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Their Phoenix	By : Lomonaaeren Category: Harry Potter > Threesomes/Moresomes Views: 68680 -:- Recommendations : 3 -:- Currently Reading : 6
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter; that belongs to J. K. Rowling. I am making no money from this fic.

Chapter List
- 1-Their Phoenix
- 2-Part 2
- 3-Part 3
- 4-Part 4
- 5-Part 5
- 6-Part 6
- 7-Part 7
- 8-Part 8
- 9-Part 9
- 10-Part 10
- 11-Part 11
- 12-Part 12
- 13-Part 13
- 14-Part 14
- 15-Part 15
- 16-Part 16
- 17-Part 17
- 18-Part 18
- 19-Part 19
- 20-Part 20
- 21-Part 21
- 22-Part 22
- 23-Part 23
- 24-Part 24
- 25-Part 25
- 26-Part 26
- 27-Part 27
- 28-Part 28
- 29-Part 29
- 30-Part 30
- 31-Part 31
- 32-Part 32
- 33-Part 33
- 34-Part 34
- 13
- 14
- 15
Thank you again for all the reviews!

�� Draco
didn�t let his hand shake when he lifted the ladle full of the bright green
potion and carefully placed it into the steel vial. It wanted to, but he didn�t
permit it. Severus often said that no Potions master permitted anything to
happen in his lab that he did not ordain. Draco was striving to be that hard,
that cool, that efficient.

�� You are a wizard, and it is only a potion, Severus
had said to him more than once. You ought
to be able to keep it from splattering or flying in any direction except the
one you want it to go in.

�� The ladle
tipped. The potion poured into the vial. Draco found himself tensing his
shoulders automatically, waiting for the sort of explosion that had accompanied
all his past attempts to finish the potion, and relaxed them by sheer force of
will. He had mastered the brewing process this time, and that meant he ought
not to be nervous.

�� The last
drop of green liquid settled into the narrow steel container, and still nothing
happened�no explosion, no leaping foam, no other sudden event that he had to
raise his shields against.

�� It had
worked.

�� Draco
allowed himself to put down his ladle and adopt a thin, supercilious smile
then, the kind he often gave when he was a student in Potions and watched others
struggle. I am adept at this. I can do
anything I set my mind to, provided I have sufficient strength and will.

�� And with
the magical strength of his bondmates backing him up, what might he not
accomplish?

�� The door
opened behind him. Draco turned around, head canted at the proper arrogant
angle to welcome a visitor into his domain.

�� Severus
stood there. His gaze moved from Draco to the steel vial, and then back to the
cauldron that sat with the potion quietly, tamely waiting in it. He gave a small
nod.

�� Draco
nodded back, a trickle of warmth moving through his body. From a person as
reserved as Severus, that nod was as good as a shout of approval, or an O mark
on a Potions essay.

*

�� Thanks.�

�� Severus
stifled the impulse to roll his eyes. Harry was quiet and uncertain in
everything today, from the way he came down the stairs to the way he accepted
the cup of tea from Severus, with exaggerated care to be sure that their
fingers didn�t touch. Severus didn�t think he�d looked up once so far, either.
His cheeks were brilliantly red. So was the bond, and the tingles of sharper
emotions coming through it were getting quite distracting.

�� Confront him directly. It is not what he
will expect, and so he will have no dodge prepared.

�� Does
seeing Draco and I together repulse you that much?� Severus asked in a normal
tone, his eyes on the bowl of porridge that Draco had cooked that morning.
Draco was gaining in skill as a Potions master almost as the days had passed,
but his cooking still left something to be desired. Severus had picked out two
charred lumps already.

�� Across the
table, there was a complicated inhalation of milk and toast. Severus sighed and
looked up when he thought Harry had adjusted himself so that he wouldn�t be
even more embarrassed by Severus�s
stare.

�� Harry�s
eyes were wide, and he was blinking as though someone had hit him on the head.
Even as Severus drew breath to ask the question again, though, Harry glared and
sat upright and hurled his words as though they were weapons he would use to
fend off anything else Severus might say.

�� I thought
you were perfectly normal-looking! I mean, normal for two men in bed together.
I haven�t seen any before.� He sounded as if he were floundering again, but
pulled himself together with a physical jerk and forged on. �I wasn�t repulsed. But I didn�t have the right to
spy on you like that. That�s why I�m embarrassed. Because I opened the door and
stared like a little sneak. You deserve more privacy than that. I tried to tell
myself that I was concerned because you left the potions lab in such a mess,
but�but that�s just an excuse.� By the end, he was mumbling again and staring
at the table, but at least the bond had cleared a bit thanks to the indignation
that had burned through it.

�� Severus
stirred his spoon through his porridge and glanced at the closed door of the
potions lab, where Draco was trying to duplicate his success of the early
morning with the actual potion that Severus intended Shacklebolt to take.
Perhaps it would have been better if he were here. Severus thought he could be
more spontaneously�and believably�open when it came to speaking to Potter about
joining them in bed.

