Familiar

Hey guys heres an update for you.


V.M…So glad you aren’t calling me names anymore. Heres another update for you, took a little bit longer than I expected but…you get the idea. Hope ya like it.

Marille…Oh I agree, there are much better things that Lucius could be kissing, we’ll have to wait and see whether he finds something better. Hhhhhmmmm, such beautiful ideas. I love my imagination. And yes an enemy that you know is definitely preferable to a friend who’ll stab you in the back.

Hentai-Zaru…I’m sorry but I can’t tell you that. Dumbledore could happily kill krai but we are gonna have to wait and see what happens. Although being the author I have an advantage.

Jan…I’m sorry no H/D in this chapter, but I promise some interaction for the next chapter.

Chrys…I’ve read quite a few myself, but I keep re-reading them over and over again. I always say you can tell how much I like a fic by how many times I’ve read it and I’ve read that one a lot.

Jade…its possible, unfortunately I cant say yes or no.

Pleiades Wolf…Hey loved the first chapter, can’t wait for more. I love reading new fics, so if anyone else wants me to check out there stories just let me know and I’ll have a look.

Makovaso…Ask and you shall receive.


Thank you to everyone else who reviewed.


Chapter 20: A Meeting with Dumbledore

Harry headed to Dumbledore’s office a bit earlier than he intended to. It just seemed like a good idea. Him and Ron had rushed through dinner and headed up to Gryffindor tower to talk. Ron’s reaction to him and Draco being mates had been as he’d expected. Ron had gaped at him like a landed fish for a moment, before taking a deep breath and exploding. The rant lasted for quite a while. Harry didn’t actually listen to it, he could guess what Ron was saying, he would be spouting the evilness of Slytherins and the cruelty of one blonde, sharp toothed but exceedingly cute ferret.

After about half an hour of reassuring Ron that he was in fact ‘still sane’ and no, he wasn’t going to change his mind, Harry had left Ron still trying to come to terms with him and Draco Malfoy. Harry smiled. Ron was so predictable, he’d be angry for a while but by the time Harry got back from his chat with Dumbledore, he’d have calmed down enough not to argue. And tomorrow after he slept his anger off and had a good breakfast he’d accept it as just one of those things, he wouldn’t be happy about it but he’d understand.

He’d left Krai in the dorms, as much as he wanted the snake with him it was too risky to have him with him. He knew that Dumbledore wouldn’t want him to have a familiar, hopefully both him and Krai, as well as Ron…and Hermione would be able to keep Krai’s presence a secret. Harry would have to use all of the slytherin cunning he possessed to prevent someone else finding out. He knew that he could trust Remus with the knowledge but he didn’t want to, the more people there were who knew about a secret the less it was safe. Besides he had worries about Remus right now. He’d been watching him in DADA and his Godfather just didn’t seem himself. He seemed irritable and agitated, as evidenced by his pacing…like a caged animal. He knew Krai would have some insights but those would have to wait until after his meeting with Dumbledore.

While he had been pondering, his feet had found their way to the stone Gargoyle, he said with a grimace of distaste ‘Blood Pops’ and went up the spiralling staircase. He didn’t expect Dumbledore to be here yet as Dinner hadn’t actually finished and Dumbledore usually stayed till the end. Sure enough the only one who was up there apart from himself was Fawke’s, Dumbledore’s phoenix and familiar. The phoenix gave a little trill of greeting when he saw Harry.
He crossed over to the bird and stroked his soft plumage. ‘Hello Fawkes.’

After a minute or two he glanced around the office and spotted what he was looking for. On a shelf at the far end of the room sat a dilapidated hat, that appeared to be snoring. Harry shook his head, weirder things had happened in the Wizarding world. He gave the hat a soft poke and waited for it to come around; he then picked it up and placed it on his head.

Do you have a question young Potter?

I do yes.

Well ask.

I wanted to know more about Salazar and Godric, why Salazar left him?

That is something I cannot answer, I can tell you many things about the founders although most of it is dependent on my presence, other things I only heard through Godric’s mind. The day Salazar disappeared was strange, he’d been withdrawn for a week ever since the Samhain…Halloween celebration. The celebrations that year had been very elaborate, I remember seeing many people walking the halls, exchanging greetings with my maker. All aspects of wizarding life were represented that year. It was Godric’s idea to give the muggleborns some idea of the people and the world outside of Hogwarts, he believed that Hogwarts kept its students too sheltered from the world and that when they left many of them were lost and confused when they had no need to be.

