I did it again! I apologize for the horrible lateness of this chapter. There has been a lot going on lately. The last two months were spent in a blur of school and preparing for the science fair. I'm still taking a ton of classes, so writing time is sparse. Heck, sleeping time is sparse! I got two hours of sleep every night last week, to give you an idea. Anyway, I apologize yet again.

Disclaimer: Do you honestly think that I own Harry Potter? If so, I'm sure I can find a psychiatric ward to check you into.

"Speech"
//Parseltongue//
XXXXXXXX- scene change

"Harry, are you sure you want to stay here?"

Harry sighed. He'd been having the same conversation since just after dinner when Lupin asked Hermione and Ginny to join him in his office at eight. It was now seven-fifty.

"Yes, Hermione, I'm sure. Whatever this is about, it doesn't concern me for once. Now, you two really need to go. You're going to be late!"

Hermione gasped at this and ran out of the portrait hole as fast as she could. Ginny gave him a reluctant glance before following their eccentric friend. Harry sighed and collapsed into one of the fluffy chairs before the fire as the portrait swung shut. Aurum, meanwhile, slithered out from under his sleeve and coiled up in his lap, staring up at him.

//Are you upset, Harry?//

Harry gave her an odd look. //Upset? Why should I be upset? I know what Lupin is meeting them for, and it doesn't concern me.//

//But this is the first time I've seen you without them at a time other than classes or to sleep.//

//Hermione and Ginny aren't attached to me, Aurum. Not everything we do concerns each other, even if we do forget that sometimes.//

Aurum gave an exasperated hiss and made her way down Harry's legs to lay on the warm stones in front of the roaring fire, muttering to herself about the oddities of humans. Harry chuckled softly before curling up in his chair and pulling out a book to read.

The two of them remained in this peaceful state for twenty minutes, at which point the formerly motionless snake lifted her head for a moment before slithering through a small hole in the wall next to the entrance to the common room, wondering what had caught her attention. A few minutes later, the missing snake returned.

//Harry, the Forgetful One wants in.//

Harry blinked. //The Forgetful One? Oh, you mean Neville!//

He put down his book and headed to the portrait hole. As he did, the silence in the normally rambunctious common room hit him. It would seem that everyone had somewhere to be tonight.

"Neville, how did you forget this password? I thought you of all people would…remember," Harry trailed off as the open portal revealed that it was definitely not Neville outside.

"Potter, Lupin wants you in his office," Draco drawled, smirking at Harry's surprised expression.

"No, he doesn't. That meeting has nothing to do with me."

"I was told to bring you by any means necessary."

Harry leaned forward, ignoring the way the scent of cinnamon washed over him. "Give it your best shot, then," he hissed in challenge. "Because I fully intend to stay here."

Draco smirked, the close proximity to his rival-turned-partner apparently not bothering him. "Oh, don't worry," he purred, causing chills to shoot down the other boy's spine. Harry absently pondered his reactions as Draco continued. "I plan to."

Harry blinked. That gleam in Draco's eyes did not bode well for him.

XXXXXXXX

Meanwhile, in Remus's office, any passerby would be shocked at the group that had formed. Hermione and Pansy were engrossed in a debate about a book they'd both read, and Ginny was speaking with Lupin in an attempt to figure out why they'd been called. Blaise, who had, to Remus's amusement, tagged along with Draco and Pansy when they told him where they were going, was avidly watching the ornate clock on the wall, to all appearances counting the seconds.

When Ginny gave up on Remus giving her any hints, she turned to Blaise. "Zabini, why are you staring at the clock?"

The Slytherin boy grinned eagerly. "I'm seeing how long it takes Draco to drag Potter down here. Pansy and I have a bet, you see. Every minute it takes him is a minute closer to my victory."

Pansy rolled her eyes at her boyfriend's cockiness. "I think Potter will come willingly, while Blaise thinks he will be kicking and screaming."

"Two galleons that he'll come willingly," Hermione said, her expression thoughtful. Everyone turned to gape at her in shock. "What? I may be a Gryffindor, but I know easy money when I see it."

Ginny snorted. "Easy money if you put it on the right bet. I bet two galleons that Harry was brought by force."

The girls handed their money to Remus, who had also agreed to hold Pansy and Blaise's wager. As he pocketed the money, they heard something outside.

"What was that?" Pansy asked.

