Adult-FanFiction.org : Harry Potter

A Different Kind of Hero	By : JunjouSlashGirl Category: Harry Potter > Threesomes/Moresomes Views: 53263 -:- Recommendations : 2 -:- Currently Reading : 10
Disclaimer: Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, or any of the characters. All rights belong to J. K. Rowling. I do not earn any money with this story.

Chapter List
- 17
- 18
- 19
Chapter 18: Back to Hogwarts
HP
When Harry woke up the early the next morning he felt surprisingly well rested considering the injuries he had gained the evening before. His body was still a bit sore, but not as much as he would have expected. Somehow he felt lighter, as if he had been purified. That probably described the procedure as well, he thought, and closed his eyes again, just relaxing.
He laid there like that, snuggled against his father’s side and very contently, but after a few minutes he remembered that he had to return to Hogwarts today and that meant saying goodbye to his mate for what might turn out to be a very long time. His mood instantly fell, but he shook his head to get rid of the feeling. His mood could fall later; for now it was still very early and he had the chance to spend at least an hour with his mate before everyone else would wake up.
Sitting up, he was just about to climb from the bed, when a surprisingly awake voice asked him: "Where are you planning on going?"
He opened his mouth to tell his father that he was going up to Lucius, but no sound came out.
"Harry?" Severus asked, his voice getting concerned. "What is it?" his father asked again and sat up as well.
Harry only opened his mouth in answer and then shrugged. He felt a little helpless like this, but luckily Severus caught on quickly: "You screamed to the point of damaging your vocal cords yesterday. You body probably healed all vital organs first, but I think you will be fine tomorrow at the latest." His father leaned forwards and kissed him on his forehead. Smiling, Harry returned the kiss on his father's cheek. The stern Potions Master looked shocked for the moment, but then a happy grin that he had never seen on his father's face before, spread over his features.
"I love you, Harry, you know that right?"
He nodded. Even though his father was not the man who expressed his feelings in many words, he did so in many small and bigger gestures.
"You want to go to Lucius, am I right?" His father asked and he nodded again.
"Then go and enjoy your time, but be down in the kitchen in two hours; I don't think that I can keep any of your adopted family from looking for you any longer than that."
Harry gave his father a thankful smile and then strode over to the door. Peeking around the corner, he noticed that everything was still quiet, except for some shuffling sounds down in the kitchen where Molly prepared the breakfast.
Using his vampire speed, he quickly ran up to Lucius’ door, where he paused for a moment, deciding that he would enter carefully, just in case his mate was still asleep. It must have been tiring for the others to extract Voldemort's soul out as well. Shuddering, he tried not to think about it. It had hurt like nothing he had known before, not even the vision he had suffered at Privet Drive had been as horrible. The feeling of something entirely evil and dark leaving through his scar had driven him to the brink of insanity, but somehow he had managed to hold on to his mind. He had thought about his friends, who would be devastated if he lost his mind because of the purification and about his mate and father he had just gotten to know recently.
Every time his vision wasn't black from the pain, he had looked at the group of people in front of him, fighting for them:
Sirius had looked desperate, but determined; as if he was thinking about his late best friend whom he was unable to save and who had resembled him so much.
Moony had been close to the surface in Remus; the protective werewolf had long adopted him as a pup into his pack and had been fighting for his own reasons.
Molly had given the impression of a fierce lioness, protecting her cubs, whilst Arthur had looked very calm and focussed; the twins surprisingly as well.
His Head of House, Professor McGonagall could have been Molly's sister, her Gryffindor personality had burned bright like a blazing fire in the hard eyes, whilst her fellow professor, Professor Flitwick, had released an enormous amount of magic for his small stature.
He had not seen Hermione, who had been standing next to him, but after seeing Ron yesterday, Harry was sure that he would make an excellent Auror one day. It had helped that the redhead at least had enough experience with Voldemort to know how bad it could get and he had not wavered once.
Only the faces of his mate and father had closed off completely whilst they struggled with Voldemort's piece of soul and fought for him. The two powerful wizards’ were so adapt at closing off their emotions that they rarely showed anything, even in a private setting. The battle against the evil spirit had probably not helped in the least.
Smiling happily at the memory, not at the memory of the evil soul getting pulled out of him, but at the help he had gotten, he silently pushed Lucius’ bedroom door open and crept inside. Heavy hangings blocked most of the early morning sun light and he could see his mate still sleeping peacefully in his bed. Tiptoeing over, he wondered what he should do now.
Lucius had not even stirred, which was a rare sight; in fact it had never happened before and a small smile stretched over his lips. He carefully climbed onto the mattress and sat down next to Lucius. His mate lay on his bed as composed as he was during the day. His hands seemed to lie on his stomach, but Harry could only guess, due to the heavy comforter covering most of his body and his face was emotionless, but relaxed.
Carefully, he stroked over the long, blonde hair, which lay spread out around the aristocrat's head. It was so soft and smooth, like silk; no wonder that every Malfoy was so snobbish about their hair, when it felt like this.
Leaning forwards, he pressed a soft kiss to the motionless lips, but Lucius was apparently fast asleep. Harry sat up again, thinking that he could very well use this opportunity to watch his mate for a bit longer. When his eyes wandered lower, he noticed that Lucius was not wearing a shirt and his curiosity was suddenly awakened. He chewed on his bottom lip for a moment, but then his natural curiosity won and he carefully grabbed the edge of Lucius’ blankets, before pulling them down, exposing more and more of those strong muscles and pale skin.
Harry purred happily as his eyes roamed his dominants body, not hungrily, but appreciatively. He didn't want sex right now, this was his first tentative step he did in exploring his mate's body beside a few careful kisses. He had never before eyed his dominants body so openly; sure his eyes had roamed his clad frame often enough, but he had always been very shy during their sexual encounters and had never wandered further down than to the aristocrat’s collar bones. But right now he felt brave, maybe because Lucius was still sleeping and could not tease him with his sudden eagerness and curiosity, or see how inexperienced he was. Sometimes he felt bad that Lucius had to wait so long for every little step in their physical relationship.
Scooting a bit closer his eyes landed on Lucius’ nipples, which were nearly as pale as the rest of his skin, whilst his own were a warm, rosy colour. Harry flushed heavily as he compared their bodies, knowing that they were not similar at all:
He was small, frail postured, with slim shoulders and even though he was probably not weak as a vampire, there was not a single muscle visible on his body; whilst Lucius was tall with broad shoulders and every inch of his body was well defined. His own body was defined as well, but in another way, everything about his physique was meant to please his dominant and stir his protective instincts, whilst Lucius' body was meant to give him the feeling of being safe and protected.
He wondered whether Lucius liked to be kissed on his nipples as much as he liked it? Or did he have different sensitive spots? Would he be allowed to find them all someday? Harry knew that as the submissive, he had no say in their sex life if Lucius didn't want it, but until now Lucius had let him take an active part in their sexual activities, as much as he had wanted. That didn't mean that being taken and used by his dominant didn't sound just good , he loved to feel his mates strength overpowering him it after all.
His eyes wandered down to Lucius’ perfect abs. He knew that Ron had always dreamed of having muscled abs himself, but it was a lot of work and very hard to achieve. With Lucius, Harry mused, they probably came naturally due to his Veela ancestor and now his vampire genes. But Lucius was not the bulgy type of muscled man, but rather looked like a gymnast, or athlete.
He suddenly gasped and his cheeks coloured heavily, when his eyes wandered lower again and landed on Lucius’ tight fitting black boxers. He wanted to avert his eyes, somehow thinking that it was rude to stare, but they were glued to his mate’s most private area. Even without being erect, there was a huge bulge hidden beneath the thin fabric. The black material stretched so tightly over Lucius’ impressive manhood, that it left nothing to the imagination and suddenly Harry didn't wonder anymore as to why his mate always walked through the world so smugly and confident; he would as well if he had such a massive cock. Lucius was not only long, but also very thick.
Making a fist, he held it close to the outline of his lover’s shaft for comparison, only to flush even more. How had his mate fit into him? He pulled his hand away, but stopped in midair. Could he dare to touch Lucius? He wanted to, but that was a huge step and his instincts clearly told him that a submissive normally was not allowed as much free reign. His instinct battled against his brave Gryffindor nature, but only for a short while; his Gryffindor bravery and recklessness was just too strong for even his natural instinct to overpower right now.
Biting down on his bottom lip one last time, he softly lowered his hand on top of Lucius’ member. The covered flesh beneath him was hot and currently felt very soft. He scooted a bit closer, his eyes still fixed on the immense organ in front of him and trailed one single finger down the length of Lucius' penis. Trailing his finger upwards again, he brushed over the thick head. Slowly, the flesh beneath him hardened and Harry wondered if he should rather stop his exploration, but he wanted to know what reaction he could provoke from his sleeping mate.
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LM
Lucius moaned in his sleep, he had the most wonderful dream right now. Naturally, he had many wonderful dreams about his little Harry, many of which included Harry at least being naked, and he even dreamed of fucking the daylights out of his sweet submissive regularly, but this dream was different. Hesitant, but curious fingers explored his heated flesh, tenderly stroking one or more fingers down his pulsing length or tracing the line where his shaft changed into the head of his thick cock and even carefully touching his dripping slit.
Harry had never done this, not even in his dreams and it had him hard and pulsing with pleasure within seconds. The small finger massaged his prick softly and he waited for the moment when the Harry in his dream would finally close his whole hand around his huge sex and start stroking.
He could already imagine how it would feel: His cute submissive would stroke slowly and softly, still very nervously and unconfidently and his hand would not even be able to reach around his huge girth completely, but his Harry would finally touch him and that would be more than enough. He loved every little gesture Harry dared to grace him with, every single peck on his cheek, every kiss on his mouth and every roaming look.
But why did Harry not close his fingers around him already? Normally Lucius always knew how his dreams would proceed and he could even influence them to a certain extent, so why did his Harry not do what he wanted? Frowning, he noticed that the tentative touches felt all too real and he became aware of the uncomfortable mattress beneath him. His eyes flew wide open as he realized that this was not a dream. He could smell his little submissive sitting next to him and Harry would surely have snickered if he had seen his shocked and definitively very none-composed expression right now.
Shifting his eyes downwards, he glanced carefully at his young mate; he did not want to interrupt him, not when Harry was finally brave enough to explore his body and also not when it felt so good.
Lucius knew that Harry would be startled if he noticed that he was awake. The boy had probably fought an internal battle against his instincts, before he had dared to touch him. Lucius had to suppress a moan, when Harry’s thumb started to rub his head and he bit down on his lip to prevent the sound from escaping. It felt so good. Harry's small hands and inexperienced movements turned him on like nothing before, because they showed him that he was the first for his submissive in every way.
Quickly he wondered whether he could dare to rub slightly against the boy's hands later, but then he saw the bright look of curiosity and trust on the child's face and he understood that this was not about sex. This was about getting to know his body and a different kind of intimacy; an intimacy that was even more valuable than pure sex.
He had to bite on his lip again, when Harry placed his index finger and his thumb on both sides of his cock and started to feel how thick he really was.
