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Their Phoenix	By : Lomonaaeren Category: Harry Potter > Threesomes/Moresomes Views: 68680 -:- Recommendations : 3 -:- Currently Reading : 6
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter; that belongs to J. K. Rowling. I am making no money from this fic.

Chapter List
- 1-Their Phoenix
- 2-Part 2
- 3-Part 3
- 4-Part 4
- 5-Part 5
- 6-Part 6
- 7-Part 7
- 8-Part 8
- 9-Part 9
- 10-Part 10
- 11-Part 11
- 12-Part 12
- 13-Part 13
- 14-Part 14
- 15-Part 15
- 16-Part 16
- 17-Part 17
- 18-Part 18
- 19-Part 19
- 20-Part 20
- 21-Part 21
- 22-Part 22
- 23-Part 23
- 24-Part 24
- 25-Part 25
- 26-Part 26
- 27-Part 27
- 28-Part 28
- 29-Part 29
- 30-Part 30
- 31-Part 31
- 32-Part 32
- 33-Part 33
- 34-Part 34
- 17
- 18
- 19
Thank you again for all the reviews!

�� Swanfair
greeted Harry briskly as she stepped through the front door of the house. �Is
it your plan to humiliate the Ministry into compliance, then?�

�� Harry took
her cloak, giving it a shake to ensure that he would feel any weapons concealed
in it, and looked her over carefully. She didn�t seem unduly agitated; her
cheeks were pale, her tone chiding instead of upset. Harry had wondered how she
would react to the fact that they hadn�t discussed their latest tactic with her
before they used it. So far, it seemed the answer was �well.�

�� Remember that Swanfair is an actor born, and
she will not show you anything that she does not want you to see, said
Severus�s voice crisply in his head.

�� Then what�s the point of looking for clues
in her expression and gestures? Harry snapped back, but he managed to
compose his face by the time that Swanfair looked at him again. Speaking to two
people at once, one in front of him and one inside his mind, was confusing, and
he had made Severus and Draco promise not to babble when he was actually
talking to Swanfair. �I decided that humiliation was as good a tactic as any,�
he said evenly. �After all, the Minister hasn�t responded to threats and
reasonable outrage so far.�

�� It is an
innovative tactic, not one I would have expected of you. Some Gryffindors, or
those who have been members of House Gryffindor, consider themselves too pure
to use it.� Swanfair sat down on the couch in the ground floor library and
offered him a thin smile. �Most interesting are the details of your childhood.
Are those true, or did you make them up?�

�� Harry
wanted to grumble under his breath. Draco and Severus had absorbed those
details in silence when they�d asked him for something sufficiently pathetic,
and Harry still didn�t know what they�d thought of them. He�d agreed to reveal
them only because he knew that they would get lost in the flood of media
coverage of the Auror raid and half the people who read them wouldn�t believe
them anyway. Of course Swanfair would
focus in on the one area where her penetration wasn�t wanted.

�� But he
didn�t see much point in denying them when he�d put them out in public of his
own free will. And they couldn�t hurt him anymore. He would never see the
Dursleys again. If Swanfair tried to use the psychology caused by his abuse
against him�not that Harry could see how she would�then Draco and Severus would
be sure to tell him she was doing it and bring her up sharply.

�� Those are
true,� he said. �In case anyone checked on them, I didn�t want our enemies to
be able to accuse me of lying.�

�� Swanfair�s
smile froze for a moment. Then she said, �There are many varying definitions of
strength and weakness.�

�� Harry
barely managed to keep from blinking. What
the fuck is she on about now?

�� I have
never subscribed to the idea that one definition, and one definition only, is
true, and the rest false,� Swanfair said. �Each has its own portion of truth,
and those portions depend on the existence of other kinds for their sense.� She
was leaning forwards, peering intently at Harry, as if he should give her a
wise nod and respond with some other kind of platitude.

�� Harry had
no idea what she was driving at, and Draco and Severus remained silent in his
head, which was a good sign that they were as baffled as he was. He shrugged at
last, when he realized that Swanfair really was waiting for some sign before
she went on, and said, �The only kind of strength I know much about is courage.
I�ve had a lot of experience of that.�

�� But you
can learn more.� Swanfair smiled. It was the warmest expression Harry had ever
seen from her. �I am now confident that
you can, after seeing your performance.� She rose to her feet and turned to
find her cloak. Harry stood up as well, blinking. He had thought that she�d
come to discuss strategy, and that meant she�d be here for at least an hour.

�� Our party
needs a concrete set of tactics in the short term,� he warned her. �I�ve
already had several disappointed letters because we don�t seem to be planning
anything.�

�� Swanfair
ducked her head, the corners of her mouth twitching in a way that Severus
identified in a murmur, when Harry asked, as an attempt to conceal laughter.
�Shacklebolt is Minister on sufferance alone,� she said. �We needed a strong
hand in the wake of the war, to control the Ministry and separate those who
were loyal to the Dark Lord from those who were compelled into his service by
fear.� She looked at Harry, her face smooth and stern again. �Scrimgeour is
dead, so that we have no one who was legitimately elected to the position ready
to take over again. We shall demand an election, of course.�

�� Once she
said it, it sounded like the only reasonable thing to do. Harry wished, just
for once, that he could get ahead of her and suggest something that would take her aback. Now, he had to nod wisely and
act as if the thought had been at the top of his mind all along. �Yes, we
shall,� he said. �I�ll write letters to Mrs. Zabini and the others who
contacted me telling them that. Should I ask them to keep it secret?�

�� Swanfair
worked her hair out from under her cloak. �What need? This is not a plan to be
approached with an air of deception. What we plan to do is not illegal, but an
enactment of the rights of every British wizarding citizen. Let rumor flourish.
It will be another thing to trouble Shacklebolt.� She paused and cast Harry a
sly sideways glance. �Always assuming that his ulcers are not enough.�

�� Oh, he�s
having trouble with them?� Harry assumed an earnest expression with difficulty,
since both Severus and Draco were laughing in his mind. �My uncle had trouble
with them, too.�

�� Thwarted in
her search for whatever she had hoped to find in his face, Swanfair nodded
curtly and stepped out the door. As usual, Harry watched her to the edge of the
garden and beyond the wards, then shut the door gently behind her.

�� It�s difficult to conduct serious meetings
when I have to listen to two gales of laughter, he snapped to his
bondmates.

�� That doesn�t matter, Draco said. The important thing is that Shacklebolt has
the ulcers and that you didn�t stumble too badly in front of Swanfair.

�� His
condescension rasped like sandpaper. Harry bristled and started to retort, but
Severus spoke aloud, stepping out of the sitting room where he had been
concealed. �I am more interested in what she meant by definitions of strength
and weakness.�

�� So am I,�
Harry said. �But you heard everything we said to each other, and I didn�t see
anything especially incriminating on her face.�

�� I will sit
in on the next meeting, I think.� Severus turned in the direction of the
library, probably to look up references in obscure books that would make sense
of Swanfair�s oblique words. Draco headed for the potions lab, a relieved
expression on his face; he had made no secret of the fact that he thought the
meeting with Swanfair was holding him away from some important brewing. Harry
shrugged and went to open the front door.

�� Where are
you going?� That was Draco�s voice, sharp in a way that made Harry pause and
turn around. Draco had his eyes narrowed and his hand clenched on the handle of
the door to the potions lab. His knuckles were white, Harry saw in surprise. He
shot a bewildered glance at Severus, and saw that he was looking at Harry with
a level gaze, his face more blank than he usually made it around them.

�� To visit
Cadell,� Harry said slowly. �He invited me on a private tour of Honeydukes to
try some of the new chocolate that the owners are making. I told you that yesterday.�
He could have sent a number of sharp thoughts about their failing memory, but
he chose not to. From the way Draco glared at him, Harry wondered if he had
been thinking too loud again and they had picked up the thoughts anyway.

�� I see,�
Draco said. �A private tour.�

�� Harry
glared back now. He didn�t know exactly what Draco was implying, but he knew
that was the same tone Draco might have used to talk about Ginny, and he didn�t
want Cadell to wind up on the wrong end of Draco�s wand. Especially now, when everyone will be watching us to see if we actually
do ever hurt our enemies or our friends. We could persuade Ginny to keep it
quiet because the Weasleys are so close to me. Cadell doesn�t have reason to do
that.

�� Yes,�
Harry ended up saying, when Draco said nothing else. �That�s right. I told you
about it yesterday,� he repeated. �I�ll be careful, and I think Hogsmeade is
safer for me than most other places right now, given the sympathy we know most
members of the village feel for us.� He glanced at Severus for support, and
found his face still blank. Harry sighed in frustration. �Look, if I vanish or
get in trouble, at least you�ll know exactly where to look.�

�� That is
true,� Severus said, and Draco turned and stared at him. Harry wondered if
Severus had sent a fleeting thought to Draco. They�d already discovered that
two of them could hold private conversations the third couldn�t hear.

�� At the
moment, Harry barely felt any jealousy about being left out. As long as Severus
told Draco not to be an idiot and let him leave, then everything would be fine.
Harry had long ago accepted that he would never understand all the sources of
Draco�s moods and the way they changed like Dudley�s desires for new toys.

�� Let him
go,� Severus said, at which Draco looked mulish. �You know what we agreed
upon.�

�� Harry
sighed in relief. It looks like they
agreed that Cadell isn�t dangerous, or at least Severus thinks that and is
trying to convince Draco.

�� I don�t��
Draco started.

�� Your opinion
does not count in this case.� Severus�s voice deepened to a hiss. �Harry is
right that the young man is well-known, and because he works in Hogsmeade, the
area is safer for Harry than visiting his friends in some remote place or even
than flying in a meadow. You know that,
Draco.�

�� Draco
strained forwards as if again an invisible barrier, his eyes fastened to
Severus now. Then he glanced at Harry, gave a clipped nod, muttered something
about how their lives were dependent on him and he should remember that, and
disappeared into the potions lab with a resounding slam of the door.

�� I
apologize for Draco,� Severus said, with extreme dignity. �I believe that he is
still troubled by the incident of the Gut Chewing Curse.�

�� Harry
managed a shaky laugh. The anger on Draco�s face had made him wince. He
wondered what he would have seen if he�d opened the bonds fully. �For that
matter, I�m still troubled by it.
Tell him I understand.� He looked earnestly at Severus. �You had the chance to
read Cadell�s mind when he came up to us in the garden. You don�t think that he
means me harm, do you?�

�� Illegal
use of Legilimency, Mr. Potter?� Severus asked, in the same tone that he had
used when Harry asked if he would be assigned a detention at Hogwarts. �That is
a dark suggestion you are making.�

�� Harry
folded his arms. �Come off it. I know you did.�

�� I saw no
harm in him,� Severus said. �A pleasant young man, with a normal life and
normal memories. I am sure that he has never carried the Dark Mark or lost most
of the people he cared about because of the orders of a madman.� He turned
about and stalked towards the library with his spine stiff.

