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Inter Vivos	By : Lomonaaeren Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Harry/Draco Views: 42948 -:- Recommendations : 3 -:- Currently Reading : 1
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Chapter List
- 10
- 11
- 12
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Chapter Eleven�Outrage

�� If you
would just give me a chance to explain.�

�� But Harry
said it in a dead voice, because he didn�t think Ron would really give him the
chance, and he knew he was saying it in a dead voice from the furious, helpless
look Ron gave him. Then Ron turned around, folded his arms, and tried to
pretend that he wasn�t upset and the people leaning out of the Great Hall to
stare at them had nothing to stare at.

�� No,� he
said. �The only thing is�� He took a deep breath, one that sounded like he was
about to cry, but didn�t quite get there. �The only thing is,� he managed at
last, �if you were going to put your name in the Goblet because you figured out
some way to get past the age line, then I wish you�d told me, too, so I could have competed.�

�� I didn�t
put my name in the Goblet,� said Harry, the same thing he had said fifty times
in the room where he had gathered with the Champions and Dumbledore had told
him he would have to compete in the Tournament now that his name had been
pulled out.

�� Sure you
didn�t, mate,� Ron said. For the first time, he turned to scowl at Harry. Harry
stared back, his cheeks burning as he realized how public this was. They were
out in the entrance hall, clearly visible from half the tables in the Great
Hall, because Harry had tried to go to Ron the minute he came out of that side
room and Ron had walked away the minute he saw him coming. Ron seemed to
realize it, too, but he just looked bitter and proud and satisfied about it.
�Somebody else dropped your name in,
I reckon? Someone who wanted you to compete instead of winning themselves?�

�� Well, why
not?� Harry asked hotly. �You told me that there was suspected Death Eater
activity this summer!� Someone gasped behind him, but at the moment, he didn�t
give a toss who it was. �I think this is Voldemort�s newest plan to kill me,
and��

�� Ron walked
away.

�� Ron,
wait!� Harry yelled after him, but he didn�t run up to him again. If Ron was
going to be like that about it, then maybe
Harry should just wait until he�d bloody well calmed down.

�� Hermione
stepped up to his side and put a hand on his shoulder. �Give him time,� she
whispered, which startled Harry. Hermione�s advice and his thoughts were almost
never in agreement. �I know you
didn�t do it.�

�� Harry gave
her a wan smile. �Thanks, Hermione.�

�� I know you
didn�t do it, either,� a new voice said from behind them.

�� Malfoy,�
Hermione said, in a strained voice, �just run along and play with poisonous
snakes or whatever it is you do in the dungeons. This is for Harry�s real friends to handle.�

�� But Harry
had already turned around, and he�d seen the sincerity in Draco�s eyes�along
with an intensity that he didn�t really understand�and made his own decision.

�� He can
stay,� he said. �I think I�ll need the support, Hermione.� He pointed at the
Hufflepuff table, all of which was glaring disdainfully at Harry except Cedric
himself, who gave a helpless shrug and a �what can you do?� look in Harry�s
general direction.

�� But, Harry,�
Hermione said, and tugged on his arm as if she thought he was actually going to
move away from Draco and leave him alone, �he�ll make Ron more angry.�

�� I don�t
care about that,� Harry and Draco said at the exact same time. Harry blinked
and looked at Draco, who was smirking. He took a step forwards and rested a
hand on Harry�s shoulder for a moment, his expression blissful.

�� I don�t
know what to do,� Hermione whispered.

�� No one
expects you to know what to do all the time, Granger,� said Draco, in a tone so
patronizing that Harry sighed to himself. He would have to do something about
that if he was going to survive to the end of the Tournament with both his
friends intact. �But it�s perfectly clear to me. We support Harry, of course.�

�� Harry
couldn�t think of anything to say that was big enough for that, so he just
clasped Draco�s hand.

*

�� Severus had
avoided Potter�s company for several days�other than the obligatory moments in
Potions class when he must examine the brat�s brewing�because two sets of his
instincts were in conflict.

�� On the one
hand, of course Potter had put his name in the Goblet. His arrogance directed
him towards danger and glory, and the Tournament, with challenges meant for
seventh-year students and others still older, was the biggest chance at that he
would ever have.

�� On the
other, Severus did not believe that Potter possessed the brilliance to figure
out a way past the age-line, particularly one of Dumbledore�s devising.

