Harry Potter 1. The beginning

Title: Lifelong Love

Author: Emerald Thorn

Rating: Rish eventually (just to be safe)

Category: AU, Romance, Fantasy

Notes: This hasn't been through a beta. I'd appreciate it if someone would volunteer since I'm horrible at catching my mistakes. Also, this is my first attempt at hp fanfiction so I'd love feedback.

'thoughts'

"speech"

Prologue

Draco sighed as he picked up the white mask and placed it over his face. It was very stifling to say the least. The mask was a bit too big to sit properly on Draco's defined features, having been made for a one-size-fits-all crowd of Death Eaters, some of which still had problems hiding their whole face behind the oversized mask. At least the robes fit, for now at least. Since he'd finally hit his growth spurt last spring Draco had grown over eight inches in less than six months. Not that Draco actually liked having to wear the horrid uniform and given a choice would have tossed the uniform and the ugly skull and snake tattoo on his arm as well.

Sadly, Draco had been initiated as soon as he had returned home after the end of his sixth term. It was now almost two months into his seventh. In the past six months, Draco had come to the conclusion that if any of his comrades-in-arms were semi-sane they were doing a good job of hiding it. In fact, if it weren't for the fact that he wasn't working against the group as a mole he would have run screaming for civilization years ago. Ah the joys of working against madmen.

Not that he wasn't well used to the act, and to put it mildly pulled it off rather well. Then again, you can't do anything without good genetics. His father and mother were also not quite as loyal to Voldemort as they were thought to be. Only one man knew of their treacherousness and it was going to stay that way. The Malfoy's had been passing information to Dumbledore since before Draco's parent's had graduated from Hogwarts. Lucius and Narcissa were as committed as could be, in fact, it was a highly probable that neither of his parents would make it out of the upcoming war alive. The family's official goal was only to protect Draco's mate, though the original reason had been because Voldemort's magical scent was worse than walking through a graveyard of half decomposed bodies.

'Ah yes, my beautiful mate who has no clue what he means to me' Draco mused, trying to adjust the straps that held the horrid mask in place that kept rubbing uncomfortably. 'Why couldn't things be simple? Oh, that's right. Nothing simple is worth the time and effort of a Malfoy.' That was another family rule (as well as being another excuse for not liking Voldemort). Draco had known who his mate was from the moment his mother had taken him to a small school reunion and his mate's mother had brought his mate when he had been just over a year old. According to Narcissa, Draco's scent had immediately taken on a different overtone, and Draco had cried until he was placed on the play mat with his mate. Draco had then proceeded to only pay attention to his mate, who had, again according to his mother, cooed happily and snuggled into Draco at naptime. When the two of them had been parted by their mother's departure, Draco had been inconsolable for days and cried himself to sleep nightly. He had finally been calmed down by his mother finding the blanket that had been wrapped around the two when they had napped and giving it to Draco.

Luckily, no one else but Narcissa had been able to tell why Draco was suddenly so attached to Lily Potter's firstborn. If one of the other Death Eaters that had been at that reunion had noticed and reported it, it could have been disastrous. Lucius had been supremely proud that his son had such good taste, as well as developing a nasty protective streak for Harry—not that anyone could tell unless they were reading his mind or knew how to read him by his scent like Draco.

Draco knew that his family appeared to be the biggest Voldemort supporters around. Draco could even see why they thought this. It wasn't as if everybody knew that each oops that Voldemort encountered was usually put there by one of the Malfoys. In fact, it didn't occur to most people to blame the Malfoy's for accidents since they made sure to make it look like they were full supporters. It frustrated Voldemort to no end that each of his carefully laid plans always went astray somehow. It wasn't that Voldie was a bad planer, he just trusted the Malfoy family too much, and unluckily for Voldie they were probably his second most unfaithful servants. The most unfaithful title went to Draco's godfather Severus Snape since he was fairly well known to be somewhat untrustworthy because Voldie wasn't too sure that Snape hadn't sold him out.

But back to the original topic. Draco's mate was a very special person, so special that he managed to severely wound Voldemort several months after Draco had recognized him. Because of Draco's attachment, his parents had decided that they would continue to work secretly just in case Voldemort did somehow manage to pull himself back together. Dumbledore, for reasons he wouldn't tell, agreed and the arrangement that the Malfoy's had with him continued on. Dumbledore had insisted that he know why the Malfoy's insisted upon being kept secret and had been told about Draco's connection to Harry.

Dumbledore had been reasonably amused by this announcement, yet somewhat sad. Dumbledore then ordered Lucius and Narcissa to continue on as if nothing had happened and Draco was not allowed to see his mate. In fact, Dumbledore insisted that it was safer for Harry that the Malfoy's not know his whereabouts. They had reluctantly agreed.

For the next ten years Draco had not seen his mate. It was a constant pull at his heart, knowing his mate was out there and he was unable to see him. He was taught by his parents what every Malfoy must know, how to act and be a Malfoy. By the time he next saw his mate his outer transformation was complete. Truly, Draco had known what his mate's name was and why he couldn't see him, but it still made him somewhat moody at times.

The Malfoy's had long ago married into a clan of veelas, and every few generations or so the veela blood was enhanced by marrying a full-blooded veela. Unfortunately, since Draco had recognized his mate so early in life and been unable to physically and mentally complete the necessary bonds, he had to take several potions monthly to gain control over his magic and veela allurement. He also took another potion to deaden his positive emotions to the point where the longing for his mate was dulled enough so he could act semi-normally. His parents had also resorted to several potions to keep their instincts to protect Harry from overwhelming them. At the start of term, Draco had been forced to add a stronger numbing potion. It seemed being anywhere near Harry was wearing down the potion's effectiveness since Draco had reached maturity by veela standards and was now fully capable of mating.

So far they were doing fairly well in protecting his mate. However there were several downsides to the increased moodiness that happened when Draco took the potions. Sure, they kept him from jumping his mate every time their paths crossed, but it also had made Draco unable to have a nice conversation with his mate. Several times in the summers between terms Draco had refused the potions for a few days and the pain from knowing his mate had no feelings of affection for him had left him severely depressed. Draco was increasingly afraid that someday, when Voldemort was gone and the potions were no longer necessary, he would not be able to feel for his mate. So every summer he made sure that his feelings were still intact and had not been subjugated permanently by the huge potion doses he regularly took.

When he was not under the potions influence, Draco often felt his heart had shattered. As the effects of the potion grew less and less towards the end of the month, Draco often had horrible, flash-back dreams that reminded him of every slur, every hurt that he had inflicted intentionally and with purpose upon his mate. When the dreams increased in intensity it was time to take another dose.

Draco knew he'd need another dose in a day or two. This morning when he'd seen Harry sitting in one of the large windows near the fourth floor corridor watching the early October rain. Draco had almost reached out and cradled Harry to him. Harry had looked so melancholy starring at the clouds and rain, tears glistening in his eyes but none falling down his cheeks. Draco knew that the last two years had not been the greatest for his mate and he felt ashamed for leaving his mate to be abandoned by his family.

'Someday Harry,' Draco thought as he finished getting ready for the gathering, sparing a glance at the small framed picture of two one year olds cuddling in their sleep, 'Someday I'll be able to explain. I hope you will still have room for me in your heart when the time comes and be willing to take this poor lost soul that seems to fade more every day.'


	2. Chapter 1

Title: Life Long Love

Author: Emerald Thorn

Rating: R

Disclaimer: Not mine.

Author's Notes: Anyone want to beta?

Chapter One:

Voldemort had been jabbering on for quite some time now and Draco was only semi-aware of the rasping voice that filled the cold, damp hallway of the castle. Crowded in around Voldemort, the Death Eaters surrounding Draco were hanging off of every spit laced word that came out of the shrunken husk of a human being. Well, Draco called it human but 'monster' may have been more appropriate. Voldemort's skin was wrinkled and stretched impossibly tight over thick, unhandsome features. Burning red eyes completed the horrific look, glaring out from beneath the sable mantle pulled over the hairless head. Draco had once seen Voldemort with the hood thrown back and his only comment on the affair was that varicose veins should not be visible on someone's head. The experience was a rather revolting one and Draco had come to associate torture, especially anything involving crucio, and Voldemort's ugly mug. It didn't help that the one time he had seen it he was in the middle of being punished for being unable to serve Potter up on a silver platter.

Draco was rather proud of himself in that regard. Since Voldemort was rather good at occlumency, Draco had been taught since birth how to disguise his mind and protect himself from unwanted probing. His skills had progressed to the point where Draco had a perfected mental version of his public self in place for anyone attempting to break into his mind. Whenever someone read him, and Draco was aware he had been read several times during his life without him 'supposedly knowing,' they saw only the façade, not Draco's true mind. Draco had been taught by his godfather who was not as good as Draco now was. It had been difficult to keep Voldemort from prying into the sanctuary of his mind and if given the choice, Draco would never repeat the experience again unless absolutely necessary, the first and only time Voldemort had attempted to read him had left Draco with a headache for a week afterwards.

Draco's wandering attention was brought back to Voldemort sharply by the scent that reached his nose as Voldemort's voice rose in pitch with excitement as he waved commandingly to Pettigrew to bring out the evening's entertainment. Oh no…this couldn't be happening…

Voldemort gestured grandly off to the side and a struggling figure was flung before him. A black cloth bag was tied over the figure's head and the limbs had been tightly wound together behind the victim's back with slender, sharp-edged chains that had cut into the skin and were coated in a thin layer of blood. Draco didn't need to wait for Pettigrew to uncover the face of the prisoner, before him was his mate.

In retrospect, maybe if Draco had taken the potions earlier, at the first beginning signs that the potions were wearing thin, he wouldn't have done what he did next and would have been more prepared. However, even with the potions, Draco would not have had much time to do anything else other than what he now did.

Before Pettigrew could so much as lay a fingertip on his struggling mate, Draco was at his mate's side, appearing to the surrounding Death Eaters as a black blur. Snarling, Draco mentally cast a spell that dissolved Harry's bindings while he reached under the black death eater robe and grabbed the platinum dragon amulet he wore around his neck. Wrapping himself around Harry, Draco whispered the command to activate the emergency portkey, "Protect."

With a wrenching tug at his midsection, Draco pulled his mate with him as the portkey did its job and sent them to the safest place Draco knew—the Malfoy sanctuary that had been hidden from all non-Malfoy's for almost a millennia—Dragon Stone Vale.

Harry was greatly surprised when he felt the chains give way to a strong pair of arms followed by the unpleasant feeling of portkeying. Then again, as he was already in the beginning stages of physical shock from blood loss and an earlier blow to the head, being rescued wasn't the worst shock he'd had today. Landing wherever the portkey had taken them, Harry couldn't stop the immediate urge to throw up—which he promptly did, right into the bag covering his face. Yuck.

Once started, Harry felt as if he couldn't stop retching. The arms that had surrounded him started to work at getting the bag off of his face as Harry's hands were busy holding his body from falling face first to the ground. Bag off, Harry gasped in huge lungfuls of air, mindless of his surroundings while trying to stop the nausea and avoiding passing out. A hand was holding him at the shoulder while another was rubbing his lower back. A calm voice that sounded familiar was saying, "It's all right. You're safe. He can't follow you here."

Harry then proceeded to pass out.

Draco ripped off his Death Eater mask and hurled it into the decorative hedge that lined the interior of Dragon Stone Vale's portkey space. Harry lay passed out on the ground, bleeding heavily from his scar and where the chains had dug into his skin. Casting a levitation spell on Harry, Draco guided his mate's body towards the garden entrance to the house. Touching the ward stone next to the small oak door, Draco winced as the house recognized him and asked directly if it was to admit his mate. Draco hated talking to the magical wards surrounding the house because they blasted through his mind's shields and sounded like an excited baby house elf. Replying as he had been taught by his parents, the house gave a feeling and high pitched squeak of recognition as the door opened when Draco touched the knob.

Quickly moving through the house, Draco turned to his set of rooms and guided the unconscious Harry to the bathing room. Setting Harry down gently beside the bath, Draco set the bath water to run. Leaving Harry briefly, Draco ran to his parent's rooms and grabbed several vials out of his father's private potion collection and then returned to his mate. Whispering a few spells, Draco choked at the sight of his mate's unclothed body as the desire to touch and caress nearly overwhelmed him before he told himself that his mate wasn't interested in that sort of attention. Setting the vials within easy reach of the tub, Draco debated what he should do first. Deciding on getting Harry clean, he shut off the water. Biting his lip, Draco stripped down to his boxers, throwing his robes carelessly to the ground. Lifting Harry, he stepped into the deep tub, the water swirling pleasantly and soothingly around his frame.

Seating Harry on the built in bench, Draco grabbed a towel and set it against the edge that Harry's head was resting upon. Hands trembling slightly, Draco soaped up a washcloth using a special soap from one of the vials and began to clean Harry's face. The lightning bolt scar was still seeping blood and the skin surrounding was an angry red and very warm to Draco's touch. Wincing slightly, Draco tentatively cleaned around the area hoping that he was not causing additional pain. After all the blood was gone, Draco washed all traces of vomit from the remainder of Harry's face.

Moving on to the rest of Harry's body, Draco was worried by the small whimper that passed Harry's lips when he began cleaning the skin tears that had been caused by the chains. Grabbing another vial, Draco tilted Harry's head further back and slipped a small amount of the liquid into Harry's mouth while rubbing his throat to encourage swallowing. Seeing Harry swallow the pain numbing potion successfully, Draco continued until Harry had drank half the vial and two healing potions before returning to washing the cuts.

Harry made no more sounds as Draco finished washing. Hitting the drain release, Draco gathered the slender body in his arms and lifted Harry out of the tub then drying him carefully with a towel then wrapping each wrist and ankle with white gauze. Bringing Harry into his bedroom, Draco tucked Harry into bed.

Brushing his mate's wet hair with his fingers, Draco felt a few tears escape his eyes. What was he to do now? He had none of the potions here and he couldn't possibly leave his mate in this condition. His parents would probably be attempting to cover as much as possible and would not come near Dragon Stone Vale to prevent someone finding out its location. Draco could not depend upon being able to ask for help from them. He needed a plan to get Harry healed but he didn't know what he should do.

If Draco stayed around Harry, it would be three days or less before the effects of the potions would be gone. Even before then, Draco would start leaking magical energy and his veela powers would activate because of Harry's close proximity. Because his powers had been suppressed so long they would activate more quickly than a normal full blooded veela, meaning it would hit like a freight train derailed at top speed. Draco was in no way prepared to even attempt to control his full powers. Last summer when he had stopped taking the potions it had taken four days for the effects to vanish from the onset of the warning signs. Before taking the potions again, Draco had managed to completely destroy his room after one of his bad flashbacks. Of course, bonding would ground his powers in Harry, allowing for an outside source of control if Draco couldn't handle it. However, given his past behavior to his mate, Draco's thoughts on Harry's reaction to even the suggestion of bonding would be less than ideal. Draco was very, very worried.

His parents and he hadn't even allowed for the suggestion that Draco would be potionless and around Harry until after Voldemort was permanently gone—they had not had any even close calls until a year ago when Draco had come fully into his inheritance and some adjustments in the potions had been made. This was going to complicate all current activities of the family. Draco wanted desperately to bind himself to Harry, but his Malfoy training was nagging that this would make things much more dangerous for Harry, not to mention Harry was likely to not be amenable to the idea. His human and veela sides were arguing viciously inside him.

Deciding that being in such close proximity would probably not be conducive to thinking; Draco reluctantly withdrew from his bedchamber and Harry. Standing outside in the hallway, boxers still dripping, Draco was having a hard time not throwing the doors back open and rushing back to Harry's bedside. It took a tremendous amount of willpower for Draco to turn and head back to the bath, but eventually he did.

Realizing that all his clothes were in the wardrobe in his room, Draco went back to his parents rooms and borrowed a lounging robe of his father's. It was only a little bit long and semi tight through the shoulders but it fit alright, the black silk matching his mood and contrasting with his ivory skin and silver blonde hair.

Discarding his wet boxers, Draco began to wander the halls and grounds of the vale, staying away from the wing in which Harry was sleeping. Eventually Draco fell into an exhausted sleep in the north wall rose garden next to the fish pond, having decided nothing.

The morning sun woke Harry early the next morning. Disoriented and sleepy, Harry searched with one arm for his glasses. It wasn't until his hand encountered only silky cloth that Harry realized he wasn't in his bed at Hogwarts or in the infirmary. Sitting up, Harry cursed slightly as he looked around at the blurry world and remembering some of what had happened the night before. Or at least what he hoped was only last night and he hadn't missed more than a couple of hours.

It really was pathetic how bad his eyesight was and he had always insisted on wearing glasses up until now. He was regretting that decision now, but was glad Hermione had badgered him into learning the spell to fix eyesight. Now where was his wand?

Fumbling his way to the edge of the bed, Harry groped around the bedside table, unable to find his wand. Grumbling to himself, Harry tried to remember how to do the charm wandlessly. He vaguely remembered Snape saying something during his occlumency lessons about how to do wandless magic. Coming to the conclusion that trying couldn't hurt him, Harry made the same movements with his hand as he normally would if he was holding his wand while concentrating like he usually would and mumbling the incantation "_lux lucis sartum._"

Miraculously, the spell seemed to work and the world around Harry began to sharpen and focus. Harry lifted his hands to rub his eyes as they began to madly itch for a split second then the sensation stopped and he dropped his hands to his side.

Harry was in an oversized canopy bed set in the middle of the biggest bedroom he'd ever seen. Draping the coverlet around his shoulders to ward off the slight chill, Harry hopped out of bed to explore where he was. The whole room was done in ebony and emerald with traces of gold. The bed itself was some sort of silk like material in ebony with dark emerald colored ties to hold the curtains back. Inside the bed on the canopy was an emerald colored dragon stretched out in flight on a star filled background, its wings flapping noiselessly. The floor was covered by a thick black rug, with emerald and gold tiling evident at the edges of the room. A small sitting area of two armchairs and a couch was pushed to the left side by the floor-to-ceiling-windows. On the right was a massive fireplace that easily was twice as long as Harry was tall with a carved ebony mantle piece depicting several dragons with their limbs intertwined. Upon closer inspection, Harry couldn't tell if the dragons were fighting or not, the whole mantle really seemed almost sexual—which disturbed Harry very much. Wall space that wasn't windows were covered with tapestries depicting dragons, most of which were emerald or silver on a black background with a continued sexuality theme as they rubbed their necks and other various body parts together. On the wall opposite the bed there was two doorways, both of which were closed. Between the two doors was what Harry guessed as an old fashioned wardrobe.

Uncomfortably naked under the coverlet, Harry wrenched open the door to the wardrobe and looked inside hoping for at least a pair of trousers. Instead of what a wardrobe normally looked like, the wardrobe seemed to serve as a never ending type of closet. Stepping hesitantly inside the wardrobe, careful not to close the door behind him, Harry began pulling several large drawers to his immediate right open. The first two drawers contained handkerchiefs, but the third one contained a variety of silk colored boxers and several other types that Harry didn't examine too closely in his relief to see boxers in what he hoped would be his size.

Taking out the first pair of boxers his hands encountered Harry held them out. They looked like they would fit reasonably well, so Harry let the coverlet drop and stepped into the black boxers. Unused to the feel of silk, Harry squirmed slightly at the odd sensation. The boxers were a little long in the leg but a little snug around the waist. Turning around, Harry wrinkled his nose at the formal robes hanging on the other side of the closet. Each robe was made in a style unfamiliar to Harry. Picking out one of several black robes, Harry put his arms in the sleeves and tried unsuccessfully to fasten the complicated ties. After several tries, Harry gave up and tied a loose belt around his waist using two of the handkerchiefs from the drawers. The clothes definitely hadn't been tailored to Harry, there was quite a bit of shoulder room and chest. The clothes seemed to hang off his upper body and the waist was lower than his hips, several inches of cloth dragged on the floor around him as he moved. The clothes had been made to fit someone who was taller and a bit slimmer than Harry. Investigating a shoe rack, all the shoes were too big, so Harry stepped out of the wardrobe shoeless.

'Just where the hell am I?' Harry thought, exiting the wardrobe. No one had entered the bedroom since he had left to explore the wardrobe. Looking around the room one last time, Harry became even more confused. He was in someone's home, someone who was probably fairly well off if all the rooms were like this—and Harry assumed the place was big judging by the size of the current room. Turning to look at the two doors, Harry tried the left door.

The left door led to a large bathing area, complete with a tub that would rival the one in the prefects' bathroom and a separate shower, toilet, and two sinks set into a counter on one side. Mirrors seemed to be the theme in the room with the gold and emerald tiling continuing into the room from the bedroom. Pausing briefly to use the toilet, Harry was surprised to find himself not in need of a bath. Whoever had bandaged his wrists and ankles had also scrubbed him from head to toe.

Feeling slightly violated, Harry left the room hastily after he washed his hands. The other door opened to a long, tapestry-lined hallway. Padding silently down the hallway, Harry searched his surroundings for someone, anyone who could tell him where he was. Several hallways branched off from the hallway Harry was following as the hallway twisted left. Finally, Harry reached a y-shaped intersection with a staircase in the middle of the y going up and down. Remembering the location of the bedroom, Harry decided on going down the stairs. Three flights down, Harry ran out of stairs. In an open, reception-style foyer that resembled the Hogwarts main courtyard in size, Harry started to worry. He hadn't encountered anyone yet.

Just as he was about to panic, he smelled food coming from an open archway to his far left. Mouth watering at the smell of what he thought was bacon and eggs, Harry scrambled for the archway. The archway led to a short hall with a dining room at the other end. The massive dining table was set for two breakfasts at one end, but could easily have seated at least thirty people. A side bar held a variety of breakfast foods, still steaming hot.

Not worried about where he was anymore, Harry grabbed the first plate he came to and began loading it up. Plate full of sausage and omelet, Harry ate slowly looking more closely at the room but finding nothing of real interest unless you were obsessed with more dragon murals. These murals however did not have the sexual connotations the ones in the bedroom seemed to have. The largest one that hung above the side bar depicted two dragons in flight, diving and climbing around each other playfully. A set of double French doors opened up to a patio of sorts with what Harry thought was a natural rock pool that was slightly obscured by decorative bushes and trees.

Harry was just about finished when he noticed something black and man-shaped walking among the further off trees. Relieved that he wasn't alone, Harry dropped his fork and rushed out towards where he had seen the movement.


	3. Chapter 2

Life Long Love—Chapter Two

Author: Emerald Thorn

Disclaimer: Not mine, I just play with them.

Rating: Definitely R here folks.

Genre: Slash, AU, Romance/Adventure, Fantasy, Veela!Draco (if that could be considered a genre)

Author's Notes: This chapter fought and clawed it's way out. I'm still not satisfied with the end product—it seems rushed yet drawn out and seems to …grrr… and I don't know :frustrated sigh: I've been over it four times and I can't think what to do to make it better at the moment. Expect revision sometime in the future. Reader responses are at the bottom along with some additional comments.

Chapter Two:

Draco sat up with a groan as he cursed the cheery sunshine. He was wet and his back ached fiercely from having spent the night sleeping on a stone bench. Stamping his feet a bit to warm them as he rubbed his hands together, Draco debated whether to head back to the main house or if he wanted to hole up in the stables or the gardener's cottage that wasn't currently being used. Much as he detested sleeping in the stables because of the dust, it would probably be the safer bet as long as he set up wards to let him know if anything happened to Harry.

Wrapping the thin fabric as close as possible, Draco followed the most direct pathway to the stables, coming within a hundred yards of the patio off the side dining room.

Harry slipped and slid across the grass, his feet reminding him that he hadn't been able to find proper footwear. However, Harry continued because he wanted to find out who his mysterious host was and why whoever they were had an odd obsession with dragons. Reaching the tree line, he saw a flagstone pathway that ran roughly parallel to the house. This must have been where he saw the figure. Picking up his pace a little, Harry soon found that the stone pathway was forced to wind a bit as a small stream caused it to detour. Following the pathway, in the distance he saw a figure walking purposefully in the same direction. The figure was probably male and taller than Harry with a full head of silver blonde hair. Breaking out into a slight run, Harry began to gain ground on the man.

"Hey!" Harry shouted, "Wait up a second!"

Draco froze at the sound of Harry's voice. 'Oh Merlin' he thought as the wind brought Harry's scent to him. The well-known addictive scent crashed over him, his nostrils and eyes dilating, breath hitching in his throat as his heartbeat increased. 'Oh Merlin, not now Harry—I'm not safe… I'm not prepared…' Frozen in place, Draco's veela side would not let him run even though his more rational side was screaming that his control was slipping. Draco felt his body temperature and magic levels rising as Harry drew nearer. Trying to grasp hold of himself, Draco almost had it until Harry grabbed his shoulder to turn him around. At Harry's touch, Draco lost the precarious grip on his instincts completely.

His veela side singing joyfully at Harry's nearness, Draco whipped around with all his powers of attraction raging at full power. He was dimly aware he was softly glowing silver. Harry stood before him, slightly out of breath from running to catch up with Draco. Face flushed from the sprint he had taken, Harry's eyes sparkled in the sun that filtered through the trees. Draco found himself unable to stop his arms from encircling Harry. Harry made no move to stop him except to shiver as Draco's grip tightened around his waist, bringing their bodies into full contact from the knees up. One hand snaking up to Harry's jaw, Draco tilted and guided Harry's chin, kissing him. Instinct completely took over as Draco summoned the power to apparate both of them back to the warmth and security of his bed chamber.

Neither Harry nor Draco was truly aware that they'd moved indoors and neither could control the involuntary movement of bodies seeking more contact. Draco's instincts drowning out all thought except his mate was before him and was pliant to every touch. Connected at the mouth, Draco felt as if he'd never need to breathe again as Harry kissed him back hungrily, tongues plunging into a willing mouth as hands tangled in Draco's hair. Bodies were pressed so close that it seemed as if they were trying to fuse their bodies into one being.

Finally forced to temporarily part due to lack of air, Draco found his hands ripping at the odd belt tied around Harry's waist while he nipped with his teeth up Harry's jaw line to his earlobe. Harry's arms were wrapped around Draco's shoulders as he tried to thrust his hips into Draco's. Finishing with the knot of the tied belt, Draco slid the robe off Harry. Underneath, much to Draco's amusement was just a pair of Draco's silk boxers. 'He's already stealing my underwear. We'll have to talk about that later,' Draco thought as he again kissed Harry's closed eyelids.

Seeing the bed directly behind Harry, Draco nuzzled his way to Harry's neck as he maneuvered Harry backwards. Harry's loud gasp of surprise and pleasure announced their arrival as Draco tilted them smoothly down onto the bed. Spreading Harry's legs, he knelt between the spread legs. Running both hands up and down Harry's powerfully built thighs while steadily inching the silk boxers towards Harry's middle to reach more skin, Draco's eyes again found Harry's.

Breathing in deeply to catch his breath, Draco saw an awareness he had never noticed before in Harry's eyes. Lust flickered there, but there was an overtone of passion and trust—something Draco had never thought he would see in Harry's eyes. There was so much emotion shining through that Draco knew that he could never hope to categorize without much more in-depth study. Hands pausing at the middle of Harry's thighs, Draco felt a wave of magic surround him as he kept eye contact with his mate. Magical energy began to cause visible waves of flickering light around him, making his skin glow even more.

As soon as the magic began to extend from Draco, an answering pulse seemed to grow out of Harry. Harry was surrounded by a pulsating red gold aura. Harry sat up, scooting closer to Draco and reached out to touch Draco's chest. When his hand came in contact with Draco's chest, right over the heart, the golden aura surrounding Harry flared in intensity before leaping towards Draco. Simultaneously, Draco's silver aura began to reach for Harry.

The auras touched and swirled together before dissolving into a light golden color that surrounded them both. When the auras blended a feeling of release swept over Draco, it was the permission he'd been unknowingly waiting for.

Falling back onto the bed, Harry's eyes were glazed with lust and need as he clutched Draco to him in a needy kiss. Draco freed himself and moments later was nuzzling Harry's silk covered crotch, the scent of Harry overlaid with his own scent was intoxicating. Mouthing Harry's erection through the cloth, Draco delighted in the sounds his mate was making—deep moans and whimpers with interspersed Draco's and please. He'd picked a good mate and nothing would stop the bonding now that they were this close.

The moment Harry had come within several yards of the man a strange, desperate pang of want made itself known deep inside of his chest. It was almost as if the world slowed down as his hand made contact with the blonde's shoulder and turned him around. Recognition and an overpowering rush of emotions flooded Harry as grey eyes connected with his own. A tingling wave rushed over Harry's skin, leaving him overly sensitive and feeling as if his body was on fire as the distance decreased between himself and Draco. Draco's hand tilted his chin and then they were kissing. The kiss was infinitely better than any other kiss Harry had ever had. Comparing his previous kisses to the current was inconceivable, it was almost as if asking if someone would rather be in heaven or in hell. The kiss was both heaven and hell, heaven because it felt as if the world had suddenly rearranged itself and everything was shimmering and beautiful, indescribable as their tongues mated. Hell because Harry knew that he'd need to breathe, that this life breathing kiss would end, but hopefully more kissing would follow. Warmth suffused Harry as his body strove to be nearer to Draco. All sense had left his thought processes and only a deep certainty remained: Draco. Need Draco now.

The transition from the wooded path to the bedroom was seamless for Harry. One moment he and Draco were standing in the secluded woods and the next he was laying on his back on the dragon canopy bed with Draco nuzzling and mouthing his erection through the borrowed boxers. He found himself sobbing for Draco to do something, what he was unsure of but he did know that Draco would know.

The silk barrier between himself and Draco seemed to dissolve as Draco briefly stopped what he was doing to hiss something Harry didn't understand. Now naked, Harry squirmed against the equally naked Draco. Mind confused and screaming with need, Harry pushed his body into Draco's, desperate for touch.

Harry's sense of time evaporated. Everything was focused in this moment as Draco joined their bodies. Magically generated heat surrounded the pair as magical forces cracked and hissed as they joined, neither exactly aware of what was happening around them. Even as their bodies rushed towards completion, Harry felt something drawing mentally closer to him until they became one, melding seamlessly without flaw.

