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Chapter Two:

Sirius was lying outside in the grass with a thick, warm blanket covering him, listening to the sounds of the night. He hoped that it was one of the last that he would spend as a wanted criminal. The Dragons promised that it would be only a matter of time now before things were worked out. Things had been somewhat tense in the cottage when they arrived home. After Draco had a mini meltdown at the idea that he was some reincarnation of Merlin, Sirius called a halt to the proceedings and begged Gentleheart and the King to allow him to take Draco home before coming back for his interview.

Before he’d left the cottage, he’d asked Theo to send Snape a letter advising how much Draco needed him. He couldn’t come back until the newly titled Earl allowed it, but no one expected that to be much of an issue. As much as Sirius hated Severus Snape, he could understand Draco having a different relationship with him. Theo and Pansy both swore that the Slytherin Head was more father than godfather to Draco, and things wouldn’t truly be healthy with their friend until the older man was with him. Especially considering that Narcissa was a fucking mess of a mother.

Sirius knew that his young cousin had always been something of a wild card. At Draco’s request he’d read the letter she’d sent her son and to be honest Sirius was confused. And if he was confused he could only imagine how Draco was feeling about it. On the surface it sounded like any other pureblood scolding but there were items in it that didn’t make sense to someone who had withstood mindgames from the likes of Walburga Black.

I am taking 24 hours of solitude, and then I will be going to the bank to see you cast from the Malfoy line. Why? At first glance this was nothing more than a theat and yet… why make sure that Draco knew he still had time to get to the bank to stop her? Why write “I hope to never lay eyes on you again for if I do then your freedom and life will be cut incredibly short.” and make sure he knew that his life was in danger should they ever meet. It would be so much easier to play the distraught mother who longs to see her only child again after losing her husband. Then once she had her hands on him she could set the record straight, but no. That isn’t what she did at all.

Except now Draco will be on guard and have time to make countermeasures to whatever plans the Dark Lord could come up with. Unless her intention was to inflict more pain and keep him confused, because if so, she did one Hel of a job. It was no wonder that Draco had changed his mind and decided to spend the rest of his day in solitude except for Harry and Apollo.

And then there was Harry.

Despite the impending presence of the two Dragon Guardians, Sirius was thankful that his pup had accepted Draco’s offered Sanctuary. Even though he’d agreed to it willingly, Sirius wasn’t thrilled that he wasn’t in any shape to take care of his Godpup and counted it as just one more failure on his own part when it came to the things that had been done to Harry.

As far as Sirius was concerned, everything that the Dursleys did to Harry was Sirius’ fault. He was the one who chose revenge over Harry’s well-being. It was just one of the many reasons why he felt he wasn’t capable of taking care of James and Lily’s son, no matter how much he wanted to. He needed mind healing, and Dragon Healer Oldroz Kanka, the Chief Healer, had prescribed him a whole slew of nutrient and healing potions to make up for the negligence he suffered in Azkaban. He just, he just needed someone to step in while he was healing. Maybe, just maybe, it would be ok with the Dragon Guardians here if he took more responsibility for Harry. Maybe that would be ok. Not today. Not tomorrow, but maybe…

“Padfoot? Why are you lying in the grass with a blanket when you have a whole room for yourself inside at like 2:55 in the morning?”

“Couldn’t sleep, and I was enjoying the fact that I could be outside at 2 something in the morning if I wanted to, but didn’t have to. What are you doing up, pup? How’s Draco?”

“He finally agreed to take some dreamless sleep, but I was too wound up and confused to go to bed. I don’t… Was I always wrong about him, Padfoot? I mean, I heard his father threaten to kill him. He would have succeeded if not for Apollo. And his mother just…

“I keep thinking about my parents and how they sacrificed everything, including their lives for me, and yet Draco can’t even be allowed to think for himself without both parents wanting him dead. That’s crazy, Padfoot!

“How, I mean, there is no way he could have become anything other than who he was when we all first got to Hogwarts, is there? So, how can I hold all that prattiness against him? I’m not saying that he’s not at fault for anything he did, but how can I hold a grudge now with what I know, and I mean obviously with this mark isn’t… isn’t everything different now? Is it crazy that I just… I just want to move past it all and start over.”

