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Keep This Wolf	By : Lomonaaeren Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Harry/Draco Views: 20229 -:- Recommendations : 2 -:- Currently Reading : 2
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. I am making no money from this story.

Chapter List
- 10
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Chapter Eleven—Challenge the Leader
            “I need to speak to Invisible Heldeson.”
            Draco kept his voice low. He wouldn’t use the fire in his little guest quarters to communicate with the Department of Mysteries, even assuming he could ask for Floo powder freely. Too much chance of someone overhearing.
            But he had brought another artifact with him, a stainless steel hoop that someone might think was a large earring. He could whisper into it, a word he had chosen himself and unlikely to be guessed by anyone else, “asphodel.” And the hoop would shine, and connect him with another, similar hoop in the Department of Mysteries, and that one would ring and catch the attention of the nearest Unspeakable, transmitting a small image of their face and their voice, as it sent a small version of Draco’s the other way.
            At the moment, the Unspeakable Draco had contacted, a trainee named Williams, looked skeptical and opposed to doing anything Draco wanted. Draco would have liked to sneer, but restrained himself. That he could read Williams’s face this clearly was already a sign of the failure of her training.
            “Invisible Heldeson,” said Draco, making sure to keep his voice smooth and distant. “She will want to know what I have discovered immediately.”
            “She’s in a meeting with the Minister right now,” Williams finally said, apparently having decided that Draco and his mission were worth supporting. “I can’t disturb her.”
            Draco wanted to shriek at the unfairness of the universe. But that kind of impulse was precisely what he was trying to train out of himself, so he only nodded and said, “Then please tell her that I have information for her the Ministry might use, but only if they move fast. I’m sure she’ll be sorry to have missed my call.”
            “Wait!”
            Draco moved his hand delicately back from the hoop. It was amazing what kind of incentive a little threat could give.
            “I can’t—I really can’t interrupt an Invisible and the Minister.” Williams was almost whimpering, and she looked back and forth as though planning to kill whoever saw her whimpering at a hoop. “I’m just a trainee. But I might be able to interrupt them if you’ll lend me your authority.”
            Draco hesitated. Lending someone your authority meant authorizing another Unspeakable to act in your name, share your artifacts, take up your cases, use your discoveries. Williams was right in that she would be able to interrupt a meeting then, because any fully-trained Unspeakable would, if the cause was urgent enough.
            On the other hand, Draco was in trouble already. If he was the fully-trained Unspeakable who interrupted the meeting, there was no saying that Invisible Heldeson or Minister Hinsley would be charitable towards him, even if he was there himself.
            But this was important information. And the Ministry really would have only about twelve hours to act, assuming that the rest of this night was all the time. Draco didn’t have actual confirmation that Ninian and Potter would fight early in the morning, but it seemed likely.
            “Fine,” he said. “I, Unspeakable Draco Malfoy, lend my authority to you, Spoken Esther Williams.”
            Williams seemed to flush with an actual transfer of magical power, although as far as Draco knew the hoops didn’t do that. He resolved to investigate it when he returned to the Department of Mysteries. “Fine. What do I need to tell them?”
            “That a werewolf called Frederick Ninian is challenging Harry Potter for leadership of the pack in the Forbidden Forest.” Draco was glad that he could speak fluently now, when he was calling upon facts. “They’ll fight for the leadership challenge tomorrow. If the Ministry can get another observer here, or someone who can intervene in the way they want, they might find Potter in a weakened state.”
            Williams gaped at him a little. “Why does the Ministry care so much about who leads a werewolf pack?”
            Draco swallowed back his objection to her asking the question. He had lent her his authority, and he had to treat the question as he would one from an equal. “I don’t know the full answer to that. But Minister Hinsley will include it in his explanation to you.”
            Williams nodded gravely. “And can the Ministry trust this Frederick Ninian to represent their interests?”
            A good question, a fair question, and Draco relaxed a little at the reminder of the ideals they both served. “I think so. He hates Potter, and wants him deposed. He was willing to trust me the first time I went as negotiator with no prior experience of me, and despite the Ministry’s position on werewolves. I think he would do anything the Minister asked of him.”
            “Very good,” said Williams, and bowed to him a little, her hand on her heart. “I will represent you to the Minister and Invisible Heldeson, and use your authority well.”
            Draco relaxed further. That was the best he could hope for, really. “Thank you, Spoken Williams. Please convey the information back to me by speaking my name into this hoop.”
            Williams nodded, and then her image shimmered and vanished. Draco lay back on his bed. Perhaps the Ministry would send someone else, someone who knew more than he did and could know more than he did, someone who would accomplish what they wanted.
            And Draco could go to sleep, and ignore the little nagging whisper in the back of his head that he had made a mistake.
*
            The pack formed the circle early enough next morning that dew still patterned the grass at their feet.
            Harry stood there and lifted his head to the air, sniffing, not caring who saw him do it. The scent of the wet grass came to him, and blood from a kill that an owl had made further into the Forest. He smelled centaur, heavy and horsey and human all at once. And he smelled the werewolves of the pack moving silently into place around him.
