A Soul Within

Thank you Digitallace for the sweeping up the bad grammer and adding the extra touches. Also, thanks to Tonks-is-cool for pointing out the 'thousand' error. Fixed up.


Chapter Four


Harry spent his first night back from vacation at his home in London. Tomorrow, he would be going over to Ron and Hermione’s for lunch as they were eager to hear about his holidays. He would share some of it but he’d decided not to tell them of his dreams or the more racy parts of his days and nights. It would be his first time at their place for lunch with them being a married couple. They had taken off on their own trip the same day that he himself did. He had already sent off an owl to Draco and Severus requesting to stay a short time at Hogwarts. Draco had sent a reply that he was looking forward to him coming, and that he could spend all the time he would like with him. Harry’s mind had been a jumble of thoughts since he finished reading Salazar’s journal, and he needed to talk to someone about them. Draco, he knew, wouldn’t try to fix him like Ron and Hermione would, he would help him in any way he could.


~*~


The Leaky Cauldron was as busy as ever when he arrived. He waved to Tom as he walked to the back and tapped his wand at the stones. It still made his heart race when the stone slid back to reveal a doorway into another world. He smiled to himself as he leisurely strolled through Diagon Alley, nodding in greeting to those that he knew. The wizarding world always had new things to gossip about. He was thankful that he was not front-page news anymore. It had been overbearing the first few years after his defeat of Voldemort. Not so much now. There were still the little bits in the Daily Prophet, but not near as bad or as many.

He looked at the new broom in the Quidditch shop window, then went on to the Owl Emporium to get some treats for his new owl. He still missed Hedwig. He went to Weasley Wizarding Wheezes to visit George for a brief time, as he was quite busy with his young and old clientele. It had been awhile since his last visit. Once the lull in the crowd became manageable for the other employees, George took him to the back where they shared a pot of tea.

“Mate, good to see you,” George smiled, wrapping his arms around Harry.

“You too, George,” Harry grinned, slapping away the hand that was resting on his arse. “How is your new partner doing?”

“Our partner, Harry dear,” George replied. “I told you I wouldn’t give you up, and I won’t. You will always have rights to WWW. Blaise is good, considering he’s a Slytherin,” he smirked.

“By the sounds of Harry’s holidays, I would say Harry here is more Slytherin than me,” Blaise laughed, patting Harry on the back then leaned over to kiss George on the cheek. “You tell him about some of our new toys?”

“Just about to,” George said.

Harry was then shown the soon to be more naughty side of WWW. He had seen quite a few of the items in Muggle adult toyshops. There were some vibrating dildos, able to go at different speeds, lotions and oils, bondage kits, anal toys, games, flavored chocolate to enhance lust and sensitivity, and a few items of lingerie for male and female alike - all using magic spells instead of Muggle batteries. Blaise gave Harry a list of the products, their prices, and the comments of some of the selected customers that had tried out the products. He thought this side of the business would do very well. He okayed the items, adding a few ideas of his own, then left the shop; the bag on his shoulder feeling just a little heavier with the few toys he picked out for himself.

Afterward, he went back to the Leaky Cauldron and purchased a bottle of firewhiskey, then used the fireplace to floo to Hogwarts. “Dragon’s Den,” he stated clearly after throwing the glittery powder to the floor.

He still hated to travel by floo, but he was a lot more graceful in his landings these days. He no longer fell face first when he arrived, but on his feet instead. He looked around the room, his wand drawn out of habit. Once he saw he was alone in the room, he slipped it back in its holster on his forearm. The room was warm and homey, the smell of vanilla in the air from the fragrant candles that were always lit in the room. Draco always did love the scented candles. The plush couch was facing the fireplace, with books and magazines haphazardly placed on the wooden coffee table in front of it. It had surprised Harry when he first stepped foot in Draco’s domain in the Hogwarts dungeons. You could not tell it was a dungeon dwelling by being in the rooms. It was well lit and the beige, green, and burgundy colors had a welcoming feel to it - much different than the marble facade of the Malfoy manor.

Harry looked at the clock on the wall and noticed it was dinner time. It was much like the Weasley clock, with different arms for each person in Draco’s family. Among the Malfoy family, there was also Severus and himself on the clock. He smiled to himself as he put the firewhiskey on the side mantle before leaving the room, shrugging on a robe as he went.

Draco looked up from his meal when the hall went silent. He looked up and smiled as he stood to his feet to greet his friend. He looked good. More rested than he had been the previous months. He walked to the end of the table and held out his hand. “Good to see you, Harry,” he smiled, shaking his hand. “Was expecting you a few hours ago.”

