Radix Acclaro

18 - Harry

September first was only two weeks away and Harry was still sleeping at least fourteen hours a day. Overall he didn't mind his confinement too much but it annoyed him how quickly he tired, especially since he didn't really do anything to make him tired.

For the most part his days consisted of sleeping, eating, performing the few exercises he was allowed to do, massages from him mates, reading, or talking with the others – not that there was a whole lot to talk about really. None of them got to go out except for Draco, Snape and Tom but their visits to Diagon Alley were most certainly not social events.

Looking around his room in a rare moment of solitude Harry decided the thing that was irritating him most... was the lack of a window. He liked the sun and its ability to warm him to the bone while the dungeons had always chilled him just as deeply.

He wanted to return to Snape Castle – it was always bright there. At the very least they were going to have to give him a room with a window; there was no way in hell he was spending the next eight or so months with no sunshine.

"Perhaps one of your mates can make a window for you Master? With their power?" Xyria hissed.

It still surprised him when the little spider – well not so little anymore with her three inch wide body – read his mind. It surprised him even more that she understood what he was thinking, even when he didn't understand it himself. She was a wonderful sounding board when he was feeling conflicted which, despite his best efforts, he occasionally was. Loving the Dark Lord and his second in command was not an easy thing.

Harry had no delusions about his lovers. He knew the two men had no compunctions about killing – before or after their transformation – and it was strangely comforting. That, of course, was one of the major things he'd been conflicted about. How could he feel comfort in his mate's callousness? Xyria had quickly pointed out that Tom and Lucius were not off randomly killing people – although in all honesty they once had but it was no longer the case. If Tom and Lucius were to take a life now then there would be a reason behind it and as the spider had also pointed out, it was important to have a mate who could defend you properly. That had appealed to his purely Draconian instincts.

He also knew that Tom still planned on taking over the Wizarding World and while his methods had changed it certainly wasn't just because of Harry's wish not to kill people. This had also bothered him but Xyria had again been his voice of reason. Every decision had more than one reason behind its being made and if the change in Tom's behavior served the dual purpose of placating his mate and saving lives then why should Harry worry? It didn't mean that if the only reason to stop zealously killing off the opposition had been the boy's happiness that Tom wouldn't have made the same choice.

Harry did agree that their world needed to change and not the kind that simply replacing the Minister could bring about. The system was broken and had been for a very, very long time. While a monarchy might seem like a step backwards, it would hopefully add a needed layer of security that their society needed if they were to remain hidden.

It apparently worked for the Elves if the books he'd been reading were to be believed.

Tiny legs scurried across his chest. For a week now the spiders had been demanding physical contact with him and while at first the sensation of them crawling on him had seriously creeped him out, now he barely noticed it. He'd also been worried about squishing the tiny creatures – most of Xyria's children were only about half an inch in diameter – but an incident with a House Elf had proved just how tough his magic had made the little spiders.

From what he'd learned the wards around the school 'gently deterred' most types of 'vermin', both magical and mundane, from entering the school. The ones that did make it in were simply banished on sight by the House Elves back to the Forbidden Forest – a nifty little skill in the brunette's opinion.