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Seasons of War	By : Lomonaaeren Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Harry/Draco Views: 9694 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter and I am not making any money from this story.

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Thank you for all the reviews!

Chapter Two�Putting It
Together

�� How did it
go?�

�� Harry let
the tent flap fall in behind him and embraced Draco, burying his head in his
neck. He heard Politesse�s growl at being squashed but didn�t care, because
there were things more important than keeping the dog happy. Draco only
chuckled in response to the growl, anyway, and rubbed the back of Harry�s neck.

�� Claws
settled on Harry�s shoulder as Flash found him, and then the blunt head nudged
his cheek. Harry backed away from Draco and went to sit down in a chair,
scratching Flash�s wing as his head fell back. �Can I just sit here for the
rest of my life and never have to have a conversation with Portillo Lopez
again?� he asked pathetically.

�� I think
she might object to that,� Draco said. Harry looked over at him and found him
leaning forwards, hands clasped, eyes so bright that he must have a scheme in
mind. �Was it really that bad?�

�� I don�t
understand the theory no matter how many times she explains it,� Harry said.
Flash crawled into his lap, and he had to shift around and make a place for the
little fire-dancer before he could continue. That was all right. It let Draco
consider his humiliating confession while Harry didn�t have to look at him.
�And how am I supposed to teach this necromancy to someone else if I don�t
understand the theory?�

�� It�s a
problem,� Draco said in a neutral voice, for which Harry was grateful,
especially as he thought Draco would have understood the theory at once. �I do
wonder if we aren�t going about this the wrong way.�

�� Harry
blinked at him and sighed as Flash coiled his neck around Harry�s hand. The
warmth felt good against his skin. �What do you mean? I thought we�d decided to
cooperate with the instructors now.�

�� Draco�s
face tightened as if someone had bound his skin more closely against his skull.
�Not when one of them is questioning me about what kind of tortures could be
used against you to break you if you ever go rogue.�

�� Harry felt
as though a lightning bolt had struck him through the stomach. He sat up,
saying, �Tell me.�

�� Draco did,
and Harry had to fight to keep from holding Flash too tightly and hurting him.
�I don�t know what I did to annoy Holder,� he said. �Why focus on me as the threat and not you? You�re the
one who has the ownership of Malfoy Manor, the more powerful Dark spells, and
the greater intelligence behind you.�

�� Draco had
started to answer, but he fell silent at that and regarded Harry with a long,
level stare. Harry shifted. Maybe Draco didn�t like to be reminded that he�d so
recently come into ownership of Malfoy Manor with his father�s death.

�� But Draco
said quietly, �You�re smart. I�ve told you that. Just because you don�t
understand all the magical theories the first time around doesn�t mean you�re stupid.�

�� Harry
sighed and sought for a word that would explain the way he felt. Flash stood up
on his lap and peered anxiously into his face, and Harry had to scratch and
soothe him, which didn�t help the search. But at least Draco was sitting there
patiently and waiting for him, so Harry could take his time.

�� I know
that,� he said finally. �But I make my best decisions on impulse, in the middle
of battle. I couldn�t tell you that I understand how every single defensive
spell works together, or why it�s best to use a Shield Charm here and a
Summoning Charm there, if you just asked me to describe a fight. It comes
naturally to me when I�m acting. Not when I�m thinking.� He managed a smile for
Draco. �And I think you have to be able to think to be smart.�

�� There are
different kinds of intelligence.� Draco had relaxed back in the chair and
started stroking Politesse again. Harry had to smile at how much he looked like
a picture of an evil genius Harry had seen on the Muggle telly once. �I
couldn�t do what you do. I�d want to plan too much, and then get nervous that
the plans might not work, and spoil them by overthinking.� He smiled, though
Harry wasn�t sure the smile was directed at him. �That�s one reason I want to
be a leader. I know how to delegate and work with people who can do things I
can�t.�

�� Of
course,� Harry said.

