Find Yourself

by Mint (Mintblob)

Summary:

read and fine out, i really suck at summaries. The story kinda writes itself >_<' so the summary might be update when I actually know what to write in it, if you got any ideas, feel free to let me know !

Notes:

• For Scioneeris, cheyla, KingShmee.
• Inspired by [Restricted Work] by Scioneeris (Log in to access.)

Inspired by "There Be Dragons, Harry" by Scioneeris & "The Soul's Scream" by CHeyla, as well as many other awesome Dragel fics written by the lovely people on Scion's Discord =)

Beta-read by KingShmee & Authorash.

Apologies for crappy formatting, this is my first story on AO3 ^^"

Chapter 1: How It Began

***

Kreacher had a new Master. He could finally feel a healthy bond radiating through his mind and the elderly elf all but sobbed with relief. It would be okay now. This time he would do better, he promised himself. He would not let the Young Master down the way he let down Master Regulus. His heart still hurt from the loss of the younger Black brother, but now he had something new to focus on, something that would keep the madness and loneliness at bay. With renewed purpose Kreacher went about cleaning the #12 Grimmauld Place. He knew his Master would arrive soon. He had to. And then Kreacher would do his best to keep him protected. It would all be okay, the House Elf told himself.

And perhaps that was when Kreacher jinxed himself, because when the Master finally arrived, it was as if he was a totally different person. Kreacher expected a strong young Lord. But what was standing in front of him now, was anything but. The young man had a somewhat vacant look in his emerald green eyes. Eyes that previously shone with power and life were dull and lifeless. The somewhat steady rise and fall of his chest was the only indicator that the young Lord Black was alive.
Clearly, his task would be difficult. Kreacher reached out, grabbed the wizard by his hand and all but pulled him inside, it didn’t do to talk on the porch after all. Any amount of people could be potentially spying on them.

***

Harry could feel a small clawed hand on his, pulling him into the house and then into a seat. He didn’t care much. His mind was too busy trying to process things. The man sat in the big armchair near the fireplace and stared at the way the flames danced and lapped at each other. He didn’t pay much attention to the insistent chiming of the floo or the howling wind outside, much less the somewhat concerned looks thrown at him by the ancient looking house elf or the painted likeness of the late Lady Black. All he really had the attention for was the crackling fire and the ice slowly melting in his drink. The man sighed heavily and leaned back in his seat, never removing his gaze from the fire. After some time he tilted his head to the side and looked at the huge tapestry that covered nearly the whole wall. The thing looked better than anything else in the room, or probably in the whole house actually.

Harry chuckled bitterly, looking at where his name, or rather what should have been his name, was etched onto the fabric.

“Even my name is not actually my name.” His fingers clenched tightly around the glass. “How little they must have cared about me, that they didn’t even bother telling me my full name.”

But oh, things were much more serious than just his name. The fact that his name was the only one present on the tapestry was all the proof that he needed. All that he desperately denied at the bank was in fact true. This knowledge made Harry feel even more alone. A small barely there keening sound left his mouth.

Some time after the floo stopped flashing, the banging on the front door started. Harry grit his teeth and closed his eyes. Perhaps if he ignored it, it would go away. The House Elf looked from his Master to the door and back again: “Does Master need Kreacher get the door?”

Privately, the old Elf thought it wouldn’t be good to leave the young Lord to drink away his problem, whatever that problem was, but he did not know the man well enough yet. He could not risk getting clothes, so soon at that.

Pained green eyes drifted in the general direction of where the door was and the man silently shook his head: “I am not ready to talk to whoever that is.” His throat felt raw from crying. “Can you tell them to come back tomorrow please?”

Reluctance was written all over his face, so Kreacher asked for confirmation: “Is Master sure? Kreacher can just send them away.”

A drawn out sigh echoed through the big largely empty living room: “Yeah, Kreacher, I’m sure. Whoever that is, they must really want to talk with me, so I very much doubt they will stop their efforts after just one try. And I don’t really feel like listening to them banging on the front door all night. Thank you for caring enough to ask.”

With a firm nod the old creature left to do his Master’s bidding. And if he felt rather gleeful making the Muggleborn witch that was banging on the door come back another day, well, that was his little secret.

***

Hermione Jean Granger was ready. All weekend, the Weasleys had been trying to reach Harry after he seemingly went out for groceries and vanished. He did not return home, he did not answer any of the Patronus messages they tried sending, and he did not respond to mail.

If she stopped to think even for a moment, her logical self would tell her that surely it was not a mortal sin to want some peace and quiet now and then. Unfortunately for her friend, however, Hermione’s logic seemed to be on vacation today. Molly, Ron, and Ginny were all very panicked and that made the bushy haired witch rather anxious to talk with Harry and understand what on Earth happened.

Hermione did not expect the door to be opened, much less by Kreacher; the ever unpleasant House Elf. Still, she was being let in and that was all she needed.

“Master is not in a good mood.” Kreacher told her, clearly not in the mood for talking, at least not with her.

Hermione’s first reaction was to insist that Harry surely wasn’t his Master and Kreacher was free, but she knew this would not come over well. Her campaign for the House Elf Rights was her only failure to date. Not only were the wizards refusing to free their slaves, but the Elves themselves were not eager to be free. No matter how long she thought about the issue, it just made no sense to Hermione.

But today was not about the prickly Elf; today was about her best friend whom she hadn’t seen in something like half a year at the least. She strode through the house, noting how much better it looked compared to when she was here last. The witch found her quarry in the living room. It was like stepping into a different reality. While it was rather early in the day, the room was bathed in darkness. And her friend, sitting just out of reach … looked like he aged years in just a few months. Hermione’s worry grew. She carefully approached the still figure and knelt next to the armchair.

“Harry, are you okay?” She asked and mentally smacked herself. Of course, he wasn’t okay. That much was very obvious. It seemed like Harry was so out of it that he didn’t register her approach, for the sound of her voice made him visibly jerk, like a puppet whose strings were damaged.

Unfocused green eyes met hers and Hermione shuddered. These eyes alone told her much about how not okay Harry was.

“Hermione?” His voice was scratchy and quiet and yet it all but echoed in the rather empty big room.

Her heart felt like it was breaking, but the witch did her best to try and give her friend an encouraging smile. “Hi, Harry.”

Silence fell again. It was filled with a great many things: hope and fear being the most prominent ones.

Hermione kept quiet because she wanted to let her friend pull himself together. The wizard in question, however, was tense and very much afraid of what the witch would tell him next.

A little bit to the side, Kreacher watched the silent interaction and literally rolled his eyes. His Master was being an idiot again. He thankfully did not need to interfere, for Mistress Walburga did it for him. “Oh get on with it already! No one wants to waste the whole day watching you two stare at each other like mindless cretins!”

Perhaps it was not the most elegant ice-breaker ever, but it did manage to make both young adults chuckle slightly before the portrait of Lady Black became the recipient of two equally unimpressed stares.

“Well, no one is making you watch! In fact, we’d much prefer it if you did not.” Hermione’s retort was so classically Hermione that Harry gave her a small tearful smile.
“What brings you to Grimmauld, Hermione?” He asked, even though he certainly dreaded the answer that he might receive.

“Are you kidding?” The witch arched an eyebrow in a way that strongly reminded him of one deceased Severus Snape. “You’ve hidden yourself away from everyone. You’ve not responded to any of our letters! What else was I supposed to do?”

He chucked bitterly. “And so I did. Did it occur to you that maybe there was a reason for that? Or that maybe I didn’t talk to anyone simply because I had nothing to say to them?”

“Harry!” Her admonishment had that tone of scolding that set his teeth on edge, he was never particularly fond of Hermione acting like his mother. This time, however, he was not alone in his dislike. Kreacher, who was previously content to watch over his Master, was suddenly in front of the kneeling witch. This brought their faces rather close.

“Do not disrespect Lord Black in such a way!” The elderly Elf showcased a rather impressive set of gleaming white fangs that looked strong enough to do serious damage. They also went in complete contrast to the general appearance of the House Elf, but that was beside the point.

The bushy haired female was clearly about to go on a tirade if the way she sucked in air was any indication, but all Harry could hear really was the way Kreacher addressed him. “Lord Black?” He repeated carefully. “Why do you call me that?”

“Because that is what you are, Master.” Replied the Elf with a barely contained eyeroll. Harry couldn’t understand how this was possible. He distinctly remembered the Goblins telling him that he lost the Potter Lordship because he never stepped forward to claim it.

“It’s not that simple!” Hermione finally found her voice. “Even if Sirius left it to Harry, he would have forfeited it by now.” This earned her a betrayed look from Harry which made her cringe on the inside and a very hostile look from the House Elf.

“If Missy Granger cannot behave well, Missy Granger should go now.” Kreacher ground out, baring his fangs slightly at the muggleborn witch. “Kreacher won’t allow little Missy to disrespect Master Black.”

“It’s okay Kreacher.” The green eyed man whispered. “She didn’t mean to offend me.”

“Harry!” exclaimed Hermione “I just don’t want him to give you false hope, he is a House Elf after all. Surely, the Ministry knows better.”

Harry knew she meant well, but it hurt to see that even after all these years Hermione’s faith in authority and the people in charge was nearly unshakable.

Kreacher gave Hermione an offended sniff and focused on his Master. The girl was unimportant in the grand scheme of things. “The Goblins can tell you, Young Master.”

“The Goblins?” Harry parroted. “But they mentioned nothing of this when I was in Gringotts last time.”

“But did you ask them, Master?” Insisted the Elf.

“I suppose not.” The wizard had to admit. “My mind was occupied with… other revelations.”

“Then perhaps Master should ask next time.” Was all Kreacher said. He was not all that inclined to share potentially sensitive information in the presence of a possibly untrustworthy woman.

Meanwhile, Hermione looked from her friend to the small creature and back again. She couldn’t help but feel as if she was actively being excluded from the conversation. The witch did not appreciate the feeling. Thus she decided to get back to the purpose of her visit. “Harry, what is going on with you and Ginny? She’s been living at the Burrow for the last couple of months.”

All that her words earned her was a rather severe frown. “Hermione, why do you ask?” He did his best to not let the panic reflect on his face, though he doubted he did a very good job of it.

“What do you mean WHY?” With her cloud of wild hair, Hermione Granger rather resembled a puffed up cat in that particular moment, all but bristling at how unlike himself the other was behaving.

His green eyes were looking over her head and frankly there wasn’t much life in them, but there was still some emotion to be found. That emotion was anger, which was strange. None of this fit into the world view of one Miss Hermione Granger. As far as she was concerned, she came here to help her friend, to save him from whatever was going on. And something certainly had to be going on. But in that particular moment, all she knew was that she was not being appreciated. And she did not like it one bit. Therefore she would make him see sense and apologize.

It was just very unfortunate for her that this was not really in the cards for her. For you see, Harry James Potter very much resembled a walking time bomb at that time. On one hand he desperately wanted his best friend, all but sister really, to be innocent in what he found out about. However, at the same time, there was this slowly unfurling part deep inside of him that did not appreciate how Hermione was treating him. The wizard kept looking over her shoulder and at the family tapestry. “You want to know what happened?” Somehow his voice sounded even and pretty much flat.

“Yes, I do.” His friend replied, her eyes narrowed at him.

“Have a look at it then. It’s all right there on the wall. Just keep in mind you won’t really be able to unlearn it once you know. And don’t tell me I didn’t warn you.” He closed his eyes and turned his head away. As far as he was concerned, the conversation was over.

The witch huffed at him and stomped over to the tapestry, giving it a quick look. She never cared for the thing. To her, it was the epitome of Pureblood bigotry. Who needed their whole family tree on display all the time? Who cared? Certainly not a modern witch like herself. If only she made an actual effort to see what it was that had Harry in such a state, if only she paid a little bit more attention, their life might have gone differently, but she did not and so it did not. Looking back at the man slumped in the chair she snapped with an eye roll, “And so what? What does it change?” Her callous response made the man flinch.

He felt deeply disappointed in the woman in front of him and yet there was also an odd sense of … almost… relief. With a deep sigh, he rose to his feet and gave Hermione a disappointed look, “If that’s all the reaction you have, then why bother asking in the first place? You don’t seem much surprised at all. How long have you known then?”

His soon to be ex-friend frowned once again, “Surprised about what?”

Harry rolled his eyes with a shake of his head, “Oh, I see. Looking at the tapestry is so offensive to you, is it? You couldn’t even be bothered to look for more than one second.” He sighed, “I don’t think you’re very interested in this conversation after all. Kreacher will see you out, Hermione. If you want to know something else about it, why don’t you ask Ginny then? She’s known about this for much longer than I have. And please, don’t bother coming back.”

That was all the signal Kreacher needed. The Elf did not wait for Hermione to make her way outside. Instead, he simply snapped his fingers and the witch vanished from the room. Barely seconds later a faint thumping noise came from somewhere outside, which told Harry that his friend was deposited outside of the building. This drew a faint, barely there chuckle out of him. He gave the Elf a small smile. “Thank you, Kreacher.”

“Master is most welcome.” Replied the House Elf with a shallow nod. “Will Master be having dinner soon?”

Harry made an effort to deny, but was firmly reminded that unlike Lady Walburga, he was not a portrait and did indeed require sustenance to continue functioning. The House Elf promptly left to prepare food for his Master. Now alone in the room, with nothing else to focus on, Harry’s tired green eyes were drawn back to the Family Tapestry.

There was one thing itching at the back of his mind. And the longer he stared, the stronger the itch became. And luckily, this was possibly a question that might get an answer. He was about to call out for Kreacher, when food appeared on top of the coffee table near the armchair.

The wizard sighed. He looked at the dishes. It was true that he hadn't eaten in a few days at least. But none of the dishes in front of him were all that appetizing to him. Before he enjoyed most of them quite a lot, but now, the sight of it just didn’t evoke hunger in him. It was strange, but not strange enough to really be a worry. Harry chalked it up to stress. He glanced at Kreacher, who was standing next to the armchair and looking at him expectantly. This was going to be a challenge. On closer inspection, Harry was relieved to notice some pieces of fruit. He picked up a piece of toast and carefully plonked some apple slices on it. As he bit into his fruit sandwich, his stomach grumbled. Clearly, he was hungry after all.

Kreacher frowned as he observed his Master. The man was eating only fruits. There was nothing wrong with that of course, but as far as Kreacher was aware, humans needed a more balanced diet. For now, however, he was just satisfied that he got his Master to eat in the first place.

Chapter 2: Questionable Origins

Summary:

We are learning a little bit more of what the heck is going on with Harry & meeting a couple more people... (do paintings count as people? *thinking face*)

Notes:

Also big thank yous to KingShmee & AuthorAsh for being awesome betas !!!

***

It was certainly sad, Harry thought, that the most upfront and honest person in his life was his own House Elf. While Kreacher did not know why Harry showed up on the Tapestry as Sirius’ son, he did suggest making a potion that would show Harry his relatives on both sides of the family. Right now he had two main ideas.

Idea number one was that he was the son of Lily and James, but Sirius blood adopted him at some point.

Or idea number two, somehow his parents were Lily and Sirius.

Harry personally hoped it was option number one because he did not want his mother to be a cheater like Ginny. As a last resort, he did still have the Resurrection stone. So if worse came to worst, he would try summoning their souls and asking directly, though the young man really hoped he wouldn’t have to. The Deathly Hallows still gave him the creeps.

Getting all the ingredients required a lot of shopping and not just in Diagon Alley. Some things needed to be bought fresh and so Harry went to visit Neville, where he was told that his former classmate actually moved to a place called Nevarah. Harry’s never heard of it and felt a little hurt because it happened a few years ago and he didn’t know about it. Luckily for his most immediate problem though, the greenhouse was kept maintained and the elderly Lady Augusta didn’t mind giving him the herbs he was looking for.

Harry returned back to Grimmauld Place after spending a few hours catching up with the old witch. He felt decidedly weird. Now that he thought about it, with the exception of Ron, Ginny, and Hermione, he hadn’t talked to any of the people he attended Hogwarts with in literal years. He would do better, he decided, but not now.

Now he needed to find out for sure whose child he was. This was the important part. He wished he’d done it back when Snape made them brew a family potion, but as they say, hindsight was twenty-twenty. And his eyes were bad to begin with.

