A/N: Graphic and mature child abuse scene throughout the latter half of the chapter.
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Exams fell upon the castle swiftly. The large mix of Houses was located in the library a week before exams started.
They were supposed to be cramming, but Harry was doing a personal project that was left unfinished by Godric. It was something to do with a ritual but he couldn't make heads or tails of it yet.
Because they were in one of the library's lounges, Daphne was lying in his lap. She had fallen asleep nearly an hour ago.
Hermione let out a sigh as she looked up from her texts, "Harry you and Daphne should be studying."
"Reading theories wouldn't be of much use," He told her, his voice low.
"And why not?"
Glancing up from his research, he looked up at her, "Because we have them memorized and can recall the text of almost any book we've read since second year."
The witch seemed to sputter, "How? You've never had such a memory."
Daphne stirred in his lap. Harry began to rub her shoulder and arm gently. "Our Occlumency."
"Just what level Occlumens are you both?" Susan asked. She was a budding level four. Most pureblood students their age were level fours and would continue to be so for most of their lives.
"Individually, level six," Harry shrugged. "When our minds are melded, which is a majority of the time, we are level seven."
"Melded?" Hermione asked, having tried to research the term in the past and failed.
Draco looked at her, "It's the highest form of Occlumency that one can share with another. The practice was invented by the Greengrasses before they migrated from France. Once they came over, they registered it as an official marriage bond for the family." He clarified for her.
"Why only for their family?" She cocked her head to the side. Draco glanced at his cousin for an answer.
Harry sighed lightly, "Because it requires that you take down every shield you have built around your mind. You must connect with the mind of your wife or husband and create a shared mindscape separated from your own. Both parties must build the protections of the shared space before rebuilding the defenses for your own."
He stared at the bookworm girl, "It took Cyrus and Anna years to complete, and after so many years, they are yet to achieve the level of melding that Daphne and I have. When our magic bonded, we accepted the other completely. By taking the time to fall in love, combined with abstaining until our Yule Rites, we performed a ritual of sorts."
Their friends had stopped studying and were listening to Harry. His voice had remained at a soft tone, his hand massaging his wife's scalp soothingly.
"Magic played a large part in bonding our cores, bodies, and souls before we united our minds. We cannot have one without the other, we are Harry and Daphne. When she wakes up, she'll have a memory of this conversation. Our memories are stored by how much we believe the other should know. I'm locked away from any memories of girl talks, and she keeps herself away from our discussions as males."
"And do your entire conversations shared with only passing looks play credit to your Occlumency?" Hermione asked.
"No," Harry shook his head. "The unwitting ritual of binding our beings enhanced our other abilities. The mind-melding has a slight telepathic side effect, like how Cyrus always knows if he's upset Anna and how upset she is. Because our connection is so more than just our mind's melded, Daphne and I have a full telepathic link when our minds are connected."
Hermione sat back, her shoulder pressing against Draco's as she did so. She knew that most people would give it a funny look, but she needed someone to keep her grounded with all the new information she now had about her long-time best friend.
As Harry was the only one in the group that wasn't thinking about what he shared, still studying, or asleep on his lap, he had seen this. Draco had given him a quick look. He had gone to Harry for advice when his attraction for the girl began to bud.
His advice? Draco needed to stimulate Hermione's mind and heart. He needed to prove that his mind could keep up with hers. He needed to show her that he wasn't going to waste her time.
His task was much harder than any other attempting such. He had belittled and bullied Hermione and had been going down a very dark path in his life. Now, ever since Harry rocked the whole Wizengamot, Draco was doing better.
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He had done one of the biggest moves in history, something that Arcturus and Charlus would've been proud of. James wasn't much one for politics but he would've seen it as a prank.
Walburga would've died if she were still living, and Sirius would've laughed and been proud. His mother would be happy for him to claim their birthright, well, the portrait of a pregnant Lily Potter was.
But that was just his life. He was raised by his Squib aunt, a family elf, and the portraits of the people who were taken from him before he could know them. It wasn't easy for any of them, especially Harry and Petunia.
Petunia hated the magical world for taking her sister. She hated James Potter for having a child with her that would see her end. Yet, there she was, following James' and Lily's backup plan for Harry. For four years she had to watch as her ex-husband beat him, as he attempted to snuff the light from his eyes.
