Adult-FanFiction.org : Harry Potter

Survival of the fittest	By : Sasunarufan13 Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Harry/Draco Views: 18501 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 9
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter nor profit from it. Everything belongs to J.K. Rowling

Chapter List
- 24
- 25
- 26
Author's note: I know, this is a week later than the previous ones, but at least you didn't have to wait for a month or longer? *coughs* The reason why it's so late is because I'm getting swamped with university work, even worse than the previous month. In fact, I had to finish this chapter today.
You probably aren't interested in hearing my excuses, right? Anyway, here is the next chapter.
Thanks to the following reviewer: staar
Warnings: discovery of the baby's gender (though if you have read the poll on my profile, it isn't exactly a surprise anymore); violence; blood and wounds; a bit of drama and the discovery of Hufflepuff's portrait
Additional note: the Valentine's day fic between Severus and Lucius is on its way to be finished, so keep an eye out for that one as well if you're interested in it.
I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Chapter 25: Under the surface
18th of February
"What do you want, Granger?" Draco asked brusquely and his hand twitched as if he wanted to grab his wand.
Harry put a hand on his wrist and gave it a soft squeeze, throwing him a warning look.
Hermione audibly swallowed, but she kept her eyes locked on them. "I just want to talk to Harry for a few minutes."
"Why?" Harry asked warily.
She hesitated for a moment, until Draco made an impatient sound and she shook her head. "To apologise. I know you don't want to talk to me, but would you be willing to listen to me? After this I won't bother you again, I promise," she replied softly, stepping aside to let a few students pass.
Harry hesitated; should he comply or not? Hermione seemed sincere in her offer to apologize, but why now? She had already apologized last year. Granted, it had been hurried and almost inaudible, but she had said she was sorry.
So why now again?
"Why should we trust you?" Draco demanded; his grey eyes narrowed in distrust.
Hermione flinched, but nodded as if she had anticipated this question. Without any warning, she threw her wand at Draco and his hand automatically reached out to pluck it out of the air.
Both Harry and Draco stared at the wand dumbfounded.
"There. I can't do anything without my wand," Hermione said quietly and her lower lip trembled faintly. "You can even check me for potions."
Harry recognized the conflicted look in Draco's eyes; it was the same feeling he was currently experiencing. Handing over your wand to someone else was the ultimate sign of vulnerability. Without a wand, most wizards and witches were fairly defenceless. When another person had a hold of the wand, that person was essentially controlling the faith of the original owner.
Draco could easily decide to break the wand and Hermione wouldn't be able to do anything to stop him. Hermione had to be aware of this fact and yet she still had offered her wand without any fuss. Even more, she had taken a huge risk by giving it to Draco. Despite not being friends anymore, Harry would have never even contemplated the thought of breaking her wand; Draco, on the other hand, had a bad history with her and would have no reason to not harm the wand.
It was this fact – the risk she had chosen to take – that made Harry decide to hear her out.
"Okay, let's talk in the room at the end of the hallway," he proposed and her brown eyes widened in surprise. "That should be empty now and we won't be disturbed."
"Thank you for giving me this chance," Hermione said sincerely and he nodded uncomfortably.
"Are you certain about this?" Draco whispered while they followed Hermione.
Harry shrugged. "I don't think she'll try anything. Besides, we have her wand, so we have the upper hand if she does try something," he added.
"She doesn't smell threatening," Ruby murmured and his flank brushed against Harry's hip.
Draco frowned, but didn't offer any objections.
Harry closed the door once they were all inside and leant against a desk on the first row, Draco joining him. Hermione chose to stand against the blackboard, her arms crossed in front of her stomach. Her eyes flickered warily when Ruby turned visible again, but otherwise she gave no indication that Ruby's presence bothered her.
"Start talking," Draco ordered brusquely. Apparently him complying to listen to Hermione did not mean he was fine with any possibility of the conversation being prolonged.
