you,
I'm sorry for that."
"I understand that you're going to be exceptionally busy. I will survive
the lack of correspondence with you, just focus on yourself and your
education, so that you can realise your dreams, Harry."
Harry swallowed and his heart swelled. What had he ever done to
deserve this man? Not a perfect one, not by a long shot, but a loving,
supportive one all the same, even if there was a lack of trust. He reached
up to pull Rabastan into a kiss.
"My dreams are getting a little closer to becoming reality now."
"Have you thought more on what subject you'll want to teach?" Xerxes
asked him. "After getting private tutoring from Marcus Flint, you should
think about going into Ancient Runes."
Harry blinked stupidly, wondering what Xerxes meant, before realising
that he hadn't told anyone here of his plans to become Minister. He'd told
Narcissa at the Ministry party, he'd told his friends on the train, but he
hadn't told Lucius. He hadn't told Xerxes or Rodolphus. He hadn't even
told his own fiancé.
"I don't want to be a teacher anymore." He said.
"Really? But you seemed so sure." Rabastan said, looking at him
worriedly.
"I've been thinking of something else for a while now." Harry said, giving
him a smile. "I've decided it's much better for me and I'm more invested
in it than I was teaching."
"Must we beg?" Xerxes asked him.
Harry chuckled. "I've decided to pursue a political career. I'm aiming
right for the top position. I want to be the Minister for Magic."
Harry got to witness the proud smiles and the pleased, smug looks.
"That, I think, is a much better career choice for you." Lucius told him.
"I thought so too." Harry said.
"I'm proud of you." Rabastan told him.
Harry gave his fiancé a big smile and snuggled into him.
"It makes me happy to know that you'll support me." Harry told him.
"Of course I will. You have supported me throughout my recovery, in a
manner that went beyond anything expected of you." Rabastan said. "I
love you and I will support you in anything that you decide to do."
Harry was a little embarrassed, but very pleased too, and he buried his
face in Rabastan's chest and hugged him tightly.
"I love you." He declared softly. "Thank you."
"If you want to become the Minister, you know that I will back you all
the way." Rabastan insisted.
"As will the rest of us." Xerxes agreed. "I'm even more pleased now with
your match to Rabastan. Your ambition is only growing larger the more
you age and learn."
"Dumbledore was holding you back." Rodolphus added shortly.
Harry blinked, as that reminded him of what Kreacher had told him, and
he sat up straighter.
"That reminds me, my Order of the Phoenix spy told me something rather
alarming."
"What is Dumbledore planning?" Lucius asked, looking concerned, likely
thinking of the plots to dose him with potions.
"He's going to try and force me to stay at Hogwarts over the winter
holidays and then take me to Grimmauld Place where he hopes to force
whatever potion he's chosen onto me."
Rabastan's arm clenched tight around him and Harry sunk back into him.
"You will refuse." Lucius told him.
Harry nodded. "Family is more important. I was planning on refusing,
regardless of what ploy he uses to try and get me to stay. I just thought it
would be best to let you know that he is going to try and force me to go
to Grimmauld Place, where he intends to dose me with a potion."
Lucius sighed and looked slightly stressed. Harry hated that he was
causing his family stress, but it was much better that they knew what
Dumbledore was planning, so they could counteract it, rather than
pretend he was untouchable and completely safe.
"If you have any problems with him at all, you will go to Severus…"
Harry immediately pulled a face.
"No, Harry, you go straight to Severus who can contact me immediately.
Send your brother if you feel more comfortable, but you make sure that I
am aware of what is going on, am I clear?"
Harry nodded. "Yes. I will refuse to go with him though. My family is the
most important thing to me. I don't want to spend any time with anyone
else."
"This is just in case he does use something to try and force you to go with
him."
Harry nodded and he sat back against Rabastan.
"There was one more thing I was told." Harry admitted.
"Is it better or worse?" Xerxes asked him.
Harry shrugged. "That depends on how you view both situations, but
Dumbledore has found a way for Charlie Weasley to claim the Prewett
lordship. He'll be joining us on the Wizengamot."
There was disgust and outrage at that announcement.
"How did he manage to do that?" Rodolphus demanded.
"By forcing Arthur Weasley to disown Charlie." Harry told them. "With
him being disowned by his father, he was free to claim the Prewett
lordship from his mother's side. So he will be joining the Wizengamot as
Lord Prewett."
"I swear to Merlin, Dumbledore has a lot to answer for." Xerxes growled.
"Messing around with the politics of our country, trying to force his own
influence onto everything, it's galling!"
"The worst part is he can get away with it." Harry pointed out.
"Hopefully, not for much longer." Rodolphus said darkly.
Harry pretended that he didn't hear Rodolphus' words. He was pretty sure
that he wanted Dumbledore dead himself for what he'd put him through,
for the lies and the pain, but that didn't mean he wanted to hear about it
right in front of him, because Rodolphus didn't make idle threats.
"How are your studies going, Harry?" Lucius asked him, seemingly calmer
than he'd been when they'd just arrived home and apparently willing to
ignore that Harry had shouted at him to fuck off in his own home.
"Really well." Harry said. "Before today I had only one piece of homework
left to do. I'm going to have homework and catch-up work to do now
thanks to Lord Parkinson." Harry rolled his eyes. "As if anyone could even
think that I'd gotten her pregnant!"
"I'm sorry that I doubted you." Rabastan said immediately. "I just…I knew
you didn't like her situation and I thought that maybe she had played on
your soft heart and convinced you to have a baby with her."
Harry shook his head. "I was willing to meddle and do everything I could
to help her, but I would never have risked my own future with you. I
would never have disrespected you so much."
"I am at least glad to hear you say that." Xerxes told him.
Harry knew why as well. He got the feeling that Rabastan would let him
get away with much more than he would usually accept from anyone else
because they truly loved one another. Harry made a silent promise then
and there that he would never take advantage of that and he would never
take Rabastan for granted. He just wished that his family could trust him
and defend him when he needed them to, not blindly believe people like
Daphne who were trying to stir up trouble.
Harry had gotten to eat lunch with his family, with Narcissa who had
come home from a pleasant morning with her friends to find Harry at the
dining room table. She had been immediately worried, and she had
hurried to him, laying a small hand on his head to check for fever or
illness. Harry still felt all soft and gooey inside when he thought of her
immediate care for him.
She had been rightfully angry when told that Harry had been accused of
fathering Pansy's baby and she had burst out with a quick 'I don't believe
it, she isn't good enough for our son, Lucius!' as if she couldn't believe
that any of the men at the table would ever believe the letter that had
declared Harry the father.
That alone had reassured him more than anything else, more than
anyone else. She had immediately defended him and declared the letter a
lie without even knowing the source. That had been what he'd needed
from Lucius…from Rabastan, his own fiancé. That immediate denial and
the trust placed in him. Narcissa at least saw him as a son, a real member
of her family, and she was willing to fight his corner no matter what and
Harry clung to that tightly.
Harry had finished his meal and said goodbye to everyone. He'd had a bit
of a kiss and a cuddle with Rabastan and then he'd had to go back to
Hogwarts for his afternoon lessons. The catch-up work was going to
throw him out of his schedule a little, but if he stayed awake a little later
than he usually did, and sacrificed some sleep, then he would be able to
catch up relatively quickly. He was sure that Draco would help him at the
very least, perhaps even Blaise, and Theo too.
Dinner was rather lively, as Pansy found him and sat right beside him,
ignoring Draco's narrow-eyed gaze and the little hissed whispers that
flared up at the action. The Hogwarts rumour mill at work that he and
Pansy were expecting a baby together.
"Were you in much trouble?" She asked him.
Harry shook his head. "I explained everything and everyone calmed
down. How about you?"
"My father wanted to pull me from Hogwarts, to take me home as your
father did to you, but I refused and Dumbledore, as much as I hate him,
he refused to allow my father to take me. I just knew he'd perform some
curse to make me lose the baby if I had gone home with him."
Harry tried to control his disgust, but considering Pansy looked away and
avoided his gaze, he likely hadn't been all that successful.
"You're due in August, will you remain here for the holidays?"
Pansy nodded. "As much as I like going to the parties, it's safer if I remain
here. I wouldn't put it past my father to force me to marry Selwyn over
the holidays regardless that the pureblood laws allow Giovanni first
refusal. We are making plans for me to go straight to his home in Italy
once I graduate."
Harry laid a hand on her back, just for comfort. "You're away from
Selwyn now. You're seventeen, a legal adult, you can stay here for the
winter and Easter holidays and then have your baby, and Rowle will
claim you both."
"Thank you for what you did for me, Harry."
Harry just nodded and turned back to his meal.
Daphne couldn't help herself though, as she came into the hall and saw
them both sitting so close and cosy together.
"I never thought you'd be so desperate, Pansy. Then, I would get pregnant
by anyone I could too if I was being married to an ugly, old man. But
truly, a halfblood? Potter of all people?" She sneered before turning to
Harry. "I knew you were lying about being so in love with your fiancé."
She chuckled. "As if anyone could love a decrepit cripple."
"What are you talking about?" Harry asked loudly, raising a curious
eyebrow.
Daphne seemed taken aback, but she looked between them both and got
a second wind as she noticed everyone at their part of the Slytherin table
watching them.
"You two and your baby."
"I don't have a baby." Harry said.
"What does Harry have to do with my baby?" Pansy asked curiously,
playing up her surprise.
Daphne blinked in confusion as if the two of them were playing a game
where she didn't know the rules.
"Harry fathered your baby." She told them as if explaining something
they should have already known.
"No, he didn't." Pansy replied.
"I absolutely did not. I love Aceline and I would never have disrespected
her in such a way."
"But…then who…?" She mumbled, looking back at Pansy.
Harry had just known that Daphne was the one to send the letter to
Paimon Parkinson, probably to Lucius as well, telling them that he was
the one who had fathered Pansy's baby. It made him angrier to think that
they would rather believe her lies than trust that he hadn't done as
accused.
"None of your business!" Pansy snapped. "Just know that it isn't Harry
and I'm no longer marrying Selwyn!"
"Moving away from this embarrassing conversation, do you need any
help with your catch-up work, Harry?" Draco asked him, very firmly
changing the subject.
"I wouldn't say no to help, you know that. Homework club after dinner?"
He asked with a grin.
"Oh good, you can help me with that Defence essay we were just given."
Blaise answered.
Harry smirked. "Because I mastered the severing curse so quickly in class,
I was allowed to sit at the back of the room and write my essay."
"You've already done it?" Blaise demanded of him.
Harry nodded smugly.
"We're definitely having homework club then. Are we skipping study
hall?"
"We do better on our own and we all have different strengths so we can
all help one another out." Draco insisted. "I like homework club better
than study hall."
"Come on then, the sooner we start the more we can get done before
curfew."
"Are you patrolling the corridors tonight?" Astoria asked him.
Harry shook his head. "Tomorrow night." He answered.
He hated his duties as Head Boy sometimes, as they took away from his
sparse free time. It would look better on his dossier though, especially as
he hadn't been made a Prefect. He would put up with it, patrol the
corridors looking for students out of bed, not that he cared, it would be
highly hypocritical of him to chastise them for it when he was forever
wandering the corridors at night in his younger years. He smirked as he
thought of the invisibility cloak folded up carefully in his trunk.
The small group of them, including Pansy and Astoria, made it to Harry's
rooms and Harry tapped the keyhole with his wand, letting them all in.
He went to immediately make tea for his guests and make up a plate of
biscuits.
"Right, I want that Defence essay out of the way, so I'm starting there."
Blaise declared.
Harry brought the tray over and placed it in the middle of the coffee
table, letting people help themselves…he was only willing to play host to
a point and pouring their tea for them and offering milk and sugar was
definitely a step too far in his opinion.
He fetched the essay that he'd written in class, while his year mates had
struggled with the severing curse they were being taught, and he handed
it over to Blaise.
"I have to go through all of the material we missed in our morning classes
before I can even think of doing anything else." Harry sighed, getting out
the notes and catch-up work that Draco had gotten for him.
"It's not too bad." Draco assured him.
"History was a complete bust." Theo agreed. "Now that you've mentioned
it, and put it into my mind, I've started taking more notice of what Binns
is saying and doing. I can't believe I never noticed how biased he was!"
"How are you doing with those books I gave you?"
"I'm almost done and you were right, it was so informative. It's rather
dry, but I'm enjoying it all the same."
Harry smiled and nodded. He'd thought the same.
"Binns needs to be sacked and a teacher who knows what they're doing
needs to be brought in. I don't know what Dumbledore is thinking, letting
him stay here and teach us so poorly. Our own history!" Harry said,
shaking his head.
"When you're the Minister you can change what you want." Blaise told
him, waving a hand. "Until then, come and do your work."
"Wait, the Minister controls the curriculum?" Harry asked, sitting down
on the settee and grabbing himself some tea.
"Of course. Dumbledore does have some influence as the headmaster, but
the Ministry is still the controlling force. Did you really think
Dumbledore would have allowed Umbridge to teach us solely from books
in our fifth year if he'd had any choice in the matter? You can fire anyone
you want, though as we found out from Trelawney, you can't expel them
from the school."
Harry looked thoughtful. "The sooner that is done the better. I might
have a word with Thicknesse about it and see if he won't consider firing
Binns for incompetence."
"You are voting for Thicknesse then?" Theo asked him.
"I am being…coerced into voting for him, yes." He said evenly, even as he
looked over Draco's notes.
"We should all be voting for him." Pansy said softly. "We know that."
Harry nodded his agreement, no matter how much he didn't like it.
They all lapsed into silence, all working on their homework, swapping
notes, and essays, and Harry settled nice and easy as he caught up with
the work he'd missed and then started on his homework.
He was exceptionally pleased that, with the help of his friends, he was
able to finish all of his homework by half-nine that night. He breathed a
happy sigh and drained the last dregs of tea in his cup. He would bask in
the feelings of accomplishment for a few minutes before he took out his
law reforms and started the gruelling task of writing more paragraphs of
law changes. His estimate of being done by the New Year was dashed.
There was no way that he would be able to meet that self-imposed
deadline now. At the rate he was going, he'd be lucky if it was ready by
the time he graduated.
He sighed and put all of his homework away into the coloured folders he
used to keep everything organised and then grabbed his law reforms. He
was focusing more on the magical creature bill because that one was
more important. He would sort out the state of Azkaban, and the
Dementors, at a later date, but securing protection and rights for magical
creatures was definitely at the heart of his personality and of paramount
priority to him. He would focus on just that one for now and he would
hopefully finish it soon. But he didn't want to rush it either, he had to
absolutely make sure that his wording was precise and left no room to be
misinterpreted or misconstrued by anyone who would be reading it.
There could be no loopholes or absent legislation that left room for
people to exploit his written word. It was a very heavy burden; one
which he had taken on much too young and he felt the weight of it heavy
across his back and shoulders. But no one else had been doing anything
to help, no one else had thought to take on this burden. Harry had
realised that no one else cared and so he had taken on that mantle. No
one else was doing anything to help the magical creatures, so he would
do something about it.
"You've gotten so much done for that." Draco said, sounding surprised
and impressed. "It's twice as long as it was when I last saw it."
"I've been working on it every spare moment I've managed to claw out.
It's been difficult with everything I've taken on. My reading for the
Wizengamot, the translation work I need to do for these law reforms,
tutoring with Marcus and whatever work he gives me to do, I just…it's a
lot to take on, but this is just as important as everything else, if not more
so given that this legislation will affect people's lives. I wanted it done by
now so that I could pass it around and take criticism, and have a period
of time to edit and write it again, but it's not finished yet. This year has
been more difficult than even I had believed. Then, certain things outside
of my control have interfered with my time and prevented me from
working on things as much as I'd have liked to."
Pansy shifted next to him, but Harry didn't even look at her. She had
disturbed his plans and his schedule. He didn't blame her for it, he
couldn't as the situation she had been in was horrendous, but the notion
stood. She had disturbed him, she had disturbed his plans, and though he
had chosen to help her, he was now behind on all of his little personal
projects as a result.
"Can I have a look at it?" Draco asked him.
Harry debated it, then decided that it would be more useful to have
Draco read and criticise it than to write a few more paragraphs, so he
handed the reform over to Draco and then pulled over his stack of notes
for it and started jotting a few things down, just to keep everything clear
in his mind.
"This is amazing work, Harry." Draco praised. "I don't know why you're so
concerned for the magical creatures, but I can't see anything wrong with
this, or your wording."
"I'm concerned because no one else is." Harry said tightly, taking back his
law reform. "I'll get as many people as possible to read this through
before I submit it, but I just hope that it works, that I can get these
people, these magical creatures, the rights that they deserve and the
airtight laws they need to protect them."
It wasn't too long later that everyone left his rooms as the curfew
approached. Not one of them wanted to be caught by a Prefect, the Head
Girl, or worse, Filch. Harry said his goodbyes and then shut the door.
He took a deep breath and went to make himself a hot chocolate. He
deserved the little bit of extra luxury as he planned to tackle a good few
paragraphs of his creature law reform before he took a shower and went
to bed.
He sipped on the delicious drink and thought of Rabastan. He didn't
know why this was reminding him of his fiancé, but he suddenly wanted
to hear his voice desperately. He sighed and sat back, picking at the
bracelet on his wrist. He had never hated that his fiancé was a wanted
man more so than in that very moment when all he wanted was him to
come around and spend some time with him. It probably wouldn't have
been allowed even if he hadn't been an escapee of Azkaban, and a Death
Eater to boot, because of the strict, and restricting, pureblood traditions.
Harry calmed himself, it would be Christmas soon enough and he would
be out of the castle and back in Rabastan's arms before he knew it. He
would be kept very busy in the next several weeks until the holidays. It
was November now and it felt like time was slipping away from him as
he looked to his unfished law reform. He closed his eyes and pushed
away the sudden feeling of loneliness.
He drank down the last few swallows of hot chocolate and he placed
down the mug, sitting forward and picking up his quill, he pulled both
the law reform and his notes toward him. He could do this. He was
determined and ambitious enough and he would be seeing Rabastan very
soon. Perhaps it had been the short visit that morning to his lover that
had caused these sudden feelings, but he could push them aside easily
enough. He had more than enough things to keep him busy and occupied
until the winter holidays.
Harry inhaled deeply and dipped his quill into his inkwell. In his very
best handwriting he wrote out another complex, carefully thought out
paragraph. No matter how long this legislation took him to write, he
would not rush it.
He hoped that he had at least another good chunk of it written by the
time that the winter holidays rolled around so that he had a bit more to
show Lucius and Xerxes, and of course Rabastan and Rodolphus too. He
wanted to make them proud, but more than that, he wanted their older
opinions on what he was doing. Lucius and Xerxes had been sitting on
the Wizengamot for decades and they knew how these sorts of things
worked. They could help him immensely and he wasn't above asking. He
would do right by the magical creatures that others overlooked, or just
straight out abused and persecuted them because the laws were so flimsy,
and so thin, that there was nothing to stop people from discriminating
against entire groups of beings. Well, hopefully not for much longer,
Harry thought to himself as he sat back and looked at his newest
paragraph. He was getting there, slowly but surely, and very soon this
reform would be ready to be submitted to his fellow peers on the
Wizengamot. He would do his very best to help the magical creatures
gain the legal rights and protections that they were entitled to as living
beings, he refused to do any less.
A/N: I've been away from this plot for a little while, because the next
chapter includes a decision that will reverberate through the entire
plotline of this fic, and it needed to be handled carefully, or it could ruin
the entire story, but I believe I've managed to navigate through that very
complicated situation, so I can hopefully carry on with this fic a little
more.
A lot has happened since my last update, not least I've got a brand new
fic, The Antlered Lion posted, and I also have a brand new nephew,
Tommy, who was born in May this year. I finished my first uni course
too, passing with a distinction. I actually received the books for my next
course today, so I've got that to look forward to, but I do hope you
lovelies have enjoyed this update, and that you'll forgive me for taking
my time with it to get it just right. No matter how long it might take me
to update, I will not abandon this fic, or any fic.
StarLight Massacre. X
33. Wizengamot Defeats
Last Time
He would do right by the magical creatures that others overlooked, or just
straight out abused and persecuted them because the laws were so flimsy, and
so thin, that there was nothing to stop people from discriminating against
entire groups of beings. Well, hopefully not for much longer, Harry thought to
himself as he sat back and looked at his newest paragraph. He was getting
there, slowly but surely, and very soon this reform would be ready to be
submitted to his fellow peers on the Wizengamot. He would do his very best to
help the magical creatures gain the legal rights and protections that they were
entitled to as living beings, he refused to do any less.
Chapter Thirty-Three – Wizengamot Defeats
November seemed to be crawling by at a snail's pace, for all that Harry
was busy it seemed that the more he anticipated seeing Rabastan again,
the slower time passed.
The Professors were utterly ruthless in setting their homework
assignments and Harry was starting to feel the strain, the pressure on his
shoulders as he tried desperately to keep up with everything and make
sure the quality of his work didn't slip either.
Homework club, as they'd dubbed their little meetings in his private
rooms, had become an everyday occurrence. All of them were stressed
and getting snappish and short-tempered. Harry himself felt frazzled and
frayed at his very nerve endings and everything he was juggling was
starting to get on top of him.
He was in the middle of a Transfiguration lesson when the very worst
thing that could happen did happen, he felt the rings on his finger heat
up and he surged to his feet on reflex and he started packing his books
back into his bag.
"Mister Potter, is there a problem?" Professor McGonagall asked him
sternly.
"I apologise for the interruption, Professor, but a Wizengamot meeting
has been called and I have to attend."
McGonagall nodded her understanding. "I will give your work to Mister
Malfoy."
"Thank you, Professor, I appreciate it." He said, even as he swung his bag
onto his back and rushed from the classroom while his classmates sat and
stared at him. He hurried as fast as he could to his private rooms.
He was hot and sweaty after the run, so Harry quickly grabbed a glass,
filled it with water from the tap and downed it in several large, hard
gulps.
He threw his book bag onto the settee and hurried to his bedroom, taking
off his tie and undoing his school robes as he went.
He changed as quickly as he could into the plain black robes that he kept
hanging on the outside of his wardrobe door for such occasions as this.
He made sure that he was dressed impeccably, that his robe wasn't inside
out and that it wasn't wrinkled. He pulled a comb through his hair but
didn't fret too much about it, it never laid flat anyway so there was
nothing he could do about it except try to neaten it up a bit.
He grabbed the accompanying jewellery that Rabastan had picked out for
him, including cufflinks and a nice necklace. He didn't like dressing up
too much, but apparently, it was important to at least accessorise himself
a little.
He took an extra moment to take some deep breaths, to calm his heart
and breathing rate, and then he spun on the spot and Apparated to the
Ministry Atrium.
He took one step forward, then another, and after a brief moment the
crushed feeling in his lungs eased and his vision cleared. He hoped he
wasn't the last person in the room. It wasn't so bad if the other members
were still settling, or standing and talking to one another still, but if they
were all sat down, ready and waiting, and silent, it was humiliating to
walk in late. He didn't want that for himself, but it would be worse if he
came in half-dressed, scruffy, or heavily perspiring and out of breath.
He was thankfully on time, and everyone was still milling about and
greeting the other lords and Harry breathed out a soft breath and pulled
up his 'lord' façade and he started meeting and greeting other members of
the Wizengamot himself, engaging them with polite small talk until he
was finally able to sidle up to Lucius and Xerxes.
"Ah, there you are." Lucius greeted and gave him a critical once over,
then an approving nod.
"I was halfway through a Transfiguration lesson." Harry bitched. "The one
subject I couldn't really afford to miss out on. It would have only been
worse if it had been Potions."
"How are your lessons coming on?" Xerxes asked him, looking at him
closely and likely noting his exhausted black eyes.
Harry aborted a move to push his hand through his hair and he just
shook his head. "I'm still keeping ahead, but the amount of work we're
being set now means that I'm going to have several late nights to pick up
the work I'm missing out on to be here."
The two older men looked concerned at that.
"Perhaps you should cut down on a few extracurricular activities?" Lucius
suggested.
"I already have." Harry confessed. "I haven't touched my creature reform
bill in over a week, the one on Dementors in at least a month and a half.
I've stopped reading almost all of my extra reading material and I'm only
just keeping up with the work that Marcus is setting me. Everything else
is school-related."
"Are you still playing Quidditch?"
"Yes, but only because it's the only break, the only stress relief, that I get
from everything else. I really would have that breakdown that Basti fears
about if I was work, work, work all the time."
"The winter holidays are soon, you can rest at home." Lucius told him.
Harry snorted softly. "As if the Professors are going to allow that."
"Perhaps I should look into the state of the school, considering that I'm a
governor."
"You should. Twelve students have had breakdowns in the last fortnight."
Harry reported. "Thirty-seven have had breakdowns since the start of the
school year. It's not normal for seventeen-year-olds to be this stressed."
"They are clearly putting too much pressure on you students." Xerxes
remarked. "I am all for exacting standards on the future of our world, but
not at the cost of students' health. In my day, the work set was
challenging but manageable. We'd have an essay per subject, and perhaps
an additional worksheet as well."
"I wish that was all I had. Snape alone has set an essay that he wants two
rolls of parchment for, a questionnaire about an obscure ingredient and
its uses in potions, and the greasy git wants us to do a worksheet about
subtle temperature changes needed while brewing Amortentia. That's at
least six to eight hours' worth of research and writing before I get to any
other subject."
"I will bring this matter to the attention of the other governors and
schedule a meeting with Dumbledore presently." Lucius insisted.
The three of them eased into seats beside one another and, of course,
Harry was in between the two older men. Lord Paimon was giving Harry
death glares from across the room and he wasn't the only one, as Harry
spotted Bill and Charlie sitting beside one another and Giovanni Rowle
sat by himself, ready and waiting for the meeting to begin, resolutely not
looking in Harry's direction.
Damn, he really was making enemies at every turn. He needed to check
that and maybe take a break from making enemies for a while. The last
thing he wanted was to turn the entire Wizengamot against him before
he even had a chance to submit his creature reform bill. He wouldn't get
anywhere with it if everyone voted against it on principle just because
they didn't like him.
Everyone seemed to be present and accounted for as Runcorn came
striding in, slamming the door behind him and Harry heard the click of
the lock turning.
Runcorn went to his seat at the straight edge of the D-shaped table and
he looked at them all in turn as if counting them, or seeing if any of them
might be missing.
Harry's back automatically straightened, his body pulled taut as the
silence stretched on, thick and oppressive. Whatever had happened was
bad.
"I will not mince my words." Runcorn declared, breaking the silence. "A
vampire has been arrested and faces charges of capital murder."
There was a ripple of shock around the room, as people turned to their
neighbours and shared looks or remarks of shock and horror.
Harry wondered what the full story really was, he wondered if the
vampire had actually killed someone. It seemed likely given that they
had been arrested under a capital offence, with a capital punishment
attached, but with the state of the creature laws currently, he wouldn't be
surprised to find that the vampire had merely walked past the wrong
person, who had dobbed them into the Aurors.
"Who did it kill?" Someone asked and Harry knew just from the way that
that question had been phrased, with the vampire in question being
deemed an 'it', that he was going to have a fight on his hands. First,
though, he needed more information.
"No one, but he tried to turn a woman, his girlfriend."
There were murmurings of outrage and Harry frowned. That didn't sound
like the basis for capital murder to him, with an attached death penalty.
"This is unacceptable!" Lord Nott said angrily.
There was a murmur of agreement to his words from others and Harry
looked around, confused as to why there was such outrage when the
woman in question was still alive.
"I insist we vote immediately for execution!"
"No, we will have a debate for and against, as needed." Runcorn said,
cutting over the calls of agreement.
"Who would actually be against culling this creature?" Someone laughed
mockingly.
No one spoke, not even Harry. He needed more information and he knew
it. Lucius and Xerxes both shifted slightly towards him, almost as if
expecting him to speak up, but he didn't.
"See, Runcorn? No one wants to save it." Lord Nott said with an oily little
laugh.
"I will give you all relevant information and then we will debate as we
are charged to do so." Runcorn insisted.
Harry settled a little at hearing that. Runcorn was a good, dutiful Chief
Warlock. He did everything by the letter and Harry was grateful for that.
He didn't want to defend the vampire in question if he'd tried to turn
someone against their will, but for the same token if his girlfriend had
been willing to be turned then he didn't see the issue.
The people around the table settled a little after a moment of furious
murmuring and Harry set himself eagerly to listen to all the information
given to him. He could already see that he had an uphill battle to get
through.
"The accused is charged with trying to turn the woman in question, on
Thursday the twentieth of November, at eleven-twenty pm. Her family
raised concerns with the Aurors, who immediately went to the residence
in question and found the vampire in question mid-deed. Due to being
interrupted, the deed was unsuccessful."
"We cannot allow this to happen!" Paimon exploded. "We allow those
filthy creatures to exist and this is what they do? Attack people!"
Harry frowned at the tone, for the lack of sensitivity shown in the
wording, which would usually be condemned in this room, but people
were agreeing with Lord Paimon. They looked angry and unrelenting.
Political correctness had well and truly flown out of the window with this
case.
"Is the woman in question alright, Chief Warlock?" Harry asked softly.
Runcorn looked at him, really looked at him, and Harry felt like he was
under a microscope. What he said and did here, in this meeting, more
than any other, was going to influence people's views of him. He would
be judged for this debate, more than any other, because it was a matter
of personal views and not laws, and his views clearly didn't match up
with the majority of the room.
"She is perfectly fine and contesting the charges put upon her partner.
She claims that she wanted to be turned into a vampire so that they could
be together for eternity."
Harry frowned at that.
"So why is he being charged?" Harry couldn't help asking.
"It's against the law for them to turn people!" Harvey Greengrass snapped
at him.
"I've not come across this law. Where is it written?" Harry asked in a ploy
at politeness, but his words were steel.
He had combed through every magical creature law he could find for his
reforms and that piece of legislation had never come up, not in a single
book. If it was a real law then it was a very well hidden one, but he was
gambling that it wasn't actually an official law written down into
enforceable legislation.
"Who cares where it is written?! These animals cannot be allowed the
freedom to create more of their cursed kind!" Yaxley snapped.
"If it's not against the law then no crime has been committed!" Harry
answered, breathing deeply to control himself, especially after that Daily
Prophet article. The last thing he wanted was to prove them right. He
would not shout at the other members, no matter how much he might
like to. He wouldn't even raise his voice, no matter what happened in this
room today.
"Lord Potter-Black raises an excellent point." Dawson spoke up and Harry
felt so relieved at that moment to find some form of support here in this
room today. "I would like definitive proof that this is an existing law and
not just old prejudices at play."
Runcorn held still for a moment, as if he wanted to refuse, but then he
nodded sharply. He pulled a piece of purple memo paper towards him
and wrote a short message on it before tapping it with his wand. It folded
itself into a plane and zoomed off.
"We will take a short break." He told them and immediately the tone of
the conversation that started up was angry, and louder than usual.
"Harry, I don't think this is a debate that you can win." Lucius told him
seriously.
"It's not a law." Harry replied stubbornly.
"Regardless of that, I don't think anyone here will vote with you on this."
Xerxes tried.
"There shouldn't be a vote, like there wasn't when that wizard was caught
trying to get into his wife's bank vault. How can we vote on something if
there's no law against it?"
"I can tell you now that there absolutely will be a vote on this and it
won't go the way that you want it to." Xerxes said seriously. "Harry, don't
debate this. Please."
"I'd debate this even if I was on my death bed."
Lucius and Xerxes shared a worried look, but Harry ignored them both.
He was serious and he was going to debate his heart out because an
innocent person depended on it. There was no law about vampires biting
others who had asked to be turned. He was certain of that because he
would have assuredly come across it by now in his research of the
creature laws. The woman, the supposed victim of this crime, had asked
to be turned by her partner and was actually insisting on them not
charging her partner. They had wanted to be together forever, and yes,
perhaps their circumstances might change later on in life, or after a few
centuries, who could say? But that didn't take away from the fact that
right now their feelings were so strong that they wanted to stay together.
The room was tense and there was almost an electric charge to the air as
angry whispers bounced back and forth. It only got worse when a purple
memo plane flew back into the room, stopping all conversation as
Runcorn took the piece of purple parchment and opened it up, reading it
critically, a furrow appearing between both eyebrows on his forehead.
"Ladies and gentle, this meeting will now resume, it is two-fifty-three in
the afternoon on Friday the twenty-first of November." He all but
snapped.
Runcorn didn't look happy as he looked down and wrote something with
sharp movements of his hand before looking up at them all. He could
barely meet Harry's eye.
"Lord Potter-Black is correct. No such law exists." He said, a hint of anger
to his voice.
"How can this be?!" Someone burst out angrily.
"The law is absolute that only those who are turned against their will, or
attempted to be turned against their will, can be brought before the
court. Given that the woman in question has formally stated that she
asked to be turned, under the letter of the law she gave her permission
for such a thing and therefore no law has been broken."
There was uproar. People started shouting over one another, arguing
with neighbours, or even those across the table from them, but Harry had
known all along that this was not a matter of law, but of prejudice.
Voldemort had ordered his followers to help in the Wizengamot to allow
the magical creatures who supported him to have more freedom to roam,
but that apparently didn't extend to when they wanted to 'breed' or, in
this case, create a new vampire.
"Her family were against it!" Rosier stated.
"The woman in question is thirty-four. She is an adult and capable of
making her own decisions." Runcorn stated, as if he'd rather not.
"Considering that she wanted to become a filthy bloodsucker, perhaps we
could get her mental health assessed? Perhaps we could make a case for
diminished responsibility and follow her family's wishes instead of her
own?"
"That is unbelievably condescending." Harry pointed out. "She isn't a
child to be treated as if the decision she's made for herself is a matter of
questioning her mental health!"
"You're a child yourself, Potter!"
"You will not speak to my son in such a tone." Lucius warned, cutting
over Harry who had opened his mouth to reply, but instead, he inhaled
and sat back, allowing Lucius to handle this. "You will address him by his
lawful title or not at all."
Vincent Rosier looked like he would burst a blood vessel.
"I will remind everyone here that civility will be kept." Runcorn put in
sternly. "Lawful titles will be used where applicable at all times."
Dawson raised a finger, just barely, but Runcorn turned to him.
"This body recognises Lord Dawson Shacklebolt and will hear him."
"I am just wondering why this is still being debated when no law has
been broken." He said firmly. "We have already established that fact, so
what are we actually debating here?"
"I believe we were debating the mental health, or lack thereof, of the
alleged victim." Yaxley cut in, sliding a sly look at Harry.
"I don't believe that people are considered mentally ill just because they
do something you don't approve of, Lord Yaxley." Harry said sharply.
"This isn't a question of mental health, or even concern, this is about bias
and prejudice, neither of which should have a voice in this room."
"We cannot encourage this behaviour! It needs to be stopped, right now."
"What behaviour is that?" Harry asked poisonously.
"Breeding! Creating more of those creatures!"
"That is also not against the law." Harry pointed out.
"It should be!"
"But it's not." Dawson cut in. "Nothing that has happened, nothing we are
being asked to discuss here today, has broken any law."
"I believe we should still vote on this." Philip Nott stuck his nose in.
"It isn't a law to be voted on." Harry said angrily.
"I insist upon it."
Runcorn looked at all of them for a silent minute. Then nodded.
"We will vote on this matter." He declared.
Harry felt his anger surge, but he tempered it back down. He couldn't
prove that article right. He had done too much to try and fix the damage
done to his reputation to undo it all in one afternoon. Instead, he shared
a look with his only vocal ally, Dawson, and from that small look, they
both conveyed that they knew that what was happening now was illegal.
"All those in favour of doing nothing." Runcorn called out. "Raise your
wands."
There were less than a dozen of them. Bill and Charlie also raised their
wands, as did some department heads. It wasn't nearly enough.
"All those in favour of execution." Runcorn asked.
Harry had known that he'd lost this debate, almost as soon as he'd heard
the subject matter, which is how he was able to sit stoically as a sentence
of execution was ruled down upon a man who hadn't broken any laws.
What was worse in his mind was that both Xerxes and Lucius had voted
for execution…they had voted against him.
"The vote is split in favour of execution. This body has made a decision."
Runcorn said, taking his time to select a coloured stick of wax, red this
time, before stamping it with one of the dozens of seals before him, then
tapping the decree with his wand, making the parchment fold itself up
and then putting it in a tray before him.
Harry tried not to let anything of his thoughts or emotions show, as he
was forced to remain where he was, knowing that people were staring at
him, looking at him, watching him for a reaction. Those enemies he had
made were trying to catch his eye, smirking, wanting to rub this defeat
in. He could understand it from the young Giovanni, but many of these
lords were over fifty and in Harry's opinion, they should remember to
behave like it.
Harry had not been able to debate this issue, no one had been willing to
listen to him. No laws had been broken, but there had also been no laws
in place to protect the vampire in question. The Wizengamot had been
able to pervert justice to their own will because of those loopholes. This
was a learning experience for him…in his own reforms he would have to
shore up those sorts of loopholes, and as terrible as it was, as sad as it
was that an innocent man had just lost his life, this meeting today had
shown him exactly what to look for when writing his own laws.
"All business is concluded." Runcorn was saying. "Be sure to keep your
rings on your fingers to hear of the next meeting."
As easy as that they were dismissed and Harry immediately sprang to his
feet and nimbly weaved away from Lucius and Xerxes. He didn't even
want to look at them, let alone speak to them.
Instead, he fell in with Dawson, who was with Danforth Longbottom,
another of the Ancients who had voted with him and Dawson.
"It was a hideous misuse of the laws." Danforth was saying and Dawson
nodded seriously.
"Lord Potter-Black, how are those law reforms coming?" Dawson asked
him formally, catching sight of him and inviting him into their
conversation. "If ever we needed a change in the laws, I believe this
meeting has proven that it needs to be soon."
"They aren't ready." Harry admitted, trying to quash down his rage and
upset so much that it made his voice waver.
"Don't let this meeting halt your progress." Danforth told him, seeing
through him immediately. "We all lose debates from time to time and it is
not a reflection on you personally. Dawson and I both lost today as well."
"It was a hell of a debate to lose." Harry pointed out.
"Our opinions are noted down for all to see." Dawson sighed. "If this ever
falls back on the Wizengamot, we will not be held accountable for we
tried to carry out our duties within the law."
"Does it happen often?" He asked then, curiously. "The Wizengamot
overruling existing laws for their own purpose?"
"It happens more now than it used to." Danforth told him. "The old laws
need to be reviewed and new laws need to be voted into place to stop
miscarriages of justice like this from happening."
"You conducted yourself very well." Dawson told him, laying a large hand
on his shoulder. "Danforth is right, don't let this setback stop you from
forging forward. You are the future of the wizarding world, you and your
peers, not the ancient, crumbling men in that room. You can change this
world, Harry, you just need to believe in yourself."
Harry didn't feel like he could do anything of the sort. He felt lost, cut
adrift in the ocean. He was still new to all of this and when it felt like
even his family were against him…what hope did he honestly have?
"I have to get back to school." He said. "Please excuse me."
They had made it to the atrium and Harry went to walk to one of the free
spaces to Apparate back to Hogwarts.
"Harry, a word."
He turned to look at Lucius, who was standing with Xerxes. They had
been following sedately behind, out of earshot, waiting for him to end his
conversation. Harry wasn't ready to see them, he didn't want to hear any
excuses.
He turned away and carried on.
"Do you not want to come home and see your mother?" Lucius asked
quietly, but no one was listening to them so he could have said what he'd
really meant.
Harry knew that Rabastan was likely at Malfoy Manor. Perhaps his fiancé
came over every time a meeting was called to see him for an hour or so
before he went back to school and Harry did want to see him, always.
What stopped him was the thought of listening to him and Rodolphus
discuss the meeting, the names he would be called for voting against the
execution, he couldn't listen to it, he didn't want to hear it. Not from
Rabastan.
So he turned around and carried on walking away from Lucius and
Xerxes. He made it to a free spot and he went back to Hogwarts, his heart
feeling too heavy, his mind feeling muddled and slow.
His room was too quiet, too still. He ripped off the Wizengamot robes and
all the jewellery that went with it. He changed from the uniform he had
underneath. He wasn't in the right mind frame to deal with any of his
lessons. He couldn't think about anything else, other than the falsely
accused vampire who was very soon going to be executed because of
prejudice and not because of law.
Narcissa looked expectantly behind her husband and then turned a frown
onto him when Harry didn't follow him through the door.
She laid a hand on Lucius' chest to stop him from kissing her as he
usually did.
"Where is our son?" She demanded.
Lucius sighed and patted her hand.
"He lost his first Wizengamot debate." Xerxes explained.
"So why didn't you bring him back here so that he could be reassured by
his family?" Narcissa demanded.
"He refused to come, Cissa."
"Why?" Rabastan asked. "Is he truly so upset about one loss? We knew the
first would be difficult for him, but he is no child to throw a tantrum over
such things."
"No, he conducted himself in an exemplary manner for one so emotional
and temperamental." Xerxes sighed, sitting down. "I was proud of the way
he handled his loss."
"Then what happened?" Narcissa asked. "Why did he not return home
with you?"
The two men shared a look, something passing between them, and
Narcissa drew herself up, narrowing her eyes on both of them.
"I think that you had better tell me everything." She ordered.
"It was the subject matter more than anything." Lucius told her, lowering
his head into a hand in a show of stress that he didn't usually allow in
front of others.
"What could be so bad that Harry would not want to come home?" She
asked when Lucius refused to elaborate.
"He failed to save a vampire from execution." Xerxes told her, after
looking at Lucius, still with his head in his hand.
"Why would he want to save it?" Rodolphus immediately asked.
"You know the boy he is." Xerxes waved off, and Narcissa grew angry on
Harry's behalf.
"Do not speak of my son in such a way in my own home." She demanded
of them both furiously.
"No offence was meant, Narcissa." Xerxes immediately tried to soothe her.
"From your tone, it was intended." She said unrelentingly. "Harry is a
wonderful person and a better one than most! He will change this world,
mould it to his intentions, I know it. He needs our support, not our
criticism."
She stared at all four men, all but glaring at them.
"Tell me what happened during this meeting." She demanded. "Harry
would have been upset to have lost such a critical debate, but he would
have sought comfort from his family. There is something that you are not
saying. I will not have secrets kept from me about my own child!"
The two men shared another look with one another and her patience
wore thin.
"Lucius! Do not make me beg for details about my children."
"He tried to debate to keep the vampire alive, Cissa. Knowing the other
lords as you do, do you really believe that he would have won them
around? That he ever could have? Nothing he said in that room would
have changed their minds."
"No, but nor do I think that Harry would have reacted like this if
something else hadn't happened."
"It wasn't a law." Xerxes told her after a slight hesitation. "He was right
and the vampire hadn't broken any law, so we should never have voted
upon it, but there was a loophole that Runcorn exploited. Harry saw his
first case of miscarriage of justice and I believe it left a bitter taste in his
mouth."
"More likely it has taken the wool from his eyes." Rodolphus pointed out.
"Before this, he would have believed that justice and law would be fully
upheld and he has been proven wrong. He saw today that the
Wizengamot can ignore laws and still vote for an outcome that is
unlawful, and get away with it."
"I wish he had come home, I could have comforted him." Rabastan said,
looking upset and angry.
Narcissa scrutinised him for sincerity and nodded to herself when she
found what she was looking for. Rabastan meant what he said.
"He is an emotional boy." Rodolphus said. "Let him have time to calm
down first, then offer him a dinner date where you can see him. What
were the details of this meeting? What had the vampire done?"
"He'd tried to turn his girlfriend." Xerxes said in distaste.
"That is against the law, surely?" Rodolphus burst out angrily.
"It would have been if she hadn't asked him to do so. We received a
sworn statement from her that it was what she wanted. Harry was correct
that consensual turning isn't against the law."
"It should be." Rodolphus growled.
"Harry put in a good effort, but it fell onto deaf ears." Lucius said,
shaking his head. "That was a debate he was never going to win. His only
hope was that Runcorn upheld the law, but he didn't. Barely a dozen
people voted with Harry to stay the execution."
"How did you vote?" Rodolphus asked suspiciously.
"With Harry, of course." Narcissa cut in angrily, narrowing her eyes on
Rodolphus.
The two men shared another look and Narcissa turned her glare onto
them.
"You did vote with Harry, didn't you?" She said threateningly.
"It wasn't going to pass through anyway." Xerxes explained. "I felt that I
couldn't, in good conscience, vote to save a disgusting vampire in such a
situation."
"Lucius…"
"I voted for execution." Her husband told her and Narcissa despaired of
them both.
"You said that the motion would have failed to pass regardless." She said
calmly…too calmly. "If you knew it was going to fall through anyway
why didn't you choose to support Harry?"
"That is why Harry didn't come back here." Rabastan said angrily. "It
wasn't because he lost the vote, it was because you didn't support him!"
"What would you have done, Rabastan?" Xerxes asked him seriously.
"Nothing is more important to me than Harry. I would have supported
him, given him something to hold onto, to comfort him, especially if I
knew that the vote was going to go against him anyway! All you have
done is make him feel worse, more isolated from his family. He's already
fretting that he doesn't belong and you're making it worse!"
"When did he say as such?" Narcissa demanded.
"When no one thought to ask him if he'd fathered Parkinson's baby and
just assumed that he had from the letter sent. He admitted then that he
felt like he didn't belong. Don't you see that this is only going to reinforce
those feelings in him?"
Narcissa watched as Rabastan stood to leave. He was visibly angry and
had only come to the manor to see Harry. Harry who was likely feeling
so lost and alone that he hadn't felt able to come home.
"Lucius. Harry is trying to become the Minister for Magic. How do you
think he will fare in that colossal endeavour if other people see you
publically going against him?" She asked waspishly.
"I understand, dear."
"Do not try to disarm me with platitudes." She snapped then, turning
furious eyes onto him. "Did you truly feel so strongly about this one case
that you decided, even knowing that Harry wasn't going to get the votes
he needed to win, to salt his wounds also? Your own son!"
"I'm unused to tempering my vote for anyone else's consideration, Cissa."
"Don't lie to me. You temper your vote for your allies and for the Dark
Lord. You can easily do so for your son who desperately needed some
support."
She stood and glared down at the two men before her.
"If this destroys Harry or his plans for the future, I shall not forgive you.
Either of you."
She left the parlour, intending to write Harry a letter. She would offer
him her support so that he knew he wasn't entirely alone. She would
always be on the side of her sons and she was very pleased that Rabastan
thought the same as she did and that he would be writing Harry his own
letter. Having his fiancé backing him would go a long way to helping
Harry over this obstacle.
Harry trudged down to the great hall for dinner and only then because he
wanted to collect his catch-up work from Draco. He went to the Slytherin
table and found the blonde sitting with Astoria.
"There you are!" Draco said, relieved. "Did the meeting really take so
long?"
"You know I'm not allowed to discuss the meetings." He said primly,
sitting down.
Draco shot a look to the staff table, making sure everyone was up there,
before turning back and whispering. "After dinner?"
Harry sighed and nodded. "I need to catch up on my school work
anyway."
"Homework club?" Blaise asked.
"Thankfully, it is the weekend and you can use this time to catch up
now." Astoria told him.
Harry didn't think it mattered as he was sure he wasn't going to get much
done anyway. He was too distracted and he was already wondering if the
vampire had been executed yet. Had an innocent man already been killed
just because Harry hadn't been able to enforce the law?
He felt so naïve. How could he possibly think that he, a seventeen-year-
old still in school, could change society? That he could write laws or
reforms? He'd been an idiot. Not even Xerxes or Lucius were willing to
support him.
He picked at his meal, not putting much on his plate and eating even less.
He didn't want to discuss the meeting, but when Draco said that he was
finished, Harry dropped his fork and stood, done with the pretence of
eating.
"You have my work?" Harry asked him.
Draco patted his book bag.
Harry nodded and led Draco, Astoria, Blaise, Theo, and Pansy up to his
room. He was silent on the trip. Withdrawn. His mind was heavy with
thoughts and he felt rather listless.
"Are you going to open the door or just stare at it?" Draco asked him in
concern.
Harry blinked and only then realised that he'd stopped in front of the
portrait that covered the door to his rooms. He threw a hand through his
hair.
"Are you okay?" Blaise asked worriedly.
Harry just sighed as an answer and took out his wand, tapping the
keyhole and letting them in. They automatically moved to his sitting area
and Harry went to sit beside Draco.
"Here's your work, Harry, but tell me what happened first. You're…not
yourself." He said, his eyes widening. "Have you been slipped a potion?"
"No, Draco."
"You would say that, though."
Harry managed a weak smile. "It's not potions. I'm just…I lost my first
Wizengamot debate today."
"Is that all?" Draco asked, his shoulders slumping in relief. "I know father
has told you that everyone loses at some point. It's unrealistic to expect
to win every debate, Harry."
"My loss saw an innocent man executed."
"What?" Theo exclaimed, looking shocked.
"Merlin, no wonder you're acting like this." Blaise said, shaking his head.
"You know for certain that he was innocent?" Astoria asked, her blue eyes
wide with horror.
Harry nodded miserably. "I witnessed the Wizengamot understand that
no crime had been committed and then vote to execute him anyway."
"I think you need to tell us everything that happened." Draco said. "How
can such a thing have happened?"
"Don't the Wizengamot only execute magical creatures? Humans are
usually sentenced to Azkaban." Blaise pointed out. "The only exception is
being sentenced to the Dementor's Kiss, but that sentence is exceptionally
rare. Not even the Lestranges got sentenced to the kiss. No offence to
your fiancé, of course."
Harry threw a hand through his hair and covered his face. He shook his
head and looked back up at his friends. "He was a vampire, but it doesn't
matter. He still did nothing wrong. He hadn't broken any laws. He was
executed for prejudice and not for any crime committed."
"But…why do you care so much?" Draco asked. "It was just a vampire."
"Draco!" Theo snapped.
Harry stared at Draco, trying to control his anger.
"Do you not care at all that he was innocent?" Harry demanded. "Do you
not care that he hadn't broken any laws and was given a sentence of
execution merely for existing?!"
Harry shook his head and stood, striding to the door.
"Harry, where are you going?"
"I've got to get away from here, away from you people."
Harry shoved the door open and then slammed it shut. He let his anger
carry him out of the castle and he hesitated a moment, wondering if he
wanted to go and talk to Hagrid about this, but while he thought that
Hagrid might talk to him about the wrongful execution, he didn't want
the load of pro-Dumbledore bullshit he was likely to get either. His feet
changed course and took him to the Owlery.
Hedwig immediately fluttered down to his shoulder, nibbling his ear
affectionately.
"Have I made a mistake, Hedwig?" He asked her softly. "I thought…I
thought I could fit in, but I don't. I don't fit into the pureblood circles any
more than I fit in with the Dursleys."
Hedwig gave a soft hoot and Harry smiled, lifting a hand to scratch at her
head.
"I aimed too high. I thought I could be a law-maker, that I could reform
wizarding society, but I was just being stupid. They were just humouring
me, probably laughing at me behind my back. I don't know what to do
anymore."
Hedwig hooted again and nuzzled into the side of his face.
"Where do I go from here?" He asked. "Who do I trust?"
Harry sat himself on the floor and just cuddled with Hedwig for a while,
settling her into his lap and wishing he'd thought to bring some owl
treats for her, but from the crunching bones underneath him, none of the
owls were starving.
His mind was still scattered, his temper not any better, when he decided
he had spent enough time with the owls. Instead, a dangerous thought
took root. He needed advice and there was only one person he trusted to
give him what he needed, but it would mean breaking school rules.
He shook his head. He'd never cared about school rules before he'd been
adopted, he had regularly wandered the corridors in the dead of night,
sneaking into the restricted section of the library, or onto forbidden
floors, he had flown a thestral to London…his mind cut off and tried to
backtrack on his thoughts of Sirius. He really wanted, needed, to speak to
Remus.
He thought of Grimmauld Place and twisted on the spot, appearing in the
basement kitchen and startling Remus so badly that Harry heard his
teacup smash.
"Bloody…Harry?! Why aren't you in school? What has happened? Are
you okay?"
Remus fussed around him so much that Harry turned to him and started
crying.
"Harry?!" Remus said more urgently. "What happened? I need you to
answer if you are hurt."
"I'm not hurt." Harry snuffled, still clinging to Remus.
"Come and sit down, let me get you some tea."
Harry was sat at the table and Remus bustled about getting more tea,
waving his wand to clear up the broken china and the spilt tea from the
floor.
Harry was given his cup and on the saucer was a chocolate bar. Harry
had to give Remus a smile.
"Can you tell me what happened? Is it Aceline?"
Harry shook his head and dug his hanky from a pocket and wiped his
eyes and his nose.
"Is it perhaps the Wizengamot meeting that happened this afternoon?"
Harry sniffed hard and nodded.
"I made a terrible mistake."
"I'm told that you conducted yourself well. That you fought to save an
innocent man. How can that be a mistake, Harry?"
"Not…not that." Harry admitted.
"Then what?"
"Thinking I could be something I'm not. Thinking that I could be a law-
maker, that I fit in. I'm not like them."
"The purebloods have never cared for magical creatures, Harry. They will
try to manipulate us and use us for all that they can, but they don't care.
You are nothing like them."
"I've never felt so alone." Harry confessed. "I was so naïve and I thought I
could change everything and I can't."
"You are never alone." Remus told him.
Harry swallowed hard and knew that he couldn't even tell Remus of
everything, because he couldn't mention Rabastan, or Rodolphus. He
couldn't say how he felt adrift from his own fiancé, or his adoptive family
and his in-laws.
"What have they said to you, Harry?" Remus asked him.
"It's not that they said anything, it's stupid, but they didn't support me in
the Wizengamot."
"And you expected them to?" Remus asked him and Harry could hear
from his tone that he too thought him very naïve.
"Family is supposed to support family. I spoke first. I cast my decision for
all to see and they didn't, so I expected them to vote with me, even if
they didn't debate to help sway others…but they didn't."
"And that broke so-called pureblood etiquette?"
Harry nodded. "It makes me feel like they don't see me as family."
"How can they, Harry?" Remus asked him. "They adopted you only a year
ago. I know they've made you feel valued and cared for, but all they've
done is use you, manipulate you into thinking they care and now that
they're getting what they want, they're showing their true colours. I
warned you not to trust them, there's a reason that Sirius always tried to
get as far away from them as possible."
Harry felt even worse for hearing that and he wrapped his arms around
himself.
"Eat some chocolate, Harry. Drink your tea. You'll feel better."
Harry reached out to take the chocolate and he nibbled on it, staring off
at the wall.
"I don't mean to make you feel worse, but it is the truth as I know it."
Harry nodded and heaved out a sigh.
"Is the mistake you mentioned making trying to convince yourself that
you could be pureblooded? Or that you trusted them?"
Harry said nothing for a while as he ate some chocolate and then took a
drink of tea.
"I don't know. I don't know what I'm feeling or how to handle it. Remus,
I've never had a family so I don't know what's normal. How do I know if
they see me as a member of the family? How do I know if they love me
like they claim?"
"The fact that you're having these sorts of doubts, Harry, should be all the
answer you need."
Harry shook his head. "No, because I have never had a family. I don't
know, Remus. I don't have any sort of model to base it on. I don't know
how normal families behave…"
"What about the Weasleys?"
Harry's head snapped up and he stared at Remus. "Are you forgetting that
they turned on me too? That they stole my stuff and destroyed it?! That
they tried to destroy my Firebolt, the one gift I had off of Sirius?!" Harry
calmed then and looked back at the tabletop. "Maybe the problem is me."
"There is nothing wrong with you." Remus told him seriously,
immediately.
"Remus, I feel like no one likes me." Harry admitted.
"I do." He said right away. "Harry, you do have people who love you, you
need to calm yourself and look properly, and you'll see it. You have so
many people who want to help you, protect you."
The only one Harry could think of was Rabastan. At that moment he just
wanted his fiancé. The disparaging words Rabastan always aimed at
house-elves ran through his head and he closed his eyes. Rabastan likely
wouldn't have cared a damn about the vampire either, innocent or not.
"Are you seeking a way out of your adoption?" Remus asked him
carefully.
"What does it matter?" Harry demanded. "I didn't even know I was being
adopted, Remus. I don't have a say in it until I graduate."
"But…we could protect you more if we knew, Harry. You could spend
your holidays here, or at Hogwarts if you preferred. You graduate in
seven months and then your decisions are your own."
Harry shook his head. "Lucius can pull me from school whenever he
wants."
"If we knew you didn't want to, or if you would be harmed, the
headmaster can refuse to allow you to leave the school. Are you being
hurt or threatened at home, Harry?"
Harry laughed. He couldn't help it. In all his years with the Dursleys, who
were abusing him, no one had asked him that. Now that he was with a
family who were caring for him and because they were purebloods he
was being asked what his home life was like. People expected the
Malfoys to be hurting him, so they asked. No one had expected the
Dursleys to be hurting him, so he had been left with them, but it was the
other way around.
"Harry?"
He shook his head. "No. I'm not being hurt or threatened. Just…I guess
I've gotten used to having an opinion, to being heard, and I feel like I'm
not being listened to. I'm being made to feel like a stupid child who
they're just indulging. No one is taking me seriously and that…it's
annoying, but also upsetting."
"If they ever hurt you, Harry, promise that you'll tell me. Promise that
you'll come to me."
Harry nodded. "I will, but I don't fear them hitting me. I fear…maybe not
even fear, but I worry that they see me as a curious little oddity. I'm not a
pureblood and no amount of pretending will ever give me that…mindset?
Is it culture? Tradition? I don't even know, but I'll never be like them and
I guess I just worry that they don't understand me."
"I am glad you aren't like them, Harry." Remus told him seriously. "You
are James' boy. Lily's boy. I couldn't watch as you turned into someone
more like Lucius Malfoy."
"That'll never happen." Harry said. "Remus, I'm not like them, I can't be.
Today only proved it. I know I'm stubborn and headstrong, I have my
own opinions, and it's not so much that people have different opinions to
me that bothers me, it's that they don't take my opinions seriously. Even
now they think I'm just a child playing at being Lord Potter-Black."
"For what it's worth, I think you're doing a wonderful job."
Harry smiled at that. He'd really needed to hear it.
"Thank you, Remus."
"Now, does anyone actually know you're here or have you just left
Hogwarts of your own volition? Remember that I know those rings on
your finger give you the luxury of Apparating from Hogwarts grounds."
"I…I just needed to see you." He admitted. "I didn't want to send a letter
and asking you to come to visit me at the school would take too long. I
needed this now. I felt like I had no one else to turn to."
"You can always come to me, Harry. Even if you are supposed to be in
the castle."
Harry grinned then, feeling better, a little lighter.
"If things start getting on top of you again, you can always come to me,
you know where I am. You're not supposed to leave the castle, but you
are an adult now too."
Harry threw a hand through his hair. "I'm hoping it blows over, that I get
an apology and we can all move forward. I know I'm still in school, but
you're right, I am seventeen, I'm an adult. I need to feel like I'm being
treated as such."
"You know the best way to do that is to act like an adult…to prove them
wrong." Remus carried on quickly before Harry could angrily point out
that he did act like an adult, and that sometimes it was all he could do to
hold onto his temper in the Wizengamot meetings. "If they see you as a
child, Harry, arguing with them won't help. In fact, it will make things
worse and just reinforce that you are a child in their minds. Instead, you
have to behave like the adult you are and then you can prove their
opinion of you wrong. From what I've heard about your Wizengamot
meetings that's exactly what you're doing too. You need to keep that up."
"I'm trying, but I feel now that I was just kidding myself. I can't do this,
Remus. I can't change anything."
"You already are, Harry. You're already changing things and creating
waves around you. People who say otherwise are simply afraid of what
you might do to change what they have now. Remember that those who
are benefiting from the way the laws are worded, or the skewed
curriculums, the omitted history, of course they're going to resist change.
They're going to try to get you, or anyone else who threatens their way of
life, to stop by any means necessary. You need to ignore them and you
need to think instead of the people you could help with what you're
doing. Who are you going to help, Harry? Who will benefit from your
plans and ambitions? Whose lives would be changed by your law
reforms?"
Harry thought of the magical creatures, oppressed and living in poverty,
and his wavering resolve steeled itself. He thought about his charities,
one of which was directly dealing with magical creatures and their need
for more legal rights. How could he even think of giving up when he
knew how they were suffering?
"You're right, Remus. I can't stop now. I've already come so far."
"I don't think I've told you, Harry, how very proud I am of you."
Harry settled and his emotions went from stressed, upset, and angry, to
just calm. He could see things rationally again and he was glad to feel
more stable, more normal.
"Was there anything else that you needed?" Remus teased.
Harry laughed and wiped his face with his sleeve. "No, I need to get back
before anyone realises that I'm not only missing, but not in the school."
"I suggest Apparating back to your room." Remus told him with a
mischievous smirk.
Harry snorted and nodded his agreement. "Yeah. I'll see you soon, and…
Remus, thank you for listening to me."
"Any time, Harry. You should know that by now. You're all I have left
too."
Harry stood and hugged Remus, feeling his heavy heart lighten as he was
hugged back.
"Go on now, and make sure you're keeping up with your homework."
"Yes, Professor Lupin." Harry teased.
Remus gave him a scolding look, and it was the last thing Harry saw
before he Apparated back to his private rooms. He made sure that he
arrived in his bedroom and he listened hard, closely for a moment at the
door, but he heard nothing. No one was out there, but even still he took a
careful peek out.
His rooms were empty and he sighed in relief.
Harry went to lock the door as a priority and then he went to put his
kettle on the stove, boiling some water for a cup of tea. His talk with
Remus had re-inspired him. He would work on his creature law reform
tonight, before his doubts came surging back and halted any progress he
made on it.
Draco had left his notes and the homework he had to catch up on, on the
coffee table and Harry pushed it all aside. There was a note there too, but
he ignored it. Instead, he got his law reform out and his stack of notes.
He wondered if he'd made a mistake with it, especially if his family all
liked it so very much. He planned to go through it all again, paragraph
by paragraph, from the very beginning, and he was going to need to filter
it through the eyes of a magical creature. After all, he was trying to write
legislation that dealt with their lives, and not being a magical creature
himself, none of these laws would affect him. Maybe he should have
Remus read through it…or take it to the founders of the Coalition for
Understanding Magical Creatures. That way he could have actual magical
creatures read it through and maybe they would see something that
humans would just completely overlook.
Harry made a note to do just that. He needed to make some time for his
charities in the coming weeks anyway, certainly before December came
around because he had Umbridge's trial to deal with then. He was going
to be removed from the Wizengamot for that, purely because he was
going to be one of the main witnesses. He could only hope that without
him there that Lucius and Xerxes actually voted to imprison Umbridge.
Feeling the edge of sadness coming back, Harry shook away those
thoughts and went to make his tea. He had work to do on his reform. He
didn't care what anyone said, he wouldn't give up and he would make
time to go to the magical creature coalition and ask them what sorts of
protections they needed to be written into law. Even if it took him his
entire lifetime, he was going to get the magical creatures the rights that
they deserved.
Harry stayed holed up in his rooms all over the weekend. He didn't even
leave for meals, instead, he called Kreacher to bring him some small,
light meals and he ate in his rooms. He ignored all knocking at his door
and after the first day he had silenced the portrait door so that he could
focus on finishing his homework, and then, once that was done to a level
that Harry was pleased with, he finished the work that Marcus had set for
him and only then did he move onto his law reform.
He had completely rewritten it, from start to finish, and in his opinion, it
was much better now, but only time would tell.
He was struggling through the translation of the ancient laws and
customs book that he had been recommended to read and he was
honestly disgusted by some of the laws and practices still in use in
modern society. He couldn't wait to become Minister and start
remodelling, or removing, some of them. If he could still climb so high in
society with all of the setbacks he kept receiving that was.
On Sunday he received three letters, one from Lucius, demanding to
know where he was, one from Narcissa, giving him endless praise and
reassurance, and one from Rabastan.
After reading the letter from his father Harry assumed that Lucius had
been one of the people around to bang on his door and due to the
silencing ward, Harry had inadvertently ignored him. Harry rolled his
eyes and wrote a quick, abrupt letter that he was at Hogwarts, in his
rooms.
Harry turned to Rabastan's letter then and noted immediately that it was
jerky and spiky with emotion, likely anger.
He was actually surprised, and touched, to find that the anger was on his
behalf and not, as he'd assumed, due to him going missing, as Rabastan
declared that he would have supported him during the Wizengamot and
didn't approve of what Lucius and Xerxes had done to him. He was
begging to meet him in person, at The Garnet Swan, on whatever day
Harry found convenient. He sounded desperate, and upset, and Harry
frowned.
He replied more carefully to his fiancé, he wasn't angry at him after all,
as apparently, he had been wrong in his assumption that Rabastan would
have done the same as Lucius and Xerxes, and he was feeling a little
guilty over his thoughts for the last few days. He offered to meet
Rabastan tonight. Knowing that he was friends with the owner of such a
luxurious, fine dining restaurant, he knew that Rabastan could get them a
private room at such short notice, if there was one available, of course.
It would take much too long to send the letters with an owl and he didn't
want Narcissa, at the very least, to worry over him so much when he was
safe and sound within his rooms at Hogwarts. That really only left one
option, as he certainly wasn't ready to face Lucius or Xerxes just yet,
especially not if they were angry with him for apparently 'disappearing'
when he hadn't.
"Pimsey." He called out softly.
"Young Master!" She greeted the moment she appeared, her eyes filling
with tears as she looked at him. "Master and Mistress are frantic." She
told him. "They believe that yous has gone missing!"
