Survival of the fittest | By : Sasunarufan13 Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Harry/Draco Views: 18501 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 9 |
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter nor profit from it. Everything belongs to J.K. Rowling |
Author's note: All right, I didn't take too long now either, right? I mean, it's not that late and it's a fairly long chapter (to think I had been worried I wouldn't have enough inspiration for the whole trying to find Gryffindor mission ^^; ) Consider it an early holiday's present from me to you :)
Thanks to the following reviewer: littlemisslytherin
Warnings: MPreg, violence, some mention of blood, meeting with Godric Gryffindor. I apologize if the Latin used in this chapter is wrong
PLEASE CHECK OUT THE SECOND AN AT THE END OF THE CHAPTER!
I hope you'll like this chapter!
Chapter 15: Godric Gryffindor Part 3
There was a soft humming, as bees buzzing around during the summer, audible. Harry looked around warily, wondering whether his arrival had alerted someone or something. But no, aside from the slight humming and the static charging clinging to the air, nothing seemed to be amiss.
And that made him on edge. The whole atmosphere was too peaceful; it didn't feel natural. But he couldn't pinpoint what was wrong. Whatever it was, it made his skin prickle, his muscles tense and his magic ready to lash out at the slightest provocation.
"Garin," he hissed; his hand gripping his wand tightly.
"Yes, something does not feel right," Garin replied and his tongue slid out to taste the air. "Give permission to your mate and family; we will need as much power as is available."
Harry nodded his consent and decided to use Draco's guidance again to force the wards to accept them.
Relaxing his body, his arms loosely next to his hips, he closed his eyes and visualized his magic as a bright ball again. As soon as he had a clear image of his magic – it felt very warm and vibrated as if it wanted to imitate a purring cat – instead of picking out one single thread, he softly coerced his magic to spread out in steady streams, letting it hook itself in the wards.
When his magic had a steady grip, he soundlessly ordered it to open the defensive and offensive wards for his family, making it accept them.
The defence wards pulsed brightly in protest, strengthening themselves, while the offensive ones reared back like an offended horse and shot off hot sparks in indignation.
Apparently the Manor had gotten used to protecting itself and it wasn't about to surrender easily.
But he was a Potter, the rightful heir to this place and he would be damned if he let the Manor win this battle.
Determined to make the wards bend to his will, Harry poured more of his will and magic through the threads connecting him to the wards and slowly, very reluctantly, both wards finally shuddered and buckled, giving in.
With one last push of his magic, an opening appeared in the shields and Harry's eyes shot open while he gasped; his forehead felt clammy, the sheen of sweat on his skin clashing uncomfortably with the cold wind.
"Well done, Harry," Remus praised him when the group entered through the gate.
Harry felt the wards instantly closing behind them and received the impression of a sulking cat, making him conceal a snort.
"Are you all right?" Draco asked concerned and rushed to his side; his eyes flying over Harry's body in worry.
"Yeah; the wards just didn't want to give up quickly," Harry replied with a weak smile.
"Something doesn't feel right," Snape murmured and he narrowed his eyes.
"No, the air feels different." Sirius frowned, looking around. "It's too …"
"Peaceful?" Harry offered and his godfather nodded.
"Yes, too peaceful, too quiet. It didn't feel like this when we last were here."
Remus' eyes studied the Manor sharply. "Well, standing here won't help us. Let's go inside," he suggested.
"Ever the impulsive Gryffindor," Snape muttered darkly, but followed next to Lucius.
The group slowly made the trek up to the Manor, following the main path, and all kept their wands in their hands, their senses wide open, ready for any disturbance that could occur.
They were a bit less than ten feet away from the seven steps, when the air right in front of the steps shimmered and Harry and Draco halted immediately. It seemed the Manor had prepared extra defences.
A large, square, grey tile appeared on the gravel and a click was heard before a dark whirlwind appeared.
Harry's mouth dropped open and Draco cursed vehemently.
A large, midnight purple coloured bird was left behind when the whirlwind died down. It had three balding heads with black eyes that glared at them hatefully. It was huge; his legs were the same height as Harry and his claws were as long as Harry's upper body and glinted dangerously in the weak sunlight. Most of its feathers were rumpled and broken and bald patches over his body showed a spotted, grey skin.
The grotesque bird screeched loudly, its three heads swinging from right to left while it ruffled its battered wings in agitation.
"What the hell is that?" Draco asked horrified.
"I don't know. I've never heard of a three headed bird looking like that," Remus answered apprehensively.
"That is because a monstrosity like that shouldn't exist," Snape spoke through gritted teeth. "Even in the Encyclopaedia of Bestia esoteria this beast is never mentioned and that book is the most extensive one written about creatures."
"So what? This thing is the result of an experiment?" Harry exclaimed shocked and the second head of the bird snorted harshly.
"This does not look good," Lucius muttered and cursed lowly. "Sirius, has James ever mentioned a defence like this? Or someone in the family doing experiments?"
"No." Sirius clenched his jaw and glared at the bird. "None of the Potters experimented with animals and their defence existed out of the wards and their own magic."
"Then why is that ugly thing here?" Draco snapped.
"Get back!" Remus yelled suddenly.
Harry felt himself being pulled back hastily by Draco and they stumbled back. Right on time, because the next moment a giant claw slammed down on the ground, right where they had been standing.
The bird screeched loudly again and stamped heavily down, but didn't come further.
"Shit, how are we going to get passed that?" Harry asked wide-eyed. None of the books they had consulted, had said anything about a giant, ugly bird defending the entrance to Potter Manor. But if the Potters hadn't put the bird there as defence, how had the bird managed to enter this place? Or had someone else put him there as defence? But why?
"We're not going to get passed that," Remus said grimly. "We'll need to defeat it if we want to have a chance to enter the Manor."
"And how do you propose we defeat that thing?" Draco raised an eyebrow, finally relaxing the grip he had on Harry's wrist. "That thing is huge and I doubt it'll keep standing there calmly while we come up with a way to attack it."
"Why is it still standing there?" Harry remarked when he realized what was wrong with the current situation – aside from having a huge bird as opponent.
"What do you mean?" Sirius asked confused.
"It could easily smash us if it wanted to, but it just keeps standing there," he replied and jerked his head to the three headed bird. "I doubt it's because he wants to give us a fair chance to defeat it. What if it can't move beyond that place?"
"You think a magical barrier is keeping it contained?" Lucius said slowly, his grey coloured eyes hooded.
Harry nodded. "Yes; that would explain why it hasn't followed us and why it only appeared when we came near its spot."