�� On the
other hand, that would have meant revealing to Draco that Potter had looked in
on them, and Severus did not yet know what Draco would do with that
information.

�� I will leave it alone for now. Once again,
it must be up to Harry how fast we proceed. At least I know he recoiled from us
not because he found us disgusting but because he felt guilt. And that guilt is
too familiar an emotion for me to think he will entirely purge it.

�� Thank you
for the apology,� he said evenly, and moved on. �I noticed that you had
received a letter this morning. Who was it from?� He thought he could guess,
since anger like an arrow had cut through the bond when the owl came, but he
preferred to leave the imparting of information up to Harry as much as he
could.

�� Harry
promptly scowled and drove his knife into his toast as if he intended to slice
it apart as gillyweed was sliced for the Perpetual Breath Potion. �Kingsley. He
wants a �private meeting.� He also presumes to scold me for speaking up in
public without his permission. He says that I don�t understand all the
consequences of my actions, and I also don�t
understand what would happen if he was turned out of office right now.�

�� I do
wonder if there is a serious hope of that.� Severus ate the last of his
porridge thoughtfully. They might be underestimating the support that Harry�s
speech had gained them simply because of the articles appearing in multiple
papers, but on the other hand, Kingsley might be overestimating the outrage
against him. Angry, frightened people did not make the best decisions.

�� I don�t
think so, not right now.� Harry shook his head. �He�s popular. He was a member
of the Order of the Phoenix, and he did heroic things during the war, too. And
what if he was turned out of office
and replaced by someone even worse?� The bond gathered dancing green sparks
along the edges, a sign that Harry was wavering.

�� Severus
leaned across the table, making no sound but waiting until the sheer force of
his presence compelled Harry to glance up. �You cannot yield,� he said. �He
will use that fear to pressure you into reversing your gains, if you are not
careful.�

��

�I know that,� Harry said, and some
of the sparks in the bond vanished. �But I still have to worry about it.
There�s no way that we could put up a candidate from our party yet if there was
an election tomorrow.�

Severus would have liked to choose
his words carefully, but the concept they looked at now was too simple for
that. �Except you.�

Harry drew his breath in as if he
were going to shout. Then his hands clenched on the edges of the table, and he
said in a low voice through gritted teeth, �I promised myself that I was going
to start thinking more about what I want. And I don�t want to be Minister.�

�� Acceptable.�
And it was. Severus did not particularly want Harry exposed more than he
already was to the danger of assassination, or out of the house for the long
periods of time that a Minister�s work would imply. On the other hand, now that
the suggestion had been made to him once, Harry was less likely to be taken by
surprise when someone else made it, as Swanfair, at least, inevitably would.

�� Of course, she would only do so if she
thought there was a firm chance of controlling Harry.

�� Harry
watched him for a few more minutes, then grunted and returned to his toast. �I
need to talk with Hermione,� he said, when he had finished. �And Draco.
Together, they should be able to come up with a political strategy. I�ve made
the speech, but I�m not sure what I need to do next.�

�� Would you
like me to sit in on the meeting as well?� Severus did not know if it was
deliberation or forgetfulness that had caused Harry to leave him out.

�� Harry�s
face hardened, and the bond turned a complicated mix of silver-green and yellow
that Severus hadn�t seen before. �Not on this one,� he said. �I need to see
that Draco can control himself in front of Hermione. If you�re there, of course
he will, but that won�t truly test him.�

�� Severus
raised his eyebrows. The tactic sounded like the task he had set Draco with the
potion that resembled the ulcer-causing one. He would not have expected Harry
to think of it. �As you will.�

�� He had some
reading of his own that he could do in the meantime. There were hints in a few
of the books that the bond might change in still more dramatic and unexpected
ways now that they had arrived at a seeming balance. Accidental magic bonds
strove for optimization. Severus reckoned that many people would say this was
optimization, with all three of them friendly to one another and cautiously
able to patch up arguments, and two of them lovers.

�� Severus did
not think it was, and so he believed the bond would change further. Reading
might help him predict what it would do next.

�� Thanks.�

�� Severus
looked up and blinked. Harry was holding his wrist and looking into his eyes
with something uncomfortably close to gratitude. The bond shimmered the pink of
approval.

�� Thanks for
understanding,� Harry added, and then abruptly let go of Severus�s wrist and
departed the dining area.

�� Severus
spent a few more moments with his tea, glad for once that Harry had not opened
the bond both ways. He did not believe the younger man would find it
comfortable to encounter Severus�s purring smugness.

*

�� Harry kept
one eye on Draco and one on Hermione as they took seats in his bedroom, which
Harry had chosen mostly because it was far from both the potions lab and the
library, the places he expected Severus to be. He had said that he wouldn�t
intervene, but why present him with temptation?