Harry and Draco were unable to mentally distinguish where one ended and the other began. It was as if they had been two bowls of water that had combined and mixed. Harry found himself looking at Draco's life through his eyes, feeling and understanding Draco's thoughts, seeing who Draco was and was now becoming. Draco also saw his mate's life; the feelings of rage, terror, love, and respect were just a few of the emotional responses to the life his mate had lived. In the meld of their minds, they met and held each other mentally, slowly sinking into the other's essence.

Lucius Malfoy chuckled and shook his head at his son. Draco was sprawled out on top of his mate, both snoring away peacefully with their limbs tangled in the bed sheets. Well, this wasn't exactly what was planned but it would work out eventually. The room around the bed was a mess. The heavy drapes that had been attached to the wall were in pieces scattered about the room, along with shattered furniture and glass. Evidently, his son and Harry had been having a very good time.

He debated whether or not it was a good idea to wake them so early in the morning, but the two had had a week alone together since the night Draco had saved Harry. Clearing his throat, Lucius was surprised his son did not awaken. Draco's training had been extensive and he should have awoken the moment Lucius stepped into the room.

Eventually, Lucius reached down and started gently shaking his son while calling his name. Draco only groaned and snuggled closer to Harry.

Harry however, opened his blue-green eyes and focused immediately on Lucius. "Father?" he said, voice husky with disuse.

Lucius blinked in surprise at Harry, his hand still resting on Draco's back. "What did you just call me?"

Harry smiled slightly as his arm reached out from under the bed clothes and began petting Draco's hair, eliciting a purr from Draco where he was hiding his face in Harry's neck. "I would like to consider you my father—if you'll let me. I know that you are very important to Draco and love him very much."

"You want to consider me your father…I take it you and Draco talked a bit about his situation?"

"Not really, but I don't think talking will be necessary."

Draco then decided to put his two sickle piece in, "Father, is it normal to have a permanent mind-meld when you mate?"

"What do you mean mind-meld?" Lucius asked, wondering what Draco was talking about.

"Our minds, they're… well…" Harry started, and then Draco finished with, "we've become one, completely. I'm still Draco and he's Harry, but it's like we're in the same body almost. I can tell what he's thinking, feeling, and saying and it's as if I'm also thinking about the same things if I reach for him in my mind."

Lucius stared hard at his son for a moment. He remembered his father talking about full-blooded veela and what happened when they mated. What Draco was describing sounded similar, but from what Lucius remembered it usually wasn't as strong as what Draco was implying. He and Narcissa were able to reach out and know what the other was feeling, but they were unable to actually communicate other than that. Also, short distances limited this ability.

"It may be a temporary side-effect, but it is not normal, even for full-blooded veelas. You are not a full-blooded veela, so you should not be having a reaction like this. It may decrease or not over time and distance. You'll have to experiment while I do some research."

Harry's hand stopped moving as he looked at the back of Draco's head. "Do you want to try? Personally I'm getting hungry."

Draco finally lifted his head, stretching slightly in Harry's grasp. "Sounds good. I feel like I haven't eaten in a week."

"Well, if the two of you haven't left this room the whole week you've been here it wouldn't surprise me. Your mother and I couldn't get away until this morning."

"Week?" Draco sputtered as his shock showed on his face, sitting up and knocking Harry backwards. "We've been here a week?"

Arching one eyebrow, Lucius nodded slowly before speaking in his accustomed drawl, "Yes, it's been exactly seven nights since Voldemort captured Harry. I take it you lost track of time?"

"You could say that. We bonded on the morning after and we've been out since then," Draco told his father softly, the shock still evident on his face.

Lucius frowned at his son's answer. "I'll look into it personally. However, we need to get you both back to school as soon as possible and begin covering up what happened. Harry's absence is not as big a problem as yours is. The official story given to Voldemort was that in the confusion following Harry's disappearance you were thrown to the side and hit your head. Your mother is supposedly insisting that you remain at home and recuperate. At Hogwarts the story is that you supposedly were pushed down a stairwell, hitting your head. Supposedly Pomfrey insisted you be placed in an isolation room in the infirmary because of a bad headache while waiting for Severus to brew something for it. Your Godfather is covering for you for the moment."

"How is my absence being explained?" Harry asked.

"Dumbledore announced your kidnapping and recovery, saying that you were being treated for injuries sustained prior to the rescue and would be returning to school as soon as a clean bill of health had been given. Your friends have been making it difficult because they are so worried about you. Also, there has been some suspicion as to whether Draco was involved in your disappearance. Evidently, your friend Weasley has been making a lot of trouble in Sev's classes. When I talked to Sev yesterday he had just finished giving out two months of detention with Filch to Weasley."

Draco and Harry snickered at this but quickly became more sober. "Father, could you please leave so Harry and I may get dressed?"

Sighing dramatically and abandoning his dignity, Lucius rolled his eyes at his son. "Of course but it's not like I haven't seen it all before. You do remember I used to change your nappies. I'll make sure food is on the table for us. Don't take long though, we need to evaluate how strong your ties are before going to Hogwarts if you want to find out what you two did to each other."

After Lucius left chuckling and muttering to himself about silly sons, Harry pulled Draco back down to the mattress before he could get out of bed. Looking Draco in the eyes, Harry was shocked to see that the previously slate blue eyes now were ocean colored, with green mixing in the blue. "Your eyes are different!" he told Draco while mentally sending Draco what he was seeing.

'So are yours Harry…you've now got blue-green eyes. I wonder just what the hell did we do to ourselves?'

'Do you think your father noticed? He's not at all like I thought he was…'

'No I imagine he's not like you thought' Draco thought back at Harry, smirking slightly before he leaned forward and placed a soft kiss on Harry's nose. 'My father has always been a totally different person in private than in public. Its how the family works, it's too dangerous for my family because we're not completely human we have to keep up the pureblood shite. It's not widely known that the Malfoy family has veela blood.'

'I feel like I know this, like it's there but I don't understand it until you mention it.' Harry thought as he snuggled into Draco.

'We definitely need to figure out how this happened, but I'm glad it did.'

'So am I. I think I love you…I can feel so much for you and I feel like I know you better than anyone I've ever known and that you understand me, even though I didn't like you at all less than two weeks ago.'

'Love you' Draco thought as he wrapped Harry in a hug, eyes leaking slightly. 'I've always loved you even before I can remember. My mother says that we met when we were only one year old and that we cried when our moms separated us.'

'I wish I had a family still and that my mom could have told me her version.'

'You do now. My parents view you the same as me, they always have, but they needed to keep you safe so they couldn't do much. I have the feeling that they are going to change that now, but I don't know for sure. It might jeopardize their position as spies and I don't want anything to happen to them.'

'I understand. I think that a lot of things are changing, but as long as this' Harry gestured between them, 'remains we'll be okay.'

Several silent seconds ticked by as the two held each other close, reluctant to let go. Draco finally broke the silence, "We should get out of bed. I know we're both hungry."


	4. Chapter 3

Life Long Love—Chapter Three

Author: Emerald Thorn

Disclaimer: Not mine, I just play with them.

Rating: Definitely R.

Genre: Slash, AU, Romance/Adventure, Fantasy, Veela!Draco (if that could be considered a genre)

Author's Notes: Reviews at the bottom. FYI: ouroboros are dragons that are eating their own tail and are the symbol for immortality in alchemy.

Severus Snape was in a foul mood, actually foul didn't begin to scratch the surface of how utterly miserable he was making the students of Hogwarts, but it was a good starting place. Coming back from the Death Eater meeting last week with orders to find out who had stolen Potter away had been only the start of the worst and most trying week of Severus Snape's life. The explanations floating around about his godson's temporary absence from school was adequate but didn't stop all sorts of nasty little complications that he'd had to personally deal with. It didn't help that there were two official reasons for Draco's absence and Dumbledore had 'decided' to let Severus do most of the dirty work. Just because Severus worked for Dumbledore did not mean that he liked the man most of the time, especially like now when he wondered how the hell Albus thought he was helping the situation by staying out of it.

Severus was not by any means a morning person, preferring instead the coolness of the night because of his grandfather's vampire blood, so when he was sitting at the staff table that Friday morning he was not thrilled to see the ebony goshawk that was Lucius' personal bird. Tied around the left leg was a small scroll. Eyeing the scroll with a sour look on his face, Severus cracked a small smile as the goshawk screeched and shook the leg at him, waiting impatiently to have the message removed. Removing the message from the bird, Severus opened the seal nonchantly as if the message was not anything important.

_Severus,_

_Draco has mated and will be returning to Hogwarts with his bonded this Friday night. Please have the attached prepared. I will speak with you in person Friday evening. The Plan will be going into action._

_Lucius_

Severus, who had been drinking his tea as he read the message, almost choked at the first line. The rest of the small note wasn't much better and it was very obvious to him what Lucius wanted to discuss. Grabbing the last bit of toast, Severus crumpled the note into dust as he excused himself from the staff table and headed back to the dungeons to start laying wards.

Lucius watched in amusement as his son and bond mate scrambled into the kitchen over an hour since he had left them in their room. The pair of them avoided meeting his eyes and seemed to be constantly reaching out to touch the other as they sat across from him at a small table near the large cooking fireplace. The table was filled with breakfast foods, everything from scrambled eggs to steak. After a quick "Hello dad, sorry we kept you waiting" the two had buried their faces in their food, eating like starving wolves.

Sitting back, Lucius waved his dishes towards the sink before staring at the two bowed heads and wondered which would finally say something. It took a good ten minutes before Draco put down his knife and fork, wiping his mouth daintily with a napkin.

"Yes Dad?" Draco asked sheepishly, hands reaching under the table to grip Harry's thigh.

"You two certainly are a pair," Lucius chuckled, eyes twinkling in a way that reminded both Harry and Draco of Dumbledore when he was going to suggest something that would not be well received.

Finishing as well, Harry also set down his silverware and placed his hand over Draco's. "I suppose we are. We are um… what's the word… bonded."

Switching gears so quickly it was frightening, Lucius immediately became the overly serious persona Harry was used to seeing. "Unfortunately, we only have two days before you both are expected back at Hogwarts. I'll give you two hours and then I expect you both to meet me in the practice hall."

"Why the practice hall?" Harry asked hesitantly, feeling Draco's trepidation at what his father had said as he gripped Harry's thigh more firmly.

"He's going to test our bond," Draco told Harry quietly, his eyes not moving from his father's. "He's also going to see what he can determine about our power levels. Normally a veela and their mate have a bit of a boost when they mate because of the power generated by the bond. Ours is unusual so it may be more than just a bit boosted. You're not going to hurt him are you Dad?" Draco pleaded the last bit, his eyes worried.

"I don't intend to seriously injure either of you but this needs to be done or there may be unforeseen complications down the road. I'm giving you alone time beforehand so you may heighten your bond before we test you."

"Can't we have more time? Harry and I need to talk…" Draco whispered.

"I would if I could Draco. This is not exactly an ideal situation," Lucius answered softly. "After you've been tested you will have until Friday evening to prepare for going back to school. The testing will only take a few hours."

'Come on Harry,' Draco mindspoke, 'I plan on making the most of the two hours.' Pulling Harry up with him, Draco practically dragged Harry back to their rooms which had been mysteriously righted while the pair had eaten breakfast.

As soon as they reached their room, Harry found himself pinned to the back of the door with a very eager Draco removing both their clothes as they kissed. Half naked, Draco pulled back. "I love you Harry."

Harry looked at his mate, feeling Draco's thoughts and feelings running through him. It was hard to wrap his mind around what he had done the past week. Bonding with Draco had rearranged his mind. Seeing what Draco's life had been and his side to every argument had changed Harry in ways he was only beginning to be aware of. Draco was right when he had told his father that they were now one person. Harry could sense that elements of his personality were integrating bits and pieces of Draco as Draco was taking bits of him into himself. It was all very confusing when Harry tried to visualize what had happened and he knew it was going to be very hard to explain to everyone when it did come out. What he did know for certain was that life had suddenly become very focused on being with Draco and exploring the intensity that Draco provoked in him. Mating had been a complete surprise to Harry, he had never thought of another bloke that way before and had never ever contemplated his life partner would be Draco.

However, when he thought back to meeting Draco on the pathway in the woods he remembered the pang he had felt within himself. The needy want that told him that everything would be okay and that this was his destiny. It had nothing to do with Draco being a veela, it had everything to do with something his soul had sensed at that moment. It was as if a switch had been flicked and the world became inverted. It had been the most natural thing for Harry to let Draco kiss him, and after Draco had kissed him the first time there had been no way for Harry to turn off the burst of feelings Draco evoked in him. Years of antagonism between them faded into the background, no longer important to either of them. Those years were gone and would not be revisited ever again.

Resisting the pull of the bonding was not a possibility, Harry felt more alive than he ever had—and he wasn't attributing it just to the mind blowing sex either. Speaking of mind blowing…

Harry curled both hands into his mate's hair, looking deeply into his mate and stimulated Draco's body, specifically his groin area. Draco's whole body seized as Harry reached into him. Even though he was aware of Harry's hands in his hair and his own hands on either side of Harry he felt as if he had just been caressed everywhere. The sensation continued and Draco felt his hold on reality slip away. Harry was everywhere teasing, stroking, kissing, licking, and holding Draco safe in his strong arms. Still half dressed, Draco was unaware of Harry's lips on his as all sensation overloaded him into orgasm with the added pressure of a gentle, closed-mouth kiss.

Harry felt Draco's orgasm as if it were his own and felt his own release follow his mate's. Draco fell against him, shaking and breathing as if he had just run a marathon. Burying his face in Harry's neck, just under the chin, Draco placed a soft kiss on his mate's throat. Clasping Draco to him, Harry kissed the top of Draco's head. "I love you too, Draco."

Draco looked up and met Harry's eyes again. "I don't know how you did that but… wow…"

Smirking in a very Malfoyish way, Harry gave his mate a lusty look. "I learned from the best. I think there's something else I want to show you that I picked up the other night and I think it's perfect for strengthening our bond. It's called reenacting the bonding with reversed roles." And with that he threw Draco over his shoulder and headed towards the bed, ignoring Draco's indignant squawk of protest as he was manhandled.

Lucius shifted through several books splayed out on one of the library desks. Nothing in the various books on veela mating bonds mentioned anything like what Harry and Draco were describing in their indexes. The general books on veelas were not much better, having been written mostly by non-veelas or veela mates but by various wizards who claimed to be experts but mostly got things wrong and only occasionally right. The Malfoy's owned one of the most extensive libraries in the wizarding world, if the answer could not be found on the shelves it most likely did not exist in anywhere in the British Isles or most of Europe. The most useful book in his search so far had been Salazar Slytherin's personal memoir about his mate and their bond. Salazar never specifically named his mate but there was evidence it had been one of the other founders. Salazar's memoir mentioned that his mate and he experienced an unusual closeness he had not previously heard of and that his mate and he were overly sensitive to any magic performed around them. Other than those little tidbits, there was nothing else even remotely relevant to what Lucius was looking for.

Slamming Salazar's memoirs closed Lucius stared at the embossed cover. On the cover was an imprint of a serpent-like dragon coiled around a sword. The breed of dragon portrayed had been extinct for nearly two millennia, even before Salazar's time. The dragon was an ouroboros, the symbol for immortality that disappeared from Egypt for no known reason. Why had Salazar chosen this symbol for the cover?

"Immortal love?" Lucius said aloud, wondering if that was the answer. To his surprise, the book opened itself and flipped to the back cover where there had previously been several blank pages. The pages were now covered in masculine writing that was dissimilar to Salazar's upright angular writing before switching back to Salazar's writing. Reading, Lucius became more and more thoughtful as he read the older English and translated in his mind to more modern prose.

Congratulations on finding the hidden section, whoever you are. Sal wanted me to write something but I thought it might be better that it not be quite as obvious as the rest of this journal is. The world does not know of me and it will be better in the long run for everyone if our relationship stays secret until it can no longer harm either of us as it is seen as unnatural for two powerful wizards to not settle down with a nice witch apiece. Times have been difficult for Sal and myself, but we will always I hope be able to work through our difficulties and persevere in the face of the challenges we must face.

Tomorrow Sal and I will be finishing the final wards on our school, Hogwarts, which has been running for several years now. Tomorrow, Sal knows I must marry a young witch my parents long promised me to and he knows there is nothing I can do to prevent this short of exposing ourselves to the public eye. Sal and I cannot do this. He is with child by me and must soon leave to bear our child safely. I am writing this in hope that some day my child will be able to read my words—that he or she will know that they are first in my heart with their other father and that I am not willingly leaving the two of you. I will love you forever, even beyond the grave. Someday I hope I will meet you, possibly in this school Sal and I have built together.

Remember that you are born out of a love unmatched, a bond that is the strongest ever seen by a mated veela couple—even if we were not traditional parents. You are my true heir.

Lucius stopped reading at this point. It was very obvious, even unsigned, who had written these last pages. What had become of their child and Salazar? Lucius knew that Salazar had died in obscurity, ostracized supposedly by the other three founders for his beliefs that only purebloods should be allowed inside Hogwarts. None of the histories from the time said anything about a child of Salazar's attending Hogwarts. Supposedly Salazar had married after leaving Hogwarts and had several children with a pureblooded witch of Merlin's line. Tom Riddle was the last descendent of that line. What had happened to the other child?

Setting the book down, Lucius thought hard. 'Ah! The Inventory List!' Practically running, Lucius went deeper into the library until he came upon the accounting section which had every financial ledger ever used since the early 600's AD by a Malfoy. Taking down a slim volume from the top shelf, Lucius opened the surprisingly heavy book. Placing is wand on the first page, Lucius stated "Salazar Slytherin personal memoirs."

On the page three entries appeared slowly:

October 4th, 1352—received memoir of Salazar Slytherin as bride price from Lukas Potter in payment for his sister's marriage into the House of Malfoy. D.P.M.

April 28th, 1402—Salazar Slytherin's memoir spent as payment of bet to Reginald Zabini. A.M.D.

April 29th, 1402—Salazar Slytherin's memoir received as bribe from R. Zabini. A.M.D.

"Potter?" Lucius asked aloud, not expecting an answer.

"Yes Dad?" came Harry's voice from the door way where he stood with Draco.

Startled, Lucius turned to face his son and Harry. "Has it been two hours?" Lucius asked, mind still stuck on the entries.

Arching an eyebrow, Draco regarded his father with curiosity. "It's been almost three. Harry and I were waiting in the practice room but you didn't show up. Have you found something?"

"I may have. Harry, have you ever been in the Potter vaults?" Lucius asked, trying to remain coldly calm as his thoughts raced faster than the speed of light.

Harry shook his head, puzzled as to why Lucius would want with the Potter vaults. All that Harry knew was in the vaults was money, which Lucius didn't need. "No I haven't. I'm not supposed to technically have access to them until I turn twenty as part of the trust fund my parents signed. It's just money anyway."

"There's more than you think in those vaults. I need to get into Castle Dragmount and check the Potter library for their accounting records. Have you been there ever? That's where the Potter vaults are located."

"No I haven't, I've never even heard of Castle Dragmount. Should I have?" Harry asked, worried about why Lucius was questioning him.

"I need to make a few fire calls. Draco take Harry to the practice room and warm up—and no making out. I don't need to walk in on the two of you," Lucius said as he left the library, heading in the direction of his own suite.

"Do you know what's gotten into him?" Harry asked Draco, unsure what had just happened.

"Don't know, but I think we should do as he says. He usually tells me things when he's got most of it worked out or needs my input. However, I think he'll be awhile so I don't think we have to worry about him 'walking in on us' anytime soon," Draco said with a slightly mischievous smirk on his face, "What do you say to a little snogging? "

end ch. 3


	5. Chapter 4

Life Long Love—Chapter 4

Author: Emerald Thorn

Disclaimer: Not mine, I just use them for nefarious purposes ;-)

Rating: R

Categories: Veela!Draco, Romance/Adventure, Fantasy, AU

Author's Notes: 4500 words… ye gads… I'm sorry this hasn't gotten here sooner, but you'll be happy to note this is the longest chapter yet—by more than 1000 words too. Reviews are at the bottom.

Albus sat at his desk with a cup of mint tea in one hand and a teapot in the other just before noon. His office was back to the previous clutter it had sustained prior to Mr. Potter's outburst a year and a half ago. Fawkes sat on his perch fluffing his feathers and ignoring the two other occupants of the room. Severus Snape sat on the other side of the desk and was practically growling in frustration at Albus. Inwardly Albus sighed, exhausted from constantly walking on eggshells around anyone with Malfoy blood, including the current potions master. "So Lucius wrote to you I presume? That was his owl at breakfast."

"It was. It seems that special arrangements will need to be made," Snape sneered as Albus offered him a cup of mint tea. "I don't suppose you have anything to say about that do you?"

Calmly setting the teapot down, Albus gave nothing away by his seemingly serene attitude. "Now Severus, I need to know the details of this arrangement if we are going to be able to accommodate whatever Lucius is wanting."

Determined to make it as miserable for the old coot as possible, Snape found himself describing in short, small sentences what the message had been about. "Draco and Potter have mated. They will need some privacy. I don't want them sneaking into my classroom to have their fun."

Dumbledore smiled at Severus' growliness and his eyes twinkled their infamous twinkle. "Well, that happened rather sooner than I thought it would. There are those suites in the dungeons that would work very nicely since Mr. Malfoy is under such close watch by his peers. I trust you can handle the warding yourself or would you like me to ask Minerva to help?"

"I don't need any help!" Severus spat, eyes narrowing in annoyance with the old wizard. "What I need is your assurance that we have your full support in protecting the pair. If you won't give it under oath they will not be returning to this school."

"Now that won't be necessary Severus, you know it is in my best interest to keep the two of them safe," Albus replied, smiling mindlessly at the irate potions master. They were playing a very dangerous game now, one of them would have to compromise and Albus knew that it would probably end up being him. Severus may not have the last name, but it was very obvious sometimes that he had Malfoy blood in him. "Wizards oaths will not be necessary to ensure their protection."

"I will have your oath Albus or they will not come." Snape stood and placed his hands on Dumbledore's desk, leaning down into the old man's personal space in an intimidating manner. "I will not knowingly place my godson and heir in any danger, even known danger of your creation or Voldemort's. I will have your word or you will have no contact with either of them."

Albus found himself in an uneasy stare down with his potions master. Severus was very, very serious and was pushing adamantly for once, something Severus rarely did. It was something Severus did only when he felt that no other course of action was acceptable. Sighing, Albus nodded. "You may get the potions required for the oath but I still see this as unnecessary."

Severus then surprised him by immediately pulling a small black leather pouch from a pocket and emptying three vials onto the desk. "Veritaserum for truth," Severus said pointing at the amber colored vial, "Solarium for binding," he pointed to the gold vial, "and azure infusion for permanence," as he pointed to the last, blue vial. Taking the cup of tea out of the headmaster's hands he then poured half of each vial into the steaming cup with no noticeable change in volume occurring. Finishing, Severus drank the remaining halves as Albus drained the teacup as it was handed back to him.

"Do you Albus Dumbledore promise upon pain of death and destruction of your heirs to protect Draconis Malfoy and Harold Potter?" Severus said, his voice tinged with a ringing sound and eyes burning with a light from within because of the potions that had just been imbibed.

Feeling the potions prompting him, Albus reluctantly replied. "I do take upon pain of death the charge of protection. I swear to protect to the best of my abilities Draconis Malfoy, last son of the House of Malfoy, Snape, and Black, and Harold Potter, last scion of the House of Potter."

Severus nodded and made a dismissing motion with his hand, ending the effects of the potions. More calm now, Severus calmly remarked, "I'll take care of the suite. I don't recommend meddling—Draco will not be half as gentle if he feels that Harry is threatened." Getting up to leave, Severus made it clear he would not be swayed when Dumbledore tried to placate him by refusing to look at the old man as he called after the potions master.

"Surely you are overestimating the danger here Severus," Albus said, pouring a fresh cup of tea. "Mr. Potter has never been in an unknown dangerous situation."

Back stiffening, Severus refrained from shouting, his hand upon the door latch. "Then what do you call what happened at the Department of Mysteries Albus? You and I both know that you were unable to accurately predict Mr. Potter's actions and that cost us a very valuable asset. I suggest you rethink what you just told me. I have better things to do than sit and listen to you try and manipulate me into doing what you want. I am not your servant Albus." And with that, Snape disappeared down the staircase and out of Albus' office.

Harry stood before Lucius, fidgeting slightly under the flat grey stare. Draco was silently encouraging him from the sidelines and telling his mate mentally how proud of him he was for volunteering to go first even though it was Draco's father. Lucius waited silently for several minutes, standing near the center of the practice hall and planning carefully what spells to work the boys through. Finally Lucius spoke.

"We will work through the curses as you've learned them, starting with common first year hexes and moving up to seventh. Then we will check defensive magics as well as the other areas, rotating spells between the two of you so Draco get your arse next to your mate.

"We won't be casting them on each other will we?" Draco asked worriedly as he moved to Harry's right side. He didn't think he could bring himself to curse or hex Harry and he could feel the anxiety in Harry echoing his concerns.

"No. You'll be casting them upon me and countering the hexes I send your way. I want you to work as a team and see how closely you can coordinate your attacks without being previously trained to fight this way since it is slightly non-traditional among normal wizards."

"Is it traditional anywhere?" Harry asked, nervous about which curse to try first.

"Yes it is," Draco answered him. "It is not terribly unusual for mated veela pairs to be taught in tandem so that they may use their combined abilities to defend one another. Originally, wizard dueling rules were created by the ministry to stop the advantages veelas and other magical creatures that mate have. Because of the rules it is considered bad form for two to face off at a challenger or defendant—which is how those of veela heritage were traditionally taught to fight and preferred to do. That's when the tradition of second's started. The other half of the bonded pair almost always insisted on being close to their mate during dueling and non-veelas insisted on having the same amount of support even if the second's were not actively participating in the duel."

"Really? I thought it had more to do with honor and such," Harry said, turning to his mate briefly and wrapping an arm around Draco's waist. "We'll have to try this tandem version soon."

"But boys, you will be trying to do so now," Lucius reminded them. "Twenty paces then turn and begin throwing first year hexes."

Draco and Harry turned and began walking. At twenty paces, they turned opposite directions and began throwing all the first-year hexes they had ever heard at Lucius. Lucius smiled at the accuracy and power behind the hexes as he disarmed them rapidly, sweating slightly as he strove to keep up with the two younglings. After five minutes he indicated that they could move up to second year hexes and curses. This went on for perhaps as long as a half hour before Lucius called, "Halt! We'll break for twenty minutes before we reach sixth year curses so I can have something to drink. Draco, you know what to do."

Harry slowly let his wand fall from casting position, watching Lucius walk over to a cabinet imbedded in the wall and take a thermos of water out. 'Draco?'

Next to him, Draco smiled. 'Come here Harry.'

Turning to his mate, a mere two paces away, Harry looked at Draco puzzled. Draco felt like he was up to something and the look upon his face confirmed it. The sly smirk was very predatory. 'Draco, what are you…'

Draco pounced, kissing Harry for all that he was worth and stroking Harry inside and out with his mind. This lasted all of two seconds before Draco jumped out of Harry's reach before Harry could reciprocate.

Swaying where he stood, Harry looked at his mate in astonishment. "What was that?"

"Just heightening our bond. It's been awhile since we touched and it's the real reason Dad called a break. He wants to make sure that we're still quite entwined…before we get to the more complicated magicks," Draco said as he leaned closer to Harry, a smug look in his half-lidded cerulean eyes.

Amused, Harry gave Draco a pout eerily similar to the one Draco often employed when asking his mother for something that his father didn't want him to have. "Get back here then."

Lucius coughed quietly to remind the two that he was still in the room. He had already turned to face away from the pair, somewhat embarrassed.

"I think that was enough Harry," Draco said, pulling back a little further and licking his lips nervously as his eyes slid back and forth between his father and Harry. Harry took the hint that Draco wasn't an exhibitionist and let it drop.

'Can I at least hold you?' he asked Draco, making his mind voice sound resigned and pleading.

'Of course,' Draco replied before stepping next to Harry and burrowing into his cloth covered chest and nipping lightly at Harry's throat with his teeth as Harry's arms wrapped around his shoulders.

Turning back around, Lucius smiled softly at the pair. "You two are insufferably cute when you're together. It's a good thing your mother isn't here Draco or I'd have to do something drastic from all the cuteness and cooing."

Draco turned around just long enough to cross his eyes and stick his tongue out at his father before he was forcefully turned back around by Harry for a light kiss.

Lucius laughed. "As I said, I'll have to do something about all this cuteness. It's making me feel positively nauseous. Too much sugar is not considered good for the constitution at my age."

"You make yourself out as positively ancient and you're not even forty yet," Draco said, voice muffled by Harry's shirt.

"Well, if you're ready to make smart remarks we can cut the break short and get on with it," Lucius remarked as he headed back to where he had stood before break. "We'll move through the last year's spells then move to protective spells."

"Fine," Draco grumbled as he reluctantly parted from Harry. Moving into a casting stance, Draco waited for Harry to cast the first spell before joining in, the first curse out of his mouth a particularly nasty binding curse.

Spells tumbled faster and faster back and forth. Lucius was starting to have major problems keeping up with his son and Harry as they moved to seventh year spells, even though Draco was sticking to strictly white magic and using none of the slightly less legal curses learned in lessons Lucius had given him over the years. It was amazing watching the two of them cast nearly simultaneously. One had almost ended casting before the other joined in using a curse to amplify the other's curse or a different way to attack whatever vulnerability exposed by the counter to the first hex. Finally, Draco hit him with a blinding hex which Harry followed up with a binding curse combined with a disarming charm.

Lying helpless on the floor, Lucius mentally crowed at the ability they displayed. Relief flooded him as Harry and Draco lifted the curses. Able to see again, Lucius smiled at the two who had not moved and were looking at him cautiously, wands still raised. "Very good you two," he said as he stood, dusting his robes off.

Harry grinned at him, snagging Draco to pull him closer. "I take it this part is done?"

"Yes it is. Let's move on to protective magic since I don't know if my bum can take another hit like that. You wouldn't want Narcissa after you."

Draco rolled his eyes at his father. "Yes, I'm sure mother would be absolutely livid that you got what you deserved."

