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Harry Potter and Gaining Momentum

By: Ryanaven
folder Harry Potter › Slash - Male/Male › Harry/Draco
Rating: Adult +
Chapters: 32
Views: 13,239
Reviews: 70
Recommended: 0
Currently Reading: 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.
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Hunger

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Dear Readers,



 



The
chapter is in here somewhere… (lol) but because of the
mass of questions in the reviews, I felt compelled to answer some questions
before everyone got tired of playing guessing games. I’m going to skip the
questions from athenakitty because, well, all she (or
he) posts are summaries in the form of questions (enjoying the reviews though).



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> ***First off, yes, I am a male, and
yes, I am also gay. If you find that
such an abomination, then stop reading my FIC!!!***



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> The reason I’ve made Peter Pettigrew so powerful: It’s not so much
a question of why he’s so powerful as to why he’s
better at magic than Harry thought he’d be. I think I’ve explained this in
later chapters, but I’ll explain it now just for kicks. As I’ve said, the Dark
Arts are like a drug. They get you addicted because of the feelings you have or
get when you use them… Ex: dominance, power, intimidation, supremacy etc. The
more addicted one gets, the more they dabble into the Dark Arts. And as the
Muggle saying goes, practice makes perfect… so it only makes sense that Peter should
be able to use the Dark Arts more efficiently, not to mention the silver hand,
which I’m sure acts like a buffer of some type.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'>



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>About Harry’s Slytherin line (In reference
to the Heir rune on his back): As I mentioned, the snake that is animated
and resides at the foot of the griffin where it slithers around benignly, is
the mark of Slytherin.
The reason for it being animated, though I’m
putting this in a chapter to come, is because he was magically made an Heir of
Salazar when Tom accidentally placed his magic in Harry when he attempted to
kill him as an infant. As I’m going to explain in a later chapter, it is not
only blood that makes the Heir, but also magic. When Riddle placed some of his
magic in Harry, he gave him gifts of another Founder, thus making him a magical
Heir, thus giving him an animated tattoo of a serpent.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Blue Rune: The blue rune on Harry’s back will come in to play in a
much later chapter; sorry for the suspense, but it’s going to answer a lot of
questions. (No it’s not the Heir rune for Merlin, in case you’re wondering)



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> The Letter: It was asked in Chapter 12 of the reviews, who Draco
was writing to in chapter 5 when he borrowed Harry’s owl while Harry was
napping… this too will come at a later chapter, and will answer some questions
that are coming up in chapters to come.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> The Staff: Yes, the virtues of the emerald upon the staff are true.
The emerald does stand for everything Albus explains, which coincidentally,
makes a lot of sense if you bring Harry’s eyes into perspective… a small stroke
of genius that was… lol. There is a lot of fact
behind everything that I write, and I do research both in past books and in
other ‘new’ topics to make sure everything flows gently.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Voldemort: The reason I haven’t brought Tom into the picture yet is
because Harry is no longer having visions of him… not to mention it’s only into
the third month of school. Severus will soon bring word back; please be
patient.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Harry and the Unforgiveables: Yes, they
are addictive as I mentioned above; but because of the virtues of the emerald,
and his tie to them, I think the negative effects will be buffered out as long
as Harry only feels guilt instead of dominance while using the Imperius.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Lucius’s Spell: As some have pointed out, there was no damage from Lucius
spell. The reason there was no damage is because Harry burned and the curse
didn’t get to progress. As I mentioned in an earlier chapter, baby phoenixes
are totally immune to magic until they can protect themselves. So when Harry
burned, it annulled the effects of the curse because he became a baby.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Draco being Veela: Yes, I know it was a sharp bump in the road, but
as I saw it, he could no longer hold it in after the speech that Dumbledore
gave in his office after the duel. I think he felt guilty for becoming so
important to Harry and felt as though he was betraying Harry for never telling
him of the arranged marriage or of being half-Veela.



