Things Happen.
Kreacher was worried. Three days have already passed and in all that time his Master had not left his bedroom. Lady Walburga seemed to know something, but so far the portrait had not deemed it necessary to share what it was with the old House Elf. With each passing day her frown grew more and more pronounced however. Finally in the evening of the third day she called out to her old servant and shared her worries.
She found a very solid and disturbing possibility that only served to fill Kreacher with a type of shy but giddy anticipation. Dragel. The word rang like a bell in his mind. Every House Elf knew of them, of course, though it was something akin to a fairy tale in a way. Dragels and their sanctuary Realm; Nevarah. A world where everyone was free and cared for.
Of course, those were child tales and Kreacher was a very aged and wise Hose Elf, thank you very much. He knew reality would be vastly different, if indeed his beloved Mistress’ Portrait was actually correct and a Creature Inheritance was what was going on with Master Harry.
Some details didn’t quite line up, but Kreacher was sure there would be a way to prove the theory right or wrong. One thing was sure though- Kreacher would follow his Young Master wherever he went. After all, someone had to take care of him, Merlin only knew how bad the man was at taking care of himself. Kreacher hasn’t been around him all that long at all, but even he could already see that.
By the time the Master finally woke up, Kreacher had a selection of Dragel friendly foods ready, along with some of the foods he’s noticed Harry preferring; his young Master's nutrition was very important to him after all.
“Good morning, Kreacher.” Came a rather mumbled greeting. His Young Lord stood in the doorway to the kitchen, his hand covering his mouth as he yawned.
“Master, you’re finally awake.” The House Elf all but beamed, the expression making him look a little deranged, truth be told.
Harry titled his head to the side, looking a little bit like a confused puppy. “Finally?”
“You’ve been asleep for three days.” Walburga’s voice came from one of the kitchen frames as the former Lady seemed to have followed them.
“Three DAYS?!” The wizard glanced from the Portrait to the Elf and back again. “But how? What the hell?!”
Lady Black shrugged. “If I were still alive, I would most likely never even consider saying this. But I am not, so there is not much I can do about it anyway.”
Emerald green eyes narrowed on the painted face of Sirius’s mother. “What do you mean?”
The witch in the painting hummed thoughtfully, “I’ll tell you, but do keep in mind that at this point this is nothing more than a hypothesis.”
“That’s fine.” Harry sounded a little cautious, but who could really blame him. He sat at the kitchen table so he could have some breakfast while he listened to whatever it was that Walburga Black was about to share with him.
‘This is good.’ Was all that passed through his mind. The food wasn’t all that different than usual per say, but there was meat jerky- which was a new addition and one that he was very much in favor of. Plus there were way more fruits than usual, as well pumpkin juice and some of his favorite fruit-filled desserts. All in all it didn’t really much resemble a breakfast meal, but if he really spent the last three days asleep, Harry assumed that Kreacher was just happy that he was finally awake and thus willing to spoil him with more sugary foods.
//Meanwhile, elsewhere//
The two men sleeping on a huge bed were quite a sight to behold as they cuddled together under an obnoxiously large amount of blankets.
The taller one, with a halo of shortish dark blond hair, was stretched out on his back, one of his arms bent at the elbow and resting behind his head, while his other arm was used to hold the smaller male close to his chest. The smaller man was already starting to wake, his dark hair covering his face from view, much like a curtain would.
Both men were wearing loose fitting pants, riding low on their hips. Shirts were left unused since it was a rather warm night. If there was anyone in the room to witness the sight, they could possibly die from blood loss due to an extensive nosebleed.
For a few moments the shorter man was almost being spooned; Hien, just laid there. Enjoying the feel of his partner’s skin under his touch and glaring at the slowly but inevitably rising sun. Finally he let out a small sigh, poked his taller partner in the ribs to make sure the other man woke up as well then rose to his feet. He stretched a few times to rid himself of the last vestiges of sleep, perfectly aware of a pair of half-lidded golden eyes that observed him from under the blankets. Without looking back, he discreetly raised his hand to his mouth and whistled loudly.