Ronald Weasley, better known in the wizarding world as Harry Potter's best friend, walked quietly through the hospital wing inspecting each and every bed under the borrowed (without permission) invisibility cloak. So far he had counted two Ravenclaw first years that were still homesick and one Gryffindor fifth year with a concussion, no Malfoy or other Slytherins. Hermione and he had been suspicious when Harry's disappearance and Malfoy's disappearance occurred at the same time and hadn't been particularly impressed by the story of Malfoy being pushed down some stairs. 'Confined to the Hospital Wing my arse' Ron thought as he reached the last bed which was empty.

Earlier he had consulted the Marauder's Map, which had not shown Malfoy anywhere in the castle. Knowing it was unlikely that the map was wrong, Hermione had suggested checking the hospital wing out regardless. As it turned out, the map had been right—no stinking ferrets in the place.

Which left the question just where was Malfoy currently? Ron's money was on that Malfoy had something to do with Harry's disappearance. He didn't know how Malfoy was involved but more importantly, Dumbledore was not worried about Harry and was, in fact, covering for Malfoy. Why would Dumbledore do that?

Giving up on the hospital wing, Ron snuck out the door and headed to an unused classroom on the second floor next to the regular charms classroom. Opening and closing the door with an eye on the map looking for Filch or Mrs. Norris, Ron sighed in relief as he slipped the cloak off. On a transfigured couch, Hermione was covered with several blankets as she read through her history of magic textbook.

Hermione looked up as the cloak slipped off her boyfriend. "The map was right wasn't it?"

"It was. No ferret," Ron said, sitting on the other end of the couch and pulling Hermione's feet into his lap and rubbing them lightly, a pensive frown on his freckled face. "I checked every bed and the two isolation rooms. He wasn't in any of them and the isolation rooms looked like they hadn't been used in years. There was enough dust in the second one, probably at least three inches thick on the bed alone."

"So wherever Malfoy is he isn't in the hospital wing," Hermione said, her brow furrowing in thought as Ron massaged her feet. "Dumbledore announced at breakfast to the Slytherins that Malfoy should be back in their dorms on Monday, right after Snape left after getting that note that he burned."

"Something's up, isn't it? Something we're not supposed to know about." An unpleasant twisting in Ron's stomach told him that he should be worried for his best friend.

"Yes. But it does concern us if it's about Harry. I'll be happier when I know he's safe and sound. I don't know if I trust Dumbledore anymore if he's covering for Malfoy. I want to talk to Harry and I want to know just where Malfoy is." Hermione wiggled slightly as Ron tickled her feet slightly. "If Malfoy is back in school on Monday, Harry might possibly be back also. If Harry's back we corner him and ask him what happened and if he knows anything about Malfoy's little stunt. If not, we get Malfoy alone and get it out of him."

"Did I ever tell you you're scary sometimes?" Ron whispered, concerned not just about Harry but also with Hermione. Harry had not ever been missing for this long before without them and it was worrying Hermione.

Smiling softly at her boyfriend, Hermione remembered just why he was her boyfriend. "Yes you have," she said just as softly. "We need more information and I think that Malfoy will probably be the one to give it to us."

When Severus returned to his office later Friday, he was greeted by Lucius sitting behind the carved ebony desk, booted feet propped on one corner with a pensive frown plastered across his face. Raising an eyebrow at his cousin, Sev locked the door behind him and placed a silencing charm on the room. Going to his liquor cabinet, Sev grabbed two glass tumblers and poured his and Lucius' preferred drinks before giving one to Lucius and keeping the other. Taking a long drink from the glass, Sev collapsed ungracefully in the chair where students usually sat, propping his own feet up on another corner of the desk, right on top of the most recent seventh year essays on veritaserum.

"I don't suppose you have anything to say that would make my life easier at the moment would you Luc?" Sev asked, feeling exhausted from laying the preliminary wards.

"I've come across something a bit out of the ordinary and I think we may have a bit of a problem," Luc said, sipping at the drink appreciatively. "Draco and Harry have an abnormally strong bond and the only information I can find on their condition is giving me even more questions." Lucius then drank deeply from his own glass, contemplating the best way to explain what he had seen and read earlier that day.

"What kinds of questions about their bond? I thought all mating bonds were mostly about the same considering how little veela blood Draco has compared to you. If I recall correctly he's only about a quarter-blooded veela." Severus asked, swallowing heavily as the acidic alcohol hit the back of his throat and slid down burning his throat. He was curious as to what his godson had landed himself in that he hadn't already heard about. Draco was especially good at getting himself in bad situations and then messing up everything else completely when he tried to remove himself from the situation. Besides, the current situation could hardly get any more complicated.

"Draco is only about one-fourth veela or thereabouts so you are right about that. Narcissa and I always found it a bit strange that he found his mate so early in life and before he'd reached maturity, but we assumed that with the family's tradition of veela crossing may have accumulated or been triggered in Draco since Narcissa had a great grandmother that was a full-blooded veela. It seems Draco is unusual and Harry even more so. Before I came here I tested them both and as a pair to see what I could discover about their bond and try to measure how much their abilities had expanded."

Lucius paused briefly to have another sip at his drink, Severus was still in his chair, his attention wholly focused on Lucius. Lucius felt unsure how to explain the testing results but tried to explain it as best he could to his cousin, "I tested them both. First Draco and Harry, then each one of them separately. Neither displayed any problems with casting any of the spells they have been taught in school but there was a bit of a difference in how effective the spells were. I instructed Draco to cast a patronus charm and a dragon the size of a small house emerged."

Severus' eyes went wide at the mention of the size of Draco's patronus. "But I thought Draco always had problems with that particular spell before. I remember him casting it and getting a dragon the size of a large housecat that couldn't fly or chase anything off. In fact, I remember you telling him it was impressive that he could even manage a patronus since he had so much trouble thinking the right way to form the spell."

Lucius chuckled, briefly remembering the look of astonishment on Harry and mild shock on Draco's face as the patronus had begun licking Harry like a mother cat cleaning one of it's kittens. "You should have seen the look on their faces when it began licking Harry."

Severus looked like he was going to be sick. "Licking?"

"Yes, like a mother cat with her kittens," Lucius said while taking another sip of alcohol.

"And this was Draco's patronus?" Severus said, still with shock written across his face. "The patronus that previously would have fit under a chair now is the size of a house and licks his creator's mate?"

"So it would seem."

"Shite…" Severus said, also taking a drink from his tumbler.

"Ah but I haven't told you what happened when Harry summoned his patronus," Lucius said with a knowing smirk.

Glaring at his cousin, Severus resisted the urge to throw a childish hex at his best friend for his perverseness but decided he was too exhausted to take Lucius to task. "And I take it you are waiting patiently for me to enquire as to what the silly boy's patronus did."

Batting his eyelashes playfully, Lucius smiled at Severus. "So glad you asked."

"I don't recall it being a question."

"Well I shall take it as one anyway." Pausing dramatically to give Sev a chance to roll his eyes and make a rude gesture, Lucius then continued speaking. "As you are aware, young Harry's patronus is a quite the impressive stag, much like his father's animagi form—I believe you've seen the patronus' form before. When Harry summoned his patronus it was the same size as always but looked and felt like a real animal rather than the luminous ghost-type that most patronus' are. In fact, the creature was nuzzling Draco and insisted upon giving him a ride."

Snape goggled at Lucius. "It gave Draco a ride?"

"Yes and Harry as well. They rode all around the vale and house together making quite the ruckus. I daresay all those equestrian lessons Draco had as a child didn't go to waste like Narcissa feared they would," Lucius said, putting on his best innocent face that Severus had rarely seen since they had graduated.

Unsettled by the results of the testing, Severus tried to change the subject before Lucius became truly annoying. "You said you did some checking into their bond."

"I did say that didn't I?" Lucius said with a slightly quirked eyebrow, his features schooling themselves into a more serious look. "I found some clues in Salazar Slytherin's personal memoirs but it also gave me even more questions about the whole mess. I was stupid enough to try and puzzle out the meaning on the front cover of the journal, an ouroboros, which I recalled studying when we were doing research on the side effects of dragon's bane. I remembered that it is the symbol for immortality and with the implications that Salazar might have been a veela I was foolish enough to think aloud. Evidently I stumbled across a hidden passage while talking to myself." Lucius was swirling the remaining liquid, agitation and frustration expressed on his handsome face.

"And?" Sev prompted, getting more and more intrigued with each kernel of information. Severus knew that what Luc would tell him next was very important.

"Salazar Slytherin was with Godric Gryffindor's child when he left Hogwarts. In fact, it seems that the whole supposed quarrel was invented so he could leave and have the child in peace," Lucius' frown deepened and his eyes did not focus on Sev as he spoke.

"With child?" Severus straightened a bit, almost falling out of the chair in surprise. "Luc, I don't think I've ever heard of a man ever giving birth before. In fact, I'm sure of it. I've spent months in the archives and never seen any mention of the sort. I'm sure I'd remember something this unusual. Was there a description of how they did it in the diary?"

"Not that I've read. I was too shocked to finish the extra parts at the back." Lucius then paused, starring into the bottom of his glass with a slight frown creasing his forehead. After several minutes of silence, he whispered in a voice that was barely audible, "I did check who owned the journal before the family."

Off-balance, Sev didn't know what to say. Lucius seemed troubled, which was very rare. Sev had only seen Luc worry three times since they had graduated from Hogwarts. The first time had been when Narcissa had given birth to Draco which had ended with severe complications for Luc's mate. The second had been when word reached Luc that Voldemort had disappeared after attempting to kill Harry Potter, Draco's mate. The third had been when Draco had snatched Harry from under Voldemort's nose. Lucius only showed worry when his family was in trouble.

Feeling that the silence needed to be broken, Sev asked the next logical question. "Who originally had the journal?"

"The Potters," Lucius said before tossing back the remainders of his drink and getting up to get another.

Sev agreed wholly with Luc's plan of getting drunk. Finishing off his own drink, Sev reached into the bottom drawer of his desk and pulled out the bottle of aged whiskey he kept there for emergencies such as this. "Aw hell."

"I agree," Luc said unsure of what course of action they would now take.


	6. Chapter 5

Life Long Love

Chapter 5

Author: Emerald Thorn

Rating: R

Disclaimer: not mine

Genre: Veela!Draco, Adventure, Romance, AU

Author's Notes: Reviews after the chapter.

:bah: this first part is what happens when I write while listening to late night inspirational radio shows… :hates inspirational crap in all forms but likes some of the music that is played:

Draco glared at the thin sliver of light that drifted through the curtains to land in a stripe right across his nose and left eye. The irritating sunshine had woken him from a very good dream featuring Draco's most favorite person in the world. Needless to say, Draco was not feeling like a morning person today even with Harry spooned up against his back.

Not wanting to move in case it awoke Harry, Draco glared at the small gap in the curtains. Looking at the bedside clock told him it was only a little past six in the morning, way too early to be awake on a Saturday he had previously intended to spend lounging in bed with Harry. Not surprisingly, even though Draco made no movement other than to breathe, Harry soon awoke. Gripping Draco firmly, Harry grumbled aloud as he hid his own face in Draco's hair. "Bloody sunshine. It's Saturday."

"We don't have to get up if you don't want to," Draco whispered, bad mood vanishing instantly at Harry's soft kiss upon the nape of his neck.

"I like it just where I am, but I think we either need to close the curtains and sleep or…" Harry trailed off, his attention focused on the flicker of arousal he had felt within Draco. Smirking, Harry let one hand fall between Draco's legs and began to massage his mate.

Moaning softly at Harry's attentions, Draco twisted around so he was facing Harry and kissed him softly on the lips before Harry immediately deepened the kiss, tongues dancing together as they tasted each other.

Breaking apart, Draco smiled at Harry who was looking at him crossly for interrupting his 'good morning.' Harry was irresistible in all his forms to Draco—nothing Harry could ever do would not be part of Harry and thus Draco would always love everything Harry did and secretly found a pissed off Harry quite amusing. "Morning breath, love. I think we're in dire need of bathing. Although I'm not complaining about last night, I am feeling a bit gritty."

Harry sighed, face relaxing as Draco ran his hands up and down Harry's back in a soothing manner. "I suppose we could bathe… as long as it's together. For some odd reason I'm feeling rather attached to you at the moment."

"Now I wonder why that is," Draco chuckled, his hands dancing down Harry's back to rest lightly in the small of Harry's back. He could clearly feel that Harry was more than just a bit interested in having a bit of a romp before leaving bed. Changing the subject, Draco knew Harry and he need to talk a bit about how things were going to go for at least the first few days back at Hogwarts. Harry's friends were just a bit over protective and nosy. "How are we going to handle this when we get back to school? The thought of not being able to reach out and touch you… it hurts so badly. I've known my whole life that even when and if we bonded that I would likely not be able to be with you fully because of who you and I are, but it still hurts."

Arousal momentarily forgotten, Harry wrapped one leg around Draco's waist and clutched Draco to him. Trying to soothe the bubbling sense of restrained panic he could feel rising between them, Harry plunged his consciousness into their bond reaching out and holding Draco mentally as well as physically. "Shh… 'Ko. We will figure something out. I don't think I could go more than a few hours at the moment without being able to snag you for a quick snog let alone a full day or week. And if Dumbledore or anyone else has a problem with it they will deal with a very irate Harry. I don't care if it's inconvenient or dangerous—I think it would be worse in the long run to not allow us to have some time together. I'd hate to think how unstable I would feel without you around."

Draco nodded, head buried under Harry's chin. "I know. I was feeling wonky after last night's formal supper. Three hours with nothing more than holding hands was bad enough, I'd hate to think how bad it would be after six or twelve hours."

Running his hands through the silver blonde hair, Harry felt the peace of holding Draco bleed into him. Draco's presence soothed frayed nerves and calmed the worries that often plagued him to gentle murmurs that were controllable and he could firmly deal with. The intense sorrow that had pervaded him since Sirius' death was still there only now contained to the back of his mind, it had been smoothed over and the intense jagged and sharp ball of grief that he struggled with for over a year was not as all-encompassing as it had previously seemed. Harry's thoughts were more organized and he found himself able to better think and plan when he was close to Draco. Draco was his clarity and salvation in ways Harry couldn't even begin to understand. The support and affection his soul craved and the mind and heart to understand Harry's thoughts and feelings. Yesterday, when Lucius had tested their magical abilities, Harry had felt the rush of wonderment and ease that he had first experienced in his early encounters with the magical world. Even casting hexes and curses had not masked the rush of joy and excitement. It was bizarrely wonderful in the weirdest sort of ways. Bonding had done something to his magic and Draco's—he had noticed that Draco seemed to feel the same way when they had been teaming up against Lucius. Everything was brighter and cleaner, the world had been made anew and it felt to Harry sometimes when he thought about it that it was if he was only now just seeing things around him.

"You're thinking too hard for this early in the morning Harry…" Draco mumbled, hands taking a more active interest in Harry's rear end. "Thinking is for later… after we've had a bit of fun and are cleaned up."

"Fun you say? Why ever would I choose thinking over having some fun with you, love?" Harry growled, as he proved his point to Draco, having more than just a bit of fun while doing so.

Lucius sighed, sitting on the couch in the informal drawing room with Narcissa cuddled against him, her head on his shoulder. If the transition back to school went smoothly, and that was a big if considering all the possible ways for something to go wrong, there was still the large chance that something could later happen that would trash all the current protections being placed around his son and Harry. So much rested on how Dumbledore saw his oaths and what kind of support he gave to the boys. Thoughts sped through his mind, reminding himself of every detail of the last several days and checking for any chinks in the armor he had erected around the boys.

Sensing her husband's unease and racing thoughts, Narcissa kissed her husband on the cheek. "Worrying now won't get you anywhere Luc. We've done everything we can to protect them. Dumbledore has sworn to protect them and Severs will be there to watch over them. Nothing is going to happen at least for awhile and we will probably hear about anything before there is a big disaster for you to worry yourself sick over."

"I know but I keep trying to see if there's anything we haven't compensated for. I want Draco to have as little to worry about as possible. I want him to have as much time with Harry as possible before real life intrudes and interrupts them. Remember how much we missed each other if we were parted even for a short time right after bonding?"

Smiling beautifully, her whole face lighting up as she gazed upon her husband, Narcissa felt the strong swell of the love in her heart for her mate. Lucius could be truly amazing when he chose to cast off his Malfoy outer shell. "How could I forget? It was some of the happiest days of my life."

Returning his wife's gentle smile, Lucius found himself cradling her closer. His worries were not only for Draco but also for his wife. Narcissa had been part of his life for so long and the threats against their family that they had faced together never ceased to surprise him. When his father had originally arranged for him to marry Narcissa, two years younger than him, Lucius had paid little attention to the blonde tomboy who was more interested in quidditch than in boys and other girly preoccupations. Lucius had only been twelve when it was announced and had not been overly interested in Narcissa previous to their engagement. Narcissa had also attended Beauxbattons, not Hogwarts, so Lucius had mostly forgotten about her except for the constant reminders because of his veela heritage to not get involved with anyone because he had been promised to a young Black girl. They both had been extremely lucky, meeting years later at Lucius' graduation party they had instantly been attracted to each other. Even though their marriage had been previously arranged, neither had any complaints with their chosen spouse. Lucius could remember getting a drink and sitting mostly in a corner with Severus and Sirius Black, talking about school memories when a blonde girl with sparkling cobalt eyes had come up to Sirius and began to berate him about some silly birthday present he had sent her. Lucius had been thunderstruck and taken immensely with her. Later he had learned that she was his fiancée, and the rest was history. Narcissa had always made him happy and content.

"Yes I do suppose Sev can look after them while they're at school. It's likely to make him feel a bit more young and maybe it will finally push him into admitting he needs to find someone to spend his life with."

"Sev? Merlin no. I think it will take a bit more than two hormonal newly bonded boys to push him that far after refusing to pursue anyone for so long. For one matter, I don't think poor Sev has any idea what kind of person he would even prefer for one thing." Narcissa was giggling lightly against Lucius' formal robes.

"I worry for him sometimes. He's always been so lonely since the werewolf chose your cousin over him. I remember how bad it was when he found out his Remi was a werewolf and keeping secrets from him. I don't think that the rest of the marauders even knew that Remi and Sev had started dating. Your cousin has remarkably bad timing."

"Sirius was always a bit off when it came to matters of the heart," Narcissa said sadly, eyes glassy with tears. "I miss him, much as I know he thought we had betrayed him and the light. I wish I could have explained to him but I don't know if he would have believed me."

"Someday maybe we'll have a chance to have that talk with him," Lucius told his wife, content to hold her until Draco and Harry made their appearance downstairs.

Severus collapsed in his office chair, slightly before the noon meal was to begin. The wards were finished, all that was left was to key them to Draco and Harry. Holding his aching head in both hands, Severus was slightly startled when his office door opened to admit Blaise Zabini. Scowling at the young man, Severus tried to remember if he had previously agreed to this meeting but couldn't remember anything of the sort.

"Yes Blaise?" Severus asked, still scowling slightly as he sat up straight in the chair and folded his hands on top of the desk.

"Draco's not anywhere in the castle is he?" Blaise said seriously. He knew Draco had been at the Death Eater meeting last Friday night. In fact, Blaise had been part of Draco's original cover story. However, Blaise had a hunch that his only friend may have had something to do with Potter's rescue. Blaise wasn't stupid; he knew there was something else that Draco felt for Potter that wasn't strictly something he should have been feeling for his arch-rival. In fact, if he hadn't been so worried for his friend he would have gone straight to Dumbledore and asked about Draco's whereabouts and why he couldn't see him—at least to give his psychotically studious best friend his makeup work.

Stiffening, drawing himself to his full height, Severus regarded the only person sans Harry and close family that Draco had ever allowed even semi-close. "And why would you think that Draco is not at this very moment in the infirmary?"

"Because I know where he really was." Blaise did not so much as twitch under his head of house's stare. "And I don't think you or he would really want Potter to come to any harm."

"It is sometimes overly obvious who is second and third in your year," Severus said, sighing as he slumped in his chair as he motioned Blaise to have a seat. "And what leads you to these conclusions?"

Taking a seat, Blaise stared evenly at the potions master. "I know Draco very well, perhaps better than anyone else in the house, but I also know that my future lies along Draco's path. I've sensed it since first year when we were first formally introduced."

"I forgot that your grandmother was quite the seer before she married your grandfather," Severus remarked, studying Blaise carefully while unobtrusively casting silencing and locking spells all around the room. "I take it you have some of her talent?"

"Yes, I have a bit. I get hunches that usually end up coming true."

"And what particular hunches have you about Mr. Malfoy?"

"You don't need to get all formal now Professor. I've known for a long time that Draco is more than he seems. In fact, I think it was in second year when I noticed that he was preoccupied with Potter even when he was not announcing plans for getting him into trouble. Also, he made sure that he knew of every little bit of mischief that the other Slytherins were involved in—which afterwards, if in any way they could affect the trio, seemed to go awry."

"So you believe Draco does not wish harm upon the trio? Why did you say Potter in particular earlier then?" Tension filled the room, Severus was uneasy with just what Blaise would do after he left the room.

"He doesn't wish harm upon Granger or Weasely because they are Potter's friends. After fifth year he began to expand the group that was under his pseudoprotection. However, all trails led back to Potter, Professor."

"And you're sure?" Snape was running around in circles in his mind.

"Yes I am. I'm quite sure that Draco is in love with Harry Potter. In fact, I think he's been in love with him since he first set eyes on him." Blaise himself was tense; he was unsure how Snape would take this declaration.

Thinking he was finally reading Blaise correctly, Snape calmed somewhat. "You'd be correct on that point."

Startled that Snape had admitted what Blaise had hypothesized, he goggled slightly at the professor with his eyes wide and mouth slightly open. "I was right?"

Amused now, Snape refrained from laughing. "Yes. In fact, if I am correct, Draco is right at this moment with the love of his life."

"So he did rescue him. I'll have to send a note to stop the search then." Blaise felt relieved, Draco was safe and happy with Potter.

"Stop the search?" Snape asked, his face showing the same amount of shock as Blaise's had moments ago.

"Well, I used some of my personal contacts to start searching for where Potter had disappeared to. I knew Draco wouldn't rest until he knew exactly where he had disappeared to." Smiling somewhat sheepishly, Blaise rubbed at the back of his head, ruffling his curly black hair.

"I take it you inherited your grandparent's entire contact network?" Snape was past shock now. How had they overlooked something so significant?

"Yes I did. I'd also like to assure you that no information goes to Voldemort, about Harry Potter, the Malfoy's, or anyone and anything else." Blaise was now serious. There was much to discuss.

"And where do your loyalties lie then Blaise? You seem to be concerned with Draco and Potter, I'd like to know why." Snape's mind had become a maelstrom of thought.

"Draco is my only and best friend. I sometimes have dreams where my gifts tell me things. I know that my future lies with Draco because the first night I spent here at Hogwarts I had the strongest vision I've ever had, before or since. Draco was in the bed next to me, I hadn't really had time to talk to him yet and I was rather homesick. I went to sleep normally; I didn't yet know just what I was in for. I saw the war, saw it coming and the next thing I saw was myself beside a young blonde man who looked remarkably like the boy whose bed was next to mine. He was older, probably not more than eighteen or nineteen and he had a cut that ran down the side of his face. It was bleeding spectacularly but he wasn't paying any attention because he was dueling so intensely. On his other side was Harry Potter and they were facing off against this glowing crimson and brimstone cloud with these eerie green eyes. I knew it was Harry because of the scar. I was at their backs defending them as they fought. All around us was chaos, but I knew we were winning. It was pouring rain but it was still sunny."

"And so you decided that you would do what the dream told you?" Snape asked, curious as to what Blaise had made of his dream.

"No, I was scared shitless and woke up screaming. I've never killed someone or hurt someone on purpose before but I saw myself cast the killing curse straight at this big hulking idiot that was running towards me. It was Crabbe, and he dropped at my feet. His eyes were open and I couldn't take any more of it so I woke up. What convinced me to follow my destiny? It was Draco. He heard my scream and rushed to my bed to wake me up." Blaise paused, the telling taking more out of him than he thought it would. "What convinced me was how worried and sympathetic he was. He wasn't totally awake, but he did tell me he had bad nightmares too. He was my first friend, and truly he is the only one I see as one. I am friendly and sociable with the other Slytherins but I know where I stand and I know where Draco stands, even if it isn't obvious to everyone. I don't trust a one of them—my housemates will not hesitate to sell any information about a weakness of mine or Draco's."

"You are aware of the consequences of what you're doing and you still are willing?" Snape arched one eyebrow, impressed with the second true Slytherin he'd seen since he had accepted Dumbledore's offer to teach.

"I'm aware. I know what will happen eventually and I know that I need to be there."

"I will need you to take certain oaths before I go any further with this. I can guarantee you will not be sorry Blaise, but know that what you will need to do will not always be easy nor the most logical." Finally, Sev had found someone who could continue in his footsteps, doing for Draco what Severus had always done for Lucius.

"I know. I expected as much. Let's make it a wizard's oath."


	7. Chapter 6

Life Long Love: Chapter Six

Disclaimer: not mine, other warnings same as other chapters.

Author's note: Hold on peoples, the honeymoon's over so the mood is going to be gradually shifting.

Draco fidgeted, eyeing Harry's tie for the sixth time in less than ten minutes as they sat in a separate, smaller compartment of his parent's horseless carriage which looked much like a muggle limousine but was much more luxurious than any muggle invention. Harry's tie was coiled loosely around Harry's throat as he rested his head on Draco's lap, the angle of the red and gold tie tauntingly contrasting with the starched white collar, the soft wisps of unmanageable ebony hair, and the golden tan smattered with the blush of kisses marked by Draco on Harry's skin. Sleeping lightly, Harry swallowed, the motion causing Draco's breath to catch. Harry was unintentionally stirring Draco, the added feeling of Harry's subconscious curling out around their bond making Draco tingle and squirm slightly. Draco was very conscious of the fact that the walls of the carriage were purposely built so that sound would carry into the next compartment in which his parents were driving the carriage. Lucius had curiously never taken to having someone drive him around and preferred instead to drive himself—which was always a source of amusement to Draco's mother.

Slitting one eye open, Harry's mouth twitched at the fascinated look on Draco's face as Harry swallowed a second time. The slightly open mouth, the pink tongue peeking out to wet the lips as eyes darkened and narrowed as they focused on the movement. He was very aware of what his mate was thinking, which would not be considered suitable viewing for anyone under the legal age. Catching Draco's eyes and distracting him, Harry lifted a hand to brush a strand of platinum blond behind a small ear.

"I wish I knew what the situation was at Hogwarts right now…" Draco whispered, his own hands tangling slightly in Harry's Hair.

"Father said that there are rumors flying around like you would normally expect and that the cover stories are holding for the general populace. The only people we have to worry about fooling are my friends and Blaise." Harry tried to comfort his mate unobtrusively, leaning into the hands running through his hair.

"I'm not so worried about what Blaise would think about us together as I am about your friends. They're not used to being told to stick their noses elsewhere. I'm still not sure I'm going to tell Blaise. I know he won't tell a soul if I ask it of him but I don't know your friends well enough to know if they would do the same for you. Ronald and I do not have the best record…nor is my relationship with Hermione the greatest." Draco was now actively wiggling in his seat, his nervous energy seeking the nearest outlet.

Becoming uncomfortable from all the movement, Harry sat up and pulled Draco to sit in his lap and curled around the agitated blonde. "First, it's Ron and 'Mione. You don't need to call them that in public because of our little secret but I would appreciate it when it's just us. I'm hoping that someday this won't be a secret and they will get along with you. The first step is getting familiar with them as people not just as my sidekicks."

Smirking his signature Malfoy smirk, Draco agreed with his mate. "I guess that would be a good idea. Just don't expect me to be overly friendly with all of the Gryffindors. I doubt that I could ever fully convince all of them that I wasn't a baby-eating, blood-drinking, Death-Eater-in-Training maniac."

"You don't have to get along with all of them. Even I don't get along with everyone in my house. I broke Colin Creevy's camera last year when he wouldn't leave me alone… he's never forgiven me for it and I don't know if he ever will." Harry found himself grinning at the memory of Colin's enraged face as he showed it through their link to Draco. The way Colin's pasty face had scrunched itself up with the eyebrows receding into his overly green-tinted blond hair had been very satisfying at that moment in time—Colin had been taking pictures of Harry in the shower to sell. Evidently Harry had become quite the pinup sometime during sixth year and Colin had been quick to capitalize on selling duplicates of his pictures. The time in the shower had been the first time Harry had caught Colin trying to take pictures of him in the nude, pictures Harry did not want to be seen anywhere by anyone except maybe Draco now that they were mated.

Draco's smirk widened into a toothy grin as he picked through the memory Harry shared with him, slightly preoccupied with Harry's state of dress in the memory as he appeared in one of the bathroom mirrors. "So you're the one who foiled the first of my diabolical plans to get a picture of you au natural. I offered to pay him very well if he could obtain that picture." At this Draco's eyes sparkled mischievously. "You weren't completely successful you know. I do have a few pictures from Creevy of you bare assed. I was lucky Creevy was peeved enough at you to not ask why I wanted the pictures."

"He has pictures of me naked?" Harry's voice squeaked.

"Yes, but don't worry. I made sure that the only other person who has copies is me. I was very persuasive." The maniacal gleeful pride that Draco was giving off left Harry feeling imbalanced. "The pictures are quite good. I'll let you have a look when we get to school."

"You kept them at school?" Harry was really wishing his voice wasn't squeaking so much.

Purring lightly, Draco nuzzled into Harry's neck while biting the red and gold tie. "Where else would I keep them? I was an unmated veela who was extremely aware that his intended mate wanted nothing to do with him. The only bit of consolation I had of you was a few pictures. In one of them you're asleep on a bed with the sheets tangled in your legs. Don't worry, you're laying on your stomach so Colin didn't see the more interesting bits because the sheet fell just right."

Groaning and covering his eyes with one hand, Harry was mortified. "I can't believe he actually has more pictures of me."

At that moment the unassuming limousine pulled to a stop. Looking out the small window, Draco saw the gates of Hogwarts opening before the car pulled through into the main courtyard. "We're here."

