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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
- 18
- 19
- 20
Thank you again for all the reviews!

�� Draco
nearly dropped the vial of powdered glass he held when a golden blaze cut the
air in front of him. His first thought was that the Ministry was raiding the
house again, without official notice this time, and he set the vial down on the
table and stepped back in one swift movement, lifting his wand.

�� The golden
flash turned around again and flew towards him, and this time he could see the
outlines. He stared. It looked like nothing so much as the phoenix on his arm
come to life, with a body no thicker than the foam on butterbeer
and a streaming tail and crest of bright feathers. It opened its beak and
screamed at him, and Draco hastily stepped towards it, hand extended, trying to
figure out what it wanted. A glance downwards showed him that his phoenix was
still in place.

�� What�s the
matter?�

�� Then he had
his answer.

�� Harry�s
pain and panic nearly made Draco faint, but he gritted his teeth and clung to
consciousness. He had borne worse things than the avalanche of emotions rolling
down the bond at him, though at the moment it was hard to remember what they
were.

�� He ducked
his head and swore softly when the bond suddenly went dark, without even the
firefly dreams that usually lighted it when Harry was asleep. He straightened
again and faced the phoenix, who had its wings spread
wide and was screaming with a regular shrill pulse that caused Draco to worry
for his ears.

�� I know
that Harry�s in trouble,� Draco said, and his own voice was rising to the point
that he thought it would sound like a shrill screech to Severus. Always assuming that Severus is concerned
about noise when he�s felt that pain and fear, of course. Draco fastened
his gaze on the phoenix and tried to continue in a calmer tone. �The point is, what�s happened to him and where is he and who did
that?�

�� The phoenix
circled his head. Then it landed on his shoulder and ducked its beak until the
edges touched Draco�s ear. Draco turned and glared at it, wondering what it
meant to do now. He had to beat back his own panic, because he simply had no
experience with this type of magic and no idea what should happen next, and in
the meantime, Harry was in trouble.

�� The phoenix
breathed out, ruffling the feathers around its mouth.

�� And the
scene streamed across Draco�s eyes like a cloud across the moon.

�� He couldn�t
see the figures who assaulted Harry clearly; they wore cloaks that were too
thick, and their hands and faces barely showed. But he saw that they were
attacking him outside the Burrow, and they did it with a heavy pole of what
looked like green metal that hit Harry�s neck, and then back, and then head.
Harry crumpled to the ground after the best fight he could give, which wasn�t
very much.

�� A howl
battled to rise up Draco�s throat, as if he were a werewolf in the process of
changing form. How dare the bastards?
After what Harry had done for the wizarding world, after everything he�d tried
to do since�

�� The phoenix
nipped his ear sharply, which felt like a minor burn, and Draco realized the
scene had continued. The figures swung Harry up over their shoulders and walked
about twenty yards away from the Burrow. Then they Apparated.

�� That meant
the attack had taken place inside the Burrow�s wards.

�� Draco
wanted to leap away as if he were on fire. He had known that the Weasleys, as blood traitors, were never to be
trusted, he had known that Harry
should have picked him and Slytherin from the beginning and led a more
comfortable and protected existence with them, maybe some of those awful things
he�d gone through wouldn�t have happened to him if he had�

�� But even
without the vision showing the Weasleys dashing out of their house, looking in
horror at the trampled and bloody grass where Harry had been attacked, picking
up his wand, and calling frantically for him, Draco knew his thoughts simply
contained the last remnants of jealousy and anger. The Weasleys were Harry�s
dear friends. They would never do something like this. Draco might mock
Gryffindor loyalty, but he knew it was solid. It had to be someone else who was
trusted enough to be inside the Weasleys� wards.

�� The vision
ended. The phoenix fluttered up in front of Draco, wings spread and screaming
eagerly. Draco nodded to it, absently wondering where it had come from, and
then ran to the door of the potions lab.

�� He met
Severus there. Severus�s eyes were narrowed to the point that it felt as if
Draco were looking through small gates into fury. He gave Draco a swift nod and
a squeeze on the shoulder, as though he imagined he might need reassurance in
the wake of what had happened to Harry.

�� I saw,� he
said. Draco looked to the side and realized that a second paper-thin phoenix
hovered over Severus�s shoulder, joining its cries to those of Draco�s bird.
�We will find him. And we will take revenge.�

�� The second
statement was the one that reassured Draco the most. If Severus wanted to hurt
the people who had taken Harry that badly, the sheer force of his desire would
compel him to find them.

*

�� Severus
kept his attention on Draco as they Apparated to the outside of the Burrow, and
let Draco do most of the talking to the Weasleys, whom Severus quickly
determined were as shocked and angry about this development as they were. He
left the explanation of the vision to Draco. He was casting about for clues in
the grass where they had seen the attack take place, and he was struggling to
subdue his own anger.

