Harry Potter - Series Fan Fiction ❯ Behind the Fog (Backup Upload) ❯ Behind the Fog (Backup Upload) 29th Chapter ( Chapter 29 )

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The thing I've most been dreading as a fan is that the story would be removed from the site by the hackers and the author wouldn't have access to their old chapters when the situation was eventually brought under control in the event the site moderators wouldn't be able to give the author their account back.

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PS: This Backup Upload contains minor edits for grammar, spelling, and punctuation. Plus some rewording/restructuring of sentences so they make better sense and flow better. Hope you don't mind me becoming something of a Beta Reader for this Backup Upload Hancock23.

Chapter 29 - Darling

Usually, Harry would sleep in on Sundays. Have a late breakfast with Ron, Hermione, and Ginny before laying about lazily on the shores of the Black Lake until it was time for lunch, followed by afternoon Quidditch practice with the Gryffindor team. It was the ideal way to spend a Sunday; but after spending most of the night reading One Piece with Draco, Harry woke up to find that his schedule was already out of whack.

He had slept longer than usual, and a quick tempus let him know that breakfast was about done in the Great hall. Not wanting to attract undue attention by arriving at the tail end of things, he joined Draco in ordering a breakfast tray from Biddy.

Draco was a light eater in the mornings and Biddy did not bring any of the bacon, eggs, and other fried goods that Harry preferred for breakfast but for some reason, he found himself enjoying the meal more than he normally would anyway. The scones tasted better, although he was sure that they were the exact ones that were always served for breakfast. Even the juice tasted fresher, despite being the same as usual and in the end, Harry had to conclude that it was the company that made everything better.

After his first cup of morning coffee, Draco was a great conversationalist. He had a quick wit that Harry had never appreciated before, and he seemed to know everything there was to know about everything. He had an ease of imparting knowledge that lacked the tedium that Hermione's lectures brought upon others; and Harry found himself enjoying a retelling of the Great Sasquatch Rebellion of 1892, a topic that he would have ordinarily relegated to the same pits of boredom as Binn's lectures on the giant wars.

Even after Biddy had collected their breakfast utensils, Harry did not make any move to leave the East Tower despite knowing that his friends would probably be waiting for him. Instead, he chose to settle down and read another volume of One Piece with Draco until their overtaxed muscles and his growling stomach demanded attention.

Neither of them was in the mood to leave the tower, but they both knew that they couldn't possibly not show up in the Great Hall all day. While Draco's friends would not overthink it, the same could not be said of Harry's. They both knew that it was a matter of time before the latter came budging into their tower demanding an explanation. Thus, when it was time for lunch in the Great Hall, Harry and Draco reluctantly set their volume down and made the long walk to the to Great Hall.

Draco headed straight to the Slytherin table where he could see Pansy and Blaise conversing as the former served up both of their lunches, while Harry went to join his fellow Gryffindors. Hermione, Ron, and Ginny seemed mutinous; while some of his other housemates looked at him with open curiosity, and Harry almost groaned with resignation.

He was about to take his seat when he remembered that he had not asked Draco what time they should meet so that they could continue with the reading; so he paused in his action and quickly made his way to the snake's table.

Draco had just seated himself when he noticed Harry hurrying over, and he raised his eyebrow in question. In fact, he was not the only one to notice Harry's actions because everyone had stopped whatever they had been doing to watch Harry approach the Slytherin table.

Usually, either Harry or Draco approaching the other's table would mean that a fight was about to break out, but things had changed drastically over the last couple of months, and no one knew what to expect from the two lately.

Harry stopped right in front of Draco and feeling a bit self-conscious, he bent over to whisper in his ear so that only the blonde could hear what Harry was saying.

"Do you want to continue right after lunch?" He asked.

"Don't you have Quidditch after lunch?" Draco asked in return. He himself didn't have any specific plans, but he had thought that they wouldn't be able to continue with the story until much later. Probably on a different day, because Harry was usually too tired to do much after Sunday practice with his team.

"Practice is not until four." Harry informed.

Ginny who had been the acting captain when Harry could not play because of the bond, had moved practice from two to four; and although Harry had not been initially happy with the reduction in practice time that caused since they lost an hour because they had to head for dinner at six, he couldn't be happier with it right now.

In all honesty, Harry loved flying, but he did not think he could continue Quidditch for much longer. He barely had any time for practice what with school work, training with Dumbledore and other Order members; and recently, the desire to spend more time with Draco. Not to mention that without Draco playing Seeker for the Slytherins, there wasn't much challenge from any of the other Seekers. Even Cho Chang who was quite talented was not enough to keep Harry interested. At this point, Harry had no qualms about quitting and he was already entertaining thoughts of replacing Quidditch with the occasional Seeker's game with Draco.