"I'm perfectly fine, Pimsey, and you may tell them so." Harry told her
gently. "Please give this to my father and this to Rabastan."
Harry handed her both of the letters and, taking one last look at him, she
bowed and then vanished.
Harry shook his head and tried to work out the complicated feelings that
hearing that Lucius and Narcissa were apparently frantic after believing
him to have gone missing caused in him. He wondered if Lucius had
accused Dumbledore of spiking him with a potion, or just plain hiding
him within the Black ancestral house. He hoped not. It was too soon for
the Order to find a new headquarters when Kreacher was doing such an
amazing job of spying on them for him.
He was more pleased than he could put into words that Rabastan
apparently would have taken his side and would have supported him. It
was exactly what he'd wanted, and needed. His heart throbbed with love
and he smiled to himself. He hoped that Rabastan could get a reservation
for them tonight.
Lucius read the letter that Pimsey had handed to him in sheer disbelief
and he let out a shuddering breath.
"Well? Is it from Harry?" Narcissa demanded.
"It's from Harry, or at least this is his handwriting." Lucius told her.
"Does he say where he is?"
"He's at Hogwarts. In his rooms."
"Did he say why he didn't answer the door to you?"
"He got angry at people bothering him, so he apparently put a silencing
charm over the doorway." Lucius explained, sighing. He felt so very old
at that moment. Older than he physically was.
For two days he had been searching for Harry after Draco had floo called
him from Severus' office to say that Harry had stormed out of his rooms
and hadn't come back after two hours, which was very close to curfew.
He had gotten the feeling that Dumbledore knew more than he had been
saying and he had feared that the old man had slipped something to
Harry and was keeping him away from him, or even away from the
school. He would need to see Harry in-person to know if such a thing was
true or not. He couldn't take Harry's word for this, not when the letter
was not at all formatted how Harry usually set out any of his letters.
"Has he agreed to meet with you, Basti?" Xerxes asked Rabastan.
"Tonight." Rabastan nodded, still staring at his letter, but he had calmed
significantly after reading it.
"Does he seem at all strange to you?" Lucius asked.
Rabastan shook his head. "No. He has taken the time to put the coloured
bullet points with each paragraph change for me and he is a little…
abrupt in his writing, but I believe that to be because he was rushing."
"Go and make sure that you can get a room for tonight, Rabastan. Then
answer Harry back." Xerxes ordered. "You're going to need to be careful
and warn Lawson that there might be a raid."
"You think Harry has talked." Rodolphus said, only then looking worried.
"How can that be with those runes carved into his throat? They are
supposed to keep him safe!" Rabastan hissed.
"We don't know where Harry has been or what has happened to him."
Xerxes told them both sternly. "It might not even be a potion, but a curse,
have you thought of that?"
"I'll warn Milo." Rabastan said. "He'll want to be there just in case they
raid his restaurant. He can cause enough of a fuss that I'll be able to leave
safely."
"Be careful, Rabastan." Rodolphus warned. "Should I come with you?"
"No, Dolphus." He said, rolling his eyes at his protective brother. "If
nothing has happened to Harry then you certainly won't want to be there.
If anything has happened, well, it'll be easier to just get one of us out of
the restaurant and not both of us. The first thing the Aurors will do is put
up an anti-Apparation jinx and then they'll storm the restaurant. That is
only if anything has happened to him. It could be he is just angry. His
temper is nothing to gently brush away."
"You are insinuating that he is still angry with me." Lucius asked.
Rabastan looked at him seriously. "Yes, I am. He needed your support
and you didn't give it to him. Knowing him as I do I would be very
surprised if he isn't still angry over it."
Lucius sighed then as he considered that Rabastan was likely right.
Harry's strange letter could be from his remaining anger, it didn't mean
that he was under the effects of a potion, or even a curse. Especially
considering that Harry had answered Rabastan in his usual manner, just a
little rushed.
"I hope that he calms down a little and sees fit to forgive me if that is the
case."
"I will see what he is thinking, what he is feeling, tonight."
"Go and call Milo, Basti." Xerxes chided. "You need to know he has a
room free for you."
Rabastan nodded and he finally left the room.
"We need to tell Draco that Harry has been found, Lucius." Narcissa
reminded him. "He has been very worried."
"I will wait to hear if Rabastan can get a room and then I will call
Severus."
"I will send him a letter myself, now that I know he is safe."
Narcissa gave him a hard look and Lucius knew that she was still angry
with him as well. She had made her feelings on the matter very clear and
she believed fully that he should have supported Harry, regardless of his
personal feelings, and looking back at the meeting, he realised that he
should have as well.
There was no way that Harry would have won, he'd tried to warn Harry
of that during the meeting, but he'd thought of it as a learning experience
for Harry. He'd warned him that he wouldn't win every debate, that he
wouldn't get the outcome he wanted for every vote, so he had voted how
he pleased, without considering how Harry would feel, how humiliating
it was to watch himself lose a debate, lose a vote, and have his own
father, and his future father-in-law too, vote against him.
It would not have changed anything if he had voted with Harry, he could
have endured any snide comments made against him for his choice of
vote from other lords, and Harry would have learned an even more
valuable lesson, that he was loved and supported.
He cursed himself for his actions and for not seeing things from all
angles, or at least for not considering them. He'd known that Harry's first
defeat would have hit him hard, there was no need to make that hit even
harder by not showing some solidarity with him.
"Milo has a room free and he's reserved it for us." Rabastan told them. He
already had another letter in hand.
"I will pass that to Severus if you wish." Lucius offered. "I need to tell him
that Harry is in his room so that he can tell Draco."
Rabastan nodded and handed over the letter and Lucius went to the floo
to call Severus. He truly hoped that he could mend things with Harry and
fix his damaged self-esteem. At least Harry being angry with him was
better than the alternative. He really did hope that Harry was just angry
and that Dumbledore hadn't found a way to get him back under his
thumb.
34. Ruses and Reconciliation
Last Time
Lucius went to the floo to call Severus. He truly hoped that he could mend
things with Harry and fix his damaged self-esteem. At least Harry being angry
with him was better than the alternative. He really did hope that Harry was
just angry and that Dumbledore hadn't found a way to get him back under his
thumb.
Chapter Thirty-Four – Ruses and Reconciliation
Harry didn't have anyone to help dress him for his dinner date that
evening. He was still refusing to allow anyone into his rooms and he
hadn't left them since Friday. So he had to dress and accessorise himself.
It had been over a year now, and he had spent it learning and emulating,
and he thought he looked passable as he checked himself out in the
mirror. He was sure that others would be able to find some faults with
his outfit, but he didn't care enough to consider what they might be. He
was already sure that Rabastan wouldn't point them out and he was the
only one that Harry cared about at the moment.
He checked the time and with a sigh, he went back into his living room
to sit for ten minutes. Rabastan had managed to get them a private room,
but it was rather late. It was already eight at night and he did have
lessons tomorrow, but he just really needed to see his fiancé and hear
from his mouth that he would have supported him. He would have to
apologise too for assuming what Rabastan would say instead of giving
him the chance to actually say anything. As a pseudo-politician and a
wannabe lawmaker that was unforgivable of him.
He was sitting on his settee and running through how he would greet
Rabastan, the things he would say and he was trying to think of how
Rabastan would maybe answer. He shook his head and stood, there was
no point in thinking of such things. It had been assuming what Rabastan
would say that had gotten him into this mess.
He checked the time and saw with an eye roll that he was now running
slightly late. Groaning at himself, Harry turned on the spot, thinking of
The Garnet Swan.
"Ah, Lord Potter-Black, we have been expecting you. Please follow me."
Harry was led up the stairs, still wrapped in autumn foliage and blooms,
and to the room on the far end. The maître d gave him a small bow
before leaving quickly. Harry gave a gentle knock to let Rabastan know
that he was there before he slipped into the room.
"Harry, are you okay?" Rabastan asked him immediately and Harry
remembered that, as far as his fiancé was concerned, he had been missing
for two days.
"I'm fine, I never meant to worry you, or anyone. I just needed some
space."
Harry snuggled into Rabastan, feeling those arms band around him
tightly. His mind went back to a time when Rabastan couldn't do this for
fear of having a spasm and injuring him. He truly had come such a long
way.
"Were you truly just hiding in your room?"
Harry nodded. "I got fed up of Draco hammering on my door when I was
trying to think. I just needed to be alone, to…absorb the loss in the
Wizengamot. I…I put a silencing ward on the door. I wasn't thinking, I
just needed to…I wanted to be alone."
"I missed you after the meeting." Rabastan told him, lowering his head to
nuzzle at his neck and Harry shivered, clutching at him tighter.
"I am sorry. The last thing I wanted was to worry you, or squander any
rare bit of time we manage to get together, but…" Harry trailed off and
shook his head. He still couldn't put voice to how upset he felt that
Lucius and Xerxes hadn't voted with him.
"You felt betrayed that your father, and my grandfather, didn't vote with
you."
Harry just nodded.
"It's stupid, but I…"
"It's not stupid." Rabastan cut in firmly. "Harry, they should have
supported you!"
"They cared more about their prejudice than they did about me. It
mattered more to them to prove just how much they hate magical
creatures than it did to support me. Everyone knew that I'd lost, but they
also saw that my own father voted against me. That's a humiliation that I
won't live down for a while."
"It's unforgivable." Rabastan agreed.
Harry licked his lip nervously and then pulled back a little and looked up
into Rabastan's blue eyes.
"Would you have supported me?" He asked, almost not wanting to hear
the answer, but asking anyway. "Would you have been able to ignore that
a vampire had tried to make another vampire and voted for a stay of
execution?"
Rabastan stared at him. "Of course I would have voted with you!" He
declared.
"But you hate magical creatures."
"It's not about my own personal feelings, Harry! It doesn't matter what I
think or feel about it personally, it's about supporting you!"
"Do you mean that?" Harry asked softly.
"Yes." Rabastan said firmly. "From what I've heard you weren't going to
get enough votes anyway, in that situation it would have been more
important to support you in your loss."
"Why didn't they?" Harry asked insecurely.
"Because they're fools." Rabastan said angrily. "They didn't see what I
could. They didn't think about you, or your feelings, and I have made
sure that they know my own thoughts on the matter. They understand
now that they should have supported you, to save you from such
humiliation, but what's done is done, Harry. You can only move on from
this."
"What if I can't? What if I've made a mistake, Rabastan?"
"What sort of mistake? What have you done?" Rabastan asked, looking
worried.
Harry shook his head. "I can't be a lawmaker. I can't change anything. It
was naïve of me to think that I could. Well…naïve at best, arrogant at
worst. That meeting proved that no one will listen to me on matters
concerning magical creatures, why should I even bother?"
Rabastan looked at him sadly and pulled him back into a hug. One hand
went to stroke through the hair at the back of Harry's neck.
"Don't do this to yourself, Harry. You've had a setback, made all the
worse by the lack of support you received from your family, but it's a
small setback all the same. You are going to change the world, I believe
in you."
"Still?"
"Always." Rabastan assured him. "I am always going to believe in you. I
know you have the potential inside of you to be one of the greatest
wizards of all time. Please tell me that you'll put this behind you and
carry on with your plans. It would devastate me to see you squander such
talent and ambition."
Harry looked down at the floor and considered if he'd be able to just
forget this, but it would forever be stamped into his brain as his first
Wizengamot defeat, and would only be reinforced by the knowledge that
Lucius and Xerxes had voted against him. It wasn't going to be something
that he could just forget.
"You've had a knock, but that's okay, Harry." Rabastan told him with a
hint of desperation to his tone this time. "You can bounce back from this."
"What if I don't want to?" Harry asked him. "What if I don't want to keep
feeling like this?"
"You are not a failure, Harry." Rabastan told him sternly, cupping his chin
and forcing him to look up into fierce blue eyes. "What you are feeling
now should inspire you to try harder, to prove everyone wrong and come
out on top. Don't let anyone make you feel like you aren't good enough."
"I love you, you know."
"I do, and I love you. Are you feeling better?"
"A little, but truly, knowing that you would have supported me, that you
do support me, it means everything to me, Rabastan."
"I'm going to be your husband, Harry. You'll be my husband. I will
support you in absolutely anything you do, but the one thing I will not
support is you just giving up. You are going to keep going, you are going
to carry on with your plans and you will achieve them, am I clear?"
Harry smiled then, reaching up to hold Rabastan's face. "Crystal."
"Good, then come and sit down. I know you have lessons tomorrow and I
still wish to treat you to a nice meal."
"Your friend might as well just give us one of these rooms and label it as
ours with how often we come to solve some crisis or other."
"It's funny, but he said something similar, only a lot less politely."
Harry laughed, feeling a lot better, as Rabastan led him to the table and
seated him.
"I ordered for you, Harry. It being a school night I knew you wouldn't
want to be out too late."
"Thank you."
They were served very quickly after they had actually sat down and
Harry got the feeling that the house-elf had been there, waiting on them,
just invisible the entire time.
Rabastan said nothing to the house-elf, and nothing about them either,
which Harry counted as a bonus, and he was able to just enjoy his meal,
which really was of outstanding quality.
"You haven't been anywhere or taken anything?" Rabastan asked once
they were done with their food, having made light conversation
throughout.
"I did go to Grimmauld Place to see Remus, that was on the Friday, but
yesterday and today I have just been in my rooms."
"You didn't eat or drink anything?"
"I did, but honestly, Rabastan, if it's one person I trust not to try to slip
me a potion it's Remus. Besides, Marcus' runes will hold against any
potion I ingest, so even if there was something in the tea, it hasn't
worked."
Rabastan looked a little worried still, but he nodded regardless.
"I know you're worried about what Dumbledore might do. I am as well,
but he can't show his hand in the open, love. He's going to get
progressively desperate, but I'm making sure not to see him alone unless I
have to, and even then, if it's something to do with school I'll call Lucius
to represent me. I'm not taking any needless risks where he's concerned."
"I'm always going to worry about you."
"He doesn't know about the runes. I have a safety net." Harry said
reassuringly.
Rabastan sighed, then nodded, trying to calm himself. Harry was right,
they had those runes to fall back on, and both Marcus and Xerxes were
looking for better, stronger ways to combat anything that could affect
Harry's mind.
"So you really have just been locked in your room all weekend working
on your reform?"
"I never said I was working on my reform." Harry pointed out.
"After the Wizengamot meeting, and the subject matter of it, I assumed it
was a given that you would be working on it." Rabastan said, narrowing
his eyes on Harry. "What have you done? Harry, please tell me that you
didn't destroy your law reform?!"
"I tore it up." Harry admitted softly. "I…"
"Tell me that you kept the pieces and they can be remade and that you
didn't throw them into the fire."
"I threw them into the fire, but, Rabastan…"
"Harry, how could you?! You were doing so well and that law reform was
a wonderfully written piece of future legislation!"
"Rabastan, no one would have voted for it because it was me." Harry
pointed out.
"They would have because it would have worked for the Dark Lord's
agenda."
Harry's expression darkened and Rabastan sighed and he reached out to
take Harry's hand into his own.
"Harry, my love, it was an amazing thing you were doing, I hate that
you've thrown it all away over this. Now you'll have to start over again."
"I won't…"
"You will because I will not allow you to give up on yourself. That law
reform was sorely needed and you knew it. No one else is going to do it,
so it has to be you."
Harry chuckled then. "You keep interrupting me." He pointed out with a
smile.
Rabastan blinked in surprise, then settled. "I apologise. What are you
trying to say?"
"I ripped up and burnt the old version. I rewrote the entire thing."
"You…you rewrote it in one weekend?"
"I had a lot of motivation to do so after witnessing such a miscarriage of
justice. How can someone innocent, who has broken no law, still be
executed, Rabastan, how? It near enough destroyed me knowing that he
was going to die because of other people's prejudice and for no other
reason. He'd done nothing wrong. I can never allow that to happen
again."
"I assume that was the basis for completely reworking your reform?"
Harry nodded. "It's better now. I'm going to make it so airtight that
anyone who dares ignore the written law will be imprisoned themselves
for trying to pervert the law and justice."
"You continually amaze me." Rabastan admitted, before bending over the
table and giving him a gentle kiss.
Harry gave him a tenuous smile. "I got a bit of much-needed advice when
I was ready to just quit and give it all up."
"Oh? And what was this advice that made you change your mind?"
"The only people who are trying to stop me are the ones benefitting from
the current laws. If I need any motivation at all, I need to look at the
ones who will benefit from my changing of those laws, the ones who are
suffering under the laws as they are now."
"Very sound advice. From Remus, I assume?"
Harry nodded. "Truly that was all I needed to hear to realise that the
magical creatures can't change the laws by themselves, they need
someone to do it for them and no one is doing it."
"Only you." Rabastan corrected.
Harry nodded. "Only me. So if I give up, who else will do it? So, I realised
that I have to stick with it no matter how much mud gets thrown at me."
"In that case, I can't wait to see what you've done to your reform to make
it better when I thought it was already really well worded and covered
what was needed."
"It covers much more now." Harry insisted. Then he sighed. "I won't fail
again, Rabastan."
"I know you won't." Rabastan said, smiling at him.
The two of them took after-dinner tea in the comfortable armchairs,
though Harry chose to sit on Rabastan's lap rather than in his own chair.
He allowed himself to just rest on Rabastan, and though he knew he
would have to get back to school soon, he allowed himself to enjoy some
time in the moment too.
"Comfortable are we?" Rabastan teased him, even as he wrapped his arm
around him to keep him in place.
Harry hummed and snuggled in more. "I really am. I missed you too on
Friday, I just couldn't…I couldn't even look at them."
"I understand."
Harry shook his head. "No, I owe you an apology. I assumed that you
would feel the same as they would and I couldn't deal with you…I
couldn't deal with the thought of being unsupported by you as well."
"I would never have turned on you in such a way. I more than learned
that lesson after the letter arrived claiming that you were the father to
Parkinson's baby. I should have spoken to you first, before allowing my
fears and doubts to surface, and in matters of the Wizengamot, even if I
do not feel the same way as you do on an issue, I will support you in
anything and everything that you decide."
"Even if it's something that goes against your beliefs?" Harry echoed.
"My beliefs are ingrained, but I wouldn't allow them to stop you from
advancing, my love. You're the politician, not me. We will likely not
agree on every issue, but if it's a matter of public perception or
Wizengamot debates, then you have my full support and backing,
regardless of the subject matter."
Harry smiled and laid a kiss on Rabastan's cheek.
"Thank you, Rabastan. That's exactly what I needed to hear. It's what I
wanted from Lucius and Xerxes. They hadn't joined the debate and I had.
They didn't say a single word for or against the proposal and I see now
that I was going to lose. With the laws in the current state they are, I was
never going to win, but I still needed them to support me."
Rabastan sighed heavily and held him tighter. "All I can tell you is that
they're sorry and feel foolish for not supporting you. Your mother even
has Lucius sleeping in a guest bedroom she's so angry with him for
hurting you."
Hearing that did actually make him feel a little better. It wouldn't undo
what had already been done, but he hoped that it prevented it from
happening ever again. He didn't mind debating with others, or even
disagreeing with them, but if he was going to have pureblood etiquette
rammed down his throat then he expected those preaching it to practice
it also.
He had been told of the importance of supporting allies and family in the
Wizengamot, about how not supporting an ally in a debate could sour
relations, or even create an enemy, which made the lack of support from
Lucius and Xerxes all the worse, because they understood the importance
of supporting allies in the Wizengamot, even over their own personal
feelings on the subject matter.
No, they had chosen not to support him and Harry needed to know why
they had chosen not to support him before he thought of forgiving them
for it.
"I am at least glad that you agreed to meet with me."
"It was never you that I was angry with, Rabastan." Harry said, turning a
smile onto his fiancé. "I am sorry that I assumed what you would say,
before giving you a chance to say anything, but I was rather upset over
the entire incident. An innocent man has lost his life because of the
loopholes in the laws. Loopholes that I am almost certain were put in
purposefully to be exploited like this."
Harry had been thinking of that for a while, even before the Wizengamot
debate. He had been poring over the creature laws already in place and it
was impossible to overlook the number of loopholes the laws contained.
Given how many of them there were it had to have been done by design.
A way for the Wizengamot to make it look like they were protecting the
magical creatures by shoving the legislation under the noses of protestors
while leaving a little back door open in the wording so that they could
still discriminate against them as they pleased.
It made him wonder why the purebloods were allowing him to rewrite
the laws they liked to exploit so much. It made him wonder why his
family, Rodolphus in particular, always praised him for working on his
reforms. There was something that he was missing, there must be, and
Harry fully believed that that something was input from actual magical
creatures. The sooner he took his proposal to the coalition and got it
looked at, the better.
"It wouldn't surprise me to find out that you were right about that."
Rabastan told him.
Harry sighed and tried to ignore how angry that made him. Instead, he
snuggled into Rabastan and rested on him, allowing himself to be held
and comforted.
"I'm going to change it. All of it." He swore.
"I'll support you all the way, Harry. Let me know if anyone is giving you
grief over it, Dolphus and I will pay them a visit and shut them up for
you."
That made Harry chuckle. "I don't think Rodolphus would."
"He would." Rabastan assured him. "He loves violence and fear more than
anything, no matter what it was over he would agree just because it
would give him the opportunity to curse someone."
"He really is rather unstable. We have to get him some more hobbies."
Rabastan laughed too. "Good luck, love. I don't think Rodolphus is
interested in anything if it doesn't cause pain or fear."
Harry frowned then. "How about we get him a girlfriend?"
"No, absolutely not." Rabastan said, rather seriously. "I don't believe he'll
ever willing enter into a relationship now, not after Bellatrix, Harry. It
would be a mistake to bring it up to him."
"Did he not like dating before? Or has Bellatrix truly ruined it for him
that he's sworn off relationships altogether?"
"He didn't really date before, it was all mind games to him, a form of
emotional torture. He's never truly loved anyone, or dated them
seriously, not even when he was younger and any inclination he had to
settle down and maybe have children of his own was destroyed by being
betrothed and then married to Bellatrix. That's why I have been named
my grandfather's heir, that's why it's so important that our betrothal is
successful."
"Because we're the only hope that the Lestrange line has of reaching
another generation."
Rabastan nodded. "The continuation of the Lestrange line will not be
coming from Rodolphus. It's why my grandfather is usually so indulgent
of you, I don't understand why he would put our alliance at risk by
voting against you in the Wizengamot."
"He knows that I would never forsake you over something so trivial."
Harry pointed out. "I would never hold his actions against you. Whatever
else he thinks of me, he knows that, so he knew that he could vote how
he pleased without it affecting us, or the future of the Lestrange line."
"Maybe a ruse then, to teach him a lesson so that he never goes against
you in the Wizengamot again."
Harry frowned. "What did you have in mind?"
"We pretend to call off our engagement." Rabastan told him and Harry
frowned harder.
"I don't like that idea." He said immediately.
Rabastan chuckled. "It will not be real and we will 'make up' over the
Christmas break."
Harry chewed on his lip. "But how will I see you, or write you letters? I
don't want to go the next month without any communication with you at
all."
Rabastan smiled and gave a sweet kiss to the tip of Harry's nose. "I will
say that I am writing to you to furiously beg your forgiveness and any
reply they might see from you will be profanities insisting that I leave
you alone."
Harry laughed. "Okay, but are you sure? It'll be a lot of pretence on your
side."
"If it forces them to think twice about voting against you again, then yes."
Rabastan said seriously.
Harry sighed. "There shouldn't be a need for this. I was the only one to
debate in that meeting, I assumed that they would vote with me because
of that. They spent so long forcing pureblood etiquette down my throat,
making sure I understood it and then they turned around and broke it
themselves at the first hurdle."
"I could curse them for it." Rabastan said seriously, tugging Harry in
closer. "All I can say is that they thought it would be a good lesson for
you, not thinking further than that. They didn't see how much you would
be hurt by it, but I swear they'll never do it again. We will play out this
ruse to ensure it."
"What will you tell them about tonight? We've been a few hours now."
"That you had come to break off the engagement in person. That you felt
so betrayed by the Lestrange family that you felt you could no longer
carry on with the betrothal."
Harry nodded. "That sounds plausible, though I hope you know that I
love you more than that. In reality, outside of this ruse, I would never
have held Xerxes' actions against you."
"I know that, my love." Rabastan assured him, pulling him into a quick
kiss. "They need to answer for their actions. I won't allow them to treat
you like this."
"What about my ring?" Harry asked worriedly.
"Let me make a copy of it."
Rabastan took a coin from his pocket and cast a complicated spell,
making the coin turn into a replica of Harry's precious ring.
"I'll have to stop wearing it, won't I?" Harry said sadly. He loved the ring
and when he was thinking of Rabastan at school he would kiss the ring. It
comforted him at times when he was missing his fiancé.
"Only for a little while. I promise." Rabastan assured him. "Put it safe
with your cufflinks and when you come home for the winter break I will
propose to you all over again and make the ring even more special to us
both."
Harry smiled at that idea, but still, he hesitated a moment before sliding
the engagement ring off his finger and placing it in his pocket. His finger
felt cold, odd, without the ring on it. He was glad this ruse would not be
for very long.
It was getting late, it was already gone ten, and neither of them wanted
to be the first to say so. They didn't want to separate just yet…or ever.
Instead, Harry stayed on Rabastan's lap, wrapped in his arms, exchanging
soft kisses.
"It seems like I'll have to be the one to send you back to school." Rabastan
sighed.
Harry snorted in amusement. "I have half a mind to just whisk us off back
to Fiji. How long do you think it would take them to find us?"
"A few months, at least." Rabastan chuckled.
Harry grinned and then shook his head, letting out a sigh. It was time
that he was getting back to school. It was already well past curfew…not
that he would be walking the corridors now that he had his Apparation
licence. He stood and stretched, allowing Rabastan to stand.
They held one another tight for another few minutes, then kissed again,
and then it was time for Harry to leave. For Rabastan to leave.
"I will see you again during the Christmas break."
Harry heaved a sigh. "Okay. I just hope your little plot works and doesn't
end up blowing up in our faces."
"It won't. I'll make sure that it works and that our family will never again
go against you in the Wizengamot…or anywhere else for that matter."
Harry gave him a smile and pulled him into a tight hug, offering his
mouth up for a parting kiss.
"I'll see you soon, love."
"I'll write you a letter in a few days 'begging' for your forgiveness."
Rabastan told him.
Harry chuckled. "I'll be sure to promptly reply with obscene profanities
that will make even Rodolphus blush."
Rabastan laughed at that. "Dolphus doesn't blush, so that'll be a serious
feat."
It was harder than usual to leave Rabastan, but Harry had to. He had
lessons tomorrow.
His rooms were empty when he arrived back and, in his mind at least,
rather cold after being cuddled in Rabastan's arms for the last hour.
He sighed and put his kettle on the burner to make himself a cup of tea
while he sorted everything he needed for his lessons tomorrow. Then he
would be going to bed. He didn't really like Rabastan's plan to play at
breaking their betrothal, he wanted Lucius and Xerxes to support him
because they saw him as family and not because they thought he might
ruin their combined houses, but he was willing to let Rabastan sort this.
Harry sighed and made himself some tea and then packed his backpack
ready for tomorrow, making sure he gathered all the books he needed
and the homework too. He sat and drank his tea and reflected on how he
was feeling. He always felt better after seeing Rabastan and this time he
felt even more reassured. Narcissa's letter had been very reassuring, but
hearing from Rabastan's own mouth that he would have supported him,
that he would have stood by him and his decision, it meant the world to
him.
He sipped at his tea and sighed out, feeling his body relax. Having
Rabastan's love and support was the best feeling in the world, now if only
he had the same support from Lucius and Xerxes. Harry sighed again,
more heavily. Maybe Rabastan's ruse would work…Harry could only
hope.
Rabastan made sure to play his part well, looking suitably devastated as
he Apparated back to Malfoy Manor.
He knew that he had to toe a line, between being just obstinate enough
to get his grandfather's attention, without making things worse for Harry
by name-calling, or being too angry and putting his grandfather on the
defensive.
"How is Harry?" Rodolphus asked. "Was there a raid?"
"Harry's perfectly fine. He's not under any curse or potion. He is thinking
clearly and…and…"
"And what?" Xerxes asked him.
Rabastan snapped his head up and threw the fake engagement ring to
bounce on the hardwood floor.
"Is that…?"
"Your actions in the Wizengamot had more consequences than you
realised." Rabastan hissed.
"He broke off your engagement? Over that?"
"It's no small thing to him! I warned you, I told you that he was already
feeling like he didn't belong in this family and you compounded that fact
by not supporting him. He is breaking ties!"
"Why did he demand you see him in a private room if he was planning on
breaking your engagement?" Rodolphus demanded, already looking
angry and rather murderous.
"He wanted to do it in person. He sat down and he explained everything
out to me. I tried…I tried to convince him otherwise, but he doesn't see a
future with me, he doesn't believe that his place is in the Lestrange
family. It's your fault." He directed at his grandfather.
"Basti, I never…I never once believed that he'd break his engagement
with you! I swear it." Xerxes said, looking just as devastated as Rabastan
was pretending to be.
"You underestimated his feelings!" Rabastan told him. "You assumed that
he'd be alright with the lack of support from his family and you've
gambled with my future!"
"I'll speak to him." Xerxes said. "I'll make him understand."
"I've already tried!" Rabastan snapped. "For hours I've tried, but his mind
is made up."
"Should I pull him from school and have him checked for curses?" Lucius
asked, having watched the argument in silence, looking a little paler than
usual.
Narcissa looked rather vicious and Rabastan knew, no matter what Harry
decided in life, she would always be beside him…it was that sort of
loyalty that Harry needed from Lucius and his grandfather too. If only
those two had taken more notice of Narcissa and how she thought of her
sons, then maybe there wouldn't be a need for this ruse.
"He is not under a curse or under the effects of a potion. He is himself
and his mind is made up."
"I am still his father, I can force him to uphold his betrothal."
"I won't take him through force!" Rabastan hissed, his tone angrier and
sharper than he had intended, but he was offended on Harry's behalf.
"How could I marry him still knowing that he didn't want me?!"
"I will speak with him." Rodolphus insisted, looking more like he would
curse Harry into his grave than actually speak with him.
"You will not! Dolphus, you'll make everything worse! You always make
everything worse. How do you think you could talk Harry around when I
could not?"
Rodolphus gave him a sneer, his right hand flexing as if to go for his
wand. He really was thinking of cursing Harry. Rabastan wouldn't allow
that and he was thankful that his brother couldn't just walk into
Hogwarts and that he and Harry had planned to make up over the winter
holiday.
"Basti…I…I am sorry."
Rabastan shook his head. "No. No, you have lost me the best person I
could have ever hoped to have by my side. You don't get to apologise and
be done with it. Harry has broken our engagement! Through your
actions, you have damned the continuation of the Lestrange line."
Rabastan turned as if to storm off, but he swung back around and stared
straight at his grandfather, the man who had raised him and taught him
everything that he knew. The man that he knew knew better than to cut
off an ally in the Wizengamot.
"You know about weighing in your votes to keep allies sweet and Harry
was the one you needed to keep the sweetest! I don't believe that you
forgot that fact, which means that you did it on purpose!"
"Rabastan, I swear, I didn't. I didn't believe for one moment that Harry
would react like this. I didn't believe he would ever break his engagement
to you."
"Well, he has!" Rabastan shouted. "It was one betrayal too many! He was
already feeling like an outsider and this was the final shove. I hope you're
happy with your decision!"
Rabastan did storm off then and he took a breath for playing such a
difficult part. He reminded himself firmly that it was for Harry. His
Harry. He could only hope that this little ploy of theirs deterred both
Xerxes and Lucius from voting against Harry in future. Perhaps it might
even spurn an apology. It wouldn't make up for what they had already
done, the damage was done already and the vampire had already been
executed by order of the Wizengamot, but only with an apology could the
betrayal start to heal.
He left Malfoy Manor for the Lestrange Manor and he set to writing
Harry a letter, detailing how his little performance had gone, with the
hope that it would reconcile Harry with Lucius and Xerxes. At this point,
he could only hope that it worked.
December had come cold this year and the snow was already falling.
Harry was keeping mostly to himself, he didn't really have much else to
distract him. The first of the Quidditch games had been played and
Gryffindor had narrowly beaten Slytherin after Harry had snatched the
snitch out of the air right over the teachers' bleacher and Hufflepuff had
crushed Ravenclaw. The next match Harry had to worry about was not
until March, when the weather picked up a little, but he was at least
thankful that his team had beaten Slytherin, no matter how marginally.
This weekend was going to be the first trip to Hogsmeade and Harry still
didn't know if he was going to go or not. He wasn't speaking to Draco,
thus he was avoiding all of the Slytherins, so he didn't really know if
there was any point in going to the village. He wanted to see Rabastan
again, but it was too dangerous for him to come to the village and it
would ruin their little ruse, which was actually working despite Harry's
initial misgivings. He'd had two written apologies, one from Xerxes and
one from Lucius. Both had asked to meet with him in person, but he had
refused without offering any excuse, just a simple no.
In his defence, he was exceptionally busy with homework and his
creature law reform. He had finally wrangled a spare weekend and he
had gone to visit the Coalition for Understanding Magical Creatures. The
founders had been surprised to learn that he was trying to change the
current creature laws, but more than that they had a lot of ideas and
insight into how to do just that. Truly, Harry was coming to realise that
he should have gone and spoken to the magical creatures first, before
he'd attempted to write his law reform. He was going to have to rewrite it
again, but at least this time he knew exactly what to include, and what
parts he needed to clarify more fully, or with stricter wording. That was a
theme that those at the coalition had pointed out over and over. His
words weren't strict enough, he was being too soft, or too political, when
instead he needed to be firmer and harder. He couldn't allow any
loopholes or wriggle room in his wording and he had left gaps that
experienced politicians could drive a hippogriff through. That was why
his family had loved his reform, he was sure…he had been leaving
loopholes, exactly the same as the current laws had that the old lords
enjoyed exploiting, just in different places.
Stephen had been all too happy to help him, taking time to point out
everywhere that Harry had left wriggle room in his wording, circling it in
pencil and adding in notes and additional clauses that were needed to
shore up the loopholes.
It had taken most of the day and after Stephen, Rafe had looked it over,
adding in even more that Stephen had missed, and then the straight-
talking Bess had cut even more out of it, simplifying his words so that the
meaning was plainer and couldn't be misconstrued. Everyone had
something to say on the matter, many of them had been waiting for
years, decades, for new legislation to protect them, and they had been
thinking of it all that time, but they couldn't do it themselves, which is
where he came in as he could be a sort of go-between, their voice on the
Wizengamot, to fight for the protections that they needed but couldn't
put forward themselves.
He honestly had so much to work with now that he didn't think he had
the time to even go to Hogsmeade. He was still a little uncertain, being a
seventeen-year-old, that he could even write his own laws, but he was
going to damn well try. He was the only one willing to try and even if he
failed, he would still have been the only one to try. He would keep trying
too. If he failed once, he'd rewrite it and try again. He would try so many
times that the ancient, crumbling lords would vote his proposal into law
just to shut him up.
Someone hammered on his door and Harry sighed at the unwelcome
interruption.
"Will you open this damn door?!" Draco demanded.
"I don't want to see you!" Harry yelled back.
"I swear to Merlin, I'll curse you, Harry! I see now why purebloods only
have one child, who the hell would want a little brother?"
Harry slammed his hands on the coffee table and went to rip open the
door to give Draco a piece of his mind. Draco shoved him back into the
room, kicked the door closed and then pulled Harry into a hug.
That stopped Harry in his tracks and he frowned.
"What are you doing?"
"Hugging you, idiot." Draco replied. "I'm sorry that I upset you. It's been
weeks, Harry, please forgive me."
Harry couldn't say anything. He didn't know what to say. Draco held him
tighter.
"I was just stressed over homework." Draco told him. "It wouldn't have
mattered what you would have said about that meeting, I likely would
have reacted the same. I'm sorry, Harry. Please forgive me."
"Never do that to me again." Harry said, before wrapping his arms around
Draco and hugging him back.
"I won't." Draco assured him. "Are you okay?"
Harry nodded.
"Really? Father sent me an owl telling me that you broke your
engagement to Rabastan. That doesn't speak of you being fine, Harry."
Harry sighed and moved back to his sitting area, sinking into the settee.
Draco sat next to him instead of opposite.
"I…I was so angry, Draco." Harry said, throwing a hand through his hair.
He shook his head. "I wanted a clean split from the Lestranges. Xerxes
went against me in the Wizengamot. I just…" Harry shook his head again.
"I can't forgive it, Draco. How can I? They didn't speak, they offered
nothing to the debate and I did. People are laughing at me already and
he has now made that worse. How can I ever become the Minister for
Magic now? How can I ever write my own laws if even my own family
won't support me? I'm done."
"But you love Rabastan. I know you do."
"I can't reconcile what Xerxes did. Love doesn't come into it, not
anymore. I can't sit at the same table as Xerxes, I can't speak to him, look
at him…how can Rabastan and I ever survive that?"
"Then I'm truly sorry, Harry."
Harry fell on Draco then and cried out all of the stress he was feeling,
letting his brother hold him, feeling the hand stroking his back and hair
to comfort him.
"You're stressed too, I imagine." Draco murmured. "Just let it out, Harry."
"I think we're all stressed now. It's getting closer to the winter break and
the professors are piling the homework on. How can they ever expect us
to keep up?"
"Father is sorting it. He wrote me a letter asking how I was finding the
work given to me and I told him how awful I'm feeling and how stressed
I've been and how that led to us fighting. I think he's going to get the
governors involved."
"I hope so. I'm not going to last much longer with this stress."
"Pushing your friends away won't help. You need us."
"Missing homework club already?" Harry teased, sitting back and rubbing
his face free of lingering tears.
"Of course!" Draco said, grinning, before sobering and looking at him
seriously. "Mostly I'm just missing you, though. I never thought that I'd be
saying that either. I've gotten used to you in the last year and a half,
Potter. You are my little brother and I don't want to see you hurting like
this. Are you sure you can't forgive Xerxes, just so that you can stay with
Rabastan?"
"I don't know." Harry admitted. "I'm trying to become the Minister for
Magic, having father and my grandfather-in-law voting against me, after
that Prophet article too, I just…it reflects so badly on me. I'm not sure
that I can do this anymore."
"Of course you can!" Draco said immediately, firmly. "I know you haven't
really been in the pureblood circles for very long, but you really need to
start taking more notice of us and our airs."
"Your airs?" Harry asked, chuckling.
"The confident, slightly arrogant airs." Draco elaborated. "You can do
this, you can become the Minister for Magic, so you don't give up until
you have what you want."
"I'm not sure that I can do that."
"Yes, you can." Draco said, this time more sharply.
Harry gave him a smile and knocked his shoulder into Draco's.
"Let Xerxes and father stew for a little while longer, but don't punish
Rabastan for this, Harry, and don't punish yourself, because truly that's
what you're doing. Make up with Rabastan, but let them squirm a while
more for going against you."
Harry bit his lip, playing at indecision, but he did eventually nod. He
knew that he and Rabastan were going to make up, it didn't hurt the ruse
to make Draco think that he had talked him around into forgiving
Rabastan.
"Father has been messaging me, you know." Draco told him. "He's very
worried, mother more so."
"I've been messaging mother!" Harry insisted.
"I think that's what has them so worried. That you might not forgive
father for this."
"I can't have that happen again, Draco. I was so humiliated. I've never
wanted to crawl in a hole and die as much as I did in that meeting.
Worse than that though was the damage done to my reputation. I was
just getting back on track after that Prophet article and they went and
ruined all my progress by voting against me."
"Well, if mother has her way then they'll never vote against you ever
again, she was furious. She has father sleeping in a guest room in a
separate wing of the house. I've never known her to be so angry with him
before."
"Because of me?" Harry asked worriedly.
"For you." Draco insisted. "She's very protective of you, you know. You're
her youngest son now and anyone who hurts you can look out, even
father."
Harry chuckled then. "Maybe I will go home for Christmas then."
"You were thinking of staying here?" Draco demanded.
"I didn't feel able to face them, or be in contact with Rabastan constantly
after the decision I made to break off our engagement."
"Damn it, Harry, you're not allowed to leave me by myself! I can't go
back to not having you there now that we're brothers! You are coming
home, even if I have to drag you there, and if you make up with Rabastan
then all the better! He was good for you, he made you happy. I want you
to be happy."
Harry smiled then and pulled Draco back into a hug.
"Thank you, Draco."
"Anytime, Potter."
Harry snorted and shoved him off.
"Now that that is over with, come for dinner and then we'll all come back
here for homework club, our Defence marks are really suffering!"
"Oh, I knew there was an ulterior motive for you coming up here." Harry
teased.
"You're damn right there was! I have been cushioned by straight Os this
term and now because of your abandonment I've slipped to an EE in
Defence and I won't stand for it. Come on!"
Harry smiled and stood, wiping his face with his handkerchief just in case
any tear tracks were still showing, but he was so much happier as he and
Draco left his room for the Great Hall. Maybe things could now fall into
place and Rabastan's little ruse would work better than expected. Harry
would like that.
Harry had been all but dragged to Hogsmeade for a bit of 'stress relief' as
Blaise had named it. He was sat in the Three Broomsticks, a butterbeer in
hand, taking a foamy sip and listening as Astoria recounted an argument
that she'd had to Draco.
"…she actually tried to tell me that my designs were hideous, Draco!"
"I can't believe that anyone would dare." Draco insisted dutifully.
"I was only drawing in my spare time, but even so it wasn't so terrible. I
didn't even ask for her comments, she was spying over my shoulder! How
dare she even say that my designs are not worthy of being for
purebloods! Can you believe that, Harry?"
Harry looked up as his name was mentioned and he smiled.
"Do you want a diplomatic answer or do you want the 'you're my future
sister-in-law' answer?" Harry asked with a smile.
"I will remind you that we will be family." Astoria replied. "I obviously
require the sister-in-law filter."
Harry laughed. "Oh, in that case, I whole-heartedly agree with you. This
person had absolutely no right to look over your shoulder and say your
designs were hideous, I have never seen you design anything that wasn't
wonderful…you should have cursed them. I have been teaching you some
very useful curses too, you should have tried them out on such a willing
target."
The table chuckled and giggled at his answer and Harry smiled, feeling
better. It was the right thing to do to take a break and come out today.
"Thank you, Harry." Astoria said primly and Harry chuckled and took
another gulp of butterbeer.
"I'm very curious about how both answers differ." Theo said.
Harry snorted, almost choking on his drink, but he answered anyway.
"The diplomatic answer is that we all have our different tastes and just
because one person didn't like Astoria's designs doesn't mean that
everyone will dislike them. I'd say ignore them and carry on designing
and prove them wrong in the long run when Astoria becomes a famous
designer."
"I like that answer also." Astoria told him with a sweet smile.
Harry gave her a smile. "I mean every word." He assured her. "You are an
amazing designer, Astoria. Not everyone will like your designs, we're all
different after all, but ignore the one person trying to drag you down and
focus instead on those who love your work."
"I shall." Astoria declared firmly.
Harry went back to his drink and the topic changed again and Harry
drifted out. His mind was on Rabastan. It was on the two new owls that
had arrived at breakfast, more apology letters from Xerxes and Lucius.
Harry didn't care for either apology, they came across as false because he
was only getting them because he'd broken his engagement and he didn't
like that. He liked Narcissa's note more, as she declared unwavering
support for him, on top of his newest monthly 'care package' filled with
sweets, chocolate, the newest edition of The Quibbler, three different
publications for business and politics to keep him abreast of what was
happening outside of Hogwarts, a book that she had seen that she'd
thought he might like, two packets of owl treats, and a new scarf that
came with a note that it was from 'Aceline' and naturally Harry had
wrapped that scarf around his neck and hadn't stopped wearing it yet.
Harry was convinced that it smelt faintly of Rabastan and he kept
dipping his nose to it to have a sniff. He was being very, very spoilt and it
made him feel so loved and cared for, though now he had Remus' voice
in his head telling him that the Malfoys were 'buying' his affection and
his smile slipped.
"Harry, are you okay?" Blaise asked him, looking worried.
Harry hummed and dredged up a smile. "I'm okay. I have a lot on my
mind of late."
"Oh, he's slipping into his lord speech." Draco teased. "You're with your
peers now, Harry, not in the Wizengamot."
Harry smiled faintly.
"I have had a lot on my mind. Marcus is coming tomorrow for a tutoring
session and I haven't even done the work that he gave me the last time."
"It was nice knowing you. I hope your will is up to date." Blaise said
seriously.
That made Harry laugh properly. "Yeah, he is going to kill me if I don't
do it. I have time tonight, though. My other homework is done thanks to
homework club and I don't have anything else to do tonight."
"Enough talk about homework and lessons, we're in Hogsmeade. This is
supposed to be a break away from school." Draco complained. "I didn't
drag you from your rooms for the first time in weeks only for your mind
to remain in the castle."
"No, you did it so that you could annoy me for several uninterrupted
hours." Harry quipped. "That and I really need to visit Scrivenshaft's for
more parchment."
"Exactly." Draco said with a grin. "I want to visit Honeydukes too."
"Mother just sent us a package of sweets." Harry pointed out with a
chuckle.
"Well, I want more, obviously, Potter!" Draco told him.
"You'll have no bloody teeth left." Blaise warned.
"Yeah! How can you expect Blaise to snog you with no teeth, Draco?"
Harry cut in.
Draco just rolled his eyes. "That joke is getting very old, Harry."
"No, it's not." Harry waved off. "It's funny."
He was ignored, but he still laughed. The five of them finished their
butterbeer and stood, freeing the table for others to use as they exited
onto the street.
"Oh, there you are, Harry." Luna's dreamy voice came from his right.
He turned and automatically offered Luna his arm. She took it with a
smile.
"Luna, how are you? Would you like to join us? We're just heading to
Honeydukes."
"I'm very well, thank you." Luna said, and it might have been his
imagination, but she shot a bashful look past Harry.
Harry looked and was surprised that Luna was either looking at Blaise or
Theo, both of whom were steadfastly not looking in her direction. Harry
frowned at such peculiar behaviour.
"I'd love to join you." Luna carried on.
"You're more than welcome." Astoria insisted. "I feel a little outmanned,
especially as Pansy dumped us to go gallivanting with Lord Rowle."
"He is going to be her husband and the father to her baby besides." Harry
pointed out. "It's good that they spend Hogsmeade weekends together."
"It still doesn't help me feel less surrounded." Astoria sniffed.
Harry chuckled at her but he was pleased that his new group of friends
were being very accepting of Luna. He loved her in a platonic way, she
was one of the only friends he had from before the fallout, from before
his adoption, and she knew about Rabastan as well and hadn't
immediately called the Aurors…she was invaluable to him.
Honeydukes was packed and loud. They got separated and as Harry went
searching for some high-protein treats for Rabastan, he saw that Draco
had Astoria tucked under his arm, glaring at anyone who came too close
to her. He smiled to himself, he was enjoying watching the relationship
between Draco and Astoria flourish.
He found some suitable treats that were high in protein, with a higher
cocoa content. Rodolphus in particular enjoyed darker chocolate. Harry's
hand hesitated as he realised that he couldn't buy Rodolphus anything…
or Rabastan for that matter. He scowled. He hadn't liked this ruse from
the start and now he liked it even less.
He probably shouldn't be wearing the scarf that Rabastan had gotten for
him either, but thankfully, Draco thought that their mother had given
him it and Harry assumed that Narcissa was trying to chide him back
towards Rabastan by including the gift in his care package. He blew out a
breath and decided to get Rabastan the treats anyway. He couldn't give
anything to Rodolphus, but he could send the treats with Kreacher,
making sure to stipulate to only give them to Rabastan when he was
alone.
With that thought in mind, he got a nice-sized box of the protein
chocolates and some treats for himself before paying and then slipping
outside to wait for everyone to come back. It was just common practice
that once you got everything that you wanted you waited on the quieter
street, out of the way of the manic shop.
Unfortunately, Harry ran almost straight into Hermione and Ginny and
they immediately made a beeline for him.
"Must we do this yet again?" He sighed, almost to himself.
"Harry, how have you been?" Hermione asked him, ignoring his rather
dramatic exclamation.
"You have no right to ask me that." Harry told her. "Just carry on
walking."
"You're not wearing your ring." Ginny pointed out immediately. Yeah,
Harry was going to kill Rabastan for this ruse after all.
"So? I didn't want to lose it in the village so I left it on my coffee table in
my room. That's the best thing about having a private room, I can leave
my things around without fear of them being stolen or destroyed!"
"We don't want to fight with you, Harry."
"Then go away. I was having a nice day before you interrupted it."
"Remus contacted us." Hermione said softly. "He's worried about you,
Harry. He asked if we could talk to you and keep an eye on you."
Harry inhaled deeply and the hand holding the Honeydukes carrier bag
clenched tight, into a fist.
"Remus is mistaken."
"I don't think he is. I think you're having second thoughts about the path
you've chosen." Hermione said and Harry's entire jaw clenched in anger
and slight humiliation that Remus had apparently been gossiping about
him to his former friends.
"I never had any say in my adoption!" He hissed. "How many times must I
explain that to you all before it sinks in?!"
"So you are scared." Ginny murmured.
"No!" Harry snapped, barely managing to stop himself from screaming. "I
went to Remus for advice about the Wizengamot, not about my family
and not about my adoption!" He said firmly. "I am finally happy. I am
finally safe and you will not take that away from me!"
"It's okay to admit that you made a mistake, Harry."
Harry had never wanted to hit someone quite so much in his entire life.
Only the thought of the nose dive his reputation would take after the
public heard that he'd punched two girls stopped him.
"What mistake would that be?" Harry demanded, breathing heavily to
control the urge to lash out physically.
"All of…this!" Ginny said vaguely, but she waved her hand over Harry
himself and Harry wondered if maybe he could get away with a subtle
curse instead of a punch.
"I am not a mistake." He said pointedly.
"Not you personally." Hermione said quickly. "But what you've become,
Harry. You're so different now that it's actually upsetting to see. You used
to be sweet, kind, brave, and loyal."
Harry's head snapped up at that last, to glare at her.
"Oh, but it wasn't me who was disloyal first, was it?!"
The two of them said nothing to that.
"Was it?!" He demanded. "No, I am still loyal, just not to you anymore.
That's the difference here! You were the ones who abandoned me!" He
reminded them. "I owe you no more loyalty than you showed me. I am
still loyal, I am still kind and brave, but you don't get to see that part of
me anymore!"
Harry stared them both down.
"I am sick and tired of rehashing this same argument with you all." He
said angrily. "I am done with all of you! Do you understand me? Done!
This is the last time I spell things out for you, if you approach me again I
will insist that the DMLE issues you with a harassment order!"
"But…we're worried about you, Harry. We really are." Hermione tried.
"Especially now that Remus has sent us a letter to keep close to you."
"Stay away from me." Harry said seriously. "I am happier, healthier, and
safer than I have ever been in my life. I actually have a future that I can
be proud of. I am a lord of two prominent houses, I sit the Wizengamot
and I will be a lawmaker. Face up to it, you weren't enough for me!" He
snapped. "You didn't challenge me, you couldn't keep me safe, and at the
first opportunity, you all turned your backs on me and then actually tried
to blame it on me! Just stay away from me, the further the better!"
"Harry, are you okay?"
Blaise appeared from nowhere, laying an arm across Harry's chest as if to
shield him, as he came up beside him.
"Go away!" Blaise snapped at Hermione and Ginny. "He doesn't want you
near him and honestly, he could do without it today!" Blaise turned his
head slightly and whispered into his ear. "I saw you through the window
and I sent Theo to get Draco."
"Probably a little overzealous." Harry pointed out with a smile. "I don't
need Draco to fight my battles."
"He's your brother. It's how families work." Blaise waved off. "He's very
protective of you, you know."
That made Harry feel better and he wasn't surprised when Draco came
storming out of Honeydukes and immediately stood in front of him.
"What are you doing here?" He demanded of the two of them.
"We're allowed in Hogsmeade, Malfoy." Ginny snapped.
"I'm surprised that you didn't have your permission revoked because of
your treatment of my brother! After the bill given to your families, I
wouldn't have thought you'd have any money to spend either."
Ginny flushed and Hermione went quiet.
"That's what I thought." Draco said angrily. "Just leave him alone. Do
whatever you want, but leave Harry alone. He doesn't want to speak to
you, he's told you so many times, just stay away from him."
"Is that what you really want, Harry?" Hermione asked softly.
"I've told you so many times before, yes, that is what I want! How could
you think I could ever forgive what you did to me? You know how much
family means to me, how much I loved you as my friends. You turned
your backs on me and this is the last time I'll say this, we're through! Stop
approaching me, stop speaking to me. You're the ones who burnt the
bridge between us and then destroyed the pieces when you dared to
touch my Firebolt!"
Draco gripped his arm and Harry realised that he'd been trying to step
closer to them. He took a deep breath and held his ground instead.
"Whatever comes, whatever happens." He said, more quietly this time.
"You only have yourselves to blame for it. I never asked for any of this,
though admittedly it is the best thing that ever happened to me. I don't
want any of your false concern or any of your conniving words." He told
them. "Just stop because this really is enough now, it's getting
embarrassing."
"We just want…"
"Don't you understand yet that it's not about you?" Harry cut in harshly.
"It's not about what you want! Why should I forgive you after what you
did to me? Why should I forget the way you treated me? Why is
everything always on me?!" He demanded.
"You're right." Draco told him. "They're asking too much of you. You are
within your rights to not want to see or speak to them."
"Shut up, Malfoy!" Ginny shouted.
"No, unlike you, Weasley, Harry actually values my opinion. I get to
speak to him and offer my opinion and you don't."
"Harry, please, we can help you." Hermione said, giving him what was
likely a meaningful look, likely indicating that if he was frightened of
Blaise, Theo, and Draco then he could seek her out in private.
"You talk about the arrogance of purebloods, while with the next breath
you say something so profoundly arrogant it just makes you a hypocrite."
Harry pointed out. "I don't need help, I don't have anything I need help
with! I will say this only once more before reporting you, leave me the
hell alone! I would think after the financial burden given to your families
that you wouldn't risk being expelled as well when I complain of
harassment to the school governors!"
Hermione in particular visibly baulked at the thought of being expelled,
as Harry had known she would. He was counting on it to keep her from
coming near him in future. Ginny was less daunted, and Ron definitely
wouldn't care, but if it kept one of them away from him, he'd be pleased.
"What is going on?" Luna's dreamy voice asked as she came to stand at
his other side, slipping her arm through his.
"Nothing, Luna, we're just leaving." Harry told her.
"You're still speaking to him?!" Ginny demanded.
"Of course, Harry is my friend." Luna answered.
"Unlike you, Luna never turned her back on me!" Harry snapped.
"I like having friends." Luna told him.
Harry smiled at her gently. "Let's go, before my mood is ruined any
further."
Draco moved them off, towards Scrivenshaft's knowing that Harry needed
more parchment.
Harry didn't miss the considering look that Hermione shot Luna though
and his arm tightened on Luna's. He wouldn't have Luna badgered or
coerced into telling his former friends any details of his life. She was his
friend and he wouldn't let any harm or upset come to her.
"How much parchment did you actually need?" Draco asked as he held
the door open for them.
"A lot." Harry insisted as he went immediately to the largest bundles of
parchment.
"Pass them here then, you can't pay and carry all of those."
Harry grinned and made Draco regret offering to hold anything as he
loaded his arms up.
"Damn it, Harry, you can't need all of this!"
"I've incinerated my law reform three times this term." Harry insisted.
"You know the last time it was almost four rolls of parchment long. I am
going through parchment at an alarming rate."
"Fine." Draco groused, moving over to the counter, where the poor old
man manning the till looked just as daunted as Draco.
Harry threw a few more bundles in Blaise's arms as well, before grabbing
more to carry over himself.
"Seriously, Harry?" Draco asked. "Are you sure this isn't too much?"
Harry shook his head. "No. This is probably a little optimistic, but there
will be another Hogsmeade weekend in January or February, so I can
pick up more then if I need it."
Theo actually whistled at the total, spent just on parchment, but it was
needed. Harry likely needed more, as he'd said, but this would tide him
over, though if he was in dire straits he would owl Lucius to…no, he
wouldn't. He'd either owl Narcissa to get him some more parchment and
send it via owl, or he would owl Scrivenshaft's directly and get them to
send him more parchment at Hogwarts.
He scowled to himself, as the old man helped to bag up all of the bundles
of parchment. He hated being at odds with Lucius, Xerxes too, but Lucius
was supposed to be his father.
Harry took the large bag of parchment and then he was content to follow
the others around, going into various shops, paying the customary visit to
Zonko's joke shop, and then to Tomes and Scrolls bookshop.
It wasn't that late when they started the trek back to Hogwarts, but it was
getting dark already and it was getting much colder. With his right hand
full of bags, Harry had his other arm wrapped around a shivering Luna,
holding her close and tight and walking at a fast pace to keep them
warm.
Draco had copied him after Astoria had elbowed him and nodded in their
direction. Harry had laughed at that and made a note to tease Draco over
it when they were alone.
Blaise was giving Harry rather odd looks and Harry wondered if he had a
thing for Luna, especially after that bashful look Luna had given in his
direction earlier. The thought came that perhaps they were dating in
secret, but Harry shook his head, no. That couldn't be right, Blaise
couldn't keep any of his relationships a secret, it must be something else.
The walk was long and cold, but the castle was warm as they entered and
they all hurried to the fourth floor, to Harry's private rooms, where they
offloaded their bags and Harry set to making tea for all of them.
"Here we are." Harry said, placing the tea tray down on his coffee table
and handing out cups.
"I really liked today." Luna said with a smile.
"I did too." Astoria agreed.
"I'm glad to be back in the castle now though." Harry added, laughing.
"It's getting really cold out there and this tea was needed."
"After heaving back your cartload of parchment." Blaise laughed.
Harry rolled his eyes, but he went to the bag and started stacking his
parchment nicely on his coffee table. It was a lot when it was laid out
like this, but Harry knew that he'd need it and that he would use it all
within a few months.
Harry sat back and savoured the warm tea, feeling much better. They
would go down to dinner in a few hours and then Harry would come
back to his room while the others went back to their house dormitories.
He would have a few hours to himself then to make a start on the runes
work that Marcus had set him before their tutoring session tomorrow. It
would mean more than his life if Marcus came and found that he hadn't
done it.
Harry was rightfully nervous as Marcus silently looked through his work.
It had been a little bit of a rush job and he accepted that, but he was
pretty sure that Marcus wouldn't accept that as an excuse if he found any
mistakes with it.
"You've done well." Marcus said eventually, putting down the last
worksheet. "How are you finding your actual lessons now?"
"I'm understanding a lot more since I started doing the work you set me."
Harry replied. "I'm finding your work harder than the work that Professor
Babbling is setting!"
Marcus scoffed. "I don't doubt that. I am a master of runes after all." He
insisted arrogantly. "Some of the work I'm setting you is graduate-level
and you're still keeping up. Have you considered a career in runes? I
could use some competent co-workers."
Harry grinned at that. "Sorry, Marcus. I'm going all-in for politics."
Marcus scoffed again, harder this time. "Your brain is wasted on politics."
"I'm not just going to give up all the skills I'm learning." Harry assured
him. "I'm going to keep them honed, that way I'll be able to pass them
onto my own children. Maybe then you can have your competent
underlings." Harry chuckled.
Marcus grinned. "As long as they are actually as competent as you then
they won't need to fear me."
Marcus shoved the worksheets back at Harry and as he went through
them all looking at all of Marcus' additions, Marcus got another stack out
of his bag.
"This is all graduate-level work, Harry. The same sort of work that my
underlings are doing. If you can actually get through this, then I don't
think you even need tutoring anymore."
"Not trying to get rid of me before my final NEWTs are you?" Harry
teased.
"No. I'll still be taking all the credit for your marks, but if you can do this
work then I don't expect anything less than an O from you, and a high O
at that."
Harry tried to calm the quell of fear that that brought up in him. No,
Marcus was a master with runes, if he, for whatever reason, believed that
Harry could get an O in his exams then he had to believe it too. He could
do this. He had been finding the work that Professor Babbling was setting
recently rather unchallenging and he could get through it relatively
easily, and quickly too. It wasn't any wonder either if Marcus had been
giving him graduate work.
"Right, come here, do these sheets with me." Marcus told him, pulling a
sheet from the top of the pile. "If you can do this then your NEWTs won't
be a problem. I'm going to explain this once, so listen closely."
Harry fell back into the flow of things with Marcus, listening intently and
following what Marcus was explaining to him, steadily going through the
stack of worksheets. The work Marcus was setting was definitely
challenging, difficult too, but Harry could reason it out quite well and get
himself to the right answer eventually.
"You see? You're understanding graduate-level work, Harry. There are
idiots working for me who don't understand this work and they wonder
why I throw folders at their stupid heads. I think our tutoring is at an
end. There's not much more I can teach you without you actually going
into a specialised field."
Harry looked through all of the worksheets he'd just gone through and he
blew out a breath.
"Thank you for everything you've done for me, Marcus. If you need
anything, don't hesitate to ask."
"I'm saving this favour for when you become the Minister." Marcus said
seriously.
Harry chuckled. "Whatever you want. I wouldn't have survived the late
switch to Ancient Runes without your help."
"I'm going to miss you, you know."
Harry chuckled. "I'll miss you too. Don't be a stranger. Not at parties, or
that awful Ministry ball. I want to stay in touch with you."
"Your husband won't like that."
"He's calmed down a little in recent months. His potions are balancing
him out and he's really healing. He's still emotionally stunted because of
how long he was in Azkaban, but I'm working on it. We both are."
"That's good to hear. You don't want a jailor who won't let you have
friends."
Harry nodded his agreement. "That's pretty much what I told him. We
can't be married if he doesn't trust me. I won't allow it. For me, trust is
even more important than love."
"Save me the disgusting details." Marcus complained.
Harry laughed. "How is your courtship going?"
"Very well. I may be married at nearly the same time as you if everything
keeps progressing as it is."
"I'm happy for you, Marcus."
Marcus nodded, then sighed. "You are right, though. This time around
trust means more to me than love. Not that I loved Amelia, we were
betrothed as children, but you understand what I mean. I didn't trust her
either and that turned out to be for a very good reason. Eleanor…Eleanor
I can trust. I'm not here or at work wondering what she's doing at home,
or who she's doing at home. I don't feel the need to go home on my
breaks to see what she's doing, to check if she's cheating, I trust her not
to."
"It sounds like you've found a really good person to marry, Marcus. Don't
frighten her off now!"
Marcus snorted. "She's the one that frightens me." He said.
"Maybe that's how it should be." Harry laughed. "I know I frighten
Rabastan more than he scares me."
"You are bloody terrifying when your temper explodes." Marcus agreed.
"I'm getting better at controlling it now that I'm on the Wizengamot."
"I'll still remain leery of you. Even the Dark Lord fears you, you know."
Harry scoffed at that, but he smiled too. "Yeah, I know."
Marcus collected his stuff back into his bag and then stood. Harry stood
with him.
"Good luck with your exams, Harry. If you keep up this level of work
then you should have no problems with it. I've given you seven practice
NEWT exams to complete in the last few months and, except for the first
one, you've gotten an O on all of them. You're ready."
Harry took a breath and he was feeling rather good about himself.
Dropping the tutoring sessions would have the added benefit of giving
him more free time to work on other things as well. He was pleased.
He saw Marcus out of his rooms and then turned to settle into his settee,
blowing out a large breath. Things were looking up for him and he was
making progress. He no longer needed private tutoring and, if nothing
else, that would make Rabastan happy.
He stood after several minutes of preening to himself to make a cup of
tea, grabbing some biscuits while he was at it. His homework was done,
his tutoring was at an end and he didn't have any extra work to do, so
he'd suddenly found himself with several hours of free time that he hadn't
planned for.
He ate some biscuits and drank half a cup of tea, just absorbing a bit of
peace for a few minutes, but then he sat up and pulled his creature law
reform towards him.
He had a lot of work to do on it and a lot more information to add in
after he'd taken it to the coalition. He was in a unique position of having
several uninterrupted hours to write for it and, damn it, he was going to
do his very best to make those hours productive. He didn't know when
he'd next have the chance.
35. Testimony and Tears
Last Time
He stood after several minutes of preening to himself to make a cup of tea,
grabbing some biscuits while he was at it. His homework was done, his
tutoring was at an end and he didn't have any extra work to do, so he'd
suddenly found himself with several hours of free time that he hadn't planned
for.
He ate some biscuits, drank half a cup of tea, just absorbing a bit of peace for
a few minutes, but then he sat up and pulled his creature law reform towards
him.
He had a lot of work to do on it and a lot more information to add in after
he'd taken it to the coalition. He was in a unique position of having several
uninterrupted hours to write for it and, damn it, he was going to do his very
best to make those hours productive. He didn't know when he'd next have the
chance.
Chapter Thirty-Five – Testimony and Tears
Harry had been excused from homework for the weekend by special
request, as Umbridge's trial had started and this weekend Harry was
being called up as a major witness. He was supposed to be staying at
home for the weekend as most of his time was going to be spent in the
courtrooms of the Ministry being questioned, nigh on interrogated, for
his version of events, but he had changed his mind and instead, he would
travel to and from the castle. He and Rabastan were still playing their
little ruse and he didn't want to see or speak to Lucius or Xerxes.
The biggest piece of evidence he had against Umbridge was the scars still
on his right hand. They could only have been made by a contract quill,
now he just needed to prove that Umbridge was the one to force him to
write those words that had permanently scarred him.