�� And on a
third hand still, Potter seemed to have taken his exile from Severus�s company
quietly. He didn�t hang about with a hopeful look on his face waiting for the
Potions and Dark Arts tutoring to resume; he didn�t ask tearfully, or
resentfully, why Severus had canceled their meetings for the next week without
warning. What could that mean but that he understood his crime and accepted
Severus�s punishment for it?

�� And on a
fourth hand yet again, when had Potter ever
taken any punishment in good part?

�� So Severus
was conflicted, and he did not trust himself to act rationally towards the boy
until he had resolved his feelings.

�� He was in
his office one night a week after the Goblet�s choosing when someone knocked.
Severus looked up, eyes narrowed, his body tense and vibrating with several
emotions at once. Lily, does your son
have your courage to admit to wrongdoing? �Enter,� he said.

�� Draco
stepped inside. Severus drew a breath of both relief and disappointment, and
nodded. �Yes, Draco, what help did you need?� The boy had not shown interest in
continuing the specific acting and lying lessons Severus had given him last
year when he confronted Lucius, but Severus had tried to slip in such ideas as
were helpful to him during tutoring sessions about other things. It was one of
the few times he could enjoy teaching, that activity he was otherwise condemned
to do as part of his penance for betraying Lily and orphaning Potter.

�� And will he not feel your current coldness
towards him as part of that same pain?

�� Of course
not, Severus knew, because Potter was unaware of the initial betrayal. He was
glad to have an excuse to put aside such thoughts and focus on Draco as Draco
stepped up to the desk.

�� I came to
tell you that you�re losing him,� said Draco. �I didn�t know if you would care,
given the way you�ve treated him in these last weeks, but you are.� He paused
for a moment, staring at Severus as if he wanted to see something in his face
that Severus had no idea existed. Then he shrugged. �And I reckon you don�t
care, and I didn�t need to waste my time coming here. Oh, well. Goodbye.� And
he turned his back.

�� Wait.�
Severus made it sound cool and calm, the way he would have if a student was
trying to walk out of detention early, rather than desperate. He could be proud
of that, at least, he thought, as he stood up from behind his desk and glided
forwards. Draco folded his arms and looked up at him with no expression in his
eyes, and suddenly Severus saw the disadvantage of training a pupil in lying,
at least when that pupil wasn�t slavishly dependent on oneself. He came to a
stop and let his own cool eyes and countenance wring a small squirm out of
Draco. When he was certain he saw it, Severus continued in a softer voice.
�What do you mean, I am losing him? To whom do you refer?�

�� Harry, of course.�

�� There was
too much disgust in Draco�s voice. Severus was compelled to try and lessen its
weight. �I am unaware of any special reason that I might have to be concerned
about Potter, or any endeavor in which he participates that I can lose him from��

�� Oh, come off it.� The emotion was back, but it
was scorn, and Draco actually took several steps towards him, which did not fit
in with Severus�s general plan of intimidation. �That�s the problem. Even when
it�s clear that you want to influence him and teach him, you can�t show that
you care. Even when you practically said that you would die to keep him safe to
Black last year. Harry�s simpler than we are. More straightforward. He needs
some sign that you care, and since you�ve just glared at him in the last week,
he thinks that you think he put his name in the Goblet. And that means you
don�t care anymore,� Draco finished in a rush.

�� He did put his name in the Goblet,� Severus
said. He had not known which conclusion he would reach until he said it. �He
may have convinced you that he did not��

�� I know he
didn�t,� said Draco. �Why would he? He didn�t know about the Triwizard
Tournament, didn�t want to compete in it. What he wanted to do was play
Quidditch. And why would he do something that made his best friend so angry
with him? Isn�t it more likely to be another plot of the Dark Lord�s? Which
makes the most sense?�

�� Severus
narrowed his eyes and responded, �What seems to be common sense is often only
the ignorance of the masses,� because the accusation had shaken him as he had
not thought anything could, and he needed to take a moment to sort out his
feelings.

�� Is it really so much stranger that the Dark
Lord would try to kill him this way than that he would put his own name in the
Goblet? Especially because you would have found out any extraordinary talent in
casting spells by now? Yes, perhaps Granger helped him to cross the age-line,
but there is no reason for her not to share the information with Weasley in
that case.

�� And I cannot credit a Gryffindor conspiracy
that would put one of them forward as a candidate for the Champion and then
pretend that the other is offended in order to maintain a charade of innocence.

