Adult-FanFiction.org : Harry Potter

Harry Potter and the Goblin King	By : GeminiFaerie Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Harry/Draco Views: 29138 -:- Recommendations : 5 -:- Currently Reading : 14
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or the Labyrinth, nor any of the characters from said books/movies and I make no money from this story.

Chapter List
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            “Harry and Draco have been gone for a while,” Sirius noted as he set down the book he had been looking through, “Do you think someone should go check on them? Harry did seem kinda upset when he left.”

            “I don’t think that would be a good idea,” Remus looked up from his own book; the group of adults were still in the sitting room, reading through the books that Lily had left to Narcissa, “I put it out of my mind because we were busy, but when we met up with Harry and Draco yesterday afternoon, I could, well…I could tell that they had been…intimate.”

            “What do you mean intimate?” Sirius asked in a soft, dangerous voice, “Are you saying that my Harry and the Malfoy brat have-”

            “Sirius Black!” Narcissa chided, “How dare you? Harry and Draco are both old enough to make their own decisions in this matter, and they are betrothed; no one has any right to interfere in their relationship, and if you try I will…I’ll push you right back into the veil!”

            “Cissa!” Sirius whined, “Harry is my godson; he’s just a kid! He isn’t ready for such a relationship!”

            “Calm down Mutt,” Severus sighed, “Harry is sixteen and old enough to know his own mind. In addition, he and Draco love each other very much; this isn’t just some sort of fling for either of them-they are betrothed to spend the rest of their lives together.”

            “But-!”

            “Just stop it Sirius,” Remus interrupted, “Harry is not a child anymore, and he will never forgive you if you try to come between him and Draco; now, why don’t you stop trying to avoid helping us research and open your book again.” Sirius pouted but did as Remus suggested, although not without glaring at Severus first, certain that it was somehow the potions masters fault; he still had forgotten his strange thoughts that morning, and had managed to convince himself that Severus had slipped something in one of the potions he had taken the night before. Yes, Severus Snape was an untrustworthy snake and he would be keeping a close eye on him to make sure the former Slytherin did not corrupt poor Harry, his innocent godson.

Narcissa and Remus exchanged amused glances over Sirius’s head as the ex-convict began reading through the book in his lap, still glaring at Severus, who merely rolled his eyes.

            “Here; try this one,” Luna’s dreamy voice startled the adults-she had been so quiet that they forgot she was there. The blonde handed Sirius a book, “I think this one will help you.”

            “This is a book on bonding rituals in this realm,” Sirius said, confused, “How will this help with getting the horcrux out of Harry?”

            “You should read it,” Luna replied, “I’ll make sure Harry and Draco are down in time for lunch.” She was gone, skipping out of the room before anyone had a chance to reply.

            “Well, that was strange,” Sirius said, “Wonder why she wanted me to read this?” He opened the book and began flipping through the pages, aware of Severus leaning in close to read over his shoulder.

            “Stop,” Severus commanded, reaching out to prevent Sirius from turning the page, “Perhaps this is why Luna wanted you to read this book;” He pointed at a passage about midway down the page and began to read aloud:

            “When a petitioner who calls upon the Goblin King (or Queen) shows signs of compatibility with the King (or Queen), the enchantment of the labyrinth will be activated to help both parties realize their compatibility. In many cases, the petitioner who has the most hope of being happy with the current ruler of the labyrinth (or in some cases the heir to the labyrinth if it is during the summer of their training to take over the kingdom) turns out to be someone the monarch knows from the outside world and has a strong relationship with. Many times the petitioner will call upon the monarch without realizing who it is, but the enchantment of the labyrinth will bring out their true feelings and if the petitioner and the monarch truly belong together they will often become betrothed either during or immediately after the challenge of the labyrinth; any betrothal resulting from the labyrinth challenge will result in a true match and a long-lasting, happy union.”

            “So, according to this book Harry and Draco were apparently meant for each other,” Remus mused, “You know, even when they were rivals, they were always drawn together; they couldn’t go more than a few days without having some sort of confrontation…”

            “Much like Severus and my dear cousin,” Narcissa said impishly, causing Severus to sputter; before he could say anything however, Sirius made a strangled noise in the back of his throat, causing everyone to look at him.