“I don’t know if I am the best to judge crazy or not right now, but I don’t think it sounds crazy to me as long as you and Draco truly take your time to get to know each other this time. You also need to keep in mind that it’s not going to be an easy relationship due to outside pressure. Dumbledore is going to have a fit as will a lot of the public. Your reasoning makes sense, but that doesn’t mean that others will understand. Hermione is here, but she hasn’t run back to Hogwarts, which I find interesting. I half expected her to run after Ron.”

“Well, I may have told her a while back that the next time Ron and I fight, if she just takes his side and expects me to understand because he ‘has it so hard’ then she might as well consider it a permanent choice. I love her like a sister, but I am tired of being their choice when it’s convenient.

“I know that she is my friend and I know that she has a huge crush on Ron, which seems really weird considering how he treats her most of the time, but that doesn’t mean I always have to take being her second choice.”

“That must have been a hard conversation, Harry. I am proud of you for doing it, though. I would say the fact that she stayed is a good sign. Maybe what you and she need is to have a talk here without Ron around. Hopefully, there are fewer expectations and pressure here so neither of you feel the need to play a certain part. What are you going to do about Ron?”

“Do I need to do something? I mean, I am getting tired of his hot-and-cold act with me. I feel like he’s my friend when it’s fun to be my friend or when it’s an adventure that he wouldn’t be able to have any other time. Outside of those times, though, I have to play a certain part, or he gets upset, and then I get accused of not understanding how hard it is for him.

“I can’t spend my money, or he gets jealous, and I get accused of rubbing it in his face. I can’t buy new clothes for the same reason. I can’t be too smart, or he gets mad and says I am trying to make him look bad. I can’t have friends in other houses, or he calls me a traitor. Hel, I can’t even have friends in Gryffindor, or he gets territorial. I can’t be too chummy with the twins, or he says I’m plotting with them against him. Well, most of the time, that one is probably true if I’m honest. Other than that, though, the rest is just bullshite, and I’m tired of it!

“I’m tired of Dudley’s cast-offs. I’m tired of passing things over that I want, even if it is just something simple. I’m tired of sticking to just him and Hermione. I want to talk to other houses and judge them for myself! How do I really know that Slytherins are all arseholes? Frankly, none of the people who have said that to be aren’t the most neutral when it comes to that. Hagrid, Ron, and even you, Padfoot. I love you, but you seem to hate a whole House because my dad was jealous that Mom was friends with Snape!”

“I mean, it was more complex than that,” Sirius tried, but stopped when Harry just glared at him and huffed.

“It was,” Sirius insisted, but quickly continued before Harry’s glare could become verbal. “But I think I see what you mean. I mean, there isn’t much I could do with people like, say, Lucius, because he was a lot older than us, but Cissy may have been able to be saved if we didn’t just write her off because of Bella and being a Slytherin. There are certainly others who were less cut and dried. Like Snape as much as I hate to say it. If we’d brought him into our circle instead of ostracizing him because James’ crush was friends with him, who knew what might have been changed?”

Harry just huffed again before lying down and putting his head on Sirius’ chest after being covered by the blanket. “So, you don’t think I am horrible if I don’t run after Ron again and just let our friendship fade or whatever will happen naturally? I was talking to Theo today, and he asked me why I wasn’t closer to Neville than I was.

“It confused me because I didn’t understand why I would be close with Neville specifically. Padfoot, why didn’t anyone tell me that Neville was my Godbrother! All day I’ve been sorta jealous about how close Draco and Theo are with their brother-like relationship, and I find out that I have a Godbrother of my own! And from a Slytherin no less!”

“How on earth did Theodore Nott know?” Sirius asked, trying to work it out for himself, but only guessing it had to do something with Alice.

“I asked the same thing, and I guess that Theo’s mother and Alice’s mother were cousins through the Fawley line and super close as kids. I guess they had to be super careful when they were at Hogwarts cause they sorted into different houses. So, Alice didn’t think it would be safe for them to talk much!