"Okay." Draco acknowledged. "Let's meet in an hour."

Harry thought an hour was too much time considering where they had left off in the story, but he also understood the need for such time. Draco needed to spend a bit of time catching up with his friends, and he himself had to assure his friends that Draco had not been keeping him prisoner in the tower. Still, an hour was too much, when he was itching to finish the Baratie arc.

"Forty minutes Draco." Harry stated in a voice that suggested that the compromise was not up for discussion.

"Forty minutes." Draco agreed with a roll of his eyes, causing Harry to smile despite himself.

Pansy, who had been following the interaction closely, just barely managed to hide her shock; as her eyes followed Potter back to his table. Draco had told them that things were changing with Potter, but she hadn't realised just how much change had already happened.

At the beginning of the term, Potter could not even be bothered to hide his hatred and disgust of Draco, but now, he could barely manage to disguise his affection. There had been a molten warmth in Potter's eyes when he was talking to Draco, and Pansy turned a knowing look to Blaise who seemed to have observed the same thing she had. They would be talking about that later; but for now they were just happy that Potter seemed to have some genuine affection for their friend. They may not fully trust Potter and his intentions, but knowing what they knew now; they could hope that the Gryffindor would no longer intentionally hurt Draco as he had on previous occasions.

"Hi, guys." Harry said the moment he took his seat at the Gryffindor table. He tried to keep his voice light, but there was a palpable tension in the air; and some of it was not because of the looks that his people were giving him.

Harry was still reeling from the previous day's disastrous Hogsmeade visit, and he found that he did not know how to treat his friends. There had always been an ease to their interactions; but that ease which he had taken for granted had disappeared, and he felt like he needed to weigh every word he said before it even left his mouth. It was awful, and he wished he could just grab his lunch and run back to the East Tower.

His three friends acknowledged him with a nod of their heads, and Harry understood that they would not make it easy for him to pretend that everything was okay.

"I am sorry I did not show up for breakfast." He apologised. 'I overslept, and when I woke up, breakfast was almost over."

Although the three seemed to accept the explanation with another nod of their heads, Harry could also see suspicion in their eyes; and he wondered what they thought he had been doing.

"What was that all about Harry?" Hermione asked, with a chin jerk to the Slytherin table.

"Nothing much." He answered, and uselessly hoped that they would leave it at that.

"Nothing much?" Ginny inquired crossly. "It was already suspicious that neither of you showed up for breakfast, but when you finally do grace us with your presence, he is right there with you."

"What are you implying Ginny?" Harry asked, his eyes severely narrowed behind his round glasses.

"She is asking what the hell you were doing cooped up with Malfoy the entire morning, when we were supposed to be hanging out?" Ron expounded what his sister had implied, and his blue eyes did not even attempt to disguise his suspicion.

"Not that it's any of your business, but we were reading." Harry answered.

"Reading?" Hermione pounced in interest. "Maybe we should join you next time. I could use a few hours going over my last Ancient Runes class notes; and Ron has not even started on his homework."

"Not schoolwork Hermione, and I already finished my homework." Harry said.

Harry wasn't about to tell them that he had taken to having Draco help him with his work. The Slytherin was as smart as Hermione, and even better when it came to explaining. To get Draco's help, Harry had to conform to the Slytherin's schedule, and that schedule did not involve leaving homework to the last minute.

"What have you been reading then?" Hermione asked, and it did not take a genius to interpret the suspicion in her eyes.

She thought that Draco was introducing Harry to dark arts books, and that made Harry want to defend his husband from unfounded accusations.

"Mostly fictional works." Harry said.
"I would also like to read these stories." Ginny said in a scathing voice, that pushed Harry to the edge of his patience.
"I am sure you would, but you haven't been able to utter a civil word around Draco for months. We made a truce that prevents me from taking any hostility to our quarters, and I have no intention of violating it. Especially not for you." The last was said in an aside, but from the shocked faces of the eavesdropping Gryffindors, Harry had not managed to keep it to himself.

They knew that something must have happened for Harry to say such a thing about Ginny, but they did not have a chance to ask about it, because Ron chose that minute to ask a different question.

"Draco?" Ron queried, his face now redder than his hair. "Since when do you call Malfoy by his first name?"

"It happens when you live in close proximity to a person." Harry answered without a care. It may have started only recently, but there was no putting that genie back in the bottle; Malfoy was now Draco, and that was that.

