Follow Me

A/N: Ok folks, I set up a yahoo group for my writing. Primarily it is to give me a place that I can post my stories to, and hopefully get some useful feedback on chapters before they are posted elsewhere on the net. By the way there is a picture of Norische on the group... http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Of_Pens_and_Ponders/?yguid=104171974



A/N2: Please leave feedback, if you dont leave feedback I dont know how I\'m doing. If you have ideas, questions, or comments please leave me feedback.





[...] or {...} = mindspeak

~...~ = parseltongue

\'...\' = thought





Chapter 44



“Wait a minute, that doesn’t make sense.” Blaise had a rather confused look on his face. Even though he was being pretty open minded about all this… there were some very big gaps in the information that was being given out.



“What do you mean?” Hermione looked up from the scroll she was reading.



“Well if I heard you right there have only been seven generations between Merlin and Harry. How is that possible that is what like… sixteen, seventeen hundred years there? I know that wizards live a long time but that is just not possible.” Blaise responded.



“Actually it is quite possible. Merlin was not only the greatest Wizard in history; he was also a noted alchemist. According to recorded history, Merlin was born in 417AD, to a nun by the name of Cerybin and an Incubus by the name of Raike De Luce. He wed his first wife, Gwendolyn, in 438AD but that marriage was annulled. It is said that he went insane after the Battle of Arfderydd where he watched his four brothers Morgenue, Morial, Morien, and Mordaf get killed, and he himself accidentally killed his only nephew, Camarath. He wandered around in the woodlands of Britannia for centuries and was assumed dead until he reappeared in 1137AD to help king Rodarch battle a ‘great darkness’. During his wanderings Merlin met and married Niniane, although the details surrounding their romance are quite sketchy. In 1359AD Merlin took on an apprentice, sighting he wished to pass down the knowledge of the ancients before he made his final journey beyond the veil, hence he began training one Nicholas Flammel, who was born in 1330AD.” Hermione took a deep breath and continued. “Niniane, also known as The Lady of The Lake’ was the guardian of the Gates of Avalon. A magical place so sacred that only the child of the Lady may know of it’s location, it is said that the veil is so thin there that one can enter, and exit at will. Although the last person know to have gone through the veil and returned was Merlin’s granddaughter Rhianne; supposedly anyone with enough magical power can make the journey.”



“According to this parchment Vivian, Merlin’s first daughter wasn’t born until 1361, when she was six years old, Merlin sent Vivian through the veil to live with Niniane. The next record of Vivian was in 1482, when she reappeared and came to stay with Merlin’s sister Meg, who was a megamorphmegas and a Druid priest by the name of Thadius. Merlin was said to have gone back through the veil shortly after Vivian reached her majority at seventeen. Apparently how one ages on the other side of the veil is still quite a bit in question, although I have yet to find any specific references to explain it.” Hermione speculated on that for a moment but then continued.



“Anyway, Vivian met Rorke FitzWarren when she was twenty three, they were married and had one daughter. When their daughter, Rhianne was two years old they went across the veil to live with Merlin and Niniane. Neither Vivian nor Rorke FirtzWarren were ever seen or heard from again. Rhianne however, was next mentioned in 1616 shortly after the death of her great aunt Meg. Rhianne was also a megamorphmegas according to legend. In 1644 Rhianne married Aubry Godwin, and in 1662 they had their daughter Goslynne.” Hermione looked down to the chart that was before her. “After that things get a little sketchy. It says here that Goslynne married a Dayvd of York in 1679 but that he died in 1684, and she married Sir Malory in 1736. They had their twin daughters in 1742. Their daughter Llywellyn married Nicholas Mann and they had a daughter, Kathryn. Now here is were it gets strange. The is no further mention of Kathryn until 1947 when she married Henry Evans, according to this though she was twenty seven at the time of their marriage. Then it states in 1970 Kathryn gave birth to Lily Evans who married James Potter in 1989 and gave birth to Harry James Potter in 1990.” Hermione looked up from the scroll and into the gobsmacked faces of all of those sitting around the table. “What?” She asked innocently.



