Gold Tinted Spectacles (Hecatemus Book #1)

Chapter 33 - Father and Son (pt2)

As Harry's mind reached for consciousness it also automatically reached for Draco, but all it found was confusion. Panic threatened to take away sensible thought until he realised that the link was still there, it was just muddled. It was like looking through frosted glass: Harry could tell what was on the other side, but he could not make much sense out of it, or reach out to touch his other half.

Acting on instinct he balled up his will and mentally threw himself against the barrier between himself and Draco. In return he felt a momentary flash of pain and the confused echo of the same in his lover.

The retaliation caused his body to convulse, which drew his mind's attention to his physical self. With a groan, he reluctantly opened his eyes and slowly focused on the very familiar ceiling of the private room he and Draco had shared in the hospital wing earlier in the school year.

The room was far too bright to his abnormal vision and he could see the magic in the wards all over the walls. Harry's barriers were completely down and he was very glad to find himself in the protected room. With long drilled habit he rebuilt the mental barricades before he thought about anything else: outside the room he was useless without them.

Draco's vague presence in the back of his mind was a stabilising feature, but it took a lot of effort for Harry to put back the protection in his mind from scratch without the physical presence of his soulmate. Once the room looked normal he finally let himself think about what had happened.

Fear for Draco's safety almost consumed him, but he pushed himself off the bed, refusing to give in to the feelings of desperation. He was not alone in this and he was not going to give in to the despair that threatened. His whole body ached, but then he hadn't expected anything else after the curse Draco's father had used. Harry pushed the discomfort aside without thinking about it.

Someone had changed him into his pyjamas, so he slipped off the bed and walked to the cupboard in the corner. Changing into his clothes was not the fastest thing he had ever done, but then he was fighting off a bone aching weariness. The more he thought about what Lucius had done the more angry it made him, and by the time he pulled on his robe he wanted to hurt something, preferably Malfoy senior himself. When he glanced at himself in the mirror his expression held a grim determination and his eyes were bright green in his fury.

Walking to the door he reached for the handle and was not surprised to find it locked and sealed with a charm. It was doubtful anyone had expected him to wake up: from what he'd read about Hecatemae, with what Lucius was trying, Harry should have been about as useful as a broken wand, however, Harry had never played by the rules so he wasn't about to start now.

First he weakened his newly erected magical barrier until he could see the charm on the door. It was a complex charm to prevent anyone opening the door except with the key, but his peculiar vision showed that it hinged on one point and he reached out to touch the magic with his fingers. It was not difficult to untangle the web of power and disperse the energy back into the surroundings. Then he pulled out his wand and pointed it at the door.

"Alohomora," he said and the lock clicked open obligingly.

Gripping the handle he pulled open the door the rest of the way and stepped into the corridor. The sun was low in the sky as he looked through one of the windows; he had been asleep for most of the day and his incapacitation added to his anger. Without waiting for anyone to notice that he had woken up, he turned and headed straight towards Dumbledore's office.

On his way he met a group of pupils coming from the great hall and they divided like the Red Sea in front of him. Harry had a brief thought that maybe he looked a little scary as he saw the shocked looks on their faces, but it didn't stop his progress. In fact the only thing that did stop him was what he found when he entered Dumbledore's office: there appeared to be a meeting going on.