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Fifteen books later, Draco found the spell he was looking for. He checked the book out of the library and made his way down to his rooms, greeting Medusa with the password and an inquiry about her continued good health.

Harry was nowhere to be found. Good. He could do the spell now and wrap the present before Harry got back, and be done with it. Carefully, Draco removed the mirror from its casing and placed it on the table near the fireplace. He then turned to the book and read through the passage about the spell a few times to make sure he understood the information correctly. Then he began.

His wand curved up in an arch and down to touch the middle of the mirror’s reflective surface as he spoke:

“Homo Dignitatis Animatus Vivae Picturatus Morti Videre. ”

Chapter 21: The Name of a Malfoy

Harry finished folding his best school robes and placed them on top of Draco’s wrapped present. That should be enough padding, he thought, as he closed the lid of his trunk. This was it. He’d already been to the last class before Christmas break, and had finished packing. Tomorrow he would leave Hogwarts with everyone who normally left and would ride the train back to London from where he and Draco, and probably Lucius Malfoy as well, would all be going to Malfoy Manor. It was surprising people hadn’t made a lot of fuss, but that was probably because no one really knew. Heck, the only people who knew that he and Draco were “together”, if one could call them that, were his friends, the staff at Hogwarts, Lucius Malfoy, Draco, and himself of course.

It was amazing they’d kept it a secret for so long so why was he so surprised that no one made a big commotion about his living arrangements for Christmas break? After all, it wasn’t as if he had much of a real choice in the matter. He’d likely wake up in Malfoy Manor with Draco even if he went to sleep in Hogwarts. And it wasn’t like he would be turned over to Voldemort upon stepping into the house because of the whole Veriae bond thing…So why was it such a big deal to him? Why was he so nervous about this?

Needless to say, sleep did not come easily to Harry that night, although it did eventually overtake him.

The next day went almost completely as Harry had envisioned it. He rode with Ron and Hermione, who were also going home to visit their families, on the train ride back to London. He then hung back while the rest of the students were getting off the train, and saw that while Draco was walking ahead with his Slytherin cronies (Or were they his friends? Harry didn’t know.), Lucius seemed to be taking his own time to leave the station. For once Harry was glad that the Malfoys were almost predictable Slytherins as he discretely followed the two Malfoys to a…limo…

Its insides revealed that it only looked like a limo charmed to look like a lavish stretch limo, but in truth it was a carriage like the ones at Hogwarts. The ride to Malfoy Manor was another few hours and neither Malfoy seemed inclined to talk, yet the silence was more companionable than forced or harsh. When Harry got out of the carriage, the first thing he noticed were the four, translucent, white horses which had pulled the carriage. He would have to find out what species they were…maybe ask Hagrid when he got back.

The next thing he noticed was the house. And he wondered why he didn’t notice the house first when he did get the full view of it.

Describe any fairy-tale castle and you have Malfoy Manor Harry was reminded of the castle that he’d seen once in a muggle Disney movie when he was very young. He’d been locked in the cupboard for a few days but he’d thought it was worth it to see “Beauty and the Beast” even a little bit of it, when his uncle and aunt had let Dudley watch it. And now he stood at the doorway to a recreation of the Beast’s enchanted castle before the spell was broken. Yet…there were some differences Harry could see.

The carriage stopped at the middle of a driveway of sorts…but made of a white stone not pavement. To walk to the front door you passed by four statues, two of the Roman god Mars and two of the Roman goddess Athena. Then you got to a large black iron gateway that was engraved with the image of Saturn. It opened into what looked like a huge garden, covered in snow, and Harry could only wonder what it looked like in spring. They continued forward to the front door and Harry looked up in awe at the better view of the house from its front step. Gargoyles leered down at him from its heights and owlery (if Harry’s guesses were any good). Two carved sphinxes sat just over the eves of the door and seemed to hold a watchful expression. So real was that expression that Harry wondered if they were truly watching him.

The doors were ebony and lined in steel and iron and as Lucius approached them they opened by themselves, as if knowing the presence of their master. A House Elf immediately appeared at Lucius’ side that he ignored completely except to let it take his outer cloak.

“I trust you can situate Harry in your wing, Draco.” Lucius said, “And give him a tour of the Manor. I have a few things to look after.”

“Yes Father.”

And Lucius left, leaving Harry and Draco alone in the foyer.

Harry was too busy looking around to notice. The foyer was built on the idea of crystal, with statues of Venus hewn from a violet crystal on either side of the doorway.

“My grandfather was into Roman ideals.” Draco mused, seeing where Harry was looking. “He chose to redo the foyer and front hall, as well as some of the outside of the Manor. When we get into different wings of the Manor, you’ll see different themes according to who spent most of their time there.”