All recognized characters belong to J.K. Rowling
Everything else is mine.
R – for violence, language and adult content
Contains male/male pairings- That's SLASH... you know, GAY

Harry Potter and the Parliament of Dreams

Chapter 18 – Your Side, Our Side, and the Truth

By Myr

       

(A/N:  Since JKR was ambiguous as to Blaise Zabini’s gender, I’m saying male)

Blaise was an oft-ignored Slytherin.  Not surprising really, since he went out of his way not to be noticed.  He strongly believed that the way to succeed was to work behind the scenes.  He had a lot of ambition to do just that, which was why he was in Slytherin House.

Blaise, unlike a lot of the other Slytherins, did not have Death Eaters for parents.  The Zabinis tended to sit on the sidelines as a whole.  Blaise didn’t particularly want to deal with the Dark Lord or the Dark arts.  He was quite content with getting power through manipulation and being in the right spot at the right time.  He liked a lot of Muggle-born wizards, even though he was a pureblood.  He had contacts in both Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff.  Gryffindors were rather impossible, though he did talk fairly regularly to both Fred and George Weasley.  Fred and George were not your common Gryffindors, though.  They were the go to guys when someone wanted something.  They were well known for their jokes and the other contraband they regularly smuggled in.  They were lesser known for playing matchmaker with people that came to them looking for something of the more human nature.  Blaise was only too aware of some of the Slytherin’s habits of selling sex.  He found it rather deplorable.  He had heard that the Weasleys would only pass the name of a contact to the people that wanted to buy sex though.  It was some of the Gryffindor nobility kicking in, no doubt.

Blaise tended to look at things rather practically.  Since he was mostly ignored, it allowed him to observe the others without them noticing. 

It was obvious that whatever happened over the summer left Draco Malfoy floating free in the breeze.  There was a scramble to fill the power vacuum that Draco had left when he became shunned.  Not everyone was shunning Draco though.  Vince and Greg still seemed as loyal to Draco as they ever had.  Draco himself was a lot quieter and simply went about his business.  What worried Blaise the most though was Pansy’s rise to power.  She was the one that clawed her way to the top to take de facto lead of the Slytherin students.  She was also acting oddly.  She appeared to be trying to hang off Draco one minute and then trying to glare him to death the next.  The one morning he was sitting next to Draco during breakfast, he had finally figured out what Pansy was up to.  It was just some ill-disguised attempt to extract information from him.  Draco saw through it, fortunately for him.

Blaise arrived at Sunday morning’s breakfast early.  He was the first Slytherin in the Great Hall.  There was a small crowd of people at the Ravenclaw table, including his friend, Zavien Higgs.  He nodded at the other boy and got a subtle answering nod.  The Hufflepuff table was fairly empty.  Susan Bones was there as was Justin Finch-Fletchley.  Michael Corner, one of Justin’s classmates, was also there.  He had an oddly dazed expression on his face. The teacher table was also fairly empty at the moment.  Hagrid, Flitwick, and Sprout were amongst the professors.  Percy Weasley, the Ministry of Magic puke was there as well.

Blaise sat down at the far end of the Slytherin table, with his back turned towards the teacher’s table so that he could watch everyone else in the Great Hall.  He asked his plate for eggs, bacon and toast and waited as they appeared along with a pitcher of orange juice.  He poured the juice into his cup and then he started to eat.  He was nearly complete when his owl flew overhead, dropping a letter onto his plate.  His owl always arrived early on Sunday, since it knew he was always at breakfast early.

He opened the letter immediately and started reading.

My Son,

The time has come to choose sides in the upcoming war.  My sources inform me that Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge will be stepping down soon.  The same source tells me that Arthur Weasley is will be the one to replace him, due in no small part to the heavy support from your Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore.