 




style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Pensieves: No, Harry does not
have two pensieves. Yes, he did get one from
Dumbledore when Draco came to stay with him; but if you remember, he didn’t get
to keep that one: it was taken to make sure Sirius was cleared so that Harry
inherited Sirius’s money and estates. So, the only one he has right now is the
one that he got from Dumore ore when the Minister (Amelia) was present, and
used to convict Narcissa.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Now, on with the storb>



 



**************************************************************************************************************************



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Harry was, yet again, in the place
that made him most comfortable in Hogwarts: The Gryffindor Suite.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> He’d made it a habit to come here as often as
he could over the past week. He wasn’t
sure yet what it was about the three room suite that made him feel so relaxed,
but whatever it was left Harry not caring, but instead, basking in its
existence. He was dreaming of last week’s
duel every night, before he finally gave up and started popping down to the
suite’s entrance to stay there for the night.
It took a total of three nights of nightmares before he finally gave in
to the pull that the suite seemed to have on his body and mind, like an
addiction.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> He had forgone his training
sessions with Dumbledore, and instead was getting instruction from Godric, who
found it humorous that Harry was fighting Slytherin’s Heir.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Harry had yet to tell him that he was also
Slytherin’s Heir, though only magically.
Godric knew spells that Harry had never heard of, spells that even left
Harry taxed to the max when he was finished. He’d also brought Hedwig here, and
owled a few of his professors, because he didn’t
always feel like going to classes. These
classes usually had Draco in them.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> The hole in his gut was still
there, but Harry only noticed it when he was out of the suite; he was becoming
a hermit here, but didn’t care. He spent
most of his day, if he had chosen not to go to classes, with his nose in a
book. Then after dinner, which the
kitchen made by itself at Harry’s request, Godric would take him through new
spells that he had invented and catalogued while he was running the class=SpellE>Wizarding School.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Harry’s knowledge of the founder
was increasing greatly because of Godric’s library.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> It seems that he was the keeper of records,
even before the school was officially started.
Rowena and Godric had traveled the world with a single-minded purpose:
to find every spell they could, and cataloguem alm all.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> The Gryffindor Library was full of huge thick
tomes that were marked by date and area.
In each tome, such as the one for Britain,
they had every spell ever uttered, and a definition of what it did.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Harry was very surprised at how accurate the
records were. For having come from an
age when the Quick Quotes Quill didn’t exist, it seemed odd that one could take
notes as fast as Rowena did. (Of course,
Rowena was the one taking the notes; Godric had also told him this.)



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> While examining the huge books, he
especially took out the ones from countries outside Britain,
and looked through them. The fact that
surprised him the most was that the killing curse was actually invented in Africa,
by a tribe of wizards who were advanced in knowledge, though not in
culture. The spell had been invented for
one purpose: death. But that’s not what
surprised Harry the most: the biggest surprise was that the spell was invented
to kill animals on the plains. The tribe would hunt gazelle and water buffalo
with the curse. The person who invented
the curse thought that it was more efficient and less painful for the
animal. It also turned out that the
desire to kill wasn’t needed to cast the curse.
Originally all that was needed was hunger.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> It seemed to Harry that over the centuries
since the curse was first cast, the emotion feeding
the curse had turned from benign hunger of appetite, to a malignant hunger to
take life.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> This brought a new idea to Harry’s mind,
and he recalled something that Hermione had asked Albus on their first day in
spell invention class. Why couldn’t you
counter the Killing Curse with a spell that projected a feeling of life?style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Albus had said that no wizard he ever knew
could think of life when the curse was coming at them; but if this were true,
couldn’t they think of fulfillment? If
hunger was in fact what drove the spell, then fullness, or fulfillment, or
accomplishment, might be the counter to the deadly green beam.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> An appeased appetite might be the key to
neutralizing this Unforgivable.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Harry began, with a new sense of
revitalization, to pore over the book while in his Occlumency state to see if
he could find a spell already invented for the need to sate one’s appetite.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> He looked for hours each day; but after the
fifth day, he found that not one spell of this description existed.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> A potion did exist, though.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> It was made for those who wanted to lose
weight. The potions would be taken, and
they suppressed the appetite by fooling the stomach into thinking that it was
already full. Unlike Muggle methods,
where a pill or substance was taken to suppress the appetite, the potion just
simply made someone feel full.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> When Harry did finally leave the
Gryffindor suite, it was to go to the Room of Requirement to meet with the
others that were in his Spell Invention group.
He was about to explain to them what exactly fed the Avada
Kedavrad hod how he planned on countering it.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Harry got to the portrait that
yielded the way to the Room of Requirement, and suddenly stopped.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Did he really want to do this?style='mso-spacerun:yes'> He knew that Draco was behind this wall right
now… was he willing to subject himself to his scrutiny, and have the hollow
abyss in his chest open up wide again?
For a fleeting moment, he wanted to run the other way, and put all
confrontations with Draco on the back burner.
But the possibility that there could be a counter-curse for the Killing
Curse drove away the need, or desire, to flee.
He took the required walk to get into the room and stepped inside.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> He was immediately awarded an outcry.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “Harry!style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Where have you been?style='mso-spacerun:yes'> We’ve all been so worried!” Hermione wailed,
as she got up and dashed for him, grabbing him in a bear hug and cutting off
his ability to breathe. Unlike other
times, he didn’t complain; he needed the affection.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “Sorry,” he said quietly in her
ear, putting a hand gently on the small of her back in a half-hearted attempt
to soothe her worrying mind.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “So?
Where have you been?” she asked again, lifting her head from his chest.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “Later,” he said, glancing at the
others in attendance. A knowing look
came to Hermione’s eyes, and she nodded before turning and heading back to the
table. Harry followed her.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> They were all here: Susan, Hermione, a Dra Draco.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “Harry,” Draco said, nodding in a
kind of formal greeting. Harry couldn’t
muster the same confidence to say Draco’s name, so he just nodded and looked
away to Hermione.



