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The Heart of the Matter	By : Jad Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Harry/Draco Views: 7323 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 15
- 16
- 17
Chapter Sixteen

'I can't lie, but the truth is so extreme.'

- Johnny Clegg, woman be my country

: : :

The atmosphere inside the house was, if possible, even more foreboding than it was out. Draco and Potter had sat in the back on the return trip, Theodore wedged solidly between them. He was unnaturally quiet but, thankfully, did not protest the excess manhandling—though he had a wild, delirious look about him, eyes still golden and bright in the darkness. Draco thought that perhaps the idea Theodore, someone he considered a fellow, even a friend, was something as dangerous and hideous as a werewolf had not yet been fully appreciated.

Any hope they had of sneaking back to their respective rooms unnoticed was quickly dashed upon stepping inside the front door. Every lamp was ablaze, causing the blood-red colour of the walls and carpet to saturate every space in the hall. As the front door clicked closed behind them, a horribly cold and furious voice rang out from the living room.

'In here,' Snape snarled. 'All of you.'

Glancing nervously at one another, they all did as they were told, though each one trying to walk more slowly than the next, as to not have to enter first. Unsurprisingly, this left Potter in the lead, for he seemed to be the only one prepared to face the wrath within. Draco kept one arm latched onto Theodore's elbow and held him back, hoping his precarious state would pass unnoticed. Inside the living room, Snape was seated in the large chair by the fireplace. Lupin, McGonagall, and a young man with fair skin and hair Draco did not know were seated on the sofa across from them.

'I do believe my explicit instructions to you,' Snape began in an unnervingly calm, curious voice, 'were to remain in Headquarters, no matter what the circumstances.' He stood off the chair and gazed down his long, crooked nose at them all. 'Perhaps you, Mr Potter, would like to explain to the Order why you felt it necessary to endanger the lives of the other children.'

Draco waited for the defensive 'It wasn't just Harry's idea!' that was surely to come from Granger or the assorted Weasley, and Snape even paused as if to allow it, but the protest never came. Then Draco realised that not only was there no Granger or Weasley amongst them, but aside from Loony and Theodore, none of them were particular fond of Potter in any way. And Theodore, possessive as he might be, did not dare risk the anger of his Head of House for anyone—like Draco, he knew better.

Potter seemed unaffected by the lack of support. He looked Snape straight in the eye, like a fool. 'Actually, Professor, I believe your exact instructions were to "remove" myself.'

Draco winced. Theodore suppressed a noise that sounded suspiciously like a snigger.

'Do not quote me out of context, Potter.' Snape glared coldly at the rest of the group. 'As for the rest of you—while I do in fact know Potter holds responsibility for the instigation of this little expedition, I am stunned that so many of you possess the sufficient stupidity to follow him. Including,' he continued slowly, his dark eyes resting on Draco, who swallowed, 'some of my own students.'

'Be that as it may, Professor Snape,' Lupin interjected quietly, 'each is as guilty as the next, for no one held wands at their backs and forced them out the door.'

'Remus is quite right, Severus,' McGonagall agreed. 'All of you should be extremely ashamed of yourselves. The Order has offered you protection, sanctuary, for you and your families—and this is how you repay them?'

The guilt, surprisingly, worked on most of them—Susan, Dean, Luna, even Zacharias were hanging their heads, looking guiltily at the floor as if praying for it to swallow them up. Draco had to withhold the urge to roll his eyes.

'We've been cooped up all summer,' Potter protested. 'I'm not a bloody kid, I don't need an escort everywhere—'

'Harry, do you have any idea how lucky you are to have made it back here untouched?' Lupin snapped, a sudden fury lining his voice. 'To think, what could have happened, had you been attacked—'

The sudden intake of breath from them all stopped him mid-sentence, and he glared accusingly at Potter.

'Harry...'

'Two Dementors,' Potter said quietly, his head joining the many already hanging. 'But it's all right, we fought them off—'

'Well, then, if you fought them off it must be all right,' Snape said scathingly. 'It wouldn't mean the Dark Lord now not only has an accurate idea of which students we're hiding, but gives him almost anexact location to Headquarters—'

'At least they're unharmed,' the stranger pointed out, and Draco felt a rushing gratitude for the man for heading Snape off before he had gotten to berating his own students.

McGonagall nodded in agreement. 'Disciplining is in order, but it's already well after midnight, it can wait until morning; however, I do need to alert Dumbledore that the children have been found. He will need to know that they were discovered by one of You-Know-Who's patrols.' She stood, straightening her robes and looking at Lupin and Snape. 'I trust the two of you to handle the punishment,' she added, and at the look of horror on Potter's face, continued with, 'fairly, Severus. Good night to you.'