It is my desire that you move to ally yourself with Dumbledore and the Weasleys.  My sources in the Death Eaters tell me that Draco Malfoy has fallen completely out of grace with his father and that the Dark Lord is quite furious at Lucius Malfoy because of it. It is pretty unclear, but it appears as though You Know Who is blaming Lucius for Draco’s rebellion.  Apparently, and there were only four witnesses to this, You Know Who tried to kill Draco but some ghostlike form of Harry Potter blocked him.  Have you noticed anything odd between Potter and Malfoy?  If you haven’t been looking closely, do so immediately.  Obviously, you could also try to approach Potter to help shift yourself in the right people’s eyes.  This will be easier if you know for certain that Potter and Malfoy have resolved their differences.

As usual, this parchment will destroy itself when you finish reading it.  Do not reply.  I know you’ll do what I ask, for it is in all of our interests.

Father.

Blaise snorted when he finished reading the letter.  The letter itself dissolved to ash and fell towards the table.  Even the ash disappeared by the time it would have hit the table.

Blaise was still pondering what he should do a few minutes later when Draco walked in, followed moments later by the Boy Who Lived.  Blaise’s attention perked up immediately at this.  Perhaps his father was right about the two of them?

       

Draco woke up feeling completely refreshed.  Something was different in his mind and he noticed it immediately.  He seemed aware of everything around him in an almost hyperactive sort of way.  All of his senses were much sharper, which was a rather intoxicating feeling.  He extracted himself from Harry as carefully as he could but Harry woke up anyway. 

“Good morning, Dragon.”

“Good morning, Boy Wonder.”

They smiled at each other, feeling each other’s love in their own minds.  They got out of bed and both went into the bathroom together.  They both took turns at using the toilet before climbing into the shower together.

Harry set the temperature to something they both would like and turned to Draco.  Harry took the washcloth out of Draco’s hands and lathered it up with the bar of soap.  Harry took the soapy washcloth and started to scrub Draco from head to toe.  Harry’s sensual cleaning of Draco’s nether regions resulted in an expected condition, but Harry ignored it.  As soon as he had scrubbed Draco from head to toe, he thrust Draco towards the showerhead. 

Draco stood under the running water with a pouty look on his face.  It made him look much younger than he was.  Harry smiled at him as he approached with a bottle of shampoo in his hands.  Harry beckoned Draco forward and Draco willingly complied.  Harry squeezed some shampoo into his hand and set the bottle aside. He put the shampoo into Draco’s hair, running his fingers through his soft platinum locks.  Draco moaned again.  Harry smirked, but did nothing other than wash his hair.  He dragged Draco back under the water when he was done washing his hair. 

It was time for Draco’s little revenge.  Draco dragged Harry out of the water and quickly washed him down, taking time to lightly tickle Harry in his vulnerable spots.  Harry squirmed in Draco’s grasp, but made no attempt to move.  Draco finished washing Harry down a few minutes later.  He brought Harry back over to the water and rinsed him down and then decided it was time to tackle Harry’s hair. 

He shampooed Harry’s hair and studied it as he did.    He lightly ran his hands through Harry’s hair as he rinsed the shampoo out under the showerhead.  Harry squirmed under Draco’s tender touch.  Draco smiled as he reached out and shut the water off.

Draco reached out and grabbed a big fluffy towel that hadn’t been there when they had entered the shower.  He dried Harry down with a grin on his face.  As soon as Harry was dry, he handed the towel to Harry, who returned the favor.

“Can we try something with your hair?” Draco asked.

“What did you have in mind?” Harry murmured in response.

“I want to try to get it to lay down a little, that’s all.”

“So long as I don’t get all slicked like you.  It wouldn’t look as good on me as it does on you.”

Draco’s old smirk appeared for a second, “You’d look good no matter what you did.”

Harry blushed and then mumbled, “Not as good as you.”

Draco gave a rather undignified snort.  “Humility suites you well, but you are very cute Harry James Potter.”

Harry smiled shyly at his partner and the whispered, “Thanks Dragon.”