It was the same light that his mother had, the same light that burned in her eyes as she used archaic blood magic to ensure her son lived. It was that light in Harry's eyes that she saw when she picked him up from the steep late that Halloween night.
She had fallen in love with the babe as soon as he looked up at her with the big eyes of his mother. His fingers clutched at her hair as his one-year-old mind remembered what happened that night. It was that night that had marked to the beginning of the end of Harry Potter, her nephew.
She cared for him, not as much as she wanted but as much as she was allowed. Vernon had gotten caught up with troubling people since they married and was keen to remind her. He forced her to watch as he methodically destroyed Harry. When Vernon told her that he would be staying under the stairs, Petunia wanted to make it a proper little play and bedding area. She soon found herself at the bottom of the stairs, having been pushed by her husband.
"He doesn't need anything more than what I allow him, do you understand?" He seethed at her. His large body was crouched over her, his hand holding her jaw tightly.
She had kept Maisey informed of Harry, telling Vernon that if she didn't they would find themselves accosted by the wizards because James' family was important.
"Then how come I'm not getting paid for taking care of the brat?" He groused.
Petunia, having been in Gringotts and having met the goblins, smiled at her husband, "That is because Harry is the last of his line. No one but him can even think about using the Potter fortunes without his say. Before you think about trying to strong-arm their bankers, they aren't wizards. They are the small, bloodthirsty hordes of Goblins you hear in fantasy."
That was able to stop Vernon quickly, very quickly. However, he took his frustration out on little Harry and forced Petunia to ignore him. It broke her heart.
The night they moved to Potter Manor, Dudley shoved Harry away from a chair, causing him to crack his head on the tile floor, but to also break a China cup. Vernon was on Harry before his vision cleared, raging at him about blood stains and broken things.
Harry, being the ignorant and stubborn child he was, didn't make a sound as his uncle strangled him. He only stared at the man, a sweet smile on his lips as his face turned red and then purple. His blood cells ruptured in his eyes, and his brain began to starve. Vernon didn't let him go until he had turned blue.
It was his day off and he had forced Petunia to go out for the day. She had come home to find her kitchen had a broken table, broken china that was missing pieces, and blood covering the floor.
She went to check on her nephew, only to stop as Vernon spoke from the top of the stairs, "What are you doing?"
"Getting the boy to clean my kitchen. I'm gone one day and it's destroyed," She said, in an irritable mood now that she heard his voice.
Vernon let out a dark laugh, "He won't be doing anything for the next few days. He broke a cup and got blood on the tile, so I punished him. He'll be staying in there until I let him out."
It took every amount of control she had not to hiss at him. She might not have magic, but she was magical. She knew that Magic loved children and would punish her oaf of a husband harshly, that was the only thing that contained her boiling rage. She wanted to so badly curse and rage at him in parselmouth. She always felt better after letting it out, but she could only do that while locked in the bathroom with the tap running. The water covered his sharp tongue.
She had taken pictures of the kitchen, of the many locks on the cupboard. She waited until late that night when she knew he would be asleep, that was when we called for Maisey and left the prison of Number Four Privet Drive.
They would later find that the missing pieces of china were embedded deep within Harry's skin, lacerating his back. His throat was crushed and his ribs were broken in a way that caged the lungs dangerously. His breastplate was broken, and both collarbones snapped. His nose was dislocated.
Maisey had called for the only private healer that she knew of, one that was family, Andromeda Tonks. She was on the night shift at Saint Mungo's and stolen by the elf in front of her boss and colleagues. When she understood the situation she quickly got to work.
She had to call for someone who she wasn't sure would help, but she knew they would have the potions needed. Andromeda ran to the nearest floo and called Longacre, crying out for Madam Longbottom. The Madam was awake, watching her grandson sleep, and nearly jumped into the floo with Andromeda still on the call when told that Harry Potter was found and on his deathbed.
She called Pipsy for the Healers potion kit they had on hand and left for Potter Manor. She nearly threw up at the sight of her great-nephew.
They had taken pictures and evidence of the child abuse and the choice to call for Madam Bones was made unanimously.
Madam Bones was Head Auror and had seen a great deal of many things. She had never seen a child so close to death wear a smile. Yet, as she stood looking at her young cousin she began to openly cry for the boy.
