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Honour Bound	By : Draeconin Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Harry/Draco Views: 42041 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 1-Chapter 1
- 2-Ch. 2
- 3-Ch. 3
- 4-Ch. 4
- 5-Ch. 5
- 6-Ch. 6
- 7-Ch. 7
- 8-Ch. 8
- 9-Ch. 9
- 10-Ch. 10
- 11-Ch. 11
- 12-Ch. 12
- 13-Ch. 13
- 14-Ch. 14
- 15-Ch. 15
- 16-Ch. 16
- 17-Ch. 17
- 18-Ch. 18
- 19-Ch. 19
- 20-Ch. 20
- 16
- 17
- 18
Honour Bound

by Draeconin

See Chapter One for disclaimer and details.

Chapter Seventeen

"You know, Draco," Harry said musingly, later that day, "I've been thinking. It's rather strange that the Ministry always knew when I did magic. They can't be able to trace every wand, or they'd be able to track down Death Eaters whenever they commit a crime. So how did they always know when a spell was cast at the Dursley's? It had to have been built into Dumbledore's wards, don't you think? But it wasn't just at the Dursley's, either. It seems to be connected to my magic. So maybe it's not the wards: maybe it's my wand? Or both? Do you know how to check for monitoring spells?" Harry asked, abruptly turning to Draco.

A bit startled by Harry's sudden action, Draco looked at him, then slowly shook his head. "But it makes sense," he said. "We could find a revealing spell in the library, if you like," Draco suggested.

"I think we should; it might become imperative," Harry replied. "But not today," he declared decidedly.

"So those times that I got into trouble with the Ministry can probably also be laid at Dumbledore's feet," Harry mused. "Nobody else has had enough access to my wand, and he created the wards at the Dursleys." He was getting increasingly angry. "And then he waltzes in and 'rescues' me from the big, bad Ministry. I can't believe the gall of the man!"

Draco leaned in and put his hand on Harry's shoulder. He didn't say anything at first, but he was quite pleased. Harry was finally seeing what the Slytherins had always known; that Dumbledore was a manipulative old coot. It didn't matter if Harry's speculations were true or not. Harry had become suspicious enough of the old man to believe him capable of it. "That doesn't make the danger he put you in from the Ministry any the less," Draco replied, feeding Harry's suspicions and rubbing a little salt in the wounds.

"That's true," Harry replied irritably. "Fudge would gladly have broken my wand, or put me in Azkaban."

"But Dumbledore made sure you were very grateful, didn't he?" Draco replied, with a secretive little smirk.

"Oh, yes," Harry replied sarcastically. But Draco had gone a little too far. Harry recognized what the blond was doing, and it had broken his angry mood, amusing him instead. "And you're not too bad at the manipulation game either," he remarked, with a grin.

Draco blushed, chagrined that he'd been caught at his game. He hid his face in Harry's neck. "Let's not think of all that right now," he said, trying to change the subject. "Think about standing up in front of the student body this evening."

Harry gave Draco a light whack upside the head. "You prat," he said, "that's why I was thinking of other things; I was trying to forget about that!"

"Hey! Watch the hair!" Draco remarked, but then invalidated his supposed snit by moving his head onto Harry's shoulder and starting to snigger. "Getting nervous, Harry?" he asked slyly, ignoring his own case of butterflies in the stomach in favour of twitting his lover.

"Aren't you?"

Draco sobered, and nodded. "At least it's a short ceremony," he said with relief.

"We just put them on each other?"

Again Draco nodded. "But we can't just leave afterward," he said regretfully, "We have to stand there and accept their accolades. At least, that's what is supposed to happen. That we're bonded is one thing; I have no idea how they'll react to our engagement. Most of Slytherin will likely be all right, especially in light of the fact that they're wanting to ally themselves with you. The fact that you're no longer a Gyffindork will help."

"With Slytherin, perhaps, but it's definitely a minus with Gryffindor," Harry replied, with a sigh. He really did miss his friends sometimes. They were a bit much to have to live with all the time, but they could be fun once in a while. Hermione's behaviour seemed so out of character for her; and while he missed the easy camaraderie he'd had with Ron, the redhead had turned on him one too many times. Even if they could become friends again, he'd never be able to trust Ron as he once had. Fun-loving Seamus, shy Neville, fiery Ginny...all had carved out a small niche in his heart, but he knew they had seen his re-Sorting as a betrayal of their House.