How could those small hands feel so good on him? Was it because of Harry or was it because Harry was a child touching him? It was probably a mixture of both. Oh, how dirty he would feel if it weren't for their mating bond!
Harry’s fingers wandered lower then and his thumb disappeared again. The small finger wandered even beyond the base of his shaft, trying to feel his heavy balls through the material of his boxers. Harry’s eyes widened as he noticed how heavy and full they were. He had refused to pleasure himself since his mating and his balls ached for release. But as it was his right to pleasure Harry and give him release; as was it his little submissive's right to give him satisfaction when he was finally ready for it. It was always like a small gift to see his mate's release, knowing that he had made Harry feel good and he would not take this away from his Harry. Besides, vampires could smell the scent of arousal and semen like nothing else and it would send the wrong signals to Harry if he started to masturbate. Harry would most likely think that he was getting impatient and that Lucius wanted him to do something he was still not ready for. Oh it was a torturous pleasure to have an only twelve year old submissive.
Harry laid his palm flat on his cock one last time, before dropping his hand. Lucius expected the boy to lie down next to him, or even try and wake him, but Harry kept sitting there, his big, green eyes still fixed on his private area.
When his little mate had not moved after about three minutes, Lucius carefully lifted one of his hands, so as not to startle his submissive and laid it tenderly down on Harry's neck. Harry startled regardless, his head snapped around and his already large eyes widened even further, when he realized that his dominant had caught him, but before his instincts could overwhelm him, Lucius pulled him down next to him and pressed a kiss to his temple:
"Everything is fine, Harry. I liked it very much, thank you."
His sweet mate flushed beautifully and opened his mouth to say something, but no sound came out.
Frowning, Lucius asked: "are your vocal cords still not healed?"
Harry shook his head and snuggled closer to him. An arm came up to lie down across Lucius’ chest, but Harry stopped himself.
Sometimes he didn't know if he found this submissive’s shyness endearing or annoying, but not wanting to discourage his mate he smiled softly. "You can lay your arm down; I told you I like everything you do. You do not need to ask. We are equal in our relationship, despite being dominant and submissive," he said softly and pulled Harry's arm down. Until now, the boy had always laid his arms down between them when they lay like this and never dared to touch him. He was glad that Harry finally showed him that he wanted to get closer to him as well, because he was scared sometimes that he was still going too fast for his young mate. One of those times had been after their little encounter in front of Severus' Potions Lab.
He started to trace patterns on Harry's back and they laid next to each other silently for a long while, just enjoying the other’s company. Lucius felt utterly relaxed; he always felt more at ease and less guarded when he was alone with his little submissive. Harry’s body had moulded itself perfectly to his side and the Gryffindors’ head rested on his shoulder.
When Lucius noticed that the sun was already very high in the sky, he cast a tempus spell and sighed when he saw it was already 8,30 AM.
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HP
"We have to get up; you and your friends will have to leave in an hour and a half if you want to get to the Hogwarts Express on time," Lucius said suddenly.
A cold feeling spread through Harry's stomach and he looked up and shook his head fiercely.
"I do not want to let you leave either, but you have to go back," Lucius said in a soothing voice, but it didn't help.
He shook his head again, knowing that it was in vain and that his mate was right. Tears started to gather in his eyes. He would have to leave his mate, his defender and he would not see him for days, or weeks or maybe even month. What if his father was not able to smuggle Lucius into the castle? What if it would be too risky for the blonde spy? That would mean that he would only see the aristocrat again in December, during his Christmas Holiday and that was four months away.
"Hush, Harry, we will see each other soon again, I promise," Lucius said and pulled him into his strong chest, pressing him to the larger body; but he didn't calm down, Lucius could not promise anything like that, there were too many things that could come in their way.
"Shh...Harry, I already have a plan, you will not have to wait until the next holidays to see me again."
Harry could scream in frustration; why did his voice have to be gone today of all days? He shook his head again, the only thing he could do right now. There was no guaranty that they would see each other again soon.
Suddenly a knock came from the door and Harry jumped from the bed with vampire speed and wiped his tears away.
Lucius quickly rose as well, transfigured his boxers in something ‘more’ and Harry’s PJ's in a set of jeans shorts and a green t-shirt, before saying as smoothly as ever: "Come in."
Ron and Hermione stepped inside hesitatingly:
"We were looking for you, Molly wants you to bring your trunk down as soon as possible," Hermione told him, her eyes darting questioningly between him and Lucius.
"Harry came up with a note from his father; we still have to destroy the Horcrux, right now it is only sealed away somewhere other than Harry's body," Lucius lied fluidly and put his cloak on as signal for them all to leave.
"Why did you and Professor Snape not destroy it already?" Ron asked and turned back to the stairs.
"First of all it is Harry's right to have this honour and secondly, Severus and I reckon that we will not be able to destroy the thing. There has to be a reason why the prophecy says, that Harry is the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord," Lucius drawled and lead the way down to the basement.
To Harry's surprise, his father was indeed there, waiting for him and just setting up a small cauldron with a steamy liquid. Harry could also see the golden lightning bolt stamp lying on the work counter nearby.
"Finally, this thing is depressing me," his father said and motioned to the Horcrux.
"I honestly cannot understand, how you could live with this thing for eleven years and still be so generally happy and Gryffindorish," Severus said sounding very irritated.
Ron tried to lean closer unsuspiciously and whispered in his ear: "I guess a piece of You-Know-Who can do that to people."
Unfortunately, his father had heard that Ron had whispered something, even though he had not listened to what was said, being distracted by the foul magic of the evil soul and the delicate potion in his hands.
"Do you want to share what you just whispered into Potter’s ear, Weasley?" his father sounded like the snarky bastard of a Potions Master all over again. Harry threw a questioning look at Lucius who drawled in way of explanation: "We already noticed yesterday that the Horcrux has a most unpleasant effect on you if you stay near it for too long, but your father had to set up the potion."
Harry sighed; it really wasn't nice to hear his father call him Potter all over again and with all the malice the name had had in the past when it left Severus’ lips.
Next to him Ron had gone rigid and stammered: "I just said...that it sounds logical...that You-Know-Who's soul makes someone feel ill..."
Harry watched his father narrow his eyes and decided to step in. He went determinately over to the counter and was just about to grab the golden stamp, when Lucius' hand stopped him:
"Do not touch it without a pair of gloves," he said; his face impassive as ever, but Harry could see concern in those silver eyes. Next thing he knew a pair of large, dragon-hide gloves was pushed into his hands and Lucius stepped back again.
He really still had so much to learn; magically gained knowledge or not. He smiled at his mate and pulled the large gloves on, but he was stopped once more when he wanted to pick up the stamp:
"Why so quiet today, man?" Ron asked curiously.
"Potter's fragile voice was apparently not able to handle some stress," Severus sneered and placed the small cauldron in front of him.
When Ron only frowned in confusion Lucius added. "He means that your friend’s vocal cords are still injured and need some more hours to heal."
His friends looked at him worriedly and he shrugged, giving them a reassuring smile, whilst Lucius scoffed: "Harry will certainly not die from injured vocal cords. His injuries yesterday were far more severe."
"Does that mean that he really nearly died yesterday?" Hermione asked carefully. She was a bit braver around Lucius, but not much; the former Death Eater was an impressive figure, even more so than Severus, due to his height and the fact that he did not hide his muscles beneath several layers of clothing.
"No," his mate answered simply and turned back to watch him.
Thinking that all good things came in three, Harry finally grabbed the small lightning bolt stamp, but once again he was stopped, again by his bushy haired friend.
"Harry, I am not sure that you should do this," she said, holding his wrist back.
He could only give her a questioning look, the thing with his voice really was a hassle.
His friend bit her bottom lip once, before explaining: "You said you want to force You-Know-Who into a peace contract, right?"
He nodded once, frowning deeply. What was his brainy friend getting at? Looking at the expressions in his father and mate's eyes, he could see that they had no clue either and were slowly getting annoyed.
"Look, if you really destroy all the soul pieces expect one, then you have to deal with a soulless bastard, and I mean that literally. Don't you think it would be wiser to search for a way to reconnect these pieces to him again and keep one?"
Placing the golden lightning bolt stamp back down, he sat and thought about Hermione's suggestion for a moment. Maybe she was right. He had chosen this way because he believed that peace in their world could only arise if all parties would be treated equally: the Light wizards, the Dark wizards and the Neutral ones (where he placed himself firmly by now). But this would mean that he would work closely with Voldemort at one point; he was the leader of the Dark side after all. But how should he come to any compromises with the man if his soul was destroyed up to a point where he probably could not feel any sympathy? It would probably be an impossible task.
Looking up to his mate and father, he saw the men thinking about the matter as well.
But one thing bothered him about Hermione's plan. Gathering all the Horcruxes would mean that he would have to hide them in one place: like his room, trunk or Gringotts, but his first year had shown that not even Gringotts was totally safe. Furrowing his brows even more, he started to drum his fingers on his father’s worktable in agitation. If he followed Hermione's plan (and it was a good one) he would have to find a way to carry the Horcruxes on his body, or he would not feel safe. But where? What would be inconspicuous enough? His eyes landed on his golden signet ring. Suddenly he had an idea. Looking up at his mate (because his father still looked very grouchy), he pulled at the expensive sleeve of his cloak and started to gesture wildly. Lucius held one of his elegant, long-fingered hands up and pulled his wand out, before conjuring a quill and a piece of parchment with a flick of his wand.
He quickly took the utensils, scribbling down: "Do we have the rest of the connecting potion?"
His mate and father bent over while reading his writing.
"I do have the rest," his father drawled and disappeared to the other end of the room where a small flask stood on a shelf.
"Hey Harry, do you really consider keeping You-Know-Who's soul?" Ron asked incredulous.
He simply shrugged, Hermione was right after all; it would be wise to at least try to heal the bastard's soul, even though the thought of healing the snake-faced man made him feel sick. Hermione beamed at him, but couldn't say anything because at that moment his father returned with the potion and placed it down in front of him.
He pulled his ring off, before carefully pouring a bit of the potion over it.
"Harry, are you sure you want to do that? You have seen the Horcrux’s effects," Lucius said, his voice strained with worry and a deep frown was imbedding itself on his mate’s usually perfect forehead as if he himself was fighting against the influence of the evil spirit.
Stopping for a moment, Harry eyed the golden lightning bolt stamp in front of him. His mate was right, he could see the effects on his father, but he had lived with a piece of Voldemort for nearly his entire life and he could not feel the dark presence, even now where it lay in front of him. Maybe he had gotten immune in some way? And these Horcruxes would not be connected to him directly at least, only to his ring.
Grabbing the peace of parchment again, he wrote down: "Do you think we have a chance of finding a spell to reconnect all of Voldemort's soul pieces?"
His mate looked down once more and he could see that the wish to keep him safe was fighting with the wish to be honest with him in the aristocrat. Finally Lucius gave a curt nod.