 




“I think I’ve found a
way to counter the Killing Curse,” he blurted out in an attempt to get over the
tense and awkward situation.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “What?style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Harry, you know that’s impossible,” Hermione
said in her logical voice. “No one can
create a spell of life, much less utter it when the killing curse is coming at
them,” she explained.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “What if I told you that I’ve found
new evidence that the emotion to want to kill someone isn’t what drives the
curse?” Harry asked, as if it were a rhetorical question.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “But the Headmaster told us on the
first day of class that hate, vengeance and cruelty are what drive the
curse. How do we counter emotions that
strong?” Susan said, as if she refused to take the bait.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “Like I said, I’ve found a loophole
of a sort. What is needed to cast the
curse?” Harry asked.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “Everything Susan just mentioned,”
Hermione said, motioning to the other girl.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “Go deeper, Hermione.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> What feeds those emotions?” he asked.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'>
“Evil,” she said, shrugging.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “No.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> You’re thinking about it in the wrong
direction. Okay, what if I told you the
curse was originally invented for hunting?
Then what would you answer be?” he asked.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “Survival,” Susan spoke up,
furrowing her brow and letting the wheels in her head start to turn.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Harry nodded his head in an off-handed
manner.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “Partly,” he began, “but you’re
still not thinking right. Survival was
the key factor, but the curse was based on emotion.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Hunger, guys…ger ger was the emotion that led
to the curse’s existence. They hungered
for survival, for food; and thus, the killing curse was formed.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> What if we invented a counter for the killing
curse that involved a spell that appeased the appetite?style='mso-spacerun:yes'> One that, pardon the pun, snuffs out the
hunger?” he asked. Hermione sat there
clearly thinking for a second before she looked back at Harry.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “Those are some very unorthodox
assumptions, Harry. No doubt some deep
thinking went into this, but we’ll have to be sure the curse was originally
fueled by hunger,” Hermione said.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “The evidence is as solid as it
will ever be, and it’s stone now,” Harry said.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “So, what you're saying is that,
when You-Know…I mean Vol—Voldemort uses the Killing
curse, he feels hunger in some way?” Susan asked, confused.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “Well, it makes sense, doesn’t it?”
Hermione replied. “The hunger to win,
the hunger to see the death of the other person, it only makes sense.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Hunger is essentially just another word for
‘drive’ or ‘will’, so why wouldn’t it work?”



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “Exactly,” Harry said glad that she
caught on.