�� Draco sat
stiffly on the edge of Harry�s bed, his hands tucked under his knees as if he
feared that he might accidentally touch Hermione. Harry told himself he was
being uncharitable, but when Draco kept darting Hermione narrow-eyed glances
and then looking away again, he was probably also being realistic.

�� Hermione
sat on a chair that Harry had Levitated upstairs and apparently ignored both
Draco and the tension between Draco and Harry. She was checking over a long
list of names and nodding.

�� Harry sat
down on the bed, too, but an equal distance from both Draco and Hermione, and
smiled wryly. He was just as glad that Ron apparently still felt indignant on
Ginny�s behalf and so hadn�t come along. He wouldn�t be able to watch three
people and three wands, not having three eyes.

�� Yes,�
Hermione said, looking up. �Out of the thirty reporters you invited to that speech,
twenty-five wrote positive articles about you that more or less repeated what
you said verbatim. Three were largely neutral, and two hostile.� She leaned
forwards, her hands hooked around the edge of the sheaf of parchment. �I think
that�s enough support to have a public meeting that anyone who�s curious or
sympathetic can attend.�

�� Oh, yes, a
marvelous idea,� Draco said, with acid in his voice that didn�t sound much
changed from Hogwarts, �given that so many people want to kill Harry. Let�s
give everyone who wants to a chance.�

�� Hermione
stared at the ceiling and spoke in a deliberately slow voice. �We�d police the
gathering, of course. We�d take away everyone�s wands, and use wards that
disrupted glamours and curses before they formed��

�� That leaves
out someone being ingenious with a potion,� Draco said, his voice soaring
slightly, �and Dark Arts that can circumvent wards like that, and the fact that
some pure-bloods will think such a gathering in the height of bad taste, so
they�re not likely to come even if they support Harry��

�� We�re not
asking everyone to support me,� Harry said, deciding he should intervene before
Hermione could say something about how little she cared for the taste of
pure-bloods. �Did your letter to Millicent Bulstrode ever get a response,
Draco?�

�� Draco shook
his head. �Her family has already left the country,� he said. �I could try
writing to a few others who were apathetic about the war with the Dark Lord,
but given that they were apathetic then, I�m not sure I could persuade them to
care about it now.�

�� It�s not
the war we�re asking them to care about,� Hermione began in a lecturing tone.
�We�re asking them to devote a little intelligent thought to the future of the
wizarding world��

�� And that
future is tied up with the past!� Draco surged to his feet, which surprised
Harry. He hadn�t thought Draco would get upset this early in the conversation.
�That�s what you�ve never realized, you��

�� Harry
recognized the direction that would move in very quickly, and cast a Silencing
Charm. Draco moved his mouth a few times without any sound coming out, and then
glared at Harry. Harry shrugged an apology before he turned around and cast the
same spell on Hermione. She went from smug to angry in an instant. Harry
wondered if he should tell them how very similar they looked when they glared,
and then decided it would be a bad idea.

�� I don�t
think personal insults are the way to accomplish anything,� Harry said, firmly
but quietly. A fine leader I�ll be if I
can manage a public bunch of reporters but not two of my friends. �And I
don�t want to waste our time or our strength on people who absolutely won�t be converted. There�s no point.
Draco, you can write and invite some of the pure-bloods you think might be
interested in such a gathering. I�ll ask Swanfair to alert her contacts, as
well. Hermione, you and I can consult about the most important Muggleborn war
heroes and some of the people in the Ministry. Ron can tell you whether he
knows anyone who�d be interested.� Ron was still in the Auror training program.

�� Hermione
nodded slowly, though she gave Harry an ominous look that promised there would
be revenge for this later. Harry released her from the spell and then turned
and glanced at Draco.

�� He was
startled by the expression on Draco�s face. It looked far more upset than Harry
had thought he should be. Draco�s hands were clenched, and his breath rasped
through his parted lips as if he were about to spring on Harry and beat him up.

�� He looks the way he did when I beat him in a
Quidditch game, Harry thought uneasily, and lifted the Silencing Charm on
Draco as well. �Draco?� he asked quietly. �Are you all right?�

�� Draco stood
up and stormed out of the room without answering. Harry gave Hermione an
apologetic glance, got a nod from her�she seemed to think it was inevitable
that Draco would behave this way�and followed his bondmate out into the
corridor.

�� Draco stood
scowling at the wall. Harry came up behind him and cleared his throat. Draco
didn�t turn around.