“Went to visit George and Blaise in Diagon,” Harry replied, returning the shake. “Good to see you too.”

“Ah . . . you’ve seen some of their new products then?” Draco smirked as he led the way to the back of the table where an extra chair was placed between Severus and himself.

“Most likely has brought some with him,” Severus scoffed.

“Severus,” Harry grinned, leaning down to kiss the older wizard’s cheek. “Lovely to see you again.” He nodded in greeting to Minerva and the others at the table.

“As annoying as ever I see,” Severus sarcastically said.

Harry saw the small smile that Severus had let slip. “If possible, I would like to talk to you and Draco after dinner.”

“Everything okay with you, Harry?” Draco worriedly asked, keeping his voice down as to not let the others hear.

“Yes, I think so,” Harry shrugged, reaching out to put some roast beef on his plate. “Just some things that came up that I want your opinion on.”

“Of course then,” Severus assured, reaching down to pat Harry on the leg under the table.

Draco shared a look with Severus over Harry’s head as the Gryffindor leaned over to talk to Filius Flitwick who sat beside Draco. They both saw the brief flash of confusion in Harry’s eyes before it was masked away.


~*~


Once the three of them entered the rooms, Draco knew something was bothering Harry. Harry went immediately to the sideboard to pour three shots of firewhiskey and brought them over to the couch, bringing the bottle with him. Harry didn’t usually start drinking so soon after dinner.

“So, Severus, how is the leg?” Harry asked, sitting on the couch beside Draco, and across from Severus who sat in a chair by the fire.

“It is fine, Potter,” Severus answered sharply. “It does not pain me as much as it once did.” Ever since Nagini had bitten him on his thigh, Severus had slight twinges of pain every so often, but it was becoming less so as time went on. He would always have a bit of limp, but it was better than the alternative.

“That is good to hear, Severus,” Harry smiled, slowly sipping his firewhiskey. “And you, Draco, how is Astoria?”

“She is fine last I heard,” Draco replied.

“The wedding is still on then?” Harry asked.

“Yes, why wouldn’t it be?”

“Do you love her?” Harry asked.

“She . . . will be a good wife,” Draco replied.

“You should marry for love,” Harry said, looking into the fire.

“For the love of Merlin,” Draco heavily sighed. “Don’t even go there again, Harry. Nothing you say will change my mind on this matter.”

“Did you know that most of the founders had arranged marriages? Well except for Rowena Ravenclaw. She married for love. And she was the happiest from what I read.”

“What you read?” Severus asked.

Harry reached into his bag and took out the two journals. “This one is the founders journal on Hogwarts. It is fascinating reading on some of the things that happened back then,” he said holding up the journal. “Did you know that it was Helga Hufflepuff that brought the house-elves first to Hogwarts or that there was a dragon colony just on the other side of the lake from Hogwarts?”

“I knew about the house-elves, but did not know of the dragon colony,” Severus said.

“It’s interesting,” Harry smiled, but it slipped as he touched the next book reverently. “This is what is troubling me . . . well partly. I have wanted to talk to someone about this, but there is only you two I think that I could talk to without you being too disturbed by it.”

“Whatever it is, we will help in any way we can,” Draco said.

“Or if you just need someone to listen, we are here also,” Severus added.

“Okay,” Harry sighed, gulping down the rest of his drink, before pouring another. “This is going to sound a little strange. I’ll start from when I think it started. The same day I resigned from the Auror department we got the assignment to investigate another house. This house belonged to Tom Riddle, as I’m sure you have heard by now. Anyway, Ron and I were checking out the library . . . you guys would have loved the room; wall to wall books. There was a hidden room, but it was empty of anything. I searched the desk while Ron searched the books, shrinking anything he could get his hands on. It was him that found the Hogwarts journal, copied it, then shrunk the original to send back to the Ministry.”

“Weasley?” Draco asked, not believing he would do anything so Slytherin.

“Yes, Ron,” Harry laughed. “He made me so proud,” he sighed, tapping his chest mockingly.

“And . . . what else did you find?” Severus asked.

“We found a few things. Did you know that there were Muggle pens in Voldemort’s desk? Quite amusing actually. For one so against anything Muggle, he had quite a few non-magical artifacts, all locked up of course. I had to use Parseltongue to open the drawer where I found this journal.”
Harry held up the next book. “It is the personal journal of Salazar Slytherin. You would love it, Severus. It has a lot of potions in here, what he tried, his failures, his successes. Did you know that he had a son?”