            “This book says that Harry can get pregnant once the bonding is complete,” Sirius said, “No potion required or anything; the book says that once the boys complete the bond Harry’s body will…adapt itself to be able to carry children. What if he’s already pregnant? He’s only sixteen!”

            “Stop overreacting,” Severus said calmly, taking the book from Sirius and closing it, “Yes, Harry will be able to carry children in the future, but the bonding will not be complete until they go through the bonding ceremony; until then the only way for Harry to become pregnant would be if he were to take a male pregnancy potion. Perhaps you need a calming draught.”

            “No, no,” Sirius waved the offer away, “I’m fine; don’t think I can stand to read anymore right now though.” He leaned his head against the back of the couch, closing his eyes as he heard Severus mutter something about stupid, overly-dramatic mutts.

            Another hour passed in relative silence when Narcissa made a soft exclamation.

            “Severus; I believe I’ve found it!” She smiled at the potions master, “It seems that a wizard from the Prince family, about 200 years ago, took revenge upon another wizard who attacked his daughter, and he used the death of his enemy to create a horcrux; with the creation of that first horcrux he lost just a little bit of his humanity, causing him to become indifferent to the daughter he had previously doted on. Well, she was not happy about this-evidently she had been completely spoiled growing up and missed the attention- and worked to create a potion to remove her fathers’ soul from the horcrux and then used a ritual to place it back within his body; this book doesn’t detail the ritual, but it does give instructions for creating the potion.”

            “Let me see that,” Severus held out his hand for the book, and Narcissa gladly handed it over as they all gathered around him; “Yes, this looks like it will definitely work; some of the ingredients are hard to come by and can be rather expensive, but I have a number of them already in my herb garden, and others can be found in the Forbidden Forest-perhaps I shall have the sixth and seventh years go on a scavenger hunt to locate them…once I have all the ingredients, the potion takes two weeks to brew; we will have removed the horcrux from Harry by Halloween.”

            “Really?” everyone turned to see a grinning Harry standing in the doorway, leaning against a smug-looking Draco; “The horcrux will be gone that soon?”

            “Yes, if everything goes according to plan,” Severus told him, “We will start gathering the ingredients once we return to school.”

            “What do you mean by “we”?” Draco demanded, “Surely you don’t expect Harry and me to go hunting for potions ingredients.”

            “I expect all of the sixth and seventh year potions students to help me acquire the ingredients,” Severus replied, “It is going to be a project to promote inter-house cooperation; that should please Dumbledore.”

            “Maybe in the past,” Harry said, “but now he seems to feel that house segregation was a good idea after all; what with me being under the evil influence of Slytherin’s after all.” He rolled his eyes and smiled at Draco, who just smirked in reply. “Anyway, we actually came downstairs because Luna said it was time for lunch; she’s already gone to the dining room.”

            “Oh good;” Sirius grinned, standing up, “I’m rather starved. Hey Pup; did you know that Malfoy here can make you preggers?” Harry, who had been walking out of the room arm-in-arm with Draco, came to a complete stop and turned to face his godfather, his face pale before he let out a shaky laugh.

            “Right; good one Siri!” He chuckled, “Only, I’m a boy, remember? I don’t have the…the right bits to get pregnant.”

            “Actually,” Draco began, “there is a potion that allows wizards to get pregnant, but unless you’ve taken it without telling me we have nothing to worry about-although it is something we can discuss in the future.”

            “Oh,” Harry said softly, looking stunned, “So…I can have kids, but I have to take a potion first. Okay, I can deal with that.”

            “Well, that isn’t completely true,” Narcissa said, “In our realm once a couple has completed the bonding ceremony the…consort, I suppose is the proper word, will be able to conceive.”

            “I-am not ready to deal with this right now,” Harry shook his head, “There’s too much to worry about already, with Voldie and Dumbles.”

            “I agree,” Draco said calmly, wrapping his arm around Harry’s waist and leading him from the room, “We can discuss the bonding ceremony and children after we come to an agreement on ruling the world. Ow!”

            “I told you I’m not helping you take over the world!” Harry glared at the blond who pouted at him, “Now, can we change the subject please?”

