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Bloody But Unbowed	By : Lomonaaeren Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Harry/Draco Views: 36009 -:- Recommendations : 3 -:- 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
- 16
- 17
- 18
Thank you again for all the reviews!

Chapter Seventeen�Work
Produces the Best Results

�� Narcissa
stood with her eyes closed when Harry had finished reciting the information he
and Draco had learned from Emptyweed. Lucius sat up fully in bed, without the support
of pillows, the way he had since Harry started speaking. He avoided Harry�s
eyes, however.

�� That would
make sense,� Narcissa murmured. �After I removed your headache curse, I
retrieved a Pensieve and cast my own immediate memories into it, to analyze
them at leisure. I had thought it possible I would recognize the magical
signature in the curse from the time we spent at hospital. And yes, though
faint, it might have been your mentor�s.�

�� Harry
stared at her. �Healer Pontiff�s?� he asked with a slight croak, though as far
as he knew, Healer Pontiff had never even come into the same room as the
Malfoys.

�� Narcissa
opened her eyes then. �No,� she said. �Healer Emptyweed�s.� Then she smiled.
�Ah, yes,� she said. �It would be fairer to refer to him as your tormentor than
your mentor.�

�� Harry
blinked. Narcissa Malfoy had just made a pun. He tried to ignore the sense that
the world was collapsing and spoke to Lucius. �In truth, this reveals less than
I thought. I still don�t know exactly who the conspirators are, though my
house-elf is following a�potential one.� He swallowed around the hard lump of
pain and disgust in his throat. He didn�t want to think about its being Healer
Pontiff until he had absolutely no choice; he had done enough by setting Kreacher
on her. �But I haven�t yet asked my friend Hermione Granger to investigate the
hospital administrators. Should I do so?�

�� Lucius
nodded decisively. �I remember having reason to admire her research skills,� he
said. Harry looked at him, but he refused to elaborate, only adding, �I would
suspect everyone on the list I gave you, but the names listed first are the
ones who spoke to me sharply at the time of my revoking my donations to the
hospital. And of course, we have to consider how much we should tell the Aurors
working on the Smythe case. None of them have so far contacted me with definite
proof or with a different motive than the one Smythe gave.�

�� Harry
sighed. He suspected he knew a way to get truthful information out of one of the Aurors working on the Smythe
case, but he doubted any of the Malfoys would like him to do it. Draco,
especially, would have objections.

�� And even
though he and Draco weren�t dating yet, Harry didn�t like the thought of his
having objections. Harry felt as if they were slowly floating into alignment as
he shed more and more of his uncertainties about whether Draco would suddenly
revert to either his schoolboy insults or his recent smothering behavior. He
had to lose the distrust slowly, or the resulting trust would be worth nothing.
But he was doing that, and he was noticing more and more things about Draco
that confirmed the quiet respect and admiration that had sprung up in him.

�� Speak your
thoughts,� Lucius said.

�� Harry would
have liked it better if Narcissa had been the one to notice the dark thoughts
on his face and to command him to speak�he was still annoyed at Lucius for his
idiocy�but he reminded himself that Lucius was still sick and spoke evenly.
�The Auror who intruded into your hospital room, Julius Adoranar? He�s still
working on the Smythe case, from what I know, and he was once my lover. There
are measures I could take to get the truth from him.�

�� Narcissa
narrowed her eyes. Lucius stared at him for long moments as if he didn�t know
what Harry meant. Harry was surprised. He would have suspected Lucius to leap
at once to the worst inferences that could be taken from the words, not because
he was a Malfoy but simply because he was intelligent.

