Chapter 32
“Alright,” Harry clapped his hands together and Blaise smiled, “We should sit.”
Blaise sat on the long grass, following Harry’s lead. They were in his meadow again, this time for Harry to attempt to teach Blaise how to connect with his magic. Harry looked excited, and Blaise felt excited, though nervous. He had never even heard of anyone connecting with their magic the way that Harry did, but he was eager to try.
It was his first day off since the wedding. Theo was on his honeymoon, and Dennis was finally trained enough to run the shop on his own.
“What’s first?” Blaise asked. Harry smiled.
“Well, first you need to find your magical core,” he said.
“How do I do that?” Blaise asked.
“Can you do a wandless lumos?” Harry asked.
“Yes, but it’s weak,” Blaise said. He could do very few spells wandlessly. He could do the lubrication and stretching spell though, he thought to himself. Then he shook himself off of that train of thought. Now was not the time for dirty thoughts to distract himself.
“That’s alright,” Harry said, “Cast it, and try to focus on how the magic feels at your fingertips, once you can feel it, let me know.”
Blaise concentrated on casting it. He looked at his hands where the little ball of light was hovering. He focused hard. There. There it was. A faint feeling of energy running through his fingers. Much like when he had first gotten his wand, but much less.
“I got it, I think,” Blaise said, trying not to lose the feeling.
“Good, now cancel the spell,” Harry said, “Do it again, find it, and then let it go. Do it until finding it is easy.”
Blaise did as he was instructed, repeating the exercise until he could find the feeling of the magic in seconds.
“Feel good about it?” Harry asked. Blaise nodded. “Now, when you do it next time, try to trace the magic up your arm. You should be able to follow it. It will lead you back to your core.”
Blaise nodded. He followed it up his arm, but lost it when he got to his elbow.
“Try again,” Harry encouraged, “It’s not easy at first.”
Blaise tried and tried again. He began to get frustrated but finally, he found something big. He found the large center of magic, just inside his chest. It was warm. He gasped.
“Woah,” he said.
Harry grinned, “You found it.”
“I think so,” Blaise said. He didn’t know how to describe it. It was bright, even though he couldn’t see it.
“Isn’t it great?” Harry asked eagerly.
“Yeah, this is amazing,” Blaise said, “Why don’t they teach this?”
“Most people can’t do it,” Harry said, “Nick said it takes control and patience. Not everyone possesses it. Or, it would take a very long time for some people to learn it, and they would give up. I knew you’d be able to do it though.”
“How?”
“I don’t know, it’s just a feeling. You have a very calm and controlled magic. You are intune with yourself,” Harry explained with a shrug.
“So what now?” Blaise asked, exhilarated.
“Now, just feel around it, close your eyes and just… listen,” Harry said, “It will tell you what to do.”
“Okay,” Blaise said and closed his eyes.
Harry watched as Blaise closed his eyes. He could almost see what his boyfriend was doing. He could see how his magic was reacting and it made him beyond happy to have helped.
His own magic felt envious of the attention that Blaise’s magic was getting. Harry shushed it. He wanted to watch for a bit longer before diving into his own.
He watched and felt as Blaise’s magic lit up with excitement when it realized he was paying attention to it. Blaise looked so serene and beautiful. After a few minutes of staring mesmerized at him, Harry dove into his own.
His magic welcomed him and surrounded him. He sent it love and gratitude, and it sent him safety and security. He reveled in the feeling of it through his body. He made sure not to spend too long there because he didn’t want to miss Blaise when he re-entered the real world.
After a time, he exited his magic, and sat back to watch. He was itching to actually use some of his magic, but he knew there would be time for that soon.
Blaise opened his eyes slowly a few minutes later.
“How was it?” Harry asked eagerly.
“It was…. Really good,” Blaise said. Harry wanted to jump up and down.
“Yeah?” he prompted.
“It didn’t have as clear emotions as you described,” Blaise said, “It had an overall positive vibe that was really nice. It was really… grounding.”
“Yes!” Harry said giddy.