�� I only put
you under the Silencing Charm because I thought you were both about to insult each other,� Harry said. �Hermione wasn�t
controlling herself any better than you were. What are you so upset about?�

�� Draco
whipped around to face him, almost hitting Harry in the chin with the back of
his head. �You don�t trust me.�

�� Harry
blinked and tried to decide if that was true or not. �Not to do some things,�
he said at last. �You were about to insult Hermione because you don�t think
she�s a real witch, weren�t you?�

�� Draco
shifted, and his eyes went sideways, as if he didn�t think that he could bear
facing Harry straight on. His voice remained angry, however. �That�s different.
I meant that you don�t trust me to really
contribute ideas at meetings like this. You�re paying more attention to
Granger�s contributions than to mine.�

�� Harry drew
in his breath to say that he was not, and then stopped and thought of
something. Draco sounded the way Harry had when Ron and Hermione started
dating�and snogging�intensely right after the war and Harry had accused them of
leaving him out. Ron and Hermione had both been astonished by the accusation,
and explained that they weren�t doing that, and certainly not on purpose. They
were just so involved in what they were doing that they didn�t notice he was
lonely.

�� What if
this was the same kind of thing? If it was, then what mattered was not what
Harry had intended to do but what Draco thought he had done.

�� I�m
sorry,� he said. Draco turned an incredulous glance on him. Harry gave him a small
smile. �What? Didn�t you trust me to apologize?�

�� I
thought�I thought it would take more effort to get one than that.� Draco peered
at him with an uncomfortable intensity, but at least he was looking at Harry�s
face instead of the wall or the floor. Harry thought that was progress.

�� Well, it
didn�t, not when you have a point.� Harry wondered what the bond was showing to
Draco right now, but it must not have been anything too bad, because Draco simply
blinked and then paid more attention to his words. �Now. What do you think we should do? Don�t you think
a public gathering is a good idea?� He ran his hand soothingly up and down
Draco�s left shoulder.

�� Draco
seemed to gain courage now that he had a specific thing to object to. �Not
without us. I don�t want you sitting out in the open where someone can
assassinate you like that.� He
snapped his fingers.

�� I won�t
be,� Harry said. �Both of you can come with me, and I promise that I won�t go
anywhere unescorted.�

�� Draco
folded his arms and rocked backwards on his heels, pulling his shoulder away
from Harry�s grip. Harry found himself unexpectedly sorry about that. �Is that
the same kind of promise that you made us when you said that you were going to
rest after the Gut Chewing Curse and you didn�t?�

�� I made promises
like that before and didn�t keep them,� Harry said calmly. He wanted to get
upset, but this wasn�t the time or place. Draco had a point. �I did the last
time. I�ve learned the value of healing now.�

�� As though
his words had been much more profound than they sounded to Harry, Draco hesitated,
then said, �I�ll agree to it, as long as you stay with us, and as long as you
let me have a big part in the planning of it. And Severus, too, of course,� he
added, almost like an afterthought.

�� Of course,�
Harry said. �What would I do without you at this point?�

�� He made it
come out joking, but Draco still took a step forwards, his face gone
unexpectedly soft. Harry raised his eyebrows at him. He had started thinking
that�well, maybe that the perceptions he�d had when the bond was open both ways
were wrong, at least with Draco. Severus he could imagine making an effort to�be with him, but Draco only seemed
interested in fighting with Harry.

�� Now,
though, with the way Draco was looking at him like a self-satisfied cat, his
hand lifted as though he were about to touch Harry�s cheek, Harry wondered if
he wanted the same things Severus wanted.

�� And the
thought of making Draco look that satisfied in other circumstances was a good one,
good in some way that Harry didn�t know how to define. He licked his lips.

�� The door of
his bedroom popped open, and Hermione stuck her head out. �Are we planning this
or not?� she asked.

�� Draco drew
a huge breath of exasperation, but he did turn around and go back in, and he
managed to keep his simmering contempt for Hermione beneath a polite surface
for the rest of their talk. Harry kept sneaking sideways glances at him,
silently bursting with pride.

�� Draco
blushed a time or two, which made Harry think the bond being open one way was
good for them both. He knew he would have made a mess of himself if he tried to
explain his pride in words.

*

�� Draco kept
his hand on his wand and his eyes on Harry and Severus at all times. They were
in the middle of a jostling, shoving, shouting, ogling crowd that had gathered
in a wide field to the west of Hogsmeade, and Draco hated it.

�� He could
just imagine a curse coming from any direction, at any time. Severus seemed to
trust to the wards that surrounded them in a portable, glittering net. Harry
was too busy shaking hands and roaring jests to his Weasley friends. Ron and
the remaining one of the twins accompanied him today, which Draco reckoned
showed that they had forgiven him for leaving the shrew behind.

�� Pity, Draco thought, but the sunlight
that blazed through the bond whenever Harry looked at the Weasleys made it hard
for him to resent their presence too much.

�� On the
other hand, it was rather trying for him to think that he was the only serious
defender. His political training was useless in a crowd of this size and
facelessness, and though he knew it would probably break apart into separate
gatherings soon, his tension increased as the long moments until then wore
past.

A hand squeezed his shoulder. Draco
started and turned his head to find Harry smiling at him.