�� Narcissa spoke
a moment later, her voice tight. �You will not betray our pride or our dignity
in that way, Harry.�

�� Because it
would look as if you were desperate to know?� Harry felt his lips twist in what
was not really a smile. �You don�t need to worry about that. Julius is
arrogant; I never knew how arrogant until after I stopped dating him. He�ll
convince himself that I came back to him because he�s so handsome I was unable
to stay away.�

�� I mean,� said Narcissa, voice tighter
still, �you will not betray your pride or dignity as a Malfoy.�

�� Harry blinked,
caught without words. He had lived among people who thought they had some sort
of family reputation to keep up, of course, but the Dursleys had never
considered that Harry could add anything positive to that reputation. If he did
something disgraceful, he was immediately considered as an individual, not a
Dursley. Harry hadn�t considered that of course the situation would be
different with a family who saw every member as responsible for sustaining it.

�� Narcissa
said nothing else, but she had taken a step forwards and was staring at him
with clear blue eyes, not so different at that moment from the piercing gray of
Lucius�s or Draco�s. �Harry nodded
slowly. �I won�t go to Julius,� he added, when she made a small motion of her
head that seemed to require a verbal answer.

�� Good.�
Narcissa turned back to Lucius. �Now. I do still have those connections among
the mothers of some of Draco�s schoolmates, Lucius. I have not yet touched them
because I did not want to betray family secrets. But I think the time has come.
We need to find out who cursed you.� She raised an eyebrow and waited.

�� Lucius
nodded. �Question them, Narcissa. If you can find out which of them might have
an aged relative who could have visited Rodolphus in Azkaban��

�� Of course,�
said Narcissa, with a small scornful glance at Lucius for daring to tell her
her duty, and then she glided out of the room. Though her steps were
necessarily short because she was walking in a gown, they reminded Harry of the
stride of a predator, and he shivered.

�� Where is
Draco?� Lucius asked. �I thought it odd he did not attend this discussion with
you, but perhaps he might have been in bed or have a need to think.�

�� Harry
frowned at Lucius, wondering why Lucius had laid so much emphasis on the one
word, but said, �He wanted to begin brewing the potion that would purge the
dreambane from your body. He says you�ve been sick long enough.�

�� And what
do you think?� Lucius�s eyes were keener than they had been since his
confession.

�� Harry
clenched his hands into fists. �I think that I still don�t enough yet about how
the spells in the Mirror Maze connect to each other,� he said. �I could dissipate
half of them, but there�s no telling what might happen to the other half. I�ll
need to research for at least a few more days before I feel confident to try
anything, and there�s no Healer I can trust to consult on this.�

�� I trust
you.�

�� Harry glanced
away from him, though he did have to wonder for a moment if Lucius was putting
himself in Harry�s hands partly to distract Harry from the consequences of his
earlier lying. Or maybe to make up for it? Harry was already starting to have
more generous interpretations of the Malfoys� motives, even though his common sense
told him the manipulation probably went along with those motives at all times.

�� But if I choose to see them a certain way,
who�s to say that that perspective isn�t also right? I shouldn�t let myself be
taken advantage of, but that�s true in every relationship, even the one I have
with Ron and Hermione.

�� I am still
only a mediwizard,� Harry forced himself to say. �That makes a difference in
talent and skill.� Lucius started to say something; Harry rushed on, because he
didn�t think he would have the courage to say this if he didn�t. �I know it
doesn�t seem to, but I�ve been lucky
as much as anything else. The Malfoy blood magic healed you when I would have
been helpless to do anything but sacrifice my life. I simply don�t feel ready
to dissipate the Mirror Maze yet. I would rather wait until I am.�

�� He looked
back at last. Lucius nodded thoughtfully. �And the knowledge I did not give you
can hardly have contributed to your confidence,� he said.

�� Harry
frowned. He didn�t want to agree, but on the other hand, he didn�t want to lie
and say he wasn�t still angry about Lucius�s omission, because he was. He hoped Narcissa had found out and
scolded him already. Harry thought she could make a larger impression than he
could.

�� Let�s let
Draco try the potion first,� he said. �When the dreambane is gone from your
body, at least it�ll be easier to treat you.�

�� And I will
feel easier as well,� Lucius said.