�� Then I
suppose it just comes down to who I believe,� said Draco. �I choose to believe
Harry, not the Weasel, and not Blaise.� He rolled his eyes. �He�s going around
making those �Potter Stinks� badges, do you know? He claims that he�s angry
Potter�s taking attention away from Diggory, but he�s not. He just wants to
cause trouble, and this is the best way he knows of to do it.�

�� If I were
to believe Potter,� Severus said stiffly, �what would it gain me in return?�

�� His
presence in your lessons again,� said Draco, �if that matters to you. His
better marks in Potions, so that he could keep the bargain you made with us
last year. I know you don�t think he�s been trying,� he added, when he saw
Severus�s eyebrows rise, �but he has. I�ve been tutoring him.�

�� And what
do you get out of it?� Severus asked
softly.

�� His
friendship,� Draco said.

�� I had
hoped that you would be over this clinging dependence on him by now, Draco.�
Severus took a few steps forwards, his eyes locked on Draco�s face, which had
flushed and then grown pale in rapid succession. If he could make someone else
uncomfortable, then he would not count the evening entirely wasted. �Instead,
you worship Potter ever more assiduously, as if he were Merlin come to earth.
Why? Why cannot you behave like a Slytherin and claim some benefit for yourself
from this, instead of merely becoming Potter�s adjunct?�

�� Draco
hesitated for a long moment before he replied. Severus felt triumph surge up in
him. I have him. I am not the only one floundering
here, the only one who does not have answers for everything I would like to
have them for.

�� I�this is
what I want, for right now. My friendship with him is too new. It�s like my relationship
with my father,� Draco added, in a comparison he must have thought was
inspired. �If I demand too much at once, I won�t get anything at all. I need to
go slowly and hope that he�ll come to give me more when he�s ready.�

�� That still
subjects you to Potter,� Severus said, determined to push. No matter why he believes Potter, I do not like to see one of my best
students harnessed to his arrogance and self-aggrandizement. �I picture you
as a beggar waiting for a handout, Draco. I would see you become a Potions
master, the way that you have the talent to. Not Potter�s servant, not merely
his friend, not someone who is reduced to running errands that he could not
bother to run himself.�

�� What are you
talking about?� Draco demanded crossly. �What errands?�

�� Can he not keep his mind on something that
is not Potter for one moment? But Severus refrained from rolling his eyes, because
he didn�t think that the gesture would do anything at the moment but drive
Draco away. �This one,� he said. �Coming to tell me that he didn�t put his name
in the Goblet, and that I�ll lose him if I don�t watch out. That sounds rather
like a childish threat. Perhaps you might consider telling Potter that I do not
react well to threats. If he wants the tutoring, if he can admit to himself
that he needs it, then he will do best if he comes to me with a personal
apology and��

�� He has no
idea that I�m doing this,� Draco interrupted, and his eyes were sharp again,
his stance firm. �I thought I�d warn you because, earlier, you seemed to care
about what happened to him, or at least you acted like you did. Maybe I was
wrong about that.�

�� Severus
hissed under his breath. The boy presumes
to dictate my emotions? �I would care more about him if he could��

�� He doesn�t
even realize that you�re waiting for an apology, or anything else,� Draco broke
in again, as fiercely as before. �He�s used to being abandoned by people, and
he just thinks that you�ve done the same thing to him. So he�ll live with it,
and go on.� He shook his head. �You�re both stubborn, but at least he�s a kid,
and a Gryffindor, so he�ll grow up six times slower than normal anyway at
everything except Quidditch. You�re an adult. Shouldn�t you know better by now?�

�� Severus opened
his mouth to yell about the desperate unfairness of making characterizations
like this.

�� But by that
time, Draco had already shut the door behind him and retreated into the
corridor.

�� Severus sat
down behind his desk and glared at the door. The only consolation he had was
that he had seen Draco ducking his head as he stepped into the corridor,
sweeping one hand across his eyes.

�� I affected him to the point of tears�or almost.
And even that is a more childish reaction than I would have wished for him to
have.

�� It was a
small comfort indeed, but, at the moment, Severus thought he would have to take
comfort where he could find it.

*

�� Are you running another errand for Potter?

�� The voice
had the poisonous sharpness with which Professor Snape had spoken to him when
he tried to intervene between him and Harry. Draco shook his head, grimly. He
couldn�t allow other thoughts to interfere with his task right now, which meant
he had to put them aside and do what was in front of him.

�� Another errand for Potter.

�� No, Draco argued back, as he ducked
around a tree and then paused and renewed the Disillusionment Charm on himself,
just in case it had faded. They were doing their best to prevent anyone from
seeing what the first task in the Tournament was. Draco wouldn�t put it past
the people who were pouring into Hogwarts to help with and judge the
competition to have spells up that negated Disillusionment Charms.