            “Sometimes I wonder how the Fates came to decide that those two should be together,” Severus remarked quietly as they followed the boys to the dining room, “One of these days they’re going to be brought to the ministry for domestic disturbance charges.”

            “Well, if Malfoy Jr. would just stop antagonizing him there wouldn’t be any problems,” Sirius told him, “I do have to admit that Harry looks happy though; I haven’t even been back for a full day, and he’s already happier than I’ve ever seen him. I wish I could have been there for him over the summer though, to watch their relationship develop.”

            “I know that Draco has some viewing spheres from Harry’s time in the labyrinth,” Severus told him, “If you’d like I’ll ask him to let you see them; they already let all of their friends watch the events.”

            “I’d like that,” Sirius replied before grinning at Severus, “Huh; who knew getting along with you could actually be fun? As long as you don’t turn my clothes pink again.” He glared at Severus, who merely smirked as they entered the dining room.

            “I don’t know,” Remus spoke up, “I thought it was funny; if we could have gotten along in school Severus would have been a great addition to the Marauder’s.”

            “Much better than Wormtail,” Sirius agreed, “but let’s not talk about that traitorous worm. When should we go after the first horcrux?” The conversation turned to more serious topics as the group enjoyed a light lunch; by the time they were done eating they had come up with a tentative plan for going after the horcruxes.

            After lunch Draco accompanied Severus to the potions room, while Harry and Sirius went for a walk outside.

            “So…you really love him then?” Sirius questioned once they were outside the castle walls.

            “Yeah,” Harry replied blushing, “I do; sometimes I’m not really sure why I love him, except…he’s really smart and funny and he’s good at quidditch, and he’s really hot. Not to mention, he can be sweet and when he kisses me…”

            “Alright, alright!” Sirius laughed, “I get the point; I guess I should start calling him Draco then, since he’s basically part of the family. Speaking of which, I can’t believe you’re related to Snape!”

            “Yeah, it came as a shock to me too,” Harry laughed, “I never thought we would be able to get along, and it was all so strange that when I woke up the next day I thought it had been a dream. I have to say, I’m really glad it wasn’t a dream; I haven’t been so happy in…well, ever.”

            “I’m glad you’re happy,” Sirius swung an arm around his shoulder, “I just wish you’d had the opportunity to be happy before this.”

“You know, I think you and Sev should spend some more time together,” Harry said, “I think you might get along-maybe even become friends-if you just get to know one another. I mean, he actually pranked you today! The evil potions master I knew would never prank anyone-he would just poison them.”

“Hmm…I’ll think about it,” Sirius replied, “If it’s that important to you. Just don’t go trying to set me up with him or anything; just because you’re deliriously happy with a Slytherin doesn’t mean we all want one.”

“I never said anything about setting you guys up,” Harry grinned, “What are you thinking about Siri? Oooh! You like Sev, don’t you? Ha! I knew it; you and Sev act just like Dray and I used to before we got together!”

“You still act like that now,” Sirius replied, “And I do not like him; he’s…So, how have things been at school?”

            “Good, except for Dumbles,” Harry gave him a knowing look but made no comment about the abrupt subject change, “None of my friends seem to be upset about me being with Draco-well, Ron was upset at first, but he’s gotten over it now-and I’ve even made friends with some of the Slytherin’s in my year. Of course, that just means there are more people trying to convince me to become a power-hungry tyrant, but I guess that’s just the price I have to pay.” He shook his head slightly, “So, have you been here before Siri?”

            “Yeah; I used to come here when I was younger,” Sirius replied, “It’s custom for the throne to go to a male relative, so Narcissa’s dad was training me in the rules of the labyrinth; when I got sent to Azkaban he had no choice but to pass the crown onto one of his daughters since Regulus was dead by then. I’m just glad he chose Narcissa; Andromeda is nice enough, but I can’t see her ruling a kingdom, and Bellatrix was always quite insane-she would have turned the realm over to old Voldie by now.”

            “She was always crazy?” Harry asked, “I kind of thought something must have happened to make her that way.”