"So you can use common sense," Snape sneered lightly.
"So someone is trying to keep us out?" Draco wondered out loud and his jaw tightened. "Why? And who managed to do this?"
"The who and why is not important now," Sirius retorted. "We can argue about that later. We need to find a way to get rid of that bird."
"How are we going to find a way to defeat it if we don't even know what it is?" Draco inquired and hissed softly when the three heads of the bird simultaneously let out a shrill screech.
Harry winced and wondered whether the bird was planning on deafening them first. "Every beast has a weak point, so we need to find the weakness of this bird."
"You make it sound so easy," Draco muttered darkly and Harry shrugged.
He knew it wouldn't be easy, but he was certain that once they'd found the bird's weakness, they would be able to defeat it quickly. It wasn't as if they had any other choices.
"Neck," Garin startled Harry with his hissing.
"What?" he hissed questioningly.
"Neck and eyes. The one who doesn't belong on earth has weak necks and eyes. Easily damaged," Garin replied and he sounded strangely elated, on the verge of snickering – if snakes were able to snicker.
The snake slid higher up Harry's body; his long, strong body wrapped snugly around Harry's torso and his head popped up right above Harry's left shoulder; his eyes glowing ominously when they regarded the agitated bird that had started pacing up and down, its heads constantly swinging from one side to another. "So easily damaged. Not very resilient. Weak muscles."
Garin swayed from left to right and looked eager to attack and devour.
Harry swallowed loudly; because his pets were ready to comfort him whenever he was distressed and eager to defend him, it was easy for him to forget that his pets were the most dangerous animals on earth and could be quite vicious when they wanted to be.
Like now.
"What did Garin say?" Remus interrupted his musing.
Harry blinked and – ignoring Garin's excited hissing – answered, "He said that the neck and the eyes are the bird's weakest points."
"That makes sense," Lucius murmured. "Three of us could attack the eyes – that shouldn't require close contact as long as the people attacking have good aim. The necks, however, will be problematic."
"The eyes get attacked from the ground, so the necks could be attacked from the air," Draco suggested, looking thoughtfully.
"Interesting idea – except none of us have the means to fly. Unless you have managed to sprout wings all of a sudden?" Snape sneered.
Draco scowled. "Of course not. But do you have a better idea?" he sneered back.
Ignoring the growing argument behind him, Harry raised his wand and shouted, "Accio brooms!"
"While it worked during the Triwizard Tournament, I very much doubt it will …" Snape's snide remark got cut off when a loud 'bang' was heard from somewhere behind the Manor and two brooms shot past the bird, practically dancing out of reach when one beak tried to snap them in two.
The two brooms – of the old brand Comet after closer inspection of the handles – came to a stop in front of Harry and kept hovering on the height of his hips.
"Oh yeah, I had forgotten they had a broom shed in the back," Sirius said blankly. "Didn't think the brooms were still here, though."
"They are not the quickest, but they will be enough to get us in the air to attack the necks," Harry spoke, keeping his face blank. That wasn't easy, because Snape's sour face amused him greatly.
"Well, we only need to decide who is going to attack what and with what kind of spell," Remus said; his eyes warning both Harry and Snape to behave themselves.
"Draco and I can use the brooms, while you distract the bird by attacking the eyes," Harry suggested, his mind racing through possible spells he could use to sever the neck muscles.
He doubted a simple Cutting spell would be enough.
"Absolutely not!" Draco snapped instantly and Harry stared at him.
"Why not? You and I are good flyers," he said confused.
"Are you fucking kidding me?" Grey eyes grew wide eyed. "You're not going to fly and attack that beast from that position!"
"What's wrong with my flying? I understand why I couldn't fly during the Quidditch match, but it's not like there are flying objects like a Bludger here," Harry retorted sharply.
"For the love of … You're pregnant and there is a giant bird wanting to kill us and you don't see anything wrong with you wanting to fly and bringing yourself in a vulnerable position?" Draco snapped, his eyes piercing into green ones. "You do realize that one of those heads could easily attack you? You're not flying on your fast Firebolt, you're flying on a slow broom that won't allow you to do the necessary manoeuvres to evade that bird when it's needed! Use your common sense!"
Harry flinched in spite of his will and bit his lower lip. "If I stay out of the range of the heads, they wouldn't be able to reach me. It doesn't even look able to fly, because it would have done so already," he argued. It wasn't like he didn't understand the risks, but he was a good flyer. Both he and Draco were the best flyers of their group, so it made sense for them to take the broom and attack in the air.
"So what you're saying is that you don't mind risking your life or that of our baby," Draco sneered and glared.
"That's not fair, Draco! You know I would never risk the baby!" Harry hissed and honestly felt hurt and insulted that the blond thought he didn't care about the baby. He was confident when it came to his flying skills and he knew that as long as he stayed out of reach of the heads, then the bird wouldn't be able to attack him, even with the slow broom.
"Are you really that thick?" Draco waved sharply at the brooms in front of Harry. "You climb on that broom now and fly up to that bird and not only would you be risking your life, but you would most definitely risk our baby's life. How you could not understand that simple fact is beyond my comprehension!"
Draco's heated glare made him shift his feet nervously. Draco had expressed his distaste for Harry's 'stupid taste for reckless endeavours' and while he had berated him before, he had never been as angry as now. His whole body seemed as tense as a tiger awaiting the moment to strike and his eyes glittered in fury; his hand clenched tightly around his wand, which shot off sparks in response to its master's anger.
"Harry, Draco is right," Remus spoke up softly and Harry turned to look at him helplessly. "You are indeed one of the best flyers in this group, but you're also in the most vulnerable state of us all now. We can't let you risk the baby. These Comets are fairly old and while they were the fastest brooms back when they were first brought out, they really aren't that quick in comparison to the brooms now. One wrong move and you could end up seriously hurt."
"Who's going to take the brooms then?" Harry asked dully and stepped away from the brooms. Despite what the others seemed to think, he really didn't want to risk the life that was growing inside of him, but they needed to defeat the bird quickly.
"I'll take one broom," Draco replied and he seemed to have calmed down, now that he was certain Harry wouldn't make an attempt to fly and attack the bird mid-air.
"I'll take the other one," Sirius announced and stepped forwards to grab one of the brooms.
"All right." Lucius nodded. "Then the rest of us will attack the bird from the ground. Harry, please stay behind us."
Harry frowned and wanted to protest, but the heavy glance of Snape stopped him. So far the man had – surprisingly – not made a cutting remark about the whole argument, but Harry got the feeling that if he dared to voice his protest now, the Potions Master would personally make sure that he wouldn't be able to participate at all in the fight.