�� I call him Harry. And the only reason I�m
doing this one is that he has to know something about the Tasks, in order to
win, and he won�t condone cheating himself.

�� But now
Draco was almost there, almost at the mysterious closed-off place where they
were keeping whatever-it-was that Harry would be facing. Anyone who paid the
slightest bit of attention�all right, anyone who paid the slightest bit of
attention and had Durmstrang students living in one�s House�could have found
the place, and guessed this was the afternoon they were bringing the creatures
in.

�� Because Draco
was sure it would be magical creatures. He�d done some reading on Tournaments
from the past few hundred years, before they�d been discontinued as too
dangerous. And every time, the First Task was magical creatures.

�� Harry should have done the reading, but he�s
too busy chasing around after Weasley and trying to find some evidence that it
was the Dark Lord behind this.

�� Draco
rolled his eyes. He could be annoyed about the Weasley thing, but he had to
admit the second part made sense. Except, well, Harry was already in the Tournament
now, and it seemed really likely that
it was a plot by the Dark Lord to kill him, and he couldn�t leave because the
Goblet of Fire created a binding magical contract. So why waste time trying to
prove who had done this instead of living with the consequences and planning to
survive them?

�� I�ll have to teach him better.

�� And that is what you want to acquire? A
student?

�� Draco was
so busy scowling to himself about the way that Snape�s voice had begun to blend
with his own thoughts that he nearly didn�t recognize what he was staring at
until he heard the bellow.

�� He snapped
out of it, then, and stared. He was behind the oaf Hagrid�s house, near the
edge of the Forbidden Forest, on a piece of ground that scarcely anyone glanced
at, and which Draco thought had probably been specially charmed to make it even
more unnoticeable. They probably planned to hide the creatures they were
bringing down now in the Forbidden Forest or cast an Instant Building Spell
over them, but at the moment, they were visible in their full glory.

�� The First
Task was dragons.

�� Draco saw
at least four of the common species, but he couldn�t identify them all at once,
because they were flaming red and blazing purple and tossing gold horns and
spikes and tails, and he was too busy feeling sick with worry.

�� Harry has to face them. How in the world is
he going to do it? He isn�t a seventh-year student like Krum and Delacour. He
hasn�t studied all the fancy Transfiguration and Charms that you can do to
fight a dragon, and as for fighting it with a potion�that�s a laugh.

�� What is he going to do?

�� The
Dragon-Keepers were walking around the edge of the field, shouting to each
other, casting careful spells that were probably meant to calm the dragons�
tempers (though Draco couldn�t see that they did much good). They looked like
peas against the immense bulk of the beasts. Draco remembered all the fairy
tales that his mother had told him about dragons eating people and so on before
the wizards decided to confine them to preserves, and swallowed back nausea.

�� Then he
took a deep breath. We fight them, that�s
how. We do research.

�� And I�ll show Severus that I can have more
than just a student, or a burden, or a friend who doesn�t appreciate me. I�ll
have someone who respects me as an equal and someone who needs the help only I
can give.

�� As he
turned away from the field and began to make his way, carefully, back towards
the school, Draco had a fleeting thought that he grinned at, because he knew it
would have made Professor Snape turn purple.

�� And if friendship is dependence, then I�ll
just have to make sure that he�s dependent on me right back.

*

�� Hi, Ron,�
Harry said, trying to make his voice calm and neutral as he walked up behind
the table in the library where Ron and Hermione sat. They were all assigned the
same basic essay in Charms, to study Summoning Charms and write about their
consequences on wizarding society. Harry thought Ron ought to get along with
him for that. No one said study
partners had to be friends.

�� But the
moment he heard Harry�s voice, Ron stopped arguing with Hermione, stiffened his
shoulders, and began to pick up his books and slam them into a big pile. Harry
swallowed. He had been angry at Ron�purely angry, an emotion that Draco had
backed him up on�but it had been weeks now, and Ron was just as stubborn about
it as he had been at first. He wouldn�t listen to any explanations that Harry
made.

�� Ron,
please,� Hermione said, with so much strain in her voice that Harry thought she
might start crying.

�� I can�t
help it,� Ron snapped, and then he spun around to face Harry for the first time
since Harry�s name came out of the Goblet of Fire. Harry smiled a little. Maybe
he was ready to listen. But instead Ron snarled at him, �I don�t care about you
breaking the rules. We�ve broken the rules before, and that�s what we needed to
do to survive. But I care about you not sharing
the rule-breaking with me. I care about the fact that you only wanted to
put your name in the Goblet and didn�t care about mine.�

�� And then he
ran away and out of the library. Harry stood staring after him until Hermione
gently cleared her throat.

