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The Stag and The Snake	By : JBankai89 Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Harry/Draco Views: 9713 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 2
Disclaimer: JK Rowling owns Harry Potter, I gain nothing from this but a way to pass the time.

Chapter List
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Chapter 4 – Stay Where I Can See You

Silence stretched between them. Harry looked terrible. He was extremely white and shaky, and even in the dark Draco could see Harry's collarbone jutting out under tight skin. Harry's robes clung to his thigh, indicating where the graze from his arrow was. The robes themselves were faded and tattered, and hung loosely on his frame. Had they been a lighter colour, Draco was certain they would be stained red. Draco was conflicted between horror at himself, he had nearly—albeit unwittingly—killed Harry, and disbelief that he had found him. He had a lot of 'I told you so's to dish out once he got home.

He took a tentative step forward, his mouth open slightly, but Harry threw up his hand, indicating for him to stop. He pressed a finger to his lips, and made a motion for Draco to conceal himself. Confused, but understanding that Harry was not messing around, he reigned in his desire to run at him and instead slipped behind a tree. Draco heard the swish of someone in heavy robes crossing the meadow.

“Did you have fun today?” Harry didn't answer, but something about that low purr of a voice sounded very familiar...

“Oh Harry, what happened here?” Draco heard Harry gasp sharply with pain. He tensed, resisting the urge to show himself.

“H-hunter. I escaped. Came back here.”

“See what a dangerous place the world is? You need me, Harry. Coalesca.” Harry gasped again following the softly murmured incantation. “There, that must feel so much better.” The voice maintained that silky smooth tone, and he heard Harry gasp again, though this time from fear and not pain. Unable to help himself, he peered around the thick trunk of the tree, and it took every ounce of willpower that he possessed to keep from running out.

Severus Snape held Harry in a loving embrace, an arm coiled around his waist and the other clutching at his cheek. Snape was pressed bodily up against the young man, and Draco could see Harry struggling against him. Unfortunately after overexerting himself that day, Harry hadn't the strength to get away. Draco felt a pang of guilt. If only he'd figured it out sooner.

“Come now Harry,” he leaned in and kissed the struggling young man, and while this action filled Draco with a near-blinding rage, he held his ground, digging his fingers into the bark of the tree. He pulled back and Harry was giving Snape a look of deepest loathing. “Bond with me. Your young lover will never come for you.” He smirked and moved his hand, and though from Draco's vantage point he could not see what he was doing, the alarmed yelp told him all he needed to know. Harry wrenched himself out of Snape's embrace with newfound strength, his face pink.

“You know nothing, Snape.” His breath came out in harsh gasps, while Snape, in turn, seemed completely unaffected by the words. His mouth quirked into a small smile, and he strode to Harry, and grasped his jaw in his hand, staring down at him intently.

“I know a great deal, Potter. You will Bond with me. It is only a matter of time. And your time, as it is, is running out.” What he meant by this Draco had no idea, and by Harry's confused expression, neither did he. Snape leaned in and kissed him again, laughing at Harry's efforts to escape, before finally letting him go. Harry stumbled back and barely caught himself with his arms, while he shot a glare at Snape. The older man watched his captive for another minute, then turned in a sweep of robes and strode from the meadow. Draco lurched forward, but Harry held his hand up again to stall him.

It could not have been more than a minute, but it felt much longer to Draco. Harry finally lowered his arm and turned towards him with a dazzling smile. Despite Harry's obvious exhaustion he ran at Draco, the wide smile never leaving his face. Draco had begun to run at the same moment, and they all but crashed into each other's arms.

Harry clung to him, his arms around Draco's neck, his own arms around Harry's waist, holding him tightly. They kissed, and for the first time in five years, Draco felt as though he had been reassembled. Harry was crying openly, and Draco could feel the burn of tears in the corners of his eyes. “I knew you were alive,” Draco whispered against Harry's mouth, then whispered once they had broken the kiss. “I knew it.” He clutched more tightly at Harry, though never enough for it to be painful.

“I knew you would never stop looking,” Harry said, and he reached to caress Draco's cheek, brushing away the wetness that had collected there. Draco leaned into the gentle touch with a contented sigh. Morrigan above, how he'd missed this.

“He's gone, I'll take you home.” At these words, Harry's face fell. He shifted his arm from around Draco to roughly rub the tear tracks from his cheeks.