He was nervous, despite that he'd been called up before the Council of
Magical Law before to answer for his use of magic in front of Dudley, as
this seemed different. He was a witness for a start and not a defendant,
but this time he would be speaking to the entire Wizengamot and the
Council of Magical Law in a trial that could very well see Umbridge to
Azkaban for the rest of her miserable life.
"You need to eat something, Harry." Draco nagged.
Harry just shook his head.
"You shouldn't be so nervous." Pansy told him. "Think of all you've done
in your life. All you have to do here is tell the truth."
"I've had to write a witness statement." Draco told him. "I included that
Umbridge was going to cast the Cruciatus curse on you in her office. She's
already going to prison just for that. So, tell them what you know to be
the truth and then you can come back and I'll be in your rooms to
comfort you."
"I don't think I can do this." Harry said worriedly.
Draco gave him a strange look before he stood. He took Harry's arm and
pulled him to his feet as well before leading him from the Great Hall.
They went to a broom cupboard in the entrance hall and Draco pulled the
door closed behind them.
"Is this where you keep pulling Blaise?" Harry teased weakly.
"I'll let you have that one because I know you're nervous, but what's
really going on, Harry?" Draco asked him. "You can debate anyone under
the table. All you have to do is tell them what Umbridge did to you.
You're not even the only witness, a hundred other students have been
called up to testify her use of that quill."
"I know I'm the main witness because I'm the one who accused her first
and I was the one who was injured the worst, I'm just worried that I'll
mess it up, Draco."
"How can you?" Draco asked with a frown. "Harry, you're just telling the
truth. You're an experienced member of the Wizengamot now and an
experienced debater besides. You can do this."
"I hope so."
"I know so!" Draco insisted. "What has you so unsure of yourself?"
"I feel like the Wizengamot members are against me." Harry confided. "I
lost my last debate and now I'm being called up in front of them as a
witness…it'll be the first time I'm seeing them all since that loss."
"Harry…" Draco sighed. "They're not going to go against you in this,
you're one of them. Umbridge is guilty and they can't hide the results of
their votes like they could with that vampire. Their decision will be
headline news. If the public sees that they've acquitted her after they've
read about all of the things she's done to students, they'll be hounded out
of their seats. There will be an inquest on the back of it, there might even
be talk of abolishing the Wizengamot altogether. They won't take those
sorts of risks."
Harry settled a little at hearing that, but mostly at how much sense it
made. The members of the Wizengamot couldn't risk going against him in
this because it had been all over the papers, ever since Umbridge had
been first arrested. The general public all knew what she had been doing
while she was at Hogwarts. They knew about the students she had
harmed, how she had used the Ministry as an excuse to assume almost
complete control over the castle and it had even been 'leaked' that she
had tried to cast an unforgivable curse on an unnamed student, though
that article had heavily hinted at Harry being the one to suffer that latter
fate, which had caused an absolute uproar among the public. There had
even been protests held within the Ministry and parents bombarding the
school governors with howlers. People didn't want their children at a
school where a crazed woman had been causing them permanent harm,
where she had tried to use an unforgivable curse on a minor under her
care.
"What if they have Dementors there, Draco?" Harry asked, voicing yet
another thing that was bothering him.
"Cast your patronus and get out of the room?" Draco offered with a shrug.
"They shouldn't be there until she's sentenced and that won't be until all
the evidence is presented. It shouldn't be while you're there, not if father
has had any say in it."
Harry was still nervous, even as he checked his pocket watch and saw
that it was about time that he headed to the Ministry.
They exited the broom cupboard and Draco slid a bar of Honeydukes
finest chocolate into his hand.
"I'll have more waiting for you in your room later." Draco promised.
"You'll be fine, though."
Harry smiled a little weakly. He didn't feel fine at all.
He had to go to Dumbledore's office to leave the school this time and he
didn't like that either. His headmaster had to formally escort him to the
courtroom, despite that he came and went freely by himself when he was
called to a Wizengamot meeting.
He took a deep breath, gave the gargoyle the password he'd been given
by McGonagall and then he headed up to the office.
"Ah, Harry, how are you this morning?"
"I would kindly like to get this over with and get back to the castle,
Headmaster." Harry said, putting on a brave face, not letting any of his
nervousness be seen.
"As you wish, Harry."
Harry had given up on getting the man to be less familiar with him. He
was only going to be in school for seven more months and then he would
be out of Hogwarts for good and then hopefully, he wouldn't need to deal
with the man all that often…or at all, though he wasn't so naïve as to
think that Dumbledore would ever leave him alone.
"I see you have some chocolate ready."
Harry looked at the bar that Draco had given him. "I'd rather have it and
not need it than face the Dementors without it."
"A wise decision. We are a little early, would you like some tea before we
leave?"
Harry was instantly suspicious, but he hid it well. "No, thank you, Sir. I'd
rather go now."
"If that is what you'd like." Dumbledore agreed easily. "After you then."
Harry flooed through to the Ministry first, but Dumbledore was half a
step behind him. Harry brushed the soot from his robes with a casual
hand as he waited for Dumbledore, and then he followed beside the old
man as he was led down into the depths of the Ministry, to the old
courtrooms.
There were polished wooden benches placed outside the rooms and
Harry sat on one of them, trying to control his nerves as he waited to be
called in.
"You seem rather scared if you don't mind me mentioning it, Harry."
"Nervous more than scared." He corrected, sitting back and turning to the
chocolate in his hand. He opened the wrapper and snapped a piece off,
eating it to make himself feel better.
"You have nothing to be nervous over." Dumbledore told him, aiming at
being reassuring, but it sounded so false to Harry now that it set his teeth
on edge.
Harry ate more chocolate to keep from answering.
"You shouldn't be in there for more than an hour. I know that you have
been given a few days off of your homework, but I'm sure you won't be
wasting your entire weekend."
"I know. I am grateful not to have homework though, I have a lot I need
to do."
"I have heard talk of a new creature reform law. May I read it? I could
give you some valuable input."
"No, thank you." Harry said simply.
"Harry, I could help you with it."
"You had your chance to change the laws, Headmaster!" Harry snapped.
"You had decades to do something about the state of the laws, to help
those who needed it while you were sat in my stolen seats and you didn't
do anything! It's my turn now."
Dumbledore said nothing. He looked quite stunned and Harry turned
away from him, popping another chunk of chocolate into his mouth.
He had meant every word, of course. If Dumbledore was so interested in
the laws and in changing them then why hadn't he done so when he'd
been the Chief Warlock? When he was occupying Harry's two seats and
had had the perfect opportunity to do just that? No, he was only
interested in them now because Harry was fixing them, and either he
wanted credit for doing so, through him, or he wanted Harry to leave
loopholes as the current laws had. Harry wouldn't accept either excuse or
any other besides. This was his law reform, no one else's.
"I just want to help you, Harry."
"I have nothing to say to you." Harry replied harshly. "I don't need help
with anything."
"Remus seems to think otherwise."
Harry had to force his hands not to curl into fists. He'd have to pay
another visit to Remus it seemed, and remind him that he didn't
appreciate having his business spread around to people he no longer
interacted with. He had not said anything about rethinking his adoption,
his family, or his engagement, he had been upset about the Wizengamot
and the fact that Lucius and Xerxes hadn't supported him. He and
Rabastan were sorting that out now with their ruse. He didn't need
anyone else shoving their noses in. He was handling it.
"Remus is mistaken and I will be speaking to him about passing
information over when I believed we were having a confidential
conversation."
"He's worried about you, Harry." Dumbledore insisted. "He's so very
worried, especially after your last visit. He felt that he had to come to
me. He said that you were very upset and he just wanted to help."
"Well, he went the wrong way about it." Harry snapped.
Feeling the anger clouding his mind, Harry tried to clear it away, to get
his mind back on the trial and what he needed to say. He couldn't
though, he was too angry and his thoughts were instead chasing over
Remus' betrayal.
It was in his mind now, he couldn't get it out that Remus had told
Dumbledore, of all people, about his little crisis of pureblood etiquette. He
breathed deeply, he breathed out for longer than he breathed in, but
nothing helped and the hot anger was burning through him, making him
feel like he couldn't think. He wondered then if Dumbledore had
mentioned it to rile him up on purpose.
That helped him to calm down a little, thinking that this was another of
Dumbledore's manipulations. He popped some more chocolate into his
mouth, sucking on it this time, letting it melt slowly on his tongue.
"Here, Harry. You'll be called in very soon, have a drink."
It was a simple glass of water and Harry did need a drink. Harry hoped
that Marcus's runes held up, as he took the glass and drank half of it.
It smelt like water, it tasted like water and he felt no different. He placed
the glass on the bench and tried to get his head in the game. He needed
to be at his most eloquent. He could deal with Remus later.
It didn't really help, he was distracted and he hated Dumbledore, and
Remus too, even more for putting him in this position. He'd needed his
head in the game, but now all he could think of was Remus going to
Dumbledore and telling him everything that Harry had told him.
He was called to enter the courtroom and the immediate swoop of nerves
in his stomach made him feel dizzy. He took some more water and left
his chocolate bar on the bench as he stood, brushed himself down and
made sure that he was still presentable, he took a breath and then he
entered the courtroom, ignoring Dumbledore's 'good luck, Harry' as he
did so.
The benches were full, there were reporters there, and Umbridge was
sitting, chained to a chair right in front of him. He had to walk in, his
legs feeling like they were filled with lead and he had to sit next to her.
Thankfully, his chair did not have attached chains and he wasn't pinned
to it in any way.
"Harry James Potter, you are here as a witness, and the chief
complainant, in the trial of Dolores Jane Umbridge."
It was Runcorn who was speaking, as the Chief Warlock, in place of the
Minister who hadn't yet been selected. To give all seventeen-year-olds a
fair chance at voting, and because some of those seventeen-year-olds
would be in Hogwarts, the election had been extended until the winter
break. Harry was glad at that moment that it wasn't Fudge who was
going to be questioning him, though he would be questioned after
Umbridge's trial to find out if he had any knowledge of what she had
been doing at the school. He was already trying to distance himself from
her and her actions in interviews, insisting that he didn't know anything
about what she had been doing at Hogwarts, but he had signed all of the
educational decrees that Umbridge had put into practice in the school
and he couldn't hide any of that now that The Daily Prophet had
uncovered all of them. If Umbridge went down, then Fudge would almost
certainly be occupying the cell next to hers.
"Please, tell us of your complaint in your own words, Lord Potter-Black."
Runcorn offered.
Harry took a breath and tried to ignore the feeling of hundreds of eyes on
him. The attention felt like insects crawling over him, trying to burrow
under his skin. He had the urge to rake his nails over himself just to be
sure that there was nothing there.
It was worse than he had been expecting, as he tried to outline
everything that had been done to him by Umbridge, but he was oddly
tongue-tied, his mind was still playing over Remus telling Dumbledore
his private struggles, on him telling Hermione, Ginny, and likely Ron too,
to bother him when he'd made it clear that he didn't want them near him.
He repeated details that he'd already mentioned, he almost forgot to tell
them that she had tried to cast the Cruciatus curse on him in her office,
and he fumbled over his words. He had never been so terrible with his
words before, not even before his adoption.
He felt humiliated all over again and it was all he could do to keep the
embarrassed flush from his cheeks. He couldn't even look up at anyone,
he kept his eyes on the stone floor in front of him. He tried to hold back
the tears threatening to fall. He was still angry and that made him want
to cry even more. His voice wavered a little with emotion as he
recounted the desperate attempt that Hermione had come up with to
prevent Umbridge from casting the Cruciatus curse on him in her office.
How they had lied about a weapon of some sort to distract her from
cursing him and how they had gone into the forbidden forest hoping to
lose her so they could head back to the castle, back to safety, and how
the centaurs had found them. He glossed over much of that, knowing that
the Wizengamot were likely to use it as an excuse to persecute the
centaurs. Harry wouldn't be able to handle that sort of guilt on top of
what he was already carrying. Instead, he'd said only that they had
merely chased Umbridge off and had led him and Hermione back to the
edge of the forest so that they could head back to the castle.
Once he was done with his account of events, he was asked questions
from several members of the Wizengamot and the Council of Magical
Law and he answered them as best as he could. He was questioned about
inconsistencies with his events compared to Umbridge's testimony, he
was asked to clarify several points over and over to check that his story
remained consistent, and he relayed exactly the same information each
time, but despite that, he felt that he'd already blown his testimony by
being so ineloquent and as soon as he was dismissed by Runcorn, he
stood and fled the courtroom.
"Ah, there you are, Harry. You took longer than I expected."
That made Harry feel even worse and he stormed off.
"Do you not want a drink or your chocolate?" Dumbledore asked.
Harry just shook his head. He'd left it unattended and though any potions
wouldn't work, he couldn't trust that they hadn't been cursed or
otherwise tampered with via a spell.
He just wanted to be alone. He was angry, he was upset, and he had lost
all confidence. This debacle just proved it.
"Harry, a word?"
Lucius had caught up with them. It was almost funny to imagine him
running down the corridors in his court robes, as that was the only way
that he'd have been able to catch up to them, but Harry was too
overwrought to deal with any more right now.
"Please, not now." He begged.
"Harry doesn't wish to see you!" Dumbledore said sternly, having heard
Harry's mumbles.
"I will see my son whenever I wish!" Lucius said, his tone pitched
dangerously low, silky soft. Harry knew that tone and his shoulders
pulled in. "Harry, a word, now."
Harry trudged over to Lucius, but he was barely holding onto his
outburst.
"Do you want me to come with you, Harry?" Dumbledore asked him.
"No, I don't!" Harry snapped.
"Come with me."
Harry was led to an empty office not too far away from the Atrium. He
bit his lip and kept his eyes on the floor, trying not to cry.
"What is the matter, Harry?" Lucius asked him gently.
"I was terrible!" He burst out. "I couldn't keep my story straight. I could
barely speak!"
"I noticed that something was wrong, but you were not as bad as you
believed. You got all the relevant information out and you were easily
understood. Why were you not yourself?"
"Can you not guess?!" Harry demanded, looking up, tears in his eyes.
"Rabastan?" Lucius offered.
Harry forgot for a moment that he and Rabastan were playing at
breaking their betrothal.
"Not just that, but everything." Harry said. "I feel like I can't do anything
anymore."
"Because you lost one debate?"
Harry snapped his head up, his previous anger that had been pushed
aside coming back tenfold.
"No! Not just because I lost in the Wizengamot but because you went
against me! You shove pureblood etiquette down my throat until I can
recite it in my sleep, telling me how important it is to support allies and
family, and then at the first opportunity you prove to me that it was
nothing but lies!"
"I am more sorry than I can say if that is how you truly feel. I am sorry,
Harry." Lucius said sincerely. "I thought at the time that the biggest
lesson to you would be that you cannot win every debate, without
thinking of what you'd already been through. I didn't take the other
circumstances into consideration and I can only apologise for it. Can you
forgive me?"
"Never…" Harry said, his voice hitching, and he saw Lucius's grey eyes
widen a little. "Never do that to me again." Harry said, sniffling and
reaching up to rub the tears from his eyes.
"I swear that I never will." Lucius told him and Harry knew that he was
being sincere, and it was only that that had him stumbling into Lucius for
a hug, blinded by his tears as he cried.
"You truly have been deeply affected by this, haven't you?" Lucius asked
as he held him.
Harry nodded, clutching at Lucius, his hands fisting into the black court
robes, crying on him.
"Then I am truly sorry to have done this to you. It will never happen
again. I will be behind you one hundred per cent."
Harry swallowed, huffing, trying to calm down, but it felt so nice to be
held.
"I screwed up the trial." He moaned.
"You didn't. As I said, I could tell that you were not yourself, I know you
well by now, but you got across the information that was needed and
your story didn't change when you were questioned."
"I felt tongue-tied, like my tongue was too big for my mouth, and I
couldn't keep the events straight. Knowing that most of those people saw
me losing a debate only recently kept playing on my mind, and
Dumbledore was winding me up beforehand. I could have done so much
better."
"Hush now." Lucius said, stroking Harry's hair and rubbing his back.
"Calm yourself. I only have ten more minutes for a recess before I have to
go back to the courtroom. Will you go home?"
"I can't. Not with the state of things at the moment."
"I can't believe that you forsook Rabastan. He is devastated you know?"
"I know. I am too. But as I said to Draco, I just couldn't interact with
Xerxes after what he'd done. How could I sit at the same table as him? Or
sit in the parlour having tea, playing nice, knowing that he'd turned on
me in public? Rabastan and I would never have survived that, so I
decided it was better to cut ties now, rather than wait and then go
through a messy divorce later down the line when we might have
children involved when I finally admitted what I already know now. I
cannot forgive Xerxes and my relationship with Rabastan would never
have survived that breakdown of alliances."
"You have forgiven me." Lucius pointed out.
"You have admitted your mistake and apologised to me. You're my father
and family means everything to me. I would forgive you just about
anything once, but Xerxes…" Harry shook his head.
"So you are done with Rabastan, just like that?"
"No, it is difficult. I found myself writing him a letter just the other day
before I realised what I was doing and threw it into the fire. Giving him
up is the hardest thing I've ever had to do, I love him with all that I am,
but our relationship can't survive the stress that Xerxes has put on it. I'd
end up resenting Rabastan and I never want the love I feel for him now
to turn to hate."
"Allow him to plead his case, as you have allowed me, and I'm sure that
he will pledge never to go against you again, just as I have."
Harry made a play at looking uncertain and he brushed more tears from
his face with his sleeve before Lucius grimaced and fished out his own
handkerchief to wipe Harry's face for him.
"If you can get everything that you wished for just by agreeing to hear
Xerxes out, surely it's worth listening to a heartfelt apology for five
minutes and then you can decide from there."
"I won't have this happening again."
"Believe me, Harry, Xerxes and I have more than learned our lessons. We
will never go against your lead again."
"Was it mother who made you say that?" Harry asked with a small grin.
Lucius snorted a soft sound of amusement. "Your mother didn't make me
say it, my apology is sincere, but there's no denying that she is the reason
that Xerxes and I will never go against you again." Lucius said wryly.
"Your mother is a very formidable woman."
Harry managed a little, slightly wet, chuckle.
"She loves you very much and she's very protective of you. I am too. I am
sorry that my actions caused you to doubt your place among us, but it is
still among us, Harry. You are my son, as much as Draco is. I realise now
that I need to treat you both differently in order to support you both. I
didn't understand that before, I thought it was better, because you were
adopted, to make sure that you were being treated equally, so that you
wouldn't squabble, or think that you were any less our child than Draco
is, but I see now that that was a grave mistake on my part. You are
different boys, you are already a lord, you already sit the Wizengamot,
my treatment of you must differ to that of Draco and you're both going to
have to understand that."
"I already knew that." Harry said, nodding.
Lucius gave him a rueful smile and shook his head in disbelief.
"Of course you did. Go home, Harry. Now that we've heard your
testimony we won't be much longer. Your mother wishes to see you as
well."
Harry nodded and he finally let go of his father and rubbed his face,
making sure that no traces of tears were left.
"I must go, I'm already bordering on being late back to the courtroom."
Lucius grimaced at the very thought of being late and Harry laughed,
getting a gentle push.
Harry left the office and he was momentarily aggrieved to see
Dumbledore standing, waiting for him.
"Harry, there you are. Are you ready to go back to the school?"
Harry shook his head. "I'm very sorry, Headmaster, but I've changed my
plans. I'm going home for the weekend after all."
"Harry, you don't have to go home, you can stay at the castle if that is
what you want."
"It's not." Harry replied. "I feel that it's best if I go home for a few days."
Dumbledore looked very worried, but Harry didn't care. It looked bad,
having decided to stay at the castle and then being pulled into an office
with Lucius for fifteen minutes and then suddenly deciding to go home
after all, but he just didn't care. He moved away from Dumbledore and
towards the fire banks.
"Harry, please reconsider. I feel that going home will not be what is best
for you." Dumbledore said.
"I don't appreciate you trying to stop me from doing anything." Harry
said, a hard edge to his tone. "I'm going home."
"Go, Harry." Lucius encouraged, as he stood there watching, making sure
that Harry did go through the floo safely and wasn't waylaid or
kidnapped.
Harry took a fistful of floo powder and threw it into the flames, calling
out for Malfoy Manor, and then he was gone. If nothing else he could
really use Narcissa's comfort after what he'd just been through.
Harry hadn't anticipated that Rodolphus and Rabastan would be sitting
with his mother in the parlour when he went home. He hadn't thought of
it and he stopped suddenly as soon as he caught sight of them both.
"Harry." Rabastan exclaimed, leaping up and coming to him, but they
were unfortunately still playing a ruse, so Harry took a few steps back,
away from his love when all he really wanted to do was burrow into him
and not let go.
"Why are you here?" He forced himself to ask.
Rabastan seemed to realise that they had to play out the ruse still. "I…we
came to be here when our grandfather came back from the trial. I wanted
to know that you were okay after your testimony."
Narcissa was there then, holding him, almost shielding him from the two
Lestrange brothers.
"I didn't think you were coming home, sweetheart." She told him, almost
as an apology for the Lestranges being there. "Not that you aren't always
welcome, of course. I am very happy to see you."
"Why are they here?" Harry asked, making his voice angrier.
"Harry, please, I love you." Rabastan said softly.
"That's why I can't have you here."
"You love him. He loves you, why isn't that good enough for you?"
Rodolphus snarled.
"Stay out of this, Dolphus!" Rabastan snapped.
"Just stop it, please. I embarrassed myself in the trial, I can't handle any
more aggravation."
"What do you mean, sweetheart? What happened during the trial?"
Narcissa asked him gently.
"They didn't bring in Dementors, did they?" Rabastan asked in horror,
moving to reach out to him, to comfort him, but Harry turned more into
Narcissa, lamenting that they'd started this ruse and he couldn't get the
comfort he needed where he wanted it.
Harry shook his head. "No. I…I got tongue-tied. I could hardly speak. I
repeated details, I almost forgot to mention that she'd tried to cast the
Cruciatus curse on me, I was a complete mess. I could barely get my
words out."
"Why?" Rabastan asked him concernedly.
Harry shook his head. "I just kept thinking that the people staring at me
from the benches were the same people who had watched my defeat a
few weeks ago. That they were the ones who had smirked and laughed at
my failure and I…I fell to pieces."
"You truly have lost all confidence in yourself, haven't you?" Rabastan
asked sadly.
"I can't do it anymore. I don't want to."
"Oh, darling, please don't do this to yourself." Narcissa said gently,
hugging him. "You've had a setback, that's all."
"You should have seen how terrible I was speaking in the trial, Mother! I
felt so stupid."
"You're not." Rabastan said firmly.
Rabastan stepped forward and pulled Harry away from Narcissa and then
hugged him tightly. Harry took a moment to indulge in the love and
security of his fiancé's arms before he tried to push away, but Rabastan
held him closer.
"No. I am not giving up on you and I won't allow you to give up on
yourself, or us. I have told my grandfather my thoughts and he is going
to apologise, Harry. He will never go against you again. I promise you
that. Don't push me away."
Harry sniffled and clutched at Rabastan tighter. He didn't have the
willpower, nor the inclination, to carry this ruse on any longer. If this
had been a real argument then he would never have given in so easily,
but it wasn't, and he just wanted Rabastan to hold him.
"I want my ring back." He demanded.
Rabastan chuckled. "You will have it over the winter break, I promise."
"Oh, I'm so glad I didn't have to give you a slap upside the head."
Narcissa told him and Harry turned to give her a crooked grin. "Rabastan
was the best person for you, the worst thing is that you knew it too and
you still broke off your engagement."
"That didn't mean I could reconcile what Xerxes did to me. How was I
supposed to behave around him, knowing that he'd all but stabbed me in
the back in the Wizengamot? The relationship between Rabastan and I,
no matter how strong, wouldn't have survived the animosity. I still
require an actual, in-person apology, though. I got one from father, but as
long as what you say is true..." He directed at Rabastan. "…and Xerxes is
sincere in his apology, then I will forgive him just this once. Never again
though."
"There will never be a repeat of this." Rabastan swore to him.
Harry was so very happy that their little ruse was now at an end and he
sat next to Rabastan and cuddled into him.
Rodolphus reached over and ruffled his hair like he usually would and
Harry sent him a crooked grin as well.
"No lecture?" Harry asked him.
"No. You resolved your issue without one and I do understand that my
grandfather was foolish in his dismissal of your alliance with our family.
Regardless of that, had you not made up, I would have done everything
in my power to protect my brother and punish you for causing such hurt
to him."
"Rodolphus!" Rabastan growled.
"I'd do the same for Draco, so I understand." Harry nodded.
"Have you and Draco made up now?" Narcissa asked. "He has been very
worried, and very upset, at your separation."
"He apologised to me and then hugged the life out of me." Harry
chuckled.
"I will do the same." Rabastan assured him, pulling Harry in tighter to his
body.
Harry laughed and turned to snuggle into Rabastan. "I missed you."
"I missed you as well." Rabastan assured him. "Catch me up on what I
might have missed, there is bound to be a lot that you have done while
we weren't talking."
"Not really. I've been very focused on my homework and making sure I
can keep up, though I am on the sixth rewrite of my creature law
reform." Harry informed him.
"The sixth?" Rabastan asked in shock.
"You were only on the second re-write when you went to school."
Rodolphus told him.
"I've rewritten it four times this term. It's now five rolls of parchment and
I shored up every loophole I could find after that Wizengamot debate. It's
much better now, but I'd realised that the first few attempts I'd made
were too politically worded. I can't write that reform as a politician, it
needs to be harsher, more strict, and not leave any leeway. It's so much
better now."
"Then I cannot wait to read it." Rabastan said proudly. "I can't believe
you've had the time to re-write it so often."
Harry nodded. "It was needed. It's all I've been thinking about since that
Wizengamot meeting."
"Have you been keeping up with your homework?" Narcissa asked him
sternly.
Harry immediately nodded. "Yes, Mother. My schoolwork always came
first. I'm on top of it all."
"What about Quidditch?" Rabastan asked him, as a needed distraction.
Harry grinned then. "Gryffindor beat Slytherin, thanks to my daring
capture of the snitch right over the Professors' bleacher."
Rodolphus rolled his eyes. "Of course you did. Slytherin has no hope with
you as a Seeker."
"None at all." Harry agreed. "Hufflepuff are leading on points, though.
They absolutely massacred Ravenclaw, so our next game is even more
important."
"You have Hufflepuff next?" Rabastan asked.
Harry nodded. "In March. It's Ravenclaw Slytherin next, in February. If
Ravenclaw can actually beat them, being the current bottom marker,
then Slytherin will drop under them in points and if we can beat
Hufflepuff, we'll overtake them in points and become top."
"Even though I am not there, I will be cheering for you." Rabastan
insisted.
Harry chuckled at the sour look on Rodolphus' face at the thought of his
little brother cheering for the Gryffindor team.
"You have to cheer for me too, Dolphus!" Harry insisted.
"Never." The man scowled.
Harry laughed harder and gave him a cheeky grin.
"I thought you always backed the winners?" He asked faux-innocently.
"That'll be me!"
"That remains to be seen. Perhaps all the Slytherin team needs is a stern
talking to."
"You can't flog a dead horse." Harry told him, still grinning.
Rodolphus sighed as if hard done by, but Harry knew the man better by
now, and he knew that Rodolphus, for all his arguments to the contrary,
was rather fond of him.
"Don't call your brother a dead horse, Harry." Narcissa told him, but she
too was smiling, teasing.
Harry laughed at the joke, feeling calmer, more settled, but then it was
never these three that he had been angry with.
Speaking of the devil, the door to the parlour opened and Lucius entered
the room. Xerxes was behind him.
Harry stiffened and Rabastan felt the change in him immediately, as he
stroked a hand down Harry's arm soothingly.
"Harry." Lucius greeted, coming to him and cupping his chin, tilting his
face left and then right. "You are looking better."
Harry nodded.
"I assume from your position that you have decided to accept a
reengagement with Rabastan?"
"That remains to be seen." Harry replied tightly, his eyes zeroing in on
Xerxes.
Rabastan's arms tightened around him. Harry could all but feel the glare
being directed at Xerxes. Rabastan loved his grandfather, indeed, he saw
Xerxes as a father, but that Rabastan was willing to go against such a
loved person for him was heartwarming.
Harry had never wanted to come between them, but then he hadn't put
them into this position, Xerxes had.
"Harry. I would like to apologise to you for my behaviour." Xerxes told
him. He sounded sincere, but Harry needed a verbal affirmation that this
would never happen again.
"I don't think you quite understood how much your actions affected me."
Harry prompted.
"I didn't, no." Xerxes agreed. "Rest assured that it will never happen
again. My only regret is that I didn't put more thought into my actions
before it came to this. I will not go against you again, Harry. Not in
public."
Harry inhaled deeply, considering the words and weighing them up to
how he actually felt. He was still hurt and he knew it would take time to
see if Xerxes' words rang true. He needed to see proof and the only way
that would happen was to give it time.
He took a breath and looked up at Xerxes. He could give it time. He
meant what he said, though. If it ever happened again, he would not
forgive the same transgression twice. He couldn't afford to do so with the
career path he'd set himself on.
"Will you forgive me, Harry?" Xerxes asked.
Harry nodded. "I will. Just this once." He said firmly. "It will never
happen again."
Xerxes nodded in agreement and Rabastan relaxed a fraction. Harry
eased back and settled into his fiancé.
"I believe you'll be happy to hear that your testimony went over very
well." Lucius told him.
"How could it when I was so abysmal?"
"You were not." Lucius refuted immediately.
"Those I spoke with assumed that it was emotion caused by what that
woman had done to you." Xerxes explained. "Not a single one of them
condones her actions. Regardless of their personal feelings for you, you
were a child put at her mercy and she abused you."
"None of them will excuse what she did or tolerate any of her reasons for
her abuses of children under her protection. There is no excuse that she
could use for the things that she did to mere children." Lucius agreed.
"Regardless of your differences with the members of the Wizengamot,
none of them would verbally condone child abuse in a courtroom.
Umbridge will be going to Azkaban, Harry. You will receive justice for
what she did to you."
Harry swallowed and turned to tuck his face slightly into Rabastan's
neck. It was still a little overwhelming, and unbelievable, that something
was being done to right the wrongs that had been done to him by
Umbridge. Deep inside he had thought that maybe nothing would come
of this, or that Umbridge would still get off with nothing but a slap on
the wrist. To face the very real possibility that she was going to Azkaban
for the rest of her life was making him feel a little overwrought.
"Do you need a moment?" Rabastan asked him quietly.
"I'll be okay. Please, keep holding me."
Rabastan's arms clenched about him even tighter and Harry felt the kiss
on the top of his head. It made him smile despite feeling rather
emotional.
"It would be amounting to social suicide if they did any different, Cissa."
Lucius said in answer to something that Narcissa had asked, clearly about
the other Wizengamot members.
"You would dissuade them if they were thinking otherwise?" Narcissa
questioned with narrowed eyes.
"Yes, darling." Lucius agreed immediately. "If I heard that any were
thinking of voting to save Umbridge from Azkaban I would have words.
It is not needed, however. Not a single person in that courtroom wishes
to save her because it will be at the expense of their own reputation."
"Exactly that." Xerxes said, nodding his head. "She is accused of child
abuse while in a position of power and influence over children. We've
already heard hundreds of statements and, of course, Harry's testimony to
that fact. Many of their own children or relatives gave statements against
her. Lucius is correct, it would be social suicide to side with her now."
Narcissa gave a pleased little smirk. "Good."
Harry had to smile at that too and he wriggled a little in pleasure.
Rabastan felt it and his arms squeezed tighter for a moment.
"Your family loves you."
"I love the feeling." Harry answered.
"I love you." Rabastan told him.
"I love that feeling even more."
Rabastan nuzzled into the top of his head and Harry wrapped his arms
around him tighter. Pimsey served them tea and Harry just sat and
listened. He didn't add anything to the conversation, but it was cathartic
to him to just reconnect with these people again after everything that had
happened.
The table was silent after Albus wrapped up his conclusion of the events
that he had been witness to that morning.
"I fear that Harry is now beyond our reach." Dumbledore sighed to the
members of the Order of the Phoenix as the silence stretched on.
"Do you believe that it is potions, Albus?" Moody growled.
"Lucius Malfoy certainly has some control over Harry. There is a tight
hold there, something that I cannot see. Lucius took Harry into an office
for just fifteen minutes and Harry came out of the room looking shaken
and pale. I could tell that he had been crying. He told me that he had
changed his mind and that he would be going to Malfoy Manor instead of
back to Hogwarts as he had originally planned."
Albus recalled the moment and he once again felt the tension in the air as
he had looked at Harry. There had been something unsaid between them.
Perhaps a cry for help?
"I, unfortunately, no longer have the authority to help Harry. He said
very clearly that he wanted to return to Hogwarts, but he was just as firm
when he told me he was returning to Malfoy Manor. Without his
cooperation, there was nothing that I could do to help him. Not while
Lucius Malfoy is his parent."
"He's having doubts, Albus." Remus insisted worriedly. "He's scared of
them and I can't leave James and Lily's son in such a situation. We can
see the clues, the hints at what his home life is truly like, he needs us to
rescue him. He's crying out for us to help him and we're doing nothing!"
"Until he comes to me and tells me that he needs help, there is nothing
that I can do. Harry has made it very clear that I am nothing but his
headmaster and in such a role, until he tells me that something is wrong,
I cannot help him. I have given him ample opportunity to tell me what is
going on and he has continually refused my help."
"Could he be cursed?" Emmeline Vance asked. "Perhaps he has a tongue-
twister curse placed upon him so that he can't mention what they're
doing to him."
"If that is true then this situation is even more grave than we imagined.
Lucius is certainly no fool, he has Harry in his power, he has a hold over
him and if they are using a curse to keep Harry from speaking then our
only hope of rescuing him is gone."
"There must be something else that we can do!" Remus burst out angrily.
"We can't leave him in an abusive situation. Can't you open an
investigation into Harry's home life? Cite fear of him being abused, the
Law Enforcers have to take that seriously, surely?"
"I fear that interfering in such a way might make Harry run further
towards the Malfoys and away from us."
"How much further away can he get?" Kingsley asked in his slow, deep
voice. "If you are serious in thinking that Harry is being abused in that
house then surely rescuing him from that will help to mend the broken
bridges."
"Not if he's been cursed, or dosed with potions. Whatever is being used is
very strong. We might also have to consider that it's an emotional hold
and not magic. Lucius Malfoy certainly has something to hold over Harry,
to force him to do as he wants, and Harry is not speaking to me about
what that might be."
"We can't just give up on him." Remus said desperately.
"I will bring the accusations of child abuse to the Law Enforcers. I will
insist that it is imperative that they separate him from the Malfoys to
question him, that he be given all tests that they can conduct to find the
hold the Malfoys have over him, even if it has to include a psychological
evaluation. If Harry still holds his silence over what is happening though,
then he truly will be beyond our reach."
"Make sure they know that we fear he's under the influence of potions or
a curse to stop him from speaking."
"I will do my all to see him back where he belongs." Albus insisted. "I will
give them all the information I have and insist that all tests be performed.
Harry is staying at Malfoy Manor for the weekend, if the Law Enforcers
move quickly enough then they can raid the manor tomorrow and
hopefully catch them in the act of harming Harry."
There had been no physical marks on Harry that he'd been able to see.
But recently Harry had taken to wearing long sleeves at all times, or a
jumper while he was not in lessons and dressed down. There was also
magic that didn't leave marks…like the Cruciatus curse.
"This is our last chance to bring Harry back." He said seriously. "If we fail
now…he will remain beyond our reach and he will be even more against
us. If the Law Enforcers find nothing of concern then we have failed to
protect Harry and he will hate us even more."
"It has to be now that they're hurting him!" Vance insisted. "Why else
would Harry decide to go home so suddenly, after speaking to Malfoy in
a closed office? He's being forced back there to be punished or perhaps
they lost control of him and they're reapplying whatever spells and
potions are being used to keep him in line?"
"I agree. He's been in school for almost a whole term, now would be
when any potions would have to be reapplied." Moody growled gruffly.
"Potter is strong, he can resist the Imperius curse even, so perhaps
whatever curses are being used have to be re-established and if Potter is
showing signs of rebellion, it would explain why Malfoy forced him to go
home to have them reapplied instead of waiting for the winter break,
which would have been a more natural time to reapply any spells or
potions on him."
"Have you had any luck in getting Harry to stay at Hogwarts for
Christmas?" Remus asked.
"None. He is stubbornly insisting that he will be going home to spend
Christmas with his family." Albus sighed wearily.
"It has to be now." Moody growled. "You need to report your fears of
abuse now, Albus. The Law Enforcers will need time to investigate and
we can't risk missing the moment of abuse."
Albus nodded and stood. "I will go now. This is our last chance to rescue
Harry, after this, we will need to consider more drastic measures."
Harry was startled awake by the soft crack of Apparation in his room and
he jolted upright, his left hand groping for his glasses while the right
tried to snatch his wand from the bedside table.
He put the glasses on and slumped, coming down from the adrenaline hit.
"Kreacher." He sighed, sitting back upright. "What has happened?"
"An order meeting, Master."
Harry nodded and he climbed out of bed and he went to get his dressing
gown, slipping it on before leading the way to his little personal living
room attached to his bed suite.
"Have a seat, Kreacher." Harry offered, pointing to a chair. "Tell me
everything."
Harry was furious when Kreacher finally finished his report. He was
shaking and he knew that he couldn't waste any time.
"Go back to Grimmauld Place, Kreacher. Keep an eye on all of them for
me."
Kreacher nodded and left and Harry hurried from his room, almost
running down several corridors and around to the other side of the
manor, to the guest wing. It was two in the morning. He went to
Rabastan's room and he entered, going straight for the bedroom.
He was confused to shake his lover awake only for Rodolphus' tousled
head to come into view.
"I knew that you'd try to slip into bed with Rabastan!" Rodolphus growled
sleepily.
Harry blinked, then rolled his eyes. "That's not why I'm here! You need to
leave, right now. The Ministry is coming to raid the manor."
Rodolphus was up quicker than Harry would have imagined and while he
was dressing Harry went to Rodolphus' room to wake Rabastan. He
couldn't believe the idiots had switched rooms. Just what did they think
of him?
"Harry, you know we're not supposed to see one another alone. How did
you know that I was in Rodolphus' room? You woke him up, didn't you?"
Rabastan asked, giving a look to the bedroom door as if expecting his big
brother to come striding in.
"You need to leave now." Harry said. "The Ministry is planning a raid.
Dumbledore has told them that I'm being abused here and the Law
Enforcers will be coming. You need to go."
Rabastan got up just as quickly as his brother had. He was just finishing
dressing when Rodolphus entered with Xerxes, the both of them already
dressed, if a little haphazardly.
"Harry, what has happened?" The older man asked.
"My order spy got in touch. Dumbledore has gone to the Law Enforcers to
tell them that I'm being abused at home. They're coming to raid while I'm
here, they're hoping to catch my parents in the act of hurting me."
Xerxes looked serious and severe. He nodded curtly. "I will take Rabastan
and Rodolphus to Lestrange Manor. I am very glad that your order spy is
so diligent."
"Me too." Harry nodded, panting with stress, running a hand through his
hair.
"We're safe." Rabastan told him, cupping his face and giving him a kiss.
Rodolphus growled as it had been a full kiss on the mouth, but it made
Harry smile.
"Go now. I'll speak to you soon."
The Lestranges left quickly, Harry going with them as they hurried to the
floo access in the reception room. He had to see them off personally, he
needed to know that they'd gotten out safely, before any raid started. He
shared a last kiss with Rabastan and then the three of them were gone
and Harry's heart settled just slightly with the knowledge that they were
safe and out of reach of the Ministry for now.
Harry was still thrumming with adrenaline, however, and knowing that
he wouldn't sleep, not just yet, he headed to the parlour for a strong cup
of tea to bolster his nerves. He was trembling with the thoughts of what
might have happened to Rabastan if Kreacher wasn't spying on the Order
for him. He would have been back in Azkaban before dawn, back under
the torture of the Dementors.
"Pimsey." He called out.
"Young master, you should be sleeping." She chastised him.
"I know, but there's been an emergency. Can you get me a cup of strong
tea, please?"
Pimsey nodded, looking worried. She popped away and came back a few
minutes later with a pure white china cup edged with real gold on a
matching saucer. Narcissa had bought a new tea set while he'd been
away. Harry blew on the tea and then took a sip.
"Thank you, Pimsey." He said softly.
"Young master, do you want me to wake master and mistress?" She asked.
Harry shook his head. "No. Leave them to sleep. I'll tell them in the
morning. It was more important that I got the Lestranges out of the
manor."
That could have been disastrous. They'd have all ended up in Azkaban for
harbouring known escapees of the prison, the Lestranges and the
Malfoys, along with him. Thank Merlin for Kreacher and his invaluable
position as his spy. Everyone always forgot about the house-elves. Even
the Malfoys and the Lestranges, knowing that he had an inside spy on the
Order, did not once think that it was Kreacher who was passing along
information. It was to their detriment and his benefit.
Tomorrow, the manor would be raided. Law Enforcers would look for
signs of abuse. They'd look for evidence that he was under the influence
of potions or a spell. They would tear the manor apart and Harry hated
the very thought of such an invasion. The Order had a lot to answer for
and Harry couldn't wait to unleash both barrels on Dumbledore when he
got back to the castle.
36. Raid
Last Time
That could have been disastrous. They'd have all ended up in Azkaban for
harbouring known escapees of the prison, the Lestranges and the Malfoys,
along with him. Thank Merlin for Kreacher and his invaluable position as his
spy. Everyone always forgot about the house-elves. Even the Malfoys and the
Lestranges, knowing that he had an inside spy on the Order, did not once think
that it was Kreacher who was passing along information. It was to their
detriment and his benefit.
Tomorrow, the manor would be raided. Law Enforcers would look for signs of
abuse. They'd look for evidence that he was under the influence of potions or a
spell. They would tear the manor apart and Harry hated the very thought of
such an invasion. The Order had a lot to answer for and Harry couldn't wait
to unleash both barrels on Dumbledore when he got back to the castle.
Chapter Thirty-Six – Raid
Harry was awake very early the next morning. He had hardly been able
to sleep, but he had managed a few hours of restless tossing and turning.
He was in the dining room, drinking a strong coffee and contemplating
waking up Narcissa and Lucius to let them know what had happened last
night when his father walked in.
"You're up very early, Harry." Lucius said worriedly.
"I've heard from my Order spy, we're going to be raided today. I woke up
early to send the Lestranges away."
Lucius' face tightened in fury. "Does this have anything to do with
Dumbledore?"
Harry nodded. "He's told the Law Enforcers that I'm being abused here."
"So, naturally they are going to raid our home to make sure that you
aren't."
Harry nodded again. He was tired of these games. He just felt so bone-
deep weary of it all.
"Once again your spy on the Order of the Phoenix comes in handy."
Harry hummed in agreement and sipped some more coffee.
"You know we don't like you drinking coffee, Harry." Lucius told him.
"I'm a legal adult."
"You are living under my roof."
"I'm very tired." Harry said.
Lucius didn't look very impressed. "As you will, but try not to let your
mother see, she worries about you. Have you only had the one cup?"
Harry nodded. "Just this one, I am up early, but it wasn't that early."
Lucius gave his shoulder a pat.
"I am going to make sure everything that the Ministry shouldn't be seeing
is hidden. If they raid before I come back be sure to keep your calm and
say nothing unless you are with your mother or me, am I clear?"
"I might let out an angry outburst if they demand anything from me, but I
would never incriminate you or my family."
"Good boy."
Harry squirmed at the praise. It still made him feel slightly
uncomfortable as he wasn't used to it, but that didn't mean he didn't still
like hearing it. It was very complicated.
Lucius didn't notice, or if he did then he didn't draw attention to it.
Instead, he went to make sure that the manor was made safe. Harry sat
and finished his coffee and he did have the thought to maybe do
something, anything, so that he didn't waste the entire day waiting for
this supposed raid, but he could hardly concentrate on anything so there
wasn't much point. He didn't like feeling that he was being unproductive,
though. Not when he had so much on his plate, so many things he could
be doing, and what amounted to a free weekend to actually get things
done.
He sighed, pushing those thoughts away for a moment, and instead he
finished his coffee before serving himself some tea from the set that
Pimsey had laid out in preparation for breakfast.
"Sweetheart, your father told me what you said. Are you okay? You
should have woken us last night, I don't like the thought that you were
fretting about this by yourself."
Narcissa looked angry too, but she came to him, cupped his face in both
of her soft hands and kissed his forehead.
"I was fine, Mother." Harry told her. "I knew it was unlikely that they'd
raid us overnight, they're not Aurors after all, but I wasn't going to
gamble with Rabastan like that, just in case."
"That is likely for the best, sweetheart. Did you manage to get any sleep?
You look tired."
"A little. I have been very worried about Rabastan, so I had a few
nightmares about him being caught."
"It didn't happen, Harry." She assured him. "The Lestranges are safely in
their own manor. We will see through this raid and then we'll carry on
from there."
Harry smiled and allowed the words to reassure him.
"Come, let us eat breakfast and then read in the parlour. Nothing speaks
of abusing children more than sitting in a quiet room reading together."
Harry laughed. His mood had lightened, as Narcissa had intended,
enough for him to eat a small breakfast.
Harry went to his bedroom to collect some of his law books. If he was
going to have a quiet morning reading then he was going to at least try to
be a little productive about it.
Narcissa had had tea and biscuits laid out, almost as if they were waiting
to welcome guests. Harry set his books down on the table, sitting
opposite Narcissa, and he went through them, a notebook by his hand so
that he could note down anything he thought he might need and where
he'd read it so that he could look it up again if he needed to.
Together, they actually relaxed. It was very quiet, only a murmur now
and then as one of them asked Pimsey for more tea or more biscuits, the
rustle of a page being turned, or Harry's quill scratching as he wrote.
"Damn, I'm out of ink." He said, going to dip his quill only for him to
realise that the inkwell was almost completely dry.
"Do you have any other inks here, darling?"
Harry shook his head. "They're all at Hogwarts."
"Pimsey."
"What can Pimsey be doing for Mistress?" The house-elf asked.
"Fetch Harry some more ink from Lucius' office."
Pimsey nodded and left just as quickly as she had come.
"Will father mind?" Harry asked.
"Of course not, sweetheart. You know we like to encourage you in
everything."
It was an anxious wait for the raid to happen, as Harry opened the brand-
new inkwell that Pimsey had brought him and started taking more notes.
They didn't know when the raid would happen, or how, so when it
actually did happen, it was so shocking that none of them even had to act
surprised or like they hadn't been given prior knowledge of the raid.
"Harry Potter, come with us." A man in a crisp, decorated uniform
demanded.
"Absolutely not!" Harry replied angrily. "You, get your hands off of my
mother this instant!"
Harry went straight for the man who had actually had the audacity to
grab at Narcissa and he put himself between them, glaring so hatefully
that the Law Enforcer actually backed off.
Narcissa immediately took charge of the situation and she pulled Harry
behind her, shielding him.
"How dare you invade my home!" She snapped. "What possible reason
could you have for this intrusion?!"
"We've received an allegation of child abuse. We are naturally concerned
about the child in question, Mister Harry James Potter, so we are
following up on the complaint."
"Who is the complainant?" Harry asked.
"We are not at liberty to disclose such information. Please, come with us."
"I am not leaving my home!" Harry snapped. "If you want to speak to me,
you'll do it right here."
"You don't have a choice."
"I know the law. I am a child." Harry said, hating that he was claiming as
such, but in this case, it was used to his advantage. "You have declared
me as such yourself, thus I demand parental representation, as is my
right."
The Law Enforcer noticed his mistake immediately. If he'd claimed Harry
as an adult, as he was over seventeen, then Harry could have been
removed from his parents. As they had come in here on an allegation of
child abuse and had declared him the said child, then that defence could
no longer be used to split him from his parents as Harry had duly
invoked his rights to have parental representation. Harry controlled the
urge to smirk as he waited for the Law Enforcer to make his next move.
"That is the law." The man sighed.
"Graeme, we can't leave him with them." Another man spoke, trying not
to let Harry and Narcissa hear, but they did.
"The fault lies with me." Graeme said, immediately owning up to his
mistake, which made Harry begrudgingly start to like him. "I named him
a child and Mister Potter has invoked his rights for parental
representation. Please, have a seat."
Narcissa bristled at being invited to sit on her own settee in her own
home, but she sat stiffly back into her seat. Harry sat beside her.
Harry watched as the Law Enforcers looked over the cosy room. The tea
set and half a plate of biscuits on the table, the book that Narcissa had
been reading and the ones that Harry had been reading, and how on both
sides of the table there was clear evidence that both of them had had a
cup of tea.
"Please, lay out whatever questions or evidence that you have that I am
being abused." Harry invited.
"Are you?" Graeme asked him.
Harry laughed. "No. No, I'm not."
"We are concerned that you are being forced to say as such against your
will. Will you consent to a magical check for potions or spells upon your
person?"
"I will." Harry said immediately.
"I will be the one performing the check, Mister Potter, if that is okay with
you." A woman told him.
Harry was getting annoyed that they were calling him 'mister' instead of
'lord', and that they were missing out the 'Black' portion of his title too,
likely on purpose, but he took a breath and he nodded his head.
"My name is Katrina. Most people just call me Kat." She said in a friendly
way.
"I won't repeat what most people call me." Harry said. "Though I insist
upon being called Lord Potter-Black, as is my due."
The Law Enforcers all shared looks with one another, but Katrina
soldiered on with her check.
Harry tried not to squirm as he felt the foreign magic trickling all over
his body. It felt invasive, it made his skin crawl, and the check was going
on for way too long in his opinion and he just wanted it to stop already.
It took everything in him to remain sitting down and silent, to not
automatically fight the intrusion, but as the minutes ticked by the hairs
all over his body stood up on end and he started bristling at the
continued exposure to another's magic. It just felt wrong to allow
someone to do this to him and he didn't like it.
At long last the magic stopped poking at him, slipping into places it
shouldn't to check for things Harry knew weren't there, and as Katrina
stepped back, her magic finally leaving his body, he felt like he was able
to breathe again for the first time in several long minutes. Katrina didn't
look happy, though, and Harry tensed up.
"No evidence of any spells, curses, potions, or anything otherwise, Sir."
Katrina reported to Graeme, who slumped a little as if that wasn't what
he'd been expecting to hear. These people were actually upset that there
were no spells on him or potions in his system and that made Harry grind
his teeth together.
"Are you at all unhappy here, Harry?" Graeme asked him after gathering
himself.
"No, I'm very happy, thank you."
"Have you ever been hit or hurt?"
"No."
"Have you taken any injuries while under the care of your adoptive
parents?"
"No."
"Are you made to feel unwelcome or unloved here?"
"No." Harry snapped this time, getting a little angry and defensive.
"Are you being coerced into protecting your would-be abusers?"
"No!"
"Will you consent to be looked over by a healer?"
"My parents are the ones who took me to a healer in the first place!"
Harry snapped, his anger red hot. "They are the ones who have supported
me and made sure that I was healthy! They are not abusing me!"
"So, you don't consent?" Graeme asked him.
Harry inhaled deeply, trying to calm himself. He would not allow himself
to be backed into a corner.
"I will consent, but I want it noted that I said beforehand that there was
no need."
"It will be noted." Graeme assured him.
"Must I go to the hospital or can a healer be brought here?" Harry asked.
"We would like you to go into a hospital environment."
"It will be fine, darling." Narcissa told him. "I am sure your father will
escort you."
Harry nodded. "I will go to the hospital as long as my father escorts me
there as I insist upon parental accompaniment."
Graeme looked a little worried at having Lucius escort them, but he had
to consent because Harry had invoked his minor rights to parental
representation. It had been his mistake for that slip of the tongue and
both of them knew it. Harry would be incredibly happy to exploit it too.
It took ten minutes before Lucius joined them from where he'd been
cornered in another room.
"Have you consented to a hospital visit, Harry?" He asked, coming to
stand beside him.
"Yes. I got the feeling that it would have made things worse if I had
refused, Father, despite knowing that it will be a complete waste of time.
I'm fully healthy now."
An arm wrapped around his back, up by his shoulders and Harry dropped
his defences slightly, despite that they were in public, to lean into him a
little.
"Hurry back, darling." Narcissa said. "I don't want Harry late for lunch."
"I am sure this won't take overly long." Lucius said, giving the lead Law
Enforcer a sneer. "After you."
Harry was furious when they arrived at the hospital and there was a team
of healers waiting for him.
He tried to remain calm but he felt that his privacy had been invaded. He
felt disrespected as he was directed to strip himself off and put on a tiny
pair of paper shorts in front of everyone, not just his father and the
healers, but several members of the Law Enforcement team too.
"There's no need for any of this!" He growled, hunching into himself as
his scars were put on display by the bright, harsh lighting and he could
see the Law Enforcers sharing pointed looks. They were almost fucking
excited to see the evidence of abuse on his body
Lucius stood beside him as he was examined, tall and strong and
reassuring as Harry tried to keep his temper. Having him here helped to
keep him calm as his body was once again physically examined and then
checked with magic.
"Well?" The leader of the Law Enforcers, Graeme, demanded as the
healers stopped flitting about him and had seemingly finished their
examination.
"Lord Potter-Black is in good health." The one healer, an older man, said
sternly.
"He is covered in scars!" Graeme exploded, jabbing a finger at him.
"These are old scars." The healer waved off. "Older than the indicated
time period that you asked us to check between."
"I was removed from my former home for neglect." Harry said, his voice
pitched low and dark. "I was being abused there and no one cared. Where
were you then?" He demanded of the Law Enforcement team. "Why didn't
you investigate my home life when I was actually being abused? I have
not been hurt or injured at all since my adoption. When are you going to
understand that I was removed from an abusive home, I am not living in
one now. I have a supportive, loving family and they are not hurting me."
Lucius gave his back a gentle pat and Harry breathed out, trying to settle
himself, trying to calm himself and regain control of his anger that was
burning hot.
"There's no sign of any potions or curses?" Graeme asked desperately.
"None." The healer replied curtly. "Lord Potter-Black has improved vastly
since his last visit and shows no signs of any injuries or abuses. There are
no spells upon his person and no potions currently in his system."
Graeme looked utterly defeated and Harry controlled the childish urge to
shout out 'I told you so' and instead, he opted for looking coolly
disinterested and slightly annoyed that his important time had been
wasted, his day interrupted.
"Was that all?" Lucius drawled. It was the same drawl that Draco had…it
amused Harry to know that Draco had emulated his father.
"No." Graeme replied, almost angrily. "There is a mind healer on standby.
Lord Potter-Black is to have a psychological evaluation as well."
Only Lucius' arm around his shoulders kept Harry's rage from exploding.
He was almost at the point where he would start using physical
violence…or a few jinxes.
"Are you calling my son's mental health into question?" Lucius demanded,
his tone low and soft. It made the hairs at the back of Harry's neck stand
up on end and the words weren't even directed at him. He really needed
to learn how to do that.
"We have a strict itinerary that we must follow to the letter." Graeme
defended himself. "We are not calling Lord Potter-Black's mental health
into question, a psychological evaluation is a part of our duties to the
person in question."
Harry looked at Lucius, almost begging him to stop this, but his father
sighed and his hand squeezed gently on his shoulder.
"It will not take long." Lucius tried to placate him. "It will all be very
routine."
"You will stay with me, won't you?" Harry asked, a small hint of his
insecurities peeking through.
"If that is what you wish, of course." Lucius assured him. "If you could
lead the way." He directed at Graeme, who looked sullen and sulky that
he'd completely lost control of this situation…all because he'd labelled
Harry as a child in a slip of the tongue. It would have been amusing to
Harry, if he wasn't so pissed off.
Harry was escorted down the hall, up three flights of stairs to the fourth
floor. They went through various wards until they made it to what
seemed like an office block. There were several doors, all emblazoned
with the names of various mind healers. Harry was taken to the door at
the end of the corridor, which was larger and fancier seeming than the
others, and it was stamped as the office of Head Mind Healer Sebastian
Vasey.
Harry took a deep breath as they entered the large office space. The mind
healer was sitting behind his desk, clearly waiting for them.
"You can leave us now." The man said, his voice calming and soft.
"Vasey, no, we've already said that we will stay." Graeme insisted.
"The comfort and privacy of my patient is more important to me than
your curiosity." The man stated, standing from his seat, showing that he
was more than averagely tall.
"Mister Potter is being evaluated for abuse!" Graeme burst out, a tick
forming in his cheek.
"I've told you to give me the title I am due as a lord." Harry snapped
back. "Stop belittling and demeaning me!"
Lucius rubbed his shoulder and Harry blew out a harsh breath, trying to
control himself, but he was failing. His anger felt like it was a part of
him, as intimately connected as his blood. His hand flexed towards his
wand without conscious thought.
"I will be conducting a full evaluation, as asked of me." Healer Vasey
said, still calm and endlessly patient. "I will not compromise my patient's
right to privacy merely because you wish to have a first-hand account. I
will give my report after I have conducted my evaluation and until then,
I am going to insist that you leave."
The Law Enforcers looked furious, but Harry was grudgingly starting to
like Healer Vasey. The last thing he wanted was any sort of audience for
a mental evaluation. He was too angry, and only getting angrier.
"Lord Malfoy, I will ask you to step out as well." Healer Vasey insisted.
"No." Harry said, shaking his head, his hand reaching out to grip onto
Lucius' sleeve. "I've invoked my rights to parental representation." Harry
said firmly. "I want my father to stay."
"My evaluation will ask questions that I find most patients will refuse to
answer honestly in front of parental eyes and ears." Healer Vasey told
him, still calm and soothing,
Harry shared a look with Lucius, who gave a soft sigh and nodded.
"I will be right outside the door, Harry, if you want me for any reason
then just open the door."
Harry swallowed and he nodded.
He stood there awkwardly, watching as Lucius glared at the Law
Enforcers until they left, and then he followed them out, pulling the door
closed behind him. Harry swallowed, suddenly feeling nervous.
"I am not here to harm you or to make you feel trapped." Healer Vasey
told him gently. "I only wanted to see you alone so that I was assured
that your answers would be honest. Please take a seat, Lord Potter-Black."
"You don't have to call me that." Harry said shyly. "I only told the Law
Enforcers to because they kept calling me Mister Potter, which was
incorrect."
"What would you like me to call you? You may call me Sebastian or
Healer Vasey if you wish."
"Just Harry." He said as he sat in the soft, squishy chair stiffly.
"Can I get anything for you, Harry? A drink or perhaps some fruit?" The
man asked as he came around his desk and sat in the chair opposite
Harry, a sturdy, solid wooden coffee table between them.
Harry shook his head.
"I would like to assure you that everything you say here will be
completely confidential." Healer Vasey told him. "My final evaluation will
be my opinion of your overall mental health and will not include any
details that you choose to share with me today."
Harry relaxed ever so slightly and he pushed a hand through his hair in a
nervous gesture. He was, at the least, reassured that none of what he said
would end up on the front page of the Prophet.
"So, Harry, can I ask how you're feeling?"
Harry didn't think a snapped, petulant 'fine' would work here, in this
room, so he took a moment to consider how he was actually feeling, but
only one answer kept rolling around his mind.
"Angry." He admitted grudgingly.
"Let us explore this a little. Do you know why you're feeling angry?"
"All of this!" Harry said, waving a hand.
"Can you explain a little better for me?" Healer Vasey asked.
Harry blew out an aggrieved breath.
"I…I just feel like I've been manipulated into doing things I didn't want to
do." He said. "I had to give evidence in a court trial, which was difficult
anyway, but then just a day later my home was invaded, they tried to
split me up from my parents and would have succeeded if I hadn't been
studying law and knew my rights, but I was still forced to see a team of
healers, and now this. None of it was my choice. I feel like I've had my
choices ripped away."
"That would make anyone feel angry." Healer Vasey assured him.
"I just…I feel like everyone is making decisions for me and I have no say
in any of it!" Harry vented. "The Law Enforcers wouldn't even tell me
who complained about my home life. I was having such a nice morning
with my mother too, settling down from the stress of court case."
"Will you tell me about your morning?"
"We had a nice breakfast and then we went to the front parlour for tea
and biscuits. My mother was reading a novel and I was doing some note
work with my law books, just jotting down things I read that I thought
might be useful for my law reforms. It was nice, peaceful, until they just
burst in and scared me half to death."
"Then they refused to give you any details about what was happening?"
Healer Vasey asked.
Harry nodded. "Yeah. I asked who had complained about my home life,
because it certainly wasn't me! I just…I feel like I'm not in control of any
aspect of my life. That anyone can just burst in and force me to do things
I don't want to and I have no choice but to comply."
"Are there any other examples of this, except the Law Enforcers visit
today?"
"Right from the beginning when I lost my parents. They were murdered
and I was shuffled into an abusive home, but thanks to Dumbledore I had
to stay there. I told him I didn't want to go back but he forced me to. As
good as my adoption has turned out to be, I wasn't given a choice in that
either. I was collected from one house and taken to the Ministry and I
was just handed over like an object, no one told me what was happening
then, either. I didn't know what was happening to me or why, nothing
was explained. I was treated like a lackwit child."
"Were you angry at that point too?" Healer Vasey asked him.
Harry nodded. "Unbelievably so. I didn't quite grasp that I was safe, that I
was out of that abusive household. I wasn't settled and people were
messing with my life, so I was angry. It took a while for me to settle, for
me to understand that I was safe, it happened gradually, but it did
eventually happen and now I'm glad of that adoption."
"If someone asked for your opinion now, would you choose to stay where
you are?"
"Absolutely. I've never felt so safe and supported in my life." Harry
replied and he truly meant his words too. "It started out rocky, I was
angry, scared, I was performing because my choices had been taken
away, but…do you know the saying better the devil you know?"
"I do." Healer Vasey assured him.
"I knew what to expect with the Dursleys. I wasn't happy there, I
certainly wasn't safe, but I knew what to expect, so going into something
else was terrifying. I didn't know what to expect or how I would be
treated. Yeah, I might have been safer and treated better, but I didn't
know that and it seemed like the worst thing in the world to take such a
leap of faith. What if I was treated worse, you know?"
"That is a perfectly understandable fear."
"But…but I wasn't given that choice. I was adopted without my
knowledge or consent, I was forced to make that step that I was too
afraid to take on my own, and I was treated so much better. I started to
feel safe. It was novel for a while because I don't remember ever having
that before, sometimes it still is novel to me, like when I'm treated fairly,
when someone shows me that they care about me, even in little ways it
still gets to me, because it was more than I'd had before."
"You've alluded to the abuse you suffered at the hands of your previous
family. Do you want to talk about that?"
Harry shook his head. "No."
"That's okay." Healer Vasey assured him. "Back to the Malfoy family,
then. How is your relationship with your father?"
"Great." Harry replied stiffly.
"I didn't mean to bring up your defences again, I'm sorry for that." Healer
Vasey told him. "Would you like water or perhaps some tea?"
Harry shook his head, feeling too uncomfortable to ask for a drink, even
though his mouth was feeling a little dry and it had been freely offered.
He took a breath and tried to ease himself down. He was trying to stop
the Law Enforcers from removing him from the Malfoys, to do that he
needed to convince an actual mind healer that he wanted to stay. He took
another breath and brought up his 'lord' persona.
"Lucius treats me just like he treats Draco." Harry said, more relaxed and
natural. "I never had that at the Dursleys. They favoured their own son
and made sure I knew it right from the start. I thought…I thought at the
very least that the Malfoys would favour their own child more than me,
but they don't. We're treated the same, punished the same, we get the
same sort of gifts only differing in our separate interests. It was that
which worked to settle me quicker, seeing that we were actually equals."
"And your relationship with your father now?"
"He's teaching me everything I need to know. I didn't even know about
my lordships, my own birthright. He's patient with me, I'm still learning
and I make mistakes, but I'm corrected. I have a chance for trial and error
and I never had that before either, that chance to make mistakes and
correct myself. It used to be I'd do something wrong and it went right to
punishment. Sometimes I didn't even have to do something wrong to earn
a punishment."
"You have structure now?"
Harry nodded. "I didn't realise I needed it so badly until I was given it.
I've got set rules to follow, I know what is expected of me now and best
of all, I know exactly what will happen if I step outside of that structure,
if I break a rule. I know I'll be standing in a corner now and it takes all
the fear away. I don't fear failing, or breaking a rule because even if I did
it on purpose, the punishment is always the same."
"Are you punished the same as your brother?"
Harry nodded.
"Can I ask how you would have been punished before?"
Harry drew in a breath and then frowned. "It's difficult to answer because
it was never the same. It changed by the day. Sometimes it would be the
same." He corrected, thinking of the endless hours he'd spent locked in
his cupboard with no meals. "But they mostly reacted in the moment, out
of anger."
"So you were physically hit?"
Harry swallowed, but he nodded. "Sometimes they'd just fist my hair and
drag me to…to my room." He said, hesitating over mentioning the
cupboard. "Other times it was a smack or a kick. If my uncle had had a
particularly bad day…"
Harry trailed off and sent frightened eyes up to Healer Vasey.
"You are safe in this room." The man assured him calmly, gently. "You
may carry on if you wish to speak of this, or we can talk about something
else."
"Something else." Harry said quickly.
Healer Vasey nodded and made some sort of notation in the book in his
lap. He had a self-inking quill, which was likely for the best as Harry
feared he was writing down every word that he said.
