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Beauty in Perfection; Stand By Me	By : PaulaS Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Harry/Draco Views: 2360 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
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
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A/N Most of this chapter occurs within the confines of Draco's head. Sorry
about that but sometimes I just simply like that aspect of exploration. I
realize that my characterization of Draco seems off; however this chapter will
answer some questions about that which you may have. When you encounter
unfamiliar terminology
in this chapter the explanation will be found at the bottom. I didn't want to
give away to much before you even begin to read. Thanks again for reading.
Enjoy.

"   " indicates speech

'    ' indicates thoughts

indicates flashback

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Beauty in Perfection; Stand by Me

by: imLittleLily

Chapter One

Draco's POV . . .

4 hours prior to Prologue

Draco Icekat Malfoy,
notorious Ice Prince of Slytherin, sat in yet another Order meeting feeling
frustrated by the people around him. He was trying to center and bring
himself out of the frustration because he realized that it would accomplish
nothing.

'Even after seven months in the
Order,' he thought, 'I am still not trusted.' Draco found himself studying
the headmaster as he spoke to the Order about the impending attack of Voldemort.

"This news could not have come at
a worse time," Dumbledore said to the Order members who were gathered for an
emergency meeting in his office. "Voldemort has finally successfully
recruited the giants of Bulgaria and the Manticore clans from the south of
Spain." The headmaster shook his head and continued despite murmurs
amongst the members. "Our sources tell us that both these groups previously had
refused to join him but relented to his demands when threatened with a visit
from the Dementors who have left Azkaban Prison."

Draco frowned. "Professor,
perhaps it is time for Potter to begin working with his element of fire.
It could prove to be a very efficient weapon against Voldemort and his minions.
This late in the game they would be taken by surprise due to lack of preparation
to battle it."

"Mr. Malfoy, we have been over
this before." Albus tried to be patient yet firm with the young Order
member, "There is no one who is capable of training Harry in the use of fire
and it is considered to be a Dark Art by the Ministry." He shook his
head to emphasis his point and turned to Hestia Jones when she spoke up in
agreement.

"Albus," Hestia Jones said in an
insistent voice, "everyone knows that the burning of witches was linked to the
fire element. Harry simply cannot be allowed to use it." Mundungus
Fletcher spoke up from his whiskey induced stupor to agree.

Draco's sterling eyes met those
of his godfather, Severus Snape. He studied the deep obsidian and thought,
'How does he do it? Dealing with such closed minds on a regular basis for
so many years?' He sighed and pulled his gaze away in order to hide his
thoughts, 'I feel as if I am up against a brick wall,' he smirked in the midst
of his thoughts, 'most definitely not the one behind the Leaky Cauldron.'

The voices in the headmaster's
circular office seemed to blend away into the resonant humming of the world as
Draco slipped further into his thought process. He sighed again as his
mind spun around Harry Potter. 'The
very idea that the Golden Boy may have an elemental gift of fire seems to be
very disturbing to the Order members present here today. Fire does not equal good in their
little minds. Hence the notion that to utilize such a gift would border on the
side of Dark Arts.'

Draco sighed as a frown crossed
his countenance.

Draco studied the floor while
still blocking the humming of voices from his thought process. He
continued onto the next logical process in his mind, 'Personally, since I
am an earth/water elemental I think the notion of being able to create fire from
one's hands would be a bloody fascinating experience. Fucking bloody hot, no pun
intended. Even Sev is concerned about Potter's control, doesn't want his
dungeons engulfed in fire I guess. Heaven forbid we would have no Potion classes
for any brief period of time. My argument is that this late in the game we would
have an element of surprise against the Dark Lord, his Death Eaters and other
assorted minions. By combining Potter's air and fire we would have a weapon that
would be far reaching when dealing with the downfall of darkness. He's a good
guy and I am sure he would not abuse this power. He is the Golden Boy after
all.' Draco heard someone's voice come screeching across the office so he
thought to himself, 'Time to come out of your head, Dray.'

His focus came back to the
meeting just in time to hear . . .

"The training Harry has received in DADA," Dumbledore's
voice droned on, "the Muggle martial arts and Transfiguration should be enough
to help us in our cause for the Light. We have no one available that would be
able to assist Harry with Fire and we all know he is unable to transform to any
animagus form. I confess this to be a slight disappointment due to his father's
ability, but I do have confidence that Harry will come through the battle just
fine."