So he sighed in defeat and nodded. At least he wasn't completely forbidden from joining the fight.
"Okay, Blondie, the best curse to use in this situation is …" While Sirius explained the darker variation of the Cutting spell (making Harry wonder idly when his godfather had learnt that particular curse) to Draco, who followed his explanation with a heavy frown and darkened eyes, Lucius tapped his cane on the ground and looked at his lover.
"Severus, do you know any spell that would leave enough damage for Draco and Sirius to finish off the bird?"
Snape's mouth tightened and he looked faintly annoyed. "I am a Potions Master, Luc, not a Spell Master."
"What about the Cutting spell?" Harry suggested.
Remus shook his head. "That wouldn't be enough. We're talking about an animal that technically shouldn't exist, so that means it will probably have some magical layers that are protecting its vulnerable spots. A Cutting spell is too weak to slice through those layers."
"In other words, we will need to use a curse if we want that thing to sustain some damage," Snape snorted and looked annoyed.
"What kind of curse should we use then?" Harry questioned and tried to recall all of the curses he had learnt so far. They could use the Suffering Eye curse, but that one required a lot of concentration and if the curse didn't hit the eyes right in the middle, the curse wouldn't have any effect. Considering the fact that the bird was still trashing around, this particular curse would be no good to them.
"Would the Flaming Iris curse be sufficient enough to serve as a distraction?" Lucius inquired and his eyes were slightly narrowed.
Remus nodded slowly. "Yes, that should suffice. At the very least it will give Sirius and Draco enough time to sever the neck muscles."
"What is the Flaming Iris curse?" Harry asked confused. From the word 'iris' he gathered it had something to do with the eyes, but he didn't have a clue as to what the curse actually did. The books he had read about curses had never mentioned this one and he wondered whether it was a curse that was only mentioned in books that belonged in the Restricted Section.
Snape threw him an indescribable look and answered gruffly, "The eyes are burned from the inside out if the curse hits one of the eyes. It keeps burning until there is nothing left but empty sockets. Sometimes the magical fire even spreads out to the brains and consumes that."
"Oh," Harry brought out and felt queasy at the mental image. He cleared his throat and shook his head in an attempt to get rid of the gruesome image. "So what is the spell for it?"
"Inflammae oculum," Lucius replied and removed his wand from the cane. "Make certain to put the stress on 'oculum'; if you put the stress on the first part of the spell, then the curse could rebound and hit you instead."
Harry grimaced and gripped his wand tightly.
"Okay, do you guys have a spell ready?" Sirius asked when he was done conversing with Draco.
"Yes," Remus replied and nodded. "You've chosen as well?"
"Yes; let's go, Blondie," Sirius called out and stepped on the broom, bringing it up immediately in the air.
"I have a name," Draco muttered darkly and threw a scowl at his cousin, before he followed the man up in the air.
Harry allowed himself a fleeting smile, before he focused his attention on the bird again. The four men on the ground approached the bird slowly; the three heads swerved in their direction and the six eyes stared at them, studying them intently.
If they wanted Draco and Sirius to succeed, they needed to keep most of the bird's attention on them – which would not be easy with three heads swinging restlessly around.
They stopped at a distance of nine feet, with Harry staying behind the three older men. When the dark haired boy discreetly looked up, he noticed his lover and godfather hovering above the three heads, having put enough distance between them and the creature to avoid immediate danger.
Draco caught his eyes and smiled fleetingly, giving a small nod.
Harry quirked his lips quickly and took a deep breath.
"Ready?" Remus murmured; his amber coloured eyes fixed on the head on the right.
They nodded and right when the second head was starting to look up, they started chanting the curse, their wands trained on the dark, piercing eyes.
As soon as the first curse reached one of the eyes, the bird started screeching madly; feet stamping on the ground in panic while it flapped its wings in front of itself. The wings came up as if it wanted to protect its eyes and the heads swung around, beaks snapping wildly; the screeching intensified in volume when one of the beaks bit harshly into the neck of the other head.
The bird started stamping around, whirling around while its feathers were shed in its fury.
With the bird presenting its back, their wands lost the connection and they hastily lowered their wands to avoid the curses lashing back at them.
However the bird had turned around too late, for the curses had taken effect.
Harry felt bile coming up and he clamped a hand over his mouth when he saw big, black red liquid drops dropping down and splashing apart on the bird's talons and the ground.
Even though Harry knew this bird was their enemy and that if the roles had been reversed, the bird would have killed them without a shred of remorse, he still felt sick seeing a creature suffering like that.
"It is not enough," Snape suddenly stated.
Confused and still feeling nauseous, Harry looked up and after a short moment he understood the problem.
While they had succeeded in distracting the creature, the bird had been moving around so much that Sirius nor Draco had had a chance to hit the bird. They were circling above the bird, trying to find an opening, but the beast was thrashing around so much that they had to spend more time ducking and avoiding the frantically moving heads and wings than actually casting the curses.
"Maybe we should try the Shatter curse?" Lucius suggested.
Before either one of them could reply, a loud curse tore through the air and Harry gasped, feeling his heart skipping several beats when he saw Draco avoiding a sharp beak narrowly.
"Draco!" he yelled and suddenly the left head snapped around in his direction and the beak opened, spewing bright green, slimy liquid at him.
Curses escaping them, the group jumped apart just in time. The second the strange liquid hit the ground, a foul smell hit them and the gravel melted, creating a small, dirty grey hole.
"Harry!" Draco cried out in worry.
Before he could reassure the blond boy, he and Remus were thrown against the ground several feet away when the third head had seemingly blasted a ball of compressed air at them. The attack had hit the ground between Harry and Remus, but it had been enough to throw them off their feet.
Harry landed with a harsh smack against the ground and all the air in his lungs left him with a painful whoosh.
It took a few tries before he got air back in his body and he groaned in pain. Around him he could heard the bird's screeching, yelling and the impact of attacks hitting the ground.
Scrambling up with a hiss, his hand darted around to search for his wand and to his relief, he soon found it a few feet away from him. He snatched it off the ground and had to close his eyes for a few seconds when a wave of dizziness swept over him.
Feeling Garin tightening his body around his stomach, he asked, trying to stay calm, "Garin, are you okay?"
"Yes; the hatchling is okay as well," Garin replied.
"You're sure?" he asked in a small voice and when the snake gave him a reassuring hiss, he took a deep breath and let it out slowly, feeling the spike of relief coursing through his body. His baby was fine; the fall hadn't hurt it.