"How did you come to be adopted?" Healer Vasey asked after a moment
that stretched too long for Harry's comfort. "Why was it decided at that
particular moment, do you know?"
"I hadn't really had much interaction with Lucius Malfoy." Harry said
softly.
"So why did he make the decision to adopt you out of the blue?"
"I found out about my birthright. I went to Gringotts to claim my
lordships and Lucius was the member of the Wizardry Protection
Movement on duty when the goblins contacted the Ministry for a
representative. He was present when I fumbled my way through trying to
claim my birthright, he saw first-hand that I had had no clue about any
of it and given that I had a claim to two seats on the Wizengamot, he
realised that my education, at the least, was being neglected. He told me
that I should have been told about it, that I was supposed to be taking
lessons on all of it and I wasn't. He patiently coached me through all the
necessary documents and legal contracts, I would have been lost without
him there that day, even if I was angry."
"Why were you angry?"
"I was embarrassed." Harry said, in place of saying he knew that Lucius
was a Death Eater and he didn't want to be near him at the time. "The
goblins were looking at me like I was particularly stupid and with
everything that Lucius was telling me that I should already know, I…I
felt humiliated, and embarrassed, and I channelled it into anger. Anger
was familiar to me at that point."
"And your adoption?"
"Lucius realised my need. The first person to ever do so. He saw how my
education was being neglected, he'd seen me up close for the first time, as
he sat next to me for hours in the bank that day. It didn't really take a
genius to figure out that my home life probably wasn't the best, so he
moved immediately to remove me from that situation. He took it upon
himself to teach me everything I was lacking, not just about my lordships
and my birthright, but everything. He even changed my electives at
school and tutored me personally to catch me up to my classmates so that
I'd have better options in the future. He took control and yeah, I was
angry about it at first. I argued and pushed back, purposefully broke rules
just to see the outcome, I tantrumed like a toddler and I'm not proud of
how I behaved in the beginning, but the punishment was always the
same. It never changed and as soon as that truly sunk in, I started to
settle."
"I see from your medical notes that you had a healer's appointment made
for you, was that due to Lord Malfoy knowing about your abuse?"
Harry nodded. "It took a while to convince me to go, as he didn't want to
just drag me there against my will, though he says now that he wished he
had given the serious diagnosis I was given as those extra months could
have helped me get healthier quicker. The healer told us both that even
half a year could have deteriorated me quite significantly, so my father
was kicking himself that it took so long to get me that appointment. I'm
glad he didn't force me, though. I'm glad, despite the additional months I
suffered, that he let me make that decision for myself."
"Why didn't you want to see a healer at that time?"
Harry thought about it seriously. Why hadn't he wanted to see a healer?
"I suppose I just knew how bad I'd been treated, especially with the
comparison with how the Malfoys treated me. I knew they'd hurt me
terribly and I knew I had scars all over my body from what they'd done
to me, I guess I just didn't want to admit the truth. I didn't want anyone
to see how bad it had been or the marks of it that I would be left with for
the rest of my life. I thought that if I could delay it enough that everyone
would just…forget about it." Here he gave a hollow-sounding laugh. "No
such luck for me, but even that turned out to be for the best. I was
terrified when the healer told me that I might have died before I was
twenty without swift and powerful medical intervention."
"How are you feeling now?"
Harry smiled. "I'm completely healthy. I was signed off by the healers in
early July."
"That must give you a powerful feeling of relief."
Harry nodded. "Knowing that the hypocalcaemia isn't hanging over my
head anymore is like a crushing weight has been taken off me. The
regime of potions I had to undertake was awful, but I didn't miss a single
dose. I was in school, I had exams while on those potions, I had my
Wizengamot duties, and personal duties too and I didn't slip. But it was
hard having that hanging over me, but now that it's gone and I'm healthy,
I want to keep it that way."
Healer Vasey gave him a gentle smile, making more notes, then he
paused and seemed to read through his words.
"You mentioned that your father changed your electives, how did you
feel at that moment?"
Harry frowned. "I wasn't overly bothered. I did like Care of Magical
Creatures, but the teacher was a little too enthusiastic and some of the
things we were shown…we probably shouldn't have been. As for
Divination, I took it because my friend did, and I figured that I'd have
someone there with me, but it was mostly a joke. At the time I chose
them I didn't have anyone to talk to about my future, or about careers or
electives, so I chose poorly and I realised that when I didn't like either
subject. I wasn't averse to Lucius insisting that my electives were changed
to Arithmancy and Ancient Runes and I've since found that I love both
subjects and I am glad they were changed."
"So you didn't get angry over that?"
Harry shook his head. "No. I didn't like the subjects I'd chosen and I didn't
have the motivation to change them myself, I needed someone to do it
for me and to help me catch up, and that's what Lucius did. I was grateful
for that care, for the support towards my future."
Healer Vasey hummed and wrote more down.
"Have your aspirations for the future changed since your adoption?"
Harry laughed. "Oh, definitely!" He exclaimed. "I didn't really have a
future before I was adopted. I…I figured I'd be an Auror, but it was only
because of a lack of ambition. I…I honestly thought I wouldn't even get
that far, you know?"
"Because of the abuse?"
Harry nodded shakily, opting to mention nothing of Voldemort or the
brewing war. "It was getting worse. Learning that I had magic made it
worse, going to Hogwarts made it worse, then as I got older, it was only
getting worse. A part of me always thought that I wouldn't even get to
graduate. That I'd never leave that house."
"How do you feel now that you are out of that house?"
"Like I've been given a second chance. A better chance, so I've seized it
with both hands. I've found that I like trying new things and my family
encourages me to try new things, especially food. I've realised that I do
have ambition, that I do want more for myself, and getting out of that
place, I actually have a future now and I can't wait to do everything."
Harry thought of Rabastan and the family they were planning. His
aspirations to change laws, to become the Minister for Magic. It was all
very exciting to him and he couldn't wait to do it all. To put his plans
into action.
"I think we will leave it here for today, Harry."
"For today?" Harry asked, his stomach sinking.
"I am going to recommend that you keep coming to see me, Harry. I feel
that it will really benefit you."
Harry chewed on his lip, uncertain. What if he accidentally let it slip
about Rabastan or the Lestranges? Or that he was remaining neutral in
the coming war and had actually met Voldemort face-to-face in a calm,
almost respectful manner.
"I can see your indecision clearly, Harry, but with everything that you've
told me today, I really do recommend that we carry on speaking, so that I
can help you. I cannot, by my magical contract, reveal any details you
tell me to anyone else. This information will not end up in a gossip
magazine or a newspaper."
"I've had enough of that in my life already." Harry murmured quietly.
Healer Vasey hummed. "I had noticed. But when I take you on as a
patient, as I intend to, we will both sign a contract and I will not be able
to reveal anything that you've said. Not even something terrible…or
illegal."
Harry frowned. "Do you deal with many criminals?"
Healer Vasey chuckled. "More than you know. Even criminals need
therapy, Harry, perhaps more so."
"Oh." Harry still chewed on his lip, but he knew that Lucius had wanted
him to see a mind healer, so he'd find no support among his parents
against continuing speaking to Healer Vasey. "I suppose it wouldn't hurt
then."
Healer Vasey gave him a gentle smile that almost made Harry squirm.
"I am proud of you for making the decision to overcome your trauma,
Harry."
Harry did squirm at hearing that and he felt his cheeks heating a little,
but he smiled too. He didn't think he'd made any sort of massive leap and
he wouldn't have said it as Healer Vasey had, but he was pleased too to
be praised for a decision he'd made.
"Let us get you back to your father and we'll work around your schedule
to find the best time for you to come back to see me."
"I've just stopped needing tutoring in Ancient Runes, so I have that time
free." Harry said, a little begrudgingly as he'd been enjoying that small
amount of time to juggle the rest of his schedule, but Lucius, and
Narcissa too, would insist that this was more important.
"It will be worked out, I don't want you feeling more stressed over these
talks, Harry, but I really do feel that you'd benefit from them in the long
run."
Harry nodded and he stood when Healer Vasey did.
"Can I go home?" He asked softly, insecurely.
"I feel it would be the worst possible thing that could happen for you to
be split from your adoptive parents. I will be insisting that you remain
with them."
"Truly?" Harry asked, brightening up. Maybe this wasn't so bad after all.
"Yes, given what you have said I feel it would be more damaging to
yourself to remove you from your adoptive parents and your home."
Harry swallowed heavily, but he felt lighter, happier, as he pulled open
the door and Lucius immediately stood from a chair and came to him,
even as the Law Enforcers rushed to surround them.
"Well?" Their leader, Graeme, demanded of Healer Vasey, rudely in
Harry's opinion.
"You will have my full evaluation in a few days, but I am happy that
Harry is safe and well cared for in his home and with his family. I am not
recommending that Harry be removed from the care of the Malfoy
family."
Graeme looked utterly defeated and Harry smothered the urge to smirk.
He had to pull upon all of his training from the Wizengamot to become a
lord to keep his lips from twitching.
"If that was all?" Harry asked, making his voice drawl like Draco did.
Graeme swallowed heavily enough that Harry watched his Adam's apple
bob. He had no choice but to reluctantly nod his head in agreement.
"Your mother will be pleased, at least. We will be just in time for lunch."
Lucius told him, laying a hand protectively on his shoulder.
Lucius escorted him from the mind healers' offices and all the way down
to the ground floor, where the floo banks were located, and he sent Harry
through first before following.
"Are you well?" Lucius asked, seeing Harry waiting for him, his face
almost crumpled.
Harry nodded, but too quickly.
"Use your words, Harry." He was chastised.
"I just…I didn't think it would be like that."
"What upset you the most?" Lucius asked, even as he used another hand
on his shoulder to get him moving towards the parlour where Narcissa
was likely waiting anxiously.
"The physical exam, with everyone watching me and seeing my almost
naked body."
Lucius sighed with regret. "I should have argued about them being in the
room with my half-naked son. I'm sorry, Harry. I was anxious as well."
Harry shook his head. "It's over with now. I have to carry on going to see
that mind healer, though."
"Oh, you allowed as such?" Lucius asked almost teasingly.
Harry gave him a cheeky grin. "I thought you'd be pleased."
"Oh, I am. I'm just also surprised that you actually agreed. I thought I was
going to have to bribe and blackmail you into it."
"It…it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I felt better just talking a
little and I really liked Healer Vasey. He was nice."
"I should hope so given how much he charges. He is considered to be the
best mind healer in the country and I only want the best for you."
They reached the parlour and Narcissa was waiting stiffly. She leapt up
and came to hug him tightly.
"Well? Don't keep me waiting, is everything okay? Are they going to try
to take our son away from us?"
"No, Mother." Harry said softly. "They couldn't find any evidence of
recent abuse, so I get to stay."
"Thank Merlin!" She exclaimed, pulling back to cup his cheeks and then
kissing his forehead. "Come now, lunch will be ready soon, you need to
eat after the stresses of today."
Lunch was a thick, warming soup of spiced root vegetables and fresh
bread and Harry ate ravenously, though he retained his manners as he
did so, he just didn't contribute much to the conversation.
"Will it be safe to go over to Lestrange manor to see Rabastan?" Harry
asked softly once he was done.
"They raided the house and failed to find anything, so it should be safe
enough, just watch out for Rhadamanthus."
"With some luck, he's at work." Harry grumbled.
Harry kissed Narcissa's cheek and then he went back to the receiving
room, leaving them to talk through what had happened themselves. He
didn't want to disclose the sorts of things he'd spoken of to Healer Vasey
anyway.
He went through the floo to Lestrange manor and he felt comfortable
enough to go to the parlour on his own. He met Xerxes on the way, who
had clearly been coming to see who had arrived uninvited.
"Harry, are you okay? I thought perhaps your father had come to explain,
not you."
Harry shook his head and he smiled a little shyly. "I wanted to see
Rabastan."
Xerxes chuckled. "This way."
"Who was it, Grandfather?" Rodolphus asked curiously as Xerxes walked
back into the parlour too quickly to have made it to the receiving room.
"It is me!" Harry said with a cheeky grin. "Your most favourite of
brothers."
Rodolphus rolled dark brown eyes and sighed heavily, but Rabastan was
smiling widely as he leapt up to come and embrace him.
"I take it that everything went smoothly and the raid was a failure?"
Harry bobbed his head, even as he was led back to the settee and settled
beside Rabastan, being held tightly in strong arms. Rodolphus even
reached over to ruffle a huge hand through his hair, skewing it all over
the place.
Xerxes settled back into his favourite armchair and then he looked at him
expectantly.
Harry shrugged. "Obviously they found nothing or I wouldn't have been
allowed back."
"But what did you have to do to prove it? They would never have just
taken your word for it."
"I was questioned, then they demanded that I see a team of healers while
they stood and stared at me…"
"They saw you naked?" Rabastan demanded, enraged.
"I was left in my boxers, but they saw everything. It was so humiliating.
They were pointing and whispering at parts of my body and I hated it. I
wanted to crawl into a hole and die. They were pointing at the scars on
me from…from what they did and trying to say that the Malfoys had
done it and I didn't want to explain in front of all of those people." Harry
swallowed and Rabastan held him tighter, laying a soft kiss to his head.
"After that, when they still didn't believe me, even though the healers told
them that they were old scars, I was taken to a mind healer for a
psychological evaluation. They literally wouldn't give up until they'd
exhausted every avenue of humiliating me."
"How was the mind healer? Did the Law Enforcers bully their way into
witnessing that?"
Harry shook his head. "No. Healer Vasey was really nice, actually, and he
refused to allow them to stay. I was initially upset as he wouldn't allow
Lucius to stay, even though I said I wanted him to, but he said that I'd be
more honest without him there and yeah, that was probably true."
"Lucius escorted you?" Xerxes questioned.
Harry grinned savagely. "Oh yes. I demanded to know why they were
raiding the manor when they arrived and they insisted that they were
there for child abuse allegations and their leader slipped and insisted that
I was the child in question, so I immediately invoked my minor rights for
parental representation."
The Lestranges laughed at his cunning, and how easily he had made the
Law Enforcers slip their words and then forced them to abide by the
laws.
"They really weren't happy, but I happily exploited their mistake. I
refused to leave Narcissa's side during the interrogation and then I
insisted that Lucius escorted me to the hospital. They had no choice but
to comply, but Healer Vasey wouldn't allow any of them to stay during
his evaluation."
"How did that go?" Rabastan asked him gently, carefully.
Harry shrugged. "He allowed me to stay with Lucius and Narcissa, so he
obviously agreed that I was safe and well cared for, but…but he wants to
keep seeing me. He said that I could really benefit from talking to him
more and…and given that I did feel better afterwards, I actually agree
with that."
"So, you're going to try to squeeze in talking therapy as well as
everything else you have to do?" Rodolphus asked pointedly.
"Marcus and I have decided that I no longer need tutoring in Ancient
Runes, so we had our last session a week ago. I was thinking of using the
time I'm saving there to fit in therapy sessions."
"You're no longer having sessions with Marcus?" Rabastan asked, and he
sounded just a touch too happy. Harry turned and gave him a look.
"No, I'm not." Harry said, a bite to his tone.
"Calm yourself, my love." Rabastan chuckled. "I am pleased that you have
reached a level where you no longer need guidance, not that you won't
be spending time with Flint."
Harry considered his fiancé for a moment, then smiled and kissed his
cheek. "I'm glad I no longer need it too. Marcus told me that he had me
doing graduate-level work in the end and that I passed all the mock
NEWTs he gave me with Os, so he's not worried."
"You are very intelligent and you have come a very long way since you
joined proper society." Xerxes said, sounding very pleased.
Harry rolled his eyes, exasperated, but he was learning to pick his battles
and for Xerxes that had almost been polite.
"What are your plans now for the rest of the day?" Rabastan asked.
"If allowed…" Here Harry gave a shy look to Xerxes. "…I will spend the
rest of the day with you and then head home only to sleep. I have to be
up early tomorrow. I need to be back at Hogwarts in time for lessons and
I still need to pack my book bag and all my homework assignments,
though I will be eating breakfast at home."
"Of course you can stay, Harry. We'll even feed you." Xerxes chuckled at
his own little joke.
Harry flinched and Rabastan's head snapped down to look at him.
"That…that hit a little too close given the therapy." He admitted softly.
Xerxes' dark eyes widened as he realised what he'd done.
"I apologise unreservedly, Harry." He said seriously. "I should have never
made a joke out of such a thing."
"It's alright, I'm just a little raw from the raid and the therapy. Usually,
I'm not so sensitive about it and I can differentiate between a joke and a
malicious comment, it's just…those people didn't feed me, they kept me
locked in a cupboard and that led to the hypocalcaemia which could
have killed me or, if left just a little longer, could have ruined my plans
for the future."
"Never again, my love." Rabastan told him. "You will never be treated
that poorly ever again. I will not allow for it."
Harry gave him a soft smile and turned his head to rest his forehead
against Rabastan's chest.
"You should seek justice for yourself." Rodolphus told him sternly. "Your
self-esteem won't reach its height until you realise that you're worth more
than they are. They deserve to suffer for what they did to you as a mere
child."
Harry thought more seriously about that than he ever had before. He
couldn't just forget what had happened to him, talking to Healer Vasey
had proven that, so would seeking legal justice help any more than doing
nothing?
"Maybe…maybe I should look into that."
"You are growing by the day." Xerxes said proudly, looking at him with
the pride from his voice gleaming clear in his eyes.
"We will all help you through whatever you decide to do." Rabastan
assured him quickly, his arms holding him tighter, reassuring him
verbally and physically. "We are your family, Harry and we care for you.
If you chose to seek justice for yourself, we will help you in any way that
you need."
"I will think about it. It might be that Healer Vasey says the same thing,
but I'm finding that it's almost impossible to forget what they did to me.
Little things do get to me, some things niggle, like the being fed
comment. Normal people wouldn't react to it, the fact that I do just
proves that underneath, something is wrong."
"I think you are showing how very mature you are to admit to it, Harry."
Xerxes told him. "We have been patient, we understand that this is your
business, that it is your decision to make in the end, but we just want
what is best for you and I do believe, wholeheartedly, that seeking justice
is what will be best for you in the end."
"I will think about it." Harry repeated, starting to feel a little
uncomfortable. He sought to change the subject, quickly. "What have you
been up to while I was dealing with the entitled Law Enforcers?" He
asked Rabastan.
"I was worried for you, I couldn't sleep after you woke us and saw us
home, so I am a little tired."
"That is unbearably sweet of you." Harry teased. "Even I managed to get a
few more hours of sleep after."
Rabastan actually blushed and Harry grinned at him, before giving him a
tight hug he couldn't get free of and kissing him.
"You two are unbearable, stop this sickening display." Rodolphus
demanded.
"Nope. You'll have to put up with it, Dolphus." Harry teased, shifting
himself to lay himself more over Rabastan's lap.
"Harry, behave yourself. Your mother and father will have my head."
Xerxes told him.
Harry just laughed and held onto Rabastan, who cuddled him closer,
settling him more comfortably on his lap.
It was a nice afternoon, peaceful, and Harry felt more settled and happier
as the conversation moved away from what had happened earlier that
day and towards lighter topics that had Harry settling again and feeling
better.
Dinner was a traditional Sunday roast, heavy on steamed vegetables for
Rabastan and Rodolphus, with a plump, crispy chicken as the
centrepiece. Harry felt no hesitation in serving himself, nor helping
himself to more. He truly felt that he was a part of this family, as well as
the Malfoys. Something in his chest bloomed and he smiled. This was
where he was meant to be. These were the people he was meant to be
around and he loved them. He did, truly, owe them so much. Everything
really.
He would never have become this version of himself without them. This
healthy, motivated, ambitious version that was doing good in the world
and was going places. He liked the person he was now, the person he had
become under caring hands.
No one had cared before. No one had taken the time to make sure that he
was safe, or happy. In fact, there had been those who had known, who
had seen the signs, those few who he had told, and they hadn't done a
damn thing to help him. Why shouldn't he have seized the Malfoys'
adoption and support with both hands? Why shouldn't he bask in their
love and care for him? Why shouldn't he take all of their advice and
guidance? He deserved it and he was finally coming to realise that this is
what a family was meant to be like. This is what he should have had all
along. He would not now, or ever, willingly give this up. Never.
A/N: Happy Halloween, lovelies! I have been on a binge for Lord Potter-
Black for the last few weeks and I've managed to get some chapters
completed, so I will be posting for the next few weeks until they run out,
but I have two more chapters, hopefully a third, but I want to stay with
this fic for a little while.
The best news is that the group of chapters I have includes Theo's
revenge, so that will be coming in chapter 38 and I'm very excited to
share it, I've been waiting for it for what seems like an eternity, trying to
drop hints, but still trying to keep it as a surprise. I love it.
StarLight Massacre. X
37. The Festive Season
Last Time
No one had cared before. No one had taken the time to make sure that he was
safe, or happy. In fact, there had been those who had known, who had seen
the signs, those few who he had told, and they hadn't done a damn thing to
help him. Why shouldn't he have seized the Malfoys' adoption and support
with both hands? Why shouldn't he bask in their love and care for him? Why
shouldn't he take all of their advice and guidance? He deserved it and he was
finally coming to realise that this is what a family was meant to be like. This is
what he should have had all along. He would not now, or ever, willingly give
this up. Never.
Chapter Thirty-Seven – The Festive Season
It seemed a waste to come back to school for a mere week before they
would head home for the winter holidays, but Harry knew that if he
wrangled another week out of his schoolwork then he would fall behind
and he couldn't afford to allow that to happen now that his tiny amount
of free time had been quickly filled up again.
He had eaten breakfast at home on the Monday morning, after a late
night that had almost gotten him into trouble as he hadn't wanted to
leave Rabastan even if it was only for a mere week, but he was feeling
tired and slow now as a result of his late night and early morning
combination, entirely his own fault of course, but he couldn't regret it too
much as he'd spent his time snuggling with Rabastan and sharing soft
kisses that had made Rodolphus so uncomfortable he'd had to leave the
room.
Harry Apparated back to his own rooms within Hogwarts and packed up
his satchel with the books and homework assignments he needed, but for
the most part, he had been let off most of his late-week assignments last
week in preparation for the court trial at the weekend so he didn't have
many pieces of homework to hand in, but all of the ones he did have
were completed to his usual high standard.
He made his way down to the Great Hall. He had a little time before their
first lesson, Charms, and he wanted to catch up with Draco and maybe
gulp down a quick cup of tea to see if it could actually rouse him a little
more.
"There you are." Draco called out, making to stand, but Harry waved him
back down before sitting beside him.
"Everything is fine." He assured Draco first and foremost.
"You didn't come back to the castle." Draco said worriedly.
"Father apologised to me for his behaviour in the Wizengamot and he
convinced me to go home for the weekend, as originally planned."
"Xerxes?"
"He has also apologised and both have assured me that nothing like that
will ever happen again. I will hold them to that declaration firmly. They
will not get a second chance from me."
"You have made up with Rabastan?" Blaise asked, but he was looking at
the very familiar blue tungsten ring on Harry's finger.
Harry smiled. "I have, yes. I got the apologies I sought and Xerxes knows
that if he dares go against me in public again that it will affect the
continuation of his bloodline. I love Rabastan, but I will not be
disrespected by my in-laws."
"How was the trial?" Theo asked him, his tone gentle and soft, aware that
Harry might not want to speak of it.
Harry shook his head. "As awful as I imagined. There were no Dementors
though, which I can only consider a plus given how the rest of it went.
They interrogated me for hours, but that wasn't even the worst part of
the weekend."
"What happened?" Draco asked protectively.
"Dumbledore meddled again, of course." Harry told those grouped around
him softly. "He took exception to me changing my mind and going home
for the weekend."
"It was your decision to make where you felt most comfortable after the
trial!" Astoria cut in, furious on his behalf.
"What did he do?" Draco demanded.
"He ran to the Law Enforcers with allegations of child abuse. It will likely
be in tomorrow's papers as father is furious, but they raided the manor
yesterday looking for evidence of my abuse."
All of their eyes widened in horror and disbelief.
"Rabastan?" Blaise questioned quietly.
Harry shook his head. "I was warned the night before by my Order spy.
The Lestranges were safely out of the manor by the time the Law
Enforcers raided it and we were more prepared because of it, which was
a good thing in the end. Their leader slipped and named me as a child, so
I immediately invoked my right to parental representation, as was my
legal right. But I was questioned, I was checked for spells and potions,
then I was carted to Saint Mungo's for a physical exam with a whole team
of healers while I was watched like an insect by the Law Enforcers, who
felt the need to give a running commentary on my body and what it
looked like, and if that wasn't bad enough, after that I had to have a
mental evaluation by a mind healer!"
"They literally tried everything they could to split you from your family."
Theo said, disgusted.
Harry nodded. "That was their ultimate goal, I'm sure. Dumbledore was
behind it. He's lost control of me and because of Marcus' runes, his little
ploy to dose me with mind-controlling potions has failed. He hasn't been
able to regain control of me and this was a very desperate attempt to try
to split me from my new family in order to isolate me. I fell to his
bidding the last time I was isolated and alone, left in the muggle world
with no clue as to who I actually was, so he hoped it would work again if
only he could split me from the Malfoys."
"I take it that as you stayed at home for the rest of the weekend that all
his attempts failed?" Draco asked worriedly.
Harry nodded and hummed, taking a deep drink of tea. "Yes. Nothing
was found. They couldn't find any recent signs of abuse, naturally, and
the mind healer, a very nice, patient man named Sebastian Vasey,
actually told them that he thought it would be the worst thing possible
for me to be removed from my adoptive family."
"I'm so sorry that this happened to you, Harry." Astoria told him gently.
Harry gave her a smile for noticing how bothered he was by it all. "It was
expected." He sighed, taking another sip of tea. "Dumbledore wants his
little figurehead back within his grasp. I just didn't expect him to accuse
the Malfoys of child abuse, not after he knew what the Dursleys were like
and how they treated me. The results of that is what lead to me being
adopted in the first place." Harry gave a humourless smile. "It's just
funny, in a backwards way, that I was left to rot with the Dursleys, being
starved, beaten, made to work like a house-elf, and locked in a cupboard
and not one person cared or did anything to stop it, but now that I'm
with a family who are loving and supportive, now suddenly the
allegations of child abuse start. Where were they when I actually needed
them?"
"Don't rile yourself up thinking of it." Draco said soothingly. "You're
where you belong now and you're doing so well. Look how far you've
come in a little over a year."
Harry smiled and finished the rest of his tea. He reached towards a fruit
bowl and he took a banana.
"It wasn't all bad." He insisted, even as he peeled the fruit. "Healer Vasey
wants to keep seeing me and I agreed that maybe it's for the best given
what I've been through. My body is finally healthy and where it should
be, I've decided it's time that my mind is the same."
"That's wonderful news, Harry." Pansy told him, smiling.
"Mother and father are pleased too. They've been trying to get me to see
a mind healer since I joined the family, I'm just a little stubborn."
Here his friends all laughed at what was likely an understatement and
Harry smiled.
"It took me being forced by the Law Enforcers to go and see one, but I
liked Healer Vasey, he was very calm and there was just something about
the way he spoke, how he was willing to just sit and listen to me, that
made me want to open up…to an extent at least. But he thought I'd
benefit from speaking to him more and I agreed, so all that spare time I'd
freed up by getting rid of Marcus and his tutoring is now going to go to
therapy, but I don't really mind. It's important."
They were spared from the oddly heavy, rather private topic of
conversation by the ringing of the bell, signalling they had to head to
their first lesson. Harry jammed the last piece of banana into his mouth
and grabbed a glass of pumpkin juice to wash it down before picking up
his bag and walking with Draco to Charms.
Harry gave Dumbledore points for not dragging him to his office the
moment he got back to the castle, but he wasn't overly surprised when he
received the note from Professor McGonagall to go to the Headmaster's
office after lessons on Tuesday evening.
He considered refusing. He considered flooing Lucius to ask him to come
and stand witness for him, but then he thought that perhaps it might be
about the Horcruxes. It was unlikely, but it was a possibility, so Harry
decided to go alone, but he couldn't hide how unhappy he was.
Dumbledore had once again meddled in his life and tried to have him
removed from the Malfoys' care. To him, it was unforgivable.
Still…Harry was going to be a little shit about the orders given to him
and he ate dinner before he went to the man's office. He took his time as
well and he didn't rush himself.
He was well-fed and a little sleepy by the time he reached the seventh
floor. He'd prefer to be going back to his rooms to do some homework
before he went to bed, but instead, here he was, knocking once before
opening the door without being bid. Since being adopted he'd found all of
the small, niggling ways he could be rude without being rude enough for
anyone to call him out on it.
"You wished to see me?" Harry asked, walking across the office and
sitting himself in a chair without waiting to be offered a seat.
"I did, Harry, yes."
"What is this about?" Harry asked, maintaining eye contact and daring
the man to mention the raid and child abuse allegations.
"I am sorry for what happened over the weekend, Harry."
"Are you?" Harry asked venomously. "Are you sorry that you tried to ruin
my life yet again by telling lies to the Law Enforcers or are you sorry that
they found absolutely nothing and I have to stay there?"
"I cannot help you if you don't ask for it." Dumbledore told him softly.
"Help with what?" Harry demanded. "I am safe. I'm well looked after and
properly supported. What do you think I need help with?"
"They are Death Eaters, Harry. I am very concerned for your wellbeing."
Harry inhaled deeply. "They have shown me nothing but love and care.
Your concern is misplaced."
"I am worried that they're just biding their time, Harry. Voldemort has
returned, you can't deny this. Not to me. I fear that they are under orders
from Voldemort and he will kill you when the time is right."
That was a legitimate fear as Harry himself had thought it in the
beginning, but he knew better now.
"You need to trust me and my judgement." He said sternly.
"I am afraid that your judgement has been compromised, Harry. That is
why I asked the Law Enforcers to check on your safety."
"They found nothing! I even had to go to the hospital to see a team of
healers and a mind healer! They found no spells, no curses, no potions,
nothing!" Harry snapped. "I am fed up with the games! I don't want to be
in the middle of this game of tug-of-war any longer. Just…just leave me
alone."
"I can't do that, Harry. You know I can't."
"Then I'm going to be left with no choice but to report you and your
behaviour to the school governors and to the Minister when they are duly
elected in a few weeks."
Dumbledore just gave him a sad, disappointed look, but it had long since
stopped working on him and Harry felt nothing but vindictive rage.
Dumbledore deserved all of this and more for meddling in his life and for
trying to take him away from the Malfoys.
"I am trying to help you, Harry. To prepare you for what is to come."
"Don't bother." Harry said angrily. "The Malfoys have done more for me
in less than a year and a half than you have ever done for me in my
entire life! I am happy, I am healthy, I have a future and I'm working on
my future career and helping my community."
"So you will be willingly blind to the coming war? You will just ignore it
until it is too late and make it that much easier for Voldemort to take
over?"
"Your opinions and theories are your own." Harry said.
"Do not do this, Harry." Dumbledore burst out, showing the first signs of
emotion. "The war has already begun. Rufus Scrimgeour was assassinated
and this election is the first sign of the war to come. Pius Thicknesse is a
puppet acting on Voldemort's orders."
Harry scoffed, even as he knew it was the truth.
"Harry, you must listen because it is the truth."
"Rufus Scrimgeour was killed by a crazed man who wanted revenge for
his relative being locked up in Azkaban."
The Prophet had reported this last month, that the Aurors had found the
one responsible for killing their Head of Department and that the man
had 'confessed' to his crime. Harry knew it was a set-up, but he didn't
care as it kept Rabastan, the actual perpetrator, safer.
"This is a lie."
"Oh, go figure, the newspapers lying again and printing false headlines.
What would I know about that?" Harry demanded savagely. "At least they
interviewed the criminal and he confessed! Some would say that a
confession is the ultimate proof of guilt."
"Confessions can be coerced."
"By Aurors?" Harry questioned. "The supposed 'good guys' of the Ministry
who catch all the bad wizards? I am aware that the newspapers lie, that
gossip magazines print entirely fabricated stories, but you're asking me to
believe that Aurors would lie and pin the blame for a murder on a man
who hadn't committed this crime because…why? They've questioned this
man, his confession must match up with the injuries done to Scrimgeour
and they must have had a reason to question him in the first place, or
have you forgotten that I know how the laws work now?"
"Scrimgeour was murdered by Death Eaters, Harry." Dumbledore insisted
quietly. "He was going to run for Minister and Voldemort had him taken
out as he was too much of a threat."
"I'm sorry, but I would think that Amelia Bones is more of a threat to the
campaign than some old Auror." Harry said cuttingly. "Why hasn't she
been murdered if that is what you think happened to Scrimgeour?"
"I am not sure, though I am worried that she will be killed just before the
election, which will leave Thicknesse as the only candidate, making him
Minister by default."
"That isn't how the election works!" Harry snapped angrily. "If either
candidate dies before the election then another candidate will be chosen
and the campaign will start anew."
"We have been without a Minister for almost half a year, Harry. The
election can't be put off for much longer."
"It will be put off for however long it takes to pick the next Minister. That
is the law."
"The Wizengamot can circumvent the laws, as you know yourself."
Harry tried not to show any outward signs of just how distressed he'd
been when that innocent vampire had been executed. No crimes had
been committed, but still the Wizengamot had vetoed the laws and voted
to execute him regardless.
"As you know yourself." Harry stated harshly. "How many people didn't
even get trials when you were in charge?"
Dumbledore had the grace to look uncomfortable with Harry's
questioning.
"The Wizengamot is full of Purebloods. It is not always possible to
redirect them or influence their voting habits."
"You could have done more." Harry insisted. "Sirius never had a trial and
you left him to rot."
"I truly believed that he was the secret keeper for your parents, Harry. I
performed the spell myself."
"You never wanted to know why he'd turned on them? You never thought
to question him? You decided that he was guilty, so he didn't even
warrant a trial? Is that justice? That is what you did to an innocent man
while you were in charge of the Wizengamot, so don't you dare try to tell
me how the Wizengamot works or how it should operate."
"I will admit that I have made mistakes…"
"Too many of them." Harry said angrily, unrelentingly. "The worst of
them was putting me with the Dursleys. That was on you. Sirius was on
you!"
"My intentions have only ever been towards the greater good."
"The thing about the greater good, about the bigger picture, is that you
stop seeing people as people, you stop seeing them as individuals! You
instead see them as pieces to be moved, to be sacrificed at the right time
just for other people that you've declared more important to survive. You
have no care for the lives you ruin or the misery you sow, as long as you
get the results you want. I won't have that for myself. I want no part in
any of your schemes or plots and I'm removing myself from your grasp
and your intentions to murder me!"
A tear shone on Dumbledore's cheek, but Harry remained unmoved.
"I believed I was doing the right thing for you by placing you with your
only remaining blood family."
"Blood means nothing when they abuse you!" Harry raged, leaping to his
feet and slamming his hands down on the desk in front of him. "Do you
think I give a damn about the Dursleys after how they treated me? Do
you think I care about them? That I love them? I don't! That place was
never my home, it was a prison! I went there to suffer and you allowed it.
You sent me back year after year, knowing I wasn't happy, that I didn't
want to go there, and you still sent me back!"
"I didn't know how bad it was, Harry. You must believe me."
"You didn't want to know!" Harry hissed. "You ignored me, you didn't
even come to check that I was being treated well. You didn't care how I
was treated as long as I was still alive to do your bidding with
Voldemort!"
Harry was panting. He was so angry that he couldn't keep control of
himself or his emotions. He tried to calm his breathing, but he couldn't.
"I'm done." He said, still hissing, almost slipping into Parseltongue. "I
want no part of any of this. No part of your war. I want nothing to do
with you! I will take my exams in just five months and then I will
graduate in June. Do not speak to me, stop dragging me to your office for
talks, I want no part of any of it!"
"You know that Voldemort won't leave you alone, Harry. I fear for you."
"Don't." Harry snapped. "I've made my own choices this time. This is what
I have decided for myself. You saw me to harm and suffering. The same
as you did with Sirius! Your good intentions got him killed and would
have seen me dead also, all for your idea of the greater good. I'm not
going to allow that to happen. I am breaking all ties with you and if you
carry on seeking me out, I'll have you removed from the Headmaster's
position!"
"Harry, please. It needs to be done."
"Find someone else to be your toy. I'm done being played with."
Harry turned and went for the door. He was half expecting to be
attacked, but Dumbledore just sat at his desk, crying silently. Harry shut
the door behind him and headed back to his rooms. He needed to send a
letter to Lucius immediately, just in case Dumbledore tried anything in
the coming months. Perhaps it would be in the New Year, after Harry had
come back from the winter break, but he refused to leave things to
chance, not when things were finally going his way and his future was
looking brighter.
Harry had made it to the end of the week without any more talks with
Dumbledore. In fact, there were rumours that Dumbledore had left the
castle on 'urgent' business but Harry didn't really care as he settled into a
train carriage with Draco, Blaise, Theo, Astoria, and Luna. He had
Kreacher to spy on the Order at Grimmauld Place so if Dumbledore was
there making plans then Harry would know soon enough, but it was more
likely that he was hunting the Horcruxes by himself given that Harry had
refused any further trips to hunt them down when the destruction of each
one took him that little bit closer to being murdered.
Harry had given Pansy a Christmas gift before he'd left, only something
small, but he knew that she was going to miss the usual fanfare of
Christmas as she was remaining in the castle, and had admittedly loved
the pureblood parties over the winter break, and her parents had likely
disowned her too, meaning no gifts for Christmas. Harry remembered
what that felt like, so he wanted to make sure that she'd have at least one
gift, though he would be disappointed if Giovanni didn't give a gift to the
mother of his child. But Harry wasn't sure how their relationship was
progressing outside of the contractual baby growing. He didn't know if
Giovanni even liked Pansy, in which case he might not even think to give
her presents.
It was four days now until the Christmas Eve Ball, which was being
hosted by the Notts. Harry had a feeling that Theo's revenge on Daphne
was going to take place there, as, from what Rabastan had told him, Theo
had all but begged his father to insist that they hosted the ball this year.
Theo was too pleased with himself. He was almost bouncing. He
definitely had something planned and he was eager for it to come to
fruition. Harry couldn't wait.
"Why aren't you doing your homework like you did the last time?" Blaise
asked him suspiciously.
"It's already done." Harry assured him. "Dumbledore is under close
scrutiny from the governors and the teachers have been told to scale back
how much homework we get."
"Is that why we had less? I thought they were actually being nice because
it was Christmas." Theo said.
Harry shook his head. "I told Lucius and Xerxes about how much
homework we were being set and Lucius took his concerns to the other
governors. Particularly how many students had had breakdowns since the
start of term. As students, we shouldn't be so stressed that we're having
breakdowns all over the place. More than fifty students have had to go to
the hospital wing since school started just three months ago. Xerxes
called it a disgrace and father agreed. The governors have insisted that
our workload be scaled back to a reasonable amount that can actually be
completed in a few hours."
"Ah, so it's you we have to thank for it?" Blaise teased.
"The governors." Harry insisted pointedly. "But father was most
displeased when I told him about what Snape, in particular, expected of
us. His homework assignments alone took me ten hours before I started
on any other subject. It's impossible to ask us to do ten hours of work for
every subject before our next lesson, which might be the next day! It's no
wonder so many of us have been feeling stressed or having breakdowns."
"I'm glad of it." Theo said. "I was starting to feel the strain myself."
"Half of that is due to my sister, I am sure." Astoria replied cattily. "I had
heard that she'd slept with that Gryffindor."
"I hadn't heard this." Harry replied, frowning.
"That's because you're not a gossip and don't really care for it. But it was
the boy below your year, Harry." Astoria told him. "I think his name is
Daniel?"
Harry shook his head. "Daneel. Daneel Laurier. He's an alright guy, good
at Gobstones, never had any interest in Quidditch, but he's not the sort of
person I thought would turn Daphne's head."
"Everything with a pulse turns Daphne's head." Theo said angrily. "She
went to Hogsmeade with a guy from Hufflepuff, then she was supposed
to be with a younger Slytherin, now she's with Laurier all in the space of
two weeks. I honestly can't keep up."
"When are you getting rid of her?" Blaise demanded.
"Yeah, you must know you're worth more." Draco added. "No offence,
darling." He told Astoria.
Harry grinned, wondering when Astoria had become 'darling' but he tried
not to tease Draco over his growing feelings for Astoria, he knew he
could be the same with Rabastan. It was so sweet though to see their
burgeoning relationship going from strength to strength, knowing that he
had had a small hand in forcing Draco to pay more attention to his
betrothed.
"None taken." Astoria assured him. "I have known for a long while what
my sister is like. It was because of her behaviour that I never tried
anything with anyone else. It was why I made the choice for myself to
remain pure until my wedding day. I never wanted to be compared to
her. I was embarrassed by her. I still am. I hate that she is my sister
because her behaviour reflects badly onto me also."
"It does not." Harry told her. "Her actions are not your fault, Astoria.
Believe me, I see you both as two different people."
"You are too kind, Harry." Astoria told him, though she was smiling.
"Most wouldn't see us as different. The actions of one family member
reflect on all family members. People think that I sleep around just
because of Daphne's reputation. I have even had some people approach
me for…for those sorts of things just because they think I am like
Daphne."
Harry was horrified as Astoria was underaged.
"Who would dare?" He demanded angrily.
"It is not so many, and they have trailed off since I am always with Draco
now." She replied, giving her betrothed a soft smile.
"I will look out for you more, is it while you are at Hogwarts or during
the parties?"
Astoria was a little uncomfortable with the talk, but Harry was insistent
and demanded an answer to his question.
"It is mostly during the parties. Some of the adults drink firewhiskey and
they forget themselves under the influence. They are mostly old
bedpartners of Daphne's who think I am like her and get off on having
young girls in their beds. It's sickening."
"I will protect you during the parties." Draco assured her, two red spots of
anger on his pale cheeks.
"I will keep an eye out too. They won't say such things to you ever again,
Astoria. I'd rip them to shreds, I swear it." Harry said, just as angry.
Both Blaise and Theo also swore to look out for her. They all knew that
she was nothing like Daphne, that such talk made her uncomfortable and
that she shouldn't be exposed to it.
"You boys are all too protective." She complained, but she looked pleased
too.
"Given what you've just told us, I think we have a right to be." Harry
pointed out.
"I agree." Draco told her firmly. "They don't have the right to say such
things to you and they will not in my presence or I'll curse them out of
existence."
Astoria squirmed a little and Harry purposefully let the silence linger for
a moment and then changed the subject.
"Rabastan has mentioned that he has a surprise for me over the winter."
He said, aiming for casual, but Astoria shot him a grateful look
regardless.
"Oh? Do you know what it might be?"
"Officially, no." Harry said with a smile.
"Unofficially?" Blaise prompted.
"I think he's chosen a honeymoon destination. He thinks that he's subtle,
but he's really not." Harry chuckled. "He's been asking strange questions
in his letters, things like if I'd ever been skiing, if I preferred hotter
climates or colder, that sort of thing. He was fishing for information."
"Naturally you led him to your preferred destination." Astoria teased.
"Of course." Harry said with a grin. "Somewhere hot and sunny with
beaches. I have no interest in skiing even if it is a pastime of the
wealthy."
The mood calmed after Harry had changed the subject to something so
light as his impending honeymoon, though he wasn't looking forward to
the wedding planning he knew that Narcissa would force on him over
Christmas. She would insist that his wedding was getting closer, that it
was only seven months away and everything needed to be sorted well in
advance. Harry sighed. At least Rabastan was helping out more now and
he would likely have a massive stack of ideas for Harry to sort through
after he'd rightfully pointed out that he had more to do than Rabastan
did.
Unless Voldemort had a mission for his fiancé or gave him orders, he
couldn't do anything or go anywhere as he was a fugitive and Harry had
used that to get Rabastan to do more of the wedding planning. He had
such a small amount of free time, now even less as he was going for
therapy, and he'd pointed out how unfair it was to dump all the wedding
preparations onto him as well. The final nail in the coffin had been
Harry's threat of postponing the wedding for a year because he had too
much on his plate to plan it. Rabastan had sworn that he would speak
with Narcissa and that he would brainstorm ideas to take more of the
pressure off of him. Harry greatly appreciated it and he would show as
such by enduring the wedding planning with as much patience as he
could muster once he got home.
"Are you sure you want me to make your wedding outfit, Harry?" Astoria
asked shyly, and not for the first time either.
"I'm sure, Astoria. I don't know who else I would trust with it. I haven't
been in these circles long enough and I wouldn't trust that someone else
wouldn't ruin my wedding outfit or make me look stupid just to be petty.
Don't feel overly pressured though, I like simple, minimalistic, nothing
fancy or over the top. Just a nice suit and matching over robes. I've seen
your designs and some of the pieces you've made and I like your style."
Astoria smiled and she nodded. "Okay, but I might have to borrow you
for a few weekends when we get back, just so that I can get the fit and
style right."
Harry nodded. "Anything you need. I just want mother to stop harassing
me over it."
"No, I'm happy to do this for you. More than happy! I get to have Harry
Potter, the Lord Potter-Black, wear my first ever released outfit for his
wedding. It's a huge honour, Harry."
Harry felt his cheeks heating and he coughed. "I just want to get bloody
married."
"How did you convince Rabastan to do the planning for you?" Blaise
asked with a smirk.
Harry grinned. "I told him if he didn't then we might have to postpone
the wedding because I was doing too much to fit the planning of it in as
well."
The others laughed, because anyone who knew him and Rabastan knew
that they could hardly wait for their wedding as it was. There was no
way that either of them would willingly choose to wait any longer than
absolutely necessary.
"I can't believe that he actually believed that!" Blaise laughed.
"I think it was more that he was afraid that I would keep my word. Or
perhaps that I truly didn't have enough time to fit in the wedding
planning and it wouldn't be ready in time. Either way, he has agreed to
collect ideas and I will look them through with him now after Christmas."
"I am invited to your wedding, aren't I?" Luna asked.
Harry turned to her and kissed her cheek.
"You are absolutely invited, Luna. Everyone here is invited…except
Draco."
"Excuse me, I am your brother!" Draco cut in, glaring at him.
Harry laughed. "Fine, but I don't want you commenting on my hair or
anything."
"You…you are doing something with it though, aren't you?" Draco
pleaded.
"Nah, I thought I'd leave it natural for my wedding. So that it's more true
to real life, you know?"
"No, I don't know! You will be doing your hair perfectly for your wedding
day, Harry!"
"Ack, now you sound like mother!" Harry teased.
"Wait until I tell her you don't want a stylist for your wedding day! She'll
absolutely freak on you, she might even faint."
That worried Harry and he frowned, not pleased that any decision he
might make would be devastating enough to make Narcissa actually
faint. Maybe having a stylist wouldn't be so bad, but he refused, point
blank, to do his hair in any sort of ridiculous style. He would not have
pins, jewels, fake curls, hairnets, or a fucking tiara, which had been
suggested once…and then promptly never brought up ever again after his
anger almost broke the fine china.
They ignored the food trolley that came around, Harry still too nervous
to eat after Dumbledore's plot to dose him with potions. Narcissa had
sent him and Draco one of their 'monthly' care boxes just before they
were due to come home filled with sweets, chocolate, sandwiches and
pumpkin pasties. They had enough bottles of pumpkin juice to give The
Three Broomsticks a run for their money and they even had homemade
shortbread. One of the few recipes that Narcissa knew that had been
passed down from mother to daughter through the Black bloodline. That
she had actually taken the time to go into the kitchen at the manor to
make him and Draco shortbread for the journey home almost had Harry
tearing up.
Harry pulled out a book and he happily sat reading for a few hours. It
was a long ride back, but he was excited to see Rabastan again, who
would once again be waiting at the manor. He hoped that they got to go
to The Garnet Swan during the holidays too. Rabastan had assured him
that they would go out, just the two of them, and honestly, Harry had
been spoilt. He absolutely loved The Garnet Swan, from the tasteful
seasonal décor to the delicious food. Of course, it helped that it had
become, in his mind at least, his and Rabastan's restaurant. Their go-to
place to meet up and talk, and just spend some time together. Maybe it
wasn't the restaurant at all and it was just spending time with Rabastan,
but they could hardly test that theory when The Garnet Swan was about
the only place they could meet in public and remain safe.
Harry was tired when the train finally pulled into London. He made sure
that everything was packed, even as he stifled a yawn.
"We'll see you in four days." Theo was saying, then he turned and caught
Harry in a small, one-armed hug and Harry made sure to hug Luna too,
kissing her cheek.
"Have a nice break, Luna. We'll see you for the Winter Ball, yes?"
"Oh yes." Luna said with a wide smile. "I wouldn't miss it."
Harry gave her a soft smile and kissed her again, on the other cheek.
Theo helped Luna get her trunk down and then saw her from the train as
Harry got his own trunk down, watching with a grin as Draco cast a
featherweight charm and then carried both his and Astoria's trunks from
the train while keeping her close to his body in the press of students
rushing onto the platform.
Harry sighed and he followed after Draco. Lucius was easy to see as he
was tall and platinum blonde. Harry made a beeline for him.
"Draco, there you are. Where is Harry?" Harry heard Lucius ask. He
sounded stressed and anxious and Harry frowned.
"I'm here." He said, pushing his way through, still rather short for his age
thanks to the Dursleys, but he was getting better.
Lucius' eyes swept over him, around the platform, and he put an arm
around him as people started jostling too close.
Harvey Greengrass came to collect Astoria, nodding approvingly at
Draco's protective position. He watched with impatience as Draco and
Astoria had a rather lengthy goodbye.
"Come along, sweetheart. Your mother is waiting and you will see young
Draco again in four days." Harvey insisted, taking his daughter's hand
and giving her a gentle tug, his other hand picking up her trunk.
"I will see you soon, Astoria." Draco called after her.
"Are you both ready?" Lucius asked them.
"Yes, Father." Harry answered.
Lucius was being unduly protective of him as he was once again tucked
under his father's arm and Harry wondered what had happened in the
week he'd been away, but he didn't question his father or his behaviour
in public, he just rolled with it despite being confused and concerned.
Draco noticed as well and he pulled in tight to Harry's other side,
wrapping an arm around him as if to prevent Harry from being fucking
abducted or something.
"Let us get you home quickly." Lucius said quietly, all but confirming that
something had happened, or that he had information that something
would happen. They shoved their way through to the floo banks, where a
large queue had formed and Lucius tutted impatiently.
His grey eyes were restless, always moving as he checked every face near
them, his hand tightening on Harry's shoulder and taking a small section
of his jumper into a fist, clinging to him.
Harry was frankly worried and suspicious and he felt his own paranoia
rear its head as he started looking around as if he knew what he was
looking for.
"Harry, you go first." Lucius insisted as they reached the floo banks.
Lucius didn't let him go until it was time for Harry to actually step into
the emerald flames.
Harry heaved out a relieved breath as the familiar receiving room met
him and Narcissa was there to fuss over him.
"Did you have any trouble?" She asked worriedly.
Harry shook his head, almost trembling as she heaved out her own
relieved sigh.
"What is happening?" He asked softly, feeling frightened.
The floo flared behind him and Narcissa pulled him protectively behind
her, her wand in hand, but it was Draco who stepped through.
"Mother, what is it? Has someone tried to get to Harry?" He asked, just as
worried.
"Wait for your father." Narcissa told them gently. "Harry, Rabastan is
waiting for you in the parlour."
Harry nodded, but he was too nervous to leave. He wanted to know what
was happening. He wanted to know what his parents had heard and why
they were acting like an attack on him was imminent.
Lucius flooed in and he too heaved a sigh of relief.
"What's going on?" Harry asked uncertainly.
"Let us go to the parlour, Rabastan is worried about you." Lucius said,
taking Harry's elbow and almost escorting him there.
Harry had to smile as he saw exactly how worried Rabastan was. He was
even pacing, wrinkles etched into his forehead and around his mouth.
Rabastan all but ran to him when he turned and saw him, his hands
holding him tightly and pulling Harry into his chest.
"Okay, I've endured this enough in silence. Now just what is going on?"
"Severus paid us a visit last night." Lucius told him, settling into a chair,
reaching for the small measure of firewhiskey that was waiting for him
and taking a healthy sip. "Dumbledore, it seems, is fed up of waiting for
your cooperation, especially after the events you described in your last
letter. Severus told us that Dumbledore was planning to take you from
the platform, from right under my nose."
Harry tried to dredge up some anger, but all he felt was tired and he sunk
into Rabastan, who held him close and tight.
"He's getting desperate." Harry said quietly. "He tried to excuse the raid
on the manor as concern for my welfare. He tried to tell me that you
were all just biding your time until you handed me over to Voldemort.
He knows that he's lost me as an ally. There's no way I'm going to let him
murder me."
"He wants to murder you?" Draco demanded in a horrified whisper. "And
you're still going to Hogwarts?!"
"He can't do it yet." Harry waved off and from Draco's increased look of
horror, Harry was being too blithe about it all. "Don't forget, Draco, I'm
used to people trying to kill me. Until I was adopted it was Voldemort
trying to dispose of me. It was my own relatives whose abuses were
getting so bad I thought I'd never get out of that house alive. Now it's
Dumbledore. It's different people, but the sentiment is the same, I'm used
to it."
"He won't get to touch you!" Rabastan insisted angrily.
"No, we have thwarted his attempts today." Lucius agreed.
"Did you see him?" Harry asked worriedly.
"Not him, but there was an unfamiliar person who didn't collect a child
and didn't take his eyes off of you. Either he was one of Dumbledore's
Order or he was Dumbledore himself disguised but Severus' information
was correct, they were planning to snatch you, of that I'm certain."
Harry swallowed nervously and Rabastan bent his head to kiss him. It
was becoming too real now. That Dumbledore had planned to snatch him
and perhaps imprison him at Grimmauld Place, to dose him with potions,
and when that didn't work, maybe curses and spells to get Harry to
behave how he wanted.
Harry didn't want that for himself. The very thought of it made him sick,
but the most apparent emotion he was feeling was white-hot rage. How
dare anyone try to make him a puppet? How dare anyone think that they
could treat him however they fucking wanted?! He'd had enough of being
led around by the hand, he was digging his heels in and putting his foot
down, no more. Never again.
"Dumbledore needs to be taken out." Rodolphus growled.
"Not even Voldemort could do it." Harry waved off. "It needs to be done
more cleverly than just killing him. He needs to be taken down
politically. Remove his power through his influence in the wizarding
world, starting with the position of Headmaster. I did plenty to remove
his power at the Ministry when I claimed my own birthright and got him
kicked out of the Wizengamot. If his reputation is in tatters and he has no
influence then we can get him thrown into Azkaban and then we can kill
him there a lot easier than we can on the outside."
Rodolphus stared at him, almost in shock.
"He's trying to kill me, Dolphus. If it comes down to me or him, I'm going
to make sure that it's him." Harry replied savagely.
"We cannot do this hastily. It has to be done gradually so that no one
suspects." Lucius said, but he was considering the idea. "I can convince
the governors to remove him as Headmaster given his treatment of you,
Harry, but you might have to have an interview to tell them your
complaints in your own words, are you willing to do as such?"
Harry nodded. "Yes. I want that man out of my life. He's trying to
convince me to allow myself to be murdered! I won't have it."
"You can use the Law Enforcers' raid on the manor as an excuse, surely."
Xerxes put in. "That was clearly harassment of a student under his care."
"He kept on at me to let him help me, to remove me from my family even
though I kept telling him that wasn't what I wanted."
"Have him removed on harassment charges, then we can slowly build a
case against him and have him in Azkaban, where most of his power will
be drained away. We could even have a rogue Dementor do it." Xerxes
mused.
"Enough talk of this." Narcissa cut in. "This is a time for celebration and
festivity. Harry is here safely, we can plan how to be rid of Dumbledore
after the New Year, but I don't want my boys to miss out because of this."
Harry smiled at her and let out a heavy sigh, turning into Rabastan and
cuddling in.
"I missed you." Harry told him.
Rabastan smiled at him, a nice, soft smile that Harry loved.
"You saw him a week ago!" Draco complained.
"Excuse me, you have your betrothed with you at Hogwarts. You can see
Astoria every day and I can't even meet Rabastan in public. He can't even
visit on Hogsmeade weekends. All I have is a few hours after Wizengamot
meetings unless I have another health scare or another trial. You won't
even have the chance to miss Astoria before you see her again, though
please, let me know how you deal with it next year when you've
graduated and she is in her final year at Hogwarts."
Draco just laughed and Harry sniffed and turned back to Rabastan.
"At least I won't be the one dealing with a wedding and babies next year."
Draco pointed out with a grin.
That unexpectedly made Harry go all soft inside. The thought of his first
child…the start of his own blood family…it excited him and his heart felt
swollen with love.
"I can't wait for our first baby." He admitted.
"You had better!" Narcissa told him, suddenly as stern as Professor
McGonagall. "No babies before you are married, Harry. I mean it!"
Harry laughed. "What if our baby is born…?"
"No!" Narcissa cut in before he'd finished his sentence, which went
against all of her previous lessons on etiquette and it amused him greatly.
Harry laughed harder. "We're getting married in seven months, even if we
conceived them now, they wouldn't be born before we are married, so…"
"NO!" Narcissa told him sternly. "No, Harry, you will be responsible and
focus on your studies first. You will pass all of your exams and you will
graduate. You will be married and then, only then, can you conceive your
first child."
"Do you need a talking to again?" Lucius asked him, making a play at
sounding displeased, but those grey eyes were amused.
"Oh, hell no! Once was bad enough." Harry said with a giggle.
"We will content ourselves with picking baby names for now." Rabastan
assured the elder Malfoys.
"Rabdolphus Lestrange." Harry said, trying to keep a straight face and
then laughing.
"I think that Rodastan Lestrange works better." Rabastan insisted.
Harry laughed so hard that he had tears forming.
"It is a disgrace that you find the naming traditions of our ancient
bloodline so amusing." Rodolphus told them, but he had that glitter in his
dark eyes that Harry knew meant he was teasing, even if his growly tone
sounded like a warning.
"What would you name a child then?" Harry asked, still huffing, trying to
control his laughter.
"Clearly Rodolphastan is the superior name."
Harry lost it and he laughed so hard that the tears finally fell.
"I notice that you are picking all boys' names, what if you have a
daughter?" Xerxes asked them, also clearly amused with them all.
"Rodina." Harry replied without hesitation.
"Oh, I see you already have a girl's name picked out, is that perhaps why
you are having such fun with the boys' names?"
Harry grinned. "It's too much fun playing with the boys' names."
"Whatever makes you happy, darling." Narcissa told him, smiling. "Would
you like some tea before dinner?"
Harry hummed. "Yes, please."
Harry sat back, resting on Rabastan, just absorbing the comfort of his
fiancé. Pimsey arrived with tea and Harry made himself a cup, waiting
for dinner. They had four days before the Christmas Eve Gala and five
days before Christmas Day. Harry was ready for it and he was excited to
be back with his family for the seasonal celebrations. Dumbledore and his
schemes could wait.
Albus was sitting at the table in Grimmauld Place, wondering how things
could have gone so wrong. He had lost complete control of Harry and
despite his best efforts, he couldn't regain that control. It had been a year
and a half, a little less than that actually, and all of his plans were in the
dust.
He had hoped that by telling Harry about the Horcruxes, and about
himself being one, that it would spurn him back to his side to defeat
Voldemort but it had had the opposite effect.
Harry truly was beyond his reach now that the Malfoys had sunk their
claws in deep. They were filling Harry's head with all sorts of ideas and
now Harry had lost sight of all that Dumbledore had been attempting to
teach him. There was nothing more that he could do to convince Harry to
work with him, so other measures now needed to be employed.
The locket in the cave had been false. He couldn't find who had known,
besides him, about the Horcruxes. He couldn't find the real locket. If he
couldn't find and destroy all of the other Horcruxes then there was no
hope. Without Harry, there was no hope for them. He had lost all control
and Harry refused to do as asked, so now it was past time to move on to
plans that didn't require Harry's cooperation.
"Did you get the boy?" Severus asked, holding a glass tumbler of potion
in his hands.
Dumbledore looked at Severus closely, the dour man was even more sour
than usual and his sallow appearance seemed even worse in the flickering
candles of the basement kitchen.
"You look tired, Severus."
"I spent all night brewing this potion. I've had an hour of sleep because of
Potter. Where is he? This needs to be taken within the hour or it'll have
been a waste."
Dumbledore closed his eyes.
"You didn't get him?" Severus snapped angrily, slamming the potion
tumbler onto the table.
"Lucius, it seems, is even more protective of him than first imagined. He
kept Harry under his arm from the moment he stepped off the train until
he was through the floo and Harry and young Draco had an arm around
one another. There wasn't an opportunity."
"That was your only opportunity, Albus! Couldn't you have stunned the
Malfoys and taken him?"
"There were too many people on the platform. I had hoped for subtlety."
"So when subtlety was lost, you did nothing?!" Severus demanded
angrily. "You could have come to me and told me. I've spent the last four
hours standing over a cauldron, watching this potion for just the right
consistency just to stir it, and you didn't even bother to tell me that you
hadn't gotten Potter!"
"I am sorry, Severus. You are right, I should have told you. I am just so
upset for Harry. He is trapped and he doesn't even realise it."
"You were expecting some sort of insight from Potter?" Severus sneered.
"He has changed in the last year and a half, I know that you've seen it,
even if you don't want to admit it."
"He is quieter and less rude, at least." Severus allowed.
"We will lose this war without him, Severus."
"Then you should have grabbed him when you had the chance, regardless
of how many witnesses there were. I gave you Polyjuice potion, no one
would have known it was you. Potter could be here, having this potion
stuffed down his miserable throat, and all of your problems would have
vanished."
"I did not want to use violence against him, Severus."
"You're planning to kill him, Albus!" Severus snapped. "How much more
violent can you be?"
"It is a necessary conclusion, but that does not mean we have to be cruel
to him."
"You're setting him up like a pig to slaughter, yet you baulk at kidnap?"
"I had hoped that it wasn't needed." Albus said sharply. "I had hoped I
would have no need to take him, nor dose him with potions."
"Yet here we are." Severus replied, stepping back and leaving the
innocent-looking tumbler on the table, the murky potion within catching
the candlelight.
"Harry is being difficult, he doesn't understand that everything I have
planned is for the greater good. Lucius Malfoy has undone fifteen years of
work and while Harry remains with him, under his poisonous influence,
we have no hope."
"So where do we go from here? How do we save Lily's son while you are
still so insistent on babying him?"
"It will be more risky, but it will have to be done at Hogwarts."
"You will be the main suspect, Albus! Lucius will immediately call you
into question."
"That is why you will be the one to do it." Albus insisted.
"I will immediately be under suspicion as the Potion's Professor!" Severus
raged.
"There is no one else. We are running out of time, Severus. Once Harry
graduates in June, we will have no opportunity to do this. It has to be in
the next five months, failure will mean the destruction of our world as we
know it. It will mean uncountable dead, innocent lives lost, innocent
children and muggles too."
"You would see me to prison!" Severus snapped angrily. "Or is that for the
greater good as well?"
"I can protect you."
"I won't do it. You will have to find someone else. I have done much, I
don't like Potter, he's an arrogant brat, but I will not put myself in
Azkaban for him."
"Severus, please."
"No. I know that I owe an unpayable debt. I know that my past mistakes
are being held over me, but you cannot ask this of me. To willingly risk
myself going to Azkaban. You are the one that lost control of him, not
me."
"The Malfoys gave Harry dreams, they gave him aspirations. Why would
he ever want to sacrifice anything when he has a fiancée? When he has
plans for children? When he is planning out his future career? The war
and what needs to be done cannot compete with that."
"You purposefully left him in an abusive home so that he wouldn't have
anything to live for?" Severus asked softly.
"It was needed. It was for the greater good, Severus, and Harry needs to
be made to see that."
"An impossible task." Severus insisted.
"It is now." Albus agreed. "Hence the need for this." Here he pointed to
the potion still on the table.
"I will not be the one to dose him. I will not risk Azkaban for anyone, not
even you."
"If only Remus hadn't slipped and sent that letter to Miss Granger, I could
have lured Harry here and gotten Remus to do it."
"I warned you that the effects of that potion on a werewolf were
untested. Too little and he would know what you had done and he would
warn Potter. Too much and he would become overly concerned and act
independently of your orders. The dosage is too fine a margin to mess
around with near the full moon. You were concerned that he didn't have
enough as he was acting strangely, so I dosed him again and the results
were worse."
Albus sighed wearily. "I was worried that the effects of the full moon
were throwing off the potion and that he would tell Harry. I need a way
for them both to reconcile, so that Remus can dose Harry here."
"Potter was never one to cut those he sees as family out lightly. The
Weasley brats turned on him first, as did Granger. Potter kept coming to
see the wolf because he didn't turn on him and that was why we chose to
use him to get to Potter. Have Lupin send the brat a letter of apology, ask
the boy to come here for an in-person apology and Potter might just be
swayed, even if he comes just to yell, that is the only opening we'll need."
Albus sat in thought, thinking through the idea.
"It is the only way." He sighed sadly. "We will need to carefully dose
Remus again. I am sorry to have asked you to brew this potion only for it
to go to waste, but I need to ask you to do it again."
"The potion will only last two hours after the brewing is completed or it
will expire. It has to be made to be ready on the day that Potter comes.
The wolf will have to give Potter a date and we have to hope that Potter
adheres to it."
"I believe a consequence of Harry being raised in a pureblooded society is
that a heavy influence is placed upon punctuality. I am sure that if given
a date and a time then Harry will abide by it."