            Off to the side, in a clump of trees, was a distinctive dry insect smell. Paracelsus was there to watch the challenge.
            Do it, then, Paracelsus, Harry thought, and arched his head back, knowing that his throat would show off to distinct advantage. Do it, and dream about what you’re never going to have.
            He thought for a second that Paracelsus might help Ninian, but if he did, so be it. There was no reason for Harry to think that he couldn’t defeat both of them.
            And maybe that’s the adrenaline talking.
            Harry smiled. It probably was.
            He looked around the forming circle, and raised his eyebrows when he noted a few people missing. He beckoned, and June Norcom sprang to his side, her eyes glinting as though she really wanted to serve his last few requests in the minutes before his defeat. Or perhaps she was looking forward to seeing him win.
            “If you’ll send people to bring Sarah Woolwine and the Ministry negotiator here?” he murmured. “The Ministry negotiator shouldn’t be part of the circle, of course, but Sarah should. And the negotiator should observe.” It was hard to pronounce the official title when his mouth just wanted to say Malfoy, but he thought that might be a step too far for his pack at the moment.
            June’s eyebrows went up, but she nodded, and bounded away into the forest. Harry swept the circle with his eyes once more. They had left an opening directly opposite him, leading down one of the paths into the trees. That was the path Ninian would come down, and once he was part of the circle, the pack would retreat, defining a space inside which Harry and Ninian were alone.
            Harry found himself breathing slowly, intensely, and grinned a little. His challenge against the old pack leader hadn’t been like this. Then, he had been far more wound up, tense and nervous, angry that he had to do something like this in the first place for the pack that he had hoped would be an accepting home for him, and determined to win. This time, he just thought he would win.
            Overconfidence can also kill, said his conscience in a prim voice that sounded like Hermione.
            The trees rustled, and Sarah came out, with June walking at her side. Sarah looked satisfied about something, and glanced several times down the path that led into the trees. Harry wasn’t worried, though. Even if she had planned something with Ninian, it wouldn’t let her interfere in the challenge. According to the old rules that both she and Ninian loved so much, the challenger had to win alone, or his victory was invalid.
            Behind June came Malfoy.
            His face was so pale that he looked as though he had got sick. Harry’s attention sharpened on him, and he sniffed, but then shook his head. No, Malfoy’s sweat and breathing were normal. Harry didn’t think he had picked up an illness in the very few hours since Harry had last seen him.
            Malfoy came to a halt on the outside of the circle and folded his arms as if he was cold. He kept turning his head back and forth, examining the werewolves around him, and then looking into the Forest. Harry looked that way, too, but saw nothing except the stirring of shadows caused by moved leaves.
            Harry thought that he probably knew what Malfoy was looking for. It was not what he had wished for with Malfoy, but he could acknowledge that it was likely. Malfoy had told someone in the Ministry about this—someone in the Ministry with more interest than they should have in who succeeded to leadership of Harry’s pack—and he was hoping they would intervene.
            Well, no one’s coming now. Harry had word from his centaur allies each morning of wizards Apparating in at the Apparition points overnight. No one had come either last night or this morning.
            Malfoy finally settled against a tree, his arms still clasped and self-hugging. Harry wanted to go up to him and shake him. You could be so much more than this little Unspeakable flunkey if you would stop concerning yourself with what they thought.
            But putting it that bluntly would not win him any points with Malfoy. Harry had to think about the duty in front of him, to defeat Ninian. And now a low murmur was picking up among the pack, like distant conversation if wolves had human voices.
            Harry faced the path that led into the trees. Yes, he could hear the soft plopping of Ninian’s footsteps coming towards him now, and he lifted his head and showed off his teeth because he felt like it, not because outmoded traditions demanded it.
            Come on then, Ninian. Show me how it’s done.
*
            Draco had received a report back from Williams, but only a quick one, telling him that she had interrupted Minister Hinsley and Invisible Heldeson, and that they had thanked her for her information and then dismissed her from the room. She felt too intimidated to try and go back and demand more answers.
            Draco didn’t blame her. He could feel his skin crawling, his breath coming shallowly. He knew, now, that no one was coming, and they didn’t care as much about Potter’s pack and who led it as they had implied they did.
            Or as I made up in my own head that they did.
            Draco couldn’t discount the possibility that he had simply misunderstood the clues and hints that the Minister and Invisible Heldeson had offered him. He had done the best he could to think it through, to understand, and know what the Ministry already knew about Thornsberry and Potter and Potter’s strange powers. But things had changed and got scrambled from the moment he came back into the Forbidden Forest.
            So he waited there, knowing no help would come, and he would have to watch this duel between Potter and Ninian without the Ministry being in a position to take advantage of it. He could only hope he wouldn’t be blamed, later.
            Ninian came striding up the path the pack had left open for him, his head high and his teeth bared. Draco thought that was a deliberate gesture, rather than a grimace of effort. At least, he hoped it was.
            You want Potter to lose, of course.
