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Family Means More Than Blood	By : WingsofaDream Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Harry/Draco Views: 59825 -:- Recommendations : 3 -:- Currently Reading : 7
Disclaimer: Harry Potter and its associated characters are property of J K Rowling, not me. This story is not being written for profit, just for the lols.

Chapter List
- 44
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- 46
2nd September 1994: Morning

Harry's heart was racing a mile a minute as he walked down a corridor on his way to breakfast, Fred and George walking on his right and Hermione on his left. This was it, the first time that Draco would be joining them at the Gryffindor table for a meal and Harry was dreading the fuss which was no doubt going to rise from it. The fuss was the reason Harry had refused Draco's offer to sit at the Gryffindor table for the Sorting Feast; it would not have been fair on the new First Years to have the whole process ruined by an uproar from the Gryffindors and probably the Slytherins too.

When the group of Gryffindors entered the Great Hall, Harry noticed that Draco had not arrived yet and he was unsure if that was something to be pleased about or not. Wordlessly, the four of them sat down, Fred and George on one side of the table and Harry and Hermione on the other side, opposite them. The twins immediately began to fill their plates with food but Harry and Hermione did not; Harry having no appetite and Hermione too busy being concerned for Harry.

"Aren't you going to eat anything?"

"I'm not hungry."

"That'll be the nerves." Fred noted, continuing to pile his plate high.

"It won't be that bad, mate." George reassured Harry. "I bet people won't even notice that much." That earned the Weasley raised eyebrows from the three others. "Okay, fine, you two try thinking of something to reassure him then if you both know exactly what to say." He grumbled, slouching on his seat and poking at his breakfast with his fork.

Harry sighed lightly and looked over to the Head Table where there were three people watching him: Professor Dumbledore; Severus; and the new DADA professor Alistor "Mad-Eye" Moody. The Headmaster had the usual sparkly glint in his eyes, Severus was looking his usual sour self and Professor Moody...Well, just looked rather mad and disgruntled. The man gave Harry the chills. There was something about him that was not quite right.

A jab in his side caught Harry's attention and he looked to Hermione who had been the one to do it. Wordlessly, she inclined her head to the entrance of the hall and he followed the sign to see that Draco had entered and was striding confidently towards them. Harry's heart beat increased ten-fold as Hermione shuffled up a seat so that the Slytherin could sit in between them to limit the initial unknown-Gryffindor contact. The dark haired boy tried to calm himself but it was hard. He hated being the centre of attention at the best of times.

"Morning Harry." Draco purred in his ear as he reached them, leaning down so his lips were millimetres away from the shell of it.

"G-good morning, Draco."

Draco grinned lightly at that and lifted his gaze to the twins opposite him. "Weasleys." He greeted politely.

"Call us by our first names." Fred invited with a friendly smile.

"If only 'cause it'd get confusing trying to figure out which one of us you're talking to." George joked lightly.

Harry gave them both a grateful smile just as Draco turned to look at the youngest member of the small party. "Granger." He said just as politely as he had spoken to Fred and George.

"Malfoy." She returned with equal respect.

It was after all of that, that the moment of truth came. Draco stepped over the bench and sat down in between Harry and Hermione. Silence stretched throughout the Great Hall and Harry felt the intense desire to just slide down under the table. Too many pairs of eyes were on him to count and the silence seemed to ring it was so quiet. However, while he was obviously uncomfortable, his other four friends were carrying on as if there was no problem at all: Hermione was sprinkling sugar over her cornflakes; Fred and George were tucking into the food on their plates; and Draco was busy filling not his own plate but Harry's.

"There," Draco said to him gently. "That should be enough for you." He smiled to Harry then and brought a hand up to gently smooth the dark hair above his ear causing a bright blush to spread across the normally pale cheeks. That only seemed to please the Veela as his smile widened slightly. However, it faded soon after that and he glared at the rest of the Gryffindor out of the corner of his eyes before turning to face them completely. "Can we help you with something?"

