Harry didn't even blink, or look away from Draco, he merely raised his arm just in time for a white snowy owl to land on it, carrying a letter. Harry turned his head and smiled, reaching up to stroke Hedwig's feathers, "Hey girl, fancy seeing you this morning."
Hedwig gave a "preck" of acknowledgement and stuck the leg holding the letter out for Harry to take. She butted her head affectionately against the side of Harry's. Afterward however she fixed Draco with what could only be qualified as an angry glare.
Draco stared at the owl for several seconds before turning to Harry. "You even managed to find your bloody owl?" Harry shook his head, at the same time there was an indignant protest from Hedwig. "No, Hedwig came through the mirror and followed me here. I don't think she trusted me not to get myself in trouble without her."
There was a hoot of assent from Hedwig as she continued to glare at Draco.
"Your owl followed you to this world." Draco repeated dryly. "Do you do anything normally?" Draco asked sarcastically, though any joining comment was cut off by a loud and aggressive "precck!" from Hedwig as she stared at Draco, accompanied by what could only be construed as a threatening flap of her wings.
Draco stared at the owl for several seconds before he found himself looking away, there was something intense about the gaze. "I don't think she likes me." Draco stated hesitantly.
Harry turned his attention to opening the letter that Hedwig delivered, he replied absently. "I don't doubt it. She's rather protective of me. And you were friends with Umbridge when she hurt Hedwig back in fifth year." A frown of consternation crossed Harry's face. Talking about events that were both technically in the past and a time still in the future of this world was weird to him.
Hedwig gave a hoot of agreement and continued to glare menacingly at Draco. It was only a few more moments before Draco spoke up. "Would you tell her to stop staring at me like that? It's bloody creepy!"
Harry shook his head slightly, turning his attention from the letter in which he only had gotten to the opening line, "Nope, the best you can do is apologize to her and hope she knows you really mean it. Apologies that include bacon tend to go over better. Then again I've never been part of breaking her wing. So..."
"I didn't break her wing! You want me to apologize to your bloody owl? Are you mental?" Draco sputtered as he switched from denial to disbelief.
Harry shrugged apathetically before turning his attention to Hedwig for a few moments to stroke her plumage. "It's your funeral." He murmured, his mouth twisted in a slight smirk of amusement.
Draco grinned momentarily before he frowned realizing that Harry sounded completely serious. He shook his head and decided not to make any rejoining comment. "Who's the letter from?" Harry turned his attention away from Hedwig and back to the letter in his hand and resumed opening it, "It's from Nicholas. I only sent him a quick letter this morning, I just didn't expect a reply this quickly."
Draco shifted a bit to slide around to Harry's left side, but a warning hoot, caused him to stop and reassess. He realized that Hedwig was currently perched on that shoulder, and something told Draco that getting too close might not be beneficial for his long term health. So he awkwardly shifted and sidled around to look at the letter from Harry's right side. Draco pointedly ignored the hoot of amusement and satisfaction that came from the snow white owl.
After a moment's hesitation Harry tilted the letter to show him. There was nothing to be gained from hiding it. Ares
Congratulations on getting sorted into Slytherin. I hope you didn't forget to pack anything in your trunk. You spent plenty of bloodytime packing it. We hope you enjoy your classes.
Perenelle solemnly insists on making sure that you're eating enough.
Sincerely,
Nicholas Flamel
"That's it? Seems kinda…" Draco trailed off not sure what to put into words.
Harry frowned a little bit, he wanted to make a comment, but had to concede Draco had a point. It was also an awfully long parchment for such a short message. Then his eyes widened in realization. "That's because the message is hidden." Harry turned his arm over and out of the lining of his wrist holster he pulled a very small knife.
Draco watched him with interest, his eyes widening in surprise when Harry produced a knife and cut the tip of his finger, dripping a few drops of blood onto the parchment. Draco was disappointed when nothing happened as Harry returned the dagger to the inside of the wrist holster. "Nothing happened."
Harry smirked and then put his finger to the paper, "I solemnly swear I am up to no good."
Draco watched in amazement as the words on the paper faded out and so did the blood mark, and then a great deal more writing than had been there before replaced it.
Thank you for your letter this morning. I hope you are not surprised by the fast turnaround as you know we don't sleep much by nature. I want to update you on several things.
First, if you're reading this message you no doubt have realized how to get this text, if not the rest of this writing is going to be pretty damn pointless. I know you trust your owl, however Perenelle suggested that we hide our correspondence behind additional security; something she is certain you'll agree with.
I was doubtful but she prevailed upon me. All of our letters shall be written under this code. Only someone who knows the password to get into your trunk (Perenelle modified the charm after a bit of experimentation), and someone with our unique blood qualities will be able to see these letters. At the bottom you will find instructions on how to modify the charm to suit your needs so that you can send your letters the same way.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Do you enjoy reading? Visit my site on Tiendup! There you will find the advanced chapter in PDF format, ready for your convenience.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
https://fictiontopia.tiendup.com/