�� It�s all
right,� Harry murmured. �I don�t especially like appearing in front of this
many people either, but it�s only once. After this, we�ll be able to be more
select about our audience.� His fingers curled around Draco�s elbow and tugged
him forwards to stand beside Harry. Severus followed on the other side, moving
so smoothly that Draco would have thought they�d practiced this if he didn�t
know better.

�� Gradually,
and with the help of Brynhildr Swanfair, who circled the crowd like a sheep dog
and sliced portions of it off, they got into serious talk with the most
important people. Draco spent his time evaluating them with as much coolness as
he could muster and touching Harry�s arm when he thought he was missing
something. Harry would pause, tilt his head thoughtfully, and spend some
moments considering before he returned to the conversation. Almost always, he
pinpointed what Draco had wanted him to pinpoint.

�� Severus
hovered on the other side of Harry like a great crow, and picked up those bones
Harry had missed turning over. Draco was somewhat astonished at the way Severus
could restrain himself and sound polite, if cold. He had never bothered to hold
back that sarcasm when he was scolding his students.

�� But these aren�t his students, Draco
thought, glancing around at the people who had come to listen to them. These are people who might have the power to
either help or harm them.

�� There were
close neighbors from Hogsmeade�including several who had eagerly said they�d
written to the Minister demanding that he arrest Huxley�Muggleborn �heroes,�
blood traitors like the Weasleys, and a few pure-blood families who probably
couldn�t bear to be left out of the festivities, even though they weren�t
certain that they wanted to support Harry yet. Draco was watching with
carefully concealed eagerness for a face he hadn�t yet seen.

�� Then it
materialized out of the crowd, and Draco forced himself not to do something as
gauche as to sigh in relief. There were people here who would notice, even if
he didn�t think so. He held out his hand. �Glad that you could make it,
Blaise,� he said.

�� Blaise
lifted an eyebrow in what could have been either a mocking or a surprised gesture;
Draco had never been good at reading him, and he had been spoiled lately as far
as his skills were concerned because the emotions flowing from Harry often made
reading his expression unnecessary. �I wouldn�t be left out,� he murmured. His
handshake was firm but quick, and then he turned to study Draco�s bondmates.
Draco tensed just in time to prevent himself from stepping in front of them.
Severus, at least, had a claim to some of Blaise�s respect from the time when
Blaise was his student, and enough wits and magic to protect himself.

�� Harry�

�� Draco
wondered if Harry was really as vulnerable as Draco thought he was, or if he
was still overreacting from the time he had seen Harry fall because of the Gut
Chewing Curse.

�� Potter,�
Blaise said, with a little twist to the name that could be taken as insulting
if one wanted to take it that way. Blaise was an expert in saying such words,
as Draco had discovered in his first year when he tried to tell Blaise how
impressive his father was and Blaise had disarmed him by simply saying, �Your father?� �Quite a gathering you have
here. Do you have any idea what you plan to do with them yet?�

�� I don�t
know,� Harry said. The bond pulsed with uncertainty in Draco�s mind, but one
wouldn�t have known it from Harry�s voice. He�d picked up quite a bit in the
last month, Draco thought, and tried to keep his hand from Harry�s shoulder.
That would weaken him in front of Blaise. �It depends on whether I most need a
political party or an army. A political party looks more likely right now, but
who knows about the future?�

�� For a
moment, Blaise actually appeared stunned. Then he grinned. �I do like your
style, Potter,� he said. �My mother might be interested in meeting you. Shall I
present her?�

�� I�d be
charmed to meet her,� said Harry. His hand hovered near his wand, too, so that
Draco knew he was ready to keep himself from being literally charmed.

�� Blaise
bowed a little, and then turned and called Mrs. Zabini through the crowd. Draco
called her �Mrs. Zabini� in his head even though she frequently married and
changed her name, because that was the way he had always heard Blaise refer to
her when he was introducing her to someone else. He did the same thing now.

�� My mother,
Mariella Zabini,� he said to Harry, and bowed again.

�� Harry and
Mrs. Zabini studied each other. She was taller than he was, nearly as tall as
Severus, with the same sort of thin, pointed face that Severus had, though with
darker skin. Her eyes were guarded at the moment, her eyebrows permanently
lifted. Her thick black hair was clustered in a tight braid at the back of her
neck, and she wore a set of red robes that Draco knew must have some symbolic
significance. Or maybe they were meant to make him think they did. The problem
with Mrs. Zabini, his father had said more than once, was that she made
gestures that would be meaningful in other people but emptied them of meaning
for herself.

�� Hullo,�
Harry told her. He seemed to have decided that he wasn�t going to be impressed.
Reluctantly, Draco decided that strategy was just as likely to be effective as
anything else. �Have you made a decision about whether you�ll join our party or
not?�

�� I had
thought the invention of a party was just a rumor.� Mrs. Zabini had a thin,
fine, high voice, which sounded like it should have belonged to a smaller
woman. She looked at Blaise, then spent a moment peering at Draco�s and
Severus�s faces, as though they would tell her something. Maybe Draco�s would tell her something, in spite of
all his efforts to control it, but he was sure Severus�s did not.

