Writer's Pov.
Grimmauld Place.
Draco was lying on the bed thinking about Harry. He didn't like the fact that Harry was hiding something from him. What was he hiding? Why was he hiding something from him?
After a few minutes, Harry entered their bedroom, changed his clothes, and settled on the bed beside Draco. Draco noticed Harry's every move and realized that Harry was in a trance.
'What is he up to?' Draco thought.
Harry took Draco in his arms absent-mindedly and Draco's eyes were hooked on Harry's face. He shook Harry's left arm and brought him out of his trance.
"Yes, love?" Harry asked.
Draco nodded and said. "Where are you lost?"
"It's nothing important," Harry replied now paying whole attention to Draco.
Draco sighed. "Is there something that's bothering you, Harry?"
"Nothing is bothering me." Harry lied and Draco was able to catch his lie.
He didn't like that Harry was lying to him but he didn't want to force him and come out too nosy. If Harry was hiding something from him then he must have a reason. But that didn't mean that he had to like the fact that Harry was lying to him.
"I am tired," Draco said in a low tone. He turned to the other side and closed his eyes. Harry was shocked by his action as they mostly slept while facing each other and cuddling.
"Love?" Harry called him while caressing the side of Draco's left arm.
"Hmm?" Draco hummed. He didn't want to be too nosy and didn't want to intrude on his private space however, his insecurities were not letting him do so.
"Draco, look at me?" Harry asked softly as he slowly turned him around. Draco looked into his eyes and gave him a questioning look. "Are you upset about something?" Harry asked.
"No, I am fine." Draco lied.
"You are lying and I can tell that," Harry said.
"Even I can clearly understand that you are hiding something and lying about it," Draco said in an accusatory tone to which Harry smiled. He cupped Draco's face and placed a kiss on his forehead only to receive a glare in return.
"Fine, let me tell you everything. One of Hermione's work friends approached her and shared a few things that he is experiencing and is clueless about. It is weird but doesn't feel bad however he wants more information about the same." Harry said trying his best to say it in a way that doesn't go into the category of 'lie'.
He didn't want to lie to Draco but he wasn't sure how Draco would react to his experiences. It can either be too good or too bad and he was afraid of too bad. He didn't want Draco to go through any emotional breakdown.
"So what is he experiencing?" Draco asked and kept his chin on Harry's chest to have a better look at his face.
"He experiences strings around him and his partner. It's invisible however the feeling of its presence is too intense and so he can feel how it looks. He thinks that with each passing day, more strings are getting attached and the strings around him and his partner are forming a complete ball. Right now it is in the shape of a ball but has gaps in between and the gaps are filling in at a fast pace. He and his partner could also see each other's casted raw magic." Harry explained.
"Are they married?" Draco asked immediately as he looked excited about this information.
"No, they are not. They have been in a relationship for the past few months." Harry said.
"Wow, that's insane, Harry," Draco said now looking even more excited.
"You know what this experience means?" Harry asked as his heartbeats rose. He desperately wanted to know what he and Draco shared.
"Yeah, those strings are nothing but their raw magic intertwining with each other. In simple words, they are bonding." Draco replied with a smile.
"How are they bonding if they are not married?" Harry asked with a raised eyebrow. Hermione informed him that there were other bonding processes however he still wanted to know everything from the start. Draco was from a pureblood family, his knowledge could be even more than Hermione in this area.
"Marriage is not the only bonding process in the wizarding world. To be honest, a marriage bonding ceremony is created by humans, it is not a natural bonding process." Draco said which only brought a frown on Harry's face.
"What do you mean by it's not natural?" Harry asked.
"How do I explain to you? The theory behind the natural and human-created bonding process is based on another theory related to humans and their magic source. Until and unless you don't know about the human and their magic source theory, you won't be able to understand the bonding theory. So is it okay if I explain everything from the start?" Draco asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Of course." Harry immediately said as he was excited about the theory Draco was talking about.
"Amazing. Let me explain to you the theory of human and their magic source." Draco said and he sat up straight on the bed while even Harry got into a sitting position. "There was one theory created a few centuries back that was quite controversial, especially in pureblood families. The theory shook the base of the whole wizarding world and the wizards and witches who created the theory were murdered and a lot of their studies and books were destroyed. However, few books remained behind, and as I am a Malfoy, we have a huge library that has a lot of old books. I came across the book of Humans and their source of Magic. My family never believed in this theory however, I do believe in it."