“Oi, what was that for?” Ash grumbled sleepily. “I was enjoying myself, you know.”
“Yes, I do know.” Hien, the shorter brunette, smirked over his shoulder, a few of his coffee colored strands falling in front of his eyes. “I could feel your stare burning holes in my backside. But you said you would do the shopping while I’m running errands for the Crown.”
More grumbles were heard until finally a mop of butterscotch colored dark blond hair emerged from what could probably be described as a nest. “I thought that was tomorrow?”
Hien reached over and patted his partner on the head, earning himself an indignant squawk and a screech of: “Not the hair!”
Amused dark eyes looked the other over. “Is there any difference? I honestly can’t tell.”
This time a pillow was lobbed in his face, though he danced out of the way with a cheerful chuckle. “You’ll have to try better than that.”
“Urgh. I hate you.” With a dramatic whine the tall blond collapsed back onto the bed. He managed to grab his partner by the wrist and yank at him as he let himself fall. As a result the two were sprawled out on top of each other.
“You sure about that?” The shorter man looked down into the still sleepy eyes of his soulmate.
“At times like this? When you make me get up at asscrack-of-dawn o’clock? I absolutely do.”
“Oh, Ash, what would I ever do without you?”
“Die.” Came the prompt and absolutely deadpan response.
“Yes, yes.” He extracted himself out of Ash’s hold with some difficulty and ran for the door, throwing a “Love you too” over his shoulder.
Ash, now alone in the room, stared at the clock with a groan. “There goes the plan to sleep in. I suppose I might as well visit the Outpost since I’m already awake.”
//With a sprinkle of Realm-to-Realm time differences: London, England//
When Luna and Andromeda brought Teddy to Grimmauld Place the next day, Harry was extremely relieved to see them. Their very presence made something lighten up inside him. Perhaps this was the ‘sense of closeness’ that Dragels apparently thrived on? If so, then it was no wonder that his creature side seemed incredibly unstable. After all, it was very rare for him to receive affection that didn’t come with lots of strings attached.
Watching Andromeda interacting with the boy, he knew there was no way in hell he could separate the two of them. Grandmother and grandson clearly love each other dearly; Harry was very relieved to realize this. That being said, however, he was determined to become an integral part of the boy’s life from now on. After all, he was the child’s godfather.
“Harry!” Exclaimed Luna once the greetings were over and done with. Her lips were stretched into a very wide grin.
“Why do I have a feeling you won’t be surprised about the news I have to share?”
“Well, naturally it’s because you know me so well.” Her tinkling laughter made the room feel much more homely and cheerful.
Explaining things to Luna, as expected, was incredibly easy. The blonde just smiled cheerfully, nodding along with him. Andromeda, on the other hand, was somewhat more skeptical, especially when Harry mentioned the source of the information. The older witch had had absolutely no pleasant experiences when it came to the deceased Lady Walburga Black, therefore she was not that keen to trust anything that came from such a corrupted source.
“Andy, I’m not about to go to St. Mungo’s. Which part of ‘supposedly extinct’ is hard to understand?” Harry was beginning to get a bit exasperated. It felt like they’d been talking in circles for hours.
“Well that’s convenient.” The woman rolled her eyes and gave the painting a distrustful glare.
“It was not told to you.” Walburga Black sneered from the painting. “I don’t really care what your opinion is.”
“That might be the only thing we’ll ever agree on.” Andromeda’s tone was downright glacial.
While the Black witch was busy arguing with the painted likeness of her dead relative, Luna decisively grabbed Harry by the hand and calmly dragged him out of the room. The newly minted Dragel followed his friend down the corridor and then up the stairs, making sure to tell Kreacher to keep an eye on Teddy while Andromeda and Walburga were … occupied.