They settled into a brooding silence. Finally, Harry shook himself. "What the hell are we doing sitting around like a couple of Gloomy Gerties? Public or no public, it's a happy day!" he exclaimed, trying to shake off the mood they'd fallen into, and bouncing to his feet. "I know!" he announced excitedly. "Why don't we explore our secret passages?"

Going quickly to the bookcase, Harry said "Open up." Draco was there before the hidden door had fully opened. Behind it was a well-appointed, if ancient, potions lab. Draco was delighted. Fortunately the needs of potions brewing hadn't changed much over the centuries, although the techniques and potions themselves had changed dramatically, becoming very much more sophisticated. What made Harry happy about the room was a couple of porthole-type hinged windows, most likely installed to vent out potions fumes. Now Hedwig would be able to visit him when she wanted to, rather than he having to try to make time to make the long trek up to the owlery.

Exploring the room, Draco found some ancient potions books, most of which were hopelessly outdated, but a couple of which were quite rare and valuable. The supplies closet would need to be restocked, of course. Most of the ingredients in it had turned to dust or had long lost their magical properties. But again, not everything was useless. Unicorn horn, ground manticore tail, basilisk eggshell, and other such rare, 'hard' ingredients would be closely hoarded and used only as necessary. It was going to be a lot of work to get this lab back into working order, but Draco was almost chortling with glee.

Seeing this, Harry slipped up behind him and put his arms around the blond's waist. "I'm sorry, love. You've really missed all this, haven't you?"

Draco sobered a bit, although he was still smiling. "You have no idea, Harry. But then, you always were next to useless at potions."

There was no malice in the words, so Harry merely replied "It would have helped to have a lecturer that didn't hate me."

There was little Draco could say to that, so he only nodded.

"Or Slytherins that didn't sabotage even my poor efforts," Harry added, slyly.

Draco stiffened slightly. "I didn't-" He was interrupted by his fiancée's low chuckle. "Prat," he said sulkily, realising he'd been successfully teased.

"D'you think we have time to check out another before we get ready for supper?" Harry asked. "Or would you rather look this place over more closely?"

Draco would have really preferred to stay and look over those rare books and ingredients more closely, but he was curious about the other two secret passages as well, and he knew Harry would probably be bored to tears, here. On any other day he might have followed his own dictates, but this evening they'd be doing an ancient engagement ritual only ever practiced by the high aristocracy, and he didn't want Harry to be fretting over it, as he'd do if he weren't distracted. "It'll be here later," he said. "It's been here for over a thousand years, after all, and I'm curious to see where the other two lead, as well."

Carefully replacing the ancient tome he'd been perusing in the bookcase, they exited the lab, and Harry closed it again.

"It's going to become a right pain having to have you open and close that for me all the time," Draco observed.

"I'm sure we can figure something out," Harry said. "Likely all I have to do is order everything to work for you, and only you, without the use of Parseltongue."

Draco perked up. "Would you?" he asked, trying not to seem too eager.

Harry didn't reply directly: instead, he addressed the guardian. "Melchior, I'd like for everything in these rooms, including the secret passages, to work for Draco with or without the use of Parseltongue - provided he is not controlled or otherwise coerced," Harry added as an afterthought. He loved and trusted Draco, but even the most trustworthy of people could be forced to do things against their will, with the right methods.

"As you say, Master," Melchior replied.

"I swear you're going to become a proper Slytherin yet, Harry," Draco said, grinning.

"You understood that?" Harry asked, startled.

"Not a bit of it!" Draco admitted cheerfully. "I 'heard' you say it. Evidently even when you're speaking Parseltongue, you're thinking in English."

"Did you 'hear' Melchior's response as well?" Harry asked, curious.

The blond's features turned rueful. "No," he admitted. 'That was just a short hiss."

"So you can 'hear' it when I think it, but you can't 'hear' my understanding of it," Harry mused. Not able to find a useful side for that, since they could talk mind to mind anyway, Harry shrugged it aside. "Do you want the honours?" he asked, gesturing at the sitting room steps.

Grinning, Draco said "Open," making a grandiloquent gesture as he commanded the passage under the steps to be revealed. When the steps slid aside, he smirked at Harry, then started forward. He drew his wand and was about to cast 'Lumos', when a soft glow appeared in the tunnel. It wasn't very bright, only enough to be able to clearly see where you were putting your feet, but it was quite startling all the same: a permanent glow charm that had actually lasted as long as this one must have? Unless, of course, something or someone was renewing it at intervals.

