It's the second day passed since Harry had left Grimmauld Place and the townhouse seemed quieter than ever.
The occupants were still reeling from all that they had learned over the previous days and coming to terms with things.
Ginny sat in the kitchen picking at a piece of loaf on the plate before her compiling a list of what she knew. Minutes turned to hours as she sat despondently, mulling over the facts.
She snapped from her thoughts when the door opened and in walked the professors' Mcgonogall, Flitwick, Sprout and Lupin. They were followed closely by Sirius Black her parents and a group of ministry members like Tonks, Bones and Hestia Jones.
"-just saying that if we're actively looking then there's a higher chance of him being found."
"Harry's too smart to just allow himself to be caught Minnie. There's no way that he'd go out where he could be spotted!" Sirius argues as he settled down at the table across and up a few chairs from Ginny.
Remus sat down and sighed, long and heavy, his shoulders sagging in exhaustion.
Ginny sat forwards a little bit and thought about her phrasing.
"Professor Lupin, sir, I'm sure you're pretty tired and anxious because of the approaching full moon. You shouldn't stress too much about Harry" Ginny could see that a few of the people in the room wanted to interrupt but she pointedly ignored them as she focused solely on Remus.
"Harry may be selectively ignorant at times, and do some pretty irresponsible things, when it comes to his safety, but I don't think he would've gone anywhere that would put him in danger."
She took a pause as she collected her thoughts and thought about what she wanted to say.
"I know Harry, I don't think he is stupid enough to put himself in danger, but that being said, we should probably still keep an eye out anyway considering what we know.."
Ginny trailed off at the end, he face turning red from the stares of the entire room.
Madam Bones cleared her throat, removing the attention from Ginny who had begun fidgeting in her seat, " Well said Miss Weasley. I do believe what you said makes sense as the logical next move. First things first though, what do we actually know?"
The group thought for a moment before Flitwick pulled out some parchment and the group gathered around as he wrote what they knew into a list, different people adding small details here and there.
What wee know about Harry and (?):
Harry is very close to them. (Minnie)
Harry misses them when they're not together. (Tonks)
He can sing. (Flitwick)
He's gay. (Hestia)
They're older than him. (Sirius)
They attended Hogwarts(??) (Sprout)
They're male. (Remus)
Harry left. (Mollyol)
James is alive? (Minnie)
Snape is his actual father? (Remus)
Harry has anger issues. (Bones)
Being manipulated(??) (Sprout)
Harry's with them now. (Sirius)
He'll be on the train this coming year. (Flitwick)
He was meant to be in Slytherin. (Ginny)
Good at hiding the truth. (Ginny)
"If he was meant to be in slytherin then why isn't he?" Mcgonogall questioned aloud.
"Oh! He met Malfoy on the train and then when they were waiting before the sorting Malfoy insulted Ron and Harry didn't like him because of it so when Malfoy went to Slytherin Harry decided that he would go anywhere but there and the rest is just history I guess.. Ron and Harry didn't tell me what happened on the train but I heard around school that they had a big confrontation" Ginny informed the group as a whole.
Sirius made a strangled noise in the back of his throat as he the went to speak, " that's so silly! If he was meant to be in Slytherin the there was a reason for it! I may not like them all that much but I can appreciate that some of them are genuinely there for their ambitions. For Harry to go to Gryffindor instead is crazy! Don't get me wrong, I'm glad he's in Minnie's house but surely he would have done better in the house where he was meant to be placed."
The group looked at Sirius stunned.
"Hermione went through Harry's lineage briefly last year and found that all of the potters for several generations have been Gryffindors, it made Harry more resolute that he made the right choice when thinking that his notoriously light family would have disapproved of his being in Slytherin" Ginny informed the group as a whole.
Sirius looked at her aghast, " That's so ridiculous, the potters are well recognised for being grey and staying neutral. It's only James who was so supportive of the light in his previously assumed last years of life and even then the potters are well known for going into every single house! Harry's grandfather Charles Potter was married to my great aunt Dorea Black and she was a well known Slytherin, James would only ever discriminate against those who thought that their blood status made them more important. For Harry to think that is ridiculous!"