As if on cue, his vision blurred and Harry reached up to take off his glasses. It has been happening for years now. Ever since the Final Battle in fact. Every now and again he was able to see without his glasses. It started with random times, maybe once a month, but now it was happening at least once a week and the periods of time he could spend without glasses grew longer. Molly once told him to go see a healer, but timing being what it was, Harry reckoned it was connected to him no longer housing the horcrux, or maybe even his death, brief as it was.

Leaving his glasses close by but out of the way, Harry listened as the portrait of Walburga Black refreshed what he could vaguely remember about this potion from his sixth year at Hogwarts. Harry reached his hand for the next ingredient and almost jumped out of his skin when Kreacher smacked his hand. “What the fuck?!” he exclaimed indignantly, eyeing the Elf in shock.

“Kreacher doesn’t know about Master Black, but Kreacher does not want to be blown up.” Came the cranky reply. Harry cleared his throat awkwardly and glanced at the portrait guiltily.

“Maybe you should not leave your glasses behind. Your eyesight can be improved with a potion, but exercising won’t do much to help.” Came the sarcastic reply of the dead witch in the painting.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, but in reality was only a couple hours, the potion was finished. All that remained now was adding Harry’s blood to it.

“Remember, 3 drops. No more, no less.” Walburga reminded from the safety of the frame on the opposite side of the room.

Harry rolled his eyes at her, “Yes, yes, I can manage that much without fucking up.”

“You are Lord Black now, no matter how you inherited the title. You should really work on your vocabulary.”

The aforementioned young Lord Black made a face. He did not particularly want to strut about the place like Lucius Malfoy used to, but perhaps she had a point.

With bated breath: the wizard, the portrait, and the House Elf, watched as the necessary 3 drops of blood fell into the potion. For a moment their vision was obscured by a plume of deep purple smoke. Harry eagerly leaned closer. He frowned as he stared at the results written in neat cursive letters that were all but glowing in the cloud of purple.

Hayden ‘Harry’ Canis Potter-Black, Lord Black.

Parents: Lillian Evanson, Regulus Black, Charlus Potter, Sirius Black.

Godparents: Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Alice Longbottom, Frank Longbottom.

Godson: Edward ‘Teddy’ Lupin-Black.

“Errr…” He did not sound particularly like a Lord at that moment. “I don’t think this worked.”

Kreacher eyed his Master: “Master should have let Kreacher do the brewing.”

Walburga looked at Harry intently, she knew he had to have some sort of creature blood for his results to come up with 4 people listed as parents. But then perhaps the young Lord did indeed make a faulty potion, that was certainly much more preferable.

Harry rolled his eyes at the Elf’s sass, “Right, next time you can do the brewing, Kreacher.”

“You could check the Potter tapestry, but if I remember right it was inside the Potter Manor.”

Harry all but pouted, “Of course it would be. And of course, I need it now when I can’t access the place anymore.” He sighed. “Just my luck.”

“Kreacher is not sure this can be called ‘luck’.” Muttered the House Elf under his breath.

Harry absently raised his hand and scratched at the base of his neck: “Perhaps I should go to Gringotts again and ask them to make a new one? They could do that right?”

“For a price.” Agreed the painted likeness of the former Lady Black.

Harry yawned, “I’ll do that then. But maybe tomorrow. A nap sounds really nice right about now.”

Kreacher followed after the green eyed wizard with a concerned frown. His Master has been sleeping quite a lot recently and despite that he got tired really quickly. “Does Master not need to go to work tomorrow?”

Harry gave the small creature a smile that in all actuality looked more like a grimace, “Ah, right. It’s Monday tomorrow, isn’t it?” Kreacher gave a silent nod, which made his Master slump a little as he continued speaking. “I suppose I won’t be able to avoid Ron tomorrow.” He grumbled as he entered the bedroom and all but collapsed into the comforter.

Kreacher’s big ears flapped about as he shook his head at his Master’s lack of decorum. He clicked his fingers and covered the young Lord with the blanket he had collapsed on top of. Harry sleepily curled up around a pillow and nuzzled into it.

***

In the opinion of one Luna Elizabeth Lovegood, knowing the future sucked. Doubly so if all she ever got was snippets of events based completely on the decisions people in her life make. On the plus side though, she would finally be able to join her daddy and Rolf in Nevarah. Things were almost ready. She looked through the books on the shelf, selecting a few her friend would soon need to read. “Yes, these will do quite nicely.” She muttered under her breath. “I only wish he wasn’t quite so allergic to reading.”

A sparkle caught her attention. “Oh, and that. Must not forget that. How would he get there if I forgot this?”

***

Unaware of all the plans Luna was making for him, Harry made his way into Kingsley’s office. ‘If I’m lucky, this will at least help me avoid Ron for a little bit more.’ He thought as he closed the door behind him.

“Good morning, Minister.” He tried to sound as casual as possible, but he couldn’t be sure if he succeeded or not. All he got for his efforts was a thoroughly unimpressed raised eyebrow. “Good morning to you too, Auror Potter. Do I need to explain, or can you guess why you are here?”

Harry looked around the room feigning innocence as well as he could, “Whatever it was, I didn’t do it.”

“Very funny, Harry.” The Minister of Magic replied with a relatively amused eyeroll. “Is everything okay? What did the healers say?”

For a moment the question threw the young wizard for a loop. And then it came back to him. When he thought back on it, it was really rather ridiculous. Only two days passed since his last conversation with Kingsley and yet it felt like it was a lifetime ago.
“Sorry, Minister.” He cleared his throat awkwardly. “Things sort of happened and I didn’t get around to actually going to Saint Mungo’s.”

Kingsley Shacklebolt got out of his seat and came to stand close to his Auror. “Things happened?” He put his hands on the young man’s shoulders and made sure Harry couldn’t look away as he usually did when the conversation turned uncomfortable.
Potter cleared his throat and did his best to avoid looking Kingsley in the eye, “Yeah, don’t worry, it’s not going to affect…”

“Harry, that’s not the point.” The dark skinned male interrupted him gently. “It is important enough that you skipped the health check even though you know I won’t let you out into the field unless you pass it. Talk to me, Harry. What can I do to help you?”
Hesitant green eyes crept up to meet his calm dark ones. “I … don’t want to make extra problems for you, Sir. It’s … personal.”

Kingsley let go of him with a sigh and leaned against his desk. “Okay, I can understand that. Then I will give you two weeks off. Will this be enough time for you to settle the issue and go for that health check?”

Harry sighed. It was unfortunate, but it looked like he wasn’t going to get out of the trip to the healers. At least he now had a valid excuse for not being in the office for two weeks. “Thank you, Minister. That sounds perfect.” He headed for the door and was almost there, when the man called out from behind him: “It’s Kingsley, Potter. Use it!”

“Of course, Minister.” Was his cheerful retort. He regarded the bald wizard as a friend, how could he not? They fought a war together. So in his mind, he did refer to the man as ‘Kingsley’, but never out loud. Simply because it annoyed the adult.

***

“Moooom, I didn’t mean to.” Whined one Ginevra Weasley looking at her mother with large pleading eyes.

Molly, however, was unmoved. “It’s fine for you to say that, but this can ruin everything. Dumbledore said that-”

“Dumbledore is dead, Mom!” Ginevra snapped in annoyance. “He’s not here to tell us what to do and how to behave anymore.”

“Watch your tone, Ginevra.” Molly could feel fire starting to stir in her veins. “The Headmaster always cared about our family and did all he could to help us.”

“That’s your take on things, Mother.” The younger redhead rolled her eyes. “If it wasn’t for the potion I would have never married Harry.”

Her response made her mother shake her head in barely concealed disgust, “While we’re on that topic, he would not have married YOU if not for the potion either.”

Their burgeoning argument was cut short when Ron came into the room, one arm reaching for a piece of toast, while the other one was trapped somewhere inside his robe. “Can you two not do this? I’ll talk to Harry at work today and everything will be fine.”

Ginny narrowed her eyes, “We’re in this together, Ronald. Sure, what I did was bad, but at least I was never friends with him for the sake of money.”

Her brother snorted and his retort earned him a smack on the head from his mother. “No, indeed all you were interested in was marrying Lord Potter. It had nothing at all to do with money, sure.”

For the first time in many years, Molly Weasley née Prewitt regretted leaving Nevarah. That these are her children must be her karma, she was sure of it.

***

Having suddenly gained a lot of free time, Harry wandered through Diagon Alley for awhile, simply enjoying the ability to walk around and not being yanked around from one shop to the next. He took note of new shops that sprung up where he remembered the ruins of the old ones. It was unfortunate, but it did seem like the last four years of his life really consisted of nothing but a whirlwind of Auror missions, paperwork, and Ginny. They would spend their time in between his missions together. But something certainly changed over time.

If Harry was honest with himself, and after everything he had found out recently it was certainly a good idea to be as candid as possible at the least in the privacy of his own mind, the change was creeping. One rather slow and gradual. It seemed like it started after the wedding. Before they were Married, Ginny would leap at the chance to spend his off days together with him, doing whatever he was in the mood for. After Marriage, it was him accompanying her on big shopping sprees and buying whatever she wanted, even though Harry failed to see the reason for the overindulgence. In his opinion, they had everything they needed.

The change really became noticeable during the last year or so as whenever he came back home, she was always tired after training. Harry didn't mind as he often wasn’t much ‘in the mood’ so to say, and he much preferred napping when he could so her excuses didn't bother him.

All things considered, her finding a lover was not really all that hard to understand and he would have even forgiven her for it if she had not lied to him.

Children were the one thing that Harry dearly wanted. Ever since he was a small child himself, his biggest dream, when he dared to think of a life beyond Voldemort, was having a family of his own. In his mind his imagined family was perfect, loving, and he would do anything for the sake of it. Unfortunately, as Harry Potter was in the process of discovering, dreams and reality don’t always go hand in hand.

Now… he needed to decide what he would do.

Notes:

Thank you to all the awesome people who left kudos & especially reviews! *bursts into happy tears*

P.S.: Oh, and Happy Birthday to Oleandra on Discord =)

Chapter 3: Of Making Conversation

Summary:

Harry goes meeting... more people lol ^^' Not much really going on in this chapter yet =) but he does need to get the talking done so \o/

Notes:

As always - many thanks to KingShmee for being an awesome Beta =)

***

Goblins are harbingers of bad news. If Harry had any doubts of this before, he was now completely convinced of this statement. There was, however, something good that came out of the meeting, even if it was surrounded by lots of very unpleasant surprises.

Harry now knew that he was not only the Godfather of little Teddy, but also his Guardian. This changed a lot of things as it gave Harry something good to try for. A hope and a reason to try to get well, to do his best for Teddy. Naturally, it came with its own issues. Namely Andromeda. Tonk’s mother was not very keen on Harry visiting them. Now knowing that he actually was Teddy's legal Guardian, Harry assumed that the older witch was afraid that he would take Teddy away from her. This was not his intention of course, but he could understand where she was coming from.

The wizard was about to disapparate when he heard his name being called out by a quite familiar voice. He turned around just in time to catch a young blonde, who all but tackled him into a hug. “Luna!” He exclaimed happily. Luna was one of the few people who continued to write to him, even though with his work being what it was, he couldn't guarantee that they would meet very often.

“Hi, Harry.” She smiled happily. “I’m so glad I caught up to you. I thought your visit to Gringotts would take longer.” There was a questioning note in her voice, but as usual, Luna just knew things.

Things Harry had no desire to explain. So talking to Luna was much much easier in comparison with all the other people he would have to talk with in the near future. Namely, the Weasleys.

“Hey, Lunagirl.” He returned the smile, even though it was small and very strained in comparison. “I’ve missed you.”

For a few moments, they just stood in the middle of Diagon Alley with random people going about their own business all around them, just holding on to each other and enjoying the peaceful moment. After a while the blonde drew back, took her friend by the hand and started skipping down the Alley. Harry followed with an indulgent smile on his face. He had lots of problems to deal with and even more things to figure out, but at that moment, he just went after the brightly smiling witch that sometimes turned to face him and turned around to walk backwards, never once faulting in her tracks. This girl was like a balm on his heart; just being around Luna always calmed him.

Finally, they came to a stop near a toy shop. Harry looked at his companion with a raised eyebrow. “Is there something you would like to share?” She giggled and smacked him on the shoulder lightly. “Silly Harry. We’re here to meet someone.”

“Oh?” Harry had a feeling who the girl was talking about. He wasn’t sure if this was a good thing or not, but he trusted Luna to not lead him astray.

“Yes, oh.” She replied. “Trust me, this is a good thing.”

Green eyes met hers and there was a gentle shine in them. “Of course I trust you.”

//With Andromeda//

Some days were better than others, and others certainly made her question why exactly she insisted on raising Teddy all by herself. She knew full well she wasn’t young anymore, but she couldn’t bring herself to admit that the boy would be better off with his Godfather. Of course, knowing that the young man was an Auror and was often sent on long-term undercover missions helped a lot. He wouldn’t be able to raise Teddy by himself. Especially not with Ginny Weasley as his wife. That was certainly one very determined young lady and Andromeda did not trust her one bit, not after some of the things she heard from her daughter.

Today Andromeda came to Diagon for some new toys for her grandson. The boy was growing after all and she thought four was old enough for some more complex things. She froze, however, when she almost ran into the man who was just on her mind.

“Good day, Andromeda.” He said with a hesitant smile.

“Harry.” Muttered Mrs. Tonks, though she would never admit to it. Muttering was just not in the habits of proper pureblood women. “What brings you to Diagon?”

The younger wizard looked awkwardly to the side as if avoiding eye-contact. “Kingsley gave me two weeks off. So I went to settle some things at Gringotts.”

This was not good. Gringotts meant Goblins and the Goblins definitely knew about the Guardianship. It was now Andromeda’s turn to study the people passing by as if they were the most interesting thing ever. “I see.”

It was only thanks to deeply ingrained training throughout her formative years that her voice reflected none of the turmoil within.

“I’m glad that you do.” If Harry showed a bit of an attitude at that moment, he thought he had every right to do so. “How could you not tell me?”

The witch grit her teeth. She knew she would have to have this conversation one day, however that did not mean that she was very eager to do it in the middle of Diagon Alley for any nosy person to see. With a casual flick of her wand, she erected some privacy wards.

“I have no desire to feature on the front page of the Daily Prophet.” She said in reply to the look she could see forming on his face. “I’m sorry if my not telling you has upset you, but I did what I thought was best for my grandson.”

She didn’t have any actual bad feelings towards Harry, she truly liked the young man. But in her mind she felt justified in keeping Teddy with her. Even if some days were pure hell because of it. “You barely ever have time to visit as it is, how do you expect to fare if I let you raise him yourself?”

Harry sputtered, shrugging helplessly. “I have a wife you know, she would have helped!”

The Black witch felt her confidence in her choice grow at the mention of the young Weasley girl. “Would she have?” She raised an unimpressed eyebrow. “And even if by some miracle did. I would not want him brought up by that scheming young chit. You said you went to Gringotts. Surely you must be aware of her transgressions by now.”

This made the wizard flinch a little, Andromeda sure was not going to pull her punches and he couldn’t say that he did not walk into this conversation of his own free will. He felt Luna’s hand running down his back slowly, doing her best to soothe him. She knew it would turn out okay, didn’t mean that the process of getting to the result would be painless though.

***

While Harry was having important conversations that would affect his life going forward, Ginny was back at the flat she shared with Harry. She thought that once they got married, they would live at the Potter Manor her mother and Dumbledore told her so much about. Much to Ginny’s disappointment, the grand Manor was not mentioned even once and Harry was completely content to just live in a rented apartment as if he was a regular person, not a Lord of an Ancient and Noble Family. It was plain strange. And yet, over the last two years of being married, she never once found a good way to bring it up. So she went back to the Burrow while Harry was away on missions, though of course once she got closer to one of her teammates, it presented other… opportunities.

For now, though, Ginevra focused on writing Harry yet another letter. She knew he had doubts about Molly’s explanation of the child’s coloring, but that was okay. Harry was her husband and he loved her. Everything would be okay. She just had to get him to come home. After that things would certainly work out. Right?

***

Very very far away, so far in fact that even time didn’t run the same, one William Weasley was reading a letter from his father.

“Anything interesting this time?” Charlie asked from where he and George were sprawled out on the couch.

Bill shrugged. “Well, kind of, depending on what you find interesting.”

“Do tell, brother dearest.” Drawled George in bemusement. “I can’t contain my curiosity.”

“Well, as you know. Ginny finally managed to marry Harry.” Here all three of the Weasleys living in Nevarah cringed slightly. None of them liked the idea of Harry being married to their sister, even if they didn’t quite know why. “And it looks like they’re about to have a kid.”