“I—I can't. I want to, but he—I can't leave.” Harry's voice trembled, but he was no longer crying. The sight made Draco slightly sick. He could not remember ever seeing Harry so defeated, so damaged. “Snape, he...He has me under a curse. This whole forest has similar enchantments to Hogwarts too. I can't Apparate.” Draco listened to Harry's voice break, and as he spoke he trailed the fingertips of his right hand up and down Harry's back in an attempt to soothe him.

“Side-Along Apparition then,” Draco said, leaning in to kiss him again, gently. “I can't lose you again.”

“Draco, I can't. This curse...I'm trapped here. I don't know what to do.” Draco could feel his heart breaking for his Harry. He did not sound overwhelmed anguish, but instead he sounded hollow, as though he had given up long ago. The sight enraged Draco. How could Snape have done something like this to him?

“What is this curse? I'm guessing you didn't suddenly become a part-time Animagus.” Harry cracked a small smile at the comment, but he didn't laugh.

“Anima Speculo Maledictum. Soul Mirror Curse.” He closed his eyes, as though trying to gather his thoughts. Draco took the moment to guide him to a nook in the trees, and sat down. He pressed his back against the bark and pulled Harry down to sit between his legs. He was so skinny—much smaller than he had been five years ago—that he fit there easily. Harry leaned into his chest while Draco wrapped his arms around his waist. Harry rested his hands over Draco's, threading their fingers together. The small action made both young men tense, their minds flashing back briefly to That Night.

“That night,” Harry began in a soft voice, “...He took me here and cast the spell just before dawn. When the sun came up, I turned into a stag. Snape never properly explained it to me, but the curse transfigures your body into something else in the light of the sun. And I become a stag, as you saw.” Draco listened intently, while holding tightly onto Harry.

“The catch is, I could run all the way to Timbuktu, but no matter where I am, I will turn back into a stag at daybreak. But if I'm not in this meadow, under the light of the moon, I won't regain my human form.” Harry's voice broke, and Draco pressed a kiss against the back of his neck. This seemed to fortify Harry, and he continued. “Then every evening, Snape comes to me and asks me the same thing. I've been saying no consistently for five years. But now...I think he might be getting desperate. I don't know what's going to happen, I wonder if he actually will kill me.” Harry shivered a little, and turned to try and face Draco, proving difficult in his position. Draco shifted to accommodate him, their legs tangled together as they faced each other.

Draco reached out a hand, and gently ran his thumb across Harry's cheek, before gently cupping his chin. He pulled Harry in, being careful to use none of the brute force he had been subject to, and their lips came together. Neither young man had any desire to rush, kissing and tasting each other, reacquainting themselves after so much time apart. When they finally did part, Harry pressed his face into the crook of his neck. “I missed you so much.” Draco held him fast.

“Me too.” Draco felt his throat tighten, but his plight had been nothing compared to Harry's. He needed to be strong, help him through this trauma. He couldn't fall apart, not yet. “I never stopped looking. Me, Sirius, and Remus.” He smiled and Harry looked up at him, a mixture of shock and guilt on his face. “They never gave up on you, Harry.” He didn't feel that it would particularly tactful to mention that Weasley and Granger had stopped looking several years earlier. But, in his time getting to know the two older wizards, he also learned a great deal about Harry. In particular, how fragile his emotions were when it came to family ties.

“I hate that I did this to them,” Harry's voice shook as he struggled to keep it steady, as though he'd only just remembered his adoptive parents. There was a horror-struck look in his eyes, “they must be so worried...”

“Harry,” Draco grasped his chin, firmly, but gently, forcing Harry to meet his eyes. “You did not do this to them. Snape did. Don't you dare blame yourself for this. You have done nothing wrong.” Draco kissed him again, more gently this time. When he pulled back, he saw that Harry's expression was still consumed with guilt, but with Draco holding him in a lover's embrace, showing him in actions as well as words how much he had been missed, he nodded slowly. Draco wasn't entirely certain that Harry believed what he was being told.

Draco spent the rest of the evening with Harry. They didn't speak much, and instead held each other. They exchanged gentle, tender kisses, and whispered sentiments flitted between them of “I missed you,” in various forms. Close to dawn, Draco reluctantly disentangled himself from Harry. “I'll come back,” he murmured, pressing a kiss first to Harry's lips, then a second one to his forehead. “I won't let you stay imprisoned here. We'll find a way, I swear.”