No one replied and no one reacted, all just simply continuing with their staring. It was obviously starting to annoy the Veela as a low growl rumbled in his chest. Harry quickly took hold of the blond's hand under the table in order to appease the irritation. Luckily, it was then that Professor Dumbledore chose to step into the events:

"Please, everyone, return to your meals."

Slowly, the Great Hall filled with noise again but it was hushed, as everyone whispered, no doubt about them. Harry gave a small sigh and bowed his head. When his hand was given a light squeeze, he lifted his head again and saw Draco giving him a comforting smile. "Pay them no mind." He murmured quietly. "They don't matter. Now stop caring what other people think and do and eat some breakfast; you're not going through a whole school day on an empty stomach."

"Yes, dear." Harry replied, unable to stop the grin which fought its way onto his face.

Draco grinned back at him and gave his hand one more squeeze before releasing it and starting on his own breakfast.

Finally relaxing a little bit, Harry picked up his knife and fork and started on the food Draco had piled onto his plate for him. There were still people looking over to them and there were several who were no doubt talking about them but, for that moment, they were all at the back of his mind.

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2nd September 1994: Midday

So far, the day had gone by with very little happening. Classes had been attended and in every single one Harry had sat next to Draco and the ones that they shared with the twins, they had sat behind or in front of them. They had stuck together and although people had been looking at them, no one had said anything to them, not even the Gryffindors. It was rather remarkable that absolutely no one had passed comment really. True, it was a well known fact that Harry and Draco were best friends but someone from one House sitting at the table of another was not exactly a regular occurrence. However, now it was lunch time, Harry had a horrible feeling that the good luck they had enjoyed so far would not last much longer. In fact, it was as Harry and Draco were walking down a corridor side by side, on their way to lunch from just having met up after Harry's Divination class and Draco's Ancient Runes, that the first bit of trouble of the day kicked off.

"Draco Lucius Malfoy, stop right there!"

Harry winced slightly at the high pitched shriek of Bethany Zabini and reluctantly turned with Draco to see the girl was fast approaching them along with the boy Harry knew only as Spari. Neither looked particularly happy and Harry could quite easily predict what this confrontation was going to be based around.

"Do you mind telling me why, exactly, you were sitting at the Gryffindor table for breakfast this morning?" She demanded as she and Spari got ever closer.

"Actually, yes, I do mind, because it really is none of your business. Now if you don't mind..."

"Yes I do mind! This past year you've been drawing away from us, Draco, and I want to know why! For so long we were inseparable and then suddenly you changed it all just to hang around with a twerp like him." She practically spat in Harry's direction. "Why do it? He's a Gryffindor, he can't keep you satisfied, you know you're just going to get bored of him in a couple more months."

"He's my mate."

"No he's not, my father heard, he's only a phantom mate, it's completely different, you don't need him to live."

Draco opened his mouth to reply to that but shut it again when Harry stepped forward and took his arm in a sign to relax. "You don't possess enough information on the subject to argue an effective case so why don't we just save you the time and go? Accept the fact that Draco no longer wishes to associate with either of you and move on with your lives."

A crowd had started to gather around them now and Harry knew that Bethany Zabini being Bethany Zabini would only be encouraged by the attention and would therefore be even more eager to continue this argument. She would see it as a way to get maximum impact with her words from the embarrassment of having them said with an audience listening. It was a cheap trick and one used by people who were too weak minded to come up with decent insults but, on many people, it was affective. Perhaps it would have been affective on Harry if his mind was not preoccupied with making sure Draco remained in control of his anger and did not do something stupid.

"So has Draco caught you up on everything that's been happening in the dungeons? A lot of socialising goes on down there, you know? In fact," Bethany sneered here, "Draco is very sociable when in the Slytherin common room, especially when his eyes turn that hypnotising silver colour; won't take no for an answer when his eyes get like that."

The atmosphere around them was tense after that, a lot of it radiating from Draco. Harry refused to let it get to him though and simple answered coolly: "I'm aware of Draco's past doings."

"And it doesn't bother you?"

