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Stepping Stones	By : Lomonaaeren Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Harry/Draco Views: 6989 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 1
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Chapter Two�The Second
Step

�� I�m
excited. Are you excited?� Ginny paused uncertainly in front of Harry and
abruptly flushed. �Please tell me you are. I don�t want to be alone when I
sound like an idiot.�

�� Harry
laughed and kissed her. As it always did, that made Ginny melt against him with
a little sigh. Her hands tightened on his arms, and she gave an unsubtle
wriggle of her hips. Harry had to pull back, though. �I�m excited,� he said,
angling his groin so that Ginny could feel the truth of that, �but they�re
going to announce our new partners in five minutes.�

�� I could be
quicker than five minutes.� Ginny looked up at him, eyes blazing with
challenge. Harry would probably have given in and taken her up on that if he�d
been a different man.

�� But he
wasn�t, and in fact it was sometimes hard to feign the passion needed to make
sure Ginny didn�t get suspicious. He caressed her hair instead and murmured, �I
think we need to wait and celebrate tonight.�

�� If they
let us.� Ginny abruptly stepped away from him and began to pace around the
small, blank waiting room, staring at the walls in hostility. Harry looked with
her, but didn�t see anything to worry about. The walls had no decorations and
there were only hard benches, but that was the Ministry for you; they would try
to bore you to death during your wait. �They have to partner us together, don�t they, Harry?�

�� Harry
blinked at the sudden appeal. �Of course,� he said. He was the one who had
doubted that during the process of their training, not Ginny. �They have no
reason not to. We love each other, and they know how well we work together.�

�� But that�s
not always enough.� Ginny buried her head against his chest. �In fact, I heard
the Aurors split up people who love each other, because they think that
husbands and wives can�t be objective about each other�s safety.�

�� Harry
privately thought that might be a good thing; Ginny needed to learn how to
stand on her own two feet more. She was so dependent on him that it frightened
him sometimes.

�� On the
other hand, it did lead him to be
extra careful of her heart, and now wasn�t the moment when she needed to hear
criticism. He folded his arms around her shoulders and spoke gently. �We�ll do
the best we can. And if the only qualification was that we were spouses, I�m
sure they wouldn�t consider it. But we do
fight well together. That has to count for a lot.�

�� Ginny
stopped squirming around anxiously and relaxed, peering up at him. �You�re
right,� she said. �Of course you�re right.�

�� She looked
so bright-eyed and happy at the moment that Harry couldn�t resist. He bent down
to kiss her.

�� Mr.
Potter. Mrs. Potter.�

�� Harry felt
Ginny stiffen guiltily in his arms. She always seemed to assume that someone
would blame her for kissing and touching her own husband, and would have beaten
a hasty retreat if Harry let her. But Harry kept his arms in place, and looked
up with a leisurely air, as if his heart hadn�t suddenly started to pound.

�� The Auror
who waited for them at the door was a tall man with a narrow face, dark eyes,
and pierced ears in which silver hoops hung. He surveyed them with resigned
distaste before he gestured. �You are to come.�

�� Harry
squeezed Ginny�s hand, smiled at her reassuringly, and followed Auror Hitchens.
He could disapprove all he liked, but then, he disapproved of teenagers
kissing, too. Just because he didn�t have a life didn�t mean other people had
to avoid having one in front of him.

�� They filed
down a dim corridor and into a sudden blaze of brightness. Harry blinked,
tilting his head back to study the ceiling. An enchanted illusion hung there
that mimicked the one in Hogwarts� Great Hall, and right now it glared with
sunlight.

�� The room
itself had white stone walls, Harry saw when he looked about him, like a
slightly more interesting and considerably larger version of their waiting
rooms. Auror Hitchens waved his hand, and Harry and Ginny hurried to join the
nearest forming line in the middle of the wooden floor. Trainees rustled their
robes all around them, coughed nervously, and dragged at their sleeves or
scratched random itches as if that could somehow lessen their nervousness.

�� Harry saw
Ron at the end of the first row, eyes wide, and nodded to him with a smile. If
he wasn�t assigned to Ginny, Harry knew where he would be going.

�� They faced
the front as more and more trainees hurried in to join them. Harry shook his
head at the number, but then remembered something his trainers had told him
yesterday. The Auror program was only formally three years; in practice, the
Aurors put some trainees through a longer period of lessons and some through a
shorter. They would wait to assign partners and end the training until a
sufficiently large number were considered to be ready. If that meant some
people got extra education, well, that did no harm as far as the Aurors were
concerned.

�� Harry had
heard that the selection process was somewhat mystical, but he didn�t think so,
particularly when Aurors in scarlet robes�some of them people he recognized,
some those he didn�t�entered the room through wide wooden doors without any
kind of magical artifact like the Goblet of Fire or the Sorting Hat. They stood
in front of the trainees, hands folded behind their backs, and studied them
with hard faces.

�� Ginny
gulped audibly. Harry squeezed her hand again and wished he could whisper a
reassurance without looking unprofessional. If they had come this far, they
wouldn�t be cast out of the program. The Aurors also saw no use in wasting time
on someone who would never be what they were looking for.

�� Gradually,
the trainees stopped filing in, the doors shut, and silence settled over the
room. Auror Hitchens broke it, stepping forwards. His earrings swung as he
jerked his head back and forth.

�� Auror Ron
Weasley.� He infused distaste into his words, Harry thought, as if there were
two trainees born Weasley just to spite him. �Auror Donald Greyborn. Come
forwards.�

�� Harry
applauded as Ron and Greyborn made their way up to the front, partially because
they would be a good match�Greyborn was calm and steady and would balance Ron�s
temper�and partially because now he knew who
his partner would be.

�� Sure
enough, there was nothing mystical. The full Aurors simply gave Ron and
Greyborn their new robes and made them swear an oath on their wands to uphold
the laws of the wizarding world and hunt Dark wizards and witches.

�� Ginny
leaned against him. Harry stroked her hair and listened as more names were
called and more people went through the minor ritual. Neither his nor Ginny�s
names had come up yet, but he was resigned. It was a huge group, much larger
than he had thought, and included plenty of people he hadn�t trained with or
even seen during his years in the program.

�� Auror
Harry Potter.�

�� Harry
straightened, a sharp tingle making its way through his chest. The right to
that name was something he had fought for for three years. Ginny giggled next
to him, probably out of nervousness or amusement at the expression on his face,
and then hushed.

�� Auror
Draco Malfoy.�

�� The bottom
fell out of the world.

�� Harry
turned his head, feeling as though it moved by slow ticks, like the hand on a
watch. Ginny was gasping silently beside him, so wounded that she hadn�t even
made a sound yet. Harry stroked her back automatically, but for the first time
since their marriage, his priority wasn�t her. He needed to find�he needed to
see�

�� And yes.
There he was, looming up above the crowd, taller than Harry remembered, turning
his head in a crown of pale light and staring at Harry in defiance, in
contempt, in disbelief.