�� He did not
believe the Weasleys had betrayed Harry. It had to have been someone who was
welcome within their wards, however, and that ruled out Swanfair, who would
have been Severus�s second choice. It was rational for Swanfair to want to test
the strength of Harry�s bond to his partners.

�� That left
the Ministry�s Aurors as the most reasonable candidates. Arthur Weasley worked
for the Ministry; Granger was angling for a job there; Harry�s friend was still
in the Auror training program. They had not ruptured their relationships with
Kingsley Shacklebolt the way that Harry had, though Severus knew they treated
him more cautiously and coldly. That meant that gaps could be built into their
wards that would have started during the war, when Aurors in the Order of the
Phoenix needed quick access to safe houses and sites of attack. It would not be
beyond Shacklebolt�though Severus wished his ulcers had preoccupied him more�to
exploit those gaps in the wards.

�� The sheer stupidity and stubbornness the Minister expressed made Severus wish to Transfigure him into a mushroom and then cut him apart for
use in a Halitosis Potion. Shacklebolt was the opposite of Harry when it came
to accepting the inevitable.

�� But Severus
also had to restrain his anger, because he thought that Shacklebolt must have
known suspicion would fall on him.

�� Not because
he could follow out Severus�s subtle reasoning; the Minister had proven that he
had nothing but contempt for Severus and Draco, as if being a former Death
Eater meant that one could not use reason. Simply because he had attacked Harry
before this, and he was the most natural suspect when it happened again.

�� Severus
therefore thought this was a trap.

�� And for him and Draco, not for Harry.

�� They would
have the right to charge in with their wands bright, according to the bond and
the popular perceptions of what bonds enforced�but according to the Ministry,
if they used the Dark Arts Severus wanted so badly to use, they would be thrown
into Azkaban. Shacklebolt would be further on edge after the failed raid in
Hogsmeade, and would look eagerly for an excuse to do such a thing.

�� So they must
rescue Harry without using Dark Arts, and without losing their tempers.

�� Severus
turned and looked directly at Draco. Draco was talking with the youngest
Weasley at the moment, and there was no trace of a sneer on his face. His hands
were clenched, however, and he was breathing at a pace that directly matched
the throb of his anger in the back of Severus�s head, like a beating heart.

�� I can control my temper. I am not sure of
Draco.

�� Draco,� he
said quietly, attracting the attention of everyone in the area. Severus did not
roll his eyes, but it was a near thing. They were all so desperate that anyone
who sounded commanding and certain could rule them. �There are some signs here
that I will need one of our books to identify.� That was pure nonsense, of
course, but it made Draco�s face brighten and the Weasleys relax. �I also need
to fetch some potions that may aid us in our venture. Give me a few moments to
make the Apparition.�

�� Take as
much time as you need, Severus.� Draco�s eyes were shining, his mouth turned
fiercely down. He reached out and clutched Severus�s arm with a grasp that felt
as if it should have crumbled stone. �As long as you promise me that we will
find him.�

�� Because
Draco needed it and that was more important than the opinions of relative
strangers, Severus leaned down and kissed him in a way that drove Draco�s lips
into his teeth and made them bleed. �We will find him.�

�� He
Apparated then, and, when he landed in the garden outside the house, lifted his
wand and cast a spell that crumbled one of the rocks among the flowers,
disintegrating it and scattering it as a fine dust the way that Severus wished
he could scatter the Minister.

�� That is for control of my temper.

�� He opened
the door, strode to the potions lab, and spent a moment searching among the
more powerful Calming Draughts. When he found one, he found a casket of mint
and dropped a few leaves into the vial. It bubbled and turned a cool green.
Severus nodded in satisfaction. This was not a reaction that he thought Draco
would have studied, since it was one he had discovered himself. Draco would be
insulted to be offered a Calming Draught, but he would drink a potion that
Severus told him would help him keep his temper and that didn�t look like a Calming Draught.

�� And they
did not need an argument about such an irrelevant thing at the present time.

�� Severus
leaned against the Taylor table and spent a moment with his eyes closed. The
phoenixes that had given him and Draco the visions of Harry�s capture had
vanished when they Apparated to the Weasleys�. Severus had taken the chance to
check his phoenix mark before they went, however, and he was satisfied that the
birds had not come from their arms. Probably they had something to do with
Harry.

�� It made
sense that the bond would alert them to Harry�s danger in a different way than
it alerted Harry to Draco or Severus being in danger.

�� For the
moment, however, Severus was more interested in a different property of the
bond.

