There Be Dragons, Harry | By : Scioneeris Category: HP Canon Characters paired with Original Characters > Slash - Male/Male Views: 58487 -:- Recommendations : 9 -:- Currently Reading : 28 |
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of its characters. I make no money by writing this story.. |
PREVIOUSLY:
"A beta." Harry rubbed his face, annoyed. "I'd hoped for more time."
"Time is rarely what we ever wish for." Theo rose from the bed and pressed a kiss to his brow. "I daresay if we do not show our faces to our hosts, they may blast the door in." He chuckled. "I can feel Terius' worrying from all the way over here."
When Harry stepped out into the sitting room, the contrast was more pronounced than he could recall since his inheritance. His senses were heightened and the feel of magic back inside of him hummed happily through his veins as he entered the room ahead of Theo. He spotted Draco at once. The blond sat comfortably on the floor beside Severus, holding a stack of essays in his hand and his own quill. He looked more alive than the last time Harry had seen him and his fine, silky white-blond hair had been pulled into an elegant topknot with a simple strip of black ribbon—just like the shadowy Potions' Master.
"Pot—Harry." The greeting changed in mid-utterance as Severus spared a glance from the stack of parchment in his lap to the entrance of half of his houseguests. He smirked at the green-eyed teen, his dark gaze running deliberately over the young man, taking and noting the changes before he returned his attention to his marking.
Harry gave a short nod in response. Of course Severus would notice the change. He didn't expect anything less from the man, though he did wonder what element was shared between the trio. He'd never gotten much of a read on Draco and so there was little for him to compare it to. The same for Terius and Severus and as neither of their eyes betrayed them—as Theo's had done—Harry didn't know where to venture a guess.
He took a few careful whiffs, replacing his original memories of their scent with this new improved version that his heightened senses saw fit to give him. Theo shuffled in after him, rearranging his shirtsleeve cuffs and running a hand through his tangle of chocolate curls. The older boy gave a polite nod to Draco and a slightly deeper one to Severus who acknowledged him with the same stiff nod he'd given Harry.
From the delicious smells wafting through the kitchen, Harry could guess that Terius was cooking as he was the only one of the trio missing and the sounds coming from the kitchen suggested movement. He was puzzled for a moment, wondering why the Pareya would go to so much trouble when there were house elves about, as a new, fainter scent tickled his nostrils. His eyes grew wide and they met cool silver ones, before the blond smirked in answer.
"Took you long enough." Draco said, smugly.
"Fame isn't everything, Draco." Severus murmured, nudging the boy at his feet with one foot. "If you are not going to mark those, then do return them so I might actually finish them sometime before tomorrow."
Draco rolled his eyes and bent his head over the stack of parchments. "Keep it to yourself, alright?" The words were spoken lightly, but they were punctuated by a dark glower from the Potions' Master over his youngest mate's head.
Harry gave an awkward nod to that, seating himself on the sofa across from the duo. He'd never expected that Malfoy would be pregnant. That certainly explained a lot of the oddness between the trio's interactions. It also explained the incident in the hallway just a week or so ago. Draco had been clutching his stomach half of the time and Harry simply knew that the reactions and interactions between Terius and Severus had been purely out of fear and worry for their sub and unborn child.
A new flicker of respect shone in his eyes. He'd never have pegged Draco for that, but now that he looked, carefully, he could see how the blond sat carefully on a pillow on the floor, braced against Severus' left leg and with a tall glass of water and a vial of potion to one side, accompanied by a few strips of dried jerky. It also explained those stomachaches and Draco's recent whining towards food of all kinds.
Harry resisted the urge to bang his head on any nearby flat surface. He was supposed to be keeping an eye on things—he should've noticed on his own. Slender fingered-hands slid onto his shoulders and squeezed briefly. The physical reassurance prompted a smile and Harry leaned into the arms, enjoying the moment.