"Lilorienne?"

"Yes, Draco."

"About the glow charm..."

"I renew it as needed," she said, anticipating his question.

Draco just nodded.

"Thank you, Lilorienne," Harry said, filling in Draco's omission.

"You're welcome, Harry," Lilorienne replied.

"Hmph!" was Draco's response.

"Well, if you had said it..." Harry teased.

Draco ignored him, and started walking down the stairs.

At the bottom of the stairs was a door. Draco tried to open it, but it didn't budge. He tried a couple of opening spells, but they didn't work either.

After watching all this, Harry reached forward and put his hand on the door handle. To the surprise of both of them, the door opened immediately without Harry exerting any pressure on the door at all. With a quick glance at his very annoyed fiancée, Harry took the lead. The small alcove on the other side of the door had two passages leading off of it; one leading off to the left, the other to the right.

"I'm sure it's just because of my Slytherin blood, Draco," Harry said soothingly.

"But you told that snake thing-"

"Melchior," Harry filled in.

"That snake thing," Draco insisted with a glare, "that I was to have access to everything!"

"Yes, I... Oh. 'Everything in the rooms', is what I said. This isn't properly in the rooms."

"Well, fix it, Harry!" Draco demanded. The effect was spoilt a bit by the fact that the blond seemed to be pouting, slightly.

"As soon as we get back upstairs, love," Harry promised, giving Draco's waist a small squeeze with one arm. He thought Draco's pout was adorable, but liked living too much to say so. "But don't you want to see where these lead?" he asked, gesturing to the doors.

"We don't have time to explore both of them," Draco whinged.

"You pick one, then," Harry said, trying to console his fiancée.

"Oh, fine! That one, then," the blond said, pointing at, and then almost flouncing over to the the door on the right. To his pleased surprise, it opened for him when he operated the handle. With a triumphant smirk over his shoulder at Harry, he went through it.

Harry grinned, shaking his head in amusement, and followed.

The passage obviously hadn't been used for ages. Although there wasn't much dust, spider webs, both new and old, clung thickly to the ceiling edges.

Draco hadn't gone but a few feet into the passage before coming to a halt. "Ew!" he complained. "It's filthy! I'm not going in there."

Harry grinned. "I hate to have to tell you this, love," he said, "but you're already 'in there'."

Draco glared at him, then turned around and pushed past Harry, back into the alcove. "Well, I'm not going back in there until it's cleaned!"

"It's probably just as well," Harry said, catching him up. "We were cutting it close, anyway. We need to shower and get ready for supper."

After a long shower in which they participated in some 'stress relief' activities, they dressed carefully and cast some minor glamours on their clothing before making their way down to the Great Hall.

Supper was pork chops, wild rice with mushrooms, boiled new potatoes with butter and parsley, broccoli with a white cheese sauce, and fresh baked bread. They had only just got started when Blaise caught Harry's attention.

"It's on, Your Ma-"

"Not yet, Blaise," Harry said urgently, interrupting him. "But the alliance is on?" he asked.

Blaise looked askance at him, but nodded. "There were a few hold-outs, of course; those who either can't or won't go against their families."

Harry nodded sadly. He could wish it different, but he knew there would be fellow pupils in all of Hogwarts' Houses that he'd have to fight against.

Draco leaned against him, reminding Harry that he wasn't alone. No, more probably demanding that Harry pay attention to him, Harry mused, the thought effectively distracting him from the direction they'd been going - which was probably Draco's intention in the first place. Harry gave him a slight squeeze and a smile of thanks before turning back to Blaise, and his meal. "It's a good beginning, he told Blaise. Would you have any idea about the support we might get in any of the other Houses?"

The dark-skinned young man frowned thoughtfully. "I'd just be guessing at this point," he finally said. "Give me some time, and I can give you a better estimate."

Harry nodded, and swallowed his food before speaking again. "You have it. But in the meantime, what are your suspicions?"

Zabini obviously didn't like being put on the spot, but he answered anyway. "About half of Ravenclaw; maybe more. Hufflepuff? Probably most of them." At Harry's raised eyebrow, knowing how loyal Hufflepuffs were, he elaborated. "Royalty. They won't be able to resist the romanticism of a returned king."

Harry almost laughed out loud at that, but restrained himself to a broad smirk, which was answered by most of the people within earshot; all being among those who most wished to ally themselves with Harry, by Blaise' design. "Gryffindor's going to be the sticking point, aren't they?" he almost stated.