"I will brew the potion for the wolf, then. Get Lupin to write the letter
personally, Potter knows his handwriting by now. I need at least five
days' warning before the meeting in order to brew the potion meant for
Potter."
"I do not believe that Harry would come before Christmas. Nor do I think
he would miss out on the festivities he apparently so enjoys with the
purebloods now. I will make the date for the third or fourth of January,
just before he is due back at Hogwarts for the new term. With some luck,
with the rush to get the boys back for their new term, nothing amiss will
be noticed with Harry's behaviour."
"We are leaving a lot to chance and luck, Albus." Severus snapped. "If we
fail, we could both end up in Azkaban."
"It will not be us doing anything, Severus, but Remus. He will be the one
to write the letter to Harry inviting him around and he will be the one to
dose him. Harry will never know that either of us were involved."
"I believe that that might be too blindly hopeful."
"Perhaps. He may even suspect, but he will have no proof of anything
and once he is dosed, we can keep him that way and he will not question
me again. But this needs to be done, Severus. We cannot win this war
without him and the sacrifice he needs to make for the rest of the world."
"What do you intend to do about the Malfoys?"
"I will keep Harry in Hogwarts for the rest of the year. Once he graduates
in June, they will be unable to do anything. He will be a legal adult and
no longer a schoolboy. Harry will be free to do as he pleases."
"If Lucius demands to have Harry removed from the school?"
"I will refuse on the grounds of the safety of my students, the same as I
am refusing Lord Parkinson to remove his daughter, Pansy. She does not
want to leave the school for fear for herself and her unborn child. When
Harry has that potion in his system, he will say the same thing when
questioned by the governors. They would not dare to remove a child who
is claiming to feel threatened and unsafe outside of the castle."
"I wouldn't underestimate how cunning the Malfoys can be." Severus
warned.
"I understand that there will be risks. I will try to limit them as much as I
can, but for now, this is the only plan that we have. Harry has proven to
be uncooperative time and time again. If he will not make the sacrifice
willingly, then he must be forced to do it for the good of the entire
wizarding world."
Severus nodded his agreement and Albus sighed as he stood to his feet.
"How long will you remain away from the castle?"
"Until the new term begins." Albus replied. "There is a vitally important
lead that I must chase up first."
Albus offered nothing more and Severus knew better than to ask.
"I had best get brewing for the wolf, then."
"I will think on what to write to Harry to have him visit Grimmauld
Place. We will be back on plan soon enough, Severus."
Severus didn't believe that was true, but he said nothing as he strode
from the basement kitchen of Grimmauld Place and headed back to
Hogwarts to start brewing yet another complicated, delicate, and very
illegal potion. This one would work, he knew, because Lupin had been
taking them for months, but the one meant for Potter…he already knew
that that one wouldn't work, so all of this was for nought and he knew it,
but he couldn't let on that he knew as such.
He would need to go back to see The Dark Lord and update him on
Dumbledore's plans. The old man was getting desperate now. Very soon,
with a time limit of just five months, he would be willing to do anything.
He might even try to kill Potter himself. After he went to The Dark Lord
he would have to pay another visit to Lucius and warn him to keep a
closer eye on his son. If potions failed then Severus was sure that
Dumbledore would move on to use curses and he was aware that the
runes carved into Potter's neck by Flint would not cover curses, only
ingested potions.
He was being figuratively pulled apart by his two 'masters' and Severus
just wanted the peace and quiet of his own company in a potion lab. He
didn't want to keep doing this. He didn't want to be a spy any longer or
keep juggling such delicate situations that could easily get him killed if
he spoke the wrong word or performed the wrong action. One way or
another the war needed to end and there was only one conceivable way
that Severus could see that happening now...and it involved the death of
the man he'd left sitting at the table behind him.
38. The Notts' Christmas Eve Gala
Last Time
He was being figuratively pulled apart by his two 'masters' and Severus just
wanted the peace and quiet of his own company in a potion lab. He didn't
want to keep doing this. He didn't want to be a spy any longer or keep juggling
such delicate situations that could easily get him killed if he spoke the wrong
word or performed the wrong action. One way or another the war needed to
end and there was only one conceivable way that Severus could see that
happening now…and it involved the death of the man he'd left sitting at the
table behind him.
Chapter Thirty-Eight – The Notts' Christmas Eve Gala
Harry was furious after being informed of Dumbledore's plots with Snape
by Kreacher. At least Snape was on their side, as he had come to tell
Lucius about Dumbledore's plans the morning after, but that didn't really
calm him down any.
But Harry was sick to death of it all. He was almost…almost at the point
that he was ready to beg Rodolphus to kill Dumbledore for him. The man
was becoming dangerous, he was pretty much unhinged at this point and
Harry hated that he was in the middle of it. He wanted to be enjoying his
Christmas, the break from his school work and all of his law work and his
creature reform. Instead, he was stressed and angry and unhappy and so
was Rabastan.
He was furious that Remus had been used against him too. He'd actually
gagged a little when Kreacher had told him that Remus was under the
influence of potions and that was the only reason that he had 'betrayed'
him and Harry felt like an absolute dick for not noticing. He was already
planning a way to break Remus free from the potions. The man didn't
deserve to be treated like that and Harry's only regret was that he hadn't
noticed and had blamed Remus for telling Hermione about his little
wobble, but Remus had been drugged up with potions, it hadn't been his
fault and Harry felt sick to think that he hadn't realised that Remus
wasn't acting as himself. He'd just left Remus to suffer for even longer
and he couldn't stand the thought of it.
"I would like to take you for a walk, Harry." Rabastan asked him rather
formally.
"I'm really not in the mood, Rabastan."
"That is precisely why I want to take you for a walk, my love. It is
Christmas, a time for celebration and I can't bear to see you so upset and
angry when you were looking forward to this time of year."
Harry swallowed and he took Rabastan's hand, allowing his fiancé to pull
him to his feet. Rabastan was right, he didn't want to be angry or upset,
he wanted to enjoy himself. He hoped that a walk with his love would
help him calm down and lighten up. He was still angry over
Dumbledore's plans and what he had done to Remus, but he couldn't do
anything about it at the moment.
Rabastan took him from the house and around the garden, but it wasn't
really until they were on their second lap of the considerable grounds of
the manor that Harry felt himself relaxing and calming. He pressed up
against Rabastan and let go of all the tension in his body.
"I am sorry I've been so sullen recently." Harry said softly.
"Given the circumstances, I believe your behaviour was warranted."
Rabastan assured him. "You've found out that someone close to you is
being drugged with potions to turn on you, you've found out that
Dumbledore had planned to snatch you from the train platform just to try
and drug you too, and on top of that, Dumbledore is now planning to
drug you at school and force you away from your family…away from
me."
Harry sighed. "I just want to enjoy myself. To enjoy the season and your
company while I have it, but I'm so stressed, Rabastan. I hate that man
for everything he's doing to me, for what he's trying to do to me. I've
tried so many times to cut all ties with him, but he won't let me go."
"I'll make him." Rabastan said darkly. "Dolphus and I will take him out."
Harry shook his head. "No, it has to be how I said, Basti. He can't just be
assassinated, he's not Scrimgeour. I won't have you or Rodolphus injured
or even killed over this. I hate the man, I do and I want him dead, but
having your or Rodolphus lose your lives over it is worse. We take him
down politically first. We remove him from all spheres of influence and
power. We have to strip him of his position of Headmaster next. We need
to turn the entire wizarding world against him and make him into a
pariah. Then, we have him charged and thrown into Azkaban. We wait a
little while to run him down and then we kill him."
Rabastan blew out a breath and nodded. "We will do it your way. I just
hate waiting when I know he is targeting you. That he is planning to hurt
or even kill you! I cannot stand the thought of it."
Harry smiled and reached out to cup Rabastan's face, pulling his fiancé
into a soft kiss.
"We'll deal with it together, my love. For now, let's go back to the house
and get some hot chocolate, it's fucking cold out here."
Rabastan laughed, but they held hands as they hurried back into the
manor, kicking off thick boots and trying to warm their frozen toes.
Harry unwound the thick scarf from around his neck and hung it in the
cloakroom by the back door, where his and Rabastan's thick coats also
went.
The Christmas Eve gala at the Nott's manor was tomorrow and Christmas
was the day after. Harry was ready and he just wanted some fun, a little
bit of enjoyment before the real stresses of the new term hit him. He
would think more on how to get Dumbledore ousted from his position of
Headmaster in the New Year and he would try to break Remus free of the
potions controlling him too. Maybe Kreacher could help with that? He
would call the house-elf and ask him when he was alone later. Until then
he would focus his all on Rabastan and enjoy the celebrations, as he
cuddled into his love, a mug of hot chocolate in his red, cold fingers and
a gentle hand playing with his hair.
Harry was dressed in beautiful dark purple robes layered over black. He'd
refused to wear anything gold, deeming it too ostentatious, instead, he
wore a few silver accents and the blue tungsten, platinum, and diamond
engagement ring that he loved and was, naturally, his favourite
accessory.
The blue ring, instead of clashing with the purple robes, instead brought
out the blue hues in the fabric and the robes actually made Harry's black
hair look like it had blue hints.
"Don't touch your hair!" Draco shouted from the bathroom.
"Too late!" Harry called back, teasing.
Draco came storming out, to find Harry fixing cufflinks and not playing
with his hair, which was still perfectly styled.
"You're an arsehole." Draco insisted.
Harry chuckled. "Rabastan picked these out for me. He has such good
taste."
Draco looked at the pair of purple stoned cufflinks. "They actually match
your robes, did he buy them special?"
"No, though I'm pretty sure that he has a pair for every occasion and
colour combination. He took these ones out of his own trust vault. So,
where I thought he had too many pairs at Lestrange manor, he actually
has even more because he's storing them in his vault too. He has a proper
little collection going." Harry chuckled.
"What are they made from? Those ripples and veins are almost
mesmerising."
"It's purple jasper. It's apparently made when blue jasper and red jasper
mix or something, Rabastan really can fawn for hours over gemstones,
but honestly, he chose well, they match my outfit almost perfectly."
Draco looked at the purple stones, shaped into triangles, that were almost
the same colour as Harry's robes, with darker hues at the outside with
black veins and spots…they really did match Harry's robes as if they had
been crafted especially for this one outfit.
"They really do. I approve." Draco replied.
"Are you ready yet? I thought you wanted to see Theo first?"
"I do and I'm almost ready." Draco told him. "Go and get your shoes on.
You're not even dressed yourself."
"I'm not putting them on if you still need to primp for twenty minutes,
they're new, they pinch my toes."
Draco rolled his eyes. "Five minutes." He insisted, heading back to the
bathroom.
It took Draco seventeen minutes and Harry didn't stop ribbing him for it.
"Alright, Potter, I'm done!" Draco insisted, looking flustered, but finally
coming out of the bathroom looking exactly as he did when he walked
into it seventeen minutes ago.
"Have you just been snogging yourself in the damn mirror? What did you
even change?" Harry demanded.
"Shut up and get your shoes on! Merlin, you're annoying!"
"Not as annoying as you taking seventeen minutes to do nothing!"
"Who the hell would want a little brother?" Draco demanded.
"You will not fight with one another!" Narcissa said angrily as she came
into the bedroom from the sitting area. "I thought that you were over all
of this nonsense?"
"We're just teasing, Mother." Harry assured her with a crooked grin.
Narcissa eased down, looking at them both. "Teasing?" She asked.
Draco nodded. "We do that sometimes. He's just so annoying."
"You're the aggravating one!" Harry replied. "Mother, he went into the
bathroom for seventeen minutes and looked exactly the same when he
came back out!"
Narcissa smothered a chuckle. "Put your shoes on, sweetheart." She told
him. "Draco, are you ready?"
"I am. I'm waiting on him now!"
"I wasn't putting them on a moment before I needed to, these shoes are
new and haven't been broken in yet."
"Like you then." Draco grumbled.
"Was that a virgin joke?" Harry demanded.
"Enough." Narcissa cut in. "Draco, don't tease Harry over that, you know
it wasn't his choice to follow the ancient traditions, especially when you
didn't yourself but your betrothed has."
Draco's cheeks went a little pink, but he nodded to his mother.
Harry tied his highly shined shoes and squirmed his feet inside them, but
there was little room left. They were dragonhide and needed to be worn
in before they would fit him properly, but Harry wasn't looking forward
to the party and being on his feet all night with brand-new shoes.
Unfortunately, he'd tried on his old shoes at Rabastan's behest and found
that they were now too small for him from the Ministry party back in
August. He was grateful that Rabastan had forced him to try on his shoes
beforehand, as the only thing worse than wearing brand-new shoes
tonight would have been wearing a pair too small for him.
"I'm done." He declared.
"Let me look at you both." Narcissa said, laying her hands on Draco's
shoulders and then looking him over head to toe. She smiled.
"Exceptionally handsome, as always." She declared, kissing Draco's pink
cheek.
She turned to Harry and did the same, laying her hands on his slim
shoulders and looking him over.
"Very handsome, Harry. You both look so elegant tonight. You are getting
older and coming into yourselves more. I am so proud of you both."
Harry's cheeks heated along with Draco's and they both stood there, red-
cheeked, but for Harry, he was pleased too. He liked hearing that
someone, a parental figure, was proud of him.
"Come on, Rabastan is waiting to see you."
That got Harry moving. Rabastan was going to the party tonight and
Harry wanted to see his fiancé all dressed up.
He whistled as he caught sight of Rabastan, who immediately turned to
look at him.
"You're looking good, love." Harry praised, going to lay his hands all over
the pale grey dress robes that brought out Rabastan's blue eyes.
Rabastan chuckled softly, holding Harry with strong hands that didn't
even have the hint of a twitch or waver. He was down to just one potion
a day now, with an additional potion every other day, and Harry was so
pleased and proud of his fiancé and the extraordinary progress he had
made since his escape from Azkaban.
"You are very beautiful tonight." Rabastan told him. "Purple suits you, so
elegant and regal."
"Regal?" Harry asked, scoffing.
"Purple is the royal colour, my love." Rabastan told him. "Purple jasper is
used to make jewellery for royals. I did tell you that you'd rule the world
one day."
Harry rolled his eyes. "I'm leaving now." He joked.
Rabastan pulled him into his chest tight, as if Harry had moved any sort
of muscle towards the fireplace.
They kissed, passionately. Hot and heavy and Harry didn't want to let go,
but he was aware that he had eyes on him.
True to previous experience, Lucius cleared his throat pointedly, breaking
them apart.
Harry heaved in a breath, looking up into Rabastan's dark blue eyes and
he grinned. Covering his movements with his body, Harry slipped a hand
down to cup the front of Rabastan, squeezing gently, watching those eyes
widen in shock.
"I'll see you soon, my love." He said cheerfully, stepping away and
heading for the fireplace with a giggle in his throat. He would pay for
that last tease. He, of course, remembered the last time they had played
this dangerous game of riling one another up, but they were just eight
months away from their wedding now and Harry thought that a bit of
teasing was only to be expected at this point.
Harry flooed through first, Draco following close behind. A beautiful
woman dressed in a gown of pale jade met them.
"Lady Nott, you look lovely tonight." Harry greeted. "Thank you for
inviting us to your home."
Lady Sabelina Nott, née Lawson, was an elderly witch just into her
sixties. Her silver hair was done in soft curls, with half of it pulled up
into a jewelled clasp and half left to tumble about her lightly lined face.
It was a shame that she ruined her beauty as she sneered at Harry as if he
were a piece of shit brought in on Draco's shoe.
"The children are up the stairs in Theodore's bedchamber. The seventh
door on the right." She said, talking directly to Draco as if Harry wasn't in
her home, sullying it with his less than pure blood.
How the hell Theo had turned out to be such a nice, level-headed person
with Philip and Sabelina for parents, Harry couldn't begin to fathom.
Draco stormed from the room without even thanking her, and Harry
didn't feel the need to either. He was new to pureblood etiquette, but
even so, he knew how to behave and what was expected of him, but
there was no way he was thanking anyone for being rude to him, he'd
follow Draco's lead in that.
"I've always hated her." Draco told him. "She's never here at any other
time. She's always in Spain, or Greece, or Italy, but she only ever comes
back when she can lord over people, like these gatherings. Theo doesn't
much like her either. She gave birth to him and passed him straight over
to a nanny to raise and he rarely sees her. He doesn't even call her
mother."
Draco knew exactly where Theo's bedroom was, having been here
countless times before, though this was Harry's first. He knocked on the
seventh door from the right of the staircase and a moment later Theo
opened it and smiled to see them.
"How are you both? The bitch didn't chase you off?"
Harry was shocked. Draco had just told him that Theo didn't call Sabelina
'mother', but Harry had no idea that Theo called her 'the bitch' instead.
He'd assumed that he called her by her first name.
"She tried to chase Harry off, but I am used to her manner by now."
"Harry, I'm sorry for anything she said or any offence she might have
offered you."
"I find those sorts of things amusing more than offensive, Theo." Harry
assured him, taking the offered hand and the half-hug. "I wouldn't hold
other people's actions against you."
"She is a complete joke." Theo agreed. "I barely know her and from what
little I have seen, I don't want to know her."
Luna was sitting in the room with a cup of tea, in a beautiful dress of
sunshine yellow that made her blonde hair shine like gold.
"Luna! How are you?" Harry asked joyfully, genuinely pleased to see her.
"Harry." She greeted, hugging him and accepting the kiss on the cheek. "I
have something to tell you."
"Oh?" Harry asked questioningly.
"Hermione sent me an owl yesterday. I wanted to rip the letter up, but I
thought that you should see it first."
Luna opened the strangely furry bag she was carrying and pulled out a
letter, handing it over.
Harry sighed, sitting in the small communal area that Theo had at the
end of his room, near the fireplace, and he read the letter through twice,
Draco hanging over the back of the chair and reading with him.
Hermione's friendly tone was entirely false throughout the letter. Harry
knew exactly what she thought of Luna and her uniqueness, so Harry had
to grit his teeth while he read as Hermione tried to insist that she and
Luna were similar people, who cared a great deal about him, and how
she merely wanted to protect him, and that was where the questions
started. Who was the mysterious 'Aceline'? Had Luna ever met her? Had
she ever seen any bruises on him? Had Luna ever seen him act as if he
were frightened of Draco? And more tellingly, had she heard from him
over the break thus far?
"I didn't want to show you so close to Christmas." Luna told him softly. "I
showed it to Theo, who told me that I should definitely show it to you,
regardless of timing. I just hate the thought that they're still trying to ruin
things for you and that it might ruin your Christmas."
"I thought it would be for the best to keep you informed of what they're
doing." Theo added.
"I'm not angry with either of you." Harry assured them. "Thank you for
showing this to me. It helps fit some puzzle pieces together."
"How so?" Theo asked.
Harry sighed. "I trust you both, Blaise too, when he arrives, but no one
else, so what I say here needs to be kept quiet."
Luna nodded immediately and, just a moment behind her, so did Theo.
"Dumbledore has been drugging Remus with potions. He never turned
against me, not willingly. I was too busy feeling hurt over the perceived
betrayal to realise that he wasn't behaving as himself. But, Dumbledore
was planning to abduct me from the train platform…"
Luna gasped and Theo cursed colourfully.
"I know. A busy, crowded place, it might have been easy, but for father
being right there as we exited the carriage. He was only a short distance
from us and he kept his hand on me throughout. There was no time for
Dumbledore to try to snatch me while father was holding onto me."
"It's too dangerous for you at Hogwarts." Theo said angrily. "You can't put
yourself in his grasp, Harry."
"I must. I need to graduate. I won't delay my own marriage, or my life,
because of him! Father is going to speak to the governors and see if they
can't remove him for his harassment of me, using the raid by the Law
Enforcers as an excuse. He is harassing me, even at school, so hopefully, I
won't need to worry about him next term. But, he clearly has Hermione
to do his business for him. I'll have to be wary of her too. She is
undeniably intelligent, she has a way of surprising people with her logic
and the way she applies it in any given situation. Her solution to a
problem may not be the best way, but it is always effective."
No one said anything to contradict him, perhaps understanding that out
of all of them, he certainly knew Hermione the best.
"What do you think she might do?" Draco asked.
"Anything that Dumbledore asked her to do." Harry replied. "Which is
dangerous in itself as he doesn't care about sacrificing one or two for the
continuation of his little plots. He might give her an unauthorised
portkey to hand to me. She would come under fire for possession of it,
but he would get what he wants, which is me."
His friends all looked alarmed at his words, but they had to stop speaking
about it when the door knocked. They shared a look and while Harry
folded up the letter and slipped it into the inside pocket of his overrobe,
Theo went to greet whoever had arrived.
"Your mother is a horror!" Blaise greeted.
"She is no mother of mine." Theo insisted coldly.
"Birth giver then. I'm surprised she hasn't frozen to death yet, given how
cold she is."
"You should have seen how she greeted Harry!" Draco complained.
"Along the lines of 'how dare you bring a halfblood poser into my home?'"
Blaise said, rolling his eyes.
"Oh, she implied that." Harry insisted. "But she didn't need to say
anything, the horrified look as I stepped onto the carpet was enough."
"As if she even lives here." Theo muttered.
"It's alright, Theo." Harry assured him. "I don't hold family members
against people." He was thinking of the Dursleys of course, but he needed
to lighten the mood a little. "After all, I have to claim Draco as a brother!"
"Oh, fuck off, Potter!" Draco snapped.
"Draco! There are ladies, present!" Theo said, horrified.
"Yeah, Draco. Blaise's delicate disposition can't handle such language."
Harry teased. "Be more considerate of your lover."
Luna started laughing as if she would choke and Theo looked at her
nervously, as if she would actually choke, and Harry laughed, even as
Blaise pulled him into a rough headlock and pretended to strangle him.
"Not his hair! Not his hair, Blaise!" Draco cried, and of course that made
Harry laugh harder.
"Your handiwork, I assume?" Blaise teased, even as he let Harry go.
"Yes." Draco snapped, even as he fussed and fixed a few loose pieces,
brushing them back into place.
The door knocked again and they all straightened themselves and
sobered a little. Depending on who was on the other side of the door they
wouldn't be so friendly with one another in front of them, or show
themselves up quite so much.
It was Astoria who had arrived and she squealed happily and went
straight for Draco, visibly happy to see him again after a separation of
just four days.
"You look very beautiful tonight." Draco praised her, holding her out at
arm's length and looking her over, almost exactly how Narcissa had
looked at them before they'd come. Harry hid a soft smile at the sweet
interaction.
Astoria was wearing peach. A sort of soft, pale orange that was almost a
shade of pink also. It looked lovely on her, as did everything.
"I…I thought I would show off a little." She admitted, blushing. "This is a
dress that I made for myself."
"You made that?" Harry asked, shocked. "Astoria, it looks like it could
have come from a fashion show runway."
"Oh, stop it." She demurred, her cheeks reddening.
"Oh no, Harry's right this time." Blaise agreed. "I never would have
known. It complements you perfectly, Astoria. Clothing design is truly
your calling."
Astoria let out an embarrassed little giggle.
"Well, as Harry has asked me to make his wedding outfit, I suppose I've
gained more confidence in my own abilities."
"Then, I am very glad of my choice to use you and your talents." Harry
told her. "I get the perfect outfit to get married in and you gain the
confidence you need to realise that you were meant to do this…as Draco
was meant to be a hairstylist."
They all laughed, even as Draco went pink.
"Don't diminish me just because I actually cleaned up your rat's nest of a
hairstyle, Potter!"
Harry laughed, but the door knocked again. People were arriving thick
and fast now and as Crabbe and Goyle joined them, then Millicent
Bulstrode straight afterwards, they started mingling more instead of
teasing one another. They knew the others, all but Harry had grown up
with them since infancy, but they weren't close friends.
Daphne arrived just before they headed downstairs to join the 'adult'
party, and she was wearing what seemed to be a two-piece outfit instead
of a dress. The top covered her arms to the wrist and to the neck and the
skirt was floor length, but it looked as if Daphne had taken a pair of
scissors to the middle section, cutting it out entirely.
"Mother bought her dress for her, to try and keep her decent." Astoria
whispered to him, Draco, Luna, and Blaise as Theo greeted Daphne stiffly
and she pulled her head away as he went to give her a simple kiss on the
cheek, as was the standard Pureblood greeting. "She hated it, refused to
wear it, and even said that she would wear a dress she had already worn
before, but father had emptied her wardrobe while she was at Hogwarts.
She had to wear the dress that mother bought her or not come at all and
she absolutely refused to miss a gathering like this, so she cut up her own
dress to make that."
"Well, she has none of your skill, Astoria." Harry told her.
Astoria giggled softly. "No, none. There are a hundred things I could have
done to make the dress suit her more, but she knew that I wouldn't do it
for her so she didn't ask me."
"I'm surprised she didn't just cut off the sleeves and the hem." Harry said
casually.
"Mother was one step ahead of her, Harry." Astoria said with another
giggle. "The sleeves, bodice, and the skirt are all charmed to be rip and
cut proof, the only part that Daphne could cut was the midriff, because
honestly, who would cut a dress in half like that? But this is Daphne now,
she has to be showing some skin or she won't feel appreciated." Astoria
said cattily.
"It's a consequence of how she gained her identity." Blaise whispered
back. "She's slept around so much that she just doesn't know what to do if
she doesn't."
"I find that incredibly sad." Harry said.
"We've all tried, Harry." Astoria told him. "As her sister, I tried more than
most, but she doesn't care. She enjoys sex and the attention it gives her
too much. She scoffs at me for still being a virgin, a mere child in her
eyes still playing with my dollies, but she will certainly not appreciate
anything that you try to say to her. She sees you as the same. Just a
virgin who doesn't know what they're missing. She won't listen to
anything we try to tell her because she believes that, as virgins, we can't
have opinions on sex as we've never had it."
That was even worse. Daphne seemed to be in complete self-destruct and
she wouldn't listen to anyone else.
"Maybe she needs professional help?" Harry offered. "Have your parents
tried a mind healer?"
"Oh yes." Astoria replied, surprising him. "There's nothing wrong with
her. There is no underlying trauma to explain why she is like this, she
truly just enjoys being this way, Harry. Believe me, my parents have done
all they can for Daphne, but she doesn't want to change, she enjoys being
a whore and sleeping with anyone and everyone. She was barely back
from Hogwarts before she took one of father's business friends to her bed
to punish father for taking her dresses."
Harry was shocked to hear Astoria claim her sister as such, but looking at
Daphne, in the ruined dress, merely because she wanted to show some
skin, he couldn't refute Astoria's claim. Using sex to punish her own
father seemed drastic. There must have been some sort of underlying
trauma to make her behave that way, regardless that a trained mind
healer hadn't found anything obvious…or perhaps it was a way for
Daphne to gain the attention of a father who had never wanted kids? A
father who was publically cold to his oldest daughter and favoured the
younger yet had allegedly called them both 'snivelling brats' when asked
about them when they were children. Perhaps the public favouring of
Astoria was a recent development because of Daphne's behaviour, but
still, there was no denying that her behaviour was gaining her all sorts of
attention, including from her father, even if it was bad attention she was
getting something from it, though Harry doubted it was truly what she
wanted or needed.
"She needn't have bothered cutting it." Blaise said. "Everyone here knows
her by name and reputation, she could be wearing an oversized sack and
she would still be everyone's whore. She must have her eye on someone
in particular tonight, though, to go to such lengths."
Astoria's grin was almost evil. As was the dainty laugh.
"Oh, she has high hopes of bedding Marcus tonight." Astoria told them,
shaking her head. "Even I know that she'll fail. It's a terrible idea to even
approach him, but Daphne always wants what she can't have…or
someone she hasn't had before and that's not very many."
Harry scoffed. "She has no chance. Marcus has found someone he actually
loves."
"She doesn't understand love, Harry, only sex." Astoria pointed out.
Harry felt sorry for Daphne all over again. He couldn't imagine never
being in love.
"She thinks that Marcus will have sex with her despite being in love?"
Luna asked curiously.
"I remember she once told me that sex was just sex." Harry said with a
frown. "She didn't understand that sex and intimacy can mean more to
some people."
"She won't see anything wrong with it." Astoria agreed. "She gets what
she wants, Marcus has a bit of sexual relief despite his engagement, no
harm done."
Harry shook his head. "Disgusting."
They stopped their conversation when an angry Theo came back over to
them.
"Tell me you're leaving her soon." Harry pleaded.
Theo gave him a stubborn look, then smirked. "Sooner than you know."
He replied.
"Truly?" Astoria asked. "I would have liked you as a brother-in-law, Theo,
but I know how she treats you. No one deserves that."
"I truly am. I'm done." He said, his voice harsh. He took a calming breath.
"We should head down." He told everyone, raising his voice to be heard
over the small, light conversations.
Harry stayed with Blaise, Draco, and Astoria until they reached the
ballroom. It was large, with a tasteful colour scheme, though not really
festive. The sparse decorations were a pale, icy blue and white, but
everything else was just boring. There wasn't even a single Christmas tree
in the room. In fact, there was nothing in the room and the closer he
looked the worse it got. It was just a colour scheme and a few banners on
the walls. There was nothing to show that it was Christmas, no sign that
this was a celebration of any kind, just…just ice blue floors and walls,
with a white ceiling to mimic some sort of icy cavern. It was starting to
make Harry feel cold just standing there.
Harry veered off the moment he saw Rabastan, crossing the room with
eyes for no one else, and of course his fiancé noticed and smirked,
opening his arms to accept Harry into them.
"You look even better from across this boring, plain room." Harry told
him.
Rodolphus snorted a laugh at his criticism, but it wasn't until Harry heard
an indignant huff that he realised that the Lestranges were actually
standing with Philip Nott, their host for the evening.
"And just what is wrong with the ballroom that you feel justified in
criticising it?" The man demanded of him.
"You could have at least decorated it. You are supposed to be hosting a
party, after all." Harry sniped. "It's completely empty but for people."
Harry could feel the rumble of Rabastan's suppressed laughter through
his chest.
"Are you an interior decorator now as well?" Philip demanded.
"Clearly a better one than you and your lady wife."
Rabastan actually laughed at that, and so did Rodolphus, leaving Philip
Nott red-faced and humiliated, unwilling to say anything against the
Lestranges…or too afraid. That hadn't been Harry's initial goal for
tonight, given that he hadn't realised the man was standing right there
when he'd commented on the ballroom, but honestly, with this man at
least, he didn't care about offending him.
"Come, Harry, let me get you a drink." Rabastan insisted. "Our hosts have
graciously laid out refreshments for us, if nothing else."
It was Harry's turn to laugh this time, as he took Rabastan's arm and
allowed himself to be pulled to the side of the room serving as an
impromptu bar.
"I assume you didn't realise he was there?" Rabastan asked him, grinning,
even as he picked up two glasses of wine.
"Of course not." Harry said with a smile. "I only had eyes for you, looking
gorgeous in those dress robes that I want to rip off of you."
Rabastan's gaze was heated as he looked over Harry's own purple robes
and the black suit underneath.
"The feeling is mutual, my love."
"I don't think father would approve of me drinking wine, though."
"You are seventeen, he allows you and Draco a small glass on occasion."
Harry couldn't defend against that, as it was true, so Harry took the glass
and told himself it would be his only alcoholic drink tonight. He didn't
like losing his awareness around such people, some of whom were
'frenemies' and would insult him from behind a friendly mask and false
praise, and some of whom were outright enemies, like Corban Yaxley and
Rhadamanthus, who would both be here tonight and wouldn't bother
hiding their hate behind a mask or their threats behind sugared words.
Instead, he looked Rabastan over once again, as if he didn't already have
his fiancé's image imprinted in his mind.
Rabastan was looking better than ever now that he was almost done with
his potion's regime. Him and Rodolphus both. Rabastan's hair was thick
and glossy once more, his skin smooth and plump. His body looked
strong and he was standing upright. Nothing trembled or twitched or
moved without purpose.
Rabastan noticed his rather glazed look and he bent to capture his mouth
in a heated kiss. They broke apart gasping for breath.
"We're not going to be trusted to be alone now, are we?" Harry said with
a groan.
"No." Rabastan agreed. "It's already been remarked upon that we are
touching too much, kissing too often. I believe your mother is the wall
between us, the last one standing."
"She wants what is best for me. She wants me to graduate before I focus
on married life and babies. I can understand it when applying the same
thought to our future children. I would want them to at least finish their
schooling before marrying and having children too."
"It is frustrating, however, when all I want is to see these beautiful robes
on the floor and your naked body in my bed."
"That can be arranged." Harry purred softly. "You're just not allowed to
touch me."
Rabastan growled lowly in the back of his throat and he pulled Harry in
closer to his body.
"We'll get into trouble." Harry warned.
"I don't care." Rabastan assured him. "You're worth it and more."
Harry snuggled in tighter himself at hearing that, purposefully rubbing
his lower body against Rabastan, who clearly regretted allowing this as
his teeth clenched and he had to close his eyes for a moment.
"You're a damn, fucking tease." Rabastan declared.
Harry laughed happily. "I love you too. Eight months, Rabastan, that's
all."
"I am counting down every single day until you are my husband."
Rabastan assured him.
Harry pressed closer, angling for a kiss, but a hand was shoved into his
face and pushed him backwards.
"Enough in public." Rodolphus told them. "People are staring at you
both."
Harry was discreetly yanked off of Rabastan and pulled a few steps away
by large, powerful hands. Rabastan glared at his brother.
"Do not manhandle him, Rodolphus!"
"Then stop frotting against one another in a public hall."
"But, Dolphus, it makes me feel all tingly." Harry teased.
"You are disgusting and abhorrent." Rodolphus told him, making Harry
laugh, but Rabastan was less amused.
"Do not call him names!"
"Do you want to disgrace him?" Rodolphus demanded.
Rabastan shifted agitatedly, but said nothing.
"That is what I thought!" Rodolphus hissed at his younger brother.
"Protect Harry's reputation even if you care nothing for your own."
"Rodolphus, you don't need to gatekeep my virtue." Harry insisted. "I
would not upset my mother by having sex before marriage, given that
she's so insistent upon it."
"Good, now go and play with your little friends while I take Rabastan to
cool off for a bit."
"I don't need to cool off." Rabastan snapped.
"Your erection is showing through your trousers." Rodolphus told him
unrelentingly, with no hint of embarrassment or shame.
Harry looked, he had to look, and Dolphus was right and Harry laughed
happily at the visible reaction he'd caused in Rabastan.
"Oh wow, Basti, really?" Harry giggled. "I think Dolphus is right and you
need to cool off a little before I get my hands on that."
Rodolphus rolled his eyes and shoved Harry away, with enough force
that Harry almost lost his footing. Rabastan went to catch him, but
Rodolphus took his shoulders and marched him out of the doors and into
the garden. Harry was left laughing, feeling a little flushed because of
Rabastan's reaction to him, but he was happy and pleased, feeling
powerful and sexy.
He swapped his empty wine glass for sparkling grape juice, just so Lucius
and Narcissa wouldn't fret, before he walked around, doing the needed
mingling that was expected of him as Lord Potter-Black.
He needlessly introduced himself to people who already knew him and
received introductions from people he already knew, but there were
those he didn't know, which is why this song and dance was necessary.
Younger children who hadn't been old enough to come last year, distant
relatives who were in the country this year around, etcetera etcetera.
He eventually found Marcus in the crowd, who was standing with a
petite woman wearing dress robes of ocean blue and an undersuit of sea
green. She looked like some sort of ocean goddess. She wasn't wearing
heels of any sort, but flat dress shoes made of green dragonhide and she
wore no make-up and no jewellery save for the engagement ring on her
finger, which was very plain with no stones. Harry liked her on sight,
then he always did feel more drawn to the unique people in life. Those
who happily went against the crowd and didn't care, like Luna and the
supposed Eleanor Fawley, who hated flowers and jewellery, had short-cut
hair, and would boldly come to a pureblood party wearing dress robes
and a suit instead of a gown.
"Marcus." Harry called out happily, already thrusting out his hand.
Marcus shook his hand, gripping it strongly.
"Harry, I hope you are well? I would like to introduce you to my fiancée,
Eleanor."
"It is a pleasure to meet you, Eleanor." Harry told her genuinely, because
there truly weren't that many people able or willing to put up with
Marcus Flint of all people. Harry took a risk and he offered her his hand
to shake, instead of holding his hand out for hers so that he could kiss
her knuckles.
The two of them shook hands amicably, but those brown eyes lit up with
visible pleasure at his actions and Harry knew that he had gotten this, at
least, right.
"Likewise, Lord Potter-Black."
"Oh, just Harry, please." He insisted. "I only ask the stuck-up snobs to call
me by my title."
"I am liking you more and more." Eleanor chuckled.
"I'm glad. I see Marcus as an annoying friend I can't get rid of, so I hope
to get closer to you as well."
"You're the annoying one, Potter." Marcus grunted, glaring at him.
"That is Lord Potter-Black to you, you annoying, snobby arsehole."
Eleanor laughed loudly, uncaring that she drew scandalised looks from
those within earshot for her loud, 'unladylike' show of humour.
"So, this is how you treat me now your tutoring sessions are at an end
and you no longer need me?" Marcus asked.
Harry laughed and slipped in quickly to give Marcus a hug before darting
back again, as Marcus was more likely to hit him than even Rodolphus
was.
"You know I am only joking. And I would like to tell you that I scored the
highest marks in the class on the mock Ancient Runes exam we did just
before term broke up."
"Highest in the class?" Marcus asked, looking at him as if warning him
not to lie to him.
"The highest in the class." Harry reiterated with a nod. "While being the
newest to the subject, I will add. I even scored higher than Draco and
Hermione too."
Marcus laughed happily, looking smug, but Eleanor was trying not to
look confused.
"Hermione was my former best friend, a muggleborn witch, but she
prides herself on being smarter than everyone else and taking all the top
spots in every subject." Harry whispered to her, guessing correctly that
she knew who Draco was and that it was Hermione's name that was
confusing her. "Taking any top spot from her in any subject is not easy."
"And you managed to do this for Ancient Runes?" Eleanor asked him.
Harry nodded again, grinning. "She was absolutely furious about it too.
Her face was a brilliant red when Professor Babbling revealed the results
that she had come second to me."
"You can do graduate-level work, I would have been disappointed if you
hadn't beaten everyone in your class." Marcus told him.
Marcus' attention was dragged away by someone else calling his name,
leaving Harry with Eleanor.
"So, you are the one that Marcus almost chose over me." She said
consideringly. "I can see the appeal. We have near the same body shape
and size and you are soft and pretty in an almost girlish way."
Harry blinked in confusion.
"I assure you that there was never anything between me and Marcus.
There was just no spark. We are friends, Eleanor. He was my tutor and
we saw one another as nothing more than friends. We did attempt to take
a walk together to see if there was anything between us, but there wasn't.
I suspect I am the wrong gender for Marcus' tastes, regardless of how I
look, and I was upset that my own betrothed was being pig-headed and
trying to push me away, which is the only reason that I agreed to take
that walk with Marcus in the first place."
Eleanor scrutinised him, then smiled. "I apologise if my tone was
accusational, I have that issue sometimes, I meant nothing by it, only that
you and I are alike on the surface and I can see why Marcus tried to court
you, even if I am glad that he failed."
She wasn't wrong. They both had short, dark hair. They were both small
and slender and lithely muscled. He did not agree at all that he was
girlish, but with no make-up on to alter her natural face, Eleanor did look
just…entirely human and he could see their similar colouring. Harry gave
her a smirk and she smirked right back.
"I think I'm going to like you, Eleanor." Harry declared, slipping his arm
in hers, but reversed of how he usually did, so that she was essentially
escorting him, which she seemed to really like. Harry could guess that
not even Marcus gave her this sort of power in public, but Harry didn't
mind. He was used to it as he'd been taught to allow Rabastan to hold his
arm like this, but his fiancé didn't mind if Harry accidentally took the
'lead' so to say as Harry was the lord of two ancient, powerful houses,
and Rabastan was only an heir to one and as such, Harry's standing was
actually higher than his own.
"I already like you." She declared, taking him over to the drinks and
Harry allowed her to serve him, instead of serving her. He didn't care for
such things, given he hadn't been raised from birth in these circles and
wasn't indoctrinated into the social lifestyle, and it seemed to bother her
to be treated in a typical ladylike way. He didn't mind stepping back from
the formalities to allow her to have a comfortable night.
"So, I've always been curious, what is Marcus like at home? Is he as foul-
mouthed and impatient as he portrays in public?" Harry asked curiously,
his arm still through hers and letting her decide where they went,
ignoring the tongue-clicking and tutting from people they passed for their
improper etiquette.
Eleanor chuckled. "He's quieter at home. I'm sure he shouts himself
hoarse while at work, but at home, he can relax without anyone judging
him. I don't mind watching him in public, pulling up that mask and using
his sharp tongue to cut into anyone who crosses him, or me." She said
with a grin. "But I prefer it when it's just us at home, when he can take
off his mask and relax. You wouldn't believe me if I told you how soft
and sweet he can be when it's just us."
"No, I can see it." Harry said. "I'm used to seeing through people's masks
and there were moments when he was soft and patient with me during
our tutoring. Small moments, very few and far in between." He added
with a giggle.
"You didn't get on his nerves like most people do." She nodded. "He told
me about you when I asked when he first told me he was tutoring you in
runes. He's never tutored anyone before and I was curious as to why he'd
agreed to spend his time tutoring you when he's really not a people
person, as I'm sure you've noticed." Here the two of them shared a look
and a knowing grin. "I wanted to know what made you so different and
he said that you didn't whine or complain, not even when he corrected
you over and over. He said that you didn't expect him to do your work
for you or to just give you the answers and that, instead, you worked
them out for yourself. He was impressed with how diligent you were and
how much you actually wanted to learn from him and how you focused
to work out the things he was trying to teach you and how you always
had your work completed and ready when he came back to see you. I am
sure he was more patient with you because of that."
Harry smiled. "He's a really good teacher if you can ignore that he has
zero people skills."
Eleanor laughed again in her way that received glares and scandalised
looks from those around them, but Harry just smiled and took a drink of
the grape juice she'd given him.
They wandered around, just chatting like old friends, and Harry was truly
enjoying himself, feeling as if he had made a real friend in Eleanor.
Rabastan caught up with him, Rodolphus not far behind, and Harry gave
a pointed look to Rabastan's trousers. His fiancé didn't blush, he didn't
glare, but his eyes narrowed in warning while Harry gave him a cheeky
smile.
"Here you are, your mother is worried, Harry. She hasn't seen you at the
party at all."
"Eleanor, I would like to introduce you to my fiancé, Rabastan, and his
brother, Rodolphus. My love, this is Eleanor Fawley, fiancée of Marcus
Flint."
Rabastan eased down just ever so slightly and Harry gave him a smile…
as if he'd leave Rabastan for a woman.
"It is a pleasure to meet you." Rabastan replied courteously.
"Likewise. Harry has spoken a lot about you." Eleanor said, then her
mouth twisted into a smirk. "Something about going to your bed and
finding your brother in it?"
Harry laughed. "Well, they are very close. They've even come to find me
together." Harry teased.
"Harry!" Rodolphus snapped.
Harry laughed. "I tried to sneak into bed with my fiancé, but these two
had switched beds! Can you believe that, Eleanor? Can you believe they
didn't trust me?"
"Seems to me that they were right not to trust you." Eleanor pointed out.
Harry gave her a wink.
"I dislike the ancient traditions." Harry told her. "I'm not even allowed to
hold my own fiancé's hand unless we have a chaperone! How ridiculous
is that?"
"Oh, I couldn't do it. Some of my favourite parts of Marcus are revealed
in bed."
Harry was startled into laughing loudly and Eleanor joined him, the both
of them being glared and sneered at for not showing proper decorum at a
social gathering.
Marcus followed the laughter and found them both, and he was actually
smiling, not smirking, not sneering, but smiling. Harry was glad that he'd
found someone he could be truly happy with.
"Rabastan. Rodolphus." He greeted with a nod.
"I hear that Eleanor's favourite parts of you are in the bedroom." Harry
told Marcus, giggling.
"I would hope so." Marcus replied with a smirk.
Eleanor dropped Harry's arm and went to Marcus, cuddling in. Harry
went for Rabastan, but he also felt Rodolphus' hand in his hair…Draco
would kill him.
"Oh, I really like him." Eleanor told Marcus. "We should keep him."
"He already has his own threesome." Marcus told her, nodding to Harry
between the two brothers, both of them touching him, and Harry
grinned.
"Having a pair of brothers is more exciting." He assured the two, laughing
when Rodolphus' hand tightened in his hair. "They know each other so
well!"
"Harry!" Rabastan chastised, shocked.
Harry winked and said his goodbyes, letting Rabastan pull him off
towards his parents, who hadn't seen him since the gala began.
"So, this is what you talk about when left to your own devices?"
Rodolphus demanded.
"It's just teasing, Dolphus. No one who heard would believe it."
"You shouldn't discuss such private business with others, my love."
Rabastan told him carefully.
"Eleanor started it, Basti, I was just playing along. I didn't give away any
family secrets or anything that could be used against us."
"Good." Rodolphus said shortly, his hand on Harry's shoulder, Rabastan's
at his lower back…truly, it was almost like he was in a relationship with
them both. He pushed those naughty thoughts away.
"Harry, darling. Where have you been?"
"He has been making friends." Rabastan assured Narcissa, as Harry went
to her and allowed her to fuss over him.
"Eleanor Fawley." Harry elaborated. "She is an absolute riot."
"I have been hearing her laugh all over the hall." Xerxes commented, in a
backwards way that on the surface seemed to be a compliment, but was
actually criticism. "I assume the other voice blending with hers was
yours?"
"She is incredibly funny." Harry said with a wide grin. "Plus, I liked all
the sneers and glares we got for it. There's nothing better than ruffling
the feathers of stuck-up old people."
Xerxes heard Harry's own backwards comment loud and clear and he
gave Harry a smile and a wink.
"But, you are alright, sweetheart?" Narcissa asked him.
"Yes, Mother. I've not had any run-ins yet…unless you count both older
Notts." He added.
"I had heard about your comments to Lord Philip." She said with a smile.
"I have to agree with you on the decorations." She said, whispering to
him.
"Or lack thereof." Harry replied, then giggled.
"You are in very good humour, Harry." Lucius complained. "How much
wine have you had?"
"One glass, Father. Nothing but grape juice since."
He handed his glass to Lucius, who took a sip to check and then nodded
approvingly.
"So you are just very happy?"
"Oh, very happy." Harry insisted, turning to grin at Rabastan, who
clenched his jaw to keep himself from squirming as Harry kept reminding
him about his earlier condition.
"I am pleased that you are enjoying yourself." Narcissa told him.
"Especially given your recent mood. I want you to be happy. Though, you
mentioned you'd had a run-in with Sabelina as well?"
"Besides the fact that I hate her because of her treatment of Theo? Yeah,
she sneered at me for daring to step onto her ugly carpet and sully her
house with my halfblood person."
"Pay no mind to her or any comment she made to or about you,
sweetheart. She had hoped to never become a mother." Narcissa told him.
"She was forty-six when she had Theodore, after thirty years of marriage
and no previous pregnancies. We truly believed one of the two to be
incapable of having children. There are those in the circles who admire
how quickly she threw her son to the side to carry on doing what she
pleased. I have never been one of them." Narcissa assured him, laying a
hand on Harry's cheek and pulling him in gently to press a kiss to his
forehead.
Harry snuggled in like a much younger child, allowing Narcissa to cradle
him, but he had always been denied this in his life, so he didn't care
where he was when it was offered, he would seize it with both hands.
"You are such an affectionate boy. I sometimes wish Draco would allow
me this comfort as well, but he is his father's son." She said the last
glaring at Lucius. "But I am at least pleased that one of my sons is not
embarrassed by the affection of his mother."
"Never." Harry declared firmly, tucking his head further into Narcissa's
neck.
"Narcissa, I haven't yet had a chance to greet you." The unwelcome voice
of Sabelina broke into their moment. "Thank you so much for coming."
Sabelina appeared from the side and she seemed to startle to see Narcissa
holding a seventeen-year-old Harry in her arms. Harry didn't move and
Narcissa didn't let him go. Neither of them were discomforted or
embarrassed by their position.
Sabelina was with a few other ladies, and some of them looked jealous
and longingly at Narcissa, the same as the ladies had at the Ministry
party when Harry had merely kissed his mother's cheek in public. The
public cuddle was seemingly amplifying those feelings of want and
jealousy. Narcissa noticed if her sudden move to stroke a piece of his hair
from his face was any indication.
"I wouldn't have missed it." Narcissa replied with a sharp smile. "Allow
me to introduce my younger son, Harry."
"Yes, the famous Lord Potter-Black." Sabelina said, just barely holding
back the sneer. "I had heard that you'd adopted him. I confess I don't
understand the notion behind taking in an unrelated burden."
"Of course you can't." Narcissa replied promptly. "How could you
understand it, Sabelina dear, when you birthed your own son into the
arms of hired help?"
Harry had to clench his jaw to keep from laughing, but he was sure that
his lips twitched, just slightly, at the shocked look on Lady Nott's face.
"I gave my husband an heir, that is all that was expected of me. You
already had an heir, so why bother taking in another, Narcissa dear?
Though, I suppose you took him in at an age close to manhood so there
was less to do."
"My only wish is that I had known to do so sooner." Narcissa replied
firmly. "I would have lovingly raised my Harry from infancy if only I had
known he'd needed me."
That prompted Harry to snuggle in closer and Narcissa's hand went back
to his hair, stroking through it soothingly.
"Is he such a babe to be coddled in such a way in public?" Desdemona
Yaxley, Lord Corban's poisonous wife, asked, her voice light, pitched
curiously, but her eyes were sharp and spiteful.
"My son is a sweet, affectionate boy when he is with me. He feels no need
to be stern or aloof at a celebratory gathering, this is not the
Wizengamot, Mona. Why would my Harry behave as if it were?"
"Can he not speak?" A large, brutish woman who reminded Harry of Aunt
Marge asked. She could only be a Bulstrode…or one of Lucan Selwyn's
daughters, which coincidentally was almost the same, as their mother
had been a Bulstrode.
"Of course I can speak." Harry cut in smoothly. "But why would I bother
interrupting when my mother is doing such a wonderful job of putting
you all back into your places by herself? I am rather enjoying the
performance."
The scandalised looks on the ladies' faces was worth every word and
Harry had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep a straight face.
"I knew that you were not one of us!" Sabelina hissed at him. "You can
pretend to be a pureblood all you wish, but your weak blood shows itself
at every turn."
"Insult my family again and I will wipe out the entire of yours." Xerxes
said darkly, stepping forward and laying a hand on Harry's shoulder,
showing clearly that it was Harry he was claiming as family.
There was a very good reason that the Lestranges were feared. There was
a reason that Sabelina, and the women with her, paled, their complexions
taking on the colour of curdled milk as Xerxes issued his very real threat,
especially with Rodolphus looming menacingly just behind his
grandfather and known to be unstable and violently inclined.
"I…I would like you all to leave." Sabelina told them, rather bravely in
Harry's opinion, though her voice wavered.
"Oh, we're not going anywhere." Rodolphus told her darkly. "No one has
that sort of power over the Lestrange family."
"My family and I will also not be leaving. Not at your behest as I believe
that I've been here more times than you have in the last decade." Lucius
put in smoothly.
Harry bit his cheek harder, as Sabelina trembled, but turned and hurried
off, probably to find her husband, her little gaggle of ladies following
closely behind her.
"I would like to reiterate that we do not see you as a burden, Harry."
Lucius told him. "I know how words can cut into you deeply given your
upbringing. We do not all think as Sabelina Nott does."
"Absolutely not." Narcissa replied savagely, tugging Harry tighter into her
body. "You are loved and cared for, my sweet son. I do not want you
taking anything that horror of a woman said as any sort of truth."
"I won't." Harry assured her, but it felt so nice to have his place
reaffirmed in such a way. He hoped that one day there would come a
time when he wouldn't need it, and those doubts wouldn't try to claw a
place into him, but everything was still too new for that to be today, so
he happily accepted the affirmation and allowed it to make him feel
happy and buoyant.
"I love you too." Harry whispered to Narcissa and he could feel her
smiling. She pulled away from him, but she kissed his forehead and then
chided him towards Rabastan and Harry went willingly, burrowing into
Rabastan instead of his mother.
"Now that the dramatics are over…" Lucius trailed off. "Have you had any
other issues tonight, Harry?"
"None, though Marcus will have some later. Daphne is intent on bedding
him tonight. I've literally just met her tonight but I know that Eleanor
will happily behead her for it."
"Rabastan had a run-in with her too where she tried the same."
Rodolphus told him.
Harry's body went cold and he turned to stare at his fiancé.
"Were you going to tell me?" He demanded.
"I was, just not here where you could easily reach her to curse her."
Rabastan assured him. "I was going to wait until we got home."
Rabastan gave a vicious glare to his older brother, before turning back to
Harry, his face softening.
"Nothing would have ever come of it, Harry. I would never disrespect you
by paying even the slightest attention to anyone else, let alone Daphne
Greengrass. Rodolphus only told you because he would find it very
amusing to watch the two of you fighting."
"It couldn't even be called a fight as Harry would utterly decimate her."
Rodolphus said, sounding much too happy and pleased at the thought.
Harry rolled his eyes. "I'll say it again, Dolphus, you need some hobbies!"
Harry turned back to Rabastan. "Did she touch you?"
"She tried, my love." Rabastan told him honestly. "I grabbed her wrists to
stop her and told her not to touch me."
"He did." Rodolphus insisted.
"Did she just come out and ask you to go to bed with her?"
"Pretty much." Rodolphus said with disgust.
"She didn't recognise me at first." Rabastan told him. "She asked who I
was and she looked shocked when I told her my name, but I saw the look
of malice in her greedy eyes, I knew then that she was going to try to
hurt you. She tried to insinuate that she could show me a 'good time' to
help me out as you weren't allowed to." Rabastan said, his mouth pulling
into a sneer. "I told her exactly what I thought of that idea, and her, and
told her that I loved you and that I would wait until we were married. I
only barely restrained myself from giving her a slap, especially as she
tried to actually touch me."
Harry gave a satisfied smile, possessively laying his hands over Rabastan,
knowing that he was the only one with permission to touch his fiancé in
such a way.
"You're a very good-looking man." Harry told him. "I don't blame
everyone for wanting you, but I'll kill them, and you, if you dared do
anything."
"I wouldn't want to do anything with anyone else." Rabastan assured him
and Harry finally settled.
Daphne could try for Rabastan all she wanted. She could try for Marcus,
but Harry knew that neither man was interested. She didn't understand
why they weren't interested in sex with her because she didn't understand
what it was to love anyone but herself. Those who were truly in love, like
Rabastan and Marcus, they wouldn't even think of straying. Though if
Daphne actually tried to touch his love, however, that was a different
matter entirely and he'd use every curse he'd ever learned on her.
The party was winding down as nine O'clock approached. Unlike the New
Year's party, which went on until gone midnight, this party wasn't going
to go much past ten and it was considered very rude, an utter social faux
pas, if a guest did remain past that stipulated finish time. Now was about
the time when guests were starting to think about saying their goodnights
and heading off, and it was at this moment that Theo made his move.
"Could I have everyone's attention for a moment?" He called out, his
voice enhanced with a charm.
He immediately had everyone's attention, as toasts or announcements
weren't usual at these sorts of gatherings unless there was big news to be
shared and everyone was suddenly very interested in what Theo had to
say.
Harry had been mingling, avoiding the prominent form of Rhadamanthus
easily enough, extracting himself from another run-in with Corban
Yaxley, but now he eagerly moved forward a little, just so that he could
see Theo better. There was a little raised dais of sorts, not very big, but it
was almost like a stage against the back wall, opposite the tables filled
with drinks and nibbles.
"Theodore, what are you doing?" Sabelina's voice cut through the gentle
murmuring. She sounded embarrassed and it made Harry grin to think
that Theo was taking a small revenge against her as well.
"I would just like to make an announcement." Theo said, not even looking
at her. "I have decided to do this now, as I would like to share my news
with all."
The murmuring increased, everyone wondering what this might be about.
Harry craned his head, cursing that he was still rather short, trying to
find Daphne in the crowd. She was actually rather close to the dais,
staring at Theo in horror as those around the hall also stared at her. She
usually liked being the centre of attention, but not when it was Theo who
was offering it.
"Maybe it is a pregnancy announcement?" An elderly woman whispered
to her friend just behind Harry. "Merlin knows that Greengrass girl has
taken every man in this hall to bed at least twice. It only takes one
accident."
"I wonder if they know who the actual father is." The other woman
laughed.
"These past few months I have never been more in love." Theo called out
loudly, ignoring his hovering parents who tried to look like they knew
what this announcement was about and not like they had been excluded
from the news like everyone else.
Everyone in the hall either looked at Daphne or looked at Theo as if he
were stupid.
"Poor boy, imagine actually loving a woman like that?" The elderly
woman complained. "I wonder if it was a knock to the head?"
"Perhaps a love potion?" Her companion offered.
"I have been so very happy and I know that I have found the woman I
want to spend my life with."
"Definitely a knock to the head."
Harry tried to ignore the women behind him as he shuffled further
forward, wondering what the hell Theo was doing. He had pulled out a
very expensive-looking black box and Harry's heart was thumping in his
chest. Had Daphne managed to slip him a love potion? But no, she looked
horrified, just as surprised by this spur of the moment announcement as
everyone else.
Theo opened the box to show the most beautiful ring. It just screamed
wealth and extravagance and Harry could see the glitter of it even as far
back as he was standing. It was a custom, unique piece, with odd colours
and even what seemed to be a centaur-shaped gemstone on the band.
Daphne was staring at the ring with greedy eyes, probably wondering
how much she could sell it for, and it took every ounce of willpower
Harry had to keep himself standing still and not march over to her and
slap that look off her face. Harry decided that Rabastan should have hit
her after all as she shifted closer to the dais, her back straight and her
cut-up dress showing off her flat, toned belly.
"I would like to ask my love to join me, so that I might have the huge
honour of asking her to marry me and become my wife."
Daphne was smiling as she went to stand up on the dais, but Harry wasn't
the only one to gasp in shock as another woman also stepped up onto the
dais…it was Luna!
Harry was grinning so widely, as Daphne stared in shock, confusion, and
a dawning horror as Theo didn't even look at her, but instead held his
hand out to Luna and bent to kiss her cheek.
He went down onto one knee before her, presenting Luna with the
engagement ring.
"Lady Luna Lovegood, will you do me the huge honour of becoming my
wife and making me the happiest man in the world?" Theo asked.
"I will." Luna replied and she too was smiling widely.
Theo stood and took the ring from the silk-lined box, sliding it gently,
lovingly onto Luna's finger. It was a perfect fit.
Harry laughed. He couldn't help it and he laughed hard. He wasn't the
only one, but there was a little smattering of applause too and Harry
joined them enthusiastically.
Daphne looked like she had been bludgeoned between the eyes. She was
still standing on the dais, frozen in shock as Theo hugged Luna and bent
to kiss her softly on the mouth.
"This is without my permission!" Philip Nott had finally found his voice
and he had gone a brilliant red colour.
"I am seventeen." Theo said calmly. "I am my own man."
"I will disown you!" Philip raged, not calming in the slightest as Sabelina
laid a hand on his arm, her embarrassment clear and Harry read her lips
clearly enough as she begged her husband 'not here'.
"If you are stupid enough to disown your only child and see the end of
your family line, then that is on you. My fiancée's father, Xenophilius,
passed over the Lovegood lordship himself, but he is more than happy for
me to take it over in his place. I am not so proud of my birth name that I
would refuse to take on my wife's name when it has been offered to me. I
am willing to do just about anything for the love of my Luna and these
last few months, trying to hide our relationship, our love, have been
some of the most difficult of my life."
Harry couldn't wipe the grin from his face. Theo had played this perfectly
and he had his father backed into a tight corner, and it was getting
tighter by the moment. Theo was Lord Philip's only child, he didn't even
have a daughter to pass the lordship and family name to. He only had the
one sibling himself, a sister, Theodosia, who was married to Lord Mark
Flint, whose only child was Marcus. Marcus, and the huge gamble of him
maybe producing a younger son for the Nott lordship, was Philip's only
hope of continuing his line if he did disown Theo.
"I have other options!" Philip was saying desperately. "My sister had a
son! Marcus is a better man than you, if he permits, his younger son
could claim the Nott name and lordship!"
"That won't be happening." Marcus' strong, loud voice cut in and Harry's
cackle could only be described as purely evil. "My children will be born
Flints and they will not be claiming any impoverished titles to drag our
house down to your level."
Philip was left red-faced and stuttering as his only other option was
abolished before his eyes, in public no less. No lord, no pureblooded
family, ever wanted to be the very last of their long, noble histories. To
be forever known as the one who had ended such prestige and tradition.
Philip had a choice, accept his only child and his chosen spouse or be the
end of House Nott.
Harry watched with growing amusement as Philip warred with himself.
As his mouth opened and closed with no words. Sabelina looked so
embarrassed that Harry was surprised that her magic didn't just react to
her emotions and open the floor for her to sink through.
"I have made my choice. I might never be a Nott again, but I can be a
Lovegood and that is fair trade in my eyes to be with the woman I love."
Theo told his parents loudly, his arm wrapped tightly around Luna.
Philip Nott trembled to hear his only son all but disowning himself. Theo
had left him no choice at all and he would have to accept that Luna
would be Theo's wife, and she would not come with any sort of dowry as
it hadn't been agreed upon beforehand. There was no contract here, only
love.
"This is Potter's fault." Philip suddenly sneered and Harry inhaled deeply
as he was now the centre of attention as those who knew where he'd
been stood turned to look at him.
"That is Lord Potter-Black to you." Harry said firmly, trying to calm down
the immediate surge of adrenaline at suddenly being thrust into this
argument when he truthfully hadn't been expecting it.
"You are always meddling!" Philip raged. "In the Wizengamot, with the
ancient laws and traditions, with the Parkinson's betrothal, and now with
my own family!"
"Harry had no part in my decision. He didn't even know what I was
planning to do. Luna and I told no one about our intention to marry."
Theo cut in angrily.
"You only met that girl through him!" Philip hissed, and yeah, that was
true enough.
Harry had joined the pureblood circles, and Luna, being the only friend
who had stayed beside him through the massive upheaval he'd been
through, had come with him. It was his fault that Luna and Theo had
been properly introduced. It was his fault that they had started spending
so much time together and apparently got to know one another well
enough to actually fall in love. There was no argument he could use
against that.
"In my opinion, they make a very lovely, strong couple." Harry put in,
instead of arguing about introducing them.
"No one asked you for your opinion!" Philip raged, taking a threatening
step towards him.
"You have also embarrassed my house today." Another voice cut in.
Harry turned to his left and stared at Lord Harvey Greengrass…Daphne's
father. Of course he would be upset with Theo ditching Daphne. Where
Lord Philip was counting on Theo marrying Daphne for the dowry
involved, Lord Harvey knew that his daughter and her behaviour had
damaged her reputation and her marriageability. He had been counting
on Theo marrying Daphne to still give her a respectable match despite
her proclivities and he'd believed, before this, that he was the one who'd
had Lord Philip bent over a barrel, only for Theo to slip the chains that
bound him and seize that power for himself.
A hand touched his arm and Harry relaxed just slightly as he smelt the
familiar cologne that Rabastan preferred. His fiancé said nothing, but his
presence alone was very reassuring. Harry wasn't alone in this fight.
Rabastan had his back.
"I think the standing of your house was ruined long before I came along."
Harry insisted to Lord Harvey. "Your only saving grace is that Astoria is
also your daughter and truly, if any girls were ever complete opposites, it
is Daphne and Astoria."
"Tread carefully, Harry." Rabastan whispered, just barely.
"I am of the opinion that you are blaming my son as a convenient target,
Harvey." Lucius' smooth, silky voice cut in as he stepped forward and
stood beside him, an arm thrown out in front of Harry's body, a clear sign
of protection. "The behaviour of your older daughter is well known by all
in this room and she started long before I ever adopted Harry as my own.
Continue to harass my son over decisions made by you and your
daughter and you will find that both of your daughters end up with
broken contracts by the end of the night."
Harry swallowed at that threat, as he knew how very much Draco and
Astoria were coming to love one another, but Harry was hoping that it
was an empty threat. The very last thing that Lord Harvey wanted right
now was two daughters he couldn't marry off. He had no sons. He didn't
like the children he did have and he hadn't wanted them, but he had had
them for the sake of his family, his house, after the sudden death of his
older brother, Dara. His only hope of carrying on the Greengrass family
and bloodline was to marry Daphne and Astoria well and he'd thought he
had done as such. Daphne's contract was now in tatters, he couldn't
afford the same for Astoria.
Harry calmed a little as he came to the conclusion that Lucius held all of
the power and he watched that realisation wash over Harvey Greengrass
as well. He said nothing, but he stepped back and averted his gaze. He
did not want to lose Astoria's match to the Malfoy family.
"I have no such concerns!" Lord Philip raged, glaring at Harvey for
backing down, before turning that heated gaze onto Harry.
"Remember who you are going against if you do this, Nott." Rodolphus
threatened, striding out of the crowd to come and stand on Harry's other
side. "It's not just Harry you are threatening, not even just the Malfoys,
but the Lestranges as well. Your son has made his choice, it was nothing
to do with Harry. Sort out your own business instead of blaming others
who are unrelated to it."
Xerxes also stepped out of the crowd, coming to stand by Harry, just
behind Lucius. A united front against a threat.
