52Chapter 47
Harry stared in disbelief at Lucius and Snap- Severus. "We what?" he asked again.
"Bonded." Lucius said, "It seems the last of the Headmaster's bindings have broken and your creature side has fully emerged and just now it started the bonding process with Draco. If I hadn't stopped you, you would have-" the man gave his husband a pleading look. At which Harry blushed because he figured out what Lucius hadn't wanted to say.
"Bonded." Bliase said with a giggle. Harry looked at him with a grin. He liked the other Slytherian he seemed good at breaking the tension in the room.
"So, we only started the bond?" Draco asked.
"I'm not sure." Severus said, "Sex, is the usual connecting point. But you two have been rather close while Harry was struggling to emerge due to the bindings, it is possible that the bonding link formed slowly over the time you were in the past and only strengthened as the last of the bonding fell away." The man closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "You smell bonded."
"Oh." Harry said looking at Draco. His mate looked at him and it felt like they were both searching each other's eyes to see how the other one was taking the news. Harry felt like a hole was forming in his chest as he thought about Draco might not want this. What would he do if- he shook his head, no, Draco would have said something before. After all they had known this was going to happen right?
"Harry," Draco said gently reaching over and taking a hold of Harry's chin. "I want this." Harry let out a relieved breath.
"Me too." He whispered. Draco smiled, and it was almost blinding. Harry leaned forward and kissed his mate. That urge to get lost in it again was there but this time Harry was still aware of the others in the room. So he pulled away, taking Draco's hand in his and not letting go as he looked at the table.
Diary still sat there.
He lost his smile as he looked at it, and then at Lucius. "You think that has something to do with why Voldemort didn't die?" The older blonde nodded.
"There were stories during the first war that the Dark Lord knew of a very dark spell that would grant him immortality. I never truly believed it. I thought it was a ploy, a way to get more people to follow him. But it seems I was mistaken." The man met Harry's eyes, "When I slipped this into Miss Weasley's bag in your second year, I knew not what it was. Only that it held dark magic and that it would hopefully get Arthur Weasley in trouble. When rumors started about the chamber I believed it a coincidence, until you handed it back to me."
"Do you know what it is?" Harry asked. Luciuc shook his head.
"We have a couple theories," Luciucs said looking at his husband, "But we are having a difficult time finding any information that might be helpful." The man sighed, "We are going to talk to Black after we leave here. The Black family has one of the most extensive family libraries, both light and dark magic. Hopefully we will be able to find something there."
Harry stared at the diary, how could this book be the key to immortality?
"What about the chamber?" He asked looking back at the two men.
Severus raised an eyebrow.
"It was important to him, Riddle I mean, he is the heir of Slytherian, he revelled in the idea that he was the only person who could get in there, is it possible he hid something in there?"
"Harry?" Draco whispered in his ear, "are you sure you want to go back in there?"
He turned to meet his concerned mate's eyes. "If it will help us stop him, yes." Draco's eyes narrowed before he smiled and gave Harry a quick kiss, "Okay, but I'm coming with."
"Me too." Blaise said.
"We can not go today," Severus said, pulling all of their attention to the man. "Dumbledore would be suspicious, I'm sure he is already wondering where you are," he looked at Harry, "and it might be better to search after we investigate Black's library, it might give us a better understanding of what we are looking for." The potion master pulled out his wand and pointed it at the book. It flew into the air and then disappeared with a pop.
"For now, Draco and Harry be careful how you act around each other, if the Headmaster figures out Harry's binding has broken and that not only has he emerged but bonded, I fear what he would do. Blaise please make sure they do." Harry turned enough to see the Slytherin grin at his head of house.
After that the two adults left. Leaving the three of them sitting there.
"Now what?" Blaise asked looking at Harry.
Charlie's Pov
It had taken him 4 days to work up the courage to owl his brothers. Now he sat in his small house in Romania waiting for them to arrive.
He was a ball of nerves as he paced his living room. What if they weren't like him? Or worse, what if they acted like their mother? He knew in his heart they weren't, but that fear of seeing that look on their faces weighed on him.
He was so caught up in his own mind he never heard the flames of the fireplace change or the footsteps of the twins as they entered. The identical teens looked at each and then at their brother who was clearly worried about something. As one they moved, grabbing his arms and pulling him towards the couch.
Charlie let out a startled squeak as he was manhandled and tossed on his lumpy couch.
"Fred, George, where-" There was a knock at the door before it opened and Bill walked in. Charlie watched as his older brother took the three of them in, him sprawled out on the couch blushing, and the twins standing in front grinning.
"Do I want to know?" Bill teased, slipping off his jacket and tossing it over the back of a wooden rocking chair.
"Charlie was-"
"Pacing-"
"Like-
"A madman."
Charlie shook his head at his little brothers, "I was not."
"Liar." They sang together.
"Charlie?" Bill asked moving around the twins to drop down next to him. "What's going on?"
"We have to wait for Percy." He said sitting up and back against the couch.
"You sure he's coming?" Fred asked.
"He hasn't returned any of our owls." George muttered with a frown.
Charlie felt his stomach drop.
He knew Percy was on the outs with his family. Had been for a while. Charlie was positive; it was mostly embarrassment at this point. His little brother had been so sure that Dumbledore and Harry had been lying about You-know-who being back, only for the man to attack Harry in the Department of Mysteries (DOM). He knew he had sent a couple letters to his brother trying to get him to come home and talk to him. But he hadn't known that the twins had tried as well.
"Mine either." He replied looking at Bill.