Blaise nodded, with a sneer. "Closed-minded lot, they are," he said.

"Not closed-minded, but very stubborn, yes," Harry corrected. "But I think I can pull a few of them, anyway," he said, looking over at the Gryffindor tables.

Just as the first students were starting to leave supper, Professor Snape rose from the Head Table, the carved box from the jewellers in his hands. Ignoring the questioning looks from his peers, he strode to the middle of the Great Hall. It was such unusual behaviour that he had the attention of everyone there without having to speak a word. Those who had made to leave, rethought themselves, and sat back down.

"Show time," Harry murmured.

"What?" Draco asked, confused with the expression, but the situation revealed its probable meaning. "Oh, you mean - we're about to be the centre of attention?"

"Yes. And you needn't look so pleased about it," Harry admonished his love. The grin on his face rather belied his words, however.

Harry and Draco stood from the table. A murmured "Finite", and their clothing was fully revealed, crests and all.

"This is what you meant," Blaise murmured with a grin, as he took notice of the crests. He appreciated the showmanship.

Harry and Draco each felt the other's nervousness increase as they walked to stand in front of their Head of House, even as they tried to support each other mentally. When they got there, they, and everyone else who was witnessing the occasion, got the biggest shock of their lives. Severus Snape knelt, going to one knee and bowing his head while opening the box.

'Wake up, Harry! He's not going to kneel all night,' Draco thought at him.

That brought Harry out of his state of shock. He reached into the box and brought out a neckpiece. Draco knelt and bowed his head, and Harry slipped it on him. There were gasps from a few places in the Hall, as those who had received training from older families recognised the crests on their clothing, and what was happening.

It wasn't until after Draco had put the other torc on Harry's relaxed, but proudly upright form, and Snape had returned to his feet, that the shock started wearing off and the first sign of unrest appeared.

"A poor joke, Potter," a seventh-year Ravenclaw declared loudly. Mutters of agreement could be heard here and there all over the Hall.

Harry looked first to Professor Snape. When the man returned his look with only a slightly raised eyebrow, indicating he was waiting to see how Harry would handle this, Harry turned to the heckler.

"It would be, if it were a joke," he said, then continued before a rejoinder could be forthcoming. "Do you truly believe that Professor Severus Snape would be party to such a jest?" Harry shook his head, impatient with himself to have used such an obvious foil. "Regardless, it is no joke."

"The royal family-" the girl started to protest.

"Was killed," Harry interrupted, finishing the sentence for her. "Except for one, who had been in a stasis bubble as a baby for over a thousand years."

Harry's declaration was met with silence; then there were a few snickers as the improbability of the statement sank in.

Draco opened his mouth to say something, but Harry stayed him.

"Can you prove it?" came another voice as Harry was about to speak. He knew that voice well, though rarely before had it held such a cold tone. He had called its owner 'friend' for several years.

Harry turned to face Hermione. However, he didn't reply to her immediately.

'Lilorienne; the ceiling is already enchanted to show pictures. Can you show one of your memories on it?' he asked.

'I don't know. I've never tried.' Lilorienne's 'voice' sounded intrigued.

Before Harry could ask, the scene in Dumbledore's office when Sirius Black had presented baby Harry to Dumbledore started to play on the ceiling. Through means best known only to herself, the voices of the two men were heard only moments later. Though the sound wasn't of the best quality, still the voices were recognizable. Every head was craned to watch the scene playing out, even the teachers. Albus Dumbledore, the one at the Head Table, appeared to be attempting to cast a spell at the ceiling, or several, but with no visible results.

When the first scene was finished playing, the headmaster's, then Draco's, then Snape's attempts to find out Harry's parentage were played out, along with the results.

'Thank you, Lilorienne,' Harry said to her, 'that should be enough.'

'Any time, Harry,' she replied, sounding amused.

Harry looked back to Hermione. "Is that proof enough?" he asked her.

"How did you do that?" she replied suspiciously.

Harry took that as a 'yes', and ignored her question, turning his attention back to the Great Hall in general.

"I'd like the answer to that question myself, milord," Snape said, sotto voce.

Harry hesitated, then answered the man rather than address the Hall. "May we provide it elsewhere?"

Snape declined his head in

accession, then raised it again.

Harry again turned his attention to the rest of the Great Hall. "For those of you who have yet to be informed, what you just witnessed was an engagement ceremony practiced by the high aristocracy of our world."