"Dinner is about-" Terius broke off, stepping fully out into the sitting room. His gaze zeroed in on Theo's calm expression and Harry's radiating aura of sheer power. It was certainly the beginning of what would be a very powerful circle. "Congratulations on your mating." He said, formally. "You are welcome to dine with us, if you so desire."
Theo looked to Harry.
The emerald-eyed beauty smirked in answer.
Dinner was wonderful.
As the newly mated pair prepared to leave, Harry was stopped by Terius' gentle hand on his shoulder. He turned, expectant, to see Terius looking over his head at Theo. The golden-eyed boy gave a faint nod.
"What?" Harry wanted to know.
"I was asking permission to cast a spell on your behalf." Terius flexed his right hand and a ripple of wind danced through the room as his hand lengthened and curled into the respective claws of his kind. "If I may-" he gestured towards Harry.
"What for?" Harry looked from him to Theo and back.
"You've been missing for over a week." Terius said, mildly. "And at least a weekend. You passed out in Potions class, if I recall correctly and I highly doubt you've concocted a decent cover story between yourself and Theo. At least if you had, I would like to think I would have been included in it somewhere and therefore warned."
"Ah. Oh." Harry realized.
"Yes. Oh." Theo quirked a smile. "Let him cast it, would you?"
"Sure." Harry wrinkled his nose. "How?"
"Shirt." Theo prompted, leaning over to tug on Harry's shirt. "Your stomach or back is the largest expanse of skin available when casting on a short notice. Your arms are probably the best for drawing."
Harry tugged his shirt out of his pants and held it up while Theo worked on rolling up his shirtsleeve on his left hand. He winced when Terius' claws sliced through the perfect skin of his arm and drew blood. The bloodied claws then painted on several runed shapes before sealing it with a wave of elemental magic.
"There. All done."
"What's it do?" Harry began to tuck his shirt in after the burgundy lines and shapes had faded into his skin.
"A simple misdirection and spacing spell." Terius explained. "They can ask you harmless questions, but if they start to pry or give you a hard time, they'll suddenly find themselves apologizing and offering you some sort of bribe for the sake of peace."
"Bribe?" Harry squeaked.
"Think along the lines of chocolate frogs and such." Theo winked. "Not the other kind of bribes. It's more the kind of spell that will just remind them to think of more important things than reaming you out or asking questions you're not ready to answer yet."
"Oh. Okay. I guess that makes sense." He offered a smile to Terius. "Thanks."
"Not at all." Terius inclined his head, then focused on his claw, returning to the natural shape of his hand.
"Can I ask what's your element?" Harry rolled down his shirt sleeve and let Theo button the cuffs. He always hated trying to button his own cuffs and had no complaint of letting that particular annoyance be handled by someone else.
"May I." Draco corrected, absently. He shuffled over to Terius with a yawn. "M'tired, T." He mumbled.
"Then I think we ought to get you to bed." Terius wrapped an arm around him and smiled, fondly. "Air, Harry." He said, quietly. "Our element is Air."
Theo's eyebrows danced upwards in a mixture of surprise and awe. "Air?" He repeated. "All three of you?"
"Indeed." Terius tipped his head. "Goodnight, Theo, Harry."
The week blurred by.
The spell worked beautifully.
Harry made it through classes without falling asleep once—surprising, considering that Theo didn't really give him much time to sleep—though that was mostly Harry's fault as he couldn't quite give up on his new addiction to those wickedly talented hands and the way they made him feel. Their nights were spent in a pleasured bliss and their days in a tangle of strategic thinking and classwork, homework and testing.
Avoiding certain well-meaning friends and an insistent medi-witch was much easier after the spell kicked in and granted both of them the sanity that they needed. Terius' spell subtly directed all questions, inquisitive friends and fellow lions to more pressing matters than grilling the Boy-Who-Lived on his most recent activities. It was cast to last for a week to give the newly mated pair a chance to settle in without causing too much fuss in the way of overprotectiveness or any unwanted scenes resulting from too close classmates and fellow Gryffindors.
