For those of you who are helping me find out the exact date in which Sirius died, thank you very much. The information may come in handy in the future of this story.

* ~ ~ ~ Chapter 21 ~ ~ ~ *

Draco was just waking up when he heard Sebastien call him. "Hey, Draco," the other cheerfully. "Want to play Quidditch outside?"

He hesitated, then nodded. "Sure," he replied, standing up and pulling on robes. "Wait while I open my presents."

Draco sat down and began ripping off the wrapping paper to several large boxes. Inside were various types of candies and expensive sweets. Two of the boxes contained elegant cloaks and robes which had obviously cost a great fortune. He sighed almost inaudibly, inwardly groaning. Every year, it was the same thing. Expensive clothing from his parents, sweets and etc. from his so-called 'friends'. Sure, he appreciated the presents, but he knew that the clothing were sent only to show how rich the Malfoys were, and the candies were sent because he was the son of Lucius Malfoy, who was one of Voldemort's most loyal Death Eaters.

He came to the present from Severus. Now, his godfather was someone who made him feel entirely different. Instead of showering him with meaningless things like his parents, the man made him feel... wanted. As if he actually mattered in this world. His godfather had always been the one to make him feel better when his parents became too much to bear. Opening the gift, he gasped when he found a silvery-green cloak. An invisibility cloak. The cloak was simple but elegant, and Draco knew that it could be extremely useful.

"Who's it from?"

He looked up when he heard Sebastien answer the question. "Severus. Professor Snape. He's my godfather."

Sebastien nodded thoughtfully. "Here," his fellow Slytherin said as he handed him the last box. "Here's my gift. It might seem childish, but it reminded me of you, and I think you might like it."

Draco looked curiously at the carefully wrapped package. Ripping off the wrapping paper, he saw that it was a medium-sized oak box. Opening it, he saw that there was two different compartments. His breath caught in his throat when he saw the two items.

The first was a stuffed dragon. Yes, it was a childish toy, but Draco appreciated it all the same. He had never recieved a stuffed animal before: his parents had never babied him in any way. It felt... special to get such a simple but meaningful thing for Christmas. The small dragon had maroon coloured hide. The eyes were made of two grey-blue stones.

He could hear Sebastien talking beside him. "Those eyes. They reminded me of you. They're the exact same shade as your's. It looks like the ocean right before a storm. The blue is the icy water, and the grey is the wild storm. I hope you like it."

Draco smiled and threw himself at his friend. "I love it," he whispered quietly. "I've never got anything like this before."

"Look at the other compartment," the other reminded him.

Draco turned to the second compartment. Looking in, he gasped softly. There was a simple, silver necklace inside. The pendant was a star-shaped emerald with the word 'Draconis' inscribed in it.

Harry smiled as he saw the wide-eyed look on Draco's face. He had changed the initials 'D.M.' into Draconis. It had just seemed more... right. He quickly explained the procedure of speaking through the jewel. "... just set up an activating code."

The blond smiled at him. "Thanks, Sebastien."

"You're welcome. Come on, let's go to the Quidditch Pitch for a game. I'll ask Eliza, Ron, and Hermione to come."

"Weasley and Granger?" the Slytherin asked in distaste. "Do we have to?"

"Yes," Harry said firmly. "We need as many players as we can get. Come on."

In the end, they ended up with eight people: Harry, Draco, Eliza, Hermione, Ron, Blaise Zabini, Dean, and Seamus. When Harry and Draco had asked Eliza, Blaise had overheard and asked to join in. When they asked Ron, he agreed and also managed to drag in Hermione, Dean, and Seamus. So, as it was, the eight trooped out to the Quidditch field, brooms in hand.

Draco also owned a Windwhip 2000, but he didn't sneer or tease when Ron and Hermione showed up with their Nimbus and Cleensweep brooms. Dean and Seamus both borrowed brooms from other classmates, and somehow, they ended up with two Firebolts.

Harry was the Seeker while Draco and Eliza were Beater and Chaser. Blaise was the Keeper for their team.

The Gryffindors formed the other team with Ron as Keeper, Hermione as Chaser, Dean as Beater, and Seamus as Seeker. Harry grinned. This was going to be fun.

Two hours and two games later, the two teams flew down to the ground for a rest. Harry, personally, wasn't even beginning to feel tired yet. While the other's were resting, he got on his broom and flew around the Pitch freely. He thought about the game. Slytherin had, of course, won both games, thanks to the fact that Harry always caught the snitch. Blaise turned out to be a decent Keeper, although she wasn't very interested in Quidditch.

"Hey, Sebastien!" He heard Ron yell. "Show Dean and Seamus the trick you did the first time we saw you."

Harry nodded to show that he had heard. Calculating the angle, he quickly stood up onto the handle of the broom. He thought he heard loud gasps, but he wasn't sure. It took all his concentration to try what he was going to do.