Hermione's cheeks flushed a bit, but she held her head up and without any stammer, she said, "I want to apologize for my behaviour of last year. I should have trusted you and I had no right to force you to choose me over Malfoy. I didn't act like a friend and for that I'm sorry." She took a deep breath and casted her eyes downwards while her hands started to fiddle with the edges of her sleeves.
"I understand that you would rather not have anything to do with me, but I miss you," she continued softly.
"Hermione … You and I both made mistakes," Harry murmured and felt Draco's hand coming to rest on his lower back. "I honestly don't know if we could be friends again. I'm sorry, but I can't promise that we can go back to being friends. A lot has happened and I just don't know …" he trailed off, biting his lip. He had no desire to hurt Hermione, but it would be awful of him to promise her his friendship when he wasn't sure he would ever regard her like that again. That thought hurt, but it was the painful truth.
She gave him a watery smile and blinked rapidly, leaving Harry to wonder guiltily whether he was making her cry. "I know, I understand." She hesitated and plunged on, "Would it be possible to just talk with each other occasionally? I just … I miss talking with you."
He studied her, saw the sincerity lurking on her face and then nodded, deciding that an occasional talk wouldn't do any harm. "I'd like that."
Her next smile was bright and grateful and she hurriedly wiped the sleeves of her robe over her face – Harry felt Draco shuddering in disgust – and she stammered, "Th-thank you, Harry!"
"Can we expect Weasley to approach Harry as well?" Draco asked coolly.
To Harry's confusion, Hermione's face hardened and she looked away. "I don't think he would want to talk to Harry," she replied in a strangled voice.
"What happened?" Harry asked bewildered. Not that he had a desire to talk with Ron after the things he had done and said, but Hermione's reply left him curious.
"Ron has been acting quite distant since last summer. I broke up with him last week," she answered flatly. "I have no clue what he's thinking or planning to do." She bit her lip. "Just be careful, Harry. He still thinks Percy's death is your fault."
Harry nodded and held back the exhausted sigh that wanted to escape.
"Can I have my wand back?" Hermione asked and Draco threw it at her wordlessly. She inclined her head to Harry and made her way to the door. "I'll talk to you later, Harry." She sounded painfully uncertain and shy; it was clear she expected to be rebuffed.
Harry nodded silently his acquiescence and she left after a brief, faint smile.
"Well, this was interesting," Draco remarked dryly.
Harry didn't answer, but stared thoughtfully at the blackboard. Had Hermione's warning about Ron been general or did she have reason to think Ron was planning something?
Arms slipped around his waist, hands clasped together over his hidden stomach and lips pressed softly against his neck. "Do you think it was wise to forgive her?" Draco asked softly.
Harry sighed and gave a one shouldered shrug. "Hermione has been less nasty to me than Ron and like I said, we both made mistakes. It's not like she's the bad guy here. Talking to her won't do much harm."
"Are you planning on becoming friends again?" Draco's voice was neutral, not hostile and that made Harry think carefully about his answer.
"I'm not certain," he answered slowly; his gaze fixed on the door. "I don't think we'll ever be close friends again. At least not like we were a few years ago." He turned around to face Draco. "But the less people I have against me, the better. Hermione and I might never be close friends again, but at least we can be civil towards each other."
"I suppose so," Draco mumbled and closed his eyes for a few seconds. He abruptly changed the subject. "Do you think Lupin would have time to give you a check-up? You're due for one."
Harry blinked surprised and then smiled faintly. "Sure; I don't think he'll mind if we visit him now."
"Let's go then. Mother has been asking for pictures."
Chuckling fondly, Harry followed Draco out of the room; Ruby trailing behind them.

Remus invited them inside and assured the two boys that he had time to do a check-up.
"If you hadn't decided to come now, I would have suggested a check-up at the end of this week," Remus explained and gestured Harry to lay down on the couch. "It's best to have a check-up every month now, so in a couple of weeks, you'll need to be examined again."