�� The doubt
must have shown through despite his best attempts to contain it. Draco snorted
at him. �That�s why I think we should call the comitatus together again.
They�re the best chance we have to resist the instructors� pressure and do
something on our own.�

�� But do we
want to?� Harry scratched along the outside of Flash�s wings, and he stood on
his hind legs, resting his front feet on Harry�s shoulders as he crooned. Harry
had to duck his head to the side to see around him. �That�s what I�d worry
about. We haven�t achieved as much as we should acting on our own. Isn�t it
time to listen to them?�

�� There�s no
law that says we can�t listen to them and act on our own at the same time,�
Draco said serenely.

�� Harry shook
his head in doubt, but he knew that shine in Draco�s eyes by now. He was going
to do what he wanted, and the consequences would fall on his head later,
instead of immediately.

�� The only thing I can do is be there to help
him deal with them.

*

�� Draco stood
behind the table in his and Harry�s tent, looking around at the other four
people he�d gathered there, and hoped his confident stance�direct stare, hands
on hips, haughtily uplifted head�hid how nervous he felt. He had been their
leader before, but only in small, immediate situations, such as trying to
figure out what Nihil wanted in Wiltshire. He was asking them now to accept his
guidance long-term.

�� There was
at least one person there who would eagerly do so, which made it easier. Ursula
Ventus sat upright on her chair, her legs crossed and one foot swinging, her
wand held in her hand. Whenever he caught her eye, she smiled and nodded.
Ventus was a bit mad, caring only for war, but she had declared her loyalty to
Draco early, and that was calming and comforting right now.

�� Beside her
sat Weasley, who regarded Draco with a cautious glance. Draco nodded to him,
too, though he knew he and Weasley didn�t have anything like the amicable trust
that connected him and Ventus. Weasley had saved Draco�s life, and he had
objected and fought against him dating Harry every step of the way. Who knew
how he was feeling at any particular moment? Draco was of the opinion that even
Weasley didn�t know his own feelings
most of the time.

�� Except
maybe love for the woman who sat beside him, Draco had to admit. Weasley and
Granger�s relationship seemed more stable than his and Harry�s.

�� And then
Draco wanted to cover his face with one arm, because he had just admitted that
something between Granger and Weasley might be worth having.

�� He shoved
the thought determinedly away and studied Granger as she was studying him, the
way he might regard a recalcitrant potion. She didn�t move, but sat there bolt
upright as though someone would walk in at any moment and accuse her of
slumping. She had worked with Draco, too, and also accused him of trying to
seduce Harry for his own evil ends. Draco never knew what part of her would be
uppermost regarding him.

�� And then
there was Harry.

�� Draco let
his gaze linger on Harry�s face, as much to build confidence as anything else.
Harry was smiling gently at him, face resigned, as though to say that he knew
Draco would fuck up but he would support him anyway.

�� He really is the best thing that�s ever happened
to me.

�� The
sentimentality of that thought was disturbing, and Draco pushed it away and
cleared his throat. �The comitatus needs to act.�

�� Of course
we do,� said Ventus, who was always ready to act. She leaned forwards. �Where
are we going?�

�� Well, for
the moment, we�re going to stay right here,� Draco said, and ignored her
disappointed frown. �We have to learn as much as we can from the instructors,
and Harry and I are under informal watch. Luckily, we do have an ally working
with us. Auror Gregory wants to get rid of Nihil as much as we do.�

�� I don�t
know what she can do that she�s not already doing,� Granger muttered. �She
disciplines people brutally.�

�� We have to
get into one of her classes, first,� Draco said. �Harry and I have been so busy
with Portillo Lopez and Holder there hasn�t been a chance, but we plan to go
out and join one tomorrow.� He hesitated. This would be the point of conflict,
because even if Granger and Weasley accepted him as leader, that didn�t mean
they obeyed his will unquestioningly. �We all should.�

�� Silence,
and then Weasley said, �Oh, yes, we�ll just do that, in between the drills with
Morningstar and Lowell and Weston�s frantic efforts to forge us into a
partnership and Coronante and Davidson acting like we�ll die tomorrow if we don�t learn how to
disguise ourselves and track people and Ketchum stuffing tactics down our
throats. Not to mention this meeting.� He shook his head. �There aren�t enough
hours in the day, Malfoy.�

�� We can
make the hours,� Draco said levelly. �For example, if you and Granger spent
less time�what was the phrase?�ah, yes, having
private study sessions, you�d have a lot more time.�

�� Weasley
flushed. Granger just regarded Draco with that polished look of disdain and
said, �Leisure time is essential to make sure that we don�t get swamped with
our duties. I don�t want Ron to break down, and I don�t want to break down, because we�re pushing ourselves too far
and too fast and never relaxing.�

�� Draco
nodded. �I know. But it does mean that you can stop some of your snogging
sessions and attend Gregory�s class.�

�� Weasley
said, �Oh, yeah? And will you and Harry do the same thing?�

�� Harry and
I have barely been alone since we arrived here, thanks to the Aurors� distrust
of us,� Draco said smoothly. He didn�t look at Harry, whom he knew would be
blushing redder than Weasley. �But yes, we intend to focus most of our efforts
on the war with Nihil.� He did glance at Harry then, to receive confirmation.

�� Harry took
a few deep breaths, as though nerving himself for battle, and nodded. �I want
him dead for everything that he�s done to Draco and me,� he said, �and
everything he�ll do to people in the future. So, yeah.�

�� Not the
most eloquent testimony in support of him, but Draco hadn�t chosen Harry for
eloquence. He faced Weasley and Granger again. Ventus, of course, looked eager
to do anything that would get her closer to the war with Nihil. �Do you
understand? Gregory�s class is going to be important because she�s our ally and
because she�ll help me develop methods of torture that actually work on Nihil�s
servants, rather than harassing me to tell her about things that will work on
Harry.�

�� Granger
started to answer, but Weasley interrupted with another firestorm of red
starting in his face. �What, they wanted you to hurt Harry? That�s�that�s stupid.�

�� I quite
agree,� Draco said. �But yes, Holder was questioning me about what Harry was
afraid of in the way of pain, and when I asked her why that was important,
admitted that she thought Harry was a necromancer who might turn on us as Nihil
did and that she wanted a way to combat him if that happened.�

�� It�s
outrageous,� Granger said, �but we still haven�t discussed whether using
torture is moral.�

�� Draco
rolled his eyes. He had thought Granger was past that, since she hadn�t brought
up the way that he tortured Aran again. Still, he might be able to get around
her on the grounds of sheer practicality. �Look at it this way,� he said. �Do
you know any other way to stop Nihil? Other than Harry�s necromancy, which he
can�t share with anyone so far and which Nihil might find a way to get past.�

�� Fight
him,� said Ventus. �Kill him.�

�� Draco
smiled wryly at her. �We have to discover how
to kill him first. If he�s connected to the forces of life and death, then
it won�t be as simple as marching up and sticking a knife in his heart,
attractive as that option is in some ways.�

�� There�s a
poison or a blade out there for everything,� Ventus said, sounding as though
she was quoting someone. Perhaps her father, Draco thought. He knew her father
had been a War Wizard. �We only have to locate the one for Nihil.�

�� And that�s
what we�re trying to do,� Draco assured her. �If some people will stop being stubborn because they have moral
problems with one of the few weapons proven to work.�

�� Ventus
looked at Granger. �Stop it,� she said.

�� Granger
ignored her, although the way her jaw tightened made Draco suspect that took
some effort. �You still don�t understand, Malfoy,� she said. �My concern is
that we might use torture on Nihil�s servants and subjects and maybe even to
kill him�or at least frighten him to death�and then have to live with ourselves
afterwards.�

�� I
certainly hope that we�ll have to
live with ourselves afterwards,� Draco said. �Much better than the
alternative.�

�� Granger
ground her teeth. Weasley put an arm around her shoulders and glared at Draco,
but didn�t seek to interfere. He knew when he was outmatched, Draco thought in
contentment, and would let his girlfriend match wits with Draco instead.
Paradoxically, that showed that he might have more sense than Granger in some
respects.