"Not at all."

"Bullshit." Spari grunted bringing Harry's attention onto him.

"You know, maybe it's a good thing that you don't talk that much."

"Oh, he talks a lot, only it takes Draco's cock up his arse to encourage him." Bethany smirked.

Harry gave a tired sigh as Draco angrily tensed beside him. "Merlin, you sound like a broken record. Can't you think of anything else to try and get at me with since we've already established that Draco's past "relationships" don't bother me?"

"Hey!" The familiar voice of Violet suddenly yelled at the side, drawing in the attention of everyone around. "Leave my brother alone!" She ordered, glaring over to the older girl hatefully, obviously wanting to join her older brother's side but being held back by a friend of hers.

"Oh yes, that reminds me, you're not actually a Snape are you?" Bethany sneered, her eyes lighting up in a sort of triumph. "No, you're James Potter's bastard."

No sooner had those words left the Slytherin's mouth than Draco had quite literally pounced, an almost animalistic growl escaping him as he did. Bethany screamed as she was tackled onto the ground by the Veela and within seconds, Harry was beside them, trying to pull Draco off of the girl before any of the professors came over to see why the crows had gathered.

"Draco! Leave her! She's not worth the trouble!" He protested as he fought to get a hold of his Veela's arm. When he finally did manage to catch hold of Draco, he pulled at him with all his might.

"Let me go, Harry." Draco ordered, struggling against the force and allowing Bethany time to scramble backwards, out of immediate harm's way.

"No, I will not let you go." Harry insisted before, in one swift move, he threw himself into Draco's arms and held onto him tightly, hoping to restrain him and calm him down at the same time. It seemed to work quite well and the Veela immediately brought his arms around his mate to return the embrace. "Her words can't hurt me, Draco. She's just a selfish girl who dreams of something she can't have." He told the blond in a soothing tone, running his fingers through the soft strands of hair. "She's not important to us, so let her be." Slowly, Harry pulled away from Draco and looked up at the his face; he did look more relaxed now and the silver had receded from his eyes. "Feel better?" He checked. He got a grunt in reply which he took as an affirmative. "Good, then let's get to lunch, I'm actually hungry for once." He said with a smile as he moved his hand to lace his fingers with the blond. Draco held his hand in return when they were comfortable and, side by side, they carried on the way they had originally been going.

"Stop! We're not finished yet!" Bethany protested.

"Actually, I think you'll find we are." Harry corrected her in a falsely sweet tone as he glanced over his shoulder at her.

"Good day, Zabini, Spari." Draco called behind him.

When they were a suitable distance away and it was unlikely they would be over-heard, Harry grinned and gave Draco's hand a tight squeeze. "That was very well done, you handled that surprisingly well considering what time of the month it is."

"It was wholly unsatisfying though." Draco grumped, scowling ahead of himself. "I'd much rather have ripped her whiney little head off."

"Well I'm glad you didn't if only to save my robes from blood splashes."

"Harry, about what she said..." The blond started to say but was cut off when Harry shook his head at him.

"We have already been through this, Draco; the past is the past. You were starting to come into your Inheritance and Veela being naturally...Passionate, creatures, you searched for...That sort of contact without truly understanding why. You were acting on instinct, I can't fault you for that." When he noticed the blond staring at him in surprise, he offered a small grin. "Hermione researched it and told me a lot. The girl's like a walking encyclopedia."

"Speaking of Granger." Draco said as they entered the Great Hall, his eyes immediately falling onto the frizzy haired girl who was talking animatedly to Fred, George, Ron, and Potter.

As they got closer, they were noticed by George who immediately stood up. "No, turn back, save yourselves!" He cried dramatically, effectively notifying the rest of the small group of their arrival.

The moment Hermione laid eyes on Harry, her face lit up and she rose from her seat before hurrying over to the Gryffindor and the Slytherin. "Oh Harry, good, I'm glad you're here." She gushed, going to take his hand but being stopped by Draco who grabbed her wrist with his free hand. She glanced up at the blond slightly startled.