“Good for them, I suppose.” George couldn’t have sounded any less sure if he tried.

“Oh come on…” Charlie rolled his eyes. “I know you used to have a huge crush on him, but that was like twenty years ago.”

“I know, it’s not that.” The younger redhead sounded a little defensive. “It’s just… We all know how obsessed Ginny was with him. Who is to say she changed for the better?”

Charlie chuckled, “And who’s to say she hasn’t? Sounds to me like you’re just jealous.”

George huffed in mock offense and threw a pillow at his older brother. “Whatever you say, brother dearest.”

Bill picked up the letter and sprawled out on the couch, resting his head in George’s lap to keep him in place. “Lose interest in the letter, did you?”

“You wish.” Came a very quick retort. “Keep reading.”

***

Harry couldn’t believe it. Well, he could, but he really didn’t want to. As much as he trusted Luna, the encounter with Andromeda sure was harrowing. All he wanted to do at the moment was go home, flop down on the bed, and sleep. In all honesty, he felt like he could probably sleep a whole week without waking up if no one bothered him. And not being bothered by people was definitely not a luxury that Harry Potter possessed.

But again, he had things to do. He now had young Teddy to think about. The boy was now already four years old and in a way Harry considered this to be lucky. He wouldn’t have to worry about being up all hours of day and night, being woken up by the screams of a helpless newborn.

Please don’t misunderstand, Harry Potter loved children very much. But now with Andromeda’s help, he finally accepted the fact that he wouldn’t be able to successfully take care of an infant on his own. And it would have to be on his own, as he will not be staying married to Ginny if things were indeed the way he expected them to be. To find out for sure though he would have to finally talk to the woman face to face. And for Teddy’s sake, he would have to be firm in how he dealt with his spouse.

A loud crack announced the arrival of Kreacher. “Master wanted the post.” The creature said in a bland scratchy voice. “There is lots of mail waiting for Master.”

Harry sighed. As expected, a long nap was not in the cards for him at the moment. “Thank you, Kreacher.”

He gave the Elf a small smile and accepted the bundle of correspondence from his small hands. “How did you know where I was?”

The wizard asked, slightly curious. He didn’t know much about House Elves and how their magic worked. But being able to find a person as easily as they did it sounded amazing. Harry idly wondered if it was something he could learn. It would certainly make his job much easier.

Kreacher looked away. This was not a topic he particularly wanted to talk about. But his Master asked, so he would answer. “Since young Master asked, Kreacher will tell.” Green eyes widened as the young man realized that he potentially stumbled into a painful topic. He wanted to backtrack, but his curiosity was burning. “It is because Kreacher depends on Master’s magic to live.”

Harry’s eyes widened comically. This was not something he expected to hear.

“What?!” He exclaimed. With as hard as Hermione tried pushing for Elf rights during her House Elf Freedom campaign when they were at Hogwarts, what Kreacher was saying was unexpected to say the least.

“The curse needs the Master’s magic to help the House Elf live. If the House Elf has no Master for long, the curse will feed on the House Elf’s life force instead. So to survive, the House Elf must have a Master.” The creature’s eyes were completely empty of any emotion as he talked, staring straight through the wizard standing next to him, looking but not seeing.

Harry shivered. This sounded completely horrible, but at the same time, it made a lot of sense. He thought about how horrified Hogwarts House Elves were when Hermione kept trying to set them free. From a certain point of view, this was pretty much a murder attempt born out of sheer ignorance. The one word that stood out to Harry though, was ‘curse’. And if this really was a curse, then maybe, just maybe, there actually was something that could be done to help them. He owed it to Dobby. And even Kreacher, as he was proving to be a good Elf.

“Do you know what kind of curse it is?”

Kreacher gave him what could be called a patented Severus Snape special ‘are you a dunderhead’ look. “Is young Master being stupid? Too much time has passed since the casting of the curse. Kreacher doubts there is anyone alive who knows anything about it at this point.” The House Elf followed his statement with a very obvious eye roll.

“I understand. Let’s go home and take care of this pile of mail then.” Harry nodded, acknowledging the Elf’s response, even though in truth there were many and more questions he wanted to ask. Green eyes glittered as he made a mental note to try and look for more information on the topic. House Elves didn’t remember the details about their curse, but that did not mean that the Wizards were equally oblivious. Or at least Harry hoped that wasn’t the case.

Notes:

See you next time ! Love all the comments, guys =) they do make for great author-food lol ^^

also: happy Birthday Salad ^^"

Chapter 4: Things Come Crashing Down

Summary:

Well, basically Harry, Hermion, Molly and Ginny trying to sort things out.

Notes:

Thank you so much to KingShmee & AuthorAsh for being awesome betas and even better friends haha.

***

“Young Master, young Master…” The young man registered a small hand on his shoulder. It explained the odd shaking. Someone was trying to wake him up. He let out an annoyed warble and turned over to the other side as he was in no mood to get up.

An aggrieved but quiet sigh reached his hearing, though he paid it no mind since his consciousness was already drifting off, the world growing nice and fuzzy once more. That is until a sharp ‘click’ echoed through the room and a veritable downspout of ice cold water fell down on him. Green eyes blazed from under a mop of wet dark hair, as Harry tumbled out of the bed in his hurry to get away from the water, an agitated hiss escaping his lips.

“KREACHER!” He all but screeched, glaring at the small form of the House Elf. “What the hell was that for?!”

The Elf was supremely unimpressed, his wrinkly face completely devoid of any and all emotion as he deadpanned, “Master said that he needed to be awake by 10 AM no matter what. It is now 9:50. Any later and Master will be late.”

The wizard bit back a curse. More sleep was definitely not in the cards for him, which was unfortunate to say the least. He threw a mournful glance back at the back and unsteadily clambered in the general direction of the bathroom. Thanks to the cold shower by Kreacher, he now had a burning urge for a hot one, seeing as how he was all but shivering in the aftermath of his encounter with the cold water.

Luckily it didn’t take all that much time to turn himself into some semblance of presentability. Kreacher laid out a set of robes on the bed for him and Harry automatically slipped into them, not thinking about it much. He grimaced after glancing at the clock.

“Kreacher, could you give me some scrambled eggs, some fruits, toast, and some tea for breakfast, please? I don’t have much time left before I need to be at the Burrow.” Asking Kreacher for things like this always made him feel awkward, but now that he knew that completing orders literally supplied Magic to the House Elf, he did his best to leave some easy things for the creature to do. After all it didn’t cost him anything, except some minimal emotional discomfort which he didn’t think about as a total pro.

“At once, Master.” Came the prompt response, followed by a loud crack that signaled the Elf’s departure.

Naturally the food was good, seeing as Kreacher always did his best to please his young Master. Yet for some unknown reason, Harry couldn’t help having a niggling feeling of dissatisfaction at the back of his mind, an unfortunate sensation that has only grown as the days pass. Some days it was barely noticeable, while on others it took all of his willpower to not take out his agitation on those around him. Most noticeably the criminals that he chased, which really were the biggest reason for his near constant missions. He did not want to lose his temper near his important people. Finally, he couldn’t procrastinate any longer and with a deep heavy sigh Harry made his way to the Burrow for an overdue meeting with his … wife.

***

Right at 12 AM on the dot, a very thin young man with shoulder length messy black hair appeared in front of the weird gravity defying house known as the Burrow. Secretly he hoped no one would be out to greet him, at least not so soon, but alas, Hermione and Missus Weasley were both waiting for him.

“Harry.” They both spoke at once and gave each other a small glare, accompanied by a frown.

Apparently, there was some measure of discord going on in the family outside of Harry and Ginny's marital issues.

“Ladies.” Harry tried to imitate Kingsley’s smile meant for politicians, but wasn’t sure if he succeeded at all, for their faces didn’t change at all, oh well.

It seemed a little strange, but Harry could almost feel how much tension and apprehension there already was in the air. Finally, after a few awkward moments of silence, Molly gestured for Harry to go inside, probably when she realized he wasn’t going to say anything else. With a polite nod to both of the witches, the young man followed them in, his green eyes blazing with a quiet determination. He would get to the bottom of the whole situation and he would not be distracted from doing so.

A glance at the family clock told him that both Ron and Ginny were either still home, or already back. Which was good for his reasons for coming here, but it also had potential for lots of … bickering and he was really not in the mood for that, thank you very much.

Finally, the two witches and Harry settled around the living room. Molly on the loveseat, Hermione in the armchair to her left, and Harry opted to take the chair by the fireplace.

“I’m so glad you managed to come home, Harry. We all missed you.” Hermione’s voice was oozing sugar like a broken faucet. It was very unlike her and made the man cringe at the sound of it.

“You saw me on Sunday, Hermione.” He retorted in the most unimpressed tone he could manage. “And I can’t say that that conversation went all that well.”

She looked away with a cringe. “That’s not fair, Harry.”

“Isn’t it though?” He refused to feel guilty, he had done nothing wrong after all.

“That’s not why we are here today, please stay focused, Hermione.” Chided Molly Weasley without even looking at the younger woman.

“Why are we here then, Molly?” Harry pounced at the opportunity presented.

“Young man, you must be joking!” She managed to sound both incredulous and put out at the same time.

“I assure you I’m quite serious.” If you asked Kreacher, who was totally NOT spying on the conversation in secret, his young Master was finally sounding like a proper Lord Black. “I’m here to sort things out with Ginny, so I have no idea why Hermione is here at all.”

“That’s not fair!” Exclaimed the young witch in question.

“Not fair?” Harry tilted his head to the side, one of his brows raised à la Snape. “What is not fair?” On the outside he retained a perfectly calm visage of a pureblood Lord, on the inside, however, he was close to tears. To him, Hermione being here meant that she chose her side and it was not the one he was on.

It was like second year all over again.

“You’ve been ignoring Ginny and your child, of course, we want to make sure you two make up! If nothing else, think of the baby.”

Harry’s flinch slipped through his mask and it made Hermione’s eyes glint victoriously. She knew all of his buttons after all, or so she thought. “Are you sure this is something I should be talking about with you and not Ginny herself?”

This was the one trait his friend had that has always annoyed Harry- her tendency to push herself into situations where her input wasn’t asked for at all.

“Harry, why are you being so difficult about this? Have you not wanted children all your life?” Here came the big guns. “Well now you have one, so why are you like this? I don’t understand!”

Green eyes narrowed, as he threw her an openly incredulous look. “My child?” He bit out. “I showed you the answer to that question on Sunday. Are you telling me you are incapable of reading now?!”

In a matter of seconds, Hermione seemed to both deflate and puff up. Somehow. “What are you talking about?” While the bushy haired young witch glared at him with incomprehension in her big hazel eyes, Molly seemed to turn sad.

“So you know.” The Weasley Matriarch finally spoke.

“It’s very hard not to when the Tapestry takes up a whole wall at Grimmauld.” He turned to look at Molly. It was quite unlike her to stay quiet for so long. The last time he was here, she told him that the child’s odd coloring was due to some relative on her side of the family. He doubted that then, and he was not quite now either. There was a feeling he got that told him that it was a lie. But now it felt like the plump redhead was just … resigned. If there was one person he did not want to hurt with this situation, it was probably Molly, and the baby of course, the baby was innocent in all this.

Hermione’s head swung around to look at Molly. “Know? Know what?”

Harry spoke with a sigh, he did not want Hermione to start badgering Molly, “That child is not mine, as you would have known had you bothered to actually read the Tapestry when I told you to look at it.”

Hermione gaped. It was a very unattractive expression on her otherwise pretty face. “So what, you would just believe that- that- piece of pureblood propaganda over your own wife?!” She exclaimed. “How could you be so dumb?”

Molly gave her daughter-in-law a long-suffering look and saved Harry from having to field that particular question, “What do you mean by that, Hermione?”

The expression on the younger witch’s face could only be described as betrayed. “You know exactly what I mean, Molly.”

“No, I actually don’t think I do.” A pair of well shaped red eyebrows were raised expectantly. “Please, explain it to us.” Missus Weasley could just feel the numerous misunderstandings floating around and warping the conversation. This was not what she invited Harry over for, but maybe she could help the two friends, who seemed quite estranged at that moment, come to an understanding.

From his place near the fireplace, Harry did his best to suppress a yawn. This would drag out, he just knew it. And he felt too exhausted to care for whatever nonsense was about to come out of Hermione’s mouth. He knew his friend well. As much as she carried on and on about the prejudice of the purebloods against muggleborns, she herself was just as prejudiced against anything and everything that in any way was related to the purebloods. Harry personally became aware soon after the war was over that he really didn't know what exactly it was that he had been fighting for. ‘Against muggleborn oppression’ sounded nice in theory, but if he were to be honest with himself, all he really cared about was surviving.

It may have started as a bid to avenge his parents and punish the one responsible for their death, but over the years he learned that in life things were rarely that black and white. Unbeknownst to himself, he started drifting off and so his head jerked up at the not-so-unexpected sound of his name. Molly seemed rather amused, but Hermione certainly did not appreciate him not paying attention to her.

“I’m sorry, my attention drifted for a moment. These last couple of days have been pretty rough.” He sounded polite and rather contrite. The emotion may have been slightly exaggerated, but it’s not like he said anything that was not true.

“Harry, you know it’s not important at all who your great great uncle or something was. It only matters who you are and what you do in this world. So why do you insist on keeping that thing? For all you know, it’s faulty. You can’t let some piece of outdated fabric ruin your life!”

For a moment Harry recalled his dearly departed nemesis. “There is no dark and light. Only power and how you use it.” He quoted his enemy, staring sadly at Hermione.

“What?” She blinked in confusion. The words were vaguely familiar, but she failed to see the connection to the topic at hand.

“Basically you are saying it doesn’t matter if one’s parents are muggles or magical. If you come from a long respected line or are the first in the family.”

“Y-yes.” The bushy haired witch stuttered. She was looking at her friend as if she had never seen him before.

“Yeah.” The wizard sighed. “That’s just about the same thing as what Voldemort thought about Magic…” He didn’t get to finish his sentence. Instead, he had to reach out and grab Hermione’s hand to stop her from slapping him.

“How dare you compare me to that monster?!” She fumed helplessly, yanking her hand out of his grip.

“And why not?” The man stood up and their faces were suddenly very close as defiant angry hazel eyes glared into a determined pair of tired glittering emerald green orbs.

“He…! He…!” The young witch scrambled for a response. “He murdered your family!”

Slightly to the side, Molly was pale and started shivering. Family fights always affected her a lot, especially now that her family was much smaller than it was supposed to be.

“Yes, he did.” Harry replied calmly. It’s been long enough since the war ended- and let’s be real Kingsley was a great person to talk to about trauma, not that he usually gave his favorite Auror a choice, always insisting on mind healer appointments after each undercover mission. “He murdered my parents and a lot of other people besides just them. Which I already killed him for. But can you actually tell me anything about what he wanted or why he fought? Anything at all that was not propaganda.”

Hermione ground her teeth in obvious frustration, “So what if I can’t? He’s long dead and buried and we are alive. We matter, not him! We can finally build a world without prejudice, and yet you insist on clinging to that ghastly thing.”

She got a small sad and almost disappointed smile in return for her efforts. “You can disagree all you like, Hermione, but my family history is important to me. I wanted to know more about the people I’m related to, what’s so wrong about that?”

“Absolutely nothing, dear.” Said Molly, once again cutting Hermione off. The older witch was relieved that it didn’t look like Harry was very interested in escalating the fight, at least at the moment.

Whatever it was that Hermione was going to respond with, was fated to go unheard however, for at that moment Ginny finally flounced into the room. She looked a bit disheveled with barely visible yet present shadows under her eyes. Harry deduced that motherhood was not agreeing with her all that much.

“Harry!” Squealed the young redhead as she threw herself at her husband.

If he was the same person as he was four years ago, he would have flinched for sure. Even now, all this time later, loud noises easily startled him at times. But this was Ginny, and Ginny had always been eager to touch him. So gradually his instinctive flinching stopped. Exposure was clearly a good teacher.

That said, Harry did have to fight down a rather unpleasant shudder. After the rather unpleasant accusations made by the Goblins, he couldn’t even look at her the same way as before. While the man did not struggle, letting her withdraw on her own, he did not even try to hug her back. In fact, his green eyes became flat as they stayed trained on Molly.

“Harry?” This time there was a questioning note in Ginevra’s voice. “What’s wrong?”

