An Unexpected Friendship
Chaos leaned back in her beach chair and looked out over the bright surface of the lake. Harry was out there, swimming around, she saw him from time to time, but today she felt lazy and just wanted to soak in the warmth from the sun on the beach. It was the last day of April and a spectacular spring day. She was going to enjoy it. She closed her eyes and just relaxed, sipping from her glass of iced tea now and again. Magic was lively underneath her feet, it was Beltane soon and it seemed the ley lines, and magic, somehow remembered the ritual from last year and had become more and more energetic these last days. It was the only way she could put it. Magic was energetic and lively, eager and ready. She smiled towards the sun. She hadn’t been able to feel magic, to feel the ley lines, like this before Slytherin taught her how. Now it was bothersome to walk around with shoes, though, she wasn’t quite as bad as he was about it. Yet.
There was a rustle of robes against sand and then a sound she didn’t quite recognise but that she knew Slytherin was making to make sure she knew he was near, so as not to startle her. He walked so silently, and she had been so very jumpy these past months, it was absolutely necessary. Or it had been. She felt better, more settled, now. She didn’t blame him for the trauma she had been forced to remember because of the God Maker Ritual, didn’t blame him for the nightmares, the stress and her extremely short fuse that had made her a bitch beyond measure to be around and had made her keep her distance to Zinnia as her precious girl didn’t deserve her venom. None of it had been his fault, neither directly nor indirectly. It was Harry and her who had decided to give him the God Maker Ritual and to do it with him. They had realised their mistake, their miscalculation, far too late. That still didn’t make it Slytherin’s fault.
Slytherin had helped them through it, though, both of them, not just Harry. He had made sure they always had the potions they needed and also made sure they didn’t overdose when they were so distraught or exhausted that their brains pretty much had stopped functioning properly. He had kept other people away when she was raging, made excuses when her rage overcame her suddenly and she tore into people with almost no provocation at all. More than once, he had hauled her back before she physically went at someone, most often a Death Eater that still hadn’t learned how to shut up. He had read to them for hours and hours, he had woken them from nightmares, and he had discussed theories and rituals and history with her until her brain finally shut down and she fell asleep. The last month or so he had insisted that all three of them spend some time in their valley in Argentina and that Harry and she take some day trips to get out of their daily routines.
It had been hard to be around Slytherin to begin with, when she first got back in contact with Harry. She had been on guard, all the time. If someone had told her two years ago that she one day would be able to relax in his vicinity, that she would in fact fall asleep within arm’s reach of him, that she would fall asleep on him, she would have laughed in their face and punched their teeth out for good measure. It had begun slowly when she saw how he was with Harry and continued when she realised that Harry truly did trust him, did even like him. Then she slowly was able to glean the differences between the insane Dark Lord Voldemort who had haunted her entire youth and still had a place in her nightmares, and Harry’s husband, who still was the Dark Lord Voldemort, but who no longer truly resembled the madman from her nightmares.
Then she had begun to like Harry’s husband, talk more openly and candidly with him, even trust him a bit. The time she realised that she truly trusted Slytherin with Harry, with all of Harry, was the time she realised that she trusted him for herself, too. Because Harry’s husband would never hurt her if he could help it, as hurting her would hurt Harry. That had made her relax even more around him, and now …
Long fingers threaded through her loose curls and scratched her scalp in a way that made her almost instinctively bend her neck to give better access and almost moan in pleasure.
“Sneak attack, no fair,” she grumbled under her breath as he scratched her scalp in a way she liked a bit too much, even when she wasn’t in any of her cat forms. Which he of course knew, the bastard.
“You knew I was here.” His warm voice held a touch of humour.
She hummed under his ministration.
“Is Harry still swimming?”
“Yes.” She gave a small sigh. “The nightmares have become better, easier, but he still had a bad night last night.”
It was Slytherin’s turn to hum, he was still scratching at her scalp.
“Yours was not that much better, I believe?”
The silent question, why wasn’t she out there swimming with Harry as she usually was after a bad night, made her hesitate only for a moment. He had been there, after all, when she had woken up screaming. He had read to her until she fell asleep, yet again. It was hard to see any reason to hold back anything when he already knew pretty much everything.
