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Chapter One

When Draco finally woke up, the early morning rays of the sun were coming in through the windows. He felt stiff, sore, and weak, and wasn’t sure he could get up without some help despite the pressing need of his bladder. “Apollo!”

It was only a moment or two before his Personal Attendant Elf was standing near his bed. “You awake!”

“Can you go get Severus? I need to go to the bathroom, but I’m not sure I should get up on my own. I think I need some more potions too.”

“Apollo will go get you help!” The elf exclaimed before popping out. Within five minutes, Draco’s godfather was rushing into the room, his potions bag slung over his shoulder.

“Let’s get you to the bathroom. I sent Jordy to inform Madam Pomphrey that you were awake. She did come last night just after dinner and gave me permission to give you the nerve soother and the pain medication this morning before she got here. So, we will get those into you before breakfast, which I suggest that you take here in your room.”

“I agree with that. I feel too shaky to be roaming around by myself. I’m going to have Apollo hang out here in my room with me today. I need to dictate a letter to him this morning for my Accounts Manager, Gragin Gentleheart. Did Theo show up last night or did you hear from him? He was going to speak with Alexander about coming to live here.”

“No,” Snape admitted before coming over to help Draco out of bed. Putting his arm around his Godson’s back, Severus helped him to the bathroom, standing with his back to Draco, who took care of his morning activities. Snape wanted to give the younger man his privacy, but was not willing to leave him alone.

By the time that they got back to the bedroom, Madam Pomphrey was coming through the door led by Zeus, the manor’s Steward House Elf. “Excellent timing, Poppy. I was just about to give Draco his medications.” Severus praised as the matron made her way to the bed where he was helping Draco settle back down.

“Thank you, Severus. Good morning, Mr. Malfoy. Let’s see how you are doing today.” She commented before running her tests and making some suggestions to Snape for adjustments to the potions that Draco was taking. Severus advised her that the nutritional potions would be ready that day.

“I’d like to see you improve your diet, Mr. Malfoy. You’ve always run very close to the minimum weight range for your height, but now you are below that, and I am concerned about how that will impact your health in the long run.”

“I will personally talk to Demeter, the manor’s Chef House Elf, and see to it she understands he needs to gain weight healthily,” Snape promised. Pomphrey nodded her approval before turning her attention back to Draco. “I would recommend you see your personal physician as soon as possible. As I said last night, in case you don’t remember, he or she will be welcome to continue seeing you when you return to school. I brought the form that they need to fill out, and we can share information with each other.

“I am sorry that this happened to you, and I also give you my condolences for the loss of your father. If there is anything you need from me, just have Jordy or one of your own House Elves come get me, and I will be happy to come back.”

“Thank you, Madam. My relationship with my father was complicated. I know that he was not a good man, but I remember the man he was when I was small. I remember him teaching me to fly on my first broom, and I remember him being proud of me the first time I brewed a potion on my own. So, while I didn’t like him very much at the end, my heart still hurts for the loss of the man I always hoped he’d return to being.”

“No matter what kind of person he was to the outside world, it is natural for you to mourn the parent he was to you, even if at times that parenting didn’t meet your expectations. As I said, if you need anything from me, just let me know.  I will keep you and your mother in my nightly prayers to Our Lady.”

Draco nodded his head and watched as Zeus led Pomphrey out of the room. When the bed dipped, Draco turned his head to see that Severus had taken a seat on the side of the bed and was getting potions out of his bag. “I am almost done with your nutritional potions, and I will begin cauldrons of nerve-soothing potion and pain reliever potions for you, as I expect you will need more of both than I have in stock either with me or at Hogwarts.”

“Thank you, Sev. I’m worried about Theo. I know that he and Alexander are close, but I also understand what expectations Alex is living under. But even if Alex does what is best for Theodore, I don’t trust his father to do the same any more than I trusted Lucius in the end. I wish I knew how Tiberius took Lucius’ death. They had been friends for a long time, even if that friendship came with what I think is an unhealthy rivalry on Tiberius’ part at least. I don’t suppose you have talked to anyone since Father died?”

“No, I have stayed here since I found out. At this point, I do not think that it would be in my best interests to respond to the summons that I have been getting. The Dark Lord is well aware of how close I am to both you and your mother, and I am sure he is livid over what you have done. Not that I disagree with your actions or blame you for taking them. Kicking the Dark Lord out of the manor was the best thing that you could have done for yourself and Narcissa.”