Giving Draco a light squeeze, Harry grabbed the heavy black cloak and began wrapping Draco in it. Draco then batted his hands away and pushed a second identical cloak into Harry's hands. Quickly they both hid their faces in the thick cowls and muffler, pulling the hood as far forward to let it hide their eyes.

Hand upon the door, Harry turned around to place a quick passionate kiss on Draco's mouth. "Whatever comes love, I'll be right beside you."

"You and your Gryffindor tendencies…" Draco huffed in mock sarcasm before kissing Harry chastely. "Be careful love; don't forget you've mated a dragon."

"Yes, my dragon." Harry's eyes sparkled as they connected with Draco's. Reluctantly Harry turned back around and opened the door, following a waiting Narcissa and Lucius who were also heavily cloaked.



Severus and Blaise watched as four heavily cloaked figures walked towards the main entrance from a hidden balcony very early in the morning, just moments before dawn on Sunday. "We should go to Dumbledore's office," Blaise said quietly, wondering why Severus had told him that they would wait until the Malfoy's arrived.

"Yes we should." Severus turned silently and glided away, his footsteps making no noise on the stone floor. Sighing, and quite tired of his Head's mood swings, Blaise turned away from the windows to follow Severus since he only had a few educated guesses as to where Dumbledore's office actually was.

Up several flights of stairs, down two very long corridors and down two rickety spiraling hallways, Severus stopped in front of a gargoyle. Blaise stood by his side patiently, wondering what Snape was waiting for when the four cloaked and muffled figures appeared from the other end of the hallway. As they came nearer, the four of them seemed to stare at Blaise in surprise, unsure why he was there. Severus just nodded his head in greeting then turned on his heel to face the gargoyle and said, "Licorice whips."

A faint grinding of stone on stone accompanied the turning of the gargoyle to create a set of circular stairs, leading Blaise presumed, to Dumbledore's office. Snape did not hesitate at all and began to climb the still moving stairs. Blaise followed after as the other four fell in behind him. No one said a word as they entered the cluttered office space where Dumbledore awaited them at his desk.



'Harry, why do you suppose Blaise was with Sev?' Draco asked his mate worriedly.

'I would assume he's here to help us out, but I'm sure we're going to find out soon.' Harry said, his tone grim and serious. 'I don't suppose you ever hinted to Blaise what exactly was going on did you?'

'Not one word, but that doesn't mean anything with Blaise. He's had some spectacularly nasty premonition spells before—he could have seen us together in one and started to put things together. He's third in our class you know and that's only because he and I don't try to outdo each other for first and let Hermione have it.'

'You let Hermione have first in class deliberately?' Harry lifted the mental equivalent of an eyebrow as they sat down on a loveseat.

'Yeah, well, it's deliberate on my part and Blaise just kind of follows along with me. Don't know why exactly. You have realized the irony of just where we chose to sit…'

Chuckling quietly with his mate, Harry turned his attention to Dumbledore who was busy asking everyone if they wanted a sherbet lemon. Predictably, no one was reaching for the candy dish. Narcissa was carefully unwrapping her braided hair from her hood and Lucius was removing his muffler. Taking their cue, Harry and Draco pushed their own hoods to fall back.

Blaise gasped lightly in shock when he saw Harry and Draco sitting together. Somehow, their eyes had changed colors. They were now exact duplicates of the dream images except Draco did not yet have a scar. Harry's posture was erect and polite, a mirror image of how Draco was sitting. Blaise had never seen Harry sit like that before; he tended to slouch as if he was trying to make himself less noticed. Realizing he was staring at his best friend and Potter, Blaise forced himself to turn to face Dumbledore.

Dumbledore popped a sherbet lemon in his mouth as he looked over the six people in his office. Harry and Draco sat close together on the loveseat, both faces carefully neutral. Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy sat in separate chairs, both composed and waiting patiently for Dumbledore to begin. Blaise Zabini sat awkwardly in his chair, eyes darting back and forth from Severus to Dumbledore. This was going to be interesting, to say the least.

"According to requests I have had a suite prepared for young Mr. Malfoy and Mr. Potter to share. However, I do not feel that this is the only safety measure we should be making. Due to the nature of their relationship I am suggesting that we gradually reintroduce the boys to their peers, with Draco reentering classes a few days ahead of Harry so there is less suspicion." Dumbledore resisted the urge to fidget in his seat under the stripping gaze of the Malfoys, Harry, Severus, and Blaise. If Dumbledore hadn't known better he would have insisted he was in a room full of Slytherins.

"As I understand, I am supposedly in isolation because of an accident. Would it be possible to start with only half days? I do not think at this point that prolonged separation would be a good idea." Draco felt Harry's light touch on his waist, and leaned his weight slightly into the touch. Harry's incessant worry was back and vibrating through their bond.

"Half days may work out best and the illusion of a bad head injury could be elaborated upon. It is widely known to most wizard born students that head injuries are hard to heal quickly and would make the cover story harder to see through. I think that complaining of a bad headache may be sufficient to get yourself excused from lessons early." Albus's mind was racing—he couldn't help but wonder why he sensed worry from the mated duo and why would they have issues with being separated for less than a whole day?

"Then we are agreed. I will only start half-days back on Monday. Harry can wait until Thursday or Friday to return to classes. I expect you will explain to his housemates why he is not sleeping in the dorms any longer?" Draco was impressive, Harry decided as he watched his mate negotiate with the Headmaster.

"If I must, but I feel that Harry may explain himself. My explanations will not be taken as seriously as Mr. Potter's," Dumbledore told Draco.

Lucius chose to interrupt. "Blaise I believe you may be able to help with this part. You may act like you are escorting my son back to the hospital wing and then comment within hearing range of Ms. Granger and Mr. Weasley about seeing Harry talking to Madame Pomfrey in the infirmary."

"I could do that, but what happens afterwards?" Blaise agreed with Mr. Malfoy, secretly thinking that Draco could probably accomplish the same thing.

As if reading his thoughts, Snape answered Blaise while he ignored the Headmaster's attempt to speak. "Ms. Granger and Mr. Weasley are more apt to believe something you say in passing to the other Slytherins than they are to believe something Draco says—they are almost always skeptical when listening to my godson. This way, there will be less confusion because they will choose to ask Mr. Potter himself where he has been."

Harry and Draco silently conferred on what he should tell his friends and reached a quick agreement. "It will be easier if I stick as closely to the truth as I can. I'm less likely to get details mixed up. When they ask how I got away, I'll tell them that someone rescued me but I'm not sure who because they were gone when I woke up the next morning and I was at one of the Order's hideaways."

"Sometimes the easiest cover is the most obvious one," Draco quoted when Harry was done speaking.

"Yes it is," Lucius agreed, the small smirk he gave his son and his son's mate making his face seem lopsided. "You may also say that you spent most of your recovery time sleeping."

Harry blushed deeply as Draco coughed. "Well, I guess that would be near the truth."

Blaise just stared at them, his jaw slightly open.

"Blaise you may shut your jaw now," Draco admonished.

Blaise started then shut his mouth with an audible click of teeth. Harry found he couldn't meet anyone's eyes. Draco just sat proudly next to Harry with a large, cat-ate-the-canary smile. Dumbledore's eyes twinkled happily at the couple, but behind the twinkle his agile mind was taking notes of every gesture and emotion on the pair's face.

"If that is all, Harry and I would like to rest. It is still quite early and Harry is still recuperating." Harry felt like disappearing as Draco sent some very suggestive thoughts through their mind link.

"Yes, it is rather early. Severus would you please see young Mr. Malfoy and Mr. Potter to their rooms?" Dumbledore said with a clap of his hands.

"I will." Snape stood to leave and waited patiently for Harry and Draco to join him. As they started to leave, Lucius and Narcissa briefly embraced both boys and told them that they would see them as soon as they could arrange it safely but that it would likely be the Easter holidays—not the winter ones. Lucius had been forced to tell Voldemort about his son's injury and the lasting effects meant that he would have to stay at Hogwarts for the holidays.

"Take care of him," Lucius ordered Harry as he gave him a light squeeze. "He has waited too long for this."

"I will and I know," Harry said as he impulsively gave his new 'father' a hug that did not fit with Lucius' tough and cold outer persona that he had been wearing since they had stepped out of the carriage.

With a meaningful look, Lucius let Harry and his son follow Severus out the door. Slowly turning back to face Dumbledore, Lucius glared at the old man. "I need access to Dragonmount."

Lifting one aged, shaggy eyebrow Albus looked at Lucius in puzzlement. "Why would you need to get in there?"

"There are some books in the Potter vaults I need to access—and I'm not going to tell you why until I have all the answers I need." Narcissa was also glaring coldly at the Headmaster, her shoulder lightly brushing against her husband's as she showed her support for her husband's demands.

Albus did not answer immediately, going over what he knew to be in the vaults he could not think of anything that Lucius would need a copy of that he didn't already own. Puzzled but not ready to admit defeat quite yet, Albus folded his hands into a triangle before answering. "I will have to ask Hagrid or another messenger to fetch the passkey to the front gates from Gringotts—it is currently in the vault that Harry has access to so I will need to borrow his key from him."

"I will have Severus fetch it then," Lucius barked knowing that Dumbledore was trying to buy time. "This isn't something that involves you old man so I advise you to keep your nose out of it."

"Then I insist you tell me the moment you can." Albus found himself standing to his full height, trying to bully Lucius but not succeeding.

"You will know the moment it becomes necessary for you to know and not one moment sooner." Lucius turned and took his wife's arm before gracefully, yet forcefully left the Headmaster's office.

Frowning at the door, Dumbledore was startled when Fawkes let out a trill and flew to land on Blaise's shoulder. Having forgotten that Blaise was in the office, Dumbledore instantly smoothed his face and became the bumbling old fool he often played. "Ah, Mr. Zabini you should probably return to your dorm as well."

Not impressed, Blaise let his contempt show on his face. Two could play this game. "I think that I shall but I think Mr. Malfoy had the right of it. Stay out of Draco's business unless you want to have even more problems than you have now."

"I'll keep that in mind," Albus returned as Blaise lifted Fawkes to his regular perch then left quietly, the grinding of stone the only sound as the gargoyle staircase returned to close the doorway.



Severus said nothing as he lead Draco and Harry to their new suite, concentrating instead on the twists and turns that he needed to take to lead the boys deep into the dungeons. They were now far below ground level, the air was cool but not freezing as they passed through corridors that saw very little use until several days ago. Stopping before a carved section of wall, Severus glanced up and down the corridor before taking out his wand. This section of wall was made of rose quartz, much different from the rest of the castle which had been made out of granite, flint, and concrete. The carving was of a dragon swallowing his own tail, his wings curving gracefully six feet to the left and right. Severus was quickly coming to the conclusion that Slytherin had used this image as his own marking, but this was not the only section of wall with the symbol carved into it; it just was the only section of wall that Severus knew how to open.

Tapping the tip of his wand on the dragon's snout, Severus mumbled the password he had set into the carving less than three days ago, "Blood bonds."

At the touch of his wand, the doorway began to split in two with one half moving up into the ceiling and the lower half moving down into the ground to reveal a set of stairs that spiraled out of sight into the ground. Turning, he motioned for Draco and Harry to enter before pointing out a wall sconce with a candle bearing the impression of the carving on the door. "When you need to close the door, light the candle if you're on this side. On the other side, repeat the password. If you want to change the password, you need to place your wand on the dragon's mouth and announce your name and the old password, followed by the new password."

Shooing the boys down the stairs, Severus watched as Harry and Draco clasped hands before taking the steps. Rose quartz carved to look like flames lit the stairs as they descended over fifty feet. At the bottom was a large sitting room with a ceiling that easily reached thirty feet that was decorated in warm, chocolate colored furniture with silver and crimson accents. The floor made of obsidian was covered with a plush midnight black fur area rug from an unknown animal. A waterfall cascaded from the ceiling to cover an entire wall before creating a quick flowing channel that went through a doorway across from the entrance.

"Wow…" Harry whispered, his eyes darting from place to place as he took in his new living quarters. "How did you convince Dumbledore that we should have this place Uncle Sev?"

Severus glared at Harry at the use of the words 'uncle' and 'Sev' coming from his mouth. "Actually, Dumbledore doesn't know where these rooms are. I actually had started preparing a much smaller set of rooms for the two of you when Lucius mentioned something about an oroubous. I then changed where you would be staying with Blaise's help."

"It's beautiful Sev. I can't believe no one knows where these rooms are," Draco was sharing in his mate's amazement. The room was furnished to perfection and even with Draco's extensive knowledge of outrageously priced furniture and fabrics were congratulating Draco on his good turn of luck.

"Blaise insisted that your rooms be put here. He said that it was fate that you have these rooms." Severus was getting annoyed with the sugary cooing that was threatening to ensue.

"Oh? Well then. Let's explore the rest of it Harry. Do you want me to stop by your rooms tomorrow before I go up to breakfast?" Draco asked his Godfather, his carefully taught manners just barely managing to hold him back from careening through the rooms to discover what else the suite contained.

"That would be a good idea. I'll tell Blaise to meet you at the entrance at a seven thirty. If you need to reach me before then, and it better be an emergency, any of the fireplaces may be used to call me either in my rooms or office. Behave yourselves." Severus turned to leave, and called over his shoulder that lunch and supper, as well as any snacks they might want could be summoned using the fruit portrait that hung in the next room.

Watching as his new Uncle left, Harry wasn't surprised when the moment they heard the door closing Draco grabbed him and they began to explore.

Tbc…


	8. Chapter 7

Life Long Love: Chapter Seven

Author: Emerald Thorn

Rating: R overall... but probably not this chapter...

Genre: Veela!Draco, Romance/Adventure, AU, overused soul mate theory involving Harry and Draco and a special mushiness warning specifically for this chapter.

Author's Notes: Reviews at the bottom. Sorry this is sooo late....

Disclaimer: Not mine!

Their new rooms were absolutely the best place Harry had ever been in his entire life—even better than the vale which he knew would always have a special place in his heart because that was where he and Draco had bonded. The large sitting room, which was really more like an antechamber from a palace, reminded him vaguely of the Far East but the next room Draco and he discovered was definitely European. Following the narrow channel of water through the doorway revealed a study with two enormous mahogany desks on a sea of emerald granite bordered by floor to ceiling glass encased shelves filled with books of all sorts.

Before Harry could so much as reach out to touch the nearest bookcase Draco was tugging on his hand towards a set of double doors set off to the right. Pushing the doors open, with a brief tingle of magic passing over the pair, revealed an even bigger library that was easily twice the size of the school library. A lightly glowing waterfall tumbled down in the center of the room from the ceiling to create a large pool filled with brightly colored fish in every hue of the rainbow that provided the light source for the room. Comfortable looking couches surrounded the pool and the scent of jasmine and musk came from the water lilies floating in the water.

"How come this isn't used by the rest of the school?" Draco asked in amazement, his ocean colored eyes wide as they took in the library. "I can't believe Dumbledore knows this is here..."

"I wonder if Sev knew this was here before Blaise told him it was here." Harry asked, sharing in Draco's wonder.

"We'll have to ask. I hate to admit it, but now that I know this is here I don't want to share it with anyone but you," Draco turned to Harry as he admitted the last bit. "It's like a place separate from the rest of the school, someplace where we're not rivals but can be our true selves."

Smiling softly at Draco, Harry felt the tentative happiness in Draco. "It's home, like the vale, but different. And I agree that I don't want to share it with anyone else. Blaise and family can visit but I don't want anyone getting past the sitting room."

Cuffing his mate lightly, Draco clasped Harry to him and tucked Harry's head under his chin. "I wonder if we can set wards to not allow anyone past the door to the study unless there is an emergency that requires entrance?"

Voice muffled from being buried against Draco's throat, Harry agreed. "Super. Now let's explore the rest of this place."

Later, closer to midnight of the same day found Draco going through his new wardrobe looking for his favorite pair of school robes to lie out for the next day. All of their things had been moved from the dorms to their shared bedroom by Dobby. Dobby had been quite excited to discover Harry and Draco were back to Hogwarts and had insisted upon being assigned to care for his Masters. Evidently, the fact that Harry had arranged for Dobby to be given clothes had not put the slightest dent in Dobby's devotion to his Master Dragon. In fact, as Dobby proceeded to explain to an exasperated Harry, that by giving Dobby a sock Harry had offered Dobby a job as his personal house elf. Evidently, Hermione had not informed him that because of his impending attachment to Draco (which Dobby had been aware of since Draco had recognized Harry) he needed to make the same agreement with Dobby that the Malfoy's had originally started.

According to Dobby, he had been offered a job as a life servant of the Malfoy's some two hundred and so odd years ago by the offering of a servant's garment. Dobby had accepted proudly then and was still proudly serving the family. He told a flabbergasted Harry that by accepting the sock, from Lucius that had originally belonged to Harry, Dobby had accepted that he would also serve Harry. The whole time Harry had known Dobby was filled by wrong assumptions Harry had made. Dobby was not freed of his contract by any means, nor did he wish to be. He had made a promise and he intended to keep it, thank you very much for your concern Master Harry. When Harry had first met Dobby, Dobby had been under very specific and careful instructions from Draco to protect in any way possible and keep Riddle's Diary away from Harry. Lucius had been forced to dump the diary on poor, unsuspecting Ginny Weasley and report back to the rest of the Death Eaters that he had done his part of the bargain. Lucius had then personally ordered Dobby to see to it that Harry had as little contact as possible with the diary. Dobby had done that by distracting Harry.

Harry was a bit put out with the house elf and proceeded to sit in the middle of his shared bed and pout. Draco was pretending to be oblivious but was really quite well aware of how upset his mate was but was unwilling to apologize for trying to keep Harry safe. It was actually fairly amusing to Draco to watch his mate pull a perfect Malfoy pout. Harry looked quite irresistible actually, his hair was sticking out at odd angles and the way he was glaring off into space was quite intense.

"Am I always irresistible to you?" Harry asked, not shifting his glare from the spot between two carvings of more dragons swallowing their tails.

Pausing, Draco removed himself from the wardrobe and climbed onto the bed behind Harry. "Yes you are. It comes with the territory."

"Then even if I was being an utter prat you would still think it was perfectly acceptable?" Harry's voice was too neutral and the careful blankness that was flowing through their bond alerted Draco that something was worrying Harry.

Impulsively grabbing Harry from behind in a hug and resting his chin on Harry's shoulder, Draco eyed his mate with concern. "Harry, I've seen you at some of your best moments and some of your worst. I don't know if you've realized this but I was there when Sirius fell through the Vale. It just about killed me that night to not be able to grab you and wrap myself around you to protect you. I was very aware of how much Sirius meant to you and I was extremely worried how you would feel. I almost convinced myself that it was doing more harm than good keeping my secret from you but Uncle Sev told me that unless I could be sure that it wasn't my newly activated mature veela hormones I would be doing you a disservice."

"He convinced me that if I loved you I would put you first, above my mere mortal desires. I think even then I was picking up your feelings. Father ended up going to trial that summer and even though that was making me sad I think I was also feeling your sadness. And then when we returned to school last year I saw you not talking to Ron or Hermione as we entered the great hall... you looked so lost and it hurt so very much more to see you like that. To top it all off, you were angry with me because Father wasn't found guilty at the trial. I don't think I could ever feel worse than that moment last year when you told me to drop dead." Draco stopped, unable to say anything more immediately.

"I didn't mean it," Harry whispered, his voice somewhat detached yet mournful as he saw the memory through Draco's eyes. "I just... felt so bad that you were there, mocking me and Father was free and Sirius wasn't ever going to adopt me..."

"I know you didn't... that you couldn't understand all the whys and reasons so I forgave you immediately. What made that moment all the more horrid was I could tell you were so lonely..." Draco was cradling Harry even closer, if that was possible, his left hand running soothingly up and down Harry's spine. Harry, for his part, closed his eyes and snuggled into Draco.

'But we don't have to be lonely anymore Ko, not anymore...' Harry mentally sent, inhaling Draco's smell mingled with the jasmine and musk from the library pool. 'I like this place... it makes you smell good.'

Exasperated and amused, Draco attempted to retort, "And I didn't smell good before we came here?"

"Oh no... you've always smelled good. Kind of like some exotic fruit mixed with musk and err... mountain smell."

"Mountain smell?" Draco stared at Harry in disbelief. He smelled like a mountain?

"Yeah, and like rain too." Harry smiled as he opened his eyes and inhaled deeply a second time.

"Well, if I smell like a mountain you smell like an evergreen glade with a towering waterfall surrounded by mountains with a patch of fruit trees on the side."

"You're not serious are you? I smell like a picturesque tourist trap?"

"Hardly a tourist trap Harry. You smell like my private spot at the Vale, which I somehow managed to not show you while we were there."

"There's mountains at the Vale? I don't remember mountains..."

Kissing Harry to interrupt him, Draco mentally said, 'Well... there are but you have to be looking in the right direction at the right time of day. However, I think that kissing is better than talking...'

And Harry completely agreed with Draco once again.

Meanwhile...

Blaise fiddled with a quill he had suspended between his two spread hands, twirling and rotating the quill as he concentrated while Severus fiddled with a heavy book at his desk. Neither spoke as Lucius and Narcissa calmly observed them. It was irritating to listen to the silence in the room. Lucius and Narcissa were sitting calmly and sipping from the tea that Severus had told Blaise to serve.

Needless to say, Blaise was impressed by how little he was fidgeting—even though a well-brought up pureblood such as he should not have even twitched. Severus seemed to finally find what he had been looking for and handed one of the books he had leafed through to Lucius.

"This is the original source where we came across the symbol. It is based off an actual magical creature, an ouroboros. It's a little used symbol today, but is common in older alchemy writings. The most common meaning associated with the symbol is the renewal of life or the life cycle. It's also been known to stand for immortality but the ouroboros also is associated with a ying/yang balance to the universe. I'll have to do further research outside of Hogwarts to see if I can determine if there are any other meanings or links with the symbol." Severus seemed pensive, his normally impassive face showing slight tracings of concentration and worry showing how exhausted he was. Severus rarely showed emotion and it was usually only when he was too tired to expend the energy required to be emotionless.

Lucius seemed to digest the tidbit of information that Severus had given him. "The password for the journal entries was 'immortal love' which may mean several things. Slytherin may have just intended it to be a play upon his personal symbol and what he was, combining the veela need for love and the sigla's meaning of immortality. Or it may mean something that I cannot yet fathom. So little is actually known about the founders today that it would be very difficult to trace family lines but I do know that the journal belonged to the Potter's before the Malfoy's."

Raising one eyebrow in surprise, Blaise watched as Professor Snape's breath latched. Lucius continued unfazed. "According to the Headmaster, Harry has the Potter Gringotts' vault key in his possession and the keys to Dragmount are in that vault. Hopefully I can convince him to let me borrow them for a short time so I can access the record books."

"It would be a place to start looking at least," Blaise paused before continuing with Lucius' slight nod of acknowledgement. "Is there any chance that the school library might have something useful? And how much do we know about the ouroboros as a creature? I may be able to research in the library as a student with less notice."

"There may be something in the library, it is worth a look," Narcissa told Blaise, an odd sort of half-smile on her face.

Feeling unsettled by the odd smile, Blaise could only nod. Severus seemed amused by this and chuckled quietly. Lucius and Narcissa only exchanged a brief glance before turning their attention collectively back to Severus.

"Severus, let the boy do the research in the library. It would appear unusual to have you rummaging around in the magical creatures section and Merlin knows how many busybodies this school houses. Narcissa and I will concentrate on efforts outside of Hogwarts while you concentrate on keeping the boys secret out of public knowledge. I have the feeling that you will have more difficulty than we will." Lucius reached out to pick up Narcissa's hands in his, warming them as he noticed the slight chill she had picked up from the cool dungeon air.

Severus nodded, his face tightened into a pensive frown. "I have no doubt that my godson is perfectly capable of making this as difficult as possible. Is there anything else that Blaise or I need to help you with?"

"Not that we can think of," Narcissa said, as she stood to leave with Lucius. "I'll send my weekly owl to Draco with an additional note for him to hand to you if we come across anything of interest."

Before the couple could leave Blaise interrupted with a question, "What are we going to do about their eyes?"

Looking at Blaise in puzzlement Lucius asked, "What about their eyes?"

Now appearing nervous, Blaise's eyes darted back and forth between the three adults. "Their eyes... they've changed color. Surely you noticed?"

"I didn't notice anything different, but I was not paying close attention to them, I was mostly focusing on Dumbledore," Severus told Blaise, wondering why he hadn't noticed anything.

"I don't know if it is a permanent change or just a newly bonded temporary expression of their magic sharing. A simple glamour charm should cover it," Lucius told Severus and Blaise. "I'm sure that if Draco hasn't done anything when you get him for classes you will point it out to him?"

"Sure," Blaise said, still feeling as if he was forgetting something.

Response to Reviews:

Noali: eer... update soon... I tried but life squashed me like a bug under it's expensive sneaker. I agree that Dumbledore in the dark is a bit odd compared to most fics out there, but it fit for this one. Harry is a bit shorter—it's because of his malnourishment and tendency to get crammed into small enclosed spaces.

Mon2: Crying? I didn't think it was that bad... well... maybe this chapter was a bit mushy but then I don't really get teary eyed easily.

Willowstar: I will try to keep the fluff in balance with the angst and humor... hopefully you won't have to kill one of them!

Isis-mystic: Your wish to see their rooms will gradually be granted... I'm only describing a bit at a time so I don't over saturate the audience.

Pixie Goddess1: Smoothly? ::anticipates bumpy roads ahead with Voldie and the rest of the trio::

BlueEpiks13: erg... I'll get the next one out more quickly since I'm back at school again.

Iluvdraco334: If you like the bloodlines part of the story stay tuned next time when Lucius gets his hands on some answers.

Killer-the-cat: Yep... Blaise is male... but the update kinda stalled on it's way out the door.

Brenna8: The eyes are fairly obvious to Blaise because he's looking at the two of them and comparing them to his visions. Kinda freaky for him isn't it? I don't know how soon I'm going to clue Dumbledore in... it kinda depends on how the next chapter flows but we'll see. I don't plan on outright having anybody tell him anything...

Dead yet a love sick puppy: ::nods:: nice rooms—I wish I lived there.

Yana5: There seems to be a consensus that nobody wants Dumbledore to know... but we can't have him in the dark forever...


	9. Chapter 8

Life Long Love Chapter Eight:

Author: Emerald Thorn

Rating: R (especially this chapter)

Main Pairing: Draco/Harry

Disclaimer: Not mine XD

Author's notes follow story.

Blaise carefully maneuvered his small group of Slytherins closer to Granger's habitual table in the school library. McNair and Nott followed closely on Blaise's heels as he poked fun at Pansy. Pansy being Pansy hadn't yet realized just yet how insulting Blaise was being towards her. Sometimes Blaise was very sure that Pansy's family had inbred so much that there had been a massive loss of intelligence in the current generation—so much so that Pansy only had passed her OWLS several years ago by having her father pay the exam board a large sum of money. Making sure it was not overly obvious what he was doing he began to steer the conversation towards a topic he knew would prompt Pansy to say Draco's name.

"I'm sure Draco would agree with me," Pansy said with a slight sniff, her nose threatening to turn up at Blaise as her blonde curls bounced unrestrained around her average features. "I can't wait for Draco to be released so I can tell him how you've slighted me. He will make you apologize Blaise!"

Out of the corner of his eye, Blaise mentally smirked as Granger's bushy head was just barely peeking out from behind one of the many rows of books. "I talked to Professor Snape and he said that Draco would be moving back into the dorms from the infirmary tomorrow. Considering how bad Professor Snape seemed to think Draco was hurt I doubt he will be defending you anytime soon Parkinson."

Granger was now listening very closely, her entire face was now visible around the corner with her eyebrows furrowed and eyes calculating as she watched the Slytherins, not aware that Blaise was unobtrusively watching her as he taunted Pansy. Blaise had her right where he wanted her.

"Draco will defend me if he knows what's good for him," Pansy sniffed, her dirty blonde curls bouncing around her un-perfect oval face as she flipped her hair over her shoulder. Sometimes Pansy could be nauseating when she thought she was being beautiful.

Telling himself that Draco owed him big, Blaise leered at Pansy and dropped his voice so it would carry to Granger's ears. "I saw Draco yesterday in the hospital wing and you didn't even come up in the conversation. I think you've slipped from his thoughts Parkinson. Maybe you should try and be more attractive if you ever want to be a Malfoy."

Pansy gasped and shrieked at the same time, looking truly revolting in Blaise's opinion. Continuing to smirk, Blaise wasn't surprised when Pansy slapped him. What did surprise him was how deep one of the numerous rings she wore cut into his skin.

Snarling, Blaise caught Pansy's wrist before she could lower it. "Parkinson," Blaise growled, "If I was you and as bad a student as you I would be very afraid if what you did scars. Get out of my sight."

Pansy began to cry and ran out of the library, upsetting the librarian in the process. Nott and McNair, only looked at Blaise skeptically before they continued on to their study area leaving Blaise scowling at the spot where Pansy had been standing. Lifting a hand to his face, Blaise winced as his fingers explored how deep the cuts were. One cut, the deepest one, ran across his left cheekbone to the nose where it had taken out a chunk of skin and was bleeding heavily. Another two cuts ran parallel lower on the cheek but were shallower and it was hard to tell how badly they were bleeding because of the higher cut.

Looking at the blood on his hand, Blaise reached into his bag and grabbed his monogrammed handkerchief and pressed firmly on his cheek before looking at where Granger stood in the row before him.

A calculating look in her eye, Granger tilted her head to the side to see how badly Pansy had hurt him. "You should go to the infirmary for that or it'll scar."

"I know," Blaise said cautiously, wondering what was going on in that head of hers.

"If you want I'll go with you," she offered.

Blaise let his curiosity show on his face a bit as he responded in a neutral tone. "Why would you care Gryffindor?"

"I heard that Malfoy had a concussion and I read up on the wizard treatment. I didn't know that hitting your head had so few treatment options in the wizarding world." Granger's expression gave away nothing; Blaise wondered who had taught her to be this subtle.

"Yes he did. He's having very bad headaches and Madame Pomphrey hasn't been able to get rid of them so he had to see a specialist for a few days. I haven't seen him since he returned." Blaise wondered if she believed a word of what he just said.