It worked, Harry discovered, quite wonderfully.
It was all back to normal.
As normal as things could get for him, anyway.
Ron and Herimone arguing in their usual way. Ginny smiling at him from the other side of the table. The twins spooning applesauce onto his breakfast plate. Madam Pomfrey even smiled at him when she'd come down to retrieve him, only to be redirected thanks to the spell.
Harry had to admit that the small smile on the medi-witch's face was vaguely terrifying. He'd never seen it directed at him before and the medi-witch was always more inclined to scold him than smile at him. With a slight shudder, Harry pushed the thoughts away and tried to focus on his day. There was certainly a lot he had to do and for once, he was doing his homework without any help at all.
No Hermione, no Ron and no anything else. Theo would read over his Potions and Herbology essays, if asked and make a few marks on it. Harry had quickly discovered that Theo had a knack for writing and that automatically made him Harry's proofreader. In return, Harry checked over his Care of Magical Creatures homework. It was a good trade-off.
As the week progressed beyond the first two days, Theo ended up turning to Terius for an explanation for Harry's recent, headaches and muscle tremors. Terius, in his infinite wisdom, had suggested some training exercises, explaining that while Theo had control of his powers, that control did not necessarily trickle over to Harry.
Harry had been simultaneously awed and annoyed by this new revelation and curious as to what kind of training and when it could be done. Terius left that to Theo's discretion and Theo, Harry learned, had a certain time turning spell taught to him by Ilsa. It was only to allow four hours of extra time and only for the sole purpose of training Harry's inherited powers.
Harry immediately took him up on the offer and learned quickly just how much power his mate had within the first ten minutes. If he was accessing only a fraction, Harry shuddered to think of what would happen if Theo were to really lose his temper. It would certainly bring about a spectacular end to the world as everyone knew it. The boy had the patience of a saint and Harry was grateful for it.
There were many nuances to having and holding an elemental power. Some of them more subtle than Harry had ever expected. Theo stood behind him through every session, never once losing his temper and never once showing any sign of frustration.
"Why can't I-!" Harry nearly exploded.
Theo leaned over and kissed his cheek—a trick that worked to effectively flip the atmosphere for the current session. "Do not try so hard that you forget how to simply exist, Harry." He gestured to the Room of Requirement that had presented them with a tall, white space and little else for their practicing. "This isn't the kind of magic you're used to. It isn't even blood magic and I've made sure to use it on you several times to help your body accept it. This is different. Elemental magic ties into the very life force of everything around us. It's raw magic. That's why there are people who would kill for this power or kill to be sure it never fell into the wrong hands. When you make your peace with what you are and what you are capable of doing, you'll find that the magic does not scream at you the way it is doing now."
Harry eyed him wearily, wiping the sweat from his forehead with one shirt sleeve. "How do you know it's screaming at me?"
"Because you're screaming right back at it." Theo smiled, gently. "You cannot expect to master this in the space of a week. As it is, raw magic is considerably more difficult to handle than regular magic and for good reason. It will take a considerable amount of time and practice. Constant practice and thought to remember that this is what you are capable of and this is why you will choose to use it or not."
Harry took a deep breath and blew it out. "But what if I need to use it sooner than-"
"You won't."
"But what if I do? The prophecy says that it's a power that he knows not and I doubt that he-"
"You will not need to use it sooner than you can control it." Theo murmured, effectively cutting him off. "Regardless of what any prophecy says, the elements will not let you destroy yourself for the sake of saving a world. They will fight if they feel you are not ready to hold them—for elemental magic to work, we become a vessel to it." Theo bowed his head. "From the vessel, we are a channel and nothing more. Once the magic is freed, it will do what it will."
"Then why even bother with-!"