“Which is what I am talking about! Who knows what could have happened? Maybe Theo’s mother wouldn’t be missing if she’d had someone to go to, or maybe Alice would have been better warned before Bellatrix and them came after Neville!”

“Ok, pup, ok, I get it,” Sirius acquiesced before he planted a kiss on top of Harry’s head. “Let’s go back to talking about your new beau. Do you really think you can just forget all of the things that happened between him and your group? I mean, he’s done and said a lot of bad things to you, Ron, and Hermione.”

“Yeah, but Sirius, the thing of it is that if I’m honest and fair, we aren’t great to him either. Ron actually made the first negative move when he laughed at Draco’s name. And while we’ve never talked about his family or stuff, I turned down his friendship offer just because Ron and Hagrid said Slytherins were evil. When he called Hermione a mudblood she punched him! I’m not saying that it’s ok to use that name, but before that, I always thought I believed that physical violence was never ok unless you were defending yourself.

“Yes, he’s picked on us, but we’ve picked on him, and Ron starts shite or Crabbe and Goyle start shite more often than Draco or I do. People, like Ron, like to exaggerate how many times Draco has used that word. But it was only the once, not great again, but still it was once. At least as far as I’ve heard. So, all things considered, yeah, I think we can work it out. He and I talked about it yesterday when we were in his room. We talked through all the things we’ve done to each other and cleared the air. To be clear, I’ve started stuff sometimes, too. I know people like to act like I would never, but I can be an arsehole too when the mood takes me.”

“That’s the Marauder in you,” Sirius laughed. “Its practically a requirement to be at least a little bit of an arsehole. Your dad and I held that role the most. In reflection, Peter was obviously a hidden arsehole. Even Remus could be one when the mood struck him. He’s like Hermione that way. I hope that you know I will support you in whatever you decide. Are you concerned about how Hermione will take it?”

“Draco and I just believe that there are enough evil and deadly things happening in Britain right now that if people find love, then they should go for it and worry about repercussions later. We are at war. People are going to die. Merlin forbid it, but what if Draco and I wait and then one of us dies? We’re soulmates, Sirius. The other would never love again and die a long, painful death as they wasted away. What if all that the one who survives ever has is this time now? And we just… spit in Lady Magic’s face with the gift that she gave us?”

“First off, pup, neither of you is dying, I forbid it. Secondly, that is much more mature than I am comfortable with, coming from two 16-year-olds, or nearly 16 in your case. I hate that this war is doing that to you both.

“You’re absolutely right, though. Love who you want. Love them as hard as you can and hold onto them as long as you are able. Don’t worry about what other people are going to say about it because you absolutely don’t know in this environment when the last day is going to come for either of you. I support you, and I know that Remus will, too, when he hears about this conversation. That is, if you don’t mind me telling him? And also, Hermione?”

Harry shrugged eventually as he sat up to stare down at Sirius. “Hermione will do whatever she must. I hope that she won’t have any issues with it, but you never know. If she does, well, I guess that I will just have to find someone else. Draco, though, seemed unconcerned for some reason. I think he knows something I don’t. When I asked him why he was so sure, he just said that he couldn’t say. He could only ask me to trust him that she’ll be ok with it.

“As far as Remus is concerned, I just expect that what I tell one of you the other will know unless I ask for it to be kept secret. So I guess this is blanket permission unless I say otherwise.” Harry then took Sirius’ hand and stood tugging on his arm as if trying  to pull him up. Just to be difficult Sirius lay where he was, but eventually stood and wrapped Harry up for one last hug and kiss.

“Come on, Padfoot. Let’s go inside! It’s getting too cool out here.” Quietly, the two made their way inside, Sirius walking Harry to his door, which was in the same hallway as Draco’s. Stubbornly, though Harry stopped outside of Draco’s door with a shy look in his eyes.

“Do you mind if I go in and cuddle with Draco? Just cuddle, I swear. We’re not ready for anything else. We agreed. Draco doesn’t know if he even wants to do that ever. He says that he might be something called a-secual. While he likes kissing, he’s never particularly drawn to someone because he wants to snog them. He’s tried it with other people, but he said that it wasn’t anything to owl home about.”