�� Draco
Malfoy.

�� Harry knew
his life had changed. He simply refused to accept it.

*

�� There must
be something you can do.�

�� Miriam
Wellington, the Auror who had recruited Harry for the program and the one who
he suspected of being in charge of choosing most of the partner teams, only
smiled serenely and folded her hands on her desk. �I�m sorry, Auror Potter,�
she said, emphasizing his title a little. �There�s nothing. The partnership
decisions that we have made are final, at least until the time that a year has
passed and we�ve been able to see that our choices definitely will not work.�

�� But of course it won�t work,� Harry snapped,
and then shut his mouth. He had intended to be as calm as Wellington always was
and impress her with his rationality.

�� What had
happened to that plan? Most of the time, he had no trouble in being as calm as
he pleased. Ron and Hermione and Ginny had all complained in the last year that
he was too unemotional if he was anything.

�� Why not?�
Wellington leaned forwards, frosty blue eyes bright for once, as if she was
actually interested in his answer.

�� Harry
reminded himself of what mattered here�which wasn�t his stupid curiosity�and
forged ahead. �Auror Malfoy and I had a rivalry at school.� He was proud of
himself for remembering that he had to give Malfoy a title too, now. �He
personally injured or tried to injure several of my friends, and he disliked me
for refusing his hand in friendship. I know that he won�t have forgiven that.�

�� Have you
asked him that?� Wellington asked levelly.

�� What?�
Harry stared at her. �Of course not! I�m working off common fucking sense, here.�

�� Auror
Potter.� Wellington looked more shocked and stern than angry. �You will not use such language to me.�

�� Harry lowered
his head, feeling his cheeks burn. He was glad that no one besides Wellington
was in the room. He hadn�t lost his temper like that in a long time.

�� Since the
war, in fact.

��

�� What was it
about Malfoy that could destabilize him like this?

�� Harry took
a deep breath and lifted his gaze. If he was smart, if he was canny, he could
use his outburst for the greater good, the way that he had used his own
inability to feel passion for it. �I am sorry, Auror Wellington,� he said, with
his best attempt at humility. �I didn�t mean to do that. But you can see why we
can�t work together as partners. Even if Auror Malfoy has forgiven me, I�m not
myself around him. I�m a bit childish, in fact.�

�� Wellington
was silent, studying him so long that Harry expected questions. But she only
asked him one, and then only after long minutes of a scrutiny so intense it
hurt his face. �Do you know how we placed you together as partners?�

�� No,
Auror,� Harry said. He hesitated, then took a risk. �I had assumed I would be
partners with my wife, since we worked so well together.�

�� Skill is
not the only measurement we use, though it is an important one.� Wellington
placed her fingers together. �We study the ways that Aurors interact, fight,
argue, and investigate in the challenges placed before you during your
training. And we also look for your weaknesses.� She gave Harry a wry look.
�I�m sure that you remember the interviews over the years.�

�� Harry
nodded. He had been interviewed when he first entered the program, of course,
but also many other times over the three years he�d been here. They had asked
him searching questions and shallow ones, personal ones and irrelevant ones.
Each interview had been different, never repeating the same pattern of
questions, so he�d never been quite sure what they were looking for.

�� The
interviews help us determine your weaknesses,� Wellington said. �What you need,
who you are dependent on, what would cause you to lose your temper.� She
studied him again. �Until today, I�d never seen you lose yours.�

�� Harry
shrugged. �Fighting a war reminds you what�s really important and what�s not,�
he said simply.

�� It doesn�t
seem to have done much for your friend Weasley�s temper.�

�� Ron�s
different,� said Harry. He was tempted to ask why they hadn�t chosen Ron for
him, if Ginny was impossible, but he had the feeling that Wellington was
getting around to an answer, so he sat silent.

�� Yes.�
Wellington tapped her fingers together. �And the biggest weakness we have
spotted in you, the biggest hole in your defenses and your personality, is that
you lack passion.�

�� Harry
froze. �Pardon?� he asked when he could speak. He hoped he would sound
offended, not panicked.

�� Oh, God, someone noticed. What happens if
they tell Ginny? What happens if she asks? What will I tell her when�

�� Harry
fought the questions away. That hadn�t happened yet, and probably wouldn�t
ever. He said evenly, �I would have thought the solution was to partner me with
my wife, Auror.�

�� Oh, no one
questions your passion for her.� Wellington waved her hand, leaving Harry to
breathe easily once again. �But in day-to-day life, one can�t miss it. You
don�t pay as much attention as you should. You do certain things flawlessly,
but like an automaton. Meanwhile, Malfoy is bored by the competition that we
hand him. We think that you would be stirred by being partnered with him,
driven, and he would find a person who would not bore him.�

�� Harry could
see the logic. But he still thought it was faulty.

�� That also
sounds as if we could destroy each other, Auror, with all due respect,� he said
firmly.

�� I know,�
Wellington said. �But we have chosen to take the risk. As I said, at the end of
a year, if the partnership isn�t working, then we can make another choice and
transfer you.�

�� Harry
relaxed. He thought he could survive a year. Although, he did have to ask�

�� What
happens if Auror Malfoy tries to kill me before then?� he asked.

�� Wellington
gave him a small smile. �If you have proof,
then Auror Malfoy would be arrested, and of course the partnership would be
dissolved,� she said. �We do not tolerate our Aurors attacking each other, no
matter the personal dispute or insult.�

�� The warning
in her eyes made Harry nod. He was protected against the worst Malfoy could do
to him, and in the meanwhile, he would have to trust to the armor of his
indifference to protect him from smaller dangers.

�� He was
worried when he went home, though, for two reasons. First, an anxious Ginny
would be waiting for him, and he didn�t think she would be satisfied by
Wellington�s explanation.

�� Second, he
still had no idea why the mere mention of
working with Malfoy had infuriated him so much.

*

�� But there
must be something you can do.�

�� Harry put
his arms around Ginny and held her close, murmuring into her hair. They were in
the big drawing room that had been the main attraction for Harry when they
bought this house. He liked the motion of a chamber as big as the Gryffindor
common room, with places for lots of chairs and tables and couches and a huge
fireplace that made them feel warm just coming in.

�� He knew he
was thinking about the room to avoid thinking about Ginny. He would have to
stop that.

�� I�ve
tried,� he said, while he thought about the fact that she had said �something
you can do� and not �something we can do.� �I went to talk to Wellington. She
said that they chose Malfoy for my partner because they think we complement
each other.�

�� What?�
Ginny stepped away from him, the flush in her cheeks sudden and high. �That�s
ridiculous. We complement each
other.�

�� No, we don�t. I�m there, and you lean on me,
and I let you.