�� How well
can you perform Summoning Charms?� she said, too brightly.

�� Harry sat
down where Ron had been and took a deep breath. He wouldn�t allow himself to
worry too much about this. Ron would come back in the end. He had to. He and Harry had shared too many
profound experiences for him to just abandon their friendship like that.

�� Hadn�t
they?

�� But Harry
remembered people in primary school who had laughed with him for a morning
before Dudley found them, and Professor Snape, who had acted like he cared last
year but wouldn�t do a thing except glare at Harry now.

�� Everyone leaves. Everyone walks away from
you. You�ll just have to get used to it.

�� Concentrate on the here and now. Don�t let
yourself feel it.

�� Harry turned
back to Hermione. �Not well. Show me?�

*

�� Draco
finally caught up with Harry after dinner the next day. Harry had tried to have
another fruitless conversation with the Weasel and was standing still in the
middle of the entrance hall, watching his friend�s receding back as though
someone had just taken the last serving of treacle tart he wanted. Draco rolled
his eyes, but put a hand on Harry�s shoulder. I don�t have to show him I�m upset. Sometimes Professor Snape�s lessons
are good for something.

�� Harry
looked at him, and smiled when he saw him, which wasn�t the ecstatic expression
Draco had pictured, but he�d live with it. �Hi,� he said, and started walking
towards the dungeons. Even though he no longer went to Professor Snape for �detentions,�
he seemed to assume Draco would feel safer down there than in the library or
the public corridors. �You look excited. What happened?�

�� I
discovered what the First Task is,� Draco said, deliberately keeping his voice
low. Some Hufflepuffs were passing by, wearing Blaise�s �Potter Stinks� badges.
Draco scowled. He would have to ask Blaise what his problem was. It wasn�t like
he had Draco�s old reasons to resent Harry.

�� Harry
immediately turned and stared at him. Draco smiled. He could read admiration in
those wide eyes and parted lips. Snape is
wrong, he thought comfortably. He
already depends on me, and I�m the one who leads the way in a thing like this, because
he won�t do what needs to be done.

�� You did?�
Harry whispered. �How?�

�� I sneaked
out to the field where they were keeping the beasts for the Task, of course,�
Draco said. �And I knew it was beasts of some kind because I read and listen,
unlike some people.�

�� Harry
smiled, but the look of admiration in his face didn�t dim. In fact, Draco
thought, it grew brighter. Harry probably thought he was brave for sneaking out
like that and venturing into an unknown danger. Draco felt a warm glow of
contentment spread through him. This was what he had wanted, and what Professor
Snape had assumed he would never get, just from the way he talked. Harry
admired bravery. Well, Draco knew how to be brave.

�� So what
were they?� Harry prompted.

�� From the
expression on his face, Draco had probably stood around preening himself for
too long. Well, he could make up for that with his news, which was hardly the
kind that Harry could have anticipated. �Dragons.�

�� Harry�s
face went pale. �You can�t tame dragons,� he whispered. �And I don�t know the
seventh-year Transfiguration or Charms.�

�� Draco was
at least relieved to see that he recognized the dangers. He looked around, saw
the same group of Hufflepuffs not too far away from them, and grabbed Harry by
the arm. �Come with me. I know a place we can talk privately.�

�� Harry
followed him without protesting at all. Draco felt a small thrill creep up his
back as they pelted through the corridors, twisting and turning away from both
the Slytherin common room and Snape�s office, and finally ending up in a
deserted storeroom that he�d discovered during his first year. He�d always
dreamed of this, when he was a boy and before he came to Hogwarts: sharing
secrets with the Boy-Who-Lived. He was just glad that Weasley had been so
stupid, because otherwise he didn�t think he�d have had this chance.

�� The
storeroom was wide and without windows, but free of dust, because Draco had
cast self-renewing cleaning charms. He�d also brought a table and chairs down
with him one by one, first looking around Hogwarts for old furniture that no
one was using�there was always some�and then mastering Levitation and
Feather-Light Charms. Harry sat down on one particular large chair behind the
table with a look of rapture on his face.

�� It�s like
we�re planning things,� he said.