“I’m feeling lazy, and, sorry if this is too much information, I have finally gotten my monthlies again and my Healer told me that taking care of myself, especially during those days, actually is allowed. I don’t truly have to exercise like a maniac all the time, not anymore …” Her voice died out.
She didn’t have to be in what she considered peak condition all the time anymore, she didn’t have to be constantly on guard anymore. The war was actually, truly over; had soon been over for two years. She was living at Malfoy Manor now, with people who would back her up as Harry had always done, and behind massive wards, even if the war wards had been taken down some months ago. She was safe, she could relax, and her body had also, finally, gotten that message. She was happy it had, because she had been worried. She really wanted children, after all. She would be willing to adopt, of course, but still, she wanted a chance of her own, biological children.
He didn’t stop scratching her for even a moment and she hoped it wasn’t too much information for him.
“That is true, you are allowed to have calm, lazy days if that is your wish. Is there anything you need?”
She almost spluttered but kept it in. Was he actually asking what she thought he was asking?
“No, that’s fine, thanks. I have all the supplies I need, and Harry recognised the symptoms in my mood, even though it’s been years since last time, and stocked up on chocolate to toss at me if I become grouchy, or weepy, or exhausted …”
Slytherin hummed, almost a laugh. “In other words, all the time during this week?”
“Indeed, all the time. I get all the chocolate!”
She almost pouted when he took his hand back. “Astoria told me it was time for me to get up from behind the desk and move around some, preferably in the fresh air, so I will continue my walk now. Apparently, my husband gave her the task to push me outside, in case he was occupied himself.”
“Harry is like that, yes. I’m sure Astoria was kinder about it than Harry would have been.”
“Oh, undoubtedly. She also began her sentence with ‘Harry told me to tell you’, so she tossed him to the hippogriffs.”
Chaos laughed. “Of course she did!”
Slytherin had only gone a few steps before she made a decision, changed into her black panther form and jumped to keep him company. Slytherin must have been close to cats at some point, because as soon as she headbutted his hand, he began stroking her head and scratching behind her ears, without comment. A cat, at some point in time, had without doubt made a very well-behaved human slave out of him. Which Chaos found absolutely hilarious. The fact that she was a cat made it obvious that she didn’t want to talk herself, but as they had done this twice before, and even more times with Harry along, he began to talk at her.
First Slytherin talked about how the schools were working out, how the children seemed to learn the different subjects and liked or disliked the different professors. He was particularly happy that few had protested that the children should have some more Nomagi education besides reading, writing, learning their numbers and languages. All children now had an extended education with reading, writing, languages and learning their numbers, in fact, that education would continue until their time at Starlight Academy of Magic were done. In addition, there were the Nomagi subjects of world history, basic science, geography, art, music and even physical education. On top of that there were all the magical subjects.
Strangely enough, at least for those that only had experience in the magical world, the children flourished with that many subjects. Chaos knew very well how much the subject plan, the chosen books and the teachers meant to a good and engaging education and wasn’t really that surprised. Neither it seemed, were Slytherin. He was rather smug while he told her about the astonishment of the two Heads of School that had visited him earlier that day. Some students had more trouble with learning than others, and some obviously suffered from trauma that they still were working through with the help of guardians and Mind Healers, but all in all, the school project was going much better than feared.
Then Slytherin talked about the Beltane celebration the next day, about the more child friendly ritual that he would head during the day and early evening, and the one Harry and she had informed him that they would hold after nightfall, with bonfires, drums and dancing. Chaos didn’t think she had imagined the satisfaction on his face a couple of weeks ago when Harry had told him what they planned for Beltane. Slytherin almost always seemed satisfied when Harry wanted to contribute something socially, be it ideas for a smaller gathering of friends and allies, or an all-out sabbath celebration. Chaos had to conclude that Slytherin wanted a partner in all things, even if it probably hadn’t begun that way, when the man had started to consider a marriage to Harry to seal the peace treaty. It didn’t really matter how it had started, not anymore, just how it went now. After all, she had never believed herself capable of enjoying Slytherin’s company, in any way, and look at her now.
After just a moment’s hesitation, she took a step to the side, out of reach of the hand that still was scratching behind her ears, as a good human slave should, and changed to her human form.
