Chapter 21
Everyone was looking at Draco with eyes wide open. None of them could believe what was happening. Draco kept asking them what was going on, but everyone was in a state of speechlessness. Finally, Harry spoke up sensing Draco's mounting fear.
"Draco, it looks like you're a metamorphmagus."
"What? I can't be. You have to be born one, I just can't turn into one," Draco answered almost in a state of panic.
"I think Harry's right," Hermione told him. "It might be one of the traits that runs in the Black family since Tonks is related to you."
"Yes, but why is it just appearing now?" Ginny asked.
"Well, I did read somewhere that there are some powers that are dormant until a point in one's life when he or she is ready to accept his or her true self. I think when Draco discovered the meaning of the first song he had some kind of self revelation that triggered his latent powers." Hermione answered.
"Do you think then that each one of us actually has powers that are hidden until we each solve the meaning of one of the songs?" Ron asked more intrigued now at the possibility that he too might have powers that he had yet to discover.
"That's a strong possibility at this point in time," Harry answered.
"Wicked!" Ron exclaimed. For the first time since they'd began the training he had something to look forward to. "I have one question though."
"Well, what is it?" Hermione asked almost sounding impatient.
"With all of Harry's powers right now, what could there be possibly left for him to discover?" They all turned to Harry.
"What makes you think I know?" He answered their questioning look. Merlin chuckled a bit.
"I guess you've achieved a lot of skills that even I don't have?" Emrys asked him.
"I guess so," Harry answered. "I'm not sure though. It seems a lot of things I can do you're older self knows how to do."
"Not true, Harry." Merlin corrected him. "There are things that you've done that I no one else had accomplished before in our family."
"If you say so," Harry answered unbelieving. "Anyway, if there is some skill I have yet to acquire, I guess we'll have to wait until that day comes. Right now I think we need to help Draco get his powers under control." He wanted to divert their attention from him. He had his own thoughts to contend with, he didn't need everyone else's thoughts and questions to add to his.
"He doesn't seem to have much of our hubris." Emrys told Merlin.
"No, he doesn't," Merlin told him.
They all started spewing out suggestions for Draco to get his new powers under control. The way they were all talking at the same time was making Draco more frustrated. He didn't know whose advice he wanted to follow. Merlin, Emrys and Harry watched and listened on the sidelines while the others try to give him advice. They didn't want to compete with the noise level coming from the others. Even Ellen and Rhia joined in with the attempts to give Draco advice. The sounds seemed to be blending together and he couldn't tell who was talking. Finally fed up with the noise, he stood up and yelled at the top of his lungs.
"SHUT UP!" Draco exclaimed. "I can't hear myself think. I don't even know what half of you are saying. My ears are ringing. Can we please do this one at a time?"
The others looked at him surprised at the amount of command his tone gave. Those who'd known Lucius had some type of strange déjà vu experience.
"Look," he told them not liking the fear he'd seen in their eyes at his initial outburst. He'd seen that type of look in others when his father showed his temper. He didn't want to be his father and their reaction made him more afraid. "I'm sorry I screamed, but my ears are ringing from everyone talking at the same time." He looked at Harry, Emrys and Merlin for some type of support.
"Draco, it's alright to be angry. Everyone has the right to be angry at times. You don't need to fear that you will become your father because of it," Harry told him gently. He looked at them. "You were making his head spin with all the simultaneous talking and his ears shifting to different shape made it more sensitive than usual."
"How does he know all that?" Emrys asked Merlin.
"Didn't I tell you that he was an empath?" Merlin answered him. "That's one of the powers we'd never really acquired. I wonder if Tuatha had that power. I don't really know much about what type of powers Tuatha had."
"And he says he has all the powers we have." Emrys snorted. "Can he really feel anyone's feelings?"
"'Fraid so. He has mastered it very well. He can even feel all types of living things, and from what I've heard, he'd even encountered feelings from very old inanimate objects." Emrys was at a lost for words. He was quite proud of him and a little jealous at the same time.
Ellen and Rhia who were not used to Harry's powers were stunned to silence. They felt the shock when they first touched Harry, but they never imagined just how powerful he was. They knew Merlin had powers that even surpassed Tuatha to a point, but they didn't know that Harry was even more powerful than Merlin was in his youth.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to frighten any of you," Draco apologized.
"Not a problem, mate," Neville and Ron answered.
"Listen Draco, we're sorry we didn't listen to you first," Hermione apologized for all of them.
Ginny went to Draco and kissed him on the lips, "I'm sorry. I didn't realize we'd acted so." Draco smiled then and kissed her back.
"Do you realize, your features are back to normal?" Ginny asked.
"The initial shock has worn off and he's a lot calmer now," Harry answered.
"Thanks Harry. I think I can take it from here now. You can turn it off for me now." Harry nodded in acquiescence.
"My dear, what to feel when you turn your powers on?" Ellen asked catching Harry by surprised. He'd walked over to Hermione's side during their explanations and apologies and put his arm around her waist.
Hermione looked up at him for encouragement. She knew that sometimes he felt a bit uncomfortable talking about his many talents. He was modest in that sense.
"Well, ma'am, I feel whatever the person or object is feeling as long as I am tuned into their energy."