�� Harry
watched him in silence, respecting the bitterness in his voice. I shouldn�t forget what he�s gone through.
And I should show him my memories as soon as I can work out how to make the
bond show images like it does thoughts. Maybe that will ease some of his
burden.

�� He still
couldn�t help a lightening of his mood as he ducked out of the house and shut the
door behind him, though. Severus and Draco had gone through so much, and they
sometimes made statements so subtle, that being with them was like living in a
constant sea of unexpressed meaning. Harry was happy to be associating with
someone as simple and straightforward as Cadell for once.

*

�� Draco stood
with his hands on the edge of the Taylor Transfigured Jointing-Table and shut
his eyes. Bitterness and rage and jealousy roiled around in him and came
together like a blood clot, choking off his breath and his sight.

�� He had
thought that Harry would tire of Caesarion when it became clear that the young
man was just simple and straightforward, and nothing more. He hadn�t shared any
history with Harry. He didn�t share a bond. He made him laugh and smile, but
Harry�s friends did that, too, and he wasn�t always running off to spend time
with them and leaving Severus and
Draco behind.

�� Besides, he
didn�t look at any of his friends with the same speculative gleam in his eye
that he looked at Caesarion with. Maybe he didn�t know about that gleam�and how
could someone reach the age of eighteen and still be as innocent as all that, especially when Draco knew he�d had sex?�but
it was there. He preferred Caesarion to Draco and Severus as far as looks went.
That was clear.

�� How can he? Draco wanted to pace back
and forth, but Severus had taught him too well to control himself in the
potions lab, lest he break something or disturb a delicate simmering cauldron.
So he stood still and forced himself to plunge into the swirling darkness of
his own feelings, stronger than he had realized they could become, even with
the provocation of Harry�s preference of someone else to drive them. I know I�m handsomer than Caesarion. I know
that Severus could make Harry moan, if all he wants is someone who would be
good in bed. I know that we�re sparkling and witty conversationalists, and I
know that he�s laughed in our presence. We worked well together when the Aurors
came. I don�t understand what he might be seeking outside the bond.

�� Draco gave
a mighty shudder and opened his eyes. He didn�t understand any of it. Even
Harry�s emotions provided no clue; they were mostly foamy bafflement at the
idea that Draco and Severus were so hostile.

�� That meant
that he had to stop trying to guess what Harry wanted and what would impress
him, and do something he did understand. Maybe Harry didn�t want Caesarion so
much as he thought that Caesarion didn�t have Draco and Severus�s flaws.

�� He had
expressed dissatisfaction with Draco�s temper. Draco could work on improving
that. He had shown that he was disappointed with the way Draco treated and
worked with his friends. He could try that.

�� And of
course he would work on potions as well. Because even though Harry didn�t know
enough about brewing to be impressed by that, Draco wanted to become better at
that for himself, and for the look of
approval in Severus�s eyes.

�� And self-confidence is always attractive.

�� Draco
turned around and got to work.

*

�� Severus
stared unseeing at the words in front of him for long moments. He was
imagining, instead, what Caesarion was probably saying to Harry as they
strolled through the aisles of Honeydukes.

�� When he
looked down, his fingers had pressed creases into the page. He cleared his
throat in embarrassment and returned to his studying. He managed to read three
sentences before his mind went wandering again.

�� Draco had
proven more powerless to restrain his jealousy than Severus had suspected he
might, the bond between them raging with storm and tsunami. In truth, he could
not blame his lover. Harry was exasperatingly oblivious. Severus knew why, but he had not the least idea, as of
yet, how to challenge that drowning in the abyss of the conventionality without
making Harry feel as if they were forcing him into an epiphany he did not want
to have.

�� Severus
would ordinarily have acted without regard for the feelings of the other party
involved. After all, what did it matter what Harry wanted? He would need to acknowledge plain truth. And it
was plain truth that Severus and Draco wanted him�as Harry had admitted he
knew�and that they could please each other better than any other partners,
concerning the bonds between them.

�� Harry does not think that way.

�� It was a
struggle for Severus to force his mind into the cramped confines of thought
that Harry seemed to prefer, but he managed at last, because Harry himself had
confessed what the problem was. If he hadn�t, God knew how long Severus would
have knocked his head against an unyielding wall.

�� Harry saw
love relationships as pairs, and nothing else. He probably even valued that,
because there was a certain romance about the idea that only one other person
in the world would ever perfectly understand you, and that that person would
never leave you alone or turn on you.

�� How can he still believe that after the way
his link to Weasley ended?

�� Then
Severus snorted. There, he had enough experience with Gryffindors to provide
the answer. Rather than give up an ideal, they would assume that something was
merely an imperfect rendition of that ideal. Harry had probably already decided
that his bond with Weasley was not an example of true love, and so it was
natural and necessary for it to end. Maybe he didn�t think that Severus and
Draco had true love, either, but he was not about to interfere and try to find
a place between them.