Draco smiled as he wondered in that private space in his own head why Harry was so unaware of his own charms.  The innocence of Harry Potter was an attraction all to itself.  ‘Who’d have thought Harry Potter would love someone like me?’ ran through his mind for the millionth time.

“We should go to breakfast.”

“You’re right.  We also have to prepare for our Dueling classes this afternoon.”

“I feel different after what we did last night,” Harry managed to say the last bit with only a little blush.

“Me too.  It’s like everything is brighter and more alive.”

“Hmmm.  It’s more than that for me, but I can’t put my finger on it.”

“Let me know when you do.  Let’s go eat,” Draco said, punctuated by his stomach growling.

The boys dressed in clean robes that were left lying on the newly made bed.  They didn’t mention the obvious visitor, though Harry silently made a note to himself that he should talk to Dobby sometime soon.

They left the flat together and walked next to each other as far as the Great Hall, only separating a little near the end to stagger their arrival a tiny bit.  It didn’t matter much, as there was almost no one in the Great Hall at that time in the morning.  At least from their respective houses…

       

Draco walked straight towards his table and sat down next to Blaise, who was one of the few people in Slytherin still talking to him as normally as he ever did.  Blaise nodded in greeting as Draco plopped down next to him.

Blaise looked around to make sure that only Draco was within hearing distance, “Draco, what’s going on with you and Potter?”

Blaise was not expecting the result to that question.  Draco hopped out of his seat like he had sat on a pinecone, going even more pale than usual.  Blaise was about to try to calm him down when Draco forcefully removed him from his seat and dragged him out of the Great Hall.  The teachers there, who were aware of Draco’s upcoming status in the Order, didn’t deign to notice the ruckus.  As soon as Draco got the other boy into the hallway, Harry joined him.   Harry then leapt ahead and opened the secret passage that was nearby.  Blaise was surprised by the sudden change from bright hallway to dark, gloomy corridor.  Harry walked on past several doors finally opening one and going through.

Draco shoved Blaise into the room behind Harry and then closed the door.  Draco glared angrily at Blaise, while Harry looked completely blank.  Blaise started to squirm under Draco’s intense gaze.

“What is it you know?” Draco asked in a low whisper.

Blaise tensed up.  That whisper sounded dangerous.  Draco had always gotten his way in the past in whatever he wanted.  Not all of it was because of the threat of his father in the background, either.  Draco was well versed in interrogation.  If rumors were true, it had to do with him being the recipient of it from his own father.

Draco’s glare intensified as Blaise weighed out his answer.

“Nothing at all,” Blaise finally replied.

Harry, who had blended into the shadows snorted in disbelief.

Draco said nothing in reply, but the look on his face was so cold that it dropped the temperature in the room.  Blaise became extremely agitated.

“I asked you a question, Blaise.  I’m not going to ask again.”

Blaise could feel eyes on his back and it made his skin crawl.  Potter was not acting in his typical Gryffindor fashion.  In fact, Blaise felt more threatened by Potter’s silence behind him than Draco’s blustery looks in front of him.

“A friend told me that there was something going on between you two,” Blaise said at last.

Harry spoke up from behind him in a low, dangerous-sounding voice, “He’s lying.”

Draco looked directly at Harry. “How do you know?”

“I feel it.”

Blaise nearly shat himself at the sound of Harry’s voice, so he missed the glance that Draco sent behind him.

“The truth.  All of it, right now,” Draco enunciated slowly.

“My father sent me a letter this morning.  You know how he likes to think things out before he leaps?” a shaken Blaise asked.

“Yes.  Go on.”

“He has decided to join Dumbledore’s side.  Apparently Cornelius Fudge is stepping down as Minister of Magic and Arthur Weasley is set to take his place.”

Harry and Draco exchanged surprised glances.