“Have you seen Mother yet this morning?” Draco asked as Demeter came in with two plates loaded with food. Draco’s plate was full of food that he could pick up with his fingers. Even the eggs were part of breakfast sandwiches that he could pick up and eat with less worry about his hands, which were still shaky.

Severus didn’t answer immediately as he quickly cut a piece of the omelet off to eat. Demeter knew how much Severus loved omelets and always made a point to make them for him when he stayed at the manor. “I have not seen Narcissa yet this morning, and I don’t expect to see much of her for the next few days. As complicated as your relationship with Lucius was, your mother’s was even more so.

“As much as I questioned how healthy their relationship was at times, I know that she loved him a great deal. I don’t doubt that her mourning of his death is real, and I do not begrudge her whatever time that she needs to recover. I think, given the circumstances, we will have a private ceremony with just the three of us. He will be buried in the family tomb. I believe that there is a spot open near Roman, which is where he would want to be.

“I personally want nothing to do with that tomb and plan on commissioning a new one to be built. Mother can choose to be placed in whichever one she likes. I know that I am making her choose between Father and me, but I will not be buried in the same place as either Lucius or Great Grandfather Roman.”

“I do not blame you,” Severus started to say, only to be cut off when Kronos popped into the room with several bags and trunks.

“Kronos!” Draco cried out and, pushing the covers off of him, shakily crawled to the end of the bed while Severus hovered.

Kronos dropped down the bags, and Apollo popped in quickly, hugging his friend. “There be big fight, and Master Theodore get kicked out. I bring his things and his mother’s things that she left him and Alexander.”

“Where is Theodore? Where was Alexander in all of this?”

“Master Alexander is bringing Master Theodore here. Master Alexander wants to speak with you.”

“Apollo, please bring me one of my good dressing gowns,” Draco requested as  Severus helped him back to the top of the bed, propped up on pillows. “Zeus!” The Steward Elf quickly popped in and bowed, wearing his black cape. The elves knew that once Lucius was gone, Draco would let them dress as they pleased. Zeus, for instance, was quite taken with capes and had several of them that he loved to wear as part of his uniform.

“I like your cape, Zeus,” Draco praised before giving his order. “Theodore Nott is moving in here. I want him to be given the other suite of rooms on this floor so that he is near me. Kronos here will obviously be staying here as well, given that he is Theo’s PA Elf.  Make sure he has room within the House Elf dwellings, and if he needs anything, feel free to order it if we do not have it.”

Zeus gave another bow, popping out just before the doors to the room opened, and Alexander Nott came in with Theodore trailing closely behind him, looking slightly battered. Draco opened his arms, and the quietest of the Slytherins in Draco’s year group ran to the bed, climbing on and hugging his friend. “Thank you, thank you, thank you. He was so mad, Draco!”

“What happened?” Draco asked, directing the question to Alexander, who looked disheartened.

“The wrong House Elf overheard Theo and me talking about your offer and told Father. He got to Theo before I was told and slapped him a few times. He was going to disinherit him, but fortunately, Kronos came and got me. I told Tiberius that if he disinherited Theo, I would just split whatever I got in half and then bring him back into the family when I took over. So, the deal is that Theo has been cast out of the home, and none of the Nott family funds are to go to him until I become Lord. Of course, there is still all of the Fawley money that was left to us, and the title, which has always been up for contention between myself and Theo. I don’t want it. I don’t need two titles. Plus, the du Lac title is out there as a possibility, but as you know, nothing can happen with it unless you are given the Emrys title.”

“Which I have always been shaky on wanting. On one hand, it would give me the power to make real changes, but the downside is that it will only happen if something truly dire is in our future, and I think the Dark Lord is bad enough. Did he… have you been marked?”

Alexander nodded and rolled up his sleeve to show the dark mark staining his wand arm. “Unfortunately, yes. It happened last night after the argument. I had Theodore locked into his room with orders to bring him here if someone other than myself came for him. It was another concession I had to make in order to get Tiberiu to get Theo go. However, if they think that I am going to just blindly follow along, they need to think again.”

Draco hummed as he petted Theo’s hair, not knowing which one of them was trembling harder. “Just know that you will always have an ally in the House of Malfoy and in me, and if you ever need it, you will have a safe haven within these walls. I swear it on my magic.”

