Harry Potter - Series Fan Fiction ❯ Behind the Fog (Backup Upload) ❯ Behind the Fog (Backup Upload) 36th Chapter ( Chapter 36 )

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. Anything you recognize is property of JK Rowling. Additionally this is not my story. I am uploading this to my own account in support of the author the story belongs to who has been struggling with hackers.

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.

For anyone interested the author goes by Hancock23 on Fanfiction -dot- net. I will remove the story from my account when Hancock23 has gotten the story safely uploaded elsewhere or has been safely given their account back on Fanfiction -dot- net. Without further ado I give you a backup upload of: Behind the Fog by Hancock23.

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 36 - Under the Same Sky

"The Berkley Family Is Back!"
Earlier today, in an unprecedented move, Edwin and Edna Berkley, now Lord Berkley and Dowager Lady Berkley appeared in Diagon Alley's branch of the Wizarding bank, Gringotts to reclaim the Berkley family's heritage. This turn of events was made possible by the existence of an ancient pact between the Goblins and some of the Wizarding World's oldest families. The pact allows the Goblins to place the assets and titles of a family in escrow until a suitable heir comes of age (See page 5 for more information about the pact).
It has been more than a decade since a member of the Berkley family appeared in the wizarding world and the name has all but fallen into obscurity even amongst the older generation. The family came to sudden ruin when they were attacked by a pack of werewolves on their way back from a Quidditch game that had gone on later than expected. The Berkley's lost their property, titles, money, and reputation in one go almost two decades ago.
Shamed by his new circumstances, former lord Berkley and his family went into hiding and their whereabouts have been unknown until their appearance at Gringotts earlier today. The former lord Berkley and the youngest daughter were conspicuously absent from the group that arrived at Gringotts hence this writer can only assume that they succumbed to the labours of lycanthropy before a cure was found. I wish to extend my deepest condolences on behalf of myself and the daily prophet to the family for their loss.
From their appearance, Lord and dowager lady Berkley looked as they had before their sudden fall. They wore expensive robes at the height of fashion and carried themselves in a manner befitting the nobility. One can only guess where the proud Berkley's have been, and what they have been doing to escape the destitution that comes with being a werewolf.
The daily prophet shall keep you informed about this old family in the coming days.
Rita Skeeter; Daily Prophet Correspondent

Draco snorted as he finished reading the article that had been printed in a special evening edition of the Prophet the previous day. He had not needed to read the paper to know that the Berkleys had been successful in their petition at Gringotts, but he had needed to know how it would be reported by the media. It was advantageous to The Grey Faction that Skeeter had not been unfairly critical of the Berkleys, but Draco was not fooled by the amicable tone that she had used. He knew that she had intentionally tried to sound pleasant in order to curry favour with the Berkleys in hopes of getting an exclusive interview. She would soon realise that the Berkleys would not give her the exclusive and when that happened, Draco expected she would be back to her old habits of writing lies and inventing scenarios.

Sighing in resignation, Draco placed the Prophet on his writing desk and walked out of the room through the glass doors that opened into a wide balcony that was attached to his bedroom. There were only a few stars left in the sky and the black of night had lightened to the grey of approaching dawn, but Draco was too restless to sleep. He took one of the armchairs that had been placed on the balcony and allowed his thoughts to drift.

His solicitor, Marina, had managed to recruit a respected independent solicitor to help them petition Hogwarts and the ministry into allowing the former werewolves to attend the school come September. On his part, Bill was progressing smoothly in trying to get St Mungos to sanction a case study on the vampire situation. All in all, Draco had managed to accomplish everything he had set out to do during the break but he could not help the nagging feeling he had that he was missing something vital.

He knew what that was, he had known since they parted ways at the gates of Hogwarts but it was still a bit hard for him to accept that he had grown so severely and irrevocably attached to Potter. He was in love, that much was certain. He also knew that his love for Harry made him vulnerable to Harry in ways that he would and could never be to other people. They had both said cruel things to each other over the years, but Draco could not help but recoil at the possibility of being vulnerable to Harry whenever he recalled some of the things that the Gryffindor had said to him over the previous months.

He wanted to forget it all and allow himself to completely be in love with Harry but he was afraid that the black-haired boy did not realise that he was both the greatest source and threat to Draco's happiness. Harry could protect him from everything and everyone around them but until he realised that he was the only one that could irreparably break Draco's heart, he remained a threat.

That he had never said any of this to Harry was not lost on Draco and the cautious way they had been tiptoeing around the issue was quickly beginning to weigh him down. He wanted to know that Harry would not abandon him for the Weasleys, the Order, or whatever else choice may present itself in the future but at the back of his mind, he knew that waiting for that guarantee before acting was cowardly.

In small ways, Harry had chosen him over his friends and housemates and Draco also wanted to put in some effort. He was not ready to outright confess how he felt but he was ready to give Harry a sign that he was important to him. That now was the right time for them to make bolder strides towards each other. With that resolution in mind and a bit of regret that he was about to disturb the rest of more than one person, he called Biddy to him.

"Potter." A high voice called, and Harry tried to turn away from it in annoyance. The voice was accompanied by bony hands though and even after Harry managed to block out the voice with a pillow over his head, the hands would not stop shaking him and he forced himself to open his eyes; if only to deal with the annoyance before going back to sleep.

"Harry Potter sir, Harry Potter." The voice continued, obviously ignorant that Harry had already woken up.
"What?" Harry snapped.
"Harry Potter sir, I is bringing a message from Master Draco." The elf said, and Harry immediately sat up on the bed. A quick wave of his hand filled the room with light; and he was able to finally see that the elf standing on the right side of the bed was Biddy.
"Did you say that you have a message from Draco?" He asked.
"Yes, Harry Potter sir." The elf said enthusiastically, and handed Harry a package.

