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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
- 17
- 18
- 19
Thank you for all the reviews!

Chapter Eighteen�One
Strand in the Web Touches More

�� Harry felt
his attention splitting into three. One part of him wanted to keep casting
healing spells at Lucius until he revived, no matter what those healing spells
were or what they cost Harry in terms of energy. Another part wanted to comfort
Draco. Another part wanted to vomit and rush out of the room, just so that he
would be too busy to notice the moment of Lucius�s actual death.

�� But the
thought of losing a patient who had become family pressed against his throat
like a knife.

�� He accepted you into his home, he listened
to you when he had every reason not to, and you are not going to fail him
by letting him die.

�� Harry
seized Draco�s wrist in one hand and squeezed down, making Draco gasp at the
sudden pain and focus dazed, tear-stained eyes on him. Staring at him, Harry
pressed down again and snapped, �Invoke the Malfoy blood magic. Now.�

�� Draco
opened his mouth as if he were going to protest or explain the risk that the
magic would kill other members of the family was too great. Harry shook his
head, and Draco swallowed and closed his eyes, seeming to fall down within
himself.

�� Harry felt
the swell of power passing across him, and wanted to lose himself within it as
he had done when he and Draco helped heal Lucius of the Sectumsempra and Scalper�s curses. But he couldn�t. He had to take
control and manage this.

�� Even though
he knew little about the Malfoy blood magic. Even though the only clue he had
that this technique would work was something Healer Pontiff had once mentioned,
and then only in connection with a spell that allowed two experienced Healers
to work together. Neither Harry nor Draco was a full Healer, and the spell was
tricky and invasive.

�� But Harry
simply didn�t have time to worry about either his lack of skill or Draco�s
probable reaction later.

�� Guberno carmen de Malfoy!� he said.

�� The magic
ringing him and Draco froze for a moment, an odd sensation; Harry felt as if
his lungs had become stone, so used had he become to breathing the power and
existing within it. And then the magic reoriented and streamed through him
again, making Harry feel as if he were shining like a star. It was an effort to
keep his mind focused on the one thing
he wanted the magic to do, instead of sending it off to accomplish anything he
dreamed of.

�� Congelo!� he said again, the
time-stopping charm he had tried to use once before, and which hadn�t worked.

�� This time,
he felt the shudder as the Malfoy blood magic slammed into the Dark magic
wreaking havoc on Lucius�s body. Harry opened his eyes and took a step
forwards, his fists clenched, his wand wavering. The force of power passing
through the phoenix feather core might actually crack it, but that worry was
distant, compared to the puddles of blood and torn edges of skin covering
Lucius�s body.

�� And as it
had done once before�Harry�s mind scrambled and leaped into an insight he
couldn�t have had until now�the reluctance of Lucius�s enemies to let him
simply die came to his rescue. They had wanted him to suffer, and therefore the combination of curses had been designed
to cause a heavy, lingering death. Harry doubted now that even the randomly
appearing wounds in his body that had been the first symptom of the curse would
have killed him immediately. Instead, they would have gone on opening and then
closing again until the people behind this felt he had endured enough pain.

�� Which could
take a long time.

�� It was a
sadistic motive, particularly repugnant to the Healer in Harry, but right now
it was working for them. The curse hadn�t killed Lucius yet, and its power was
split several different ways so that the Mirror Maze could bend, flex, and
concentrate damage in many places on the body, as Harry had told Lucius once before.
Had they been dealing with a straightforward Mirror Maze that focused pain like
a lens focusing sunlight, Lucius would already have been dead.

�� As it was,
Harry�s single-minded magic, trying to do only one thing, forced the other
slowly backwards. Harry saw the Mirror Maze manifest above Lucius for a moment,
a crystalline, surging web of light. It turned black and cracked into dust that
sifted back down, vanishing as it touched the peeled skin.

�� And then
those wounds stopped bleeding, as every life process in Lucius obediently
locked itself into place, obeying the Congelo
charm.