"What's next, Drakie-poo?" There were several sniggers at that, and Harry simply could not take it. He just wanted the nagging to stop.

"I will bloody call him whatever I want." Harry shouted, finally losing his patience. "If I bloody choose to adopt a certain Parkinson and Zabini, and call him 'darling' you can all just deal with it."

The hall fell silent, and upon realising that he had been shouting, Harry flushed in embarrassment. He seemed to be going off on his friends more and more often lately, and no one was missing the implications. An uncomfortable silence filled the hall in the wake of his shouting; and Harry was debating whether to make a run for it, when the silence was interrupted by Draco.

"Just don't do anything strange to my name 'darling' and we won't have any trouble." Draco said with a drawling voice, that did not remotely attempt to conceal his amusement at the situation.

"Shut it 'darling' and hurry up," Harry called back, emphasis on the endearment evident.

It was ridiculous that he had to explain his every move and action to people that were not his parents. People that were of the same age as him. It was just ridiculous, and he decided that he would do it no longer. Ron and Hermione could either begin treating him like the grown up he was, or they would be looking for another best friend sooner rather than later.

As for Ginny, the only thing stopping him from publicly ending things at that point was the respect he still held for the Mr and Mrs Weasley. Publicly calling out Ginny on her affair would not only embarrass her, but it would also cause pain to the other Weasleys, and he did not want to hurt them.

Deciding to ignore the Gryffindors for the time being, he turned his attention back to Draco. "You only have eleven minutes until we have to go." He called.

"Merlin, is this the bloody army all of a sudden?" Draco complained, but still went back to his food; aiming to get as much nourishment as he could. Exactly eleven minutes later, he left the Slytherin table; and Harry was just about to exit the hall himself when Dumbledore stopped him.

"A word in my office Mr Potter." He said, and Harry could not help the annoyance that came over him. He locked eyes momentarily with Draco; and when the Slytherin nodded in understanding, Harry followed the headmaster to his office where they were joined not a minute later by Hermione, Ron, Ginny, Sirius, and Remus. He should not have been surprised really, and he rolled his eyes at his own naivete.

"Harry, your friends are concerned about you." Dumbledore began, once the group was seated around the headmaster's desk.

"What exactly is their concern, and why didn't they feel they could speak to me directly?" Harry asked imperiously.

"It's because you won't let us speak Harry." Hermione said timidly. "Look at how you shouted at Ron during lunch."

"You've changed mate." Ron said. "The ferret has probably done something to you."
"Harry, they say that you no longer spend time with them; Is that true?" Sirius asked.
"With the bond the way it was, I could hardly spend time with them; since they don't get along with Draco."
"You also never used to get along with Malfoy." Sirius stated, and Harry wanted to roll his eyes.

It was more than half a year since his bonding with Draco, and yet they all expected him to still be the same person he had been back then. It was an unreasonable expectation.

"We shouldn't be so hard on Harry." Dumbledore said. His grandfatherly tone a mask of understanding, but Harry had learnt to distrust that face. It was uncanny really, how Dumbledore could maintain the same serene and calm face, when he was plotting a murder, or when talking gibberish during in the Great Hall during the Start of Term cermonies every year. It was not normal, and he should have realised it much sooner than he had.

"Harry is still young, and although he has been through a lot; he has yet to be fully exposed to people like the Malfoys. Harry, young Draco Malfoy has been taught to manipulate from the cradle. Every word and every action he takes is measured to produce a desired effect; and you shouldn't let yourself be affected by them." The headmaster cautioned.

"Of course I know Draco is a very calculating person; but he is not an evil person." Harry said seriously, and Remus smiled briefly at the words.

Harry had grown up, and he was learning to think for himself; and Remus couldn't have been prouder. "Draco is definitely hiding things, but I don't believe he means me or the wizarding world any harm."

"You are only saying that because you are blinded, Harry." Hermione said solemnly.
"What are you talking about Hermione?" He asked, crossing his arms over his chest defensively.

"Before you began living with Malfoy, you could hate him easily; because you didn't think of him as human. Now that you see that he lives like the rest of us, you have begun to soften up. It's what he wants you to do Harry; he wants you pliable." Hermione opined knowledgeably.

"Soften? Pliable? What is giving you this sort of idea?" He remained unswayed.

Ginny was the one to retort this time, rolling her eyes in frustration. "Harry, just yesterday you fought with us because we thought it was unfair for Malfoy to have that silver spider silk even though he hadn't seen it yet and thus wouldn't have been able to miss it."