Without wasting a minute, Harry ripped open the package to find a long-stemmed bud that was resting on a red velvet bed. He remembered the buds from Valentine's day and he felt his heart quicken as he took the bud in his hand. As if in slow motion, he watched the bud transform into small blue flowers, that sprouted along the stem of the branch. His knowledge of flowers was severely limited; so he had no idea what it meant, but before he could get out of bed in search of a book that would help in the interpretation, he noticed a small card that was still in the box and he quickly took it.

[Harry,
The flower is called Blue Salvia and it means, 'I am thinking of you']
Harry could feel a smile stretch his lips and the annoyance he had felt at being woken before dawn completely disappeared from his features. Harry knew that he meant something to Draco, but this was the first time that the blonde had done something that showed that he cared and actively thought about Harry. Happily, he turned back to the rest of the note.
[Look out of the window to your south, at exactly five thirty five in the morning.
Draco.]

Frowning a little at the odd request, Harry cast a tempus only to find that it was only two minutes away from the appointed time. He did not know what Draco was planning to do, but he nevertheless got out of bed and hurried to the living room which was the only room in the quarters that had a south-facing window. He was surprised to find that Biddy had magicked a sort of window seat below the window so that Harry wouldn't have to stand and he sunk into it gratefully. He had barely managed to seat himself when the elf appeared again and draped a warm blanket around him before offering him a cup of chocolate.

"It's time Harry Potter, sir." The elf said, when Harry would have tried to inquire about what was happening, and with a crack, it disappeared.

Quickly, Harry turned his attention from where the elf had disappeared, just in time to see a golden light erupt from a point in the far south and soar high up into the sky. It was only a ball of light against the grey morning sky but slowly, it morphed into the most beautiful creature that Harry had ever seen. It was a dragon that somehow managed the contradiction of looking both fierce and gentle, and the sight of it filled Harry with warmth. It moved gracefully in a circle high up in the sky, repeating the same path over and over again and just by looking at it, Harry managed to understand exactly what Draco wanted to say.

[I. Am. Here.]

It was a simple statement that did not only indicate Draco's geographical location. It meant that Draco was present, and he was working towards the same things as Harry. It meant that Harry was not the only one looking forward to a future together. This was the first indication that either of them had made towards being special to one another; and it made a lump form in Harry's throat. It was a bold statement and Harry could not find adequate words to answer Draco's feelings, so he concentrated on the feeling of Draco. The feeling of having Draco there with him and the feeling of having Draco away from him.

It was only a week after the holidays started that Harry had fallen asleep while reading a book. It was a boring book about the Goblin Rebellion of 1752, but Harry had panicked when he woke up to find that sometime during his sleep, the book had ended up beneath him, and it now spotted the worst dog ears he had ever seen in a book. Without thought, he had scribbled a short note to Flourish and Blotts in Diagon Alley making an order for a new book; promising to pay more if the book could be delivered right away.

It was not until the owl had returned with the book a short hour later, that Harry had realized that Draco was not there, in fact, the book had not been the blonde's. Draco was not there to scold him for treating a book like he had, he had not been there to get angry and possibly ignore Harry, but despite the possible negative ramifications for him, Harry had wanted Draco to be there.

Barely a week later, Harry had been making an order of chocolates to give to Remus Lupin as a gift for the upcoming full moon, and he had ended up buying every type in the catalogue. When the package had been delivered, Harry had been surprised to find that he had made the order thinking that Draco would want to try every type. In the end, he gave it all to Remus while he retreated back to his room to get over the sudden gloom that overtook him at realizing that Draco was not there.

There had been more incidents like that over the break, but the worst had been when Harry had a sudden thought of what it would be like if he and Draco were no longer together and living in the same place after the war. They would walk the same streets in Diagon Alley, attend the same parties, and visit the same places, and all they would be to each other would be old acquaintances who waved at each other in passing. He did not want that. He wanted Draco in his life even when the Slytherin turned into a cranky dragon over the silliest of things.

All these thoughts occurred to Harry within the space of a single heartbeat and he realised that he had fallen in love with Draco the way one falls asleep. It had started out slowly, and then all at once and he could not find the will or reason to try and reverse the process. Harry looked at the dragon again and he imagined Draco's smile, reading, talking, and laughing with Draco, waking up with Draco, and as the scenes saturated his mind, he felt something warm and powerful erupt from his wand.

He looked up on time to see his ball of golden light turn into a golden gryphon that soared around the tower majestically in answer to the dragon that had ceased its movements to stare. From his place on the balcony at Dragon Castle, Draco looked at the gryphon and it took his breath away. It had surprised him when his Patronus had appeared in a golden light rather than the normal silver and it still surprised him when he saw the same phenomenon in Harry's but for the moment, he didn't care. All that mattered is that he knew that Harry had understood his message and he had earnestly answered him.

[I am also here, under the same sky as you.]

Until the sun began to emerge from the East, Harry and Draco watched the magical creatures soar above their heads as if playing with each other and they felt content. They were not alone because distance was but an illusion. For as long as they lived under the same sky, they would do whatever it took to cross the distance between them until they stood together as one. Happily, they each sipped their cocoa and by the time their patronuses dissipated in the light, they had fallen unceremoniously asleep.

Uploader's Note: This Has Been A Backup Upload of Chapter 36 of Behind the Fog by Hancock23.