Ginny's mouth gaped like a fish as she tried to come up with a response.
When nothing came she just sat a thought over what had been said.
"How did Hermione get it so wrong?" She muttered to herself.
"Well where did she get her information from? It must have been altered.." Remus replies to Ginny's mutters.
"Oh!" Ginny hadn't expected an answer to her question, " she got it from the headmasters archives because the genealogy books were missing from the library."
The room once again lapses into silence as they all mulled over the new knowledge.
"Enough of such depressing matters!" Announced Mrs Weasley.
"Ginny, be a dear and go get the others ready, we're heading out to get your school supplies from Diagon!"
Mrs Weasley clapped her hand and bustled away while Ginny headed up the stairs to inform everyone of what was going on.
Diagon Alley
Ginny shifted impatiently outside the doors to the bank as she, her brothers and Hermione waited for their parents to finish getting money and hurry out. The group became gradually more spooked as the goblin guards at the door continued to stand tense observing their movements.
Ginny fidgeted with her cuffs in nervousness at the stink eye that a goblin was sending her, she'd never really liked them and she was sure they enjoyed her discomfort. She released a deep sigh of relief as she saw her parents walking towards where they were stood, quickly moving to leave the parameters of the bank. Felling the eyes of the goblins withdraw as they moved further away.
It took the entire group a few hours to collect all of their new supplies, and new robes for the twins who had blown theirs up in a gone wrong prank the previous year, and they finally made it to their last stop, Flourish and Blotts.
They moved in different directions as they selected the required books for their chosen electives and made their ways to a less crowded area in the store to reconvene. The group waited for a further 30 minutes as Hermione had yet to re-emerge from the rows of books.
Getting frustrated, the group sent Ginny to find her so that they could pay and leave. 10 minutes later, Ginny was dragging a very ruffled Hermione back to the amused group, who had cracked up in laughter at seeing both of their disheveled outfits, Ginny's scowl and Hermione's upset face.
Ginny was muttering under her breath about 'eccentric~bookworm~obsessive~psycho~witches' and resolutely ignoring Hermione's apologies for the stinging hex that had frazzled Ginny's hair, when she'd tapped the bookworms shoulder.
Having finally finished all their shopping, the group quickly began to move back down through the overcrowded busy alley and made their way towards the floo network fireplaces next to the Leaky Cauldron.
As they got closer to the floo, Ginny looked around herself at the mayhem which was sporadically organised and her eyes stopped on the ice cream parlour just a little ways ahead.
"Hey guys! Why don't we get ice cream before heading back?" She gestured at Fortescue's to make her point.
Molly stopped and thought it over for a moment before nodding causing all of the children to cheer and begin making their way towards the open entrance ice cream shop.
Ginny was just about to enter, the last of the group, when she caught a flash of messy black hair moving in her peripheral.
Moving slightly away from the store, Ginny quickly looked around to see if she could find whatever it was that had caught her eye and her sight landed on a pair of wizards just a bit down from her, both holding ice creams and talking quietly.
She looked at the taller one first and watched his behaviour. He was very tall, at least 6'2" and she could see he had quite short dirty blonde hair. She watched as he turned to smile down at the other male and she could see that he had mesmerising deep blue eyes. He had broad shoulders and a muscular looking body and his features were chiselled, defined with a sharp jaw, high cheek bones and a long elegant nose. Pulling her eyes away from the attractive man she then looked to the shorter male, about the same height as Harry's 5'9", and held her breath as he leant into the man's side, revealing a side angle of his features. Ginny stares in shock, it's Harry!, was all that raced through her mind as she realised that it meant that the man next to him must be Harry's older lover that Hermione had told them all about. She stood in shock, watching the two's interactions even closer than before. Realising that it was Harry, Harry was there... right in front of her. She snapped out of her thoughts and began to move towards them.
"Harry?!" She called, only then realising her mistake as Harry's shocked face looked right at her before he turned and shot off into the crowd, pulling the other man along with him.