�� It wasn�t a
new thought, but it was shocking,
when Ginny was so upset. Harry bit hard at his lips, shook his head at himself,
and firmed his embrace. �I know. I told her Malfoy and I would probably kill
each other.�

�� And that
didn�t convince her?� Ginny frowned and plucked at his robe. �I don�t
understand. You�re important.�

�� And so are you, and so�s Malfoy, and all the
other Aurors, Harry thought, but he knew Ginny wouldn�t see it that way.

�� I tried,�
he repeated. �Wellington said that they�ll make another decision in a year, but
not before then, unless something drastic happens. If she won�t change her mind
because of a direct appeal, I�m not sure what will make her change it.�

�� Something
has to.�

�� Harry
looked at her uneasily. Ginny�s eyes were glittering and her mouth was clamped
shut. The only time he�d seen her look like that, one of their trainers had
accused her of cheating on the exams.

�� We�ll keep
asking,� he said, �but we may not break their deadlock.� He had to prepare
Ginny for failure, he knew, since she often didn�t prepare herself. �How are
you doing with Anna?�

�� Ginny
shrugged without interest. �She�ll do all right, I reckon.� She�d been
partnered with Anna Lebeck, a young, enthusiastic woman who Harry thought would
make a good Auror. �But what are we going to do about their insanity? When do
you have to meet him?�

�� Tomorrow.�
Harry turned to hang his cloak up on its peg, wishing they really could talk about something else. Ginny�s
voice was like a needle prodding him in the back.

�� Then it�ll
be up to you,� Ginny said decisively. �Malfoy probably wants the chance to be
an Auror, and he�ll be too scared to rebel. But if you do something disruptive
enough, they�ll break up your partnership.�

�� Harry
turned to stare at her. �What?�

�� I want you
away from him.� Ginny folded her arms as if she was cold. Harry thought she
looked as though she was huddled against a fall of freezing rain. �Please,
Harry. Anything you can do, anything it takes.�

�� Harry�s
heart melted at the expression in her eyes, the way it always had. If Ginny was
dependent on him, he thought, surely a large part of that was his own fault.
And that meant it was his duty to tend to her, too, and make sure that she had
what she needed to keep functioning.

�� Besides, it
wasn�t as though he wanted to be
partnered to Malfoy.

�� I don�t
want to do something that will get me thrown out of the Department,� he said.
�And even if I tried something bad enough to make them break up the
partnership, that doesn�t mean they would break up yours.� Ginny opened her
mouth, but Harry held up his hand and then continued. �But I don�t think he�ll
want to stay with me, either. I�ll try to talk to him, get him to agree to
something. If we work informally with other people, and show that we�re better
that way than if we worked apart, I think the Aurors will let us switch partners.�

�� Ginny
smiled in a moment. �If you�re sure that will work,� she said.

�� I�m not,
but we�ll try it,� Harry said. He didn�t want to get her hopes up. He didn�t
want to lie to her.

�� There was
one great lie at the heart of his marriage: Ginny thought he felt the same
overwhelming passion for her, the same crushing love, that she did for him. He
didn�t, but he had promised that she would always be happy and want for
nothing. It was time to keep that promise, no matter how difficult it was.

*

�� Malfoy.�

�� The git was
already in the office when Harry entered. He didn�t pretend not to hear Harry,
but did hold up a hand so that he could finish reading the report he was
looking at. Harry stood still, studying him, and wondered if Ginny would say
that he was already giving in too easily.

�� Malfoy had
indeed grown taller than Harry remembered; it wasn�t all shock from seeing him
for the first time in years yesterday. But yes, his face was pointy, and his
hair was still pale, if softer than before, so it looked like dandelion fluff.
Harry was glad. It would make him easier to struggle with.

�� When Malfoy
looked up at him, though, a shock passed through him. The eyes were different.
Malfoy had a cold, pale clarity behind them, as though he knew exactly what he
was capable of and no longer intended to take nonsense from anyone. Harry
reckoned Auror training would make him that way.

�� What did
you want, Potter?� Malfoy�s voice was like his eyes. �We should get moving
soon. We�ve been assigned a case already, and you haven�t read the report yet.�

�� Listen,
Malfoy,� Harry said, feeling awkward by comparison with the elegant, composed
bastard, and clinging gladly to the sensation. It would make it easier for him
to obey Ginny�s instructions. �I wanted to strike a bargain with you.�

�� Malfoy
laughed, a sound like a shard of ice stabbing someone in the face. �What could
you possibly have to offer me that I would want?�

�� Harry
ground his teeth at the irritation that sound provoked, but told himself to
play it calmly. �Freedom from me,� he said. �I suggest we work together just
shoddily enough that they assign us new partners.�

�� Malfoy
folded his hands behind his head and studied him instead of flying into a rage
or agreeing immediately, the options Harry had thought most likely. Harry
shuffled his feet under his gaze, and hated that, too.

�� You
dislike me that much?� Malfoy asked. �Even though we haven�t worked together
yet?�

�� Harry shook
his head. He had forgotten most of his griefs and grudges from Hogwarts, though
he thought being around Malfoy would remedy that
right quick. �I want to be partnered with my wife that much.�

�� Malfoy
sneered at him. �I�ve watched you at practice,� he said. �She�s a substandard
Auror. You, as much as it pains me to admit this, are not, or they would never
have darted to partner you with me.� He made that sound like a statement of
fact. �You don�t want to be with her. She�ll drag you down.�

�� Don�t say
that about Ginny!� Harry snapped, and suddenly it was as if no years had passed
since he saw Malfoy. His blood was up and surging through his veins, and his
hands curled themselves into fists without his permission.

�� Malfoy sat
up in his chair, but didn�t reach for his wand, the way Harry thought he
should. �Why not? It�s true.�

�� She works
just as hard as anyone else,� Harry said, and moved one sliding step closer to
Malfoy. His wand was drawn. When had that
happened? He shook his head sharply and reminded himself that he wanted to
break apart from Malfoy, not be kicked out of the Aurors himself for attacking
a partner. �She casts her spells with as great a force as anyone else.�

�� True love
is indeed blind,� Malfoy said with a mocking smile, and Harry was glad that he
didn�t know the reason those words stopped Harry cold. �Open your eyes, Potter.
She misses the target more often than not. She missed a lot of the classes, for
that matter. She subdues suspects with too much eagerness. She�s the kind who
could justify going rogue to herself and then be indignant when she got
arrested for breaking the Auror Code of Conduct.�

�� Harry
stared at Malfoy. He didn�t want to remember the way that Ginny had tackled one
of the other trainees who was playing a criminal during their last exercise and
broken her arm. �And you care about things like that?�

�� Yes,�
Malfoy said. �It was why I made up my mind to accept you as my partner. You�ll
run within the law. You�ll obey the rules, at least as long as someone doesn�t
hurt an innocent in front of you. And Aurors, lucky us, are empowered to run
after and hurt people who hurt innocents.� He sneered, but Harry had the
feeling it was an automatic expression, one that hid what he was really thinking.