&n



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “So we have to put together a
counter-curse that will appease the appetite of someone who is hungry?style='mso-spacerun:yes'> But that’s going to be harder than you
think. It’s not the kind of hunger that
one feels in his stomach, but in one's being.
Like love,” Draco said, trailing off for a second.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> His eyes were slightly wide with his slip of
the tongue, but he fought for composure, “Erm… what I
mean to say was… um… accomplishment… you can’t appease that with something as
simple as a spell. We have to realize that we’re not looking for a spell for
dieters. Making someone feel as if
they’ve already eaten isn’t going to do any good.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> We’re looking for the ultimate counter-curse,
one that will forgo the hunger to live... to exist.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> I don’t see us doing this,” Draco said.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “I think you’re thinking too deeply
now, Draco. Harry said it was used for
hunting, for painless killing. I think
hunger of the stomach was exactly what fed the curse; hunger of the soul, or
being, as you said, only enhanced the desire to cast it.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> What do you think they did before they had
the spell? They probably just used a
severing curse to mangle the animal, so they could slaughter it.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> They could have continued to do this, but class=SpellE>wizarding populations apparently increased if they used a
more precise method of killing an animal.
Not to mention it was used out of mercy,” Hermione added.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “I think that whatever occurred that made
them want a more accurate curse left them physically hungry.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Aesidesides, if you were famished, and I mean
doubled-over-from-hunger-pangs famished, would you be able to summon up the
energy to go chasing after some animal?” she asked.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Harry loved her when she was like this.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> She thought deeply, but only on the turn of a
dime. an>San>She brain-stormed aloud, and came
up with the right answer because she was on the spot, not to mention on the
verge.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “Excellent,” Harry said, beaming at
her. “Though I didn’t look as far into
it as you did, I couldn’t have explained it better.”



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “Thanks,” she said blushing.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “I think over time, people just resorted to
hunger of the soul, rather than hunger of their physical selves.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> But since it started out as physical hunger,
it was still hunger… it may work.” Harry
just smiled more broadly.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “Why am I in this group?” Susan
suddenly piped up. “You are all so
intelligent I hardly feel like I contribute anything.”



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “You do just as much work as we
do. Just because you don’t think deeply
like those two doesn’t mean you’re not intelligent; it just means you, like me,
try not to read into things too often,” Draco said.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “You do just as much research and equation
work as we do.”



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “I guess; though I still feel like
I’m not contributing enough,” she said.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “Susan, everyone has a stroke of
genius every once in a while. Harry and
Hermione just happen to have it more often than others, which just class=GramE>means they think deeper than us.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> If you look at it this way, the group is
perfect. We see what’s above the surface
of things, and they see what’s beneath it.
It’s the perfect balance,” Draco said with a satisfied look.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> It was indeed an ideal combination.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “Well, when you put it like that,
it does seem better,” Susan said, sounding like she still wasn’t totally
convinced, but she didn’t argue.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “So, when do you want to start?”
Harry asked.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “When you show us this evidence,
Mr. Potter,” Hermione said sternly.
Harry grimaced at her tone. He
knew something like this was going to happen, but Godric told him that the
books had to remain in his study. There
was a charm that Rowena put on the quarters to make sure all the records stayed
in place, so they would not be abused.



 



style='msaceracerun:yes'> “I can’t remove the book I found
the spell in, from where I found it,” Harry said mysteriously.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “Then take us there,” Hermione
said, like it was no big deal.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “I can’t,” he said simply.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “Why not?”



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “I’m not allowed.”



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “Says who?”



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “I can’t tell you.”



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “Says you?”



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “No.”