�� No, madam,
we intend to put one together,� Harry said calmly. �Certain people are very
displeased with how Minister Shacklebolt has handled many things, including the
arrest of Griselda Huxley.�

�� And if
that has no importance to me?� Mrs. Zabini�s shoulders moved in a slight shrug.
�Why should I care about someone threatening the hero of a war I was neutral
in?�

�� What�s
important,� Harry said, without missing a beat, before Draco even had time to
draw in his breath in fear, �isn�t the Ministry�s treatment of me alone, but
what it implies, and what the Minister said when I asked him about it. Huxley
was going to be allowed to get away with attacking for me living with two
former Death Eaters.� He reached out, laying his hands gently on Draco�s left
arm and Severus�s right. �That suggests a hostility on the Minister�s part, not
to me, but to former Death Eaters.�

�� Mrs.
Zabini�s eyebrows rose slightly, but she repeated, �I fail to see why I should
have any interest.�

�� Not only
Death Eaters,� Harry said, his gaze sharpening, �but potentially anyone who
uses the Dark Arts. Or is suspected of using them.�

�� For a
while, Draco wasn�t sure that even that statement would work. Mrs. Zabini went
on looking at them, turning her head slowly back and forth, her eyes lingering
now on the hands that Harry used to brace himself against Draco and Severus,
now on the way his robes hung around his shoulders, now on his earnest, still
face, as if every aspect of Harry would tell her something equally valuable.

�� That may
be interesting,� said Mrs. Zabini at last, in a voice as cool and still as a
pond unruffled by the wind. �I will leave you my Floo address so that you can
contact me when you have put this party together.� She fished under her bright
robe and pulled out a scrap of parchment with a few words written on it. Draco
realized that he was holding his breath like a teenager and released it with a
whoosh.

�� Blaise
caught his eye and grinned at him. From the sudden relaxation of his shoulders
and the deep breath he took a moment later, Draco thought he hadn�t been sure what his mother was going to do, either.

�� Thank you,
Mrs. Zabini.� Harry bowed to her, and Draco knew he was copying the bow Blaise
had made to him. Certainly neither he nor Severus had shown Harry a gesture
like that. It was a little clumsy, but that was to be expected, and Draco
decided it might even endear Harry to the people watching them. �I�ll be sure
to contact you.� He tucked the paper carefully away.

�� None of the
other conversations they had that afternoon stood out in Draco�s mind quite as
vividly, though Harry received everything from smiles to blunt questions to
threats. He passed alertly from moment to moment, ready to defend Harry from
any of those threats, and when he went on to the next moment and the next
alertness, he found it hard to remember what lay behind. He hoped that Harry
and Severus weren�t relying on his observations of the day alone to decide who
they should include in this political party and who they shouldn�t, because he
didn�t think they would do much good.

�� Severus
continued to hover and to watch. Several times Draco saw his face relax
slightly into a smile, but those moments were unpredictable. Draco enjoyed a
surge of smugness that he could make
Severus smile virtually whenever he wanted to. There was no one else here who
had that power, not even Harry.

�� Not yet.

�� Draco told
himself firmly not to be jealous�after all, if Severus tried to ignore him when
Harry started coming around, then Draco would simply make such a nuisance of
himself that Severus would have to
pay attention�and then started observing Harry as they sat down on Transfigured
benches for a meal of cheese and fresh fruit. The bond had flowed with so many
emotions over the past few hours that he wanted to know for certain what Harry
felt now that he had a chance to catch his breath.

�� He quickly
realized that Harry�s feelings changed from moment to moment, and it depended
on who he was looking at. The bond beamed with sunshine when he regarded the
Weasleys, darkened to wariness when he looked at the pure-bloods he barely
knew, and softened into a slightly paler blue caution around the Muggleborn
�heroes.� He was tired, but it was mental exhaustion more than physical, caused
by having to haul his brain through so many different conversations. The bond
also quivered with a jagged red feeling that Draco didn�t recognize until he
saw Harry swallowing a glass of water thirstily.

�� There�s still much to learn about him, and
about each other, Draco thought, leaning his head on his hand as he watched
Harry. I wonder if he�s as curious about
us as we are about him.

�� As if
hearing his thought, Harry turned his head and smiled at Draco, reaching up to
slide his hand across Draco�s forehead and push his hair out of his eyes. �Are
you holding up all right?� he asked quietly.