�� Harry
sagged, panting, barely catching himself on the bed with one hand. But they
couldn�t afford to lose time, so he raised his wand and cast a spell that would
tell him if Lucius retained enough life-force to survive when the time-stopping
charm was removed, or if he would need to be sent into a healing coma. That
spell burst like a golden firework above the bed, then rushed back together and
formed a corona above Harry�s eyes, presenting a reassuring vision of a slowly
breathing man. Yes, he could survive. The time-stopping charm had succeeded,
and Lucius would not have to spend months recovering.

�� Harry felt
relief more powerful than the magic. He would have been grateful to fold his
hands on the bed before him at the moment and collapse into a healing sleep of
his own.

�� But he had
done something wrong just now, even if it was in the service of a greater good,
and he needed to face the consequences. He had seized control of the Malfoy
blood magic from Draco, directing it so that it obeyed his will only. Two
Healers might work together that way if one was more skilled in the types of
spells that needed to be performed, or if one was knowledgeable and the other
powerful, with the experienced one directing the other�s magic. But otherwise,
it was a grossly inconsiderate thing to have done, and Harry knew Draco
wouldn�t be happy about it.

�� He stood up
and turned around.

�� Draco was
watching him with startled eyes, as though he had just seen Harry slash a wound
across Lucius�s chest himself. He cradled his wrist where Harry had squeezed
him; Harry could see a bruise forming. It took an enormous effort not to look
away, and to speak the words he had promised himself he would speak. �I could
be charged and fined, if not placed in Azkaban, for taking control of your
magic without your permission. If you want to do that, I won�t resist, but
please wait until Lucius has been treated. I�ve studied the Mirror Maze deeply
enough that I think I can find a solution and release him from the stasis spell
in a few days.�

�� Draco put
his head in his hands. Harry, not knowing what that meant, turned to Narcissa.

�� She held
her hand out to him, and when he looked at her uncertainly, she took the extra
step forwards to lay it on his arm. �I am amazed,� she murmured, �though
perhaps I should not be, that you think Draco would drag you before the
Wizengamot for this. Professional Healer ethics do not seem to sit well with
Malfoy ethics, however. It is no wonder that you feel so out of your depth
here.� Her hand moved, smoothing up and down his elbow.

�� Harry
didn�t know what was going on, but he was pretty sure it wasn�t what was meant to happen. He turned away from
Narcissa and looked at Draco.

�� You just
saved my father�s life,� Draco said. His voice was choked. �Again. If you had to use my magic to do
it, who cares? That means I got to have some part in rescuing him, which I
needed, after my potion caused him such pain.� His eyes shut, and Harry thought
he was struggling against tears.

�� Draco,
no!� Harry reached out with his free arm to embrace Draco and drag him close,
because Narcissa still showed no sign of letting him go. �That wasn�t your
fault. It was completely the fault of whoever set up the spells so that giving
him the dreambane purge would make the Maze react.�

�� And the
reason that you had to take control of Draco�s magic comes from the exact same
source,� said Narcissa into his ear, her fingers tapping hard on the bone of
his elbow. �Whatever it may have cost, Harry, the result is worth it.�

�� Draco
nodded frantically against Harry�s shoulder. �You thought of a solution in the
midst of all that�screaming,� he said, tilting his head cautiously towards the
bed where Lucius was frozen, as if he might awaken and cry out again. �I
couldn�t have. I was panicking, which is something I was taught never to do.�

�� I was no
better,� Narcissa said softly. �Under other crises, I have managed to retain my
coolness of temper, but my husband has nearly died too often in the past
fortnight. We owe you yet another debt, Harry, or we would, if it were
reasonable to talk of members of the same family owing each other debts. For
that reason, accept Draco�s forgiveness and think no more of it. You have my blessing
to do whatever you must in the name of saving Lucius.�

�� Mine as
well,� Draco added.

�� Harry had a
long moment when he thought he might break down. He had not expected to be
given such latitude; he had not thought he deserved it. He had come to appreciate
the gifts and the kindness that Draco, Lucius, and Narcissa offered him as
individuals, but now he caught a dim sense of what it would mean to be absorbed
into a family, where guilt was not unforgivable and mistakes didn�t mean the
end of a relationship.