"I thought we had already sorted this out." Harry spat in irritation.
"Don't you see Harry, you would have never done that in the past." Hermione said slowly, as though she was speaking with a child.
"You would have done everything you could to make sure that Malfoy didn't get what he wanted. The Harry I know would also never have had Chocolat au Fondant packed to take back to his worst enemy."
"I did no such thing." Harry denied vehemently, but he had never been a convincing liar, so the lie was clear for everyone to read on his face.

"We are not fools, Harry. You said you thought that the Chocolat au Fondant was delicious and that's why you wanted to take some back, at great inconvenience to the waiter..."

"That was true." Harry hurriedly insisted.

"Maybe, except for the fact that you didn't have Chocolat au Fondant at the restaurant, and everyone knows that Malfoy loves chocolate." Listening to Hermione talk, Harry couldn't believe he had made such a mistake, but for the life of him, he really couldn't remember what he had eaten there.

Sirius was looking at him in accusation, Dumbledore in pity, and Remus in amusement; and Harry wondered what the last man had to be amused about.

He sighed. He hadn't talked to Remus for a long time; and he remembered the man had caught them that one time during Christmas break. Maybe he should talk to him. He would surely be able to offer more insight into the observations that Harry had been making in the last couple of weeks. Too bad he couldn't count on the same from Sirius.

For as much as Harry loved his godfather, he was not blind to the man's faults. At almost forty years of age, Sirius was still the same teenager that had almost led Severus to his death. He had an absolute opinion about who should be liked and who should be hated.

The Malfoys, like Snape, were dark and should be hated; and Harry had very little hope that he could make the man understand that Draco was not an evil person. It was a maddening situation, and Harry was beginning to realize that maybe a reconciliation of his two lives would not be possible.

"So I took chocolate to Malfoy, big deal; We have formed a truce." He defended himself weakly.

"Harry, Draco Malfoy is not your friend." Sirius Black said to his godson. "His family are all steeped in the dark arts. I only escaped because of my friendship with the marauders but Malfoy is another case entirely. He is the very embodiment of his father. You can't trust him as far as you can throw him."

"I think you are all mistaken about something; There is nothing in my interaction with Draco that would call for trust." Harry said, and he could see the looks of disbelief that were cast his way.

"Then why do you spend so much time with him?" Sirius inquired.

"Like I said, we just do homework, play chess, and read books together. As you all know, he has thousands of books.' Harry defended.

"Sounds a lot like being friends Harry." Hermione observed.

"How so, when it is you all that asked me to keep a close eye on him?" Harry couldn't believe he hadn't thought of that excuse earlier.

"And have you found out anything?" Dumbledore asked.

"No." Harry answered. "All I know is that the grey faction has become a reality. He hasn't been meeting with anyone; nor has he been writing or receiving letters of late." Harry was not telling the entire truth, but until he knew for sure that Draco was a danger to him or the wizarding world, he didn't think he had any business telling on him to people who would wish him harm. "Maybe Ron was wrong about his assumption."

"I know what I saw, and I was not the only one." Ron defended, just like Harry knew he would. Maybe he was learning some tricks from Draco after all. "I am sure he is buying time, and he will make his move soon."

'Gotcha.' Harry thought and fought back a smile. Remus' eyes narrowed, Harry had somehow become a sly fox since he had last seen him.

"I think so too." Harry said. "I am waiting for him to drop his guard, and I will be there when he finally makes his move."

"Oh, so that's why you have been so close to him lately?" Ginny spoke up with a smile that did not reach her eyes.

Harry was not sure whether she was trying to make him think she was a fool, but whatever she was up to, he would not fall for it. If he had learnt anything lately, it was that everyone had a dark side that they kept hidden from everyone else. On the surface, Ginny was a stubborn, temperamental, but sweet girl; but underneath, she was a lying and cheating hussy; and Harry instinctively knew that there was so much more darkness to her that he had been blind to. For now, he needed to play their games until he figured out exactly who he was and who they all were.

"Yeah, he does not suspect he is being followed; since I am using the Invisibility Cloak and Marauders map." Harry confirmed. "He is bound to be cautious around an enemy, but now that we have a truce, he can relax around me a little. Professor Dumbledore, isn't that how spying works?" Harry was a picture of innocence as he asked that, and Remus couldn't believe that everyone was buying it.

But then again, people often saw what they wanted to see, and even Dumbledore was no exception to that.

"You are quite right about that my boy." The headmaster said. "But you must be careful, Mr Malfoy can be very dangerous when driven into a corner."

"I know headmaster; He is not a simple character." Harry agreed.

"We should have known better than to suspect you like this." Ron said sheepishly, and Harry couldn't tell whether his red-haired friend truly believed him, or was pretending to believe him. Ron was cunning, and Harry didn't feel like he could let down his guard around him anymore.