"Harry, are you okay?" Draco asked frantically and jumped off the broom, landing next to the boy on the ground.
Harry looked up and gave him a small smile. "Yes, I'm okay," he murmured and stood up on shaking legs. "Garin protected both of us."
"Thank Merlin," the blond uttered in relief and Harry squeezed his hand softly.
"How is your wound?" Harry asked concerned when his attention was caught by a long cut across Draco's stomach. His robes had parted, showing the rip in the sweater; the blood from the wound had darkened the fabric, matting it to his skin.
"Don't worry; it's a shallow cut," Draco replied and threw a bored look at the cut. "I'll heal it later."
Harry frowned, not completely convinced, but decided to trust Draco's judgement. Looking around, he saw Lucius and Snape standing various feet away on the bird's left side, casting various spells and curses that made the bird screech louder – a feat Harry hadn't thought was possible.
Remus was kneeling next to Sirius to Harry's right and seemed to be casting spells on Sirius' left arm; Sirius staring at his arm with a scowl.
"How are we going to defeat that bird?" Harry asked and a hint of annoyance seeped through his voice.
"That's what I have been trying to figure out," Draco answered irritated. "The bird is blind now, but it's attacking in a frenzy and it won't give us an opening."
"So we need to make it stop attacking first," Harry muttered, narrowing his eyes, trying to find an opening between the vicious attacks.
"Or at the very least make it slow down," Draco remarked.
"None of the curses seem to damage the bird." Harry bit on his lower lip.
So the only way to defeat the creature was to hit the necks, but how would they manage to slip through the furious attacks without getting heavily injured or even killed?
Garin shifting his body around his stomach and raising his head pulled Harry out of his racing thoughts and he looked down.
Garin had opened his mouth and his long, dangerous looking fangs had shot forwards, making the snake look even more threatening.
They needed to slow down the bird … Make it slow down its attacks.
Harry blinked and reached out with a hand to touch the top of Garin's head.
Garin hissed softly and turned his head. "Master?"
Harry stared at him pensively before switching his attention to his wand and then to the broom still in Draco's hand.
Slowing down, huh?
"Harry?" Draco sounded wary. "What are you thinking?"
An idea started to form in his mind and Harry smiled. "Garin, you are poisonous, correct?"
"Yes, it is the strongest poison in the world," Garin replied.
"Can you inject poison in such a way that it paralyzes the victim?
"I should be able to, yes."
Harry nodded and addressed his lover, "I think I have an idea. If Garin bites the bird, he could use his poison to paralyze the bird and when it slows down, we can fly above it and cut off the necks."
Draco furrowed his eyebrows. "That could work," he started slowly. "If I strike at the right moment, then I should be able to cut the necks and take it down."
"Would the Comet be able to carry two people?" Harry asked and studied the broom sceptically.
"Two people? Why would it need to carry two people?"
Harry raised an eyebrow. "Because you won't be able to attack and hit all the necks on your own," he replied, grimacing when the bird let out a high pitched scream. "So you could sit in the front and I in the back. What is the curse Sirius taught you?"
"Harry, are you trying to piss me off on purpose or do you really have no clue why this plan of yours isn't a good idea?" Draco drawled and narrowed his eyes.
"What the hell is wrong with my plan now?" Harry asked insulted. "You were agreeing with it not even a minute ago."
"For the love of Merlin, Harry! You're carrying my baby and I'll be damned if I bring you two in danger! Do you honestly think that flying above a gigantic, furious bird that tries to attack anything in its vicinity is a safe thing to do for a pregnant person?" Draco sneered and his magic seemed to spark in response to his anger.
"Why the hell do you always think I'm endangering the baby on purpose?" Harry snapped and took a step closer to the blond, ignoring Garin's hiss. "I know I have to be careful, but we don't have any other plan! The first plan failed and now the attacks aren't even hitting it! If we want to get into the Manor, we're going to have to defeat that bird and it looks that only we two can still decently use a broom and have a chance of evading the bird's attacks."
Draco clenched his jaw and looked at Remus who was now moving on to healing Sirius' stomach while Snape and Lucius had retreated further back to avoid the attacks that the bird was rapidly firing off.
Harry stayed silent, letting the scenery speak for him. Both of them were the two best flyers in the group and with Sirius wounded, only they would be able to attack from the air while still avoiding the bird's attacks. It would all just be a matter of perfect timing and constant awareness of their surroundings once they were up in the air.
"What if you fall off of the broom? Or what if the bird manages to attack us and we aren't able to avoid it completely?" Draco finally asked and looked at him with troubled eyes. "I don't want to risk either you or the baby, Harry; you can't ask that of me."
Harry took the few remaining steps and raised his hands to cup Draco's face between them, looking him right in his eyes. "Look, contrarily to what you may think, I am not keen on putting either myself or the baby in danger," he spoke softly. "I know that I am more vulnerable now, but that doesn't mean I've grown weaker. Garin will attack the bird first and as soon as it slows down, we will fly up and finish it. The bird obviously can't fly, so as long as we stay out of reach, we will be fine."
"Harry …"
"Do you trust me?"
"What?" Draco asked bewildered, his own hands coming up to cover Harry's.
"Do you trust me?" Harry repeated his question.
"Ye-yes."
"Do you trust me to keep our baby safe?"
Draco stared at him, seemed to study his face and Harry forced his hands to stop trembling. He didn't know what he would do if Draco confessed he didn't trust him to keep their baby safe, but he did know he would feel very hurt. He wanted his baby to be safe, to never know the danger he had been forced to encounter from a young age, and he would do his best to ensure that safety. No matter what the rest might think of him, he would never deliberately put his child in danger. But he also knew that they couldn't keep on fighting like this. Sooner or later, they would all get hurt to the degree that the bird would be able to finish them off and the dark haired young man was determined to survive this trip.
Draco sighed softly and pressed his forehead to Harry's, closing his eyes. His hands dropped their hold over Harry's and dropped down to embrace his waist; one hand pressed against his still flat stomach. "Of course I trust you to keep our baby safe," he murmured and opened his eyes; liquid silver locking onto emerald green. He smiled wryly. "Can you blame me for being worried about you and the baby?"
"No, but you can't blame me either for being worried about you," Harry murmured back. "I don't want you to go up against that bird alone, even with Garin paralyzing it."
Draco heaved a trembling sigh and pursed his lips. "You'll sit behind me and you'll use the Protective Bubble charm. If you don't do that, I won't hesitate to put you in the Body Bind Spell, understood?"