�� A place between us. A brightly colored
picture distracted Severus for a time, and then he sighed in disgust and put it
aside.

�� Draco has been a bad influence on my libido.

�� Back to
Harry. The boy would still be looking for one person who understood him
perfectly, one who was his match in every way. That perfect conception was
another barrier in their way, as he was all too conscious of the gaps in
understanding between himself, Draco, and Severus.

�� But they
would struggle through it. They must.

�� Severus
started at the force of his own thought. When
did yielding Harry up to the clumsy attentions of another lover cease to be a
choice? It may be the choice that we have to make, if he is content with
Caesarion or finds that contentment with someone else.

�� And yet,
the thought of that happening was a gnawing within Severus. He wanted Harry to
enter their bed of his own free will, yes, but he also wanted him because Harry
was generous, and fiercely protective of them, and able to accept the
inevitable when it was shoved into his face�something Severus had not
previously believed of him�and a good listener when he chose to exercise that
faculty, and absurdly shy when he did not need to be, and beautiful.

�� I want him. And I deserve to have what I
want, after what I suffered in the service of both Dumbledore and the Dark
Lord.

�� Severus
found himself faintly smiling, in a way that renewed his determination to
outwait Harry�s experiment or flirtation or dalliance with Caesarion.

�� I simply never believed that I would want
Harry Potter.

*

�� And this
is where they make the chocolate that covers the outside of most of the magical
sweets.�

�� Harry knew
his eyes were wide with fascination as he leaped down a step into the vast room
behind Honeydukes, but he didn�t care. It was Draco who would have taunted him
for showing too little knowledge around a new thing or person. Cadell didn�t
seem to have that capacity.

�� Cadell, in
fact, was the most relaxed person
Harry had been around in some time. There was always a subtle tension when he
was with Draco and Severus; Harry was reminded that they were high-strung, with
reason to be, and that any gesture that seemed innocent to him might rouse a thousand
bad memories for them. Cadell, though, was as straightforward as Harry had
thought he would be. He laughed at Harry�s simplistic jokes, and he discussed
sweets with a relish that showed he enjoyed them instead of having fine tastes
in food that Harry couldn�t understand, and he was willing to explain things
that Harry didn�t understand a second time.

�� Harry
hadn�t realized how much he was straining to keep up with the magical theories
that Draco and Severus handed him until he felt a knot of tension in his brain
come unwound with Cadell.

�� They�re more intelligent than me, he
thought. I was sure I�d accepted that,
but apparently I haven�t done it yet.

�� The
machinery Cadell was showing him now was a gleaming assembly of parts, some of
which looked like broomsticks and some of which resembled the wrenches that
Harry had sometimes seen Uncle Vernon using. Harry looked around and watched as
the machines moved up and down in the burning light of the torches, casting
sweets into deep basins, pouring streams of chocolate over them, measuring and
weighing huge cups of them, and then packing and wrapping them in neat boxes.

�� I�m
surprised you do it with machines,� he said, the first thing that came into his
head. �Wouldn�t most people use house-elves?�

�� Cadell
grinned at him and ran his hand through his hair, making it stand on end. Harry
grinned back. He found that gesture endearing. �Well, they probably would, but
Grandmother and Grandfather don�t like to. They think it�s slavery. I have
another cousin, a Squib, who�s a great engineer. He studied Muggle machines and
figured out how to build magical equivalents. This way, we don�t have to do
everything ourselves, but we don�t have to employ anyone who won�t like the
work, either.�

�� My friend
Hermione Granger would like them,� Harry said happily. Yes, there are things I can talk about with Cadell that it would drive
Severus and Draco mad if I mentioned. �She wants to free house-elves from
slavery.�

�� Really?�
Cadell led him among the pumping machines, towards a back door that had a torch
stuck in a sconce on it and a carving that resembled a dragon twining up it.
�What are her arguments? Most people I know assume that house-elves just like
to serve.�

�� She
doesn�t think that that desire is natural.� Cadell opened the door for him.
Harry nodded his thanks and stepped out into a small garden full of tall purple
and yellow flowers. He looked around in wonder. Giant butterflies, most of them
blue with black edgings to their wings, danced among the flowers. �She thinks
it was bred in,� Harry finished absently, but he was no longer thinking of
Hermione and house-elves. �Where did this come from? I didn�t think anything
was behind Honeydukes.�

�� My
family�s garden. My grandparents had to cast privacy charms on it because
third-years from Hogwarts were getting into it and ripping up the flowers.�
Cadell rolled his eyes and snorted as he shut the door behind him. �How do you
like it?�

�� Harry gave
him a curious glance. One thing his association with Severus and Draco had been
good for was teaching him how to read expressions. Cadell looked nervous,
biting his lip and darting his eyes around as if he were wondering how he could
improve the garden for Harry. �It�s beautiful,� Harry said honestly. �Is it a
practical garden, too? I mean, do you have vegetables and�and Potions ingredients?
Or is it just flowers?�

�� Flowers,
for the most part.� Cadell led him further into the garden. There were small
dirt paths among the flowerbeds, Harry saw when he squinted, though from a
distance, the garden looked like one blazing mass of thick greenery. �My
grandmother says that it�s bad enough she has to make her own sweets, she wants
to buy her vegetables like everybody else.� He led Harry around the tight corner
of a stone wall, which seemed to be there mostly to give morning glories a
place to go up, and gestured ahead of him. �There are hothouse charms on it to
make it grow this way in March, of course,� he muttered. �Still, I think it
looks well enough.�

�� Harry
looked up and felt his breath catch. In the center of the garden was an
enormous blue flower, bigger than some trees Harry had seen, edged with black
on the petals so that it resembled one of the butterflies at rest. More
butterflies surrounded it in drifting, undulating chains, and a beehive hummed
under one of the giant leaves. �It�s pretty good,� he agreed. �Are there
hothouse charms on the rest of the garden, too?�

�� Oh, yes,�
Cadell said. �My grandmother never wants to be without flowers.� He hesitated
so long that Harry turned towards him, wondering what was wrong.

�� Cadell
reached out a hand. His eyes were bright and uncertain.

�� Look,�
Cadell said. �I want you. I�ve known that since I saw the way you smiled at me
in your garden the other day. But I don�t know if you want to date me. I
thought I�d ask, though.� He finished with a quiet dignity that Harry thought
was impressive, given his pale cheeks and the way he had almost started to
stutter. Harry would have stuttered worse than that if he was asking someone to
date him.

�� I�don�t
know,� Harry said.

�� He forced
himself to look carefully at Cadell, the way, he suddenly realized, that he�d
carefully been avoiding doing since they met. He didn�t want to seem too impetuous.
He didn�t want to irritate Draco and Severus, since they wanted him but would
never break their love relationship for him.

�� But did
that mean he had to avoid dating forever, just because his bondmates would have
liked to have sex with him? Harry didn�t see why. In time, their desire would
fade, because someone might feel physical passion but not feel love because of
it. And they were already in love with each other.

�� I�ll
understand if you don�t want to, because you don�t like me or you don�t date men.�
Despite his stately words, Cadell blushed. �But I thought I would ask. It would
be stupid of me to simply let the chance pass by if it turned out that you did like to date men, after all.�

�� I�ve only
ever dated a girl,� Harry said. �But sometimes I�ve thought�� And that was the
truth, even though his thoughts so far were limited to a few admiring glances
at Draco and Severus and the blended dreams they�d had.

�� But why
should he allow his bondmates to set a limit on his life? There was really no
reason. He didn�t want to remain celibate for the rest of his life because it
might hurt them. They certainly showed no sign of noticing his jealousy, except
for the conversation Severus had had with him the other day when they were
setting the traps up in the house. And Harry didn�t know what to make of that
conversation, honestly.

�� Just like so many other conversations I have
with them. They�re deep and subtle and experienced in all kinds of politics and
magical theory, and I�m�not.

�� Cadell was
more like him. Harry allowed himself, for the first time, to consciously admire
the crisp curls of Cadell�s hair and the blue of his eyes. That blue was really
startling, more like a tropical sky than the color of Ron�s eyes. Or Draco�s,
for that matter.

�� He stepped
forwards, reached out and clamped his hands down on Cadell�s shoulders�he had
the vague idea that it was a good idea to be firm when you were kissing a
bloke�and kissed him clumsily.

�� Cadell
reached up with a satisfyingly surprised exclamation, caught Harry�s face, and
redirected some of his force into a better kiss. Harry smirked a bit and let
himself be so directed. His tongue tingled when Cadell�s touched it, and that
wasn�t so different from what he�d done with Ginny. He stepped closer, pleased
to find that he was only an inch or so shorter than Cadell. Being around
Severus had the tendency of causing him to exaggerate height differences in his
mind.

�� A few hazy
minutes passed, and Harry decided that he could learn to like kissing a bloke,
and that Cadell had an agile tongue, and that the thick smell of flowers all
around them made a nice accompaniment to things. Cadell shifted sideways,
trailing one hand down Harry�s chest, and curled his fingers around the bottom
of Harry�s shirt.

�� Harry
stepped back and shook his head. He knew he looked flushed and he was panting,
which meant he also looked ridiculous. But he didn�t think he was ready for
more just yet. His erection was embarrassing enough.

�� Well,�
said Cadell, his voice thick and seeming to travel from an extra distance
before the words emerged from his throat. �What did you think?�

�� Harry
licked his lips and said, �I think it�s something I want to try more of.�

�� Cadell�s
smile made Harry feel as if he were standing in a private beam of sunlight.
�Good. I was so sure�I didn�t know if I�d be good enough for you.�

�� Harry
grinned back at him. I know the feeling, he
wanted to say. Sometimes I wonder if I�d
be good enough for my bondmates. I wasn�t good enough for Ginny.

�� But he
didn�t want to compare his old relationship with the new one, so he said, �You
shouldn�t believe everything you read in the newspapers. I want some
companionship and loyalty and good sex, that�s all. And someone who respects my
bondmates.�

��

�I can certainly give you that.�

Cadell reached out and cupped his
chin, initiating the kiss this time. Harry closed his eyes and indulged in some
uncomplicated happiness for once.

*

�But I don�t think the pamphlets
should say anything about pure-bloods.�

Draco closed his eyes and told himself
that he had promised to hold his temper with Harry�s friends. That he hadn�t
made the promise to Harry didn�t matter. In fact, making a promise in private
was a better bond, because that meant he was unlikely to give up in disgust
when Harry gave no sign of noticing his sacrifices.