"He did? See a specialist I mean," Hermione said with interest. Malfoy seeing a specialist would explain why Ron hadn't been able to find Malfoy in the infirmary.

"Yes. His mother insisted. Now if you don't mind I need to go to the infirmary," Blaise said, showing his best fake suspicious face.

"Oh, well yes. I do hope that it doesn't scar," Granger said. Blaise thought she almost sounded honest about it.

Turning, Blaise sauntered out of the library. It was becoming a very busy Sunday night indeed.

Hermione waited ten minutes after Zambini left to pack up her things and go in search of Ron. Half stumbling through the portrait hole, she found him playing a game of exploding snap with Ginny, Neville, Dean, and Seamus. Grabbing her boyfriend's arm, she whispered in his ear, "Ron I need to talk to you now!"

Dumping her bags, she followed Ron as he headed up to the seventh year boys' dormitory. Shutting the door after her, Hermione watched as Ron plopped down on his bed and turned his attention on his girlfriend.

Taking a deep breath to calm down and catch her breath Hermione explained what she'd heard. Ron listened attentively, waiting until Hermione was done before asking his questions.

"So it is possible that there was a good reason for Malfoy to not be in the infirmary when we were looking for him?" Ron asked Hermione, his expression contemplative.

"Yes, but it still is a huge coincidence that the night Malfoy happened to get hit in the head falling down some stairs is the same night that Harry disappeared! I don't know if there is any connection but it certainly is very suspicious. Dumbledore isn't saying anything either which worries me." Hermione began to pace, her mind working and reworking what she knew about her best friend's mysterious absence.

"I don't think there's anything we can do until tomorrow, 'Mione. There's no use wearing a hole in the floor," Ron said as he snagged his girlfriend's arm and pulled her to sit in his lap. "Hopefully Dumbledore will say something soon. Harry's been gone for over a week and we can't be the only ones trying to get some information. Besides, Harry can't miss a lot of school without getting behind so Dumbledore will have to bring him back to Hogwarts."

"Yes, we do have our NEWTS coming up," Hermione said distractedly.

Ron moaned in despair at his girlfriend's one track mind.

Draco awoke to Harry's lips on his demanding attention. It was early in the morning and although they had both stayed awake until after midnight, Harry seemed as awake as could be and was demanding that Draco wake up as well. Sighing contentedly at his mate's insistent efforts, Draco gave in.

Thirty minutes later a sated Harry lay cuddled on top of Draco, his head pillowed on Draco's chest. Harry didn't want to move and trigger another frantic lovemaking episode like the one that had awoken him earlier. Uneasiness had settled in last night and it was continuing to build. Being separated from Draco was weighing heavily upon him, making him cling to his mate more tightly. This morning's episode was a product of this feeling, which he knew Draco was feeling through him but was not producing himself.

What Harry wouldn't give for a normal uncomplicated relationship that did not come with seemingly random emotions that he had no control over. There was no rational explanation he could come up with to explain why he suddenly was feeling as if he needed Draco within him. The urgency of the feeling and the panic of not having Draco when the sudden need came hit Harry with the force of a tidal wave. Hence this morning's tumble in bed before Draco had even been fully awake.

Sensing Harry's unease, Draco had been lightly massaging Harry's tense body for some time now. Being aware of his mate's feelings did give Draco some advantage but even though they had just lain together Draco could tell that the drive had not left Harry. In fact it seemed slightly faded, like it was temporarily being held back but only tenuously, like a dangerous dog tied by an old bit of rope that was fraying badly. Puzzled as to how to reassure his mate and rid Harry of his anxiety, Draco frowned as the alarm clock on their bedside table announced that it was time for him to get out of bed.

Shutting the alarm off with a quick spell, Draco looked at Harry who was starring morosely at Draco's chest. "I need to shower, will you join me?" Draco asked, his hands never stilling as they moved up and down Harry's body.

Harry lifted his face to look into Draco's eyes and nodded slightly. As they rose from bed, Harry grabbed at Draco's hand and held on tightly as they walked into their shared bathing room. Starting the water flowing in the shower that could easily have held six, Draco sorted through the cabinet that held various soaps and shampoos. Selecting what he needed, he added body soap with a calming potion built into it for Harry.

Harry detached himself from Draco's side long enough to grab a few towels and a body sponge and placed the towels within reach of the shower doorway. Returning to his mate, he slid an arm around Draco's waist.

Looking at Harry with concern, Draco guided both of them under the water. Harry turned and buried his head in Draco's chest, nuzzling and nipping at Draco's wet skin. Hesitantly placing his arms around Harry, Draco stood patiently under the hot spray waiting for Harry to indicate when to move.

Harry eventually picked up Draco's shampoo and told Draco to turn around. Washing Draco's hair, Harry felt the now familiar tremble run through his body. Without allowing Draco to rinse his hair, Harry turned him around so they were facing one another and kneeled to take Draco in his mouth. Draco sharply breathed in as Harry suckled, surprised by Harry's sudden switch in activities.

Suckling only until Draco was hard, Harry turned around and impatiently pushed his rear against Draco. Pausing momentarily, Draco opened his mouth to speak but was cut off by Harry's snarling growl and impatient shoving of his body against Draco's.

"I'm still stretched from last time," Harry snarled impatiently wondering why Draco was waiting.

"Are you sure?" Draco asked, his hands cupping Harry closer yet not moving to give Harry what he was demanding.

"Yes. I don't know why but I need you now!" Harry was getting very frustrated. His logical side was saying 'sex is good but this may be overdoing it' while some other part of him was saying 'mate now!'

When Draco hesitated again, Harry reached back to grab Draco and guided him in as he thrust backwards taking Draco fully into his body with a little bit of pain from the rough entry. Draco gasped and held still as Harry adjusted. Trembling as he strove to hold himself still, Draco was told by Harry mentally that it was now okay to move. Moving slowly so he wouldn't hurt his mate, Draco kissed the nape of Harry's neck. Harry moaned and moved in rhythm with his mate.

It was soon over, and Harry would not allow Draco to withdraw. When Draco tried to move, Harry started crying silently. Concerned, Draco turned Harry around and hugged him tightly to his chest.

"Harry?" Draco said just loud enough to be heard above the noise of falling water.

"I don't know what's wrong with me," Harry told his mate.

Kissing Harry's wet mop of hair, Draco tightened his hold briefly before reaching for the soap and washing Harry from the top of his head to the soles of his feet. Finished with Harry, Draco then did the same for his own body while maintaining skin to skin contact with Harry.

Harry stayed quiet the entire time, feeling exhausted.

Shutting off the water, Draco dried them both and guided Harry back to their bedroom. Pushing Harry down onto the bed, Draco narrowly avoided being pulled down onto the bed by his mate. Backing up out of reach, Draco regarded Harry who was breathing heavily.

"Draco, come back. I need you again," Harry whispered as his eyes dilated and his breathing heavy as his hands reached for Draco who was just out of reach. His previous exhaustion had vanished as he was reminded of Draco's imminent departure.

"Harry, much as I would like to spend all day in bed with you I can't," Draco said, shifting slightly as his veela instincts urged him to give Harry what he wanted.

"I know but I don't want you to go. One more time please? Maybe the urge will be less powerful afterwards..."

Harry's pleading eyes and wavering voice were quickly eroding Draco's resolve. Luckily he reminded himself that he had set the alarm clock for much earlier than was necessary.

Sighing, Draco gave in and went to Harry who happily tumbled Draco into their bed.

The angle of sunlight coming into the room had changed when Draco was next coherent enough to understand that Harry and he had company.

"Draco you're going to be late to see Sev if you don't get up," Blaise warned his best friend who was twisted in the sheets with Harry wrapped around him like a second skin.

Blinking at Blaise, it took a few moments for Draco's sex dazed mind to process why and what Blaise was doing in his bedroom. Untangling himself with difficulty from an asleep Harry further complicated things. Blaise finally had to help him by holding Harry in place with a spell, preventing Harry from reattaching himself to Draco once Draco had squirmed out of his iron grip.

"Don't release him until we're shutting the door," Draco told Blaise, his body trembling as he left Harry in bed and quickly washed up in the bathroom while Blaise watched Harry sleep.

Dressing himself, Draco found it hard to tear his gaze away from his mate who was searching in his sleep for Draco. Harry scrunched up his nose cutely as his searching hands encountered nothing but cold rumbled sheets. Returning to the bed, Draco lightly kissed Harry on the lips which caused Harry to calm.

"Sleep Harry," Draco whispered as he silently cast a veela spell designed to sooth a troubled mate. As tired as Harry was from their earlier activities, it caused him to fall into a deep sleep curled around Draco's pillow which he was lightly stroking.

"Draco, we need to go," Blaise reminded him from where he was leaning against the door.

"Then let's go before I change my mind," Draco replied as he walked backwards out the door, eyes not leaving Harry's sleeping form.

TBC

Sorry but Lucius got moved to the next chapter....

Sorry I'm getting slower at updating—I've got another story that sidetracked me from this one. I'm still debating whether I'll post the other story here on ffnet because it has a lot more sex in it than this one... but it's more humorous too... ah what a dilemma. It's still H/D (the only slash pairing I'm permanently attached to). Does anyone have a place they would recommend I could post?

Eek... only 4 reviews this time. I guess people didn't like chapter seven... Thanks to those who took the time.

Brenna8: if you get the library I get the bathroom....

Isis: Well, we'll say they're all having a blonde moment.

Dead yet a love sick puppy: glad I'm amusing you

Yana: the question is can he be too nosey and ruin his character? There's a fine edge between good nosey and just plain overdoing it.


	10. Chapter 9

Life Long Love: Chapter Nine

Author: Emerald Thorn

Rating: R

Pairing: Draco/Harry

Disclaimer: Not mine—I only manipulate the characters as I see fit.

Author's notes follow after chapter.

Lucius leafed through volume after volume of dusty parchment once he had gained the necessary legal paper to gain entrance to Dragmount. It had been surprisingly easy to gain entrance through the historic homes division of the ministry. Evidently access to family vaults could be granted if there was no current of age family head to give permission. Lucius had checked to make sure he was the only person who had requested access to the Potter vaults. According to the eager-to-please secretary the old law was not used much and usually only in cases where there was a contested will or question of heritage.

Unfortunately, since Harry's grandparents had died the house elves had been freed from their obligations and there had been no one to keep up Dragmount Keep—which Lucius intended on rectifying as soon as he returned home. So far, nothing of terrible interest had been found. Lucius had read everything he could find remotely related to Harry's bloodline or the Potter family assets.

Fingering the edge of yellow parchment, Lucius skimmed another long scroll of some obscure branch of the Potter family. Interestingly enough Lucius had found ties to Merlin, and three of the founders. The Potter's were descendents of Godric Gryffinydor's eldest known son, Rodderick. They were also obscurely related to both Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw though neither connection was as strong as the Gryffindor tie. Lucius didn't know what to make of the Gryffindor tie—Rodderick was obviously not the child of Godric and Salazar. Rodderick must have been one of the children Godric had after he married. Unfortunately, most of the tree surrounding those generations was not filled in or the ink was too faint to read. Lucius had noted with some humor that Godric had been from what seemed to be a large family since there were many lines descending from his parents that twisted and combined with several other very old pureblood families. In fact, when Godric had died his brother had married his wife and had children with her. How very archaic.

So Harry's bloodline was probably not directly responsible for the strangeness of Draco's and his bond. The possibility wasn't totally eliminated but it was unlikely. No ties could be found to Slytherin as of yet and Lucius had not recognized any veela clan names.

The search for a comprehensive financial ledger was even more frustrating than Lucius thought possible. Without house elves, the spells that were used for home indexing had gone inactive and Lucius was not capable of resetting them by himself. He would need to make a second trip with either Severus or Narcissa to reset the spells.

About ready to give up, Lucius picked up several rolls that had the runes for 'veela' and 'magical creatures' on their cover slips that he had found on his latest search down one of the archive tunnels. Opening the veela one, Lucius studied the runes. He hated reading runic. Head hurting from the translation, it seemed to him as if it was a normal report on what a veela was and why they were so special until he was two-thirds of the way through the lengthy scroll. Off to the side of the scroll was a familiar symbol—the oroubous.

Sitting up straight, Lucius stared in surprise at the sigil. Turning the paper every which way, Lucius could not find anything else related to the drawn figure. Muttering 'immortal love' did not trigger a response as it had with the journal. Taking his wand out, he tried several encryption revelation spells. None worked. Mouth twisting in a frustrated grimace, Lucius stared at the musty parchment. There was no signature to indicate who had authored the scroll and the ink was different for the sigil than the rest of the writing. It was possible that someone had added the symbol at a later date. So much confusing evidence was making Lucius' hair to frizz and tangle from running his hands through his hair in frustration.

Mentally categorizing any and all spells related to finding things, Lucius could not remember anything that would be useful. Sneezing from the prolonged exposure to damp, musty rooms, Lucius decided that there wasn't anything more he could do for the day. Taking the veela scroll with him, Lucius left the other scrolls laying on the reading desk. He would be back when he was able to reset the indexing system.

oOo

Draco ate quietly as Severus and Blaise sat across from him also eating their breakfast. Severus was not quite completely awake yet and would not be until nearly nightfall. It was a common misconception by those who didn't know him that Snape was always foul tempered when really it was that he wasn't a day person because of his vampire blood. However, Draco and Blaise would not be telling the Gryffindors that the reason Severus was so biased towards Slytherin—especially first thing in the morning on Mondays—was that Severus hated being awake in the early light when vampires had just gone to bed.

Severus finished first and carefully wiped his mouth with the snake embroidered napkins that the house elves had sent with the meal. "You need to glamour your eyes Draco," he reminded his godson.

Looking up from the piece of fruit he was tearing apart, Draco nodded once as he swallowed the bit of orange. "Is there any specific charm that will work best to cover them up?"

"No but I could give you a potion that will work for several weeks or you could transfigure them back to the color you were born with."

Draco made a face at the proposition of transfiguring his eyes. It sounded painful and a waste of time since a simple _finite incantum_ could reverse his hard work. "I'll take the potion. Do you have any made?"

"It's in the cupboard under color transformation. Add a few tears to a spoonful and drink it."

Nodding Draco stood up and left the room in search of the potion. Severus waited until Draco was out of hearing distance before speaking. "Why were the two of you so late this morning?"

"Draco and Harry will still asleep and I had to wake Draco up. He had trouble getting away from Harry." Blaise said, nose buried in his morning tea.

"Trouble getting away? Elaborate," Severus said as he too continued to sip at his tea.

"I actually had to stun Harry in his sleep to keep him from grabbing Draco as soon as Draco tried to sit up."

Arching one eyebrow, Snape sipped from his tea while watching Blaise carefully. "I wonder if this is a daily occurrence for the two of them."

Blaise shrugged both shoulders before emptying his teacup and setting it down on the small breakfast table. Draco reentered the room at that moment with his eyes back to icy grey.

"Is this better?" Draco asked the two.

"Much," Severus replied while motioning Draco to finish his breakfast. "While you were gone we worked on a potion to help speed the growth of plants. It's in the seventh chapter of your book and is a variation of the general growing potion we covered in third year. I was forced to partner you with Potter since you were both absent so you are both behind. The class has already started brewing it but I will allow you and Potter to have as much time as you need to complete it."

Draco snorted as he finished the orange he had been eating earlier. "You could call him Harry. It wouldn't kill you."

Severus scowled. "I see no reason to mollycoddle him since I never have. It would be seen as out of the ordinary and attention is not something we need at the moment."

Draco sat his silverware down with a loud thud and growled at his godfather, his eyes seeming to glow slightly. "I would like it if you would call him by his given name in private. He does not need any more stress than he already has!"

Surprised and taken aback, Severus growled right back. "I will call him by his last name and nothing you can do can make me call him Harry!"

Blaise sat off to the side trying to hold back his silent laughter at the two.

"You just did! It's stupid anyway why you don't like him! He's officially part of the family now!" Draco had stood up by now and was leaning down menacingly while his blonde hair floating in an invisible current. Dishes were now hovering just above the surface of the table. "And if you won't do it willingly I'll have Father MAKE YOU!"

Severus seemed to have finally noticed the abnormally strong waves of magic radiating off Draco and his dishes hovering in midair around Draco without Draco concentrating on them. "You'll do no such thing—my calling him anything other than Potter will endanger him. And you'll put my dishes down carefully without chipping them. They were a present from your great grandmother."

Visibly seething, Draco waved his hands and all the dishes thunked down on the table—with no chipping. Draco immediately stood and left the room, the door vibrating from the aftershocks as Draco slammed it.

Severus remained seated during the entire episode.

Blaise had stopped laughing once the magic waves had started.

"Well, he's certainly the same temperamental brat as always," Severus remarked to Blaise.

"Yeah, except now he's a dangerously-radiating-magic-temperamental brat," Blaise answered.

"Indeed. Would you like more tea or should you make an appearance in the Great Hall?"

"I'll take another cup of tea but with sugar this time."

oOo

Harry awoke with a start, almost falling out of bed despite the size of the bed. Draco was pissed off at Snape but wasn't trying to directly throw his thoughts at Harry. Mentally reaching out for his mate, Harry watched from Draco's side as Draco snarled at Snape and stormed off. Calling to his mate to comfort him, Harry tried to calm Draco down before he reached the more densely populated parts of the school.

Pain radiated from Draco, causing both of them to feel as if they had the worst headache of their lives. 'Ko, you need to go back and get something for your head—and I don't care how surly Snape is being—school's about to start. If he pisses you off I'll get him back for it later,' Harry told his mate while stuffing his head under a pillow to block out the light that was hurting his eyes.

Mentally whimpering and wrapping himself around his mate, Draco turned back around to retrace his steps back towards Snape's office deep within the dungeons. Gently Draco eased the door to Snape's office open. Snape and Blaise had not moved other than to refill their respective teacups. Severus made no comment as Draco reclaimed his seat with an ungraceful half-tumble.

Covering his eyes, Draco heard himself whimper aloud as he fought the physical urge to curl up into a ball. Harry was too far away from him physically to make it back to their rooms in his current condition. His head felt on fire, like he had stretched muscles that were resistant to stretching.

Eyeing his godson with some concern, Severus took pity on him and told Blaise to fetch a vial he kept handy for headaches. "Is it your head?"

"Yes," Draco whimpered as he bent over to hang his head in-between his knees. "As soon as I set the dishes down it started. I wasn't really aware I was doing it at the time."

"Doing what?" Snape asked as he tilted Draco's head up to get a look at his godson's eyes. Draco's pupils were dilated and he was shivering badly.

"Levitating the dishes or putting them down. I didn't know I did it until Harry told me to calm down," Draco resisted the urge to shrink into a ball as his godfather checked his eyes.

"I know your father said that you had the potential to learn wandless magic when you were tested when you were first born. It seems that it is now manifesting as your magic levels fluctuate. You will need to carefully measure how much power you put into your spells until your magic stabilizes or everyone will know something unusual is going on." Severus allowed Draco to put his head down after swallowing an entire vial of anti-headache potion.

Draco stayed with his head turned down for over five minutes before the potion took full effect. During this time, Blaise and Severus stayed quiet to try and minimize the amount of pain Draco was in.

"You can talk now," Draco mumbled as he reached for the teapot.

"I will visit you and Harry later tonight or tomorrow after curfew to see if we can work out what happened. I may or may not have to proctor Mr. Weasley's detention tonight but I will see if Minerva will do it instead."

"Thanks Sev. Blaise and I should be going to breakfast," Draco said quietly.

"Yes we should. Same time as always tonight?" Blaise asked Severus.

"That would be fine."

oOo

Hermione kept one eye on the door as she sat across from Ron at the Gryffindor table. Seamus and Dean were having a rather loud and obnoxious conversation about the current volume of Witch Weekly. Neville was sitting next to the two rowdy and gay Gryffindors with a slight red tinge to his face while making eyes at Ginny who was ignoring Neville and listening to Lavender and some first year talk about a new facial cream that Lavender had just discovered and claimed had done 'wondrous things' to her face. Ron sat across from Hermione blissfully unaware of everything going on around him as he sleepily shoveled porridge into his mouth with an occasional gulp of tomato juice.

In Hermione's opinion, one of the worst things about Harry not being there was the lack of intellectual talk at the breakfast table. Harry at least tried to talk during breakfast, being much more of a morning person than Ron and much less focused on food. Sighing into her own porridge, Hermione continued to watch the double doors as students slowly trickled in.

Halfway through breakfast, Draco Malfoy finally entered with Blaise Zambini right beside him. Several Slytherins left their table to go and greet the prince of their house. Draco seemed irritated by the attention and waved everyone back to eating as he sat down and served himself orange juice and toast.

He looked good, Hermione noted but not any better or worse than he normally looked. Everything normal and Malfoyish about Draco, it was as if he had never missed a day of school. Unsure what to make of this, Hermione resolved to continue observing the Slytherin prince.

Eventually it was time for potions and the Gryffindor seventh years that had slowly left the table as if they were going to a funeral. Hermione made sure she was within hearing distance of Malfoy and his gang as she herded a reluctant Ron, Seamus, and Dean to potions class. The parts of the conversation going on around Malfoy seemed normal—the other Slytherins were updating him on what he missed as he nodded or shook his head. Draco was very quiet and was walking very fast, but Hermione admitted that they were all going to be cutting it very close to being on time so it wasn't entirely out of the ordinary.

By the time everyone was seated in potions and class had begun, Hermione reluctantly turned her attention to Professor Snape as he lectured briefly over what changes should occur as they worked on their current potion. Taking detailed notes on observations while brewing was one of the factors that made Hermione one of the best potions students in school. Snape only lectured for ten minutes before releasing them to continue working on the potion. Snape then approached Malfoy and discussed what he needed to do to get started on his potion. Nothing out of the ordinary was happening so Hermione turned her attention to helping Ron.

Before she knew it, class was over and Ron was more awake. Quietly discussing her observations with Ron, Hermione and he agreed that he would go back to the dorm before his next class and grab the marauder's map and Harry's invisibility cloak. Ron would skip class in order to follow Malfoy around. Hermione hated encouraging Ron to skip class but knew that following Malfoy was top priority at the moment—she would end up tutoring Ron later anyways.

oOo

Draco felt his headache returning after an hour. Potions had gone fine, but transfiguration had been horrid since he had been unable to properly manage how much power he put into transfiguring his ink bottle into a candle. He had transformed his ink bottle into a candle but McGonagall had looked at him in shock when he had accidentally first transfigured his ink bottle into a crystal chandelier with over a hundred candles which had caused his desk to collapse under the weight.

Blaise had chuckled at Draco, but looked concerned as Draco began to show how bad his head was hurting him. Adding to his stress was Harry calling for him. Harry was trying not to, but his subconscious was demanding Draco right now. Harry was valiantly trying to hold back and had half-constructed a mental wall between them after extracting a promise that as soon as Draco was back in their rooms sex would ensue. However, the wall had not totally blocked the large amount of need Harry was broadcasting through the bond along with very arousing thoughts. Combining the arousal Draco was feeling with the amount of pain using his magic was causing was wearing heavily on Draco.

Making it through arthimancy with Professor Sinistra had been even worse. Sinistra seemed to feel that even though Draco hadn't been in class he should be up to speed with everyone else, including Granger. In fact, Granger had volunteered to let him borrow her notes later to catch up.

By the time that lunch rolled around Draco was ready to break down and cry even though he showed no outward signs. Speaking mentally with Harry convinced him to fake a headache to get out of the rest of his classes for the day. Checking to see that no one was following him, Draco sped up as he neared the dungeons.

'Come to me Draco,' Harry called eagerly as he waited for Draco.

'I'm coming Love. Hope you're ready for me,' Draco replied while amplifying the feelings he was getting from Harry back down their bond.

'I want you as soon as you are in the door. I think sex on that fur rug of ours sounds interesting.'

'As you wish Love,' Draco replied as he followed the twisting corridors deeper into the dungeon, not noticing the faint smell of Ron Weasley following him.

Reaching the entrance to their rooms, Draco shouted the password before closing the door as he ran down the steps to their rooms. Entering the sitting room, Draco was pinned to the floor by Harry who was wearing only an open emerald silk robe. "Hey," Draco whispered, grinning happily up at his mate as his headache disappeared along with all the stress of the morning.

"Hey," Harry returned before leaning down and kissing Draco hungrily. Moments later both boys were tearing at Draco's clothes as they rolled around on the luxurious fur carpet. Sensory overload was quickly becoming an issue for Draco as he inhaled deeply Harry's scent before lightly biting Harry's earlobe as the last offending piece of clothing was removed.

Rolling Harry over, Draco smirked as Harry informed him that he was slicked and stretched—having prepared for Draco's return. Tossing one of Harry's legs over his shoulder and wrapping the other around his waist, Draco entered Harry slowly to prevent any discomfort.

Moaning and writhing against Draco, Harry screamed in pleasure as the drives that had been irritating him all morning were satisfied as his mate filled him. Draco's thrusts caused him to move slightly on the fur, making him feel as if his whole body was being caressed. As Draco continued to passionately send waves of feeling through their bond, Harry continued to scream aloud as the pleasure built.

Before they could climax, Draco was suddenly blasted by a curse and thrown off Harry into the far wall. The impact stunned Draco into unconsciousness as Harry screamed in fury and turned to see who had attacked his mate.

TBC....

Response to Reviews:

Elebereth: I know what you mean. So often only one of them is interested in the other and has to persuade or trick the other into giving in. I like that I did something different but it does have a bigger part to play in the plot. Thanks for reading!

SweetPea-Fairy: eh... recommend I post where? Can you email me those sites? I've started posting the other story on ffnet but it's going to be heavily edited and I hate doing that. Glad you're enjoying the story and I'll try and work faster but I've got a lot going on right now.

Siggie: Blaise is kind of a loose cannon at the moment but I have managed to work him into the plot with a lot of rearranging my original ideas.

Sky: Thanks for reviewing. The mind meld is quite useful isn't it?

Child-mage: You've just stumbled across this type of story eh? Well, there's some very well written and thought out stories out there and some not so good. Thanks for the compliment—it means a lot to me since my college professors have told me repeatedly that I'm not the best writer when it comes to papers—maybe I've missed my calling (but I like science better so....). I have heard of the Potter Slash Archives but I'm kind of looking into my options right now. I've started posting an edited version, but it'll be awhile before the first few chapters get edited and posted.

Lady Jam: I hope I answered part of your question--the other parts will have to wait!

Eden's Echo: Poory Harry. He's getting emotionally attached and is having problems. Stay tuned for why he's acting the way he is.

Yana5: ::whistles innocently:: wrong? What makes you think something's wrong with Harry? Yes Hermione is nosy but it makes for a very good plot device.

Sak: It's good to have a few surprises happen in a story otherwise it becomes too easy to anticipate how things work out. It is odd that Draco isn't feeling the same way...

Dead yet a love sick puppy: hee... you'll find out eventually.

Mon2: Everyone likes seeing a clingy Harry. Hm...

Brenna8: Hm... who gets the sitting room?

Thanks to all who reviewed. It seems the more reviews I get the more I am compelled to write!


	11. Chapter 10

Life Long Love: Chapter 10

Author: Emerald Thorn

Rating: R

Disclaimer: Not mine though I now own their bathroom and Brenna8 owns their library. We're still negotiating on the sitting room and bedroom.

Genre: Romance, Drama, Veela!Draco with a bit of twisted soul mate theory thrown in the mix. Definitely diverging from canon now...

Author's Notes: At the end along with reviews.

oOo

Seeing Draco not moving against the far wall broke something in Harry. The suddenness of not having Draco with him chilled him and he was terrified by the silence of their bond. Draco didn't respond except for a faint sensation of incredible pain. Turning the direction from which the blasting hex had come, Harry's breathing became labored and a burning sensation filled him as his veins ran cold from the molten lava they had been moments before.

Face contorting into an angry snarl, Harry felt something change as he continued to reach mentally for Draco. Scents assaulted his nose as there was a slight ripple in his line of vision. A man-shaped ripple. Moving more quickly than he ever had in his life, Harry leaped forward before the ripple could move again and pinned the figure to the rug covered floor as he ripped off the invisibility cloak.

Ron Weasley's startled pale face looked up at him in surprise as Harry reached deep within himself and flung Ron against the wall with a great deal of magical force. On impact there was a snapping sound and Ron yelped in shock and pain. Right hand extended with palm facing Ron, Harry was unaware of who was exactly in front of him. The man had attacked Draco and would die if Draco died. Otherwise his fate would be left up to Draco. It was his mate's place to determine adequate revenge for interrupting their coupling and causing pain.

"If he doesn't wake up you will never see outside of these rooms ever again," Harry spat. Waves of magical energy distorted the air around him as his eyes glowed brightly, almost blinding Ron with their intensity. Ron only could whimper in fear of the creature that stood where he once had seen his best friend. The once well lit room now seemed dark, as if all the light in the room had been pulled and condensed into Harry with waves of pain and anger radiating dangerously as the furniture slowly began to move outwards from where Harry stood protectively between Ron and Draco.

Abandoning Ron who remained pinned to the wall, Harry crossed the room to where Draco lay. Checking that Draco's breathing was regular, Harry moaned in pain as he noted the growing amount of blood coming from a large gash in the side of his mate's head. The black fur underneath Draco's hair shone wet from the amount of blood Draco had lost during Harry's confrontation of his attacker. Pale platinum strands that usually seemed to glow now seemed dull and muted as they stood out in contrast from the scarlet blood and ebony carpet.

'Ko, Ko please answer me,' he pleaded mentally with his mate. Carefully brushing Draco's flaxen hair back from the gash in his head as Harry gathered him into his arms. Gently lifting Draco, Harry slowly and with great care took Draco to their bed while ignoring the screams of pain and rage coming from Ron.

Laying Draco down, Harry choked back sobs as he checked Draco over for further injury. The only obvious injury was the gash that ran down the side of Draco's face from hairline to the point of his jaw. Grabbing the bed sheets, Harry pressed the cloth to the wound to stem the bleeding. Harry did not sense the other presence in the room until a ghostly, but quite solid and alive hand reached in front of his own face to help him press the now scarlet fabric to the side of Draco's face.