Harry frowned, but nodded his agreement; realizing this was the best concession he would get.
"Okay," Draco murmured and pulled his hands away, taking a step back which dislodged Harry's hands. "I assume Garin will attack now?"
"Yes and when Garin returns, it will be our turn," Harry answered and started explaining their plan to Garin in Parseltongue, making certain the snake knew what was expected of him.
They would be in deep trouble, after all, if something went wrong.
Draco did not like the plan at all. The plan on its own was brilliant and had a high success rate, but he was bothered by the part Harry would have.
He loathed the thought of Harry being in close proximity with the beast. Could he be blamed for that? Was it not normal that he wanted to keep his lover and unborn child safe?
A soft touch on his upper arm made him look up and he saw Garin slithering across the grass towards them. Had Garin managed to inject the poison?
"Garin managed to bite the bird in its leg," Harry announced – answering Draco's silent question – after Garin had reclaimed his place around his stomach and had hissed something in a tone that even in Draco's ears had sounded satisfied.
"All right, how long do you reckon we will …" Draco cut off his own question when the bird suddenly squeaked in confusion and halted its attacks.
Even from his position, Draco saw how the bird suddenly dropped down, as if its legs had disappeared into thin air. The wings, that just a few seconds before had been beating wildly up and down, were fluttering weakly and the three heads were slowly turning around, the eyes half lidded with blood still dripping sluggishly down.
It was still launching attacks, but those were not nearly as powerful as they had been before and most attacks, like the wind and fire ball, seemed to evaporate in the air before it even managed to cross the distance between the bird and Draco's father and Severus.
"Now is our chance," Harry said and Draco nodded.
He climbed back on the broom and the broom dipped lower for a moment when Harry sat down behind him. He felt the warmth of Harry's chest against his back; Garin pressed against his lower back while an arm sneaked around his chest and Harry's legs brushed against his own.
He waited until he heard Harry uttering the charm before he pushed off the ground, flying up in the air. The broom buzzed and trembled underneath his hands, but it carried their combined weight without too much trouble.
The bubble appeared with a barely audible chime and Draco started when the bubble closed around him as well.
"What …"
"You're not less important than I am, so you better get that in your head," Harry huffed and gripped Draco's waist with both hands. "If I need to be in a protective bubble, you need to be as well. We're partners, no?"
Draco chuckled and directed the broom to the creature that was screeching and squawking furiously. "Of course we are. Hold on."
Vaguely he heard Black shouting something and even his godfather snapping something angrily, but he ignored them in favour of the bird. He pushed the broom to go faster and the broom bent and swerved to the left like he had intended to when a large wing came up to smack them down.
The cold wind whistled harshly in his ears when he ducked underneath the other wing and shot back up, narrowly avoiding the sharp beak of the third head; he heard the sound of something scraping against metal and deduced that the beak had bounced off the bubble.
He forced the broom to go higher when the head in the middle rose up and snapped at them.
"Ready?" he asked loudly, his voice carrying above the furious screeching.
"Yeah!"
Harry started their attack by using the Sweeper's hex which slapped the head in the middle to the front, baring the neck for them.
Before the head could turn back, Draco hissed the curse Black had taught him and an invisible knife cut out a large slice of flesh from the neck, severing the arteries, making the blood splash up with a horrible squelch sound.
The head dangled to the front; the bone attached to the spine the only thing left connecting the lifeless head to the large body.
The head on the right got sliced off completely after Harry's fire spell had distracted it. The remaining head put up more resistance, constantly turning around: protecting its neck as if it had learnt from its comrades' fate. It refused to be distracted, no matter which spell or hex Harry used and Draco was contemplating flying to the ground and discuss with the others which spell they could use to defeat the final head, when Harry suddenly shouted in a desperate tone, "Petrificus Totalus!"
Draco's mouth dropped open when the third head suddenly froze in the middle of looking up; of all the spells that had been used, a simple one like the Full-Body Bind curse was the most effective? How did that even make sense?
"Eh, Draco? Could you please finish it off? I don't know how long the spell will last," Harry said urgently and Draco shook his head, snapping the curse one final time.
A soft 'thud' was heard and the still paralyzed head fell down on the ground. As soon as the head touched the ground, steam started to rise up from the corpse and Draco was just in time to fly higher when flames suddenly burst into existence and surrounded the dead body of the bird. The flames crackled and hissed; the dark purple colour looking rather menacingly before they died out as sudden as they had appeared and what was left of the bird was nothing more than grey ash that quickly got scattered over the entire garden when a gust of wind rose up and took the particles with it.
"I think we can go down now," Harry murmured breathlessly.
Draco swallowed, nodded and directed the broom towards the ground. It was only when they were both safely back on the ground that Draco took notice of the fact that both their clothing was splattered with blood and he wrinkled his nose when the rusty smell of the drying liquid entered his nostrils.
"What the fuck were you thinking?" Black snapped and marched over to the two boys, Lupin trailing behind him.
Draco wanted to answer, but Severus interrupted him harshly, "I could expect such idiotic recklessness of Potter, but I had assumed you possessed more common sense!" He glared at his godson. "What went through your head that you thought pulling a stunt like that would be a smart move?"
"We used the Protective Bubble charm and we were always out of the bird's reach," Harry argued and scowled; his hand came up to wipe some droplets of blood off his cheek. "We couldn't keep attacking like we were doing before; the bird is dead now, isn't it?"
"Harry, we were just worried," Lupin interjected calmly, though he looked quite pale. "We saw you and Draco flying to the bird without any clue as to what you had planned, so we obviously became worried."
"But you also saw that we were doing fine. We knew what we were doing," Harry answered stubbornly and crossed his arms.
Draco placed his hand on Harry's shoulder and squeezed softly, feeling how tense the other one was. He looked at the four other men and said, "Listen, I realize we should have discussed our plan with you, but we didn't want to waste time." He took a deep breath and continued, "We took precautions and we didn't get hurt, but we did manage to defeat the bird. And now we can enter the Manor; are we really going to waste time arguing whether or not our plan was a smart idea?"
"Aren't you getting quite cheeky?" Severus narrowed his eyes.
Father sighed. "Draco is right; the bird is defeated. It is useless to keep on arguing here. But," his eyes sharpened, "we will talk about your reckless behaviour when we are back at Hogwarts."
Harry murmured something underneath his breath – Draco suspected it was something unflattering – but nodded and then the group finally entered Potter Manor, treading carefully on the steps in case they encountered another hidden trap.
They stepped into a large hallway; a large staircase that seemed built out of black marble was in front of them on their right side, clad with a soft blue carpet. The blue carpet also covered most of the stone floor in the hallway.