There was a pout forming on her face, her eyes seeming larger than usual, as she stared at her husband. Of course, she knew exactly what the problem was. But until Harry called her out on it, Ginny was determined not to breach the topic herself.

The itch at the back of Harry’s mind that helped him read the room was back. He wasn’t sure if this would be a good thing or not, but during his years as an Auror he’d learned not to ignore his 'gut' feelings. They always gave him good insights. And right now? It was telling him a couple of different things. Hermione, for example, was being super stubborn. Molly was on the fence about something, but there was no way for him to know for sure what the primary reason was. Ginny, on the other hand, seemed much more convoluted in comparison. She seemed genuinely happy that he came, but at the same time whatever her reasons were, something told him they were not good. His wife also seemed resolute about something, and there was also a quiet despair simmering deeply within her. It was, strangely enough, entwined with a sense of muted almost there happiness.

Harry wished he knew how he became aware of these things, why these moments happened, or if there was a way for him to control the phenomenon. After all, he wasn’t very keen on always being aware of what the people around were feeling. That would totally suck.

Though he couldn’t argue that these small insights were not useful, as they certainly were. Taking a deep breath, he placed his hands on her shoulders and gently pushed the woman away from himself.

“Ginny.” He greeted her, his voice carefully neutral.

She gave him a brilliant smile, “It’s so good that you’re finally here. We missed you.” The smile looked incredibly convincing, but there was something a little bit strained about it. Harry probably wouldn’t have noticed such a minute difference, but his gut feeling was telling him not to trust it.

***

Luna Lovegood was pacing. This in itself was strange, because the always cheerful Luna rarely showed signs of other emotions, especially negative ones. But at that moment she was clearly agitated.

“Come, dear, have a seat.” Andromeda Tonks called the girl over. “Help me read this book to Teddy; I seem to have misplaced my glasses.”

Luna smiled at the older witch and did as asked after a moment of indecision, which earned her a kind smile in return.

“What has you so wound up?” Asked Andromeda.

Miss Lovegood sighed a little, holding little Teddy close to her, though the child was quickly growing too big for her slight frame to hold him comfortably. “Harry should have returned by now.”

Andy patted the girl on the hand in an effort to soothe her at least a little bit. “Don’t worry, he will return soon enough. This is Harry we are talking about after all.”

Luna’s eyes rose to meet Andromeda’s gaze, a thoughtful frown visible in the silver blue orbs. “Just because he is Harry, doesn’t mean he will always be alright. In fact, him being Harry is what worries me the most. People always assume that ‘oh, it’s Harry, Harry can do it!’ Well it’s not fair. Just because he’s Harry doesn’t mean that he has to always be the one fixing other people’s mistakes.”

***

“Hermione, stop it already.” Harry was now truly getting annoyed and his famous temper was getting closer and closer to the end of its tether. No matter how well meaning, she just kept drawing things out. “The tapestry was just the confirmation that I needed. The information really came from the Goblins; about both the parentage and the stealing. Yet you would still have me ignore it?”

“You always said you wanted to be a father.” She truly sounded like a broken record. It was kind of sad that the bushy-haired witch hadn’t matured at all since her school years. She was still bullheaded and stubborn to a fault. Once she got something in her head, it was flat out impossible to change her mind.

“Yes, I did and I still do.” Harry admitted with a sigh. “But that won’t happen if I stay with Ginny. Her child, whether she’s willing to admit to it or not, does have a father. But that father isn’t me. So really, me stepping back is doing them a favor so they can be a proper family once I’m out of the picture.” There. He said it. It hurt like a bitch if he was honest, but at that moment he was doing his best to shove the hurt away and keep it from showing on his face. “Kreacher, quit lurking. We’re leaving.”

“As Master wishes.” It didn’t even surprise Harry that the House Elf followed him. He silently took his offered hand and they vanished with a pop, leaving Ginny and Hermione gaping incredulously at the spot where he stood a moment ago, while Molly leaned heavily against the wall, a small warble leaving her mouth.

***

Once they returned to Grimmauld Place, it was all Harry could do to not shatter right where he stood. He managed to make it up the stairs and to his bedroom. Once his face hit the pillow, however, it was like a dam burst open. He cried for his lost friendship with Hermione. He cried for his ruined marriage. And he definitely cried for his most assuredly ruined relationship with the Weasley family as a whole. He assumed they would all choose Ginny’s side and he couldn’t blame them. She was their family after all.

And he… he was not...

Clutching the pillow to his chest, tears rolling down his cheeks, Harry slowly drifted into blessed unconsciousness.

Notes:

Wow, no birthday notes on this chapter O_O' Color me Surprised lmao.
Read & Review *with a pouting Harry on top* lmao

Chapter 5: Things Happen.

Summary:

Harry maybe find out some things. Maybe he does something a little dumb at the end lol

Notes:

As per usual enormous thanks to Kingshmee for being an awesome beta and keeping me safe from Eri's rabid microwave ^.^

Kreacher was worried. Three days have already passed and in all that time his Master had not left his bedroom. Lady Walburga seemed to know something, but so far the portrait had not deemed it necessary to share what it was with the old House Elf. With each passing day her frown grew more and more pronounced however. Finally in the evening of the third day she called out to her old servant and shared her worries.

She found a very solid and disturbing possibility that only served to fill Kreacher with a type of shy but giddy anticipation. Dragel. The word rang like a bell in his mind. Every House Elf knew of them, of course, though it was something akin to a fairy tale in a way. Dragels and their sanctuary Realm; Nevarah. A world where everyone was free and cared for.

Of course, those were child tales and Kreacher was a very aged and wise Hose Elf, thank you very much. He knew reality would be vastly different, if indeed his beloved Mistress’ Portrait was actually correct and a Creature Inheritance was what was going on with Master Harry.

Some details didn’t quite line up, but Kreacher was sure there would be a way to prove the theory right or wrong. One thing was sure though- Kreacher would follow his Young Master wherever he went. After all, someone had to take care of him, Merlin only knew how bad the man was at taking care of himself. Kreacher hasn’t been around him all that long at all, but even he could already see that.

By the time the Master finally woke up, Kreacher had a selection of Dragel friendly foods ready, along with some of the foods he’s noticed Harry preferring; his young Master's nutrition was very important to him after all.

“Good morning, Kreacher.” Came a rather mumbled greeting. His Young Lord stood in the doorway to the kitchen, his hand covering his mouth as he yawned.

“Master, you’re finally awake.” The House Elf all but beamed, the expression making him look a little deranged, truth be told.

Harry titled his head to the side, looking a little bit like a confused puppy. “Finally?”

“You’ve been asleep for three days.” Walburga’s voice came from one of the kitchen frames as the former Lady seemed to have followed them.

“Three DAYS?!” The wizard glanced from the Portrait to the Elf and back again. “But how? What the hell?!”

Lady Black shrugged. “If I were still alive, I would most likely never even consider saying this. But I am not, so there is not much I can do about it anyway.”

Emerald green eyes narrowed on the painted face of Sirius’s mother. “What do you mean?”

The witch in the painting hummed thoughtfully, “I’ll tell you, but do keep in mind that at this point this is nothing more than a hypothesis.”

“That’s fine.” Harry sounded a little cautious, but who could really blame him. He sat at the kitchen table so he could have some breakfast while he listened to whatever it was that Walburga Black was about to share with him.

‘This is good.’ Was all that passed through his mind. The food wasn’t all that different than usual per say, but there was meat jerky- which was a new addition and one that he was very much in favor of. Plus there were way more fruits than usual, as well pumpkin juice and some of his favorite fruit-filled desserts. All in all it didn’t really much resemble a breakfast meal, but if he really spent the last three days asleep, Harry assumed that Kreacher was just happy that he was finally awake and thus willing to spoil him with more sugary foods.

//Meanwhile, elsewhere//

The two men sleeping on a huge bed were quite a sight to behold as they cuddled together under an obnoxiously large amount of blankets.

The taller one, with a halo of shortish dark blond hair, was stretched out on his back, one of his arms bent at the elbow and resting behind his head, while his other arm was used to hold the smaller male close to his chest. The smaller man was already starting to wake, his dark hair covering his face from view, much like a curtain would.

Both men were wearing loose fitting pants, riding low on their hips. Shirts were left unused since it was a rather warm night. If there was anyone in the room to witness the sight, they could possibly die from blood loss due to an extensive nosebleed.

For a few moments the shorter man was almost being spooned; Hien, just laid there. Enjoying the feel of his partner’s skin under his touch and glaring at the slowly but inevitably rising sun. Finally he let out a small sigh, poked his taller partner in the ribs to make sure the other man woke up as well then rose to his feet. He stretched a few times to rid himself of the last vestiges of sleep, perfectly aware of a pair of half-lidded golden eyes that observed him from under the blankets. Without looking back, he discreetly raised his hand to his mouth and whistled loudly.

“Oi, what was that for?” Ash grumbled sleepily. “I was enjoying myself, you know.”

“Yes, I do know.” Hien, the shorter brunette, smirked over his shoulder, a few of his coffee colored strands falling in front of his eyes. “I could feel your stare burning holes in my backside. But you said you would do the shopping while I’m running errands for the Crown.”

More grumbles were heard until finally a mop of butterscotch colored dark blond hair emerged from what could probably be described as a nest. “I thought that was tomorrow?”

Hien reached over and patted his partner on the head, earning himself an indignant squawk and a screech of: “Not the hair!”

Amused dark eyes looked the other over. “Is there any difference? I honestly can’t tell.”

This time a pillow was lobbed in his face, though he danced out of the way with a cheerful chuckle. “You’ll have to try better than that.”

“Urgh. I hate you.” With a dramatic whine the tall blond collapsed back onto the bed. He managed to grab his partner by the wrist and yank at him as he let himself fall. As a result the two were sprawled out on top of each other.

“You sure about that?” The shorter man looked down into the still sleepy eyes of his soulmate.

“At times like this? When you make me get up at asscrack-of-dawn o’clock? I absolutely do.”

“Oh, Ash, what would I ever do without you?”

“Die.” Came the prompt and absolutely deadpan response.

“Yes, yes.” He extracted himself out of Ash’s hold with some difficulty and ran for the door, throwing a “Love you too” over his shoulder.

Ash, now alone in the room, stared at the clock with a groan. “There goes the plan to sleep in. I suppose I might as well visit the Outpost since I’m already awake.”

//With a sprinkle of Realm-to-Realm time differences: London, England//

When Luna and Andromeda brought Teddy to Grimmauld Place the next day, Harry was extremely relieved to see them. Their very presence made something lighten up inside him. Perhaps this was the ‘sense of closeness’ that Dragels apparently thrived on? If so, then it was no wonder that his creature side seemed incredibly unstable. After all, it was very rare for him to receive affection that didn’t come with lots of strings attached.

Watching Andromeda interacting with the boy, he knew there was no way in hell he could separate the two of them. Grandmother and grandson clearly love each other dearly; Harry was very relieved to realize this. That being said, however, he was determined to become an integral part of the boy’s life from now on. After all, he was the child’s godfather.

“Harry!” Exclaimed Luna once the greetings were over and done with. Her lips were stretched into a very wide grin.

“Why do I have a feeling you won’t be surprised about the news I have to share?”

“Well, naturally it’s because you know me so well.” Her tinkling laughter made the room feel much more homely and cheerful.

Explaining things to Luna, as expected, was incredibly easy. The blonde just smiled cheerfully, nodding along with him. Andromeda, on the other hand, was somewhat more skeptical, especially when Harry mentioned the source of the information. The older witch had had absolutely no pleasant experiences when it came to the deceased Lady Walburga Black, therefore she was not that keen to trust anything that came from such a corrupted source.

“Andy, I’m not about to go to St. Mungo’s. Which part of ‘supposedly extinct’ is hard to understand?” Harry was beginning to get a bit exasperated. It felt like they’d been talking in circles for hours.

“Well that’s convenient.” The woman rolled her eyes and gave the painting a distrustful glare.

“It was not told to you.” Walburga Black sneered from the painting. “I don’t really care what your opinion is.”

“That might be the only thing we’ll ever agree on.” Andromeda’s tone was downright glacial.

While the Black witch was busy arguing with the painted likeness of her dead relative, Luna decisively grabbed Harry by the hand and calmly dragged him out of the room. The newly minted Dragel followed his friend down the corridor and then up the stairs, making sure to tell Kreacher to keep an eye on Teddy while Andromeda and Walburga were … occupied.

“I’m so happy for you, Harry.” Luna said as soon as they were safely inside the study that once belonged to the previous Lord Black; Orion II. “This is good.”

“Is it?” Harry’s voice was full of all the doubts that he hadn’t dared to voice. “I’ve become an extinct creature. How is this supposed to be good?”

The blonde smiled, “You should know by now that few things are rarely exactly as they seem to be at first glance.”

Harry tilted his head to the side with a small frown. “What do you know exactly?”

Luna chuckled, the sound of her tinkling laughter never failing to make Harry feel better. “ I know a great many things, Harry.” A cheeky smile stretched across her pouty lips.

The young man rolled his emerald green eyes. “Naturally. But is there anything that might be of use to me and my current situation?”

She tapped her lower lip with her index finger, eyeing Harry with an intense look in her silver-blue eyes. “There are a couple things I could say. I’m not really sure I should though.”

The wizard all but pouted in return. “Why is that?”

She gave him a small teasing grin. “Because you’re just not ready to hear it yet.”

“That’s…” He hesitated. What was he supposed to say? It was none of her business? Not up to her to decide? Both were technically true, and yet nine times out of ten Luna did know better.

Luna patted him on the knee. “Take this, Harry.”

“Huh?” He exclaimed, thoroughly confused.

“Just take it, it will help you.” She then thrust something into his hands.

Harry looked in confusion at the package he now held in his hands. What could it possibly be? Judging by the shape it seemed to contain books of some sort. On top of it was a heavy golden medallion. Harry shifted the presumed books to rest on the sofa near him and picked up the medallion to take a closer look. There was some sort of Crest engraved into the surface, but it wasn’t one he recognized. He looked back at Luna, confused beyond measure. “Luna, some context if you please?”

The girl giggled cheerfully. “The books are to help you with your small side project and the Medallion is for you to put on. Please don’t lose it. It’s your best chance to get to Nevarah quickly.”

She looked away for a moment, her eyes subtly glowing silver and her gaze becoming sort of unfocused as she watched something that he could not see. “Unless you would rather stay and wait for Ronald to get here.”

Harry grimaced at the thought of Ron coming over. Much to Harry’s consternation, his oldest friend hadn’t really matured much if at all since graduating from Hogwarts. They were already almost 22 and Ronald Weasley still thought the world was black and white. That Griffindors were the good guys and Slytherins were all bad. Where Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff, much else the rest of the population who didn’t go to Hogwarts, fit into the immature boy’s worldview Harry had no idea. What he did know though, was that after how his visit to the Burrow the other day went, he'd prefer to not talk with Ron just yet. “You’ve got a great point there Luna. I may not know anything about this Nevarah place, but I have a pretty good idea about how talking to Ron at the moment could turn out.”

The blonde positively beamed at him. “Oh don’t worry, Harry! It will be a marvelous adventure!”

The brunette grimaced slightly. “That’s what I’m worried about, Lunagirl. With my brand of luck, who knows what could happen.”

“I think that’s exciting.”

“You would.” Harry chuckled. Keeping a bad mood around Luna was just simply impossible. At least for him. After twirling the medallion in his hands for a few more moments, he cautiously put it on. The weight of it felt surprisingly comforting around his neck, which confused him. It was similar enough in shape and size to Voldemort’s Horcrux that Harry expected to be unnerved at the very least. He shook his head determinedly and looked at Luna. “So how does this thing work?”

Miss Lovegood raised an eyebrow at him. “Why, Harry, one would think you’ve never traveled by wizarding means. You just say ‘Sanctuary’.”

“Sanctuary?” Harry muttered in a moment of true idiocy.

Luna gasped and stared at Harry in shock as bright lights shimmered all around him and in a split second later the young wizard was gone from Number 12, Grimmauld Place. “Well, I didn’t think he was in THAT much of a hurry.” She shrugged, picked up the books and went to search for Kreacher. Someone would have to make sure that all of Harry’s things get delivered to him after all.

Notes:

told you he did something dumb lol ^^'
lemme know what you guys thing =)

Chapter 6: Is that a Portal?