"Then I want to try it," he wrote down, before picking up his ring once more and proceeding with his task. When he was finished he placed his ring on top of the lightning bolt stamp and pulled out his own wand, pointing it at the Horcrux. Only then did he remember that he had never done wordless magic. Determined that this little inconvenience would not stop him, he concentrated on the spell and muttered it inside his head, but nothing happened.
"Harry, shall I assist you?" His mate's silent voice asked, as if afraid to disturb his concentration.
He shook his head. A voice in his head told him that he needed to use his own magic if he wanted to seal the Horcruxes away, so he shook his head and concentrated again.
Closing his eyes for a moment, he tried to get a feeling for his magic, but it was difficult, so instead he tried to concentrate not only on the spell, but also on what exactly he wanted to achieve, before pointing his wand to the gold once more. This time he could feel the prickle of his magic, but it wasn't enough. His friends, mate and father seemed to hold their breath as he concentrated for the third time, this time even harder. Magic suddenly rose inside him and a bright light shot from his wand. It only took a split second for the Extraction Spell to transfer the piece of soul into his signet ring; it was done before he even realized it.
"Did it work?" Hermione whispered silently, but he ignored her and lifted his free hand to let it hover above the ring. His magic pulsed around the object, enveloping it with a strong shield and the piece of soul was safely locked inside. Finally he nodded for the other's sake.
"Let us quickly continue with the second one then," his mate announced, clearly in a bad mood by now as well and pointed at a second, bigger lightning bolt stamp at the end of the work counter.
Harry's eyes widened. He had not thought that the older vampires had had the strength to extract the second Horcrux out of Nagini after their tiring battle against the first one.
"Your Head of House contacted Professor Flitwick and Professor Sprout, who took care of this one. Apparently the Horcrux had not been in Nagini's body as long, or it just had difficulties in attaching itself to a snake. They succeeded rather quickly," Lucius suddenly drawled very arrogantly, his old character coming back rapidly now as well.
It was definitively good that his magic was able to seal the Horcruxes away so thoroughly, or everybody around him would get grumpy otherwise. With a sigh he went to retrieve the other lightning bolt stamp. It was much bigger and heavier, about the size of his hand. Without preamble he picked his ring up again, poured some more Potion over it and placed it on top of the second piece of gold, before repeating the spell. This time he succeeded on his first try. His magic wavered around his ring; let the Horcrux slip inside, before forming into a barrier once more, as if it possessed a will of its own.
As soon as the second Horcrux was sealed away a collective sigh went through the room, even Lucius and his father sighed in relief.
Looking over to check if the effects of the evil soul pieces were really gone, he saw guilt shining in his father's black eyes.
"Harry, I am..." his father started, but he cut him off. With two steps he stood in front of his father and hugged him tightly, the man was not at fault for his miserable mood and he would not let him believe otherwise. His father pressed a kiss to his unruly mop of hair and pulled a small vial from his pockets after he had let go of him again.
He watched him going to the cauldron with the acid potion they had not used and dropping a few drops of a bluish liquid into the aggressive potion, before lowering one hand into the liquid. Harry gasped as he saw his father's hand disappear in the dangerous potion, but the Potions Master only smirked: "What kind of Potion Master would I be if I did not have a neutralizer to such a simple Acid Potion on hand."
Lucius huffed in indignation and glared at his friend. "I could have easily brewed that potion as well."
"But you didn't," his father said aloofly, before pulling his hand out again and carrying the cauldron over to the basin to pour the potion down the drain.
"Wow, I really can’t feel the effects of those things anymore," Ron said suddenly and slapped him on his back.
"Indeed, it is very impressive," Lucius hummed and his father added: "And now you three had better go and finish packing your trunks, I am not willing to deal with Molly's wrath."
Harry only smiled at the glare and followed his friends to their room. Upstairs, he quickly exchanged his transfigured PJ’s with his blue ensemble, before pulling out his wand and making quick work of his trunk.
"I nearly forgot that you can do magic outside of Hogwarts now. When you started the first Extraction Spell I nearly got a heart attack!" Hermione giggled and watched the items which flew from all directions of their room settle neatly into his open trunk.
"Could you do that for me as well?" Ron asked and Harry shrugged before waving his wand again. They had to take refuge on their beds when even more objects started to fly through the air, but it was worth it when they took down their fully packed trunks into the living room ten minutes later.
"Good, you are finished, I already had the suspicion that you hadn't even started to pack." Molly said and proceeded to levitate their trunks to his car.
"It really is much easier with a car of own for such occasions. Much less stress with the ministry," she explained thankfully. "And now go to the kitchen to eat, we will leave in half an hour."
Harry's hearts sunk at her words. Ron, who had seen his expression said: "Don't worry, Snape will give you the password to his private quarters, you will still be able to visit him often enough and we have another year of Potions ahead with the snarky bastard."
Harry chuckled, he knew that Ron didn't really mean to insult his father and if he was honest, he had to admit that the grouchy Potions Master had always been a snarky bastard in their classes and probably would not change the next year. But he was not really in a bad mood because of his father, there would be plenty of enough opportunities to visit him secretly, but with Lucius it would be entirely different.
Maybe it would help if he tried to pretend he was not mated?
"Ron, I don't believe Harry is sad because of Snape, but because he will not be able to visit his mate for a long time. They are living in different countries and they both still need to attend school. They probably will not have a chance to see each other until the next holidays," Hermione said softly.
"Oh," said Ron and looked slightly crestfallen.
Harry tried to smile reassuringly at them, but he could not fool his friends. Hermione pat his shoulder with a sad smile and they proceeded towards the kitchen.
As soon as Harry had entered the stony room, Sirius came running over to him and lifted him off the ground:
"Oh Harry, I thought you would die!" The animagus hugged him tightly and it would have hurt, if Harry still had been human.
Harry wanted to say something, but he still couldn't, so he pet Sirius awkwardly, trying to reassure his trembling godfather, but he never had been good in comforting people.
" I said all those awful things to you and when Remi said your...your heart was stopping,... I thought I would lose you without having properly apologized! I am so sorry, Harry!"
To Harry's horror he felt tears soak his coat where Sirius’ head rested on his shoulder.
"Will you forgive me, Harry? I promise I will try my best to get along with Snape," Sirius sobbed and Harry didn’t honestly have the strength to keep up their argument any longer.
He simply nodded and hugged his godfather as an answer, hoping that the animagus would understand.
"Thank you Harry, I really will try my best. If you can see something good in the git, then I will surely be able to find it as well, won't I?" Sirius dried his face with the back of his hand and let him back down.
"And now go eat something, you have a long day ahead and you are probably still exhausted."
He was placed down again and went over to where his friends had held him a free seat.
Lucius sniffed indignantly as Harry sat down across from him, unaware of the big splotch of snot and tears on his expensive coat.
"Honestly, Harry, first getting sick over your new clothes yesterday and now you have snot on it. You are lucky that your mate does not see you like that, or she would be upset."
He merely grinned back; it was annoying to not be able to give his own snide remark.
"Yeah, not everybody is a snob like you," Sirius commented and sat down next to Remus.
"I am not a snob," Lucius huffed and the whole table tried to suppress their snickers, only Sirius laughed openly.
"No you are not, you are a fairy." Harry rolled his eyes at his godfather’s antics.
"Am I?" Lucius drawled in a particularly evil voice and the smirk tugging at his lips did not bode well either. "Well, then you better have an eye on you cute little godson; I might find him ‘irresistible’."
Sirius spluttered and Remus looked at Lucius with horror, who made a show of eyeing him thoroughly. He flushed and squirmed in his seat and did his hardest to glare convincingly, while his body fought against different reactions. When Lucius smirk revealed one of his flashing fangs, his legs turned into jelly and heat spread across his whole body; he had clearly lost the battle. His father snorted silently, but luckily no one noticed his condition as he glanced from under heavy lashes at his mate. To his delight Lucius smirk faltered a little at his cute look, but his victory was short lived when Sirius suddenly growled:
"I knew you were a sick pervert!" Luckily Lucius did not plan on agitating him any further:
"No need to worry, Black. Something very ‘extraordinaire’ would have to happen before I would touch your godson or someone so young for that matter."
Harry wanted to flinch, knowing that the ‘extraordinaire’ thing had already happened.
"I hope for your sake that you mean it, or you might wake one morning without your ‘crown jewels’," Sirius threatened.
"Sirius!" Molly exclaimed. "No mentioning of private parts in my kitchen!"
"What's going on?" Ginny asked, entering the kitchen as well and flopped down at Harry’s right.
"Just Malfoy being a really sick bastard," Ron told her, earning himself another glare from his mum.
"Hey dad," Fred interrupted his sister, who had opened her mouth to comment on something. "Have you enlarged Harry's car?"
"I did it last night. We will all fit in," Mr Weasley told them and gave the pan with scrambled eggs to his daughter.
"That's great!" George grinned with a mouth full of food.
"Ginny, don't take too much, Harry has not yet eaten either," Molly scolded her daughter, who blushed, then batted her lashes at Harry and was just about to pile a huge portion of eggs onto his plate when a drawling voice luckily stopped her:
"Harry should not eat this morning. I had to give him something for his stomach after yesterday," his father strode in with a look on his face as if he was already back at Hogwarts between all the annoying students, but to his relief Harry could see that no lingering effects were left from the prolonged exposure of the Horcrux.
"Oh, dear. Well I guess, I’ll just have to prepare a few more sandwiches for you," Molly said and went back to the counter.
"We need to go now," Arthur said and stood up.
Glancing carefully over at his mate, he hoped he would have a chance to say his goodbye in private. Sadly, luck was not with him that morning. There were just too many people keeping an eye on him, to escape unseen for a moment. Ginny clung to his arm wanting to make sure that they would next to each other in the car, but at least whenever he had the chance he gave his mate one of his shy, but very seductive smiles the man liked so much.
Going outside, he was once more assaulted by Ginny.
"Come, Harry, we can share a seat at the back of your car, it will be much quieter there," she said and threw her snickering twin brothers a look.
"As I will be the one driving," his father suddenly said, taking the key from Arthur whilst passing "...and not willing to sit next to one of your loud siblings, Harry will sit in the front along with his two best friends, at least I am used to their constant chattering."
Harry grinned thankfully at Severus, who opened the door on the driver’s side. Sometimes it was good to have such a snarky bastard as a father.
"We will get to see Snape drive?" Ron grinned and pulled him from his sister’s grip, shoving him into the vehicle first. To Harry's surprise the next ‘person’ who followed him was Nagini, with Justitius hanging on to the tip of her tail like a black flag. The little bat chirped excitedly, having realized that something ‘big’ was going on and fluttered over to him, where he attached himself to his sleeve.
Nagini curled up in front of him and Harry regretted that he had not asked her how she was feeling after the removal of her own Horcrux, but the female snake at least looked fine.
When everybody was seated, Sirius and Remus poked their heads inside to say their final goodbyes:
"Have fun and do some pranks for me," Sirius grinned.
"And write us," Remus added with a wink.