Already tense, Harry snarled as he jerked out of the grip and turned to face whoever had dared to enter his and Draco's private rooms. Standing before Harry was a young man who looked remarkably similar to Draco. Long silver blonde hair cascaded like a waterfall from the beautifully sculpted face with the same Malfoy grey eyes to end in a complex braid of twisted silver clips and hair that fell almost to the back of the man's knees. The man was shorter than either he or Draco but had the same compact lithe build that Draco did. He was wearing an odd set of jet colored wizard robes that reminded Harry greatly of the robes that Draco had in his closet at the vale.

"You need to help him," The pale man said, his eyes focused on Harry and waiting patiently for Harry to calm down and talk with him.

"Who are you?" Harry asked, highly irritated that the man who looked an awful lot like Draco was still holding the soaked cloth to Draco's face.

"That's not overly important right now. You need to help your mate or it will take him weeks to recover fully the amount of energy that was pushed from him and the damage it has done to your bond."

The man was officially in trouble with Harry as soon as Draco's health had cleared. Suspending his need for immediate answers, Harry simply glared at the man and asked, "How can I help him?"

"Hold his hands with yours and get in the bed with him," the man gestured, still not taking the cloth from Draco's face as he waited for Harry to climb in beside his mate. "Clear your mind and think only of the bond between you and your mate. It may help if you close your eyes."

Harry did as he said, chafing slightly under the smooth commands that sounded so much like his own mate's voice.

"Once you have found the link, follow it until you find the source of his side of the bond." Harry followed the connection, calling in his mind for Draco as he projected into his mate. Following the path deeper and deeper into Draco, Harry slid through the barriers erected around Draco's mind with some difficulty as he followed the now glowing connection between them. Mist curled around him and tugged at his body as he traveled. He was vaguely aware of the quiet commands he followed when he reached the final barrier and it fell at his touch. Following the instructions, Harry enveloped Draco with his own mind and called Draco back from unconsciousness.

'Harry,' Draco called weakly from the clouds of mist that surrounded them both. Following the call of his mate, Harry found Draco lying panting on the ground looking exhausted. Sweat and grim covered the bright hair and pale skin, but Draco's eyes were as bright as ever as they locked upon Harry and he spread his arms to reach out for Harry.

Sobbing partly in relief, Harry engulfed Draco with his mind. From far away he could hear the other voice telling him to focus on his magic and bring it forth. Holding onto Draco as if he would never again let go, Harry pulled his magic from deep within himself as he had when he had cast the eye repair spell. Bubbling to the surface, a soft silvery blue glow surrounded the mental representations of both Draco and he. Obeyingly, Harry followed the guidance of the voice as he slowly let the magic flow outwards to heal the injury to Draco's head while he held onto Draco's mind.

Harry could feel it as Draco's skin closed up as if it were his own, the dull ache in his body echoing the pain that Draco had been in. Draco quivered in his arms, getting as close as possible and almost hiding his larger frame within Harry.

Finally, after what seemed like a small eternity, the pain faded completely and Draco eased his hold slightly on Harry. The other man was calling them back. Draco's eyes met Harry's and they kissed gently before turning to wake.

oOo

Draco stirred lightly, Harry's soft breathing tickling the fine hairs right at the curve of his jaw. His face ached, but it no longer was unbearable and his mind was fuzzy but his first priority was making sure Harry was not hurt by whoever had blasted Draco. Moving with evident stiffness, Draco carefully checked Harry's limbs for damage. When no bruises or other injuries were found, Draco sighed in relief while sizing up the stranger who had taken a seat on the end of the large bed and was looking at them.

Harry chose that moment to wake up. Clutching at Draco as he took bearing of his surroundings and focused on the stranger, Harry only briefly took his eyes from the stranger so he could assess the healing laceration. Draco's skin was closed, but a faint line of scar tissue was visible—adding a rakish quality to Draco that Harry found quite appealing but also troubled him because it showed that Draco was not immune to harm. The man at the end of the bed was now smiling warmly at them and waiting for them to speak.

"Who are you and how did you get into these rooms?" Draco asked, his voice neutral as his training took over to bring his Malfoy mask firmly into place.

"I'm a distantly related family member of both of yours. I've experienced the type of bond that the two of you are forming and I sensed that you were in danger and felt inclined to check up on you," the man said, his rich tenor voice reminding Draco of his own in a very freakish way.

"Then I'm assuming you have a name," Draco said with narrowed eyes as Harry squeezed his hands where they were still connected. Subtly Draco shifted so he was between Harry and the unknown man who had yet to prove that he was not a threat.

"I do, but we really should wait until my mate shows up. He was out when I sensed your blood had been spilt."

Draco was feeling like he was interrogating himself with all these avoidant answers. "Who is your mate?"

"I'm sure you know him. He was quite notorious even when we first mated." The man now had a silly little smile on his face, his eyes bright and sparkling. The change in the man as he mentioned his mate was quite pronounced and Harry knew instinctively that this man was also a veela like Draco. Also, Harry was wondering why he felt no pull to the other man if he was a veela. Then again, Harry had not noticed any sort of pull towards Draco since they had mated other than act as a madly in love couple. If you discounted the unusual urges he had been having towards Draco since last night, they had been acting like any normal married couple. Harry's attention was brought back to the matter at hand by the tense wave of worry that Draco was unable to stop from sliding down the bond.

"And his name?" Draco asked, getting beyond frustrated and remaining calm only because of Harry's solid presence by his side.

"Godric Gryffindor, well at least I'm assuming that you're asking what my name is since Sal's being his usual difficult complicated self," answered a man with a mane of ebony hair long enough to rival Sal's and decorated with similar gold clips. Godric seemed to pop into existence slightly behind Sal.

"Somehow I always pictured you as having red hair," Harry blurted out in shock as his grip tightened on Draco. He was trying very hard not to give into shock and general exhaustion.

"No, I always felt that was Helga's territory. Sal and I have always been obstinately obtuse if you are referring to our house colors for Hogwarts," Godric replied with a smile while taking a seat next to Sal.

oOo

Hermione nervously sat through lunch eyeing the entrance with trepidation. Ron had slipped away to follow Draco who was being excused from classes due to his headache. Ron had told her he would follow Draco until he reached the dormitory then meet her back in the Great Hall for some lunch and discussion about what they had each observed. Frankly, Hermione was beginning to suspect that something entirely more important than she could have ever originally suspected was going on right under the noses of the entire student body. Frankly, Hermione smelled something off in the wind and swore she could trace it back to the Slytherins.

Hermione briefly contemplated trying to find Ron, but without Harry's map it would be almost impossible to navigate the dungeons without arousing suspicion. Also, she had never been to the Slytherin common room like Harry and Ron had so her chances of even finding the entrance was minimal.

Sitting through lunch, Hermione fidgeted nervously becoming more and more worried as lunch drew to a close. Ron had not shown by the time she had to leave for charms. Dumbledore gave her an appraising look as he left with Flitwick but made no move to talk to her. Snape was the last of the faculty to leave, heading back towards the dungeons for double potions with the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw third years, and ignored her completely. By the time Hermione finally left for charms, there was only a handful of younger students using the great hall as a place for study group and a late lunch.

oOo

Snape strode confidently into his godson's rooms during his free afternoon period, reading one of the latest journals of potion making that he subscribed to as he walked. As soon as he entered the main sitting room, he came face-to-face with an unconscious Ron Weasley plastered to the far wall, a grimace of pain on his face while his red hair was pasted with blood and sweat to his head. Looking around the rest of the room, Snape didn't see Draco or Harry anywhere.

Sniffing slightly as the smell of urine reached his nose, Snape couldn't help looking somewhat concerned as he neared the pinned boy who was still breathing but a sloshing sound accompanied each breath. There was no evidence of any sort of physical restraint on the boy so he took out his wand and tried _finite incantum_. He wasn't particularly surprised when Weasley wasn't released.

Moving on to other spells, Severus tried several other common release spells which did not do anything. It was quite possible that the restraints were made from veela magic and there would be nothing Snape could do about them. Refraining from touching Weasley, Snape moved to the fireplace and started a fire before throwing a bit of powder into the grate and calling Blaise who was currently hunched over a steaming cauldron with his divination text balanced precariously on one knee as he stirred.

"Blaise, I need you to come to the suite's common room," Snape said calmly while keeping one eye on Weasley to make sure he continued breathing.

At his name, Blaise's head snapped up and the book that had been balancing fell with a loud thwap to the granite floor. "Now?"

"Preferably. It seems that Weasley managed to gain entrance. He may have done something rash and I would prefer to confront Draco with someone to get help should I need it."

"I'll be right there," Blaise assured Snape as he picked his book up and threw it in his open bookbag.

TBC...

Response to Reviews:

Iana Moon: at least you didn't have to wait as long as everybody else...

Arigazi: Erm... I might point out if you curse me I will probably have to work even slower at writing... unless of course you curse me to type faster which may or may not help ;). I see Ron as having a much more volatile reaction than your normal person. Also, when you think about it, it could have looked really really bad to him. Sorry this took forever—I had some issues crop up in RL and writing the middle parts.

Lillie chan: How could I leave it off there? How could I not? It was too tempting and it really did make a great hook ending.

Crimson Shadow of Light: Here's the next chapter—don't die on me!

Geminidragon: It seems everyone wants to kill me for that last cliffhanger. Hopefully this chapter ends in a better spot for you.

Alora: I don't know if I could write a truly abusive Lucius. I think he would see it as a waste of time to physically abuse Draco. Now emotional neglect or abuse I could see. I chose to make him amusing in this story because he so often isn't. Hope you like Harry's reaction (even if it's not totally over yet!).

Zoomaphonethepirate: Cute? Well okay I can deal with that—I guess. I was going more for balancing drama, romance, and humor so nobody thinks their problems are depressing or too sugary. It's always good to hear someone thinks it's good to see the Malfoy family being at least semi-normal.

Chisox727: Sorry for the long wait but hopefully this chapter semi-makes up for it.

Smirking1: I'm not going for Blaise/Severus and actually it kinda seems weird to me that people seem to think that's where they're going. I'm thinking Blaise is doomed to be a singleton like Severus but we'll see. I'm not trying to make Ron and Hermione bad characters or annoying but I kind of need them to react certain ways for the plot so I'll try to keep them close to their normal characterization. Needy Harry does indeed have a reason but you won't find out for a bit longer.

Roslyn Drycof: There does seem to be a shortage of plot in veela stories—not that a story always has to have a plot, it's just nice if it does. I had to stop them there for a reason which you will hopefully find out soon but we'll see...

Rachel: 'Ko is a shortened form of Draco. I really don't like Dray and I don't like Drake so I shortened it even further. I really couldn't see Harry calling Draco 'baby' or 'darling' or 'sweat pea' all the time so I went with 'Ko. Erg... sorry no Blaise/Severus... it just doesn't fit with things...

Kyra2: Yes Ron is a dead man, well not literally yet anyways. Bring on the mainming—we'll see his fate next chapter.

Killer-the-cat: Ron will get what he deserves next chapter. I'm so sorry this took forever.

Eden's Echo: Don't hate them because they're useful for plots..... but you can feel free to find them annoying. I have a best friend like Hermione and its enough to make you tear your hair out.

Brenna8: I want the sitting room...I think it's the fur rug and the huge fireplace. Maybe we should auction off the rest of the suite? Poor Ron.

Child Mage: I've read it and it's good but I'm currently addicted to smallville clex stuff... which is really bad because I have absolutely no free time until may...

Kamui5: Well, Ron's suffering and Hermione's in the dark. I'd say that equals punishment.

Yana5: I can see the death threat Howlers now...

Mon2: How about poor both? It is rude of Ron but then again he strikes me as being fairly clueless when it comes to manners. Maybe he should write miss manners or at least consult Hermione first next time. Now why would you be curious about Godric and Salazar?

Cottoncandy, Zoe, Danielle, Kioratt, Tilted-halo, Lady Jam, Elebereth: Thanks for reviewing.

Everyone, thanks so much for being patient. I knew I was going to introduce two new characters this chapter so I wanted everything to flow right. Hopefully that's happened. I'm already working on ch11 so hopefully it won't be as long a wait this time. Sorry it's a bit shorter than last time!


	12. Chapter 11

Life Long Love: Chapter 11

Author: Emerald Thorn

Rating: R

Categories: Drama, romance, veela!Draco, odd bits of humor scattered about.

Author's notes: Finally made it past ten… which was a huge roadblock. Responses to reviews at the end as always and maybe a few other side notes. My life is becoming very cluttered at the moment and finding free time to write is becoming a challenge. Sorry to all those who are waiting so long for this!

P.S. anyone else seen the potter puppet pals website? If so, just picture Snape bobbing up and down below!

oOo

Blaise gaped at the sight of Ron Weasley pinned to the wall with his limbs stretched far enough apart that it made him wince in sympathy at the pain Ron must be feeling. Also, the small puddle of urine below the comatose boy as a steady drip of blood started to turn the puddle crimson. Severus stood in front of the boy, poking him with his wand and muttering under his breath. Severus' scowl was enough to warn him not to let any of the grumbling sarcastic thoughts that had been running through his head on the way down to escape through his mouth.

Severus noticed him after several moments and motioned him to approach. "He's injured but it's nothing that a few potions and a trip to the infirmary won't cure. Whatever Draco did to him threw him into shock."

"Draco did this?" Blaise asked, trying to keep his disbelief to himself.

"I'm assuming it's veela magic because nothing I do is affecting it. Draco or another veela will have to let him down and Potter doesn't have the ability to do this."

Blaise nodded, his eyes not moving from Ron Weasley's form. He only moved when Severus grabbed him by the upper arm and hauled him down the hallway towards the rest of the suite. Having only ever been in the main room to ward the suite, Blaise felt envious as they passed several doors before Severus stopped before a set of double doors. Pausing only long enough to knock once, Severus grasped the handles and pushed both of the heavy doors inwards.

To their surprise, Harry and Draco were both half-lying, half-sitting on the bed talking to two men. Both of the men turned to greet him and Severus knew immediately one of them was a veela, possibly both, as his body tingled not unpleasantly and he fought the urge to smile. He wasn't completely successful with the smile as the edges of his mouth traitorously quirked upwards as he tried to scowl.

"Ah, I assume you are the current head of Slytherin?" the blonde stranger said.

Still fighting the pull, which Severus was blaming on the blonde who was disturbingly similar his godson, Severus nodded before speaking. "I'm Severus Snape the potions master and head of Slytherin. Who are you?"

The smile the blonde gave him as his companion wrapped his arms around his waist was quite Malfoyish, snarky, and really very upsetting to Severus who really didn't want to contemplate some distant relative of Lucius' showing up. Luc was bad enough on his good days to make Salazar Slytherin roll over in his grave laughing at the knots Severus worked himself into. The blonde was everything a Malfoy was brought up to be and was very likely of veela descent, which meant he was a relative and that typically meant that Severus would need to spend some more time brewing his extra strength migraine cure.

"My name is Salazar Slytherin and this is my mate Godric Gryffindor. We came when sensed that there had been blood spilt in our old suite."

Oh hell… the day is getting better and better by the minute. Strike that thought and make it since he had watched Luc carry his firstborn out of the nursery to greet his Godfather.

oOo

Harry couldn't help but snicker when Blaise went white as a sheet staring and gaping at Sal before slowly collapsing into Snape causing Snape to catch him. Really, it didn't help that he was snickering enough for both Draco and himself since Draco was too dignified to snicker. Malfoy's cleared their throat and shared amused glances—they did not snicker, chortle, or show general amusement in normal ways—at least not to anyone outside the immediate family.

Looking on in cool amusement, Draco was surprised when Salazar and Godric both snickered quietly in agreement with Harry. He wondered if Sev was aware that in catching Blaise he was swaying like a drunkard—evidently Blaise needed to go on a diet or Sev was just as surprised and equally shocked but holding his footing better.

"Would you like to put Blaise down Uncle Severus before you both fall over?" Draco asked, his face the picture of innocence despite Harry's snickers now coming with slight choking noises.

Glaring at Potter, Severus tipped Blaise down into a chair close to where he had been standing. "I don't believe you. Salazar Slytherin and Godric Gryffindor lived at least 2000 years ago. If they were alive they would be much older appearing than either of you."

Severus believed in being difficult and keeping your cards close and hidden until it was absolutely necessary to reveal them.

Looking affronted, the man with onyx hair glared at Severus with green eyes that matched Potter's. Aw puckernuts (it would be bad form to swear by Slytherin at this point in time) the implications here were starting to scare Severus. "He is so Salazar Slytherin and I am Godric Gryffindor. I don't suppose that you'd want proof of our identities would you?"

"It would do much to assuage my doubts as well as your explanation for why you are here and not somewhere else."

Harry had to admire Snape's backbone, but was slightly distracted by the waves of contented amusement flowing from Draco. While he had been distracted by Snape, Harry had been able to ignore the tightening in his body that signified the early warnings of needing Draco but now they were beginning to become more immediate. Also, his hands had begun running up and down Draco's sides and it would not be long before, company or no company be damned, he would be in Draco's pants and oblivious to their surroundings.

Feeling his mate's discomfort, Draco tried to think of a way to get everyone out of their bedroom—preferably soon. Harry was not going to be okay in less than ten minutes. "While I'm sure that introductions are important, Harry and I need to be alone."

"Ah, it seems that this place is affecting the two of you as it did us," Salazar said cryptically, an odd half-smile on his face as he turned to regard Harry and Draco.

"We need to be alone or everyone is going to get a show. So leave and come back in a bit." Draco was chewing on the inside of his cheek, trying to stifle his response to Harry's wandering hands.

"We will leave you alone and show these gentlemen out. When you are ready to speak with us again touch one of the dragons on the walls and call out our names—We'll be listening." Godric gave Harry and Draco a warm smile while motioning Severus out the door with one arm and cradling Salazar close with the other.

As Snape left, he asked if Salazar or Godric would be kind enough to let the student off the wall in the other room.

Harry looked up from his mate and growled at Snape as he made his request. "HE doesn't move until Draco has had his say with him."

Trying to placate his mate, Draco cooed lightly while capturing his mate's hands. "I will have my words with Weasley some other time. We have more important things to do and I would prefer him to be lucid when I tell him exactly what I thought of his behavior."

Not completely willing to let Ron out of the mess he had landed in, Harry growled a bit more before burying his face in Draco's throat and nodding slightly. Draco shooed Snape and the founders out of the room as Harry began to nip and suck at his jawline.

As soon as the door shut behind their uninvited guests, Harry had Draco undressed and under him, the drive to couple with his mate removing all coherent thought from his mind as he sank into the bond between himself and Draco.

oOo

The first thing Ron was aware of as conciousness returned was that everything was foggy as if he was viewing the world through rippled glass or from within a cloud. Images were distorted and the smells that reached his nose identified the room he was in—the school infirmary's main ward. As his eyes slowly tried to blink into focus, Ron tried to see if anyone was around. To his immediate panic, he realized that no amount of blinking was bringing the room into clear focus. Trying to move anything besides his eyelids was proving to be impossible as all movement he attempted felt as if he was cast in concrete.

A low moan from deep in his throat was all the sound he could manage and he watched in shock as a blurry female figure waved what he assumed was a wand in front of his face while muttering under her breath. Another larger and darker figure also was leaning over his body but was silent.

"Mr. Weasley can you hear me?" came Madame Pomfrey's clear voice.

Struggling to move enough to answer, Ron managed a very raspy, "Yes."

"Do you remember what happened?"

Ron thought back on his day and his mind faithfully replayed the events. Right up to the part where he had seen Malfoy on top of Harry, Harry screaming as Malfoy raped him. Ron felt tears begin to run down his face. "I remember. Harry?"

"Mr. Potter is quite fine but is not very happy with you at the moment." Ron jumped as he was able to identify the other figure looming over him as Professor Snape.

"Where's Harry?" Ron demanded in a more strong voice, not believing Snape for a minute.

"He is safe and nothing bad has happened to him. You however are not in any condition to worry about Mr. Potter. Madame Pomfrey will take care of you and make sure you get some rest then myself and Professor Dumbledore will get your version of events." Snape's voice was clipped and perfunctory with no emotion.

Ron tried to move but his body did not move under his commands. A cup was held to his mouth and Ron was forced to swallow the bitter liquid or choke. Once he swallowed, Ron's world again went black.

oOo

Snape watched as Ron fell back asleep, sighing internally in relief. The potion Ron had just swallowed would ensure that he would remain unconscious until at least sometime tomorrow evening giving him plenty of time to implement damage control. Madame Pomfrey had already followed his instructions and placed the unfortunate redhead into an isolation room and would not allow any visitors unless accompanied by Severus' or the Headmaster. Luckily, for all things involving Harry Potter, Madame Pomfrey knew to trust only in the instructions given to her by either Severus or Albus and everyone else could speak until they were blue in the face and she would still stand by their instructions. Snape had taken Harry's map and cloak from him before bringing him to the hospital wing and removed as much evidence of how Ron had gotten hurt as possible. He needed to talk to Lucius and work up a reasonable cover-up that would serve their needs.

Telling Pomfrey he would inform McGonagall after speaking with the Headmaster, Snape passed by the bed Blaise was sleeping peacefully in as he left the infirmary. Blaise would be all right and he was only sleeping deeply after taking a calming draught. Blaise had an unusual attack of visions after he had awoken after passing out upon hearing the names of Harry and Draco's unexpected visitors.

There was much to do and very little time to do it in.

oOo

Hermione blinked and yawned from her chosen watch station in front of the fireplace in the Gryffindor common room. Ron wasn't back yet and it was getting very late as the grandfather clock in the corner tolled midnight. Hermione pulled at a loose strand of hair and had chewed her bottom lip raw, but there had been no sign of Ron since lunch. Where was he? Where was Harry? The only thing stopping her from running down and trying to find the Slytherin common room was her worry that she would get herself lost without Harry's map.

Hermione stayed awake in her chair until her eyelids closed and she fell into a deep sleep, worry for her boyfriend and best friend giving her troubling dreams.

TBC…

Response to Reviews:

S.O. Fawr: Glad that you like the premise and think it's a bit different. Ron's situation isn't completely resolved yet but I've started on it. Thanks for reading

Harrypotter, move over: glad you could figure it out and I'm writing really slow but I have a lot of the story outlined.

Ltngblt4: It's taking me forever to write but I'm happy that you keep looking for more. Sorry for the wait, life is really busy at the moment.

KatFay: Ron was in the main sitting room while Harry and Draco had moved to their bedroom…

Elebereth: ::smirks:: thank you. Hope this chapter lives up to its predecesors.

Rosaleena: Nervewracking? Sorry if I'm making you stressed ::feels guilty:: I am writing a bit more but finals are rapidly approaching along with the holidays and my free time is very limited.

Maggie36: I think Harry could use some of Draco's sarcasm but not too much. He's still a sweet guy at heart and Draco's still himself as well.

Mage of black flames: I am writing, just a bit slower of a pace than what I'm used to. Thanks for the compliments.

Kyra2: ::whistles innocently:: Tormenting? Sorry about not telling you HOW Sal and Godric are still alive but that will have to wait a bit. I hope to give more of a backstory to Sal and Godric in future chapters but it all depends on how the chapters write themselves…

Mon2: Are you related to Kyra? You both have 2's… The only problem with Ron being too like his brothers is that it doesn't allow him to be an individual. He has his mother's temper but doesn't have the zany brilliance that his father passed on to the twins. He wouldn't be Ron if he didn't act so rashly, but hopefully he'll eventually learn that being a Gryffindor does not exclude patience and precaution from the dictionary. Look for some of Sal's and Godric's backstory in the next chapter ::goes off to tinker with next chapter::

Fire Tempest: They'll find out soon enough and so will Dumbledore, but I've got a limited word quota before I post or everyone would be waiting months for me to get enough free time to get out everything you need to know. Hopefully Ron in this chapter gives you a few clues as to what will happen with him.

Priss368: Long review! The style I was writing the story changed dramatically after the first chapter because I originally wrote the story as an open-ended one-shot that ended after chapter one. I think I had it sitting on my hard drive annoying me for almost four months before I finally started adding more to the story. Mpreg would be a possibility for somewhere along the line, but I'm thinking that instead of Harry or Draco I may detail a bit on Sal's preg, but maybe not. It might get it's own sidestory when this one is done or maybe I will give into temptation and let the boys procreate. Too bad Ron interrupted when he did—He made Harry very pissed, but I do wonder what Hermione will think when she finds out why Ron was roughed up.

Arigazi: Hope this chapter makes your day too. Somehow I always pictured Salazar as being very much like a Malfoy, but that's just probably because they are kinda like "Purebloods 'R' Us" sometimes in the books. (I swear at one point I saw Draco singing the toys r us theme song with altered lyrics but that might have been the cold medicine…) Glad my story is memorable.

Zoomaphonethepirate: Much better!

Yana5: hm…. You're laughing… is that good or should I alert the justice league that another person with world domination is making themselves known?

Brenna8: You're right. The suite's ours. Other people can have the rest of Hogwarts minus the potions classroom (there are waaaaaay tooo many unused classrooms in hp fanfiction so there should be enough to go around to anyone who wants one.)

KageNeko-Kouseki, BlahnessMucho, lyres, bnnylpontiac, ura, Angel of the Carpathians, musicgirl141, chisox727, moonglow-girl, Iana Moon: thanks for the reviews!


	13. Chapter 12

Life Long Love: Chapter the twelfth

Author: Emerald Thorn

Rating: R

Categories: Drama, romance, veela!Draco, odd bits of humor scattered about.

Author's notes: Reviews at the end. Surprisingly this is getting out a bit quicker than normally for me… don't try and cause a repeat though. I really shouldn't listen to Escaflowne music while writing Blaise. He comes out mean and depressing… very Folkenish. (don't mind my random anime metaphors…)

Written while I was listening to "Arcadia", "Episte", and various other tracks from Escaflowne's "Lovers Only" soundtrack (gotta love Yoko Kano's music even if some of it is seriously sad sounding).

Lucius was pondering his latest statement of finances when the fireplace in his study flared and turned green, snapping him out of his contemplative daze. He hadn't noticed that the sun had set and the candles placed strategically around the luscious study had lit themselves to light the room. Severus' head soon appeared floating in the wild green blaze. Severus did not appear to be in a good mood, not that many could tell the difference between a good and a bad mood on Severus but Lucius could. Releasing the bottom of the parchment to allow it to roll back into the canister, Lucius turned to face the fireplace.

"Severus?" Lucius inquired tiredly. He had been putting off fire calling in hope that the tangle in his mind would unravel while he stared at the finances.

"There has been a complicating issue come up." Severus intoned, his voice more monotone than usual indicating not only was Severus in a bad mood but that he also wasn't feeling well.

Truly worried, Lucius barely stopped himself from instantly traveling through the floo to Hogwarts. "What kind of complicating issue?"

"There was an unexpected visitor to your son's rooms, a Ronald Weasley. I've managed to make the Headmaster delay contacting the boy's parents but he will have to contact them first thing in the morning." The tight lines around Severus' eyes betrayed just how worried he was as well as the slight drag on the visitor's name.

"Was Draco or his mate hurt in the incident?" Lucius asked calmly.

"I'm not sure. I was not allowed to question them as they had other visitors and then could not be reached. Draco and his mate were both seemingly well enough to talk when I left them and did not seem to be in any pain or worried for each other. I am not sure what to do." Severus rarely did not have a contingency plan already in place when he contacted Lucius.

Lucius sighed and tiredly rubbed between his eyes. "I'll be there as soon as I can via carriage. It would not do to appear suddenly at the castle with how closely it is being watched. We may have to use Draco's illness further."

"I'll await you in my office then." Severus waited for the nod of confirmation before his head left the flames. The emerald flames blazed even higher before the color gradually bled back to the original red, orange, and gold.

Looking around his office, Lucius grabbed the scrolls from Dragonmount Keep and the journal and tucked them into one of the hidden bottomless pockets in his robe before snatching his favorite cane from its holder. Picking up his light midnight sapphire cloak off the stand, he swirled it on before heading off to find wherever Narcissa had gone to.

----------------- hpdm ----------------- 

Hermione finally decided that she should at least check the hospital wing before she fell asleep. It was after curfew and all she would need to avoid was Filch since Crookshanks was on good terms with Mrs. Norris. Wrapping her favorite robe a little tighter around her body and securing it with the belt, Hermione stepped cautiously out of the portrait hole and began to make her way to the hospital wing.

Moving through Hogwarts with the ease of a student in their last year, Hermione saw no one on her way to the infirmary. Entering the main ward, there was only the Slytherin Blaise Zambini sleeping peacefully on Harry's preferred bed. No Ron here. Remembering the isolation rooms that Ron had checked for Harry just two nights ago, Hermione decided to check them just in case Harry or Ron was in one of them by chance.

Pushing the door open, not noticing that a silent alarm spell was tripped, she quickly stepped into the room and shut the door after herself. Lying asleep in the only bed in the room was Ron. A very pale and sickly looking Ron.

Moving to her boyfriend's side, Hermione stroked his cheek gently hoping to wake him up gently. Usually all Ron needed was a light touch from his girlfriend and he was wide awake—or a room full of Gryffindor males noisily getting ready for the day. However, Ron didn't stir at her touch. Shaking his shoulder lightly gained no response. Worried, she took out her wand and cast eneverate.

Ron immediately opened his eyes wide and grabbed her arm that was still resting lightly on his shoulder while gasping for breath like he had just run a mile. "Hermione, Harry… oh bollocks… Harry!"

"What about Harry, Ron?" Hermione asked, her voice laced with worry.

"He's… I can't tell you. I'm going to kill that blonde Slytherin!" Ron, if Hermione had remembered it, would have later reminded her of a raging bull.

"Malfoy's not here. Zabini is in the main ward though."

"I need to talk to him. You stay here." Ron got up and left after pushing Hermione to sit on the bed he had just vacated and closed the door after himself leaving a puzzled Hermione alone.

----------------- hpdm ----------------- 

Blaise woke up shortly before curfew, his dark ebony hair sticking with dried sweat. The hospital wing was dark, all the lights extinguished for the night except the one guide light to the lavatory to that Madame Pomfrey always left lit. He was in the main ward and there was not another soul around. Madame Pomfrey's door was closed and no light was evident below the door—she must have already headed to bed.