Summary:

So whatever happened to Harry?
... well... this ^^

Notes:

as always KingShmee is helping me stay safely away from Eri's possessed microwave by helping me smooth out the wrinkles in the story =)

Maya smiled. After just over twenty years of waiting, her son’s potential Soulbonded finally made it to Nevarah. Not to mention her visions, that had been in shambles for quite a while also started making sense again. She didn’t want to think about what exactly it meant for the Realm, but she hoped it would all be fine.

// Nevarah, with Raspen and Riven//

Raspen hopped around the room on one foot, while trying to pull his shoe onto the other foot.

On the other hand, Riven looked immaculately dressed as he leant casually against the wall and observed his soulbonded with fond, slightly amused purple eyes. “I’m sure you’d manage to put it on faster if you sat down.”

The younger male muttered something that could have been a curse under his breath and finally straightened up as he finally won his battle against the stubborn piece of footwear. “I’m fine, I’m fine. Let’s just go. We need to meet the returning Hunting party at the Gate.” He ran his fingers through his hair, pushing it out of his face.

//at the Earth Gate, Hadrian//

The Realm always looked gorgeous, but it was even more obvious after spending time off-Realm. Hadrian Maruke tipped his head up and looked at the tall towers of the Earth Courts that could be seen far off in the distance. A stray thought came, ‘I’m blessed to live in this place.’

Normally he would already be at least halfway done with the paperwork, but he agreed to meet Riven to share information about the odd case they were investigating. He hoped he wouldn’t have to wait long. His contract with the Cunninghams was over, so he needed to go and terminate the damn thing or renew it;  frankly he didn’t really want to think about it. Over the years it’s become a sort of armor for him. After all, no Submissive wanted to go and negotiate termination with Mariana Cunningham, so he could live in peace… even if he did wonder about what it would feel like to have a Submissive of his own.  

//Deep in the Merrow Waters, Brishen//

Glowing blue eyes snapped open and looked around the room. He couldn’t quite tell what it was that woke him. There was something that felt odd, that felt new. A sort of .. awareness, if you will, that he didn’t have before. He massaged his chest absentmindedly and got to his feet. 

He spotted his very much awake charge as soon as he turned. The Immortal had a satisfied smirk on her face. Whatever it was that she’d done, it did not bode well for him, that much Brishen was sure of. 

“Oh come now…” She drawled teasingly. “It’s nothing bad, I promise.”

“As if I’ll believe that.” He snorted and rolled his eyes at her. He’d learned long ago that while the Moirai never lied, their ways were indeed very mysterious and one could spend a whole lifetime trying to understand them to no end. 

“Doesn’t really matter, dear. But hearing that does hurt. Now if I were you, I’d get moving. You need to go get your papers in order.”

He frowned in confusion. “My papers? What’s wrong with them? And couldn’t it have waited?”

She raised an unimpressed eyebrow. “Well… it’s been a hot while since you were last awake. So yes, there is something wrong. They’re outdated as hell. If you don’t want to lose your estate, I’d go do something about it. I did promise I’d wake you in time, remember, you sleepy head?”

“Damn, it’s been THAT long?”

“And then some.” She sighed. “I thought I’d be able to wake you around 20 years ago, to be honest. But something went wrong.” The Immortal did not sound very amused. “We had to work so hard to get things back on track.” Her hair glimmered around her as she shook her head, as if to dispel a bad memory. “Now get moving, or you will be late!” She all but pushed at the man’s back to get him to move faster.

“Late for what?” He grumbled as he allowed himself to be maneuvered towards the door.

“You’ll see!” She all but giggled.

//with Harry //

Harry was frozen, his heart racing so fast that his chest all but vibrated. The world around him melded into a dizzying amalgamation of light and colors and darkness. It was as beautiful as it was terrifying.

The sensation reminded the young man of that fateful Portkey back in fourth year, only this was much more intense and certainly took longer. In fact, the longer it took, the more anxious Harry became. His very magic itched horribly; he did not like the feeling at all. Finally it was just too much. His magic flexed and something … cracked.  

For a moment the world was still and silent. 

Then he was falling. Honest to Merlin falling. 

Who knew how high up he was? Would there even be a splatter left on the ground when he fell down? Thoughts flew around in his mind chaotically as the wizard plummeted through the air. Then an odd pain lanced down his back. He thought he heard something tearing and caught something large and glittery from the corner of his eyes. For a bit it seemed like maybe he was slowing down, but no. As the last bits of hope died, a loud long Cry tore out of his throat. 

//Hien Kuroe, at the Earth Gate// 

Some days Hien hated Gate duty, he really truly did. Not because he was bad at being polite and lacked the attention span to pay attention to details, rather nothing interesting ever happened when he was on duty.

Of course, those words should never ever be even so much as thought, for it was like a Geis was cast over them to let Luck know when it was okay to mess with people. 

A loud terrified screech reached his ears and the man instantly started to look from side to side, searching for the source. Finally his dark eyes turned up and his heart all but stopped. There, slightly below the clouds was a small dot that was growing larger with every passing moment. Whoever they were, they clearly needed help. 

“Portal Break!” He shouted as his wings appeared behind him and he took off. Running at first, to gain some extra speed, then jumping up and soon he was cutting through the air, as fast as his large obsidian black wings would carry him.  

Back on the ground, the other Gheyo assigned to the Gate retained calm. While broken portals were not an everyday occurrence, it was also not the most unusual thing that could happen.

Notes:

a small chappie this time, soooorrrryyy ^^'

Chapter 7: Introductions?

Summary:

I suppose Harry meets... important people. yeah, let's go with that lmao

Notes:

ZOMG, i'm being attacked by rabit plot bunnies left right and center *dodges a bunny*
I sure hope the next chapter manages itself BEFORE I run out of pre-written chapters *facepalm*
else it will be a disaster *distressed whines*
as always: *sneak-hugs Kings* huge thanks to Kingshmee for being an amazing beta!

Chapter Seven.

---

“Priority Message for Lewis Peverell. Will you accept?” A message bubble appeared, waking up the Pareya with its insistent chiming.

“There goes my plans to sleep in…” The man grumbled sleepily as he reached up and tapped the bubble to accept the message.

“This is Ashton Hartwood speaking. We have a Portal Break at the Earth Gate. Would you please join us as a precaution?”

With a sound that could be both a sigh and a yawn, Lewis finally rolled out of bed and quickly threw on a shirt. Then he grabbed his always ready medical pack and swiftly cast a Portal. There was no time to lose. 

He made it to the Earth Gate just in time to witness two Gheyos land, bringing a tiny unconscious Submissive with them. The Peverell Medic-trained Pareya used his elbows with great efficiency; making a clear path for himself though the onlooking crowd. Some people hissed at him, while others were smart enough to move before he had to push past them. 

“Hien!” He called out, as soon as he was clear from the crowd. “What have you got for me?”

“Lewis!” The Shadow Dragel was relieved to see him. “Don’t really know much more than you do. His Portal broke. Myself and…” He paused to look at the other Gheyo questioningly. 

“Brishen.” The name was supplied curtly. 

Hien gave the Phoelix a small smile, adjusting his grip on the slight body in their arms. “Hien Kuroe. A pleasure. ...As I was saying. Myself and Brishen caught him and brought him down. That’s all there really is to it.”

From behind the Pareya a familiar tall blond made his presence known. “And while you were off saving the young one, I sent Lewis a message just in case.”

“Never a bad idea with broken Portals involved.” Grunted Brishen. The crowd of onlookers was getting on his nerves and the weird feeling only got much more intense since coming in contact with the tiny Submissive. 

Ashton looked above their heads and gestured for a couple people to follow them. “Let’s move this someplace else. I’m sure the little one wouldn't want to be gawked at by this crowd.”

“Careful, dear, your Pareya is showing.” Hien teased him gently as they made their way to the nearby pavilion. It was erected for emergency medical situations, but it would serve their purpose even though there was no actual emergency to be taken care of. 

From his place next to the Shadow Dragel, Brishen observed the small group that entered the pavilion that really looked like a glorified magical tent. There was Hien; the Shadow Joker that helped him catch the Submissive. The Earth Joker, called Ashton, seemed rather close to him. Bonded perhaps? Besides that pair and the Medic there were three other men present. One was most definitely of the Earth, with a very strong connection to his Element at that, the one next to him also had a well of magic in his core and all but crackled with immense but masterfully contained Storms. The last one, a Gheyo, stood closeby, but held himself separately from everyone else. He was not quite as tall as him or Ashton, but he still had a few inches over Hien for sure. There were small tendrils of shadows that curiously reached from the man’s shadow towards Hien’s. 

The Medic looked around at the people in the tent. “Prince Raspen, Mage Cairothe. What a surprise.”

Brishen’s eyebrows rose in surprise. A Royal at the Gate, times surely must have changed.

The other Shadow Gheyo smiled ruefully. “That’ll be my fault…”

“Nonsense.” The Prince cut him with an exasperated eye roll. “Riven and I just didn’t feel like waiting until Mariana was done with you, Blood Raven. We’ve been waiting eagerly for that information, you know.”

“But that can wait.” Stated the Mage, looking at the tiny Submissive. “We should first make sure there is nothing wrong with the Young One.” He threw a glance at the three Gheyos and the Medic. “Do excuse him, he lacks a word filter before he consumes at least a litre of coffee.”

They were all privately sure that the Royal would have pouted at the Storm Mage, if only they were not in the company of other people. As it was, however, all the reaction they got was a small nod, the man not looking at anyone in particular, though his gaze often drifted from one person to the other, never stopping for long.

---

Long black eyelashes, so full any girl would be jealous, softly fluttered against his skin, as Harry struggled to open his eyes. A soft groan left his lips and he tried to figure out what on Earth happened to him. First things first though. He could sense that he was not alone, but he was not being restrained and judging by the smell, he seemed to be in some sort of clinic or hospital, or something like that. So perhaps, for once, his luck had not fucked him over. 

He tried speaking and succeeded, though his voice was quite raspy and his throat felt dry as the Sahara Desert. Immediately two of the people present made his way over to the bed he was lying on. One of them, a tall brunette with black hair and equally dark glittering eyes, slowly approached him and with carefully telegraphed movements helped put some pillows behind his back, so he could comfortably sit up. Though ‘comfortably’ was perhaps an exaggeration. 

Dull pain lanced across his back when he came in contact with the pillow. A low whine escaped his lips and he froze, confusion marring his face. In reaction to the strange nose, the nearby men rumbled at him. It was an incredibly soothing noise, but he was sure no human could make it. Of course, taking into consideration the theory Lady Black’s Portrait proposed earlier, Harry himself couldn’t really judge anyone for not being human, not that he would have anyway. 

“Have a drink, Young One.” The other man came close enough for Harry to see his features and then closer still, carrying a tall glass of water for him to drink. 

“Dad…” Harry muttered unconsciously, staring at the man who just approached him in incredulous disbelief. He knew it was impossible, of course, he wasn’t stupid. But this man had the same Potter messy hair, the same build, the same hazel eyes. It was exactly like his Dad would have looked like, had he only lived longer. 

The man gave him a sad smile and trilled soothingly, he clearly thought Harry was confused. “I’m sorry, Young One, I am not your Father. I am Lewis Peverell, a Medic. Is there someone we can contact for you, though? After we are done with the medical scans that is.”

Harry tried shaking his head, still mute from the shock of just how familiar this stranger looked. The young brunette instantly regretted the action, as the world spun around him. He reached out a hand blindly, and gripped the dark eyed man, who had been lingering near his bed. As soon as their skin touched, pretty colorful lightning arched between them, making Harry yelp in surprise. 

“What the hell?” He exclaimed.

“Now that’s a surprise.” One of the men near the fall wall drawled, lifting his hand to cover an amused smile on their ridiculously handsome pale face. 

The Medic sighed. “Behave, you lot. We really need to get the scans done. Who knows what that Cry and the fall did to him. Not to mention whatever other issues he may or may not have.”

“He is sitting right here and can hear you perfectly fine.” Harry grumbled into his chest. He was confused. Something was going on, that he wasn’t aware of, and he wanted answers. The sooner the better. 

The two dark-haired men exchanged a glance over the grumpy Submissive’s head, both shrugging in sync. The Air Pareya gave Harry a smile, though it was a small thing. Lewis couldn’t stop thinking of how much this young man looked like his lost brother. But he had to be professional, there were more important things to be done. 

The Medic’s hands glowed light green, as he ran a general health scan. Ideally, of course, this should be done by a Healer, but he liked to think he was skilled enough to handle basic things. Now, if the scans picked up something major, that would be an entirely different situation.

Knowing this would take some time, the Prince grabbed his partner by the hand and approached their guest, the Jokers trailing slightly behind, it wouldn’t do to overwhelm the boy after all. “Now, while Lewis is busy performing your scans, why don’t we get to know each other? How does that sound?” 

There was a sincere warm smile on the man’s face that made Harry blush a little. Why was everyone so pretty?! He nodded slowly, trying not to move too abruptly, remembering the vertigo that assaulted him the last time he decided to move too fast.

“Perfect.” The man came close and extended his hand for a handshake. “I am Raspen.” The white-haired man elbowed him discreetly, but from his angle, Harry could see it clearly. “Prince of the Earth Courts.” Raspen added with a grumble. 

“H-harry Potter.” He all but squeaked, doing his best to fight down the urge to blush, while at the same time his brain tried to process the fact that there was an honest to Merlin PRINCE in front of him. Eyeing the outstretched hand, he gulped and reached for it. It would be totally rude to not shake it, he just knew it.

“Nice to meet you, Harry.” The now identified Prince took his slightly shaking small hand in his. And then they all stared at him as once again sparks flew where their skin touched. These were of different colors though. 

“Two out of six. Not bad at all.” The white-haired man snickered while the rest of them appeared to be still in slight shock.  He swanned up to where Harry was sitting still propped up on the hospital bed, with a solemn expression on his very handsome face, while his purple eyes all but gleaming. 

“Riven Cairothe, Storm Mage.” He resolutely put his hand down on top of Harry and Raspen’s still clasped hands. This time the faces of their audience became a bit incredulous at the resurgence of electricity striking through the air, while Riven gave a nod. He seemed to have expected the sparks to appear. 

“Nice to meet you, Raspen and Riven.” Harry was finally finding his tongue again. “But can someone please explain to me what the hell is going on? Better yet: where am I?”

It was the lone blond in the room who spoke this time. He was probably the tallest person in the room, though the brunette with the piercing all but glowing blue eyes was slouching a little, so Harry couldn’t really be sure, plus it also wasn’t the most important thing. “Ash.” The man dropped the name quickly, eager for information. “What do you mean, ‘where are you’, Harry? Where do you think you are?” 

Harry bit his lip awkwardly. It was a bit embarrassing in hindsight, but he needed answers, so he soldiered on. “Well, you see…” He fiddled with the medallion that was still around his neck, where Luna had placed it. He really hoped Luna would calm Andromeda, he just knew the older witch would worry.

“I’m not actually sure. It’s a little dumb…” He proceeded to recount the events that led to him appearing mid-air.

Riven and Raspen shared a concerned look, while Ash was clearly fighting against an urge to smile. The blond then dragged the shorter brunette forward. He was about to introduce him, when the glow around Lewis’ hands finally died out. The Air Pareya stretched his hands a little, before picking up the scroll of paper that appeared to be just hanging in the air in front of him. 

The Medic looked down at Harry with concern in his painfully familiar hazel eyes. It was very similar to how Remus and Sirius used to look at him at times. Harry flinched a little and tried to find anything else to stare at, even if that something was one of the ridiculously good-looking men gathered around him. 

---

Was it bad that he just zoned out while staring at the pretty Mage? Probably. Did he care much? Not really. Health scan results were never a great conversation topic, so Harry distracted himself. The distraction worked so well that he seemed to not have heard a thing, because the next thing he knew there was Lewis’ face very close to him. 

Harry was so out of it that he jerked back with a shocked screech and would have fallen over, if not for the strong and steady hands that caught him… hands that made even more damn sparks appear. Right, the SPARKS! They still haven’t said anything about the sparks! 

The wizard opened his mouth, but a finger pressed to his lips to shush him. Without any thought at all, Harry bit at the offending digit. Then his brain caught up to his actions, but he refused to regret it- he was not a child to be shushed, thank you very much! He glared up at the owner of the finger and found himself looking into Raspen’s amused eyes. 

Well wasn’t that just great? He bit a Prince of all people.

The man in question just smiled at him, a rumbling purr vibrating in his wide chest, the noise doing wonders to Harry’s singed nerves, though he had no idea why that was exactly. 