Draco sunk down at the other end of the couch, making certain to stay out of Remus' way. One of his hands came to rest on Harry's thigh; the warmth of it seeping through the dark trousers.
"Where's Sirius?" Harry asked curiously, when he didn't hear his godfather anywhere in the room.
"He had to oversee a detention. Two students got into a row with each other and nearly destroyed an entire classroom with their spells," Remus answered and shook his head. "I'm not certain whether Sirius is a good choice for this kind of task, but I guess McGonagall wants to pay him back for all the times he and your father landed in detention."
Harry chuckled. "She still hasn't forgiven him?"
"Oh, I'm certain she forgave him the minute his detentions were finished," the older man smiled. "It's merely principle that makes her pick out Sirius for these kind of situations." His eyes studied the floating parchment in front of him.
"All right, it seems like your vitals and that of the baby are both as they should be," he announced satisfied and dissolved the parchment by waving his hand through it.
"That's good to hear," Harry said relieved. Not that he had thought anything was wrong with either him or the baby, but hearing confirmation was always a good thing.
Remus threw them a speculating look. "Do you want to know the gender of the baby?" he asked suddenly with a smile.
Draco blinked. "You can already see that?" he asked curiously.
The older man shrugged. "I can try. It will depend on how the baby is positioned, but since you're almost six months far, we should be able to see whether you're expecting a girl or a boy."
"What do you think, Harry?" Draco inquired, turning his attention to Harry.
Harry pondered about the question, looking down at his stomach. On the one hand, it would make for a nice surprise if they didn't know the gender of the baby before the birth, but on the other hand, it would make things like deciding on a name easier if they knew whether he was expecting a boy or a girl.
"If you don't mind, I'd like to hear the gender," he answered and was met with an excited smile and a hand which gripped his own.
"I don't mind either," Draco told him and they turned their questioning glances to Remus, who chuckled and nodded.
"All right, I'll try and see whether I can see it already."
"How are you going to do that?" Harry asked curiously. Would this particular spell work the same as the ones Remus used to check his vitals?
"The spell is going to create a screen, which will show the baby," Remus explained and pointed his wand at Harry's stomach. "If the baby is in a good position, I'll be able to see which gender it is."
A screen unfolded itself above Harry's stomach and one murmured spell later, a thin, rose coloured thread connected the screen with Harry's stomach. Harry's fingers twitched a bit in response when he felt the magic reaching out towards his own, seeking a connection with it. As soon as the connection was made, the thread vibrated and released a soft, tingling sound, resembling a bell dangling in the wind.
Grey smoke in the screen slowly cleared up until a small, light grey mass filled up the middle of the screen, leaving the rest of the screen black.
Unlike last time – when the baby resembled nothing more than a tiny spot – it was now clear that Harry was expecting a baby: the baby was curled up, its tiny arms curled up against its small chest while its legs were slowly moving back and forth. While not full grown yet, nobody could mistake the small baby for a blob or a white spot anymore.
Harry brought his hand up to his mouth to hide his smile when his baby shifted slightly, seemingly raising its hand to suck on its thumb. He hadn't known the baby was already capable of sucking its thumb.
"And, can you see what it is?" Draco asked and he sounded rather impatient; his grey eyes glued to the screen, seemingly enraptured by their baby fussing around.
Remus bent towards the screen, focusing on the midsection of the baby. "I don't think I'll be able to – wait," he interrupted himself and he looked closer. A small smile appeared on his lips. "If I'm not mistaken – and mind, I could still be wrong – then you're expecting a boy, Harry."
Harry blinked, his hand dropping to the couch from shock. "I'm having a boy?" he repeated dazed.
Draco squeezed his hand and when Harry looked at him, he was caught off guard by the sheer amount of excitement shining in his grey eyes.
"We're having a son, Harry!" Draco exclaimed happily.
Harry laughed. "I'm willing to bet your mum will go crazy when we tell her."
"I wouldn't be surprised," the blond smirked and then turned to Remus again, addressing him, "Can you take pictures of the baby again?"
"Of course."