“I couldn’t talk to it, or tell what it wanted, I think mine isn’t as strong as yours,” Blaise said, Harry deflated slightly, “It was still really amazing, I feel so connected to it.”
“Maybe that will come with time?” Harry hypothesized. From his own experience, he’d always been able to ‘talk’ to his magic.
“Maybe, but it felt right, I don’t need anything more,” Blaise assured him. Harry nodded.
“Try the ‘lumos’ again,” he said, “But don’t say it this time.”
Blaise nodded. The light came to life, bigger than before.
“It’s so much easier,” Blaise marveled. Harry watched him cast a wandless and wordless summoning charm to a rock that was sitting nearby. His jaw dropped, “That pulled, but I’ve never been able to do that before.”
“Isn’t it great?” Harry said, jumping up, unable to sit still anymore. His magic was so beyond pleased that he felt almost high.
Blaise laughed at his enthusiasm, “Yes, I’m going to play around a bit.”
Harry grinned again as he watched his boyfriend summon things, and charm them into doing little dances. He had a concentrated look on his face. He watched Blaise run through a list of spells that he knew.
“Blaise, I want you to try something,” Harry said. Blaise looked up. “Don’t use a spell in your head.”
“What?”
“Don’t think of a spell. Think of something that you want to happen, but don’t use a spell to achieve it, just use your intention,” Harry said. This was the next big breakthrough. Once a wizard was using intention, the whole world opened up to them. Harry hadn’t been sure if they would even get this far today, but Blaise was blowing his expectations out of the water.
“I’m not sure how to do that,” Blaise admitted.
“Feel your magic, go in a little bit, not into the trance but still connect to it,” Harry instructed, “And then just encourage it, push it around a little, tell it what you want.”
Blaise furrowed his brow and stared at the rock. Nothing happened for a moment, and then it rolled closer to him. Blaise let out a large exhale.
“That’s tough Harry,” he said looking up, disappointed.
“No no, that’s amazing!” Harry said, clapping his hands, “It is so hard at first, this is so far beyond what anyone knows how to do.”
“Are you sure?” Blaise asked, “All I did was roll a rock.”
“Yes, if you keep practicing, you’ll be able to do more. It’s like working a new muscle. You won’t be able to do anything without strengthening it. But the fact that you can use it at all is incredible!” Harry praised.
Blaise laughed, “Well, I’m exhausted now. Why don’t you show me what you can do? I can see you itching to let loose a bit.”
Harry nodded, “Yeah a little.”
He turned around and took a moment to really connect to his magic and find out what he wanted to do. He decided to create.
He gathered his magic and focused on creating roots to push up through the ground and tangle around each other into a large amount of unique trees. He heard Blaise gasp and he smiled. He had them all grow, keeping his eyes closed. He didn’t want to see until the final product was done.
When he felt they were tall enough, he sprouted leaves and branches to create a canopy over their head. He pushed light through his fingers, as he imagined it was now almost dark with the trees blocking the sun. He separated some branches to let in natural light as well. He grew soft moss over the ground, like a fuzzy carpet, and raised stumps to be like chairs and a table.
He wasn’t sure exactly where, but he created a soft bed of grass that was high off of the floor. He also created a slight door. Finally, he felt done.
He opened his eyes and looked around, surprised by himself. He had created a very small cottage, smaller than Hagrid’s hut. The walls were made out of intertwined tree trunks and branches, and the ceiling was a canopy of leaves. The floor was moss and there was a wooden set of table and chairs. There was a large bed in the corner of woven grass. There were tiny balls of light woven through the walls and ceiling, lighting the room with a twinkling glow. There were also a few natural light windows from some intentional holes in the walls. The door was an archway with a curtain of vines hanging in front of it.
“Harry,” Blaise breathed, looking around in wonder.
“I’ve never done something like this before,” Harry said, stretching his wrists. His magic felt stretched, in the best way.
It was content and satisfied with what it had created. Harry still felt it buzzing beneath his fingers. He sat down next to Blaise, winded.
“You’re incredible,” Blaise murmured, and kissed him. Harry brought his hand up to cup Blaise’s jaw. Blaise shivered and pulled away. “Those magic fingers Harry, they’ll be the death of me.”