            Draco massaged his temples. Since coming here, he had been thrown into such disarray: troubled by the failure of his artifacts, troubled by the failure of his own mask and his lack of control over his own emotions, and troubled by conflicting information. He didn’t know if he should want Potter to lose or not, which outcome would be more favorable for the Ministry.
            But maybe it would be best for him if Potter lost. Ninian wouldn’t adopt Thornsberry, which meant the problem was solved, and Draco could go home.
            He raised his head in time to see Potter say something to Ninian, his lips forming the shapes of words that made the pack stamp their feet and howl. Presumably they could all hear it, and Potter didn’t need to say it louder.
            Draco wasn’t that skilled a lip reader, and couldn’t make out all the shapes of the words. But he did see what he thought was regret the challenge.
            Ninian backed away, his hands spread. Potter bowed his head and narrowed his eyes. For a second, the air around him seemed to shimmer.
            Then Draco felt the edge of the same flood of warmth and power that he had felt when Potter was concentrating on his packmate in front of Draco. It was the power that he had said he would use to tame Thornsberry. Draco blinked. Potter had said that he wouldn’t ever use that on someone who wasn’t willing, and Ninian definitely wasn’t willing.
            But when he turned to look at Ninian, Draco felt his jaw sag open. Ninian wasn’t falling on his knees and worshipping Potter the way Draco had thought he would. For a few confused seconds, Draco had decided that was the way Potter meant to win the battle, by making Ninian crawl.
            Instead, Ninian had his hands over his face, and was making a weird sound, a low growling, groaning sound that Draco didn’t think a human throat was capable of. He swayed on his feet. Draco didn’t have a werewolf’s nose, but he thought that he recognized the signs of extreme fear no matter who was displaying them.
            What exactly is this?
            Ninian seemed to give up on feeling afraid and standing still in the same moment, and charged with a wild howl. Potter leaped smoothly down to meet him. His hands slammed into Ninian’s shoulders, and for a second, they poised, balanced.
            Then Ninian twisted to the side and flexed as if he would throw Potter from his feet. Potter rolled easily with that blow, and Draco snorted to himself. Of course that wouldn’t work. He knew enough about Auror training to realize that they were taught to counter such movements.
            Potter broke Ninian’s hold a second later and whirled, slamming a foot into Ninian’s solar plexus. Ninian stumbled, still howling, so the blow couldn’t have hit him too hard, and then leaped in and clawed his hands down Potter’s face and forehead.
            Potter only smiled as if that didn’t bother him much, and moved his head backwards and out of reach of Ninian’s next strike. Draco found himself thinking crazily, Maybe he’s just used to being scarred on the forehead, and he doesn’t mind anymore—
            But Potter’s next strikes didn’t look like those of a man who didn’t mind. He hit Ninian in the nose, and Draco heard it break. Then he raked his own nails down Ninian’s cheek, although he didn’t draw as much blood as Ninian had on him, and scythed his leg sideways. He hit Ninian’s knee, and Ninian went down.
            Potter crouched over him. Again, Draco felt the outer edges of Potter’s magic stirring. This time, though, he had much less trouble controlling his own reaction. It was hard to feel safe around someone you had just seen beat up someone else.
            “Do you yield?” Potter asked into Ninian’s face.
            Draco didn’t think Ninian had heard at first. He was whimpering steadily, turning his face into the mud beneath him like a wounded animal, and his pulse was beating so rapidly that Draco could see it in his throat. Some of Potter’s blood dripped down from his face and onto Ninian’s broken nose, and Ninian whined and tried to curl up.
            “I’m waiting for an answer,” Potter said, and Draco felt a sensation like wind passing over him. It seemed that Potter had increased the flow of his magic.
            “Yes,” said Ninian, and his voice broke and rose into a howl. “Yes, yes, yes!”
            “Good.” Potter stepped back, his face smooth, and without a trace of the grin Draco had thought would be on it after winning such a violent fight. “Then leave here. The price of losing your leadership challenge is exile from the pack.”
            Ninian lay panting there for a second. Draco wondered if someone would interfere, or protest. Ninian wasn’t the only one in the pack who distrusted Potter. If someone supported him, would Potter have to fight a second challenge?
            But no one said anything. When Draco looked from face to face, he saw nothing but acceptance. Some of them might have sighed or said something, but it wasn’t while Draco was looking.
            Then Ninian sprang to his feet and ran back down the path that had opened for him, into the depths of the Forest. He was howling miserably as he went, and his body was hunched over, causing Draco to worry about the full moon for a moment until he remembered it was nearly a fortnight away.
            Potter nodded to the watching pack, and they broke apart and went in the direction of their homes and gardens again. Draco might have done the same, going back to his guest quarters, but Potter caught his eye.
            “Unspeakable Malfoy. I’d like to talk with you.”
*
delia cerrano: Draco will have something even more intimate to take back to the Ministry!
But yes, it was mentioned in the first or second chapter, I think, how Harry was bitten.
SP777: I don’t think he had any trouble.
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