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The New Me	By : LoveGD Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Harry/Draco Views: 81450 -:- Recommendations : 2 -:- Currently Reading : 2
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 20
- 21
A/N: Hi! It's been like...years and I'm a bit ashamed about that, but now it's finally here! I hope you like it, and if you would like to add a review, that would really make me happy =) Enjoy chapter 20 of The New Me!

Chapter 20

Harry let out another sigh of contentment before focusing on the two Angels again.

“Who are you? And what did you mean when you said it wasn’t my time to die yet?” He asked curiously. Both beings smiled at him, before the woman answered in a soft tone.

“We are two of the Divine Guardians that protect the souls of humans who are going to Paradise, although we were once mortal ourselves. When we died, the Gods decided that we should become Guardians, because we were willing to die for someone so pure, so needed by the world, that it would have meant Hell on Earth had he died.”

“That someone was you, Harry.” The man added, and Harry couldn’t make sense of what he was saying.

“But, that would mean…” He broke off nervously, unconsciously wetting his lips as he stared at the couple. They both smiled at him again.

“Yes, Harry – we’re your parents.” The woman said happily.

                                                                 ~*~

When the light finally stopped flashing before his eyes, Snape quickly made his way to the room where Dumbledore and the muggle had been kept, leaving the Aurors to split in to two teams: one to follow the Headmaster, and one to tag along with him.

Walking in to the room, the first thing he saw was the obese muggle slumped against the wall where he had left him. As his gaze swung around, his eyes quickly fixed on his two students lying knocked out on the floor. Casting the necessary spell to wake them up, he turned around to speak to the Aurors that had followed him.

“That person over there is the other perpetrator in the crime; Mr Potter’s uncle by marriage. I suggest you place him in custody as soon as possible so that we can focus on finding Headmaster Dumbledore.”

“Yes, sir.” The youngest Auror answered. His name was Pritchard if Snape recalled correctly; yes – the boy had been a Gryffindor four or so years ago.

“We are so sorry, Professor. He just, I don’t really know what happened, do you, Hermione?” Pansy said shakily to her Head of House, turning to her friend to get an answer. Hermione stood up slowly, taking a deep breath before meeting Snape’s eyes.

“I think the Headmaster somehow managed to take control of his wand and use it to Stun us, I only saw him move his head before he knocked us out.” She told her Professor before starting to walk out the door.

“Is Harry still in the Infirmary? Will Dumbledore be going after him do you think?” Hermione asked as the group arrived in the Entrance Hall, just in time to see Draco come round the corner looking worried.

“There you are! Harry’s missing!”

                                                                 ~*~

“Mum? Dad? Is it really you?” Harry asked the two Guardians breathlessly. Getting two nods in return, he quickly took two steps forward and wrapped his arms around Lily, burying his face in her neck, even as he had to stoop down to do it.

“Oh, Harry, we’ve missed you so much!” Lily said with tears of joy in her eyes, finally being able to hold her baby in her arms again. James stroked Harry’s back reassuringly and said;

“We are so proud of you, son. We didn’t want to leave you, but we had to.”

“That’s ok.” Came the muffled reply from Harry, his face still buried in his mother’s hair, just soaking up her scent.

“We really do need to tell you some things, though, Harry. Are you listening, son?” James said. At Harry’s nod he continued.

“Sirius is still alive, Harry.”

Harry’s head snapped up and he stared at his father with wide eyes, not believing what he was hearing.

“What? But, I saw him die! I saw him fall through the Veil!” Harry said.

“Yes, he did fall through the Veil, but that just leads to another dimension, usually one of the lesser Hell dimensions where you await judgement for your crimes. Since Sirius didn’t actually do anything that would grant him residence in Hell, the Powers that Be decided he should be sent back to Earth to continue living. It sounds very complicated and such, but it isn’t if you’re in the know on how things work with the Powers. Which very few are.” James explained to his son.

“But, where is he, then? It’s been almost two years since he fell through, shouldn’t he have returned by now, if that’s what he was going to do?” Harry asked.