“May Tiberius get what he deserves in this war. If he does, the first thing I do will be to reform the allegiance between our Houses.” Alexander promised, and Draco accepted his pledge.  “I need to head out before Father comes up with another one of his ‘brilliant’ ideas. Theo, you know where I am if you have need of me.”

“May Merlin be with you,” Draco prayed before Alexander came over and pressed a kiss to Theo’s temple. “Feel free to use my floo. It will be quicker, Alexander.” The elder Nott brother nodded and hurried to the floo, throwing a pinch of powder in as he rushed back to his home.

~*~ ~*~ ~*~

On September 1st, Draco stepped off the Hogwarts Express with two Lordship rings on his fingers for the Houses of Malfoy and Black and an Heirship ring for the House of Emrys. The House of Black hadn’t been much of a surprise with Sirius Black dead and the only other Black family members being females. The House of Black was a strictly patriarchal family, and there was no chance, because of that, for any of the living Black sisters to inherit the title.

The Heirship for the House of Emrys was a surprise. It hadn’t been active in the House of Malfoy for several generations, but Gragin Gentleheart advised that the requirements for Lordship to be active only happened in truly dire times. As far as Draco was concerned, the heirship was fine enough. Behind him was Theodore with his new heirship ring for the House of Fawley. Gragin had helped Theo connect with his own accounts manager at Gringotts, Grivays Nightshade, who immediately had Theo do an inheritance test which confirmed that he would be the heir to his deceased mother’s House.

Along with Pansy and Theo were Blaise Zabini and Pansy Parkinson. Both had stayed at the manor the last two weeks before their return to Hogwarts, and Draco had appreciated their presence. Like Theo was Draco’s Godbrother, Pansy was Draco’s Godsister because her mother, Theodosia Parkinson, was his Godmother. She had been Narcissa’s best friend since they were in nappies, and like Pansy, she had come to stay at the manor to help her best friend through her time of need.

Spotting Harry Potter and Hermione Granger in the crowd ahead of them, Draco called out their names, wanting to make the first part of his plan to make amends public. Harry’s summer hadn’t gotten much better as far as things with him and Ron went. Ron was known for his stubbornness and refused to apologize to Harry or admit he was wrong. It got even worse when Hermione arrived because once she found out what happened, she threw her lot in with Harry to everyone’s surprise. Normally, she was the peacemaker trying to get Harry to be understanding of Ron’s side, but this time she had declared that it was past time for Ron to grow up and she wouldn’t enable his bad behavior any longer.

No one had been more shocked than Harry.

As the days and weeks had passed, Harry had gotten more and more comfortable with the idea that there might be more to the Slytherins than what he had seen so far. Also, the longer he fought with Ron, the less he wanted to go back to school and continue fighting with Draco. So, when he heard Draco call his name, Harry paused and turned, Hermione by his side, and waited for the Slytherin quartet to catch up.

“Potter, Granger, thank you for waiting. I was hoping to talk to both of you.  That is, if you have a moment.” Draco watched Harry look to Hermione first and waited for her to give her approval before he nodded his agreement.

“Thank you. I want to start off by saying that, Harry, I am sorry for the loss of your Godfather. I don’t know if you were aware, but he was my second cousin. He was still family, though, and Mother and I mourned his loss. Now that she is free of Lucius, she plans on focusing her attention on having Sirius’ name cleared, especially considering we know that Peter Pettigrew isn’t dead.”

“I appreciate your help in that, but I wish we could have done something while he was alive.”

“I know, and if I could go back and change things, I honestly would,” Draco said, biting his lower lip, anxiety making him nervous about the next part he wanted to say. “Potter I… I’m tired of fighting with you. I know that mostly it’s my fault. I was a prat in Madame Malkin’s, but in my own defense, I’d never had to make a friend on my own before, and as you know, I wasn’t very good at it. Then on the train, I was a prat to the friend you had made. I… I won’t say I am sorry about that. I don’t see Ron Weasley and I ever being friends, and I don’t know if you can forgive me enough for us to ever be friends, but I’d like it if we could at least be civil now. I have… I am not following my father’s path anymore.

“His death has freed me up to be my own man, and my mother and Godfather support the new path I am forging. Both of you are part of that. I don’t want to be the same person I was anymore. I don’t believe- no, I know that all Slytherins are not evil, and I refuse to be the stereotype any longer. Speaking of my more ill-behaved days, Ms.Granger…” Draco started before digging into his school bag, pulling out a book and a jewelry box. These are both for you.