“I know,” Harry said quietly, holding tightly to Draco's hands, clearly reluctant to let go. “Snape usually comes in the evenings to...to talk to me, then I'm usually left alone. He sometimes comes during the day, but not often.” His voice was more even than it had been all night, and Draco hoped that his presence had something to do with it. Harry looked skywards, and it was rapidly lightening. He kissed Draco once more, “please, go. I know I'll see you again.”

Draco stepped back, feeling as though he was abandoning half of himself in that single movement. Harry smiled at him, a watery, mournful smile, but his joy at their meeting shone through. His breath hitched, and he fell to his knees. The same white light consumed him, and a second later Draco found himself facing the stag. Draco took an uncertain step forward, but Harry snorted and stamped his hooves into the ground. He tossed his head in an obvious signal. “Go.” Before Draco could lose his nerve, he Disapparated.

~*~

Remus was in his office when a familiar eagle owl swooped in and dropped a small scroll of parchment over his report, effectively turning the last couple paragraphs into an illegible smudge. The way the owl perched upon his desk instead of immediately taking off told him that whatever Draco wanted, it was probably urgent.

Flicking his wand several times to rid the scroll of the ink stains and fixing his report, he pushed it aside and unrolled the note.

Remus,

I have some news. I need to speak to you as soon as possible. Father and I returned last night, can I meet you at The Leaky Cauldron tonight? Do not bring Sirius. Send time by return owl.

Draco

Though he did send the owl back with a short note, I'll meet you at six., the strange request did give him pause. He was uncertain why Draco would ask him to come alone, but he could assume it was due to Sirius's Curse First, Ask Questions Later mentality. Remus returned to his report, his eyes flicking momentarily to the grandmother clock fixed to the wall. Six o'clock seemed very far away.

Draco was waiting for Remus when he arrived. He stepped out from the shadowed corner where he had Apparated to, and the blond's shoulders seemed to sag slightly with relief. Something told Remus that whatever had happened, it was big. Draco displayed his emotions nearly as readily as Harry used to, though he doubted the proud Slytherin would ever admit to it. Without a word, the pair slipped into the pub.

While Remus paid Tom for two glasses of mead, Draco selected a table far from the main hustle and bustle of shoppers heading to and from Diagon Alley, as well as away from the barflies that occupied some of the small tables. Remus pushed the drink over to him and sat down. “Now tell me what this is all about. I'm not exactly keen on keeping Sirius in the dark.” Draco didn't speak straightaway, but looked from Remus and focused momentarily on the drink before him. Remus recognized the gestures as Draco's way of gathering his thoughts, and he waited for the young man to speak. He took a fortifying sip of his drink before refocusing his attention upon him.

“I found him, Remus.”

“What?” Remus could feel his mouth drop open in shock, “Why on earth would you not want Sirius to know?” Remus was rather proud of himself that he did not drop the glass he held. While he would never have said anything to Draco or Sirius, doubts had begun to form in his mind as to whether their search was fruitless. He was sincerely glad that he had been proven wrong.

“It's Snape, Severus Snape.” Draco's eyes were wide and panicked, and Remus recognized the look of helplessness he saw in the young man's expression. It was a look Sirius carried all too often these days. “He has Harry trapped under some sort of curse. He can't get out, and I thought it might be better that we approach this with a level head.” Draco looked away after he had finished speaking, fingering the lip of the glass, while he tried to compose himself.

Remus frowned, trying to work over what he had been told. Severus Snape had Harry. Harry was alive. Harry was cursed. The fragmented thoughts refused to smooth into cohesive thought, and he felt still consumed by his jumbled emotions of joy, relief, and anger. The idea of keeping something so big from Sirius made him feel sick with guilt, but unfortunately Draco had a point. It took Remus several minutes to find his voice again. “Do you know whether or not killing Severus would break this curse?”

“I don't know.” Draco looked back to him, and his expression of helplessness was more pronounced. “I looked in my family's library, but I couldn't find anything about this curse.” Draco heaved a heavy sigh. “Snape is trying to force Harry to Bond with him. He tried the same thing the night of—That Night.”

“And you didn't think to tell us, or your parents what had happened that evening?” Remus felt a slight flare of anger, and he wondered if all of this could have been avoided if the boys had had the good sense to tell someone about the man's advances. He frowned, watching Draco's expression shift to one of guilt.