“Time…works differently in every dimension, Harry. A year on Earth doesn’t have to be a year in another dimension.” Lily said patiently to Harry.

“Oh. Ok. When do you think Sirius will return? When will I return for that matter? What if someone finds me and thinks I’m dead?”

“He should have returned already. Do you mean you have no idea of where he is?” James asked anxiously, locking eyes with Lily to silently communicate something.

“No, I don’t, Dad.”

“This is bad. This is really, really bad. Lily, we need to get Harry back right now. Things are going to be bad if someone finds him and thinks he’s dead and buries him while he’s still here.” Lily nodded seriously and hugged Harry hard before letting him go.

“Ok, Harry, this will probably feel a bit uncomfortable, but you should be back in your body without any complications. Remember that we will always love you, and that you shouldn’t be afraid to accept love in all its forms – you deserve it.” Lily said before raising her hands, holding them so that her palms were facing Harry. As they started to glow, Harry could feel a tugging sensation around his middle, not unlike the sensation that came when using a Portkey.

“Make us proud, son.” James said before Harry faded away, a spike of fear going through him when he was surrounded by darkness. Suddenly he could hear voices around him, and realised that he must be back in his body with his eyes closed. He groaned as his head started to throb and then there was silence.

                                                                 ~*~

“What do you mean he’s gone?!” Hermione exclaimed loudly.

“I mean he managed to Apparate out of the Infirmary, and now we have no idea where he is.” Draco snapped at her, worry etched around his eyes.

Snape quickly closed his eyes and contacted his Guardian, who contacted Zed to find out where Harry was currently located.

“He’s in the Forbidden Forest, come, we should hurry. The Headmaster could already have found him.” Snape said as he began making his way out of the school and towards the Forest that lined its borders.

“Dumbledore escaped? How the bloody hell did that happen?” Draco asked as he picked up his speed to be able to keep up with his Godfather.

“We don’t really know.” Snape ground out as they passed into the Forest, and he raised his wand to cast a Point-me spell to find his wayward student and murderous employer. The wand glowed before pointing slightly to the north. The group set off again, at an even quicker pace this time, not wanting to leave the Headmaster alone with Harry any longer than necessary.

As they made their way through the forest, they noticed that there seemed to be a hushed silence over the area. They didn’t run into any of the normal creatures that resided in the Forbidden Forest.

“Does it seem too quiet here to anyone else, or is it just me?” Pansy asked nervously, inching closer to Hermione and Draco.

“No, there is definitely something strange going on here. How much longer until we’re there, Professor?” Hermione said. Snape turned his head back to his students for a moment before facing forward again, looking down at his wand to see that he was still following the correct direction.

“It should only be a few minutes more.” He answered curtly, before speeding up again.

They quickly made their way forward, feeling relieved as the trees started thinning and they could see a clearing up ahead.

“Be careful, we don’t know if Dumbledore is here or not – keep your eyes open.” Snape said, before stepping into the clearing and looking around, motioning to his students to follow him and the group of Aurors to head around to the other side of the clearing to ambush the Headmaster if need be.

For the first few moments, they couldn’t actually see anything unusual in the clearing until they stepped further in, when suddenly Hermione spotted something lying in the snow some four metres away.

“What’s that over there? Oh, my God – Harry!” She rushed over to where Harry was lying on his back, one hand by his face and the other at his side, looking as if he was simply sleeping. Hermione reached out her hand to shake him awake, and started at how cold Harry was.

“He’s really cold! We need to get him back to…he’s not breathing!” Hermione began to feel slightly panic-y when she discovered this, not helped by the fact that Draco and Pansy shouted their denials at her exclamation.

“He can’t be dead, he just can’t!” Pansy wailed as Draco grabbed a hold of Harry and shook him none too gently.

“Calm yourselves! Panicking is not helping the situation at all, now let’s see if we can get his breathing started again. Miss Granger, kindly use the resuscitation technique you used last time.” Snape said harshly as he cast a spell on Harry to maximize his oxygen uptake while Hermione pulled herself together somewhat and started CPR.