“I don’t expect you to believe me, but I am sorry for calling you that word. I am sorry for ever using it at all. I know that it will be hard to believe, but I was not raised that way, at least not by my mother. She doesn’t approve of that word and was quite cross with me when my Godfather wrote home and informed her of what happened and what I had done to start it.

Draco blushed as he handed both over to Hermione. “I got quite the scolding at the time, and mother made sure to reiterate the scolding this summer when I announced that I wanted to make amends with you. We disagreed about what I should give for compensation. So,  I decided to give you both.

“The bracelet was Mother’s idea. It has been in our family for generations, but Mother thinks it would be perfect for you. The inlay on the butterflies is mother of pearl. The book is a copy of one that we have in our library. I don’t know if you are aware, but the House of Malfoy goes all the way back to Merlin Erys himself. That book is a copy of his journals from before he became Arthur’s sorcerer. It’s one of my favorites, and I knew that you would adore it as well.

“I know that I cannot buy your forgiveness, but I hope that you will accept these gifts in the spirit that they were meant. I promise you I will do better, and should you be willing to give an offer of friendship a chance, I look forward to getting to know you. Potter, I have something for you too. When I was looking for the original copy of the book, I found these. I am not sure how we came to be the holders of them, but we are. Now these are again just copies, but I am willing to give you the originals once you have a safe place to put them. In the meantime, these are copies of Arthur Pendragon’s personal journals.”

“And how… I mean, am I connected to… That’s King Arthur, right?”

Draco nodded, stunned for a moment by how little Harry knew about his own family line, and thought it was further proof that Harry was not raised the way Dumbledore had convinced Severus he was. “Arthur Pendragon was your progenitor. The Potter line is the last known active direct descendants of the King, and those are a copy of his journals. Same as Granger, I hope that someday we can be friends, but if I have done too much that is unforgivable, then I hope that we can at least be civil to each other and end this feud.”

Taking a deep breath, Draco decided to take a second chance and held his hand out for Potter. “I’m Draco Malfoy, technically Lord Draconis Abraxas Malfoy-Black. I’m still a prat and probably still know nothing about making friends on my own, but I would at least like to be your acquaintance. Since we are both Lords or Heirs to Ancient and Noble Houses, this handshake is important and doesn’t guarantee friendship but rather that our Houses are not at war with each other. So, to turn it down has great significance.”

Harry’s eyes got big, and he looked around to see Neville standing right behind him. “He’s right, Harry. To simply reject the handshake is bad, and if you did it a second time, you would be declaring a formal feud between the House of Potter and the Houses of Black and Malfoy. You don’t have to be friends if you don’t want to, but it would, as he said, make you acquaintances; the friendly or not part is up to you.”

Harry looked between the journals, and Draco eventually gave a sharp nod. “I don’t know about friendship, but I am not saying no to it either. I think I would like to start new and learn about you and see if we could be friends. I think that hating a whole House of students is stupid. Friendly rivalry is one thing, but I think if you just automatically write people off, then you don’t get to be upset when they turn out to be exactly what you said they would.”

Carefully reaching out, Harry grabbed Draco’s hand and the world exploded for both of them. For Harry, everything was too loud, too bright, too smelly, and even his clothes, which had been fine not moments before, were now too itchy and uncomfortable. For Draco, it felt like the whole world had exploded inside of his head. It felt like he had the entire population of Hogwarts inside of his mind.

Had the two boys been from different Houses, they would have had the training to understand what was going on, but because they were from lines going directly back to Camelot, they had been exempted from all Sentinel and Guide classes, or as they were called in Magical Britain, Protectorate and Guardian. If it were only the two of them, they might have gotten the help they needed more quickly.

However, the handshake not only pulled Draco and Harry online, who were wrapped around each other, but also immediately pulled online any other living Camelot descendant. Just within their range, Theodore Nott, Pansy Parkinson, and Hermione Granger all came online. Blaise was already online but had immediately been drawn to Pansy’s side just as Theodore Nott was pulled to Hermine Granger, Luna was pulled to Susan Bones, and Mercury Barrows wrapped himself around his girlfriend Alicia Spinnet, who was already an online Guardian, seeking the comfort of his mate.