He nodded in agreement and his two former guardians slammed the door shut, but an elegant, long fingered hand prevented it, before the face of his mate came into view:
"Try not to be a bother for your father for once," he drawled. Harry smiled widely, knowing that it meant: "Be careful and don't get into trouble." He wished he could at least blow his mate a kiss, but a second later the door finally slammed shut for good and he sighed.
"Maybe this will lift your spirits a bit," his father whispered next to him and pulled a little scroll from one of his many pockets. Harry looked at him questioningly, but his father only said: "Open it."
He unrolled the parchment and when his eyes read on the words, he gasped:
"The Ministry of Magic hereby confirms that the Custody of Mr. Harry Severus James Potter is transferred to Mr. Severus Tobias Snape."
The paper was signed by his mate. Harry hugged his father a bit awkwardly around his waist and, to the shock of everybody else, pressed a quick kiss to his cheek.
"Don't thank me, thank Lucius; he floo’ed over to the Ministry last night and wrote the document," his father said and pushed him back into his seat gently to start the car.
"What did Professor Snape give you?" Hermione asked from her seat at the window. He gave Ron the document so that his two friends could read it.
"Oh Harry, I am so happy for you!" she exclaimed. "And congratulations to you, Professor Snape."
Ron nodded."Yeah, congratulations," the redhead agreed and they both hugged Harry. It really meant a lot to him that they were so accepting of his new relationship to their once hated professor.
"What is it?" Fred asked from his seat further back in the car.
"The adoption papers. Professor Snape now officially has custody of Harry," Hermione explained, loud enough for every Weasley to hear. A second round of congratulations followed just as they were driving onto the next highway.
"I really can't believe it, but Snape really can drive," Ron commented when everybody had calmed down.
"I would be careful Mr. Weasley, or Gryffindor might lose some more points," his father glared at the road, but he only slapped his arm lightly.
"And you too, Mr. Potter." Harry saw the glint of amusement in his father’s eyes, but knew that all too soon his father would have to act as if they still didn't like each other and take points from him for real.
During the drive, he watched the other Weasley’s through the back mirror. It was funny to see how all their eyes were fixed on his father, as if they still couldn't believe that the man was driving, even though that was exactly what he had been doing for the last hour.
At the arrival they had to be careful, or it would be suspicious if six Weasley’s, Hermione, his father and he himself stepped out of a normal sized Mercedes. They needed more than ten minutes until everyone was out and even then many muggles looked at the horde of redheads and the scowling man in black.
"I will not escort you to platform 9 ¾. Even though most of the Slytherin families know that I have to do certain things for Dumbledore as a professor, it would still not do well if I do more than the absolute necessity," Severus whispered next to him without even looking down.
He gave a curt nod in understanding.
"I will give you the password to my quarters in some unsuspicious manner, but even then be careful when you want to visit. If my door is locked, don't try to open it, even if you could with your new knowledge."
"I'll promise, dad," he whispered back, his voice hoarse, but a wide smile spread over his face at the sound. His voice was coming back, even though it still hurt to speak.
"Have a good ride, I love you my little vampire brat," his father said.
"Love you too, you great big dungeon bat," He teased back. His father snorted and climbed back into the car, obviously having to wait until Molly and Arthur would return.
Nagini slithered next to him and asked: "Are you feeling well again young master? It looked painful." She didn't need to tell him what she meant.
"Yes. Are you feeling okay? My mate told me that the piece of soul left you easier than mine," he inquired. Nagini frowned at him as she tried to decipher his raspy words, but finally she answered.
"It hurt, but your sire gave me a potion and I feel much better without the evil spirit inside my body," she hissed and some muggles started to turn around to see where the sounds came from, so he said "You better slither up onto a trolley and try to look like a stuffed animal or something," and made a quick motion to capture his excited bat. "Stay there," he ordered Justitius, placing him on his shoulder. The little bat hopped over to his cheek and hugged his face, like he had done once before. "I love you, too," he cooed, whilst watching Nagini carefully slithering onto Hermione's trunk.
"Are you coming Harry?" Molly asked and he turned just in time to see Ron heave his heavy trunk onto a trolley. The trunk was even heavier than normal due to his excessive new wardrobe; he even had to shrink some of it to get everything inside.
"If you had said something, I would have done it myself," he told him, feeling a bit embarrassed and took the trolley.
"No, I still have a bad conscience because I never noticed your true age and I helped Ginny with her trunk when she was your age."
"But you couldn't have noticed," he argued.
"That doesn't matter." Ron replied. "You are probably even stronger than me, being a creature and all, but you look so fragile that I can't help myself."
"Keep it down, Ronald, would you?" Hermione hissed, when they saw a group of people, who looked an awful lot like wizards trying to dress muggle, nearby.
He laughed at the night shirt the mother was wearing instead of a summer dress and the flower blouse of the father.
"They really should teach the students how to dress like muggles," Hermione snickered, suddenly fishing something from her pocket.
"A mobile?" Harry asked incredulously.
"Yes. Professor Flitwick helped me with a charm so that it would work at Hogwarts. In my second year I started to take pictures of wizards and witches trying to be muggles and sent them to my mum and grandmother. They say it is better than any comedy program on the TV," the bushy haired girl snickered.
"You have to show them to me," he said and suddenly his friend blinked in surprise.
"Your voice is back!" she exclaimed, a bright smile spreading over her face.
"Yeah," he croaked out and smiled as well.
Ron's eyes widened comically: "You are right!" he grinned and pat him on the back powerfully, while Hermione flung herself around his neck with an excited squeal. It was a bit awkward, considering that she was half a head taller than he himself.
"Thank Merlin, I almost feared you would be mute forever!" Ron muttered. "Sometimes it would help if we knew what creature you are, then at least we could tell if Snape is telling us the truth when you are ill or injured."
"Someday," He just answered, asking himself if it really would be so bad if he told them. They would probably know that he would never try to kill them, seeing that he had slept in one room with them for two weeks, and until now they had always been understanding. But he wouldn't tell them at Hogwarts; the danger of someone finding out his secrets was too high if his confession ended in a row. Maybe he would use the next holidays to talk to them about it.
They had reached the platforms nine and ten and Molly suddenly pushed him in front of the stonewall separating them. "So Harry, you will go first with me," she said in a commanding voice. "And hurry a bit; we don’t have much time left."
"See you guys on the other side," he quickly said, before going straight through the wall. Ron and Hermione quickly followed him. Nagini slithered from Hermione's trolley as soon as she spotted him, hissing: "I hate to ride this thing ."
Unfortunately, the big body of his familiar had drawn some attention and students started to shriek around them, pointing at the big snake and hurriedly hiding in the train.
"Well, that was about to be expected," commented George, who appeared behind him with his little sister.
"I told you that you should not have bonded to her. A cute familiar is much better and easier," Ginny berated him.
Rolling his eyes, he looked down to his snake: "Would you slither up my body? Maybe it will help if they see that you are staying by my side."
Nagini obliged without argument and curled herself around his body. He could hear that some of the students recognized her from the attack at the beginning of summer. But when the students saw her calmly laying her heavy head on the small boy, they calmed down a bit. Only then did the crowd recognize the ‘aristocrat child’ from the ‘Daily Prophet' article. This seemed to settle them down even more; a new student, who had been escorted by Dumbledore, could not be evil. The headmaster would surely explain everything in his new term speech.
The whispering grew even louder and soon the students who had run into the train came out again to stare at him. Nobody seemed to recognize him, but after his shopping trip, Harry was not surprised.
"Let's search for a compartment," Hermione sighed.
"Yeah, one at the end of the train," he added and started to push his trolley again. Luckily Nagini held the gaping crowd at bay or they would surely have been surrounded by students and curious parents right now. He saw mothers smooth out the robes and skirts of their daughters and snorted.
"If they only knew," Hermione said with an evil glint in her eyes, inconspicuously hinting at his ‘preference’ of the male gender.
They boarded the train and quickly found an empty compartment at the back of the Hogwarts Express; it was even the very last one. He quickly spelled it shut before any brave student could ask them whether he or she could join and then went to the window to say goodbye to Molly and Arthur.
Molly was wiping her eyes; it was always hard for her to send her children away. She was a woman who loved all her sons and her only daughter and loved to be a mother in general.
"Try to keep out of trouble," she sniffed and snuggled into the embrace of her husband, who had laid an arm around her.
"Especially you, Harry," she added with a weak smile.
"I will try my best," He promised her.
"I will keep an eye on him...or better yet, on both of them," Hermione added.
"That would be wonderful, my dear," Molly smiled. Just then the Express made a loud whistling sound and the train started to move.
"Don't forget to write again, Ronald," Molly shouted, whilst Arthur just waved with a contented smile.
"I will, mum," Ron shouted back, before the train gained too much speed and they had to close the window. Ron sighed and flopped down next to Hermione. "You know I love her, but I am always happy to return to Hogwarts," the redhead said, while Harry took the seat opposite them where Nagini already lay curled up on the bench. "I can understand that," he agreed. "Your family is great and all, but they can be..."
"Annoying?" Ron asked.
"I would have said a bit overbearing," He replied.
"You can be honest. I know we are a crazy bunch and Ginny really was a hassle this summer."
Harry cringed.
"You are certainly right with that. How can a girl be so...I don't even know the right word to describe her," Hermione huffed.
"Thick-headed?" Ron suggested, whilst he asked: "Inappropriate?"
Ron snorted: "You certainly spent way too much time with Malfoy if you start using words like ‘inappropriate’."
"Probably," He agreed, before turning his head to look down at his hyperactive bat, who scuttled up and down on his shoulder, obviously wanting to explore their compartment, but not daring to ignore a clear order from him.
"You can fly around now," He released Justitius from his torture and snickered when the bat instantly fluttered off. "Would you like to show me the pictures now?" He asked his bushy haired friend suddenly.
"Sure, if you can make some space for me," Hermione answered and stood up.
"Yeah," he said, before turning to Nagini: "Would you make some space for Mione?"
Nagini hissed and slithered closer to the wall, but didn't leave the bench.
Hermione looked down at the snake, before shrugging and sitting down. "I already have a whole collection. This summer dad bought me a new mobile, but I transferred all the old pictures to this one." She started the device and opened a folder titled "pictures", before starting the option "picture show".
In the next 45 minutes they looked at more photo’s than Harry could have counted; one more hilarious then the next. Harry saw men in women’s clothes, women in men’s clothes, wizard and witches in carnival outfits and even parts of muggle uniforms combined with hilarious trousers or skirts.
"I think my favourite was the man in the pink princess dress, with the police officer jacket against the cold," He laughed. Tears were running down his cheeks and he hadn't stopped laughing for a whole ten minutes.
"He is mums favourite as well," his friend said with a snicker. "Really, you would think that even a Pureblooded wizard would realize with a bit of common sense that it is not normal to wear a princess dress, even for muggles and especially not as a male."
Shrugging, he told her: "Well, I lived for two weeks with only Lucius Malfoy, of which he was unbearable for one week. I think some wizards really believe that muggles are uncultured enough. For them, everything muggles wear is horrible. But at least Lucius has a favourite muggle by now."
"A favourite muggle?" Hermione sounded very interested.