Draco's lithe hands came up and rubbed his temples as he
shook his head stubbornly to himself. 'Damn, there is only one thing I can do,'
he thought.

"Albus,' Severus asked, "is he still using the Room
of Requirement for his nightly training?"

"Yes, Severus," Dumbledore responded, "Harry works an average of 18 hours per day
when counting his studies along with his physical workouts. I have tried in the
past to get him to slow down or cut back but we all know he is driven by a
strong will to face Voldemort in the final conflict."

"Albus," Molly Weasley spoke up, "perhaps you really
should put your foot down about that, the last time I saw Harry in the halls he
looked exhausted. You or Professor McGonagall should be firmer with him."

'I really think she
really should give it a rest;' Draco thought as he continued to frown, 'I can hear it now, "Sorry Tom, Harry can't come
out to fight you right now because it is his nap time!"'

Draco decided that it was time to speak out . . .

"It stands to reason then, Professor," I said, "that Potter has
gained more knowledge through more study in order to face Voldemort but I still
believe he would be very open to the potential that fire would add to his
repertoire. At least we should give him the opportunity to make that choice
for himself," I implored to Professor Dumbledore. 'That's right you old
codger,' he thought, 'look at me over your moon spectacles and dismiss my request with such
finality. Bloody hell, we shall see.'

"If that is all," said Dumbledore as his gaze
floated over the members, "we will call this meeting adjourned. I'm
sure we all would like to retire to the Great Hall to celebrate the Harvest Moon
feast. Good evening to all. Tonks, you and Shacklebolt please remain for a
moment longer. Thank you all, again."

Draco scowled at the floor as he thought, 'Dismiss us all? It is definitely time to go over your head
old man. I for one want to win this war and see Potter walk away alive
and healthy.'

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

A Ferret & A Mutt . . .

The Great Hall was filled with the vibrational chatter of
many students mingling with the sentient humming of the castle that always seems
more pronounced during times of celebration. The ceiling was just beginning to
show the light of the rising full moon on this crisp fall evening. Stars
twinkled within the dark midnight blue cloudless night sky; even the Dog Star
was shining brightly tonight. ((tribute to you, Padfoot, love always))
Malfoy entered with his usual cronies of Crabbe and Goyle stopping just within
the large double doors to scan the perimeter of the hall and see who was there
tonight and who wasn't. This was a regular occurrence for the Black Snake
Trio; however, on this particular evening it raised irritation within one
Gryffindor; Ron Weasley became furious with the trio. His anger was due to the
fact that the scan of the hall had ended with the Gryffindor table and most
specifically upon Harry.

Ron rose from his seat and stalked over to the trio and
gruffly growled at Malfoy, "Knock it off with the show . . . ferret."

Nose to nose by this time Malfoy scowled deeply, "Bloody
hell weasel, what is your problem tonight, have another argument with the
Mudblood?" He hissed, all the while thinking, 'I can't believe I have to
waste my time arguing with this git. There are more important things to be
taking care of. Great, here comes Potter to call off his mutt.'

Without taking his eyes away from Ron, Malfoy hissed,
"Potter, glad to see you could make it, you need to shorten your new mutt's
leash. He is getting in everyone's way."

"Malfoy," Harry said, "why are you always creating arguments with Ron
anyway? Can't you ever grow up?"

"Grow up?" Draco sneered, "Your mutt came at us while we were only
on our way to the Slytherin table for our share of the feast. I told you,
you need a shorter leash for him. He's the one that needs to grow up. Now if you
will excuse us, Vincent, Greg and I are going to have a seat and enjoy this
great feast,� Malfoy said with his trademark smirk while raising a perfectly
groomed brow.

"Why you, bloody bouncing ferret . . . "

Harry blocked Ron's advance by stepping in between the two
and saying, "Ron, come on . . . now. NOW, Ron. Don't you think . . . no
way . . . " Harry was shaking his head thoughtfully pulled Ron along the
Gryffindor table back to their seats muttering in a low voice, "Can't be possible."

Hermione was waiting back at their seats and wanted to
know what couldn't be possible.