“I don’t think Harry has told you yet, maybe he wanted to wait until after Beltane, but we are thinking of making the next celebration bigger. Litha, I mean. So far, we have kept it on the property and even if the invite list has become quite long, it’s … it’s not quite what we want. What our endgame has always been. Maybe we should wait even longer, so the children at school will get more time to learn about the Wheel of the Year and convince those guardians that haven’t celebrated before, to try it. If only for their sake, so they can celebrate with their friends. But I have heard from both Luna and Susan that their children have friends with guardians that don’t really know how to go about celebrating. They know little about it themselves, and while they could read their children’s schoolbooks and begin there, begin small, it would be even easier if they all were invited to a celebration, a public celebration. And that has always been part of the plan, our plan, for this.”
Slytherin was listening intently and when she paused to see if he had any comments, he made a gesture to make her continue. That was one of the things she appreciated about him, his willingness and capacity to listen. He would hear her out, completely, and then he would discuss it with her until he knew he understood exactly what she wanted and then, and only then, would he give his own input. So far, he had never downright shot her and her ideas down. He had, on the other hand, made her make changes to her initial ideas, which was fine.
“So, for the Summer Solstice, Harry and I want to arrange a big celebration. Actually, we want to arrange several, with the help of Luna and Susan, and their families. We would happily take help from others too, including the Ministry, but we think that it would be good that the Light faction, and the Ministry if they become involved, is seen as the main contributors. At least for the first few celebrations. The Dark faction is used to celebrating and I hope, and believe, that they will show up and celebrate with us, even if it is the Light faction who stands as hosts. The opposite will most likely not be true, not yet. We also hope that celebrating together will help to soften the lines between factions even further. Even if people work relatively fine together, the two factions seldom mingle outside of work and official arrangements. If they don’t have children who have become friends at school that is, and that’s great, that’s a really good way of getting people to socialise naturally, but it’s also a bit too slow. We want to give that process a push; it seems like it’s needed.”
Slytherin was silent for a while before he said:
“A sound idea, and one I can get fully behind. I am certain Ministry Head Shacklebolt will too, and give you whatever help you feel you need to make this work. Where would the celebrations take place?”
“Luna will stand as hostess for the celebration on the field outside Hogsmeade and Susan will do the same for the celebration at Godric’s Hollow. Harry and I will take care of the one we suspect will be the biggest, the one in the big park by the library in Diagon. We are, of course, willing to set the celebration at a time that will suit those that celebrate more privately, too. But we really want as many as possible to come, even if only for an hour or two.”
“Never fear, I will tell the Dark faction to do their best to show up to the public celebrations too, and to contribute and be neighbourly towards all those who celebrate for the first time. Hopefully, I only need to do it this once, as it sounds like an excellent idea and people might choose to show up of their own accord after this.”
“That’s our hope,” Chaos said. “People are beginning to get used to the peace, but they still cling to their old ways, cling to being separate factions, separate groups of people. That won’t work if we want the peace to last.”
“Indeed it will not. I am gratified that the two of you have decided to take this initiative. Personally, I would have waited longer, but as you say, with the Light faction as the hosts and the children curious about what they have read and learned about, it might be the right time to try this after all.”
Chaos nodded and heard her own stomach grumble. She was much better at eating when she should now, but it was still frightfully easy to forget to eat. It was still quite new that her stomach made sounds when she got hungry, and still new that she felt fatigued when she didn’t eat. During the war her magic had kept her going much of the time, as both sleep and food was hard to come by, at times.
Slytherin looked at her and raised an eyebrow. “Do I need to call Dobby?”
Chaos made a grimace. As threats went, that was an excellent one. Dobby did no longer only look after his Master Harry Potter, sir! He looked after her too, and even Slytherin, even if he was more careful about that. Where he would pop in and scold Harry and her into eating, he would just pop food onto the nearest surface by Slytherin, or make the plate hover by him if he walked, and he would continue to do so until Slytherin ate. It was rather funny to watch, actually.
“No, I will go back to my chair, eat a nice lunch and continue to be lazy for the rest of the day. I need my energy for tomorrow, anyway.”
Slytherin nodded. “I will return to my work now, and see you at dinner.”
With that he rose into the air and flew towards the Manor. He hadn’t yet chosen an animal shape that could fly, but Chaos suspected that Harry would badger him into it, sooner or later.