“How on earth do you remember all of that? Where did you get all that information, and if you say Hogwarts a History I’m gonna smack you.” Ron shook his head in wonderment.



Hermione huffed and rolled her eyes. “No silly, back in second year we had to do a research paper on Nicholas Flemmel, that’s when I found out that he was Merlin’s apprentice back in the fourteenth century. So I did research on that since that would have made Merlin almost a thousand years old by that time. I mean we all knew about the Sorcerers Stone and how Nicholas Flemmel lived to be 671 years old; it made me wonder about other great wizards and witches. There is no place that I have found that has ever recorded the death of Merlin; and Meg, his sister was estimated at twelve hundred years old when she was murdered by a Sorcerer by the name of Malidin. While it is noted that Merlin’s father was an Incubus and so based on that fact alone Merlin could live for thousands of years quite easily and so could any of his descendants. But to answer your question, most of the information came from ‘Myrddin: The Legacy and The Legend’. It’s in the library at Hogwarts if you want to read it, it’s quite fascinating.” Hermione rambled on, even though Ron rolled his eyes and had stopped listening some time ago.



“One thing that I find very interesting is that since the birth of Merlin, none of his descendants have died of natural causes. The only deaths have been from war, injury or illness. Which would once again lead credence to the whole incubus thing. Harry’s parents were murdered by Voldemort, as were both Kathryn and Henry Evans. Kathryn’s mother, Llywellyn died in a fire, which was quoted as being suspicious in nature. Goslynne, Llywellyn’s mother, died under questionable circumstances…although most of the theories I could find suggested poison. But Niniane, Vivian, and Rhianne have no know date of death listed.” Hermione started shuffling through the scrolls in front of her as if looking for the pieces that might fill the puzzle in a little more.



“Wow…” George gasped.



“Yeah, wow.” Fred agreed.



“Hey, if Harry is the heir to three of the four founders, who is the Hufflepuff heir?” George asked.



It was Charlie that actually spoke up at this point. Although he had kept mostly silent during these discussions he too was going through the huge pile of papers that Harry had brought back with them. “I can answer that. Would you believe that the next heir in succession for the Hufflepuff Dynasty is none other than Neville Longbottom?”



“What?” Draco looked up when he heard this, he knew that Neville’s parents were both pure bloods but he had never bothered to do a genealogy check on the Gryffindor.



“Yeah. This chart shows the four founders and their descendants. From what I can see James Potter was about fifteen generations down. Oh man! Look at this!” Charlie shrieked pointing to a place on the chart. Everyone jumped up and rushed over to see what he was so excited about.



Remus looked over Charlie’s shoulder and gasped, his reaction of course immediately brought Severus over to see as well. “Sweet Merlin! According to this chart… Salazar Slytherin and Godric Gryffindor were not only friends but they were bonded. It states that they had two sons, Sabastian Salazar Slytherin, and Aaidyn Nathaniel Gryffindor. James was a direct descendant of Aaidyn Gryffindor.” Remus glanced over to Severus who was also looking over the chart now.



“Apparently there are quite a few things that have been misrepresented about our founders.” Severus smirked.



*****



Norische moaned and rolled over, or at least attempted too. He found that there was a rather warm presence that had him quite pinned in place. “Harry.” Norische whispered. “Harry shift over luv, I need to get up.”



Harry stretched and half opened his eyes, then unwrapped himself from Norische allowing his mate to get up and rush to the loo, once again Mother Nature was being a bitch.



Norische came out of the loo a few moments later with a warm wet flannel. “Here luv, I thought you might want this. I had sticky stuff all over my belly. That is so gross digging that stuff out of your belly button.” Norische handed Harry the wet towel, wrinkling his nose for emphasis.