"I don't know. It kind of reminds me of the sound my pet kneazle made that time I doused him with water," Blaise mused

The noise was repeated, but this time it was closer and more distinct.

"OW! SHIT! WILL YOU LET ME THE FUCK GO, ALREADY? I SWEAR, DRACO, I'M GONNA KICK YOUR ARSE THE FIRST CHANCE I FUCKING GET!"

Everyone except Remus ran to the door, though they already knew who was yelling. The sight they found, though, made their jaws drop. Harry was being dragged down the hall towards Remus's office. What had so shocked the spectators was that Draco was dragging Harry along by his ear, of all things.

"Hello!" Draco greeted cheerfully over Harry's continued threats on his life. "One stubborn Lion, as ordered."

The other students stepped to the side to allow Draco to haul his prize through the door. Remus stood to greet him.

"Draco, when I said 'whatever it takes,' this wasn't what I had in mind," he said, his expression a mixture of disapproval and amusement. "And such language, Harry! Were you yelling that the whole way here?"

Harry gave a harsh pull in an attempt to free himself, only to end up yelping shamefully when the blonde's grip held and the ear twisted. Harry glared at the laughing Draco, who only laughed harder.

"Oh no, Remus," Draco replied after he had regained control of himself, easily dodging a kick from his captive. "That was actually a bit toned down. Once the shock wore off, he threatened to cut off my bollocks and force me to eat them. He then threatened to hang me by my ears and see how I liked it. Quite frankly, I'm pleasantly surprised. I never would have thought Gryffindors were so imaginative!"

"Most aren't," Hermione stated. "Most Gryffindors are usually against such things."

"Unless it's a Marauder you're referring to," Remus added as he surreptitiously handed the smirking Blaise and Ginny their winnings, not wanting Harry to notice. "From the sound of things, it's a very good thing your dad didn't have your imagination, Harry."

With one last pull, Harry broke free. He rubbed is throbbing red ear gingerly. "Yeah, well, that's probably where I got a majority of it from. Now why am I here, exactly?"

"Mr. Zabini, here," Remus paused as Blaise waved jovially, "Decided to tag along with Mr. Malfoy and Miss Parkinson. Therefore, I thought it only fair that you should be included as well, and your friends agreed."

"I should've known that it was pointless to try to stay uninvolved," Harry muttered as he flopped down on the couch that someone had conjured. "Let's get this over with, then."

Draco rolled his eyes as he gracefully sat next to the sulking teen. "Oh come on, Potter. You act like being included is a bad thing."

Harry glared at the blonde. "I think that you may as well use my given name after dragging me all the way here by my fucking ear, Draco." The girls, even Hermione, giggled at this comment, while Blaise rolled his eyes. "And name three things I've been involved with that haven't put either myself or others in mortal peril."

When Draco didn't meet his eyes, Harry smirked. "That's what I thought. So, Remus, how about getting this business over with?"

Remus cleared his throat. "I'm aware that those of you in Ancient Runes have begun studying the elemental runes. Can you tell me what you've learned?"

"Well, so far we've only learned about the main elemental runes: fire, water, air, and earth," Hermione began in her lecture voice. "The purpose of these runes is usually to protect from the element they're named after. For example, a family living in an area prone to floods may carve water runes around the house to protect it from the floodwaters."

However, there have been cases where witches and wizards have been born with elemental runes as birthmarks. The rune depends on the person's personality. Those born with these marks show particular strength and aptitude in spells concerning these elements and a level of control over the element the rune represents. Only those with a particularly large magical core are able to support this power. A magically weaker person born with a rune birthmark will most likely die if the power tries to manifest itself."

"Very good, Hermione!" Remus beamed. "While you seem to have a fairly good grasp on the knowledge, there are some things you haven't learned yet. Those born with an elemental rune have a name. They are called the Segnato. As a general rule of Fate, there are only one or two Segnato at a time, though the last one died some years ago."

"But we all know how well our lot does with rules," Ginny cut in, grinning.

"Which brings us to the reason I asked you here. Judging from what I saw in class, I am firmly under the belief that both Hermione and Draco are Segnato." When neither teen argued, he continued. "I wonder if you could show me your marks?"

When Draco didn't offer to go first, Hermione nodded and stood in front of Remus, then lifted the back of her shirt. After a minute, she let it fall and reclaimed her seat.