"Had a bit of a run in with Bethany Zabini so he's a bit high-strung." Harry told her quietly, well aware that Draco could still probably hear him but not wanting anyone else to over-hear.

Hermione gave a small nod of understanding and slowly withdrew her hand, Draco letting her go when it became clear she was not going to try and reach for Harry's hand again.

After giving a small sigh, Harry gave the Fourth Year girl an encouraging smile. "So, why are you suddenly so glad to have me around?"

"Oh yes, I wanted to check to make sure you'll, of course, be joining SPEW." She told him, leading him and Draco over to where the group was sitting.

Harry noticed the others shaking their heads and mouthing "no" to him but he ignored them and looked at Hermione questioningly. "What's SPEW?"

That question earned a groan from the other four and a glare from Potter. "Merlin Snape, are you blind?" He demanded irritably earning a dark look from Draco.

"Oh John, hush." Hermione ordered him primly as she sat down again, Harry sitting next to her and Draco sitting down next to him. As they sat, the Gryffindors who were originally sitting opposite where Draco was shifted along so they were several seat away from him. "SPEW stands for the Society for the Promotion of Elvish Welfare. Here, have a badge." She offered enthusiastically.

"It's to save the house-elves." Fred grinned, clearly amused.

"Save them from what?" Harry enquired cluelessly as he accepted the badge and looked it over.

"Slavery of course!" Hermione cried.

"Of course." Draco smirked quietly, earning a small jab from Harry's elbow.

"But the house-elves are born to be servants, that's why they're called house-elves. They enjoy it, or at least I know Dobby does."

"Don't even bother, Harry." Ron muttered earning a glare from the girl he sat next to. "We've just spent the last fifteen minutes arguing that same point back and forth."

"They seem to enjoy it because they don't know any better. They can't miss freedom because they've never had it!" Hermione protested heatedly.

The group of boys were silent for several moments before Draco spoke: "I don't think a house-elf would know what to do with freedom even if you gave it to them."

That only set Hermione off into another rant which the group of boys had to suffer through. However, Harry mostly just tuned her out. Not to be rude and not because he was not interested in her opinions, but because his attention was focused on his younger brother, sitting only two seats away from him.

So far, the boy had not said much though he was obviously part of the conversation and he had only snapped at Harry once. The fact that he had been sitting with Ron and Hermione and Fred and George indicated that he would be well aware that, eventually, Harry was going to joining them. Did that mean that the boy was willing to make an effort to at least be civil? Harry did not want to get his hopes up but that did seem to be the case. He hoped it was at least; it would make things easier on him and Violet. Not to mention that he did not fancy having the drain of constantly walking on eggshells when around the boy who his biological brother.

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4th September 1994: Morning

Harry sat completely silently, his eyes fixed ahead of him and a completely blank look on his face. Just next to him, Draco sat looking much the same.

It was the first DADA lesson of the year for him and the first time properly in the presence of Professor Moody. Still, the dark haired teenager could not shake the feeling of mistrust and unease around the man. Also just being in the DADA classroom, which always made him feel funny, meant he had not entered the class in a very good mood. When the lesson had begun, his foul temper had become all the worse.

They were looking at the Unforgiveables again, only whereas in his Fourth Year they had merely talked about them and heard examples, this time, Professor Moody was showing examples. And Harry did not like it, he did not like it one bit. Not that he was showing it, he would not put it past the ex-Auror to delight in his horror since the man seemed to be somewhat of a heartless sadist. Inside, however, his stomach was churning and he wanted nothing more than to run from the room to Professor Dumbledore and demand the man be fired.

In front of him, some poor, unfortunate creature was being tortured unnecessary, held under the Imperious curse. To drown would be no pleasant way to die yet there the professor was, threatening to have the creature drown itself while talking about how some Death Eaters escaped prison by claiming Voldemort had put them under the same curse. It was all stuff they already knew! That was what made it all the more horrible, the fact that, to a degree, it was unnecessary even on an educational level.