"Don't worry mate; even I would suspect me if I was you." Harry smiled and Remus thought that the boy was good; He definitely needed to talk to Harry. "I have to get back now, or he will begin to suspect something himself if I stay too long."

"Yes, of course." Dumbledore agreed. "However, I will need to see you this evening Harry. Please come straight up after dinner."

Harry nodded, wondering what Dumbledore wanted that could not be handled at that very moment. There had been no training scheduled for Sunday evening, so he couldn't begin to guess what the meeting would be about.

"Be very careful Harry. I don't want you hurt." Sirius said, and Harry smiled before hugging the man.

"I will see you lot at dinner." He told his two friends, before giving a quick kiss to Ginny on his way out.

"Yeah mate." Ron said. "We are ready to help anytime."

"Thanks, Ron."

"I will walk with you, Harry. I need to speak to professor Snape, and I am hoping he is in the dungeons right about now." Remus called, and after they bid the others goodbye, they started moving away from the office.

Harry knew right away that Remus had no intention of going to the dungeons and had only said that as an excuse because he wanted to speak with him, so he led the way towards the Room of Requirement.

"Sould I assume you didn't believe any of that?" Harry asked as they walked.
"Not a word." Remus confirmed, but instead of a censorious look; he gave Harry a cheeky smile that made Harry relax a bit.

"Draco knows that I am monitoring him." Harry said with a laugh. "He is definitely doing something interesting, but I don't know what."
"I see." Remus said. "And what are you two actually doing, cooped up together all day long?"
"Actually, I didn't lie about that." Harry said, smiling fondly. "We have mostly been reading fiction books; and he is probably waiting for me to get back with some impatience since we are in the middle of a book before we came down."

"Harry, what do you actually think of Malfoy?" Remus asked seriously, once they were in the Room of Requirement. The room had given them a classroom that was reminiscent of the one Remus had taught in back in third year. It was a curious choice.

Harry took his time to consider the question. There was a lot to consider when it came to Draco Malfoy, but he had an inkling of the direction that Remus wanted to take the conversation.

"It's true that I don't think he is evil, but he has a lot of secrets. We have a line that we don't cross when it comes to dealing with each other; and I haven't felt that he would be open to talking to me if I dared to press him."

"Do you want him to be open to talking to you?" Remus asked concerned.

He couldn't say anything about Draco to Harry, it was simply not his place; and they seemed to be managing things as well as they could be expected on their own.

"Sometimes I do, and sometimes I don't." Harry answered truthfully. "I have a feeling that everything will change greatly once I know everything he's hiding; and I frankly don't think I am ready for such drastic changes."

"You have grown up Harry." Remus said proudly, but Harry also saw something else in the man's face. It was an understanding that made Harry think, that Remus knew more about Draco than what was generally known by the public. He warred with the instinct to ask, but decided against it; because he knew that Remus would have told him what he knew, if he could, even without his asking.

"Do you think I have changed then?" Harry asked with a frown.

"Not changed per se; just grown up."

"Although not in the same words, Draco also said something like that when I asked him that same question." Harry said. "Do you think it's weird that we have become friendly lately?" He asked, using the word 'friendly' due to a lack of a better one.

"Like I said, Harry; You have grown up, and I feel I can trust the decisions the Harry in front of me makes." Harry smiled at that reply.

"Thank you, Remus. I am also happy that you are no longer a werewolf; How is it?" Remus broke into a smile of his own at that question. "It's great really." And he began to explain just how great it was.

Although Draco knew that it would take Harry some time to get back to the East Tower after the meeting with the headmaster, he still started heading back to their rooms. It was on the way there that he met up with Luna Lovegood, who appeared to have been waiting for him around a corner.

Harry already knew that the girl was part of the grey faction, so Draco decided to invite her to the East Tower where they could talk freely. They had corresponded through letters in the past weeks, but it still took a while for Draco to fully understand what the strange girl was on about; but when he did, he found that she was not as crazy as everyone made her out to be. Within a few minutes of talking to her, Draco could see the Ravenclaw in her, and surprisingly; a bit of Slytherin.

That part of her was so subtly concealed that it presented as what everyone mistook as lunacy. By the time they arrived at the tower, Draco had acquired a healthy respect for the girl; and he was glad that she had decided to join the grey faction. He had no idea why she had done what she did, but he was glad she'd done it all the same.

After placing some wards around the entrance to ensure that he would know right away when someone came through, he led Luna to his and Harry's rooms. They settled on the sofa on Draco's side of the room, and having gone through the small talk on the way to the tower; Luna went straight to the point of her contact.