Two minutes later, they were handed five identical photos; Harry's attention was firmly fixated on the picture, watching fascinated how his son was fussily kicking his legs, one of his small hands patting his cheek.
When the thread between his stomach and the screen was broken, he felt a soft kick near his left side, as if the baby wanted to show his displeasure at having his flow of magic disturbed.
"Thanks for doing the check-up," Harry said gratefully once he finally managed to tear his gaze away from the photo.
"It was no problem," Remus reassured him.
They were startled by a sharp smack against the window, making it rattle a bit. Narcissa's owl – a beautiful, grey coloured one with an oval, white spot on her chest – was patiently waiting on the windowsill; her head slightly cocked to the right.
Draco stood up and opened the window; the owl soared through it, landing carefully on the table. She hold out her paw expectantly, showing off the letter tied to it.
"Her letter seems thicker than usual," Harry commented casually.
"How many times does Narcissa send letters?" Remus asked bewildered.
"Usually one every week," Draco replied dryly and relieved the owl from her burden. "She likes to stay updated."
While Remus went to grab some owl treats from his private kitchen, Draco opened the letter; a small, rectangular package fell out from the folds of the paper and landed on the floor.
Eyebrows slightly furrowed, Draco snatched the thin package off of the floor and placed it on his lap; he held out the letter in the middle so that Harry could read it at the same time.
The package was quickly opened once the letter was completely read and the couple was surprised by the pictures. Narcissa had taken pictures – or more likely had a house elf take them – of the finished nursery in the manor Draco and Harry would live in once they finished school. The walls were a mixture of stone and wood. Wooden panels – painted a soft blue – covered the walls from the middle to the floor. A broad, silver coloured line was used as a separation line between the wooden panels and the stone and various magical creatures were painted on the broad line.
The floor was completely covered by a green, soft looking carpet; the corners of the room were hidden behind a large pile of brightly coloured cushions and a few large plush toys like a white teddy bear and a dragon whose mouth was slightly open. Two large windows provided light; dark blue curtains, reaching the floor, could be used to block out the light.
The white crib Harry had received as a Christmas present was already assembled and stood proudly on the right side of the room with a small teddy bear (adorning a red tie) waiting on the pillow, which was trimmed with lace. The crest of the Potter family – bearing both the lion and the Malfoys' dragon – was stitched in the middle of the dark green baby blanket.
The left side of the room contained a play pen, filled with a variety of wizard toys, and a small, pale yellow wardrobe.
"Has your mum ever considered taking up home decoration as a job?" Harry asked awed.
"She'll be pleased to hear you like the result," Draco chuckled amused, but his eyes betrayed his wonder. He gathered the photos together and put them in the folded letter. A smirk sprung up on his face. "Why don't we surprise her with our pictures?"
"Sure," Harry agreed with a grin.
After thanking Remus once again and insisting he kept one picture to show to Sirius, they left to compose the next letter to Narcissa, including a new picture of her grandson.

28th of February
More than a week – and a lot of homework, which made a lot of students wonder whether they would be swallowed up by the huge pile of assignments they had to write – had passed by after Hermione's apology when Harry and Draco received the message that the three Founders had finally managed to locate Hufflepuff's portrait. Snape had delivered the note during breakfast on Friday and it informed them to be in his quarters at a quarter past eight – with a clear message that they had to make certain nobody followed them.
Harry was relieved to read that the Founders had finally found Hufflepuff. After retrieving her portrait, they would finally be finished and they would only need to set up the ritual. No more entering dangerous buildings, filled with hostile magical creatures and curses intend on either killing them or impairing them in other ways. No more sneaking around and hoping none of the students would discover what they were doing. No more returning to his quarters completely exhausted and his magic thrumming violently underneath his skin while he tended to his wounds.