“It honestly didn't occur to us. I mean, Harry was a bit freaked out, I stepped in, Snape got mad at us and took off. I never thought he'd kidnap Harry.” Draco's gaze fell, and Remus felt a slight pang of remorse at his words. Of course, he should have known better than to assume that they could have seen this coming, no one could. At the same time, the memory resurfaced as Draco spoke, Severus requesting Harry to dance, Sirius wanting to intervene, then Draco stepping in not long after. He hated himself for stopping Sirius.

“What is this curse Harry spoke about?” Draco paused, his expression momentarily lost in memory. He twisted his mouth almost into a grimace, and took another sip of the mead before he spoke.

“Anima Speculo Maledictum. Have you ever heard of it?”

“Soul Mirror. I've heard of it,” Remus said, frowning slightly. Of course Severus had to go and use something like that. “It came into disuse in the seventeenth century, but I don't know a lot about it. I'll have to do some research.” He paused, and looked over the rim of his glass at Draco. “What form does Harry's Mirror, so to speak, take?”

“A stag.” Remus almost laughed. Of course it would.

~*~

Despite Remus's reassurances that he would look into the curse for Draco, he couldn't help but feel anxious. He wanted this resolved now, and the waiting was driving him mad. He was relieved that Remus had at least agreed to hold off on telling Sirius for now, at least until they knew more. Neither of them liked keeping Sirius in the dark, but if their only chance of saving Harry died with Snape, then all would be lost.

Draco waited for a few hours after sunset before he returned to the meadow. He had appeared within the cover of the trees, and checked to make sure Snape was nowhere to be seen before he stepped out into the open. It felt a little strange to be hiding from his former Head of House, but even his old alliances would not stop him from helping Harry through this.

The young man in question was lying down in the centre of the meadow, almost hidden amongst the wildflowers. Harry was stretched out on his back, his left arm folded under his head in a makeshift pillow and one leg stretched out straight, the other bent at the knee. He was watching the night sky, though from Draco's vantage point he could not tell if Harry's calm was genuine or feigned. Marks of another assault marred his skin, and Draco felt his stomach momentarily clench. An oval bruise below his eye, his robes even more rumpled than they had been the night before, his eyes and lips slightly swollen and flushed.

Draco tried to step into the meadow quietly, but he still made enough noise for Harry to sit up sharply and whirl his head in Draco's direction. It amazed him how much Harry looked exactly like his animal counterpart at that moment. Harry's posture softened when he saw who it was. He stood up, and smiled as Draco approached. Their hands fit together and Harry said, “I was worried that you weren't coming.”

“Now that I know where you are, how could I stay away?” Harry actually laughed at this, and pulled his hands out of Draco's before wrapping his arms tightly around his neck and pulling him in for a chaste kiss.

“You are so cheesy,” Harry murmured against his mouth.

“I like to think of myself as ridiculously romantic.” At that Harry had to turn away as he snorted with laughter, clapping a hand over his mouth to keep himself from spraying Draco with spit.

“Oh very suave, Potter,” he grinned, and wrapped his arms around Harry's waist, in a gentle but possessive grip.

“Sorry, my etiquette instructor must have left 'don't laugh at your lover's corny jokes' out of the syllabus.” The second he said it, Harry's face went rather red.

“Lover, eh?” Draco couldn't stop the smirk that crossed his features. “I like the sound of that.”

“I'll bet you do.” Grinning, Harry threaded his fingers through the hair on the back of Draco's head and pulled him in for a kiss.

Draco left reluctantly just before dawn, trying to draw out their departure as long as he could. “I could come back later today, after we're sure Snape won't show up?” Even if Harry was in another form, it was still Harry, wasn't it? But at his words, his lover went chalky white.

“Please don't,” Harry's voice was so small, so childlike, it tore at Draco's heart. “I—I don't like people seeing me like that, not really. And sometimes when Snape's in a really vindictive mood he comes and, well, doesn't hurt me, but uses his words.” Harry shivered, and Draco drew him into a close embrace. Seven years of having the man as his Head of House, he was all too familiar with the damage that man's sharp tongue could do. He didn't say any more, but he kissed Harry gently, one last time. Draco stepped back and reluctantly Disapparated.
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The Stag and The Snake