“Hmm, if I remember correctly his mother was that way and his aunt Andromeda is what they call Demisexual. Go ahead, pup. Take those moments when you can. You won’t hear any flak from me.”

Happy, Harry slipped into the room. And only after the door was shut did Sirius head to his own room. Some heavy thoughts on his mind. He expected to lay awake, but he found himself falling asleep almost the second that his head hit the pillow. His last thought was a plea to Lady Magic that Draco and Harry have a long and loving relationship.

The next morning, when Draco woke up, he found Harry in his bed, dead to the world. Deciding that he was starved, having skipped dinner the night before, Draco decided that he cared not one wit about decorum. After carefully slipping on a dressing gown, he made his way out of the room and down to the dining room where breakfast was to be served. Stopping in the doorway, he stood and watched the couple at the table, oblivious to anyone else’s presence.

Draco had known that Theodore was seeing someone, and when he refused to even admit to that much, Draco had guessed it was serious and let it go except for some mild ribbing here and there. Watching him sitting and whispering with Hermione Granger when they were the only ones in the room explained a lot. With a faint smile on his face, Draco wandered in, making his way though the breakfast buffet that Demeter knew he preferred before going to the table. Interestingly enough by the time he got there, there was suddenly a chair between them.

Draco couldn’t help but roll his eyes at them as he sat down. “No need to move on my account. I happen to think that the two of you are adorable. Ms. Granger, if I might be serious for a moment, I am sincerely sorry for calling you that horrible name. Not only was Severus severely unhappy with me and put me in detention for ages, but I was unhappy with myself. Both Pansy and Theodore gave me a good talking to.

“For the record, I do not believe that you are lesser to me. I do believe that you have a place in our world. I only ask that you put as much energy to learning our ways as you  do into the lessons that they teach us at school. I do recognize that they no longeer have classes in the traditions. So, I would like to offer my services if Theodore hasn’t already. You have free access to my libraries here as long as you are in residence. Even if you leave, if you want a book on a subject, I am happy to let Theo search them out for you here. At least I hope that he has decided to stay.”

“Of course, I have, Drake. You’re my brother. I will not be safer anywhere else than I will be here. Are you umm…”

“I was being genuine when I said that there was no need to move on my account. Who am I to judge who someone else loves? Apparently my lifemate and soulmate for eternity is Harry bloody Potter.”

“Are you upset about that?” Hermione asked appearing as if she was starting to get defensive on Harry’s behalf.

“No need to get your back up, Granger. Harry and I have talked quite a bit about our circumstances. We have agreed to move forward and let our past issues stay in the past. This relationship is everything I have ever dreamed about. I know that soulmates may not be something that muggles believe in, but here in the magical world, they are sacred. Not as much as they used to be, but they are sacred to those of us who still follow the traditional ways.”

“Is… do these traditional ways have something to do with your belief in blood purity? Are they why you hated me?”

Draco sighed rubbing a hand over his thigh as he picked at the french toast on his plate. HE hated all of this. HE hated having been so brainwashed that he’d nearly destroyed his future. That he’d taken his pain and frustration out on other people so that they would hurt as much as he did.

“My parents were never the typical loving parents who cuddled their children and made sure they knew that they were loved. I wasn’t some love child. I was a transaction. A business transaction at that. As fucked up as it sounds, I think that my parents love each other, I just don’t think that either of them have the capability of loving me. They didn’t want me they just needed me because they believe blood is everything.

“Is blood purity part of the traditional ways? That is hard to answer. In some ways, yes, but it’s not a requirement. The problem is that there aren’t as many pureblood families now as there used to be. First Grindelwald and then Voldemort saw to that. The more they dwindle, the more that those left freak out and demand more purity. The Gaunts and Blacks have inner-married themselves into extinction or near extinction.”

Draco shook his head and took a bite of his toast chewing thoroughly before continuing. His thoughts dark and morose inside of his head.

“All of the traditional ways aren’t great just like I am sure that not all of the muggle ways are great either. To this day, children are harmed and sometimes killed in pureblood circles in an attempt to jumpstart their magic and try to ensure that their cores are stronger because it’s some kind of traditional belief.