"If you work to merge your mind and soul with it, then your wants, needs and worries all become the same, yes?" Theo prompted. "If that is the case, then even though you are the channel, the end result is what you both wish and it will be fulfilled."
Harry slowly nodded. That made sense. He shuddered.
Theo reached out and snagged him with one arm, drawing him into a hug. "It is a little disconcerting at first, but you'll get used to it." He explained, rubbing gently up and down Harry's chilled arms. "You'll know when it happens." He nuzzled Harry's ear. "And when it does, you'll know what to do. The elements are like that."
And Harry knew he was right.
The elements were like that.
Just like wild magic.
It was wild, untamed and resisting at every possibility opportunity.
It was potent, rich and terrifying in its absoluteness.
Somehow, it thrilled Harry to the core.
"Harry?" Theo stuck his head around the corner of the Head Boy bathroom door. "Did you steal my towel?"
"Towel?" Harry said, innocently.
"Prat." Theo retorted, pushing the door open and strolling out into the now empty room, shaking his damp hair to set it straight. Blaise had already left with Draco, so the two of them were alone for what precious few minutes remained before breakfast time.
Harry drank in the sight of the toned body and the ripple and flex of the muscles beneath the skin as Theo approached him on the bed. He stared up into those golden eyes for a moment and then his gaze traveled lower to be level with a certain, well-endowed package. He licked his lips in a sinfully slow swipe, careful to keep his own green eyes locked on Theo's.
Theo's eyelids fluttered faintly. "Harry, don't." There was a faint hint of amusement in his soft voice. "I won't have time to return the favor and I refuse to sit through breakfast listening to you gripe about it." He squeezed his eyes shut and Harry jerked back with a yelp as clothes flew out from several corners of the room and Theo needed only to hold his arms out and raise his feet one at a time, so the clothes could dress him quickly and properly.
"How'd?" He managed.
"I'll teach you later. It saves time."
"It does." Harry muttered, surprised and frustrated at the same time, before another thought overtook him. "Hey Theo?"
"Hmm?"
"D-did you ever—I mean, you didn't have to-"
"I almost forgot. Yes." Theo cut in, he whirled around, drawing something from the sleeves of his robes and suspended it with two fingers.
Harry's jaw dropped. A thick, silken cord the same shade as Theo's chocolate curls, holding a single rich, brown scale, turned half-gold at the edge. "I-!" He tried and failed to say. It was the expected gift.
It was the perfect gift.
"Tradition." Theo murmured, dropping a kiss to the top of Harry's head. "I already have yours."
"What?" Harry's head snapped up as he slid the necklace over his head and tucked it into his shirt. "When? I didn't give you any of my scales-"
"You were too out of it to notice last time." Theo smirked. "And whenever I stopped scratching your wings, you would start to whine and pout and-"
"I don't whine or pout!" Harry shot back, his face coloring instantly.
"And then you feel asleep right afterwards. I should have been insulted." Theo teased.
Harry shoved him, lightly. "I didn't feel a thing and I don't-"
"You weren't supposed to." Theo reached into his shirt to show an identical necklace with a black-ebony cord and a silver and peach tinted scale that seemed to shimmer all shades of the rainbow in the room's light. "Your other gift will come sometime tomorrow."
"Another one?"
"Of course." Theo said, with a regal sniff. "As if I would hold back."
Harry laughed all the way down to the Great Hall.
"It's beautiful." Harry managed. A simple band of silver with a golden slash cut into the smooth surface. No gems. An inscription inside simply read 'treasured'. It was perfect. "Thank you." He punctuated his thanks with a chaste kiss to the thin lips.
"Wear it always." Theo murmured, holding up his own hand to show a matching ring with a slash of emerald cut through the smooth surface.
"Do you always buy everything in pairs?" Harry teased.
"Only when it comes to you." His mate chuckled. "When our circle agrees on a crest, you can alter it later, if you wish."
"It's fine. I like it just the way it is."
The next kiss was decidedly anything but chaste.
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