"Now, can anyone tell me the name of the second Unforgiveable curse?" Moody asked, pulling Harry from his thoughts. Someone behind Harry obviously put their hand up because the professor's eyes flickered to the right a little before he said a gruff: "Yes?"

"The Cruciatus." The person, a girl, answered.

Moody made a small noise of agreement as he lifted his wand and pointed it to the still recovering creature. Harry's heart froze as ice began to run through his veins. Surely not...Surely Moody was not going to cast the Cruciatus on a living thing right in front of them! That would be too much! To show them the Imperious curse was one thing, that did not necessarily have to cause pain, but to intentionally harm a creature just to show them how terrible the Cruciatus curse was...Surely not even this slightly crazed man would do that...

"Crucio!"

The breath caught in Harry's throat as the curse was spoken and the poor creature immediately began to writhe and shriek in pain. Tears came to his eyes as it continued for far longer than was necessary, the creature's wails still coming but its twitching lessening as it no doubt began to grow tired. Still Moody did not remove the curse though. Harry closed his eyes against the sight, but it did not help. Instead, it just caused him to picture the times he had seen people suffering the same curse in his dreams: nameless Death Eaters; his godmother Narcissa; his godfather Lucius; and no doubt, in the past, his own darling father.

"Stop it!" Harry sobbed out a yell as he got to his feet and slammed his hands down on the table.

That caught the attention of everyone in the room, including Moody who still did not end the Cruciatus.

"Take it off." He ordered in a hard, controlled voice.

For a long moment, Moody and Harry stared each other down. It seemed as though many minutes passed when really it was no longer than five seconds. Harry seemed to win though as Moody was the first to look away and, shortly after, he ended the curse. The tortured creature immediately relaxed, a low, pained whine escaping it before it just slumped on the professor's desk lifelessly.

Harry did not take his eyes off of the DADA professor as the man picked up the creature and headed over to his and Draco's desk. Upon reaching him, he stopped right in front of the desk and placed the creature on the table in front of Harry. Still, the teenager did not look away from his professor.

"Well Mr Snape, perhaps you'd like to put the poor thing out of its misery and tell us the final Unforgiveable."

"No." Harry answered in a cold tone. It would be like consenting to Moody casting it on the creature and he could not do that. He was unable to save it and considering its condition it would probably be kinder to "put it to sleep". He could not bring himself to give the answer though and therefore, for him, play a part in the creature's death. It may only have been an insect of some sort but it was still alive and they had no right to take its life from it.

Professor Moody gave a small shrug and a grunt which seemed to say "fair enough" before pointing his wand back to the creature. "Avada Kedavra."

More tears came to Harry's eyes as the green light hit it. It instantly went limp and then nothing more. The whole class was looking at them but Harry did not care. All he could look at was the dead creature, killed by the man who was standing in front of him.

"There's only one person who's ever survived this curse." Moody told them all quietly which caused Harry to lift his head and look at the man in the face. "And I'm looking at him."

He was unsure what clinched it, whether it was the way the man had said that last sentence of whether it was all just too much as a whole. Whatever it was, before Harry could stop himself, a sob had escaped him and he had turned, his legs throwing him forward and sending him dashing out of the classroom. The sound of Draco calling after him reached his ears but he took no notice of it. He just ran. He was unaware of where he was running, he did not much care, he just had to get away. Get away from the death, get away from that horrible man who he refused to believe had once been an Auror, get away from that horrible classroom that always made him feel that something terrible was about to happen. He hated it, he hated it all.

Harry lifted his head finally as his legs continued to move him forward and even through his tear-filled eyes, he instantly recognised what part of the school his subconscious had led him to, the one place he always felt safe. Not caring if there was a class in session or what the people in that class might think of him, Harry burst through the doors of the Potions classroom. There was, indeed, a class in there and the fact Harry caught sight of Cedric Diggory meant it was obviously a Seventh Year class, but it looked like, luckily, Severus was not in the middle of explaining anything. In fact, he was standing at one of the desks at the front of class. He had obviously been leaning over and inspecting the students progress before the door and slammed open and caught his attention. Harry headed straight for him, thinking of nothing else and being selfish for once, and threw himself into the Potion Master's arms the moment he reached him.