“I found Dumbledore! He’s not breathing either – in fact, I think he’s dead. I couldn’t feel a pulse on him.” Pansy said nastily, secretly glad that the Headmaster was no longer among them.

“Oh well, never mind. Just leave him there and focus on getting Harry breathing again.” Snape answered, turning back to Hermione and Harry just as a moan was heard from the young Lord Potter.

                                                                 ~*~

Harry slowly opened his eyes as he became more aware of his surroundings and the fact that he was both wet and cold. The first sight that greeted him was a harried looking Hermione leaning over him, surrounded by Draco, Pansy and Snape.

“Um, hi guys.” He said uncertainly, pushing himself up on his elbows slowly.

“Hi? That’s what he says? He was bloody well dead, and all he can say is ‘hi guys?’ Oh, that’s just brilliant! Really the height of genius there, Potter!” Draco ranted. Harry scowled at him.

“Well, what the hell do you expect me to say, Malfoy? ‘Dumbledore used a spell that transported both our souls to the fricking After-life where he was carted off to eternal torment by something so hideous I can’t even describe it, and I met my parents for the first time?!’” Harry was panting with exhaustion at the end of his sentence and the others were staring at him in confusion.

“What do you mean? Of course I wouldn’t expect you to say that.” Draco said confused, reaching out a hand to help Harry stand up. Harry didn’t know who was more surprised by the fact that he took the help – himself or his companions.

“Harry – you...” Hermione said somewhat breathlessly as she watched her brother use Draco to pull himself standing.

“Yeah, well. That is actually what happened. With Dumbledore and my parents I mean. The old coot actually used a spell that sent both of us to the After-life, and if it hadn’t been for my parents and that demon-looking thing showing up, I would be dead and Dumbledore would have escaped.” Harry answered sharply as he let go of Draco’s hand and stood by his own power.

“Mr Potter, are you telling us that the Headmaster is dead?” Snape asked carefully as he peered at Harry to see if he was really alright. Harry scoffed.

“Yes, is that so bloody difficult to understand? He’s not coming back, not ever, and he’s paying for his sins with interest.” Harry answered, crossing his arms over his chest and faltering slightly in his stance.

“Right, we can discuss this further later. Right now I think we need to get you back to the Hospital wing and get you checked out. You weren’t breathing before and you were injured before that already. Come along, or do I need to knock you out and place you on a stretcher to get you there, Mr Potter?” Snape said while turning to start walking back towards the school. Draco, Hermione and Pansy immediately closed ranks around Harry, ready to offer him support or catch him, should he need it.

“I’m coming, keep your hair on.” Harry muttered under his breath as he started walking after his Head of House. Now that he was up and moving around again without the aid of adrenalin to block any pain, he could feel the soreness of his ribs where Vernon had kicked him earlier. He winced slightly and wrapped one arm around his side to try and ease it somewhat as he continued making his way after Snape.

“Are your ribs still sore, Harry? I thought Madam Pomfrey had healed them already?” Draco said quietly to his friend. Harry shot him a quick glance before answering;

“She did, but the bone is always sore some time after, which is why you’re supposed to lie still in a bed after you’ve had a healing, but, well...that didn’t quite happen this time did it?”

“No, I guess it didn’t. We need to talk about that, by the way. What you heard and how you reacted. I didn’t mean to disgust you or pressure you or anything like that, I hope you know that. I just want you to be ok, and be happy, and if that can never happen with me then I will accept that. I just hope that we can still be friends.” Draco said earnestly as they came in view of Hogwarts.

“I need to really think about that, Draco. I honestly don’t know what I feel anymore, and with the things that I’ve learned today...” Harry trailed off, shrugging one of his shoulders to show his uncertainty on the subject.

“I understand that. Take all the time you need, I’ll be here.”

“Draco, let’s get Mr Potter up to the Hospital Wing now and you can talk about all this later.” Snape said from the steps up to the Entrance Hall. The two young men turned to their Professor and saw that they had fallen quite a bit behind the rest of them and that Blaise had joined their friends on the steps.

