Gilded Soul

Chapter 33 Phoenix Fire

Draco wasn’t too surprised to see Anthony pacing across where the door to their room should be. He had been in the DA with Harry the previous year, and knew the trick to getting into the room, and he was after all, a stalker. At least that’s what Draco thought of him.

Draco felt Harry’s serene calm wane as he saw Anthony look down at their hands, still clutching onto one another. “Anthony,” Harry asked stiffly, “what are you doing up here?”

It seemed to take a moment for the words to sink in. “What am I doing here? What is he doing here? And why are you holding his hand?” he spat.

Harry blanched but didn’t release his hand. Draco smiled smugly until Harry shot him a look that clearly said ‘do not make this worse.’ “Draco stays here too Anthony, remember? I was going to come talk to you today, I’ve just been… busy.”

“You were going to come… talk to me? Your breaking up with me, aren’t you?” Harry swallowed loudly and nodded. “For him?” Anthony tried to clarify. Harry nodded again, and this time Draco did too. “Is there something I did wrong?” the Ravenclaw pleaded, “Something I can do to stop you?”

“No,” Harry voice was soft yet firm. Anthony’s face crumbled.

“I thought we had something, Harry? I saved you from the misery that this Slytherin put you through… and now you’re going to leave me for him?” His words were meant to be scathing and mean, and they hit their mark with Draco. He would never forgive himself for the pain he had caused Harry when he left him.

They found another mark altogether with the Gryffindor though. Harry wasn’t fond of people who bashed his pale dragon. He let go of Draco’s hand slowly and walked toward the Ravenclaw. The Slytherin paled slightly, already feeling the traces of fiery magic leaking from Harry’s body as he made his way over to stand directly in front of the Ravenclaw.

Anthony froze, apparently not liking the look in Harry’s eyes. “Anthony,” and his voice was calmer than his face, “you really shouldn’t jump to conclusions about Draco.”

The Ravenclaw huffed at that, naively forgetting his fear. “I saw it. I saw first hand what a mess he left you in, and now you just go back to him as if nothing ever happened? He’s just going to hurt you again. He can’t help it. He’s a Slytherin.”

Anthony tried to walk away, but a firm hot hand on this shoulder made him turn around and look back into Harry’s smoldering black eyes, his earlier fear returning in spades. “Don’t. Talk. About. Draco.” His words were bitingly clear and anger began boiling beneath his skin. A cool hand wove it’s fingers in with his own and Harry looked over to see Draco standing beside him, his presence and touch forcing back the anger that threatened to make ashes of the Ravenclaw.

“It’s not worth it, Harry. Let him go.” To Harry’s ears, Draco’s voice was soothing and almost ethereal, especially next to what he had just been thinking about doing to Anthony. Draco was like a guardian angel.

Anthony watched briefly the exchange between the two, light and dark, and took his cue. He turned and left quickly and quietly and Harry leaned heavily against the wall.

Draco stayed where he was, staring over at Harry.” I’m sorry about everything. If I hadn’t…”

Harry held out his other hand and Draco took it, immediately feeling better, more whole. “I have no regrets. Anthony was right, I was a mess… and I never intended to lead him on. He was always just a distraction.”

“How big a distraction?”

A confused looked passed over Harry’s slightly troubled features and then he smiled. “I never slept with him if that’s what you’re getting at.”

Draco laughed nervously. “So you’re all mine still?”

“All yours,” Harry repeated, leaning in for a kiss. Draco obliged and their lips met in a chaste kiss.

When they broke apart Draco grabbed the front of Harry’s robes. “Well, we have lots of lost time to make up for.”

Harry chuckled and quickly went through the paces, making the previously invisible door appear, and let Draco haul him inside.

--

The evening found the two boys tired, sweaty and more content then they had been in… well ever. Draco had set out to re-learn every curve and line on Harry’s body, however the no contest best part of the afternoon had been when Harry let out a little of that otherworldly heat while he was sucking Draco off. The memory of Harry’s usually warm mouth set to a near meltingly hot temperature made Draco’s cock twitch.

He looked over to find Harry smiling down at him. He looked amazingly untroubled considering he would need to battle Voldemort soon. Draco had tried twice to persuade Harry to let him come to the final battle with him; both times he was met with a resounding ‘no’.

He thought now was as good a time as any to try again. “Harry?”

“No.”

Draco tried not to laugh but couldn’t stop himself. “How do you know it’s a ‘no’?”

“I just do,” he muttered.

He laughed again. “Are you so sure? I could have been about to ask if you wanted some sort of sexual favor.”

Harry raised a black eyebrow, which caused his forehead to wrinkle, which made his scar distort slightly. “Were you?”

“Well, no,” he replied truthfully.

Harry’s laugh was warm and full of unspoken lust and it made Draco tingle. “Then my answer is still no.”

“But Dumbledore said I might be the only thing keeping you from going too far with your powers,” Draco protested.

“Who cares if I go too far with Voldemort? I don’t think anyone is going to be angry with me for killing him too much.” Draco rolled his eyes, but Harry continued. “I can see it now, the headline of the Profit, ‘Harry Potter accused of inflicting too much pain and death upon He-who-must-not-be-named’.”

“Fine, fine. Have your laugh, but what happens if there are innocent people around when it’s time to fight him?”

Harry laughed again. “Innocent people like Death Eaters, you mean?”

“No, that’s not what I meant,” Draco huffed, but then an idea struck him. “What if you have to fight him at the Manor? My mom lives there, you could hurt her, or worse,” he replied, his voice trailing off at the end. The idea wasn’t even that far fetched and suddenly Draco wished he hadn’t thought of it. Now he was even more worried than before.

Harry looked suddenly thoughtful. “”I’ll be very careful Draco. I won’t hurt your mother, I promise.”

