Pet

~*~*~*~*
TWENTY-FOUR
~*~*~**~
Harry stood on the library balcony, dressed in a voluminous silk summer weight robe; a slight breeze ruffled the loose fabric revealing he wore nothing beneath it. Lucius had destroyed all of Harry’s Muggle and modern wizard garments, leaving him with only the most traditional of wizarding garb. His request to “at least wear boxers or briefs” had been met with an amused smile and a promise to “think about it”.

It was almost midnight, just a few minutes until Harry turned eighteen. The sky was full of owls, but none of the birds were looking for him. The owls were delivering condolences to Lucius and Draco Malfoy on the untimely death of Narcissa by her own hand.

Harry, being unconscious at the time, did not know if Narcissa’s suicide was truth or a tale concocted to prevent murder charges from being brought against Draco. He decided it really did not matter as long as Rosamond remained safe.

He had no illusions that anyone would attempt to send him a birthday owl. Neither Ginny nor Neville would risk another breach of etiquette by acknowledging Lord Malfoy’s whore and poor Seamus was dead.

Idly, he toyed with the golden control bracelets that had returned to his wrists. The mediwizards at St. Mungo’s temporarily removed them because their magical suppression qualities hindered their ability to treat him for the effects of the Cruciatus Curse. He felt the pulse of the bracelets and turned his attention back to the shower of owls. He would not dwell on his solitary birthday, missing friends, or the loss of his magic.

To his great surprise, a snowy owl flew out of the trees and landed on the ledge beside him.

“Hedwig?”

Hedwig hooted and hopped over to him. She held out her leg for him to remove a small brightly wrapped package. He tucked the box into a pocket with nary a glance and cuddled his beloved familiar.

“Where ever did you come from?”

“Neville Longbottom found her with several Hogwarts school owls in the ruins of the Beauxbaton Owlery.” Lucius stepped onto the balcony. “Stephan Bulstrode was given the task of removing rare plants from the damaged greenhouses and gardens. The idea is to re-introduce them at a later date once the rebuilding of Hogwarts is completed. Beauxbaton was nearly leveled so it may never be rebuilt.

“Bulstrode brought your owl to my office at the Ministry several weeks ago. His son-in-law thought she would make a nice birthday surprise, but did not want to overstep his bounds. Of course, they didn’t know you were no longer with me at the time.”

“Can I keep her?” Harry continued to stroke her soft feathers. “I promise not to send any unauthorized owl post.”

“Yes, she can stay. Send her back to Dobbins. He’s been taking care of her. The estate owls are still getting used to her.”

With a final nip of affection, Hedwig flew toward the stables.

~*~*~*
Harry examined Lucius closely as he followed him to his rooms; the white blond wizard looked exhausted. Already busy with affairs at the Ministry, he now had the added burden of handling Lady Malfoy’s estate. She would be laid to rest in the Malfoy family cemetery the next morning.

Lucius sank gracefully onto the bed and propped himself up in a nest of pillows; he patted the mattress beside him. Harry crawled across the bed to join him.

“You haven’t opened your present yet, Pet.”

Harry realized he was still holding the unopened box Hedwig delivered. He had been so distracted by her return that he forgot all about it. Harry shifted the box, hearing a faint metallic jingle. Lifting the lid, he schooled his features not to show the confusion he felt. Nestled in a bit of satin was a large, heavy, ornate cloak pin or broach. He knew it was an antique by the gaudy Victorian design – two gold serpents were twined around a large emerald and several smaller emeralds teardrops hung from the base.

“It is a family heirloom.”

Harry held up the pin, watching the candlelight glitter off the gemstones. He carefully placed it back in the box.

“Look at me, Harry.” Lucius said gently and Harry looked up, more in surprise that his master had called him by name. Lucius never called him anything but Pet, Whore or Slut. There was warmth in the blue gray eyes he had never expected to see. “I have a proposition I would like you to consider.”

~*~*~*~
Pulled into Lucius’ arms, Harry curled into his chest. The older wizard toyed with one of the control bands.

“The mediwizards at St. Mungo’s ran a diagnostic on your magical reserves while you were unconscious. Do you know what they found?”

Harry shook his head; afraid his voice might give him away. Lucius knew he had enough magical ability to use Dr. Eeylops’ wand and suspected he could perform minor wandless magic. If his magic was no longer shattered, would Lord Voldemort consider him too much of a security threat to live?

A gentle tug on the choke chain brought Harry’s focus back to Lucius. “Your magic is reasserting itself…how long have you known?”

Harry swallowed. It would be pointless to lie. “Without my magic, I felt like there was an empty hole inside me…I’m not sure exactly when I realized the hole no longer felt as empty… even when I knew my magic was shattered, I would occasionally try to summon small things and one morning a toothbrush flew into my hands. The magic was sporadic at best and barely controllable.

“The pregnancy seemed to trigger something, perhaps an inborn need to protect the fetus…but the magic grew stronger…I didn’t even know if it would work when I stunned Dr. Eeylops…at the time I didn’t even know if the magic I felt was mine or Rose’s. I had not touched a wand since mine exploded.”

“Why didn’t you tell me…or Severus?”

“I was afraid…Does Lord Voldemort know?”

Lucius pulled Harry tighter against his chest, his chin nuzzling the top of Harry’s head.

“We have discussed it.”

“The proposition?” Harry asked apprehensively.

“With Narcissa gone…” Lucius paused before continuing. “There is a legal precedence to change your status from bound concubine to official consort…after a proper mourning period, of course.”

*~*~*~*