“It’s okay, Harry.” The pretty smile was even present in his gorgeous eyes. “Could you perhaps release me?”

A barely there grumble could be heard and then his finger was released from the grip of small dainty fangs.

The Air Pareya rolled his eyes, staring at the Gheyo, “Could you stop hovering already? You’re distracting my patient. Shoo.”

The brunette with the black eyes winked at Harry, clearly amused by the Medic’s offended squawking. “I am Hadrian, dear one. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Harry nodded. The first man that caused sparks. So that was his name. He then looked to the two still unnamed men and tilted his head to the side in silent question. The wizard didn’t know why, but he knew he needed their names. There was just something nagging at him, telling him it was important he met them. 

“Hien Kuroe.” Came from the shorter brunette with dark gray eyes, while the blue-eyed man introduced himself as ‘Brishen.’ 

Harry smiled at both of them and held out his hand automatically. He wasn’t aware he was subconsciously expecting the sparks to show up again until they failed to do so. A sad whine left him, while the two men just smiled at him. Brishen gently ruffled his hair, while Hien joined Hadrian who was sitting next to him with one hand wrapped around him. 

“The sparks appear only on first contact.” Said Hien. “And we were the ones who caught you in the air.”

“Oh…” Harry mumbled, blushing at his reaction. “But what do the sparks mean?”

The Medic growled. Like honest to God growled, though for once Harry could tell it was not an angry sound. “The sooner we can get over these results, the sooner I can leave you to enjoy each other’s company… Maybe with people actually paying attention to me this time?”

Harry whined. Turns out his wandering attention was not missed. How… unfortunate.

Notes:

See yah next time you lovely people!

Chapter 8: Threads twining together

Summary:

Meeting some people =)
Some new people some not, some expected, some not so much ^^"
Harry's mind is certainly in a whirlwind, I'm not sure this is what he signed up for, but it is what it is lmao ^^

Notes:

Hi guys ! Sorry for hte long wait ^^'
We're just like 2 chapters away from the black abyss of the unwritten now >_< *shakes in panic*
here's to hoping plot bunnies stop assaulting me >_<'

 

//Meanwhile, on Earth: Grimmauld Place//

Luna Lovegood got some snacks for Teddy, keeping the child occupied, while she observed the spectacle unfolding in the living room. 

“See, Teddy, this is how you should not behave.” She stage-whispered to the young child, pointing at his Grandmother, who was still arguing with the Portrait.

She was not quiet enough, however, and both witches threw her a glare, not happy to be interrupted.

Luna smiled back innocently. “I’m not wrong, Andy. You two have been so busy arguing that you missed dinner. It’s not a problem for Lady Black, seeing how she is but a Portrait echo, but you are still living flesh and blood, you need to take care of yourself and Teddy.” She grinned. “You haven’t had this many nargles around your head in a few years.” 

Her gamble paid off and with a sigh, accompanied by a tired smile, Andromeda came over to take over feeding young Edward, but, of course, not before throwing the Portrait another glare. 

The two witches had just started to relax when the Floo turned green.

The young blonde sighed. “Here comes Molly.” She muttered under her breath. For a moment she wished Harry was still there… for a moment longer she wished she could have had the chance to go with him… before plastering on her familiar mask of a naive spacy airhead and turning towards the Weasley Matriarch, emerging from the flames. 

Andromeda, however, saved her from having to speak first. The Black witch had adopted a mask of her own, one that made her resemble her deceased sister even more. 

The likeness must have been truly uncanny, for Molly actually stumbled and froze in her tracks as she stared at the woman. 

“What brings you to Grimmauld, Molly?” Asked the brunette, tucking a curl of her black hair behind an ear.

“A-andromeda…” There was an honest-to-Merlin stutter in the plump witch’s voice. 

“Indeed.” Missus Tonks must have been feeling rather confrontational, Luna concluded, as she once again took over Teddy-sitting. She took the boy by his hands and carefully maneuvered them until they were close to the sofa. Once there, the girl scooped up the child and plopped herself down onto the couch, holding Teddy to her, making him giggle slightly at their momentary drop. She knew Andromeda would be just fine handling the likes of Molly Weasley on her own.

---

//a bit later, back with Harry and company, Nevarah: Registration Offices//

Harry was relieved. And confused. And he would admit to feeling a pit of panic. Just a few hours ago he was oh so intent on finding out about the Sparks. Well, now he knew. And he wasn’t one hundred percent sure how to feel about the revelation. He also couldn’t believe that he had been dumb enough to activate the medallion the way he did, but that… Well, it’s been a while since his last ‘Potter Luck’ incident anyway, so perhaps that could be written off as that. 

The young Submissive thought back to all the information that got dumped on him. 

*Flashback*

“Will you tell me where the heck I am?” He was starting to get a bit impatient. It felt like they were avoiding telling him things and to him that was a big red flag.

“Don’t you know?” The white hair man, Riven, Harry learned, sounded incredulous. “You activated a transportation Medallion. Surely you knew where you would end up.”

“Oh.” Harry muttered, the medallion. Right. “So then… this is… Nevarah? It really exists?”

“Of course it exists.” Riven seemed to have about as much patience for what he viewed as ‘dumb questions’ as Snape had, which is just about zero. Harry cringed at that thought, it was just his luck.

The Prince, from his spot next to the Mage, elbowed him in the ribs. “Be nice, you.”

“I AM nice.” Came the prompt, kind of offended retort. 

This caused the other men, the Gheyos, as they called themselves, to roll their eyes. Ash openly snorted, “You call that nice?” 

Their laughter proved to be infectious and soon all the inhabitants of the room were laughing. Or at least chuckling in some cases. Riven looked away from them, nose high up in the air, as the man honest to Merlin pouted. Harry privately thought it was one very impressive rendition of a pouting Draco Malfoy, except of course there was no way Riven even knew who that was. 

It was Raspen who finally calmed down and organized them for further action. They would take him to the Registration Office first, while they were there Hadrian, the dark-eyed brunette with the mask on his hip, would go handle his own errands. Brishen, the one with the almost glowing blue eyes, would go to buy potions that Lewis the Medic told them to get.

*Present*

So that’s what they were currently doing - waiting on the paperwork. Being an Auror, Harry was no stranger to the evil that was paperwork, so he was not really impatient. He spent the time staring at his new Soulmates. 

The notion still boggled his mind. He had six Soulmates. Him, Harry Potter, who had spent four years being married to a girl, who was actually STILL married to a girl, had soulbonds with men. Six of them. How was this his life?

Harry wanted to find a wall and bang his head on it a few times. Just to make sure his brain was in working order and he was not hallucinating. That wall there on the left looked mighty attractive right about now. 

The young man started a bit, when a hand gently landed on his shoulder. He looked up and lost himself in Raspen’s expressive molten-gold eyes. The Prince was looking down at him with a fond amused smile. 

“Are you okay, Harry?”

He couldn’t help blushing a little. It was really unfair just how handsome these men were. Harry opened his mouth, only to snap it shut soon after when a tiny keen left his mouth. 

Raspen’s pupil contracted momentarily, as his look turned hot for a moment, pinning him down where he sat. The hand on his shoulder tightened. Then the man managed to look at Hien, who was leaning against the desk Harry was sitting, his arms crossed over his chest, an impatient frown on his face. Ash was leaning against his side with his head resting on his shoulder. Both of their eyes were also looking at Harry, in fact… all four of the men currently with him were focused on the Submissive, the attention making the young one lean a bit into Raspen’s hand, purring quietly. The gesture seemed completely subconscious however. 

“Seems like his instincts are beginning to wake.” Riven muttered, allowing his own hand to creep forward and play with the hair at the back of Harry’s neck. He smiled, when expressive green eyes stared up at him, they seemed to glow more than before.

Raspen hummed in agreement. “Hien, could you go and hurry them up a little? With Harry like this, we don’t want to spend more time here than absolutely necessary. The Shadow Joker inclined his head and then both him and Ash swiftly moved away, clearly wishing to be back as soon as possible. 

As they waited, Raspen maneuvered his bonded to sit down next to Harry, which in turn prompted the younger man to all but curl up into Riven’s side. The unexpected movement made the Storm Mage stiffen momentarily, before all of the tension bled out of him and he slumped a bit harder against Raspen, who had taken over Hien’s spot leaning against the desk. Harry’s tiny purrs drew quiet rumbles out of both of his Soulmates. It would have been an ideal bonding moment, if one were to discount the fact that they were sitting in a very much not empty Registration Office and were drawing some curious looks to them. 

A few moments later their other two Jokers returned with the papers that Riven snatched up almost immediately. The man wrote quickly, the pen all but flying over the paper. Finally he seemed to be done, as the man gathered up the papers and stood up. “Let’s go talk with whoever’s on duty.”

Harry stayed glued to Raspen’s side, not that the man minded at all. Later he would look back at the scene and wish to die from embarrassment surely, but that was a problem for a future Harry, in the moment he just wanted to be close to his Soulmates. 

The clerk at the desk turned out to be familiar to some of them. 

“Ailsa, never expected to see you at the Gate.” Ash greeted the blonde in front of them. 

“Ashton.” A grumbled reply followed. “What do you have for me today?”

The Joker gestured behind him, in Harry’s general direction. “Our Submissive is new to Nevarah. His Portal broke.”

“Oh, Congratulations.” The woman smiled a little. She was clearly not in a good mood, but being harassed all day at the Gate would do that to even the most patient individuals. “Do you have all the papers filled out then?”

“Yes,” Riven handed over the papers.

Silver-blue eyes scanned the documents with practiced ease. “Everything seems to be in order. Now, just a couple questions and you can be on your way.”

The questions ranged from ones that just confirmed already provided information, to extra new ones, but they were dealt with quickly enough until finally there was only one thing left.

“And now, Harry, if you could change into your preferred Halfling form and step onto the blue square here, we’ll just take your readings and you’ll be done.”

This made Harry warble in confusion. He didn’t know how to do this. He looked up at Raspen with desperate scared green eyes while leaning even more into his side.

---

// With Hadrian, the Arythmoor Estate//

The Shadow ACE strode down the halls not really paying much attention to his surroundings. Having spent so many years here, he could navigate the house in his sleep if he had to. His mind was busy trying to process the events. He had of course wondered now and then over the years about the possibility of ever bonding into a Circle, but the idea never really stuck around long enough for him to seriously consider it. 

And now. Now things were happening. He could feel the itch of the open soulbond. The further he got away from Harry, the stronger the itch became. The urge to turn around and go back was nigh overpowering. 

But this needed to be done. He had to officially terminate his contract. In fact, Hadrian thought, he was for once in his life very lucky. Had this happened any earlier, he would have had to explain things to his Submissive and ask him to talk with Mariana about releasing his Contract. Luckily, that would not be needed. 

Finally, after what felt like ages of chasing the woman down, he finally found his quarry playing fetch with one of the Hellhounds. Over the last twenty odd years they’ve all more or less gotten used to the sight. No one really knew the Hound’s name, the man could not remember. In fact he spent about ninety percent of the time in his Hound form. Lord Aiden and Jasha assumed that whoever he’d been before, he had a very traumatizing life and simply chose to forget, but there was of course no way to be sure. 

“Mariana!” Hadrian called out, as he approached the Cunningham Submissive. 

She turned to him with a bright expectant smile. She was sure he would renew the Contract, and if not for the recent event, perhaps he would have. “Hadrian, you’re back!” She exclaimed happily. 

“Indeed, I am.”

“Shall I go and fetch a new Contract?” She grinned at him, showing off her fangs. “Or have you finally decided to agree to join the Circle?”

He cleared his throat, not really knowing if this was meant to be a serious question or not. It was certainly not the first time she’s asked, but Jasha seemed to think she was simply being her chaos gremlin self. “That won’t be necessary this time, my Lady.” He sketched a small bow. 

“Oh…” The excitement previously present in her eyes dimmed and Hadrian had to fight with himself to not look away. Soulbond or not, he had spent a long time with the Cunninghams and making her feel bad was never anywhere near his priority list. 

“I see…” She mumbled. “Well then… good luck?”

Seeing the always strong Mariana showing a rare timid side did not sit well with him and he would have loved to stay longer and try to cheer her up, but the still open Soulbond throbbed, urging him on. 

“Thank you, Milady,” He bowed again, more deeply this time. “for everything you and yours have done for me.”

She cleared her throat with a small frown at Hadrian’s bow, grabbed him hand and drew him into a hug. “None of that, you silly ACE. No matter what, you will always be a part of this family.” 

She smiled, though it turned out to be a little on the watery side. “So tell me about them. It must be one special person to tempt you away from my side.” She grinned cheekily and that was a much more ‘Mariana’ expression for sure. 

Hadrian sighed, rubbing at his chest absent-mindedly, making the Submissive’s eyebrows rise a bit. “There was a Portal Break … and a Soul Cry.”

“Never a dull moment with you, is there?” The tiny female ribbed him in amusement. A Soulbond certainly explained things, she thought. 

“Not even remotely,” He groused good-naturedly. 

“So who all responded so far?” Curiosity was eating with her, the former minor upset swept away by the prospect of new and juicy gossip-worthy information.

The Shadow ACE knew full well that as soon as he gave her names, she would be off gossiping, but would that be a bad thing? He was not sure. Thus he decided to not mention any names for now. “The Submissive seems to be Nameless, but the med-check showed signs of Seals, so we can’t be a hundred percent sure at the moment. Beside myself, there is a Mage, a Royal… oh,  and three Jokers.”

Lady Cunningham coughed a few times in her efforts to not laugh at him, which he certainly appreciated. There was a devilish gleam in her eyes that did not bode well at all. “Are you regretting refusing to Rank-Shift?” She asked, fake innocence just oozing out of her sweet voice. 

Hadrian rolled his eyes. For at least five years now, Jasha and Mariana both kept telling him to consider Rank-Shifting. Apparently, he had the potential to be a great Alpha. But he himself did not think it fair to inflict himself… and his variety of luck on a Circle. Now that was a moot point though. He pointedly massaged his chest again, the soulbond was becoming very insistent.

She rolled her eyes and made a shooing gesture with one of dainty hands, “Oh, all right, off with you.” With a click of fingers, his Contract appeared in front of her and the tiny Submissive made it disintegrate. “Enjoy your new Circle, Hadrian. And make sure to bring them home sometime.” 

As he left, Mariana allowed a small bittersweet smile to appear on her face. 

“You knew he would leave one day.” Her Alpha said in a knowing tone, having appeared out of the shadows. 

She snuggled close to him and looked up at him. “Of course I did. Doesn’t mean I couldn’t dream. He’s matured  into an amazing ACE, compared to the basket of trouble we took in.”

Jasha chuckled, running a hand through her hair. “That he did. Now come, you Menace. We’ve got work to do.”

She allowed herself to be led away, grumbling as she went. “Yes, yes. All work and no fun with you.”

---

//With Brishen, at the Markets//

While Hadrian was tying up his loose ends, Brishen was looking up potions. What seemed a simple fetch task on the surface, turned out to be rather complicated, for as he’d come to realize, he wasn’t familiar with any of them.

The longer it took, the more taunt the invisible cord, tethering him to his new Submissive, became. He now knew why his Immortal was so keen on him waking up. It made him both elated and exasperated. 

“The hell you doing awake?” A not very welcome but sadly incredibly familiar voice came from behind him. Fighting a cringe, he turned around to face his fellow Phoelix. 

“Inanna.” He drawled, no inflection at all in his voice. “What a… lovely surprise.”

She drew her hand down her face, giving him a stink eye. “All this time asleep has done no wonders to your fucking manners, clearly.”

This made his snort despite himself, hearing something about manners from the Phoenix of all people was quite amusing to say the least. He raised an eyebrow, massaging his chest absentmindedly. “Coming from you, that's somehow funny. Manage saying more than a sentence without cursing yet?”

The redhead glared at him something fierce, her eyes glowing brighter. He could only chuckle at the sight. Gheyo she might be, but she was no Dragel, as such Inanna was rather petite compared to many of the same Rank. It was hard for Brishen to take her seriously half the time, especially if one took into consideration their immense age difference. The man was about to turn away, when it occurred to him that unlike himself, the fire Phoelix has been very much awake all these years. She was bound to be more familiar with things. It irked him something fierce to owe her anything, but judging by how more and more insistent the phantom pain was becoming, he did not have all that much time before he really needed to return. He threw a sullen sideways glare at his fellow Gheyo and showed her the potions list without saying a word. 