�� The bond
should allow them to sense each other�s direction. It was part of the changes
that had begun to happen when Harry let his final barriers fall. Severus had
not so far tested that property because there had been no need.

�� But now�

�� He traced a
finger down the center of his phoenix�s back and murmured, �Harry?� in a
questioning tone, concentrating meanwhile on the pain and fear that were the
last sensations he had received through his bond with him.

�� A line of
red light shot away from the phoenix�s beak and straight through the wall.
Severus stood up with a hiss and moved from side to side, to the lab door and
back, to test the line. Each time, the light adjusted itself so that it could
keep pointing in the same direction.

�� We have only to follow this path to Harry, Severus
thought, as he turned to gather up the potions that he had promised. Shacklebolt shall be sorry that he chose to
test our patience and control.

�� Shacklebolt shall be sorry for many things.

�� In the end,
he had to burn another boulder to pieces before he felt safe to go back to the
Burrow and the people who would expect him to be perfectly controlled and
emotionless.

*

�� Harry
opened his eyes, and immediately shut them again. He had a ringing headache,
and the light around him made it worse.

�� And then he
remembered what the last sensation he had felt was, and froze. He wanted to
twitch his legs to make sure he could still move them, but doing that would
probably tell his enemies, whoever they were, that he was awake.

�� He debated
silently for long moments, and then realized that he could at least feel his legs. That was a good sign,
though it was distracting and irritating that they stung and burned. It was
enough, for now. Harry breathed more easily and began to try to listen to the
sounds around him.

�� Those
didn�t include voices, which he regretted, because it might have told him who
had kidnapped him. Instead, he heard the shuffling of feet, the rustling of
robes, a sound like heavy wooden furniture being dragged, and now and then a quiet
cough. Nothing useful. Harry decided that he would
have to use his other senses to discover something that would help, and try to
ignore the fact that pain stormed through his head and spine and neck as though
someone had whipped him with hot iron.

�� Carpet
beneath his hands and face; he could feel his eyelashes fluttering against it
when he shifted his eyes back and forth. That too-bright
light, which argued that he wasn�t in a room with a fire.

�� One of the rooms at the
Ministry? He thought it
was a good guess, but Draco and Severus would caution him against jumping to
conclusions too quickly, and in general Harry was beginning to agree that they
were right.

�� He tried to
call silently to them in his head, but the pain surrounded and pressed in on
him until he had to give it up for a loss. At least the bond would tell them he
was alive.

�� His mouth
tasted of fuzz and blood. That, and the pain, argued that he was badly wounded.
He would have to remember that when he tried to stand up and move against them.
Ledbetter�s crisp advice was ready in the back of his head when he searched for
it: Never assume you�re like one of those
heroes in the fairy tales who can ignore a hundred wounds because you�re pure
of heart. You�ll need to take account of blood running into your eyes and
muscles cramping from hard use and broken bones, or you�ll need to die. And
that�s a need that no one wants fulfilled before the right time.

�� Harry
curled his fingers quietly into the carpet. At least he could still move his
hands without trouble, which suggested that he might be less wounded than he
thought from the pain marching up and down his spine. He began to count quietly
beneath his breath. When he reached a hundred, he would try to stand up and do
what needed to be done, unless something remarkable changed before then.

�� Then
something did. Someone grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and hauled him
upright as if he were a puppy being punished.

�� Harry cried
out despite himself, and felt a distant irritation that he�d ruined his own
planned surprise. Really, though, there was no
choice. His eyes were watering with the pain, and the fingers pinching the back
of his neck seemed to hit the nerve that the weapon, or whatever else it was
that had felled him, had touched. Harry found himself stiffening with
expectation of another powerful blow at any moment.

�� Here,
sir,� the person holding him said, and then that person deposited Harry in a
chair and shoved the chair forwards while other people moved around him in
dizzying circles. Harry blinked to get his eyes clear and tried to lift his
hands, though he didn�t know if he had his wand. The person behind him quickly
locked manacles that seemed fastened to the arms of the chair around his
wrists. Harry sank back with a hiss and glared at his captors.

�� Finally,
his vision cleared. Two bulky men he didn�t recognize stood on either side of
him as guards. One of them clutched a long weapon of what looked like shiny
green polished stone. Harry shuddered and looked away. Yes, he was sure that
was what had hit him. The soft shimmer of yellow magic played around one end.
Ledbetter had told him and Draco that yellow sometimes indicated healing
spells.

�� I don�t think so, not in this case.

�� And then
his thoughts settled on the people that he knew he should have been considering
all along.

�� Draco. Severus. Oh, Merlin. Has someone done
something to them? I�ll hurt them if they have.