�� Harry
looked at him again and thought suddenly how hard it must have been, for such a
proud man to spend days in bed and suffer other people not only to care for him
but to do research for him and make decisions about his health. Harry had spent
so many years now in uncomfortable situations that he simply accepted his
patients� incapacity to do some things as a matter of course. On the other
hand, he hadn�t liked it when Draco tried to take care of him, had he, no
matter how well-intentioned? And even though he could admit that he needed the
care now?

�� I�m sure
you will,� he said, and gave a small bow to Lucius. Yes, he was still angry.
Yes, he could forgive Lucius and carry on treating him anyway.

�� Lucius
blinked, but a moment later, his face assumed a small smile.

*

�I promise.� Hermione snapped the
list of names Harry had passed to her through the Floo and glared at it as if a
mere scan with her eyes could mark the names of the guilty. �I�m going to find
out something solid for you in the next day or so.�

�� Harry
smiled. �Thank you, Hermione. I appreciate you doing this when you have no
reason to like or trust the Malfoys.�

�� Hermione
lifted her head and stared at him. �You mean you don�t know?� she said in
wonder.

�� Er.� Harry
wondered if Narcissa had appeared on Hermione and Ron�s doorstep and apologized
for any inconvenience from Death Eaters during the war. �What?�

�� Hermione
leaned forwards, making it seem for a moment as if her green-tinted face would
dip below the corner of the fireplace. �I can see well enough that they�re
giving you what you need,� she said. �I haven�t seen you look so rested in
several months. Being with Xavier certainly didn�t relax you.� Harry nodded
ruefully; even during the time he and Xavier had got along, the relationship
had been tense, strung to a constant high point of melodrama. �So somehow, the
Malfoys have managed that. I don�t really need details.� She wrinkled her nose,
as if she imagined that Harry would tell her exactly how he and Draco were
fucking.

�� Harry began
to protest. That had only ever happened when he was dating Julius, and then only because Hermione had teased
him about his sex life when he was drunk.

�� Hermione
hurried on. �I still don�t like them. I won�t without a lot more prompting.�
She frowned, eyes distant, and Harry wondered if she was thinking of the
insults that Draco had heaped on her during school, or the diary Lucius had
passed Ginny, or something else.

�� Harry
stayed quiet. He could hardly make apologies or excuses that rightfully
belonged to the people involved, and he thought the Malfoys would probably be
insulted if he tried. Besides, he understood that the Malfoys might tolerate
his friends but not like them, and certainly wouldn�t extend the tenderness
they displayed for Harry to include them. Nor would they want Harry explaining
how they acted inside their own home in case it revealed a weakness. How could
he convince Hermione by saying, �They�re different with me, really, but I can�t
tell you about it?�

�� But I can
accept they�re good for you,� said Hermione, returning to the present. �Very good, if the way you�re looking is
any indication. I�ve wanted that security for you for years. I have every
confidence they�ll make sure you balance your job with the rest of your life,
which is something I can�t coax you to do.� She smiled at him. �And so it�s for
you that I�m doing this, not them. They have to stay alive and contented so
that you can be content.�

�� She closed
the Floo connection before Harry could say anything else. He sat back on his
heels, thoughtful. Both Hermione and his new family seemed to have a skill in
severing people from their past deeds and coexisting with aspects of their
personalities that they didn�t like.

�� Harry
needed to try that.

*

�Come in. You might learn
something.�

�� Harry had
only intended to put down a note outside Draco�s potions lab, so that he might
know what his mother was doing and that they had decided to use the potion
first, without waiting for Harry to master the spells that would dissipate the
Mirror Maze. He paused, swallowing, one hand hovering above the doorknob, and
then turned it and stepped inside, reminding himself that Draco wouldn�t have
asked him to come in if he were at some delicate point.

�� On the
other hand, every point in potions-brewing looked delicate to Harry, as he was
forcibly reminded when he stepped into the neat stone room and saw several
simmering cauldrons, glittering with pink and purple and green liquids. Bubbles
rose and burst in the air; Harry flinched, but Draco didn�t seem alarmed. He
was standing in front of the largest of the cauldrons, casting chopped roots of
some kind into it, a faint smile on his face. He gestured for Harry to come
closer without taking his eyes from the potion.