Harry chuckled and thanked Norische for the flannel, banishing it after he had finished with it. “Umm… can I ask you something?” Harry questioned as Norische climbed back onto the bed and laid down next to him.



“Sure, what’s up?” Norische could see the look of concern on Harry’s face.



“Well, we talked about how you would probably freak out and all…but you didn’t. I’m trying to figure out if that is a good thing or a bad thing.” Harry felt very uncomfortable talking about this but he honestly wanted to know.



“What do you mean?”



“Well… I’m not sure if the reason you didn’t freak out is because you felt safe with me and didn’t feel threatened or something like that. Or if I didn’t do something right and you didn’t well…. I don’t know…” Harry brushed his fingers through his hair in frustration; he knew what he wanted to say he just couldn’t figure out how to say it. “Or maybe you did freak out and I didn’t notice it or something…I mean I did kinda pass out there after we…um….you know.”



“I didn’t freak out.” Norische smiled softly and reached over to brush the hair back from Harry’s forehead. “I am not quite sure why though. Honestly, I think it has something to do with watching the memories you put into the pensieve and what we talked about. For some reason, my grandfather doesn’t seem like such a huge threat any more. It’s like the memories are still there, but the fears that I have been holding onto for so long…aren’t.”



Harry nodded in understanding, although he wasn’t quite sure if that was the answer he was looking for or not. “So…um… I did alright?”



Norische smiled and nodded. “You were brilliant.” He stated as he ran his hand down Harry’s chest, tweaking a nipple as he passed over it. “Although I am not a bottom, it is an experience that I wouldn’t mind having a little more often now.”



“I enjoyed it too. That’s the first time I’ve ever…you know.” Harry blushed and looked down at his hands.



“I kinda figured it was. I mean you said you didn’t know what to do. So I took that to mean that this was your first time.” Norische’s hand ghosted over Harry’s chest, moving slightly lower. “Have you ever bottomed?”



Harry shook his head. “The only things I’ve ever done were the stuff that Vernon and Dudley made me do. Since they did that, I never really wanted to do anything with anyone.”



Norische stopped his movement of his hand, unsure now if he was pushing Harry too fast. He didn’t want to scare his mate, any more than he wanted to hurt him.



“Until now…” Harry added in almost a whisper.



Those two words brought a smile to Norische’s face. Leaning down Norische placed a gentle kiss on Harry’s lips. “We can go as slow or as fast as you want. I know most of this is new to you and I don’t want to frighten you.”



“It’s ok. I just don’t really know what I’m doing, and I guess I am a little self conscious about mucking things up.” Harry admitted licking his lips from the kiss.



“You aren’t going to muck things up Harry. We have all the time in the world, and if you have questions, ask. If you are unsure about asking me, ask Chris or Draco, they want to make sure your happy with this as much as I do.” Norische was tempted to kiss him again when he saw that gorgeous little tongue sneak out and tease him, but he decided he should probably wait.



“We should probably head downstairs and see what everyone else it up too. Besides I’m a little hungry.” Norische moved to sit up on the bed and began looking around for his clothes from earlier.



“Yeah, I guess.” Harry smirked then added. “Would rather stay here and figure out what else I don’t know though.”



Norische chuckled and looked over his shoulder at his mate. “Like I said, we have all the time in the world for that.”



*****

Norische sat eating a plate of penne pasta and baked chicken, while listening to what the others had found out from the information the goblins had given them.



“I honestly think we need to see what is in those vaults before we go much further.” Draco stated, ever the Slytherin.



“I concur. While with the basic listings of the contents in the vaults we have some idea of what we are dealing with but to be honest until we actually see with our own eyes what there is, we are really working with on assumptions.” Hermione added.



“Harry?” Norische asked as he picked up another piece of chicken and slipped it into his mouth.