“My father also indicated that the Dark Lord is very upset at your father for driving you away from his cause, or something like that.  I’ve noticed that a large number of Slytherins have been offering you the cold shoulder.  They seem to match up with those who have Death Eaters for parents.  He also said something else,” he slowed to a stop sounding apprehensive.

Harry had moved around to stand next to Draco.  “What else did he say?”  Harry’s tone was neutral.

“The Dark Lord tried to kill Draco this summer and a ghostlike Harry Potter blocked him,” Blaise stared directly at both Harry and Draco to catch their response.

“That matches with what little we remember,” Harry said over his shoulder to Draco.

“What is going on between you two?” Blaise asked, genuine curiosity in his voice.

“We’ve been connected and have therefore made peace with each other,” Harry replied quietly.

“There’s more to it then that,” Blaise stated confidently.

“Of course there is, you git,” Draco snapped.  “You don’t honestly think we’re going to tell you something that no one else knows?”

Blaise got a calculating look on his face that was wiped off quickly when Harry got right up face to face with him.

“It wouldn’t be healthy for you to try to use this information to your advantage,” Harry stated in a low voice.  It left the room feeling cold and it made Blaise’s skin crawl.

“You really should have let the Sorting Hat sort you into Slytherin,” Draco said quietly.

“Slytherin is all about ambition and the thirst for power.  Gryffindor is about honor, duty, and bravery.  While I’ll admit that I have some rather Slytherin attributes, I’m far more Gryffindor.”

“Indeed,” was Draco’s amused response.

“The Sorting Hat wanted to put you in Slytherin?” Blaise asked in surprise.  “Harry Potter, The Boy Who Lived in Slytherin?  That would have been a complete shock.”

“I am a Parselmouth, remember.  That was one of Slytherin’s most favored traits,” Harry said sardonically.

“What are we going to do with him?” Draco directed at Harry.

“We’re going to ask him questions and then decide,” Harry’s voice reverting back to cold.

“I’m being honest,” Blaise said suddenly nervous, looking at Draco’s impassive face.

“What is it that you want?” Harry asked.

“I’d like to live my life without being oppressed by anyone.  I have nothing against Muggles or Muggle-born wizards.  My father wanted to see which way the wind was blowing before committing.  He’s more of a fence sitter than I am.  I’m glad that he wanted to go to the side of light.”

Harry nodded,  “And what about us?”

“What about you?  It would look like you guys are considerably closer than you have indicated.  It doesn’t bother me.  I’m not going to say anything, though I suspect that it’ll leak soon.”

Harry nodded.

“I suppose we let him go then Harry?” Draco asked.

Harry nodded slowly.

Draco walked right up to Blaise and got right in his face.  “Remember that I don’t like being betrayed Blaise.  Don’t make the mistake of crossing me,” Draco said dangerously.

Blaise shivered a bit as Draco released him.  “I won’t say anything.”

Harry nodded and then went to the door opposite the wall and waved empty hand over it, causing the wall to open revealing a main hall, “See that you don’t, Zabini.”

Draco’s mouth twitched slightly as he followed Harry out. 

Blaise stared after them both with his jaw open.  He certainly hadn’t expected this turn of events.  Hogwarts’ Golden Boy having a dark side to him was shocking to say the least.  Potter had the ability to be truly frightening and it is a good thing that he is on the side of light magic.  He could give the current Dark Lord a run for his money if he felt so inclined.  Blaise was lost in his thoughts so he didn’t follow them out the door before it closed.

He walked to the wall when he was ready to leave and he waved his hand.  Nothing happened.  He took out his wand and said “Alohomora.”  The wall opened again revealing the hallway.  He stepped through.

Blaise most certainly had a lot to think about.

       

As soon as they were clear of the room, Draco turned to Harry, “Something has changed since last night.  What’s going on?”

“It appears that I can tell whether or not someone is lying.”

“And the door?”

“And it appears that I don’t need my wand for some things.”