�� The purge
to clear dreambane from the body is potent,� he murmured, �and requires
powerful ingredients.� He paused as if he expected Harry to add something.
Evidently he�d forgotten that Harry was pants at Potions theory. Harry made a
faint noise of assent.

�� Surely you
must know,� Draco said, with a faint tinge of exasperation to the words, �that
ingredients with strength in them confer a greater strength on the potion in return?�

�� It seems
like it makes sense,� Harry said. Draco was stirring the potion with one hand
now and scattering in flakes of some black powder�it looked like ordinary
pepper�with the other. Harry felt a swell of envy that he had enough
concentration to do that and hold a conversation at the same time. �But I�ve never been sure what strong ingredients
were and how you differentiated them from weak ones.� He forced a grin. Of
course Draco could do some things that Harry couldn�t, since he was in training
for the Potions mastery, and feeling jealous of him was rather beside the
point. �Of course, I don�t have much use for such knowledge.�

�� So you
would simply have given any potion to my father when you were treating him in
hospital?� Draco�s voice was light and idle, as if he were discussing the color
of the robes he intended to wear at some party a month in the future. He seized
a vial of pink particles that might have been crushed horn or powdered flower
petals or scrapings from a human heart, and sifted them into the potion.
�Without testing it first?�

�� Of course
not.� Harry folded his arms, unsure why he felt half-defensive. Hadn�t he
acknowledged his own incompetence a moment ago? �You were there. You could have
identified it for me.�

�� But most
of the time I�m not there,� said Draco. �And I could very well have trained for
some other profession than that of Potions master, and then what would you have
done?� He snatched up a bit of something blue�a crystal, Harry thought�and
removed his hand from the stirring rod for a moment to toss it from palm to
palm. It spun and winked, but still not slowly enough for Harry to be sure of
what it was, before it dropped into the cauldron with a small plop. Draco seized the stirring rod,
which hadn�t even had time to fall still, and moved it through the liquid
again.

�� I find
that hard to imagine,� said Harry. He felt as though he had just seen some
unexpected and daring Quidditch move.

�� Draco
darted him a glance. �What�s hard to imagine?�

�� Both,�
Harry said. �That you wouldn�t have trained for a Potions mastery, when you�re
so clearly good at it, and that you wouldn�t be there. From now on, I mean,� he
added, and then paused, fearful he might have said too much.

�� Draco
brewed without answering for a long moment. Harry found himself glad�obviously
that little unexpected declaration hadn�t broken Draco�s focus�and oddly bereft
at the same time. Some acknowledgment would
have been nice, not that he had a right to expect it. Maybe Draco�s subdued
manner since Harry came back from St. Mungo�s was an indication he was
rethinking his lust for Harry.

�� But then
Harry remembered the little monologue he�d overheard last night before he fell
asleep, and decided that that couldn�t be true. Draco wanted to concentrate on
mingling powders and catalysts and all the other mysterious apparatus of the
purge for right now, that was all. Harry leaned on the wall and tried to find
some pattern in the swift movements of Draco�s hands, but it made no more sense
now than it ever did.

�� Draco
finally tapped the stirring rod on the edge of the cauldron, scattering a few
stray drops back into the potion, and then bent down and closed his eyes as he
inhaled the fumes. Harry could tell he was satisfied by the way he stepped
gently back and laid the stirring rod down as if it were made of finest
alabaster.

�� And when did I learn to read him that way?

�� Draco
turned around then, and Harry�s tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth at both
the passion and the uncertainty in the other man�s face. He stood with his
hands at his sides, but twitching as if he would like to reach out. His words
limped with difficulty.