"And what rank are you, then?" asked a coarse voice from the Hufflepuff tables.

Harry raised an eyebrow in that direction. "My sire was Salazar Slytherin, and I was born to Godric Gryffindor, as you just saw. Think about it." With that he took Draco's hand, and they made their way out of the Hall.

Snape followed them. "I'm sure you had other plans, gentlemen," he said with slight distaste after they had the Great Hall doors behind them, "but I believe you...Mr. Slytherin-Gryffindor, were going to explain that little show in there to me?"

Harry sighed and nodded, and fell in behind the professor as the man made his way to his office in the dungeons. He couldn't afford to alienate the only adult who had all but sworn fealty to him. It was an odd thought, that the man who had made his life hell in Potions for years, would be the first adult to join with him.

"That could have been handled better, Harry," Draco said quietly as they walked, "but all in all, it went well enough."

"Thank you so much, love," Harry said, sarcastically. He nudged his fiancée and winked at him, to show he wasn't all that put out.

Draco grinned back at him.

"Dumbledore isn't going to make thing difficult for you, sir, is he?" Harry asked the professor.

"He'd be a fool if he tried," Snape replied. "I'm too valuable to him: one of the best potion masters in Great Britain? Many families send their children here merely on the strength of having them taught by me," he added haughtily.

Harry held his laughter. It wasn't so much that the man had exaggerated - he was sure Snape hadn't - but that those parents surely had no idea of the harsh methods the professor used. Harry found it ironic.

Draco didn't share Harry's opinion, despite his reasoning, and elbowed Harry for his thoughts.

Although Harry tried to protect the secret of Lilorienne's existence, the fact that she had shown things that nobody could have known by regular means or magical, made that rather difficult, and Harry had wound up telling his professor that the castle was sentient, without giving any other details other than that it had chosen, for reasons of its own, to speak to him, and was cooperating with him.

Snape was impressed, despite himself. Although knowing the castle was quite magical, he, nor anyone else he knew of, was aware of its intelligence. Although he pressed, Harry refused to divulge anything further, and Draco followed Harry's lead in that matter, though for his own reasons. Draco liked knowing things other people didn't know.

Finally, the professor let them go. It was a strange dynamic they had: Harry would have the political power and temporal authority, but while he was in school, Snape had authority over him.

When they got back to their suite, Harry and Draco almost dropped into bed, taking only enough time to disrobe. It had been a long, stressful, event-filled day, but their official engagement edged out all other concerns and they dropped off to sleep, happy.

o~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~o

They spent the next five weeks attending classes, catching up on missed work, cementing the alliance with the contingent of Slytherin House that had decided to support Harry, and granting interviews to the media. Since the announcement in the Great Hall, Voldemort would know of it anyway, so no damage was done in that way. Dumbledore's popularity took a nosedive as a result, however, and letters poured in for Harry from all over Wizarding Britain; some being hate mail, but most pledging support. Fortunately a handful of Harry's Slytherin supporters sorted through the small mountain of mail, and passed on only those that might be of importance.

The Ministry of Magic demanded Harry retract his claim and statements, claiming that they were obviously false. But when Harry presented the proof, they had little option but to grant his claim to his parentage. However, they denied he had any right to the throne based on his age, lack of governmental knowledge, etc. Harry didn't comment. He knew, based on experience and the advice of those who had more knowledge of such matters than he, that if he pushed it now, the Ministry might just create a way to make his taking power illegal. He was content, for now, to leave things as they were until he had learned what he needed to know, and had a sufficient power base to make his claim stick.

Dumbledore resorted to trying to make Harry and Draco's life difficult by splitting them up into different classes, and in any other way he could. However, this just gave Draco the freedom to work independent of Harry's shadow; a situation he relished. He loved Harry almost to distraction, but he couldn't work with his fiancée there without stepping on Harry's proverbial toes. Besides, after not seeing each other for most of the day, their greetings each evening were all the warmer, most often resulting in clothes needing to be picked up, later.

As the holidays approached, Harry convinced Draco to join him in searching out the cave he had been found in, in hopes of finding more clues to his origins. Draco agreed, despite his concerns involving his father, other Death Eaters, and Voldemort. They hadn't discussed their plans for leaving the castle with anyone, so if they left after all the other students who were going home for the holidays, the news shouldn't leak out, and they should be safe enough.

o~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~o
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Honour Bound