Bonds by the Book

Bonds by the Book

Chapter 4

The last week of school passed far too quickly for Harry’s peace of mind. He had, amazingly enough, finished all of his homework over the weekend. That, of course, was due partly to Madame Pomfrey’s edict that he could not leave the infirmary until Sunday at dinnertime. Sitting in the hospital wing all day was extremely boring. He had more than enough time to do his work.

It was now Thursday and he was on his way to the Great Hall for lunch. He was both looking forward to the holidays and dreading them. He really wanted to see Malfoy Manor, if for nothing else than pure curiosity, but he still didn’t know what to do about the Malfoys.

The first thing he saw when he arrived at the Great Hall was Lucius and Draco sitting together at the Slytherin table. It was kind of odd to see the elder Malfoy sitting amongst the students. He headed towards the Gryffindor table only to be halted by a hand on his arm. Following the arm to the body, Harry saw Lucius was the one who stopped him.

“Was there something you wanted, Mr. Malfoy?” he asked quietly.

“I think you should call me Lucius and yes, there is something I want. I want you to sit with us during lunch,” he replied, pulling Harry down into the seat between Draco and him.

“I would really rather eat lunch with my friends, if you don’t mind,” said Harry, trying to stand.

“But I do mind,” said Lucius, wrapping an arm around his waist to keep him seated. He smirked slightly when he saw the blush creeping up on Harry’s cheeks from the contact.

Harry just looked helplessly towards Hermione and Ron’s retreating backs. They had been slightly ahead of him and hadn’t noticed that Harry was no longer behind them. They didn’t realize he wasn’t with them until they sat down at the table.

“Where did Harry go?” asked Hermione, searching the table for her lost friend.

“He was right behind us. I’m sure he’s here somewhere,” said Ron, busily loading his plate with as much food as it would hold.

Hermione, on the other hand, was still scanning the tables for the lost brunette. She glanced briefly at the Slytherin table and spotted the Malfoys before moving on to another table. Almost immediately, her gaze shot back to the two blondes and finally located the brunette nestled between the two blondes. She had to admit they made a striking picture: two tall, gorgeous blondes framing a more petite, handsome brunette.

“Never mind, Ron. I found him,” she said, staring at her friend across the room.

“Well, where is he? I still don’t see him,” said Ron, muttering between bites of food.

“He’s sitting with the Malfoys,” she said calmly.

“What?! Why is he over there? He’s not a Slytherin,” said Ron indignantly.

“He may not be a Slytherin, but he is bonded to them,” she said reasonably, effectively ending that argument.

*****

“Are you not hungry, Harry?” asked Lucius, watching the brunette pick at his food.

“Not really, sir,” he replied, pushing his plate away.

“Really, Harry, with as close as we are inevitably going to get, you should really call me Lucius. Have you already packed for the holidays?” he asked.

“Yes, s-Lucius. I’m actually eager to see Malfoy Manor. It would be hard not to with all the things Malfoy has mentioned over the years,” said Harry, smiling shyly at the elder Malfoy.

“I think you can call me Draco, now, seeing as how you are surrounded by Malfoys. I’ll even be nice and call you Harry,” said Draco, smirking in Harry’s direction.

“You are too kind, M-Draco,” said Harry sarcastically.

“Well since you both seem to be done eating, I believe we can head to the Manor. I’ll have a house elf deliver your trunks to the entrance hall. Meet me there in fifteen minutes,” said Lucius, standing and walking towards the door.

“Are you ready to go, P-Harry?” said Draco.

“See? It’s not so easy, is it?” asked Harry triumphantly.

“Now what are you talking about?” asked Draco, feigning ignorance.

“Suddenly calling each other by our given names; it’s not easy,” said Harry. A tap on his shoulder interrupted him before he could say anything else. Looking up, he saw Hermione and Ron.

“And just why are you over here instead of at the Gryffindor table, where you belong?” asked Ron, ignoring the jab to the side Hermione gave him.

“He was eating lunch with his soul mates, Weasel. Now if you don’t mind, we are leaving in a matter of minutes, so we will take our leave of you,” said Draco, also receiving a jab to the side from his companion.

“Don’t call him that, Ma-Draco,” said Harry, glaring at him.

“Did you just call him ‘Draco’, Harry?” asked Ron incredulously.

“That is his name, Ron,” said Harry, rubbing his now throbbing temples.

“They’re soul mates, Ron. I know I told you that. Calling each other by their last name is just silly at this point,” said Hermione, nodding at Harry’s grateful look.

“You will have to excuse us, Granger. We are meeting Father in the entrance hall and we must be going,” said Draco politely, ignoring Ron completely of course.

“Bye Hermione. Bye Ron. I’ll see you after holidays and I’ll send your gifts through Hedwig,” said Harry, hurriedly hugging both of his friends before following Draco to the entrance hall.

“I still can’t believe Harry is stuck with the Malfoys,” said Ron petulantly.