Potter was glaring at Snape, so he did not notice the stranger's eyes lingering on him—or perhaps, on his scar. Draco briefly wondered if he would be introduced, but as McGonagall reached the door to the hall she turned around and called, 'Are you coming, Adolf?'

'Yes, of course,' the stranger replied apologetically, eyes flickering quickly away from Potter as Potter's attention turned to him. Perhaps it was the stranger's name right before, but when he spoke Draco caught the hint of a Dutch accent. Before he could get a proper look at the man, however, he vanished in a swish of his long cloak along with McGonagall.

'To bed, all of you,' Snape snapped immediately. 'Except for you,' he added, glaring at Potter.

Draco was eternally grateful for the dismissal, as his shoulder was beginning to ache with the effort of holding Theodore upright. He pushed him off, trusting that since both legs seemed to be working Theodore could stand on his own. Draco did not anticipate the disagreement Theodore's balance had with gravity and barely managed to grab him before he dropped.

The motion, unfortunately, did not go unnoticed.

'What's wrong?' Lupin demanded, eyes snapping to Theodore and interrupting Snape's long, condescending lecture to Potter. The other students, sensing trouble, hurried even faster out of the room and up the stairs as Lupin moved through them. He took Theodore by the shoulders, tilting his head down to get a better look at him. 'Theodore?'

'He's been a bit off, sir,' Draco said quickly. 'Ever since the Dementors—'

Lupin ignored him and forced Theodore's head up by his chin, immediately narrowing his eyes. 'Where were you?' he asked, looking at Draco. 'Where did you go?'

Caught off guard, Draco answered with the truth, 'A Muggle pub.'

Theodore jerked away from Lupin's grip, which had tightened, snarling. Lupin tightened his grip again and slammed him against the nearest wall so fast that Draco nearly fell over backwards.

Theodore clawed at the hand on his throat, golden eyes wide and furious. Lupin held him still at arm's length, looking—if possible—even angrier.

'Idiots,' he snapped, his uncharacteristic temper gathering worried gazes from both Draco and Potter. 'Do you have any idea what alcohol does to a werewolf? What any psychotropic substance will? It doesn't have to be a full moon for him to be dangerous!'

Theodore snarled again, fingers clawing at Lupin's forearms, nails leaving red, aggravated marks in their wake. If Lupin felt the pain, he did a superb job of ignoring it.

'Severus,' he said quietly.

Snape heaved a great sigh, looking very annoyed. 'Are you sure that is necessary?'

'If anyone is to get sound sleep tonight,' Lupin snapped in reply, his eyes darting to Snape and glaring hard. 'Or shall I retrieve it myself, while you hold him?'

Narrowing his eyes Snape stood, leaving Draco and Potter both wide-eyed in stupor at the exchange. Draco began to edge towards the door, not sure he wanted to be around when Snape returned, lest his professor decided to retaliate with his wand.

Lupin, however, cut off his escape; 'Harry, Draco, I need you both—Harry, clear off the coffee table, Draco, help me with him—don't worry, I've got his head, get his legs.'

Draco stared at him. 'What are you going to do?'

'What is necessary,' Lupin said shortly, glaring at him. 'Perhaps next time you feel like acting irresponsibly, you will think carefully of the consequences. Get his legs.'

Theodore was a lot stronger than he looked, and this was true even considering Draco had seen beneath his robes. Draco could barely restrain one leg on the table, much less both—Potter ended up having to take the other, and Lupin straddled Theodore's chest, pinning his armpits down with his knees and one hand still firmly fixed on his neck right before the jaw. By the time Snape returned they had managed to hold him reasonably still; Snape was carrying a small, thin vial and a syringe, which he stuck in the vial and slowly extracted a light-coloured substance. As he titled the filled syringe up and tapped it once, twice, and a third time, Draco caught the quick, metallic gleam in the light.

'What are you doing?' he demanded, releasing Theodore's leg, which began to kick immediately, catching Potter in the chest. 'You're going to kill him!'

Potter took another kick. 'Ow! Fuck, Malfoy!'

'Language, Potter. And we are not going to be killing anyone, Mr Malfoy,' Snape said smoothly as Lupin and Potter struggled to hold Theodore down, Potter sitting on his knees and strangling his ankles with both hands. Draco wavered uncertainly between the sofa and the table, unsure.

'It's all right, Draco,' Lupin assured him, much of the anger already gone from his voice. 'It's very diluted, there's barely half a Sickle's worth of silver in there.'

'But why—'

'It's safer than waiting for the alcohol to leave his system,' Lupin continued. 'Harry, make sure you hold that leg still. Severus, just below the—'

'I know what I am doing, thank you,' Snape snapped. 'If you recall, I've had plenty of experience with this.'