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “Harry, we’re getting nowhere this
way. I need to look deeper into this;
and without proper notes, I won’t know what we’re looking at.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> This goes for everyone.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> We all need to be clued in on the background
information. Without that, we don’t have
a specific place to start,” Hermione said tersely.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “I’m sorry, but I can’t show you,” Harry
said.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “Fine, we’ll work on somng
ng
else. Any ideas?style='mso-spacerun:yes'> I thought maybe a stunner with a signature
spell spliced into it, so Death Eaters couldn’t revive their comrades,”
Hermione said briskly. pan>pan>Harry stared at
her in disbelief.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “What? You mean just because I
won’t reveal my sources, you’re going to totally disregard the fact that we can
save lives doing this?” he sputtered incredulously.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “Yes,” she answered bluntly.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “How can you do that with a clear
conscience?” he asked her, angering.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “Because if the spell we make
doesn’t work, we’ll be known as the four students who will have caused a massacre
when the Aurors go out to try the spell,” Hermione said logically.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “But we will have tested it first,”
Harry said. His neck was getting hot,
and he was balling his fist now.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “Harry, you’ve obviously not
thought about this, have you? We can
hardly test it. The three of us would
hardly be able to cast the spell with enough power to kill; we’d be lucky to
get a nosebleed out of another person.
You are the only one that could cast it, but your tie to your staff
won’t let you. Besides, you’ve had the
curse cast at you twice. The first time
it rebounded, and the second time you ate it.
You don’t make the best candidate for the testing,” Hermione said,
glaring at Harry.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “Fine; but if I show youd yod you
show any inclination that you’ll show anyone else, I’ll modify your memories so
far back you’ll be drooling like babies, got it?” he said heatedly.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “Got it,” Hermione said just as
heatedly.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “I’m not playing games
Hermione. One slight vibe with my
empathy and your first word will not be ma-ma, but sor-ry,”
Harry threatened. Hermione bristled a
bit, but didn’t lose her composure, just nodded.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “And you two?” he said, giving a withering
look at the other two. Susan looked scared out of her wits, but nodded shakily
anyway. Draco looked at Harry
imploringly. He didn’t nod at first, but
instead stared into Harry’s intoxicating green eyes.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Harry felt his eyes and body swim with
familiarity for a second, before he too got lost in those moonlit silver
eyes. Harry was suddenly class=GramE>back on Earth, and was shocked.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Draco had had the nerve to prod Harry’s mind
with his own. He obviously didn’t think
that Harry would feel it.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Harry slammed his fist down on the
table and forced the probing sensation away until he was in Draco’s
territory. He tore at Draco’s sturdy
walls; and he was able to tear them down in no time, as Harry guessed, because
of his emotion and anger. Draco gasped
at the sensation of his Occlumency walls falling before he started trying to
build them back up. Without thinking,
only out of an idea at the back of his head, Harry retreated so quickly that
Draco was sucked back into Harry’s mind.
Harry made a crack in his Occlumency walls and slipped through along
with Draco. Harry then sealed the crack
and straightened up. Draco’s mind was
now trapped in Harry’s. He definitely
wasn’t getting out until Harry let him out.
Harry quickly surrounded Draco with a wall behind him also, so that he
was between two, and couldn’t look at Harry’s memories.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Draco sat in his chair, breathing
measured breaths methodically, with a glazed look on his face.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Harry turned and looked at Hermione who now
looked frightened.



 



“What did you do?” she whispered,
horror struck.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “He had the nerve to try to get
into my mind, but couldn’t get through my Occlumency walls. I tore his down,
sucked him into my head too fast for him to react, and trapped him within two
walls,” Harry answered, looking at Draco’s empty shell still sitting there
gazing at him.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “He looks like… like…” she couldn’t
continue, but she sobbed.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “Like Neville’s parents?” Harry
asked, raising an eyebrow. Hermione
nodded and Harry agreed. “He’ll learn
not to get in over his head,” Harry said with conviction.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “Levitate him with us and I’ll put him back
in his body when we get there,” he ordered.
Neither of the girls argued, and Susan did as she was told and promptly
waved her wand with a muttered charm.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Harry put one hand on Hermione’s
shoulder and another on Susan’s. Seeing
what he was about to do, Hermione pulled Draco’s levitated form towards Harry
and put one of Draco’s hands on Harry’s arm.
Harry flinched away at first, and Hermione seemed to sober a bit and
gave him a look of sympathy, but when she did it again, he didn’t budge.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> With a whisk of cold air and white glistening
snowflakes, the four disappeared from the Room of Requirement and reappeared in
front of the mirror outside the Gryffindor suite.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Harry mumbled something that neither Hermione
nor Susan could hear before a ripple went thought the mirror, and the glass
opened up, like mercury being pushed aside.
He glanced suspiciously once more back at Hermione and Susan, before
leading them in.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> From what Harry could see, their
reaction was the same as his had been: awestruck. Harry had to smirk a bit when
he led the crew into the library.
Hermione’s eyes lit up like she’d never had a Christmas, and he had just
given her the first one. She covered her
mouth as her jaw dropped in an ‘O’ shape and she gazed with rapture at the
bookcases full of old tethered tomes.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “Harry?” Godric’s voice said
bringing Harry out of his thoughts of Hermione’s bliss.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “Yes?” Harry said from the library.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “Who’s here?style='mso-spacerun:yes'> I can feel more signatures than yours,”
Godric said from the living room.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “C’mon, guys, I have to introduce
you to someone,” Harry said; and he turned and led them out of the library.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “Hermione?” he said, getting her attention
when she didn’t move. She jerked her
head towards him and gave him a questioning look.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> He motioned for her to follow. She looked
back with disappointment in her eyes, but reluctantly followed.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> He led them to the living room and stood in
front of the portrait.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “And who, may I ask, are these
young lasses and lad?” Godric said, looking at the three visitors with an
appraising eye.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “Godric, this is one of my best
friends: Hermione,” Harry said, motioning to the bushy-haired girl to his
right. “This is a good friend and ally,
Susan,” he said as he motioned to Susan, who was standing on his left.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “The boy?”
Godric questioned, whe did didn’t introduce Draco.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “It’s him,” Harry said as if that
summed it up; and apparently it did, because Godric scowled lightly at Draco’s
shell on the couch where Susan had laid him down.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “What’s wrong with him?” Godric
asked, as if Draco were merely a pesky bug on the bottom of his shoe.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Harry didn’t know whether to laugh or scowl
at the painting, for speaking that way about the only person he had loved in
such a manner.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “He’s not in his right mind…
literally,” Harry said, looking back at Draco.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “Explain,” Godric commanded, but not harshly.