"I found out the things you wanted." She began, and Draco made himself more comfortable, listening closely.

In his most recent letter to her, Draco had asked her to find out information about Hogwarts with regards to its capacity and restrictions for admission. In the same letter, he had also asked her to be a liaison between himself and professor Lupin. He had been hoping for some news about the werewolves from the professor, but nothing had come through yet.

"I have been coordinating with Marina, Ms Edgecomb, and professor Snape; and we have found out that Hogwarts as it is, is only operating at about two-fifths of its capacity. There are tens of classrooms and dorm rooms that are not in use. Slytherin house has the least number of students and thus has the most dorm space available, but all the other houses also have space for more students. The South Tower is also not in use at all, minus the ground floor; though it has been used in the past as dormitories for older students."

Draco had known that Hogwarts was not at full carrying capacity, but he had not expected that it had soo much room left over. In fact, he had never heard anything about dormitories in the South Tower, but it now all made sense since only two classes were ever held in the massive South Tower. With both Theoretical Herbology and Transfiguration being taught on the ground floor of the tower, all other floors were not in use due to a lack of necessity.

However, he did not fully understand the comment that Luna had made about older students being housed there in past years; and he raised an eyebrow in question of that.

"Over the years, the number of magical children being born has reduced, and there has been no need for the South Tower dorm rooms as a result. However, in the past, seventh years of every house were housed in the South Tower to give more room in their houses to the first through sixth year students."

"It was rationalized that because seventh years would be heading out into the outside world soon, putting them all in a communal space would in essence begin to wean them of any misconceptions about the world outside of the bubble they'd been confined to for their first six years here. The belief was that they would be able to function much better in the real world after having to learn to co-exist with each other despite how much their thoughts and views on things differed from one another's."

"That's good news then." Draco said with a smile; He could work with this. She smiled back at him, nodding in agreement

"Any magical being has an equal chance of admittance into Hogwarts. There are no restrictions on age, race, or species in the charters of the school." Luna continued excitedly, and Draco could barely restrain his own excitement at hearing that.

"The founders clearly stated that they wished to give education to magical children and because they had different personalities, children not acceptable by one founder would find acceptance elsewhere. During the time of the founders, magical creatures were perceived as beings of 'pure if wild magic', and it was not uncommon for wizards to mate with them."

"Magical creature blood boosts the magic in a wizard's bloodline; so not even Slytherin was against wizards with creature blood. As it is, his objection of muggle born wizards and witches had nothing to do with blood; but rather the corrosion of wizarding culture brought on by associating with muggle culture."

Draco nodded, that part of what she said was very common knowledge in some circles; and was especially common knowledge to any Slytherin worth their salt.

"Go on," He prompted, conscious that Harry could return at any minute, but not wanting to have to reschedule this talk with Luna or consign it to a letter.

"As you know, the East Tower is for married students as it was very common for students to marry at a young age back then. There were instances where students married even before school, while some married over the course of completing their education." Draco knew that too, and in the months that the bond had restricted movement, he and Harry had explored the East Tower pretty thoroughly for lack of a better way to spend their time.

While not as spacious as the Slytherin Dungeons, and Draco presumed the Gryffindor Tower, Ravenclaw Tower, or Hufflepuff Basement too; the East Tower was still quite spacious. It could comfortably house another two dozen couples, but Draco hoped that he and Harry would remain the only married couple living in it until they finished their schooling. Good thing that wizards now waited longer to marry.

"What about the West Tower?" He asked. Aside from the room that he now used as his base, Draco had noticed that some areas of the tower were heavily warded and full of complex spells whose purpose he hadn't quite gotten around to investigate.

"The West Tower whose top floor is now used as the owlery, was specially warded to isolate magical creatures when the need arose. As I understand it, some of the rooms work like the Room of Requirement, adjusting to the present need. For example, it could be used to contain a werewolf during the full moon, and then be used later to isolate a succubus when they are in heat and at their most dangerous for other people to be around them."

Listening to what the Ravenclaw was saying, it really hit home for Draco just how much the wizarding world had changed in the millennium since the time of the founders. Magical creatures had gone from being widely accepted as a normal part of Wizarding Society to dregs relegated to the fringes of said society. Draco could identify with those rejects; and his resolve to do something to change things reaffirmed itself in him stronger than ever before. He was jolted from his thoughts by what Luna said next.

"Hogwarts has not openly admitted a magical creature in centuries, but that should never have happened. The Ministry's intolerance of magical creatures should not have affected the way that Hogwarts conducts its business."