There was one closed door on their right and two closed ones on their left. The doors were slightly smaller than the front doors and were made of some type of sturdy wood that Draco didn't recognize; the door knobs were covered with gold leaves.
Two large tapestries covered the walls; one depicting a couple of magical creatures like a unicorn and a Phoenix with each magical creature set apart by the form of trees that were sown in the fabric and the other showing a magical duel between two wizards.
From the sight of the hallway on its own, it was clear that the Potters had been a very prestige Pureblood family.
The silence that had descended on them was broken by a high squeak and they all whirled around to see a house elf standing in front of one of the closed doors; his eyes were big and bright yellow, his ears rather pointed and he wore some sort of scarf that bore the Potter crest.
"Young Master Harry has finally returned!" The house elf scurried forwards until he was a few inches away from the startled boy and the elf bowed deeply, until his crooked nose touched the floor. "Hinksy is welcoming the young master. Hinksy hopes young master be happy with state of manor."
"Eh, yeah, thanks," Harry stammered and his started look was enough indication that he hadn't expected this kind of welcome from the house elves.
Then again, Draco mused, it's not like Harry ever had personal house elves. The only house elves he knows are those of Hogwarts and the one living in Grimmauld Place.
Hinksy squeaked again, his eyes growing bigger – it appeared he wasn't used to being thanked. "Welcome back, Lord Black and Master Lupin," he continued after recovering from the shock. He turned to bow at Draco, his father and Severus, though he seemed to hesitate a bit. "Welcome, Lord Malfoy, young Master Malfoy and Master Snape. Hinksy hope masters and lords enjoy their stay."
"Hinksy, where are the others?" Black asked, casting a look at the hallway.
The house elf straightened his back and clacked his heels together. One snap of his fingers later and six other house elves popped into the hallway, all dressed similarly as Hinksy. One house elf stood out against the rest in that he was the oldest one: proof being there in large, white tuffs of hair sprouting from his big, flappy ears and the many wrinkles on his face and knobby hands.
"Welcome back, Master Harry," the house elf greeted in a deep voice and bowed. "We are glad to see you are well." The house elf suddenly fixed Hinksy with a stern look. "Hinksy, I realize you have not be in this situation before, but surely you know that you should clean the clothes of our master and guests immediately. Especially because Master Harry is in a delicate state now."
"Hinksy is sorry, Beldric," Hinksy squeaked fearfully and with two other snaps, Draco felt a soft wind flowing through his clothes and when he looked down, his clothes were repaired and clean again, as if the fight had never occurred.
The same had happened to Harry's clothes. At least they would not attract attention from the other students when they returned.
"Delicate state?" Harry repeated baffled.
Beldric gazed at him calmly. "You are carrying the heir to the Potter and the Malfoy family, correct?"
"How did you-"
"House elves are sensitive to magic of wizards and witches," Draco replied and shrugged. "They have to be, so they can take care of the family. They can feel the baby's magic already."
"Indeed," Beldric smiled faintly. "It has been a while since a male Potter became a partner of a Malfoy. We is happy that family line be continue."
Beldric must have served the Potters for a long time already to have his manner of speaking almost equal to that of a human. It was not unheard of that house elves with a long service would slowly change their manner of speaking to resemble a human's speech; it was especially useful for a nursing elf to experience that change, because that elf could help developing a child's speech. The nursing elves received the utmost respect of both the family they served and from their own family, because they had been deemed good enough to be the personal elf of a magical child – an occupation every house elf strived to have.
This known fact about house elves made Draco wonder whether Beldric had been a nursing elf.
"Beldric, I'm sorry, but we can't stay long," Lupin stated apologetically.
"I know. Masters and lords have return to Hogwarts." Beldric bobbed his head, not looking offended.
The other house elves, however, looked visibly disappointed; their large ears dropped and they looked sad.
Harry took a step forwards. "We need to go back soon, but we need your help first."
Draco exchanged an amused look with his father when the house elves' faces instantly brightened when they heard their master's request.
"Was cans us help Master Harry with?" the smallest – and clearly the youngest, judging by his speech pattern – house elf asked excitedly.
"We are searching for the portrait of Godric Gryffindor and we think he's hidden somewhere in this Manor," Harry explained. "Do you know whether we can find him here?"
The house elves exchanged a look and Draco narrowed his eyes. The elves seemed apprehensive, uncertain; as if they were not certain what to do.
"Plicky is sorry, Master Harry, but us cans not go visit Lord Gryffindor," Plicky squeaked fearfully and wringed his hands together fretfully.
"Why not?" Harry asked surprised.
"I suspect Albus put up a ward to keep everyone away from the Founder," Severus spoke up and sounded slightly bored.
Plicky nodded quickly. "Yes, Mister Dumbles puts up wards, so us elves cans not find Lord Gryffindor."
"What are we going to do now?" Draco's father frowned.
"Mister Dumbles put up ward to confuse elves, but not portraits," Beldric suddenly smirked; his eyes gained a rather vicious glint and Draco was reminded once again why angering the elves of another family was not a smart idea.
"Helky, warn Master Henry family will visit," Beldric ordered and an elf with orange coloured eyes immediately disappeared with a 'pop'.
"Please follow; I bring masters and lords to portrait who can help you."
Beldric led the group up the stairs, while the other elves disappeared, presumably going back to their duties.
Draco felt Harry slipping his hand in his and after casting a look at Harry's overwhelmed face, Draco squeezed softly in the clammy hand, prompting a grateful smile.
They went through three corridors, passing various closed doors and paintings and statues, climbed another staircase and were nearing the corner when they heard two male voices conversing.
"I thought your line had died out after that Dark Wizard attacked the heir?" one man questioned.
Another man clucked his tongue. "You really have no tact at all; I can only hope your descendants possess more tact than you." The man sounded exasperated. "And if you had paid even the slightest bit of attention, you would have known that their son survived the attack. Who else could have forced these wards to change? Only a legitimate Potter heir can do such a thing."
"So he got past the old fool's traps, huh?" the other man wondered out loud and then chuckled. "At least the trait of stubbornness is still being inherited. I have not heard any other trap springing in action though – what do you think happened?"
"Most likely the house elves managed to disable them. The trap in front of the entrance kept them from disabling all the traps inside, but clearly the fool's plan failed and the house elves managed to disable the rest. I can hardly imagine they would want their new master to arrive in a trap filled home," the other man answered idly.
The group passed the corner and then halted abruptly when they came face to face with Henry Marcus Potter and Lucian Antonius Malfoy: the men who had first brought the two families together.