            “Nope,” Sirius shook his head, “As far back as I can remember Bellatrix was the crazy one-she thought it was funny to feed the kitten Cissa found to her own pet snake when she was only eight; if that isn’t crazy I don’t know what is. She used to hurt herself too; I remember one day when she was thirteen or so I caught her cutting herself-not out of depression or anything, but just because she was fascinated by the pain and the blood.” He shivered a little, “It was…very disconcerting. That was the last time I went over to their house, no matter how much Mother yelled at me.”

            “Wow,” Harry said, eyes wide, “That’s…I think we need a new subject. So, what are you planning to do now that your name has been cleared? Gonna kick Dumbles out of your house?”

            “I haven’t really thought about it,” Sirius admitted, “I will definitely send a letter to Gringotts and have the Order vacate the house, then maybe I’ll work on getting it remodeled. When Molly was trying to clean it up I didn’t really help any because I saw no point and I couldn’t hire any professionals since the house was under Fidelius.”

            “So you’re new goal in life is to become an interior designer?” Harry teased; “Hey! Stop!” He began protesting as Sirius put him in a headlock and gave him a noogie; “I was just kidding!”

            “Insolent brat!” Sirius barked in an uncanny impersonation of Severus, “Like I would do something so…girly!” He finally let Harry go and laughed as his godson tried to fix his hair.

            “Draco came up with the new design in the dungeons,” Harry said, “he got locked in there for a while because he made Lucius mad and he decided that grey was not a good color to decorate a room in. I dare you to call Draco girly; I’d love to see what he would do to you!”

            “Please; like I would take the time out of my day to insult a sixteen year old,” Severus scoffed, “I’d rather plot revenge against Snape for the pink robes this morning. Speaking of which, Severus said the twins created a new map based on my Marauder’s Map; does it work well?”

            “Yeah, it works really great!” Harry enthused, “It’s actually a family locator map, which they mostly created so Mrs. Weasley would stop yelling about their joke shop. You can set the map to track your family members, and there’s even a spell to bring you to them. The twins opened their own joke shop in Diagon Alley over the summer, and they even have products that the aurors have found useful. I keep meaning to talk to them about Marauder’s Enterprises; we can use the money from that to help the twins out, maybe combine the companies…Hey! That’s what you can do Siri; you can work with the twins!”

            “You know, that’s not a bad idea,” Sirius mused, “Growing up I never thought that I could actually make a living with jokes and pranks, but I have to admit it would be like a dream come true; merging Marauder’s Enterprises with the Weasley company might be a good idea as well.”

            “Good,” Harry beamed, “When we go back tomorrow you should go to Diagon Alley and look for Weasley’s Wizarding Wheeze’s; I’m sure Fred and George would love to have you.” As they talked they had been walking around the gardens and they came to a side entrance to the castle; “I heard you talking to Severus about missing out on seeing Draco and me together; do you want to go to the study and I can let you view the memories?”

            “I’d really like that,” Sirius smiled, and Harry led him inside. Once he had Sirius set up with the memory sphere, Harry went up to his and Draco’s room, only to find Severus and Draco sitting in the chairs over by the bookshelves.

            “Hey Dray,” he kissed his fiancé on the cheek, “Sev; what are you guys up to?”

            “Just talking,” Draco said nonchalantly, pulling Harry down into his lap, “We were discussing family and our childhoods, actually.” He felt Harry stiffen in his lap and shared a glance with Severus.

            “Oh, really?” Harry asked nervously, “Well, I don’t want to intrude, and I’m sure I could use a shower, so…”

            “I don’t think so Lion,” Draco tightened his arms around the brunet’s waist when Harry tried to get up, “We haven’t had much of a chance to talk about it, but I haven’t forgotten what I saw when we went to pick up your things from your relative’s house; I think now is the perfect time to talk about your childhood.”

            “Mmm, but I’m tired!” Harry protested, faking a yawn, “I think I should take a nap…”

            “Or I could just give you some pepper-up potion,” Severus countered, “Harry, Draco and I both care about you, and we want to know what happened with your relatives.