Life was different then, more dangerous for our kind. It was a good idea, but it has never been done at this school since then. I know that it would help the students, teach muggleborns and purebloods how to interact…or at least a way to interact without wands drawn. It would make things simpler. But anyway the point is that Slytherin seemed restless after Samhain and many said it was due to this new idea of Godric’s, after all most people believed they hated each other. Anyway Godric awoke to an empty bed, he checked their quarters…no sign of him. He then searched the rest of the Founder’s wing to no avail. After similar results in the Great Hall, the Kitchen and Salazar’s classroom, Godric was at a loss.

There was no note, no explanation…nothing. There was no word at all for months, Godric began to sicken, the separation from his mate was hurting him, but he didn’t let it show he kept their secret until the end. And then with no warning he felt the connection sever and not a moment later he was dead under me.

I don’t know why Salazar left Harry and I don’t know whether we’ll ever find out. But know this, Salazar Slytherin was not what the world has made him appear, he was a good man…a little biased perhaps, but a good man none the less. He loved his mate and he loved his children. I don’t know what could have made him leave that but I do know that whatever it was that made him leave would have to be important. I couldn’t imagine him forsaking the best thing that can happen to any soul without a good reason.

Harry was silent for a moment, before voicing his questions.

If Salazar’s leaving affected Godric so much then why would you want to keep Draco from me?

You and Draco haven’t mated yet Harry, until you do the bond wont form and you’ll both be safe. What happened to Godric wont happen to you as long as you follow my advice and distance yourself emotionally from Draco. Harry shook his head fiercely and had to hold the hat in place.

I’m sorry I cant do that I need him. I feel it, I know there’s no one else in the world who’ll make me happy…just him. And so what if loving him will make my life shorter, it isn’t a guarantee and there are other things trying to take me out and death by love seems a much better option than dying in a load of green light.

I never knew someone so young could speak like that.

I haven’t been young for a long time. Harry answered dryly.

If you want to be with him Harry then I can’t stop you and maybe you’re right. I’m a hat I don’t understand love. But I know that the people who find it are different than they were before. Whether that’s a good thing or not depends. But I know you…maybe better than anyone. I’ve judged you Harry. I know you well and I know that you out of all the people I’ve seen…no one deserves a mate more than you do.

I want Draco and no one bar maybe Draco himself can stand in my way.

***

Harry spoke with the hat for a little while longer, told him how he intended to befriend Draco and then if Draco wanted it, they could be more. The hat did not voice its opinions again, he trusted Harry to make his own decisions.

But then the hat had told him something strange.

After a few minutes of silence the hat spoke.

Harry, listen to me I wasn’t sure before but I’ve had a few minutes to look fully into your mind. Harry there’s something there, something blocking one of your memories from me. I don’t know what it is or when it’s from but it would have had to have been done since first year, it wasn’t there then. If anything I’d say sometime in the last two or three years. Harry someone’s placed a memory charm on you, a strong one at that.

Can you break it?

No, I observe I don’t interfere. Someone else will have to break it for you.

Harry placed the hat back on the shelf a little bit later, his thoughts confused. Who would block one of his memories. After thinking about it for a few minutes he decided that there were three people who could have blocked his memory.

The first, though not technically a person was Krai, though he didn’t believe it was the snake. He was just considering and Krai did have access to his mind, but he trusted his familiar and he didn’t think that Krai would block a memory from him. But the snake had withheld information from him before. Well whatever, none of that mattered he trusted Krai and either way he’d be telling Krai about it later, if it was him the snake would admit it…he might not tell Harry what it was he was hiding but he would tell him he’d done it.

Snape was his second choice, now Snape also had access to his mind. He didn’t like Harry and wasn’t afraid to show it, he was a spy and would do absolutely anything to win the war. All of those things made Snape a possibility, but unlike his third choice he did actually trust Snape. The man had saved his life, he might not like him but he still saved him. And surely saving the life of someone you hated made you a good person.

Snape being a good person was an idea he had been fighting against for the better part of six years. But something had happened over the summer, with Krai’s gentle guidance Harry had grown up. He had never been allowed to be a child, having spent most of his younger years cooking and cleaning for people who actively hated him. Harry had been a ‘young adult’ since he was nine. He’d passed out of that phase during the summer and had actually realised that Snape was doing nothing other than being a good spy. And the incident with his broom in first year had proved that, he had realised that Snape had always tried to help him in anyway he could. He’d helped by warning the Order in fifth year, he didn’t have to but he did. This new awareness of his Potion Master was enough for Harry, he knew that Snape had nothing to do with his blocked memory.

Now Dumbledore on the other hand was a different matter. The man was manipulative; he had the skills, the power and the lack of feeling necessary to do such a thing. That was another thing that Harry had realised over the summer, Dumbledore didn’t care about him.

If he had cared about him, then Harry would never have been left with the Dursley’s, he’d have lived a happy life with one of his Godfathers. Harry understood more than he ever had before, Dumbledore had to have known that Sirius was innocent, but instead of saving an innocent man from Azkaban, he had allowed Sirius to live there…with those things, because Sirius being free somehow messed up his plans.