Taking a deep breath, he jumped up into the air, doing a cartwheel and spinning around and around with amazing speed. He pointed his toes and shot downwards. The wind rushed through his windswept hair as the ground came ever nearer. Suddenly, he stopped in midair, physically standing /on/ the wind. Then, he took off once again, flying up into the air as if an unknown force was pulling him upwards. Seeing his broom beside him to the right, he did another cartwheel, whizzing through the air before coming down to grab the handle of his Windwhip. Composing himself, he sat up and landed.

Gasps and praises could be heard as excited friends congratulated him. He blushed with he heard Dean exclaim, "That was amazing, Sebastien!"

After another game, they headed back to the castle for dinner. Harry felt extremely happy. Ron had not exchanged a single word of rudeness towards Draco. The blond, in turn, had been extremely tolerable with the Gryffindors. He was even beginning to talk with Hermione. Although Seamus insulted the Slytherin once, a quickly glare from Harry had quickly shut him up. Together, they headed up to lunch.

After lunch, Harry decided that he wanted to practise his dueling skills. "Hey, Eliza," he called out. "I want to practise my dueling; want to come with me?"

The redheaded girl nodded quickly. "Sure," she said, standing up.

"Wait," Draco cut in. "I want to come watch. Can I?"

Harry and Eliza exchanged looks before the boy nodded. "Why not?" He asked.

As they were walking out, a voice called, "Sebastien! Where are you going?"

Turning, Harry saw Hermione was the one who had spoken. "I was going to practise my dueling with Eliza," he replied. "Draco's coming to watch."

"Can Ron and I come?" the bushy haired girl asked eagerly. "I know you two are good at dueling. Maybe we could learn something."

Harry smiled at his friend's eagerness. "Of course," he said. "Come on, guys."

"Which room are you going to use?" Ron asked when they began climbing the stairs.

"Room of Requirement," Harry said. Seeing the surprised look the redhead shot him, he smiled. "No need to freak out, Ron. I've known about it for a long time."

Walking into the room, they discovered that it was set for dueling. Two couches lined the sides for spectators while a large empty space was in the middle. As Ron, Hermione, and Draco sat down on the couches, Harry cleared his throat.

"Ron, Hermione, Draco," he started quietly. "Before we begin to duel, I want to warn you: We will be using all kinds of curses and hexes other than the Killing Curse. All other spells are accepted, including Unforgivables."

There was immediate chaos. Hermione began rattling off about it being illegal while Ron was wide-eyed, asking, "WHAT? You're going to be using Dark Curses? But only evil wizards use them!" Draco was staring at him in surprise.

"STOP!" Harry commanded. "Ron, just because you use Dark Curses, that does not mean you are evil. Eliza and I use them; that does not make us evil, it just makes us Dark Witches and Wizards. It is the intent of what you are doing that makes us evil or good, not the spells and curses, understand? If you have a problem, I suggest you leave now. Hermione, Dumbledore SHOULD know that we are using Dark Curses, unless he has forgotten. So don't freak out. Okay, anyone leaving?"

The three stayed where they were, although Ron had a strange expression on his face.

"Fine," Harry said. "I'm casting a strong shield charm on you that will repell all spells, including the Unforgivables, so you don't have to worry about being hit." He turned to Eliza. "Ready?"

The girl nodded, grinning. "Ready." Raising their wands and bowing, they began.

"Stupefy!" Harry cried out, starting off easy. He knew there was no way Eliza would get hit.

He was right. The girl was jumped out of the way in a flash and countered with "Petrificus Totalus!" and a quick "Expelliarmus!"

Harry dodged both as he moved onto the more advanced curses. "Tormenta!"

This particular pain curse, although dangerous, was a Light Curse.

"Protego! Inpedimenta! Culter!"

That was the first of the Dark Curses. Harry, however, got hit when he jumped to the right to dodge the Impediment Jinx. Cuts began appearing on his arms, marring his pale skin. He gritted his teeth in pain and quickly muttered a healing spell. The cuts disappeared. "Exaresco! Incendio!"

The girl smirked as the Disecting Spell missed her and the heating spell shot towards her. Gathering her elemental powers, she shot the fire back at Harry.

Harry inwardly kicked himself. How could he have forgotten about the girl's elemental powers? Scolding himself in his head, he quickly formed an ice shield. The fire hit the ice, dousing almost immediately. Now, for his element. He focused on the wind in the air, pushing the energy at the girl in front of him. He forced the air into three different currents: One from the middle, and two from the right and left.

"Wingardium Leviosa!" Eliza screamed as she pointed her wand at herself. She flew into the air, avoiding the wind. "Crucio!"

Harry cursed to himself as he dodged the Cruciatus Curse. "Seclario!"

Eliza dodged as she shot another string of curses at him. Harry dodged all of them, except for one.