Harry smiled deviously, “I can use magic in more places than my fingers.”
Blaise raised an eyebrow, “Oh can you?”
Harry looked over at the bed in the corner, “Why don’t you find out?”
“I think I will,” Blaise said, and he stood and scooped Harry into his arms. Harry squealed in surprise as Blaise carried him over to the bed. Blaise set him down gently, as if testing the sturdiness of the bed. The bed was soft, but firm.
Blaise bent down and captured his lips before saying, “Show me what your magic can do.”
After they were done experimenting and were satiated and calm, the pair headed back to their apartment. They decided they wanted to leave the cottage up. It was too small to live in, but they would visit from time to time when they wanted to play with their magic.
They flood through the fireplace to see a couple sitting on their couch. Blaise froze, and felt Harry do the same next to him.
“Rob? Molly?” Harry said, “What are you doing here?”
“Hello, sorry for intruding,” Rob said and stood, “Dennis let us in. We wanted to talk.”
“Oh okay,” Harry said, “Sorry if we kept you waiting.”
“No, I’m sorry for barging in,” Rob said.
“It’s alright, you’re always welcome,” Blaise said. He meant it. He would never forget the way that Rob saved Harry’s life.
Harry moved over and sat next to Molly. Rob took his seat again, and Blaise sat in an armchair.
“Molly, how are you?” Harry asked.
“I’m good Harry, I’m actually really good,” Molly said softly. She was more present than Blaise had ever seen her, “Rob helped me out.”
Harry looked up at Rob for an explanation.
“After you fired everyone, I had a hard time finding her because everyone disbanded,” Rob said, “But I found her one night, and took her back to my place.”
“I was pretty fucked up,” Molly said, “Like I was every night. I didn’t even recognize him. He helped me sober up and explained everything that had happened. I didn’t even realize that they’d all been being paid. I didn’t know why everyone wasn’t around anymore. I had really thought that we were all just best friends.”
Blaise noticed the way that Harry was saddened. He could tell Harry had a soft spot for the girl.
“I’m so sorry Mols,” he said, “I should’ve reached out to you. I didn’t realize…”
“No Harry, it's okay. I know you probably didn’t know who you could trust, and had to take space for yourself,” Molly assured him, “And if I had been sober ever, I would’ve seen it.”
“Are you now?” Harry asked.
“Yes. I got clean. I’ve relapsed a few times, but Rob has stuck by me. It is really hard,” Molly admitted.
“I know,” Harry nodded sympathetically. Harry hadn’t relapsed, and he didn’t talk about it much, but Blaise knew there were some days that he considered it.
“She was pretty hooked on the uppers,” Rob said, “So I think it’s a little harder for her to stop. You’re not having any specific cravings right?”
Harry shook his head, “No, just sometimes the general urge to get high when I’m upset.”
Rob nodded, “Good.”
“So how are you both doing now?” Harry asked.
“I got a job at a flower shop,” Molly said, “I love it there, it’s so peaceful. I go home to Rob and he takes care of me.”
Rob nodded, “I’ve stopped my business of dealing. I’ve moved into working at a muggle rehab center. I can help a lot of people that way. You helped me realize that I enjoy that, so I should thank you.”
“Oh, no, I need to thank you, you and Blaise saved my life,” Harry said, shaking his head.
“I didn’t realize how mean Tyler was,” Molly said, “I thought you two were… you know. I mean he was always all over you.” Blaise tensed at the name and the implication.
Harry stayed calm and nodded, “I’m sure it looked that way. He was always trying to be a couple.”
“Did he… hurt you?” Molly asked in a whisper. “Now that I’m sober… I remember things from guys that I was with.”
Rob took her hand and squeezed it gently in support. Harry looked pained.
“I’m so sorry Molly, I should’ve tried to stop it,” Harry said tightly, like he was fighting back tears. Blaise debated getting up to comfort him. Molly held his hand with her free one.
“No, I’m okay now, I think we were in similar positions,” Molly said, “Were you hurt too?”
