Samsara's Curse (Drarry Slowburn)

THE CIRCLE KEY

Harry climbed back onto the bed, urging Draco out of it, "The anticipation is killing me!"

"What if it leads to a former village?" Draco ventured cautiously. "That place is probably crawling with Muggles now. It would breach the Statute of Secrecy if they saw us."

"We can just hide under my Invisibility Cloak," Harry offered brightly.

Draco would never get used to that being an option. "But won't they still see the portal?" he propounded.

Harry only half nodded, shrugging, "For a split second. But Muggles nowadays are very skeptical. Even if they see footage of something like that, it won't take long for them to debunk it or say that it's fake."

Harry really didn't have the time or patience to explain CGI and photo manipulation to Draco, a wizard who had no clue what a smartphone was six days ago, so he just left it at that. For modern Muggles, seeing wasn't always linked to believing.

"You'll make any excuse to justify doing something reckless," Draco chuckled, rolling out of bed to get dressed. Muggle clothing was a must, if that key led to a modern city.

Contrary to Harry's hopes, Draco still despised jeans. The Slytherin cursed under his breath as he slipped into them, wishing that his regular trousers didn't look so disjointed from the casual aesthetic of Muggle clothes.

It wasn't snowing anymore, but it was still frigid outside, so Harry lent Draco his leather coat again. It was basically his, now.

Harry never even wore it. The dark green didn't match anything else in his wardrobe—anything that he enjoyed wearing, anyway. They shoved their respective brooches into their steep coat pockets, since they stood out like a sore thumb when paired with Muggle fashions.

While Draco ate a sufficient breakfast, Harry went to his bedroom to find the Invisibility Cloak, gearing up for a full day of quelling curiosity. He thanked Merlin that he decided to keep it in a trunk, where he knew it wouldn't get lost. It was dreadfully easy to lose invisible things.

Harry trotted downstairs with ardor, having packed all the essentials—the Cloak, Samsara's keys, and his phone—in a satchel. When Draco saw the ratty thing, his eyes narrowed in remembrance.

"Was that the same bag you had in school?"

The inside was splotched with ink stains and frayed from several years of wear and tear. It had certainly seen better days, but the pockets still worked, and that was all that really mattered to Harry.

"I just needed something to put the Invisibility Cloak in," he said, holding out a corner of its visible side.

"May I see it?" Draco asked.

Harry pulled the Cloak from the tattered bag and handed it to Draco without a second thought. The visible lining was like silver lace over gray velvet. It appeared delicate, but it absolutely was not. This was the Cloak—The same one that had been passed down through hundreds of generations since the Middle Ages. The fact that it had been through so many owners yet remained intact was a miracle in itself.

"It's remarkable," Draco said. He then thought about what Hermione mentioned before she left, the night prior. "Granger said that it was a family heirloom . . . why didn't you give it to your son?"

According to legend, the Invisibility Cloak was usually passed down once the former bearer came of great age. Harry hardly considered thirty-nine to be old, though. What thirty-nine-year-old would? He still had a few decades of adventure left in him. Even so, that wasn't the reason he kept it.

"I wanted to give it to James for his first year at Hogwarts," he admitted, "but I was worried that Ginny would take it from him."

Draco nodded solemnly, handing the relic back to Harry with care. With that, he went to put his dish in the sink, causing Harry to perk up.