"You're amazing Harry. How can you tell people's feelings apart from yours?"
"It's a little hard to explain. My feelings usually stem from my heart, while those around me do not. I'm not exactly sure how to explain it, but I've just been able to segregate my feelings from those around me."
"Could you tell then if Neville is a little bit attracted to me?" asked Rhia.
"Rhia, really. Where are your manners?"
"It's a legitimate question, mother. I just want to know." Harry and Hermione chuckled. They like Rhia's openness. She likes to speak her mind no matter what it was. She reminded Harry of Hermione a bit.
"Don't answer her, Harry. I'm sure you have some type of rules on ones privacy."
"Actually, I do. I gave them my word that I will not pry into their thoughts or feelings without permission. That is why I only keep it on to sense for danger or when I'm asked, like when Draco asked."
"What do you mean asked? I didn't hear him ask." Rhia commented.
"Draco didn't need to ask out loud. When he turned to look at Harry, that was enough to give Harry permission to intervene on his behalf," Hermione answered. Harry kissed the top of her head to let her know that she was right.
All of the sudden Harry felt the loneliness and fear from the dream that he hadn't yet been able to solve. Hermione felt him shiver in response to the feeling that came over him. She looked up again in question.
"It's nothing." He assured her. "I think it's about time we headed back."
"Already?" Rhia whined a bit. Emrys looked her way to check if it was actually her he heard. He'd never in his time with her heard her whine. He chuckled at that. He felt sad himself.
"Don't worry. We'll visit again. Now that we know how to go about searching for the souls of the song, we'll be back often. We'll make sure to visit you at least once a week."
"I'm holding you to that Harry," Rhia told him and hugged him.
"Come back and visit soon, Harry." Ellen also gave him a hug and the rest of the gang as well.
Everyone exchanged hugs and kisses. Even Neville gave Rhia a hug. He blushed when Rhia gave him a kiss on the cheek. Merlin told Harry it was not necessary to use the spell for their memory so that they will remember them when they get back to Fincayra.
They returned to Hogwarts just in time for dinner. They made plans to reconvene after dinner at their usual meeting place. Everyone they met was talking about the wonderful time they'd spent at Hogsmeade. But the seven knew better. They knew that if they'd gone to Hogsmeade they would need to be on their guard for potential attacks. That was the first and foremost reason Harry decided not to go. He didn't want to put other students in danger because of his presence and he wanted to enjoy the day. He'd accomplished both by going to Fincayra.
He never imagined that one piece of the puzzle would be solved by their leisure visit. He felt a little fewer burdens by the turn of events. He just wondered whose feelings it was that kept haunting him. He couldn't seem to put a finger on it. He felt the familiar energy, but not strong enough for him to pin point the exact person.
After dinner he went straight to their meeting room followed by Hermione. The others went to take care of other things first before meeting with Harry and Hermione.
"What?" Hermione asked.
"Nothing." He smiled and looked into her eyes as he pulled her close with his hand around her waist. "You're beautiful."
"Think you can sweet talk me, do you? Out with it Potter."
"It's just that we haven't really told your parents yet, and my grandfather. That was weird. I'd never thought I'd hear myself say that about Dumbledore. Never mind that. We haven't even told the rest of the Weasleys."
"Feeling guilty, are we?"
"Very much. I know we'd decided to keep it a secret until after we bought rings, but I think we should tell our families, don't you?"
"I think so too. I've been trying hard not to owl my mum and dad to let them know. It's been difficult because I usually share all my happy moments with them right away."
"Why didn't you tell me? I'm sure we could have told them right away."
"No, it's okay. I wanted to let them know when we were comfortable."
"That's one of the reasons why I love you so much."
"Oh yeah, what are the other reasons?" Hermione joked and nibbled on his lower lip.
"Hermione, if you're trying to drive me crazy, you're doing a very good job. Now, do you want to leap home and tell your parents the news or not."
"Well, I don't think we can just pop in there. We might scare them. Why don't we tell your grandfather first and ask him for advice on how to break the news to my parents without creating too much chaos."
"See, there's another reason. You're so smart." It was his turn to nibble on her lip. The nibbles turned into a kiss. The kiss deepened to a fiery tongue-twisting event. Their bodies were heightened with desire when they stopped.
"We'd better go see grandfather before we go any further in this room," Harry whispered breathlessly. Hermione nodded in response.
Right before they arrived at the door, Harry turned around and looked at Hermione. "How do you feel about a short engagement?" He smiled then.
"Potter, you always have a way of putting things in perspective, don't you? I want a real wedding, the muggle way mind you."
"Well, we could have both."
"What do you mean by both, Harry?"
"We could be hand fasted by Uncle Arthur."
"Harry, sometimes you come up with brilliant ideas."
"What do you say?"
"I would love to be hand fasted with you, Harry. But after we tell my parents. I want them to be present at both."
"For you, my love. I'd do anything." She smiled at him before they kissed to seal the deal.
A/N: Get ready for the hand fasting of the century. I'm sure you've heard of it right? Thank you so much for your reviews. I hope you continue to support this story until it comes to an end…. Cheers to all of you who guessed what Draco was. I'm so proud of you. Now, let's see who's next.