"What do you mean by that?' Draco asked in confusion.
"Have you ever wondered how the school is run?" Luna asked, and Draco for the first time thought about it.

He had always assumed that at some point the Ministry of Magic had acquired the school from the descendants of the four founders, and governors like his father had been appointed to run the school. He had also assumed, that the Ministry provided the funds necessary to run and maintain the school's standards, but the more he thought about it, the more he began to see the flaw in his assumptions.

If the Ministry had been in full control of the school, they would never have allowed half of the things that Dumbledore had gotten away with doing over the years. There was definitely more to it, and from the look on Luna's face, she had found it, and Draco nodded for her to continue since there was no actual need for an answer to her question and he was excited to learn more.

"We do not pay any money to attend Hogwarts, because the school is run by a trust that the founders established. The administrators of the trust have never been made public, and a vow made to the founders requires them to stay in the shadows to prevent manipulation. Their duty is passed down from generation to generation. However, for as long as the founders' trust runs the school, then the guidelines that the founders left cannot be changed."

This was big, and the two couldn't help but smile at each other again, as they considered the implications of what Luna had found out. Draco had asked her to find out about Hogwarts so that he could somehow find a way of helping those who had been werewolves get admission, but the possibilities that were now opening up to him were endless; and he did not doubt that he would fully take advantage of them.

Impatient to tell everything else she had found out, Luna went on. "I am not sure at what point over the centuries it was that Hogwarts fell into the hands of the Ministry, but that claim is really just an illusion. Wizards, witches, and magical creatures alike only accept the Ministry's control of Hogwarts, because they do not know about the founders' trust and charter that details how Hogwarts should be run. The founders' way of doing things has fallen through the cracks over the centuries; and the administrators of the trust can do nothing until someone petitions them to do something."

"This is great. Where did you even find this information?" Draco asked.
"I searched through the entirety of the school's library, reading many many books; including reading every edition of 'Hogwarts A History' that it has in stock. Then acquired even more obscure editions from Ms Edgecomb. I began to have a feeling that something was off, and we asked Balthazar to see if he could find anything in the Ministry's archives. I also asked the Room of Requirement for help, and by sheer luck, there were a few books stored away by it. Professor Snape also came through with some rare and very old books; and we just pieced everything together from there."
Draco could not believe that she had done so much in so little time. She had gone far and beyond what he had asked of her; and once again, he thanked his lucky stars that Luna Lovegood had decided to join his grey faction.

"You have really done a incredible job, Luna." He acknowledged.
"Thank you, Draco." She said, glowing at the praise.

"I wish everything was going as well on other fronts. We are yet to find a werewolf who had previously held a lordship, and a seat on the Wizengamot prior to their becoming a werewolf." He informed forlornly.

"That was another thing I wanted to speak to you about." She said urgently.

"Professor Lupin has come across the name of one, but he hasn't been able to locate him. Apparently, the man and his family disappeared from the English Wizarding Community amid humiliation from the media, and persecution from the Ministry; and no one has seen them since. Professor Lupin has asked the werewolves that have agreed to join The Grey Faction to look for the family; and they are doing so as we speak. We are hoping that they will be found before the full moon next week."

Draco nodded and hoped that the family would be found soon too. If they were not found before the full moon, the window for taking the Lycanthropy Cure Potion would be closed until the next month's full moon.

It really didn't matter when the family took the cure, but Draco was eager to set his plans in motion. A titled Lord was critical to The Grey Faction's plans, and Draco was banking on the man being willing to be The Grey Faction's voice of change in the Wizengamot.

"Say, if in the times of the founders creature blood was not a bad thing; then that means there must have been some creature representation in the Wizengamot, right?" Draco voiced the sudden thought that had come to his mind.

Luna nodded. "Well, there was no Wizengamot back then; but they did have several councils which functioned much like the current Wizengamot. To answer your question, magical creatures were adequately represented in those councils; but the current Ministry which was established in 1718 refused to acknowledge magical creatures as anything more than animals. That era's attitude towards magical creatures has led to the bad relationship they have with non creature magical beings in present day, including witches and wizards." She said sadly, and Draco couldn't help but feel the same way.

It was a shame how people tended to discriminate against others just because they aren't like them, but if Draco and his Grey Faction had their way, then everything would be reset to back zero. He planned for a new beginning between human and non human magicals. He knew it would not be easy, but there were no bars to measure against; so they would be allowed to make mistakes, but always move forwards and never look back. This was too important an issue to be left as it was. Whatever headway they managed to make, no matter how small; would be better than none.