Eventually, enough online Guardians reached the Entrance Hall, where they had all been gathered and cast a protective dome around the entire hall. The teachers gathered in the entranceway as Dumbledore began giving orders. “Quickly, separate these couples right now. We can’t have this indecency…”

“We will do no such thing, Albus, and you know better,” Snapped Minerva, who was the Alpha Protectorate for Hogwarts along with her Alpha Guardian mate Poppy Pomphrey. “We do not have time for your nonsense, and I will be making sure that the Board of Governors knows that you tried to separate these couples in a time of crisis. The couples must be kept together, and will remain so until the Barrows Foundation gets here to assist us. Poppy, my love, do we have enough room for all of these students in the isolation wing?”

“We will simply have to turn the entire infirmary into an isolation ward. Most of them are in the same year, so getting the lessons until they can be released should be easy, Albus! Stop touching Harry right this instant! What are you doing? You’ll give him a rash.”

“Minerva, you know what is at stake here. We cannot allow this, I am afraid.” Dumbledore said with a look of false sympathy over the top of his glasses, but McGonagall wasn’t having any of it.

“Incarcerus!” She called and hit an unsuspecting Dumbledore, who crashed to the floor, tied up in ropes.

“The only thing that is at stake is your freedom. I will not let you continue to interfere with Harry’s life or Lord Malfoy’s, because at this point their lives are inextricably linked together. Severus, call Madam Bones and let her know I am pressing charges against Albus Dumbledore for Bond Interference and will discuss other charges with her. I am sure there has to be something to cover the illegal suppression of a will and looking the other way while an innocent man was put in prison.”

“Now, if people are done trying to interfere with my duties, all students go to the great hall. We will have the House Elves serve dinner while we get these students settled upstairs. Who are you, House Elves? I did not give you orders to be here.”

The House Elf standing next to Draco Malfoy puffed out his chest and lifted his chin in defiance of her. “I be Apollo, and I is Lord Draco Abraxas Malfoy-Black’s Personal Attendant House Elf. With me is Kronos, who belongs to Heir Nott; Rosabelle, who belongs to Heir Parkinson; Romano, who belongs to Heir Zabini; Dobby, who is bad elf and not told Harry Potter the are bonded, but he is Harry Potter’s elf. Then there be Jippy who be Heir Barrows PA Elf, and lastly Alice who be Heir Bone’s PA Elf.”

“Right,” Minerva said with a nod as she considered the situation. “Technically, only you should be here because the rest are only heirs, but I have always thought that rule was stupid. It wasn’t that way when I was in school. I will allow you all to stay as long as I am in charge, and assuming you follow Poppy’s orders, do you understand?”

Apollo nodded sharply. “As House Elf representative here, I agree to yous terms, and I thank Mistress In Charge McGonygall for her understanding. We alls respect Mistress Magi-Healer Pomphrey and will do as she commands us.”

“I know some of these elves from this summer when I was at Malfoy Manor tending to Lord Malfoy-Black, and I can tell you they were quite helpful then. Apollo, instead of having the teachers move the students, I will allow you to. Pomsy and Kinley, if you two could move Ms. Lovegood and Ms. Granger, I would appreciate it. You will all need to work with your partner, House Elf, because the couples must stay together. It is vital that they are not separated.”

“We understand.” Apollo bowed low, and the other PA Elves followed his lead. “We has all received House Elf Protectorate and Guardian training just in case our masters came online. We never believed there was any chance they would come online.”

“Very good, follow us,” McGonagall ordered and led the way up the stairs to the infirmary.

When Draco wakes up, he can feel someone in his arms, but instead of letting go, he tightens his embrace as it feels good to have this person in his arms. He can also feel their head resting on his shoulder, and it feels like their nose is pressed into the crook of his neck. “You smell good,” He hears a very familiar voice say and quickly frowns as he tries to work out why he is wrapped around Harry Potter. “Why do you smell so good?”

“Harry? Do you know who you are sniffing?” Draco asked, and he felt the head lift and looked down and saw the younger boy looking at him as if he were dense. “Umm, my Guardian.”

“I’m your… but that can’t be. How do you know?”

“Well, I can feel it for one. I didn’t know the names, but I’ve been awake for a bit longer than you and Guardian Pomphrey told me.”

“But that can’t be,” Draco started, and the sound of his voice drew the matron over. “Camelot Heirs don’t come online even if they have the genetics.”