“Ok, Sev. What about Dumbledore? Are we just going to leave his body out in the Forest?”

“Don’t be ridiculous Draco, the Aurors took care of that. Come along, Mr Potter, no more stalling.”

                                                                 ~*~

Harry ended up having to stay in the Hospital Wing for the rest of the day and the night, so when the first light broke on Christmas Day, he was quite eager to get out of there. Not to mention he had two new pets to try and sneak passed his friends.

“I’m fine, really, Madam Pomfrey. In fact, I’ve never been better. I just want to get out of here, it’s Christmas and I was promised a spectacular Christmas celebration in the Slytherin Common Room that I wouldn’t want to miss.” Harry said earnestly, smiling slightly at the old matron. He really was feeling fine, he still felt at peace with his past and his body didn’t hurt for the first time in many years, so Harry didn’t see why Madam Pomfrey just couldn’t let him leave already.

Madam Pomfrey smiled at him and waved her wand to scan his vitals, before sighing and shaking her head ruefully.

“Very well, Mr Potter, you may go for now, but I want to see you back here in two days so we can start with your healing process and discuss the removal of your scars.”

“Fine. But I’ve already talked about that with Professor Snape, and he said he’d help me with it.”

“Severus will also be present at our meeting, and he has informed me of your discussions. Now, run along and enjoy yourself, and Happy Christmas to you, Mr Potter.” With that, Madam Pomfrey turned and walked back to her office, giving Harry some privacy to change out of the standard white and blue pyjamas that he had been clad in the day before.

“Happy Christmas to you too, Madam.” Harry called after her as he threw the covers off him and got out of bed to get dressed.

When he was finished he quickly made his way down to the Entrance Hall and out the doors to walk down to the gates where he could already see a person waiting for him.

“Hello, sorry to have kept you waiting.” Harry said as he got nearer the witch standing there.

“No problem at all, Mr Potter, we just arrived.” She smiled while gesturing to the two leashes she was holding in her right hand.

“Oh, that’s good. There was no problem with them I hope?” He said as he knelt down to pet the two puppies that attacked his face with licks as soon as he was in their reach.

“None, they’ve had all their shots and I’ve brought their pedigrees like you asked, and everything they’ll need is shrunk down in this bag.” The woman held out a red bag to Harry who got up to take it and the leashes from her.

“Thank you again, and I’ll probably see you soon. I know I’m going to want to spoil my little Buck, and I know Draco is going to want to do the same.” Harry smiled as he said good bye and turned to walk the two puppies inside the castle and down to the dungeons.

“Anytime you need anything, Mr Potter, just get in touch!” The witch called after him before he heard the telltale sound of someone apparating away.

Sneaking the two young dogs down to his room proved easier than Harry had thought it would be – the Slytherin Common was completely empty and he had no trouble at all convincing the puppies to walk through the tapestry to his room.

“You’re really brave little puppies, aren’t you? I hope this works out ok, this is the first really...well, real Christmas I’ve ever had, and I don’t want to mess it up. Then there’s the fact that Draco seems to be in love with me, and I don’t know how to feel about that.” Harry said to the puppies as he sat down on the floor with them and let them curl up in his lap. He really was feeling confused about everything that had happened lately – he still didn’t feel like the abuse he had suffered had really happened to him, and Harry wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not.

‘Zed, are you there? I really need to talk to someone.’

‘I am here, Harry. What is on your mind?’ The deep voice of his Guardian calmed some of the nervousness that had been growing inside Harry.

‘I need some advice, Zed, I don’t really know what to feel anymore. When I met my parents in the After-life, they healed all of my pain and dulled my memories of the abuse so I could find peace, and it seems to be working, but I still don’t know if that was a good idea or not, and Draco’s in love with me which made me freak out when I heard it, and, and...’ Harry started to work himself in to a slight panic again the more he talked to his Guardian.

‘Harry, take a breath. Now, let me see if I understand you correctly; you were healed of all your pain and memories from your time with your relatives, and you don’t know if it’s a good idea or not? Why do you think that it could be bad?’