“I’m so happy for you, Harry.” Luna said as soon as they were safely inside the study that once belonged to the previous Lord Black; Orion II. “This is good.”
“Is it?” Harry’s voice was full of all the doubts that he hadn’t dared to voice. “I’ve become an extinct creature. How is this supposed to be good?”
The blonde smiled, “You should know by now that few things are rarely exactly as they seem to be at first glance.”
Harry tilted his head to the side with a small frown. “What do you know exactly?”
Luna chuckled, the sound of her tinkling laughter never failing to make Harry feel better. “ I know a great many things, Harry.” A cheeky smile stretched across her pouty lips.
The young man rolled his emerald green eyes. “Naturally. But is there anything that might be of use to me and my current situation?”
She tapped her lower lip with her index finger, eyeing Harry with an intense look in her silver-blue eyes. “There are a couple things I could say. I’m not really sure I should though.”
The wizard all but pouted in return. “Why is that?”
She gave him a small teasing grin. “Because you’re just not ready to hear it yet.”
“That’s…” He hesitated. What was he supposed to say? It was none of her business? Not up to her to decide? Both were technically true, and yet nine times out of ten Luna did know better.
Luna patted him on the knee. “Take this, Harry.”
“Huh?” He exclaimed, thoroughly confused.
“Just take it, it will help you.” She then thrust something into his hands.
Harry looked in confusion at the package he now held in his hands. What could it possibly be? Judging by the shape it seemed to contain books of some sort. On top of it was a heavy golden medallion. Harry shifted the presumed books to rest on the sofa near him and picked up the medallion to take a closer look. There was some sort of Crest engraved into the surface, but it wasn’t one he recognized. He looked back at Luna, confused beyond measure. “Luna, some context if you please?”
The girl giggled cheerfully. “The books are to help you with your small side project and the Medallion is for you to put on. Please don’t lose it. It’s your best chance to get to Nevarah quickly.”
She looked away for a moment, her eyes subtly glowing silver and her gaze becoming sort of unfocused as she watched something that he could not see. “Unless you would rather stay and wait for Ronald to get here.”
Harry grimaced at the thought of Ron coming over. Much to Harry’s consternation, his oldest friend hadn’t really matured much if at all since graduating from Hogwarts. They were already almost 22 and Ronald Weasley still thought the world was black and white. That Griffindors were the good guys and Slytherins were all bad. Where Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff, much else the rest of the population who didn’t go to Hogwarts, fit into the immature boy’s worldview Harry had no idea. What he did know though, was that after how his visit to the Burrow the other day went, he'd prefer to not talk with Ron just yet. “You’ve got a great point there Luna. I may not know anything about this Nevarah place, but I have a pretty good idea about how talking to Ron at the moment could turn out.”
The blonde positively beamed at him. “Oh don’t worry, Harry! It will be a marvelous adventure!”
The brunette grimaced slightly. “That’s what I’m worried about, Lunagirl. With my brand of luck, who knows what could happen.”
“I think that’s exciting.”
“You would.” Harry chuckled. Keeping a bad mood around Luna was just simply impossible. At least for him. After twirling the medallion in his hands for a few more moments, he cautiously put it on. The weight of it felt surprisingly comforting around his neck, which confused him. It was similar enough in shape and size to Voldemort’s Horcrux that Harry expected to be unnerved at the very least. He shook his head determinedly and looked at Luna. “So how does this thing work?”
Miss Lovegood raised an eyebrow at him. “Why, Harry, one would think you’ve never traveled by wizarding means. You just say ‘Sanctuary’.”
“Sanctuary?” Harry muttered in a moment of true idiocy.
Luna gasped and stared at Harry in shock as bright lights shimmered all around him and in a split second later the young wizard was gone from Number 12, Grimmauld Place. “Well, I didn’t think he was in THAT much of a hurry.” She shrugged, picked up the books and went to search for Kreacher. Someone would have to make sure that all of Harry’s things get delivered to him after all.