“It is unusual, that is for certain. Not only have you come online, but it also appears that you and Protectorate Potter have pulled others within and outside of Hogwarts online as well.”

“I… we…” Draco started and held his hands up in a wait motion. He then pushed at Jarry until the boy, while whining, gave him some room to sit up. Fortunately, that was as far as Draco was going. Putting his hands over his mouth, Draco tried his best not to freak out. Turning his head to look around the infirmary, he saw his Godfather striding quickly toward him and, with a whine, held out his arms like he used to do as a toddler. Normally, he would be above such juvenile nonsense, but he had reached his limit.

When Snape came over and gave him the hug that he needed so badly, he felt his lower lip tremble. When Harry tried to pull away further, Draco immediately grabbed his wrist to prevent him from leaving.

“M’just moving to sit next to you, Draco, I promise.”

“You’re not leaving? I’m sorry. I’m not mad about it; it’s just a lot. After Father’s death, I wasn’t ready for such a big change, and I’ve already done so many bad things to you. How can you forgive me enough for us to be mates? We hadn’t even agreed to be friends, just civil, and now we’re going to be a bonded pairing?”

“Breathe, Draconis,” Snape soothed as he rubbed up and down Draco’s back. “It’ll be ok.”

“How?” Draco asked quietly, but instead of Snape answering, Harry spoke up again.

“I think that we can do it. I mean, I have done a ton of reading about this Protectorate and Guardian thing since I got here to Hogwarts first year because I found it fascinating. Ron kept telling me that I’d never come online but wouldn’t tell me why. Snape called you Draconis. Did you change your name?”

“This summer,” Draco sniffled and sat up, allowing his Godfather to sit in the chair next to his bed. “I refused to keep Father’s name as a part of mine, considering what he’d done to me. So, when I went to Gringotts to have a line test done to see if I was eligible for something other than the Malfoy Lordship, I asked them to submit a form for a name change. It isn’t uncommon when one assumes a Lordship, but normally it’s just adding last names.

“I changed my name to Draconis Abraxas Malfoy-Black. I am praying that I won’t become eligible for the Emrys Lordship. Unlike Father, I don’t need power that badly. I will have enough as it is. Do you mean it? You’re really willing to give us a chance at being well, us?”

“I think we have to,” Harry said quietly, frowning. “I mean, I don’t know about you, but I can only imagine that me being a protectorate can only help me defeat Voldemort as everyone expects me to. At least now it will be Protectorate on protectorate.”

“It won’t,” Draco said with a grin. When Harry looked at him, confused and cocked his head to one side, Draco, along with Snape, just snickered before the Slytherin prefect answered.

“He’s dormant,” Draco said quietly, still grinning. When he came back, his protectorate abilities didn’t come back with him. He’s irate and has demanded that Uncle Sev find a way to get it back, but that’s just stupid. There’s no way to get it back. He’s an abomination against nature, and it’s obvious that Lady Magic stripped him of that ability when he slithered his way back into the living again.”

“So, I’ll have an advantage over him?” Harry asked, looking excited, and Snape nodded this time, answering for Draco.

“You would anyway because it feels like you and Draco are Alphas and he was nowhere near that powerful as a Protectorate.”

“Professor Snape, do you have a Protectorate? I’ve heard that you’re a Guardian, but the rumors said you couldn’t find your mate because of the Dark Mark.”

Snape lifted an eyebrow and, rolling up the cuff of his wand arm, showed his unblemished skin, making Harry gasp with shock. “But I swore I saw…And in the trials after the first war…”

“You did,” Draco whispered with a smile. “It’s a secret, though, as long as we can keep it private. Severus came up with a potion that I found in one of Merlin’s journals. It was a special cleansing potion that was supposed to have cleansed the blackest of stains on your magic. You had to be truly repentant for what you did, though, because if you weren’t, it would at best take your magic and at worst kill you. I gifted him with a copy of that journal last Yule, and he finally perfected it enough that by the time Lucius died he could try it.”

”What about his bond to Dumbledore? Did that break also? Where is the headmaster anyway? I thought he’d be here trying to isolate me from Draco, lecturing about how evil he is because he’s a Slytherin.”