His brother sighed, "Or mine."
Hell, he thought, did that mean Percy wasn't coming tonight? He had wanted to talk to all of his brothers, well almost all, Ron was a prat and Charlie had no doubts if he heard this upcoming conversation he would tell their mother. So he hadn't invited him.
"Does he need to be here?" Bill asked. Charlie looked at his older brother. His face most have shown what he couldn't say because Bill nodded and stood up.
"I'll be back."
Charlie reached out to stop him, he didn't want to force Percy. But before his hand could touch his brother the twins grabbed him and pulled him back to the couch, giggling as all three hit the back. He heard Bill snort from in front of the fireplace before he stepped into and disappeared in green flames.
"Guys," he groaned at the twins, who were still holding him, "I don't want to make him come if he doesn't want to."
"Well we do." Geroge said from his right.
"He may be a bit uptight-" Fred added.
"But we miss him." His two younger brothers finished together. Charlie sighed and stopped trying to sit up.
"Sooo-" Fred drew out the word, "any hints about what's on your mind?"
"An overdue conversation." He muttered, pulling his arms out of their hands. "Want a drink?" He asked, pushing to his feet. The twins looked at each other and back at him, Charlie tried not to fidget as they studied him.
"Do we need a drink?" They asked as one.
Charlie snorted, "Probably."
"Charlie?" George asked, "Are you okay?" Charlie could see the concern in his little brother's eyes. He nodded. Both teens let out a breath and sat back, "Fire whiskey," they muttered together.
He shook his head as he walked away. He always wondered how they did that. It wasn't just finishing each other's sentences, it was they way moved together and seemed to think as one person. He had found it annoying in their younger years, but as he grew older he realized just how amazing it was. He wondered if it was an inheritance thing, or just a twin thing.
He found the bottle of fire whiskey he opened the other night and poured each of them a glass, leaving the bottle and two empty glasses on the table. Before walking back over to the couch.
Charlie was about halfway through his glass when the fireplace blazed green and Bill and Percy stepped into his living room. Something unknoted inside him at seeing Percy, a relief he hadn't expected to feel at seeing his younger brother again.
"Hey." He said moving over to hug Percy. His brother stiffened in his arms but only for a second before he relaxed and hugged him back. "Hey." He heard Percy mutter into his shoulder before they were attacked on both sides by their younger brothers.
He tried not to laugh at Percy's squeak.
"Alright, let him breathe."A chuckling Bill said, pulling the matching pair off them.
Charlie gestured to the sitting area and his brothers all sat down. Before he joined them he refilled his glass and handed Bill and Percy each one. Percy gave it a strange look and looked up at Charlie questioningly.
"Trust me." He whispered and moved to sit in between the twins on the couch.
"What's going on Charlie?" Bill asked.
He opened his mouth but the words wouldn't form. It was like they froze in his throat and no matter how he urged them to move, they didn't. He closed his mouth, then his eyes. Maybe it would be easier if he wasn't looking at them.
"Charlie?" It was Percy, his little brother's voice was laced with worry.
"Did any of you get an inheritance?" He whispered, eyes tightly held shut.
He heard one of them gasp, but he couldn't place who it was. The silence in the room carried on for what felt like forever to him, and his already fast heartbeat raced faster as he started to panic. He really was the only one, how was that possible?
A warm hand wrapped around his wrist and it surprised him so much he opened his eyes. George looked at him, eyes- Holy shit, Charlie's breath caught, George's eyes had shifted to a deep blue, they seemed to reflect all the light in the room.
"What are you?" He asked awed not just by the brilliant eyes but that he wasn't alone.
"Azeban." Fred said with a huge grin. Charlie tried to remember all the inheritance he studied when he came into his but that one didn't sound familiar.
Percy however must have known it because he groaned, "Makes sense," then he blushed when all of the others looked at him. Charlie watched as Percy swallowed, "Azeban are one of the 13 Descended families. They are tricksters. If I remember correctly, troublesome and mischievous but never dangerous. Not unless they, their families, or mates are threatened."
"Sounds about right." George said with a huge grin.
"I don't understand." Charlie muttered, the twins looked at him and recognized that fear in their eyes. "Not that," he said standing up and hugging the closest twin, Fred thankfully hugged him back.
"I'm kin, Dragon," He explained quickly, letting his brother go to hug George who smiled at him. "What I don't understand is why your Azeban and I'm Kin." He told them after he let George go.
"Me too." Bill said. They looked at him as he pulled up his sleeves to show brilliant red and orange scales.
"Wicked." Charlie, the twins, and Percy muttered together.
"Different lines," Percy said, moving to run his fingers over the scales on his brother's arm.
"What do you mean?" Charlie asked, as he moved closer to his brother so he could feel the smooth scales. He wondered if Bill was bothered as the twins joined him and Percy. But when he looked up he saw only amusement.
"If Dad's family carried one inheritneces and Mum's another, it makes sense that some of us would get one and the rest the other." Charlie looked at Percy, which had Percy gotten?
"Kin." His brother answered his unasked question, "at least I think. I didn't get any scales, my eyes have never changed but my mind works faster than normal and I have an almost perfect memory. From the research I've done, Dragon Kins are known for higher intelligence." He shrugged, "I was never really sure, but if you and Bill are both Kin and the twins are Azenab's, I fit the Kin descriptions more."
"Alright," Bill said, shaking them off his arms, "So the question is which is Dad and which is mum?"
"No," Charlie replied bitterly, "the question is why mum ordered me not to ever mention it to anyone." His brothers all looked at him in shock.