Harry grinned at her and answered, "Malfoy just called Ron
my new mutt and said I needed a shorter leash for him."

"Harry!" Ron hissed through his teeth with a quick look
around to see if anyone had heard them.

Harry turned sparking emerald eyes to his friend and asked
him, "Well, how can it be a coincidence? You tell me Ron, how
would he even have an inkling?"

"I am not your mutt!" Ron hissed angrily scowling
at Harry this time.

Harry rolled his eyes at them and grinned again saying,
"The point is, how would he even know anything about any of . . . well, you know
. . .?"

Ron picked up a chicken leg and started eating all the
while growling about mutts and leashes and shaking bloody bouncing ferrets in
his jaws.

Hermione grimaced at him and said, "Ron, don't mumble or
talk with your mouth full. Maybe the whole thing was just a lucky guess or even
an unfocused insult. After all, we can call him a ferret because he was one
once; maybe he is just tired of calling Ron a weasel."

"Growl. . . grumble . . . chomp . . . growl . . . mmloody
'eret."

"I guess that's always a possibility, red-dog needs
a nickname so that no one will be able to guess what he is," Harry said
grinning while ducking a roll that Ron threw at him. Professor McGonagall
harrumphed from the Head Table and looked at her students with a frown.

"All right you guys settle down or I will end up in trouble,"
whispered 'Mione who happened to be Head Girl this year.

"I've got to go anyway, seventh floor." Rising with a tilt
of his head, Harry headed out of the hall.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Duty . . .

As Malfoy watched Potter's exit from the corner of his eye
he made a sign to Vince to go after him to make sure he made it to the seventh
floor without incident. Vince grabbed up another roll and made for the exit with
only a slight nod in acknowledgement to Draco.

'I wonder what the Golden Trio would think,' Draco
thought, 'if they knew that every word they said was heard by me? Sometimes I
wonder about the ethics of all this Watcher business. After all Dumbledore
already keeps an eye on them. I'm just an extra. Well, I have got to go myself,
get ready for my visitors.'

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Purpose . . .

'I like walking the empty halls of Hogwarts,' Draco
thought. 'She is really humming tonight, as though she knows of our
celebrations and even the coming confrontation. She always helps me to put my
thoughts in order and decide how I am going to go about calling in my real
bosses. Dumbledore never seems to realize that doing so will only up the odds in
our favor when the final confrontation comes. This isn't 1945 anymore. We need
to do things differently now. Potter won't even know half of his allies if we
continue in the way The Old One wants to work.'

As Draco walked to his dorm, he thought back to that special night that he
learned his true destiny . . .

'Midnight is my 16th birthday.   I am curious
about what my wizard�s inheritance will be. Hope what I experience is not too
painful. No matter what anyone thinks I really am not into pain.'

Midnight. 'Arrrrgh! Well, sooo . . . much for not being
painful. What the hell is that white light? I can't see anything specific but I
hear a sound . . . what is that? I've never seen such a spiral of energy
before, looks like an American tornado? Something is in its center? Water?
Bloody hell, that is soooo cool. Some sort of bird? Argh . . . damn, now my
knees hurt, too.'

"Blessed Be, my young Draconis." said the White Lady
after she shapeshifted from her osprey form. "We have come to you on
this night of your 16th birthday to impart to you your gifts of elemental magic
and to show you the way of your destiny."

"I'm an elemental?" I asked her in surprise.

"This is truth young one," she answered with a smile.
"You are great in the power of
Earth and Water. There is, however, more to you than just your elemental gifts.
You have a great destiny to fight by the side of the chosen one in an up coming
battle between good and evil. Before the time of this decisive battle you will
serve the greater good by becoming a Watcher for the The One."

"Is the identity of The One you speak of the Dark Lord?"

"No, Draconis, the one of whom I speak of is a Warrior of
Light, Harry James Potter."

I groaned. "Oh Salazar! Please tell me this is not
so. I have been raised, even bred to be at the side of the Dark Lord. How can
you say that I will be fighting on the side of the Light?"

"AH, young Draconis," her musical voice sounded as if
she was laughing, "but it is of course, truth. As you
begin your training you will come to experience many visions which will explain
all to you. You will also come to realize that the lessons you have learned from
the Dark will benefit the cause of the Light in many unforeseen ways. There will
come a time that you and The One will indeed fight side by side to conquer the
Dark Lord who calls himself Lord Voldemort."