“I really hope you don’t try to cause him any problems, Ron. Harry loves you but if you make him choose, you more than likely would not come out the winner. The Malfoys, even if you don’t like them, are his soul mates. They are bound for life and no one can change that. I, for one, am going to give him my full support and be there for him. I hope you will do the same. Losing your friendship would hurt him more than you might realize,” said Hermione quietly.

“I still don’t like it, but I guess you’re right. I can’t lose Harry. We’ve been through too much together. As much as I dislike the Malfoys, I will at least attempt to be polite. That’s all I can promise at the moment, but so help them if they hurt him in any way,” said Ron.

“That’s what I said to Draco,” said Hermione, laughing at the memory.

*****

“Good, you’re finally here. This is Twinkle,” said Lucius, gesturing to the house elf standing beside the luggage. “She will be taking your luggage to the Manor. We will be traveling by portkey and it activates in two minutes.”

Seeing the cornered look on Harry’s face, Draco grabbed his hand and pulled him over to Lucius. When he saw Lucius raise an eyebrow and smirk, Harry squared his shoulders, snatched his hand away from Draco, and calmly walked over to the elder Malfoy. He reached out to touch the portkey, only to have Lucius spin him around, wrap his arms around him, entwining their hands, and touching the portkey together. Draco just smirked and touched the portkey just before it activated.

The portkey activated and with a nauseating pull, the trio disappeared. Landing abruptly, Draco staggered a step. Lucius, of course, landed with his usual elegant grace. Harry, on the other, was actually grateful for the arms around him because otherwise he probably would have hit the ground. Harry finally realized he was still standing in Lucius’ arms and quickly stepped away.

“Welcome to Malfoy Manor, Harry,” said Lucius. “Twinkle!”

The house elf in charge of their luggage, appeared with a pop and said, “Yes, Master Malfoy?”

“Show Harry to his room,” he ordered.

“Yes, Master Malfoy. This way, Master Harry,” she said, heading for the stairs.

“I’ll send Twinkle to you when it’s time for dinner,” said Lucius.

Harry just nodded once and followed Twinkle up the stairs. He couldn’t help but gaze in awe at the opulence of his surroundings. They went up two flights of stairs, walked ten feet, took a left, walked another twenty feet, took another left, and walked to the end of the corridor. Twinkle stopped at the very last door, opened it, and gestured for Harry to enter.

Harry entered the room and just stood in the doorway gaping. The room was huge; it was twice the size of the seventh year boy’s dormitory in Gryffindor tower. A huge four-poster bed decorated in blue, yellow, and black stood in one corner and a large black desk in the neighbouring corner. A large door graced the center of two walls, one to the left of the corridor door and one to the right of the corridor door. The door to the left opened into a large bathroom and the door to the right opened into a walk-in closet.

“Do you need anything else, Master Harry? Your trunk has already been brought up and I will be back to get you when it is time for dinner,” said Twinkle.

“Twinkle? Please call me Harry. You sound different from any other house elf I’ve met. Of course, the only other Malfoy house elf I’ve ever met is Dobby,” said Harry, smiling at the little house elf.

“Harry, sir, has met Dobby? He hasn’t worked for the Malfoys in five years. Do you know where he works now?” asked Twinkle curiously.

“Dobby works at Hogwarts now. He gives me homemade socks every year for Christmas, of course, I give him socks as well,” said Harry brightly. “I think I’ll take a nap now, if you don’t mind. Can you just wake me in time for dinner?”

“Yes, sir,” said Twinkle, gently shutting the door.

Harry crawled onto the huge bed and was asleep within minutes. Before long, though, he was caught up in a horrific nightmare. Every death he had endured over the last seven years was replayed in vivid detail. He saw Quarrel die, his mum and dad’s death from the dementor induced memories, Cedric’ death, and Sirius’ death. He also dreamed about the last battle with Voldemort.

Lucius walked out of his room, which was the room directly across the hall from Harry’s, and heard a muffled scream. Cautiously opening the door, he saw Harry thrashing and whimpering on the bed. He quickly walked over and sat on the edge of the bed before reaching over to shake Harry awake.

At the first touch on his arm, Harry bolted upright. He was crying and it took a moment to realize there was someone else on the bed. He looked over and saw Lucius staring at him with concern. Harry saw the concern and threw himself into Lucius’ arms, crying even harder.

Lucius automatically wrapped his arms around the brunette crying in his arms and started rubbing soothing circles across his back. Harry’s tears finally abated into sniffles and he started to pull back in embarrassment. He couldn’t believe he had cried all over Lucius Malfoy like that. Lucius just tightened his arms and tilted Harry’s face up. He then wiped the tears off his face, leaned down, and pressed his lips gently against Harry’s.

At that precise moment, Harry’s door opened once again. They both turned to see who had disturbed them. Draco was standing in the doorway and said, “You could have at least waited for me.”