�� The concern
for people who weren�t himself stabilized him. Harry found himself taking deep
breaths and trying to calm down, because Severus and Draco would worry more if
they felt profound fear from him. He even did his best to ignore the pain and
looked straight in front of him again. The more he understood about this place,
the better-prepared he would be to move when he finally had the chance.

�� In front of
him was a desk. Behind the desk was Kingsley.

�� Harry
glared. At least anger would send a more reassuring message to Severus and
Draco than fear did, he thought. �Of course,� he said. �It would be you.�

�� Kingsley
ignored him for the moment�Harry was glad to see that at least his face was
ragged and tired�and spoke to the man holding the green weapon. �You�re sure he
won�t take any permanent damage from this?�

�� The man
curled his lip, as if trying to figure out why the Minister would care, but
said obediently, �Yes, sir. The weapon�s been extensively tested. It only
causes permanent nerve and muscle damage when used more than three times.�

�� Good,
good.� Kingsley folded his hands on top of each other and then focused on
Harry. Harry studied him in silence. There were wrinkles on Kingsley�s forehead
and around his mouth that hadn�t been there before, and he seemed to sweat more
easily. Harry smiled, and Kingsley leaned back in his chair and shuddered as
though Harry had implicitly promised to reduce his spine to jelly, the way it
felt like the weapon had done to Harry.

�� This is a
last chance,� Kingsley said suddenly. �If you�ll accept your fate and that the
Ministry is in control of the wizarding world, then I won�t trouble you again.�

�� What would
�my fate� be?� Harry asked, and did his best to ignore it as the man holding
the weapon turned it towards him again, though he couldn�t hide a flinch.

�� To be the
Boy-Who-Lived,� said Kingsley. �To realize that it matters where you go and who you associate
with. You will need to accept a watch on your bondmates, to make sure
that they don�t use Dark magic, and you�ll need to appear at some public
celebrations organized by the Ministry. And, of course, you�ll need to end
these rumors of a new political party and your alliances with Dark-oriented
pure-bloods by making a decisive announcement.�

�� Your
Aurors attacked our home,� Harry said. �Doesn�t it matter that we didn�t use
Dark Arts then, only pranks and wards?�

�� Kingsley
shook his head. �But they might use
Dark Arts. We can�t be sure of what they�ll do under provocation, which is why
we need a watch on them.�

�� Harry
narrowed his eyes and looked more closely at Kingsley. His voice was tight and
twitchy with tension; he kept glancing up as if he wanted to check the time on
a clock invisible to Harry. And the subtle glee in his voice when he�d said might�

�� Do you
expect them to use Dark Arts when they try to rescue me?� Harry asked.
�Because, make no mistake, they�re going to try and rescue me.�

�� Kingsley
gave him a sigh and a roll of his eyes. �I expect them to use Dark Arts at any
moment. The Dark Arts are addictive, Harry; you�ve never used them, so you
don�t realize how great the weight is.� Harry clamped his jaw down on the
desire to tell Kingsley about certain Unforgivable Curses he�d used during the
war. �This bond is a troublesome thing, but I�ve come up with a compromise that
should keep it under control. Agree to the compromise, and you can have the one
thing that you said you wanted: to be able to live in peace and solitude with
your bondmates, untroubled.�

�� Harry shook
his head. �I can�t make choices for them, even if I�m bonded to them. They would
have to be the ones to agree, and why should they when you kidnapped me? Why
didn�t you send me an owl proposing your compromise so that we could talk about
this like civilized people?�

�� Kingsley
glanced away from him, and seemed to be studying the clock again. Harry ground
his teeth together. He didn�t propose it
like a civilized person because he�s more interested in trapping them. That�s
all he wants. I reckon he thinks that�s the only way he�ll get any peace.

�� Do I have
to remind you, sir,� Harry asked, �that I�m the one who�s caused more trouble than they have? Because I dared to
demand that people who cursed my bondmates and tried to kill me be brought to
justice? Because I decided to start my own political party when I realized that
I didn�t like the direction the Ministry was heading? Because I made allies
that you wouldn�t have wanted me to make?�

�� You didn�t
kill Dumbledore,� Kingsley said. �You didn�t torture people at the Dark Lord�s
command. You don�t have the Dark Mark on your arm.� He leaned forwards, staring
this time as if his eyes could make the clock run faster.

�� Neither do they!�
Harry screamed, exasperated and frustrated, and jerked his arms up so that the
sleeves fell away from them. �They have phoenix
marks, to show they�re bonded to me, which is the reason that you�re so
worried about them influencing me in the first place! Sir, do you ever listen to yourself?�

�� Kingsley
flushed deeply, but didn�t turn away from the clock. Harry was glad, because he
had noticed something strange about the phoenix marks on his arms, and wanted
to examine them in private.