‘Well, what if it doesn’t work after a while and I get a flashback again? And what if the pain and nightmares come back when I least expect it?’ Harry asked with a small voice as he hugged the puppies close to his chest for comfort. Zed seemed to need to think about his reply, because he was silent for a few minutes.

‘Harry, I think that this will work out to your advantage for once. I doubt that your parents would lie to you about something so important – if they said that you would be completely healed from all the horrors you had to go through, then that is likely the case. I think you should try to begin to move on with your life, start small with letting someone touch your hand and see how you react to that and work from there. As for the worry about Draco being in love with you, has he said anything else to you about it?’ Zed asked patiently.

‘He said that he would give me all the time I needed, and that if I didn’t return his feelings that he would be happy for me and hoped we could still be friends.’

‘Well, do you even know if you like boys or girls? I know what was beaten into you, but have you actually thought about it without having a panic attack? A good place to start would be to try and figure out what you would be looking for in a potential partner and then finding out if he fits that, and if he does – how do you feel about him being a male? Does it matter if he can fulfill the needs that you have? Now, I think there are people looking for you – your Potions Master’s Guardian is telling me that her charge is in quite a tizzy because you’ve gone missing yet again!’ Harry could feel the amusement in his Guardian’s last statement, and he felt his lips quirk in a small smile.

‘I guess I better make an appearance to ease his mind, then. Thank you for the advice, Zed, I have a lot to think about. I’ll talk to you later.’

‘Yes, we’ll talk later. Have a nice time celebrating with your new friends.’ With that, Harry could feel the connection he had to the Winged Fenris cut off, and knew he was alone in his mind again.

“Well, I guess I better show myself before they send out another search-party. You pups stay here and behave yourselves, ok?” With a nod to the two dogs, Harry straightened himself and stepped out in to the Slytherin Common Room.

                                                                 ~*~

“I can’t believe he’s gone missing yet again. That boy needs a tracking charm on him, or maybe a leash.” Snape ground out through clenched teeth as he stalked in to the Slytherin Common looking for Harry Potter, only to find it empty.

“Don’t you think a leash is taking it a bit too far, Professor? I’m entitled to a bit of privacy, after all.” Harry said as he appeared behind the scowling Potions Master. Snape whirled around at the sound of his student’s voice, the scowl deepening on his face.

“Under the circumstances – no, I don’t think it too much. Where have you been, Mr Potter?” Harry sighed at his Head of House, crossing his arms over his chest before answering in a patient voice.

“I came down here to my room after Madam Pomfrey released me from the Hospital Wing, which was about 30 minutes ago. I don’t see what the big fuss is about, it’s not like I ran away or anything.” Snape closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose, sighing deeply.

“No, of course not. It’s just that everyone is quite worried about you, what with all that’s happened the past couple of months, and I’m afraid that you’re going to have to put up with everyone keeping a close eye on you for the time being until we have gotten used to you being alright. You are alright, are you not?” Harry relaxed his stance at this and gave Snape a small smile before answering.

“Yeah, I’m fine, there’s nothing to worry about. I’ve never felt this good, actually, and right now I’m looking forward to celebrating Christmas and then finding a way to locate my Godfather, wherever he may be.” Snape startled slightly at this.

“Potter – you are aware that your Godfather is deceased, are you not?” A slightly worried tone made its way into the Potions Master’s voice, but Harry just gave a short laugh at this.

“I’m not going insane or having a memory lapse, Snape. I know perfectly well that Sirius fell through the Veil 2 years ago, but I was told that he should have returned to us since it wasn’t his time to die yet, so I’m going to try and find him.”

“Whoever told you this was probably lying, Potter, there is no way to return after you have entered the Veil. Black is lost for ever.” Snape had a slightly pitying expression on his face and Harry scowled at him for it.

“My parents told me that he should have returned already, because the Powers that Be found him innocent – it was one of the last things they said to me before they sent me back after Dumbledore was carted off to Hell, and I’m going to believe in them.”
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The New Me