Ginny ran in his direction, trying to get through a crowd that had inconveniently just appeared in her path. She puffed out a breath of frustration as she lost sight of Harry and then the man with him a few seconds later.
The crowd thinned slightly and she raced forward, stopping in a clear area and swivelling around to try and catch sight of him again. She thought she saw him further down the alley towards the leaky cauldron but as quick as she looked that way, he was gone.
She ran her hand up over her face through her hair and gave a frustrated shout.
"Damn you Harry!"
She jumped and turned around quickly when a hand was placed on her shoulder. Looking behind her she saw all her brothers(including Charlie and Bill), parents and Hermione looking at her in concern, holding their ice creams.
"Why did you run off Ginny dear?" She looked at her mum as her shoulders slumped and she sighed, "Harry."
"What?" The twins stepped forward in question.
"I saw Harry."
Silence.
No one said anything for several minutes before Hermione stepped forward.
"Hey Ginny, do you want to sit down? Are you feeling okay?" Hermione spoke in a calm slow voice but it only acted to infuriate Ginny further.
"I'm fine. And I'm telling you that I saw him"
Ginny continued to get further annoyed when they all gave her speculative looks.
Giving a quiet scream of frustration, she threw her hands in the air as she stormed over to a floo, throwing down the floo powder and calling out Grimmauld Place.
Back to the order hq
The order of the Phoenix sat around the kitchen table in Grimmauld Place. They were laying out ideas to find Harry, Severus noticeably the only one absent, when the kitchen door was thrown open.
Albus looked up and frowned when he saw the youngest Weasley storming in without the rest of the group she had left with.
All of the adults (just over 40-ish people) watched as Ginny entered the kitchen, face lobster red and proceeded to slam cupboards as she grabbed a glass and filled it with water.
She quickly gulped down the entire glass and drank another half glass before slamming it down on the worktop and signing in annoyance, still not looking at anyone in the kitchen.
Albus decided to break the silence when it became stiflingly uncomfortable, "Ginny, my dear, where are the others?"
She looked over her shoulder and let her eyes move across the group before settling on Dumbledore.
"They're still at the alley"
"Then what are you doing here?
Ginny looked at Dumbledore and searched his eyes for a few moments before answering.
"They didn't believe me so I came back first", she shrugged her shoulders mock offhandedly.
"About what, my dear?" The eyes of the group looked back and forth between the two as they spoke.
"Harry. I saw Harry." She now had everyone's attention.
Remus leant forwards in his seat and placed his elbows on the table gesturing for her to explain.
"We got all our stuff and we were leaving the alley when I suggested getting ice cream from Florian Fortescue's. Everyone was in agreement but when I was heading in something caught my eye and I was curious so I followed it. Good thing I did as well. I saw a handsome taller man first, he was with Harry. It took me a few moments to realise that it was actually Harry but when I did I made the mistake of calling out to him and when he saw me he grabbed the guy he was with and bolted. I lost him in the crowd... I tried to tell the others but they made it seem as if I had been going crazy and I got angry and stormed off into the floo." Ginny had started off in annoyance and had ended her explanation a bit more sheepishly.
Mcgonogall leant forward on the table, "who was the man he was with? Did you recognise him? If not could you describe him? Maybe we'll know who it is."
"I didn't recognise him at all. Never seen him before. He was tall. Very tall, much taller than Harry. I mean like 6' 4/5" ish. He had dirty blonde looking coloured hair and the most mesmerising deep blue eyes. He had a long straight nose, high cheek bones and a sharp jawline. I think he was also quite muscular... he had broad shoulders and carried himself like a malfoyesque pureblood but maybe I'd say he was a bit more relaxed than they are.."
Ginny finished in a slightly quieter voice as her thoughts took over. She shook her head and turned towards the large group, all of which had thoughtful looks upon their faces.
They discussed potential people for a few minutes. Names being thrown around like Nott, Zabini, Delacour, Greengrass, Wood and Dunblain.(Grey/Light families.)
Flitwick coughed to clear his throat and garner the attention of the large crowd of people in the kitchen.