Severus had not waited around for him to wake, which wasn't surprising. It was expected that as a servant of the Malfoy's he would take care of himself or learn the hard way. The visions he had had were nothing new, just repeats of the vision he'd had his first night at Hogwarts. The visions were gaining in frequency which was indicating that he should take notice. The visions were never given to him without purpose. His gift was trying to prepare him and with the added weight of the blood oaths he'd taken to be a protector and servant of the Malfoy's his vision had kicked into overdrive the last several days.

Too many visions in such a short time were wearing heavily upon him. He hadn't been able to eat much more than a scrap of bread at breakfast and some water sporadically throughout the day. Blaise needed to eat or he would start loosing weight again and he didn't have any extra to loose at the moment. Draco would start badgering him as soon as they shared a meal together like he always did.

Blaise pushed back the blankets and reached to the floor to rummage for his shoes. Fingers catching on the expensive leather, Blaise curled his fingers and lifted the shoes to his lap. As he reached for his feet he noticed he was no longer alone in the infirmary. At the end of his bed sat a very angry looking Ron Weasley.

Face pale in the moonlight that streamed in from the skylights, Ron's freckles stood out even more than usual and his eyes were giving Blaise a glare fit for a Malfoy. Weasley's hunched shoulders emphasized their broadness, and the hands that clenched around his ankles obviously were fighting to end up around Blaise's throat. Blaise swallowed heavily, unsure what Weasley was doing at the end of his bed—seemingly in one piece.

Clearing his throat rather more than was strictly needed, Blaise cocked his head to the side and put on his best confused expression complete with scrunched-up nose. "What are you doing here Gryffindor?"

"I could ask you the same question considering you were in perfect health when you were talking to Malfoy at breakfast," was the sneered reply. Weasley must have hit his head harder than usual since he was being this unreasonable.

"It is none of your concern Gryffindor why I am here. I am leaving and going back to my dorm." Not really, he was going to see Severus and then maybe knock on the suite's door to see if Draco or Harry would speak to him then to bed, that is, if nothing else came up.

"I don't believe you." Weasley was being difficult—what he did best in Blaise's opinion.

"Well I don't care. You can spend the night in here if you want but I am going back to my room." Blaise put one of his shoes on and tied it. When he reached for the other, Weasley caught his wrist. Blaise normally avoided contact with people he didn't know extremely well—they tended to throw him into unexpected visions that sometimes really hurt.

Unfortunately, Weasley didn't know Blaise was a seer and even more unfortunately for Blaise he wasn't expecting skin-to-skin contact. Blaise was immediately thrown into a vision. He saw a young redhead boy in a family full of redheads growing up happily—pranks pulled by the twins, a loving set of parents, and the token little sister. All of them were seemingly very happy. Then the darker images started, the darkness of the Forbidden Forest, dementors causing a younger Harry Potter to scream before blacking out, and a falsely accused Sirius Black falling through the veil.

Flinching away as soon as the images let him, Blaise clawed his way out of Weasley's grasp before scrambling to put several feet between them while clutching his abused wrist to his chest. "Don't ever do that again Weasley. I'm not some soft-hearted Gryffindor who doesn't mind casual touching. If you ever do that again I'll remove your hand from your body."

Weasley was scowling at him in anger and confusion. "You're one of Malfoy's best mates and that means you know what he's been up to. You know what he's doing to Harry."

"I don't know what you're talking about. Draco doesn't want anything with your Gryffindor Golden Boy." Sorry Harry, he amended mentally as he put one of his many masks on his face. Blaise needed to make sure that whatever Weasley knew he didn't share with anybody. As quickly as he could without drawing attention to his hand, he wrapped his fingers around his oak wand, prepared to hex or obliviate Weasley as needed.

Weasley didn't buy Blaise's denial. "I saw what he was doing to Harry. He was raping him, on the floor in that room deep in the dungeons behind the dragon ring. I saw Malfoy enter and I saw him fucking Harry into the floor and Harry was screaming with tears running down his face. Don't you dare tell me you didn't know what he was doing to Harry."

Blaise thanked the gods that Weasley didn't seem to have his wand anywhere. Drawing his wand out in front of him, he went for non-harmful spells first. Firing off a rapid binding curse followed quickly by a silencing curse, Blaise fastened Weasley onto his second wall in the last twenty-four hours. Stalking into striking range with the practiced grace of a full grown pit viper, Blaise became every bit as dangerous as he had been trained to be since his first vision of Draco and Harry. His Grandmother would be proud that the training she had issued him would be finally put to use. "It's too bad really that you think Draco was hurting him. He wasn't. What they were engaging in that you witnessed was fully consensual and an act of love. Since you can't seem to handle the thought of your best friend being with my best friend I'll have to make sure you will not let the rest of the school in on their secret."

Weasley struggled and trembled against the invisible bonds as Blaise pressed his wand to the stretched neck right next to his bobbing Adam's apple. His eyes were wild and darting around looking for escape but there was none to be had. Blaise's expression of malice twisted into a smirk. "You don't mess with a bonded servant. You won't remember any of this in the morning or probably the last two days but you will remember this lesson. Do not go near Draco Malfoy. He is under my protection and I will see you dead before any harm befall him or his chosen partner."

"Obliviate," he whispered, watching the terror in Weasley's eyes fade to be replaced by a glazed blank before the closing eyelids hid them from his view. Blaise was extremely well versed in memory charms and knew exactly how to properly apply them so they were permanent. Thanks Grandmother, Blaise sent mentally.

"Drop your wand," a female voice called out to him from behind as he lowered his wand after completing the spell.

Turning slowly, Blaise didn't show any surprise as he noticed a fuzzy haired Granger in a pink terrycloth robe, nightgown and slippers pointing her wand directly at his heart from where she stood at the entrance to the private observation rooms.

"I will not Gryffindor. If you do not want to end up the same as your boyfriend you will cease and desist that silly wand pointing immediately." Sometimes Blaise swore he was channeling Severus even if that wasn't one of his many talents.

"No," Granger's voice wavered slightly. She was not concentrating wholly on Blaise, half her attention was on the limp form of her boyfriend she could partly see behind Blaise.

Taking advantage of her divided attention, Blaise calmly lifted his own wand so that it was pointing directly between Granger's eyes. "Want to see who is quicker?" Now that was a tempered comment truly worthy of Draco, Harry or maybe even Weasley. Bad channeling Blaise! Bad! Blaise couldn't believe his internal dialogue. The visions must have changed him again or split his awareness. He hated the off feeling that sometimes lasted for days after touching someone unexpectedly.

Granger was obviously afraid. She was chewing on her lip and still not totally focusing on the danger right in front of her. Granger may have the brains but she lacked the spirit to be a truly gifted dueler. No wonder Snape was especially contemptuous of her magical abilities. Severus had explained to him while correcting papers that while Ms. Granger had a knack for theory and the patience to learn how to do wand work with the limited power she had under her control, she lacked the force of spirit that came from the old lines that allowed a pureblood to have the fine control. Granger would have to work her entire life and never compare to the abilities of the elder lines. Weasley came from a long line of wizards that did not strive to use the entirety of their abilities. The blood of the elder ran diluted through the Weasleys and hence Weasley was weaker than his best friend who had elder blood on one side only. Whatever modern muggle genetics said, there were just some things that could not be explained scientifically about magic heritage and how power chose the child, not the parents.

Granger tilted her head back and redoubled her glare yet her hand was trembling in either anger or fear. Blaise thought it was a combination of the two. "You will put your wand down."

"I will not. Do not force my hand as your boyfriend did." Blaise refused to be moved. He had duties to fulfill and Granger and her boyfriend were not helping him.

"Why are you hesitating?" Granger asked, a note of curiosity slipping into her voice.

"I'm not. I've given you a way of peacefully surrendering but it seems that my hand will be forced again tonight." Blaise calmly cast expelliarmus and caught Granger's wand in his other hand.

Granger stared at him in shock, her hand trying to grasp a wand.

"Don't worry Granger. I won't cause you unneeded pain."

"You Death Eater!" she hissed.

Blaise was amused. "Now that I most definitely am not. Stupefy."

Granger fell sideways onto a nearby bed as she was knocked unconscious. Looking around the room, Blaise sighed in frustration. Two unconscious Gryffindors later and now he had even more work to do tonight.

----------------- hpdm ----------------- 

Lucius strode confidently and calmly through the main doors of Hogwarts. It had taken him almost two hours to reach Hogwarts from Malfoy manor which was in Wales. The drive was always a lovely one but unnecessarily long if you were a worried parent. Flicking his blonde locks over his shoulder, he tapped his cane on the flagstones as he turned down the side corridors that eventually lead to the lower levels of the main section and eventually into the dungeons. There was no such thing in Hogwarts as a direct route anywhere.

Passing the turnoff to the Headmaster's office and the great hall, Lucius was surprised when he walked right into Severus who was almost running. Stopping himself just short of toppling over by snagging Severus' shoulder, Lucius took a few moments to right himself and get all of his hair out of his face.

"Severus?"

"Luc? Thank Merlin. The alarm to the hospital wing just went off. I need to get there now."

Quirking an eyebrow, Lucius followed Severus as he broke out into a run headed in the direction of the school infirmary.

----------------- hpdm ----------------- 

Blaise's wand was instantly pointed at the entrance to the room the moment he heard the rapid approach of two sets of footsteps. Crouching in a defensive position, he prepared to fire off stupefy.

----------------- hpdm ----------------- 

Lying atop Draco with his head resting directly above his mate's heart, Harry felt content as he never had before. Hands and legs sprawled to the sides of Draco's body where they lightly supported some of his weight so he wasn't crushing Draco, Harry nuzzled the steady beat under his ear. One of Draco's hands was tangled in his hair and pulling lightly in a combing motion while the other ran up and down his spine, rubbing each and every bone until it reached the beginning of his cleft. Draco's hair was a sweaty, tangled mess of spun gold that in places was plastered to the side of his face. Draco's eyes were only slit open, the icy blue of his eyes more stunning because of the darkness of his lashes. A small smile graced the pale pink mouth which twitched in amusement as Harry moved his back into the light caress.

The still perfectness of the room suited the pair and neither one wanted to move and destroy the moment. The room was awash in the blues and grays of moonlight, but the room was warm and no blankets were needed.

"I could stay here in this moment forever, I think" Harry said, his voice rough and scratchy.

"Sometimes I wish the world would just fade away and it would be just you and me with no one to listen to and no worries. Just you and me." Draco's wistful voice was just as worn as Harry's.

"Someday I want to see the world with you. It'll be our honeymoon."

"Someday I want to give you the world."

"Ah, there's my over-ambitious Slytherin."

And just because it seemed to fit…

Adesso e Fortuna (from Record of Lodoss War)

Moonlight comes down through the fluttering wings of the wind,

above the blue waters of the night,

with warm finger-tips,

composing memories forever.

_Io sono prigioniera_

Embrace me

tightly from behind.

The foreign words you whisper to me

are a bit heart-rending and romantic.

I am your prisoner.

_Io sono prigioniera_

Tonight, you held me tenderly.

Even after the morning light comes,

your dark eyes

are still shining before me.

**Instrumental**

Once more,

please bring me into the deep night

with those half-said words of _amour_.

Your dangerous

but attractive lips

melt me.

_Io sono prigioniera_

Tonight, you

held me tenderly.

Even after the morning light comes,

your dark eyes

are still shining before me.

Ah…review response time:

MerlinHalliwell: All in good time will you find out. Thanks for the review.

Jade: Get some sleep! I know how it is to be sleep deprived and it's not good! I get what you mean with the blaise/severus thing but not meant to be in this story. Thanks for the review.

Kyra: (I'll call you Kyra so at least someone calls you by your name ;-) ) Backstory will have to wait. I've got my hands full at the moment with school and this story—I already had to put my other hpdm story on hold until this one is done. Poor Blaise indeed… especially after this chapter.

D EDMUN: Hope you continue to enjoy it and thanks for letting me know what you thought.

KatFay: ::enigmatic smirk:: wouldn't you like to know? Well, that's a story you'll have to wait for Sal's version of events in a sequel maybe but you'll eventually find out what he meant for Harry being affected…

Chaolioe: It's good that I'm keeping people guessing…it means I haven't gotten predictable (which can turn off some people).

Arigazi: It was shorter than usual but I had a major case of writers block because I was in the middle of writing a term paper. This chapter's longer than usual so it'll make up for it. Consider this chapter your Christmas present from me.

White Dragon Priestezz: Poor Blaise, too many visions must be headache inducing. More ahead on Blaise's visions. We'll see about the eyes.

Sheree: I've yet to see a perfectly written Hermione and Ron—my version included—in a hpdm story. Quite often they're too involved or not involved enough unless they've been killed off. (Killing them off is sometimes tempting just so I don't have to get in the mood to write one of them… I swear they're my antipersonalities…) I say go Harry go!

SaFire flame: Glad you love it and here's your better-than-average-sized update.

Hellwithit: glad you think so!

Yaoi no Megami: hm… yaoi no megami… is megami priestess? ::Japanese is a bit rusty, but if it means what I think it means…XD:: It was a bit long between the last two updates wasn't it? Hope you remember it this time!

Blahness Mucho: Here's to keeping you in good humor.

Mon2: Salazar is Malfoyish isn't he? ::innocent look:: I will do a prequel about Sal and Godric after I get this monster finished. Maybe I'll be able to start it after the school year ends. Severus may need that migraine potion yet.

SheWolfe7: YOU WRITE PERFIDY!!!? I love that fic… sorry I haven't reviewed. I tend to not sign in if I'm just reading and well… yeah. No excuse really. Thanks for reviewing. ;-)

Yana5: :P yourself. Glad you liked the chapter.

Elebereth: Thanks!

Brenna8: I wonder what they do with all those unused classrooms—especially since the population has been growing… so why would they have unused classrooms? It really doesn't make sense but everyone uses them… arg… that didn't make sense did it? Oh well… throwing a party would be cool but who is throwing it? Personally I think the twins should throw it as a surpise party—even though they don't go to Hogwarts anymore. And you can have Gred and Forge if I get Blaise, Sev and Luc. Harry and Draco can have themselves (they're more fun to watch even in cannon).


	14. Chapter 13

Life Long Love: Chapter Thirteen

Author: Emerald Thorn

Rating: R overall

Warnings/Genre: Slash, Veela!Draco, Romance, AU

oOo

Severus swept into the hospital ward with Lucius close on his heels. They both managed to deflect the rapid fire expelleriamus from Blaise with practiced ease. Blaise, once he realized who he had cast at, blushing bright red and stammering an apology as he immediately pointed his wand at the floor in acknowledgment with a slight bow from the waist to acknowledge the patriarch of the Malfoy family. Standing uncertainly in the middle of the ward with his eyes downcast, Blaise was unsure what he should explain first as he nervously shuffled his feet in a habit he thought he had trained himself out of years ago. The question was how he was going to explain how Granger or Weasley came to be in the ward at this time of night.

Blaise wasn't in his usual top form, Severus noted. Dark circles shadowed under bright eyes hidden behind thick lashes and long curly raven hair that tended to fall forward when not clasped back in its usual tail. The alert, flint-colored eyes were set in a face with a sallow and grey tinged skin masked the exhaustion Blaise must surely be feeling. Both Severus and Blaise had not had more than a few hours sleep at a time in over a week. Under closer inspection, Severus thought that perhaps the boy was loosing weight that his already slender and tall frame could not spare. Draco was going to be irritated again—he had somewhat of a soft spot for the young seer even if he was head-over heels in love with Harry. Severus didn't quite understand why the two were close but respected his fellow oath-giver.

The barest hint of a smile on Lucius' full lips as he saw Weasley pinned to the wall opposite the door soothed away most of Blaise's more immediate worries. Obviously Lucius wasn't overly alarmed which was good.

"It's all right Blaise. Would you explain how Mr. Weasley managed to move from his bed?" Lucius' eyes then caught on the sight of the mousy haired, pink garbed female who was dangerously close to falling out of the bed she had, luckily for her, landed on. "And her? What is she doing in the ward?"

Sighing, Blaise ran his fingers through his dark ebony curls, tousling them and pushing them back so Lucius and Severus could see his face clearly, revealing a tired and stretched look. "I think that Granger there," he gestured to the unconscious female, "woke Weasley up because she was looking for him since he hasn't been seen since lunch by the rest of the school, though I can't be certain. She and Weasley are Potter's best friends and they haven't taken his disappearance very well. Weasley then came out here and tried to threaten me into telling him where Draco was. Evidently he remembered at the time what he saw earlier."

Lucius' perfectly shaped eyebrow raised questioningly as he looked over his shoulder from where he was inspecting the wall Ron was stuck to. Gesturing for Blaise to approach him as while he was looking at the Gryffindor, Lucius wondered how they were going to be cleaning up this particular mess. "At the time?"

Nodding slightly, Blaise handed his wand over to his Lord. "I've erased his memory of that and of tonight. He will not remember a thing other than a lingering fear of Draco and me. His memory loss can easily be explained by the blow to the head he took earlier when Draco stuck him to the wall. Dumbledore and Pomfrey won't know the difference since they haven't seen him awake yet."

Holding Blaise's wand lightly in his fingers, Lucius inclined his head that he understood as his forehead wrinkled in thought. "That will work out nicely then as I'm sure you are almost as good as your Grandmother at these things. However, the girl does present a problem."

"She's only stunned. I hadn't decided the best course of action yet." Blaise tried to sound neutral on the subject but he was fairly irritated at Granger for calling him a death eater and he was quickly developing a massive headache courtesy of her hotheaded boyfriend. Really, there had been no reason for Weasley to go after him in the first place. Evidence suggested that Granger was not wholly objective or reasonable when it came to Weasley or, to a smaller extent, Harry. However, Blaise didn't like being called a death eater and was tempted to recommend something nasty if he didn't hold his tongue.

Lucius and Severus both seemed to sense that Blaise wasn't very happy with Granger. Severus broke the silence after a look from Lucius as he bent over to examine the girl, his forehead creased in thought.

"What about Ms. Granger? How did she come to this state?"

Swallowing to clear his throat, Blaise carefully considered his words. "She saw me erase Weasley's memory. I do not know how much Weasley told her but he was under the impression that Draco was raping Harry. After I had cast the memory charm she told me to hand over my wand and move away from Weasley. I refused to and demanded that she stop pointing her wand at me. We had a bit of a disagreement and it ended with her face down on the bed."

"I assume she took offence to you pinning Weasley to the wall? Gryffindors..." Severus did not look amused. Severus' biggest problem was—aside from the fact that his childhood tormentors had belonged to the house—that Gryffindors, no matter how smart or clever they were in school lacked the ability to plan out their attack and had ridiculously short tempers that were more likely to get them in more trouble than they were already in. The lack of patience in that house was absolutely astonishing sometimes.

"Yes she did." Blaise tiredly sat back on the bed he had recently vacated.

"How would she react to the truth of the matter? Could she be depended upon to cooperate if it was for her friend's protection?" Lucius asked, still not having moved from his position by the wall with the Gryffindor decoration.

Blaise thought for a few moments before answering with a shrug of his shoulders. "If she didn't we could always wipe her memory and start over again. However, I don't think she'll believe us without hearing it from Harry himself. I'd definitely take her wand though before Harry spoke to her though."

"It might perhaps work if we could convince her of the direness of the situation," Severus offered. "Miss Granger, despite her Gryffindor tendencies, may see that our course of action is for the best. Perhaps it would be best if I monitored her thoughts while she spoke with Potter."

"Can you do that?" Blaise asked. Mind reading, at best, was only semi-legal and usually only in special cases. Should anyone find out what they were planning on doing they could all go to Azkaban for a very long time. And although the conditions around the newly restructured prison were much better than they had been when the dementors ruled, Blaise did not ever want to experience a place so saturated in human sadness and pain. With gifts as sensitive as his, Blaise might not survive an extended stay in the dreary detention center.

"Yes, with the proper preparation Miss Granger's mind will be an open book both to myself and Mr. Potter. In this way, we may work together to convince her and if her mind defenses are as poorly built as I believe them to be, we may even be able to influence how she thinks about Draco."

"Do you need to be in the same room to influence her?" Lucius asked.

"No. If I were perhaps in the sitting room with a focus placed in the library where she and Potter were talking I would be able to influence her thought process as well as monitor her sincerity. With the right combination of potions and occlumency it should not be hard for both Potter and I to work on her. If necessary her mind may be wiped and the convincing restarted." Severus seemed to pause in thought slightly before continuing. "It might not be a bad idea to make her give a wizard's oath with all of us as witnesses."

There was a long thoughtful pause before Lucius finally broke the stillness.

"I will go awake my son and Harry then after we have an oath of silence from her."

oOo

Harry dozed lightly, held firmly by his sleeping mate. In his sleep, Draco tended to cling tightly to Harry as if he was afraid that when he awoke he would be alone and had only dreamt the last week. Last night, Harry had slipped away to use the loo and come back to find Draco still asleep thrashing around, searching the sheets for the warm body that had previously been snuggled tight against him. Harry had paused in the doorway, surprised at the plaintive calls of his name issuing from Draco's throat. When he'd rejoined Draco in the bed, Draco had latched onto him like a limpet as his body shivered despite the warmth of their bedroom. Harry had been shocked to find tear tracts and had returned the tight embrace. It had taken almost a half hour for Draco to loosen his hold enough so Harry could sleep.

Fingers twined in their light doze, Harry nuzzled Draco's lightly defined chest as he moved to find a more comfortable position. He was instantly wide awake as the loud scrape of a chair on the floor echoed in the room. Harry could feel every muscle in Draco's body go from relaxed sleep to full alertness, ready to attack and protect Harry.

Opening his eyes, Harry saw Salazar and Godric had pulled chairs up next to the bed and were looking at the two of them with 'oh how sweet' looks as they held hands. Harry suspected that once he came to know the pair better he would be teased mercilessly. It was a good thing that they were just as sappy of a couple. Bitter archrivals made excellent lifemates—they kept your life interesting.

Not lifting his head, Harry felt Draco move underneath him so he could comfortably look at the other couple. Neither of them made any move away from each other.

Salazar smiled and coughed as he elbowed Godric in the ribs. "I believe we came here for a reason in the middle of the night."

"Err right," Godric started, looking somewhat embarrassed by being caught looking at his mate lovingly. "I believe Sal and I have gifts for you which should allow you to be apart longer without feeling like your minds are being ripped apart—at least until we can train you to the point where tools are not needed to sustain your bond."

From his lap, Godric took a thin black box with a small golden keyhole with the initials SS GG etched deeply into the metal on either side. Salazar handed him a matching golden key with a long cobalt velvet ribbon attached to it. The key was heavily tooled with oroubous', the entire length including the teeth were covered in the serpents. With a slick click, the box opened.

Taking the key out, Godric handed the box to Harry as he sat up to accept it. Taking the slender but heavy box in his hands, Harry pushed the lid open to reveal several pieces of jewelry resting on black velvet. Inside were two torcs and two pairs of matching armguards. The torcs were beautiful pieces of jewelry, each resembling an oroubous. One of the oroubous' scales were done in emerald colored jade and the other in midnight blue lapis lazuli with gold and platinum accents to indicate ridges and designs on each scale. The eyes of both of the dragons were sea blue colored diamonds and seemed to burn with an inner fire. The armguards were similar to something an archer would wear. Made out of braided gold colored silk and platinum, they too had oroubous' beautifully wrought into the metal with jade and lapis used to represent the dragon scales and blue diamond eyes.

It was one very expensive gift and Harry didn't quite know what to make of it. Neither did Draco. Looking up at the expectant faces of the two men, Harry managed to stammer, "Thank you. They're beautiful."

Draco added his own thanks as well. Salazar smiled and nodded before indicating that they should take the pieces out of their box. "You can put them on now. We made them specifically for both of you so no one will be able to remove them except yourself and only under certain conditions so you cannot be forced to remove them. There are also locator spells woven into the magic that Godric and I can access and eventually we hope to teach you also to do so. If either of you are in danger you will fell a sense of uneasiness, even if you are unaware otherwise of the danger and should actual physical danger be imminent you will feel the torc become cold to the touch."

Picking up the jade colored torc from Harry's hands, Salazar pressed slightly behind the eyes of the dragon causing a hissing noise and the dragon to release its tail and become flexible. Salazar then placed the jewel-encrusted circlet around Harry's throat and hissed "close" in parseltongue. The dragon slithered around Harry's throat twice before swallowing its tail to complete the circle, scales tightly but comfortably close around his neck. The eyes glowed briefly before once again becoming radiant blue diamonds. Godric then did the same with the other circlet for Draco, and surprisingly speaking in parseltongue to command the necklace to close.

Draco fingered the scales that felt cool to his touch, unconsciously stroking the necklace like a pet. "It is a magnificent gift. I cannot express how much gratitude I feel for you to give me another way to protect my mate."

Godric smiled brightly at the slytherin. "I would expect nothing else but there is no reason for thanks. You and your mate have a long life ahead of you but you still have much to learn. Sal and I wish to pass on some of our knowledge that has been long forgotten by the majority, if not all, of wizarding kind. The state of academia these past few centuries has steadily declined and we cannot simply appear and expect them to believe we are who we are."

"So you will teach us to do stuff?" Harry asked, semi-confused.

"Oh much more than just simple stuff. Both of you have trace amounts of our bloodlines within you and I feel that it is our prerogative to make sure that you are fully able to defend yourself and to fully use your abilities which the school has not been developing as well as I would like. Teaching everything else will just be for amusement and practical reasons," Sal said with another smile except instead of the bright happiness of earlier this one was more serious.

Sal then pulled both sets of armguards out and handed them to the boys who slipped their arms into the smooth silk which form-fitted immediately to their wrists. "Put these on. I will feel much better once I have a way of tracking you if you disappear by accident or design."

"I don't feel any different," Draco said after a few moments. He glanced at his mate who also shrugged his shoulders and felt around their mental bond to see if anything was different with the accessories on. Harry added his own assessment via their link and could not find anything different.

"You should not feel different. The purpose of these is only to modify the outward expression of your bond. Also, you are very close to each other right now. One of the main design factors was to allow you to be separated for up to ten hours before needing to ground yourself again in your mate," Godric told them. "You should be able to keep a tighter control on how intense your magical output is as well. If you concentrate hard enough you might even be able to completely mask your magical signature to prevent detection by spells. We felt that in the interest of time you could experiment with the protective measures in your free time."

"When will we be having tutoring sessions with you?" Harry asked, his hands tangling in the coverlet as Draco leaned heavily into him and draped himself over Harry's shoulders.

"We need to know how soon your regular schedule will be resumed and we will work from there. In the meantime, we will use some of your spare time while we wait to work with you." Salazar, noticing Draco's glum look, smiled again. "We will be going easy on you for the next two weeks so that you may continue to cement your bond. If circumstances were better we would give you the traditional month but so much time has already gone wasted."

"Thank you," Draco said as he wrapped his legs around Harry's waist and burrowed even closer. He really wanted to snuggle with his mate, and maybe some further action but he was unwilling to actually do anything inappropriate in front of the other wizards.

Tilting his head to the side in concentration, Godric suddenly snapped to attention. "You have visitors again. Your father, and the two servants as well as a girl I have noticed snooping around the dungeons the past week."

"We must go then. We do not want the entire school to know we are still here," Sal said as he laid his hand on his mate's arm. "We will see you sometime tomorrow when you are alone and rested."

"See you then," Harry and Draco chorused in tandem.

With a nod of his head, Sal and Godric both touched one of the panels on the wall and exited through a doorway that seemed to dissolve out of the wall just long enough for them to leave.

oOo

"Enevreate," Lucius said in a calm manner as he pointed his wand directly at Ms. Granger's throat. Hermione made a funny noise in the back of her throat before groggily opening her eyes and scrambling backwards off the bed and tumbling onto the floor at the sight of Lucius standing at her bedside.

"What are you doing here?" She screeched. Unfortunately for the girl they had thought ahead and cast a silencing charm around the perimeter of the ward and a sleeping charm on the other patients.

Blaise abruptly cut of anything else she might say with a muttered silencio. Lucius gave Blaise an approving nod before turning his attention back to the outraged gryffindor who was staring in fright and anger at Ron's pale form which was still, amusingly at least to Blaise, attached to the far wall.

"Now Miss Granger is it? I have a few things I would like to discuss with you," Lucius said in his best infuriating aristocratic drawl, "and I would like your cooperation at least until I am done explaining what I will require of you."

Hermione only stared in shock like a deer caught in the headlights of a Mack truck. Sighing, Severus took over from Lucius.

"Ms. Granger, there are certain times when it really is irritating that you and Mr. Weasley fail to follow simple guidelines and rules that are put in place to ensure the best outcome for everyone involved—and in this case especially Mr. Potter. Because of your audacity, there are several security concerns we must address with you since Weasley has proved he is unable to deal with current events surrounding Mr. Potter. I would like you to swear a wizard's oath that you will not disclose what we are about to speak with you about to anyone unless you have my or Mr. Malfoy's permission."

Slowly, Hermione nodded.

TBC...

(and it really isn't evil to stop here since I'm sure everyone is happier that they actually got to read this sometime this year...)

oOo

Response to reviews: (general this time because I really have stayed up way too late trying to get this out)

Gah! Sorry this is so long delayed—and I did leave it in a horrible spot didn't I? Hopefully you all haven't abandoned me as dead by now... I promise to never leave a story unupdated for so long ever again. I didn't exactly have a lot of choice in the matter. I do have the next chapter mostly written but first I have to type it then edit and finish so it could be a few weeks (two I hope but I'm back in school again so anything's possible). In the meantime, you can check out the beginning of the backstory for Sal and Godric I posted earlier called "Roads of Destiny"(I'm assuming no one has read it since it only got one review...). I only have the prologue posted but I actually have more on disc somewhere in my luggage (but that means I'll have to unpack to find it...).

Thanks to everyone who reviewed. The response to this fic has been more than I ever imagined it would be. The plot should be picking up pace a bit in the next two or three chapters but let me know what you think about Harry and Draco.


	15. Chapter 14

Life Long Love: Chapter the Fourteenth

Author: Emerald Thorn

Rating: Well, I'd say R which means if I'm understanding new rules it's for mature audiences. (Personally I thought the old rating system was more effective but nobody asked for my opinion)

Pairing: HPDM

Category: Take your pick. I tend to drift when writing.