As
he hasn�t so far.

�� It�s
really no different than writing pamphlets about different issues and
distributing them to people we know would be interested,� he said evenly. �Some
pamphlets emphasizing why Minister Shacklebolt isn�t best for Muggleborns will
go to them. Why can�t we have pamphlets emphasizing why the Minister isn�t good
for pure-bloods?�

�� Bringing
blood into it is a stupid idea.�

�� Spoken with all the assurance of someone who
idealizes politics, Draco thought, and opened his eyes again. They were in
the library, and Granger was trying to make the chair in which she sat look
like a throne. Her hands were clasped in front of her, and she fixed him with
an earnest gaze that made Draco have to check his sigh.

�� Yes, she thinks that you can do everything
you need to with a few dazzling moves and shining words, and then everyone will
fall into line. I bet she�s read novels about
it. But of course everything is simpler in a novel, or you couldn�t tell a
story.

�� Draco knew
what kind of story he would have liked to be in: one where the plot ran
straight and smoothly to the end, with appropriate rewards for the hero, him.
It didn�t matter that other people probably wouldn�t want to read it. He would find it interesting, and he
thought that his opinion ought to matter, as the protagonist.

�� But blood
already is in it,� Draco said, �and trying to ignore the shadow of the Dark
Lord and the war would be even more stupid. Pure-bloods and Muggleborns are
already suspicious of each other, Granger, for reasons that have nothing to do
with Harry. It�s better to openly acknowledge the differences and try to forge
alliances that way.�

�� No,�
Granger said, with determination that reminded Draco of a goat. �It�s better to
treat everyone equally, whether they�re a pure-blood or a Muggleborn.�

�� Draco
snorted at her, inwardly proud of himself for not throwing up his hands.
�You�re not arguing for equal treatment, you�re arguing for identical treatment. Which is precisely
what won�t work.�

�� Granger
hesitated. Draco gave her a faint smile. He knew the swift blinks Granger�s
eyes made. He had finally caught her attention with his wordplay and given her
something to think about.

�� I didn�t
think about that,� she said. �But would they resent identical treatment?�

�� Yes,�
Draco said instantly. �You might value all people the same way, Granger, but
you can�t treat them in the same way.
Would you demand that someone who�s missing his leg walk like a person with two
of them? Would you demand that someone who�s been tortured and abused half his
life act exactly like someone who had a happy childhood?�

�� His mind
returned, briefly, to Harry�s revelations about his childhood. He had put them
aside for the moment because he had no idea what to do with them. Harry didn�t
seem to require comfort. He didn�t seem to think much about them at all, once
he had realized that Severus and Draco were not about to scorn him for
�weakness.� Draco could feel a throb in the bond between him and Severus now
and then that he thought was Severus turning over those same facts and trying
to make them fit.

�� There were
certainly traces of the childhood Harry had led in the adult he was now, but
Draco knew it would be folly to try and link everything Harry did with his
abuse, and they had enough problems understanding Harry already.

�� Right now,
for example, Harry was with Caesarion and the bond ran with happiness like a
chuckling river, dotted here and there with flashes of pleasure. Draco had to
ignore it or else he knew that he would
lose his temper with Granger.

�� I never
thought of that.� Granger�s voice was low, but it held no resentment. She was
the only person Draco had ever met who didn�t resent challenges to her ideas
because they gave her new perspectives that she hadn�t thought of before. She
looked up at him with a smile and thrust her hand out. �Thanks, Malfoy. You
gave me something to think about.�

��

�� And that�s just what I like, Draco
completed the sentence silently. He managed to return the smile and the
handshake. Sometimes his skin still felt as if it were crawling when he was
around Muggleborns, but so many of his parents� prejudices had proven wrong
that he was embarrassed to acknowledge that now. �You�re welcome,� he said.
�Now let�s think about what candidate we�re going to support in the election.�

�� Granger
gave him a startled look. �We�re calling for a general election without knowing
that?�

�� Yes,�
Draco said. �But Swanfair has a list of candidates.� He fetched out a crinkling
sheet of parchment that had been folded in his pocket. �I�ve written something
about their politics beside each name. Look at them and tell me what you
think.�

�� Granger
bent attentively over the parchment, and Draco nodded in satisfaction. He had
managed to make something productive out of this meeting, and he and Granger
were on the road to being comrades, if not friends.

�� And Harry was not here to see it.

�� Draco took
a deep breath. Not everything I do has
reference to him. I should value this because it�s my own accomplishment, not
because he would value it.

�� And, after
that, it was a little easier to stop paying attention to the bubbles of joy
breaking from the bond with Harry and concentrate on politics.

*

�� Severus
waited outside the training room for Ledbetter to depart. Normally he left
first and Harry and Draco lingered, but Draco had a new potion that he wanted
to experiment with and Harry had a pile of letters to answer. That left the old
Auror in the training room, deliberately gathering himself up with groans that
made Severus twitch in reluctant sympathy. Sometimes he had felt like that after
a long day of watching over Potions classes, constantly on the alert for
anything to go wrong, though he was younger than Ledbetter.

�� The man
stepped out of the room at last, and paused, with his eyes fixed on Severus.
They reminded Severus of a bulldog�s eyes. Ledbetter was someone who would
clench his teeth into a single enemy and hold on until they died if he had to.