“What can you do without a wand?”

“I don’t know.  It’s not important anyway,” Harry said dismissively.

“Not important?” Draco asked incredulously.  “Of course it’s important you bloody git!  Wizards need wands to cast magic.  Wandless magic is almost unheard of these days.”

“I didn’t cast a spell,” Harry stated.

Draco stopped cold.  “You didn’t even cast a spell?  You just waved your hand while wanting the door open?” Draco clarified.

Harry, feeling sheepish because of Draco’s attitude, merely nodded.

“Merlin’s bloody beard!” Draco exclaimed.

“What?” Harry asked, truly puzzled.

“There are times Harry Potter, that your naivety is a real burden on the rest of us,” Draco drawled.

Harry continued to look puzzled and looked like he was a bout to say something when Professor Dumbledore walked up to them.

“Good morning boys.  Please come with me to my office,” the Headmaster commanded and then turned away, whistling an old muggle ditty.

Harry and Draco followed the old man to the gargoyle blocking his office.  The password for the moment was “Lemon Drops” again.  Harry smiled fondly at the memory that evoked of the old man popping the muggle candy into his mouth.

They followed Dumbledore up the stairs to his office.  They sat across from his desk in chairs that were placed side by side.  Dumbledore continued around his desk and settled into his old chair.

“What do you remember about last night?” Dumbledore asked without any other preamble.

“There was a brief scuffle outside and then inside the flat.  Draco and I surmised that my emotions were leaking out and affecting other people.  Er… some time later, I dreamed about helping Professor Snape.  I don’t remember anything else.”

“I figured.  Do you remember anything Draco?”

“No.  I dreamed about searching for Harry though,” the blond boy said in a subdued voice.

“It would appear that you have projective empathy Harry.  It means that you can force other people to feel what you want them to feel or you can accidentally allow them to feel what you are feeling.  You also have receptive empathy as well.  It can be a dangerous combination when it is not in control.  As for your respective dreams, they were actually true.  Your intimate relations last night seemed to have augmented your respective powers.”

“What happened last night?” Harry asked looking somewhat ill.

“The emotional outburst resulting in the conclusion of your activities hit Professor Snape, who happened to be in the corridor at that moment.”

“I… remember more… I felt him in the hallway with this sense…” Harry said slowly as he tried to put to words the feelings he had.

“You are aware of those around you?” Dumbledore asked in a quietly intense manner, his hand resting on the desk.

“Yes… and I can tell when they are lying or telling the truth.  Or I was able to tell with Blaise Zabini.”

“What did he have to say?” Dumbledore decided to track down the information as it was offered.

“He wants to join the side of light.  He also said that Minister Fudge was stepping down and that Mr. Weasley was the most likely replacement.”

Dumbledore looked surprised, “He knew that?”

Harry was too lost in his own thoughts to notice the surprise simply replied, “That’s what he said.  And he said that this past summer, Voldemort cast Avada Kedavra on Draco, but that I was there in ghost form and it passed through me, and did not effect him.”

“What?” Dumbledore yelped in response.

Harry leaped out of his seat and ran into the corner, suddenly overwhelmed by the emotional outburst. 

The Headmaster quickly clamped his own emotions off as he leaned back into his chair.  Only his wide eyes indicated that there was a lot going on behind his twinkling eyes.  

Draco had not moved during this whole episode but he looked thoughtfully over his shoulder at his boyfriend before asking the Headmaster, “If he is having trouble handling a room with two people in it, how is he going to handle the Great Hall with over one thousand?”

Draco’s simple question startled Dumbledore out of his thoughts.  “A good question Draco.”

Dumbledore turned his gaze to Harry for a while.  Fawkes had left his stand was he was on the shelf next to Harry, gently rubbing his fire red wing over Harry’s face.  Harry had a look of peace on his face.