Philip Nott trembled, but he was staring at Xerxes, perhaps knowing that
he was the bigger threat. Rodolphus, even Rabastan, could be violent
brutes if the situation called for it, they had proved as such in their
torturing of the Longbottoms and their assassination of Rufus Scrimgeour,
but Xerxes was one of Voldemort's most loyal followers. One of his only
remaining childhood friends who had known him as Tom Riddle. Xerxes
had been by Voldemort's side all of those years and he was the only one
trusted enough to stand at the Dark Lord's back. He had given his loyalty,
his power and wealth, even his son and grandsons to Voldemort's cause.
If Xerxes was unhappy, and Voldemort found out why, it would be
nothing to the monster to murder Philip Nott, a lesser man, one who
wasn't as influential or valuable to Voldemort, just to put Xerxes' peace at
ease.
Of course, Harry also had a deal with Voldemort. He just so happened to
be one of Voldemort's Horcruxes. The monster had others, true, but Harry
was also being used to keep the Lestranges happy, as a reward for their
unending years of loyalty. Harry didn't mind as he truly loved Rabastan,
but he knew that at the beginning that hadn't been the case. That hadn't
been why he'd been offered to the Lestranges to carry on their bloodline
as he hadn't loved Rabastan back then. He'd had to work to love the man.
They'd both needed to work at their relationship to get where they were
now.
"He has meddled in things that weren't his concern!" Philip tried.
"Harry had no knowledge of what your son was planning to do." Lucius
answered. "In this, he is innocent."
"He still introduced them together!"
"Be that as it may, he didn't force them to fall in love, nor did he force
them to enter an engagement." Lucius said with a bite of warning this
time. "If you dare try to harm my son, I will make you regret it."
"As will I." Rabastan spoke for the first time, his voice so low and
dangerous that it made Harry's spine stiffen reflexively.
"This isn't about Harry!" Theo cut in angrily. "This is a celebration of my
engagement to Luna. You cannot stop this now." Theo told his father.
"You don't have a hold over me anymore and I will be marrying for love,
not money!"
"You are such an embarrassment." Sabelina cried at her son.
"I'm sorry, who are you?" Theo asked. "Do I know you? I don't recognise
you so I don't see how you have any sort of opinion on me or my life
choices."
There was a titter in the crowd and Harry snorted in amusement.
"I am your mother!" Sabelina said viciously, her cheeks a full bloom of
embarrassed red.
"Someone hand this woman a dictionary, I don't believe she understands
the definition of the word 'mother' and requires some help."
Harry's laugh was more pronounced and Philip's gaze went straight back
to him, but there was nothing he could do while Harry was in the arms of
Rabastan, with his family around him.
He had made more enemies now…or rather Theo had made some
enemies for him, but Harry didn't care. Theo had taken control of his life
and his future and Harry was so happy for him and Luna. He could deal
with two more enemies for the sake of his friend's happiness.
Philip seemed to be at the end of his fraying patience.
"All of you, get out of my home!" He snapped at his guests, shouting at
them in a complete loss of control and composure, the ultimate faux pas
for a pureblood.
There were grumbles, but the party had mostly been a flop anyway. The
drinks had been good, the nibbles had been expensive and quality,
though nothing special, but the decoration had left a lot to be desired and
the music had been flat and nothing that could be danced to.
"Come, Harry." Lucius told him.
"A moment. I want to make sure that Luna and Theo will be safe." Harry
said, dodging the hands on him and going for the dais.
Theo stepped down, his arm around Luna to keep her safe.
"Congratulations." Harry said first and foremost.
"Thank you." Luna said, beaming brightly. "It really has been so very hard
to keep it from you. I had wanted to tell you straight away, but we
wanted you to be able to deny all knowledge of it if asked."
Harry smiled at how happy Luna seemed.
"I wouldn't have cared. These old men hate me anyway, we might as well
give them a reason."
"I am so sorry that you got blamed for this." Theo told him sincerely.
"I'm not. Theo, I don't care. I'm just so happy for you both. I'm pleased
that you've taken control and gotten yourself out of that situation and
taken control of your own future."
"It was thanks to you." Theo told him. "You gave me the nudge I needed.
The safety net I needed, even though I ended up not needing it at all in
the end, but it helped to put my mind at ease at the time, so that I could
take those first few baby steps in taking control for myself. I can never
thank you enough, Harry. I am so happy with Luna, I never thought my
life could turn out like this."
Harry and Theo hugged, then Harry turned to hug Luna.
"Will you both be safe?" He asked. "It doesn't feel right to leave you both
here with them."
Harry sent a worried look to the pacing, visibly furious Philip and the
humiliated Sabelina who was trying to hide herself away from prying
eyes by turning away from the leaving guests.
Logically, he knew that not everyone was like the Dursleys. That some
people weren't predisposed to violence, but he didn't want to take that
chance with the people he truly cared about with such visible signs of
anger and hate.
"We are going to Luna's for Christmas." Theo assured him.
"Will you ease my mind and leave with me?" Harry asked.
Theo gave him a sad look, likely knowing that Harry was alluding to his
past abuse, and he nodded.
"Come, Luna, your father will be waiting for us."
"Where are you going?!" Philip raged at his son as he walked away from
him.
"I am going to my fiancée's home for Christmas." Theo told his father.
"Once you have calmed down and made your decision, send me an owl,
but not before."
"You will stay and fix this mess that you've made!"
"I see no mess." Theo replied. "I have made my decision and I will not be
changing my mind. I will be marrying Luna. I don't need your blessing or
your family name anymore. The decision on what happens next depends
on you, disown me or don't, it doesn't matter. I can be Lord Lovegood as
well as I can be Lord Nott, but whether I take on just the one title, or
both, depends on you, I honestly don't care either way."
Philip looked ready to start throwing curses and very suddenly Harry
found himself wrapped in Rabastan's arms.
Harry was led out quickly, Theo and Luna beside him, while Rodolphus
and Xerxes stayed behind, protecting their backs, just in case Philip was
feeling rather suicidal and tried cursing Harry, or Theo, or Luna.
Harry made sure to see his friends off safely first, promising to catch up
at a later time. Harry was then chided through the floo to Malfoy Manor,
wondering if he was going to get his own lecture despite the fact that he
hadn't actually done anything…this time.
He went to find Draco and Narcissa, who were both in the parlour. Draco
was pacing, looking angry and fit to burst.
"Did you know?!" Draco demanded as soon as he came into the room.
"No, I didn't." Harry replied calmly, trying to lower the aggression in the
room. "You heard Theo, he didn't tell anyone what he was planning,
Draco. I had no idea what he was going to do. I didn't even know that he
and Luna were dating."
"Father threatened to break my betrothal to Astoria over this!" Draco
spat. "If you knew…if I found out that you knew…!"
"You know, I'm getting pretty fucking sick of being blamed for things I
haven't done and have no control over!" Harry raged right back.
"Stop your bickering at once!" Lucius commanded, striding into the
parlour with the three Lestranges.
"I will not give up Astoria!" Draco said angrily.
"You won't have to, now apologise to your brother!"
Draco was pink-cheeked from anger and grinding his teeth together, his
hands clenching into fists.
"Draco, none of this is Harry's fault." Narcissa told him calmly. "You need
to apologise for your accusations."
"I apologise for blaming you, Harry." Draco told him.
"I understand that your harsh words came from the fear of losing
Astoria." Harry replied calmly, even though he was hurt and trying to
keep his own emotions in check so that he didn't explode and make
everything worse. Who said that he wasn't learning?
Draco nodded tightly, then turned furious eyes onto Lucius.
"I knew that Harvey would back down, Draco." Lucius told him.
"No, you took the risk that he would!" Draco snapped. "He could have
called your bluff and broken our contract!"
"He could have, but he didn't."
"Not yet." Draco replied, starting his pacing again.
"Daphne is now without a betrothal. She has no marriage prospects, who
would marry her with her reputation?" Lucius asked, also making a
visible effort to remain calm. "There are those who call Astoria's
reputation into question because of her sister, a simple test would prove
her innocence." Lucius added when Draco opened his mouth to
vehemently defend his betrothed. "But, there are those who don't want to
be associated with the Greengrass family because of Daphne's behaviour,
Draco."
A hand on his arm startled Harry away from the conversation in front of
him for a moment and he settled back into Rabastan, whose arms
wrapped around him, comforting him.
"When Daphne first started…shall we say bed hopping to remain polite? I
truly thought to cut all ties with the Greengrass family." Lucius carried
on. "I wanted no part of that behaviour staining my own family through
association, despite that it was Daphne, and not Astoria, who was the
guilty party. I warned Harvey that I would break the betrothal between
you and Astoria if he didn't stop Daphne and he rushed to comply,
though clearly he failed and I kept letting it slide as you got closer to
Astoria. I want you to be happy, Draco, of course, but I will not stand idle
as a lesser man threatens one of my children! Your own brother."
Draco sent a furtive look to Harry, before looking back to Lucius, calming
now that everything was being explained and likely feeling guilty for his
earlier outburst.
"I hold all of the power in your contract and Harvey knows it. Daphne is
unmarriable now that Theodore has disposed of her. Absolutely no one
will want her as a wife or a mother to their child. A suitor can be
expected to overlook a certain amount of activity, teenagers are wilful
and hormonal and sometimes get carried away, this can be excused easily
enough, but not to the degree that Daphne has conducted herself.
Harvey's only hope of continuing his family line is through Astoria now.
He would never dare to break the contract between our families because,
right now, Astoria still has a good match to a family of higher standing
than her own. Who else would Harvey match her to if not the Malfoys? A
lesser branch of the Carrows? The Selwyns? No, that isn't good enough in
his eyes for the continuation of his bloodline, you are the only choice for
Astoria he has left and he will dance to my command in order to keep
that contract safe."
"You don't think he would marry her to Lord Selwyn?" Draco asked
worriedly.
"He might hate children in general, he might never have wanted any, but
there is no denying that Astoria is the favourite out of the two. Daphne
has brought him nothing but stress and grief. Astoria is gentle and
obedient and she is still pure despite her sister's influence. He would not
be needlessly cruel to his favourite daughter who has always done as
asked and remained completely pure on top of that. Harvey might hate
bending to my will, but his only option is to keep your contract, Draco. I
couldn't allow him to disrespect my family by threatening Harry in a
room full of people, lest they get the idea to do the same. My need to
protect my son outweighed the risk of possibly breaking your betrothal,
but I was confident that Harvey would back down and he did."
"I had no idea what Theo was going to do. I didn't even know that he and
Luna were together." Harry told Draco seriously. "Theo told me as we
were leaving that he didn't tell me about it because he wanted me to be
able to deny all knowledge of it for just this reason. I wouldn't want to
split up you and Astoria, you know I wouldn't."
"I know." Draco said quietly. "I just can't stand the thought of losing her. I
love her."
"Harvey backed down, Draco. You haven't lost Astoria." Lucius said
calmly, but Harry understood Draco's fretting.
He wouldn't have been happy if anyone had tried to mess around in his
engagement to Rabastan either, but for once, he wasn't the one to blame
for it. He'd had no clue what Theo was planning, nor that Harvey
Greengrass would publically side with Philip Nott and call him out for
something he hadn't done. Harry was incredibly thankful that Harvey had
backed down, though, because he did not want to be at odds with Draco
again, nor see him and Astoria torn apart by feuding fathers.
"Let us sit down and have some tea." Narcissa said, but her tone was
hard, just daring the men in her life to argue against her wishes…none of
them did. None of them would dare.
Harry sat beside Rabastan, cuddling in close and allowing his fiancé to
comfort him. It worked wonderfully well too, as those big, strong hands
caressed through his hair and down his back as Narcissa called Pimsey to
serve them all tea.
Harry tried not to show how affected he was by this recent bust-up, but it
still hurt to constantly be targeted in such a way. He just wanted peace,
was that so much to ask for?
Harry was woken up just half an hour after he'd fallen asleep and he was
groggy and tired as he tried to make sense of what was happening,
hoping that it wasn't Kreacher with more plots via Dumbledore.
He was incredibly surprised to find Draco leaning over him, kneeling on
the side of the bed.
"What's happened?" Harry asked groggily, groping the bedside table for
his glasses.
Draco sighed and reached over, taking the glasses and offering them to
him.
Harry slid them on, to find Draco in his pyjamas, a robe pulled over and
tied tightly against the cold night air.
"I couldn't sleep." Draco told him quietly, almost shyly.
"So you decided that the best thing to do was come and wake me up as
well?" Harry demanded, sitting up against his headboard.
"As you are the reason I can't sleep, yes!" Draco hissed at him, before
sighing and throwing a hand through his blonde hair.
"If this is about what happened earlier…!" Harry trailed off angrily as he
was interrupted.
"It is about what happened earlier!" Draco confirmed. "What else would it
be about?!"
"You woke me up, on Christmas Day, to go over this yet again?" Harry
demanded. "I told you already that I didn't know about it!"
"I'm trying to apologise!" Draco cut in.
"You are?"
"Yes!"
"You fucking suck at it." Harry said as he crossed his arms and glared at
his brother.
Draco blew out a breath. "Look, I can't fucking sleep thinking about what
happened earlier and I'm trying to say I'm sorry!"
"Maybe actually giving me a proper apology instead of just declaring
your intention to give one would work better for you?" Harry insisted.
Draco sighed. "I am sorry, Harry." He said sincerely. "I really am. Things
got out of hand and I was terrified that I was going to lose Astoria and I
know you were the one to encourage Theo to ditch Daphne. Regardless of
that, I should never have blamed you and I am sorry for that."
"You really hurt me, you know?" Harry said softly. "I can't stand the fact
that every little thing that goes wrong just automatically gets turned
around onto me. I don't want to be constantly blamed for everything that
happens. I can't see into the future, that's why I ditched Divination,
because I sucked at it, but how was I supposed to know that encouraging
Theo to stand up for himself, to put his happiness first, would have any
sort of effect on your betrothal to Astoria?"
"I didn't mean to hurt you." Draco said, moving to sit beside him against
the headboard. "I was lashing out, even at father! I'm surprised he didn't
punish me for the tone I took with him."
"It is Christmas." Harry said with a small smile.
Draco laughed. "Oh, he's punished me before on Christmas Day. I was
maybe seven and unduly ungrateful towards a horrid gift I'd received
from my grandmother, Druella. I could have perhaps shown some
courtesy to her face, I realise that now that I'm older, but at the time I
couldn't act as well as I can now and I couldn't hide my disappointment
and horror. Father punished me by sitting me in the corner of the room
for an hour, still there and watching the festivities, but excluded from
them."
"What the hell did she give to you?" Harry asked.
Draco blushed. "A matching scarf, hat, and mittens set, but not only were
they a horrid puke green colour, but the mittens were too big and the hat
too small and I had to wind the scarf so many times around my neck so it
wouldn't trail on the floor it felt like a noose and I looked utterly
ridiculous. After our guests had left, mother allowed me to throw them
into the fire declaring that no child of hers would be seen dead in such
clothing."
Harry laughed and the remaining tension between them dissolved.
"What's the worst gift you've ever had?" Draco asked gently, aware that it
would bring up terrible memories of abuse for him.
Harry hummed in consideration as he thought about it. "My uncle once
gave me a pair of his old socks." He said quietly. "They were mustard
yellow and full of holes, and miles too big for me too, not that I ever
wore them, mind you. They also once gave me a coat hanger."
"I'm sorry for the way I treated you before you were adopted. I had no
idea your home life was so bad. I don't think anyone did until father
adopted you. You hid it well, Potter."
Harry smiled humourlessly. "No, I didn't. The signs were all there if
anyone cared to look, they just didn't care. People saw what they wanted
to see and I was left to suffer for it. Those few I told did nothing about it,
which made it worse. Do you know how demoralising it is to finally find
the courage to tell someone about the abuse you're going through only
for them to turn around and do absolutely nothing about it? It made me
feel as if I was worthless…that I was just a nothing and not worth
anyone's care. I sunk further into myself and kept the abuse to myself.
After all, if those I had told didn't care and did nothing, why should I
waste my breath mentioning it?"
"I'm sorry I added to it." Draco said.
Harry gave him a smile. "You might be older than me, but the gap
between us is only two months, Draco. You were a kid too, what could
you have done?"
"Father could have adopted you sooner."
Harry smiled grimly. "Before Voldemort's return, and our formal truce,
that probably wouldn't have been the best environment for me. No, I
have to look forward now, towards the future. I need to finally lay the
past to rest and seek justice from all of those who hurt me."
"You mean Dumbledore?"
"I mean all of them, Draco. Dumbledore, the Dursleys, those in the
Ministry and the newspapers who made the choice to hurt me. I can't
forget about it and I can't just ignore it, so in order to finally heal and
move on, I have to face them one last time and get justice for myself."
"I'm proud of you, you know? You really are a part of the Malfoy family
and believe me, none of us would ever let something like that slide."
Harry smiled softly and knocked his shoulder into Draco's.
Draco refused to let him pull back and instead threw an arm around him,
keeping him in place and after a moment of faux fighting in which Harry
tried to get away, he gave in and rested against Draco, sighing happily.
"I really hope that you and Astoria get to stay together and get married
and are happy." Harry said.
"We will be. I've calmed down and I realise that father was correct. He
held all of the power, not Harvey Greengrass. He backed down, right
there in the hall, in front of everyone. No one, especially not a lord,
would have ever done as such as a ruse. Instead, he realised that he'd
overstepped and he was publically recognising that father held all of the
power. He had no choice after father challenged him. I would never have
wanted you to be threatened, Harry. Not by anyone, I was just terrified
over losing Astoria."
"I understand." Harry assured him.
They stayed where they were, sitting against the headboard and leaning
into one another.
"I noticed that Rabastan was very quick to back you up." Draco said with
a teasing smile. "I'm sure that if anyone had dared challenge you to a
public duel then he would have relished the chance to be your second."
"Oh, I'm sure he would have. He likely would have just jumped in front of
me and taken the duel himself and Rodolphus would have been his
second." Harry laughed, joking.
"I like seeing how protective he is of you. You deserve that."
Harry hummed and smiled. "He's getting better every day now. He's down
to one daily potion and one every other day. Given that at one point he
was on, I believe, seventeen potions a day, that's amazing. He's strong
and handsome, but more than that, he's almost completely healthy and
I'm so happy for him."
"I noticed that he seemed steadier. That his hands didn't shake anymore
and his muscles didn't jump out of his control."
"He's almost completely healthy again, as he should be. He's come such a
long way. It's been almost two years since the breakout of Azkaban and
both Rabastan and Rodolphus have come so far since then. Two long
years, but it's almost over and it had been so worth it. I'm proud of the
both of them."
He and Draco stayed against the headboard, talking softly into the
morning. They were both tired, but this was their deepest conversation to
date. They broke any remaining barriers between them and shared more
than they ever had before with one another…like true brothers.
When it was almost four in the morning, they were both exhausted and
Draco fell asleep first, leaning against Harry's side.
Unwilling to wake Draco up, Harry settled himself and tipped his head
slightly to the side, resting against Draco and he closed his eyes. It was
Christmas morning and this heart-to-heart did truly seem to be like a
Christmas miracle to Harry. He and Draco had made up, Theo had taken
his revenge and left Daphne in the dirt with no prospects for the future,
Draco and Astoria were secure and so were he and Rabastan, who hadn't
hesitated to stand at Harry's back just in case things turned ugly, but had
allowed Harry to take the lead without cutting in or stopping him.
Harry fell asleep, exhausted but so very happy. They would likely be
woken up too early because of the festivities and they would pay for their
very late night, but for Harry, he didn't care. He would have stayed
awake all night just talking to Draco and reconnecting with his brother if
that was what it took to put the events of last night behind them. He felt
lighter than air as he finally managed to settle enough in their awkward
position to get some much-needed sleep.
39. Christmas Election
Last Time
Harry fell asleep, exhausted but so very happy. They would likely be woken up
too early because of the festivities and they would pay for their very late night,
but for Harry, he didn't care. He would have stayed awake all night just
talking to Draco and reconnecting with his brother if that was what it took to
put the events of last night behind them. He felt lighter than air as he finally
managed to settle enough in their awkward position to get some much-needed
sleep.
Chapter Thirty-Nine – Christmas Election
Harry was woken by a flash of light and he groaned from the intrusion,
throwing a hand over his eyes, then falling to the mattress as his pillow
shifted and moved away from him.
His brain was tired and slow and for a moment he wondered if he was
actually in bed with Rabastan, but the blurry flash of platinum hair
disproved that.
"I was wondering where Draco had gone so early in the morning."
Narcissa's voice came from the bottom of Harry's bed. "Not even I
thought that you would be in bed together, boys."
Her voice sounded amused and Harry finally found his glasses, pressing
them onto his face and trying to make sense of what was happening.
Draco was beside him, just as startled as he was, and Narcissa was at the
foot of the bed, smiling at them.
"Would you care to explain yourselves?" She teased.
"Merlin, what time is it?" Harry complained before yawning widely. He
felt like he hadn't slept at all.
"It's eight thirty-five." Narcissa told them pointedly. "Your father and I
expected you boys to wake up early with excitement, now I'm wondering
just how early you woke up to have fallen back to sleep together."
"I don't think we fell asleep until four." Draco complained.
"Oh no, I fell asleep straight away!" Harry refuted. "You woke me back
up!"
"I couldn't sleep and wanted to talk to you." Draco told him.
"You woke your brother up in the night and then stayed awake until four
in the morning?" Narcissa asked them, a smile playing about her lips.
They both looked at her a little shame-faced, but they nodded
begrudgingly.
"Oh, you boys are going to be tired today." She laughed. "Now, come
along, get yourselves washed and dressed, breakfast has been waiting for
almost two hours. We have guests."
"Rhadamanthus doesn't count as a guest." Harry grumbled.
"He is to be your father-in-law, sweetheart." Narcissa told him warningly.
Harry scoffed. "Rabastan doesn't even see him as a father, he says that
title goes to Xerxes. I refuse to recognise him as my father-in-law when
my husband doesn't even see him as a father."
Narcissa sighed, but she actually let it go as Harry crawled out of bed, so
very tired, but excited for his second 'real' Christmas with his family. It
would only ever be topped when he had his own children, he was sure,
which would, hopefully, be the year after next.
He washed quickly and his bedroom was abandoned when he came back
out of the bathroom. Draco had gone to his own rooms and Narcissa had
likely gone back downstairs to regale the others with the news of where
Harry and Draco had been and just what had taken them so long to get
up.
Harry rushed through dressing, though. He was excited and he wanted to
see Rabastan, even if it meant seeing Rhadamanthus too. He would
endure this supposed tradition of having all of his in-laws around for
Christmas only while he was engaged to Rabastan. The moment they
were married, and had their own home, Harry would put a stop to it.
Rhadamanthus was not welcome in his home, where he would be raising
his children. Xerxes and Rodolphus could come over whenever they
pleased, they didn't need to wait for an invitation, but if Harry had his
way then Rhadamanthus would never step foot into his home.
"Merry Christmas, Harry." Rabastan greeted him with a soft smile as he
sat down, a cup of tea held ready. It was made just how Harry liked it
and he took a sip with a happy sigh, before pressing a kiss to Rabastan's
mouth.
"I love you." Harry answered. "Merry Christmas."
"I love you as well." Rabastan replied. "I hear that you and Draco had a
moment."
Harry chuckled. "Yes, we had a bit of a heart-to-heart last night. It was
needed, but we are tired."
"Would you prefer a coffee instead?"
"Mother wouldn't like it." Harry said, shaking his head. "I will stick with
tea for now."
Harry completely ignored Rhadamanthus at the table. He was sitting next
to Xerxes, which was likely done to keep him 'contained' and out of
Harry's way. Not that it would stop the comments.
"You embarrassed the Lestrange family last night." Was how
Rhadamanthus greeted him.
Harry looked up slowly, lowering his teacup to its saucer on the table. "I
would rather be an embarrassment than stay silent and not stand up for
the things I believe in. What a terrible, cowardly way to behave, to
endure such things in silence and say nothing for fear of causing
something so trivial as embarrassment."
"Your strange views are well known." Rodolphus said into the lingering
silence.
"Merry Christmas, Dolphus." Harry said, smiling. "I do hope you're
looking forward to my gift this year."
"I am terrified of what you've thought of now." Rodolphus told him and
Harry gave him a smile.
"Good morning, Xerxes. Merry Christmas."
Xerxes gave him a smirk from over the top of his teacup. "Morning,
Harry. What have you got planned for today?"
"Nothing that can be said in present company."
"Do you mean me?" Xerxes teased him.
"My parents are also present." Harry replied, matching Xerxes' teasing
tone.
"That is highly inappropriate, Harry darling." Narcissa chastised.
"I know, Mother. I'm sorry." He said, but his devilish grin negated any
apology he'd made and Narcissa gave him a fond glare.
Draco joined them not long after, looking absolutely pristine with not a
hair out of place. He smiled at their mother before taking his seat and
pouring himself some tea.
"Well, now that you boys are finally out of the one bed…" Lucius said,
teasing them. Draco went pink, but Harry just grinned cheekily. "…
perhaps we could start Christmas Day and get breakfast out of the way."
Harry was grateful that Rhadamanthus seemed content to ignore him, as
Harry was able to eat in peace. He did wonder what the man had gotten
him as a present this year…it was bound to be something offensive that
would rile up Rabastan. But Harry found that he didn't really care. He
was used to getting terrible gifts from the Dursleys and as for the
threatening undertone to Rhadamanthus' gifts, well, he was getting
threats from all sides now, so he was actually getting used to that too.
After breakfast, they reconvened in the front parlour and Harry sat next
to Rabastan, who had Rodolphus on his other side. They had stopped
leaning on one another in the last few months, Harry had noticed.
Rodolphus no longer looked for Rabastan if he lost sight of his brother
and Rabastan didn't need Rodolphus constantly at his side to feel secure.
It was a truly amazing transformation to see them become the strong,
capable, confident men they had once been. For Harry though, he was
seeing them like this for the first time. He'd only ever truly known them
in the aftermath of Azkaban.
"Ladies first, of course." Lucius announced, smiling at his wife as he
summoned a wrapped gift from beneath the Christmas tree.
It was a beautiful, tasteful jewellery set, one that Harry knew Narcissa
had had her eye on. She gave a satisfied smile as she saw the set and
gave Lucius a soft kiss.
"Thank you, darling. I love it."
Harry wasn't fond of this part of Christmas. The gift exchange where one
person held sole focus as they opened the gift given to them. He still felt
uncomfortable with getting presents and he didn't like being on the spot,
but he dealt with it as best as he could.
He received plenty of books and he was pleased with the contents, all
things that would help him with his law proposals and beyond. Lucius
had given him a book on the history of every Minister for Magic and
their policies. That book in particular was going to help him for making
his own bid to be Minister…even if it was a guide on what not to do.
Rabastan had gotten him a large tin of biscuits and fudge and Harry had
grinned to see it, even as he tried one of each and found that they were
definitely the expensive kind. Biscuits weren't that melt-in-the-mouth if
they didn't cost a pile of Galleons.
"I'm also going to be taking you to dinner." Rabastan assured him.
"Tradition dictates that I can only give you one gift, but that's not enough
for me. If you're agreeable, we'll be going tomorrow night and again on
the second of January."
"Of course I'm agreeable." Harry teased. "Oh, wait, do we have to take
chaperones?"
"We're going to be trusted to be alone." Rabastan told him and he laughed
at the evil smirk that took over Harry's face. "Behave, Harry." His fiancé
whispered.
"I am behaving." Harry whispered back. "But I might not when we go to
dinner."
Rabastan shifted and gave Harry a kiss and, naturally, Narcissa cleared
her throat sharpish. Harry broke the kiss with a sigh.
"We're hardly going to conceive a baby in the front parlour, Mother!"
Harry insisted. "I'm not fond of the idea of having an audience either."
Xerxes choked on a laugh and Lucius hid a smile behind a hastily taken
sip of tea.
Narcissa gave him a smile and a chuckle. "I should hope not, sweetheart.
I would like to think that my first grandchild was conceived properly…
after you are married."
"They will be, Mother." He assured her, but he gave Rabastan's hand a
covert squeeze. His first child, at least, would be conceived in the marital
bed, but that didn't mean he didn't want a little fun in the meantime…he
could stop before conceiving a baby, their time in Fiji had proven that.
He smiled to himself and then directed that to Rabastan, whose eyes
widened a little before he laughed and pulled Harry in close.
"Here, a distraction from this sickening display." Rodolphus cut in,
thrusting a haphazardly wrapped gift at Harry.
"Is this the best wrapping charm you can manage, Dolphus?" Harry
teased. "Your wand skills are a little rusty."
Rodolphus ignored him and he was instead eating a mince pie, so that he
wouldn't have to see Harry's reaction to his gift.
Harry opened the present and squealed happily as he saw that it was
another Honeydukes creation. The chosen organ was a brain this time. A
perfect, very realistic, human brain. Harry could pick out individual veins
and ridges. He lifted it up and took a big bite, humming happily at the
satisfying crack of the thick chocolate shell. It was filled, not with
mousse, but some sort of sauce. It was firm like a jelly, but also juicy like
jam and it tasted of the sweetest, ripest strawberries. Harry loved it
immediately.
"You're enjoying that too much." Draco told him, scowling in disgust as
he watched Harry eating the replica brain, slurping out the insides.
"Merlin, please put it away, Harry."
Harry licked his sticky lips. "It's delicious."
"I enjoy watching you eat human organs." Rodolphus said.
"I enjoy eating them." Harry assured him, taking another bite of it before
putting it back in the box. He didn't want to spoil Christmas lunch, after
all. The hypocalcaemia debacle had well and truly switched his mindset
from snacking on sweets and chocolate to eating proper meals. He was
finally getting used to eating three full meals a day.
"Do you not want the gift I got for you?" Rhadamanthus demanded.
"Not particularly." Harry said coldly.
Rhadamanthus had gotten Rodolphus a cuff bracelet with the Lestrange
crest engraved on it…it was too big for him which made Dolphus angry,
but he'd gotten Rabastan a cheap bottle of wine knowing that Rabastan
couldn't drink it.
"Harry, remember your courtesies, please." Narcissa said warningly.
Harry summoned his gift for Rhadamanthus…the ugliest, itchiest pair of
socks he could find. He'd purposefully bought a pair that would be too
small.
"Disgusting." Rhadamanthus declared as he pulled out the pair of
yellowish, olive green socks. They were woollen and hairy and promised
to be itchy as fuck, which was the point.
"You should learn to be grateful for gifts, seeing as there are very few
people in your life willing to give you any." Harry told him, accepting the
unwrapped box from Rhadamanthus.
Rabastan snorted a laugh and Harry grinned to have made his fiancé
laugh.
Harry opened the box…and it was the smell that hit him first. The smell
of decay…of death.
Rabastan recognised the smell immediately and he snatched the box
away from him before he could see what was inside it.
"That is Harry's gift, not yours." Rhadamanthus snapped angrily. He'd
been looking forward to seeing his reaction to whatever was in the box,
clearly. That made Harry not want to see it.
Rodolphus took the box from Rabastan and pulled out the tissue paper,
which made the smell coming from the box worse. Harry watched
Dolphus as he rolled his eyes and shoved the paper back into the box
before using his wand to vanish it.
"What sort of cursed object did you bring into my home?" Narcissa
demanded.
"If you say one word…" Rodolphus threatened his father.
"Give Harry his gift." Rhadamanthus growled.
"Rhadamanthus…" Xerxes said, his tone hard and chilling. Harry's spine
pulled straight at that tone and a wave of goosebumps broke out over his
arms. "…leave, now. Whatever you got for Harry, keep it to yourself."
Rhadamanthus scoffed and stood, leaving the front parlour. The fact that
he didn't say anything though only proved that he was still afraid of his
father.
"Do I want to know what that was?" Harry asked.
"No." Rabastan told him quickly.
Harry nodded. "I trust your judgement. If you think I don't need to
know…"
"You don't." Rodolphus said, cutting him off.
Harry nodded. "Well, now that the gift exchange is over, would anyone
like some tea?"
"I would love a cup, darling." Narcissa said.
Harry went to the tea set on the coffee table and he poured his mother a
cup, handing it over. He'd be damned if he let Rhadamanthus ruin
Christmas for him. He poured himself a cup, after checking that Rabastan
didn't want anything, and he sat back and relaxed, putting whatever
revolting thing was in that box out of his mind. He really, really didn't
want to know what had been causing that smell if it had made even
Rodolphus baulk.
Lunch was delicious and Harry ate as much as he possibly could. It was
nice to be at this point in his life, where he could sit and eat as much as
he wanted, without the fear of being punished or having his food taken
away from him and healthy enough to handle a full plate, selected
seconds, and a dessert.
Everyone was quiet and relaxed after they'd eaten, Harry had one of his
new books opened, as he rested himself on Rabastan who was talking
softly to Rodolphus.
"Harry, come play chess with me." Draco demanded.
Harry looked over to his brother and lifted an eyebrow.
"I'm reading." Harry pointed out.
"You can read after I've beaten you a few times."
Harry sighed, but he did close his book and he sat up. The least he could
do was play a few games with Draco at Christmas.
He gave Rabastan a kiss before sitting in the armchair facing Draco, who
set the board up with a grin.
"As you are losing, I'll let you go first." Draco told him snootily as he gave
Harry the white pieces.
"Oh, thank you, my liege." Harry said snarkily.
He heard Rabastan chuckling behind him and he smiled, before directing
his pawn forward to make the first move.
Half an hour later and Harry finally admitted defeat with a sigh as Draco
checkmated his king.
"You lasted longer that time." Draco assured him. "It must be all of those
political books you're reading."
"It's a game of chess, Draco, not a chapter on how to crush your enemy
underfoot."
"It's the same tactics, Harry. Come on, let's have another game, only this
time, imagine that it's a political opponent."
"I can't use my deadly wit in a chess match. I usually cut to the bone in a
Wizengamot meeting and I can't do that."
"Apply the same energy and tactics." Draco encouraged him.
"I'd rather not insult and degrade you with every move, it is Christmas,
after all."
Draco gave him a smile and Harry made the first move…again.
He lasted forty-three minutes this time, but he still lost and he shook his
head.
"I wasn't made for chess, I was made for Quidditch."
"Then let's go and play Quidditch." Draco shrugged.
"Boys, it's cold outside." Narcissa cut in worriedly.
"Cissa, love, they'll be fine. They can have something warm to drink
when they come back in. No dives, no rolls, no showboating." Lucius told
them seriously.
"That rules out half of Harry's Quidditch prowess, Father." Draco teased.
"Pfft, I can still bury you." Harry boasted.
He and Draco rushed to their bedrooms and wrapped up warm. Harry
shouldered his Firebolt and went back to the front parlour to give
Rabastan a kiss.
"Make sure that you beat him, Harry." Rabastan told him. "It's bad
enough that he can beat you at chess when you're an intelligent young
man."
Harry blew a raspberry at his fiancé. "He's been playing chess since he
was a child. I've only been playing for a few years, of course he beats me,
but I'm a natural at flying!"
"Don't injure yourself in a garden game." Rabastan told him.
Harry rolled his eyes, but he gave Rabastan a last kiss and he went to fly
around in the cold for a while. It was snowing in Wiltshire, but Harry had
wrapped up warm and he would be sweating soon enough as Draco had
brought out his golden snitch. It was going to be very fun. Harry could
always use a little more fun in his life.
Harry had had a nice little break of only a few days, but there was no rest
for him as he was forced to do wedding planning on the twenty-seventh
of December.
He was incredibly surprised by the stacks and stacks of notes that
Rabastan handed him, that he had made, in relation to their wedding.
"You've been very busy." Harry said, looking through the top sheets and
finding all different designs for the seating arrangements.
"I truly wish to marry you as soon as possible." Rabastan told him.
"Afraid that I'll change my mind?" Harry teased.
Rabastan gave him a look…a very lecherous look, telling Harry exactly
why he wanted to marry him sooner rather than later and Harry grinned.
"Of course. It has to be done quickly once you graduate, I don't want to
lose you to your career, after all." Rabastan answered, for the sake of
Narcissa, who was sitting with a handsome dragonhide portfolio case,
opened to a page where she was writing down all of the finalised
wedding plans.
"I like this." Harry said, looking over the seating arrangement. "I like the
decoration on the chairs too. Not fluffy or floral, but not plain either."
"You wouldn't want to move anyone?" Rabastan asked, looking surprised.
"No, you did this perfectly, love." Harry said, passing it to Narcissa.
She looked over the design critically, but she never said anything, she
just tucked the plan into the portfolio and smiled at them. Harry's heart
missed a beat as he realised that they'd all decided something about the
wedding without an argument.
Harry quickly went to the next page, found more seating designs and put
them aside. He liked the top one.
"I loved your design for the cake, Harry." Rabastan told him, pulling out
the design that Harry had owled him a week ago, for a five-tiered cake
that was covered in dark blue icing with beautiful silvery-white pearls
that looked like the diamonds of his ring cascading over it from the top.
"I did also. I took the theme you wanted and I have applied it throughout
the designs." Narcissa told him, showing him her own design this time, of
a rough sketch of a room with chairs and an area at the front where
Harry and Rabastan would stand.
Harry saw the rough colours of blue and white, and it made him
automatically kiss his engagement ring. He saw the inclusion of his
design for the wedding cake and he smiled at how well Narcissa had
pulled it together just from the rough doodle he'd drawn of a cake.
"I love it."
"You're not just saying that to be done with the wedding planning?"
Narcissa asked him.
Harry shook his head. "I wouldn't. I want my wedding to be for me and
Rabastan, so no matter how long it drags on I won't back down from
what I want, Mother. I truly love this. Basti, what do you think?"
"I helped to bring the design together. I am not quite up for drawing or
colouring just yet, which is why I wasn't the one to do it, but it was my
input." Rabastan said with a self-deprecating smile.
Harry kissed that humourless smile away and took Rabastan's hand into
his own.
"I love it."
"There is nothing that you want to change?" Narcissa asked, surprised.
"Only whatever the hell that is." Harry said, pointing to an arch that the
label over it said was made of tulle and was tied in a bow over where he
and Rabastan would stand. "I don't like this."
"You didn't want flowers, darling, this is a compromise."
"That's worse than flowers, Mother. I don't like it. If we got rid of that,
everything else is perfect."
"Harry, you need to give me something to work with, sweetheart, please."
Narcissa all but begged him.
"Harry, do you remember the decoration in The Garnet Swan last night?"
Rabastan asked him.
Harry nodded. "Yes, it's all flowers."
"It's not all flowers, do you remember the table decorations?"
"Green stuff." Harry said with a frown, trying to remember, but unless
he'd been eating then his eyes, all of his attention, had been on Rabastan.
"It was small branches of a pine tree woven together to form a wreath.
We could use a different tree, one not associated with this time of year,
but that way we could still have decoration, without it being flowers,
bows, or ribbons."
Harry mulled that over. "I'd have to see the final design, but I'm not
against trees." He said.
Narcissa started writing in her elegant, loopy cursive and Harry took a
moment to have some tea. His hand found Rabastan's under the table and
his fiancé gave it a squeeze. Harry smiled happily. He was never, ever,
planning another wedding in his life. This was the only time in his life he
was ever going to get married, he swore it.
"So, are you agreeable to having trees as decoration, Harry?" Narcissa
asked him.
"Yeah, I have no argument against trees."
Narcissa lit up and started writing quicker as she found something that
she could use.
"I can work with this, Harry." She told him happily.
Harry smiled at her excitement and he was pleased that they'd found
something that they could both accept.
"I'll start designing a new layout for the wedding area, incorporating
these ideas." She said, almost to herself.
"You did really well to get these ideas, Rabastan." Harry praised.
"I do not want you to feel so stressed over this, my love." Rabastan told
him. "I would do it all if that helps to take one pressure away from you."
Harry was so touched to hear that and he moved forward to give
Rabastan a soft, gentle kiss, which was about all they could get away
with when Narcissa was sat at the same table as them.
"Rabastan, you have your wedding outfit planned, is that right?" Narcissa
asked.
"Yes. I would like to have it made just a week before the wedding,
however, just to ensure that it'll fit on the day and doesn't have to be
altered with every fitting."
Narcissa nodded. She likely didn't like that it was going to be made so
close to the day, just in case something went wrong, but both Rabastan
and Rodolphus were changing every time Harry came back from
Hogwarts and saw them. They were going from strength to strength and
they were healing and as they were, their bodies were changing too. It
made sense to hold off on making the robes until it was closer to the
wedding day, when Rabastan was healthier.
"Harry, do you have your outfit sorted?" Narcissa asked, making it a point
to keep her voice light.
"Astoria has agreed to make my outfit and she is going to be measuring
and fitting me on a few weekends when we're back at Hogwarts. She's
very excited."
Narcissa nodded, saying nothing, but she wrote more notes in her book.
Harry was happy with the progress made on the wedding plans. It was all
coming together. He and Rabastan had their outfits in the works, Harry's
idea for the cake had been readily accepted, their seating arrangement
was perfect and the decoration was underway. Narcissa was handling the
smaller details, such as food and refreshment and she and Lucius were
handling the invite list for those coming, after Harry and Rabastan had
gone through the list on Harry's insistence. He had struck Rhadamanthus
off immediately and no amount of cajoling from Narcissa about him
being his father-in-law had Harry changing his mind. Rhadamanthus was
not welcome at his wedding or the after-party.
"That was everything that we needed to cover today, boys." Narcissa said,
checking her list.
"Really?"
"Yes, I believe we're finally getting somewhere with this wedding. It'll
certainly be one to remember, I'll ensure it."
"As long as Rabastan still wishes to marry me, I don't care." Harry said,
teasing.
"Why wouldn't I?" Rabastan asked, wrapping his arms around him
possessively.
"I don't know, you seem to be getting a lot of propositions lately, love."
Harry laughed.
"I would never leave you for anyone else." Rabastan said firmly, tugging
Harry closer to himself. "You loved me and cared for me when I was at
my worst, I would only ever trust my love to you after that. Those who
only want me now that I am healthy and whole will never take my
attention from you, my love."
Harry grinned, inexplicitly pleased to hear that, and he bent to kiss
Rabastan.
"I have always cared more about who a person is inside their body than
what they look like outside of it. I have always cared more for those who
care for me. As long as you keep caring for me, and loving me, my head
will never be turned."
"It helps that you are very easy to love and care for." Rabastan told him.
"If we are done here, perhaps we could take a walk in the garden?"
"Too cold." Harry said. "Let's go to the library, in front of the nice, big
fire, and I'll read to you."
"The arithmancy book?"
Harry nodded. "It is still my worst subject, so I would like your help to
bring my grades from an EE to an O before my exams."
Rabastan stood and Harry said goodbye to Narcissa and then headed up
to the library. He was glad to have gotten so much done for the wedding
planning, even if it was merely picking out what he liked best from what
Rabastan had come up with, with the help of Narcissa. Just thinking
about his wedding day was making him excited and Rabastan still hadn't
told him their honeymoon destination. He had gotten cold feet and he
had changed the subject. Harry was planning to ask again when they
went back to The Garnet Swan for another dinner on the second of
January.
Harry was dressed impeccably on the twenty-ninth of December, as
Lucius refused to allow Harry to leave the house in anything other than
pristine robes to go to the Ministry to vote.
Harry had held all of his cards close to his chest and he hadn't indicated
either way which candidate he would be voting for, which kept his
family safe from Voldemort's wrath, at least. He was still pissed about
having his political wings clipped in such a way, but he would endure it
for the sake of his family. They meant more to him than anything, even
his budding political career.
They flooed to the Ministry as a family, all four of them looking pristine
and perfect. Lucius, aware of Dumbledore's previous plot to snatch Harry
from the train platform in London, kept a hand on Harry's shoulder, the
other on Draco's. He didn't like not having a hand on Narcissa, but she
had looped her arm through Draco's as they presented a strong, united
front.
They separated a little as they joined one of the queues, Lucius staying
with him just in case of any trouble and Narcissa staying with Draco, her
arm still wrapped around his.
The Ministry Atrium was packed to bursting and it was noisy, even as
everyone was standing in neat, orderly queues, waiting for their turn to
cast their votes.
"Draco, you have finished the last of your homework?" Lucius asked.
"Yes, Father. I finished it last night." Draco nodded. "The amount given
was nowhere near the amount we usually get, so I was able to enjoy my
time away from the castle and get my homework done to a high standard
as well."
"That is partly in thanks to our Harry here, for actually telling me the
state of the schoolwork these days." Lucius said, his hand squeezing
Harry's shoulder, he hadn't removed it once since they had arrived.
"I am glad that the governors agreed that it was too much work to do."
Harry said, nodding. "When one professor alone sets ten hours of
homework for one subject, we have absolutely no chance of keeping up."
"We thought the same." Lucius said, meaning him and the other school
governors. "Which is why we insisted on reducing the amount of
homework set immediately. The prestige of the school comes second to
the welfare of its students."
"I very much appreciated it. It meant I was able to do several other things
that needed to be done." Harry said happily. "I did so much of my law
reform for the first time in weeks, and I've been able to just switch off
and enjoy Christmas. I've loved it."
Narcissa reached over to pat his cheek, smiling at him.
"Your law reform is really coming on now, Harry." Lucius praised. "I
could see nothing wrong with it when I looked it over."
"We are very proud of your progress, darling." Narcissa told him. "It won't
be long now until you're ready to present it to the Wizengamot."
Harry got a nervous flutter in his belly at hearing that. He wasn't ready to
present it. His failure at the last Wizengamot debate still held him
prisoner and the doubts filled his head. He had to consciously push all of
those thoughts away and take a deep breath. He could do it. He just had
to keep reminding himself that if he didn't do this, then no one would. If
he didn't try to change things for magical creatures, then they would
always remain the same and he couldn't let that happen. If he failed, at
least he could say that he'd tried and failed. If his law reform wasn't
voted through then he wanted it to be because of the Wizengamot and
not for a lack of trying on his part.
"I want to focus on my exams for now, but I will work on it in any spare
time I have. Perhaps I will be ready to present it in the Spring. If not, I
will wait until after the wedding."
"You'll do great." Draco assured him.
Harry smiled and looked at how close they were to the voting booths
now. This election had been another weight, another pressure removed
from his shoulders, as he had been told who to vote for, but it had been a
blessing in disguise given how hectic the last few months had been. Of
course, he didn't like being told what to do, he never had, but he could
endure this for the sake of his family and it had given him some more
free time to do other things, so it wasn't so bad in the end.
Lucius went first into the booth, so that he would be done first and
waiting on the other side for him. Narcissa took hold of Harry's arm as
Draco took the next free booth. Then it was Harry's turn as he was called
forward by a Ministry worker and he went behind the wooden partition
and saw two boxes, one for Amelia Bones and the other for Pius
Thicknesse. Harry took out his wand and he efficiently tapped his wand
on the box for Thicknesse, watched as the box vibrated and made a
gentle tinkling noise to indicate his vote had been properly registered,
and he exited the partition towards Lucius, who took his shoulder once
more in a protective grip.
"We will go for a light lunch now." Lucius told him and Draco. "Is there
anything that you boys need from Diagon Alley while we are there?"
"I could use more parchment, Father." Harry said.
"You bought some on the last Hogsmeade visit!" Draco said, horrified.
"You have not gone through all those bundles of parchment yet! You can't
have!"
"I'm on the last bundle." Harry admitted. "I did say when I bought them
that it was an optimistic estimate and that I would likely need more in
January, and I do."
"We will go for lunch first and then we will do some shopping." Lucius
assured him.
Narcissa exited the partitioned voting area and joined them, fussing over
both Harry and Draco as if they had been separated for several days, and
not mere minutes.
"We should go and get you boys fed." She told them, still running her
hands over Harry's shoulders, before turning to do the same to Draco's.
"Our Harry wishes to buy more parchment, dear." Lucius told her. "We
should make time for that after we've eaten."
"Of course. We need to encourage our Harry in his endeavours." She
agreed.
They moved off, back towards the floo access point, but it was not quite
as simple as it had been flooing into the Ministry…there were reporters
there, waiting to pounce on prominent witches and wizards hoping to
quiz them on their voting habits.
Harry saw immediately when he'd been spotted, as the reporter's beady
eyes lit up.
"Lord Potter-Black! Do you have a quote for The Daily Prophet?"
Of course it was The Daily Prophet who were hanging around the
Ministry Atrium and pestering those eligible to vote.
"No, I do not." Harry said clearly.
"Will you not tell our readers how you voted today? This is your very first
election, a very big deal."
"My voting habits are my own and I will be keeping all of my voting
decisions private." Harry said firmly. "My thoughts and my decisions are
not for public consumption, thank you."
Lucius' hand was still on his shoulder and when he moved, Harry moved
with him, leaving behind a gobsmacked reporter who couldn't use
anything that Harry had said in an article, though Harry had no doubts
that something about him would be wormed in.
"That was smoothly handled, Harry." Lucius told him.
"It's none of their business who I vote for or why."
"They can't twist your answer either. It might have reflected badly on you
if you'd voted for the one who ended up losing the election." Draco told
him. "Saying nothing is always the best policy."
"It is." Lucius agreed with a pleased nod in Draco's direction.
They made it to the floo banks and Lucius flooed with Harry, as despite
him knowing how to do it by himself, it was much safer with
Dumbledore's abduction plot still fresh in their minds, for Harry to travel
with Lucius.
They went for lunch and allowed themselves to be seen out and about as
a family. As a strong, united front. Lucius sat right beside him, his
shoulders tensed as if to move the moment anyone approached Harry,
but Harry was relaxed and calm. He knew that Dumbledore had a new
plan, one to use Remus to lure him to Grimmauld Place before the start
of term. He might still try to abduct him while he was in public, which is
why Lucius was so on guard and stressed, but Harry didn't really expect
Dumbledore to do that when he had, what he thought, was a much better
way to lure Harry in.
After they had eaten a light lunch, they headed out into Diagon Alley and
straight to Scribbulus' Writing Implements. Harry went straight for the
largest bundles of parchment that the store offered, all bound up in twine
and pressed as flat as possible, as if they were books.
"Harry, that's close to a thousand pages." Draco told him in horror, as he
helped Harry to carry them to the shopkeeper.
"I'm almost done with that law reform, Draco." Harry said softly. "I'll
want to write it out in full, in my best handwriting, with no mistakes and
I need to make more than one copy. That's going to take a lot of
parchment."
Draco sighed, but nodded, as he placed his armful down on the counter.
Harry paid for the parchment and accepted the bag they came in happily.
"Is Astoria working today?"
"I'm not sure." Draco replied, his cheeks pinking just slightly at the
thought of his betrothed.
"Do you want to go and see?" Harry pressed.
"No, she gets embarrassed when I see her in her work clothing."
"She shouldn't. I think it fits her to become a seamstress, and her own
designer."
"She's so excited that you asked her to make your wedding outfit." Draco
confided.
"I don't trust anyone else, Draco. Not many people like me being in the
pureblood circles and all it takes is an 'accident' at the last fitting, or even
on the day of the wedding and it would spoil my entire day. I saw that
revenge outfit debacle."
"The one where the tailor charmed the groom's robes to flash yellow and
orange during the wedding ceremony because he'd been the childhood
sweetheart of the bride?" Draco asked.
Harry nodded. "It wouldn't be unrequited love that did me in, it would be
my presumption of running in the pureblood circles when I'm a
halfblood. I'm marrying into the sacred twenty-eight, after all."
"You're technically a member of the sacred twenty-eight in your own
right. You hold the title of Lord Black." Draco pointed out.
Harry hummed his agreement. "I am, but I wasn't born into the Black
family and everyone knows that, I just…I can't leave it to chance that
someone, somewhere along the line, would charm my robes, or even put
a curse on them, just to teach me a lesson and ruin my big day. I trust
Astoria, Draco, and I don't really trust very many people in this world."
Draco gave him a rather soft smile and wrapped his arm around Harry's
back.
"Well, as I said, she is excited and more than happy to launch her fashion
career on the back of your wedding. She's already designing robes ready
for her first showing. She's sixteen." Draco shook his head. "She is very
talented."
"She is." Harry agreed easily. "But let me survive the fittings first."
"Boys, are you ready?" Narcissa asked them as they joined her and Lucius
by the door.
"Yes, Mother." Harry answered.
"Did you buy enough?" Lucius asked him.
"I hope so, but there is another Hogsmeade weekend coming up early in
the next term so I can buy more if needed then."
"Let us head home, I don't like to linger." Lucius said, once again taking
Harry's arm.
They went to a Disapparation circle and Harry went with Lucius and they
both relaxed when they safely arrived back at Malfoy Manor. Harry
removed his scarf and hung it on what had become 'his' coat peg,
followed by his thick, winter coat. He slipped off his dragonhide boots
and then he padded in his socks to the parlour, where the Lestranges
were waiting.
Xerxes had gone to register his vote at the crack of dawn. Rodolphus and
Rabastan had registered their votes by secret ballot that was usually
reserved for those who would spend the day of the voting in St Mungo's
or otherwise incapacitated. No one in Azkaban on the day of the election
had a right to vote. Those who didn't carry wands, which was used as
identification, or had had their wands snapped, like those sentenced to
life in Azkaban, weren't allowed to vote, which also excluded nearly all
magical creatures. Rodolphus and Rabastan had new wands after they'd
been freed from the prison, which is how they'd gotten around that little
clause.
"Harry, were there any issues?" Rabastan asked worriedly. He'd been
pacing the parlour, waiting and worried about him. It made Harry smile.
"Only a Daily Prophet reporter harassing me for who I voted for."
"What did you tell them?" Rodolphus asked him.
"Nothing. It was none of his business who I voted for or why." Harry said
stubbornly.
Harry set his bag of parchment down and he pulled Rabastan onto the
settee and he snuggled in. He let out a big breath and settled down on his
fiancé.
"I'm pleased that nothing happened to you. It frustrates me that I cannot
be there to protect you." Rabastan told him.
Harry hummed. "That's a sweet notion, my love, but I don't need
protecting. Don't forget that it's me that your lord marked as his equal.
You wouldn't go around trying to protect him, would you?"
Rabastan chuckled, but Rodolphus gave Harry a disgusted sneer and
reached over to tug, gently, on Harry's hair.
"He has no equal!" Rodolphus told him.
"I wasn't born when that prophecy was made, Dolphus. I wasn't the one
who used the word 'equal' nor did I mark myself." Here Harry reached up
to touch the lightning bolt scar and then he flattened his hair over it.
"Ask your lord yourself if you don't believe me, but he was his own
downfall and there's a reason why he wishes to protect me."
"You're…special." Dolphus said, with a quick flitting glace to Narcissa
and Draco, neither of whom knew that Harry was a Horcrux, but they
were distracted as they settled themselves in the parlour.
"I'm not the only one." Harry whispered quietly. "That isn't what makes
me…special."
"Will you work a little on your reform, darling?" Narcissa asked him,
unaware of the hushed conversation she had missed. "Would you like
some tea?"
"Yes to both, Mother." Harry said with a smile and he moved to get out a
fresh bundle of parchment, removed the twine and snapped the bundle
on the coffee table. Nothing was better to him now than the smell and
feel of fresh parchment.
He pulled his law reform towards him, from where it had been neatly
stacked in the centre of the table. It looked like the Lestranges had gone
through it yet again. His reform was a hot topic these days, now that he
was getting closer to making it public. Everyone had an opinion on it and
Harry listened to them all.
Harry thanked Narcissa when she placed a cup by his hand and he
allowed her to fuss with his hair a little, then his collar and shoulders, as
he worked on his notes for the reform. He was still going through Ancient
Laws and Customs, a particularly tedious book that had first been written
in fourteen-forty-two and Harry needed a translation dictionary to read it
as it was only available in Middle English. But, it was the only public
record of all legal, enforceable laws in Great Britain, with a side of all the
traditions that were still followed, mostly by the pureblood circles. Harry
was finding more and more laws that he wanted to tweak, those that
desperately needed to be updated for the sake of modern society, and
those that needed to be removed entirely. He'd thought he'd translated
something wrong when he'd read a law that stipulated that a witch or
wizard could only hit their pet snidget with a racket on weekends, and
only if it was sunny outside. The Golden Snidget was now an extremely
endangered animal, but if anyone was lucky enough to have one, then
they were free to just bat it around with a racket as it was still legal.
Most would think the law was redundant as snidgets were so endangered
that many adult witches and wizards had never even seen a real snidget
outside of a drawing, but they were endangered, not extinct, not yet,
which meant that there were still snidgets out there to protect, which
meant that the ridiculously old law, likely drawn up while snidget-
hunting was still the most popular sport in Europe, needed to be
removed, and sooner rather than later.
Harry had his large, dragonhide workbook open, it was where he was
translating Ancient Laws and Customs into modern English and he truly
was learning so much. The only issue he had was that when he got going,
he could sink into it for hours and he couldn't afford to do that when he
was still in school. It was all very, very frustrating.
He could block out the light conversation going on over his head as he
worked diligently, translating another page of law into his workbook, and
then making a separate page of notes for himself, but it was past time
that these laws were updated and brought into this century. Harry
couldn't believe that no one else had done this yet, in all the years, the
decades, the centuries since this book had been in use. What a disgrace for
the wizarding world, truly.
"Is it still usable custom to gift a betrothed an apple a day, and then a
pomegranate on the third Sunday of every month?" Harry asked.
"Is that a thing?" Draco asked in confusion.
"I can't be sure, but I believe my great-grandparents did as such." Xerxes
said, though his brow was furrowed as if he wasn't entirely sure. "There is
a portrait of them in their younger years at Lestrange Manor and my
great-grandfather, Radolphus, is handing a pomegranate to his betrothed,
my great-grandmother, Myrina. I just assumed that it was a show of
wealth, as a pomegranate was a rather exotic, expensive fruit back in the
seventeen hundreds."
"So, this custom is not used and is barely known?" Harry asked, making
more notes for himself. "I mean, Rabastan certainly hasn't been giving me
daily fruit. The only one who has given me any food as a gift has been
Dolphus! I'm not betrothed to you." Harry said, directing it at the elder
brother.
"You wouldn't get away with any of your behaviour if you were."
Rodolphus told him, his tone dark, foreboding, and a touch threatening.
Harry snorted a laugh. "Oh, I would! You would not be the one to change
me or my behaviour, no one can." He said surely. "Don't think you're
special, Dolphus."
"There is a reason you were betrothed to Rabastan and not to Rodolphus."
Xerxes told him.
"You should have betrothed me to them both." Harry teased. "I could
have tamed what little is left of Rodolphus' heart."
Draco choked out a laugh and Harry chuckled, even as Narcissa looked
completely scandalised.
"Do not start on that again, Harry." Rabastan told him.
"He has said this before?" Narcissa demanded shrilly.
Harry laughed harder. Rodolphus reached over and tugged hard on
Harry's hair.
"You could not handle me, Harry, and I certainly could not handle you."
Harry shook his head, still amused, but he went back to his notes.
"So, the gifting of fruit has definitely fallen out of fashion?" He asked, still
grinning.
"I certainly never did as such." Xerxes told him.
"Neither did I, nor my parents." Lucius added.
Narcissa shook her head. "I have never heard of this custom, darling."
"Another one to be removed, then." Harry sighed. "How has no one done
this before?" He said in aggravation, throwing a hand through his hair
with frustration.
"Perhaps you should take a small break?" Narcissa said worriedly.
Harry sighed again, heavier this time, and he picked up his teacup and he
sat back, drinking and not working, but his mind was entirely on the
book and his thoughts on how to present the law changes in a way that
wouldn't have the traditional purebloods rejecting it on principle. It
would likely help to use the apple and pomegranate betrothal gifts as an
example. If the Lestranges, as staunch, rigid traditionalists, didn't know
about that custom, then it was very unlikely that anyone else did.
Harry circled the custom with a quill he'd dipped in a livid yellow ink
and then he made his own observations on it, and that not even the
Lestranges had heard of it, before he carried on translating and working,
his creature reform forgotten for the moment as he did his translation
work on Ancient Laws and Customs. It was tedious, he couldn't deny it, but
someone had to do it, and no one else was, so it had to be him and he
was certainly determined enough to change laws, update the customs,
and propose his own reforms if needed, and it was. He could do this. He
would do this.
Harry was awake early the next morning as he took his lordship
portfolios to the intimate dining room table to look over them with a
refreshing, revitalising cup of tea. He was the first one awake, but that
didn't bother him. It was very early, it was not even six in the morning
yet, but he had gone to bed earlier than usual.
It was the thirtieth of December and tomorrow night would be the New
Year's Ball, this year the honour was granted to the Carrows, hosted by
Lord Sarpedon. Harry liked Sarpedon Carrow, who was not a supporter of
Corban Yaxley or Rhadamanthus. He was Xerxes' friend, he was straight-
laced and level-headed, but Harry had had little interaction with him. He
would remedy that at the party, with Sarpedon at least, but Harry wasn't
fond of other, more distant relatives, namely Amycus and Alecto. It
helped that Sarpedon pretended that his distant cousins didn't exist.
There was nothing in his portfolios that needed his attention and Harry
happily put the two of them aside in favour of breakfast.
"Pimsey." He called out.
The house-elf arrived not even a second later, curtseying and smiling.
"Young Master calls for Pimsey?" She asked.
"I did, can I please have some more tea and some toast, Pimsey?"
Pimsey squealed a little in happiness and she nodded her head so hard
her bat-like ears flapped. She cracked away, only to reappear a moment
later with a fresh teapot and a plate of buttered toast with a side of
blackcurrant jam, Harry's favourite.
"Thank you so much, Pimsey." He said, smiling at how happy a little bit
of praise made her.
It cost him nothing to be nice to Pimsey, or house elves in general. He
didn't like the enslavement of magical creatures, but to then abuse those
enslaved creatures on top of it…Harry breathed deeply and pushed his
thoughts away. He couldn't change everything in one day, but at least his
family had started being nicer to Pimsey, even Rabastan was less caustic
to house elves, at least when Harry was in the room. Harry really did
appreciate it and he made sure to tell Rabastan so.
He poured himself more tea and he spread the jam over his toast, taking
a bite and thinking about what he would do that day. He wanted to do
more of his translation work for Ancient Laws and Customs, and he wanted
to work on his creature law reform too. He also wanted to go and spend
some time with his charities, but that would likely have to wait until the
New Year.
He'd also received a letter, just before Christmas, from Sebastian Vasey,
the mind healer he had been forced to go and see when the Law
Enforcers had raided the manor. His therapy sessions were going to start
in the New Year and Harry was rightfully nervous about it. His first
proper session was going to be on the tenth of January.
"You are up very early, Harry." Lucius said worriedly, as he came to stand
by him and one hand cupped Harry's forehead, feeling for a fever.
"I'm not sick, I just went to bed too early. I had planned to read for an
hour, but I fell straight to sleep instead."
Lucius hummed thoughtfully, cupping his cheeks and then his neck, and
once assured that Harry was a normal temperature, he went to take his
own seat.
Pimsey popped in with a fresh teapot without being asked and she didn't
say anything, and neither did Lucius, and she left very quickly after
serving Lucius, but at least there had been no cruelty, abuse, or snapped
comments.
"Have you looked over your family portfolios?" Lucius asked, spying the
two, thick cases on the table.
"I did. There's nothing of interest and none of the companies I have
shares in are showing any decline or anomalies."
"I am pleased that you have taken up such responsibilities. It is not easy
being a lord, and you have double the duties as the lord of two houses.
You have risen to the task as if you were born to it, Harry. I am very
proud of you."
Harry grinned happily to hear that, to be praised and to hear that
someone, his father figure no less, was proud of him.
"To be fair, I've had the best teacher." Harry said, watching with a smirk
as Lucius paused in taking a sip of tea, hovered for a moment doing
nothing, and then he soldiered on, drinking his tea and then purposefully
going back to his breakfast. It was just like Lucius not to say or do
anything after receiving such an unexpected compliment.
Mornings always started early in a pureblood household. Draco was the
last to join them, closer to seven in the morning, but Narcissa had been
just behind Lucius and Rabastan had been the first down of the
Lestranges, followed by Xerxes and then Rodolphus.
They were all tense, enough so that it made the air very heavy, but of
course they were, this morning was when they would find out who had
won the election, and as their lord had backed Thicknesse, if Amelia
Bones won then they would all soon know about it.
The post owl arrived promptly and as usual, it swerved to Harry and
landed on the back of his chair. Harry fussed him and dug a finger into
soft feathers to scratch gently at skin.
"You did a very good job." He told the owl, as he usually did. "You were
very prompt and professional, here you go."
Harry took the Knut from the centre of the table and showed it to the owl
before Harry slid it into his leg pouch and then took the paper.
He untied it and looked at the front page and he let out a sigh, relaxing.
In big, bold letters was the very simple, to-the-point headline 'Thicknesse
wins election' and there was a photo of him, in the Ministry, surrounded
by people as it was announced that he'd won.
"Who won, Harry?" Rodolphus demanded to know.
"Thicknesse." Harry said simply, ignoring that everyone else at the table
relaxed and the air cleared of the heavy tension that had been building
all morning.
Harry read more into the article, picking out key phrases and anything
else of interest.
"It wasn't a landslide, it was exceptionally close." Harry told them. "He
only secured fifty-four per cent of the votes."
"It was enough." Xerxes said with a sigh. "Close call or landslide, he's won
and he is now the Minister, which is what we wanted."
Harry dreaded to think of what Voldemort's next move would be now
that he had the Ministry. His plans were coming together…and very
smoothly at that now that Harry wasn't interfering in anything.
