A Bond for the Ages

Chapter 52

The aggressive shove to his shoulder broke Harry out of the daze he hadn't realized he'd been in and told him it was the last of many attempts to get his attention. It also irrationally annoyed him and he glared at Draco.

"I am going to burn your hand off if you don't stop doing things like that," Harry threatened.

"Then tell me what's going on because you've been acting weird for weeks," Draco sniped, crossing his arms.

"Nothing is going on," Harry replied stiffly.

Draco rolled his eyes. "Right because it's completely normal for you to zone out constantly and then act like you didn't."

Harry scowled. "That's not what's happening." He just had a lot on his mind.

"Thank you for proving my point," Draco said dryly.

"I'm just tired," Harry said, a snap in his tone. "You could also just call my name."

"I did," Draco replied. "Seven times. Are you sleeping?"

Harry glowered. "Yes, Mum, I'm sleeping. I don't need you to babysit me."

"I'm not. I care—"

"Well, don't!"

Hurt flashed in the grey eyes and a niggle of regret twisted around Harry's heart, but he didn't apologize. He needed to protect his family.

"What are you doing here?" he asked instead.

Draco was clearly unhappy with the topic change, but allowed it in the face of Harry's angry outburst. "We've got our meeting with Siguard."

Harry frowned slightly, unsure what the blonde was talking about, and Draco huffed, scowling.

"We're talking to him about our project. You know, the thing to help Severus?"

"Right," Harry muttered, gathering his work into his bag.

Leaving the study hall and navigating the castle up to the Ancient Runes classroom was silent and tense between them. He knew he was being unfairly irritable with Draco, but it was better than the alternative and his family knowing about how he was dealing with said alternative.

He glanced at Draco's back, his brother walking a few steps in front of him, and felt a little more guilt bubble inside. He sighed to himself and rubbed his neck at the odd trickling that was becoming so common though he still had no idea what it was.

He'd just needed the nightmares to stop and he refused to let Voldemort in again, refused to let him get to Draco and Severus. Leif, Alexei, and Severus had spent the break telling him Voldemort getting into his head, seeing Severus, and draining their magic wasn't his fault, but he knew it was. It had all happened through him because he hadn't known or understood just how his connection with Voldemort worked. So, he'd taken steps to deal with it while learning about the connection through books he'd found on the upper shelves in Prince Manor's library, shelves he and Draco had, admittedly, been warned against browsing.

He'd engulfed his mind, magic, and Life Bond in fire. Sure, he was tired—keeping his wall of fire up at all times was exhausting, after all—and not dreaming at all anymore, his head hurt, and his magic was agitated from not being allowed to connect with the others, but he could handle it; he had to.

"Where the hell are you going?"

His reverie was broken and he blinked, turning around. He'd apparently walked right past the Ancient Runes classroom without realizing. Draco was at the door, staring at him with a deep, concerned frown. Harry forced himself to ignore the way his stomach twisted and his chest ached dully in the face of his brother's obvious worry, worry he'd seen for the last four weeks since they'd returned to Hogwarts from break.