�� Obeying
the rules is important to you,� Harry said, rapping his fingers against his hip
and trying to ignore the fact that Ginny would be betrayed, if she knew about
this conversation, because he was talking about this instead of trying to
defend her. �Why?�

�� Malfoy
looked at him steadily. �You know what happened to my family after the war?�

�� Fines,�
Harry said. �House arrest.�

�� The tone he
said it in implied that it was less than they�d deserved, and Malfoy�s eyes
flashed once. But unless it was his voice growing colder, he didn�t seem to
show the effect on him. �Yes. But more than that, we were warned that this was
our last chance. Our contacts in the Ministry are exhausted. My father�s
reputation can�t protect us anymore. If we do something else that�s outside the
law, we�re all going to Azkaban, and it�ll be for life.�

�� In spite of
himself, Harry winced. He remembered the way Sirius had looked when he
mentioned Azkaban. He remembered the way Dementors felt.

�� Malfoy
seemed to see something of that in his face, because he relaxed. �Yes. Well, I
wanted to show willing, and I want to do the best I can to get my family out
from under that hanging sentence. So I became an Auror. And if I have to have a
partner who breaks the rules, I want one with a reputation that means we won�t
feel the consequences.�

�� Harry
nodded. �That makes sense.�

�� Malfoy
cocked his head. �You�re more intelligent away from your wife�s side that I�d
realized. Of course, she probably keeps you there because she doesn�t want you
to outshine her. Thinking with your dick means you won�t.�

�� Harry
gritted his teeth, and wondered why he had bothered asking for Malfoy�s
explanation and feeling sympathy. The bastard would never appreciate it.

�� I could
vouch for you to the Ministry,� he said. �I didn�t speak up enough during your
family�s trial, and I owe your mother a lot. Then you could have a different
partner but the Aurors would know it wasn�t your fault that our partnership
didn�t work out.�

�� Malfoy
abruptly surged to his feet. Harry, startled, tried to step back, but there
wasn�t much room in the office, and Malfoy confronted him without effort.

�� He stared
down his nose, Harry saw, staring up. It was unfair that Malfoy was still taller than him. Harry knew he
couldn�t expect his starvation during childhood to have no consequences, but
he�d got used to being taller than most people except Ron in his immediate
circle. Malfoy loomed.

�� I want you
as my partner,� Malfoy said, very softly, so that someone pausing right behind
the door would have trouble hearing him. �You�re the one with the reputation
and the skill at Defense Against the Dark Arts. You�re the one who�s mellowed
in the last few years, they tell me, so that you no longer snap over every
little thing the way you did in school. But you seem upset now. Were the rumors
lies?�

�� Rumor is
always a lie,� Harry said, trying to recover himself. �And don�t you see? If I
get angry at you so easily, then it�s all the more reason we shouldn�t be
partners.�

�� Malfoy gave
him a darting, lizard-like smile. �You don�t have to like me,� he said. �You
only have to work with me. And I�ve put up with a lot during the past three
years. You�ll have to make yourself intolerable before I give you up.�

�� He slipped
back to his desk and tossed the report he�d been reading to Harry as if nothing
had happened. �Finish reading this, and we can go out.�

�� Harry
caught it with one hand�some reflexes were still alive in him although he
hadn�t played Quidditch in a long time�and stared at Malfoy. He only waited in
his chair with a faintly bored expression, one cheek propped on his hand. The
intense man with the propensity for shoving himself in people�s faces from
moments ago might never have existed.

�� Slowly,
Harry opened the file. He would just have to find some way to mess up this case
that they were working on, he told himself, some way that couldn�t be traced
back to him but would get their partnership dissolved. That was all.

*

�� How did it
go?� Ginny was dancing up to him the moment he came through the door, her eyes
so wide and bright that they reminded Harry of the candles he�d had burning the
first night they slept together.

�� Stalling
for time, Harry hung up his cloak and then turned around and took her in his
arms. Breathing in the scent of her hair helped to steady him. This was his real world, the center and
heart of his being.

�� Harry?�
Ginny wrenched herself backwards and stood with her hands on his forearms,
looking at him impatiently. �Are you still partners with Malfoy, or did you manage
to win free?�

�� Harry shook
his head. �Malfoy refused,� he said. �He wants to stay in the Auror program and
not break the rules because that would make people look at his family with more
suspicion. If something happens between us, it will be all my fault.�

�� Those
simple words hid so much.

�� On the
other hand, Harry had no way to tell Ginny about the way he�d fallen into
stride with Malfoy as they were leaving the Ministry, the perfect way their
steps matched, without thought�at least on his part. From the amused, sidelong
glance Malfoy gave him, he had probably noticed and thought Harry was doing it
on purpose. But Harry didn�t figure that out until later.

�� How could
he explain the way they questioned the witnesses to what looked like a simple
jewelry robbery on the surface, but which hummed with darker magic underneath?
Malfoy took the lead, while Harry loomed in the background and let the
witnesses see his scar. And then he spoke to a few people who glared at Malfoy.
Malfoy wasn�t upset about that. He lounged against the nearest building and
gave a cool smirk that disconcerted them. One person let slip more than she
intended, and they found themselves on the trail of the thief�sure enough, a
Dark wizard, Malfoy said knowledgeably, when he tested the air with a certain
spell and found a residue there that formed as silver dust on the tip of his
wand.

�� Harry
should have made a joke then about how and why Malfoy knew that. He would never
have passed up the chance in school. He wanted to say that he hadn�t now
because he was more mature than that, and he was caught up in the excitement of
his first case.

�� Neither was
true. Or not entirely true.

�� They�d
cornered the Dark wizard in another jewelry shop, which he owned. And then,
while Malfoy distracted him with �innocent� questions that the wizard thought
were an offer of alliance, Harry crept in the back way and felled him with a
Stunner.

�� All neat,
all swift, all wrapped up within the first day. Harry ought not to feel so good
about it, though, because this was a simple case and he knew that other Aurors
solved cases faster than that all the time.

�� But how was
he to tell Ginny about the silent moment in which he and Malfoy had stood over
the limp thief and exchanged slow glances, or the smile that lingered at the
corners of Malfoy�s lips, or the little nod that he gave Harry before he said,
�You�ll do, Potter?�

�� You�ll
have to do something else, then.� Ginny�s mouth twisted. �We�ll think of
something.�

�� Harry put
thoughts of Malfoy out of his head, and sat down to have a nice dinner with his
wife and listen to her plots and plans. Of course he wanted to partner with
her. They had planned on it all through their training, and it was ridiculous
for the Aurors to take away their chance to both live and work together.