Harry nodded his head asking Draco to go ahead and tell him the theory. "So, in the wizarding world, magic is obtained by humans as well as many wizarding creatures like Veelas, Werewolf, Centaurs, Basilisk, Etc. However, there is a difference between humans and those creatures. An example of the difference is if there are a hundred Veelas in total then every Veelas is born with magic however not every human has magic which is why we have 'Muggles'. So humans are the only race that belongs to both worlds magic and non-magic. This brought a lot of questions in wizards and witches and many started to question the source of our magic. They studied the topic, researched about the same, and got to one theory. The theory was that humans never had magic, they acquired it by mating with magical creatures."
"Really?" Harry asked with wide eyes as he had never heard about such a theory.
"Yes, that's what the books said. It said that thousands of years back, humans had no magical blood in them however some of the humans mated with magical creatures, thus creating magical half-humans and half creatures, those half breeds further mated with humans and this is how a human race with magic started. This happened many centuries back so the creature's blood stopped showing their traits in humans. And within a few centuries, humans started to believe that they got their magical powers naturally somehow as if they were just born with magic and the reality of humans mating creatures was forgotten. Humans have intellectual capabilities so we consider ourselves superior to other creatures or animals and due to this superiority complex, humans forget the source of their magic. Even when this theory was developed with a lot of proofs and ancestral blood studies, still many families denied to believe that they have creature ancestors."
"They hate being linked up with muggles, who are humans themselves, how could they handle being linked up with creatures or animals," Harry said.
"Exactly." Draco nodded his head.
"But if this theory is true then how does muggle born get their magical core or blood? Like Hermione?" Harry asked.
"The book suggested that muggle-born witches or wizards are born through the line of squibs who were thrown out of our world," Draco said and Harry was quite amazed with the theory.
"You believe in this theory, Draco?" Harry asked as Draco was a Malfoy and a Malfoy believing in such a theory was quite questionable.
"Yes, I do. I came across that book a few years back and I read it without informing my parents because I knew they would not let me read it and would destroy the book. I just saw the name of the book and was intrigued by it so I read it and it kind of made sense to me. If humans had magic since the beginning then why do muggles exist? Why don't all humans have magic? What is the reason that some humans have magic and some don't? There is no reason behind it except that we never had magic at the start and acquired it later when we mated with magical creatures." Draco said and Harry nodded his head in yes. This kind of made sense.
"But if this is true then why are humans more powerful than the creatures? I agree that the magical creatures have heightened senses than us but they are not magically powerful in comparison."
"This could be because we have more than one creature's blood. Different generations of our ancestors mated different creatures which caused us to get a more powerful magical core due to the mix of different magical creature's blood. Also, this could be because of our intellectual capabilities. I feel it's the mix of both different magical sources and intellectual capabilities that caused us to be more powerful than magical creatures." Harry nodded his head understanding Draco's point.
"And how is bonding theory related to this theory?" Harry asked.
"A study on magical creatures and their mating process tells us that all magical creatures have soulmates and they get soul bonded. This means that their Soul and Magic intertwine with each other naturally and at a very fast pace. Their heightened senses help them to identify their soulmate. This study was mixed with the theory of humans mating creatures, wherein they assumed that maybe a human was a soulmate of a magical creature thus starting the intermating. In the first few generations, as the concentration of creature blood was higher, they were able to identify their soulmate. Later, due to an increase in human blood, the traits of the creature as well as heightened senses stopped showing in the magical humans. Thus, magical humans started the marriage bonding process. Because we can't go extinct. We need to keep reproducing and keep our race going. So magical humans created a marriage bonding process where two humans who love each other can get married, exchange vows, and their magic gets intertwined. But this process doesn't involve the bonding of two souls because of which it is easy to fall out of love or divorce and so on."
Draco took some deep breaths as he was continuously talking. Harry noticed, pulled Draco in his arms, and caressed his back. Draco smiled, placed a kiss on Harry's chest, and relaxed.
"Soul bonding is a natural way of bonding however it is very rare as magical humans are not able to recognize their soulmates," Draco concluded once he was relaxed.
"I understand that it is rare but so rare that I haven't even heard about it?" Harry asked as he had never heard about humans having soulmates.
"Harry, humans mated with creatures thousands of years back and they stopped recognizing their soulmates hundreds of years back. So with the passing generation, it started to become a legend, a myth. Many magical families forgot about it or stopped believing in it especially half-blood families or muggle-born people. Many pure-blood families believe in soulmates but the belief is decreasing because there are not many examples of it." Draco said while making a pattern on Harry's chest with his forefinger.
"I still don't get it, how is it possible that no magical human has fallen in love with their soulmate in centuries? I mean even if we don't have heightened senses to recognize our soulmate yet at least organically they should fall in love with each other, shouldn't they?" Harry asked with a frown.