“My father has tried to beat the literal life out of me every year when I returned from school because I didn’t beat you in every class. So, he believed that if he tortured me, if he beat me with his cane, if he locked me in the dungeon without aid then I would grow stronger and be less of a disappointment. Lucius thought me to be soft. Beating me was supposedly supposed to make me stronger.

“Is it fair that I hated you? No. Was it your fault my father used you to justify his abuse of me? Also, no. For a long time though Granger it was hard not to hate you and Potter for similar reasons which Harry and I have already discussed. Eventually, with the help of my Godfather I was able to see that the only people that I should be hating are my father and mother.  My father for committing the abuse and my mother for looking the other way and not caring it happened because it meant she wasn’t being abused. I had multiple reasons to hate you, Granger, and none of them were your fault. None of them were just, and I am ashamed of everyone.”

“Oh,” Granger replied brokenly; her eyes filled with tears. “That’s… What is it with you, Slytherins, that you keep breaking my heart?  I don’t understand why, if tradition is what led to these horrible things being done to you and Theo, why you want to protect them so badly.”

“Tradition is paying homage to our dead on Samhain,” Theo said quietly, and Draco nodded after taking a shuddering breath.

“It’s celebrating the Winter Solstice during Yule and welcoming life back into the world. It’s the fire festival on Belantine and the harvesting festivals on days like Lammas.”

“It’s honoring Lady Magic and thanking her for all the things that she has given us. It’s recognizing that life cannot exist without death, which is why our dead are traditionally burned on a pyre and returned to the earth so that their souls can be cleansed and reborn.” Theo offered quietly before conjuring a bouquet of tulips, pink roses, and lilacs then handing it to her.”

Draco nodded and offered the couple a soft smile as he mentally reviewed the meaning of the flowers chosen.  “It’s new love, Granger. Our training is why I know the tulips represent the freshness,  the pink rose is innocence, and the beginning of a journey is reflected in the lilac. All of them mean new love. It’s understanding all that and more.

“So while some parts are horrible, there are miraculous parts that we choose to honor every day. It’s knowing that my line descended from Merlin himself, who was a champion of muggles and muggleborn. That knowledge gives me the chance to carry on his principles and help me to change from the person I hated to hopefully someone I can be proud to see when I look in a mirror.”

“That’s amazing,” Hermione admitted sniffing her flowers before conjuring herself a vase. “These are beautiful Theo thank you so much for them. When hearing it all put like thst I can see why you want to fight for your ways, and well, I have to be honest in that I haven’t really given much thought to things like holidays because I had my own. What other muggle beliefs do you think are hurting magical society.”

“While blood purity is causing a whole host of issues, we never cared about things like the color of someone’s skin or what gender someone’s mate is, before the muggleborn became so prevalent. Every year, there is some muggleborn who sneers at Blaise because of the color of his skin or calls Millie a dyke because she looks more masculine and prefers women to men.

“It’s disgusting. It’s in part why soulmate magic is so rare because muggleborns stopped going to the book when they found out that there was an equal chance their soulmate could be of the same gender as them. No society is perfect but it seems those raised in the muggle world come in and point at all our failures but refuse to admit to any of their own. It’s disheartening. If you really want a cause to die for, make it educating the muggle-raised better instead of tormenting the poor house elves who don’t want to suffer horribly painful deaths that would be the result of being set free.”

Hermione blushed and nodded. “Theodore educated me on that issue. I promise I won’t try trick any of your house elves into freeing themselves.”

“I appreciate that, the twins are rather protective and would most certainly take action, which no one wants trust me. Blood thirsty devils those.”

“The twins…?”

Theodore snorted as he nodded with Draco’s assessment. “The two house elves that look more like small children with big ears than they do house elves. Hades and Ares. They are very protective of the other house elves. It’s in their line honestly. There are some throwback minor elves every generation or so in the Malfoy and Black lines.”

“Can we be friends, Draco?” Hermione asked sounding hesitant but hopeful.

“I would like that very much,” he conceded before picking up his fork to dig into his meal due to a surging appetite. Hermione Granger was key to keeping a happy soulmate and Draco could see Harry’s happiness becoming very, very important to him.