�� Thank
you,� he whispered. �Thank you.�

�� Draco
lifted his head. Harry touched the back of his neck, thinking he might need
more comfort, but found he was staring at his father with fixed eyes. Harry
frowned.

�� I�m trying
to memorize the way he looks,� Draco said, as if Harry had asked the question
of what he was doing aloud. �That way, I won�t be inclined towards mercy when
we punish the ones who did this to him.�

�� Harry
gritted his teeth. And here�s another
reminder of how different we are, and the things family bonds can�t smooth
over, he thought wryly. I�ll have to
move fast to ensure that our enmies get a fair trial.

�� On the
other hand, Draco had let Emptyweed go with only a headache. Maybe he would
forget about violent vengeance if Harry could involve him in saving Lucius�s
life.

�� I know
nothing about how potions might interact with spells like this,� he said. �I�ll
need your help to figure that out.�

�� Draco
turned back so that his forehead rested against Harry�s chin. �You�re hopeless
at Potions, Potter,� he said, but his voice was soft.

�� Harry
pressed a kiss into Draco�s hair, and only then remembered that Narcissa was
watching. He flushed. She raised an eyebrow and gave him a faint smile that
Harry could at least hope was approving.

*

�� That�s
it.�

�� Harry
stared at the list Hermione had passed him through the Floo. For a moment, he
thought it was the same as the parchment he had given her yesterday containing
the names of the hospital administrators, and he was about to ask why she had
given it back to him again. Then his tired eyes made out new words among the
blurring letters, and he forced himself to read carefully.

�� Two of the
administrators, Burne-Jones and Neverlong, had connections to Death Eater
families, though carefully buried through aliases and spelling changes to the
original names. Another, Foxe, had a nephew who had died in the war, suspected
to have been killed with Lucius Malfoy�s wand.

�� That�s why
they wanted him to suffer,� said Hermione. �It really is the strangest
alliance, Harry, between people who want to punish him for betraying Voldemort
and the ones who want to punish him for what he did whilst he was in service to
Voldemort.�

�� You�re
certain of this?� Harry blinked, and the letters on the page changed place yet
again. He�d spent so much of the last sixteen hours reading books on the spells
in the Mirror Maze and the possible threads by which they linked to each other
that his brain was rebelling against absorbing more words.

�� Yes,�
Hermione said. �Several of the people they worked with were in the Ministry,
and the Ministry even had records on the Death Eater connections and the Foxe
connection. They were interviewed before the Malfoy trials, but the Aurors
concluded there was no need to call them in as witnesses. From there, it was
just a matter of�leaning on a few people.� Her mouth moved in an unpleasant
smile. Harry was reminded that he knew very little of the seamier sides of
Hermione�s job.

�� It�s
nothing that could hurt you, is it?�

�� Hermione
snorted. �No. You�d be surprised how cooperative people become when you offer
them the chance to talk about something they clearly disapprove of but were
frightened to talk about before, as long as you promise them immunity from
legal prosecution.� She looked unhappy for a moment, then shrugged. �I wasn�t happy to promise that, in a few cases,
but I really don�t think any of the people I spoke to are guilty.� She stared
at Harry. �And you�ll make sure to protect the people who are from Malfoy
wrath, won�t you?�

�� If I can,�
said Harry, the snappish tone emerging in his voice before he could stop it.
�At the moment, I�m more worried about curing Lucius than I am about what
happens to the people who did this.�

�� Hermione
smiled. �Of course you are.� Suddenly her gaze sharpened. �And when was the
last time you rested, Harry?�

�� I�m going
to cure that now,� Harry said, standing, �as soon as I can drag Draco away from
his books.�

�� Hermione
nodded and shut down the Floo connection on her own. Harry braced himself with
a hand against the mantle and shut his eyes. He needed to take the information
Hermione had found down to Narcissa, because she would be better able to do
something with it, given her own connections with Death Eaters� wives, but he
didn�t think he could manage the stairs between his room and Lucius�s.

�� And then he
remembered, and nearly smiled. He called, and Rogers appeared with an eager bow,
extending his hand for the parchment.

�� Narcissa,�
Harry murmured as he handed it over.