"Yep. I...Um...had a vision of Voldemort one night and was in really bad shape the next day. We started watching Sherlock, but when I fell asleep after only half an hour he watched the whole first season in one sitting."
Hermione's eyes had widened at the mention of his vision: "Oh Harry, was it that bad again?" she asked in concern.
Making a face, he honestly said: "It was even worse. I don't think that I could have survived it before my inheritance, dad had to give me two of those potent Pain Potions and even then I only survived with my full mental capacity because Lucius entered my mind and build up some mental shields. Occlumency, or something like that."
His friend gasped in shock: "He did that for you? No wonder you trust him so much! Why haven't you told us? I heard it is really hard to build those shields and even harder to do it for someone else. How did he even do that? You need eye contact..." she asked in one breath.
Shrugging again, he explained: "He forced my eyes open. It was not the nicest experience, but it would have been even worse if he hadn't done it."
Hermione nodded in understanding, seemed to ponder something and then said: "I can imagine him liking Sherlock Holmes. They certainly have some...’similarities’," she coughed.
"Yeah, they both don't often think about the feelings of others and are stuck up bastards," He laughed, thinking that both was right, but that Lucius could be really thoughtful if he wanted to be as well; only he didn't want to be thoughtful most of the time.
Hermione glanced over at Ron who had fallen asleep somewhere during their photo slideshow, before turning back to him, whispering: "Tell me a bit more about your mate. How is he?"
Harry smiled, he had not had the chance to talk about his mate a lot with most of his friends and family thinking that it was a girl, so he grabbed the opportunity eagerly, knowing that Hermione would not betray a word he would tell her:
"He is really gorgeous. Tall and very strong. His body is really perfect! Sometimes I feel bad that he is bound to me, but then I guess that I am quite attractive for a submissive of my species."
"Ui!" Hermione squealed. "And his character?" She asked.
"He is very caring and gives me all the time I need to get used to our bond... You know, he has these elegant, but strong hands and I feel so safe when he holds me. I wish I could sleep in his arms every night. I miss him so much if he isn't near me;" he told her with a long sigh.
"Is he a bit older than you?" Hermione asked, sounding careful.
Harry blinked, how had she caught on to that?
"Because you said, that he gives you time to get used to your bond; that sounds as if he is a bit older than you and more experienced," she explained, knowing him too well.
"Yeah, he is. But it really doesn't matter," he answered honestly. "We both are wizards, Wizards live longer than muggles and we are creatures on top of that and will live even longer."
Hermione smiled brightly at him: "You’re right, that really doesn't matter if he treats you well and if you love each other. Besides, in three years you would have hit puberty and it will matter even less."
He blushed at the word love.
"You love him, don't you?" his brainy friend prodded.
Harry thought about it. He always got this tingling and fluttery feeling in his stomach when they were close, but were they already in love? He honestly couldn't say; he just had far too little experience with love. When he turned questioning eyes at his female friend Hermione sighed and smiled softly, before dreamy eyes settled on Ron and asking:
"Do you think about him, when he is not near you? When you lay alone in your bed at night?"
"Yes," He answered also softly.
"Does it make your day perfect, if you two just sit together and talk?"
"Yes,"
"Would you do anything for him, even move the world?" she whispered.
"Yes," he said again, his throat getting dry.
"You can’t imagine living without him, even if it were only for one day?"
He could only nod his head this time, his throat felt like it was corded up.
"Then it is love," she breathed.
Harry gulped. Put like that it sounded clear as day, but he had never asked himself all those questions before. Somehow, he had always imagined that he would someday wake up and have some sort of epiphany. Well, he had it right now and the thought wasn't even scaring him like he had thought it would. Instead, the already familiar fluttering sensation tingled in his stomach and a wide smile spread across his lips. He had fallen in love, for the first time in his life. He couldn't wait to confess his feelings to Lucius.
A sudden pang of sadness dampened his good mood a bit: He would not have the chance to tell the aristocrat very soon and he could not write something like this in a letter, even if it wouldn't be too dangerous. But even that thought couldn't make his smile falter. He was in love with his mate. This was certainly one of the best days of his life.
Seeing that his friend was still looking at the snoring redhead dreamily, he asked: "Do you love Ron?"
Hermione jumped a bit and then blushed bright red. "I...I...we are a trio, it would not be fair..." she stuttered.
Snorting, Harry cut her off: "I will be mated in a few years and I would rather know and like the guy you are dating, than you bringing someone else into our trio that I can't stand, and besides, I got suspicious last year when you flipped because of Ron's crude comment before the Yule Ball."
Hermione flushed even brighter: "So, you wouldn't mind?" she made sure.
"Nope. But I fear you will have to wait for a while longer, until Ron realizes that you are perfect for each other as well," He snickered.
"I’m afraid you are right. I think I have been in love with him for some time now, but I didn't realize it at first. The moment you described just now, was exactly the moment when I realized it," she admitted.
"I guess we can support each other then. I am bad with feelings, but I know what makes a boy all hot and bothered," he teased.
Hermione swatted his arm, but then said: "Thanks. I think I will take you up on the offer."
Taking the chance to ask a question which had bothered him for some time now, he lowered his voice and asked: "Do you think Ron will freak when he finds out that I am a submissive?" He had his own suspicions about the matter, but Hermione had always been better with these kinds of things.
"I believe so," she sighed. "You must understand that you were his hero, even before he got to know you. He practically grew up hearing tales about you and I think his adoration for you grew even more since our first year. He sees who you really are, but he also sees that you really are a hero."
Harry rolled his eyes in exasperation.
"Don't roll your eyes like that. You are willing to take over the Order and search for another approach at ending this war because you think that too many people have already died; that is proof that you are a true hero. You even fought against a huge beast with a golden sword once," she teased back, before sobering again: "But many men think that it is a sign of weakness to bottom for another male. How stupid," she snorted.
Agreeing with her, he commented: "Yes. I bet, Remus will never be a submissive, except in the bedroom."
"He won't," Hermione laughed. "Many men don't see that submissives are strong in their own way. They care for the family and hold them together, they are even often able to carry babies and develop immense powers during a pregnancy to protect their offspring from anybody who might want to harm them. Some can heal, others can feel the distress of those they consider family and in a fight against a creature, even a submissive one, most wizards and witches have a tough time. Besides, like every witch, a submissive knows how to wrap his dominant around his little pinkie; I bet you do as well."
Blushing, he coughed and said: "I don't know about that yet. It's... I am currently testing the waters, so to speak, because if my dominant doesn't want me to, I have no say in anything."
His friend only giggled: "Don't tell me you don't know how to make him want what you want. I have watched you since your return to Grimmauld Place; you are very good at the innocent seduction. It’s only a wonder that Sirius and Remus have not yet caught up on it."
Cringing, he said: "And I hope they won't any time soon. I fear Sirius will sharpen a few kitchen knives when he finds out that my mate is an older male."
Hermione gave him a sympathetic look, so he quickly changed the topic to one of the safer points of her lecture: "I really hope I will develop some of those abilities you mentioned. I already know that I cannot get pregnant, but I would like to feel whether my mate is really angry or simply annoyed. It would help a lot," he said, thinking about Lucius’ impassive face.
"I would grand it to you," Hermione replied. "Are you sad that you will never have your own children?" she asked.
This really was not an easy question, he had always wanted his own, big family, but in the end he didn't need to think about his answer for long. "It would have been nice to have a big family some day, you know I always dreamed about it, but I would not trade what I have now for anything else."
"Who knows, maybe you will be the ‘boy wonder’ once again," Hermione smiled reassuringly.
Harry only smiled back without saying anything. He knew that there was no chance; not even female vampires could get pregnant. Their species grew through transformations and not children, but if he were to tell his brainy friend that much, she would have figured it out in no time.
Their conversation came to an end then and he and Hermione spent the next few hours reading. He had first read the last few chapters of the book about phoenixes and then continued with the book about ‘House Ladies’. Hermione, who had not noticed the book before, was impressed that he was already starting to learn about Pureblood customs, even though his bonding and marriage was still five years away. She was also happy that he had gotten a Pureblood mate who was not offended by his Halfblood status, like many Purebloods would have been.
He refrained from telling her that his transformation had purified his blood, but she was probably right when she commented that his impressive family tree would make up for nearly anything. He supposed that she was right. He might have not been born as Pureblooded as Lucius, but with all four Founders of Hogwarts as ancestors, his background was impressive.
When the witch with the food trolley came around, he bought his friends’ favourite snacks, thinking that he could at least spend some of his great fortune he now owned due to his mating with the richest wizard alive, whilst only eating a Blood Drop himself. He really had to ask his father if he could create a Blood-Chocolate; he missed the taste of Chocolate Frogs, but nothing that had not been spiked with blood had any taste anymore.
Neither Ron, nor Hermione commented on his skipping the candies and they spent the afternoon happily chattering. Hermione had to leave them for her Prefect meeting, surprising him, who had not known about it until then. A bit sheepishly, she admitted, that everything had been so exciting since his return to Grimmauld Place that she had simply forgotten to tell him.
She returned two hours later, when it was getting dark outside and told them that they should change into their school uniforms.
"What's this?" Ron asked when Harry pulled out his new, fancy school robe.
Blushing a bit, he explained: "There is a special school uniform for the Hogwarts Heir...It has the School Crest as an Emblem."
"Man, that looks like those clothes you got from your girl," Ron commented and eyed the garments. "I really can't understand how you can be so comfortable in those things. I would hate it."
Shrugging, he replied: "It is not that bad at all," before stepping out of his pants. Luckily, his white shirt hid the green silk band with the little bell and saved Ron from a fatal heart attack.
He laced his waistcoat absentmindedly and watched the windows of Hogwarts coming nearer. They shimmered like golden lights in the darkness and made the contours of the castle visible a bit, at least when he had still been human it had been like that, now he could see every detail, even from this distance.
"I can't believe, that this is all mine," he whispered in awe.
"It is beautiful," Hermione agreed.
"I always considered Hogwarts home and to actually own it is... it's just great," he said, suddenly realizing how happy he was about this inheritance.
"You will probably soon have more homes than you will ever need in your whole life," Ron laughed.
"Don't be so insensitive Ron. Hogwarts is like your parental home for Harry. Wouldn't you like to inherit the Burrow one day?" Hermione scolded and Ron's cheeks instantly turned red.
"You see, besides, Hogwarts really is amazing," their female friend said and stepped next to him.
They watched from the window until the Hogwarts Express slowed down.
He called Justitius over to him and told Nagini to wind herself around his body again, before grabbing his trunk. This time when they exited the train, no Death Eaters attacked them. They were probably too close to Dumbledore for them to risk anything, especially after the headmaster had appeared so quickly the last time.
Thinking about the start of the summer, he was amazed at how far he had come. When he had sat in the Express on his way back to Privet Drive Number 4, he had been depressed after Cedric's death and discontent with his life in general and even though it was still not perfect, (because there was still a mad man threatening his life and the whole wizarding world) he had a mate now and a father and was much happier.
When they neared the last free carriage, Harry almost jumped at the sight of the very dead looking horse in front of it.