Draco's thoughts returned to the present to find himself standing before the
door to the Slytherin Common Room. "Purest of Blood," he said the
password with conviction and walked through into the common room once the door
opened.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Shadow Phoenix's Kat . . .

The Slytherin common room was empty as Draco passed
through on his way out to his favorite courtyard. 'That's good,' he
thought, 'I guess since curfew is extended tonight due to the feast everyone
is taking advantage. Good for my purposes, everyone will be otherwise occupied.'

Upon exiting he turned to his left instead of the right
which would lead the Slytherins up into the main entrance hall of the castle.
Turning left would take him to his favorite spot in Hogwarts. Draco in the last 6 years had spent many a night exploring the dungeons after
curfew due to the fact that most prefects would not venture so far down into the
depths of the castle. Being a prefect himself was an advantage also. During one
such exploration, while in third year, he had stumbled upon a staircase that
traveled up into a dark recess with seemingly no outlet into anywhere. Curious,
he had returned several times until he finally discovered the secret exit which
opened onto a courtyard which he had never seen before and quickly learned that
there was indeed no other entrance or exit. There was none visible to him at
that time anyway. Draco was bent on further exploration; for instance, seeking
from above, he discovered that his now favorite spot on the Hogwarts grounds was
unseen by all occupants of the castle. Awesome! This was where he was headed to
on this Harvest Moon night.

"Shadow Phoenix's Kat." He spoke the password
softly that he had set
and the stones before him evaporated into an archway. "Destination
Secure," resealed the entry way once he was through.

Once he knew that the barrier was secure, Draco removed
his over cloak to expose his uncharacteristic attire. He always felt more
comfortable in his work out clothing but realized that many of his fellow
Slytherins would not understand the visual change that Draco currently
presented. Removing his dagger from its sheath attached to his thigh, he began
by conjuring up his favorite protective circle of ice; stalagmites, four of
which were at the points of the earth; north, south, east and west, those being
approximately 2 meters tall. 'Damn, I love playing with that,' he thought. At this point he
began with his invocation to call in his visitors.

"On this night of the Harvest Moon I,
Earth Warrior, Draconis, Watcher for The One, call upon Cerridwen, Warrior of
Water, White Lady and Moon Goddess, I seek your great council this night . . ."

"On this night of the Harvest Moon I also
call upon the Cerddorion, the Sons of Cerridwen, Taliesin, Warrior of Air,
Prince of Song, Chief Bard of the West, the Way-Shower and Belenus, the
Warrior of Fire, Protector and Consort of the Goddess, I seek your great council
this night . . ."

"On this night of the Harvest Moon I call
upon Queen Medb, Warrior Queen of Earth, Goddess of Tara and Tuatha De Dannan,
and faery Queen of Connaught, I seek your great council this night."

As Draco knelt awaiting the arrival of his
visitors his mind wandered to the-boy-who-lived and sensed that he was close by.
At this time however, he did not have the time to focus on such feelings. The
atmosphere within the circle began to swirl and coalesce into the warriors which
he had summoned as they appeared in their animagus forms.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

A New Beginning . . .

Once I found myself alone in the circle
after my visitors left, I
realized that the courtyard was not as empty as I originally thought. I spun
around and accosted whoever was hidden in the shadows. "Who dwells in the
shadows of the night . . . speak now, or you shall feel the ice of my dagger
within your heart!" I was not as surprised as one might think when I realized
that it was Potter who was hidden in the shadows. His presence may create a solution to my problem of reaching
out to him and offering him our assistance. His response would go a long way to
create a new future for some of us.

I find myself studying Harry Potter,
the-boy-who-lived, as he speaks his acceptance of what he has learned tonight.
I feel a tingle travel down my spine as his strong voice resonates in the
courtyard.

"It is I, Harry James Potter, The One,
Warrior of Light, Seeker of Knowledge, would-be-defeater of Voldemort here to
acknowledge you Warrior of Earth, Draconis, Watcher of The One. Stand by me;
from this Harvest Moon night. . . forward into battle."

His formal acceptance gives me the
confidence to say, "Perhaps we need to talk. How much did you
hear tonight?" I asked him immediately.