            “Fine,” Harry glared, “But…it wasn’t anything important, not really; my aunt and uncle basically hated everything magical, including me. They neglected me and near-starved me, and my cousin Dudley beat me up, but I was never abused. Whenever something weird would happen they always blamed me, and they never used my name-it was always “Boy” or “Freak” and I slept in the cupboard under the stairs until I got my first Hogwarts letter. Aside from that, they would lock my school stuff away every summer, make me do all the chores and the cooking, and they had locks on the outside of my bedroom door and bars on my windows. Well, until the twins and Ron rescued me the summer after first year; they pulled the bars out of the window, but the door still has locks on the outside. So, that’s all they did; see? No big deal.”

            “It was abuse and child neglect,” Severus informed him, “Abuse isn’t necessarily physical.”

            “Well, it doesn’t matter because I never have to go back,” Harry said, “And I don’t want to talk about it anymore. Let me go Dray; I want to go talk to Luna.”

            “What they did was wrong Harry,” Draco said softly, pressing a kiss to his cheek, “Go ahead and talk to Luna; I’ll come find you in a bit.” He let Harry slip from his arms and watched as the brunet left the room, sharing another look with Severus; they would honor Harry’s wishes and not speak to him about this again, but that would not stop them from making sure those Muggles paid for their treatment of Harry.

            “Stupid meddling Slytherin’s,” Harry muttered as he walked away from Draco’s room, “Can’t just leave well enough alone; the Muggles are stupid but I never have to deal with them again, so it doesn’t matter…”

            “You know they just care about you,” Harry startled and turned to see Remus standing in an open doorway, “Why are you so upset?”

            “I just want to forget about what happened,” Harry said, “They weren’t nice to me, but it’s not like they abused me or anything, and I don’t have to go back; I just don’t see why it matters. It’s not like they-or anyone-cared when it was actually happening.”

            “That’s because none of us knew,” Remus protested, “Albus told us that you were being well-cared for by your relatives; I was forbidden from visiting you and even so I never could have gotten custody since I am a werewolf.”

            “Nobody knew you were a werewolf until I was in third year,” Harry pointed out, “You would have needed to find someone to look after me during the full moon, but that was just a bullshit excuse Dumbledore gave you. Even the whole blood-protection-thing is dumb; it has never stopped me from getting hurt by Voldie before, and Hermione did some research-in order for it to work my aunt would have actually needed to care about me. Like I said though, it’s not important.”

            “Be that as it may, we still want to know what you went through,” Remus said patiently, “Now that we know better, we just want to make sure that your family didn’t hurt you; if they did you can bet that your new Slytherin family will make them pay, and Sirius will gladly help them.”

            “Oh, and you wouldn’t?” Harry asked with a small smile.

            “Of course not,” Remus replied, “After all, someone has to be their alibi.” Harry laughed and shook his head.

            “Of course,” He agreed, “Well, as I told Sev and Dray, they neglected me and didn’t feed me much, and they made me do a lot of chores, but that’s about it. So, can we move on now? I was going to see what Luna is up to.”

            “Luna went outside,” Remus informed him, “She mentioned something about getting advice from the…blubbering humzings?”

            “Blibbering humdingers,” Harry corrected, “She claims that they can help you see the future or something; who knows? It could be true; that would explain how she always knows things she shouldn’t. So, what were you up to before my ramblings interrupted you?”

            “Just reviewing the text we found on removing a horcrux,” Remus replied, “but I was more than ready for a break; that type of thing is more up Severus’ alley. Did you know that I received some property from your parents?”

            “Oh yeah; I heard their will,” Harry said, “Have you been out to check the property yet?”

            “Yes,” Remus smiled, “It’s a nice little cottage in the Black Forest in Germany; it’s popular in wizarding culture because of William and Jacob Grimm who used their magic to scare Muggles and then they would charge the poor Muggles money to save them from the ‘evil forces’.”

            “Are these the same Grimm brothers who wrote the Muggle Fairytales?” Harry questioned, “I found a book last summer by the Brothers Grimm; the stories were kinda gross.”

            “Yes, they are the same,” Remus replied with a smile, “They wrote down some ideas for their scams and a Muggle happened upon the book; he told the brothers that they could make money by turning them into moral stories. Sirius claims to be descended from one of the Grimm brothers, but he doesn’t know which one and he was never able to prove it.”