�� Usually, it
seemed as if at least three birds, in various mixtures of parts, ran up his
arms. But now he could see only enough wing and tail and beak and face bits for
one bird. It was as if the other two had flown away.

�� Abandoned me.

�� Harry
swallowed hard and dropped his arms back into his lap. He could hope that the
phoenixes had flown away to tell Severus and Draco that he was in trouble, of
course, but then he had to wonder about the alternate explanations, since he
hadn�t seen them do it. What if Severus and Draco had grown fed up with the way
that trouble followed Harry, and decided that they would rather be on their
own? What if they had managed to unpick the bond somehow? Or what if the
missing phoenixes were only a sign that they weren�t interested in being bonded
to him anymore, regardless of whether they could get free?

�� Harry shut
his eyes. This is ridiculous. I know I would have felt something through the bond
if they�d decided that, the same way I felt something when the bond started
forming a new link between Severus and Draco.

�� But the
suspicion sank tormenting claws into him anyway. Harry really didn�t like the idea of them leaving like that.

�� And that
made him blink.

�� I�.reckon that they might feel the same way
about me, and that�s the reason they don�t like me spending so much time with
Cadell.

�� Sir,�
began the man who held the green weapon, �do you want me to be ready to��

�� No,�
Kingsley snapped, without taking his eyes away from the clock. �I don�t. You
know what�s supposed to happen when they come. Wait for that, Miller.�

�� The man
subsided into sulky silence. Harry glanced sideways at him and wondered if he
meant to use his weapon on Severus and Draco. The mere thought made him snarl.
But he tried to keep the sound silent. The one advantage he might have was that
of surprise, and he might sacrifice that if he showed that he understood too
much of the conversation hovering around his head.

�� Then a line
of red light cut through the walls and landed straight on Harry�s chest.

�� Harry gave
a panicked yank on his manacles, trying to figure out what that meant and if it
was going to cause him pain. But the red light simply lingered, and then it
twisted and grew into a familiar shape while the Aurors were still falling back
and shouting questions and Kingsley was still staring.

�� The phoenix
that formed spread its wings and cried aloud into Harry�s face, a piercingly
sweet sound, before it circled up to sit on his right shoulder. Despite the
fact that it was made of light, Harry could feel the heat of its tail and the
prickle of its claws. It hissed at Kingsley and fanned its wings back and forth,
creating a small cascade of sparks. The Aurors backed further away, the one
with the green weapon clutching it so tightly that Harry saw his fingers begin
to bleed.

�� Then a
second beam of red light soared through the walls, changing into a phoenix as it
moved, and swept around Harry�s head, trilling a pure note. When it settled on
Harry�s left shoulder, Harry was considerably calmer than he�d been. That
phoenix ducked its head and rubbed its crest against Harry�s cheek, piping more
notes. Harry automatically raised a hand as if he could stroke it, and then
grimaced as the manacle restricted him from touching the bird.

�� The
phoenixes faced the Minister, and both opened their beaks threateningly at the
same time. Harry took a deep breath, warmed and comforted and feeling somewhat
stupid for ever thinking that Draco and Severus could have abandoned him.

�� If they get tired of me and want to risk the
bond being dissolved, then I�m sure they�ll tell me.

�� Kingsley
sat back in his chair, staring at the phoenixes. Harry could only guess what he
was thinking. The phoenixes were Dumbledore�s symbol, and the symbol of the
Order Kingsley had served so faithfully, and creatures of goodness. Harry
wondered if he had ever thought through the implications of the bond being
represented by phoenixes before.

�� Sir?� the
Auror holding the weapon demanded. �What are we supposed to do now?�

�� The
question answered itself when the door to the room�which was on the far wall,
almost at the limits of Harry�s vision, so that he hadn�t noticed it before�glowed
bright red and then dissolved. Severus and Draco stepped through it, moving in concert, Severus�s hand resting on Draco�s left shoulder.

�� Harry felt
a spasm of almost painful relief. He looked them both in the eyes and nodded to
them. He expected them to attack Kingsley in a minute, and he didn�t want to
let them go into danger without knowing that he was grateful.

�� Kingsley
tensed at the same time, he saw from the corner of his eye. He must know it
would be an attack, but he wasn�t lifting his wand. Why? Did he really want to
rely on his Aurors to protect him?

�� I reckon he really wants Severus and Draco
to use Dark Arts, Harry thought. He could feel a prickle of irritation
moving up his belly. Idiot. If they did, then he could die or be badly
injured, and that doesn�t matter to him as long as they�re in Azkaban?