�� Of course,�
said Rogers, but he hovered for a moment instead of vanishing immediately. �And
Master Harry will go to bed and get some food and take care of Master Draco.�

�� Yes,�
Harry said, �I will.�

�� Master
Harry will keep his word,� Rogers said with satisfaction, and popped out. Harry
tied to ignore the sense that there was an invisible or else attached to that sentence, and stepped back into the
library, where Draco had brought the relevant potions books from the lab as
well as all the books on Healing magic in the house.

�� One glance
at Draco roused all the mediwizard instincts Harry had ever had. His face was
so pale it looked unnatural in comparison to his hair, and his hands were
bloodless as they gripped the sides of a large book. He held his face close to
the page, as if he could no longer read the words from a reasonable distance.
Scattered around him were piles of crumpled parchment, puddles of spilled ink,
and five broken quills.

�� Harry
stepped up behind him and put his hand on Draco�s shoulder. �Come on,� he said
quietly. �You need to rest.�

�� Draco flung
his head back and stared up. His eyes were desperate, and Harry would have
winced from the sadness in them, except that he had seen worse things in his
life�including Lucius lying so still in the midst of a lake of blood. But the
sadness still hurt him, enough that he put his arms around Draco and kissed him
on the cheek.

�� I know the
solution is here,� Draco whispered. �I know
it is. If I can just find it�� His hands scrabbled over the sides of the
table for a moment. �What if I go to bed, and that means I miss a discovery
that could save his life?�

�� That won�t
happen.� Harry gently pulled him from the chair and towards the bedroom,
murmuring Cleaning Charms as they went. He would have liked to take the time to
enter the shower, with Draco in tow, but he didn�t think either of them would
remain awake through it. �Lucius is under the Congelo charm. It won�t fade.�

�� They might
have put on some spell that could dissipate it.� Draco twisted restlessly in
his arms, but didn�t actually try to pull away. �We don�t know enough about the
Mirror Maze to say that they didn�t.�

�� I know
that much,� Harry said. �I�m absolutely sure they didn�t foresee this
happening. In fact, the magic they used in the Maze might actually help the
stasis spell endure, because they wanted him to remain alive as long as he
could under the stress of such pain.�

�� Draco gave
a low sob. Harry kissed his cheek, his ears, and his mouth before he laid him
gently on the bed.

�� Do you
mind sleeping in your clothes?� he asked. �I�m afraid I don�t have enough
strength myself to undress you.� He yawned. Nor
interest, right now, he admitted to himself. He had always become less
interested in sex when he was under intense stress, something Xavier had never
understood.

�� I mind
sleeping alone,� Draco said, and extended his hand.

�� Harry
smiled. The question itself was a risk, of a sort, given how powerfully Harry
had rejected the idea of having Draco in his bed before. But Harry had a need
for company himself, right now.

�� He climbed
into the bed and wrapped his arms around Draco, who rolled so that his head was
resting in the crook between Harry�s neck and his shoulder. He sighed and
seemed to fall asleep at once.

�� Harry
expected to remain awake, stroking his back and watching over him. Instead, his
body relaxed as it absorbed the warmth of Draco�s beside him, and then he
melted, slowly, away from the surface of wakefulness into a heavy slumber.

*

�� �Harry? Harry, wake up.�

�� Harry
stretched luxuriously and opened his eyes. Draco�s face was hovering above him,
and for long moments, Harry couldn�t work out how that had happened.

�� Then he
realized he was flat on his back in his bed, with Draco leaning over him on his
elbows.

�� He arched
his neck, touching his lips to Draco�s in a kiss. It seemed natural to do that
when he was in bed with someone as handsome as Draco.

�� Draco
moaned once, and then wrapped his arms around Harry and buried his head back
where it had been when he fell asleep, his cheek resting heavily on Harry�s
collarbone. �How did you do that?� he murmured. �I feel more hopeful about my
father already, even though we haven�t done
anything yet.�

�� Harry laughed
and embraced Draco, his fingers digging into his shoulders, massaging as Draco
had massaged him when he was hunched over his books. �It�s not me, it�s the
sleep.�

�� But you
still knew when I needed to go to bed,� said Draco.