"Perhaps if Miss.Weasley were to allow me to perform a projection spell, I would be able to bring up the image so that we could all see what she has seen?" It was phrased more like a statement than a question but the group found themselves nodding along.
"Miss.Weasley" he gestured her to go over to him, "think very clearly about what you saw... omnem memoriam exstare" Everyone waited as mist started to form over the middle of the table. Waiting to see who the mysterious stranger was.
After a few moments, the image became clear and showed the man's full face and body and Harry stood there as well.
For several seconds there was silence as everyone looked at the man.
"Who the hell is that?!"Moody growled, not recognising the man.
Similar musings were uttered around the room.
Albus held his hand aloft to get the groups attention, "Surely someone here recognises the man?"
Again, everyone looked at the image.
Amelia Bones decides to point out something that had been bothering her, "I thought the man that Harry is with was meant to be 40... This man looks like he's in his 20's..."
Voices of agreement came from around the room.
"Hermione!" Ginny shouted unexpectedly.
Seeing everyone confused, she explained.
"We should get Hermione, surely if anyone would know who this is it would be her... she may have at least heard him described at some point."
"Excellent thinking my dear!" Albus praised as he sent off a quick note to the absent group.
5 minutes later, the small group bust into the room.
"You found him! Where!" Was the general phrase exclaimed by most.
"Actually, Ginny saw him and another man while in Diagon today" Albus' twinkling eyes watched over his glasses as they all went from disbelief to shock to understanding and the group was quick to apologise to Ginny for not believing.
Looking at the mist, Hermione's eyes widened dramatically. She gasped loudly and moved closer to the mist.
All attention was now on the bushy haired witch as she looked closer at the image, "S...an S..l..oh" she muttered illegibly under her breath.
"That's Stephan Silkoh." She hummed quietly as she sat down and studied the mist image. "Why would you be in Diagon?" She spoke quieter to herself.
"Miss.Granger, you know this man?" Professor Sprout asked curiously.
"Yeah, kind of." She looked around at the gathered group before continuing. "He's been picking Harry up from the train station for a few years now... Hmm... maybe since second year? No, I think he only began picking him up in the end of third year. He's been picking Harry up from the train for quite some time, occasionally christmases as well now that I think about it."
"Miss.Granger what do you know of this man?" Hestia Jones questioned from where she sat with a large group of the ministry workers and Aurors.
Hermione let her eyes travel over the group assessing for a few moments before she continued.
"His name is Stephan Silkoh. Harry told me that they met near the Dursley's but not much else on that front. As far as I've seen from small conversations and greetings at the train station he's a pretty decent guy. He's very polite and well spoken though he does have a slight accent sometimes but it's extremely minor, almost as if he doesn't have an accent but he's trying to have an accent. He and Harry are very Very close. I'd say Harry views Stephan as more family than the Dursley's, that's for sure. He's British, as far as I can tell. Though I had assumed that he was a muggle, not a wizard as him being seen in Diagon would suggest. Then again, maybe Harry told him about it all and he just decided to take him there to see it for himself."
"Professor, if this man is a muggle then Harry has broken the statute of secrecy. I understand that none of us in the ministry can do anything about it, per my previous oath," here she(Amelia) frowned slightly at a sheepishly smiling Hermione, "but that doesn't mean that we here can't reprimand him for what he's done when he's found!"
"It is quite a conundrum, my dear." The Professor hummed thoughtfully.
Everyone waited quietly as albus stared at the misty image and finally his eyes lit up, "well we know he's a wizard don't we! After all miss.granger your previous conversation with young Harry suggested that it was a wizard didn't it!"
Hermione's eyes lit up in remembrance.
"I've got it! Hermione, why don't you write a letter to him and see what he says?" The unusually subdued Sirius finally barked out.
"Good idea Sirius, I guess I'll go do that now then."
She went to grab some parchment ink and quills and then returned to the table where she proceeded to draft the letter before nodding at what she wrote and writing it out again neatly.
Location change
The Malfoy family (+ Lestrange) stepped out of the floo, still reeling from who they had bumped into and spent a lot of the day with.
A 'POP!' sounded and the three turned from casting cleaning charms to rid themselves of the soot and dust on their robes to look in the direction of a neatly dressed house elf.
