Defence, Pretence, Offence (Hecatemus Book #2)

Chapter 1 - Brighter Mornings

Harry rolled over and blinked up at the ceiling, letting the last of his dreams fade away. It had been a good night, no disturbances for either him or Draco and he smiled even before his mind had time to remind him what today meant. When his thoughts caught up with the rest of his body his smile grew and he glanced over at his still sleeping bedmate.

If it had not been for the fact that he could see, all be it somewhat blurrily, the two rolls of parchment on the table beyond his sleeping soulmate, Harry would have thought yesterday evening had been a dream.

He was now, one hundred percent officially, as declared in the documents at which he was looking, an employee of Hogwarts. Before the final moment dawned when his life as a student ceased and his welcome at the school ended, Harry had become part of the place he loved as a home. If it had not been for the fact that dark forces gathered outside the enchanted walls in the rest of the wizarding world, he would have been content.

He lowered his mental barriers to magic and let himself just feel everything around him. Hogwarts was home and it seeped into his whole consciousness as he let his Hecatemus abilities free reign.

[You think awfully loudly when you're happy, you know,] a rather sleepy mental voice floated into his mind. [Some of us are trying to sleep.]

[Sorry,] Harry replied, but was only able to contain his exuberant delight for a few seconds. [Last night was just so ... wonderful, it was incredible.]

[Well I knew I was good,] Draco drawled in his thoughts, cracking open one eye, [but...]

Harry lent forward and gave his soulmate a swift kiss, which interrupted Draco's train of thought.

"While I enjoy pandering to your ego," he said as he pulled back, "and our little private celebration could be described by both those words, I was referring to earlier in the evening."

Draco pouted at him in the most adorable manner.

"I'm hurt," Draco said and batted his pale eyelashes.

Harry couldn't decide whether to laugh or leap on Draco with all the restraint of a sex crazed dragon. He looked at the clock and slowly a smile crept onto his face; it was still early. His soulmate raised an eyebrow and Harry knew that Draco was aware of exactly where his thoughts were headed.

He could always blame it on his Hecatemus instincts. He wasn't quite as sex crazed as he had been right after they had bonded when his body and mind kept demanding they reaffirm their connection physically, but he could use it as an excuse. And Lucius trying to separate them with Dissaepio Iugum had meant they had both been doing a lot of reaffirming anyway. It was going to take a long time for them to get over that even with protection woven into the rings they both now wore.

There was, however, only one problem with Harry's less than innocent plans; it may have been early, but there was still a lot to do. For example, this morning was not a morning for leaping in the shower and then leaping out again almost before he was wet. For a start he needed to wash his hair and once shampoo had been introduced to his raven black mop it took forever to rinse it out again. Everything else paled in comparison to trying to tame his hair.

"How long do you reckon we could barricade ourselves in the prefects' bathroom before anyone blasted down the door?" he asked as an idea began to form in his mind.

A wicked smile graced Draco's face as he also glanced at the clock.

"Oh, I think we have about an hour," Draco said with an innocent tone, which belied the expression on his face, "as long as we get there before one of the Ravenclaws decides to take a soak with a good book."