Harry was awake and conscious, but his world was dark and his hearing was a slight ring. He felt a hand hold his, so he squeezed it as tightly as he could. Petunia had felt his fingers twitch under her hand and turned to her nephew. Harry's bleeding, unseeing eyes were looking at her. The green orbs were offset by the white, now red, around them.
It was a very unnerving stare but the woman let out a broken sob as he spoke. "Back to... the...?" His voice was broken, bubbling with blood that leaked from his cracked teeth and ruptured gums.
Petunia's loud shudder brought the attention of the other woman to the boy. His happy smile was still on his face, his blank, bloody eyes holding hope for release.
It was that hopeful, happy look to be reunited with his parents that broke the other woman. It hit Augusta strongly, for she was a mother wanting to be reunited with her son.
"No, baby," Petunia's voice cracked as she held his hand tighter. "You're still with me."
"Yo... di... Au...?" His smile fell, his eyes filling with worry for the woman who always looked after him when her husband and son were away.
The woman couldn't help but smile at his worry, "I'm alright, Harry. We're somewhere you can rest now." She tried to keep her voice as clear as possible for him, not wanting to worry the dying boy more.
Harry lay there, still hearing a low ring in his ears. His world was still dark. He felt it, something within him stopped working. It was strange, he couldn't feel any pain, but he felt as his heart stopped. His mind was still awake, letting him hear the swearing and crying of Andromeda. Petunia had held his hand strongly, willing him back to her.
Once he was stable the four women stormed Saint Mungo's Hospital. That night, the hospital bore witness to their savior being found, a witch known for being unable to cry, and the two stoic female pillars of their world all in tears.
Those who worked under Amelia, who knew Augusta, and who worked with Andromeda had no idea what could make the three witches cry. No idea until Petunia walked into the Hospital, the dying form of Harry Potter in her arms. The sight of the dying child kick-started every mediwitch and wizard in the building. Every patient waiting was put on the back burner.
Harry once again asked if he was given back to his parents. Every witch who had a son or daughter cried hearing his questions. In his mind, his heart stopped and he died, but he could still hear everything going on around him.
Andromeda relayed that he was already suffering heart failure so that removed sleeping droughts. He couldn't be stunned by the risk of killing him either. They had no other option than to heal him without pain treatment, not that he felt any.
His nervous system had never registered pain the same way after that night. It had taken two-and-a-half days of continuous surgeries and operations for Harry to be treated. His heart stopped a total of three times during the ordeal, and would later tell that he could hear the entire time.
Vernon was arrested after an investigation, Dudley was given to his Aunt, and Dumbledore was nearly thrown through the Veil when they found out he had placed Harry with the Dursley family. Petunia had to go on the stand and admit that she was a Squib and Harry's magical guardian.
Lucius Malfoy tried to fight for Harry, claiming that a squib couldn't hope to raise the savior of the magical world. Petunia verbally told him to sod off and that Lily Potter tasked the woman with ensuring Harry's care, no matter who he was given to.
Lord Malfoy continued to rage about how Harry was half dead and she allowed it to happen. Petunia laughed at him, and explained that when living in fear for his and her lives every day, being dragged out of one's home and forced to spend the day out, was her life. She told the court that Harry wasn't the only one abused, for she found herself physically and sexually assaulted by her husband for loving a child. She was caught in a situation with no out until Harry turned eleven. A situation that Fate and Magic intervened in.
The legal battles were fought for weeks as Harry recovered. Petunia was in and out of court for nearly a year battling with Lord Malfoy. She won in the end.
When Harry shared this fact about his childhood with Daphne, they were locked away in their minds during their Occlumency training. Cyrus watched as his daughter began to weep while in her mind. He didn't know what brought it on, but he watched as tears poured from her eyes for close to an hour.
The secret to why the couple was so close wasn't their Bond at all. It was the fact that she knew every layer of Hell within Harry's mind, and openly accepted him. She wept not in pity for his experiences, but in rage for the close encounters with Death. She pushed herself in showing that she would always stand beside Harry, to show him that she wouldn't run away.
That was why they kept their minds connected. They were together, always going through the days with each other, even if they had different classes or things going on throughout their day. They always had some part of the other with them, no matter how far they were.