Staring him for a moment, she took the paper hesitantly and scanned its contents. “What the? Why do you need these? These are some very strong potions.” Even though they never got along particularly well thanks to their contrasting elements, they could still tolerate each other well enough… when in the mood to do so. 

The male Joker bit the inside of his cheek in agitation. It didn’t really feel right to disclose details, no matter that for all intents and purposes this woman might as well be his only family. “It’s for a bondmate.” He said curtly and hoped to all the Gods possible that for once in her life she would not try to dig for more information. 

The way her eyes narrowed and all but drilled into his did not bode well. 

“Ina, what’s taking you so long?” An impatient voice could be heard from outside the store and the redhead immediately glanced at the doors. 

“Coming!” She said loudly. Luckily they were close enough to the exit that she did not not need to shout, not that he would put it past her to do it anyway. 

His eyes followed the direction she looked at and saw a pair of twins. His eyebrows rose. “Huh…” That was all that he said. The idea of Inanna with a Submissive, or two of them as the case might be, boggled his mind. 

The fire Phoelix shook her head slightly. “I’ll tell you about mine, when you tell me about yours.” She pointed towards a shelf they’d just approached. “The potions you want are these. They’re all labeled. This Potions Master is currently the best, so you want to always buy his, if at all possible. Ciao.” She gave him an obnoxious wink and then flounced off.

Notes:

Thank you so much for reading !!!
See you in the next chapter =)
<3

Chapter 9: The Beginning of a Circle

Summary:

Harry seals the bonds with the mates he has? \o/

Notes:

Enormous Thanks to Kingshmee for being a wonderful beta and an amazing partner in crime lmao ^^

Chapter Nine.

---

//Earth Royal Palace//

By the time Raspen arrived at home, his parents were already back. The King and Queen watched in confusion as his son was followed to his suite not just by Riven, who was a regular sight in the palace these days, but also another four men, one of which was carrying a lithe short figure. 

Raspen stopped only to hug his parents on the way and quickly led his Circle to the bedroom, where they would spend the next few days at the very least. 

Harry groaned quietly as he was lowered on the big bed. The warm arms that were previously wrapped around him began to withdraw and the Submissive let out a high displeased whine.

“Shhh, Little One, it’s okay.” A voice said, accompanied by soothing rumbles. The body that had been holding him settled on his left side, while another one stretched out on his right. Someone else sat down by his head and soon a gentle hand was combing through his unruly hair, making him purr contentedly. 

He instinctively knew that all of his Soulmates were finally present. Harry’s teeth started aching then, making him whine and nuzzle into the throat of the man that was on his left side. 

“Looks like his instinct’s waking up.” He heard someone mutter. Harry thought it was Riven, but he hadn’t known them long enough to be able to tell by just voice alone. The young Submissive let out a questioning chirrup. 

Pale muscular hands reached out around his middle and the man on his right pressed firmer against him, nuzzling at the back of his neck. “It’s okay, Trouble.” A gentle kiss was pressed against his skin. “Remember how Riven explained the Sparks to you?” The question was followed by a couple more gentle and yet teasing kisses, making it quite difficult for the green-eyed young man to concentrate. 

A light slap could be heard, followed by a grumble, and then the delicious kisses stopped as the culprit drew back, but only slightly. Harry grumbled in disappointment. He wanted more kisses, but he also wanted something else. And what that something else was exactly, he didn’t quite know. Thus he made an effort and focused on the question that was asked of him. 

“Yes, I remember.” He mumbled. His voice had grown slightly husky, making the Submissive blush in embarrassment. “What about it?” He asked, trying to subtly clear his throat. 

Green eyes sparkling keenly, he turned over to his right side so he could face the person speaking. It turned out to be Hadrian. A glance above his shoulder identified the man on his left side as Raspen. For a brief moment Harry pictured how he must look at that moment, sandwiched between the two gorgeous Dragels like he was. His other mates were also situated around him on the bed, each of them touching him in one way or another. The hand in his hair belonged to Riven the Mage, who was perched on the headboard of the bed. Brishen was sitting next to Riven, looking slightly uncomfortable, but otherwise okay. Ash and Hien were at the end of the bed, pretty much curled around each other. 

How was this life again? Harry wondered not for the first time that day. 

Hadrian smiled, showing off his sharp fangs, his eyes giving off a slight, barely there red glow. “Well, as Riven said, we are your Soulmates. Not necessarily all of them, mind you, just the ones who were close enough to hear your Cry, so now we have active and open bonds.” He looked over at Raspen, as if for help.

Riven was the one who decided to answer, leaning down so he could look Harry in the face. The young Dragel bit his lip to stop himself from giggling as Riven’s upside down face filled his vision. His fangs gave off another pang, making him lick his lips, as he stared at the Mage’s throat, not even realizing he was doing it. 

“And the longer the bonds stay open, the stronger they remind you that you need to seal them.” He grinned at his Submissive, showing him his own set of gleaming fangs, except they looked strong and dangerous, not dainty and delicate like Harry’s.

They all looked in satisfaction as their Sub’s pupils contracted, becoming vertical slits. Scales were still few and far in between, just a few on his wrists were visible, and no sign of wings yet. But as Lewis had told them, Harry’s Dragel was exhausted. Because of what, the Air Medic did not know, so they would have to find a person with a specific Nameless talent to find out for sure. Then there also were the cracked Seals, that surely weren’t making things easier. 

Usually the first bond to be sealed was the Alpha-Submissive bond, followed by the Beta-Submissive and then Alpha-Beta… which would be great, except they did not have an Alpha, or a Beta, so they just let Harry do it in any order he liked. 

Perhaps it was because Harry was facing Hadrian, or perhaps it was just instinctive, but the strong and thin arms made their way around the ACE’s neck, pulling him down until he was all but on top of the younger Dragel and tilting his neck to the side invitingly. Hadrian’s purr vibrated in his chest, as he looked down at the Submissive beneath him. Even though he’d had thoughts of this moment before, he never imagined ever being the first one to lay claim to his Sub. If he was honest with himself, it scared him a little. Plus as lovely as the expanse of the unmarred skin in front of him was, that was not the place he wished his mark to be. 

Nevertheless he leant down and nuzzled Harry, pressing a few kisses here and there. He then whispered, “Turn around for me, little Trouble, I’d love my mark to go onto the back of your lovely neck. Can you do that for me?”

The question was met with a tiny whine, but after a few moments the young man rolled over, facing Raspen instead. Here he was met with no resistance, as strong arms gathered him close to an equally strong and not to mention broad chest. Harry purred invitingly, making Raspen’s heart melt. In that moment he really wished he wasn’t the Crown Royal, so he could have a way to bond to Harry as his Alpha. But now was not the time for such thoughts. 

Smiling down at the young man, who really still looked like he was a teen, Raspen leaned into his Intended. Those green eyes surely had to be illegal, he thought as he kissed Harry for the first time. It was just a simple, chaste press of lips against each other, but it literally made the shorter man in his arms melt. Purring loudly now, his chest vibrating with the force of it, his Submissive tilted his head to the side invitingly. 

With an answering rumble of his own, Raspen followed. He licked the expanse of the delicate neck stretched out before him, pressing wet open-mouthed kisses as he went. Finally he found the perfect spot to place his bite, right over Harry’s Adam’s apple. 

In the position that his head was in, he could see the moment Hadrian shifted closer to them. Even if he couldn’t, he could surely feel  Harry’s hips stutter forward, as the man on the other side of Harry pressed forward, molding himself along their young Submissive’s back. Apparently the ACE was aroused enough watching the two of them, that he couldn’t wait until they were done. The thought should rankle, somewhere in the back of his mind he knew it should, but with how pleasantly hazy he felt, he couldn’t bring himself to care. Instead he watched through half-closed eyes as the Shadow Gheyo licked over the back of the neck his fangs were buried in and then those wicked sharp fangs sank in as well. 

Raspen distantly thought that it had to be painful, considering neither of them chose a traditional place for their mark, in fact they both were spots that required a lot of control from the one placing the mark, but the only sound that escaped Harry was a rather loud moan. 

One hand clutching at Raspen’s shoulder, the other rising to hold onto the back of Hadrian’s neck, Harry drifted in a cloud of pleasure.  In this position, his left bicep ended up right in front of Riven, who rumbled approvingly. 

The Storm Mage, of course, couldn’t pass up a chance for a comment. “Well, we are not a typical lineup, so I suppose this makes sense.” He threw a wicked grin at the Jokers and leaned down to lick up Harry’s left arm, following it to the shoulder. He had to use one of his own hands to steady his position, so he wouldn’t end up falling down on the Submissive. Finally, he found the spot that called to him right on the shoulder joint. His fangs slid in with no resistance, making him give a small growl. 

The next few seconds were filled with nothing but silence, broken only by the harsh sounds of breathing and small moans falling out of Harry’s mouth. And then all three of them withdrew as one, given one last lick to the bite mark to seal the blood flow. The young man wined at the loss. They felt so wonderfully connected like that, that he wouldn’t have minded spending his whole life like that. He was answered by soothing rumbles, hands running down his sides and threw his hair.

And then another pang of pain made Harry whine. He flinched as his own fangs dropped down and bit into his lower lip. As one Raspen and Hadrian surged forward to sooth the pain away. Both of them ran their tongue along their Submissive's injured lip, not really registering the other’s presence or thinking of how this would look to their other Intended, who were currently watching them with hooded eyes. That is until they bumped into each other. For a moment they froze, golden gaze meeting a glowing red one, mouths slightly open, tongues touching. In a way this was their first kiss. The thought was paralyzing. 

Neither moved for a moment, and then Raspen’s hand was buried in the hair at the base of Hadrian’s head, tipping the ACE's head up and their lips clashed together. It was just the surface of their lips at first, but then Raspen parted his mouth for air. 

Hadrian surged forward, his strong calloused hands wrapping around Raspen's hips as he switched their dynamic. He became the one in control of the tongue wrestling kiss.

It was clear Raspen wasn't satisfied with the submissive role as he rejoined the battle for dominance within the kiss, his hands running up and down Hadrian’s back. 

When the need for breath finally became too much to be ignored, they pulled apart in unison, their plump lips separating just a tiny bit while their tongues stayed wrapped around each other as they softly panted for breath. Their shoulders and chests rose and fell heavily from the exertion of their kiss as they stared at each other, their eyes burning with barely-contained passion.

For a count of two huffing breaths, they remained locked in place, and then they were resurging forward. Small growls slipping out of the now teeth clashing kiss.

While the Dominant pair was busy with their sporadic kiss that looked like it was about to somehow become an even heavier makeout session, Ash took hold of the arm that was still holding on to Raspen, while Hien grasped the one that clutched at Hadrian. The two Jokers practically manhandled Harry to join them instead. For a moment the Submissive was confused. 

Brishen joined them momentarily. “You can get back to them in a moment, Little One. They seem to be a little busy, however, so how about you play with us for now?” There was a wicked grin on his face, pearl white fangs gleaming in the dim light. 

Harry chirped happily at them. The proposal was tempting enough that he went to them with no protest, leaving the two hot Dominants to their own business, even if a small part of him wanted to watch the show. 

This time he was the first to place the marks. All three of them went right over their hearts. That something that was taunt and almost too stretched finally relaxed as he slid his dainty little fangs in and marked his Jokers one by one. Each of them had conditions, which Harry found to be fair, they were after all basically strangers, even if being with them felt  so very natural. 

Brishen wanted to know about the Phoenix Tears and Basilisk venom he could feel the residue of. Ash and Hien made him swear that no matter what happened in the future, he would never make assumptions, that he would always come to them and talk first, no matter what his first knee-jerk reaction told him to do. This one made him flinch a little, it was very close to home. But he agreed, of course he did, he wanted things to work between them. And communication surely was the key to that. 

Keeping the Submissive’s attention focused on them was no hardship. Brishen engaged him in a series of short teasing kisses, leaving Harry panting softly, staring at him with large green eyes that appeared almost black, his pupils blown so wide that the irises were but a thin band of green. Ash and Hien, in a bid to not be outdone by their fellow Joker, lavished Harry’s neck with biting kisses, intermingled with kitten licks and occasional bites. 

Riven, who had relocated to sit against the headboard, as opposed to perching on top of the thing, was frozen with indecision. On one hand, he really wanted to join Hadrian and Raspen, the thought of being trapped between the two Dominants was certainly pleasant enough to send tingles of desire racing down his spine. But then he glanced down at Harry and the three Jokers surrounding him. They made such a pretty, alluring image as well, not to mention all the little keens, moans, trills and purrs that were escaping Harry’s mouth. Such pretty noises, completely different from the rumble-purrs and low growls that could be heard from the direction of the Royal and ACE, but equally delicious in their own way. 

One moment he was enjoying the view his Intended made, the next Ashton was leaning close to him, a questioning rumble vibrating in his chest. Riven cleared his throat and looked away from the taller male. 

Ash would not be denied, however. Since Riven would not meet his eyes, the Joker fully leaned into his, nestling his face into the crook of the Mage’s neck, nibbling at the skin there with a growling question-purr, akin to those often made by Pareya. The sensation was very pleasant and it made Riven relax, as he raised his hand to run fingers through the short butterscotch colored hair. 

“Will you bond with me?” Ashton asked nonchalantly, calmly looking at Riven, though his usually hazel eyes were glowing gold. 

Riven couldn’t help his jaw from dropping. He didn’t understand. They didn’t even know each other. Add in the fact that Jokers usually didn’t bother bonding with anyone else in the Circle besides the Submissive, the ACE or the Alpha. “B-but why?”

“Why not?” Came the immediate reply. “You don’t need to give me an answer immediately, but I’d-” He threw a glance back to where Brishen and Hien had Harry panting under their joint efforts. “We’d like it if you considered it.”

With those words Ashton pulled the Mage that was all but stunned speechless into a heavy kiss of his own. Joker he might be now, but Ash still had lots of left-over Pareya instincts. And in some situations it sure was easier to simply give into them.

As they pulled apart, it was easy to see how affected Riven was. The Joker chuckled darkly and leaned in to nuzzle at Riven’s neck, licking it with promise. For a split second he wondered where Raspen’s mark might be and had to bad away the impulse to lick all over the handsome Mage’s body until he found it. Instead, he teasingly let just the tips of his fangs to puncture the skin, but not going any further than that.

This made purple glowing eyes to jerk up and almost immediately meet with a pair of vivid green ones that were watching him with instinctive hunger. It made a shiver run down Riven’s back. 

Drowning in the Submissive’s not at all Submissive look, Riven let out a satisfied moan as the pair of powerful fangs that were teasing him finally sank into his neck, low enough that he could hide the mark easily enough, but high enough that showing it off wouldn’t be a problem. His eyes drifted shut as he let his head fall back. He really enjoyed the feeling of fangs sliding into his flesh, he’d discovered it fifteen years prior when he’d bonded to Raspen.  

Here, in this room, surrounded by people he was sure he would grow to love given half the opportunity, people he would bond to if they offered, Riven could just be Riven. There was no pressure to be the all powerful Mage Cairothe, no parents to nag him about how he didn’t behave appropriately enough. It was a novelty. And in that moment the white haired man decided that he loved this feeling of just… being, enjoying each moment as it came, with no thought to who thought what about him for it.

Fangs withdrew, making him give a small, almost inaudible, mournful whine. Ash must have heard him though, for soon the fangs returned and brought with them a second pair- this one small and dainty. Harry. 

Riven made the effort to open his eyes and his breath hitched. Ash must have shifted to the side at one point to make room for their Submissive and he was so immersed in the powerful sensation the Joker’s fangs invoked in him that he hadn’t even noticed. 

They sure were gorgeous to look at, he decided. And look he did. At Ashton and Harry, who spent a little bit longer than necessary marking him, at Hien and Brishen who were eyeing him with an intense look that somehow contained both smoldering hot desire and keen intrigued curiosity. 

Beyond the four of them he could see their two Dominants, Raspen holding Hadrian against the bedpost, his strong fangs buried in the ACE’s neck. The sight would have surely made the Mage harden, had he not been already suffering from that affliction. 

“Gorgeous, aren’t they?” Brishen whispered, licking along the shell of Riven’s ear, as Hien mouthed at the base of his throat, on the opposite side of where Ash’s mark now rested. 

At some point the Earth Joker must have pulled their green eyed Sub to the side to make room for his fellow Gheyos. Riven shuddered, as he arched into the body pressing against his. 