"Is there a way to get someone of creature blood appointed to the Wizengamot?" He asked. "We have found nothing so far and to be truthful, I doubt we will find any." She answered.

"I will see if the vampires still have any ancient records that might help." Draco said. "They might have something which could help us understand what happened to cause this great divide at the very least."

When he spoke of the great divide, he didn't just mean of the chasm that existed between human and non human magicals; but also the one that existed between light and dark wizards. Draco knew for sure that it had not been like this in the past; and the generalisation of dark wizards as evil was something recent. After all, there had been as many evil light wizards as there were dark wizards.

"That's a good idea." Luna agreed and continued. "I didn't have time to look at the chilling grass."
"That's fine. You have done more than can be expected from anyone given the amount of time you had. Either way, Severus and I figured it out. When the vampires return, we should be able to plant them no problem." He said.
"That's good." Luna said. "Can I ask how you want to go about the vampire issue?"
"Well, I've discovered why they are unable to stay in the sun." Draco announced, and Luna almost jumped up in shock and then almost laughed at the ease with which Draco had said the words.
As far as she knew, vampires had been there longer than records existed; and no doubt many people had attempted to find out why they couldn't be in the sun before and failed; until along came Draco, who succeeded; and was mentioning the discovery as if it was an ordinary thing!
She would have mentioned something about that, if she wasn't so eager to hear what he had found out.

"A human body has 54.5% plasma, 44.8% red blood cells, and 0.7% white blood cells. However, the vampire body has no plasma; and because of this, it contains a lot of unbound hydrogen ions which makes their blood very acidic. Their highly acidic blood has an incredibly low boiling point; and the heat from the sun is so strong that it causes a reaction in their blood that could mean combustion from within the body if they linger in sunlight too long." Draco explained.

Luna sucked in all the information she got, and before he could even finish, she already had an idea. "The chilling grass in the potion you will be making, it will affect the hypothalamus and body cells to ensure that the body temperature of the vampire does not surpass a certain threshold; thus preventing the fatal reaction when they are exposed to the sun for longer than some thirty seconds to a minute, right?"

"Exactly." Draco smiled. That was a Ravenclaw for you!
"The theory is pretty simple, but surely it can't be that easy?" she asked.
"It's not." He agreed. "But I have a working idea."

Before he could say more, he felt the wards shift at the entrance to the tower, and he warned the girl to stay quiet. "Keep safe and keep me updated."

She nodded in acceptance, just as Harry made his way into the room. He had enjoyed spending time with Remus, but he couldn't help but want to be back in the East Tower. He only had precious limited time, before he had to go for Quidditch practice; and he wanted to spend as much of it as he could with Draco.

"Clever git." Harry said, when he saw them; but he had a smile on his face. "Taking the chance when I am away to have a Grey Faction meeting."

"It's always my pleasure to keep you on your toes Harry." Draco said with a laugh, and Harry flushed in delight; as his name rolled smoothly from the blonde's mouth.

"It's been a while, Harry." Luna said with an affectionate look on her face.

There was something adorable in the way the two boys interacted, and she couldn't wait for the day that they realised that they were truly meant for each other. Harry was Draco's, and Draco was Harry's, but while that was clear to her; factors in their lives clouded that knowledge from them. She was glad that she wouldn't have to watch them be confused for much longer.

"Yeah, it's been a while since we talked Luna." Harry smiled at the girl as he said that.

However strange Luna was, she had always been special to Harry. She had been the first one to talk to him about the thestrals last year; and even when she joined The Grey Faction, Harry could not find it in himself to resent her. In fact, she was one of the reasons that Harry had realised that Draco was more than what most saw. After all, there was no way that Luna, would be involved in anything even remotely resembling evil.

"The wrackspurts have finally let go of you." She finally said after looking at Harry for what seemed like hours. Harry had no idea what she was seeing, but he gathered that she meant that his thoughts had become clearer; and so he nodded in agreement.

"And I feel much better for it Luna." He said.
"Good." She said back, "I have to go now; I am sure there are things you would rather be doing instead of talking to little ol' me boys." She winked and left; leaving the two boys thoroughly confused, and inexplicably flushed.

"She just winked." Harry said.
"Yes, she did." Draco affirmed.

"No 'welcome home darling'?" Harry teased with a pout, and Draco had to suppress a smile.

"Welcome home darling," He played along and even went further than the word play moving in to place a soft kiss on Harry's pouty lips. "I hope you had a productive discussion about me?"

"Of course my dear, it was quite productive." They both smiled, and settled down to finally finish their reading.

Uploader's Note: This Has Been A Backup Upload of Chapter 29 of Behind the Fog by Hancock23.