"What's this?" he asked, pointing at the creature, but his friends only frowned.
"What is what?" Ron asked irritably.
"There is a black horse in front of our carriage. Can't you see it? It almost looks dead," he pointed out and was relieved when realization dawned on Hermione’s face:
"That has to be a Thestral," she said, explaining nothing.
"It is," a dreamy voice said next to them. When they turned around, they saw a blond girl with strange radish earrings who looked as dreamy as her voice had sounded.
"You saw Cedric die, that's why you can see them, Harry," she said as if they had been friends for years. "With me, it was my mum. She was a curious witch, you know?"
"Um..." He said intelligently, noticing that the girl had tucked her wand behind her left ear for safekeeping.
"Hi Luna," Hermione greeted the strange girl and then introduced her: "This is Luna Lovegood, from Ravenclaw.
"I would tell you to not fear the Thestrals," she continued. "...but I can see that Death is a friend of yours,"
Harry only blinked; somehow he had the feeling that he was meeting a female Dumbledore, with her ability to know things she shouldn't. Luckily, she had no further intention of saying anything more.
"I will go back to my friends. See you later," she breathed and floated off.
Ron coughed as soon as she was out of earshot.
"I know what you mean," Harry said.
"Don't be mean; she is really nice, a bit crazy and her father is the editor of that rubbish paper, but she is nice," Hermione scolded him, before climbing into the carriage.
"I never said anything mean," argued Harry, following her.
"At least we now know what is pulling the carriages, although the Thestrals sound scary," Ron mused and closed the door behind them.
The Thestral turned and quickly followed his comrades up to the castle. Twenty minutes later, they disembarked and climbed up the front steps. When Harry entered, a cold wind billowed his school robes and a strange feeling suddenly tugged at his heart. Even though the Entrance Hall was already crowded with student, the castle felt cold and empty. A flash of something went through him and for a split second he expected to hear a drawling voice mocking him; but this year no one would mock him, at least not his schoolyard nemesis, because he was not alive anymore. Shaking his head, he pushed the depressing thoughts about Draco Malfoy from his mind. Why was he thinking about his mate's son right now? He should be glad that his school year would be much less stressful without the arrogant blonde, but somehow he wasn't. And now that he was thinking about Draco, Lucius’ face appeared in front of his eyes as well and the feeling of loneliness grew even stronger. The two faces danced in front of his inner eye, mixing together and floating apart again and a foreboding feeling threatened to overwhelm him.
Suddenly panicked, he wavered and had to quickly grab for the wall next to him to not collapse. What was wrong with him? Why was he thinking about the two blondes? That his mind wandered to Lucius that he could understand, but Draco? Fortunately Ron stepped up next to him at that moment and distracted him from his muddled mind and the dizziness disappeared as quickly as it had come.
"Can't believe we are back again, the summer felt so long," his friend said, with a look at the ceiling.
"I think the holidays felt very short this year," Harry mused and tried to ignore the curious glances from everybody.
"I can imagine that it felt short for you, with all what had happened," Ron agreed.
He didn't answer; he was too distracted by the whispered comments around him and the odd feeling that was still lingering in the back of his mind. Not wanting to think about the feeling, he concentrated instead on the gossip. The other students had still not figured out who he was and already the first few rumours started to fly around:
"I bet he will be sorted into Slytherin, he must come from a long line of Purebloods," one girl whispered.
"No, he looks too friendly, maybe Hufflepuff?" her friend suggested.
"Never! No Council Member could come from a Hufflepuff family!" the first girl shook her head fiercely.
A few step further down they crossed an older boy just outside the Great Hall, who told his friends: "I always knew that those two were only Potter’s friends because of his fame. Wonder where he is now that they have dumped him."
Snorting, Harry rolled his eyes.
"What did he say?" Hermione asked, having noticed the boy whispering, but had not been able to understand the words.
"He thinks, that you two have dumped me for someone more famous and wonders where I am now," He answered dryly.
Ron glared at the boy: "Knew such shit could only come from a Slytherin’s mouth," he huffed and threw the boy a filthy glare.
"No need to be upset, I bet Dumbledore will say a few words about my Hogwarts Inheritance and after that, everybody will know that you two have not dumped me," Harry said and sat down at the far back of the Gryffindor table.
Hermione's head instantly turned to the head table to look for the new professor. When she frowned, he asked: "Is the new professor looking so incompetent?"
"No. He or she is not there yet," she replied, clearly disappointed.
"You remember how it was with Moody? Maybe the teacher will turn up later," Ron tried to cheer her up.
"Maybe," she replied, but didn't sound convinced.
Their discussion came to a halt when McGonagall brought the first years in and the sorting begun. Many eyes looking for the ‘noble new boy’ between the new students and Harry had to suppress a snort at their irritated faces. The irritation of his fellow students from Slytherin, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff grew by the minute, when the aristocrat did not come forward, whilst the Gryffindors eyed him curiously. Obviously, not even they recognized him.
It was Neville who caught on first, his eyes grew as big as saucers; but he placed a finger on his lips to indicate that he should keep silence. He didn't fancy a commotion before Dumbledore had time to explain everything. Luckily Neville was an understanding guy and simply nodded, before turning his face back to the front.
The sorting was over then and the Headmaster rose to his feet:
"Welcome, new Students of Hogwarts and to the old ones, welcome back. This new school year promises to at least be as interesting as the last one and the one before that and the one before that and...well I am sure you all know what I mean.
As usual, I will use this opportunity to make some announcements:
The forest is still off limit to everyone, even if your name is Gred and Forge," Dumbledore's blue eyes twinkled over to the Gryffindor table where his comment was met with silent snickers.
"There are also new items on the list for forbidden things, but by now the list is longer than Hogwarts a History, so please look it up if you are uncertain about an item, or if it is something from one of your two favourite joke shops, you will be safe to assume that it is forbidden."
"One of our two favourite joke shops? I thought there was only one," Ron asked with a frown. Harry coughed, he had forgotten to tell Ron about his prize money, which he had given to his twin brothers to start their own business: "He means your brothers..." he mumbled, getting more silent with each word. "I might have given them my prize money." When he had given Fred and George the galleons, it had felt right, only now did he realize that he had given the brothers of his best friends a little fortune while Ron had gotten nothing from him.
"Oh Harry, you haven't!" Hermione scolded him and his guilty conscience grew even further, but Ron's face only light up: "Really? That is brilliant! Fred and George really have the talent, but they would never be able to save enough on their own."
"No problem," he mouthed back and his heart skipped a beat in relief. Concentrating back on Dumbledore, he continued to listen to the headmaster's speech.
"Unfortunately, our new Professor for Defence Against the Dark Arts has not yet arrived, so you all have to be patient for a little while longer."
Suddenly an especially curious and brave Ravenclaw shouted to their right and interrupted Dumbledore’s speech: "What is with the new student?"
"New student?" Dumbledore asked, seeming a bit confused by the interruption.
"Yes, the one from the Daily Prophet," another students shouted.
Dumbledore's eyes lit up in understanding: "Ah, the new student! I fear I have to disappoint you, there is no new student."
A mixture of disappointed sighs and irritated muttering from those who had seen him earlier filled the hall for a moment, but Dumbledore lifted a hand and they all fell silent again.
"He will make the announcement now," Hermione whispered in his ear and he nodded, suddenly feeling very nervous; he had always hated attention and the fact that Lucius was not by his side to shield him didn't make his nervousness any better.
"We have no new student, however, I have another big announcement to make," Dumbledore continued.
Harry gulped visibly; maybe he should have declined this inheritance. The great hall was deadly silent by now, they all remembered Dumbledore’s last ‘big announcement’, which had lead to the Tri-Wizarding Tournament.
"Since the death of Hogwarts great founders, the school had only been guided by a Headmaster, since the will of Rovena Ravenclaw, Helga Hufflepuff, Salazar Slytherin and Godric Gryffindor clearly states that only a descendant of all four blood lines will have the honour to inherit their castle. We have the great honour, my children, of finally witnessing the school returning to its rightful owner."
Suddenly, Harry felt his pocket empty where his wand and the Hogwarts crest had been safely hidden and his family ring had disappeared from his right thumb as well. But he did not have to wonder for long what had happened to the items, when Dumbledore said:
"Please come forward, Harry James Potter."
He was thankful, that Dumbledore had refrained from using his full name, but considering all the Death Eater children, it was really no big surprise.
A loud gasp went through the hall when he stood up and the students finally recognized the boy from the article. He tried to walk standing up straight and not making the impression that he wanted to hide under the Gryffindor table. When he arrived in front of Dumbledore, he saw his Hogwarts Insignias lying in front of him.
"Harry, I am happy to hand you the Hogwarts Signet Ring," Dumbledore said and motioned for him to stretch his right hand out, before placing the ring back on his finger.
"...the Hogwarts Crest," he gave him the golden badge. "...the Elder Wand," a second gasp went through the hall, when Dumbledore named the famous name and the wand shimmered golden when he grabbed it. "...and lastly, the Sorting Hat," Dumbledore placed the hat on his head and this time, it didn't fall beyond his eyes.
"Turn around," Dumbledore whispered and Harry, feeling like a freshly crowned prince with a wand instead of a sceptre in one hand, a golden badge like an orb in the other and the sorting hat on his head like a huge crown, obediently turned around to face his fellow student. They all looked at him in awe, as if he really was their king.
"Please, join me a round of applause for Mr. Potter," Dumbledore requested and started clapping. The students needed a moment to pull themselves out of their dazes but then joined in loudly. Harry could even hear cat whistles from his own house table, only the Slytherins seemed very subdued; they most likely would have liked a Slytherin Heir to Hogwarts more.
Dumbledore lifted his hand again, but this time it took much longer until all the voices had quieted back down.
"As some of you may have already noticed, Harry is in company of a new familiar," the headmaster continued. "Many will know Nagini as the snake of Lord Voldemort." The gasps that came this time were sounds of panic, but Dumbledore quickly continued to calm the students down: "Due to an unforeseeable incident, Nagini accidentally followed Harry back to his home after the attack at King's Cross. She had taken the chance since then to get away from her cruel captor and bond herself to him as his loyal familiar and no longer poses a threat to anybody."
The students still seemed very nervous and looked over to his abandoned seat carefully, where the huge snake lay curled up, her head held high to keep an eye on him.
"You may sit again," Dumbledore said and he happily obliged; he was starting to feel silly, decorated like a strange doll in front of everybody.
"He really put on a show," Ron commented when Nagini had slithered from his chair and he had sat back down.
"Yeah," he said, but was suddenly distracted by a voice in his head:

"Harry Potter, you have become even more Slytherin in the last four years, but then again, you have become more Gryffindor as well and looking at your overloaded brain, you would even be a good Ravenclaw by now."

Harry didn't answer the sorting hat which always managed to confuse him, so he quickly took it off and put it next to his plate. Dumbledore had said something else, which he hadn't caught, but suddenly the table was groaning under the weight of all the food.
"Finally! Food!" Ron exclaimed and grabbed the closest bowl of chicken legs.