Harry looked down for a moment, “I can’t remember everything. There were times when I knew he went further than I was comfortable with. I don’t know. I try not to think about what could have happened while I was too fucked up to know.” This wasn’t new information for Blaise but he still had to clench his hands and take a deep breath when the renewed anger flared up.
“You should press charges,” Rob growled. Blaise agreed, but he and Harry had already talked about it a few times, and he understood why Harry didn’t want to.
“It’s hard to do that with no proof,” Harry said, “Besides, I don’t care about that. It doesn’t help me to punish him. I understand that it might be for other people, and if it helps you Molly, to go after those people, I’ll support it 100%. But for me, if I tried to get everyone that had hurt me, I’d be fighting forever. I don’t want to fight anymore.”
Molly nodded. Blaise could see tears on Harry’s cheeks now, so he got up and sat behind him in the space at the end of the couch. Harry looked at him gratefully and leaned back against him.
“How are you dealing with everything?” Harry asked. “Are you going to therapy?”
Molly nodded, “I go to the rehab center that Rob works at once a week for therapy and a group session. That really helps.”
Harry nodded, “I’m so glad to hear that.”
“And you?” Molly asked.
“I have a therapist too,” Harry nodded, “She’s helping me work through everything.”
After that there was a short silence.
“So you moved out of the other place?” Molly asked.
“Yeah, there were a lot of bad memories there, I’m living here with Blaise in his flat,” Harry said. That triggered a thought in Blaise.
“Actually Harry, I need to talk to you about that, I was thinking,” he started, he felt Harry tense and hurried on before he could freak out, “I was thinking that you might like somewhere with a bit more privacy. There’s a few houses near the Zabini estate. They each have their own land. They’re small, but private. We’d be next to the meadow. Dennis had expressed interest in living in this flat at some point.”
“You want to get a house together?” Harry asked, turning to fully look at him.
“I mean, it’s up to you, it’s just an option,” Blaise said carefully.
“I would love to get a house with you,” Harry said with a big smile and kissed him.
“Ah, that’s so exciting,” Molly squealed, “I love this for you!”
“Thanks Mols,” Harry said, pulling back, “You two should stay for dinner.”
“Thanks Harry,” Rob said, “We’d love to.”
“Well then I should get cooking,” Blaise said, extracting himself to stand.
“Molly loves pasta, could you make something like that?” Harry asked.
“Of course,” Blaise said, and headed to the kitchen, allowing the three friends to catch up.
—-----------
“Harry, where do you want these clothes to go?” Blaise called from up the stairs. Harry was down in their new kitchen organizing all of their utensils.
“Just set them on the bed,” Harry yelled up the stairs, “I’ll deal with them later.”
Blaise was moving everything from his apartment into the house today. Dennis was also moving his things into their apartment at the same time, so it was a bit chaotic.
Yesterday, they had gone to Harry’s old flat and decided what they wanted to keep and what they didn’t. They kept all of his kitchen supplies, dishes, utensils, glasses, and such. They left all of the furniture because Harry didn’t want to keep anything that reminded him of that place. He’d barely cooked while he was there so the kitchen stuff was neutral.
They didn’t need any of the furniture anyway because Harry and Blaise had bought all new furniture once they had picked out the house that they wanted. They had kept it light and fluffy. It almost had a beach house feel, without any specific ocean based decorations. Harry wanted it to feel airy and happy. He didn’t want anything dark or serious.
They had chosen the house on the North side of the estate. It was the most secluded. There were mountains out to the east, and the meadow was to the south. They were even close to a large body of water on the North side. To Harry, it was perfect.
The house was a small, two story with three bedrooms and three bathrooms. There was a kitchen and a living room, as well as a large patio that could be enclosed in case of bad weather. There was a basement for Blaise to have a small potions lab. It was big enough for them for the time being, and Harry secretly thought that he could probably just expand the house if he ever needed more room.
He ran a hand through his hair, frustrated and stressed about all of the unpacking as Blaise flood away again. Then he remembered he had magic.
He took a breath, focused, and then sent all of the items in the boxes scattered throughout the room into the correct spot. It took less than a couple of seconds. Then, with another thought, he neatly lined up all of the empty boxes in the hallway to be dealt with later.