Severus's arms instantly came around him as well as the darkness of being enfolded in the folds of his teaching robes which probably effectively hid most of him from the sight of the other students. He was led away, no doubt to the entrance to his father's personal rooms as the man barked an order to the class to continue and to be finished either by the time he returned or by when the lesson ended. Then, the sound of a door opening came, he was walked forward a few more steps and then the sound of a door closing came. That was when Harry finally let go of his tears and began to sob quietly into his father's chest.

Lips came down to press against the top of his head and a large hand gently patted his back as he was rocked slightly, soothingly. It all helped to calm Harry down and added with the ever comforting presence and scent of his father, his sobs had soon subsided and he was left breathing heavily against the black teaching robes. The rocking slowly stopped and the hand on his back switched from patting to gently rubbing as Severus straightened up a little.

"Better?"

Harry only nodded against him.

"Good. Now, can you tell me what's happened to get yourself worked up into such a state? You're supposed to be in Defense Against the Dark Arts at the moment aren't you?"

Harry nodded again. "We were looking over the Unforgiveables again and..." His breath hitched slightly. "Professor Moody gave some...Practical examples." More tears filled his eyes and he gave another small sob. "It was awful, that poor creature, to make it suffer in such a horrible way! It wasn't necessary! For the love of the Goddess, we're Sixth Years; we know what the Unforgiveables do, we don't need to see them put it in action!" He paused to release a few tears then before carrying on. "And when he cast the Cru-cruciatus, all I could think of was how much the poor thing was suffering and how much Aunt Narcissa and Uncle Lucius and you had to suffer...It was so terrible." And after that, he did not try to say anything more, just allowed more tears to come.

Severus said nothing except to murmur the soothing words a dutiful father would while comforting their child. When Harry finally stopped crying again, he pulled a handkerchief out of the inside pocket of his robes and handed it to the teenager. The boy's hand curled around it and the piece of cloth disappeared from his view, no doubt going to wipe the tears away from those lovely emerald eyes.

"Sorry I interrupted your class." Harry apologised quietly after several minutes of silence.

"It doesn't matter, they're Seventh Years; by that time I'm there mostly to tell them what to do so that they can do it, they'll be fine on their own." Severus assured. "I'll have a word with Professor Dumbledore during lunch about Professor Moody's class."

"I don't want a huge fuss to be made..."

"A huge fuss won't be made but it was his responsibility as a teacher to warn the class before he did what he did, allowing them the opportunity to not participate if that is what they choose."

A dull rattling sound came from the locked door which led into the Potions classroom then, drawing the attention of both of the living room's occupants. "Open the door, it's Draco." Came the blond's voice from the other side.

Severus gave a small sigh and pulled his wand out of his robes so he could wave it carelessly in the general direction of the door.

The next time it was attempted to be opened, it swung inwards and in came Draco. His eyes immediately fell onto Harry and he rushed over, pushing the door shut behind himself. "Feeling better?" He asked, making a move to pull the other boy into his arms.

However, as Harry moved to accept the blond's embrace, his father's arm tightened around him and he was held to the Potion Master's chest with a firm force which startled him slightly. "Haryon is fine, Draco, just a little shaken by what he saw. Would you agree that what Professor Moody demonstrated was unnecessary?" Severus enquired, a certain something in his tone which Harry found a little odd.

"It was a little over the top." Draco agreed, looking more than a little disgruntled but keeping his temper under control, his arms folded over his chest as though he needed to do something with them to stop himself from reaching for his wand.

"Then I will certainly have a word with Dumbledore later on." Severus said, mostly to himself. Then, he looked down at Harry who in turn looked up at him. "If you'll be all right now, I should return to the class."

"Can I stay in here for a little while?" Harry asked quietly.