�� How could
he explain the way his heart had bounded from that simple nod of Malfoy�s, had
given a knock against the inside of his chest that was like the proverbial
knock of opportunity?

*

�� He�s going
to come out cursing.� Malfoy�s voice was no more than a murmur in Harry�s ear.

�� Harry
nodded, his eyes fixed on the dark doorway in front of them so that he wouldn�t
miss the slightest flicker of movement. They�d finally tracked the poisoner
they were investigating to his lair; they would need evidence that he�d brewed
poisons and tampered with healing potions to make an arrest. But they hadn�t
counted on the strength of his private wards or the fact that his house had
only one entrance, meaning they couldn�t both go in at once from front and back
the way they liked to do.

�� At least
the house was far away from any Muggle or wizard dwelling, in the middle of a
desolate moor, Harry thought, trying to think of something positive to say
about this case so far. That meant none of the curses would hit anyone else.

�� Any
ideas?� Malfoy leaned his elbow on the boulder they were crouching behind�wound
with spells that disguised their presence from the poisoner�and leaned in
towards Harry.

�� Harry took
a moment he knew he shouldn�t to enjoy the way Malfoy�s closeness made the
hairs on his arms and neck rise, then said, �Brute strength. He isn�t going to
come out unless the house is destroyed around him.�

�� Malfoy
raised a skeptical eyebrow. �And destroy all our evidence?�

�� Harry
grinned at him. He enjoyed moments like this, when Malfoy spoke as if Harry
were stupid, or at least missing the obvious. He wouldn�t have enjoyed it in
school, but that wasn�t the point. They were different people now, and this
would give Harry the chance to prove himself.

�� Watch,� he
said simply, and pointed his wand around the rock, beginning a soft, steady
chant. Malfoy watched, not making any attempt to interfere.

�� Harry had
never thought he would see the day when Draco Malfoy trusted him.

�� The spell
eddied out of his wand, surrounding the house with what looked like magical
mud, blocking the shimmer of some of the wards. Harry altered the incantation a
bit as he created the second layer, and Malfoy cocked his head. He still didn�t
know what Harry was doing, despite his greater knowledge of Latin.

�� That was
gratifying.

�� Harry told
himself he wasn�t going to think about what else it was, and jerked his wand up
in the air as he reached the end of the spell.

�� The spell
glittered, the �mud� suddenly taking on golden highlights as if catching the
sun, and then contracted. Harry heard the cracking and creaking of wood and
raised a cautious shield around himself and Malfoy. Sure enough, splinters were
flying through the air a moment later, some with force enough to chip off bits
of the rock.

�� The spell
was formed to destroy wood and ward energy, but nothing else. It would leave
the poisoner undamaged�and all the potions in glass vials and metal cauldrons
that he had with him.

�� Magnificent,�
Malfoy breathed.

�� Harry
grinned at him again, and tried not to preen. For once, instead of greedily
watching the spell�s effect the way he tended to, Malfoy had his eyes on Harry,
and his gaze was warm and heavy-lidded. It made Harry tingle in odd places.

�� But then a
weak cry caught their attention, and Harry turned his gaze back to where the
house had stood. In a moment, he went still.

�� The
poisoner was there, yes, a desperate-looking man with wild dark hair in a
ragged purple robe. But someone else was there as well, a tiny boy with red
hair and wide, tearless eyes. He hung limp against the poisoner, but whimpered
when the man pressed his wand against his throat. Harry couldn�t swallow,
couldn�t breathe. None of their research had said anything about a hostage.

�� I know who
you are,� the poisoner said, eyes fastened on the rock despite their concealing
spells. �Harry Potter. He never harmed a person when he could avoid it, they
said.� He gave an eerie, hollow laugh. �Come out where I can see you and lay
your wand down.�

�� Harry tried
to trade an anguished look with Malfoy, only to see him looking calm and
unaffected. He met Harry�s eyes and nodded. �Do what he says,� he mouthed.
�Trust me.�

�� Harry
shivered, and for a long moment his trust hung there in the balance, as he
wondered whether or not he should actually obey
Malfoy. Why? If Malfoy didn�t care about the hostage, as it seemed he
didn�t, would he actually save the boy, or consider his death an acceptable
price as long as they caught the poisoner?

�� But Malfoy
didn�t flinch or scowl. He knelt there, as impassive as if he were waiting for
Harry to trust him to Stun a prisoner.

�� Harry
stepped into sight and laid his wand down.

�� The
poisoner gave a nervous giggle. �Excellent.� With a flick of his hand, he
Summoned Harry�s wand. Harry clenched his hands into fists. He hated the smart
ones. �Now, Kevin here and I are going to take a little walk. You�ll stay right
where you are and not attempt to trace us. Do you understand? I�ll kill him the
moment I see any Auror coming after me.�

�� It took
everything in Harry not to glance towards the place where Malfoy knelt and
betray the plan. He settled for nodding tightly.

�� Good.� The
poisoner swayed on his feet, then recovered his balance. Harry, about to spring
forwards, rocked back on his heels again. �You won�t follow us,� the poisoner
repeated, his voice beginning to slur.

�� Of course
not,� Harry said, and hoped that he sounded righteous and indignant enough. By
now he had a glimmer of what Draco was doing, and it was brilliant.

�� Right,�
the poisoner said, and wavered back and forth, blinking. Then he slipped to the
ground with a little sigh.

�� Harry
immediately raced forwards and snatched the boy from his arms. Kevin clung to
him, whimpering, while Harry stroked his hair soothingly and then bent down and
grabbed his wand.

�� How did
you cast the sleep charm without him noticing you?� he asked Malfoy, who was
sauntering up with one of the collection bags they used to pick up evidence. He
paused along the way to bind and gag the poisoner, and then Summoned his wand
in turn and tucked it into his pocket.

�� You were
distracting him,� Malfoy said, baring his teeth a little. �You do that often,
as I notice.� Harry just chose to nod and cuddle the boy closer, not responding
verbally. �He wasn�t warding his mind to Legilimency. I managed to get a hook
in place�� a hook, as far as Harry understood it, was a small hold on a
victim�s mind ��and then sneak the sleep charm in under his awareness. It was
like a powerful suggestion from his own mind.�

�� Thank
you,� Harry said. He whispered it, but he knew Malfoy would hear.

�� Malfoy
paused with one hand above an iron cauldron. �You don�t think it�s too Dark?�
he asked, without turning to face Harry.

�� You�re
something deeper and more powerful than Dark,� Harry said. �I know you use
Legilimency in the service of�� He fumbled for a moment. He didn�t want to say
�good,� because Malfoy would mock him, and he didn�t think Malfoy�s confession
that he had become an Auror for the good of his family made his motives purely
selfless. Nor had Malfoy only done this for the boy, since he hadn�t known
about him until a few minutes ago. �The Ministry,� he said at last.