            “Well, they were like the original pranksters, right?” Harry asked grinning, “I’m not surprised he wants to be related to them. Did you know that I’m descended from the Peverell’s? According to Draco they were some big important wizarding family, and Sev said I might be related to Queen Elizabeth the First. I really should look into getting some books about my family history.”

            “The Peverell’s were very important in wizarding history,” Remus nodded, “There were three brothers, and according to legend they outsmarted Death and so he gave them each a reward; the oldest brother received the Elder Wand, the most powerful wand in existence, the middle brother received the Resurrection Stone, which can bring back the dead, and the youngest brother received Death’s own invisibility cloak. If you ask Sirius or Draco they should have a copy of ‘The Tales of Beedle the Bard”; it tells the story about the Peverell Brothers.”

            “I’ll have to remember to ask them later,” Harry agreed, “Do you want to go flying for a bit? Since everyone else is still busy it should be a while before we’re missed.”

            “Sure,” Remus smiled, “I’d like to get a look at this kingdom again. We should at least leave a note for someone.”

            “No problem,” Harry shrugged, then called; “Tillie!” When the house elf appeared he told her to inform Draco that he and Remus were going flying out over Amethyst Fields, and then the two headed outside.

            Harry and Remus stayed outside until it was dark and then returned to their separate rooms to shower before dinner. Dinner took place on the patio again, and afterwards they all met up in the parlor to discuss Severus and the teens return to Hogwarts the following day.

            “Albus has said that we have to be back before tea time, however I still have papers to grade so we shall need to leave after breakfast,” Severus said as he took a seat next to Sirius on the couch while the others sat down in their respective chairs-Harry and Draco had a quiet argument which resulted in Harry actually sitting in the chair instead of Draco’s lap for once, and the blond sat on the arm of Harry’s chair; “And no, Mutt-you can’t come with us; the majority of the staff knows what your animagus form looks like, and Dumbledore would never allow you to be there.”

            “But it’s not fair!” Sirius protested, crossing his arms and pouting, “I want to be able to keep an eye on Harry and make sure Dumbledore doesn’t cause any problems for the kids; I’m Harry’s guardian, and he can’t stop me from being there!”

            “Be reasonable Sirius,” Remus sighed, “You know very well that parents and guardians are only allowed to visit the school on weekends or after classes unless they receive authorization from either the school governors or the headmaster; besides, Harry and Draco are capable of looking after themselves.”

            “But I want Siri to come with us too,” Harry protested, glaring at Draco when the Slytherin decided to use his head for an arm rest, “I’ve barely been able to spend any time with him since I found out about him in third year, and now Dumbles is keeping us apart again! Why are we letting him interfere in our lives like this?”

            “Because at this point he has too much power for you to face him head-on,” Narcissa said reasonably, “You need to dis-credit him and take away his supporters first. Of course, he has already offended many pure blood families over the years, and even the families that used to support him have begun to re-think their position after his actions regarding your betrothal.”

            “I still think we should give an interview to one of the papers about what happened over the summer,” Draco said, “If everyone knew that Dumbledore had cursed you then he would lose a lot more support.”

            “We can’t give an interview about that because he managed to convince everyone he was possessed, remember?” Harry reminded his fiancé, “If we tell the press he can press charges against us for…slander, I think Hermione called it.”

            “You could request a new investigation,” Severus suggested, “I would advise you to contact Gringotts if you decide you want Dumbledore to be investigated further. Now, back to the subject at hand-Sirius cannot accompany us because his presence would make Dumbledore anxious to move his plans forwards so that the mutt doesn’t interfere. Besides, I thought you were going to work with the twins?” He quirked an eyebrow at Sirius and the dog animagus pouted.

            “I am going to work with the twins, but I still want to go to Hogwarts,” he said, “Oooh! I know; I can use one of the secret tunnels to sneak in!”

            “Yeah!” Harry agreed, looking excited, “You can sneak in through Honeydukes!”

            “No, he can’t,” Severus interrupted, “The headmaster knows of the secret tunnels; besides Mutt, you need to be able to come and go without notice-remember the horcruxes?”

            “Of course I remember,” Sirius scowled, “I just want to be able to spend time with Harry.”