“I had heard he was married, but did not know of a son,” Severus said, reaching out for the book when Harry offered it to him.

“He was pretty much tricked into marrying a woman that his mother and father set up for him. A lust potion was given to him without his knowledge. A few months after the fact, he found out this woman was pregnant. Marriage to her was forced. His son’s name was Alexander. He died when he was about seven, I think, when he was killed. A Muggle killed him by shaking him to death. I think that’s when his thoughts turned sour on Muggles. From what I heard, he did not go home after his son’s death, so I don’t know what happened to his wife. His lover tried to fill the void in his life, but he apparently just wasn’t enough.”

“He?” Draco interrupted.

Harry smirked. “Yes. Salazar was gay. His lover was a professor at the school here. There are a few things that I did not know about Salazar, like he had a dragon for a familiar; he was a prankster along with Rowena Ravenclaw. Did you know it was those two that caused the staircases to move like they do? It was a prank against Godric. Also, in my readings of the journal, Salazar knew of the basilisk egg, but had not seen it hatched at the time of his supposed death.”

“Supposed death?” Severus asked. “It is told that he had left the school because of disagreements on who should be let into the school.”

“There were a lot of disagreements, which didn’t help Salazar’s state of mind. He wasn’t against Muggles, or Mundanes as they used to call them, he just didn’t trust their thinking sometimes. When his son was killed, he was playing with a friend. This friend had a Muggle father. He had seen them do small bits of magic, and he went mad. They fear what they do not understand. It was Salazar’s belief that if too many Muggle raised witches and wizards were to be allowed into the school, word would spread throughout the lands, and it would cause many more to die. He wasn’t against Muggles. He had come up with suggestions that the magical children should be taken from their homes or that they had spells placed on them so they could not speak of the magical world. Some of it they were able to do. He didn’t want to leave - he wanted to die. He would have too, if Rowena hadn’t intervened with the potion,” Harry softly said as he took out the small stone and was absently stroking it, the warmth of the stone warming him inside.

“What kind of potion?” Severus asked, leaning forward in rapt fascination.

“It was some kind of death potion, but by the looks of the potion near the back of the journal, with Rowena’s adjustments, it looks to be the ‘draught of living death’. At the end of the journal, Rowena had put an entry in. Her and Salazar were friends since they’d been children. She was also a seer - a true seer. She had written some of her predictions in the Hogwarts journal too. She wrote that she ‘saw’ Salazar get a second chance at life, a life with his true soul mate. She de-aged him so he would be closer to his soul mate’s age. She also . . . and this is part of what’s troubling me . . . she saw a raven haired man awakening Salazar, and that he is in the school here somewhere.”

“So . . . you’re thinking that you are this raven haired man that would waken him?” Draco asked. Harry nodded his head. “Could be anyone, Harry.”

“Yes, it could, but the journal also had a charm on it. Only Salazar’s true mate would be able to read from it,” Harry replied. “Apparently since I read the book, it can be read by whomever I wish to read it now. I want you two to read it, all of it. Do you think I should look for him then?”

Severus was silent for a few moments as he read the last passage of Salazar’s journal. “Only you, Harry,” he smirked after reading it. “A kiss of life? Could possibly use Dittany. I would have to look through the potion that was used, and make the antidote.”

“Harry, this could be your chance to find your one and only. Do you know how rare that is?” Draco asked. “Salazar Slytherin,” he added, shaking his head. “Amazing.”

“It can’t possibly be true, can it? I mean . . . my supposed soul mate is over a thousand years old. What if I had married, had children . . . ”

“But you didn’t, did you Harry?” Draco said. “You never found that special someone in your life. Sure you had lots of affairs, and what I hear of where you went for your holiday, you had a few more,” he smirked.

Harry gave a small smile, but was looking down at his lap as he rubbed the stone with his thumb. “Never felt close to anyone before. I mean, there were a few that I thought I could spend the rest of my life with, but there was always something that seemed off about them.”

“Salazar may not be ‘the one’ for you. It could all be someone wishing for more for her best friend,” Severus said. “But what if he is the one? If he has been asleep due to the potion, his body has been in stasis. He wouldn’t have aged in all these years, and if Rowena de-aged him, it would be like he never was from that time era.”

“I personally think you should look for him,” Draco added. “It would be a shame to pass up the opportunity to find someone that would complete you.”