�� I�need to
know what exactly you feel right now, Harry,� he said. �I was committed to
friendship that might never build up to anything more after the warning you
gave me, and now�� He shook his head and stared at the floor. His cheeks bore a
delicate flush. �Now you�ve leaned against me for comfort when we confronted
Emptyweed, and now you�re staring at me as you wouldn�t stare at a friend.�

�� Harry
licked his lips. Draco had done most of the reaching out so far, though,
granted, it hadn�t been reaching in a manner Harry was inclined to appreciate.
And Harry might crush that pride Draco had apparently inherited from Lucius if
he made the wrong move, or at least turn Draco accidentally away from him.

�� I do like
you as more than a friend,� he said, and took a step forwards. He wondered if
telling someone else he liked them should be this much labor. Work produces the best results, Healer
Pontiff�s voice sounded in his head, and her advice might be sound even if her
loyalty was not. No matter how slow or
ponderous it seems. You will never achieve by sitting back and waiting for
inspiration alone. �I like the way you work, the way you care for your
parents, and the way you can open your mind and home to someone like me, even
if I don�t understand all the reasons why. You can even argue with me and not
be mortally offended. I like all of that.�

�� Draco�s
neck twitched as if he wanted to look up, but in the end he kept his eyes
firmly fixed on the floor. �That�s not enough,� he said, voice thick. �You
probably like all that about Weasley, and yet you don�t want to go to bed with
him. Do you?� he added suddenly, and then bit his lip so hard he drew blood.

�� Harry found
himself smiling. It was easier, now, to move the rest of the way forwards and
clasp Draco�s wrist. �No, I don�t,� he whispered. �It takes a different
combination of admiration and trust and liking for me to want to sleep with
someone. My relationship with Ron has never been like that.�

�� Draco made
a shuffling little step. Harry reckoned he was pleased at the news but still
annoyed with himself for asking. �And your relationship with me?� he asked.

�� I want it
to be like that,� said Harry, and gathered up all the courage he used to want
for his Potions exams and leaned in to kiss Draco on the lips.

�� Draco made
a noise of startled delight and wrapped his arms desperately around Harry,
kissing him back until his vision blurred and his head rang. Harry kept control
of the kiss, though, enough to draw away when he grew in need of air and
whisper, �I�m still going to make mistakes. But thank you for everything you�ve
done for me so far. And I really do need to show more trust in you. I can�t
even imagine how extraordinary it must be for you to reach out to someone like
me and not have your hand accepted immediately.� Draco�s shoulders tensed a
little, as if he were wondering which reaching out Harry meant, but Harry
didn�t attempt to clarify. It could stand for all the occasions Draco had asked
something of him and Harry had turned away. �But you kept trying anyway, and
you�ve managed to overcome your biases towards me now. It would be silly if I
couldn�t do the same, when you�ve shown the greater trust.�

�� I�m not
sure about that,� Draco said. He was still trembling slightly. Harry caressed
the back of his head and kissed the side of his neck, surprised but pleased when
Draco immediately went still in his arms and then groaned. Apparently he�d
found a sensitive spot by accident. Draco caught his breath, though, and went
on speaking with some effort. �You were the one who came and stayed in our
house.�

�� And you
were the one who opened your house to me.� Harry was more content than he would
have believed, standing there with Draco Malfoy in his arms. He might have
believed it if someone had told him this was his future, but only in the same
way he had believed evil of Julius and Xavier when he learned what they really
wanted from him. Of course things
like that would happen, because Harry�s life had taken strange turns that he
would simply have to endure. But to be happy like this�Harry half-feared to
move, as if doing so would shatter a dream in which he had another family and
acceptance and a path towards love. �The one who took the burden of caring for
me on yourself��

�� Via
Rogers.�

�� Harry
wondered for a moment if Draco was protesting in order to secure extra compliments
for himself, and then chuckled. Of course
he was. And Harry didn�t mind, because he was entering this relationship
with his eyes open. He knew what Draco needed, and he was confident in his own
ability to provide it. Even what Draco wanted might not be such a problem.