“I think it will be best if you escort him back to the Gryffindor flat for now.  We’ll work something out.  About last night… your act seems to have intermingled your magical powers.  You’ll both be displaying different abilities that the other may have had or powers that neither of you alone had.  It is important that you be careful not to over exert yourself until you know the limits of your new abilities.  I also want you to note that you now have the ability to open the door to the Gryffindor flat.  You didn’t even use a password, you simply waved your hand in front of it.”

That image caused a startled reaction in Draco.  “Harry did that as well today.  He opened a secret door without casting a spell or using his wand.  That was what we were arguing about when you arrived.  Harry was using magic without a wand and without a command word.  I did as well?”

Dumbledore stared at the blond boy for a few moments before nodding.  “This is most interesting.  You two boys have become quite thoroughly enmeshed with each other.  This is a new area of study as well.  If it was the Avada Kedavra curse that caused this, then you two are truly unique.  The only person to ever survive the curse is Harry.  In theory, it would be possible I suppose, but there is no way to reproduce the effects safely,” Dumbledore was thinking out loud.

“Headmaster, can I leave now?” Draco asked.

“Yes.  You’re both excused from Dueling class today as well.  I’ll inform Professor Snape and Professor Lupin.”

“Thank you.”

“Come on Harry,” Draco said, catching a hold of Harry’s arm.

He gently guided Harry outside and down the stairs.  Harry had returned to normal mostly, but he got jumpy whenever someone came closer.

“Have you tried blocking it?”

“I can’t.  The emotions keep getting in.  Except from you.  I only feel what you let out.”

“Interesting.”

Harry shuddered as he felt an intense warmth and love flood through him.

Draco smiled a warm genuine smile.  They had been walking all this time and had made it quite a ways during this time. 

They were in the final corridor before the flat when the wall opened and Higgs and Fred Weasley stepped out.  Harry jumped a bit in surprise but settled down quickly.  Fred Weasley was radiating warmth, concern and camaraderie. Higgs was seemingly basking in Fred’s warmth and was feeling intensely shy. 

“May we come with you?” Fred asked Draco.

Draco looked at Harry, who nodded.

The four teens made their way right to the door and stopped.  Draco waved his hand and the door opened.  Fred and Zavien exchanged glances.  They all walked inside.  Harry went straight for one of the large couches in front of the fireplace.  Draco walked up behind him and looked at the stacked wood in the fireplace.  The room had cooled down a lot so he looked at the wood and whispered, “Incendio.”  The wood burst into a mighty flame.

Fred, who watched the whole thing, noting the lack of wand, caught the surprised look on Draco’s face.  “Nice bit of wandless magic there Malfoy.”

“Please call me Draco Fred.  I don’t wish to be reminded of my connection to Lucius when I am amongst… friends,” He said tentatively.

Fred’s wide grin answered Draco’s tentative reaching out, “Anybody that loves Harry enough to take care of him is a friend of mine, Draco.”

Draco smiled shyly in response.  Forming real friendships was totally new ground for him.  “Lawrence was it?”

“My friends call me Zavien, Draco,” Zavien replied slightly stiffly.  “Can we start again?  Last night was… unpleasant.”

“I’m willing to give it a try,” Draco said after he felt a twinge of reassurance from Harry.

“Fred was telling me some things earlier.  He said something that struck a raw nerve with me.  Given my family’s general Dark Arts associations and their past in Slytherin, I’ve always been subjected to the discrimination because of my name.  I did the same thing to you because of who your father is.  For that I’m sorry.”

Draco looked at him deeply for a long while when he felt what Harry had been talking about.  He knew that Zavien was telling the truth because he felt it.  “Apology accepted.  You would have been right too in your original assumption right up until the train ride home last year.  Let’s say that I had many revelations this past summer.”

Fred, who had sat down on the couch opposite of Harry, said “Zavien and I spent time last night and again this morning working some things out.  We’re going out now.”

“You’re gay?” Harry asked in surprise.