"Oh." Harry said in surprise, reaching the end of the article. Of course
The Daily Prophet would have had to slip him in somewhere. There was
even a small, thumbnail picture of him in the Ministry yesterday. He was
glad that Narcissa had insisted on dressing him up and making sure that
he was presentable just to go and vote.
"Oh? What have you found?" Rabastan asked worriedly.
"It was foolish to think that the Prophet wouldn't sneak me into the
article." Harry said, shaking his head. "A little picture of me from
yesterday and a mention that I refused to comment on who I'd voted for."
"That's actually a good thing." Rabastan told him. "It is a confirmation
that you refused to use your position to influence anyone else's vote, or,
at least, that is how you can spin it if asked."
Harry smiled at Rabastan. "That, my love, is a good idea, especially with
the New Year's Ball tomorrow night."
Harry read the paper quickly and efficiently, taking in key words and all
relevant information and filtering out the usual Prophet biases. He was
well abreast of the current news and once he was done he handed the
paper to Lucius and settled back in his chair, drinking the last of his tea.
He was already thinking ahead to tomorrow night now, when he would
have to pull up his 'lord' persona and schmooze with all the other
purebloods. They looked to him more critically because he was a
halfblood and he hadn't been born into these elite circles, he had only
been forced on them two years ago and he was only a 'pureblood' by a
technicality. He had been legitimised by his parents, who had named an
appropriate pureblooded godfather to him. It meant that Harry was able
to run in these selective circles and he could claim his lordships and
every advantage that went with them. Whether it had been planned and
a well-thought-out decision to name Sirius as his godfather so that Harry
had the option to claim his birthright later in life, or whether it had just
merely been because James and Sirius had been inseparable friends,
Harry was grateful that he'd been given this opportunity to shine.
His future was so bright and full of dreams that he couldn't even stomach
to think about what his life had been like before all of this had happened.
He'd been going nowhere, he'd had no true dreams, no real future. He
realised now that that had been by Dumbledore's design, a way to make
Harry into a child soldier. Unthinking, uncaring, unwilling to question
Dumbledore's path for him. No more.
Harry was now his own man. He had planned his own future, he was
making his own family that didn't include the Dursleys, and given the
opportunity to live and thrive, he knew exactly what he wanted to do
with his life. He knew what career path he wanted now, he knew that he
wanted to change the world and he was determined that he would.
With that thought in mind, Harry excused himself, smiling as Rabastan
did the same and escorted him to the parlour, where that creature reform
was lying on the table, waiting for him to work on it again. He wanted to
change the wizarding world for the better, and it would start with the
magical creatures who had long been oppressed and discriminated
against.
40. The Carrow Ball
Last Time
Harry excused himself, smiling as Rabastan did the same and escorted him to
the parlour, where that creature reform was lying on the table, waiting for him
to work on it again. He wanted to change the wizarding world for the better,
and it would start with the magical creatures who had long been oppressed
and discriminated against.
Chapter Forty – The Carrow Ball
The tension that had been subtly brewing in the house was gone in light
of Pius Thicknesse winning the election and being voted in as the new
Minister for Magic. At least among the purebloods it was the result that
they'd wanted and they hadn't even needed to force a hostile takeover of
the Ministry to get that result, Thicknesse had been legally voted in by
the public. Harry imagined that Dumbledore and the Order were
frantically trying to prepare for life under Voldemort's puppet Minister.
For some reason that thought made him smile.
Harry didn't care about any of that at the moment, however, as he
prepared to go to Carrow Manor for a party. He was wearing his scarlet
robes over a black under suit and it looked so good that even Harry was
impressed as he looked at himself critically in the mirror and turned
every direction to make sure that his robes sat on him perfectly. They
did.
He was filling out nicely now that he was healthy and he was getting
three meals a day, and snacks as well, and he was finally growing
properly and putting on some needed weight so that he wasn't so
painfully thin. He would be eighteen in half a year and he was finally
starting to look less like a boy and more like a man.
"Are you ready?" Draco asked him.
Harry gave himself a last look in the mirror. "Yes."
Harry left his bedroom and headed downstairs with Draco, who was
wearing robes in such a pale grey shade that it was almost white. It
looked fantastically good on him. Harry would have looked ill if he'd
tried dressing in a shade that pale, it would have drawn all the colour out
of him, but it made Draco look ethereal.
Xerxes and Rodolphus had gone ahead to Carrow Manor already, with
the former being such a good friend of Sarpedon he was welcome a little
earlier than the stipulated start time and he would be welcome after
midnight too, when the party would start winding down.
Rabastan had not gone on ahead of time, he was waiting for Harry and
he loved the reaction his fiancé gave him when he saw him. Harry truly
felt exceptionally handsome when Rabastan reacted like that to him and
he couldn't help but go straight to him and go in for a kiss.
"You look lovely, Harry." Rabastan complimented him.
"You're looking very sharp tonight, Basti." Harry said right back, looking
at his fiancé in his dark blue robes that almost matched his eyes. Harry
would have to keep an eye on him tonight, no doubt Rhadamanthus
would not appreciate the colour as much as Harry did and he would start
with the cruel comments.
Harry's hands glided over the robes and his fingers tried to slip beneath
the shirt so that he could touch skin. Rabastan chuckled darkly and held
Harry's wrists, stopping him.
"Not here, love." He chided softly. "We have places to be on a time limit."
"I can't help myself when you look this good, Basti."
"It will not be long until we are married and you will be sick of me before
our honeymoon ends."
Harry snorted a laugh. "I'm the impatient youth in this relationship, love.
Don't underestimate my stamina. You'll be the one begging for a break,
not me."
Rabastan rolled fond eyes, but shimmied Harry to the floo. "Go ahead.
Sarpedon likes you, so you should not have such issues as you did with
the Notts."
"I will see you soon." Harry promised as he crossed to the fireplace,
where Narcissa and Draco were waiting patiently. Lucius was either still
getting ready or he had gone on ahead as well.
"You look beautiful, Harry." Narcissa told him, tweaking the chain to
Harry's pocket watch to lie more centrally, before reaching up to cup his
cheeks, turning his head to either side to look him over. "The both of you
be good tonight." She warned them.
"We're always good, Mother." Harry insisted. "It isn't my fault that trouble
always finds me."
Narcissa's blue eyes glittered with amusement. "Well, do try, Harry
darling."
"Of course." He said, grinning.
"Go on ahead, boys. I won't be too much longer."
Draco flooed through first and Harry was right behind him. The Carrow
Manor reminded Harry immediately of the Lestrange Manor. It was all
dark wood and dark shades of green and blue. It felt claustrophobic to
Harry and he stepped forward, closer to Draco.
No one was there to greet them as hostess, as Sarpedon wasn't married
and Hestia and Flora were only fifteen, too young to take on such roles as
a lady of the manor.
Draco knew exactly where they were going, however, as he left the
receiving room and headed down a corridor, then to the left at the end,
down another dark corridor and they found the main staircase. Draco
took them up to the second floor, halfway around the manor again,
before he stopped at a door that was identical to every other door in the
manor, and he knocked on it.
It was not a bedroom as was usual, but what seemed to be a mini
ballroom as there were no beds, only chairs gathered around a small
fireplace. There was a long table that had light refreshments on it.
"Draco. Harry." One of the twins greeted softly. "Welcome."
"Thank you for hosting us." Draco replied formally. Harry followed him
into the little ballroom.
Blaise immediately came over to them.
"You're both a little later than you usually are." He complained.
"Did you miss both of us? Or just Draco?" Harry teased.
Blaise chuckled. "Both of you, of course." He said, wrapping an arm
around Harry's waist and squeezing. "You are looking very beautiful
tonight, Harry."
"Get off my brother." Draco said protectively, pulling Harry away from
his best friend.
"He's very protective of me, Blaise." Harry whispered.
"I am your older brother!" Draco said determinedly.
"He doesn't care that he's only older by eight weeks." Harry said.
"It doesn't matter by how many weeks, it could be an hour and I would
still be older than you. It's my duty as your older brother to look after
you and protect you."
"He's not wrong." One of the Carrow twins said, smiling at them. "I am
older than Hestia by nineteen minutes, but I am still the elder, thus I will
protect her the same as I would our younger brother."
Adrastos Carrow was only a child. He was too young for Hogwarts still,
he was only nine, but he looked adorable in his Slytherin green and silver
robes. Usually, such young children, unless they were infants, weren't
invited to these parties, but as this particular ball was being held in his
home, it would be very rude to not invite him to a party held at his
house.
Lord Sarpedon had taken in all three of his nephew's children after
Zephyrus' death. The previous Lord Carrow had divorced his wife just
after she'd given birth to Adrastos and she had died suddenly, in an
'accident', after contesting him for custody of his children, the heirs to the
Carrow bloodline. It didn't take a genius to see what had happened to her
and Harry wondered if Hestia and Flora, at least, knew that their father
had killed their mother, they had been seven at the time, after all.
Then Zephyrus had gone and died too, less than half a year later, leaving
all three children orphans at such a young age. Adrastos had still been an
infant at the time and the heir to the Carrow lordship. Clearly, he had
been unable to take up such a mantel, so Sarpedon had claimed it for
himself and had named Adrastos as his heir.
Despite never being married himself, with no children of his own,
Sarpedon clearly adored his great-nieces and great-nephew. Harry
wondered if there was a story, or a reason, behind Sarpedon never being
married. He would ask Rabastan later, when they got home.
"You see, Harry?" Draco pointed out.
It took Harry a moment to remember what they'd been speaking about,
before he rolled his eyes. "Thank you for hosting us tonight, Flora." He
said formally.
"We rarely have a chance to use our own ballroom. It is usually only for
these large get-togethers that we can, and only if we are hosting." Flora
said with a smile. "Our uncle doesn't like the thought of anyone,
particularly boys, being in our bedrooms." She said with a wink.
"Lord Sarpedon doesn't even like us knowing where Hestia and Flora's
bedrooms are." Draco told Harry, smiling.
"With the reputation of you and Blaise, I don't blame him." Harry said
snootily.
Flora giggled, Draco went pink and glared at him, but Blaise just laughed.
Out of the two of them, Blaise's 'reputation' was by far the worst. He
would date and sleep with anyone who moved. His mother was giving
him a lot more freedom in his teenage years and he could choose his own
betrothed when he was ready, so Blaise was testing out everyone he
could.
"I've been told I have to be nice to you."
Harry looked down into the sullen face of Adrastos Carrow, who was
speaking to him.
"Addie!" Flora chastised.
"Why wouldn't you be nice to me?" Harry asked.
"It's confusing." Adrastos told him, while his older sister sweated
nervously. "You were meant to be the enemy! Now you're supposedly a
friend and I have to be nice to you, why?"
"Well, I suppose it's because before I was adopted no one really knew
me." Harry said. "I was very unhappy and I wasn't being looked after well
enough. The Malfoy family realised that it wasn't my fault, they saw that
I wasn't being treated well and I wasn't being taught properly, so they
adopted me. Now, I am being looked after and taught properly, so I'm no
longer unhappy."
"Oh. That makes sense." The little boy said. "You're already a lord, aren't
you? I was meant to be a lord too, but I was too little."
"That's right. I am Lord Potter and Lord Black, but it's much easier to say
Lord Potter-Black." Harry said with a smile.
"Is that why I have to be nice to you now? Because you're Lord Potter-
Black?"
"You're a little young for politics." Harry said gently. "But I'm sure one
day you will be a great friend in the Wizengamot."
Adrastos brightened considerably at hearing that.
"My uncle says that you're no longer against our lord, either."
"Adrastos, that's enough." Flora demanded.
"Well, he's not my lord, but I'm no longer standing in his way." Harry
explained, ignoring Flora, who looked at him sharply.
"Okay, I guess we can be friends, then." Adrastos told him, taking Harry's
hand and holding it.
Harry gave that tiny hand a squeeze and he listened indulgently as
Adrastos started chattering on. Harry wondered if this was what having
kids would be like…having an energetic shadow attached to him at all
times, barely coming up for breath between stories.
"You have to come and meet my uncle." Adrastos told him suddenly, as if
Harry didn't know who Lord Sarpedon was and had never met him
before, pulling at him until Harry followed him from the mini ballroom
without anyone noticing. They were still holding hands.
It wasn't too rude for Harry to go down early. Not only was he seventeen,
a legal adult, but he was also a lord of two houses, though he was still in
school, which is the only reason he was still expected to go to the
children's room and greet them before anyone else.
The main ballroom was very full of laughing, chattering people, all
dressed impeccably, and Adrastos weaved around them expertly, looking
for Lord Sarpedon in the throng of bodies.
"Uncle!" Adrastos called out as he caught sight of the man.
Of course Sarpedon turned immediately at his great-nephew's call. He
was stood with Xerxes, Rodolphus, and a rather amused-looking
Rabastan.
"Adrastos, what is the matter?" Sarpedon asked, giving him a visual check
and then looking to Harry, being pulled along by Adrastos.
"This is my new friend, Lord Potter-Black, though he said I could call him
Harry." Adrastos told him. "I like him, Uncle."
"I see. You should not be leading Lord Potter-Black around like a pet,
Adrastos." Sarpedon said sternly.
"I don't mind." Harry waved off. "Adrastos is a good host and he's been so
talkative."
Sarpedon looked faintly worried then about what Adrastos had been
telling him…it made Harry wonder what Sarpedon might have said to his
young relatives. Flora and Hestia were old enough to know not to repeat
certain things…Adrastos was definitely not old enough to make such a
distinction.
"You're my friend now." Adrastos told him. "Come and see the garden! I
helped design it for tonight."
"Did you? I'm sure you've done a wonderful job, Adrastos. I'd like to see."
"Call me Addie."
Adrastos pulled Harry off again and Harry shared an amused smile with
Rabastan, allowing the little boy to pull him around.
He got more amused looks, but it was mostly because of how cute
Adrastos was, babbling away excitedly and pulling him around, showing
him things. It was two hours of the nine-year-old completely
monopolising Harry's attention before Hestia came and saved Harry by
telling Adrastos that he had to go to bed.
"I'm not even tired, Hessie!" The little boy complained, though he had
started to lose some energy and he was rubbing his eyes a lot too.
"It's ten O'clock, Addie, you are lucky that uncle allowed you to stay up
for this long. Come on now, to bed."
Adrastos complained and kicked his feet, but he looked sullenly at Harry.
"Bye, Harry. I really like being your friend."
"I like being your friend too, Addie. Go to bed now, though. You need
some sleep."
Harry made his escape as Hestia took Adrastos by the hand and led him
up to bed, and Harry stretched subtly and went to get himself a drink.
Dear Merlin, could Adrastos talk!
Harry took his drink and he started making small talk with everyone he
encountered, as he circuited the room looking for Rabastan.
"I saw you being dragged about by the little gremlin."
"Marcus, don't call children gremlins." Harry chastised, as he turned and
grinned at Marcus Flint. "Honestly, you'd think you weren't going to have
your own!"
"How did you guess?" Eleanor demanded, laying a hand over her belly.
Harry blinked.
"He didn't know, he meant we'd have children in the future." Marcus told
her. "But, I suppose telling him so early isn't a bad thing."
Eleanor looked a little abashed, but she soldiered on. "I'm only a few
weeks." She whispered to him. "Please don't tell anyone."
"Of course not. I can't wait to see you run ragged by a child." Harry
teased Marcus.
"As you were tonight?" Marcus shot right back.
"Practice, dear Marcus! Practice."
"Are you…?" Eleanor asked, looking at his own perfectly flat belly.
"Oh, no! Dear Merlin, no. My mother would string me up and then
castrate poor Rabastan if we dared do such a terrible thing before our
wedding. Speaking of, I am almost done with the planning and
everything is on schedule for August."
"I had better be invited." Marcus told him.
"Who would want you skulking around at their wedding? You'd scare off
my other guests!"
Eleanor laughed in that loud, uncaring way that had heads swinging
towards them with disdain. None of the three of them cared.
Harry laughed too, at the scowl on Marcus' face. "You're both invited, of
course. It won't be long now. Seven months and I'll be married."
"Our wedding has been moved forward. Both of our families know that I
am carrying and have insisted that we be married before the baby is born
in September."
"Am I invited? Unlike Marcus, I am a joy to be around."
Eleanor laughed again, loud and uninhibited, and Harry saw Marcus
smile at her. A real, proper smile. Marcus had chosen perfectly.
"You're invited." Marcus told him. "Eleanor is planning it with her cousin
and aunt."
"My grandmother, Andromena, is also graciously helping out." Eleanor
said, smiling. "I might not have had very many female figures in my life,
but my grandmother was a constant."
"My mother has taken charge of everything, but I get the final say in
everything and I've made Rabastan help me. I'm way too busy to do it all
myself."
"How is that law reform coming on?" Marcus asked.
"I…I think it might be almost done. I am nervous, in truth, to present it
to the public." He admitted.
"I'll be happy to read it through if you'd like."
Harry nodded. "I'd like that. I've been gathering opinions on it, the more
the better."
"Send me a copy and I'll go through it again like I did when I was
tutoring you. I expect you to have an O in your exams and I'll expect you
to get this law reform passed too."
"I'll get an O, Marcus. I've been getting all Os in my mock exams in class.
I told you on Christmas Eve that I scored the highest in the class on the
last mock exam before the end of term. I'm going to walk the final exam,
Marcus, I promise."
"It's very high praise to my teaching abilities that you are doing so well.
It looks good on me."
Harry chuckled. "You really deserve the praise. Of course, it helped that I
wanted to learn."
"You were very diligent." Marcus agreed.
"Harry, there you are." It was Rodolphus who had found him first.
"You'd think I was marrying him and not his brother." Harry said
teasingly.
"Stop with that, it's disgusting." Rodolphus told him, but he wrapped a
gentle arm around him and just yanked him away rudely.
"Bye then." Harry said, rolling his eyes, but he gave Marcus and Eleanor a
wave.
Harry was escorted, pretty much dragged, over to where Xerxes and
Rabastan were standing, the latter looked rather concerned, which
melted away when he saw Harry.
"Are you alright?" Rabastan asked him.
"Of course. What's happened that made you think otherwise?" Harry
asked.
"Rhadamanthus is looking too happy." Xerxes said.
"Oh, I didn't even realise he was here. He hasn't come near me." He
assured them.
"I tried looking for you, but when I couldn't find you, and with him
looking too happy, I was worried." Rabastan said.
"We all tried looking for you and your parents have gone looking too. We
thought he might have tried something." Xerxes said.
Harry shook his head. "No. I'm perfectly fine. I've been making circuits
and when Dolphus found me I was with Marcus and Eleanor."
"Xerxes, it's good to see you."
The man who approached was unknown to Harry, but he was old, his
hair was white and he was wrinkled.
"Phobos." Xerxes greeted. They shook hands. "You remember my
grandsons, Rodolphus and Rabastan, and this is Lord Potter-Black,
Rabastan's fiancé."
"Ah, yes, I have heard a lot about Lord Potter-Black." The man said,
pinning dark eyes to Harry.
"I am rather popular." Harry said with a smile, holding out his hand.
Phobos, apart from having a terrible name, went right down in Harry's
opinion when he took Harry's hand and, instead of shaking it, he laid a
kiss on the back of it. Harry only just managed not to grimace in disgust
when wet, wrinkled lips touched his bare skin.
"I would have liked the opportunity to become a suitor to you, though I
was not given the option." Was the first thing that Phobos said to him
and Harry hated him right then and there.
There was no way that Harry would have agreed to marry a man who
looked like he was into his eighties. Rabastan had noticeably stiffened
beside him and Harry forced a smile.
"Oh, I didn't even look at anyone else after I found my Rabastan." Harry
said, placing emphasis on 'my' to show possession. "He is my one and
only and I wanted him from the start."
That was a small lie. He'd been furious when he'd found out that Lucius
was planning to marry him into the Lestrange family, but he couldn't
imagine being with anyone else now.
"I could have changed your mind if I had been given the chance. I have
never been ruined by Azkaban, after all."
Harry's hand clenched tightly on Rabastan's when the man insinuated
that Rabastan was in any way 'ruined'. He hated Phobos' attitude and his
certainty that Harry would have picked him if only he'd been given the
chance to court him. He wouldn't have. He had chosen Rabastan as he
had been, almost fresh from Azkaban and dealing with so many issues
and so much damage, but Harry had seen the potential of the man
underneath the damage, he had wanted to help Rabastan, and he had. No
one, especially not an arrogant, eighty-year-old, would have turned his
head.
"Are you picking fights, again?" Lord Sarpedon demanded, clapping
Phobos on the shoulder in a show of friendliness, but the look in his eyes
was glacial.
"Of course not." Phobos said indignantly. "I was merely pointing out that I
wasn't given a chance to present my suit to Lord Potter-Black."
Sarpedon looked furious. "You are eighty-six years old, Phobos. Lord
Potter-Black is a young man who has just turned seventeen, it is
disgraceful to even offer your suit to him. Would you wish for me to
accept an eighty-year-old suitor for Hestia or Flora?"
Harry was considering that Sarpedon and Phobos were related, but he
didn't know how. Sarpedon had had an older brother, Nestor, and a
younger sister, Ilaria. Both of them were now dead. Nestor had had one
son, Zephyrus, who had had Flora and Hestia, and then Adrastos. Ilaria
had been married to Matthias Flint, she had been Mark Flint's mother and
Marcus' grandmother.
Harry didn't know how Amycus or Alecto fit into the tree, however. He
knew they were Sarpedon's third cousins, but there were clearly other
members of the Carrow family that Harry was only just meeting.
"I would have liked the chance to court him." Phobos said stubbornly.
"Rabastan is forty himself! And ruined from years in Azkaban besides."
Sarpedon looked as if he wanted to kill Phobos, Harry saw his fingers
twitch as if he wanted to go for his wand.
"You are forty-six years older than Rabastan!" Sarpedon hissed through
his teeth. "He has overcome much and he is healing very well. You will
stop this embarrassing line of conversation immediately! Xerxes, I am
truly sorry for this insult!" He said, turning to Xerxes.
"Come away, Harry." Rabastan said, pulling him away. "Let us go and get
some drinks."
They'd hardly needed to make excuses as the two Carrows only had
furious eyes for one another.
"How does Phobos fit into the Carrow tree?" Harry asked curiously.
"He's Sarpedon's cousin, him and his sister Phaedra. Aristaeus Carrow,
Sarpedon's grandfather, had four sons; Erebus, which led to Sarpedon's
line. His second son, Lycurgus, is the father of Phobos and Phaedra. Then
it was Nereus, who is the great-grandfather of Amycus and Alecto, and
the final son, Ganymede, who was a male bearer like you are and he was
married into the Selwyn family, back when they were reputable, of
course, and not the desperate jokes they are now."
Harry took in all of this new information and mulled it over. He could see
how the family all linked together and he nodded.
"Are there any other Carrows I might meet?"
"Not in name, but Aristaeus had a brother and a sister, Brontes and
Despoina. The former had two daughters, Tilphousia and Thalia, so they
never added to the Carrow tree, and the latter had a son, Elpis, but he
was born a Davis, so no, there aren't any more Carrows in name, just a
few in blood."
"I don't like Phobos." Harry declared.
"I don't either, after that." Rabastan agreed.
Harry laughed. "I would never have considered him! I was debating
whether you were too old, Basti!" Harry said, grinning.
"You thought I was too old?" Rabastan asked, offended.
"I had just turned sixteen! You were thirty-eight, Rabastan, of course I
thought you might be too old, you're twenty-two years older than me. I
haven't even lived for twenty-two years yet. You weren't so old that I
rejected you out of hand, though. I did give you a chance."
"I will forever be grateful that you gave me that chance."
"Me too. I love you and I want to spend my life with you. I'll be forever
glad that I let Lucius talk me into meeting you. I would like to make it
clear that I never once saw you as ruined. I always, always, thought that
all you needed was some help and healing and I was willing to give that
to you. I didn't like that Phobos said that about you."
Rabastan gave him a smile and then handed him a glass of sparkling
grape juice. He clinked against Harry's glass with his own.
"To forever, my love."
"To forever." Harry repeated with a smile.
They both drank and Harry stayed with Rabastan as they started
circuiting again, meeting and greeting people and chatting, Phobos and
his nasty comments forgotten. It was better when he did this with
Rabastan and he was enjoying the little snippets that Rabastan was
telling him about the people they met as they moved away to another
group or couple; small stories that Harry wouldn't have heard of because
he hadn't grown up in these circles. Harry was so amused by one of those
stories that he was clutching Rabastan's arm and laughing, and Rabastan
was smiling down at him, happy just to see Harry so happy.
"You are both embarrassing."
Harry knew that poisonous voice too well and he turned to see
Rhadamanthus sneering at them both.
"I don't believe that you understand the meaning of that word for as often
as you toss it out." Harry said stiffly.
"Giggling like children in such esteemed company." Rhadamanthus
carried on as if Harry hadn't spoken.
"I hope you aren't including yourself in that." Harry told him, and he
finally got a reaction for that, as Rhadamanthus glared at him.
"You are going to regret drawing attention to yourself one of these days."
"Do not threaten him in front of me!" Rabastan snarled.
"Oh, you are able to speak, I wasn't sure if Lord Potter-Black was doing
that for you these days." Rhadamanthus told him.
"You're honestly not even worth a minute of our time." Harry said,
tugging on Rabastan's arm and turning to leave.
"Your days are numbered, Potter. Remember that."
Rabastan turned around in a flash, his wand in hand, but Harry pressed it
back down again.
"My love, he's not worth your attention or your reaction, remember that I
am protected." Harry said, before adding in a whisper under his breath.
"He doesn't know about the Horcruxes and he doesn't know that I'm one.
He can't touch me, your lord won't allow it."
Rabastan eased down and Harry rubbed a small hand against his chest.
"You're the pathetic one, Rhadamanthus. I honestly find it amusing that
you think that you can do anything to me. Let me make it clear that you
can't. You are not my equal, you are nothing to me, and you never will
be. You won't be the one to take me out."
Rhadamanthus was going red in the face, but there was suddenly a hand
touching Harry's back and someone moved smoothly in front of him.
"I do hope you are not harassing my son, Rhadamanthus." Narcissa said
in a frosty voice.
"You shouldn't claim such an unworthy maggot as a relative, Narcissa."
Rhadamanthus told her. "His ill luck and impure blood will stain you and
your family."
"My blood is the same red as yours." Harry told him.
"We should check that…when I spill it all over the floor."
Harry startled at the loud smack of skin on skin and he gaped as he
realised that Narcissa had slapped Rhadamanthus straight across the face.
She had done it so hard that there was a red mark already forming on
Rhadamanthus' cheek.
"You will not dare harm one of my sons!" Narcissa hissed angrily, her
tone so hard and cruel that Harry took a step back from her. Angry
Narcissa was truly terrifying! "If you even look in my Harry's direction I
will ensure that you never lay eyes on him ever again as I will curse them
from their very sockets! You will not lay a single hand upon him and
your wand will never aim in his direction or I will personally take your
miserable life!"
"Cissa, what has happened?"
Lucius inserted himself smoothly between his wife and the enraged
Rhadamanthus with his bright red cheek. It would be a nasty bruise and
Harry wished he could see it when it properly bloomed.
"He threatened our son! He threatened to kill Harry right as I stood here,
Lucius. I will not stand for it!"
They had gathered a crowd and Rhadamanthus appeared to be utterly
humiliated by having witnesses. Then, that was the way with bullies. The
moment they had an audience, they became cowards.
"You threatened Lord Potter-Black in my own home?" Lord Sarpedon
demanded, pushing his way through the crowd. "This is unacceptable
behaviour! Lord Potter-Black is a guest and I will not have any blood
shed in my own home!"
"You know he's not one of us." Rhadamanthus snapped angrily. "He's a
filthy halfblood. His mother a mudblood!"
"Don't say anything against my mum!" Harry spat. "She was worth more
than you! She was smarter than you, kinder, and braver than you!"
Rabastan pulled him into his chest and Harry eased down a little, as he
realised he'd been inching towards Rhadamanthus.
"You see, even now, he doesn't care about the pureblood parents who
adopted him." Rhadamanthus told the watching crowd.
"I will defend both of my mums and both of my dads until my dying
breath." Harry hissed at him angrily. "But it was only one of my four
parents you were insulting and you don't get to do that."
"Harry is right, you're not equal to any of Harry's parents." Rabastan said,
making Rhadamanthus sneer at him. "You don't get to throw insults at
any of them when you've never even been a parent."
"I raised Rodolphus!" Rhadamanthus insisted, as if he only had one son.
"No, you never." Rodolphus cut in firmly. "I was raised by my
grandfather, who I now call father, the same as my brother."
"You are both ungrateful…"
"You do not get to insult those boys, either." Xerxes' curt, dark voice cut
in and another hand pressed against Harry's back. Xerxes was standing
behind him, willing to protect him. "They are my boys and I raised them
and I made the decision to betroth Rabastan and Harry together. I wholly
welcome him into my family, that decision has never been yours to
make."
"You will force the Lestrange line to carry on through that!"
Rhadamanthus growled at his father, jabbing a finger at Harry. "Our
esteemed line, corrupted and diluted with his unworthy blood!"
"It is not your decision to make." Xerxes repeated calmly, staring at his
son with cold brown eyes.
"The only one unworthy here is you." Harry put in, safely encased in
Rabastan's arms, Rodolphus just beside them and Xerxes to the other
side.
Rhadamanthus' brown eyes were spitting at him, his face was red, the
cheek that Narcissa had slapped was almost purple, but his gaze slid to
Xerxes, and Harry almost, almost, thought that Rhadamanthus was going
to be stupid enough to try something, but then he exhaled and, without
saying another word, he turned on his heel and stormed out.
"What happened?" Xerxes asked him, even as Sarpedon tried to regain
control of his derailed party.
"He threatened to kill Harry, right in front of me!" Narcissa hissed. She
was angrier than Harry had ever seen her before.
"He said he would spill Harry's blood on the floor." Rabastan said. "I will
not let him, Father!"
Xerxes blinked at the title given to him, and he softened a little in his
eyes, but his shoulders pulled back straight and stiff.
"I think it might be best if we, Lucius, revise the traditional betrothal
rules, in light of Rhadamanthus' threats of violence, and the upcoming
wedding, I believe it would be best if, from now, we keep Harry and him
apart."
"I am unwilling to risk my son for such traditions." Lucius agreed
smoothly. "I believe it will be for the best, going forward, to keep
Rhadamanthus away from my Harry."
Sarpedon had done a good job of herding people away, so their
conversation was mostly private, and Harry could relax a little.
"I can't believe you slapped him, Mother." Harry giggled.
"It was a very good slap, as well." Rabastan praised.
"No one threatens one of my sons in front of me!" She said, tipping her
head back until her nose was in the air. "He was lucky that my instinctual
reaction was to physically attack him, if I had gone for my wand, he
wouldn't have gotten off so lightly!"
It was getting close to midnight, only forty more minutes. Harry was
grateful for this as, after his run-in with Rhadamanthus, he just really
wanted to go home and just relax a bit.
He made a few more rounds of the ballroom, seeking out members of the
Wizengamot more than anyone else purely because he 'knew' them and
he wanted to curry favour for his proposal. There were now fifty-five
members of the Wizengamot, though Harry was the only one who
counted as two people, as he was Lord Potter and Lord Black. He was the
only one currently juggling two lordships, but there were still fifty
members who he couldn't rely on to back him, so he had to start
changing their minds to vote in favour of his law reform.
Rabastan did not leave his side. Instead, he had his arm wrapped securely
around Harry's waist and he was escorting him around, following where
Harry went, letting Harry dominate the conversation, though he wasn't
silent. He added to the conversation when there was a natural lull, and
he knew what to say when Harry came across someone stubborn, who
didn't want to hear about Harry's plans or his charity work or his reforms.
"Milo." Rabastan called out.
A tall, thin man turned, giving Rabastan a glare. "If you ask for another
room, I am going to curse you and then just fucking give you my
restaurant."
Harry realised who this was then, the name finally clicking with the
context. This was Rabastan's friend, Milo Lawson, owner of the
prestigious Garnet Swan restaurant, where Rabastan kept taking him for
their dinner dates.
"I was merely coming to say hello and to introduce you to my fiancé,
Lord Harry Potter-Black."
Milo blinked, narrowed his eyes, opened his mouth and then thought
better of it, closing it again. He took a moment as he mulled something
over in his mind and then shook his head. "I was about to say that I know
who you are, but we have never actually been officially introduced, have
we?"
Harry shook his head. "For as often as I've been in your lovely
establishment, no, this is the first time we are meeting face-to-face."
"That's your fault." Milo declared, glaring at Rabastan. "You speak of him
so often, I feel as if I already know him."
"You are one of the only friends I have who didn't turn in disgust after
my release from Azkaban." Rabastan told him. "There are some things I
don't wish to confide in my brother or grandfather."
Milo clapped Rabastan's upper arm. "You're still the same arsehole I knew
before you went to Azkaban. It's taken you some time to heal, but I didn't
mind the wait. Now look at you! Better than before you went into that
hellhole."
"I am feeling much better in recent weeks." Rabastan said. "I am feeling
stronger and more energetic. I can do more of everything and I don't
need to stop and take a rest. I am finally seeing the rewards for the heavy
potion regime."
"You are almost off all of them." Harry added in gently.
Rabastan smiled down at him.
"You are?" Milo asked.
"I am. I had hoped to be done by the New Year, but I will be done by the
Spring. Either late February or early March. Dolphus will need an extra
few months as he's bigger than me, but by the summer, we will both be
fully healed and fully healthy once more."
"And then the wizarding world can look out." Milo said darkly.
Rabastan looked at him sharply, worriedly, but Harry just gave him a
gentle smile.
"I would burn the world for you, my love." Harry declared.
Milo chuckled. "I can finally see what you mean, and what you see in
him."
Harry smiled. "I liked how he treated me when we were first introduced."
Harry said. "He was nice to me, and gentle, and I wanted to help him,
and he, thankfully, allowed me to do that."
Rabastan's arm rose from his waist to drape around his shoulders, pulling
him into a gentle hug.
"I will forever be grateful for how you handled me back then."
"Almost two years now, Rabastan. Just seven more months."
"I had better receive an invite to that wedding!" Milo told them. "I feel I
have helped cater to your relationship from the start. I will not be
snubbed."
"You have helped us from the start." Harry agreed. "You are, of course,
invited."
"We are grateful. It was the only way we could go to dinner together and
pretend I am not an escaped convict."
"You have more than paid your debt." Harry said, well aware that the
Longbottoms likely didn't agree with him on that.
Harry hated the Dementors and their effects on, not just him personally,
but all humans. He was firmly of the opinion that it should not be legal
to subject people, no matter what they'd done, to such unending torture.
No one, no matter what they'd done, deserved that. Harry wouldn't even
put Rhadamanthus through that and he absolutely loathed the man.
"It won't be long now that Thicknesse is in charge." Milo said, grinning.
"You will still allow us use of the private room, won't you?" Harry asked
teasingly. "I have found I very much like having Rabastan in privacy."
He made it sound more salacious than it was and Milo laughed.
"Harry!" Rabastan chastised, but he was smiling and Harry paid no
attention.
"Oh hush, Rabastan. You can protest all you want, but you would prefer
the privacy too."
"I will allow you the use of your own private room. I am keeping the one
in reserve at all times for your use." Milo assured them.
"I thought you were only joking about keeping one in reserve?" Rabastan
asked with confusion.
Milo shook his head. "No. They are not overly popular, given how
expensive they are to rent for just a few hours. They only really see use
for some betrothal dinners and dignitaries who wish for privacy. We
hosted Celestina Warbeck on Christmas Day, even. I can afford to keep
one in reserve for you, Rabastan. Your relationship is important."
Harry heard that as Voldemort had threatened Milo to make sure he
didn't interfere in their budding relationship with something as simple as
not having a room for them to use when they needed it. Voldemort was
truly invested in his and Rabastan's relationship as not only did it mean
keeping a very close eye on him with his family of truly loyal followers,
the Lestranges, but it was also a reward for the loyalty of the Lestranges.
There was no higher gift to an ancient bloodline than a continuation of
that bloodline, and the Lestranges had been utterly stagnant before Harry
and Rabastan's betrothal.
Rabastan had been ruined by Azkaban and, back when Harry had first
met him, no one had accepted any betrothal offers because of how he
looked and how he acted. Rodolphus hated his wife, Bellatrix, and there
would be no continuation of the line through them. Rhadamanthus had
lost the love of his life and couldn't even think of marrying anyone again.
He hated children and the only one he had wanted was Rodolphus, who,
again, wouldn't be having children.
Xerxes could probably marry and have another child if things were truly
desperate, but he was already a grandfather and likely thought that it
wasn't his duty to carry on the line when he had already raised a son and
then taken in and raised his two grandsons, all capable of having
children, but were either unwilling, or in Rabastan's case, no one had
wanted him, but their loss was Harry's gain.
Harry wrapped an arm around Rabastan's waist and squeezed.
"We really appreciate it." Harry said. "I love this man and I hate that I
can't see him as often as I would like, nor can I drag him out shopping
with me. Not yet, at least."
"Soon." Rabastan assured him, smiling. "Thicknesse won the election,
Harry. He'll pardon all of those of us who were in Azkaban, and like you,
will insist that we paid our debt to society. We'll be able to go public
soon."
"We'll have to be careful, especially if I am still in Hogwarts at the time."
Harry said, playing devil's advocate.
"It will be in the summer, my love. After you've graduated. These plans
can't be done too soon, it has to be done properly, and we wouldn't want
to put you at risk, though your father is planning to remove Dumbledore
as quickly as possible. We can't risk him being so close to you, with
power over you, with your graduation coming up."
Harry nodded. He was set to have a meeting with the other school
governors soon, in an attempt to oust Dumbledore from Hogwarts. With
his power at the Ministry in tatters after Harry claimed his lordships and
his two seats on the Wizengamot eighteen months ago now, if they could
loosen his grip on the esteemed school too then they could deal a massive
blow to Dumbledore's reputation.
"I have also heard a lot about a law reform you are working on?" Milo
said, giving a sly look to Rabastan. "Rabastan here mentions it every time
I speak to him, it might be nice to actually see this law reform instead of
hearing about it second-hand."
"I will have Rabastan send you a copy." Harry said with a smile.
"I'd like that. I have heard so much about it and have yet to read the
entire proposal, but you have Rabastan supporting you fully. I have
rarely seen him so excited."
Harry chuckled, more so when Rabastan gave his friend a glare.
"I do my best to keep him excited." Harry said slyly, with a coy look up at
his fiancé.
Milo laughed in surprise, and Rabastan looked down at him in surprise.
Seeing his naughty look, Rabastan bent down to give him a kiss.
Harry held his face and kissed him back with as much passion as he was
allowed to show in public, before they were married at least.
"Alright, you are in the middle of a ballroom and I am standing right
here." Milo told them.
"You can go now." Rabastan said, his voice slightly roughened.
Milo laughed. "I don't think I should, you look like you need a
chaperone."
"Go, Milo!"
"I'm going to go and find Rodolphus." Milo warned, leaving them.
Harry didn't care. Rodolphus might be grumpy, but he was a pushover
when it came to Rabastan and his happiness, especially now that he was
no longer stressed over the election and securing votes for Thicknesse.
The two of them remained arm in arm, circling the ballroom and playing
up the niceties. It was all very political, but Harry had gotten used to it in
the last year and a half and he had learned well.
"Lawson told me that you needed a chaperone."
Harry smiled at Rodolphus, who came storming over.
"No, Dolphus, we've been perfectly behaved, as befitting our station."
Harry said teasingly.
"I don't believe you." Rodolphus declared, but his hand went straight to
Harry's hair, ruffling it all over his head…Draco was going to have a
heart attack when he saw the state of it.
"Your faith in us is duly noted." Harry teased.
"I have faith in your love, not in your ability to adhere to the betrothal
restrictions and keep your hands to yourselves."
Harry rolled his eyes, but he wrapped his arm around Rodolphus', feeling
the bulging forearm underneath the black robes. Both of them were
getting fitter and healthier.
"I'll behave, Dolphus. It is getting difficult now, with the wedding just a
few months away, but I…as much as I love Rabastan I would never want
to break my mother's heart. It is not your threats, or anyone else's, that
stop me from doing anything, it's the thought of disappointing my mother
when I'm forced to tell her I am pregnant out of wedlock."
"Excuse me?!"
Harry grimaced and turned to see a horrified Narcissa.
"That comment was taken completely out of context, Mother! I assure
you, I am not pregnant."
"You swear to me, right now, that you're not." Narcissa whispered under
her breath, using a firm hand to push Rabastan's off of him and pulling
him into her own arms.
"I swear it. I was merely telling Rodolphus that it is not his lecturing or
anyone else's opinion of me that has me waiting for our wedding day, but
the thought of disappointing you."
"That was what he said, Narcissa." Rodolphus said gruffly.
Narcissa relaxed a little, and she brushed her hands over Harry's
shoulders and down his arms. She squeezed him gently at the elbows.
"Good. At least I am invested in your image, darling, even if you are not.
It would look obscene for you to be pregnant while still in school! I
would not have that for you. Imagine the headlines when you run for
office! Future Minister was pregnant before he graduated." Narcissa
actually shuddered.
Harry smiled gently and he bent forward to kiss his mother's cheek,
watching as her blue eyes softened. She smiled at him and squeezed his
elbows again.
"Would you like a drink, Mother?" Harry asked, offering her his arm,
waving off Rabastan, who went with Rodolphus.
"I would. It was where I was heading when I overheard your partial
comment."
"I am grateful that you allowed me to explain the misunderstanding." He
said.
"Of course, darling. I like to think of myself as calm and level-headed.
Having you for a son has certainly tested my patience, but I wouldn't
change you for anything."
"I regret my behaviour when I was first adopted." Harry said softly.
"I was thinking of your recent behaviour with Rabastan." Narcissa told
him with a smile. "It was understood that you would be a bit of a handful
in the beginning, given our differences, but you are such an intelligent
young man, of course you figured everything out for yourself and learned
quickly."
"I can't really help my behaviour in regards to Rabastan, I love him. I am
trying and I swear on my life that I will not be pregnant before our
wedding night, but I like being near him. I like kissing him and cuddling
with him. Going into these last two terms of school now, I'm going to be
so distracted and busy I will hardly have a moment to write to him, let
alone see him. I just…I don't want to be away from him for such a long
time now. I want to spend all of my time with him, Mother."
"You have so many plans for the future, my darling." Narcissa told him.
"Marriage and parenthood can wait for a few more months while you set
yourself up for the best possible future that you can. I will accept no less
for you."
Harry smiled and cuddled in a bit. He loved it when his family showed
him how much they cared in such small, simple ways.
They made it to the drinks table and Harry got a glass of white wine for
Narcissa and a sparkling grape juice for him. They looked pretty much
the same, but Harry had found he didn't really like drinking. He was fine
with one glass with dinner, or one glass at a gathering, but he preferred
no alcohol, he didn't like how it messed with his thoughts.
"Cissa, dear, who is this charming young man?" A woman with perfectly
curled dark hair asked, but her soft, hazel eyes were sharp, deadly. She
knew exactly who he was and Harry inhaled slowly, his back pulling
straight and he lifted his chin a fraction, preparing for this next
conversation where insults were hidden behind false praise.
"Theodosia." Narcissa greeted, drawing out the name to indicate more
pleasure than she was likely feeling. "How are you, dear? I had heard that
you were unwell and you didn't come to the Christmas Eve gala, are you
feeling better? This is my younger son, Lord Harry Potter-Black."
Theodosia…sister to Philip Nott, Theo's aunt for whom he was named,
and wife of Lord Mark Flint. She was Marcus' mother and Harry honestly
hadn't heard Marcus mention her once, which likely indicated that
Marcus didn't like her all that much. Marcus was not the sort of person to
keep up appearances, not even familial ties, if he didn't want to.
"He pales in comparison to your real son." Theodosia said, her eyes
narrowing.
"Perhaps you need glasses, dear?" Narcissa offered sweetly. "My Harry is
darker in appearance than my Draco." She tittered a little laugh, as if she
hadn't understood Theodosia's insult.
"I assure you, Lady Flint, that I am just as real as my brother Draco. I am
not a figment of your imagination, after all." Harry gave a soft chuckle of
his own, again, purposefully misconstruing her meaning.
"My brother tells me that you lost your last debate in the Wizengamot."
Theodosia said, playing the same game as Narcissa and him, making her
tone sound sympathetic, but her eyes were laughing at him. "He said that
you were actually trying to save a creature that had bitten a human! How
shameful."
"The only shameful thing about that incident was that the Wizengamot
abused their position to vote on something that wasn't against the law
and I've already reported it." Harry said, his smile more a baring of teeth.
"It will not happen again because I've moved to ensure that nothing that
isn't against the law we are meant to protect can be voted upon, as
decreed by the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, so you can go
and tell your vile brother that instead."
Narcissa's arm clenched a little on his, reminding him to keep his temper.
A showing of emotion was akin to a loss of control in these circles…he
couldn't show so much emotion. He inhaled deeply and plastered a fake
smile on his face.
"It does amuse me that people keep mentioning my first, and only, defeat
in the Wizengamot as if it bothers me…it doesn't." That was a little bit of
a lie, he had been bothered by it, at the clear abuse of power he'd
witnessed, but mostly it had been Lucius and Xerxes turning against him
that had bothered him the most and that had now been rectified. He'd
been assured that it would never happen again and he could accept that.
"I knew I would lose that debate, even as I argued against it, I knew it
wouldn't be enough, but I would not now, or ever, change my stance or
my vote based on which side will win. I am stronger than that."
"You truly are, darling." Narcissa said proudly. "You are going to change
the world."
"For the worse!" Theodosia bit out, her façade cracking a little.
"For better or for worse in your opinion, I'm still going to change it."
Harry said with a mocking smile. "I'm the only one willing to try to
change it, and so I will."
"You are an imposter among us!" Theodosia shrieked.
"Dosie, why are you screaming at Lady Malfoy and Lord Potter-Black?"
Lord Mark Flint came storming over, his eyes spitting fury at his wife.
"You begged me to allow you to come to this party, and against my better
judgement, I allowed it! You swore that you would behave yourself and I
find that you are harassing two prominent people, those whom I find I
actually like!"
"He is an imposter, you said so yourself!" Dosie shrieked at her husband,
and from the look on his face, he was going to strike her. Harry wouldn't
stand for that abuse in front of him, not after the Dursleys, so he moved
to defuse the situation as best as he could.
"Lord Flint, I haven't seen you yet tonight, how are you?" He said
placidly, but he filed away the little revelation that perhaps Lord Mark
wasn't an ally to him and had been calling him an imposter in the privacy
of his home.
"I apologise greatly for this embarrassment." Lord Mark told him. "I don't
usually allow Dosie to come out into public, and this is entirely why." He
hissed the last at her.
"I take no offence to her words, I find it merely amusing." Harry assured
him. "She isn't even the first person to insinuate that I'm an imposter
tonight. Very unoriginal for just one party." Harry directed the last to
Theodosia too.
"You were legitimised." Lord Mark waved off. "Such a loophole was
created specifically for those in your position, you are no imposter. My
thoughtless comment, which should never have been repeated in
public…" Here he glared at his furious wife. "…was when I first heard
about your adoption and before I knew that you had been legitimised. I
apologise greatly for making assumptions before I had all the facts. I no
longer think the same way. I find, against my wishes, I actually like you,
Lord Potter-Black. I know Marcus does as well."
The loophole had actually been created for those lords who kept
mistresses. As long as they still had magic, and weren't muggles, if a lord
and his lady wife only had daughters, or no children at all, a son from a
mistress could be legitimised by a pureblood godparent and then take
over the lordship. Perhaps Lord Selwyn needed a few mistresses? Harry
shuddered at the thought. Maybe not.
"Marcus is a good friend. He's treated me so well in the last few years."
"He doesn't really like you!" Theodosia burst out.
"How would you know?" Mark snapped at her. "Marcus hasn't spoken to
you in six years."
"I know my son!" Theodosia exclaimed.
"If you know him so well, and claim he doesn't really like me, then why
did he try to court me last year?" Harry asked with a smirk, watching as
both Theodosia and Mark showed surprise. Clearly, neither of them had
known about that little stroll through the garden at Parkinson Manor, the
both of them testing their compatibility and then deciding not to take it
further, but instead to forge a friendship through tutoring. "It was from
that that Marcus decided to tutor me, why would he choose to do that if
he didn't even like me?"
"He is tutoring you?" Theodosia asked, almost in horror.
"Oh, did you not know?" Harry asked, his tone falsely sweet. "Well, that's
awkward. He tutored me for a year, after all. We only recently decided
that he's taught me all he can without me actually going into an ancient
runes career, which he's currently trying to convince me to do. I've
passed every single exam and test since with straight Os. He's very proud
of me."
Theodosia looked like she might cry that her perfect, pureblood son was
interacting with Harry at all…or perhaps because she was clearly further
out of touch with Marcus and his current life than she had believed. Lord
Mark didn't seem to care for his wife's crumpled face past a sneer of
disgust and Marcus had apparently not spoken to his mother in six years.
"Why are you here?" Marcus demanded as he appeared out of nowhere,
just standing beside Harry, glaring at his mother. "Why did you let her
out of the house?" He directed at his father.
"I am wondering that myself." Mark said.
Marcus' jaw clenched. "What did she say?"
"She has tried her level best to insult Lord Potter-Black and his lady
mother."
"You don't get to insult my friends!" Marcus snapped at Theodosia.
"You could do better for friendship than that!" She said, jabbing a finger
at Harry. "Marcus, please, think of your public perception!"
"No." Marcus said easily. "Besides, even if I did give a shit about other
people's opinions, my reputation is not harmed at all by being friends
with Harry. He's going to do amazing things, including writing his own
laws."
"You knew about that?" Theodosia demanded. "How can you support it,
Marcus?"
"I've read his reform, it's honestly brilliant." Marcus insisted. "Harry will
change the world and I'll be behind him all the way."
"You're one of my staunch supporters." Harry laughed. "My tutoring, my
reforms…"
Marcus shrugged a huge shoulder. "You're an amazing wizard."
Theodosia looked like she'd been forced to drink a whole bottle of skele-
gro as she listened to her son, her only child, bigging up Harry.
"You can't truly believe that! He's an imposter, he's not a real pureblood,
no matter how much he tries to pretend that he is."
"Oh, shut up." Marcus snapped. "Why did you let her out of the house?"
He asked his father. "Do you get some sort of sick joy from being
embarrassed at every gathering?"
"I couldn't stand her pleading any longer." Mark told his son.
Harry couldn't imagine speaking about Narcissa in such a way, especially
not in front of her either. Looking at his mother, he mused that he likely
wouldn't survive the experience if he did. He smiled. Narcissa could be
utterly ferocious at times, he still couldn't believe that she'd slapped
Rhadamanthus. He could cast a patronus from that memory alone.
"This is what happens when you give in to her! I will not have her
ruining one of my friendships."
"I wouldn't stop speaking to you for such a small reason." Harry assured
Marcus. "Where have you left Eleanor?"
"She is with her cousin." Marcus assured him.
"She isn't good enough for you either, I wish you would reconsider!"
Theodosia told Marcus, and Harry wondered if she had a death wish.
"I think it's the other way around." Harry cut in. "Marcus certainly doesn't
deserve her."
Marcus snorted, but his shoulders relaxed a fraction.
"How dare you say that about my son!" Theodosia hissed.
"Will you stop saying that?!" Marcus snapped. "I don't want anyone to
know I'm related to you."
"I think it is time that you went home, Dosie. You have once again
proven that you live up to your apt name." Lord Mark told her coldly.
"I…I will not be ordered around, Mark!" She tried to say, but Harry saw
the flicker of fear…she was afraid of her own husband. Harry thought
that was very sad. He couldn't imagine being afraid of Rabastan…
Rodolphus, yes, absolutely, but not Rabastan.
"Do not make me force you, Dosie." Mark said in a low growl.
Theodosia ducked her head and nodded quickly, leaving their company
and, hopefully, heading for the floo.
"I apologise again, Lord Potter-Black. Lady Malfoy. You should not have
had to endure that."
"Think nothing of it, Mark." Narcissa waved away, dropping the
formality. "We have been friends since childhood, I would not take
offence so easily, though I dislike my children being attacked in such a
way."
"I said before, I find such things more amusing than offensive, Lord Flint."
Harry said, smiling.
"Come with me." Marcus ordered.
Harry rolled his eyes, but he gave Narcissa a soft kiss on the cheek before
following Marcus out of the ballroom and into the spectacularly
decorated garden for some privacy. Adrastos, if he truly had been the one
to design the decoration for the garden, had done a really good job of it,
though it was likely a bit more colourful and bright for most muted
purebloods, Harry liked it.
Harry cast a quick muffling charm as he and Marcus sat on a garden
bench made of carved stone. It looked ancient, like some sort of weird
heirloom. Could garden benches be heirlooms?
"What did she say to you?" Marcus demanded.
"Oh, the usual, Marcus. As I said, I'm not bothered by it."
"What specifically?"
"Only that I was an imposter to pureblood society, then she had a dig at
my Wizengamot loss, and she didn't like the thought that I was planning
on changing the laws. I've heard it all before, and worse. It doesn't bother
me." Harry assured Marcus.
"I hate her." Marcus said angrily. "All my life she has only ever been an
embarrassment!"
"Is that why you stopped speaking to her?"
"Yes. I honestly cannot stand her, Harry. She's been named Dosie for as
long as I can remember and she really does live up to it. She's incapable
of thinking before she speaks. She has cost father a lot of allies in the
past, and me quite a number of friends. I don't want that happening
between us."
"It won't because I honestly don't care." Harry said, reaching forward to
lay a hand over Marcus'. "Oh, I also might have implied that there was
more to our walk in the Parkinson's garden than there was…her face was
too funny when she thought she might have had me for a son-in-law."
Marcus snorted a laugh. "Eleanor will find it funny, best be sure that
Rabastan does also."
"He will." Harry said, very sure of himself. He and Rabastan had come a
long way from their fraught beginnings. "We're too close to our wedding
now, Marcus. It's almost all planned, we just need to wait for the day, for
me to graduate. I honestly can't wait."
"Stay safe. I know Dumbledore has his wand in a knot over you, how are
your runes holding up?"
Harry's hand went to his throat. "I barely remember that they're there,
Marcus. I can't thank you enough for doing that for me."
"I said, I like you, Harry. I don't have very many friends, a lot of people
are put off by my temperament."
"Your personality could use some work too." Harry teased.
Marcus snorted a laugh. "You are amusing, I'll give you that. We just click
together, Potter, and I never once thought I'd be saying that. Even my
father likes you."
"I like Lord Mark." Harry said, bobbing his head.
They lapsed into a comfortable silence and Harry stared up at the stars
overhead. It was pitch black outside, except for the line of lanterns
guiding the way around the garden. Harry loved looking at the stars…
when he wasn't forced to observe them for several hours a night and
name them all for Astronomy, that is.
"Don't let that woman change your mind about your reforms." Marcus
told him seriously.
Harry looked back at Marcus to see he'd been watching him. Harry
smiled.
"The thing about me is that I'm incredibly stubborn, Marcus. If someone
tells me not to do something, I'm more likely to go out and do it on
principle. Theodosia will not stop me and I don't give a damn about her
opinion on anything I do."
"Good." Marcus said shortly.
Harry sighed and took out his pocket watch, flicking open the top casing
with his thumb to see the face and the glowing golden numerals.
"It's almost midnight. I don't want to miss the countdown kiss." Harry said
with a smirk.
Marcus rolled his eyes. "It's a ridiculous tradition that Eleanor won't allow
me to miss."
"Come on then. I don't think I'll stay much past midnight, I've had enough
of socialisation for one day."
"Same." Marcus grunted, standing and escorting Harry into the hall before
they both went their separate ways.
Harry schmoozed his way through the ballroom, but it was easy enough
to see the Lestranges…the only thing that gave him pause was the
company they were with…a huge, fearsome-looking man with pointed
teeth and more body hair on show than most animals. Fenrir Greyback.
The werewolf who had eaten Thorfinn Rowle. Harry still didn't know if
Greyback had eaten him alive or dead, he didn't want to know, but
apparently, Greyback liked him because of the Rowle incident. Harry
hadn't actually seen him since that incident either. He didn't come to
every ball or party…Harry wondered when the full moon had been and
whether that had interfered with Greyback coming or not.
Greyback was not moving on, and it was getting closer to midnight, so
Harry sucked it up and he went to Rabastan.
"There you are, is everything alright?" Rabastan asked him.
"Had another run-in, this time with Theodosia Flint, thankfully Mark and
Marcus jumped in quickly." Harry said with a smile before kissing
Rabastan's cheek.
"Harry, you remember Fenrir?" Rodolphus asked.
Harry swallowed and stiffened his spine. He plastered on a smile.
"I do. It's nice to see you again." Harry said, not offering his hand.
Greyback didn't hold his hand out either.
"Got any more meals for me?" Greyback asked him, smirking, showing off
those unnaturally pointed teeth.
Harry forced a laugh. "Unfortunately not. Not at this time, but maybe in
the future."
Greyback looked surprised that Harry had offered this, or perhaps that he
was no longer a scared, skittish boy clinging to his betrothed. Then,
Harry had only been with the Malfoys for five months when they had
hosted the New Year's Eve Ball and he'd met Greyback for the first time.
Harry had done a lot of growing in the year since.
"Let me know and I'll take anything out for you." Greyback told him.
Harry didn't know how to answer that, nor did he know how to have a
conversation with him. He wasn't Remus, for all that they were both
werewolves…Greyback wasn't wearing shoes, his robes didn't fit and
from the body hair on display, he wasn't wearing anything at all under
the precariously fitting black robe either.
"Harry's working on a new law reform that will make your movements a
lot easier." Xerxes cut in, breaking the staring contest as Harry tried not
to show how bothered he was by Greyback staring at him like a steak.
Given his diet and proclivity to eat humans, Harry did not feel at all
comfortable with the analogy.
"I've been stuck over in Ireland for five months because I couldn't get
back." Greyback said, which at least gave Harry some information on
why Greyback had been missing for so long. "I need a way to get in and
out without my movements being questioned or being forced to go for
blood testing every time I want a Portkey."
Harry could understand why Greyback would always be asked about his
movements and why he needed a blood test for a Portkey. He didn't look
human and if he couldn't even be bothered to dress for a party, he likely
only wore that black robe, or something else just as simple. With his
unnerving gaze, thick, bristly body hair that looked almost like fur, and
those pointed teeth, no, he did not look human. Harry's proposal would
make it illegal to discriminate against someone travelling based on their
humanity, so he'd do away with blood testing for a Portkey and he'd
remove the ban on households with creatures having access to the floo. It
was the one thing he'd had to concede on because he knew that little
clause was the only thing most traditionalist purebloods would vote in
favour of…because it was what Voldemort wanted. If he wanted his
proposal passed at all, that little clause had to remain.
It wasn't so bad for 'normal' beings of creature status who just wanted a
holiday, or to see family without travelling the muggle way, but for
creatures like Greyback, who were the opposite of normal…oh, it was
dangerous. Giving Greyback an easier time of going after his targets,
travelling back and forth with ease, without anyone keeping tabs on him,
it was going to be stupid, reckless, but Harry had to do it if his proposal
had even the slightest chance of passing through the Wizengamot. He
wouldn't get anywhere without Voldemort's backing as most of the
purebloods would reject his proposal just because they could. So that
dangerous little clause stayed despite Harry knowing exactly what it
would mean.
"I'm almost done." Harry said softly. "Hopefully, after it has passed, you'll
find things a little easier."
"Never thought you'd be the one to make things easier for me." Greyback
said easily, using overlong, ungroomed nails to scratch at the thick mat of
hair under his chin absently.
"I've been called an injustice warrior." Harry said with a smile. "And a lot
worse besides."
Greyback walked off suddenly, having seen someone he needed to talk
to…likely the person who had sent him after his target in Ireland. It was
just a little before midnight and Harry was relieved.
"You handled that well." Rabastan praised. "I was proud of your
decorum."
"I've faced down worse than Greyback. He hasn't done anything to me
directly and, though I'm not a fan of what he does, I can hold my
composure better now that I'm used to this life a little more."
It was amusing to Harry to see the purebloods doing a New Year
countdown, and he laughed at some of the drunken slurs and speeches,
but dead on midnight, Harry and Rabastan kissed, of course they went
too far and were chastised, but Harry just laughed and did it again.
They didn't stay much past midnight, Harry and Rabastan went back to
Malfoy Manor just before half past, though Rodolphus and Xerxes stayed.
The two of them had a moment on the settee together. Harry had a hot
chocolate and Rabastan a cup of tea as they unwound from the party and
caught one another up on the parts they hadn't been witness to, but it
was getting late and when Draco flooed home, he and Harry went up to
bed together.
"I barely saw you all night, where were you and Astoria hiding?" Harry
teased.
He had been joking, but Draco pinked up and Harry's eyes widened.
"Oh no, you didn't!" Harry hissed.
"No! Nothing so obscene! Astoria wants to remain pure until our wedding
to spite Daphne, but…"
"But what else were you doing?" Harry asked, waggling his eyebrows.
"It was just a little bit of fun." Draco insisted.
"Hey, you won't hear any lectures from me, I wish I could do the same
with Rabastan. If it wasn't for the damn contract I would probably have a
kid by now." Harry laughed.
Draco rolled his eyes, but he was grinning a little bashfully too. Now that
he looked, Harry could see that his usually perfect hair was a little
mussed and his robes were wrinkled…just what had they been doing
together? Draco certainly seemed a little more relaxed than usual. Harry
snickered.
"Oh, shut up, Potter!" Draco complained. "I know exactly what you did on
your holiday to Fiji last August!"
"Well, you know some of what I did on my holiday in Fiji." Harry said
with a wink. "I wouldn't tell you everything, after all. Some things are
just for me and Rabastan. So what did you and Astoria get up to?"
"Just…just a little bit of kissing." Draco said, but he didn't sound
convincing.
"Oh, I think you did a lot more than just kissing." Harry laughed. "You
might want to work on lying better before mother finds out." Harry sing-
songed.
Draco surpassed pink and went red. "Just go to bed already!"
Harry laughed but he did slip into his bed suite. He went straight through
his little living room and into his bedroom, already stripping off his red
robes.
It was coming up to one in the morning, but he could sleep in a little
tomorrow. He had a few more days before he was back in Hogwarts and
he wanted to make the most of his time with Rabastan. He only had a
few more terms left before he graduated and he had a lot on his plate to
juggle before then, chief among them his creature reform proposal. He
needed to get that done and through the Wizengamot before anyone
found out that he was marrying a Lestrange or he could kiss goodbye to
Danforth Longbottom's support, maybe several others as well. He sighed.
He hated the politics of it all, but he was learning how to tread the water
of the political landscape now and he was getting better at it.
Once in his pyjamas, Harry opened his book and told himself he would
read just one chapter before going to sleep, but just a quarter of the way
through he found his eyes closing longer and longer after each blink, so
he called it a night. He'd try again tomorrow.
The room was dark at the edges, lit only by the blazing fire in the centre.
Two men were sat in armchairs to either side of the hearth, both sipping
on a large measure of vintage firewhiskey.
"Something needs to be done." Rhadamanthus said quietly to his
companion. "He is making a mockery of our entire society."
"I would never have believed that Xerxes would be taken in by such a
farce." Corban Yaxley answered, before taking another mouthful of
firewhiskey. "He has always been an example to the rest of our society in
how to behave and conduct one's business."
"His desperation makes me sick." Rhadamanthus spat. "Our line should
carry on through Rodolphus, as my oldest son, and not that pathetic,
weak, blight and a halfblood stain."
"You know that I agree with you." Corban told his nephew. "I told you
that he threatened my daughter. He needs to be taken out."
Rhadamanthus inhaled and looked into the darkness of the room, not
moving, not even blinking.
"He humiliated me tonight." Rhadamanthus growled angrily, breaking the
silence suddenly. "The thought that that idiot boy showed me up in
public, I can't bear the shame of it."
"The shame is on him, but he doesn't care. He doesn't care about
perceptions or appearances. He doesn't belong in such elite circles of
society. He's from the bottom of society, he's scum, and the worst thing
Lucius ever did was adopt him for any reason. It makes me shiver with
revulsion to think of that halfblood parading himself as a pureblood. As if
we don't know that his mother was a filthy mudblood!"
Rhadamanthus' grip tightened on the tumbler in his hand, the
firewhiskey sloshing a little. He took another sip and savoured the burn.
"To think that my family has fallen so low. It galls me, Corban. Just the
knowledge that my grandchild will come from that union, both unworthy
of the Lestrange name, of our history and blood. I cannot allow it to
happen, but I am in the minority, it seems."
"You know I am with you." Corban assured him. "We share opinions on
this and I know a few others who agree with us and our stance."
"I would have counted Sarpedon among those until tonight. He has been
taken in by the boy as well. I don't understand his power, the hold he has
on people of prestige and fully pure blood. The Carrows have killed stains
on their bloodline for less, yet Sarpedon is bending over for an impure
boy." Rhadamanthus spat angrily.
"Sarpedon has just risen in our Lord's ranks, he likely doesn't want to risk
this elevation by acting absent orders, but he will not be averse to
removing him, I am certain of it. We know our Lord has plans for Potter,
so Sarpedon won't be willing to do it himself."
"We will just be killing him a little earlier and saving our Lord the
trouble." Rhadamanthus said.
"We tread a dangerous path, Rhadamanthus. Our Lord has long since
wanted to kill Potter personally."
"Potter doesn't deserve the honour."