"Honestly Ron, you're like a pig!" Hermione commented with a roll of her eyes.
Harry placed a little on his plate as well and moved it to make it look as if there had been more at some point, before grabbing a Blood Drop from his little leather bag to at least lookmake it look as if he was actually eating.
"Wow Harry, that is amazing!" Dean suddenly said from a bit further up the table.
"I nearly didn't recognize you!" Neville smiled shyly. "...but the thing with your inheritance explains a lot."
"It does," Seamus agreed. "It was you who waved at me in Diagon Alley, am I right?"
Nodding, he grinned sheepishly and answered: "It was me, but I guess I have changed a bit over the summer." He really was not comfortable with all this attention, at least the strange feeling from earlier was now gone.
"A bit?" Dean exclaimed. "You look like a whole new person, well now that I know it is you, I see the similarity, but you have changed a lot; the whole of the wizarding world is lusting after you, women and men alike."
Harry blushed. Hermione wanted to say something, but luckily she thought better of it and just shook her head.
"You said it mate," Ron said to Dean. "When he first put one of those crazy outfits on, I thought I was hit with something. Have you seen his waist? It is crazy for a boy!"
Dean shook his head and he and the other boys tried to get a look at his waist.
"Harry, stand up for a moment," Seamus asked.
"Oh no!" He was horrified at the idea of everybody staring at his waist. That was so embarrassing; he wasn't a girl, for fuck's sake!
"Come on, just a second," Dean pleaded.
"Just do like they asked then you are done with it," Hermione advised drily.
Sighing in defeat, he stood up and pulled his new cloak a bit to the side, only to hear the boys whistle:
"You’re right Ron, that waist is crazy. My sister would kill for such a figure," Seamus commented.
"They are already getting jealous," Neville sounded frightened as he motioned with his head to a group of girls further down the table. Following his friend’s line of sight, he saw that he was correct. Parvati threw him a hateful glare, so did a few other girls. He quickly sat down again and continued to pretend to eat.
"How did you find out that you are the heir of Hogwarts?" Dean asked curiously.
"I found an old family tree in my vault," Harry lied smoothly.
"And how is it to own an entire castle? Will you still live with us?" Dean inquired.
"Actually, no," He admitted, hoping that they wouldn't be mad at him for abandoning them, but instead Seamus grinned. "That's great, we can have our private parties at your place, without all the little first and second years!" the Irish boy exclaimed.
"We will certainly do anything like partying in Harry's room;" Hermione huffed. "He might lose his privileges and as a prefect I couldn't allow it anyway."
"Calm down, Mione and be a bit more relaxed and nice. It isn't as if we plan on drinking in his private quarters every weekend, just once in a while." Ron's comment didn't make Hermione's mood any better and he himself wisely kept his distance from the argument.
"Be careful, Ronald," she threatened, before turning back to her stew.
"I think after a successful Quidditch match, a private party would be nice," he said and winked at his friends.
"You mean, after we have kicked some Slytherin butts again!" Dean jeered.
The main dish disappeared and the table filled with all kinds of pudding, ice cream and cakes.
"And...you really bonded with Nagini?" Neville stuttered and Harry flinched at the bad phrasing. To bond ‘with’, sounded almost like mating, better would have been to bond ‘to’ Nagini.
"Yeah, I have. She is a great snake and really loyal. Voldemort caught her and she never lived with him out of her own free will and was happy to escape him," he explained, with a stroke to his familiar’s heavy head.
"She surely is impressive," Dean commented.
"And who is that little fellow?" A girl Harry didn't even know, but who had obviously listened in on their conversation asked suddenly, pointing at Justitius.
"That is Justitius, he is an infant expositus phoenicis ," he explained, whilst his little bat once again puffed out his chest proudly.
"That's amazing Harry, how did you get him?" Neville asked in awe.
"It was a present," he answered truthfully.
"Wow, I want to have your friends, too," Dean teased.
"You have," Ron commented sarcastically.
"Not you, the one who gave him this little fellow," Dean replied with a wink. "Don't you want some dessert?"
"No, I ate too many candies at the train," he said and leaned back in his chair.
"That's a shame," Seamus said, before shoving a spoonful of pudding into his mouth, managing to splash half of it onto his tie.
"Boys," muttered Hermione and exchanged a disgusted look with Parvati.
The dinner with all his friends was really funny and they actually succeeded in keeping thoughts about Lucius far away from him most of the time. He also didn't allow his mind to come up with more irritating pictures of his mate's son and instead tried his best to have fun. His friends deserved it and he would have enough time to miss his mate and figure out what his mind wanted to tell him with those other images when he was alone in his new room.
When everybody was finally sated, Dumbledore wished them all a good night and Harry followed his two best friends out of the great hall, only to find a little house elf with his trunk waiting near the double doors.
"Harry Potter sir, I is waiting for you. I does not know where sirs new room are," the little creature squeaked.
"Oh shit, I forgot about that," he sighed, thinking quickly, but no possible room came to mind at the moment, so he asked "Would you wait for a moment?" and lead his friends to a nearby alcove, before pulling out the Marauder's Map. With a tap of his new wand he opened it and said: "I would like to have a room close to Gryffindor tower, and then I won't have to go so far if I want to visit you."
His friends nodded in understanding.
"You can put your badge on any door, am I right?" Ron asked and he nodded. They scanned the map but with all the dots making their way to their common rooms, it was difficult to find a good room.
"What is this one?" Hermione suddenly asked and pointed at a door next to the portrait of the Fat Lady. "I think it is a broom closet, but it will transform in any case."
"That looks perfect," He breathed, relieved that he would not have to search the whole night for a suitable room and ended the spell for the map.
"Well, let's go then, I want to see what the Founders Quarters look like," Ron said and motioned for the elf to follow them. Hermione made a disapproving sound, but didn't argue, probably because they really had some steps ahead and no one would like to carry his trunk. They climbed up to the fifth floor and walked the long hallway down to the end of the corridor.
Opening the door, which was indeed directly next to the Gryffindor portrait, he saw that Hermione had been right with her assumption about the broom closet.
He fumbled for the badge, asking: "Dumbledore said to just put it onto a door, right?"
Hermione nodded and he pressed the piece of gold to the wooden door. The door shimmered and the engraving of the same little falcon he had already noticed on the Signet Ring appeared on the door, holding the Hogwarts Crest in one talon.
"What kind of bird is that?" Ron asked curiously.
"I don't know, but it is on my ring as well," He shrugged.
"Some kind of falcon, but I would have to look it up to say which one," Hermione commented.
"Hurry up, man," Ron urged him and he carefully pushed the wooden door open.
He quickly realized that he should not have imagined a little living area with one bed in a corner and a desk in another. The name ‘Founders Quarters’ should have been a giveaway in itself.
Harry found himself entering a long, stony hallway, with torches in golden holders lining the walls. Many mirrors, also framed in gold, and seemingly empty portraits in equally golden frames lined the walls, reflecting the light beautifully.
"Wow!" His redheaded friend said in awe, his eyes fixed on the many doors to both sides, whilst he watched the enchanted ceiling, which looked exactly like the ceiling in the great hall.
"This is so beautiful!" Hermione breathed.
"It is," he agreed.
"I wonder, why there are so many empty portraits," Ron mused.
"Maybe we will find out, let's look for a bedroom first," he suggested and opened the first door to his right, somehow reminded of his last two visits to Gringotts. Peeking inside, he found something that looked like a small, private dining room.
"It's a dining room," he informed his friends and Hermione, who had opened the opposite door replied: "This seems to be a Floo room."
"I think I found a living room," Ron announced and Harry and Hermione quickly went over.
"Let me take a look," Harry said and immediately stopped, when he felt five piercing sets of eyes settle on him. Looking up, he saw five huge portraits hanging in one line above a luxurious white leather couch with golden patterns.
Four of the five people residing in the pictures at least looked familiar; maybe he should have guessed that he would find them here, this had been their quarters after all.
"The Founders!" Hermione squeaked, very much like a frightened house elf and Ron quickly grabbed her arm, when she swayed on her feet.
"Indeed," A suspicious looking man, with grey beard, bushy eyebrows and cold green eyes said.
"Slytherin?" Harry asked baffled, staring at the impressive figure in his dark green, and shimmery silver robes.
"How perceptive of you, but you look as if you belong to him more," Slytherin jerked his head to the far right, where a more friendly looking wizard sat in an armchair. Harry thought that he looked like a typical muggle prince from fairy tales, only with auburn coloured hair instead of blonde. His eyes were green as well, but warmer in their colour and above his golden corslet, he wore a red wizarding cloak.
"Are you in my house?" the man had a deep, vibrating voice.
"I...I am a Gryffindor, if that is what you mean," he stuttered. The wizard's face lit up in a proud smile, saying: "Our first heir after...I don't really know, but it is not really of any relevance...is a Gryffindor!"
"Gryffindor?" Harry asked baffled, even though it was logical that the man would be the other male founder.
"You may call me Godric," Gryffindor said generously, making Slytherin snort.
"The one on the left side is the speaker my old master admired so much, " Nagini hissed and rose to her full height to take a better look.
"That is Salazar Slytherin," Harry answered her.
"How interesting, he is not a typical Gryffindor," a witch with long, black hair like ebony commented. Her eyes as well were bright green.
Gryffindor looked a bit miffed, whilst Slytherin smirked smugly. Harry thought that the smug look had to be a thing that comes with the Slytherin genes; his mate and father could smirk in exactly the same way.
"I am Rowena, but you most likely thought that much already," the black haired witch introduced herself.
"And I am Helga, my dear. It is nice to see such a young face again," Helga Hufflepuff somehow reminded him of Ron's mum; Ron seemed to think the same because he stared with a horrified expression at the blonde Lady.
Clearing his throat, he eyed the last portrait that hung in the middle of the Four Founders. At the first sight, he had thought that a portrait of Dumbledore had made its way into the founders quarters, but standing in front of it now, he saw that the long hair and beard of the old man was not white, but a brownish gray and he also wore no glasses in front of his green eyes, which looked similar to the other’s eyes.
"And who are you, sir?" he asked, hoping that he sounded polite enough.
"I am Merlin, of course," the wizard said in a friendly tone with no trace of arrogance in his voice.
"Of course!" Hermione gasped suddenly. "The little falcon on your ring and the door is a Merlin!"
"What, Merlin?" Ron asked in astonishment, whilst Harry tried to wrap his head around the fact that he would not only live with Four Founders in his quarters, but also with the greatest wizard in history. Merlin was considered the father of all wizard and witches, why was he hanging in Hogwarts?
"What are you doing here?" he asked dumbly and flinched at his own sophistication.
"I am the great grandfather of these fine witches and wizards," Merlin answered proudly.
"Then I am related to you?" Harry squeaked.
"Of course, you have my eyes, have you not?" Merlin replied with a warm smile.
Looking at Merlin’s eyes, he had to admit, that they looked liked a copy of his own and his mother’s eyes and even though Rovena’s and especially Salazar's eyes had a much colder edge to them, they were the same shade of green and the exact shape as well.