The dark haired wizard didn't want to admit it, but lately it had become slightly more difficult for him to use regular spells. His magic protested nearly every time he had to practice a spell during class and it cost him a lot of energy to keep it under control, as it seemed to want to lash out. There had also been a few times already when his magic refused for a few minutes to do anything, instead lying dormant as if he wasn't trying to cast a spell. Having Draco near him seemed to keep it stabilized somewhat, but the blond couldn't be around him the entire time. They didn't share all classes, so Draco wasn't always there to keep his magic stabilized.
He would have been worried about the way his magic had started behaving, but the books about male pregnancy he had been reading had warned him that this sort of thing was normal once he had entered the fifth month. Apparently, his magic was more prone to act on its own, because it had to share some with the baby growing inside him. Spells becoming too powerful suddenly or his magic refusing to do anything were apparently normal occurrences, but that didn't mean that he liked it.
Hunting for the last portrait with his magic in this state was probably not a smart idea, but Harry refused to stay behind; as long as he stayed near Draco, he should be fine, he reasoned, while he slipped the small note in his pocket – he would destroy it once nobody was around.
Plus he had his pets to help him, so even if his magic decided to protest during their search, he could count on either Ruby or Garin to help him.

The day passed by without any notable incidents – most students seemed to have given up on trying to antagonize either Draco or Harry. Some still threw them a foul look, but the couple had become quite adapt at ignoring those – as long as none of the students reached for their wands, they didn't bother paying attention to them, as it would only add fuel to the fire.
After they had finished dinner, Harry and Draco made their way to the library again, followed by Garin and Mara. Draco had an essay for Healing that needed to be finished before next Wednesday and had decided that it would be easier to work on it now, instead of delaying it for a few days. Harry had received an assignment for Care of Magical Creatures; Hagrid had asked his students to write the differences between the various breeds of the Winged horses.
By the time the clock announced it was eight o'clock, Harry had managed to finish his assignment – luckily for him Hagrid wasn't fond of long assignments – and Draco was nearly done with his own essay.
Under the watchful eye of Madam Pinch, they returned the books to the appropriate bookshelves and gathered the rest of their stuff.
They had just left the library when Harry was struck by an unpleasant side effect of being pregnant: the baby was using his bladder as a punching ball again.
He grimaced. "Eugh, I need to go to the bathroom," he muttered. "You can go on. Tell Snape and the others I'll be there soon."
Draco hesitated. "Are you sure? I can go with you and wait in the hallway," he offered.
Harry shook his head and turned around, feeling Garin climbing around his legs until his body was curled around his hips and chest and his head was resting on Harry's shoulder. "No need; I'll be quick," he reassured the other one and then walked further down the hallway, hearing Draco descending the staircase. Harry would have gone to his own bathroom, but he didn't think he could hold it that long. There was a hidden staircase at the end of this hallway which would lead him directly to the fifth floor where the boys' lavatory was located.
He made Garin wait outside the lavatory with a strict reminder not to bite anyone – his snake took protecting him a notch too far at times and he had no desire to explain to the nurse why a student was suffering from a snake bite.
After he was done relieving himself, he quickly washed his hands and made certain that his belt was still in place. This late in the evening, he doubted he would encounter anyone, but it was better to be safe than sorry.
As soon as he left the lavatory, Garin hissed and wrapped himself around his waist again.
"Someone is coming," Garin hissed softly in his ear and sounded agitated. "It's the one who smells badly."
"Smells badly?" Harry repeated confused, but before he could take a step, footsteps halted behind him abruptly.
"I thought it reeked here of evil. I guess I was right," Ron sneered; his eyes narrowed.
Harry wanted to curse – how bad was his luck that he would stumble across Ron now?
"Weasley," Harry said coolly, keeping his eyes trained on Ron's wand, which was clenched in his hand. He wondered how he would be able to leave this situation without making it escalate. He very much doubted that the other one would let him escape.
"So now I've become 'Weasley', huh?" Ron's face gained an ugly flush.
"I didn't think we were still on first name basis," Harry quipped and slowly edged backwards; Garin's body coiled tighter around him.
"Where do you think you're going?" Ron spat and raised his wand.