 <>



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “He tried to get into my mind
before I brought them here, and I tra him him there.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> I guess I should put him back now,” Harry
said in an off-handed manner.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “Why?” Godric asked, looking at
Draco as if he were a less than worthy being.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “Because like it or not, we need
his help in this, Godric,” Harry heaved a sigh and sat on the edge of the couch
beside Draco. He put a hand under
Draco’s neck and lifted his glazed and zoned-out eyes to meet his own.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> He pushed forward into Draco’s mind and into
the wall that was torn down. He took his
first wall down and forced Draco back into his own mind before rebuilding
Draco’s walls in a blink, then retreated back to reality.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Draco stirred and fluttered his eyes.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “What the hell did you do that
for?” he said to Harry harshly. Harry
simply stood from the couch and leaned against the arm.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “You needed to know your
boundaries. My mind is off limits unless
I invite you in, which I likely never will,” Harry said, before going back to
stand in front of the painting. “Everyone, meet Godric Gryffindor,” Harry said,
waving a hand slightly to the painting.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “This is an Heir’s Suite,” Hermione
breathed in awe once again. Harry looked
at her curiously for a moment. Seeing
this questioning look, she elaborated.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “In Hogwarts: A History, it said
that the founders had Suites that they kept hidden from the general population
of the school. It was speculated that
the Heirs could gain access to these Suites, but the theory was disregarded
after Tom Riddle never found Salazar Slytherin’s,” Hermione said.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Harry looked at her for a moment then nodded
slowly.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “Why couldn’t Voldemort get into
Salazar Slytherin’s?” Draco asked confused.
“He got into the Chamber of Secrets.”



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “Ah, so someone found that wretched
place? Helga and I looked for decades
and couldn’t find it. But… tell me… if
he found it, why are there still students here?” Godric asked.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “You don’t know?” Hermione asked,
looking at him oddly for a moment. He
gave her a cross look.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “You’ll forgive me, young lady, but
I only have two portraits in the whole castle.
One can only be seen my Heir, and resides just within the Entrance.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> You’re looking at the other.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> People don’t wander past these parts
often. My reason for putting my Suite
here in the first place,” Godric said, trying not to sound snippy, Harry could
tell. Hermione gave Harry a look and saw
that he hadn’t told Godric that he was also the Heir to Slytherin.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> She assumed it was for good reason.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “Well, the monster in the Chamber
was a Basilisk, and it petrified a load people before Harry finally went down
there and killed the thing with the Gryffindor Sword,” Hermione said.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “How’d you get into the
chamber? And how did you find it?”
Godric asked Harry.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “Ginny Weasley opened it when she
was being possessed by Tom Riddle,” Hermione answered before Harry could.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Susan and Draco both stiffened at the blatant
lie, but neither said a word.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “Ah, so she also showed you where
it was?” Godric asked again.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “Oh, no, Harry and Ron found it by
putting pieces of a puzzle together and looking the girls' lavatory over really
well. It turns out the resident ghost
there was killed by the Basilisk firsfirst time Riddle let it out,” Hermione
informed him. Godric raised an eye to
Harry as if looking at him in a new light then smiled warmly at him.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “Any new
instructions for me, Harry?
Do
they always have admittance here? I
daresay I could use a talk or two with this young Ravenclaw,” he said, looking
at Hermione, who flushed.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “Actually she’s a Gryffindor,”
Harry said, grinning. Godric’s eyebrows
rose in alarm and he stared at Hermione intently.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “Is she really?” he asked as if
intrigued. Harry and Hermione nodded.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “As for instructions, they stay as they
are, for now,” Harry said without looking at Hermione’s scandalized face.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> He didn’t want to get into the reasons why he
left the instructions the same at the moment.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “Fine, but do bring her back along
with your other best friend, what's his name?” Godric asked, furrowing his brow
trying to remember.