Fred smiled again, “George and I are both Bi.  I prefer guys slightly more and he prefers girls slightly more.”

“Oh,” was all Harry was able to say.

“Why were you two heading back up here?”

“We’ve bumped into a little problem and Dumbledore asked that I stay here for the rest of the day and maybe longer if necessary.”

“What is it?” Fred asked, concern crossing his face.

Harry glanced briefly at Draco, who nodded slightly encouraging Harry.  “Part of the problem last night was that I’m able to project emotions and I’m able to feel other people’s emotions.  Draco has this ability as well, though it’s not yet as strong as mine.  Until I’m able to effectively control this ability, I can’t be around too many people at once.  It makes me… unstable.  The mess with everyone here last night is a good example.”

“Ah.  That would make sense.  In all my time watching Fred here, I’ve never really seen him act on that Weasley temper before.  It was a rather painful shock, but at least I finally got him,” Zavien said while smiling at Fred. 

Fred blushed, which was not something any of the others were used to seeing.

Draco and Harry laughed softly together at Fred’s discomfort.  Fred blushed deeper.

“Stop laughing at my Fred,” Zavien said with a barely straight face.

Harry broke into an uncharacteristic manic grin at Fred.  Fred started laughing as well.

“That’s the Fred I know,” Harry smiled more normally.

“We should probably leave you two in peace,” Fred started, “We have dueling class this afternoon, even if you don’t.  Besides, we only wanted to apologize for our behavior last night.”

“Thank you for coming.  Both of you,” Draco said sincerely.

Fred and Zavien both smiled as they made their way out of the room.

Harry stretched out on the couch as Draco came over and dropped into the space in front of Harry.  Harry’s arms closed around Draco’s chest and he tugged the boy closer to him. 

They woke up about an hour later to an incessant knocking on their door.  Draco groaned as he got up and head towards the door.  He opened the door and the person stopped in mid-knock.

“It’s about bloody time, Mr. Malfoy,” a very irritated Severus Snape said as he swept into the room, his black robes billowing out behind him.

Professors Lupin, McGonagall and Dumbledore followed him in.

Draco glared at their backs for a moment before closing the door and walking straight back to Harry and sitting back into his arms with a defiant look on his face.

The four professors sat on the couch across from Harry and Draco and stared at the two boys.

“What is it you want?” Draco asked, his irritation leaking into his voice.

Harry leaned back into the couch as far as he could press himself and moved so that Draco was in between him and the professors.

 “We’ve decided to add some additional protection to this room that will allow your friends to come and visit you.  It will also give us better knowledge of your whereabouts,” McGonagall explained.

“You want to be able to spy on us easier, in other words,” Draco said dryly.

McGonagall’s eyes narrowed dangerously, but a snort from Snape lessened the impact.

“We will be installing a portrait outside your door.  This will allow you to keep your flat secure with the door to the flat itself being open.  In an emergency or if you want privacy, you can simply close the door to the flat,” Dumbledore continued McGonagall’s explanation.

“And the real purpose of this portrait?” Draco asked suspiciously.

“Harry has been known in the past to have debilitating attacks on his person.  With you being connected to each other, it stands to reason that there is a possibility that you too would be affected.  If you two were here with the door shut, we would never be able to get in to help you.  This way we would be able to get in.  And in the unlikely event of an attack on the castle this room would be the most secure place to keep you.”

Draco nodded as he thought out the consequences.

“And it would be a handy way of keeping track of you, of course,” Dumbledore added after a moment, his eyes twinkling.  “I’ve asked your respective Heads of Houses here as well because it is getting close to the time where I think it might be beneficial to remove you both from your dorms.”

“Removed from our dorms?” Harry asked, leaning around Draco to peer at Dumbledore.

“As you well know Harry, secrets do not exist long in this place and it will be only a matter of time before people realize that you two are together.  At that time we feel that it would be safer for Draco to be out of the Slytherin dorms.  We thought it would be more fair to him to also move you out of Gryffindor at that time.”