Now the kitchen was sparkling and new. There were counters and cabinets lined up against two walls, with an island and a sink in the middle. The island had a few chairs. All of the countertops were white and the cabinets were light brown. The kitchen opened up to the small dining room. The table fit nicely in the space and the end of the room ended up looking out to the patio floor to ceiling glass door. It had a view onto the lake. On the left side, there was a large window as well, looking out onto the mountains. The patio reached past the dining room to connect to the living room as well, and wrapped around all sides of the house.
He headed up the stairs and did the same to the clothes in the bedroom.
That was much easier. He thought to himself.
“That’s one way to do it,” Blaise said from the doorway. Harry turned to see him holding yet another box, “This is the last one.”
“Oh good,” Harry said relieved, “How is Dennis doing?”
“He’s glad to have me out of there so that he can fully move in,” Blaise said, “This is just my potions stuff, I’ll take it downstairs, you relax now.”
“I should probably start lunch,” Harry said, “Sandwiches okay?”
“Yes love, take it easy though,” Blaise said with a soft smile. Harry nodded and gave him a peck on the cheek as he headed down to the kitchen.
He was just putting the sandwiches on the plates when he heard their floo come to life. He knew only a few people were keyed in, but he put his guard up to be sure.
“We’re backkk,” he heard. He smiled.
He entered the living room to see Pansy and Theo looking happy and sun-kissed from their week and a half long honeymoon.
“Hi guys,” he said happily, and gave them each a hug.
“This place is so cute!” Pansy exclaimed looking around, “You have to let me decorate.”
“I was already planning on that,” Harry laughed, “How was the trip?”
“So good!” Theo said, “Where is Blaise?”
“Right here,” Blaise said walking through the door, “Glad to see you both.”
“I wish I could say I’m glad to be back, but I could live in the Bahamas forever,” Pansy told him, “It’s so beautiful.”
“I’m sure,” Harry said, “Can I get you anything to eat or drink? We were just about to grab some lunch.”
“We ate before you came, but you go ahead,” Theo said. Harry nodded and went back to the kitchen to grab their plates. They all settled on the couch in the living room.
“So tell us about your trip,” Blaise prompted before beginning to eat.
“Well, we got there, and Theo surprised me with our own little private home right on the beach for the trip,” Pansy said, “It was so gorgeous, to wake up right on the beach.”
“The house was all open air, so I was a little worried about bad weather,” Theo said, “But it only rained once and it was very calm rain.”
“We basically just spent all day at the beach everyday,” Pansy said, “One day we went into town which was fun too, but I was happy to lay out on the sand every day.”
“I rented a surfboard,” Theo said, “It’s much harder than it looks.”
“I believe it,” Harry said. He’d only seen surfing on TV and he had never thought it looked easy.
“Oh and there were these trees with fresh coconuts,” Pansy exclaimed, “They were so delicious.”
“That sounds really nice,” Blaise said wistfully.
“Well enough about that,” Pansy said, “What have you been up to?”
“Well, we’ve been really focussed on moving. We had dinner with Remus again, oh and I taught Blaise how to use intentional magic a bit,” Harry said.
“Harry! You need to teach me that,” Pansy demanded, “Blaise, show us something!”
Blaise held his hands up, “I really can’t do much.”
Harry looked around the room for ideas, “Blaise, you could probably slide the candle across the coffee table.”
“You think?” Blaise asked. Harry nodded supportively. He was confident that Blaise could probably do more than that but he didn’t want to embarrass him if it didn’t work. Blaise closed his eyes to connect to his magic. Harry’s magic reacted positively to the sight.
Sure enough, the candle slid across the table within no time.
“Wow!” Theo said, “That was without a spell?”
“Yeah, Harry taught me a way to connect to my magic which makes wordless and wandless spells a lot easier, but he said that if I can start doing things without spells at all, the world of what I could do will really open up,” Blaise explained.
“Without spells, you have almost no limitations, only yourself,” Harry explained, “It’s still nice to be able to use spells more efficiently as well, it takes a little less concentration, at least at the beginning.”