“We’ll help of course,” Severus said. He saw the uncertain look still in Harry’s eyes. “Although all this is very overwhelming to comprehend, was there something else that is troubling you?”

Harry slouched in on his end of the couch more, tilted his head back against the back. “You’ll really think I’m mad.”

“No more so than usual,” Draco teased. “With you, nothing would surprise me.”

“Well . . . the whole revelation on me being Salazar’s soul mate is . . . Merlin . . . still trying to grasp that . . . something has been happening to me, even before I read the journal. I didn’t read Salazar’s journal until on the way back to London.” He took a few sips of his whiskey, contemplating on how to explain. “It began as a kind of a feeling really, a few weeks after Riddle’s house. I felt a warmth run through my body, like someone was holding me close. It felt . . . felt really nice. It was mostly while I was sleeping at first that I began to feel more. First there were slight touches of lips against my face, or my neck, the feel of soft hair brushing against my skin. It began to get a bit more real. I felt a hard body press against me, naked warm skin at my back while hands skimmed over my chest, my stomach, then lower. Things got more heated as the nights went on. I could feel, actually feel with my hands, a body moving against me, above me, grinding against me in the most erotic way. Lips, teeth sucked, nibbled onto my neck . . . ”

“Sounds like a nice dream,” Draco smiled.

“Yeah, they were very nice. Never seemed to finish though. Always woke up with wet sheets,” Harry softly laughed. “Also woke up with very fresh, very sensitive marks on my neck the next morning.”

“It was real then?” Severus asked. “Were you always the submissive one?”

“Most of the time I was, but there was times where I was the dominant. I felt his body. It was very firm, felt the muscles shift as he moved under me. He had hair down to his shoulders, soft, and dark from what I could see. I felt a slight scar on his leg. Never saw his face. Felt a bit of scruff on his face, felt nice against me.” Harry closed his eyes at the memory, smiling to himself.

Draco and Severus saw the blissful look as he told them of his dreams. “Any whisker burn after?” Draco asked.

“A few times,” Harry said, his eyes still closed. “Later, while I was in Jamaica, I felt someone entering me from behind while I was fucking someone. It was the most mind-blowing threesome I’ve been involved in, and there were only two of us in the room. I always felt him close to me, touching me, when I was with others. At first my body seemed to go against me when I was first approached at Hedonism. My mind wanted it, my body didn’t. I had to talk myself into it. After the first time, whoever - whatever inside of me, I think, kind of figured the other men were not serious to me. They seemed to love the sex. It liked to have me to himself most of the time I think. Weird, I know. Hard to explain.”

“Did you feel something enter your body at any time at the Riddle house?” Severus asked, noticing again Harry rubbing the small stone in his hand.

“No,” Harry shook his head. “I did the spells to check if I was hexed, or possessed. It all came back clear, but I know that someone is sharing my body. I am in control of it. Haven’t had any kind of black outs, but I would do things, or know things that I didn’t know before. Also, when I was at the Poseidon Undersea resort, which by the way, you should really check out, its amazing . . . ”

“Yeah, yeah,” Draco waved his hands to Harry. “When you were at the resort . . . ”

“When I was at the resort, alone in my room, I had passed a mirror, and I would swear on my parents’ graves that my eyes were grey, my hair was longer, and a bit of shadow on my face. I think . . . I think it is the dream guy. He’s a part of me somehow.”

“Harry,” Severus said, leaning over, his elbows on his knees. “Where did you get that stone that you’ve been rubbing since you began telling us what has been happening?”

“This?” Harry asked, holding it up for them to see. “Found it on Riddle’s desk. It looked just like a small marble, but then I picked it up, and the colors began to swirl around it. I had handed it in at the Ministry, but then when I got home that night it was in my pocket. It calms me when I’m rubbing it, so I decided to keep it. Always feels warm.”

“You checked it for dark magic or anything?” Draco asked, holding his hand out so he could see it. Harry handed it over hesitantly. “You say it feels warm to you?” he asked, feeling it cooling down as he continued to hold it. He also noticed the colors stopped swirling.

“Yeah,” Harry said, reaching over to take it from Draco’s hand. It warmed at once, and the colors were moving again.

Severus got up and left the room, coming back shortly after with a book in his hand. He flipped through the pages while Draco and Harry looking on curiously.

“Hmm,” Severus hummed, quickly reading through the sought after pages. “It appears, Harry, that you have found Salazar Slytherin soul stone.”

tbc.
(Jan. 8/10)