 



n
sn
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “Ron,” Hermione supplied; Godric
nodded in recognition.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “Yes, him.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Do pardon me, my mind seems to be rather
dusty these days,” he said with an irritated look.



 




“No pardon needed, Lord
Gryffindor. Understandable,” Hermione
said warmly.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “Lord?” Susan asked.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “Yes, any wizard that has the
defeat of another great wizard on their hands is a Lord. Originally, after the
defeat, the victorious wizard would be granted the defeated wizard’s land,
making him a lord; these days it’s used if the defeat of a great wizard
occurred. The Muggles have taken over so much land that there was no longer any
land to claim lordship over, so the title is used more loosely than it used to
be,” Hermione explained. “All
descendants are also Lords, making Harry a Lord twice over.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Once for being the descendent from Gryffindor
and once for the initial defeat of Voldemort.
This gives him the title Grand Sorcerer.
No surprise there,” she added wryly.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “So Dumbledore has Defeated two
Great wizards, or one and is a descendent?” Harry asked remembering seeing the le ole on the Hogwarts letters long ago.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “Oh, not
necessarily.
If he was rewarded a
lord’s land by inheritance without being a descendant, than he would be given
the title of Lord; but you have to take into account the Defeat of Grindelwald.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “Then that makes Harry a Lord three
times over. He inherited land from the Black
Family Trust also,” Draco said.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “It would only count if the owner
of the house was a Lord. Some don’t
flaunt it, but some do so, as a way to get into tight social circles,” Hermione
explained.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “The Noble House of Black,” Harry
said, furrowing his brow and trying to remember if he’d ever seen anything on
the tapestry at the Manor that would help.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “Noble?” Susan asked.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Harry and Hermione nodded.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “Then he wasn’t a Lord, he was a Noble.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> You can’t be both, it wasalloallowed.”



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “What do you mean?style='mso-spacerun:yes'> I don’t recall anything about Nobles,”
Hermione said grimacing and trying to recall information, no doubt from History
of Magic.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “A noble is someone with Political
Stature. They get seats on committees,
boards, and such. If Harry wanted to,
after he turned seventeen and was out of Hogwarts, he could force one of the
governors on the Hogwarts board to resign so he could take his spot.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> No questions would be asked and Harry would
just be able to waltz in and starting trying to pass new rules and regulations
for the school. Auntie says that’s how
your father got onto the board,” Susan said, looking at Draco.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “What determines a Noble?” Harry
asked.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “Money,” Draco, Godric and Susan
all said in unison.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “Anything over ten million is
considered Noble,” Draco explained.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “So money corrupts our school
board?” Harry asked.



 :p><:p>



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “No, it’s a way of making sure the
school is always funded. Or, it used to
be,” Draco said rephrasing. “If the
board was comprised of Nobles, they would be able to donate money for projects
that would increase the wealth and reputation of the school.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> It was a balanced system, and it’s odd that
it still happens,” Draco said, leaning back on the couch.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “Doesn’t that make you a Noble?”
Harry asked Draco bluntly.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “You’re not allowed to claim
Nobility until you’re of age, but yes, I will be,” Draco said in a dignified
manner. Harry caught a glimpse of the old Draco for a moment.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> /spa/span>“That would make you a Noble twice
over,” Hermione said grinning now.
“You’ve been named Heir to the Noble House of Black, and you fit the
requirements for claiming you’re one because of your galleons.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Lucky you,” Hermione said wryly again.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Harry glared at her.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “I think I’m beginning to
understand why Dumbledore said that Sirius left me all that money to make sure
I did well in politics. He knew I was
going to need something to back up my titles, and they both knew that I would
soon break out into politics once all these titles were made public,” Harry
said.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “Harry, they’re already out; it’s
just that no one really looks at them any more unless they’re pointed out.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> People call Dumbledore ‘Headmaster’ or
‘Sir’. Have you ever heard someone call
him ‘Lo” He” Hermione asked. Harry shook
his head ‘no’. “That’s because most wizards
and witches don’t use their titles unless they’re in high-ranking
politics. Most don’t even acknowledge
their own titles unless they’ve been rightfully earned, which explains why
Dumbledore only puts his titles at the end of important documents.”