�� Draco
glanced up at Severus. Severus stared back at him, and Harry was certain that
some private thought passed between them. Finally, Draco nodded and walked
across the room at a stately pace to stand next to Harry. Severus followed him,
the Aurors watching him all the while as if he were a python.

�� I�m sorry that we didn�t tell you we were
close before now, Severus�s voice said into Harry�s mind. I didn�t want you to act too much as if you
were safe and perhaps earn yourself worse treatment.

�� Harry
nodded his understanding, and, though he knew Severus and Draco could read what
he was feeling through the bond, sent back a thought in response. Thanks for coming here.

�� Severus
gave him a quick wondering glance, but didn�t give Harry a chance to ask him
why his thanks should be so unusual before he pivoted around to face the
Minister. Draco, meanwhile, aimed his wand and undid the bonds on Harry�s
wrists and ankles. Harry glanced up at him and smiled.

�� Draco,
unsmiling, pulled him into a rough embrace and bent his head over Harry�s.
Harry could feel Draco�s breath puffing into his hair, his hands tightening on
Harry�s shoulders as if he needed a grip that almost bruised to remind himself
that his bondmate was alive and there. Harry squeezed back. Draco grunted as he
handed Harry a healing potion.

�� Don�t do
that to us again,� he whispered.

�� What,
don�t get kidnapped by obsessed Ministers, or don�t get hit in the back with a
weapon that hurts so much I thought I was paralyzed for a minute?� Harry swallowed
the potion and felt some of the pain ease. He grinned up into Draco�s eyes, or
at least as much of his eyes as he could see when Draco�s head was bent at such
an awkward angle. �I�m not planning on either any time soon.�

��

�� Don�t
leave us alone again. Don�t get into trouble if you can avoid it.� Draco�s
fingers tightened painfully in his hair. �Just don�t,� Draco whispered, and
this time his breath against Harry�s ear made him arch his back.

�� He looked
away at once, but the damage had been done, because of course the bond didn�t
stop flowing. Draco�s fingers tightened once more, and Draco sighed
a noise that sounded like �Ah� into
Harry�s ear. Harry cleared his throat, face burning,
and did his best to focus on Severus.

At least Draco seemed to understand
that this wasn�t the time to make a fuss about what had just happened, because
he also focused on Severus. But he whispered one word before he did so that
didn�t reassure Harry at all.

�Later.�

�� I�m afraid
that we�ve disappointed you, Minister,� Severus said, his hands folded behind
his back and his voice arrogant in a way that Harry remembered well from the Potions
classroom. He was sure that Severus�s face was probably frozen in his best
professorial disapproving expression, as well. �We did not use Dark Arts. We
found Harry at once, without torturing anyone to do so. And we are represented
by phoenixes, which not even you can deny are creatures of light.�

�� Harry
relaxed. Oh, good, so he figured out that
Kingsley would have a reaction to them, too.

�� One of the
phoenixes on Harry�s shoulders lifted then and flew over to alight
on Severus�s shoulder. Severus lifted a finger to stroke its crest, while never
taking his eyes from Kingsley.

�� I do not
know if even this will convince you,� Severus said,
his voice heavy and cold, �given that you have evinced a mania to punish us for
crimes we have not committed or have been pardoned for. But a phoenix marks my
arm, not a snake and a skull. I have done nothing for the past eleven months
but live in peace with my bondmates. I killed Albus Dumbledore under
circumstances that you have seen fully explained, including by my own Pensieve
memories of conversations with Dumbledore in which he asked me to kill him, and
that was not less a grief to me than it was to you.

�� I have
suffered. I am one of the people whom you spoke about in your first speech
after taking office, saying that we would not have to suffer any longer, as we
did when the Dark Lord was in power.

�� I should
have appended a silent exception to your speech, shouldn�t I have? And so
should Draco, and so should anyone else who was forced into becoming a Death
Eater, it seems. You have to continue your suffering
if the Minister doesn�t like you. You aren�t one of the people he considers
himself chosen to represent.�

�� Kingsley
cleared his throat. �Some crimes are unforgivable,� he said. �I can�t persuade
myself that you had to kill Albus
Dumbledore. There was a way around it. There had to be. And if there wasn�t,
then he could at least warned me and the rest of the
Order, tried to prepare us for what was happening.�

�� Severus
paused a long moment, and Harry wished suddenly that the bonds were open all
the way, so that he could understand the meaning behind that silence. From the
way Draco�s fingers gripped his hair again, though, he decided Severus had made
a good decision.