            “Well, you will see him over Christmas,” Narcissa pointed out, “Everyone is invited to come back here for the holiday. I’m sure you will be able to see him during the weekends as well. Now, has anyone seen Luna? She disappeared after dinner.”

            “She went to bed,” Harry replied, “She said that she stumbled into a hive of snuffleflies while she was talking to the blibbering humdingers earlier, and they made her extremely tired. Also, I think she wanted to write a note to Neville; I think she likes him.”

            “Too bad,” Draco commented, “Blaise told me that he thinks Luna is cute.”

            “And Ginny thinks Blaise is cute,” Harry laughed, “This should be interesting to watch. I’ll bet Luna and Neville get together by Christmas, and Ginny will probably have Blaise’s attention by the time we have our first Hogsmeade weekend.”

            “Merlin save me from listening to teenage gossip,” Severus rolled his eyes as he stood, “I believe I shall retire to my rooms for the night Narcissa; I shall see you at breakfast. Mutt, Wolf-you can join me for a nightcap if you like.”

            “I think I’ll just go to bed,” Remus declined, “I’m feeling a little tired from all the excitement this weekend.”

“I’ll join you, but only if you have something good to drink,” Sirius grinned, “I’ll see you in the morning Harry-pup; don’t let blondie get you preggers!” He grabbed Severus by the arm ran from the room, laughing loudly as Harry fired a hex at him, which missed.

“Let me go Mutt!” Severus commanded, trying to pull away as Sirius dragged him down the hallway, “I rescind my offer; you are no longer welcome to join me for a drink!”

“Aw, but Sevvy!” Sirius pouted, “I was looking forward to getting a chance to talk to you without all the others there to instigate arguments between us.”

“What do you mean ‘without the others to instigate’?” Severus demanded as they came to a stop outside his room, “You are the one who always causes problems Mutt, so why don’t you just go to your room and-hey! I said your room!” Severus protested as Sirius sauntered into the potions masters bedroom; “Get out of my room Black.”

“I just want the drink you promised,” Sirius said innocently, “Now, where do you keep the Firewhiskey?” He walked over to Severus’ liquor cabinet and began rummaging around, ignoring the other man’s glare. “Aha!” Sirius held up a bottle triumphantly, “Now to find some glasses…or we can just drink out of the bottle.”

“Give me that,” Severus scowled, snatching the bottle out of Sirius’ hand and pushing the other man towards the small table under the window, “Sit down and I will get us some glasses.”

“Thanks Sevvy!” Sirius grinned, “Ouch! Why do you keep hexing me?”

“Stop calling me Sevvy,” Severus said calmly as he poured two tall glasses of Firewhiskey, “No one gets to call me Sevvy-not even Draco, and he is my godson. Now, drink this and get out of my room.” He sat down across from Sirius and slid one of the glasses over to him.

“But I thought we were friends,” Sirius pouted, picking up his glass and taking a drink, “It’s a term of endearment-just like when you call me ‘Mutt’; by the way-you keep telling me to get out, but I don’t know where my room is.”

“Your room is right next to Remus’,” Severus replied as Sirius downed his drink, “And ‘Mutt’ is not a term of endearment-it is a term of annoyance. Hey; what are you doing?” He glared at the former Gryffindor who had picked up the bottle of Firewhiskey.

“I’m pouring another drink,” Sirius replied, “I need something to quench my thirst while we talk; Harry seems to think we should get to know each other better.”

“I never would have claimed him as family if I’d known how meddlesome he could be,” Severus scowled as he finished his own drink and poured another, “Fine, I guess we can talk-since you aren’t giving me a choice. You were exhausted last night-how were you feeling today?”

“Fine,” Sirius shrugged, “Except for when you guys were forcing me to do research-that gave me a massive headache.”

“That is because you have no patience for anything other than pranks,” Severus responded, “Actually, I did want to ask you about your time in the veil, since you are the only person known to have been brought back alive.”

“Okay,” Sirius replied slowly, “What do you want to know? It was cold and grey in the veil, and very misty-everything looked the same.”

“Were you aware of the passage of time while you were in there?”

“No,” Sirius shook his head, “Time didn’t seem to exist, but at the same time I felt like I was in there for an eternity.”