“What about Quidditch?” Harry asked, sounding very anxious.

“You will continue to be team captain for Gryffindor,” McGonagall said with relief.

“I’m afraid that there has already been some requests to remove Draco from the Slytherin team.  What’s more is, I’ve had to grant the team’s request. However, both Crabbe and Goyle will remain on the team; no one could think of anyone that could replace them in both brawn and wanton brutality,” Snape said.

Draco felt a strong pang of regret and felt Harry’s arms wrap around him, despite the professors in the room.

Professors Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Snape stood and then made their way out of the room.  Professor Lupin remained.

Draco looked at Lupin for a few moments without saying anything.

Lupin finally started talking, “They asked me to talk to you two about emotional magic and wandless magic.  What do you know already?”

“Harry can project his emotions on others and he feels them in others.  We can talk to each other in our heads.  We have figured out how to create walls in our minds to stop from leaking our emotions.”

“You can talk to each other?” Lupin asked with his eyebrows raised.

“Yes,” Harry spoke up, but did not elaborate and his tone said clearly that Draco wasn’t going to either. 

“The key to empathic projection and reception is to always know your center and your grounding point.  In order to create a wall in your mind, you have found your natural grounding point.  I strongly suspect that at the moment you are using your partner as your center.  You need to find your own center so that you can always be in control of your powers.  Draco, if you’d be so kind as to lend me your hand?”

Draco stretched out his hand and clasped it with Lupin’s hand.  He suddenly felt himself in a cloudy void.

“Where are we?”

“In a dream,” Lupin said from a nearby cloud.

“How do we leave here?”

“You must find the center of your soul,” Lupin replied almost cryptically.

Draco stared in frustration at the clouds in this dreamland before he noticed a golden snitch flying around.  He wished he had a broom to give chase to it, but instead found only himself hurtling after it.  He chased it for some time before catching it and finding himself leaning forward on the couch with a feeling of rapture permeating his being.

Harry, who had a hold of Lupin’s other hand, also woke back up to reality at the same time.  Both boys looked at each other.

“You both now have your center.  You’ll need to spend the rest of the day here practicing with your shields.  We’ll send some people up later to help you practice.”

“What about classes tomorrow?”

“I think that if you avoid the Great Hall for now, you should be okay for classes, as long as you practice.  I’ll be up first thing in the morning to check on you both.”

“Thank you Professor Lupin,” Harry said quietly.

“Your welcome.  I’ll leave you two alone to practice so I can go prepare for today’s Dueling class.”

The boys nodded as Lupin stood and left the flat.

The boys leaned back into the couch as one and explored their own thoughts.

       

Professor Lupin entered the hall to find Professor Snape standing there.

“Remus, how did it go?”

“They will be extremely powerful in time Severus.  They have already grounded their talent and have fairly strong shields.  The problems Harry has been suffering were due to his lack of proper centering.  I think that has been solved.”

“They have strong shields and they were leaking as much as they have?” Severus asked aghast.

“I think that your experience may have been caused by them completely dropping their shields so that they could experience the full effects of their connection.”

“That would make sense.  It was an extremely intense emotion.”

“They can talk to each other in their heads too.  They refused to elaborate, but I have a feeling form what I’ve seen that they have a full telepathic connection.  It would also explain the rather intense situation that you faced.”

“I suppose that makes sense.  They aren’t a danger to anyone are they?”

“I hate to think where we would be if Harry had any evil inclinations at all.  He’d be far worse than the Voldemort could ever be.”

The normally pale professor went two shades whiter.

“We’ll keep an eye on them.  Now, tell me, is there any good duelers in your house?”

Snape smiled at the change of subject.  “I think there is.”

“Good, we will have to arrange another interhouse Dueling Class.”

“Sounds interesting, Remus.”

End of Chapter 18

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