"You are right, Harry, but you are forgetting a few points. First, only a few pure-blood families have knowledge or belief in soulmates so even if there are couples out there who are soulmates yet due to lack of knowledge they won't figure out that they are soulmates. Even if they are going through a soul-bonding process they might ignore it or think that it is a part of marriage bonding. Second, a lot of marriages in pure-blood families are arranged to keep the blood purity intact or for wealth so again the possibility of the arranged couple being soulmates is less. Third, creatures feel an immense attraction towards their soulmates after which they organically fall in love with each other however, in magical humans, we have not only stopped recognizing our mates but also the initial attraction is gone. They could feel a certain level of drawn towards each other but not attraction so it is hard for soulmates to come across each other and fall in love." Draco explained.
"Okay, understood your point." Harry took a deep breath and then asked. "But are you sure that the experiences Hermione's friend is going through are bonding? Are they soul-bonding with each other?"
"Yes, I am very sure they are soulmates and are soul-bonding," Draco replied with a smile while looking into Harry's eyes. Harry's heart skipped a beat.
Soulmates?
They were soulmates?
Was that even possible?
"That's too much information to digest," Harry murmured to which Draco smiled.
"Yeah, when I first read it, I had a headache. The book had a lot more detailed information than what I told you. So it was too much to digest but I liked that book. It was a nice read if you believe in it." Draco said.
Harry was still trying to digest the fact that he somehow met his soulmate and was bonding with him right now. There were so many barriers for magical humans to find their soulmate but they found each other. What were the odds for this to happen? How was he so lucky to be able to find Draco, fall in love with him, and get to know that he was his soulmate?
They shared a soul bond, which meant soon they would be bonded for life. Their soul and their magic would bond with each other thus making their relationship forever.
'What else do I want in life?'
"Harry?" Draco got Harry out of his trance and he looked at him. "Why are you smiling?"
Harry shrugged and replied. "Just the thought of having such a pure and forever bond with your lover is amusing me. How can people not believe in such a beautiful bond? And why people don't want to find their soulmates?"
"Because it is hard for humans to find their soulmate. Hermione's friend has been in a relationship with his partner for the last few months and recently he started bonding with his partner, didn't he?" Harry nodded his head. "So it took him a few months of a relationship to start bonding and just imagine if his recent partner was not his soulmate. So how many times does a person get into a relationship, live together for a few months then realize that the person is not the one, find someone else, and repeat the whole process? We don't have so many years to waste. Even if we live more than muggles still we don't have so much energy or time to try different people until we find our soulmate. It is not practically possible."
"So if a human finds their soulmate then they are the lucky one," Harry said with a smile and Draco replied while nodding his head. "Even I must have a soulmate somewhere in this world," Harry said trying to tease Draco.
Draco's eyes widened, his arm around Harry's stomach tightened and he looked into Harry's eyes.
"Or maybe they died in the war." Draco immediately countered him.
"Or maybe they do not live in the UK?" Harry replied only to receive a deadly glare from Draco.
He pushed Harry away from him and lay on the bed again facing the other side. "Fine. Go and find your soulmate. But, if after months or years, you are unsuccessful in finding them then don't come back to me."
Harry laughed loudly at how cutely Draco was acting jealous. He had an angry pout on his face.
Harry hugged him tightly from behind and placed a kiss on his head.
"For me, you are my soulmate, Love," Harry said and this was their actual truth.
"No, don't act all sweet now. You want to be with your soulmate so go and find them with your human weak senses. I want to know how you will be able to do that miracle." Draco said angrily.
Harry again laughed and slowly turned him around. Draco's eyes were closed but his whole face was pink in anger.
"Baby?" Harry called his name in an ever-so-soft tone.
"Don't baby me," Draco said angrily still eyes closed and an angry pout.
"I." Harry pecked his lips.
"Love." Pecked again.
"You." And again.
Draco opened his eyes and looked at him. "Only me?"
"Only you," Harry replied and slowly joined their lips together.
They started sucking each other's lips softly, their arms pulling them more near. Nearer than they have ever been. Near enough to feel each other's body heat. Draco's right hand traveled from Harry's chest to his hair and he fisted them trying to pull him near.
This caused Harry's action to turn a little wild on his lips. He sucked Draco's lips intensely and thrust his tongue inside the moment Draco gave him the chance. His hand caressed the right side of Draco's body and rested on the hem of his shirt.
They broke the kiss and Harry placed small kisses all over Draco's face, then moved towards his right ear and sucked it getting a small moan from Draco.
Draco tilted his head, exposing his neck and giving more space to Harry who placed kisses on his jawline and moved down to his neck.
"Harry." Draco whimpered as Harry nipped on the right side of his neck, then licked and sucked the same probably leaving a mark.
Draco's eyes were still closed and he was trying to feel Harry's touch while still reminding himself that it was Harry. His heartbeats were too fast from a little fear but moreover from the pleasure of the act.