"Just until the end of this period; you have to go to your next class." His father told him to which Harry nodded in agreement. "Alright, I'll see you after the lesson then." He assured before he leaned down and placed a kiss on the corner of Harry's mouth. Then, he straightened up, moved away and swept over and through the door into the classroom behind.

When the door shut, Draco gave a snort and rolled his eyes. "I knew he was taking it all too well."

"He was acting a bit funny, wasn't he?" Harry agreed, moving forward and wrapping his arms around Draco's chest comfortably.

"I'll ask Father to have a word with him if he doesn't get better." The Veela mused before looking down to his mate. "But enough about him; are you feeling better now?"

Harry nodded and gave a heavy breath. "Yeah, I'm fine. It was just all a little too much."

"There was almost a mutiny when you left. The whole class jumped to your defence."

"And did you do anything we'll both regret later on?"

"With thanks to Fred and George, no. They reminded me of you and I decided you were the one who needed my immediate attention. I can get that nutcase back at any time."

"Don't Draco, Father said he'll sort it out."

"You're my mate, not his."

"Yes, but in this case he's in a better position to do something rather than you. We're not protected by law, Draco, you can't kick off radically over every little thing that upsets me or makes me angry."

"It's not fair! How can they expect people like me to cope with that sort of situation? The laws should apply to us too!"

"I know they should." Harry agreed gently, soothingly, and at the back of his mind, he was already planning for the future. For once, he would use his fame to his advantage and protest their case. One day, he would get the law changed so that Veela and their phantom mates were protected by the same laws that other Veela with true mates did.

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4th September 1994: Evening

Fawkes gave a small noise of pleasure as Harry ran his fingers gently over his head, smoothing down the feathers. The Sixth Year Gryffindor had been called to the Headmaster's office after dinner in order to "sort out this little problem with Professor Moody". Harry was not too thrilled with the situation and even less with the idea of being in a room on his own with the strange DADA professor. It was in Dumbledore's office though and Fawkes was there and the phoenix had helped him against a basilisk once, surely he would help if Moody turned into a raving lunatic suddenly.

Behind him, the door opened and Harry glanced over his shoulder to see that it was his DADA professor, looking as mad as always. Awkwardly, he moved so that his back was not to the door but neither was he facing the door head on. He continued with his attentions on Fawkes but made sure to occasionally glance over to the man. One time when he looked, he was sure he saw a hard glare on the teacher's face but it was gone in an instant, making Harry wonder if he really had seen it.

Professor Moody cleared his throat and looked everywhere but at Harry. "I've had a word with both your old man and the Headmaster and I've decided that it probably was a little...Unfair, of me to spring that all on you like that, considering your past."

"I agree." Harry said simply, turning his gaze onto Fawkes again.

"That's all you're going to say to me?" Moody demanded, sounding annoyed. "You know. it's customary to accept when someone..."

"I don't really care what is customary in this situation. Let us get something clear here, Professor; I do not like you, I do not trust you, and if I had my way I would have to fired right now. However, Professor Dumbledore seems to think that you're a good teacher and so I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. However, outside of class, your authority means nothing to me. I will avoid you like the plague and, unless you wish to stir up more trouble, I suggest you do the same with me."

With that, he left Fawkes and moved forward, intending to leave the office. However, as he passed the ex-Auror, the man caught his arm to hold him back. Harry stopped obediently and turned his head slightly to look at Moody with a neutral expression. The man seemed to be holding onto the last strand of patience he possessed and Harry almost wanted him to snap, if only because then he really would be fired. On this ocassion, the professor retained control of his anger and simply dropped Harry's arm.

"Away with you, Snape." He ordered briskly. "And I expect no more out-bursts like that one in lesson today."

Harry studied the man for a few seconds before giving a small nod. "Good day, Professor." He said neutrally, before moving forwards again and, finally, getting out of the headmaster's office.