“Are you… sure about this?” He couldn’t help asking. He’d had lots of time to get used to the fact that Raspen wanted him, loved him even. But this was surely moving a little fast. 

A sharp punishing nip was swiftly delivered to his earlobe, followed by a soothing lick. “You will find, young Mage, that I never do anything unless I’m sure of it.” Brishen teased, making Riven’s face contort in a very peculiar way, no way was he just called young of all things.

Hien chose that moment to lightly scrape his fangs down the side of Riven’s throat. “Leave sniping at each other for later.” He flexed his hips pointedly and then, after catching Riven’s purple eyes for a moment to give him the chance to back out of it, the Shadow Joker let his fangs sink it. How slow he went, sliding in bit by bit, showcased his impeccable control, making Riven moan at the sensation. 

Brishen rumbled above him. The Phoelix trailed his fingers through the long white hair even as Harry came over to lay his claim mark above the Water Joker’s heart.

By the time Hadrian and Raspen joined them, Harry sported three more bite marks. Two of them were below Hadrian’s but slightly to the sides, leaving enough space for a third mark in between them. The last one, Brishen’s, mirrored the mark Riven had placed on his left shoulder, only Brishen chose his right shoulder. 

The Submissive was then hugged again by Raspen and Hadrian, who had apparently ended up marking each other as well. Harry pouted at not getting to see it. The Jokers chuckled at his expression and guessed the reason for it with unnerving precision. Ash leaned in and whispered in his ear, not caring at all that he was loud enough for the two Dominants to hear him. “If you’re good, I’ll let you watch when I get them to mark me.” Whatever comeback the ACE was going to deliver went unsaid, as Harry purred appreciatively at the offer. 

With a small chuckle, the Prince guided Harry’s head to where his neck met the shoulder. This was not a private place, this would be seen by anyone and everyone. Once upon a time Raspen would have balked at the idea of displaying his marks so boldly, but now it just felt right in a way he couldn’t possibly begin to explain. 

A moment later his breath hitched at the feeling of first his Submissive’s tongue licking his neck, followed by dainty and yet very sharp fangs sliding into his neck. He carded his fingers through the black hair, noting idly that even though it looked unruly, it was ridiculously soft.

---

//outside Raspen’s rooms//

While the Circle was exchanging claim marks, the King and Queen of the Earth court stared at the closed door with a concerned expression. 

“Why haven’t I heard that he was courting someone else?” Edgar grumbled as only concerned parents usually did. 

His Queen reached out and patted the man on the hand. “I didn’t know either. But that doesn’t mean that you get to be rude. When they come out I want you to be on your best behavior.”

The man who ruled the Earth Courts turned away from his Bonded with a sulk. If anyone saw him like this, they would assume it was some relative and not the always dignified King. 

The two monarchs went on to discuss other things as they waited. After a couple hours the door they’d been staring at cracked open and their son’s bonded Mage carefully stepped out, closing the door behind him, trying not to make any noise as he approached them.

Calla smiled at the white-haired male. “Riven.”

“Your Majesty, would you send for some food please? We’ve had quite a day.”

“So I imagine.” She sent a message off, requesting some food to be brought up, but was not deterred from wanting to find out at least some details. “Could you tell us what happened exactly? I wasn’t aware you and Raspen were courting anyone.”

The Mage looked away and awkwardly cleared his throat. He did not appreciate having to be the one that had to have this conversation with his Soulmate’s Royal parents, but out of everyone awake, he was the only they were familiar with, even if Edgar liked to give him the stink eye whenever he wasn’t looking. 

“That’s because we weren’t courting anyone.” He confirmed. Riven really hoped this conversation wouldn't go sideways. “We were in the vicinity when our Submissive’s Portal broke and heard the Soul Cry he gave while falling.”

Calla covered her mouth with a well-manicured hand as she gasped. “Oh, that poor dear!”

“So that’s not the full circle then?” The King wanted to know.

“Indeed not.” Riven inclined his head. Clearly Edgar’s thirst for information was strong enough that he actually asked Riven a direct question, instead of ignoring him as usual. It was almost ridiculous to think that once upon a time the two were as close as brothers.

“Will you tell us who all is part of the Circle at the moment then?” The mother prompted and the Mage couldn’t find a reason to refuse. 

“You already know your son and myself. Our Submissive seems to be Nameless, though we can’t really know for sure. There are a lot of cracked seals on him, we are lucky he managed to inherit at all in the condition that he’s in. We also have a Shadow ACE, Hadrian Maruke and three Jokers, all of different elements. The Shadow Joker is Hien Kuroe, he’s soulbonded to our Earth Joker; Ash Hartwood. There’s also Brishen, a Water Phoelix.”

Both of the Monarchs looked a little silly, as they gaped at him, clearly trying to process the information given.

“A mixed Circle!” Edgar’s reaction was painfully predictable. 

“No Alpha or Beta yet?” Calla exclaimed. “That poor dear, he will have to Hunt as soon as possible.”

Riven had an inkling of a suspicion at the back of his mind, but it was way too early in the game to be able to tell how things would develop. He couldn’t help thinking though, that things would have been much easier if not for Raspen’s seals that bound him to Nevarah.

Notes:

Big sorrys for the looong wait ;_; and thank you very much for your patience ^^ trust me, I know how annoying those are >_<' sadly with AO3 now being blocked in this country and my VPN only working on my phone.. on good days, it's become rather a challenge to post things, especially when inspiration nose-dives.
I do have another chapter for this story that is finished and some ideas for a new plot that I can occupy myself (and hopefully you guys as well) until I figure out where this story is going lmao ^^

Chapter 10: Chapter 10: Glimpses of Clarity ?

Summary:

A little bit of Luna with a dash of awake Harry

Notes:

Welcome to the tiny chapter 10 lol ^^'

//back at Grimmauld Place. Terra//

The conversation with Molly left Andromeda shocked and unsettled. On one hand she now knew that Walburga was not lying to her. On the other hand, knowing that her aunt hadn’t lied left her unsettled in a weird way. 

“Harry, it’s time for dinner!” She called out, leaning a little on the railing and tilting her head, so her voice would echo would hopefully reach the second floor. It was strange how well she remembered this house, considering she hadn’t spent much time in it since she was a little girl. But memory was a rather strange thing. With a small shrug Andromeda went back to the dining room where Kreacher just materialized food onto the table. 

“Harry went ahead to Nevarah.” Announced Luna, as she flounced into the dining room, with little Teddy on her hip. Her voice was nonchalant and there was a sunny smile on her face. It sounded like she was talking about the weather.

“What?” Andromeda gaped at the young witch, even though she would never admit to such a thing if anyone asked.

Luna shrugged, blond curls bouncing up and down, as she leant down to situate Teddy in his chair. “Well, I was explaining things to him. And he said the Portal Password as soon as I gave it to him.”

Andromeda snorted. “Sounds like Harry.” 

Teddy looked at them and giggled as well. 

Luna chuckled lightly. “Looks like Teddy agrees.”

“Will he be okay?” Asked The Black witch once the amusement died down a bit.

“Oh, certainly.” Luna was quick to agree. “He can be healed there. In addition, he needs to be with his own kind to truly be happy.”

“You sure?”

“I’m not saying it will be perfect at once.” Luna looked into the distance, her eyes gaining a white iridescent shine to them. “But he can have happiness there if he works for it. He can have the family that he craves and he does have relatives there. I’ve seen that much at least. But as anything else, it will require time… and patience… and effort.”

“Harry is so very good with patience and time.” Sarcasm was quite obvious.

“He is at least good with effort.” At this point Luna was not sure if she was trying to reassure herself or Andromeda.

---

//Raspen’s bedroom. Three days later//

With a tired groan Ashton collapsed backwards onto the pillows and dragged a callused palm down his face. “I’ve not missed this. At all.”

Hien chucked from his place next to him. “This is what comes with a not-full circle.” WIthout a second thought he curled up next to his exhausted Bonded and nuzzled at his neck.

From his place on the bed, Harry just stared in total confusion. He vaguely recalled what happened before he fell asleep, but really, he had more questions than answers. With a slightly worried chirrup, that made him even more confused, the young man stared at the other men that were next to him. 

“Can anyone finally tell me what the Hell is going on?”

A soothing rumble sounded from behind him, as a pair of hands that he hadn’t even noticed before, tightened around his waist and he was sort of dragged back to where he was all but squished between two rather gorgeous men. One had very tanned skin and lovely golden eyes, while the other was much paler in comparison with eyes as dark as night.

“It’s too early, Treasure.” The pale man nuzzled against his throat. “Rest some more.”

Harry sputtered, feeling quite lost for words. A yawn escaped him and he flushed. This was out of his area of expertise. Not a day earlier he was married to Ginny… and now all of the sudden he was in bed with a man… and more than one at that. How was this his life?

Oh, Merlin! GINNY! He shouldn't be in bed with virtual strangers! He was still married ! Harry remembered with sudden clarity and started struggling to get out of the hold that just a moment ago seemed so comforting. This was not who he was, he would not let himself stoop down to her level. No way!

Unbeknownst to Harry, his struggles were accompanied by a spike of broadcasted dread, which caused all of his Intended to give him space, while looking at him in mounting worry.

“Treasure, what’s wrong?”

“Harry, talk to us, please!”

People were worried, he knew that much, but Harry could not get out of his racing thoughts. Most days it was as if he was swimming through unending apathy with emotions feeling as if they were small sparks in the distant sky he could never reach. Then there were moments like this. When one single emotion overwhelmed him like a tsunami and he was just as small and as light as a feather caught on the powerful wave. Green eyes closed against the worry he could physically feel coming from the other people in the room. A small whimper left his lips unconsciously. 

“Out.” This one word carried firm, resolute authority in it. “If you cannot control yourselves, then take it outside.” 

Some shuffling was heard, accompanied by low grumbles that were not really whines, but sure sounded close enough. And yet the door remained untouched. 

Riven with his long snow-white hair and kind violet eyes, carefully approached and knelt down in front of the little Submissive. Soft, but calloused palms were placed on the young man’s cheeks as the Mage did his best to project his calm into the room. “Breathe with me, Harry. It’s okay.”

“No, it’s not.” In the privacy of his mind Harry thought he sounded pathetic, but the face that was hovering in front of him did not change at all. 

“Why is it not?” The beautiful voice remained calm and level.

“Ginny.” The name felt bitter on his tongue and made Harry grimace as he said it. 

“And who’s Ginny?” Riven asked, slowly carding his fingers through soft strands of unruly black hair, scratching softly at his skull. “Why is she important?”

Green eyes dulled slightly and looked away from the charming violet orbs he was staring at. Riven was having none of it though, as he slowly used the hand in Harry’s hair to gently tug the barely resisting Sub into his arms. “We can’t help you if we don’t know what’s going on, dear one.”

Harry was not sure if it was calm permeating the air, the kind eyes or the beautiful voice, or perhaps the endearment, but he felt tears sliding down his face. “My wife.” He all but spat out. 

Just two words. But those two words made it seem like time froze. A wife . Their newfound Submissive… had… a wife. Did that mean he had children? What did it mean for their bonding? None of the men present dared ask aloud, but all felt it, for sure. They glanced at each other, feeling very unsure. 

Finally, after what seemed like forever, but in truth was only a breath or two, Brishen came to kneel next to Riven, doing his best to not affect the sealed Empath with his emotions. 

“Do you need us to go and bring her here, little one? Is there anyone else that you’d like to be collected?”

Green eyes abruptly jerked up and met his steady blue gaze. “Bring her here? Ginny?”

Brishen nodded silently, keeping eye contact as one would with a wounded scared animal. 

At last the calm around him finally allowed the grip of panic and dread to retreat for now and he finally felt in control enough to think again. “No, that’s… okay. I do need to file for a divorce though.” It came out as a mumble, but he was heard loud and clear. The words unknowingly caused his soulmates to relax.

“Though I do need to send word to Luna and Andromeda.” Harry grimaced. “I kind of disappeared on them.”

“Disappeared?” Raspen and Hadrian, who had been sitting on the bed with the two sleeping Jokers, joined the conversation.

Harry ducked his head as he realized he was on the floor in front of the bed, having tumbled out in his haste to get away from the unfamiliar people holding him. Dull pain in his ass was also not amazing, but at least he knew for a fact what it was caused by. 

Green eyes were trained on the bite marks on Hadrian’s chest. The young man vaguely recalled that one of them was left by him. It was hazy though, like a faraway dream. Embarrassment filled his voice, as he shared the story. 

Raspen bit into his lip, the urge to chuckle was strong. He could tell though, that their little Submissive would not appreciate that. 

The ACE didn’t bother hiding his amusement though, as he smiled at Harry. “Well we can’t complain since it brought you to us.”

“And that’s what I don’t understand.” Harry mumbled, hiding in Riven’s chest instinctively. The Mage was warm and felt safe. 

“What is it that confuses you, Treasure?” Raspen tilted his head to the side, causing his dark brown hair to glint golden for a moment in the morning sunlight. 

“This.” Harry grunted. “Us. I don’t get it. I’m bad with strangers. I’m naturally weary of people I don’t know. No way would I ever get in bed with someone I don’t know. Much less six someones.” The last part was barely audible with how hard Harry squished his face against Riven’s chest. “And yet you feel safe. As if everything is as it should be.” He started sounding a little annoyed. 

Hadrian slipped off the bed silently and sprawled on the floor next to Harry. Years of being around Mariana had taught him how to be calm no matter what. And now that calm would be very handy. 

“Close your eyes and stay calm.” He instructed. “I will place my fingers against your temples and push the relevant information. You just need to stay calm, keep breathing and tell me if something hurts, though it should not.” 

Harry nodded automatically. He was used to orders. And orders like these, that were not harmful and very straightforward, were easy for him to understand and follow through. Still. The notion of getting knowledge just by touching someone would have left Hermione scandalized. One pale hand rose and soon was pressed against the much larger and darker hand palm to palm. 

For a moment Harry could keep up with the onslaught of information being shoved into his head and then he gave up keeping track and just waited for things to settle as everything just became a blur.

Riven gave the ACE an exasperated glance as he gathered the Submissive into his arms and carried the too light young man back to bed where Raspen instantly snuggled Harry between himself and then two sleeping Jokers. “Which part of ‘magic sensitive’ slipped your mind?”

Hadrian cleared his throat. Sheepish was as adorable a look on his face as it was odd. “I didn’t expect him to be this sensitive. I know a few magic sensitive people, but none of them are this sensitive.”  

The ACE positioned himself on the other side of the sleeping Jokers and studied them carefully. The three Jokers were the only other Gheyo in the Circle beside him and he’d never met even one of them. These two he’d at least heard about now and then, but the Phoelix was a total mystery. His black eyes drifted down to where the blue eyed man had leant back to rest against the bed keeping the door clearly in sight. If nothing else, the power he exuded was easy to sense, this made the ACE more relaxed.

---

//at the Burrow, with Molly//

Harry Potter was a Dragel. Objectively, and Molly was determined to be objective here, she could almost see it. She’s known Harry since the man was eleven. And she had wondered more than once about the change that happened to him. Like many others, she assumed that it was due to war trauma. But an inheritance breaking through did make sense. She thought about George and her other children. Dumbledore was the one who suggested the three-fold bindings for her own children. So it was not that far out of question for him to seal Harry as well. Especially since there would have been no parent or guardian to tell the old Headmaster ‘no’. 

Harry being a Dragel though, meant that his marriage to Ginny was over. Like Ron and Percy, her daughter had refused to unseal her inheritance and it was fine by Molly. Arthur was a little sad, for he was sure that at least one of them would have become Torvak, but their family survived the crisis. And it was admittedly much easier now, when she didn’t need to hide such a big part of herself from her husband.

“I’m off to work, Mom.” Ginny shouted as she rushed out of the door, her ginger hair flowing behind her like a cloud.

It looked like either her daughter had convinced herself that things would work out, or perhaps she actually fell out of love with Harry. Molly privately hoped it was the second one, even though she surely knew her daughter well enough to know that there was a snowball’s chance in Hell of that. Ginny seemed to be a pitbull with the things she considered hers. They were hers even if she didn’t care about them. Some days Molly wondered where on Earth that temper came from, it surely wasn’t from her.

Notes:

Noot that big I know, sorry >_<'
And this was the last chapter I had, so now we pray that I can finally figure out where this is going (and that people involved don't fight me *eyes Harry*)

Notes:

Thank you very much for reading lol, I hope to see you next time ^^