�� Well, we
are,� Draco said, and took the chair across from him. �All right. How are you
going to defeat the dragons?�

�� Harry
scowled and drummed his fingers on the table. �I don�t know. I�m really not good at seventh-year spells.
Shite, I�m not even good at fourth-year spells. Hermione and I were practicing
Summoning Charms earlier today�� He stopped in the way that Draco knew meant he
was considering mentioning the Weasel, but a moment later he went on. �And I�m
not good at them.�

�� Well,�
Draco said, �pick something you are good at.�

�� Quidditch,�
Harry said at once, and then laughed with Draco, who had chuckled just because of
the quickness of the answer. �And Defense Against the Dark Arts. But dragons
aren�t really Dark Arts, are they? Defense won�t work against them the way it�ll
work against curses.�

�� Draco
hesitated. Then he said quietly, �You still know the spells Professor Snape
taught you.�

�� Harry gave
him an incredulous look, and drawled, �And I�m just going to use Dark Arts in
front of the other students and the judges and so on? I don�t think so. It�d be
like proclaiming myself a Death Eater.�

�� Draco
blushed, and said, �Well, all right. Then we need to figure out how to use
fourth-year spells. And Quidditch.�

�� And
Quidditch,� Harry said, and sighed loudly, drumming his fingers on the table
again. �If I could figure out some way to use my broom�but I already asked
McGonagall, and she said that you aren�t allowed to take anything onto the
field with you but your wand. The same thing�ll happen in the Second and Third Tasks.�

�� That rules
out a potion, too,� Draco said. �Not that there are many of those which affect dragons��

�� And then he
had an insight so brilliant that it made his mouth hang open.

�� Draco?�
Harry waved a hand in front of his face, sounding worried. �Did something
happen? Are you all right?�

�� I�m smart,
that�s all,� Draco said, trying to pretend that he wasn�t as stunned as he
felt. That was the best way to impress Harry, if he could say it casually. �You�re
sure you can perform any magic on the field? Anything at all?�

�� Harry�s
eyes narrowed. �I already told you, Draco, I�m not using Dark Arts.�

�� But any
legal magic?�

�� Yeah. Why?�
Harry regarded him warily now. �It�s not as though legal magic is all that spectacular.
At least not the kind I know. Or most of the kind I know, and I don�t think
dragons would be scared of a Patronus.�

�� They shared
a smile, and Draco knew they were both thinking about the Dementors that had
been scared away last year. Of course, Harry�s smile faltered, and he was
probably thinking about Professor Snape and how the git had abandoned him. So
Draco spoke more quickly than he meant to, but still casually. �I just thought
that, if you got good at the Summoning Charm, then you could Summon your broom
onto the field and fly it at the dragon. You know, not breaking the rules, but
doing something you�re really good at. That�s all.� He shrugged modestly.

�� It was
worth everything he�d endured until that point, to see Harry�s eyes open wide
in wonder and his hands dart across the table and grab Draco�s.

�� Draco, you
are a genius.�

�� Well,�
Draco said, and ducked his head as he shrugged again, �you could call me clever,
and I wouldn�t complain.�

*

�� Severus
leaned forwards slightly when he saw Potter step onto the field to face the
dragons. Altogether, the other students had not done badly; their solutions
were not always the ones Severus would have chosen, but they were clever and
skillful, and Severus could not call himself an expert on battling dragons.

�� But Potter
was different. Too young, too small.
The way he marched onto the field in his ridiculously large clothes, his wand
clutched in his hand as if he planned to stab someone with it, his glasses
dangling off his face, Severus half-expected to hear him sniffle and cry out
for his mummy at any second.

�� And whose fault is it that she won�t come?

�� Severus
shifted and drew his sleeve tight across his left arm. Karkaroff looked up at
him from a few seats away. Severus ignored him. He did not feel pain in the
Dark Mark; it was shame that stabbed him now.

�� But it has no reason to. Yes, Potter has no
mother through my fault and not his own, but it was his choice to be in danger
now.

�� Severus looked
down and sideways to see how Draco was taking it. Strangely, Draco�s fists were
clenched in front of him, and his eyes and cheeks were bright with excitement.
Severus stared, then frowned. What in the world afflicted the boy? Had Potter
managed to infect one of his best students with glory-fever and destroy Draco�s
ability to gain an objective distance from events?

�� I will be angry if that is so.

�� Potter was
facing the Hungarian Horntail, who crouched low over her nest, her tail arcing
up behind her. Potter didn�t have the sense to be frightened of the spikes on
the tail, of course, or the teeth that clenched and closed dozens of feet above
his head, or the streamers of flame curling around her. Instead, he held up his
wand and shouted, �Accio Firebolt!�

�� The blasted
broom came streaking towards Potter from the school. And then Potter threw a
leg over it and flew up to oppose the dragon.