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “You know far too much for your own
good sometimes, Hermione,” Harry drawled. “Anyway, Godric, we’ve come because
we need information from the library so we can create a new spell.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> We’ll let you know if it works,” he said, and
shuffled the others out of the living room and back into the library to go
through the books.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “How do you even know where to
start? There’s so many,” Susan said.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “The whole Suite is enchanted for
efficiency. Africa, Avada
Kedavra,” Harry said in a commanding tone.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Two books lit up in a blue haze and Harry
pulled them from the shelf where he left a perfect slot for them to be replaced
in. If Harry didn’t replace them in more
than twenty-four hours, or if they weren’t marked, they would go back onto the
shelf by themselves.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “Wow, that’s so much more efficient
than the Hogwarts library,” Susan commented.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “You have no idea,” Harry said as
he laid the books on a side-table and said again, “Physical Runes, breakdown of
Diet-Suppressing Potion.” Four more
books lit up this time, and Hermione grabbed them.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Harry could tell she wanted to try it, but
was holding herself back. “If you guys
think there’s anything else that would help, don’t
hesitate,” Harry said, motioning to the shelves and taking a seat in one of the
plush chairs at the table. Hermione sat
down next to him, looking dejected.
Apparently she couldn’t think of anything else that they would need from
the shelves. Draco sat down on the other
side of him. Susan sat beside Hermione
and grabbed the Runes book and started looking though it.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'>
Harry was overly aware of Draco sitting next to him.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> The heat from his body was radiating off him;
and Harry gave a slight shiver that, thank Merlin, Draco didn’t notice.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> He felt intoxicated by Draco’s presence, by
the heat – but said and did nothing. He
wanted to close his eyes and bask in it, but knew he couldn’t.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> He had to get over this; he had to be
stronger. Draco shifted in his seat and
unintentionally, Harry guessed, moved closer to Harry to have a look at a book
Harry was feigning to read. Harry wanted
to scoot closer to him too, but his pride and his indecision wouldn’t let
him. If he did that, it would be evident
that he was taking this harder than Draco thought he was.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> He had held himself together fine so far; but
as Draco reached a hand over Harry’s arm to turn the page halfway and look on
the other side, he brushed the top of it with his fingertips by accident.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Harry sprang up as if jolted by electricity.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “Um…” he stammered, trying to come
up with a reason to move before he broke down and started pleading with Draco
to take him back, “You guys thirsty? I’m
parched myself,” he said quickly, and left the room before any of them could
answer. He headed to the kitchen and
opened the door to the pantry that was charmed to stay cold.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> He stuck his head in and took a deep breath
of the chilling air to calm himself.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Idiot, he chided himself.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> He had acted like a total idiot when Draco
brushed his arm. His body had
immediately reacted to the touch, and he began to get aroused. He felt weak and
vulnerable again, like he had no control over his own body.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> He had longed for Draco’s touch so badly over
the last week. The lack of physical
contact never fazed him while they were together. He assumed it was because the
touch would have been welcomed by Draco.
But now that Harry couldn’t just ravish him at a mere thought or class=GramE>urge, it tore him apart.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “Harry?” the soft whisper made him class=GramE>stiffen. It was
Draco. It was the same voice that would
rasp while Harry was on top of him.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “Huh?” Harry said, looking around
the pantry as if trying to find something.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “Are you all right?” Draco asked,
still quietly.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “Yeah,” Harry said, trying to sound
more composed and relaxed than he felt.
He actually wanted to pin Draco against the counter and have his way
with him, or turn and curse him to oblivion for turning him into an emotional
basket case.



 



style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “Oh,” Draco said, sounding
disappointed. “Need help with anything?”



 




“Care to give my heart
back?” Harry said without even thinking.
He silently cringed at the edge on his voice.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> He heard Draco suck in a shocked breath.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> He turned and looked at the boy, who paled
even further. Harry moved in front of
him carrying four Butterbeers.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Draco didn’t speak.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “Didn’t think so,” Harry said, and shoved one
of the cold bottles into Draco’s chest.
He grasped it out of instinct.
Harry left the kitchen and made his way back to the library.



 



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