“Do you use spells anymore at all?” Pansy asked Harry.
“Sometimes,” Harry answered, “Mostly no. But if there’s something very specific that I want, that I can remember the incantation to I will. Sometimes that’s faster. But once I get the feel of what the magic is doing, I stop using that spell. It’s just easier for me to do it without a spell once I know how.”
“That’s so unheard of,” Pansy said, “I don’t even know if Dumbledore can do that.”
Harry shrugged, “Nick wasn’t sure how far he had progressed on it. It’s all about mindset though, I’m sure more people could do at least the connection part, if not the intention part.”
“The intention part is still quite difficult for me,” Blaise admitted.
“That’s okay,” Harry assured him, “It took me a long time.”
He didn’t want Blaise to give up. He really thought that Blaise had a gift for it. He wasn’t sure about Pansy and Theo though. Pansy had the control, but he wasn’t sure she had the strength. Theo absolutely had the strength, but he didn’t know if he would have enough control to guide it. It was almost like Harry could see the strength and control of their magic. He’d be willing to help teach them, but he knew they would struggle more than Blaise did.
“So are you done unpacking?” Pansy asked.
“Yes we finished right before you got here, we were basically moved in yesterday,” Blaise explained, “Do you want a tour?”
“Thought you’d never ask,” Pansy laughed and stood. Harry sent their empty plates to the kitchen. They stood.
“Well this is the living room,” Blaise started, “If we go this way, here are the stairs, and then the kitchen and dining room. There’s also a bathroom here, and a small office.”
The house was split down the middle with the staircase and a hallway. On one side was the office and kitchen, on the other was the bathroom and living room. There was a door to the outside on each side as well.
“It’s cute,” Pansy said, “And this view is incredible.”
“The patio wraps all of the way around, which is nice,” Harry said.
“Downstairs is my potions lab,” Blaise said.
“Yeah you’re gonna take me down there later,” Theo said. Blaise nodded. They all headed up the stairs.
“So on this side there are two guest rooms, and then a bathroom in the middle, and then the whole left side is our room and attached bathroom,” Harry said, “We have a balcony off of ours.”
“Ooh, I need to see that,” Pansy exclaimed, hurrying into their room. Their room was large. The bathroom was nicely sized and there was a walk-in closet too. The room had many windows, and a balcony in the front that also overlooked the lake and mountains.
“This is cool,” Theo said.
“I’m excited to be living here,” Blaise said, “I’m glad we chose this one.”
Harry nodded. The other options had been larger, but the view had no comparison.
“Well, we should probably be getting home soon,” Theo said, “I’m sure your mom is there waiting to hear everything.”
“She definitely is,” Pansy said with a fond smile, “We’ll see you two soon.”
Blaise and Harry bid the couple goodbye. Harry looked at the bed longingly.
“Take a nap sweetheart, it’s fine,” Blaise smiled.
“I think I will, this moving business is tiring,” Harry said, making his way over to the bed.
“I’m going to go downstairs and organize the potions lab,” Blaise decided. Harry nodded and curled up in the center of their big bed, eyes already falling closed.
He didn’t sleep long before something woke him.
He looked around the room trying to determine what it was. He realized there was a beeping coming from his wrist. His alert bracelet that the ministry had given him was flashing and beeping.
“Shit.” he cursed, jumping out of bed. He quickly changed his clothes into something more durable to fight in.
“Blaise!” he yelled as he ran down the stairs. Blaise must have heard urgency in his voice because he ran up from the basement.
“What? What’s going on?” He asked. Harry held up his wrist in explanation. Blaise’s face grew stony.
“An attack? Now? Where?” he asked. Harry looked down.
“It says Hogsmeade,” Harry said.
“Okay let’s go, but first,” Blaise said, and took Harry into a tight hug, “Please be careful. Put yourself first. No unnecessary risks. I can’t lose you.”
“I won’t, and same to you,” Harry said truthfully, “I love you.”
They exited their house and ran past their wards. Harry took Blaise’s hand in his and they disappeared.