"Well, look what we have here: one Potter, two Malfoys, one son of the Prince family if I'm not mistaken, one Black and a gentleman who I unfortunately do not recognize," Lucian smirked.
He and his husband were seated in a comfortable, dark couch with a cosy living room as background.
"Even after all this time, you can still spot a Potter by his messy hair," Lucien smirked.
"It is better than having fair skin that easily burns," Henry retorted and threw his husband a poisonous sweet smile.
Lucien rolled his eyes and huffed.
"Merlin, it's like looking into a mirror," Black murmured and he sounded vaguely horrified.
Before Draco could reply, Henry hummed when he noticed Harry's hand in Draco's and leant forwards. "Oh my, it seems history is repeating itself." He sounded amused.
His husband threw a look at their intertwined hands and snorted. "Well, I suppose it is better than a family feud."
"You both are seventeen, correct?" Henry asked thoughtfully.
"Yes." Harry nodded.
"How long have you been together already?" Lucien studied them and seemed far more interested now.
"Nearly one year," Draco answered his ancestor's question.
"Oh, so I take it that you went through the extra part of your inheritance? At least if my experiment succeeded," Lucien added idly in an afterthought.
"What extra part of the inheritance?" Henry asked baffled.
"Yes." Harry scowled. "It took Remus a while before he found your explanation of that part of my inheritance."
"Oh." The painted blond blinked. "I would have thought you had read about your inheritance before you became of age. Has the world deteriorated so much that young people are not even aware of their own inheritance before they undergo it?" He tsk'd. "How appalling."
Forest green eyes flared up in anger. "I was raised by the Muggle family of my mum until I was eleven. So sorry that I did not think of immediately checking all the books in case some blockhead decided to add another part to the inheritance I didn't even know I would receive!" Harry spat.
"Harry, calm down," Draco muttered soothingly and touched Harry's upper arm while Garin popped his head out from underneath the robes when he was alerted of his master's distress.
"Lucien Antonius Malfoy, what have you done?" Henry hissed and narrowed his eyes.
"Oh my, you are a feisty one – is that a fixed trait of the Potters?" Lucien murmured surprised.
"Lucien, answer me! What did you do?"
"Your husband decided to make lasting changes to the pregnancy spell he put on you and made it so that every Potter who enters into a relationship with a Malfoy will develop a womb when they either receive their inheritance or with their upcoming birthday, thanks to the charm being set to work." Severus' lip curled up slightly. "Unfortunately nobody was aware of this little fact until Potter received his inheritance."
"What are you implying?" Henry narrowed his eyes and pursed his lips.
"I'm pregnant," Harry replied tersely.
"You did not think of using protection?" Lucien sneered lightly.
"Lucien, keep quiet!" Henry suddenly snapped, startling everyone. "You and I will have a talk later about your audacity regarding this charm matter." He glared and Lucien looked away with a dark scowl. "These men possess limited time, so let us not waste time with bickering."
"So sensible Potters do exist," Severus muttered drily.
Harry rolled his eyes, but otherwise ignored Severus' remark.
"I apologize for cutting to the chase, but as you mentioned: we don't have a lot of time left," Father said calmly. "Albus Dumbledore has proven he is an enemy, rather than an ally and already has attempted to kill Harry. We are planning to stop him by using a Binding ritual and the portrait of Salazar Slytherin has offered his and the other Founders' help. We were doing research and Harry discovered that the Potters are descendants of Godric Gryffindor, which leads us to suspect that his portrait has been hidden somewhere in his manor when Dumbledore took the portraits off the wall."
"When we asked the house elves whether they knew about this, they told us that Dumbledore put up wards that keeps them away from the portrait," Lupin took over. "They also told us that you might be able to help us find Gryffindor."
"Enlisting the help of the Founders and an Elemental Creature, huh?" Lucien smirked. "You could not have found better allies than them. Very well. It is true that the wards keep out the house elves and other unwanted guests. We can lead you to the corridor where Lord Gryffindor's portrait is located and we will instruct you what to do to get rid of the wards."
"Thank you," Harry said rather coolly, but Lucien only chuckled and he stood up together with Henry.
"Please follow us," Henry smiled.
Henry continued to make small talk during the walk; asking Harry in which House he was sorted (Lucien looking stumped when Harry explained that a ritual had put him in Slytherin); which subjects he had chosen for his last year; how far along he was which led to him giving the boy tips on how to deal with possible aches that could come up like a sore back; and even apologized profusely for the fact that Harry had ended up with the Muggle family who had resented his mother, to which Harry had uncomfortably waved off his apology, stating that it had not been any of the Potters' fault – how could it have when a Dark Wizard had decided to make James and Lily his target?
While Henry entertained Harry, Sirius and Remus with stories about things that had happened in the Manor, Lucien had taken to talking with his descendants and Severus; the latter offering a look of interest when the blond man mentioned an experiment in which he had combined a Levitation charm with Gravitation Reduction potion.
The group and the two men in the portrait were walking deeper into the manor; passing by what had once been the wing of James Potter – a large Gryffindor banner was still hung above the door and the wing of Harry's grandparents, who had apparently had a preference for light blue and light green colours.
The portraits, through which Lucien and Henry were walking, were either made up out of landscapes, landscapes containing magical creatures who only glanced at the two men with a disinterested face or other family members of the Potter family: aunts, uncles, cousins, great-grandparents … They all smiled brightly at Harry, welcoming him home and ushering him to come back once he had graduated.
Harry thanked them and promised to come back later, but Draco saw how a look of sheer longing crossed Harry's face each time they passed yet another family member of his lover. For someone who never had had the chance to experience a real family, the eagerness with which the portraits were welcoming him home and talking to him had to be overwhelming and Draco offered his silent support by placing his hand on Harry's back.
Harry glanced at him and offered him a wavering smile; his eyes showing his appreciation for Draco's support.
Draco had lost count of how many corners they had turned and how many corridors they had walked through, but he took notice of the fact that the air suddenly started to feel heavier, more oppressing. The hairs on his back were raising and instincts were screaming at him to turn back before it would be too late.
He grimaced; this had to be one of Dumbledore's other tricks. It was likely that the bastard had put up various curses that induced fear in the victim and were intent to keep unwanted visitors out. At least this proved that they would be stumbling upon Gryffindor's portrait soon.
He glanced around, studying the walls. Even here the walls contained portraits, but they were all devoid of living beings: the only things filling up the painting were landscapes like a grass field, the foot of a mountain, a small forest …
After having encountered so many family members and magical creatures just a few minutes ago, it was unnerving to suddenly face portraits that only showed a quiet landscape.