After leaving the steps which led and up and down to and from the Headmaster's, Harry released a low sigh and took a moment to relax. His stomach was fluttering from nerves and he felt a little out of sorts. There was definitely something about that old Auror that just was not right. He felt wrong, he felt dark...It was hard to explain what it was he felt exactly. The bottom line was that Harry did not trust the man in any way and from then on, he was going to make a point of avoiding the DADA professor outside of lessons at all cost.

"Harry?"

Harry lifted his head upon hearing his name spoken and was slightly surprised to see Cedric Diggory walking his way. The events of that morning came to his mind and he blushed in embarrassment; the older boy had seen him basically "running to daddy". "Oh, erm, hi Cedric. What are you doing here?"

"I asked your friends where you were and they told me you were meeting with Professor Moody in Professor Dumbledore's office. I just wanted to come and check that you were all right. You seemed really upset in your father's lesson this morning." The older Hufflepuff explained, sounding nothing but concerned and sympathetic.

"Oh yeah, I'm fine now. Professor Moody just apologised to me...Sort of anyway, so I guess everything's okay now." Harry explained, trying to look anywhere but at the teenager in front of him.

That's something then. What is it that happened exactly? There are loads of rumours going around but no one really knows for sure. Your friends aren't saying anything about it."

"He, uh, he was demonstrating the Unforgiveables." Harry told him a little awkwardly, finding himself reliving it all on some level, not enough to make him want to cry but enough to make his heart ache.

"And you were upset because you're a pacifist."

Harry lifted his eyes to Cedric finally and stared at him in surprise. True, his religion was no secret as it was one thing that all the newspapers felt they had to broadcast when he had first defeated Voldemort, but as it was a little known religion there were few who knew what the beliefs of a Havanist were outside of the faith. The fact that Cedric was aware of the belief of pacifism was very odd.

It was obviously Cedric's turn to blush then as he gave a small, somewhat shy, laugh and looked to the side. "I did a bit of research on Havanism after we met at the World Cup."

That was an even bigger surprise then finding out he knew about the pacifism! "Erm, why?" Harry almost croaked, his voice cracking due to a strange case of nerves which had come back with a vengeance.

Cedric opened his mouth to answer but nothing came out before he was interrupted by a call of Harry's name. Both teenagers looked to see Draco hurrying towards them, seemingly completely oblivious of Cedric's presence. "How did it go? Did he apologise?" The blond enquired as he passed the Hufflepuff without acknowledgment and went straight over to Harry.

"Sort of." Harry answered, accepting the kiss on the cheek his Veela gave him and allowing the Slytherin to put his arm around his waist. He noticed Cedric was still standing there."Oh, Draco, this is Cedric Diggory. Cedric, this is Draco Malfoy." He introduced them both, smiling in a friendly way.

The eyes of the Hufflepuff and the Slytherin met and in a second they both seemed to recognise something in each other. Harry silently despaired as it became obvious the two young men were taking an immediate dislike to each other. Draco's unjustified dislike was understandable; Veelas equaled jealous of anything with a pulse within five feet of their mate. Cedric on the other hand had no reason for the snap judgement which resulted in the dislike unless he was basing it on the simple fact that Draco was a Slytherin but he thought that was unlikely; Cedric did not seem like the type to believe in House prejudices.

"Well, now I know you're all right, Harry, I'll be off." Cedric said, a smile covering his face as he turned his attention to the Gryffindor.

"All right, I'll see you around, yeah?" Harry smiled in return which only made Draco scowl harder.

"Most probably." The Hufflepuff agreed before flickering his eyes onto Draco, his smile vanishing almost completely. "Malfoy." He said by way of parting before he gave one last smile to Harry and then turned and walked back in the direction he had come from.

As Cedric left them, Harry became aware of the fact that the arm around his waist had tightened considerably. It was not painful or uncomfortable but it was definitely more than just a relaxed gesture of affection. With a small smile, Harry brought his arm around Draco's back and rested his head on the blond's shoulder. He felt the Veela's muscles shift under his cheek before a soft kiss was brushed against his forehead.

Without words, they walked forwards together, their arms remaining around their other.
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Family Means More Than Blood