"All I am saying is that we need to be careful, and make it look like an
accident, enough so that our Lord doesn't know we were involved in his
death. He will not be upset that he has died, I'm sure of that, but he will
be that he wasn't the one to do it."
Rhadamanthus sat, saying nothing and staring into the crackling fire. He
raised the glass to his lips and drank two swallows of firewhiskey.
Potter was eroding his steel control bit by bit and he hated that the boy
had such a strong effect upon him. He couldn't help himself, however,
not when that boy was concerned. He believed it was because it affected
him directly, with Potter engaged to his unworthy, younger son. The very
thought that his esteemed line would carry on through children of them
both…his free hand clenched into a fist. He couldn't allow it to happen,
but with all but a select few purebloods completely enamoured of the boy
he had to be careful who he approached.
"Did you have any luck with Harvey tonight?" Rhadamanthus asked,
breaking the heavy silence that had fallen over them.
Corban shook his head. "No. He refuses to go against Potter, as he won't
go against Lucius. He doesn't want to risk the marriage of his younger
daughter now that the elder is completely disgraced. He's too indebted to
the Malfoy family."
Rhadamanthus grit his teeth at all of the weak, spineless people who had
overtaken their society. All of them beholden to a halfblood boy.
"Philip?" Rhadamanthus asked, an edge of heat to his tone, though he
tried to control it. It wasn't his uncle he was angry with, but he lost all
rationality when it came to Potter.
"He is more willing. He blames Potter for his current situation with his
son set to marry that unworthy Lovegood girl."
Rhadamanthus didn't know what would be worse, his hated son marrying
a halfblood or a Lovegood. It was no choice, really, but no matter how
eccentric, at least the Lovegoods were fully pure…unlike Potter.
"We can use Philip if needed." Rhadamanthus insisted. "I am glad he sees
things from our perspective."
"He's not afraid to do what needs to be done to remove the blight from
our society. Potter should never have been included and now we only
need a plan to remove him."
Rhadamanthus inhaled deeply and held his breath a moment, before
letting it go and taking another sip of firewhiskey.
"It has to be soon. The wedding is planned for August, I will not risk my
line continuing through such unworthy people."
"That gives us seven months to finally implement this, Rhadamanthus.
We've been trying to do it too subtly, none of our plans have worked thus
far. The boy is wily, I'll give him that."
"I never expected him to thrive as well as he has, but then I had not
realised so many in our society would pander to him."
"He is a commodity, Rhadamanthus." Corban waved off. "People will soon
get bored of him and his strange views. I am sure that some just can't
help but marvel at such an oddity, it will not last. It never does."
"He's dangerous, Corban. His views and stances, I warned you that he is
trying to change our laws! He's a child, he's been in our society for less
than two years and he's trying to come in and change all of our laws and
traditions! He even refused to keep to tradition in his betrothal to
Rabastan and my own father waved it off as if it were nothing."
Rhadamanthus took a breath and then knocked back the remaining
firewhiskey in one go, absorbing the burn as it sunk down his throat and
into his stomach.
"I am sure Dumbledore has put him up to this." Corban pointed out. "He
has long been the bane of our society and his stint as Chief Warlock
proved just how much he hates our society and wishes to change our
traditions. Potter is doing his work."
"I did say the public distance was likely a trick. It has fooled the lords of
esteemed houses and they have more trust in Potter because of it. They
don't see that he's trying to play them."
"I do." Corban said. "I can see what is happening and I am intelligent
enough to deduce their plans. Dumbledore couldn't implement his ploy to
strip our customs and traditions from us, so now he is using Potter to do
it, but it is that it is working that makes me feel so sick. No one is willing
to listen!"
"I have said, they are completely enamoured of him, he is a marvel, but
by the time they realise what he truly is, it will be too late and he would
have changed our ancient laws! I will not stand idle and watch as he does
this."
"You said he is working on some beast reform?"
"He wants to give rights to animals!" Rhadamanthus exploded. "Equal
rights, Corban! Werewolves and vampires and the like, equal to us
pureblood wizards!"
Rhadamanthus went to take a drink, but realised his glass was empty and
he sneered at it.
"Bokey!" Corban called out.
"Master calls for Bokey?" The elderly, ragged elf asked, cowering where
he stood.
"The firewhiskey, now." Corban spat.
The elf left with a soft pop, before reappearing not a moment later, a
large bottle of finest, vintage firewhiskey in hand, which he left on the
table.
"Does Master wish for anything else from Bokey?"
"No." Corban snapped.
The house-elf left quickly and Corban tipped a good measure of the
firewhiskey into Rhadamanthus' glass and then topped his own up.
"I cannot see anyone voting for that proposal, Rhadamanthus. I told you
that he lost the debate to save that vampire. Runcorn didn't even uphold
the law, he took it to a vote when Potter tried desperately to have it
thrown out. He failed."
"That, at least, gives me some small hope. All is not yet lost. We need to
convince more to turn against him. Potter has been indulged for long
enough, too long in my opinion. It is time he was taken out…him and
Rabastan both."
"The biggest obstacle will be Xerxes."
"He has gone soft! He is weak." Rhadamanthus sneered. "Perhaps it was
time he had an accident and I took over the Lestrange lordship. I could
sever the engagement then and prevent the ruination of my family
bloodline. It would have to be before the wedding, there is nothing I can
do once they have wed and consummated the marriage. I will not allow
any child of that union to live, I swear it."
"Rhadamanthus, you are talking patricide. It is no small thing to do."
Corban said worriedly. "Your father is the Dark Lord's most loyal
follower, they are childhood friends, you must be careful with such
thoughts and actions."
Rhadamanthus inhaled deeply and gulped from his glass. "I will be." He
said seriously. "I know how to plan it, Corban. I've done it before. My
father is an old man, an illness at his age won't be questioned so much.
Keep it to yourself and I will do the rest. I dislike the thought of killing
him, but he has gone soft, turned weak, it needs to be done before he
damns the Lestrange family and our bloodline with his actions.
Rodolphus is the only one still worth anything."
Corban said nothing, but he still looked very worried. Rhadamanthus sat
back in the armchair and sipped at the whiskey. He was running out of
time, but he knew better than to attack Potter directly. It had to be done
subtly, but his plan to poison the boy had been too subtle. The poison
was not working as it should because he didn't see Potter often enough to
dose him properly. He only saw him when the betrothal traditions
dictated that he had to be there, but seeing him so sporadically was not
enough and the poison, despite how strong it was, didn't seem to have an
effect on him. He had poisoned the boy's hot chocolate directly on
Christmas morning, he'd sat and watched him drink it, but he hadn't even
gotten sick off of it and he couldn't fathom the reason why.
No matter. He would change targets and work to remove his weak,
ageing father. Then, as next in line, he would take over the Lestrange
lordship and he would immediately sever the engagement between
Rabastan and the boy and finally do away with the disgusting wretches,
the both of them.
His esteemed line would continue on through Rodolphus, the only
Lestrange, besides himself, who was still of value. He smirked to himself
and took another sip of firewhiskey. Soon, he placated himself. He might
be running out of time, but there was enough time left before that cursed
wedding in August to do away with the embarrassments; the stains on
the Lestrange family tree.
41. Accusations
Last Time
His esteemed line would continue on through Rodolphus, the only Lestrange,
besides himself, who was still of value. He smirked to himself and took another
sip of firewhiskey. Soon, he placated himself. He might be running out of time,
but there was enough time left before that cursed wedding in August to do
away with the embarrassments; the stains on the Lestrange family tree.
Chapter Forty-One – Accusations
The Garnet Swan had become one of Harry's most favourite places and he
knew he was seen coming and going from the restaurant often. He knew
that he always had his photo taken as he entered as he'd seen them in all
the gossip rags, and even the Daily Prophet if they had a slow news day,
it was why he always made sure that he was dressed to impress and
tonight was no different.
It was the second of January and tonight was his second dinner date with
Rabastan, his extra gifts for Christmas. He made sure to take extra special
notice of the decorations this time as he was led through the busy
restaurant by the maître d, as the hosts and hostesses weren't allowed to
escort anyone up to the private rooms, and Harry saw the pine tree
wreaths dotted around and he considered if he'd want those, or
something similar, as a wedding decoration…he conceded that it was
certainly better than flowers or ribbons or netting.
He was led up the stairs to the first floor with the private rooms and as
the maître d politely bowed himself away and left back down the stairs,
Harry knocked on the third door, the room that was furthest from the
staircase, the one that had become 'theirs', just to let Rabastan know that
he was there, before he opened the door and slipped inside.
He smiled so widely to see Rabastan, as if they hadn't seen one another
for lunch. Rabastan hadn't even gone home over the winter break, they
had spent all of their time together.
"Did you have any troubles?"
"What, walking from the front door, up the stairs, and to this room?"
Harry asked, teasing.
"I'm just making sure." Rabastan said, chuckling.
Harry embraced him and then lifted himself to his toes for a kiss. A
strong, stable arm wrapped around him and lifted him slightly higher.
Harry sunk into that kiss and he let out a soft moan. He couldn't wait
until they were married, when no one could tell them they couldn't have
sex.
They broke apart, breathing heavily, and Rabastan actually shook his
head a little, before he led Harry to the beautifully dressed table. Harry
made sure to look at the pine tree wreath, seeing the branches woven
together with magic…it was too seamless to have been done by hand.
"Do you like it?" Rabastan asked, sitting down and noticing where his
attention was.
"Better than flowers and ribbons, at least." Harry said with a grin.
"I think trees and greenery is a better fit for the both of us. It will keep
Narcissa happy too."
"It's a good compromise." Harry agreed, as if deciding on wedding
decorations was a political situation that needed such compromise…he
supposed with Narcissa that was exactly what it was.
Harry perused the menu offered to him. Unlike when he was in school,
and they were usually on a time limit to get Harry back to Hogwarts as
quickly as possible so that he could sleep before he had classes, during
the holidays he could stay as long as he liked and he could order for
himself.
"I think I want to try the duck." Harry said.
Rabastan looked at him. "Is that the first time you've tried duck?"
Harry nodded. "Yeah, but I like the sound of plum sauce."
"We'll order the lamb to share, as we both like that, just in case you don't
like it."
"Is it okay to do that?" Harry asked.
"Of course. Harry, we can order what we please." Rabastan told him with
a gentle smile.
Harry smiled happily at that and he looked the menu over again, but he
really wanted to try the duck.
Rabastan was…not quite polite to the house-elf who took their order, but
he wasn't rude either. He was completely stoic and brusque, as if he had
no emotions, and Harry could live with that.
Their food arrived very quickly and Harry would always marvel at the
exemplary service of The Garnet Swan.
"Thank you." Harry said to the house-elf who served him, and to his
credit, Rabastan didn't even grimace anymore.
Harry tentatively sliced a piece of the soft, tender meat and popped it
into his mouth, considering the flavour. The plum sauce was thick and
smooth, with a spicy kick, but there was a sweetness to it too. A tartness
that Harry found he actually liked. The duck was tender and delicious,
with a rind of crispy fat and skin.
"Do you like it?" Rabastan asked him.
Harry nodded. "I really do, I'm glad I tried it."
Rabastan smiled so softly at him, and Harry smiled back, leaning over the
rather small, intimate table to give him a kiss.
"I'm so happy to see you trying new foods without it being forced on you.
You have come a long way in just over a year, my love."
Harry's grin went goofy. "It'll be two years before our wedding."
"It's a shame your mother vetoed the idea of having our wedding be on
the second year anniversary of the day we met."
"It was too close to my birthday." Harry said, rolling his eyes. "The prissy
purebloods need at least a full week to recover from each party." He
giggled at the last and Rabastan laughed at him. "Couldn't you have
waited an extra day to meet me, my love?"
Harry cut another piece of meat and popped it into his mouth, loving the
flavour combinations.
"My only wish is that I had met you sooner." Rabastan told him.
Harry made a noise in his throat, shaking his head. He swallowed. "No,
that would have been a bad idea, love. I was not the most open or
accepting back then and I was still furious at my adoption. I was very
badly behaved."
"You still are." Rabastan teased him.
Harry snorted. "A different sort of ill behaviour." Harry insisted with a
grin.
"How is your therapy going?" Rabastan asked him gently, aware that this
was a hit and miss topic with Harry, depending on what mood he was in.
"Have you had an appointment through?"
Harry swallowed his mouthful. He nodded. "Yes, the tenth. I'm very
nervous about it, but…Healer Vasey was really nice to me. He listened
and didn't make me feel weird."
"I'm pleased that you can talk to him, you've been through a lot, my love.
I want you to feel better."
"I'm getting more used to the thought of sharing my thoughts and feelings
with a stranger. I want it to work, Rabastan."
"How are you feeling about the sentencing in three days?" Rabastan asked
cautiously.
"Umbridge deserves all that's coming to her." Harry declared. "She was a
grown woman torturing children under her care. I don't like the
Dementors, you know I don't, but if anyone deserved to be thrown to
them, it's her."
"You're in a very vicious mood tonight, Harry." Rabastan said observing
him closely.
"Your lord is in a bad mood and it's affecting my own." Harry grumbled.
"Do you know why?" Rabastan asked him seriously.
"No, nor do I want to know, Rabastan. I don't want a vision right now
when I'm trying to have a nice meal with you."
Rabastan blinked and tempered himself, and his curiosity. "You're right,
we're having a lovely dinner and I don't want anything to disrupt that. Do
you have a headache?"
"It's building." Harry said, trying not to grit his teeth. "If this carries on I
might get a nosebleed or pass out. Will you stay with me if that
happens?"
"I would not leave you alone, my love." Rabastan insisted.
"Even if your lord called you?" Harry pressed.
Rabastan hesitated, but it was only for a moment. "I would stay with
you." He said seriously. "You're always going to be my priority, Harry."
That made Harry smile and he stopped eating to reach over the table to
squeeze Rabastan's hand. "Thank you."
"There's no need to thank me, Harry. I love you."
"I love you too, Basti."
Harry's headache did come roaring into his brain, but he tried to ignore it
as they finished their main meal, shared the lamb dish between them,
and then several desserts, most of which Harry ate, trying everything,
including something called a panna cotta. It was weird, but he did
actually like it.
"Of course you do, it's full of sugar." Rabastan chuckled.
After their several desserts, they moved to the comfortable chairs with
after-dinner coffee. Harry ignored the second chair and instead, he took
up a spot on Rabastan's lap, cuddling in and just enjoying himself with
his fiancé…in just seven months they would be husbands.
"Did your stomach ache pass?" Rabastan asked him.
Harry hummed. "Yes. I don't know why I've had so many in the last few
weeks, but I feel fine now."
"I told you that you'd eaten too much of Rodolphus' gift in one go."
Rabastan said with a smile.
Harry harrumphed. "It's so delicious, though."
"He likes watching you eat it. I've never seen him so…I wouldn't say
happy, but he's content. He's more at ease. I like seeing him that way. It's
almost how he was before Bellatrix, but it was so long ago now that they
were married. All of his adult life has been through the veil of Bellatrix. I
hate that."
"I tried so hard to find a loophole for him, but Rhadamanthus didn't leave
one. Our only hope now is that Bellatrix dies and frees Rodolphus
through death."
"She's very valuable to the Dark Lord." Rabastan sighed. "Perhaps if she
weren't we could ask his permission for a favour, but we know better."
"I was the Lestrange gift." Harry said sourly.
"Please, don't think of it that way, Harry. It cheapens what we've
managed to build together. I love you. I truly love you and I cannot abide
the thought of anything happening to you. I have even defended you
against my own family, which, as you know, is against pureblood culture
before we are married. I didn't care because I love you."
Harry's shoulders eased down and he sighed. "Sorry, I didn't mean that to
sound as hostile as it came out. I'm just fed up of the stomach aches, the
headaches, and Voldemort being in a bad mood always puts me in one.
It's like his mood leeches into mine. It's a shame I haven't learned to force
it the other way yet."
Rabastan gave a startled laugh, but he bent his head to kiss Harry's
forehead.
"I don't think anyone quite realised exactly how compatible we'd be when
your father first offered you to me. Perhaps you were intended as a gift in
the beginning because who could have possibly foreseen exactly how
much we'd like one another? We have had our moments, of course, but
we've been so willing to work on it, Harry where perhaps others forced
together like we were wouldn't have even tried. I know Rodolphus and
Bellatrix didn't even try to like one another. I know Rodolphus tried to do
his duty to our family in the beginning, but he stopped very quickly. He
didn't have the will to keep pursuing something he didn't even want."
"I'm glad it was you and not Rodolphus." Harry said quietly. "I like him,
but I couldn't be married to him. He'd try to break me, change me, and I
couldn't accept that. I'd have fought him every step of the way and our
relationship would be as bad as his one with Bellatrix."
"Rhadamanthus ruined him." Rabastan sighed. "He was more agreeable
and open to compromise before he was married, but after…it doesn't
matter. I am glad that we are together, Harry. I cannot imagine my life
without you anymore."
"Well, thankfully, you don't have to. We're going to be together and very
soon we're going to be married and we'll have our first baby, Rabastan.
I'm still hoping for a little Rodina."
Rabastan's smile was so gentle as he stroked through Harry's hair,
holding him close.
"What about Ru for a boy?"
"As in, rue the day he was born?" Harry laughed, then shook his head.
"How about Xanthus, after Xerxes?" Harry said seriously.
Rabastan looked down at him. "I like that name and that it would honour
my grandfather."
"So, our firstborn will be either Rodina or Xanthus. It's only taken us
several months to decide."
"We are not even expecting." Rabastan reminded him with a chuckle.
"Most parents are still arguing six days after the baby is born."
"It's traditional that the baby is announced a week after they're born,
right?" Harry asked.
"Exactly a week after they're born." Rabastan nodded. "Any later will
cause a complete scandal and there have been occasions of babies having
their names announced beforehand by overly excited family members,
but I would not have my child disrespected in such a way. I would like to
keep to tradition on this matter, for our children's sake."
Harry nodded. "Okay."
Rabastan relaxed under him, as if he had been preparing for an
argument, but Harry ignored that. If it was that important to Rabastan
then he could keep his baby a 'secret' for a week after they were born. It
would allow him to have some much-needed peace and time to bond
with his new baby without everyone and their mother descending on
him. He liked that thought too.
It was getting late and they'd already had three cups of tea snuggled
together. They couldn't keep putting off leaving.
"Your parents will be worried."
Harry scoffed. "Worried that we're conceiving a child." He said cheekily.
"I would rather not be confronted when we arrived back." Rabastan told
him. "Your mother is particularly protective of you."
Harry laughed, because Narcissa really was very overprotective of him
and Draco both.
"Oh, fine!" Harry sighed, easing up, but he bent down quickly for a deep
kiss before he stood and stretched.
Rabastan wrapped strong arms around his waist and hugged him tight.
"I love the freedom of being in this little room." Harry said, looking
around it fondly. "Even at home we're always watched and chastised."
"Not for much longer, my love."
Harry inhaled and considered that he would be getting married this year.
He would, hopefully, be pregnant this year too, though the earliest he
would give birth was in May of next year if he carried his baby full term.
He would have a year, perhaps a little less than that given that he
couldn't work on his career as much while he was still in school, to settle
into his chosen political career. He was going to start his rise to the very
top office and he was determined to reach it. His family was always
going to come first, his children doubly so, which made this first year so
vitally important, but he had the motivation, the determination, he knew
he could do it and he would.
Xerxes swept into the courtroom on Monday the fifth of January, the first
working day after the winter holidays, and quickly found Lucius in the
benches.
"Did Harry get onto the train alright?" He asked as a greeting, sitting
beside the other man.
"He did. Narcissa has plied both boys with enough food and drinks to see
them to Hogwarts."
"When is that governor's meeting, Lucius?"
"Harry will meet with them on the eleventh. With some luck,
Dumbledore will not remain long in his position after that. He is very
pleased."
Xerxes nodded, knowing that the 'he' spoken of was their lord. He was
also very pleased that Harry would be safer in just a matter of weeks.
He'd grown to care for the boy, despite that he'd only cared in the
beginning as he was a way to continue the Lestrange bloodline, now was
a different matter. Now, he cared for Harry as a person. The boy had a
way of worming his way in deeply and making others like him and want
to look after him and Xerxes did want to look after him. Any threat to
Harry was to be taken seriously and the perpetrator eliminated…and not
merely because he was marrying Rabastan in a few months and carrying
on his bloodline, either. He truly cared for him and proof of that was, if
for whatever reason the wedding didn't go through, and Harry and
Rabastan's relationship fell apart, he thought he would struggle to stop
caring for Harry, to stop looking out for him, teaching him, protecting
him. It would be exceptionally difficult to pull himself back from those
feelings and that was how he knew, without doubt, that he cared for
Harry as a person. He didn't just care, or have feelings, about just anyone.
They were called to order quickly by the newly elected puppet Minister,
Pius Thicknesse, and Xerxes' shifted himself into a comfortable position
before the doors to the courtroom opened. His face split into a smug
smirk as a rather ragged-looking Dolores Umbridge was brought into the
courtroom by an auror and chained to the plain, wooden chair below
them.
She was thinner than she had been the last he'd seen her and the dark
circles around her puffy eyes were prominent, making her face seem
more skull-like. She looked utterly defeated and after what he'd heard
about her methods of dealing with mere children, it pleased him to see
her visibly suffering for her decision to torture children, and particularly
Harry, who he had learned had been permanently scarred by this woman.
"Dolores Jane Umbridge, you are summoned here today to hear the
sentencing passed unto you by the members of the Wizengamot and the
Council of Magical Law." Thicknesse announced clearly to the room, the
reporters already scribbling furiously with their self-inking quills.
The ragged woman tried to speak, but whatever words she said didn't
reach them in the stands. She was not permitted to speak during her
sentencing, the trial was already over and the vote cast, so there was a
barrier ward to prevent what she was saying from reaching them. They
had already voted on the matter, they could not change their minds
now…not that anyone would. Xerxes had never known anyone to vote
one way, then regret it so shortly afterwards. Unless they had been
bribed, coerced, or otherwise forced to vote against how they truly felt in
the first place, but he wasn't going to count those.
Thicknesse did not hurry himself, as he made it a point of reading
through the thick folder he had in front of him. It detailed exactly how
each member had voted. Xerxes would eat his own wand if Thicknesse
hadn't already read it and knew exactly how everyone in the room had
voted. He would have reported it straight to The Dark Lord, given that
Thicknesse was his puppet. He was more interested in hearing if anyone
had actually opposed the Azkaban sentence. He knew, from speaking to
those lords on the Wizengamot, and a few select friends on the Council of
Magical Law, that the sentence would be strongly in favour of an
Azkaban sentence and given the severity of her crimes, that sentence
would be life. Despite his quirks, and his very opinionated tongue, Harry
was rather well-liked by most members of the Wizengamot, and most of
those on the Council of Magical Law still bought into the hype of The-
Boy-Who-Lived and had not been pleased, at all, to hear that this woman
had tortured him for an entire school year. Most of the general public
had not been pleased to read that little titbit in the papers, either. If
Umbridge was acquitted, as difficult as that was to believe, there would
be a public uproar and Xerxes was almost certain that someone would
take the law into their own hands, and he didn't mean himself or his boys
either. It wasn't that he wouldn't want to do it, it was just that he knew
the person responsible would likely be caught given the highly public
nature of the accused.
"You have been accused of child endangerment and with the abuse of
children placed in your care." Thicknesse carried on. "On those charges,
you have been found guilty."
The pleasure that surged through him had him taking in an extra deep
breath as he felt vindicated on Harry's behalf and those charges were
only the general accusations. Harry's personal accusations were much
more serious, including the attempted use of an unforgivable curse.
"For those crimes, you have been sentenced to eighteen years in Azkaban
prison." Thicknesse told her, his smile was nasty and Xerxes wanted to
smirk. They both knew what was coming next…everyone knew what was
coming next as the reporters were scribbling furiously and an air of
anticipation grew within the courtroom.
"She'll get life for what she did to our Harry." Xerxes hissed at Lucius,
who flicked grey eyes to him and smirked.
"If there is any justice in this world she will." Another voice added in.
Xerxes didn't turn to look behind him, but both he and Lucius tipped
their heads just slightly over their shoulders to see Lord Dawson
Shacklebolt sitting in the row behind them, looking as vindictive as
Xerxes felt.
He had never been that close or friendly with Lord Shacklebolt, but he
felt a small connection between them in that moment. Harry had worked
hard to cultivate his own connections and allies within the Wizengamot,
and Dawson Shacklebolt was among the staunchest of Harry's allies and
supporters. In this, at least, they were entirely on the same page.
Umbridge deserved her life sentence for what she had done to Harry and
numerous other children trustingly placed under her care.
"For the excessive torture of Lord Harry James Potter-Black…" Thicknesse
called out, starting little hissed whispers and causing the reporters to lean
forward, hanging on his every word. "…whom we have heard personal
accounts of the countless torture sessions you forced him to endure via
the illegal, misuse of a contract quill, which resulted in permanent
scarring, you have been found guilty. For causing him suffering and
physical pain due to your own personal agenda against him, which saw
you keeping him in a permanent detention, oftentimes past his curfew
and sometimes until midnight on a school night, you have been found
guilty. On the most serious charge, of the attempted use of the
unforgivable curse, the Cruciatus, on a minor, you have been found
guilty." Thicknesse declared, glaring down at the withered woman. "For
your crimes, you have been sentenced to life in Azkaban prison."
Xerxes felt like his chest might burst he was that pleased with the
outcome. He couldn't wait to go back home to tell Rodolphus and
Rabastan that Harry had a portion of his justice served.
"The Wizengamot voted for this outcome fifty-one to two." Thicknesse
intoned officially and Xerxes' hand clenched. He would find out who
those two were, but he had a feeling he already knew as his gaze sought
out Nott and Yaxley in the chamber. "The Council of Magical Law voted
in favour of this outcome forty-eight to twelve."
Xerxes would find out exactly who those twelve had been to. How
anyone could even think of finding her not guilty after all the evidence
they had against her, and the testimony they'd heard, not just from
Harry, but from a dozen others also, was beyond his comprehension.
He wouldn't need to do much of anything, either. Not personally, at least.
He would find out the names of those who had opposed the Azkaban
sentence and he would throw them to the public court via the papers and
he would watch as their reputations were torn to shreds for their decision
to stand by this condemned woman. They had truly committed social
suicide by opposing this, especially with the tumult mood of the general
public. There had almost been a riot in the Ministry atrium that very
morning as they arrived for the sentencing and Xerxes had needed to
actually, physically shove his way through them to get to the courtrooms.
"The accused has been found guilty by this court and will be taken
immediately to Azkaban prison to serve a life sentence for her crimes
against children and her personal, prolonged torture of Lord Harry James
Potter-Black." Thicknesse intoned.
Xerxes held in his shiver as the unnatural iciness swept over him. The
doors to the courtroom opened and two Dementors glided through.
Xerxes was glad that Harry wasn't here to witness this, given his very
visceral, distressing reaction to the creatures.
Harry not being here, however, meant that he could sit and watch, smug
and pleased as Umbridge tried pleading and begging, screaming as the
Dementors grabbed her arms, and then the chains on the chair slid away,
allowing them to drag her from the chair and across the floor, all dignity
lost and thrown away in the face of what she had been condemned to,
her eyes almost rolling at the touch of the two Dementors who would
escort her to her cell…her new home for the rest of her miserable life.
Once the doors closed, the effects of the Dementors dampened and people
took in relieved breaths and warmth and noise came back, as dozens of
people suddenly started talking to their neighbours.
"This court will take a recess of two hours before we reconvene."
Thicknesse called out, raising his voice just slightly, before turning from
the Ministerial podium and stepping down. Albert Runcorn was right
beside him, waiting, making a ploy at congratulating the new Minister on
his first official sentencing. Xerxes hid a smirk and turned to Lucius.
"Will you visit the school tonight to see Harry?" He asked.
"He deserves to know of this in person. This trial had set back some of his
confidence."
"Surely not?" Dawson asked from above them, frowning.
Lucius turned to Lord Shacklebolt and nodded gravely. "Unfortunately so.
Harry felt that he was too emotional during his testimony and he felt that
he didn't do himself justice. He has convinced himself that he has failed
himself, and the other children she harmed, by not being able to turn his
emotions off to speak clearly enough at his testimony."
"He is certainly something else." Dawson shook his head. "He did not
come across poorly during his testimony, of course he would be
emotional, she personally tortured him for a school year and would press
her fingers into his wounds to make damn sure he was permanently
scarred from it!"
"The result of the trial will go a way in convincing him that he didn't
come across poorly, or ruin his own justice and that of other students. I
will speak to him." Lucius said firmly.
"As if he hasn't been through enough." Dawson said shaking his head,
before he was distracted by Harfang Longbottom.
"He is right about one thing, Harry certainly has been through enough
already." Xerxes whispered to Lucius.
"Will you head home to share the news?" Lucius asked.
Xerxes nodded. "I will see you in two hours, Lucius. With some luck, we
can also see Fudge to Azkaban tonight."
Lucius nodded and, once they were out of the courtroom, they joined the
flow of people towards the lifts at the end of the corridor. They had to
remain silent as they were squashed in with numerous others, but once
they made it to the Atrium, they found one another and then headed for
the floo banks. The protesting people had been moved away by security
while they had been in court, so they thankfully didn't have to fight their
way back out.
"I will see you after the recess." Lucius said by way of goodbye, and
Xerxes raised a hand in farewell, heading to an open floo bank.
The manor was quiet as he arrived, but he knew Rodolphus and Rabastan
were waiting for him. It would be a bit of an early lunch for the court,
which is why they had been given two hours, and not one.
"Grandfather, did she get life?" Rabastan demanded the moment he
entered the parlour, not even allowing him to sit first.
Xerxes looked at Rabastan. He was a whole man now, and not a mere
shell or a parody of one. Harry had helped so much in that regard.
Rabastan hadn't wanted to do it for himself, but for a partner? A fiancé?
A future husband and the promise of a family? Yes, Rabastan had come
so very far and he looked strong and handsome. He had grown into the
potential he had shown at nineteen, before he'd been locked into
Azkaban and started wasting away. Harry had done that. Harry had given
him back his dignity and worth and had saved him.
"She did, Rabastan. I assured you that she would."
Rabastan eased down. He swallowed hard, his hands held in tight fists.
"Just the thought of her perhaps getting away with what she did to him.
If only half of what was posted in the paper is true…"
"It's all true." Xerxes confided. "Harry suffered greatly at her hands the
year before he joined our society."
"Now all we need are those muggle monsters who tortured him as well."
Rodolphus put in darkly.
"You are getting ahead of yourselves." Xerxes warned. "Allow Harry to
absorb this victory first before you start reminding him of other injustices
done to him. He needs the time to process it."
"Do you think he will be alright with hearing this news?" Rabastan
fretted, causing Rodolphus to roll dark eyes.
"Lucius is going to see him in person, Basti. He will make sure that Harry
is alright."
"What of Fudge?" Rodolphus asked.
"I have a two hour recess before heading back to deal with him." Xerxes
said darkly. "It isn't as clear cut if he will also be sentenced, his testimony
that he knew nothing about what she was doing at Hogwarts held up
under questioning. We will have to wait and see, but his political career
is over. He hasn't been out of his house in weeks as people started
spitting on him and sending hexes and jinxes his way. Either way, he is
finished in decent society."
Xerxes drank a small measure of firewhiskey before he took his grandsons
to the dining room for an early lunch. He oversaw them taking what few
potions they had remaining, Rodolphus had more than his brother, but
he had the overall larger body mass.
He would be back in court soon enough and he would leave Lucius to
deal with Harry, and hopefully, the next he saw his sweet grandson-in-
law, he was back to his confident, self-assured state.
Lucius kissed Narcissa gently as he prepared to floo to Hogwarts.
"Make sure that you are gentle with Harry, Lucius." Narcissa reminded
him.
"I will be, Cissa. He is anxious enough, but he got some portion of justice
today. Fudge might have been acquitted, but Umbridge was sentenced to
life."
"Good." Narcissa said viciously.
Lucius smiled at her and kissed her one last time before he flooed to
Hogwarts.
"Ah, Lucius. Good evening." Dumbledore greeted him genially.
"Dumbledore. As I stated in my letter, I have come to see Harry."
"Of course. If the rumours coming from the Ministry today are to go by,
he should be put at ease."
"The news will make the morning Prophet, but I feel Harry deserves to
hear the results in person."
"Indeed. I believe he is in his rooms. Draco is with him."
Lucius had expected that as he nodded and left the office. Draco had
become so very overprotective of Harry. It was amusing to him and to
Narcissa to watch them together, to see how they treated one another
now compared to how they once had. He still remembered punishing
them both for fighting, Harry stood pouting with a bloody lip and Draco
with teeth marks in his side. They had truly tested the limits of his
patience back then, but to see them now, it was as if they had been born
as brothers and Draco took his sibling duties, as the elder, very seriously.
Lucius' lips twitched to form a smile as he headed to Harry's private
rooms on the fourth floor. It was late, the boys had only arrived at the
castle perhaps an hour ago.
He knew that the results of the trial would be in the morning Prophet,
there were rumours already leaking from the Ministry and the last thing
he wanted was for Harry to see those results in the paper, or to be told of
them by someone else.
Lucius knocked on the door softly, knowing that his boys would likely be
in the living area of the rooms.
It was Draco who opened the door for him.
"Father." He greeted. "Can I offer you some tea?"
"That would be lovely, Draco." Lucius replied as he entered the private
room.
Harry was on the settee, already drinking a cup of tea, looking anxious
and far too miserable. Narcissa would not be pleased if he left these
rooms with Harry still in such a state.
"Harry, you fret far too much."
"I have already told him that he has nothing to worry about." Draco said
with a sniff, pouring a fresh cup of tea. "He won't listen."
"Then allow me to dispel any doubt you have. Umbridge was sentenced
to life in Azkaban." Lucius said with no preamble.
Harry looked up, a mix of shock, vindictive happiness, and still a touch of
worry to his expression.
"I told you she would be!" Draco gloated, passing him a cup and then
sitting back down beside Harry.
"She really was sentenced to life?" Harry asked tentatively.
"For what she did to you, yes." Lucius said firmly.
"And the others." Harry added stubbornly.
"She only got eighteen years for the others. She got life for what she did
to you, Harry."
"It was the Cruciatus curse that got her life, wasn't it?" Harry asked softly.
"It helped. That she was so willing and ready to cast it upon a fifteen-
year-old student in her care showed how truly despicable she was. That
she had also permanently scarred you was another strike against her and
her character." Lucius explained.
"What about Fudge? I don't think he deserves Azkaban. I'm sure he didn't
know what she was doing, when she went to cast the Cruciatus, she put
the photo of him on her desk face down, so he wouldn't see."
"Your testimony in his favour spared him Azkaban." Lucius said, trying
not to show how displeased he was at this. Fudge had been a bumbling,
incompetent fool. Useful when he could whisper into his ear, but
dangerous in other aspects, like his utter lack of forethought in posting
an unqualified person to a teaching position and giving her almost sole
control of a school, the students of which she had tortured and scarred.
Harry looked up, staring at his face as if looking for a lie, before he
finally smiled. Lucius sighed. Harry was too good a person for his own
good, but, Lucius smiled back at him all the same. He was a gentle boy,
sweetly natured. It was perhaps a little foolhardy to encourage such
traits, but they made Harry who he was as a person. Lucius didn't want to
change him overly much. He just wanted to give him the tools he needed
to get through adulthood and Harry had taken on those teachings
wonderfully well over the past year and a half.
"I bet Xerxes wasn't pleased that Fudge got off." Harry said, drinking his
own tea more happily, even picking up a biscuit to nibble, the anxiety
and stress of a few minutes ago gone.
"He wasn't. As you know, he wanted them both to be sentenced to life in
Azkaban, he is very fond of you, and protective besides. I would not want
to be the one to threaten or harm you with him around."
Harry snorted a laugh, giving him a grin, his miserable mood from when
he had first arrived had evaporated in an instant. Lucius was pleased, and
so too was Draco, from the smile he sent to his brother.
"Now, were there any issues on the train?" He asked before taking a sip of
his tea.
"Not unless you count Daphne trying to crawl into Theo's lap and beg his
forgiveness." Draco said, his eyes glinting with mirth.
"It was so disgraceful after the way she'd treated him, and in front of
Luna too!" Harry said, angry on his friends' behalf.
"She has no marriage prospects anymore." Lucius told them. "She has no
safety net to keep her from the likes of Lucan Selwyn or Amycus Carrow,
the only ones who would be desperate enough to take her as a wife. Of
course she is trying to beg Theodore's forgiveness. Keep a watch out for
her, and keep an eye on each other. If there is any sign of a love potion,
floo call me immediately."
"You think she would be that desperate?" Draco asked worriedly.
"I would be if I had to marry Selwyn or Amycus Carrow." Harry said
darkly.
"I do not believe she would have any qualms about hurting her own
sister, either, Draco. She is definitely the sort who would look after
herself and no one else." Lucius warned. "So do not think yourself safe
from her by the grace of your betrothal to Astoria, she will try anything,
with anyone that she can and she will be seeking a pregnancy, as Pansy
did, to escape whatever fate befalls her."
Draco had paled a little and Lucius did not like that his words had been
the cause, but he would rather that the boys were prepared for this
eventuality. Draco had proven himself willing to sleep with Daphne
before this, and his betrothal to Daphne's sister had not stopped him, so
Daphne might well take that as permission to trample all over Astoria to
save herself by trapping Draco into a loveless marriage via love potions
and a pregnancy.
"Look out for one another." He reiterated sternly. "If either of you start
acting strangely, or profess love for Daphne, you will go straight to
Severus and floo call me from his office, am I clear?"
"Yes, Father." Both boys said seriously, in unison.
Lucius stared at them both for a moment, then nodded. "Good. I do not
want to have to tell your mother that you were not taking care of one
another, nor that you will have to be married to Daphne Greengrass to
legitimise a baby neither of you want with her."
Harry actually shuddered, and Lucius sighed, knowing that his tastes ran
into men, it would likely be worse for Harry than Draco, but neither of
them would be happy if such a thing happened. He would have to think
seriously about what his next steps would be if such a thing happened,
though hopefully it wouldn't come to that. Xerxes would likely take
matters into his own hands if Harry became Daphne's target, but if she
went for Draco, as they had once shared a bed, then he would have to be
the one to clean up…even if it meant murdering the girl and his unborn
grandchild to save Draco's happiness.
Harry had only been back at Hogwarts for a single night when he was
called to the Headmaster's office. It was Tuesday the sixth of January and
he had been excused from his morning lessons for this, and Harry was
furious. He couldn't afford to miss classes this close to his exams and he
stomped all the way up to the Headmaster's office, intent on giving him a
piece of his mind.
Those thoughts flew out of his head, along with his black mood, when he
entered and found a selection of the school governors already seated
before Dumbledore's desk. Lucius was not one of them. Alarm bells
started sounding as he remembered that his meeting with the governors,
which was not supposed to be in front of Dumbledore, was going to be
held on the eleventh of January, not the sixth.
"Ah, Harry, please take a seat." Dumbledore said jovially, as if having
Harry here was his greatest joy in life.
Harry was ill at ease and he didn't know why. He quickly argued the pros
and cons of sitting or asking to remain standing.
"Sir, I don't like that my lessons are being continually interrupted. Is this
matter of vital importance?" He tried.
"I am afraid it is, Harry." Dumbledore told him, his jovial tone turning
grave.
He'd tried to get out of it, but he would have no choice but to sit now and
he didn't want to. He didn't know why.
"Can I ask that my parents are called to represent me and my interests?"
He asked, though everyone there knew he was not asking, but
demanding.
"Your parents were contacted, but your father is busy at work and your
mother was not at home." Dumbledore told him, his voice pitched to
sound sad and regretful this time.
"Then, I would ask that this meeting be postponed until such a time that
they can represent me." Harry insisted.
"I am afraid that this is too important a matter to be put aside." One of
the governors said primly.
"You're asking me to forgo parental representation, as is my right." Harry
pointed out. "It doesn't matter how important you feel the reason is, I
have the legal right to have one or both of my parents here as needed."
"You are correct, of course, you know you are." One man said, a look of
barely concealed disdain on his face. Harry knew this man just from his
demeanour, recounted by Lucius; Mister Cordant, and he knew that his
father didn't like him at all. "But you are facing expulsion, this matter
cannot wait, unless you agree to a period of suspension until a date can
be set for your parents' convenience."
Harry hated him immediately and knew exactly why Lucius didn't like
him either. He was a fan of Dumbledore, which meant that he hated
Harry for turning on the old man and would do anything Dumbledore
asked of him to get back at Harry for it.
"And why am I facing expulsion?" Harry asked calmly. If this was
Dumbledore's latest plot to try and control him, by ruining his future,
Harry was going to kill the man by any means necessary.
"For allegations of cheating!" Mister Cordant told him with a firm nod of
his head, as if it was already a fact.
"Cheating at what?" Harry asked, his temper starting to rise.
"On one of your mock NEWT papers last term." Dumbledore said softly,
patting a pile of parchment beside him and Harry saw that it was his
Ancient Runes mock exam, on which he'd scored a perfect one hundred
per cent and got an O.
"For starters, I never cheated on it. And secondly, since when has
cheating on a mock exam been grounds for suspension, let alone
expulsion?" He asked. "It's not as if it was my actual NEWT exam that
would affect my career choices."
"So you admit to cheating?" Mister Cordant burst out loudly.
Harry's heart started beating faster as his anger rose hot. He took a
controlled breath as he made a conscious effort to keep his hands relaxed
and not ball them into fists.
"I had no need to cheat when I'm already achieving top marks as the
highest scoring student in my year." Harry said.
"How is this possible when you changed electives late and only picked up
the subject in your sixth year?" A woman asked snobbishly.
"I had a private tutor, which is neither against the rules of this school nor
against the law." Harry said his tone clipped.
"We at the schoolboard don't believe you to be capable of these sorts of
scores with less than two years of learning." Mister Cordant told him
angrily. "We fully believe that the complainant is correct that you
cheated on this test, among others."
Harry's eyes rose to Dumbledore sitting behind his desk and wondered if
he was the complainant.
"How do you believe I managed to cheat on it?" Harry asked, holding his
mouth firm when it wanted to lift into a smirk.
"It is not for us to guess at how you did it…"
"Actually, yes it is." Harry interrupted. "You're accusing me of cheating, it
is entirely your duty to prove how I did so if you wish to punish me for
it. As per the school rules, enacted by the governors of the school, it is for
you to prove that I am guilty and not for me to prove I am innocent."
Harry was so glad that Lucius was a school governor or he wouldn't know
half as much as he did about how the school was run or how matters
such as this were handled. Lucius, for all his faults, was a dedicated
father and because of his insistence that he have a say in how the school
was run, Harry knew how to circumvent an apparent wish to see him
suspended or expelled from Hogwarts.
He could tell that none of them, not even Dumbledore, had expected him
to know that, but Harry refused to be pushed around or bullied. It was
bad enough that they had denied him parental representation…just wait
until Lucius heard about that!
"Well, it could be something as simple as copying off the child next to
you!" Mister Cordant waved away.
"When I scored higher than them?" Harry intoned innocently. "How could
I have copied off of anyone when my score was the highest in the class?"
"Then you stole the test from your professor beforehand and memorised
the answers!"
"In that case, I believe that Professor Babbling should be called in and
asked about how she prepared the mock exam and how I might have
gotten hold of a copy of it if that's how you think I managed it." Harry
replied calmly, his lips twitching to smirk, but he was more controlled
these days. He could hold back the urge, though seeing how
uncomfortable everyone else was, it was difficult.
"Professor Babbling is currently teaching." Dumbledore cut in smoothly.
"And I should also be in class, but you happily interrupted my learning."
Harry pointed out coldly.
"You are accused of cheating!"
"On a mock exam that has no bearing on my future or on my final
marks." Harry added sternly. "Forgive me for saying, but this is feeling
more and more like an inquisition. You've already judged me as guilty
and want me expelled and now you are grasping at straws to try and
make it stick. Your weak attempts stink of desperation and you cannot
even argue a legitimate scenario in which I might have been able to cheat
on this mock paper."
"I see you haven't offered to take it again in a controlled setting!" Mister
Cordant snapped at him.
"I don't need to." Harry insisted. "As I pointed out, it's not for me to prove
my innocence by any means, not even by taking another test in a
Ministry exam room. It's for you to prove how I cheated and you can't do
that, which means I have not done as accused."
"I'm afraid that it isn't that simple, Harry." Dumbledore told him, his soft
tone raising Harry's hackles as he knew it was all falsified. He took a
breath to control his temper.
"Is it not?" He asked.
"This accusation is very serious and will have to be investigated. It is,
unfortunately, school policy that you be suspended while these inquiries
are being conducted."
Harry hid his right hand behind his back when it started trembling with
rage.
"I am innocent until proven guilty and I will remain at the school, and in
my lessons, until you can offer definitive proof that I have done as
accused."
"This is not a matter of debate, Harry." Dumbledore told him.
"No, it isn't. It's a matter of false allegations over cheating on a classroom
test. I am within my rights to remain at the school as a student while the
matter is investigated. The only exception is violent conduct towards
another student or a member of staff which could be a matter of safety.
This incident does not fall into that exception clause."
"You will be suspended for the month." Mister Cordant told him, looking
much too happy.
"A month to investigate an allegation of cheating?" Harry demanded. "All
it will take to disprove this is to speak to Professor Babbling, even if you
don't wish to take her from classes, and choose to speak to her tonight, it
will only need one day."
"We do not have to explain our investigation timeline to you." Mister
Cordant snapped at him and Harry narrowed his eyes on him.
"No, but you will have to explain it to my father when I go home and tell
him." Harry said. "I wonder why you have decided to conduct this
investigation without his approval, or his knowledge, when he is the
head governor."
"It was kept from him because you are his adopted child! He will
naturally defend you and choose not to investigate these allegations, it is
a conflict of interest."
"I don't think he'll see it that way. Good day, governors."
"You haven't been dismissed!" Mister Cordant told him angrily.
"I have dismissed myself. I am sure I will be back at the school by the
morning." He added cockily. "I am sure there is a very good reason why
less than half the current governing body of the school is present here,
and not all of you."
He walked out of the office and bared his teeth, seething with rage. His
hands clenched into fists and his hate for Dumbledore doubled. He
couldn't afford to miss a single lesson, let alone a whole day. He was just
glad that it was the beginning of term and he didn't already have
homework to do or he'd have been in an even worse position. They had
wanted to suspend him for a month! A missed month going into his
NEWT exams would have been unrecoverable. He couldn't allow that to
happen, but he knew the rules were on his side. The moment Lucius
heard of this he would be straight back to school and in his lessons again.
Oh, but the hate he felt in that moment. The rage filled him so
completely that he felt it pique Voldemort's attention.
He snorted to himself. Of course his intense rage would get Voldemort's
attention through their Horcrux bond or whatever it was. Harry had been
feeling his intense bouts of anger and his glee, and given how much hate
he was currently feeling, yeah, he could guess that it would be enough to
finally cross through to the man.
He went to his private rooms and wrote an angry, jerky letter to Draco so
that he wouldn't worry when Harry 'went missing' for the day and he
gathered some of his more pressing work into his book satchel, which he
dumped out onto his settee. He wouldn't need his school books for the
moment, he had no work to do yet, so instead, he packed it with his law
reforms, hoping that he might be able to calm himself long enough to
actually do something productive.
His head seared with pain and he collapsed to his knees, passing out on
the floor.
He saw Voldemort standing in a room that looked like a library. He'd
been reading when Harry's intense hate and anger had interrupted him.
Harry felt the questioning curiosity. Voldemort wanted to know what had
happened to make him so angry. There was a small sliver of concern. Just
the tiniest hint of it under that curiosity.
Harry couldn't control anything, he didn't know how, so he just
bombarded his most recent memories into Voldemort, hoping that he
could filter through them and control it for him. Harry's anger spiked, his
head feeling like it was being crushed, but he hated anyone messing with
his life and he had so many plans for the future. Being suspended for any
length of time would show poorly on him. An expulsion would absolutely
ruin his career path and every single plan he'd made for his future would
be in tatters. He wanted it sorted.
"Leave it to me." Voldemort told him, his voice high and cold as it echoed
around his brain before he pulled out of Harry's mind.
Harry woke on the floor, his head splitting into two and blood pouring
from his nose. He grunted and forced himself up, using his sleeve to wipe
away the blood. Narcissa would kill him for doing that and not using a
hanky.
He finished packing his bag and he stormed out of his room. It was just
before lunch so the corridors were empty and he didn't meet anyone. He
walked right out of the front doors and started the long trek to the gates,
where he could Apparate back to Malfoy Manor. He could have done it
from his room, but he needed the walk to calm himself first. He
wondered if the governors had even contacted his parents in the first
place or if they truly had both been out at the time. He would soon find
out.
The walk had done very little to calm his raging anger, so when he
reached the gates, he needed to take a few moments to breathe deeply, so
that he could concentrate on Apparating without splinching himself.
The manor was calm and quiet as Harry went storming through it.
Pimsey popped in curiously, looking at him with worry.
"Young Master." She greeted cautiously. "Is yous being well?" She asked.
"Where are my parents, Pimsey?" Harry asked with great care not to snap
at her. He had to actively remind himself that this wasn't her fault. He
refused to take out his anger on convenient targets, especially not
someone as sweet and helpful as Pimsey, who was already so used to
anger and abuse aimed at her. He would not add to that, no matter how
angry he felt.
"Master is at work and Mistress is with wedding organisers, young
Master. Can Pimsey offer a towel for young Master's nose?"
Harry nodded his head jerkily. "I…can you fetch Rabastan please,
Pimsey?" He asked.
Pimsey snapped her fingers and handed him a towel and then popped
away, likely to Lestrange Manor.
Harry went to the front parlour and slumped into a chair. He held the
towel to his nose and waited.
Pimsey came back first and she curtseyed.
"Young Master, is there anything that Pimsey can be getting for you?" She
asked.
Harry shook his head. "No, Pimsey. Thank you for your help, you can go
back to your duties now."
She curtseyed again and left him, silently fuming, on the chair with a
towel held to his nose and the torrent of blood was finally starting to
slow.
It was only a few minutes later that Rabastan came barrelling into the
room, out of breath and looking worried and angry. He came right for
Harry, dropping to his knees in front of him, his hands hovering
nervously.
"Harry! What happened?"
"Dumbledore." Harry snarled through his teeth.
"He gave you a nosebleed?" Xerxes' angry voice came from the door.
Harry looked over and saw Xerxes and Rodolphus hovering in the
doorway.
"No, Voldemort did."
"He sent a house-elf to tell us that we needed to be with you. Your elf
arrived just after, but we don't really have much information, Harry.
What happened? Where are Lucius and Narcissa?"
"Narcissa is wedding planning and Lucius is at work."
"Tell us what happened." Xerxes said, coming to sit beside him and laying
a hand around his back.
Harry growled angrily. "I've been suspended."
"What?" Rabastan demanded. "Why would he do that? Surely it's in his
interests to keep you closer to him and away from your family."
"That wasn't working, he must have changed tactics." Harry said,
removing the towel from his nose. It was bleeding sluggishly still, so he
turned the towel to a clean area and then pressed it back. "I apparently
cheated on my Ancient Runes test just before Christmas break. You know
the one I scored really highly on and was top of the class?"
"The mock exam?" Rabastan demanded.
Harry nodded. "The mock exam. That apparently warrants a suspension
and the threat of expulsion too."
"Dumbledore can't do that without the governors!" Xerxes raged.
"Oh, he had a few governors there to back him up, chief among them was
Mister Cordant."
"That imbecile that Lucius hates because he's a supporter of
Dumbledore?" Xerxes asked.
"The very same."
"This will never stick." Rabastan assured him. "My love, your father will
wipe the floor with them all and our lord controls the Ministry. It won't
stick, please, don't let your anger fester over this."
"I can't afford to keep missing lessons." Harry explained. "My exams are in
four months, Rabastan."
"You will be back in the school by tonight." Xerxes said confidently. "I
will go to the Ministry and explain things to Lucius. I am sure that
Narcissa would rather be here with you, Harry. Send the house-elf to get
her."
Xerxes squeezed his shoulder and then stood, leaving the parlour and
Rabastan took his seat, offering himself up to comfort him. Harry took
that offer wholeheartedly.
"I don't understand why he's changed direction." Rodolphus said, looking
angry.
"Maybe he hasn't, though he certainly didn't argue against my
suspension." Harry said. "The governors said that there had been a
complainant, so either they're lying and doing Dumbledore's will or
someone did actually accuse me of cheating and they're going with what
they have."
Harry's mind went to his Ancient Runes class and he couldn't pick a
single person who would have been angry or frustrated enough with his
score of a mock exam to complain to the governors…then he backtracked.
Perhaps there was one in the class who would be frustrated enough with
his rise in Ancient Runes. Hermione.
His heart started thudding in his chest again, from where he'd just been
calming. Maybe this wasn't Dumbledore at all, but her no longer being
the best in Ancient Runes and her bookish mind unable to comprehend
how he could grasp the subject so quickly. She wouldn't have known he'd
had a dedicated, private tutor either.
His fists clenched in Rabastan's robe.
"My love, what is it?" Rabastan asked, his hands curling over his and
holding him.
"Just a thought on who might have done this, but I have no proof yet."
"You should send the elf to your mother." Rodolphus told him.
"Pimsey." Harry called out.
"Young Master needs Pimsey?" She asked.
"Can you go to my mother and ask her if she can come home for me,
please?"
Pimsey nodded vigorously before she popped away. Harry threw himself
onto Rabastan's chest and he tried to calm himself with his fiancé.
Rabastan was very good at comforting him, as he held him close and
stroked a hand through his hair while the other stroked his back.
"He won't ruin you." Rabastan assured him. "We'll destroy him."
"Promise me." Harry said.
"I promise you." Rabastan said firmly.
"I promise it as well." Rodolphus added. "You are our family, Harry. No
one gets to harm you."
Harry gave a soft smile. "Thank you…both of you."
"Harry!"
That was Narcissa and she came at a jog, her eyes wild and her hair in
disarray.
"Sweetheart, what has happened?"
She shoved Rabastan away from him and gathered him into her arms,
kissed his forehead, before she tipped his head back and used a hand to
pull his hand, holding the towel, away from his nose.
"Harry, I'm going to need you to explain what happened." She said
urgently, even as she took out her wand and cast a simple healing spell,
which finally stopped the sluggish trickle of blood.
Lucius came striding into the parlour with Xerxes and he came right to
him, taking the blood-sodden towel from his hand and using his own
handkerchief to clean up the remaining blood.
"Xerxes has told me that you've been suspended."
"What?!" Narcissa demanded. "Don't be ridiculous, Lucius! Of course our
Harry wouldn't have done anything to get suspended!"
"They accused me of cheating on my Ancient Runes mock exam." Harry
said quietly.
"Your mock exam?!" Narcissa demanded dangerously. "Surely that doesn't
warrant this level of punishment, Lucius!"
"They wanted to expel me."
"No, absolutely not!" Narcissa snapped. "They wouldn't dare! I won't let
them. Lucius, you must go and fix this, right now!"
"They cannot expel him for cheating on a mock test, dear." Lucius told
her calmingly. "Even if I believed for one moment that he had actually
cheated."
"They refused me parental representation as well. I demanded it and they
told me that neither of you could be contacted and that the matter was so
grave that it had to be sorted then and there, despite my protestations."
"A grave matter?" Lucius echoed silkily. "An accusation of cheating on a
mock test?"
"I didn't know what to do for the best." Harry admitted softly. "They were
threatening me with expulsion which would have ruined my entire
future. I was going to just walk out until I could get representation, but…
they threatened to expel me so I stayed."
"This isn't your fault, darling." Narcissa told him.
"Did they offer any evidence that you had cheated?" Lucius asked,
completely practical.
Harry shook his head. "They tried to make me explain how I was
innocent. They actually expected me to offer to go to a Ministry exam
room to prove I'm as good at Ancient Runes as the test indicates."
Lucius' grey eyes showed nothing but anger.
"I will sort this for you, Harry. Do you happen to know who the
governors were?"
"There were only three of them, but one was Mister Cordant. The one you
don't like."
"Of course." Lucius said, a smirk to his mouth. "I might have known. I
don't want you to worry over this, Harry. You can have a nice, free day
here at home and you will be back in school by tomorrow morning."
"I'm so stressed over everything. I have so much to do and now I've
missed my first day of lessons! What if something important was covered
and I wasn't there?"
"Don't push yourself too hard, darling." Narcissa chastised. "Remember to
take breaks."
Harry shook his head. "I don't want to take breaks. Not like this."
Lucius touched his shoulder and then, when Harry looked up, he pressed
a kiss to his forehead. Harry blinked, wondering if he'd fallen into an
alternate reality.
"Rest for today. You will be able to catch up on one day of work. I will be
back shortly."
Lucius left with quick strides and Rabastan tentatively reached out for
him again. He didn't try to take him from Narcissa's arms, but he did join
them.
"Your father will sort this." Narcissa told him with confidence and surety.
"I just…I don't know why they've decided to do this. It's not a strong
enough offence for them to suspend me, or threaten me with expulsion,
and it's not for me to prove my innocence! They had no evidence and
they were grasping at straws, Mother! When I asked, they couldn't tell me
one likely scenario in which I could have cheated. They accused me of
copying the student next to me, and I rightly pointed out that I had a
higher score. Then they accused me of stealing the exam beforehand from
Professor Babbling and memorising it! But when I told them to ask her,
they made up some excuse about not wanting to disturb her other classes,
as if disturbing my classes with a suspension in my last two terms before
my NEWT exams was no big deal."
"Your father won't let them get away with doing this, sweetheart."
Narcissa said soothingly, and Harry felt himself actually calming a little.
"Pimsey!"
"Mistress calls for Pimsey." The sweet house-elf said, curtseying.
"Tea for five." Narcissa said, still cradling Harry between herself and
Rabastan.
Pimsey popped away but she was back a moment later with a tea tray
with five teacups and saucers, a large teapot, milk and sugar and a plate
of posh biscuits on the side.
It was Rabastan who bent forward and he made a cup for Harry, passing
it to him and Harry eased out of his mother's arms, holding the saucer
with his left hand and using the right to lift the cup to take a deep drink.
He felt calmer, more centred and settled. Lucius would get to the bottom
of this, Harry knew he would. It was wonderful to realise that he could
trust Lucius to handle this for him. That he could just stay home and
have a cuddle and some calming tea and just let Lucius handle it.
At lunchtime, Harry ate while sitting next to Rabastan and he was much
calmer and no longer so angry he couldn't think. He'd washed his face of
the bloodstain and his nose had stopped bleeding from Voldemort's
invasion of his mind.
After he'd eaten, he had more tea and he was going through his law
reform and doing more work on it, seeing as he couldn't do any
schoolwork as he didn't have any. Rabastan was sitting behind him and
was playing with his hair in a soothing way that didn't aggravate him or
disturb him as he talked out his ideas with Narcissa, Xerxes, Rabastan,
and Rodolphus. It was nice. Peaceful. But the threat of his future was still
hanging over him and Lucius hadn't come back yet.
"Your idea to run it through your charity coalition was genius." Narcissa
praised him, as he finished outlaying all the changes he'd made since his
visit to the coalition, after his request for them to go through it so that he
could give them the law changes that they actually needed.
"It's now eight rolls of parchment long." Harry said, smiling proudly.
"How close are you to finishing it?" Rodolphus asked him.
Harry looked at the proposal nervously. "Not yet." He said quickly.
"You're closer than you think." Rabastan told him gently. "You're nervous,
that's understandable, but you're so close to completing it."
"It's missing something." Harry insisted.
Rabastan shook his head. "It's not, Harry. You're worried about it
obsessively as it is your first dabble into lawmaking, but it is perfectly
acceptable as it is. Numerous people have told you the same, and now
magical creatures have told you that it's acceptable too. It's almost
ready."
"The language used is politically acceptable and it is free from emotion,
which I warned you would look poorly on you as the author." Xerxes
said. "You've done well to keep control of your words but still present a
strong case for your proposal by emphasising the need for this law
change. As long as you argue your case with just as much eloquence, it
will pass, Harry. You have a lot of friends and allies among the
Wizengamot, and even those who aren't so friendly towards you will still
see the value in your proposal."
Harry frowned, doubting that people like Yaxley, or Nott, or Giovanni
Rowle would vote in favour of his proposal.
"I was thinking of those Weasleys." Xerxes said with a disdainful sniff,
obviously reading Harry's thoughts on his face.
Harry considered that. "Yeah, I can see at least Charlie voting for it with
that clause protecting the rights of dragons."
Harry's eyes automatically tracked back through his proposal to find the
clause he'd written to protect the dragons and the reserves they were
housed on. If nothing else, no matter what their personal feelings were
towards one another, Harry thought that Charlie would absolutely vote in
favour of his proposal because of those dragon protections. That was one
of his 'enemies' who would be won over. Possibly Bill too, because he
certainly wasn't against magical creatures, just him.
Lucius came striding into the parlour and Harry sat up straight and tried
to decipher the look on his face for clues as to how the meeting went.
"There is no need for you to look so fretful." Lucius told him, patting his
head gently as he walked past him to sit down next to Narcissa. "You will
stay here for the night and you will be back in Hogwarts for your lessons
tomorrow morning."
Harry all but inflated he was that happy as he grinned.
"Will you tell us of the meeting?" Xerxes asked.
"I first contacted the entire board of governors." Lucius said, settling
down as Narcissa poured him a cup of tea. "I wanted to know who was
involved, and those who had knowledge of what was going to happen
after Harry said that only three governors were involved. Thank you,
dear."
Lucius took the cup of tea from Narcissa and he had a delicate sip.
"It seems that only those three in the meeting with you were involved,
Harry." Lucius told him. "Led by Mister Michael Cordant, who acted
outside of the guidance of the governors to personally take it upon
himself to head the investigation into the allegations brought against
you."
"But he doesn't have any sort of case against him?" Narcissa demanded.
"None. It is not justifiable to suspend, or indeed try to expel a student
over mock exam papers or in-class tests." Lucius said calmly. "If found to
be cheating on either, it is expected that the student would serve a term
of detention set by their teacher or their head of house. Mister Cordant is
now facing our dear Minister Thicknesse to try and explain his actions."
Here Lucius gave a sharp smirk and Harry's grin widened. "I believe he
will be out of a job by morning, Harry. Him and the two other governors
who tried to do this to you."
"They deserve it!" Harry said viciously. "Did you find out if it was
Dumbledore who accused me?"
"I found out that it was a Miss Hermione Granger who brought these
allegations to the governors' attention. Nearly all of them dismissed the
allegations outright, but, even so, a letter had been sent to Professor
Babbling to ask her opinion of the allegations, but Mister Cordant saw an
opportunity to try to discredit me by using you. He found two other
governors who either had a grievance against me, or didn't like your
sudden rise in popularity in the 'wrong' circles."
"So, the matter has been dropped?" Harry asked seriously. "It won't go on
record or anything?"
"No, nothing of the sort, Harry. It has been dropped in full after a rather
aggrieved, and dare I say protective, Professor Babbling sang your praises
to the governors and insisted that she could clearly see the skill building
you were learning that led to your grasp of the subject. She regaled us all
with stories of you begging her for extra work so that you could catch up
with your year mates and she told us of the little slips you had mentioned
about a certain tutor named Marcus Flint, a man she says is the most
brilliant student she has ever had in her class and that if you had Marcus
as a tutor, she could perfectly understand your incredibly high marks."
"There is nothing more that our Harry needs to do?" Narcissa asked.
"Nothing except to enjoy a few more hours of leisure at home." Lucius
said, watching with a smile as Rabastan played with Harry's hair.
Harry smiled himself. "I am almost done with my law reform." He said
tentatively. "It might be ready in a few more months."
"Weeks, Harry. Not months." Xerxes told him. "You are procrastinating on
it out of fear and nerves. It is understandable, of course, but unneeded.
Just wrap it up with a brief conclusion and then present it."
"I want to go through it again…"
"There isn't any need, Harry. It is done." Xerxes told him more firmly.
"I at least want the coalition to go through the finished thing first." He
replied stubbornly.
Xerxes sighed, but waved a hand. Harry went back to looking through
the proposal, but his mind was still on the governors.
"You're sure that this won't come back on me?" He asked uncertainly.
Lucius gave a soft sigh, then smiled at him. "The matter is already
forgotten, Harry. You could go back now, if you wished, but given that it
is getting on, and you'd only have one more full lesson left, I would have
thought you'd prefer to remain here. It will not go on record, you have
not been expelled or suspended, you actually left the castle without
permission…" Here Lucius gave him a raised eyebrow and Harry
grimaced. "…and Cordant and the other two governors will face Minister
Thicknesse tomorrow morning. They have been relieved of their duties
and will not be returning as governors."
"Good." Harry said, letting his shoulders slump as he relaxed.
"Just enjoy the rest of today at home. I am sure that Draco will have
collected any work you need to do and he will be happy to help you
catch up. You are an intelligent young man, you can catch up one missed
day easily."
Harry smiled at that and he stopped fretting over everything and just sat
back, against Rabastan, and drank his own tea, very pleased with how
this debacle had turned out. No one was going to stop him from enacting
his plans for the future and he was going to make damn sure that
Hermione didn't try to ruin those plans. She didn't get to do that to him
now, after everything that had happened between them, and he was
going to make sure that she knew that. She was going to rue the day she
had tried to accuse him of cheating just because he had scored higher
than she had on a mock paper.
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