Draco's right hand traveled down from his hair while feeling his neck, chest, stomach and then finally he stopped at his waist. He held Harry's tee-shirt hem thinking to take it up.
Harry felt Draco's hand and he got more wild on his neck leaving few marks on him. Draco's hand moved Harry's tee shirt up to his chest and his hand roamed around Harry's nicely built torso.
"Dray," Harry murmured as Draco's hand movement was enough to put him on fire.
He again pressed his lips on Draco's for another intense kiss which was reciprocated equally by Draco.
Draco felt Harry's lips perfectly moving with his and he loved the pleasure he was getting from them. He was trying his best to keep his fears at bay. He liked what he felt and he knew he was safe with Harry.
Draco broke their kiss and murmured in a low tone. "Your tee shirt."
Harry looked at him for a few seconds before taking off his tee shirt. Draco placed his hands on him and their lips met again for another kiss.
Harry's hand tugged on Draco's shirt but he stopped as Draco held his hand, broke the kiss and their eyes met.
"Will you?" He asked. "I am ugly," Draco replied said in a low tone.
Harry looked into his eyes and said. "I have always been attracted towards your body, Draco. You are hot." He said the last line near Draco's ear and sucked it lightly before giving it a small bite which earned him a light moan.
"I didn't have a baby bump before," Draco said. "Harry, I..I."
"If you are uncomfortable then we can stop, Love," Harry said with a smile while caressing Draco's right cheek.
"Just don't complain if you get disappointed," Draco said after a few seconds. He knew that if Harry complained about his body then it would be a disaster to his mental health.
"You are beautiful no matter what," Harry whispered and slowly took off Draco's shirt. Draco's eyes were tightly shut afraid of his judgment.
It was true that Harry had seen him almost naked before however he was not four and a half months pregnant at that time.
Harry's hands softly touched every part of Draco's upper body and placed a kiss on his baby bump.
"Beautiful." Was the word that left Harry's mouth, Draco opened his eyes and looked at Harry. Harry's eyes were more expressive than his mouth. The way he looked at him and his body showed that he loved it and that he wanted him!
Draco cupped Harry's face and their lips met again. They kissed each other softly while caressing and touching each other's upper body. Harry intentionally caressed Draco's nipple getting them erect and receiving a small moan from him. Their kiss intensified as Harry's tongue got inside Draco's and they fought for dominance.
It was now getting a little overwhelming for Draco. He was enjoying their moment and even felt safe with Harry's touch. However, his memories were resurfacing with each passing second. He was trying his best to remind himself that the person was Harry, his boyfriend but it was getting harder for him. His mind was mixing his memories with his current moment. He was getting nearer to his breakdown point. He knew he should stop Harry before it was too late for him yet he didn't. He wanted to see how much he could take it.
It didn't last much longer, the moment Harry's left leg wrapped around Draco's leg, he felt trapped and pushed Harry away from him.
"No." He shouted with eyes closed, trembling, as memories of him being trapped by magic or hands, or ropes flowed in his head. He shook more when he felt a pair of arms on his shoulder.
"Draco?" He heard a soft voice calling his name but he wasn't able to recognize it.
Their laughs his cries, their taunts his begging, their shouts his fear was the only thing going in his head. Harry's leg was still wrapped around Draco's legs due to which Draco shook more. He felt trapped, suffocated.
"Please." He pleaded to take his leg from him but Harry didn't understand. Harry was not able to understand the reason for his sudden breakdown.
"Draco, I am Harry. I won't hurt you, Love." Harry said while taking Draco's trembling hands in his.
"Please." Draco pleaded again more loudly as tears fell from his eyes.
"What happened?" Harry asked as he was not understanding the reason for his behavior.
"Yo...your Leg," Draco murmured in a low tone. Harry heard him and realized his leg was wrapped around Draco's body so he immediately took it back. He didn't even realize that his leg was wrapped around him. It happened when he was engrossed in their moment.
"I am sorry." Harry immediately apologized as he felt guilty for being the reason behind his breakdown.
Draco opened his eyes, which were red and teary. He was still trembling but looked better than a minute ago.
"I swear, I didn't realize when I wrapped my leg around you. Please forgive me." Harry said while wiping his tears. Draco nodded in denial.
"Not your mistake." He murmured as he took some deep breaths to calm down. "I am sorry for ruining our moment." His eyes teared more as he thought about their moment being ruined by him.
"No need to apologize. I am the one who crossed your boundary. It's my mistake, not yours." Harry said.
There was a distance between them as Harry didn't know if Draco would like his closeness after whatever happened. However, Draco himself moved near Harry and got in his arms.
"Not your mistake," Draco murmured again and Harry kissed his head in response.
Draco sighed in relief as he got the warmth and his scent.
To be continued...
BY J.
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