"I'm leaving. I have better things to do than to stand here and listen to you," Harry replied annoyed.
Ron's curse bounced off of the shield Harry had managed to call up on time. His mind flashed back to the similar fight he had had with Ron last year and he gnashed his teeth together. Were they really going to repeat that scene?
"Weasley, would you stop being an idiot for once?" Harry snapped and the next curse – which made tentacles sprout from whatever surface the curse hit – made him stumble backwards against the wall.
Harry replied with a curse which would glue Ron's legs together, but Ron deflected it and threw another curse at Harry. He didn't recognize the brown spirals of the curse and he quickly evaded it. The wall took the hit and the stones melted with a loud, obnoxious guttural sound.
"Are you insane?" Harry exclaimed shocked.
Ron had a fierce, determined look on his face and the next curse he casted tore through Harry's shield as if it was wet paper, making the wizard stagger. His son was moving around frantically and Harry tried to hide his wincing when his insides felt like they were being battered by a Beater's bat.
Harry decided to use Expelliarmus while he dodged another curse, but his magic suddenly refused to cooperate.
"Fuck," he breathed out and the first tendrils of panic began to embrace him. Without his magic, he couldn't keep up his shield and he couldn't defend himself. Why, of all times, why did his magic have to act up now?
Ron smirked when Harry didn't retaliate. "Cru-"
He didn't get the chance to finish – Garin shot forwards like a flash of lightning and before Ron could block him, Garin's large fangs buried themselves deeply in his neck.
Harry watched speechlessly how Ron first froze, his eyes large with incredulity, until Garin dislodged himself violently, ripping away more skin in the process. Blood started gushing out of the gaping holes and Ron started screaming, his hands trying to cover his neck while he sunk down on his knees.
One of the portraits – a surly, old man with his face hidden by a large hood – clucked his tongue. "The Headmistress won't be happy."
"Harry! Are you okay?"
Suddenly Draco was next to him, hands gripping his arms tightly while silver grey eyes flashed up in panicked worry.
"What on earth happened here?" Remus appeared next and he breathed in sharply when he caught sight of Ron, whose wailing had died down to a soft whimpering; his strength leaving him the more his blood kept pouring out of the wounds.
Without wasting another second, Remus used a spell which covered the large holes in Ron's neck and used a stretcher to move his body around.
"Come on, Harry; we'll go to the Infirmary," Remus spoke grimly.
"Why 'we'? No need to help him," Garin hissed idly and wrapped himself around Harry's still frozen body. "Let him die, I'd say. He deserves no less for daring to attack you."
"Harry," Draco repeated anxiously when he didn't receive any response.
"Draco, pick him up. He's probably in shock," Remus instructed him.
"No need to go the Infirmary with the young lad," the man in the portrait spoke up calmly. "Just bring him to his quarters and give him a Calming Draught. The other lad does need the nurse's aide, though. The bite of an enraged Akeyra is not a nice experience. Although he did have it coming. That boy seems to have inherited the idiocy in his family." The man sighed exasperatedly. "I'll explain this to the Headmistress."
Harry felt himself being coaxed to the staircase and he shook his head, escaping from the daze he had fallen in after seeing Ron screaming in pain.
Remus hurried upstairs to the Infirmary with an unconscious Ron floating next to him, while Harry and Draco walked downstairs.
"What happened?" Draco whispered and his arm tightened around Harry's shoulders.
The dark haired wizard shook his head. "Ron attacked me again," he answered flatly.
"Why did Garin attack him?" Draco asked and added darkly, "Not that I mind that he did that."
Harry hesitated and debated whether he should confess the real reason why Garin took it upon him to defend him. Draco was already quite protective over him – how bad would he become if he told him what had happened?
"Master needs to tell the truth," Garin murmured and he raised his head; he had been pressed against Harry's stomach, hissing soothingly against it. "Master's mate needs to defend Master."