Author's notes: this was written after being awake for an ungodly long time while nursing a migraine caused by a graduate school test. I hope whatever came out makes sense... hm... I just noticed my divider thingies look like a superman flying (maybe I should quit reading smallville clex fanfiction now...)

Erus master (in Latin, I think—I'm no expert.) and incommendatus without master/protector.

And now back to our story: (p.s. Evidently my beta says I'm more eloquent when I've had my head whammied by midterms—I think it's bunk but hey you get another chapter so who's complaining?) Also, I haven't read HBP—I've read some spoilers and I'm looking forward to reading it but unfortunately thanks to school that won't be happening until probably December. So this is AU folks—not that it wasn't already...

oOo

Severus placed several vials in front of Hermione, the same mixture of brew that he had given to Dumbledore less than a week prior. It was amazing how fast you could go through certain useful potions—and a greater pity that so many of his students were incompetent in such a useful art. Granger looked at the three vials and made a face at the lot.

"Are those what I think they are?" she asked, her tone not conveying anything.

"That would depend on what you think they might be," Lucius answered before Severus could speak.

"Oath binding potions. Potions only used for drastic times."

"Then you would be correct. Drink up girl or we'll just erase your memory." Lucius was being snippety now. Evidently his day was getting too long. Mentally Severus couldn't help awarding house points to Lucius.

Granger's face made the most interesting grimace before quickly swallowing the potions. Since only she was being required to drink, only she would be bound. Her hands were shaking badly by the time the third vial was emptied and her pupils were dilated.

"Now repeat after me," Lucius said with his best non-scary smile fixed on his face, "I, Hermione Granger, swear to hold all that is revealed to me in this room this night close to my heart and not reveal the words said to me by any means to protect and serve the purposes of those I give my oath to protect, Draconis Malfoy, last son of the House of Malfoy, Black, and Snape and also Harold James Potter, last scion of the House of Potter."

Hermione hesitated, not bothering to hide her reluctance to commit. Severus wasn't overly surprised—sometimes he wondered if Granger truly belonged in Gryffindor. Although she was admittedly bookish like most of ravenclaw she also had the rashness that was found in many of the gryffindors but sometimes managed to contain herself nonetheless. Severus suspected that deep within her heart Hermione had just as much self-preservation as any other non-gryffindor student. The potions she'd just ingested were powerful enough to cause her own death should she try to break the oath she would swear or leave this room obliviated.

"Come now girl, surely a gryffindor such as you should not be afraid of making an oath?" Lucius said in a neutral tone, his face still displaying an unsettlingly pretty and false smile.

"I... Hermione Granger... do swear... to hold all that is revealed to me in this room this night close to my heart and not reveal the words said to me by any means to protect and serve the purposes of those I give my oath to protect—Harold James Potter, last scion of the House of Potter," Hermione said in a rush while glaring defiantly at Lucius, her chin stuck out stubbornly as her hair seemed to frizz in obstinacy.

Lucius didn't crack the fake smile although his tone was absolutely frostbite inducing. "Say it girl or you will not live to remember this night. I'd thought that your friendship with my son would easily allow you to give your word for his safety."

"I am no friend of your son and I never will be!" Hermione snarled, barely staying put in her chair.

"Thirty points from gryffindor," Severus said easily, his tone betraying only amusement but his eyes matched Lucius' cold voice.

Hermione's head snapped to look at the potions professor. "What? You can't possibly take points for this!"

"Fifty points from gryffindor Granger, don't make me take another fifty," Severus said in a quiet intense voice that made Hermione's skin crawl and her heart race in fear. "If I remember correctly you have made it exceedingly hard for those responsible for keeping you as well as others safe to do their jobs because **you** are unable to follow anything someone tells you because **you** always are right—are you not?"

"I... I am not like **that**!" Hermione sputtered.

"Yes you are and for not having the maturity that one should find in a seventh year student I am subtracting an additional seventy-five points from gryffindor. That makes your tab for the night one hundred and fifty-five points Ms. Granger. I believe there is only now two hundred points left to your house—will you further antagonize me or should I subtract the remainder? You are the head girl of this school and you have not acted in such a manner that I could possibly stop myself from seeing the headmaster and requesting that your position be revoked immediately if you do not stop this silly gryffindorish and petty posturing."

Hermione's lower lip quivered her eyes wide. "I, Hermione Granger, swear to hold all that is revealed to me in this room this night close to my heart and not reveal the words said to me by any means to protect and serve the purposes of those I give my oath to protect, Draconis Malfoy, last son of the House of Malfoy, Black, and Snape and also Harold James Potter, last scion of the House of Potter."

"Thank you Ms. Granger. Severus, if you would please go alert my sons that there is someone who would like to speak with them. We'll follow you in a few minutes—I'd like to have a few moments to explain to Ms. Granger the importance of at least having the appearance of decorum and manners since it has slipped her mind that even though she is not wizard born there are still societal demands that must be met should she ever wish to successfully live among those she calls her peers."

"As you wish Erus, remember she is only an incommendatus," Severus bowed slightly to Lucius before he left the room without looking at either Granger or Blaise.

"Erus?" Blaise asked questioningly, wishing to know if Lucius needed his assistance.

"Stay here Blaise. I'm sure Ms. Granger will feel comforted by the presence of another student. I dare say she thinks I'm out to do her great harm but I wouldn't dare do so in the presence of company."

"As Erus wishes."

"I don't need Zabini to be here to feel safe. He's obviously under Malfoy control and I don't trust him any more than I do you. You wouldn't hesitate at all even if Fudge himself was here."

"You are correct Ms. Granger. Blaise, accompany Severus. I'm sure that my sons are wondering how you are."

"Yes Erus." Blaise bowed as Severus had before leaving his erus and the gryffindor alone.

oOo

Draco swiftly dressed as Harry did the same in one of his better ensembles cut in the style that was favored by mated veelas. The style of the under shirt and trousers was made to cling to the curves of the body and flatter the form to allow their mate to appreciate their form while the closures allowed for easy access to a mate who was well accustomed to the mechanics of the slick silk. While comfortable, the underclothes allowed for quite a bit of skin as well as their new torcs to show. The over robe was made of sleek material that also flattered the body subtly but concealed most of the body's form, again also designed for the confident and knowing touch of a mate. Draco's robes were cobalt blue, Harry's so dark emerald they could be mistaken for black and making his fading summer tan glow healthily in the light from the candles on the mirrored vanity.

Finishing first, Draco helped Harry with the hidden ties while pointing out through their bond the correct way to slide a hand in to touch skin without completely removing the cloth as well as the weakest points of the garment should Harry feel inclined to simply be too impatient to wait and need to rip it off. His lips found the bony spot behind Harry's ear to lay a soft kiss that made Harry shiver in delight. Nuzzling his mate's freshly washed hair, Draco felt content and safe despite the worry the visitors were causing that he determinedly pushed away to the corners of his consciousness. He was only now becoming fully aware that Harry in his arms was all he'd ever need.

Arms wrapped around from behind Harry, Draco's hands lingered at the closure located closest to his mate's groin to stroke lightly. Harry's head feel back to rest upon Draco's shoulder as his eyes closed and a small gasp of pleasure escaped his lips. "Ko, they said we'd be having guests..."

Hands drifting up to his mate's hair, Draco calmly fluffed and smoothed Harry's hair into an attractive ruffled arrangement. "There's still the potion for your eyes and mine."

Sighing, Harry moved Draco's left hand back to its previous location and rocked his groin. "Fine, but keep it here. I see no reason to not act like a newly mated couple unless we are told not to."

"I would never act otherwise my lightning but I am worried for your safety and the effect this may have on your friendships if it is Granger that is coming."

"Do not worry Ko. If she cannot accept you as my mate she will only have me in her life if she allows you to be in mine peacefully. A friend is one thing but a soul mate and lover is quite another. She could never invoke the passion which I feel with you nor share as I do with you."

A quiet, amused chuckle escaped Draco before he could stifle it. "You have suddenly become quite eloquent."

"So have you. I feel like I've aged ten years, at least in some respects, in the last few days but I don't regret it. I feel so much and I don't care who sees it as long as it keeps you safe and by my side."

"That is how it should have been all our lives and I will not stand aside any more." Draco felt like he was stripping the last bits of childhood away from his lover. Harry was by no means childlike but by consummating their bond it had changed them both beyond the capabilities of their own life experiences. When they had first awoken to Father leaning over them they had felt a lightness and joy that came from being near each other. Since then there had been a growing sense of peace and agelessness between them formed from the intensity of their feelings and the close connection of minds. When faced with the danger that surrounded his mate at all times Draco felt a calm assuredness and protection that in some ways scared him. He felt as if any threat to Harry could and would be dealt with in an efficient and ruthless way—including Voldemort should he dare to get within Draco's striking range.

"Let's wait for our visitors in the sitting room."

Draco only nodded in reply as he handed the vial for the eye illusion to his mate and swiftly swallowed his own.

oOo

Draco sat down on the couch and pulled Harry to lounge in-between his spread legs, welcoming the grin that Harry gave him before attaching his lips to Draco's. Their kiss deepened and the sound of the heavy door closing over the rush of the water alerted them that they had a guest. Draco reluctantly drew apart from his mate, his breathing elevated and his eyes dilated to pinpricks. The new scent his nose picked up immediately identified as his godfather.

"Hello Sev. Anyone else behind you?"

"Yes, your father, Blaise, and Granger."

"Hermione?" Harry was bewildered. Why would they be bringing Hermione here?

"Ms. Granger is, as usual, refusing to be reasonable and insisted on being difficult. I assume with Draco's help you are now much more accomplished at occlumency?

"Yes, I think so," Harry answered as he felt through the bond and examined his and Draco's combined abilities. They hadn't really tried anything other than probing Lucius' mind—which was supposedly near impossible for anyone else except them—and blocking Lucius' attempts to attack their own.

"You are then aware that you can use it to observe and manipulate feelings and thoughts in such a way as to ensure certain outcomes. Lucius believes we may have to do so to gain Granger's trust and with her help it will be easier to control the rumor mill."

"We are aware Sev. You taught me how several years ago," Draco was deep in thought and trying to see all the angles that the problem could be approached from. He was vaguely aware of Harry watching his thoughts and adding his own observations.

"I would also like to observe so I may help. I know we'll need a focus and I think my grandmother's pendant should work." Severus pulled a thick gold chain from under his robes to display a long, rectangular-shaped thin peridot.

"We'll do this in the library then where you can leave the stone around the neck of the vase next to the seating area. Will this room be close enough for you to meditate in?"

"It should be. They will not be far behind me." Severus handed the chain and pendant to Draco and moved to sit on one of the chairs and immediately began to enter a meditative state needed to use the focus.

Blaise chose that moment to enter, slightly out of breath from having tried to catch up to Severus. Swallowing air between words, Blaise asked, "Do you need me to do anything?"

"Wait here and when Father and Hermione show up escort Hermione to the library and leave her there with us alone. You may then tell Father to wait with Severus." Harry didn't notice the uncomfortable look on Blaise's face as he employed his newly acquired Malfoy commanding presence and helped Draco up. Draco, for his part only felt a twinge in his libido from his mate's aggressive behavior.

He never would have thought he'd have a submissive bone in his body until these last few days. Harry picked up on the submissive thought and grinned wickedly as he outlined his new plan of approach to Draco who let loose one of his famous smirks. "Oh yes, my love. That is wicked indeed," Draco purred with a full body rub against Harry as he used the force of Harry's help to stand.

"The library Blaise. Knock first." Merlin Harry was amazing when he was being confident.

Draco allowed his mate to wrap himself possessively around him and escort him to the library.

oOo

Hermione's eyes were as wide as they could possibly go. After being thoroughly versed in exactly how a young witch her age should act in the presence of the head of another family and exactly which of her behaviors were unacceptable by Malfoy senior she was being wisked away through passageways she had never known existed in Hogwarts deeper and deeper into the heart of the dungeons. Even her brain had soon lost track of the twists and turns and stairs they had taken to reach the smooth section of wall with the impressive mural. The draconic creatures looked vaguely familiar to her but she couldn't think of a name to give them.

Lucius said something in a language she didn't understand and the passageway seemed to melt away before her eyes to reveal a wide set of descending stairs. Torches carved completely of stone, even the flame, lit the wide stairs as they descended to reach a second door which was already ajar. The sound of rushing water reached Hermione's ears as did the faint smell of dampness.

Without pausing, Lucius pushed the door open to reveal a huge darkly furnished room with a rushing waterfall making up the far end. Severus Snape sat in a lotus position on a tall, wing-backed, chocolate leather chair, oblivious to their presence. Blaise Zabini stood at his side, one arm draped over the back of the chair his face serene.

Upon noticing their presence, Blaise bowed slightly at the waist to Lucius. "Erus. Your sons request Granger's presence in the library. They wish for you to await them here. Granger, if you will follow me?"

Hermione followed without comment, missing Blaise's use of plural sons. Her eyes roved everywhere, finding all sorts of interesting little details that were really of little consequence in the grand scheme of things. Blaise mentally thought that she really needed to get a clue.

Leading Granger to the library, Blaise knocked as he was instructed and when Harry commanded him to enter he had to resist the urge to snort in laughter at the way Granger lit up at the sound of Harry's voice. Before Blaise could open the door, Granger pushed him aside and slammed the door wide open and ran into the room. Blaise sighed and closed the door behind the uncouth witch.

Hermione skidded to an abrupt halt at the sight that greeted her eyes. Harry was sitting on a large couch with Draco Malfoy sprawled indecently on his lap. Harry's hands were moving underneath cloth as Draco arched with soundless gasps in his hands as Harry bit his neck to leave another mark. Malfoy's eyes were just visible slits as he writhed against Harry's hands, making a low keening noise escaping him as Harry played with his body. Harry's own eyes were heavy and he was enjoying licking and biting Malfoy's throat, his own clothes not showing the disarray that his companion's were in. Malfoy was not aware of Hermione's presence, even though she had made a lot of noise with the door, but Harry was well aware of her presence.

Smirking at his friend, Harry's hands stilled under the silk and he gave Draco's throat one last nip before removing his mouth from the tempting skin. Draco simply tried to catch his breath while his body complained by rubbing suggestively against the hands that were now withdrawing from the specially made-for-mates openings. Harry, eyes never leaving Hermione, tangled his left hand in Draco's hair and pulled the head to rest on his shoulder while his right gathered Draco's body closer to his own.

Draco closed his eyes.

Hermione screeched, "Harry!" She only managed his name as her mouth was continuously opening and closing but no sound was escaping. Her shock was evident on her face.

"Haven't you ever heard of knocking Hermione?"

Tbc...

Specific review responses: (I'm a bit busy so sorry if I didn't get to everyone)

Purple Raveness: thanks!

k-cat: there is now...

xxbabysparklesxx: I'm glad you like it. Hopefully you like this chapter too.

Justine: It was fairly evil of me but my schedule has been so hectic lately I've barely had time to sit down at a computer. Never seen Dr. Tran... maybe I'll look that one up.

Sbkar: I'll try to keep up the good work. I'm hoping people will still read even though HBP is making a lot of people reevaluate the characters.

Jemu: glad you liked it. I'm thinking that one of the biggest benefits of fanfiction is being able to take a different spin on a character and say 'what if...' and it's probably what makes most people such big fans.

Shola: I'm back home but I signed up for more school (dumb of me really since I've basically signed up for no life for the next two years). Glad that you liked it and hope you continue to read.

The penguins are coming: I love your name! Anyways, I'm sorry for the long wait. Hopefully it was worth it.

Lux et Veritas: Thanks for the review.

Myniephoenix: hope you're even happier with an update.

Jane: hm... thanks for the heads-up (I really can't spell for the life of me and writing at two in the morning does that to me) however, I kinda need to keep Malfoy manor where I put it (hence the story is AU). Thanks for the review.

Dreamerdoll: sorry for being evil. I don't mean to be it's just that life keeps collaborating with school to make sure that the only thoughts that go through my head are related to school or sleep or food. Hopefully this chapter makes up for leaving at a bad spot in the last one (though this is fairly cliffish itself...)

Demonkitty2007: thanks for the review

Lady angelique of mistiqu: Really I thought of worse places to end it and didn't so I didn't think it was the worst place I could have left it. Hopefully the length of this chapter makes up for it.


	16. Chapter 15

Life Long Love Chapter Fifteen

Author: Emerald Thorn

Disclaimer: If I owned 'em I wouldn't still be in school busting my bum and be broke.

Categories: As I said before, take your pick but definitely in the romance category.

Warnings: Slash, veela!draco (if that could be considered a warning)

Author's Notes: must stay away from clex fanfiction and jack/daniel fanfiction and get some work done This was a really, really hard chapter to write—I actually wrote it three times and I'm still not happy with it and the writer's block I had for a month and a half didn't help at all. This is my best attempt out of three so I hope everyone's satisfied. Let me know what you all think (was it worth the wait or should I have posted the first attempt and ran with it even though it really jumped the plot waaaaaaay too far ahead?). Thanks to all who reviewed. Reviews are just what I need to get a kickstart for writing. This is being posted non-proofed as I'm feeling guilty for not posting in so long.

And on with the story:

"Haven't you ever heard of knocking Hermione?" Harry asked, one eyebrow arched in a parody of Draco's favorite facial sneer coupled with his own characteristic grin. In the back of his mind he could hear Draco growling about misuses of smirks and how it was unfair that he had to appear like a 'pansy-assed fool' while Harry got off on the exhibitionism. Harry snickered internally and pulled Draco more towards the forefront of his thoughts so they were essentially almost sharing their thought processes.

Hermione skid to a halt, her eyes wide in shock before she regained the use of her voice. "HAROLD JAMES POTTER!"

Draco took this opportunity to arch his back and lazily thrust and snuggle his body more into Harry's side while moaning as his left hand clutched at Harry's chest and his right petted the other side of Harry's face. Harry could feel Draco's thoughts whirring in the background as if he had separated the lust crazed half from the scheming part that was currently melding with Harry. He was also began to slowly and carefully slip into Hermione's mind via Harry's eye contact with her with a whispered legimens.

"Hermione? Is there some reason you're reverting to yelling at me?"

"I don't believe this!" Hermione looked beyond upset. "You go missing for over an entire week worrying Ron and I to death not to mention everyone else and I find you... you having relations with a Malfoy whose father just gave me a lecture on manners and made me swear a wizard's oath? What in Merlin's name happened to you?"

Hermione was sniffling by the end of her outburst and Harry could not help but feel sympathy for his best 'girlfriend' and ignoring Draco's possessive mind shout of 'he's mine granger!'. Letting his right hand fall to the small of Draco's back, Harry's other hand flicked a few loose strands of hair out of his eyes at Draco's request for an unimpeded view. Draco's connection to Hermione was so subtle and quick that Harry, had he not been monitoring Draco's progress, would not have noticed the sharing of his own senses. The awareness of Draco slipping and sliding like a gentle breeze through the modest defenses of Hermione's mind would have been distracting to Harry if he had not picked up on Draco's attention-splitting technique within moments of sensing how his mate was accomplishing the feat. Cocking his head slightly as his fingers stroked Draco, Harry took up his role of soothing Hermione's ruffled feathers.

"Hermione, there were circumstances that prevented me from immediately informing you of what was happening. I did not mean for you to worry about me—I was not in a great amount of danger for very long and I've had someone looking out for me at all times. You shouldn't have worried so much. While I don't think that trusting Dumbledore exclusively is the right way of doing things, I do think he would honestly tell you if he knew I was hurt."

Draco, meanwhile, quickly scanned Hermione's surface memories to check for what she remembered of her day before shaking his mental head as he slipped through the magical barrier that Blaise had bound her memories of the infirmary in. Skimming the surface of the memories while making special note of the emotions that Hermione felt during each moment for future reference, Draco quickly accessed Hermione's memories and thoughts about himself. He was dimly aware of Harry's response to Hermione's outburst.

"That still doesn't answer my question Harry! What happened to you? Why aren't you back up in the Tower with the rest of us? Why are you in the dungeons with a bunch of Slytherins?" Hermione was angry with Harry but most of her anger was caused by her worry and fright over what had happened to her close friend. Draco was touched by the way Hermione pictured Harry and had to suppress the pleasure and pride that he felt at seeing the positive mental representation of his mate. However, he was somewhat miffed at how Hermione seemed to have such a shallow opinion on the Slytherins—while she was prepared to defend them on the basis of not everyone was the same she also didn't make any special efforts to understand the way they thought and acted which he had rather expected she would, being bookish and all. Bring forth Hermione's mental representation of himself, Draco was somewhat irritated with the snobbish, callow idiot she pictured him as. Wasn't she aware of just who was second in the class to her? See if he let her take first ever again. Really, sometimes his cover was just too much if she really had no clue just who it was that made sure she got just a point or two more each term.

"Hermione, I found out some things about myself that really surprised me as well as Draco." Harry couldn't help the slight smile that fought it's way onto his face. "I also think I've found a way to protect myself and those I love from Voldemort and maybe even get rid of him for good without having to off myself."

Hermione still wasn't happy with Harry so Draco worked on his own image—deciding that perhaps he could work with her poor opinion of him and make her think that flakey and stupid as well as servant to his passion would make him a nonviable potential source of danger. After all, you couldn't think of a brainless, love-struck chit as dangerous unless you got between them and their next sexual conquest. Altering her mental image of him to become less of a danger and more of a joke—which really was becoming embarrassing for Draco as well as easy—subtly changed Hermione's current attitude at a rate that she wasn't detecting. By changing her perceptions Draco was slowly and surely changing her reaction and thought patterns as well as her emotional involvement. As a non-threat Draco was considered non-important in the conversation and would now allow him to steer her cognitive decisions without detection.

"What happened to you---and start at the beginning!"

Receiving confirmation from Draco that they were up and running per plan and that Sev was now also monitoring Hermione's thoughts, Harry began a slightly modified version of the truth. "The first night I was gone I was kidnapped by Death Eaters while walking on the other side of the lake. They brought me before Voldemort but before he could do anything I was rescued by Draco. I had been hit on the head so Draco took me to a safe haven to get fixed up and once I was in kind-of in my right mind I used my legimancy on him."

Hermione's attention was absolutely frightening as Draco watched her mind filing away details and cross-linking with other ideas and memories while bringing the modified Draco-representation closer to the forefront of her mind to scrutinize. "What did you see?"

"His family has been working deep within the ranks since before he was born. He's a born and raised natural spy and knows more defensive and offensive spells than all of Gryffindor Tower combined. He's so good at threat assessing and hiding everything he truly feels so deep within his mind that the only way I was able to break through his barriers was because he was really worried for me and my concussion somehow managed to make my intrusion harder to detect."

Draco couldn't believe it when Granger actually bought the complete crap Harry had just fed her. And she still thought of him as stupid! If he could build a mental shield good enough to fool everyone else why the hell was he still labeled in big red letters "ignorant ass" and the representation still looked slightly rodentish.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes I am. Draco's also part-veela and when I entered his mind I kind of smashed a few barriers I wasn't supposed to and now he's bound to me like a full veela mate. I'm not bound to him in the same way but whatever I did it set off a chain reaction that makes him mine completely. There's no way he could do anything that would cause me harm without severely hurting himself. Not to mention he's quite fixated on making me completely blissed out every chance he can and he offered to decapitate the next person who tried to so much as look at me in a hostile way—including his own father."

Hermione took almost a full minute to think of this. Draco couldn't believe the amount of information she self-referenced in regards to veela but was somewhat amused by the amount of information that was also, ironically, incorrect. He saw no reason to point out the inconsistencies or inaccuracies though as most of them helped push her into believing Harry's story. It was amazing how much she truly believed in her books when most of them were not well researched or grounded in solid theory.

"So you're sleeping with him?" Hermione actually seemed more appalled at Harry sleeping with and using "the slytherin slut" as she was now currently labeling Draco than the actual fact that it was Draco he was sleeping with. The girl had strange priorities for a Gryffindor.

"Yes I am. He's rather good in bed and eager to please, aren't you Draco?" Harry pulled Draco more fully into his lap and his hand slid further south until it possessively cupped Draco's right cheek.

Draco took this as his cue to bare his throat and grind his pelvis into Harry's. He could barely hide the gleeful smirk of possession as Harry's own thoughts sidetracked into their last lovemaking session.

"Harry! You shouldn't be taking advantage of him like that! You'd never sleep with him otherwise?"

Now that Draco was not prepared to let go. Turning fully around on Harry's lap, Draco glared fiercely at Hermione and began using his own eyes to maintain the mental surveillance. "He is my mate and therefore if he desires to join our bodies you will not interfere. It is his right and my pleasure to allow him access. By veela law I willingly submit to my mate and nothing shall prevent me from carrying out his wishes and pleasures."

"Even if he forced it on you?" Hermione shot back, her mental image of Draco wavering slightly before reforming as before with some structuring from Draco.

"The bond that binds me is irreversible and the method of which it came into existence does not matter because my mate has accepted me. Even though I am not able to fully give him what a full-blood would I will do my best to satisfy, defend, and become whatever he wishes of me. You do not understand the laws that bind me now that I am mated and you will never begin to comprehend the forces that enshroud us." Draco then turned back around and firmly placed both of Harry's hands on his backside before wrapping his own hands in Harry's robes.

"I know much of veelas Malfoy even though veela law is never written down in wizard sources. You willingly submitted? Why?"

"Because, Hermione, he was already destined to submit to me. My rummaging about in his mind only hastened his binding to me. His blood wasn't strong enough to attract me or bind me back to him as he would be bound so he was trying to avoid it. However, I somehow managed to trigger all the right attachments that link him to me without the stress of a full blooded bond on my side of the equation."

"So this is very much one-sided?"

"Essentially, in so many words, yes. Draco is now bound to me for the rest of his life. There is no way to reverse it or strengthen my side of it. He will forever be bound to my will according to both Snape and Lucius."

"And you're okay with this?" The skeptical look on Granger's face was oddly touching to Draco. Harry felt as if he was being an asshole.

"I've come to see it as an advantage. One less person after my life and I get laid out of the deal."

Pursing her lips, Hermione broke eye contact and began pacing hands on both hips as she muttered under her breath. Draco felt the connection fade slowly over the next two minutes and his sensitive hearing listened as Granger measured the pros and cons of keeping him bound to Harry and the possible ways of breaking his ties to Harry. The few mutterings he heard about sex and coercion were a bit too pervvy for him and he ignored the impulse to tell her that their sex life was none of her business and quite good now that he wasn't avoiding mating. Harry just observed and kept his hands happily where they were currently quite adequately filled by the swell of his 'Ko's backside. Draco, out of the corner of his eye, saw the light catch on the fire of the jewel slung decoratively around one of the tall vases that stood at the corner of the sofa. The jewel burned with an inner fire that told Draco that Severus was now working to steer Granger's decision process in the right direction since they no longer had direct eye contact.

Hermione finally spun on her heel and faced the mated pair. Her eyebrows were deeply furrowed to make a connecting ridge straight across her forehead right above her eyes and her generous mouth was carved into a deep frown of irritation. "So, if I have this right Malfoy will now work to protect you?"

"Yes." The frown, if at all possible, deepened. Harry just tightened his grip in response and Draco purred at the possessive display.

"What about the rest of the time you were gone?"

"Mostly spent getting rid of my concussion and getting better acquainted with Draco. I seem to be transferring my residual headaches to him when he tries to soothe me from a distance. Also, we didn't think it would look good for both of us to return at the same time since we disappeared at the same time."

"Oh." Hermione obviously hadn't thought of that. "When were you planning on coming back to class?"

"In a few days when I'm headache free. We waited too long for them to try and mend my head fully."

Hermione again took her time processing the information. "So why is Lucius and Zabini helping you?"

"My father protects the family as is his duty. The Malfoy honor now rests with my bond mate as I go where he goes and does what he does. His decisions are now my decisions." Draco debated the merits of slipping back into Granger's mind. It seemed as if Sev was doing a find job now on his own.

"And Ron? What happened so he was sent to the hospital wing?"

"He followed Draco back here and unfortunately caught us at a bad time and tried to hurt Draco which activated the protection charms around these rooms."

Oh his mate was one smooth shit-faced liar and wasn't that one of the sexiest things his mate had done for him yet. 'Protect me any more Harry and I'll have to lock us both away for a month to reward you for putting me first above all else' Draco send mentally to his mate. Harry was so going to be rewarded as soon as they were sequestered away in the privacy of their bedroom.

'I look forward to renewing our commitment to each other' Harry sent back with a full dose of love.

"So it was an accident?" Hermione stated, interrupting their miniature mind love fest.

"Yes. Ron fired off first without so much as a scream of "Ferret-face!" and triggered the emergency wards. Evidently whatever spell he tried wasn't well perceived by the wards and he ended up stuck to the wall and unconscious. If it weren't for Snape he'd probably still be there."

"Are you planning on telling Ron?"

"Yes, just hopefully in a calmer and less ouch inducing manner than letting the wards blast him."

"I'll say."

"Well, that is if he doesn't remember when he wakes up. If he doesn't I do plan on telling him."

"You mentioned you thought you might have a way of beating Voldemort?"

"Yes, well, I'd rather work on the details a bit more before I say anything about it. I don't want to jinx it by getting everyone all excited about it until I know it'll work."

"Just as long as you're all right Harry..." Hermione sniffled a bit at this, her eyes going glassy with unshed tears of worry for her friend.

"I promise to be careful and make sure that Draco doesn't get me in too much trouble."

"You both better keep yourselves out of trouble. I've got enough to worry about already."

"We will," Draco stated firmly as he answered for both Harry and himself. "I will protect my mate." And with that he pecked Harry on the nose.

Tbc. Sooner rather than later for once (next chapter should be posted within two weeks and maaaaybe the next chapter of SH)

Preview of the Next:

"I do believe, dear Severus, that everything is going so smoothly that something, somewhere is destined to go completely and hideously wrong. There is no such thing as perfection in this business."

"Then we shall make sure we are prepared for all comings my lord. The plot is thickening even as we stand here speaking of trivial issues."

"As of today the training of our heirs shall be handled by us. This will allow you to make the contingency plans foolproof."


End file.

Harry Potter, Fantasy, Romance