Draco cringed. “Please, Harry, don’t make promises like that. You never know what could happen in a situation like that.”

“No, you’re right, which is why you’re not going.” He said it in that ‘final’ voice he had begun using lately. It was infuriating, but Draco knew he just needed to bide his time. Eventually he would be able to persuade Harry, and if not, he would find a way to go without his permission.

--

They met up with Hermione at breakfast the next morning, and the three of them went back to the Room of Requirement afterward. Harry had made it clear to Draco that in no uncertain terms was he to tell Hermione that he let her die, however fake the illusion was it would still hurt her feelings. Instead they told her it was Dumbledore and Draco that Harry had to chose between.

She didn’t fall for it though. Her face grew more and more pale as Draco described his version of the task, then when it was Harry’s turn she grew frustrated and interrupted him. “Harry James Potter, did you send me into a fiery inferno?” she asked, remembering the way Harry had come bounding into her dorm that same night.

“Um, no,” Harry replied sheepishly. “I sent an illusion of you into a fiery inferno, but you’re okay!”

Hermione rolled her eyes. “I can’t believe you chose Malfoy over me,” she grumbled, not entirely surprised.

“Oh no, not you too. You can Anthony should just form a club, the ‘people rejected by Potter for Malfoy’ club,” Draco interjected. He was beginning to get a little irked that no one thought he was good enough for Harry.

Hermione winced. “Was it bad?” she asked Harry about the confrontation the previous day.

“Pretty bad,” he agreed, happy that Hermione had adapted to the subject change Draco offered.

“Hm, that’s awful. He’s such a nice boy.”

Draco cleared his throat and waved his hands in the air. “Hello, I’m still here. Isn’t anyone happy that Harry and I are back together?”

Both Gryffindor’s laughed. Harry leaned in and pecked him cheek. “I’m very happy about it.”

“I knew it would happen eventually, I was just waiting for Harry to cave,” Hermione added.

The three fell back into their easy camaraderie for the rest of the afternoon until Hermione spotted something interesting in the newest book Dumbledore had given to Harry.

“Harry, look at this,” she exclaimed, pointing at a passage in the large dusty tome. Harry looked over her shoulder, but she made it rather pointless, because she just started reading it out loud. “According to this text,” she began, “mage craft will often take on the characteristics of a magical beast. Much like an Animagi, someone who can perform mage craft can tap into these characteristics. There are two main differences between them however. The first is that the Animagi must actually transform into their selected animal in order to use those traits, where a Mage doesn’t transform at all, only uses the heightened skills and traits of their animal. The other main difference is that Animagi can only transform into mundane creatures, where Mage’s can only tap into magical creatures.” She looked up at Harry then. “Do you think you could do this? Do you have any magical creature traits?” she asked with a wry smile.

Harry laughed. “Doubtful, do they sight examples?”

“It just so happens they do.” This time she turned the book over to him. Harry read it to himself.

Some known Mage’s in the past have been know to possess traits or skills similar to those of magical creatures and their decedents. Some of those creatures include:

Basilisk – Henry Noritz, a mage recorded in 1865 was reportedly able to petrify a human with his gaze. It was also reported that he was venomous, but that was never proven.

Dragon – Sir Newton Edwards, a mage recorded in 1890 was able to levitate great distances and great heights, and was also able to erupt objects into flame.

Griffin – Eleanor Swan, a mage recorded in 1902 was able to channel fierce protection spells that scholars have attributed to the Griffin.

Hippocampus – Gerald Bixby, a mage recorded in 1877 was able to swim enormous depths.

Manticore - Cesar Caspious, a Grecian mage was able to repel all major and minor charms.

The next entry caught his eye and he read it slower than the others.

Phoenix – It was once written in several historical textbooks that the first mage ever recorded in 1817, Anton Millbrae was a phoenix mage. He is the only mage ever recorded to have the power of the phoenix, and none have shown traits as powerful as these since. Widely accepted to be the most powerful of mage traits, Millbrae was hot to the touch and able the set things ablaze with a slight focused motion. He was unusually strong and those who knew him claimed him to be fiercely loyal. He was very adept at healing and protection spells, and his natural charisma was likened to the mighty phoenix song in that a word or speech from him would insight great deeds. He was also rumored to survive the killing curse, though that could never be proven as fact.

Harry stopped reading the passage there, looking at the page and then back to Hermione, who was grinning.

“What am I missing?” Draco interrupted from the other side of the room.

“Harry’s a phoenix mage,” Hermione stated matter-of-factly.

Harry rolled his eyes. “I’m only two parts of that entire passage, Hermione. I hardly think it justifies…”

Hermione shook her head and held up her fists, lifting a finger for every point she made. “You’re hot to the touch, you can control fire, Draco told me your protection bubble in Dumbledore’s office was flawless, you are fiercely loyal, you are able to rouse people into action with only your clever words, and you survived the killing curse. That’s almost all of them, Harry. You’re a phoenix mage. The first mage to have those powers since 1817.” She sounded giddy.

Draco came over and read the entire passage over Harry’s shoulder. “You’re also stronger now than before you came into your new powers. She’s right.”

Hermione huffed. “Of course I’m right. This is probably why Dumbledore gave you the book to begin with.”

Harry just leaned back into the armchair and sighed. “I wonder why he didn’t just tell me.”

Draco laughed. “He probably knows how sick you are of him telling you new freaky things about yourself.”

“Probably,” Hermione agreed with a shrug.

Harry sighed looking worried. “You don’t really think I’m a freak do you?”

“No,” they both cried in unison. Draco leaned over and kissed him lightly on the cheek and Hermione shot Harry a confident grin. “You’re just our Harry. You’re special.”

Author's note: I'm curious to see what you guys think of the confrontation and the new information about Harry.