�� That�s
true,� he said. �But it was the impulse behind it that�s admirable. Even your
trying to keep me in the Manor and away from the hospital was admirable in its
way. Stupid, but shouldn�t everyone be allowed a little stupidity in his life?�

�� Draco
shoved Harry away from him and stood there, eyes brilliant, face flushed and
happy, lips slightly parted. He tried to speak, but ended up shaking his head
and stealing another kiss from Harry.

�� I have to
finish the potion,� he said.

�� You�ve
already finished it,� Harry said, taking a glance over Draco�s shoulder at the
potion, �or you wouldn�t have allowed yourself to become distracted by me.�

�� You think
all you are to me is a distraction?�
Draco reached out for him, and Harry allowed his shoulders to be clasped,
because he was short of breath.�

�� That was so unlike what I expected him to
say. I expected some remark about how I couldn�t possibly know if the potion
was ready or not, and�

�� And really,
was it so surprising when Draco had shown that he liked and respected and trusted
Harry?

�� No,� he
said, and kissed the side of Draco�s neck again, so that he could pull the
groan from him. Certainty swung through him like a pendulum and solidified. �Not
anymore.�

*

�� And what
will happen once I drink this potion?� Lucius turned the vial back and forth
with what Harry would have thought was scientific curiosity the week before.
Now he concentrated and could see the way that Lucius�s small finger, folded
against the glass of the vial instead of stuck out like all the rest, conveyed
nervousness.

�� The
dreambane will stream from your body.� Draco stood at the foot of Lucius�s bed,
close to Harry. Narcissa hovered not far away, her gaze passing back and forth
between her husband and son.

�� It doesn�t
sound a pleasant process.� Lucius turned the vial upside-down, a procedure only
possible because it was corked. Harry tensed anyway. From the sudden tight arch
of Draco�s neck in front of him, he wasn�t too happy himself.

�� It isn�t,�
Draco said shortly. �Purges never are, and this one less so. The dreambane will
seek out every orifice for emergence it can, and it will come out mingled with
a stream of blood.�

Harry winced. Lucius merely snapped
his fingers, and a house-elf appeared in the corner of the room. �We�ll have to
change my sheets quite often, then,� he said, and uncorked the vial to pour the
chalky potion inside down his throat.

Draco sucked in a harsh breath.
Harry stepped up behind him and bent to whisper in his ear. �What�s the matter?
Was he supposed to take only a few drops at first?�

Draco shook his head. �He startled
me, that�s all,� he said. �Sometimes I forget how much he really trusts me.�

�� Harry was
sure the answer was honest, and he permitted himself a moment�s smugness that
only two other people in the other world would ever get to hear the like from
Draco Malfoy.

�� Lucius
coughed, and a small stream of milky blood escaped from the corner of his
mouth. A moment later, bubbles of brilliant red emerged at his ears, and one
burst on the side of his eye. Harry flinched instinctively. Narcissa watched
with a pursed mouth, as if she were thinking of the sheets. Draco leaned
closer, observing. Lucius himself examined his hand critically; perhaps he
expected the dreambane to exit from beneath his nails, too.

�� Draco
suddenly hissed.

�� What?�
Harry whispered.

�� Something�s
wrong,� Draco said. �The potion should have produced a heavier flow by now.
It�s impossible that I brewed it incorrectly, but��

Wounds burst out all over Lucius�s
body, face and shoulders and chest and legs and hands. For a moment, Harry
caught a glimpse of tooth and gums through the holes in his cheeks, and then
Draco was screaming incoherently and trying to get to his father. Narcissa had
taken a step away from the bed, hands folded in front of her, eyes fixed and
staring.

Harry grabbed Draco�s shoulders,
pulled him out of the way, and raised his wand. His voice didn�t shake as he
spoke the incantation, �Congelo!�
because he wouldn�t let it shake. The spell would freeze time for Lucius�s body
and buy Harry extra hours to study what had gone wrong. Obviously, their
enemies had used a trap that made the removal of the dreambane from Lucius�s body
a trigger for the resumption of the Mirror Maze�s worst attacks; what Harry
needed to know was how.