"Well, Draco?"

When the blonde still refused to stand, Harry sighed in exasperation before shoving him up. Draco glared at him, but unbuttoned the first few buttons on his shirt and bared his shoulder to Remus's gaze. After he felt his professor had looked for long enough, he stiffly sat back down, still redoing the buttons.

"As I thought. Draco, if you were to look at Hermione's mark, you would see that it was different from the one in class, while yours is not."

"But Remus, they look exactly alike," Harry argued.

"Maybe when you saw them, pup. Hermione has accessed the rune's true power since then. According to the beliefs of the Segnato, the true power of the rune marks is to control the elements themselves. The added strength to certain spells is just a convenient bonus, so to speak."

"So why are the Weaselette and I here?" Pansy asked curiously, though she was obviously not upset with gaining so much new knowledge.

"You both have oddly-shaped birthmarks, do you not?"

"Yes. I have one on my neck," Pansy replied slowly, obviously wondering how her professor could know that. Harry made sure not to make eye contact with her, lest his eyes give him away as the informant. Ginny also nodded her head, sending Harry an amused accusatory glance.

"Does it look anything one of these?" Remus asked, opening a large leather tome and passing it to the Slytherin girl.

"It looks like this one," Pansy answered while pointing to a rune shaped like the blades of a fan.

"Ah, the rune for air, it's very fitting for you Pansy. Ginny, that means you-"

"Have the rune for fire," she finished. When she got some odd looks from the Slytherins, Ginny shrugged. "We've already gone over this. Harry and Hermione were talking about Hermione's mark, and I joined in and noticed that the rune for fire looked an awful lot like my birthmark."

"One more thing before I dismiss you. The rune marks give you great power. However, that power is, as I'm sure Draco and Hermione have learned from experience, dangerous. If you can't keep control of your emotions, which feed the power, some of it may escape in a fairly large and possibly devastating outburst. Now, I think that's enough education for tonight. You're all free to go."

Blaise was the first to stand. "Not that this wasn't fun, Professor, but it felt a bit too much like class for my liking."

Everyone laughed, and all but Hermione nodded in agreement. The group rose and bid Remus good night. At the grand staircase, they separated.

Ginny and Hermione walked ahead of Harry, discussing what they had learned and giggling about something. Ginny glanced back at Harry and grinned teasingly.

"So Harry, were you really brought to the office by your ear?"

"Why don't you look at the bloody thing and tell me," Harry growled as the abused body part gave a particularly painful throb.

"I'm surprised you didn't get away sooner," Hermione chimed in, a dangerous sparkle in her eye. "In fact, I'm almost inclined to say that you liked it!"

As Harry opened his mouth to retort, Ginny cut him off. "I do have to say, though, that was a clever way to make him use your first name officially. I don't think he even caught it."

Hermione gave a theatrical sigh. "You leave us with one conclusion, Harry."

Ginny took a deep breath. "It's Draco and Harry, sitting in a tree, S-N-O-G-G-I-N-G," she sang, laughing as Harry chased his two mischievous friends all the way to the Fat Lady.

"Fortuna Minor!" Hermione said hurriedly as their pursuer closed in. The Fat Lady rolled her eyes and swung open, admitting the three teenagers. Aurum looked up as they approached the fireplace, Harry having temporarily set aside his aspirations to slowly kill the girls.

//Did you have a good trip, Harry?//

//You knew who it was,// Harry accused sullenly.

//Of course. He explained the situation to me, and I agreed to help. He still smells nice, too. Like the complement to your smell//

Harry rolled his eyes, not inclined to agree that he was beginning to agree with the snake.

"If you three are finished taunting and manipulating me, I'm going to bed. Women, honestly!"

Harry turned on his heel and tramped up the stairs to the dorm, leaving the three females laughing at his expense.

Author's Notes: Chapter 17 done! If you wish to see the excuses for this very late update, see the author's notes in chapter 16. Otherwise, please accept my utmost apologies.

Now for a few housekeeping details. I hope my fellow shippers appreciate the bone or two that I threw in this chapter. The pace of this fic should be picking up a bit now. Hopefully, it won't be long until I get to write the part that kept playing in my head over and over and literally forced me to write this. Stay tuned.

Segnato is Italian for Marked, if anyone cared to know.

Thanks to the chapter 16 reviewers:

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