�� Severus
could almost hear Draco�s smug chuckle, and then he understood. Of course such
an extraordinary tactic would be a Slytherin idea. It was within the rules of
the challenge, but only barely. Potter could never have dreamed it up on his
own.

�� Except that he is good at breaking rules,
the way that he must have been to get his name into the Goblet, and he came up
with a clever plan on his own then�one that he did not bother to share with his
best friends.

�� Severus
wanted to put his head in his hands. His perceptions of Potter�s intelligence were
conflicting with his perceptions of Potter�s love of breaking rules, and he
didn�t like it. One of them must be wrong, but he had evidence that they were
both right. Which perception should he choose to trust?

�� And then he
forgot about his perceptions for the moment, other than the visual and obvious
ones, because Potter flew.

�� He darted
around the dragon�s head, in spirals down her neck, through the tail and the
hind legs, like a butterfly taunting a cat. Every moment that the dragon raged
and swung her head or lashed out with her fire or brought her heavy claws into
play, he was not where she expected him to be. Severus stared, stupefied. He
had seen the boy on a broom during the Quidditch games, yes, but this was
something different again.

�� From the
frustrated edge to the dragon�s roars, he thought she shared his sense of the impossibility
of it.

�� And then
Potter sped straight between the dragon�s forelegs as she reared to capture him,
and snatched the golden egg, and looped out again, adding a final flourish to
the end before he reached the ground that Severus was sure was just for show.
He landed, held out the golden egg to the judges, and bowed.

�� Draco was
on his feet first, applauding and cheering. Severus was on his feet, too,
though he didn�t realize it until it happened. He saw Weasley run onto the
field to embrace Potter, followed by Granger.

�� Severus did
not join the applause, of course. He was not in the mood for that. His
heartbeat had finally calmed enough and the tightness gripping his throat
receded enough for him to be certain of what he felt.

�� He was furious. And not because his perceptions
had been challenged.

�� He was
furious because Potter could have died. Yes, granted that he had to come up
with some clever way�or Draco did�to face the dragon, that did not mean he had
to have the�the insouciance about it
with which he smiled at the judges or answered questions from his best friends.
He risked his life brightly, gaily, as if it were good for nothing else.

�� As his past experiences have taught him it
is not.

�� Severus had to do something about that.

�� At this
point, it didn�t matter who had put Potter�s name in the Goblet. What mattered
far more was that the boy needed stern guidance, and Severus knew he was the
one who was required for the job.

�� No one else will do. No one else has the
sense to see who the boy really is, and not simply give him mindless adulation.

*

�� As soon as
he could, Harry slipped away from Ron, Hermione, and the impromptu party in
Gryffindor Tower to find Draco.

�� He still
felt the disbelieving triumph he had when he�d landed. He�d got through the
First Task, and survived. It was
wonderful.

�� But he hadn�t
been too busy feeling happy to see the expression on Draco�s face as he watched
Ron and Hermione hug Harry.

�� He�s
jealous, Harry thought, as he trotted through the corridors and down stairs
and past classrooms in the direction of the dungeons. He thought he knew where
Draco would go to sulk, and he was almost
sure he remembered the way there.

�� He thinks that now I have Ron back, I�m
going to ignore him. And maybe that would have been true, once. But now, it�s
not.

�� Harry
slipped through the door that he remembered, moving as silently as a shadow
thanks to the spells Draco had taught him, and found Draco sitting in the chair
at the table that Harry had occupied last time, head in his hands. Harry
hesitated, then softly cleared his throat.

�� Draco
looked up at him, shocked, and quickly tried to smile, then to sneer. Then he
just gave up and looked tired. �What do you want?� he asked. �I thought you�d
spend the evening with your friends.�

�� That�s
what I�m doing,� Harry said easily, and slipped into the chair next to Draco. �The
real question is, why didn�t you come to the party in Gryffindor Tower?�

�� For a
moment, Draco just gaped at him. Harry smiled. He looked�well, at that moment,
Harry could see why people might have wanted to be friends with Draco even when
he wasn�t being nice. He looked normal.

�� They would
kill me,� Draco said.

�� No,� Harry
said. �You�re my friend. They�re my friends. We�re on the same side in the war,
as you�ve pointed out to me a few times now. I told them you came up with the
idea that saved my life. So I�d make them welcome you, and stand at your side
and scowl at them until they figured that out.�

�� But��
Draco said, and then swallowed. Harry waited patiently, except he swung his heels
back and forth under the table a little.