�� Draco
blinked. He�s worried about me? Sweetness
moved through him, and probably made the smile he gave Harry all soppy and
sentimental. �Of course. I�m more concerned about you, to tell the truth.�

�� I�ll be
fine,� Harry said. �I�ll want to collapse by the time that we get home, of
course, but I�ll be fine for as long we�re here.� Then he lifted his head suddenly,
and Draco could feel the bond sharpen into a razor point of anger.

�� Draco
followed his gaze, and drew in his breath sharply enough to make himself cough
when he realized that Kingsley Shacklebolt was walking towards their bench from
the edge of the crowd.

*

�� This was
what Severus had been waiting for. He did not really believe that the Minister
would let an open gathering like this pass without appearing in an attempt to
change the minds of Harry�s supporters, and perhaps even to make an appeal to
Harry himself. His hand went to the vial hidden under his cloak, and he stood
smoothly, dividing his attention between the Minister and the two red-cloaked
Aurors next to him who bulled him a path through the crowd.

�� Only come close enough, Minister. And then I
will make sure that you accept a drink from my hand�indirectly. Having Harry
offer it should be enough, since you won�t want to disappoint your audience.

�� The
Minister carried silence with him. Severus watched the ripple of discontent and
apprehension spread through the pure-bloods, the Muggleborns, and finally to
the Weasleys and others who had been too much involved in chattering with Harry
to notice his arrival. Both Weasleys went red in the face. Harry�s friend
started to rise to his feet, but Harry reached out, put a hand on his arm, and
shook his head. The bond still flowered with anger, but it no longer resembled
razors. It had settled into pounded stone instead, Severus thought�heavy and
flat, ready to fall on the Minister and crush him if he so much as tried to
behave insolently to Harry�s bondmates.

�� Severus
could have purred. To have someone ready to defend him, and able to do it well now that the Gut Chewing Curse had been
overcome, was a new and heady sensation.

�� Minister,�
Harry said, stealing the moment of introduction from Shacklebolt. He stood up,
folding his arms in such a way that his elbows touched both Draco and Severus
in the ribs. �Did you want something?�

�� Shacklebolt
sighed wearily. He kept his head bowed, his shoulders hunched, as if he were
bearing up under some intolerable burden. Keeping one sardonic eye on him, Severus
found himself curling his lip. If anyone had the right to look that way, it was
Harry, but it might be an effective play for sympathy on some members of the
audience.

�� To
reconcile,� Shacklebolt said quietly. �To try to understand your pain and your
anger, and to explain why your demands cannot be honored if I am to continue
running a fair and just society for the rest of the wizarding world.�

�� Explain to
me,� Harry said, his body radiating tension and the bond twisting and turning
like a kaleidoscope of knives, �why that �fair and just society� can�t arrest
an attempted murderer, and why my bondmates and I are the ones sacrificed for
the well-being of the wizarding world.�

�� Shacklebolt
gave him a patient smile, and then cast his eyes around at the silent, avidly
watching crowd. �You know that I can�t tell you that in public, Harry,� he
said. �It would give away important secrets.�

�� Such as
the fact that Huxley�s blackmailing you and you don�t want to arrest her?�
Harry rolled his eyes. �Most of the people here already figured it had to be
something like that. Why should one woman have such a hold over you? What
happens if she starts forcing you to act against someone else, someone you like in this case and who isn�t a
suspected Death Eater? What lies will you come up with then?�

�� Shacklebolt
had gone ashen, and Severus silently but strongly wished that Harry had held
his tongue on the matter of Huxley�s blackmail. It might be impossible to
persuade the Minister to drink something of his own free will after this.

�� Is that
true, Minister?� Severus would have recognized Rita Skeeter�s voice, which
sounded dipped in treacle, anywhere. She was oozing towards the front of the
crowd now, her quill and her camera poised.

�� Shacklebolt
mastered himself with an effort that Severus had to give him grudging points
for. He would have been tempted to lash out in a situation like this,
especially when most of his reputation seemed lost already, but Shacklebolt was
canny enough to remember that this small gathering was only his immediate
audience, not the whole of the wizarding world. He might still have the chance
to persuade others, if not them. He gave Skeeter a bland smile, murmured
something about his reluctance to discuss the affairs of private citizens, and
then faced Harry again and held out his hand.

�� I will
ignore your insults,� he said. �I will ignore the implication that I don�t care
for your well-being. I�ve come to ask you back into the Auror program, Harry,
and for you to drop these ridiculous insinuations and allegations against me.�

�� That would
involve denying the newspaper articles and interviews I contributed to, I
reckon.� Harry�s voice was slow and bored, but the bond shimmered with tension
under the surface, like dammed water. Severus prevented himself from moving
closer to put a comforting hand on his shoulder, as much as he would have liked
to, and was pleased to see that Draco had also managed to hold back. It was
their natural reaction when their bondmate was in trouble, but it would weaken
Harry at the moment.

�� Among
other things.� Shacklebolt was too clever to mistake Harry�s words for
immediate compliance. He settled for folding his hands in front of him and
looked hopeful, instead.