�� Malfoy bent
down and placed a Stasis Charm on the cauldron, then shrank it and put it in
the collection bag. �There�s another thing I serve,� he said.

�� What?�
Harry asked, joggling the boy a little as he started to cry.

�� This
partnership,� Malfoy said.

�� Harry was
glad that he didn�t look up as he spoke, but simply continued his collection.
He didn�t want to explain to Malfoy why he was going a little weak-kneed and
staring openly at his back.

*

�� You don�t
really believe that.�

�� There was
something about the tone of Malfoy�s voice that made Harry put the report he
was writing aside and look at him. Malfoy leaned back in his chair behind his
desk, which stood opposite Harry�s. He would never go so far as to put his feet
on the desk, Harry knew, which he had Transfigured to be mahogany and
considerably cleaner than the standard-issue desk the Ministry had given him. But
his legs were crossed and his hands resting in his lap, signals of relaxation
for him. He stared, with an eyebrow raised.

�� Don�t
really believe what?� Harry tried to remember what they�d been talking about.
Some variation of the Gryffindor-Slytherin argument. He hadn�t had his mind on
it, but on the report about the Dinsmore case, which was already a week
overdue.

�� You don�t
really believe that having a child in Slytherin would be the end of the world,�
Malfoy said. �Even though you just recited that, and all the reasons why.�

�� Harry
blinked. He reckoned he didn�t, but that wasn�t the point. He took one side of
the argument and Malfoy took the other. That was the way it always was. Harry
hadn�t thought either one of them believed
it anymore. It was one of the loads of bollocks they used to pass the time.

But he would sound stupid if he
said that�he couldn�t keep up with the quick way Hermione phrased things, or
the light, gentle way Ginny did. �How can you tell?� he asked instead.

�� By your
tone of voice,� Malfoy murmured. �You always sound distant when you don�t
believe something.�

�� Harry eyed
him. Malfoy was leaning forwards, one hand on the desk now. He looked as though
he was on the point of standing up from the chair, in fact. And that alarmed
Harry, because it meant the conversation was about to get serious. He�d been
good at avoiding rows with Malfoy so far. He wanted that to continue.

�� Then Harry
realized what he was thinking, and frowned. Idiot.
This is the perfect way to make Malfoy stop respecting you and ask for a
different partner, and you�re letting it go to waste.

�� Well,
actually,� Harry said, �I would rather that my children be in Gryffindor than
Slytherin. It would mean less teasing for them and less bad perceptions of them
in the future. I wouldn�t stop loving them if they were Slytherins, but that�s
different.� He paused, because Malfoy hadn�t responded, and then added, �Not to
mention all the bad habits, like lying, they�d pick up in Slytherin.�

�� Malfoy
didn�t exclaim, or roll his eyes, or freeze his face into the mask of disgust
that Harry had seen there whenever he had to speak to Ron or Ginny. He gave a
faint, very cool smile, the kind Harry had learned to look forwards to seeing
at the end of a case. �You don�t believe that,
either,� he said. �Learning to read you is very useful, Potter.�

�� There was a
long, moronic moment when Harry sat there gaping and found himself drawn into
Malfoy�s eyes. Grey, yes, and cold, yes; that was what Ginny always complained
about when she saw him. But they were more than that. They had a clarity at the
bottom of them that�

�� You never think about Ginny�s eyes that way.

�� Horrified,
Harry stood up and turned his back on Malfoy. He cleared his throat several
times and then said, �All right, so I don�t, really. Two of the bravest people
I ever knew were Slytherins, and one could have passed for one.�

�� There was a
long silence. Harry thought Malfoy would let him get back to the report, and
started to sit down again.

�� Their
names.� Malfoy sounded almost dreamy, almost content, as though he was making a
request for Harry to pass the salt, or open a door, or something else that
didn�t really matter.

�� Snape.�
Harry tried to make his voice sarcastic, tried to imply that Malfoy of course should have known that,
because too late, he had seen what Malfoy had trapped him into. �And
Dumbledore�s the one who could have passed for Slytherin, with all his plots
and plans.�

�� The third
name,� Malfoy whispered.

�� And
suddenly everything was tense and important.

�� Harry
swallowed and decided that he would turn around and look Malfoy in the eye. He
deserved no less. Anyway, he had to show that this wasn�t important to him, no matter what it looked like, and hope
that Malfoy couldn�t read depth of truth in Harry�s voice the way he could read
lies.

�� He turned.
Malfoy stood with both hands on the desk now, his body bent into an arch with
Harry as its focal point.

�� His gaze
took Harry�s breath away.

�� You, of
course.� Harry tried to snort. Tried to smile. Tried to sound as though nothing
was so tiresome as having to admit that Malfoy was brave. It didn�t work, and
so, desperate, he dropped all the tricks and went straight for the plain truth,
hoping to make Malfoy uncomfortable.

�� After all
I did,� Malfoy asked, �you don�t think I�m a coward?�

�� How did it come to this, that Draco Malfoy
is asking me for reassurance? But
the thought skittered across Harry�s mind and dropped off again like a bug on
the surface of water. Things were the way he were, and it was hardly surprising
that Malfoy would end up asking him, when they were�

�� Going
towards something. It was the first time Harry had acknowledged it to himself.
He didn�t know what the destination was. He wasn�t sure he wanted to know. But
it was there.

�� Are you
kidding?� Harry�s voice was shaky. He would have liked to look aside, but
Malfoy�s wide, appealing gaze wouldn�t let him. �Of course you are. You did the
best you could for your parents in sixth year. You stood up for me when I was
brought to your house in that stupid disguise, even though you knew Voldemort
would punish you if he found out you lied. You came into the Room of
Requirement to hunt me down��

�� That
wasn�t brave,� Malfoy interrupted. �I was terrified of the Dark Lord.�

�� But you
were afraid of me,� Harry said simply. �And afraid for your parents, again.
Instead of cowering somewhere, though, like so many people did in the battle,
you tried to do something about it.� It was a little easier to stand there and
return Malfoy�s glance, now. �And you still wanted to take me alive instead of
killing me. I�d argue that shows a little
ambivalence on your part.�

�� Malfoy
bowed his head. Harry admired the way his pale hair shaded his face, and waited
for him to speak.

�� Thank
you,� Malfoy said. He raised his head partway, every movement grinding as if
his neck was a creaking clock, and then stared past Harry. �Even then, I think
I cared about what you thought of me. And I didn�t want you to die.�

�� There was
silence. There was stillness. Harry knew he could end it by turning back to his
desk.

�� Harry
reached across the distance and touched Malfoy on the shoulder.