�� Is that
the truth?� Severus asked, voice so delicate that Harry didn�t think anyone
would have heard him if the entire room hadn�t hushed by this time. �You are
jealous of my closeness to Dumbledore, that I was the one entrusted with
knowledge of his inevitable death and the performance of such a hard task. You
think that some other member of the Order of the Phoenix should have done it.
You think you should have done it,
because you are accustomed to thinking of yourself as Dumbledore�s most
faithful servant, one who earnestly performed other hard tasks.�

�� Harry heard
a scrabbling sound that might have been Kingsley�s fingers tightening on the
wood of the desk; it was impossible to see whether that was truly so from the
angle he was sitting at. He started to try and move to the side, but Draco�s
embrace tightened possessively, and he had to stop.

�� Well,�
Severus said, his voice complacent now. �I should have
guessed that before now. Jealousy is one of the most irrational and stubborn
emotions known to humankind. I have suffered from its tightly-clawed grip in my
time, and should understand that.� He leaned forwards until his face was a few
inches from Kingsley�s, and his voice lowered further, but became more piercing
at the same time. Harry wasn�t sure how he had managed that trick. �But it
makes an unworthy motivation for the Minister of Magic to use in guiding his
actions.�

�� Harry
grinned in spite of himself, because of two things. First, Severus had just
made the Minister look like little more than a child throwing a tantrum in
front of everyone watching.

�� And second,
he had just seen the metallic glint of a bright beetle on Severus�s robe
collar.

�� Kingsley
tried to rasp out some denial, but it had no force behind it. If Severus wasn�t
right, Harry thought, then he�d at least made Kingsley doubt himself.

�� Severus
seemed to know that he had done as much as he could and should leave while the
Minister was still too stunned to stop them. He turned with a snap of his robes
that Harry wished he could imitate and nodded to them. Harry gritted his teeth
as he rose to his feet; the pain from the blows with the green weapon still
lingered.

�� In moments,
Severus was there, lending him an arm to lean on. Draco did the same thing from
the other side. Harry nodded to them and accepted their support without
whinging. He might look weak, but Kingsley looked weaker, staring at them as if
he still thought that they would start casting Dark curses at any moment.

�� Sir?�
asked the Auror who held the green weapon, sounding much less certain than he�d
been all evening. �Should we stop them?�

�� Harry
waited to hear the answer, turning his head back so that he met Kingsley�s
stare. Kingsley�s eyes burned for a moment, but the fire was hopeless. He
dropped his head as Harry watched and brought his hands together before his
face.

�� No,� he
whispered. �No. Things are different now, and I�I must think.�

�� Harry let
out a soft breath of relief. It at least sounded
as though Kingsley was reconsidering the suicidal course he�d been on since
he�d kicked Harry out of Auror training. He nodded to Kingsley, though he
doubted he saw it, and turned away.

�� The
phoenixes rode vigilantly on his shoulders until they were out of the Ministry
and in front of a crowd of Weasleys who rushed to hug Harry and had to be
restrained by Draco and Severus before they could knock him down. Then the
birds flapped their wings, uttered challenging, musical shrieks, and dived back
at him to blend into the skin of his arms.

�� Harry
rubbed at them tenderly when he was certain they were in place. Draco caught
the gesture and promptly grasped Harry�s chin, tilting it up so that he could
look into Harry�s eyes. �Do they hurt?� he demanded.

�� Harry shook
his head. �No. I�m just happy that they�re back where they belong, that�s all.�
He looked over at Severus, who was reassuring Mr. Weasley that they hadn�t been
cursed or used any curses. �And so am I,� he said.

�� Draco�s
smile was gentle, secret, blissful. He lowered his
face until his forehead rested against Harry�s and ran his fingers down the
back of Harry�s neck. Harry closed his eyes. There was no reason for the
gesture to feel so intense, but there it was.

*

�� I thought
of contacting Skeeter just as we set off,� Severus was explaining to Harry as
they came back to their home. The beetle took flight from his collar as he
spoke, no doubt wanting to get back to the Prophet
offices so that she could write her story. �And I insisted the Weasleys
remain outside the Ministry because I knew what Shacklebolt would think if they
were with us.�

�� That they
were the ones who restrained you from using Dark Arts, instead of your own
morals.� Harry nodded wisely, putting a hand on the gate and staring up at
Severus as if he could see every step of the planning process in his head.

�� Draco
watched with greedy contentment. Harry was back where he belonged. He�d said
it. Draco had touched him in one of the ways he wanted to, and Harry had
blinked as if he were a little bewildered, but he hadn�t complained.

�� Draco
licked his lips. He wanted a kiss, now. Severus had got one. Draco still
hadn�t, not properly. He wanted Harry to look at him with full acknowledgment
of what he was doing, with the excitement of the night still humming in his
blood.

�� Precisely.� Severus had opened his mouth to explain
something else�though Draco really didn�t know why he was doing all this
explaining when he could be doing more exciting things�when he abruptly twisted
and lifted his wand. Draco fell back next to him, automatically putting his
body between Harry and the approaching danger. Harry muttered something about �wankers� and snatched his own wand up.