"Oh no, I will look like Dumbledore in a few years!" Harry exclaimed desperately, forgetting that he would not age a single year anymore.
Rovena snorted, a sound that seemed so unfitting for the intelligent witch, who could look as stern as Professor McGonagall: "You certainly will not Mr...what is your name?"
Blushing he politely answered, "I am Harry, Harry Severus James Potter." He felt a bit embarrassed that he had not introduced himself earlier.
"Harry," Rowena continued. "How can you think that you will one day look like...Dumbledore, who I guess bears a striking resemblance to our dear great grandfather, when you are..."
His eyes widened in shock and he quickly shouted: "Don't say it! It's a secret!"
Rowena looked surprised and Salazar asked sarcastically: "A Gryffindor hiding a secret from his friends?"
"He asked us to give him time and we agreed," Hermione explained. "He has only recently come into his inheritance. I believe not even a month ago.
"His inheritance?" Rowena asked.
"You must know, Rowena's area of expertise lies in creatures of all kinds, even though she is more famous for her work in Ancient Runes," Helga enlightened them.
"Oh," Harry said intelligently. That could mean trouble for him.
"I will keep your secret for now, if you agree to take your glamour off for me when your friends have left."
"O...Okay..." he agreed hesitantly, he did not have much of a choice regardless.
"Clearing her throat, Hermione asked: "Can you tell us where the bedroom is? Ron and I just wanted to help Harry with his trunk. Curfew is soon and we have to be back in the common room by then."
Four pairs of eye brows rose: "Where the bedroom is?" Godric asked, amusement heavy in his voice. "Do you think we all shared one bedroom?"
Hermione flushed bright pink.
"Take the second door on the right at the end of the hallway. It is Godric’s room, you will likely feel most comfortable there," Salazar sneered.
"Thank you," Harry said and then added for Rowena's sake: "I will be back in a few."
The little house elf was still patiently waiting for them in the hallway, making Hermione feel guilty about letting him wait for so long. The corridor was longer than expected, and Harry wondered, what kind of rooms he would find, but decided that his explorations would have to wait until the next day after classes.
Arriving in front of said door, he pushed the golden door handle down and stepped into a big bedroom, decorated in reds and gold’s, like he had expected. This had after all been Gryffindor's room. The floor was made of a light wood, but many fluffy carpets covered it so that it nearly disappeared completely.
The bed frame was made purely from gold, with red hangings and red and golden sheets and he snickered at the thought of Lucius visiting him here and having to sleep in this ‘atrocious’ bed.
"Maybe you should take another room and offer this one to your father for sleepovers?" Ron snickered evilly.
"Ron!" Hermione exclaimed aghast, but started to snicker as well.
"I think I will keep this one, but trick him into believing this will be his, I don't want to actually torture him," he grinned and flipped his wand, so that his trunk would unpack itself.
The little elf popped out of the room with a little bow and Harry watched, until all his things were neatly packed away in numerous wardrobes and chests.
"You really will live like a king here, I bet there is a pool somewhere," Ron commented. "Promise, you will give a pool party if you find one," he added.
"I promise," Harry agreed, thinking that there hadn't been any pools a thousand years ago.
"We will go then," Hermione said and pulled at Ron's arm, who pouted slightly. "Sleep well and we will see you tomorrow at breakfast."
"You too." he smiled. "Wait, I will take you to the door, I have to go back to Rowena anyway."
"She sounds really demanding," Ron agreed.
"I think she is a kind woman, a bit like Professor McGonagall. I wonder if they are related," Hermione mused.
He closed his new bedroom door behind him and followed them.
"Would you look for me if there is a library somewhere?" Hermione asked, her eyes fixed on the doors they passed with a longing expression.
"We can search for one after classes, but I will not get up an hour earlier to search for it tomorrow morning," he answered.
Hermione beamed at him: "I think I will not get any sleep, I am too excited! This is fantastic; imagine the knowledge hidden in these chambers. Until know, it was assumed, that most of the Founders writings have been destroyed over the centuries, or that they were too occupied with the school once they had opened Hogwarts, but I bet we will find all of them somewhere here," she rambled on.
"Yeah, yeah, I am sure you are right, Mione," Harry laughed and pushed his two friends out of his quarters, whilst giving Ron a sympathetic look; he would have a long night if Hermione's rambling was any indication. Ron glared back at him, but he only winked at him before saying: "Good night," and closing his door.
Sighing, Harry returned to the living room. Merlin’s eyes were twinkling merrily and he made a mental note to look for a whole family tree to see if the wizard was really related to Albus. They had to be, with all the similarities, it was a bit scary.
"You have returned," Rowena said a bit surprised when she saw him.
"Of course he has, he is a nice boy, trust me, I have a feeling for people," Helga scolded her lightly.
"So...Um...you wanted to see me without glamours?" He asked a bit hesitantly.
"Yes, as Helga correctly told you, to research creatures is my passion, but it is nearly impossible to meet a vampire who is willing to participate in a examination."
"Examination?" He asked, taking a step backwards; that did not sound so harmless anymore.
The black haired witch huffed and Merlin said calmly: "She will not do more than take a look and maybe ask a few questions..."
"A few?" Salazar asked snidely, but his great-grandfather ignored him and continued: "We are portraits, we cannot do much anymore."
This time it was Godric who snorted: "Don't trust him; he is a meddling old fool."
Harry nearly choked at his spit. He would take one of the empty portraits and give it to Albus, then the two old wizards could meddle together, he thought dryly.
"If you would now take off your shirt," Rowena asked politely and Harry was still so in shock about the old fool comment, that he obliged without even questioning it.
He slipped out of his Hogwarts cloak and then untied his red waistcoat and tie, before unbuttoning his white shirt and discarding everything on the leather sofa. Concentrating for a moment, he let go of the glamour and instantly felt more free and at ease. When he had not heard anything after about a minute, he looked up and saw his five ancestors look at him curiously.
"Am I right to assume, that you are a submissive?" Rowena asked matter of factly; but he still flushed, he had not yet admitted it to anybody outside of those he considered family, but then again, they were family as well, but very distant family.
"Would you take off the bandage around your right hand as well?" Rowena requested softly. Nodding, Harry undid the sticking charm and exposed his mating mark.
"As I thought, you have a soulmate," Rowena commented.
"Blood mate," he corrected her automatically.
The witch looked very interested at this little piece of information and then said: "You were too calm and balanced for a freshly turned vampire. Normally, you should be in a blood frenzy right now."
Harry shrugged, she was probably right. "None of us have any urges to kill anyone," he told her.
"Of us?" Helga asked curiously.
"Yes; my mate, my father and myself."
"Your father?" Godric inquired.
Deciding that it would be easier to tell the whole story, he recalled the events which had lead to his, Lucius and his father's turning. At the end of his tale, all five portraits practically gaped at him in astonishment.
"Let me get that straight?" Salazar hissed. "A mad man, who calls himself ‘my’ heir, has tried to kill you since you were an infant. That is also the reason, why you grew up with horrendous muggles and knew nothing about your real father. The same mad man, cursed the person who is apparently your soul mate, involuntarily turning you as well and probably giving you the power to defeat him one day?"
"That's about everything," he grinned.
"Do you realize that you are especially beautiful for a vampire submissive?" Rowena brought the topic back to his physique.
"Yeah, I guess," Harry admitted and fumbled with a strand of his black locks.
"I developed a theory about vampire submissives and dominants, due to the fact that I could not find anybody willing to let me have a closer look at your species. I must say, I came very close. Only your eyes are a bit bigger and you are even thinner than I had imagined...but at least I foresaw your translucent skin."
"Um...thank you. My mate finds me beautiful as well," he mumbled shyly, his cheeks hot like never before. He still was not use to getting praised for his body, or anything else to be honest.
"I certainly believe that," Rowena laughed.
"Well, if it is ok, I would like to go to bed now, I will have Potions with my father first thing in the morning; we always have Potions Monday mornings," Harry explained.
"Your father is a teacher here?" Salazar asked. "A Slytherin?"
"He is the Head of House," he answered with a proud smile.
"Maybe I will visit him, now that the chambers are open again, we can finally visit the rest of the castle," Salazar mused.
"Why weren't you able to before?" He wanted to know, he had always wondered why none of the Founders could be seen in the portraits.
"Our dear Great-Grandfather’s security spells were too good," Helga laughed and Merlin flushed a bit.
Snickering, Harry waved at them and picked up his upper clothing, only to find Justitius lying beneath the pile, glaring up at him.
"Oh, sorry," Harry stretched a hand out to carry him, but the little bat huffed, and fluttered away.
"Was that a Phoenix Foundling?" Merlin asked excitedly.
"He is, I am training him with your book," he said.
"I hope he is learning well," Merlin smiled.
"He is a bit hyperactive, but maybe that is because he laid in his egg for over 50 years, before my mate gave him to me. My mate comes from a purely Slytherin line and Justitius would never have hatched for him."
"Your mate must love you very much, to give you such a great present and it makes me very happy to hear, that in contrast to firm beliefs," Merlin glared at his great-grandsons, "...that a Gryffindor and a Slytherin can find happiness together."
Harry finally succeeded in saying his goodbyes then and went with Nagini and Justitius to his new bedroom. Justitius fluttered in front of his window and Harry opened it for the little bat, he was now a few days old and he trusted him to find his way back, he was part-phoenix after all.
The bed was incredibly soft, probably as soft as Lucius' and he snuggled contently under the heavy comforter, before spelling the torches out.
Nagini circled around him and laid her heavy head on his chest.
"Sleep well little master, so that you can make your mate proud tomorrow," Nagini hissed.
"What do you mean?" He asked.
"Don't you have to go to school tomorrow?" Nagini asked.
"Yes," Harry frowned.
"Your mate will surely be proud if you do well in your classes and you will see your father again," she answered.
Smiling, Harry decided to take her advice and closed his eyes. Unfortunately sleep didn't come quickly. As soon as he closed his eyes the cold feeling he had felt at entering Hogwarts returned full force and he started to shiver in loneliness. Once again the pictures of his mate and his mate's son started to dance in front of his eyes, blurring into one, smiling at him, or just looking expectantly.
He tried to decipher what the pictures and the feelings wanted to tell him, but it didn't make any sense. Did he feel guilty because of Draco's death? But it wasn't his fault, was it? Sure, if he had let Lucius go at Privet Drive, the blonde brat would surely still be alive, but he most likely would be dead himself. Besides, he could not have foreseen that Voldemort would kill his right hand man's family after not even two days. No, Draco Malfoy's death was not his fault, but what was keeping him awake then? He sighed in frustration. The longer he thought about Lucius and Draco, the lonelier he felt. He wished his friends or his father were there to distract him from his cold, shivering body and the wish to be held by strong, protective arms. His submissive side sobbed silently, while he still could not stop wondering about those flickering images.
Harry couldn't say how long he brooded over the question, not coming to any epiphany, but at some point he fell asleep over his pondering, despite his shivering body, pictures of two beautiful blonde males haunting him even in his sleep.
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A Different Kind of Hero