分卷阅读71（1 / 2）

Snape looked at Draco for a long moment before replying. “If the occasion arose where you found someone whom you deemed worthy of engagement to yourself, as your Godfather, I would happily give you permission to propose to that person. However, as your Auctor, I would only allow you to marry someone whom you not only deem worthy of yourself, but also deem worthy of sharing your very heart and soul with as per your Veriae blood.”

Draco nodded, turning to leave. “Don’t worry, Godfather. If I do say the vows, they will mean more than just words do.”

Harry couldn’t eat breakfast, just pushed his food around on his plate for a few minutes before finally giving up all hope of eating any of it and excusing himself from the table. Hermione and Ron watched him leave the Great Hall worriedly, but they had not bothered to ask him what was on his mind today. They already knew: today was Monday.

Draco was just leaving the bedroom when Harry entered the portrait. The blond was dressed in clothing that Harry awkwardly realized were probably three times more than all his clothing put together. He had again deviated from the Hogwarts uniform to appear in clothing similar to what Harry had first seen him wearing in Diagon ally before he had started his first year at Hogwarts.

“I noticed you weren’t at breakfast,” Harry muttered.

“I wasn’t planning on having any,” was the crisp reply.

Harry shrugged. Now that he was in their rooms and in Draco’s presence, he had nowhere to focus his anxiety.

“Harry.” Harry looked up at Draco’s almost hesitant tone. “How serious were you on Wednesday?”

There was a question in the blonde’s silver eyes, one that Harry was not sure he understood. “I wouldn’t have said anything if I wasn’t serious.” Somehow he hoped that he’d said the right answer.

Wordlessly, Draco crossed the room to where Harry was standing, picking up a small, nondescript box from the mantle as he did so. He stopped in front of Harry for a moment, looking down the few inches that separated their heights, as if searching for some truth in Harry’s own gaze. Gently, Draco dropped to one knee, his hand holding out the box toward Harry.

“Where I am Gaius, there you are Gaia?”

Harry’s breath caught in his throat and he blinked in astonishment. “Where I am Gaia, there you are Gaius,” he managed to say, using his own hand to open the box.

Two rings sat side by side on a white pillow inside the box. They were golden bands, encrusted in diamonds and opals and carved with the Malfoy family crest. Engraved on the inside of one were the traditional words for engagement rings, “Ubi tu Gaius”, and other the other “Ubi tu Gaia”. As Draco slipped the first onto Harry’s finger, it shifted in size to fit; the same with the ring that Harry placed on Draco’s finger.

Draco stood again and they stood there for a moment, both unsure of what to do.

“Er—I suppose we should kiss now,” Harry muttered, suddenly finding his shoes very interesting.

Draco did not respond, but a moment later two fingers rested under Harry’s chin, pushing his face to an upward angle. Draco’s mouth descended to meet his own, like molten silver on magma Draco’s lips danced over his own. Draco’s arms encircled Harry’s waist to pull him closer, and Harry groaned as the kiss became more needful.

Draco, Harry and Snape walked through the door that Harry himself had walked through the summer before, when he had been charged with violation of the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery and the International Statute of Secrecy.

The room had changed very little since Harry’s last visit. Instead of the fifty or so members of the Wizengamot there were seven, including one Cornelius Fudge who frowned slightly at Harry’s presence. The chair that he had sat in the year before was gone, and standing almost exactly in it’s place was a short and chubby man. His face was round like a bowling ball, his hair salt and pepper gray, and he smiled broadly at Draco as the blond crossed the room towards him. Draco nodded to him, his eyes focused on another occupant of the room, as if wary of her very presence.

Narcissa Black stood regally off to the side of the room, dressed in clothing as rich as Draco’s. She smiled coldly at her son, who ignored her gesture completely except to mark her presence as a threat in the room. Her smile seemed to wane when Harry stepped up next to Draco, as if she was unsure as to the reason of his presence in the room.