Lupin's lips pressed into a thin line, but he quickly turned his attention instead to Theodore, whose eyes were still wild and furious. 'I'm afraid,' Lupin said apologetically, 'this is going to hurt quite a bit.'

Draco watched in horror as Snape approached the legs Potter held down, seized one and yanked up the trouser leg to expose the ankle, and sunk the needle into the soft skin just below the bone.

Theodore screamed—a horrible, ragged, enraged sound which penetrated every crevice in the old house. Draco and Potter both winced, at the noise and in sympathy, while Lupin used every angle of advantage he could to hold Theodore in place. It was over fast; Snape removed the syringe as quickly, jerking away as Theodore hissed and his leg gave a particularly nasty thrash, nearly upsetting Potter.

'Ow! Christ,' Potter snapped, slamming the ankle back down with both hands as Theodore went suddenly rigid. 'Why'd you stick him there of all places?'

'Far as possible from the heart and brain,' Lupin explained. 'Just a precaution; makes it easier on him, as well, if the solutions diluted into the blood before it reaches the heart—you may want to fetch that basin, Draco.'

Draco had no sooner summoned the basin from the far side of the room than Lupin stood up and pushed Potter aside. Theodore immediately rolled off the table and collapsed over the basin and was violently sick into it.

'He'll be all right,' Lupin said over the noise at the look of horror on the other boys' faces. 'Couple of hours or so, and a good night's rest.'

'Perhaps it would be in best interest that the boy is... restrained, for the night,' Snape suggested icily, his eyes lingering over Theodore's shaking shoulders with distaste.

'That won't be necessary,' Lupin said, with an unanticipated amount of ferocity. 'Harry, Draco, help him upstairs to your room.'

'Their room.' Draco muttered the correction, giving Potter a meaningful look which went ignored. Theodore had finished vomiting and Potter was helping him to his feet, despite Theodore telling him to piss off.

'Your room, now,' Lupin said, raising his eyebrows. 'We've had a few more students join us in your absence,' he added quickly. 'We had to move the three of you into the same room, since you two are the only ones comfortable around Theodore now that he's... well, yes. Your things have already been taken up.'

Draco stared at him in disbelief, the outrage clear in his voice as he spoke. 'You what?'

'Make sure he sleeps,' Lupin said to Potter, ignoring Draco. 'You and I,' he said, looking up at Snape, who sneered in returned, 'need to have a word. Goodnight, boys.'

: : :

'Bloody Christ in a dinghy, it feels like my blood's on fire.'

Theodore's sarcasm seemed the only thing to go unaffected by the silver solution currently coursing through his veins. The feeble light of the half-moon coming through the window made him appear colourless and skeletal, and Potter had been sitting on the foot of his bed looking lost for the better part of the hour since they'd come upstairs—by the time they'd dragged Theodore up to the room his eyes had faded back to normal and he was sick again in the hall, gagging hard until he was coughing up nothing but clear saliva and acid. Since then, he'd been cursing every deity that came to mind, both Muggle and Wizard alike.

'Go to bed, Potter,' Theodore snapped. It was the fifth time he'd given the order, and the fifth time Potter ignored it, staring resolutely at the floor. Theodore made to give him a shove but stopped mid-way through the sudden movement, the muscles in his arm seizing up.

Both Draco and Potter reacted to steady him, and Theodore yanked his arm away angrily, snarling. 'I preferred you both trying to kill one another,' he muttered. 'I'm a monster, not a bloody cripple. Piss off.'

Draco narrowed his eyes but obliged, annoyed at Potter for being there at all, and even more so at himself for bothering. He retreated to the other bed and ignoring the makeshift cot in the other corner. He didn't care whose room it was; he had never slept on anything less than a cushioned surface in his life and certainly wasn't going to start on Potter's account.

Potter finally stood up, moving past the bed Theodore laid on, hesitating at the head. He started to move again when Theodore's hand shot out and grabbed his elbow, halting him. Wordlessly, Potter used his free hand to remove his cloak and kicked off his shoes before climbing into the bed with Theodore.

Draco's stomach twisted in on itself and he rolled over, so he was facing the wall. He could hear rustling from behind in the other bed as Potter crawled under the covers, and then the room fell silent as the three of them lay still.

Long after Theodore and Potter's breathing came in a synced, shallow pattern Draco laid awake, staring at the dark wood of the wall beside his bed. It wasn't even the fact that it was two blokeslying together that kept him wide-awake, and though he tried to convince himself that it was, lying to oneself was a rather futile exercise, even for one so practised at lying as him.

It was cold on his side of the room despite the thick layer of covers laid over him. With nothing but the darkness for company, Draco pulled the duvet up over his head and waited for dawn.

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The Heart of the Matter