Bracing himself, Harry answered sourly, "Lately, my magic has been acting up sometimes and this time it refused to let me cast a spell. That's why Garin defended me."
Even without looking at Draco, he could feel his gaze burning in his head.
"Why the hell didn't you tell me that your magic has started acting up?" Draco was doing a remarkable impression of an enraged snake. He stopped on the first floor and grabbed Harry's shoulders so he could turn him around to face him. "You know you need to rely on my magic, Harry!"
"Do you think I like relying on your magic, like some helpless idiot?" Harry snapped angrily and shoved Draco's hands away. "I'm not weak! I shouldn't …"
"I know you're not weak, Harry!" Draco spoke louder and Harry closed his mouth, startled. "Relying on me during the next few months doesn't make you weak or helpless or an idiot," he continued in a softer voice. "It's just for a couple of months and then your magic will stop going haywire."
Harry sighed and nodded. He still didn't like relying on Draco like this, as if he was some kind of leech, but he didn't have much choice.
"You're still feeling up for the meeting in Sev's quarters?" Draco asked; his hands relaxed their grip and instead rubbed soothingly over Harry's arms.
"Yeah, I want to know what the Founders discovered," Harry replied and then gazed down worriedly at Garin, whose head was resting on top of his belly. "How much trouble do you think we will be in, because Garin attacked Ron? Do you think they'll lock him up?"
"They can try," Garin replied lazily and the thin end of his tail curled around Harry's wrist.
Draco looked contemplatively. "I doubt it. Even if Weasel tries to take you to court, he won't win. Not only did he attack you first, Garin is your Bonded Animal and bonds like those are taken very seriously. They'll automatically assume it was self-defence."
Harry spotted a flaw in that argument – what if someone ordered their familiar to attack first? – but didn't bother countering it. As long as Garin wouldn't be taken away or punished, it didn't matter that the rules regarding Bonded Animals were faulty.
"We can ask Sev for a Calming Draught for you," Draco mentioned offhandedly while they continued their way to the dungeons.
Harry rolled his eyes. "No need for that. I'm not going into shock," he protested.
Draco sent him a wary glance. "Are you sure? You didn't look so well when I found you."
"Sorry for not looking chipper after being attacked and witness Garin practically tearing out someone's throat," Harry retorted sarcastically.
"Are you mad? I only did it to protect you and the hatchling, Master," Garin explained worriedly.
"I'm not … mad," Harry answered slowly in Parseltongue. "I was just surprised."
"Took you long enough." Mara appeared in the entrance of the dungeons, regarding them annoyed. "You should have called me. Or Ruby. We could have finished the job," she added and bared her teeth. Obviously she had been informed by Garin what had happened through whatever communication channel the animals used.
Harry supressed a shudder and walked past her. "There is no need for that," he replied brusquely.
"What a shame," she nearly purred and trotted behind them.
Harry thought he could hear Draco mumbling something along the lines of "Why did I get freaky animals like that?" and smiled faintly. Compared to Ruby, Mara did seem a bit more bloodthirsty.
When Snape opened the door after Draco had knocked once, Harry saw Sirius pacing back and forth in front of the fireplace, muttering something underneath his breath while Lucius was regarding him bemused.
"Harry!" Sirius' head shot towards him once he had taken a few steps inside the room and the man rushed over to hug him. "Are you all right? What the hell happened? Where's Remus?"
"He's bringing Weasley to the nurse," Draco replied coolly and his eyes were stormy.
"To the nurse?" Snape repeated sharply and turned around to face them. "What on earth did you do?"
Harry grimaced. "He attacked me and Garin defended me. He bit him in his neck and he was bleeding pretty badly. So Remus took him to the Infirmary to heal him," he explained and let Sirius steer him to the couch while Draco followed closely behind.
"The Headmistress is not going to be happy," Lucius murmured and sighed.
"One of the portraits who saw the fight, said he would tell McGonagall what happened," Harry mentioned.
"Who was it?" Slytherin asked suddenly, looking intrigued. "The one who said he would inform the Headmistress."