�� If you�re
determined to give someone credit for that, it should be Hermione. She�s the
one who reminded me that we both needed to rest.�

�� Why did
you rest with me?�

�� From the
emphasis of the question, Harry knew he was talking about Harry�s presence in
the bed, rather than his deciding to sleep at the same time. He answered in the
same tone he�d been using so far, a mixture of gentleness and amusement.
�Because I wanted to. And because you asked. And because you�ve shown that you
can keep your more unreasonable demands under control.�

�� Is that
all it takes to get around a declaration you make?� Draco sounded both
surprised and smug. �You�re easier to handle than I imagined.�

�� Harry
swatted him on the shoulder. He was consciously refusing to let himself think
about Lucius still lying in his bed, white and still, waiting for help. He
might not feel like having sex right now, but there were other ways to have
fun, and they were a necessary way of releasing stress. One strand in the web touches more, as Healer Pontiff would say. The amount of relaxation and fun you�ve
allowed yourself will influence how well you can do your work and how much
concentration you possess.

�� Kreacher
still hadn�t returned with a report on her, Harry noted. He wondered if that
meant Kreacher was finding it difficult to determine her allegiances or because
he had nothing conclusive to report yet.

�� He pushed
the thought away when Draco murmured, �I�m hungry.�

�� Rogers
appeared at once, with a tray so heaped with dishes that Harry was amazed he
could carry it. He saw the dark brown of chocolate and the pale color of ice
cream among the red of fruit, the brown of toast and bacon, and the neutral
color of porridge, and he raised an eyebrow at the house-elf.

�� Master
Harry and Master Draco are needing many different kinds of strength,� Rogers
said, and set the tray on the table that pulled out of the end of the bed.

�� Harry sat
up and moved to the end, where he was relieved to find two smaller plates on
that enormous platter.

�� Fetch me
bacon,� Draco said, his voice prissy. �And some of the chocolate, and some of
the ice cream. And then you can come here and feed me strawberries with your
fingers.�

�� Harry
snorted and placed the food Draco had requested on a plate, then handed it to
him, forcing him to sit up. Draco gave him a disappointed stare. Harry
shrugged. �What can I say? Kisses are one thing when a patient is sick, but sex
is another.�

�� Draco
ducked his head, so that his hair fell across his face, but Harry suspected he
disagreed. Well, he could disagree all he liked, so long as he didn�t actually
try to interfere with Harry�s treatment of Lucius. And Harry knew he wouldn�t.

�� Afterwards,
however�

�� Harry
smiled, licked bacon grease from his own fingers, and wondered ruefully if he
was being too hopeful by deciding that there would be an afterwards, that Lucius would come out of this alive. But
allowing too much pessimism tended to destroy his concentration far worse than
too much optimism. That had certainly been the reason he�d failed his first
Potions exam, if not his second.

�� When they
had finished eating, Rogers produced a piece of parchment. �This is Mistress
Narcissa�s response,� he said.

�� Harry took
the letter from him with a hard stare, wondering why the elf hadn�t given it to
him before the breakfast. Rogers returned a serene glance, and Harry knew the
answer. He had wanted Harry and Draco to think about breakfast instead of work.
Sometimes, Harry thought grumpily as he read the message, Rogers had the
strangest sense of priorities.

�� My sons:

�� I have now been to visit the Burne-Jones and
Neverlong houses. I made sure to choose female relatives I thought would not
know about the plan, so they would have no reason to suspect me, but might
betray incriminating answers from innocent ignorance. They have confirmed that
their Death Eater relatives have spent much time by themselves lately; Angela
Burne-Jones in particular complained about this, as she had wanted to show her
new dress robes to her aunt and uncle.

�� More significantly, in each house was a new
painting of a star-shaped pattern, which I have sketched below. Both the ladies
seemed very proud of it, and mentioned that it was a recent purchase, a sign of
some alliance pending between families. They thought it to be a marriage
alliance. Might it have something to do with Lucius�s condition?