The world turned black before him as his sight disappeared. This time, however, he didn't panic. He sensed a curse coming towards him as he quickly jumped into the air. His sense of hearing was especially strong. Aiming his wand blindly at where he had heard the jumping footsteps, he hissed out, "Imperio."

The spell seemed to hit, for Harry suddenly felt the presence of another soul. "Drop you're wand," he commanded harshly. "Drop you're wand."

Hearing no reaction, he yelled, "NOW!"

There was a clatter as Eliza's wand fell to the ground. Harry dropped back onto the floor, waving his wand as he let go of the Imperious Curse and restored his sight.

There was the sound of applause from the couches. Turning, Harry saw that it was Draco. Hermione and Ron both had stunned expressions on their faces.

"That was a good duel," Eliza said, a smile on her face. "We should do it more often. Come on, its time for dinner, let's go."

Harry nodded as he left the room, Ron and Hermione following. They each headed into the Great Hall for dinner.

After dinner...

~IN THE GRYFFIDOR COMMON ROOM~

Ron and Hermione sat in the corner of the room, talking quietly so that no one else would overhear them.

"I can't believe it!" Hermione said. "He actually used DARK MAGIC IN SCHOOL!"

"Shhh," Ron said softly. "Do you reckon his family's Dark? He must be, with all the curse he knows."

Hermione shook her head. "I really don't know right now," she said. "I'll check the library for Frostpine and see what I can come up with." They went to the library together, each determined to find out more.

Half an hour later, there was a frightened squeal from Hermione. Ron ran over to her. "What's wrong, 'Mione? Did you find anything?"

"LOOK!" Hermione screeched. "Read this!"

Ron glaced at the page. "So? It talks about Founders."

"Keep reading."

The Founders: General Information:

Godric Gryffindor, Salazar Slytherin, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Helga Hufflepuff, formed Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry thousands of years ago. They transported their thoughts into an old hat, which is now known as the Sorting hat. All Founders' heir changed their last names so that they would not be so easily recognized. Exact names are unknown, although possibly chosen last names exists in the list below.

Godric Gryffindor: Head of Gryffindor, famous for Dueling and Transfiguration skills. Extremely powerful Light Wizard. Said to have fought Salazar Slytherin in a battle of good against evil.

Animals: Lion, Unicorn

Colours: Red (Maroon), Gold

Jewels/Gems: Moonstone, Ruby

Last names that may have been used by Heirs: Goldeye, Dumbledore, Potter, Geminius/Gemina (Gemini), Hawkings

Current Heir: Unknown

Salazar Slytherin: Head of Slytherin, famous for Potions skills. Evil Dark Wizard. Enemy of Godric Gryffindor.

Animal: Snake

Colours: Green (Emerald), Silver

Jewels/Gems: Emerald, Black Garnet

Last names that may have been used by Heirs: Mordecai, Riddle, Snape, Frostpine, Perfidus/Perfida, Tylor

Current Heir: Unknown

Rowena Ravenclaw: Head of Ravenclaw, famous for Charms skills. Said to be the mother of all wisdom.

Animals: Eagle, Phoenix

Colours: Blue (Sapphire), Purple (Amethyst, Violet)

Jewels/Gems: Sapphire, Diamond

Last names that may have been used by Heirs: Moonstream, McCathy, Rosethorn, Praeclaius/Praeclaria, Tayler

Current Heir: Unknown

Helga Hufflepuff: Head of Hufflepuff, famous for Herbology and Healing skills. Known as the best Healer the world has ever seen.

Animal: Badger Colours: Yellow, Brown [A/N: Are those the Hufflepuff colours?]

Jewels/Gems: Topaz, Citrine

Last names that may have been used by Heirs: Pearwood, Lystra, Luria, Rainsville, Nadlen, Valden, Zenadius/Zenadia

Current Heir: Unknown

Ron gasped as he understood. "Frostpine! Rosethorn! They're all possible names of heirs to Slytherin and Ravenclaw! Do you think it's possible..."

"That's the only reason I can thing of to say why Sebastien and Eliza are so strong. And I didn't know Potter was a possible last name for Gryffindor heirs!"

"Do you think Harry's the heir?"

Hermione shook her head. "I don't know, I don't know! It's all too much of a coincedence. If Harry, Sebastien, and Eliza are the heir of Gryffindor, Slytherin, and Ravenclaw, what about the Heir of Hufflepuff? I don't understand any of this."

"You know what?" Ron asked suddenly. "I've had enough. Let's forget this and get to bed."

For once, Hermione nodded in agreement. She was confused and tired and she wanted sleep. "Let's go."

Together, they headed off to the Gryffindor Common Room.

Had they stayed any longer, they would have seen the small rat scurry across the room, climb out the window, and disappear out into the Forest.

*~~~End of Chapter 21~~~*

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