"Oh, eh, I don't know. His face was hidden by a hood, but his hands were rather wrinkly, so I don't think he's very young," Harry answered confused.
"Long, grey robes?" Slytherin inquired further and a strange glint danced in his eyes.
"Yes; the background was that of a lake," Draco answered.
Slytherin smiled satisfied. "Don't worry about it – he'll make sure you won't carry the blame."
"You sound so certain about it." Lucius raised an eyebrow.
"Because I know that man," the Founder chuckled mirthfully. "Let's keep it at that he had a feud with an ancestor of this Weasley boy and he will revel in every chance he gets to take his revenge – no matter how small that revenge can be."
"Was he by any chance a Slytherin?" Sirius asked dryly.
"Why yes, he was."
"Figures."
"Says the man who spent twelve years thinking about getting his revenge on a rat," Snape deadpanned.
"You would want to take revenge too if a son of a bitch had taken your best friends from you," Sirius snapped heatedly.
Before the conversation could turn into a rude argument or even worse a fight, Remus entered the quarters. He blinked when he noticed how tense both Sirius and Snape looked.
"Did something happen?"
"Nothing special," Lucius replied dryly. "What did the Headmistress say when she heard about the fight?"
"Well, somehow that portrait managed to convince her that it was entirely Mister Weasley's fault and that he baited Garin. When I left, she was actually contemplating which punishment she would give him when he wakes up," Remus answered and sunk down next to Sirius. "She decided that she didn't need to hear Harry's version of the story, as the portrait provided a neutral view." He snorted and shook his head.
"So I'm not in trouble?" Harry asked uncertainly; one of his hands coming up to caress Garin's smooth head.
"No, not as far as I know." Remus shook his head. "That portrait told her that Mister Weasley attacked you, didn't give you the chance to defend yourself properly and taunted Garin, so that he eventually attacked."
That wasn't exactly how it had happened, but Harry was too tired to argue about it, so he kept silent. He felt Draco's arm coming around his waist and a discreet squeeze was giving to his hip.
"All right," Snape said abruptly. "Now that we are all gathered here, let's hear what the Founders have to say."
"As we have told you, we have finally managed to locate Helga's portrait," Gryffindor started gruffly and his fingers rapped impatiently against the wooden arm of his chair.
"How did you do that?" Harry asked curiously.
"We combined our magic to perform a ritual," Ravenclaw took over and smiled thinly. "This particular ritual allows us to trace the aura of wizards and witches we are familiar with and it will give us the exact location. Unfortunately we had to wait until it was new moon as the ritual required that."
"A few days ago it was finally new moon and we performed the ritual," Slytherin continued, looking thoughtfully. "It took a bit longer as we no longer have our corporal bodies, but we finally managed to locate her."
"So you have the exact location?" Sirius verified, leaning forwards a bit.
"Yes."
"And this location is …?" Lucius asked with a slight frown.
Gryffindor grimaced. "The old man hid her portrait in a graveyard."
"A graveyard," Draco repeated blankly.
Harry tensed up before he could control himself – he didn't have exactly nice experiences with graveyards. Why the hell was Hufflepuff hidden in a graveyard?
Slytherin nodded and then threw a peculiar glance at Sirius. "Yes, more specifically: the graveyard of the Black family."

AN2: This seems like some sort of déjà vu - or maybe it's just me *shrugs* Anyway, what do you think of it? I know, I know, nothing really excited happened, but well, action can't always be present, right?
Please let me know what you thought about it!
Next time: Now that they finally have Hufflepuff's location, another problem pops up: Sirius never was told of the exact location and only blood relatives can take other people directly to the graveyard. A solution is found and they once again venture out to search for the portrait - though not everybody is happy about that.

Potter Manor was bad; Dumbledore's house was worse, but a graveyard can't possibly be worse than Dumbledore's house, right? You know what they say about assuming ...
See you all in the next chapter!
Cuddles
Melissa
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Survival of the fittest