�� Harry?� came a voice that Draco hated from the darkness. �Are you
all right?�

�� Draco
turned his head and found Severus�s suspicious eyes waiting for him. How exactly did Caesarion know that
something was wrong? Draco asked in silence.

�� I do not know. Severus�s mental voice
seemed to vibrate in the bones of Draco�s skull, which was a sure sign that he
was angry. But it is interesting, is it
not?

�� Very, Draco agreed, careful to keep
Harry out of the conversation; he would claim they were insulting his boyfriend
if he overheard. Draco reached out and wound his fingers tightly around Harry�s
wrist, keeping him in place when he would have moved forwards.

�� Cadell!� Harry called, while giving Draco an irritated
look. Draco stared back and tightened his grip. He wasn�t about to let go until
he got a rational explanation for this. �I�m sorry I didn�t make our date on
time. There was�a complication with the Ministry again as I was leaving the
Burrow.�

�� Draco
closed his eyes, partially humiliated and partially furious. Of
course. Harry had told them that he was going to �visit� Cadell that
evening after he got back from the Burrow. Draco had forgotten about it because
he had been trying not to think about it, and because, frankly, the thought of
Harry in danger absorbed him far more than the thought of who Harry was
shagging.

�� Caesarion
emerged from the darkness, raising his eyebrows as he looked at the way Draco
held Harry�s hand. Draco promptly ripped his hand away and stuffed it into his
robe pocket. No one was going to say that he was trying to steal Harry for
himself. He would let him go his own way and have a nice normal relationship
with a nice, sickeningly sweet boy�and
that�s all Caesarion was, despite his age, with no depth and no experience of
the world�until it imploded the way Draco wanted and Harry realized that he
needed things that Caesarion simply couldn�t give him.

�� It had better implode.

�� Harry gave
both Draco and Severus a quick, apologetic glance, said in their minds, I did promise him that I would spend time
with him, and he�ll be worried, too, and then crossed over to Caesarion and
kissed him. Caesarion lost the worried expression on his face as Harry�s lips
brushed against his. That only made Draco despise him the more. I�d be demanding details about this
�complication,� if I didn�t already know what it was. This boy only cares about lust.

�� When
Harry�s tongue started to slide into Caesarion�s mouth, Draco turned away and
stomped back into the house, jealousy corroding his insides.

�� We want him. Isn�t that enough? Can�t he see
that? He�ll never find something like what he has in the bond with someone else,
and he should stop trying.

�� Severus�s
hand fell on his shoulder, but he said nothing, either mentally or aloud. He
seemed to realize that Draco simply needed to brood right now. He squeezed and
let his grip fall away.

�� Abruptly,
the flow of adolescent pleasure through the bond with Harry cut off. Draco knew
what it meant when Harry shut his bonds.

�� He ran
upstairs to the library, which was the room in the house with the thickest
walls. He needed to rage for a little while without anyone interrupting.

�� And he
didn�t care how much like a child he was acting, because he had Severus�s
approval and Harry was acting more like
one.

*

�� PanickedSerenity: No, it was definitely not Cadell. That would
be a cheap way of getting Harry to drop him.

�� uchiha mikomi:
Don�t worry, he�s all right.

�� DTDY:
Thanks for reviewing.

�� VoraciousReader: Yes, Harry is okay. But Severus
successfully resisted the temptation. Those poor boulders in the garden will
never be the same, though�

�� tf: Thanks!

�� qwerty: You can pretty much assume that the Ministry is
keeping tabs on Harry�s movements, though not always successfully.

�� Alliandre: Thank you!

�� If Harry
went straight into a relationship with Severus and Draco, I think he would
always wonder if he really liked men or only surrendered because of the bond.
This is a way for him to test himself, as it were, and see that yes, he does
like it outside of situations where he �has� to like it.

�� LiteraryBeauty: Thanks! I promise the sex will come in
before the end of the story, and that I won�t do a fade-to-black scene. ;) But
I think it does need to proceed at a more natural pace for things to make any
sense.

�� I actually
chose the name Caesarion because that was the name of Caesar�s son. Caesarian
section is spelled another way!

�� What makes
you think that Cadell wants Harry for his fame?

�� baka.m3.l33t:
Thank you! I think it�s good that you�re feeling Draco and Severus�s emotions
as well as Harry�s, since they�re usually the characters I have more trouble
with describing. And sure, I�ll add you to the update list.

�� Lydia
Monroe: Would they tie Harry to the bed to stop him from getting into trouble,
or because they don�t want him to have sex with anyone else?
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Their Phoenix