�� If he had to. Severus reminded himself
that first impressions were not always right, and that Ledbetter had shown
swiftness as well as deliberation in removing himself from the Minister�s
employ.

�� Severus
bowed slightly. �I have something I wish to speak to you about, Ledbetter,� he
said.

�� Lead the
way, Snape.� Ledbetter�s voice was low and grating. He kept one hand on his
wand. Severus didn�t mind. His fingers were not far from his own. It would have
been the height of foolishness to do otherwise, when he knew that this man
disliked and distrusted him.

�� They went
into the kitchen, where Severus had a pot of tea ready and waiting. He heated
it with a Warming Charm and held a cup out to Ledbetter. He accepted it but
simply cradled it in his palm, not drinking it.

�� Of course not, Severus thought. I might have poisoned it. He could
appreciate the man�s instincts if not the consequences for himself of those
instincts. He sipped from his own cup and said, �When you first came here, our
wards warned us that you had evil intentions towards the inhabitants of this
house. I will know the reason for that, though you seem a strong ally now.�

�� Ledbetter
said, �I had no hostile intentions towards Potter. But from what I understand
of those wards, hostile intentions towards some
of the inhabitants are quite enough.�

�� It is a
new thing for me to be so deeply hated by someone who has not met me,� Severus
said. �The particular brand of loathing I inspire usually demands a closer
acquaintance.�

�� I know
that you committed murder,� Ledbetter said. �I know that you participated in
torture. I know that you used Dark magic. And I know that Malfoy�s done the
last two, if not the first. That�s enough for me to hate you.� He gave Severus
an unnerving grin. �It�s nothing personal. I hate everyone who�s done the same
things, and I think you should all be rotting in Azkaban.�

�� You are
training Draco,� Severus said. He did his best to focus on the emotions the
bonds were pouring into him at the moment, the starting and stopping fire of
Harry�s concentration on the letters, the crashing waterfall of Draco�s mind in
labor, so that he would not have to think of his own. He did not understand
Ledbetter, and he did not want to react with rage and frustration because of
that. �Why would you do such a thing if you believe that he might use that
knowledge for evil?�

�� Ledbetter
was silent for long moments, looking into the tea as if he were trying to
detect the exact nature of the poison that he�
believed Severus had used there. Then he looked up and shook his head.

�� One thing
makes this all different, and makes my loathing for you irrelevant,� he said.
�The bond.�

�� Severus
raised his eyebrows. �I did not take you for someone who had read the fairy
tales of bonded couples and believed them.�

�� Ledbetter
snorted. �Not a couple,� he said, his
sarcasm of the kind that Severus admired. He somewhat regretted that he was not
teaching at the moment and did not have as much reason to adopt it. �A bonded
couple vanishes into bed and you don�t get any more sense out of �em than you
do out of a pair of lovebirds. But a triad is different. A triad spreads its
energies. And you�re devoted to Potter whether or not you want to be. That
should control your actions in the future. If he�s willing to ignore your
pasts, then I can do the same thing, while still hating you. I�m not the one
who has to live with you.�

�� He leaned
back against the counter and gave Severus another grin. �Of course, if Malfoy
does misuse the knowledge I�m giving him, or if you attempt to kill or torture
someone else, no matter what the reason, I�ll have you in Azkaban so fast that
you�ll still be blinking and wondering where those grey walls came from.�

�� Slowly,
Severus inclined his head. The philosophy that guided Ledbetter�s life was not
one that made any sense to him�indeed, he thought it incoherent and
self-contradictory�but it was enough for him to know that the man was an honorable enemy. He shared the same
goals that Severus did: keeping Harry and Draco alive and free. That he might
feel cordial loathing along the way was neither important nor worth wasting
thought on.

�� You should
know that Harry would fight for us if that happened,� he did say.

�� He hasn�t
got any choice,� Ledbetter said placidly. �I understand that. But neither do I
have any choice about what I do.� He shrugged and set down the teacup on the
table. �Pleasant talking to you, Snape.� He strode out of the room.

�� Left alone,
Severus smiled thinly. Our allies are a
strangely assorted lot, but I dare say they will do.

*

�� I think
it�s great that you, er, have a boyfriend, mate.�

�� Harry took
a deep breath. All evening while he had dinner at the Burrow, the ice between
him and Ron had grown deeper and colder. Ron had avoided his eyes, talked to
Hermione whenever Harry opened his mouth to get his attention, and stared
desperately at Ginny as if he thought that a welcome diversion would be her
leaping on Harry and punching him for breaking up with her.

�� (Even
though it was the other way around. Harry was sometimes depressed that no one
remembered that).

�� Harry had
told the Weasleys about Cadell. Mrs. Weasley had exchanged mysterious smiles
with Mr. Weasley; Harry decided that they were thinking he must be gay and it
was no wonder he and Ginny hadn�t worked out. Ginny had managed a respectable
smile and congratulations. George had burst out laughing hysterically for some
reason. Bill, who was visiting alone because Fleur had gone to France to be
with her parents for a week, shook his head and said something about size and
hardness that Harry pretended not to understand.

�� Ron had
stared with his mouth hanging open, and then he�d stood up and asked Harry to
go for a walk in the garden. Harry had followed him with a dry mouth. This is the moment that either makes or
breaks our friendship, I think.