“I see,” Severus nodded, “And did you encounter anyone else in there, or receive any communications from other spirits?”

“I saw shadowy figures from time to time,” Sirius replied frowning, “but I never really got a good look at them. I also saw…I guess they were hallucinations. I saw James and Lily, and they accused me of failing Harry by letting Dumbledore take him to Lily’s sister, but they vanished fairly quickly. I saw Harry a lot; sometimes he would be angry and yelling at me, and other times he would be laughing, telling me to follow him and that it was time to go home. Every time I saw one of those apparitions it broke me a little more.” He paused for a moment to drink some of his Firewhiskey and then continues; “The last image I saw was the worst; Harry came to me pale and bleeding, accusing me of abandoning him and causing his death, then he started laughing insanely and began taunting me about always failing the ones I love…I finally couldn’t stand it anymore and I ran away from the vision…” His voice trailed off and he looked down at the table to hide his red eyes.

“So the veil induces hallucinations to weaken the spirits of those trapped within it,” Severus mused, “Hmm…perhaps you should lay off the liquor and take a calming draught instead.”

“No,” Sirius shook his head, “I’d rather drink this; can we talk about something else though?”

“Very well,” Severus agreed, pouring Sirius another drink, “What should we talk about?”

“Well, what’s been going on since I was gone?”

“Not much,” Severus replied, “Most of what happened involves Harry and Draco, and you already know about all of that. Fudge has been replaced by Rufus Scrimgeour as minister; he seems to be doing a decent job so far. When Dumbledore tried to prevent the boys from sharing a room he intervened and helped Harry and Draco to press charges against the headmaster; his only punishment was to pay a fine, but it is still more than Fudge ever did.”

“Good,” Sirius said approvingly, “It’s about time someone in the ministry has the balls to go against Dumbles. Harry mentioned two of the Weasley boys are teaching Defense; how is that going?”

“It appears to be going well; I have heard no complaints from any of my students,” Severus told him, “Bill is teaching them about curses and how to find their counter, while Charlie has introduced them to some of the more dangerous creatures that Hagrid is not allowed to bring in; he has plans to bring in a South American fire demon if he can get it approved by the ministry.”

“Now that sounds fun,” Sirius grinned, “Why didn’t we ever have cool teachers like that? Is he going to make the students face off against the demon?”

“That is the plan,” Severus nodded, “He will be pairing the students up and making them do research to come up with a plan containing both offensive and defensive options; the four pairs with the best plans will each face one of the demons and he will be awarding points-the pair with the most points will get some sort of reward. What do you think you are doing?” He narrowed his eyes at Sirius, who had stood up and begun walking towards the bed.

“Going to bed,” Sirius replied, flopping down, “Merlin, I am so tired!”

“Go sleep in your own bed Mutt!” Severus ordered, standing up and pointing his wand at the other man, “I swear to Merlin I will hex you if you don’t get out of my bed!”

“But your bed is so comfy!” Sirius protested, “And I’m tired; I don’t want to go searching for my room. What if I have nightmares? After talking about what I saw in the veil I probably will, and you were the one asking me about what happened, so it would be your fault and-”

“Fine!” Severus interrupted, rubbing his temples as he felt a headache coming on, “Stop your babbling idiot; you can stay-just make sure you stay on your side this time! Are you really so lazy that you can’t even change into pajamas?” With a wave of his wand he transfigured Sirius’ robes into pajamas and then went into the bathroom to change his own clothes before climbing into bed. “I mean it Mutt; if I wake up to find you on my side again I will turn you into a slug.”

“You’re so mean,” Sirius pouted, “I wouldn’t want to sleep near you anyway, you slimy snake, so there!”

“Good night Mutt,” Severus said firmly, turning on his side so that he was facing away from Sirius.

“Night Sevvy,” Sirius replied happily as he snuggled down into the covers.

“You will pay for that tomorrow,” Severus growled, “Insolent Mutt.”

AN: Okay, so this is still a filler chapter; I know what I want to happen next, but the transition is giving me some trouble. I promise the next chapter will have some actual plot in it, if you guys can be patient with me. Thanks once again to everyone who reviewed; I will try to update as soon as I can.
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Harry Potter and the Goblin King