�� Malfoy
looked up with a flash in his eyes like fire. Harry avoided him in turn,
sitting down and going back to work on the report.

�� But maybe
he had learned something about Malfoy, in turn. From then on, he found out, he
could tell when Malfoy was looking at him.

*

�� Down!�

�� Harry
dived. He heard the whoosh of a spell pass over him, and then the sound of
stone cracking as it hit the floor behind him.

�� He didn�t
know what it had been, and he didn�t need to, although from the smell of
electricity in his nostrils, he thought he could guess. He was already on his
feet and shoving his way forwards against the offensive spells that hung in the
air like a black haze, in search of Malfoy, who he could hear but not see.

�� It was one
of those situations that ought to have been utterly routine and had turned out
not to be. He and Malfoy had narrowed the investigation into an organized ring
of wizards using the Imperius Curse on Muggles down to several suspects, and
had gone to visit the first one at his home. Reports from friends and neighbors
had said that he was calm and would be glad to speak with Aurors (none of them
believed that he had done anything so horrible, of course).

�� Instead, he
had met them with a spell that clipped Malfoy�s ear and then dashed into the
depths of his house. They had followed, of course, only to find that he had
trigged wards of some kind that filled the house with murk and made it hard to
hear or smell anything more than a few feet away.

�� Malfoy was
always accusing Harry of wanting to be a hero and live up to the hero
stereotype, but he was the one who
had run after Sover, the suspect, like a madman, without waiting for backup.
Harry was going to remind him of that later.

�� Assuming
there was a later.

�� Harry swore
under his breath and pushed cautiously on. He had already slammed his shins on
concealed chairs and tables, and he had cast a variation on a Bubble-Head Charm
around himself to filter the air, because he didn�t know what breathing too
much of it might do to him. It didn�t encircle his head as tightly as a normal
one, though, because he wanted to be able to hear.

�� It had gone
entirely silent now. Harry hated that. He ought to be able to hear Sower
escaping if he was, or sounds of a duel if Malfoy hadn�t been incapacitated.

�� Then he
broke through a barrier that fizzed and snarled in his ears, and the reason for
the lack of sound became obvious. Sower had had yet another ward up, and beyond
it, in a large room that probably served as a drawing room ordinarily, was the
battle.

�� Malfoy spun
and leaped, closing in steadily on Sower, who was hiding behind a barrier of
chairs and firing around the edge. He had already used spells that left the
carpet scorched and stinking around Malfoy�s feet, Harry saw. He used the
Rearrangement Curse as Harry watched, which, contrary to its innocent name,
would switch around the position of internal organs until it was unlikely that
the person it hit would survive.

�� Harry
yelped a warning, and Malfoy clasped his arms to his sides and dove straight
down, so as to expose the smallest part of his body to the magic. At the same
moment, Sower cast the Rearrangement Curse again.

�� This time
at Malfoy, lying on the floor.

�� Harry
raised a Flexible Shield without thinking. It was a spell he had never been any
good at, because it was more difficult than a Shield Charm while using almost
the same gesture, but it was the one that he needed in this situation, where
the Rearrangement Curse was too powerful for a simple Protego.

�� He needed
it, and the magic came in his need, creating what looked like a silvery mesh in
front of Malfoy, hovering at hip height. The Rearrangement Curse struck it, and
the Flexible Shield wrapped around it and absorbed its force. The shield was
gone in the next moment, but so was the curse.

�� By then,
Malfoy had cast from the ground and caught Sower as he leaned around his
barrier, his mouth open in a soundless shriek. He flipped over twice and landed
against the wall, caught up in ropes that looked subtly different from the ones
that Incarcerous usually created.

�� Harry
wasn�t going to trouble himself about that. He threw a Stunner at Sower and
crouched next to Malfoy, who was rising to his knees, moving with a wince and a
grimace.

�� Malfoy?�
Harry whispered. �Are you all right?�

�� Yes,�
Malfoy said, giving Harry an odd look that he couldn�t interpret. �He broke a
bone in my foot. That�s all.� He examined the bound and unconscious Sower, then
nodded and Summoned his wand. �Nasty little git.�

�� That�s all?� Harry discovered his hands were
shaking. He would have liked to try healing Malfoy himself, but he was still
pants at complex healing magic. That was what St. Mungo�s was for. �How in the
world were you walking?� He gathered
Malfoy up in his arms and surged to his feet with him. Malfoy gasped, face
going white, and Harry snarled at him and immobilized his foot. �Idiot.�

�� I wanted
to stop him.� Malfoy gave Harry that odd look again. �How did you stop that
second curse?�

�� Flexible
Shield,� Harry said shortly, more interested in returning to the notion of how
Malfoy was an idiot. �Do you realize you dashed off just like you�re always
telling me not to do?�

�� But you
can�t cast those.� Malfoy steadied himself with a hand on Harry�s shoulder,
seeming more shocked about the revelation than he was in pain from his injury.

�� I managed
this time,� Harry said. �It was the Rearrangement Curse, and you were on the
ground. You couldn�t get out of the way in time. I knew the Shield Charm
wouldn�t do it. I did what I needed to do.�

�� Why did
you need to so badly?� Malfoy leaned against him and gave a little hop. Harry
snorted and conjured a stretcher for him, but jerked Sower into the air unpityingly
with Mobilicorpus. He could suffer
whatever wounds he took from this, the�

�� There was
no word in Harry�s vocabulary bad enough for someone who would aim two
Rearrangement Curses at his partner, so he just let the thought trail away,
unfinished.

�� Because
you were in danger,� he said. �Why else?�

�� Malfoy�s
eyes widened once, and he looked away. Harry waited, then asked, �Are you
telling me that you would do less if I was in danger like that?� He didn�t know
what he would do if the answer to his question was yes, but he did think that
he needed to hear, no matter what.

�� It�s not
that,� Malfoy said. �Of course I would.� Harry felt tension relax in him like
an uncoiling spring. �But I don�t regularly surpass my physical and magical
limits to save you. Instead, you keep saving me.�

�� There was a
resentment there that Harry knew could turn to bitterness if left untouched. He
said, lightly�because too much care would also offend Draco��Well, you�re the
one who consistently comes up with clever solutions to our difficulties. I
couldn�t have managed against the poisoner without you. And you kept Sower
pinned until I could arrive. You�re going to end up saving my life soon. It�s
the luck of the draw that it�s happened the other way so far.�

�� I owe you
so many life-debts,� Draco muttered, lying down on the stretcher Harry had
conjured for him without any reluctance. He never showed any where his own
comfort and life were concerned. Harry was grateful for that.