“They’re probably right. I know I want to see what’s in there anyway but I think before we make any major moves we need to check it all out. I think we also need to talk to Neville. If we can get him to join in with us we will have all the heirs to all four founders… Merlin that is so hard to believe… but ah… yeah… back to what I was saying. If we can get him here, then I think we can get a clearer picture of what all is going on.” Harry stated as he sipped his tea. Even though he had listened to what everyone had said, it was still so hard to grasp. One day he was the son of a muggle born witch and a pure blood wizard, the next day he was the heir to the Slytherin, Ravenclaw, and Gryffindor lines as well as being the last living descendant of Merlin. Try as he might he was still pretty much in shock over all this. He honestly didn’t think he had a real true grasp of the reality of it all yet, that was one of the reasons he wanted to go have a look at the vaults and all. Maybe seeing the vaults would make everything seem a little more real.



“Ok then. What I suggest is that we go down and take a look at the vaults tomorrow. I know that everyone is a little preoccupied with other things but I really think we need to do this. So… Pari, Kain, Sirius, Mrs. and Mr. Weasley I would appreciate it if you could continue on the plans for the celebration of our bonding. Hermione I would like you to team up with Chris and go through the vaults take note of the books that are available and any you think might help us in our current endeavors please make arrangements to utilize. Father, you and Draco need to go through all the vaults, mine included, and see about potions, potion ingredients, and such…anything along those lines. Remus, you and Ron need to check for weapons, defensive and offensive. Bill, I would appreciate it if you would go through and make sure everything is safe, the last thing we need is end up with is someone getting cursed. Harry and I are going to go check out the properties belonging to myself and my mates… that may take more than the one-day… but I do want to get a start on it. The rest of you, I would appreciate it if you could continue to go through the information we have already received and see what else we can find out. Feel free to utilize the library here if you need to reference something.” Norische quickly thought about each chore that needed to be done and who would be best suited to complete the task then assigned each accordingly.



“Also, Harry has prepared the pensieve concerning the Dursleys. Hence tomorrow morning we will be going to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and filing formal charges. Anyone who wishes to go with us is welcome. I am sure they will apprehend the Dursleys tomorrow as well, and anyone that wishes to be involved in that will need to let the Aurors assigned to the task know of your interests.” Norische stated.



“Hey…ah…what about the fact that you are…well… wanted. I mean, the Ministry has the Aurors out looking for you and all.” Ginny asked.



“We will deal with that when and if that becomes an issue. If necessary, I will use a glamour to hide my identity, but I will be standing with my mate when they bring those monsters in. I may not have been there to prevent any of what happened before, but I will never allow those creatures to ever get near Harry, no matter the cost.” Norische growled, his eyes narrowing at the thought of the Dursleys even being within the same building as his mate.



“Don’t you dare leave with out us.” Hermione and Ron demanded.



“Yeah!” Fred exclaimed as did George. “We want to be there.”



“Absolutely…” Arthur agreed with his sons and Molly sat sadly nodding her head as well.



“I know you wouldn’t be crazy enough to try and leave without me.” Sirius warned, “I have a couple of things I would like to say to Vernon and that tub of lard he calls a son.”



“Yeah, do you think they will let us have a bit of a chat with them before they take ‘em in?” An evil grin spread across Ginny’s face.



“Ah… ick…. But, I’m there too. So is Charlie.” Bill looked at his sister, and felt a chill run down his spine.



“You shouldn’t have to ask if Severus or I will be there. We will be right there for you Harry… and if you need to leave or anything just let us know, we will take care of the rest of it.” Remus reached over and squeezed Harry’s hand.



“Yeah, and it should go without saying that Draco and I are going to be right there with you and Nori.” Chris reached over and rubbed Norische’s arm. “We are there no matter what.”



Although Harry was dreading going to the Ministry and he honestly was a little worried about Norische getting caught, he was relieved to see how much support he had and how much his friends and family were willing to help and protect him. This was what it truly meant to be a family, this is what friends…no not just friends, every one of these people around him were his family. Blood or no, these were his family.