"I have been here since before the arrival
of The White Lady." Harry answered. "How long have you been an ally and my Watcher and why has
Dumbledore kept this vital information from me?" Harry asked as he stood up to
be face to face with Draco.

"As you know," I said to him, "he has a habit of keeping
things from you, for example; the prophecy, your inheritance, and several allies that
you should know about before we are attacked. By the way, has he told you that
Voldemort is planning a massive attack on Hogwarts just in time for Yule?"

"Fucking hell, no." Harry was scowling by this time. "You
still haven't told me how long you have been my Watcher."

I arched a brow at him and said, "Since I received my inheritance on my 16th birthday,
after Father was taken to Azkaban."

Harry frowned and asked, "Who are the allies you speak about?"

"Crabbe, Goyle, Zabini and Finch-Fletchley." I said
with a smirk at his look of surprise, "There are
others of course but they are more of a minor act compared to the other four. We
have been trained in martial arts, sword and knife fighting and Muggle kick
boxing. By the way we learned that last art of defense from some Muggle named Dursley, Dudley
. . ." I told him waiting for a response from that last little bit of
information. 'Well, I don't think the shocked look is a surprise to me. We can talk
more about that later.'

Harry sat upon a bench angry, stunned and preoccupied with
his swirling maelstrom of thoughts. He hadn't felt or thought in such a manner
since before he had accomplished his mastery of occlumency.

Draco studied the-boy-who-lived and then said, "Zabini and I are unregistered animagus. Zabini is a wolf
and I am a white panther. Yes, I know about your own animagus forms of shadow
phoenix and black panther. Don't worry I haven't disclosed this information to
Dumbledore or the Order. It may come as a surprise to you, but my purpose is to
stand by you during this war, not specifically the Order or Dumbledore. That is
why I was compelled to call in the Warriors tonight. Dumbledore has refused to
pass this information on to you. He also refuses to realize that utilizing your
elemental gifts of air and fire would be an advantage to the Light when
Voldemort attacks us on Yule."

Harry sighed, "I have difficulty controlling the fire. Air
seems to be the easiest for me."

Draco tilted his head and said, "Don't worry about that, Belenus will be visiting you and
giving you practice in control and ideas as to the best strategy to use your
gifts on the battlefield."

"Great," mumbled Harry, "will he be able to assist me
with the fire that is Ron when he discovers this latest bit of information?
Especially when he finds out about you."

I smirked, "Can I be there for that?"

TBC

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

A/N Black Snake Trio: We all know that there is the
Golden Trio. I decided that for my story I wanted to give a name to Draco's
central cronies. Black comes from his mother's maiden name (maybe she'll make
and appearance later OC), snake = Slytherin and of course trio is
self-explanatory. While it is true that Draco was the one who put this name out
into the rumor mill, it does not stop with just the three. Zabini and
Finch-Fletchley would be included.

About Justin; Harry is not the only one who
would have done well in Slytherin in my story, even if he is Muggleborn.
His friendship with Blaise will be explained soon.

The scenes from Draco's flashback are my simple way of fitting
in Draco's change of heart from the
scenes that took place in the Entrance Hall and on the train ride home into my
storyline. This is my explanation for any OC from canon.

About Dudley; OK, I know this is way
out there, Dudley just wrote himself in at this point because he didn't like
being left out. I was having a good time shocking Harry and he wanted to help.
I know that in canon he only does boxing; without his feet, but the
timeline which has past can leave an opening for possible kickboxing.
Everyone grows up, Dudley will be no exception.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~




~ ~ ~

Harry Potter and Related Indicia (c) 2001
Warner Bros. "Harry Potter", and all other proper names from the Harry Potter
book series are trademarks of Joanne Kathleen Rowling
and the TIME WARNER
ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY, L.P." IceKat & FyrToehhers is a non-profit, volunteer-run
Web site that is in no way affiliated with J.K. Rowling, Scholastic Books,
Carlsen Verlag, Bloomsbury Publishing or Warner Bros.

All images and material related to the J.K.
Rowling novels is copyright Scholastic Books (US), Carlsen Verlag, and
Bloomsbury Publishing (UK). All material related to the "Harry Potter" films is
copyright Warner Bros.
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Beauty in Perfection; Stand By Me