"Great lord Master Slytherin be being in meeting with mean lady strange and other marked" she bowed lowly, "Tiddy be taking yous Masters,Mistress and young Master to inform of your return the great lord master Slytherin!"
The group nodded and followed after the loyal house elf as she took them to one of their large comfy meeting rooms that held more plush chairs and rugs than the stone floors of the normally used meeting room.
They stopped when they reached a pair of the Malfoy's large oak branded doors, straightened their clothing and then entered the room as the house elf popped away.
They entered the room and nodded in greeting at their guests before bowing briefly to their lord and moving to their seats.
"Ah, Lucius, how nice of you to join us, I trust your trip to Diagon was uneventful."
The group turned to their lord and took in his appearance, it never ceased to amaze them what potions could do.
The dark lord was tall and lithe with wide shoulders and very lightly tanned skin. His curly chocolate brown hair fell gracefully to his ears and his brown eyes glistened with a tint of red. He had a strong jaw, high cheek bones and slightly pouty lips. He had a NOSE! A smooth straight nose, and his appearance while healthy put him at around 30. Much younger than his actual age.
Draco spoke up when his parents took too long.
"We saw Ha-Potter, he was in Knockturn"
The occupants of the room turned to the youngest Malfoy and the tops of his cheeks and his ears turned slightly red as they all stared.
"Interesting... and you didn't grab him and bring him here.. why?"
Again Draco beat his parents and uncle to respond.
"He wasn't alone, apparently he's gone rogue- got the order out searching for him."
"Well, that could work in our advantage... we could get him while he's not expecting it."
"All due respect... my lord" Draco added at the look his father sent him. " I don't think eliminating him is a priority."
"And why is that Draco." It was a question but it sounded like a statement.
"Well, when we were getting my new robes, he came into the store. Him and Madam Malkin were like a pair of harpies, the way they cackled at the prospect of spending all of Greybacks money.."
"Greyback?"
"Oh didn't I say that?" Draco thought quickly back to whether or not he'd mentioned Greyback.
"Potter was there with Greyback, they're apparently together and have been for several years" Draco raised his hand in speech mark annotations around the word together.
The dark lord raised his eyebrow questioningly at the young Malfoy.
"Together? As in, Greyback's been getting it on with Potter? Actually, I always did wonder why that man never showed any interest in the women, and men for that matter, around him.."
"Yes well, it may also help that Potter isn't exactly light."
Everyone turned sharply to look at him.
"What? Draco darling, when did he say that?" Narcissa probed in curiosity.
"Oh! Harry and I were talking while you,father, uncle and Greyback were conversing off to the side. It was before madam Malkin dragged him off into the changing room to get his measurements and with all that inappropriate clothing on the rack."
Draco's face heated up as he remembered some of the items that the woman had taken in with them. A couple of the others in the room chuckling at his innocent embarrassment.
"I think that woman is closet evil, I mean father you saw when potter ran out of the changing room in the tight leather trousers. Don't get me wrong, it was funny seeing Greyback drooling at him but Potter literally called her a Psychotic She-Devil!"
A couple of the men in the room chuckled at the idea of a clothing obsessed woman being likened to that of a Devil.
"Well, to summarise, you saw Potter, with Greyback, together. Potter isn't strictly light and you think this could be used how?"
"Convince him to be neutral." Rabastan had caught onto what Draco was implying.
"Hmm. The idea has merit." He looked over towards the door as it was pushed open quietly, allowing Severus' entrance. The man moved silently into the room, having been previously occupied by one of his more demanding potions. "Lucius! Invite the two over for dinner next week so I may ask them of this development myself."
The elder Malfoy nodded and stood to leave the room, drafting the letter in his mind as he went.
Looking around his closest group of death eaters, his knights of Walpurgis as he still liked to call them, Voldemort sighed. His friends were still too timid to speak out like Draco just had. His previous mental deterioration likely the cause as his insanity had pushed them to stay at arms length.