Snape snickered again as both boys looked at him, eager for more gossip, “Albus has finally crossed a line that he can’t get away with. He tried to pull you two apart in front of witnesses, saying how there was too much at stake to allow the two of you to be together. I have a feeling that once they finish their investigation, they will find out it is not the only thing that he did to prevent the two of you from bonding. Now, Draco, I am going to go and inform your mother that you have woken up and are allowed visitors.

“Harry, I will also let Remus know that you are awake, unless there is someone else you would like to see? Molly and Arthur Weasley have also been asking about you. The two of you will need to stay here within the infirmary until you can show that you have mastered your new abilities enough to be let out into the general student population. If you work together, I am sure that you will be able to get out of here quickly. We do encourage you all to work together, as generally those that come online in a group find themselves to be quite close.”

“You all? Wait, you said something about pulling others online who?” Draco asked and stopped when Severus pulled the curtain back to reveal the other students in the infirmary with them, who were all awake. “Pans! Theo! Granger? We pulled you all online? Wait… Granger is a Camelot heir? Oh, Father’s old cronies are going to have a fit about this the first time she shows up to vote in the Wizengamot.”

“Wait… I get a vote?” Hermione asked, leaping up and dragging a chuckling Theo with her as they approached Harry and Draco’s bed.

“Yes, the voting procedures are different for Camelot Houses since we only come into our Lordships or Ladyships in times of extreme dire,” Draco informed as Hermione stopped just shy of Draco and Harry’s bed, practically vibrating in place.

“Apparently, Lady Magic believes that we can defeat the Dark Lord and… well, others without those extra abilities and power. But yes, Granger, you will have voting rights within the Wizengamot as soon as you get a line test done.

“If you’d like, I can write my own Accounts Manager and see if some of them can come here to do testing since we have so many who seem to have come into their heirship at once. I’ll even pay for it. We’ll call it compensation to the school in general. Anyone who wants testing can have it done. The Thunder and I have been saying that Muggleborns and half-bloods need to be tested, since sometime during second year. That was when we realized that the reality of things wasn’t quite matching up to what our parents had taught us when it came to Muggle-born and half-bloods.”

“I’d be happy to split those costs,” Mercury spoke up from where he and Alicia sat on their bed holding hands. I am sure there will be many coming from Gryffindor and getting testing prices down so the Muggleborns and half-bloods could partake has been something of a passion project for Father.”

Draco nodded, smiling happily. “I would happily split the costs, mostly because I think we’ll get more to take the test if the Barrows name is attached to it as well. I am sure there are some, if not many, who would refuse just because the name Malfoy was the only one on the project.”

“Well, they’d be fools, but I appreciate you letting the House of Barrows join the venture. How are you doing with becoming a Lord so soon? I am sure it’s stressful. On behalf of the House of Barrows, I would like to convey my most sincere condolences on the loss of your Lord and Father.”

“I am sorry, too, Draco,” Hermione echoed as Theo led her back to their bed. “I don’t know what your relationship with your father was like, but I know I would be crushed if I lost mine so young. I can’t say that I liked the things that he did, but I would never wish death on anyone. It’s bad karma.”

“Things were complicated between myself and Lucis,” Draco started with a sigh as he and Harry shifted to sit on the side of the bed looking toward the others with Harry’s arm around Draco’s waist. “There was a time when I was very small that I was completely devoted to both of my parents. They were literally my whole world. I know that this is going to be hard to believe, but by the time I started Hogwarts, that was starting to change. I know that I am famous for the “my father will hear about this” whining, but that was more from… Well, it was more about being afraid to be my own man and knowing I had to live up to a certain persona, and that was who my father wanted me to be.

“The longer I was at Hogwarts, though, the more that things didn’t add up, as I mentioned earlier. Then once I realized that I couldn’t just blindly follow anymore, I brought it up to the Thunder to see what they thought.”

“Who is The Thunder?” Susan asked, and this time Theo answered while Draco blushed. “It’s the name of Draco’s friends group: myself, Pansy, Blaise, and Draco. We named it after the sound a group of flying dragons makes because that sounded cool to young us.”

“That’s so cute,” Susan giggles on her own bed. They’d originally thought that the two girls were mated, but once they both woke up they found out that they were merely standing near each other and didn’t feel any attraction or draw to the other girl.

Just then the doors opened and a group of parents, guardians and close family friends came in to check on their charges. From there, the rest of the day went fast, and by the time Draco was laying down to go to sleep the only question on his mind was, what now?