The spell flared around Lucius�s
body in a brilliant white corona, and then vanished. The blood went on breaking
out everywhere that it wasn�t supposed to, and from Lucius�s open mouth, he was
screaming without sound.

Lucius was dying in front of
Harry�s eyes, and he had no idea how to stop it.

*

qwerty: You�re largely right about
Emptyweed, except he did have a genuine dislike of Harry that he indulged by
acting nastily to him. But then, I also think that Snape disliked Harry.

Thrnbrooke: Here it is! Not that it
is all that nice.

FallenAngel1129: Yes, Harry is
being more open towards Draco, as you saw here. It was mainly because he�s
finally accepted that Draco respects him.

Slytherdor: Thank you!

kittycat30: Oh, yes. Only three
more chapters after this one, so the climax is coming on quickly.

swordandangel: Thank you very much!
I hope you like these latest developments.

avihenda: Thanks! In this case,
Rogers will explain a bit in the future, either Chapter 19 or Chapter 20, the
difference between his reaction to Harry and Dobby�s reaction to Harry, and
what he thinks about it.

shinythiefxblast: Very true! Most
of their actions during the canon series�Narcissa going to seek Snape�s help in
keeping Draco alive, for example�were extreme.

hieisdragoness18: Thanks! Harry will
continue to keep Draco alert, partially because he�s aware of his past and a
little suspicious of him at all times.

linagabriev: Thank you! It always
irritated me that no more time was spent on acknowledging Lily�s role during
the canon series. Of course, almost no one knew about it, but I think Harry
would have tried to publicize what she did after the war, when it was safer to
talk about.

Both Harry and Draco are determined
to convert each other on the topic of Muggles, magic, and blood. I foresee
interesting arguments for them.

Emptyweed means that if he had told
Harry about his enemies, Harry would inevitably have betrayed that it was
Emptyweed who told him, if only by talking loudly and carelessly to someone he
shouldn�t have. As Emptyweed says: no political consciousness at all.

YanaYugi: They probably will, but
at the moment they have other things to worry about.

Pajama Pants: Thank you so much! I
doubt you were looking forward to the cliffhanger, but, well, Chapter 18 will
follow soon.

Mangacat: At least Harry has the
confirmation now, though. Before, he was coming up with wild theories about who
the conspirators really were.

celestialuna: So would I!

GoddessMoonLady: Thank you!

Lucius thought he was protecting
his family. He can do a lot of irrational things in the name of that.

I�m glad you like Harry�s
interaction with both Draco and Narcissa. Though he�s becoming more comfortable
with them, it won�t be a case of his just doing whatever they say, ever. He�s
too aware of what/who they are for that.

MewMew2: Thank you! And sorry, but
I am deliberately keeping the Malfoys� perspective out of this one. I may write
a story in the future where I give Lucius or Draco�s POV on the events of the
story.

bluefirexxx: Various things have
been changing Harry�s mind along the way: he had a lot more admiration for
Draco after he saved Lucius with the blood magic, for example, but then he lost
it when Draco tried to control his movements and ordered Rogers to watch over
him. Now that he has proof Draco will respect his wishes�staying out of his
bed, in this case�even when he�s not awake to enforce them, he can go full
steam ahead.

feltonslover: Hoped the interaction
in this chapter satisfied you!

hassan: Thank you so much! I really
appreciate that you�ve likened it to a novel; that�s essentially what I�m
trying to write, but of course it can be difficult to do so without the benefit
of a professional editor.

Rebriddle: At the moment, Harry
thinks Draco has given up vengeance on Emptyweed. Ha.

flipping pages: Why ironic?

And yes, Healer Pontiff may still
be suspicious. Harry should get confirmation one way or the other from
Kreacher.
- 16
- 17
- 18
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Bloody But Unbowed