�� Harry sat
up the moment he saw the pattern Narcissa had sketched. It did indeed form the
rough shape of a five-pointed star if one only looked at the outer lines, but
in the middle, the lines joined and darted through a web of astounding
complexity. And in the middle of the bottom right-hand corner was the self-reversing
spiral pattern Healer Pontiff had confirmed existed in the Mirror Maze.

�� The spiral pattern you suspected existed in
the first place, his doubt hissed at him, and that a suspect Healer confirmed existed. What if you�re wrong?
You�re only a mediwizard.

�� Harry
gritted his teeth and shook his head. He had confirmation in the books and in
the training that he had received at the hands of people other than Healer
Pontiff, though none of that training had been as kindly and as freely given. He
would trust the spiral pattern existed until he had proof otherwise.

�� This is
the pattern of the Mirror Maze in Lucius�s mind,� he said quietly, holding the
parchment out to Draco. �I�m sure of it. How that would make the Maze interact
with the dreambane purge, I don�t know, but��

�� No wonder
the bloody potion didn�t work,� Draco said. His face looked as pale as it had
yesterday, but his lips were thin with annoyance instead of with barely
suppressed panic, and Harry noticed the change with a lightening of heart.
�Nothing with dandelion seeds in it would work, laid against a star-pattern
like this. There are variations of the purge that the books recommended, but I
had no reason to think that the standard potion wouldn�t suffice.�

�� Harry laid
a hand on his shoulder. �No, you didn�t.�

�� Draco
looked at him with a fierce grin. �I can tell you how the potions I try next
would work with this pattern, if you can tell me how you plan to undo the
spells and in what order.�

�� Harry
smiled back. �Let�s go, then,� he said, and as they rose to return to the
library, he reflected that research really was more fun when done in such
clever and congenial company.

*

�� No one said
anything when they gathered in Lucius�s bedroom for the second time two days
later. Narcissa had already read a message from Draco that seemed to explain as
much as she wanted to know, and she stood out of the way with her hands folded
in front of her and gaze passing grimly back and forth between Harry and Draco.
Draco had uttered his last sound, a snarl of triumph, when the new potion,
chalky with a light green tinge, worked successfully on a rat given dreambane a
few hours before. And Harry was too full of hope and despair, wracking him in
alternating waves.

�� He thought he was right. The book on Dark
magic mazes the Malfoys had�a book Harry had never heard of before and
suspected had been banned fifty years ago�gave several examples of a star-like
maze combined with a spiral one, though not one utilizing the specific
combination of spells that had been used to harm Lucius. Harry had read the
directions new to him until he saw them blazing in his mind when he closed his
eyes, and the rest was a standard procedure for undoing spell mazes.

�� But he
still would have liked to consult with Healer Pontiff. He would have liked to
consult with Emptyweed, for that matter. They were Healers, and they knew more
than he did. Draco could reassure him about the potion, but Harry was the one
who understood Healing magic and the one who had to put on a brave face when
Draco asked if he would learn anything new if he studied any longer.

�� Harry knew
he wouldn�t. But what if he had gone wrong from the beginning? What if he had
missed something vital about the clues to the maze? What if Healer Pontiff had
lied to him when he went to see her and the reverse spiral was not really part
of the Mirror Maze at all?

�� Harry
swallowed and focused on Lucius. He lay under a mass of blood still, because
the stasis spell froze everything, and touching him to clean up the blood would
have meant opening the wounds again. Harry�s hand shook as he lifted his wand.

�� Narcissa
took a step towards him, so that Harry could feel her warm presence at his
back, though he didn�t turn around. �I trust you,� she murmured.

�� Harry
nodded once, and then began to chant the spells.

�� The Mirror
Maze remained the fundamental pattern for the curses that had been cast on
Lucius; that had not changed from the time Harry used the spells that revealed
it. But the star-like pattern combined with the reversing spiral referred to
the order in which he would have to undo the spells. If he went in the wrong
direction, if he tried to take off one curse that needed another removed
beforehand in order to become harmless, he could kill Lucius himself.

�� He edged
out over a dark abyss as he cast, eyes fixed on Lucius�s legs rather than his
face. He would see new wounds open there if he did something wrong. He thought
he could stand to see Lucius�s foot severed better than further damage done to
his face, which he already needed a harsh regimen of healing potions to recover
from.