�� When they�d
walked for ten minutes in silence, Harry�s dread had increased. And now Ron had
said this, and he had permission to react.

�� Thanks,
mate,� he said, and clapped Ron�s shoulder. �I never wanted to break up with
Ginny, but I think she needs things I can�t give her, and Cadell can give me
things I want that just weren�t there
with her.�

�� Ron turned
to face him, and he was actually smiling. Harry found himself taking huge
breaths in relief, as though he were trying to breathe through smoke. �One
thing in particular, right?� he asked, and lifted his eyebrows.

�� Harry felt
himself turn red. �You�re as bad as your parents,� he muttered. �And George. I
don�t know if I�m gay.�

�� Ron blinked
and looked uncertain again. �But if you�re sleeping with a bloke��

�� Harry
wasn�t about to reveal to his friends how far his experiments with Cadell had
gone, especially since he always shut the bonds to Draco and Severus when the
�experiments� started.� That was private
information, and neither his bondmates nor his friends could have it. �It
doesn�t work that way,� he said firmly. �I didn�t make a decision to stop
liking girls or start liking blokes. I don�t know what I am yet, come to that,
and I think I�ll wait a while to decide.�

�� Ron nodded
slowly. �Yeah, all right. I reckon people have given you labels all your life,
and it�s nice to be uncertain where you belong for once.�

�� Harry
looked at him in mock amazement. �Sometimes I think that you�re just a normal
chess-player and war hero, and then you come out with an insight like that.�

�� More
red-faced than when he�d thought they were discussing gay sex, Ron pushed him,
and Harry pushed him back, and Ron slipped in the wet grass and punched Harry
in the knee, and they were all right again.

*

�� Harry stepped
out of the Burrow and stood smiling up at the stars. A cool April breeze
traveled past him, and he smiled more widely. That had gone much better than he
had thought it would, and now he thought his relationship with the Weasley
family would slowly turn back to normal. Not the kind of normal he had once
thought it would be, where he was Ginny�s boyfriend as well as Ron and
Hermione�s friend and the other Weasleys��
adopted son and brother, but a settled part of his life that he was
always welcome in.

�� And he had
his bondmates, and he had his boyfriend. His life was unusual, but it wasn�t the punishing kind of unusual anymore. Harry
no longer felt as though he were condemned to live out his life alone or in the
company of people who would never understand him. Draco and Severus had been
calmer and gentler lately, with more of a tendency to explain, as though
Harry�s failure to understand some of the things they talked about was making
its way through the bond.

�� Harry
whistled as he took out his wand to Apparate.

�� A
deliberate blow came down on the back of his neck, throwing him forwards. Harry
found himself scrambling in the grass, trying to breathe. The blow seemed to
have frozen his lungs and chest as well as numbed his neck.

�� Roll to the side, the memory of
Ledbetter�s voice said in his mind, while Harry�s brain created a picture for
him of where the attacker must be standing and sent him tumbling madly in the
opposite direction.

�� Harry heard
something solid connect with the dirt behind him and a soft hiss of
frustration. His lungs were working again, and his neck throbbed with pain, and
he was angry. He grabbed for his
wand�

�� Another
blow hit him, this time just above his waist. Harry went sprawling. His wand
flew from his fingers, and he thought he saw it roll behind a clump of grass
before his eyes slid helplessly shut and his eyesight fuzzed and fizzed.

�� Got him,�
someone said.

�� Harry felt
the soft shimmer of heat above his phoenix marks, but he had no idea if they
would bring Draco and Severus to his aid or not. He had no idea how to stand,
although he badly wanted to. For a moment, he entertained the terrifying
thought that he was paralyzed and would never walk again.

�� Then
another blow hit the back of his skull, and he entertained no thoughts at all.�

*

�� VoraciousReader: Thanks! I want
to think better of Kingsley, but we�ll see how he progresses in the next part.

�� Byond_repair:
Thanks! Harry�s changes are one of my favorite parts of this story, because he
really doesn�t realize that he�s changed that much and thinks that it�s all due
to the bond.

�� Dragon:
Thanks for reviewing.

�� Alliandre:
Some people won�t believe Harry, as Severus said. But they�re outnumbered by
the people who will.

�� If they had
ignored the raid, then they would either have had to fight and injure someone,
or they would have had to let their house be destroyed. Neither option was
attractive to them.

�� catnona:
The chapter where that happens is actually not that far off!

�� Lydia
Monroe: Thanks! And, well, I�m glad you have the version in your head, since
mine is going to be a while longer getting there.

�� Dyrim:
Thank you!

�� PanickedSerenity:
Thanks for reviewing.

�� Sasha:
Thanks for the criticism. I think we have different views of Snape�s characterization,
but more than that, that particular line you quoted is Draco�s opinion of Snape�which isn�t precisely true, though it
might have some elements of truth. Viewpoint makes a big difference to me, and
Draco is the one of the characters who has the most maturing to do.

�� qwerty:
Thank you!

�� DTDY:
Thanks.

�� amy 1: I
did, thank you. And Harry is more conventional than stupid, I think, or even
clueless.

�� Dani: Thank
you! Unfortunately, I really have no idea on exact length right now.

�� aana-aeryn:
No problem. I know the feeling, believe me.

�� Tiffani: I�ve
added you to the list; thanks for reviewing.
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Their Phoenix