�� But I don�t
really want to be with them,� Draco whispered at last. �I just want to be alone
with you.�

�� That�s
fine,� Harry said. �I like spending time with you alone, too.� He had to pause,
then, because Draco looked happy at his words in a way Harry had never known
any words from him could make someone
happy. He cleared his throat and started again, a little awkwardly. �But I
thought you should know that things won�t change between us just because I have
Ron back again, and you�re welcome at the party if you want to be.�

�� I don�t
want to talk about that now,� Draco said impatiently, and made a motion as if
he were clearing dishes off the table. �I want to talk about your maneuver when
you went around the dragon�s tail. What were you thinking? That was supposed to be a Wronski Feint? Please. That
looked more like��

�� Harry
grinned happily, and sat back to enjoy a conversation with his friend.

*

�� Severus was
waiting for Potter when he emerged from the dungeons. He had seen him pass
earlier, but, thinking that Draco might need some time with the boy, he had
refrained from interrupting. Now Potter froze when he saw him, and looked as if
he were debating what the correct response was. At last he put his head up and
said, �Professor Snape. I was just heading back to the Tower before the curfew,
sir.�

�� I
understand that,� Severus said. �What I wish to know is why you did not come
back to me to resume your lessons weeks ago.�

�� Potter
pushed his glasses up his nose. His face was carefully blank, in a way that
reminded Severus of the apathy he had adopted after Finnigan attacked him. �You
seemed angry at me,� he said. �And Draco told me that you thought I put my own
name in the Goblet. So I didn�t see the point.�

�� I can
teach you even when I am angry,� Severus pointed out.

�� No, you
can�t,� Potter said. �Sometimes I learn things on the days when you�re calm,
but when you�re angry, all you ever do is make sarcastic remarks and refuse to
clarify the things that we ask you about.�

�� Severus subdued
the rising anger with the ease of long practice. The boy must still trust me, or he would respond with careful
politeness, as he did during the incident two years ago, and not with
impudence.

�� I am�not
as angry now,� he said. �Things have changed. Come to my office, and we will
resume your lessons in potions and Defense.�

�� Potter
considered him with open skepticism for long moments. Severus forced himself to
endure the gaze, though he hated that a student should so easily get away with
being disrespectful in front of a professor.

�� Finally,
Potter nodded and said, �All right, sir. Seven at night, as we were doing?�

�� And Severus
realized, from the cynical resignation in the back of Potter�s eyes, that he
didn�t expect any explanation. He was used to adults doing unpredictable
things. He would accept this as just one more instance of that, and in the
meantime try to take advantage of the training whilst it lasted.

�� Severus
opened his mouth to explain about the way his mind had changed when he saw
Potter near the dragon.

�� And could
not.

�� In the end,
he curtly nodded, turned, and swept off down the corridor, telling himself that
he had already done more than Potter could have expected by allowing him back
into the lessons.

�� Some secrets are never meant to be shared.

*

�� Draco
hesitated for a long time before he wrote the letter.

�� But
Professor Snape�s taunting words still lingered in the back of his head, and he
knew that he had to do something about them, or he would go mad.

�� So he wrote
the first real request that he had ever made of Harry, without giving something
immediately in return, and without giving the reason. In fact, Harry could
think it was for the wrong reason,
and probably would, but so long as he did it, Draco didn�t really care.

�� Please don�t take Cho Chang to the Yule Ball.

�� Draco.

�� He took it
to the Owlery and sent it flying with a school owl. Then he gave up the point
of the anonymity by watching it go, lingering and staring out the window until
the bird had circled past Ravenclaw Tower.

�� There, he thought, as he turned away to
go back to the common room again. Now
Professor Snape can�t say I�m not asking for things and getting as good as I
give.��

*

�� linagabriev:
I think Draco is more focused on Harry as a person at this point, while Ron
thinks more about the opportunities Harry has.

�� As Harry
says in this chapter, there are rumors of Death Eater activity, but no actual
attack.

�� DTDY: No.
And Draco�s letter will really puzzle him.

�� Lunatic
with a hero complex: Yes, you�re exactly right. Draco doesn�t understand as
much as he thinks he does. But then, he�ll have some growing up to do along
with Harry in the next few chapters.

�� MewMew2:
Thanks for reviewing.

�� Mangacat:
Thanks! Though I would say Harry is mostly oblivious, rather than self-absorbed
(he does notice when Draco�s unhappy now; he just doesn�t connect that
unhappiness to his liking for Cho).

�� Thrnbrooke:
He will, but he won�t be gracious about it.

�� Sneakyfox:
Thanks for reviewing.
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Inter Vivos