�� And I owe
you one for �failing� to recognize me at Malfoy Manor, and I owe your mother
one for lying to Voldemort about me,� Harry said. �I don�t brood on them.�

�� Draco
swallowed once, then asked, �Could you please not use that name around me? I
know you don�t mean to, but it sounds�it sounds like you�re mocking the fear I
still feel.�

�� Harry
blinked, hardly able to grasp what kind of gift Draco was offering him with
this double vulnerability�talking about the fear in the first place, and then
asking him for something�but he said, �Of course.�

�� Draco
caught his wrist in a bruising grip and squeezed down, once, then pulled his
hand back and closed his eyes as he settled against the pillow the stretcher
spell automatically provided.

�� Weeks
later, Harry was still trying to understand that gift, and why it had been so
easy to transition to calling Malfoy by his first name, even before he gave it.

*

�� Harry
wished he hadn�t come to this party.

�� Ginny had
said it would be fun, and for her, it was; she was chattering easily with her
partner, Anna Lebeck, whom she had taken to after all. Harry was glad they had
become friends. She still asked when he would manage to switch out of his
partnership with Draco and join her, but her questions were less persistent and
frequent now.

�� Ron was
there, with his partner Greyborn, and Hermione was there (largely to make sure
that Ron went home on time and didn�t drink too much, Harry suspected). There
were plenty of other former trainees, too. This wasn�t a Ministry function so
much as an informal party suggested and hosted by new Aurors, which happened to
be using the Department of Magical Law Enforcement as its place.

�� There were
tables everywhere loaded with food, games of darts and wrestling and mock
duels, dances up and down the narrow aisles between cubicles and the corridors
between office doors, and plenty to drink. Harry wouldn�t have had trouble
finding something to do if he wanted it.

�� Instead, he
stood against the wall and watched Draco.

�� Draco was
talking softly to a young woman named Astoria Greengrass, who Harry thought had
come as a guest of one of the other trainees. All he really knew was that she hadn�t been through the training program.

�� Oh, and
that she was beautiful, with long blonde hair and shimmering ivory skin of the
kind that Harry knew he never would have achieved even if he had lived as pampered
a life as Draco apparently had.

�� He knew
that.

�� Harry
turned away with his butterbeer�he didn�t think it would be a good idea to get
too drunk tonight�and his grudge. It wasn�t worthy, what passed through him
like a shudder when he looked at Draco. It was too near jealousy, so near that
Harry couldn�t give it a different name in all honesty, and he should feel
jealous over Ginny and the people she chose to speak to, not Draco. Several
handsome men clustered around Ginny, after all, including Ron�s partner, who
watched her with big calf eyes.

�� Think about your wife, Harry thought,
tilting the butterbeer back and drizzling a long, warm stream down his throat. There�s no reason to think about Draco that
way. Or anyone except Ginny.

�� There
definitely wasn�t. His breathing got short when he thought about Draco kissing
Greengrass, and he had to wipe off sweat, and he felt as if he were choking on
oil. Those were all the signs of passionate jealousy he had read about.

�� Except that
he didn�t get jealous of people like
that. He knew that he didn�t. He was incapable of feeling passion.

�� He took
another swallow of butterbeer and hunched back against the wall. He fastened
his gaze on Ron, who was laughing at something Hermione had said, and thought
about making his way over to join them.

�� But then he
wouldn�t be able to see Draco as well, wouldn�t be able to notice if he slipped
off somewhere with Greengrass.

That�s
all the more reason to do it, he argued with himself, and walked over to
his friends.

Their conversation rolled over him,
meaningless, irrelevant. Harry stood there, smiled when he was required to and
laughed when he thought it was appropriate, and felt as though he had a
fishhook in his heart.

It made no sense. Why would he be feeling this now, for Draco of all people?
He had tried thinking about blokes before, fantasizing about them, even dating
them in a Polyjuice disguise. He knew he wasn�t bent.

Any
more than you�re straight.

�� Harry
checked over his shoulder again, and found that Draco and Greengrass were both
gone.

�� Everyone
said it was a strange accident, later, the way that Ron�s Firewhisky glass had
splintered apart in his hand just as he was taking a drink, sending burning
liquid and hot, sharp glass everywhere. Harry scrambled to clean up with the
rest, but didn�t apologize, because then Hermione and Ron would want to know
what could have caused him enough anger to lash out with directionless wandless
magic.

�� He wasn�t ready
to explain.

�� He wasn�t
ready to acknowledge, even to himself, what had happened, keeping it locked in
his heart like a hot stone, until after he had gone home with Ginny and made
mild, passionless love to her. Ginny fell asleep with a happy smile on her
face, and Harry rolled away from her.

�� He was hard
again already, thinking about Draco�s courage, his intense stares and fleeting
touches, the standoffish way he had of somehow making himself essential to
Harry�s life.

�� He wanked,
for the first time rubbing himself raw, and for the first time came with a cry
that would have shattered the stillness except that he kept it back with his
wrist across his mouth�that was one of the things Ginny complained about, that
he made so little sound during sex�and a tightness, flooding out in hot, sticky
relief, in his belly that showed him why so many people thought orgasm was wonderful.

�� Then he lay
awake and, staring at the ceiling, unwrapped the hot stone: he was in love with
Draco Malfoy.

�� But it�s all right, he assured himself
swiftly, while his lips tingled with shame and his hands with numbness and his
eyes with tears. It�s really all right,
because nothing can happen. I have Ginny, and it looks like he�ll have someone
else, and we both know that we�re not that to each other. We�re partners. He�s
straight. He�ll never look at me twice. He has no reason to do so, because even
if it turns out that I can fall in love with people after all�if it�s love and
not just a stupid infatuation, which it probably is�I can�t act on it. I can�t betray Ginny like that.

�� And he�ll never find out. I�ll make sure of
that.

�� He hated
himself through most of the night, but come morning, he had made his peace with
the fact. Being in love with Draco was all right, because nothing would ever happen
between them because of it and no one would ever know.

�� Ginny�s
words came back to him, the ones he had overheard in the kitchen with Hermione,
saying that some people just fell in love once and no more.

�� Harry
suspected he was one of those people, and that�s why he hadn�t felt any passion
so far.

�� He just
wished he had fallen in love with his wife.

*

�� That was
the second step.

*

�� Clau: The
angst might or might not be as bad as you envision, but the ending will not be
completely unhappy.

�� Valmasy03:
Thanks for reviewing.

�� AngelMary89:
Thank you! Harry is evolving in unexpected directions, and it really upsets
him.

�� SamuraiSaaya:
Thank you! Poor guy, but then again, Harry suspects he�s doing something wrong
and goes ahead and does it anyway.

�� paigeey07:
Thank you!

�� LexieMalfoy:
Thanks!

�� lpnightmare:
Harry lied to Ginny, basically. He may have done it in the name of keeping her
happy, but it�s still a lie.

�� thrnbrooke:
Thanks. Here it is.
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Stepping Stones