Dumbledore had to be the one to have hidden Harry’s memory. But what memory was it and why had it been hidden. That was a question that he wouldn’t be able to answer until they broke the memory charm. Looking back his memories seemed seamless, he couldn’t say that anything seemed out of place or wrong. And that to him gave him more proof that it was Dumbledore, the person that did it would have had to have been very proficient with memory charms to leave the remaining memories so seamless. It was like removing a scene from a movie, if you didn’t do it right the two ends wouldn’t match and the viewer was left with the knowledge that something was missing.

Further pondering would have to wait until later, Dumbledore would be in from dinner soon. He went back over to Fawkes and as he stroked him, he felt the warmth of the bird seeping into his hand. And he thought how could one creature be so…perfect. Draco, yes Draco was perfect, more so than the phoenix…Draco was his.

A moment later Harry heard a little warning bell go off and the next thing he knew Dumbledore had stepped into the office. Harry hid a smile, he finally knew how Dumbledore could tell there was someone outside his door.

‘Ah Harry my boy, how are you?’ he asked as he sat down behind the desk. ‘Lemon drop?’ he asked offering Harry the bag from inside his robes.
‘Er, no thank you Sir.’ Krai had told him not to eat or drink anything that Dumbledore offered him and Harry wasn’t going to.

Dumbledore regarded him over his half moon glasses, his eyes were twinkling but the twinkling was muted, which told Harry that the conversation was going to be serious, or at least serious to Dumbledore, Harry would probably just find it tedious.

‘Now Harry, I wanted to have a little chat with you about this summer.’ Harry fought the urge to role his eyes. How did he know!
‘I realise that you might not like your Aunt and Uncle…’
‘Might not like…I hate them and they hate me and you know that.’ Harry yelled.
‘Harry, I know how you feel about them but it was necessary. And I thought you understood that.’
‘But…’
‘Keeping you safe Harry, is the most important thing. And the wards on Privet Drive would have kept you safe.’

‘I may be safe from Voldemort there. But there are other dangers in the world Headmaster and I don’t think you understand that.’
‘Harry…’
‘No Professor I made a decision to leave there and I’m sticking to it.’

Dumbledore was quiet for a moment and for the first time Harry experienced something that he never thought he would when in this man’s presence. At that moment Albus Dumbledore made Harry Potter nervous. The next second it was gone and Harry wondered if he’d imagined it, but no, he wasn’t that dumb. For a moment it seemed Dumbledore had shown his true colours.

‘Very well Harry, if I can’t change your mind, then I have no choice. You are of age after all. Would you like to tell me where you have been living?’ Dumbledore said giving him a pointed look.
‘I was staying at the Leaky Cauldron Professor.’ He answered. Technically it was true; he had stayed at the Leaky Cauldron, only for a day but that didn’t matter.
‘Harry my boy, don’t lie to me, I know for a fact that you didn’t stay at the Leaky Cauldron.’
‘Actually Professor I did stay at the Leaky Cauldron.’ He forced the truth into his voice; he just didn’t tell him everything.
‘How?’
‘I’ve gotten pretty good at glamour charms over the years Professor.’ Dumbledore just looked at him for a moment. Harry remained silent, letting Dumbledore take that comment how he would. The Dursley’s had hated Harry and they had taken it out on him, mainly letting Dudley and his gang’ beat him up, but they’d never done anything more than give him a few clouts round the head. Their preferred method of punishment was locking him in his cupboard, but Dumbledore didn’t need to know that.

Finally he spoke. ‘Very well Harry. That is all.’
Harry left Dumbledore’s office feeling that he’d won maybe one small victory. But there was no denying that his life had just become a little more complicated…and maybe a little less safe.




Hey guys what do you think? I actually thought that was one of my better chapters, I think I wrote some good dialog there (which incidentally I consider my weak point).

So if you’ve read please review too.


RECOMMENDATION

Hey todays fic is NOT a Harry/Draco, so if you have a problem with that don’t bother reading further.

Todays recommendation is…

The Return

By Leo-Zodiac

This is Harry/Snape, SNARRY. So if ya like read if ya don’t, don’t complain.

This is set after Hogwarts, Voldemorts dead and Harry is married to Severus and quite happy. Harry is a medi-wizard and working at Hogwarts with Poppy. Then something unexpected happens. The new charms and transfiguration professors look kinda familiar.

Lily and James Potter, never dead, alive and kicking…ready to be a part of their son’s life again. But will he let them?

This fic is fun and sweet, deals with some issues and provides an insight into a beautifully future for out favourite boy.

Oh and Sirius is alive.