"Dumbledore made sure that the people residing in the portraits here were casted out of their homes by putting Resistance spells on them," Lucien commented casually.
"How come you two are able to go through them then?" Black asked and raised an eyebrow.
Henry offered him a wolf like grin. "The old man is one of the cleverest people I have met so far, but his entire plan of keeping everyone away from Lord Gryffindor depended on the wards not being breached by someone with Potter blood. As soon as Harry changed the wards and you defeated the obstacle in front of the door, his entire spell work had lost all its foundation and the house elves were able to remove each trap and most of the curses." He threw a look behind him. "If they hadn't done that, you would have encountered at least six more traps before you would even reach the centre of this manor."
"But you'll have to ignore the Fear Projecting curse though," Lucien added. "I'm afraid the house elves will take longer to remove that one, because that's one of the strongest that was put up."
"Did he put up these curses when he brought the painting here?" Lupin frowned.
"Of course not." Lucien shook his head and clucked his tongue. "Even he was not that bold that he would dare to raise curses when the Manor had still inhabitants. No, he did this later."
"When was it?" Henry mused out loud and tapped with his wand against his thigh. "I believe he came back a year after he placed you with that Muggle family."
"Where were …" Draco's father started to ask, but was silenced with a quick head shake of Henry.
"Careful now, or you will come into contact with the ward," Henry warned the group and he and Lucien halted in their own frame.
They were standing in front of what seemed to be a dark, thin curtain that swayed lightly in a non-existing breeze. It blocked the rest of the way by swaying from one wall to the other.
No matter how hard Draco tried, he could not see past the fluttering curtain and it suddenly hit him that he was not looking at a real curtain, but instead at the physical manifestation of the ward that Dumbledore had put up.
"What kind of ward is this?" Harry murmured next to him and he sounded bewildered.
"The type of ward that they do not teach students anymore," Lucien replied drily. "It repels any living being or anything that resembles a living being like a portrait."
"Is that not a Dark Ward?" Black questioned and he furrowed his eyebrows, looking mildly disturbed.
"That it is," Lucien answered and chuckled briefly. "Surprising, is it not? That the defender of the Light as people liked to call him, would use such a dark type of ward."
"How do you disable this ward?" Draco asked and absentmindedly twirled his wand between his fingers.
He tried to remember whether he had ever heard of this type of ward before. Most wards were placed in the light magic category, because they were aimed at defending people or places. However, there was a select few wards that had the intention to harm anything or anyone that tried to tamper with it. He could vaguely recall reading about wards like this one years ago, but the memory was vague and any information he had found back then, had since long left his memory.
"Wards like this one all have one weak spot," Henry explained, looking at the ward with clear contempt. "If all of you aim a Crushing curse at the weak spot, the ward will collapse and disappear."
"And behind this ward, Gryffindor's painting can be found?" Severus sounded wary; his eyes studying the ward intently.
"Yes; get rid of this ward and you will be able to retrieve Lord Gryffindor," Lucien responded.
"How will we be able to locate the weak spot?" Harry asked and he bit his lip.
His question was answered by Garin, who peeked out from underneath his robes and hissed something to Harry. Harry frowned and hissed something back.
The snake turned his head to look at the ward and glanced back at its master, letting out another string of hisses.
Draco shifted his feet a bit when the hissing continued and thought that he should not find Harry speaking Parseltongue that hot.
Shaking his head, he forced himself to pay attention instead of letting his mind wander into dangerous territories.
"Garin said he found the weak spot," Harry told the group once the hissing had ceased. He nodded towards the upper left corner. "The weak spot is right in that corner. If we aim our spells at that corner, the ward should go down."
"It is a good thing you brought an Elemental Creature with you," Henry smiled and then inclined his head. "It was a pleasure meeting you, Harry. Do come visit again."
"You are welcome as well," Lucien told the rest of the group. He smirked. "It is about time that this manor has more than only Gryffindors visiting."
"We will," Harry promised with a small smile.
"All right, we have wasted enough time today," Severus snapped and raised his wand. "Let us disable this ward, so that we can retrieve the painting and return to Hogwarts."
"Everyone ready?" Lucius asked and the rest nodded, all pointing their wands at the upper left corner. "On the count of three. One, two, three!"
Several dark orange coloured lines, resembling lightning bolts, escaped their wands and blasted through the upper left corner. The curtain like ward stopped swaying and seemed to freeze up, resembling a sturdy wall suddenly. It glinted mechanically as it was suddenly made out of iron, but a second attack made it burst apart like an air bubble and the sound of glass shattering was heard, before the ward completely disappeared.
Cautiously, aware that there could be another hidden trap waiting for them, they crept forwards until they passed another corner and came to a stop in front of a low table, placed underneath a small window.
On the table a large portrait stood with a man, dressed in blood red robes, sitting in a large chair, with one hand resting on a book in his lap.
Dark brown hair, tinted with grey, shifted a bit when the man raised his head and looked at them, his auburn coloured eyes regarding them sceptically.
"First time in all those years that I am able to have a conversation with someone else aside from myself and it turns out to be a bunch of brats," Godric Gryffindor groaned exasperatedly and sneered. "Dear Merlin. At least brats are preferred than our mighty Headmaster. I assume that you are here to take me back to my rightful place at Hogwarts? Do not be careless fools; if even one book is out of place by the time I am back in the school, you will regret it." He threw them a sour, scathing look and huffed when they just stared at him in shock. "Well, what are you waiting for? A written invitation? Get on with it!"
Well, Draco thought faintly amused. It seems Severus will get along splendidly with Gryffindor. Who would have thought that?
AN2: So what do you think of it? Was it worth the wait? I hope so :D Please leave a review behind with your thoughts!
Now before I give you a small preview, I have to make an announcement. I'm going to attempt to post at least one more chapter before the 10th of January (can't promise anything, but I will try). Why specifically that date? Because then my exams start (seems like I can do nothing but announce exams in this story ...) and well, I like to concentrate on my exams first before I work on my stories.
This does not mean that this story is abandoned! It will just be put on a temporary hold until my exams are over. So I will try to post at least one more chapter before my exams start.
Next time: One would think that the holidays would make everyone happy, but before Harry and Draco can leave to spend their winter holiday elsewhere, they are reminded once again that Dumbledore is not the only one who they have to be wary of. Good thing that the bond between them is more complicated than they first had assumed.
See you all in the next chapter!
Cuddles
Melissa
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