�� Slowly,
they peeled away, the Dark spells meant to slow Lucius�s healing, to make him
suffer more pain than he would have from an ordinary injury, to addle his mind
so that he could not make clear decisions about what he should do to save
himself. The more Harry pulled off, the more he hated the people who had done
this to Lucius. No, he hadn�t been punished as much as he should have for deeds
like giving the diary to Ginny, but the Wizengamot had declared him free to go.
Taking the administration of justice into one�s own hands was neither possible
nor clean.

�� Harry
should know.

�� The Cutting
Curse fell away, then Mansuefacio,
then Hebeto. Harry found the twisted Sectumsempra buried at the uppermost
point of the star and took great delight in destroying it. He flinched when he
encountered the Flaying Curse and an intense pain spell that was a cousin to
the Cruciatus.

�� His
confidence grew as he persisted and no new wounds opened. He wasn�t a Healer,
maybe, but he was a damn good mediwizard. And his wand, his hands, and his
brain seemed to be linked in a flowing triangle of power now, passing back and
forth, brimming with more magic instead of less even as he tired.

�� When he
looked up at last, with only the Permanency Spell still to go, it was to see
Draco pouring the last of the new dreambane purge down Lucius�s throat. He was
looking at Harry now, and not his father. Harry held his eyes and whispered the
final Finite.

�� The air
above Lucius turned chill; Harry could feel the last of the Dark magic fighting
for its right to exist. Narcissa took a step forwards as if she could shield
her husband from the curse�s malice.

�� And then it
was gone, so suddenly that it was like watching summer displace winter. Harry
blinked and staggered a bit. Lucius lay with whole skin under the pelt of
blood, and no new wounds opening.

�� Narcissa
made a sound that Harry thought was as close to swearing as he would ever hear
her come.

�� Draco smiled, and Harry felt himself flush
from the combination of gratitude and promise it carried.

*

�� FallenAngel1129:
No, the spell didn�t work. The Dark magic was too powerful for just Harry
alone.

�� shinythiefxblast:
Thank you! And Harry only thought it might
have bad consequences; he was reassured when Draco told him it wouldn�t,
since he knows nothing about potions.

�� gentlenightrain:
Well, I hope this chapter soothed some of your anxieties. ;)

�� feltonslover:
Thank you!

�� Lina: More
people do seem to be Lucius fans than I anticipated.

�� Slytherdor:
Hope this helps!

�� Haramiya:
Don�t worry; there shouldn�t be many cliffhangers from here on out, with so few
chapters left in the story.

�� Donavon:
Sorry for the fear, and don�t worry! And thank you for reviewing.

�� Mangacat:
In this case, the administrators let their personal grudges write over their
Healers� ethics.

�� Yaoilovertash:
Thanks very much! I do try to add a touch of realism to the story�s plot, because
those are the stories that also distract me best.

�� YanaYugi: Sorry!

�� Haley: Ah,
now I understand. Yes, Harry�s modesty does blind him sometimes.

�� And as
Hermione discovered in this chapter, they may have gotten some help from the
Healers who were annoyed at Lucius for stopping donations, but the main
conspirators are those who hate Lucius for personal reasons. More about how
they managed to get the spell on Lucius comes out next chapter.

�� They made
it take a long time to be as painful as possible.

�� GoddessMoonLady:
Yes, Hermione can feel charitable towards the Malfoys when they�re the ones
helping Harry.

�� Thanks for
reviewing!

�� hieisdragoness18:
Lucius will need to take a lot of potions to prevent scarring, but Harry has
closed the wounds and saved his life for now.

�� Werewolf
Mistress: Thanks for reviewing!

�� sp: Here it
is!

�� celestialuna:
Thank you!

�� Jilliane:
The next two chapters should provide all you want to know about Healer Pontiff.

�� In this
case, it�s mainly the suffering that is the point, and revenge.

�� Rebriddle:
Thank you!

�� avihenda: The
next two chapters should wrap up the story pretty well�one reason I wanted
Harry and Draco�s relationship straightened out before I began them.
- 17
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Bloody But Unbowed