He watched as they tensed in the prolonged silence. Rabastan, Rudolphus, McNair, Bellatrix, Crabbe, Goyle and Narcissa, apparently waiting for something that wasn't going to happen.
"Meeting dismissed. Everyone out."
He watched as they all moved to leave the room. His eyes looked to Draco who was moving slower than the rest of the group.
"Draco stay." It was quiet and only Draco could hear the question rather than the demand that all the others heard.
He nodded and walked back over to where the dark lord was seated.
He watched as Narcissa and Severus both became more tense and tried to take longer while leaving.
"Meeting dismissed." He reiterated and their tense bodies finally moved out the door. He could sense their magic moving down the hall, where they entered a smaller room to sit and wait, within range to hear if anything bad was happening. The three Lestrange also entering that room to join them in a tense silence as they waited.
Sighing despondently, he moved to slump on the sofa on the other side of the room as he cast a silencing charm on the room and hmm'd as he felt them snap into place.
Thin arms wound over his shoulders to hug him from behind and he leant into the welcomed touch.
He sighed as he relaxed and placed his hands over the smaller ones which were now rubbing circles into his chest, a chin resting on his shoulder.
"Why must it be so hard, Dray?" He sighed, nuzzling his face into the arms around him. He brought the right hand up to kiss Draco's knuckles and smiled slightly as he felt a chaste kiss to his temple in return.
"It'll get easier Thomas. Trust me, it will. It just takes time."
Tom smiled as he leant back and felt the hands rubbing into his shoulders, soothing the cramps he got from so many meetings a day.
"You're the only one who gets to call me that, apart from maybe Potter."
Draco smiled against the side of his head, "good thing he's totally in love with Greyback then or I just might get jealous." He joked at the end, moving around to perch on the arm of the sofa, feet resting in the man's lap.
Tom wound his arms around Draco's waist, pulling him closer to rest his ear against his chest, hearing the distinct beat of his heart as it thrummed strong and even.
He looked up into Draco's eyes and smiled, warm and kind, he leant up slightly and joined their lips in a kiss.
Draco leaned into the kiss, applying more force as their lips slid together sensually. Tom brushed his tongue against the seam of Draco's lips, being denied entry. Humph-ing he lapped at Draco's bottom lip with his tongue and sucked it between his lips as he nibbled lightly on it.
Draco gasped and Tom took the opportunity to slip his tongue in, running it lightly against the roof of Draco's mouth, where he was most sensitive.
Draco moaned deeply into Tom's mouth and Tom smiled at the reaction.
Pulling his tongue back slightly, Tom pressed it into Draco's as they battled for dominance.
They continued, tongues swirling pressing against one another until Draco gave in and let Tom's guide his to where he wanted it to go.
Tom pulled his tongue back slightly, Draco's following into Tom's mouth where he closed his lips around the younger man's tongue and sucked hard. Teeth grazing very gently over the surface.
This continued to rotate back and forth for several minutes, hands roaming each others bodies to find purchase only to shift again as Draco moved to straddle Tom's lap.
When they both finally pulled away, they were breathless and panting. Draco's hot puffs of air brushing across Tom's cheek as Tom breathed into his neck. Trying to calm their frantically beating erratic hearts.
"I'll come by your rooms to see you later Thomas. I've got to go, the others are probably worried."
Tom's face fell at the reminder of the others distrust in him.
Draco, seeing the look appearing on Tom's face, cupped his hands around his cheeks and pulled him into a chaste kiss, "It'll get better, I promise. Just give them time."
He placed one last kiss to the edge of Tom's mouth before sighing and moving to leave the room.
He stopped at the door and looked back, "I'll be at your rooms an hour after dinner."
They smiled to one another and the door finally clicked shut, the silencing charm falling, Draco's footsteps echoing as he receded down the hallway towards where his parents and godparents/aunties and uncles were waiting to check him over.
(A/N hey all. This pandemic sucks but hang in there! We've apparently hit the worst already so, it "should" only get better from now... hopefully! [Fingers Crossed!]🤞🏻
Thank you as always to my loyal readers who wait for my updates.
Stay safe! I hope you're all doing well! If not, get well soon!
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