�� I won�t do
it,� Harry said.

�� Severus had
expected the declaration, of course, but it was still a shock to watch the
impact on Shacklebolt�s face and future. The crowd behind him stirred with
excitement. Skeeter began scribbling. The Weasleys settled back and grinned,
though the younger�s face was still furious. The two Aurors gripped their wands
more tightly.

�� I feared
that you would say that,� Shacklebolt whispered. �I still hoped that we could
conclude a truce nonetheless, Harry. If you wish to do so, then you may come to
me at any time and I will welcome you. My door is always open.� He lifted his
head and gave another of those pathetic, resigned smiles.

�� I�ll
remember that the next time I need someone to murder me or suggest that I�m
being controlled by my bondmates or deny me my chosen career,� Harry said, and
gave the Minister a poisonously sweet smile in return.

�� Shacklebolt
lifted his hand as if to make some sort of plea, then shook his head angrily,
dropped his hand, and turned away.

�� Severus
knew that he would probably never have a better opportunity. He drew the vial
from beneath his robe, though he still held it in the shadow of his sleeve, and
waved his wand above the mouth of the vial. He cast the spell nonverbally, a
greater trial of his power. But he was confident in his abilities as a Potions
master, and he could chance no one discovering that Shacklebolt�s ulcer was not
natural.

�� The potion
bubbled and foamed briefly, then turned into thin wisps of green mist. By the
time those wisps had ascended above the lip of the vial, they were already
invisible. Severus conjured a breeze that would direct the wisps to their
target and nowhere else, and watched in silent satisfaction as Shacklebolt�s
hair waved slightly and his robe rippled. Yes, the wisps had gone in, and he
would have the ulcer now within a few days.

��

�� Draco
leaned heavily on Harry�s shoulder as the Minister vanished from sight behind
the backs of his Aurors. �That may not be the wisest thing that you could have
done,� he murmured warningly.

�� I don�t
fucking care.� Harry turned towards
them, speaking softly enough that no one outside their tight little circle
could hear, his cheeks flushed and his eyes and the bond both shining with red
and gold. �Why doesn�t he understand? I don�t care about the blackmail Huxley is subjecting him to or the fact
that he doesn�t like you.� He reached out and clasped Severus�s forearm as if
he meant to rip back his sleeve and bare the Dark Mark. �There are things that
are more important to me than his opinion.�

�� Draco�s
cheeks flushed brilliantly. Severus dipped his head and murmured, �Our revenge
is enacted. Let us try to enjoy the rest of the meeting and convince others
that our party is well on the way to becoming a reality.�

�� Harry took
a minute to breathe harshly and stand with his head bowed, as if he were
recovering from an attack. Then he nodded and looked up with a bright smile.
�You�re right. We can�t let the bastards get to us, can we?�

�� He turned
around and began to speak to the younger Weasley, determinedly picking up a
thread of conversation about Auror training. The crowd milled and stirred
uneasily for a time, then seemed to realize that Harry didn�t intend to gratify
their curiosity and settled back into talking and eating.

�� Severus
watched Draco watch Harry, listening to his conversations and picking out
hidden threats from glances and the too-sharp motions of certain people�s
hands. Contentment moved through him, and not only because he had accomplished
the spell that turned the potion into a vapor.

�� We are in less danger now than we were,
because Harry is beginning to acknowledge that there are some things no one has
a right to do to him.

�� And because we fit so well together.

*

�� Mia: Thank
you! Does it comfort you to know that the revenge on Kingsley has barely begun?

�� Alliandre:
Thank you! The next part of the story will concentrate more on Draco than it
has so far, so that he can grow up a little. As for the time issue, this
chapter has begun it; it skipped the time they were putting the gathering
together, because that wasn�t as important to the story.

�� As for
Harry getting into wandmaking, sorry, not in this story! But I do have an idea
of what he�ll do.

�� PanickedSerenity:
Thanks for reviewing.

�� VoraciousReader:
Thank you! One other thing that has to happen is that Harry has to stop
thinking that Draco and Severus are controlling his life. He doesn�t believe it
as much do as he used to, but the suspicion is still there, and Severus trying
to become the power behind the throne, as it were, would reignite those
suspicions.

�� Blood Lust
777: Thank you!

�� DTDY: Thank
you!

�� Mya Malfoy:
Thank you! At the moment, Harry has some idea; he�s moving in that direction;
but he�s still scared of the way that falling in love with them or opening the
bonds might take over his life.

�� elipses:
Sorry to hear that! But it means that more chapters will be waiting for you
when you get back.

�� Jc Black:
Thank you very much!

�� qwerty:
Thank you! Harry will balance appearing by himself and appearing with his
bondmates. In this chapter, the need for them was more practical.

�� I think
they�re working towards a balance of all three now. It helps that Harry is
trying to become more sensitive to Draco�s feelings.
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