�� I meant,�
Granger said, �that we�ll have to deal with what we�ve become, what sorts of
corruption we�ve introduced into our souls. The Ministry is corrupt enough
already. Do you want it to license torture?�

�� Robards
already wants us to,� Draco pointed out. �Holder was asking me questions
because supposedly I can her develop torture techniques to use on the people
Nihil infects. If what you want is official disapproval, I don�t think you�re
going to get it.�

�� Granger
opened her mouth, then closed it and, for some reason, looked appealingly at
Harry.

�� Harry
hesitated, then caught Draco�s eye and murmured, �It got so that, during the
war, I thought nothing of using the Cruciatus Curse for a pretty minor reason.
That was after I�d used the Imperius Curse and a couple other spells that I�d
thought I would never use. The same thing could happen here. What if we go on
using torture after the war and liking it?�

�� Draco gazed
fearlessly into Harry�s eyes. �I think you�re too good a person to do that,� he
said. �Do you wake up at night sweating and gasping because you haven�t used
the Cruciatus Curse that day?�

�� Maybe I�m
that good a person,� Harry said. He looked miserable, and Draco wondered why he
was so unhappy making this argument, and why he would make it, at Granger�s
instigation no less, if he didn�t believe in it. Or maybe he was just unhappy
about saying something he did believe if it went up against Draco. �But how can
we know everyone will be who uses these techniques?�

�� I don�t
believe in the notion of corrupting your soul,� Draco said. �I don�t believe
that you take one step on a �dark path� and it somehow compels you along after
that.�

�� But there
are lots of examples,� Granger said, taking up the thread of the argument
again. �After all, the Dark Arts are mostly banned because they�re tempting and
someone who uses one spell will use others.�

�� Draco
smiled at her. �And you know that
I�ve used Dark spells,� he said. �Do I look as though I was an addict to you?
Do you think I�m unable to control myself and that I�ll use Dark spells just to
be using them?�

�� Granger
opened her mouth, then stopped and peered closely at him. �Well, the analogy of
Dark Arts to torture isn�t perfect,� she said. �Obviously.�

�� Draco
nodded. �Despite all that was wrong with him,� he said, �Dearborn taught us a
number of sensible things. Including that the Ministry often bans the Dark Arts
for political reasons, not because they�re evil. I�m going to stick by that,
and say that I can use torture without acting as though I�ll be a torturer for
the rest of my life because of that.�

�� I don�t
see how I can support this,� Granger said.

�� Then
don�t,� Draco said, changing tactics again. He didn�t really care if it made
him look inconsistent or false to Granger. He wanted to win the argument and
get her to go along with the rest of the comitatus, not make her approve of
him. �I�ll be the one who does the torture, and all you have to do is step back
and smile.�

�� I mean
that I don�t know if I can do even that,� Granger said, shifting as if she
would rise to her feet.

�� Draco�s
temper snapped. He moved closer to her. Granger sat still, probably because she
knew as well as Draco did that moving now would make her seem weak. But her
white knuckles betrayed her agitation.

�� I�m sure
that the people who die because of Nihil will be comforted by the notion that
at least we didn�t use torture to oppose him,� Draco whispered. �I�m sure that
your Gryffindor spun-sugar morality can provide a shield against the limbs of a
corpse. Why don�t you go out and offer that protection to people who are his
victims or lose family members to him? Why don�t you teach them how to shield
themselves with words?�

�� This is
more complex than you�re making it appear, Malfoy,� Granger said, and her
thumbs ground down into her knuckles. �You�re making it too simple.�

�� In war,
things are simpler than normal,� Draco said quietly. �That�s just the way it
is. Could you pause during the war with the Dark Lord to question every single
Death Eater and find out whether they wanted to be loyal to him? Or did you
just have to assume that they were and attack them when they found you?�

�� He rubbed his
hands on his trousers as he spoke, and wondered if Granger would notice. Months
of crouching beneath the Dark Lord�s rule, and then the rule of the Carrows at
Hogwarts, and hoping and praying that someone wouldn�t notice his obvious (to
him) lack of enthusiasm, because then he might die.

�� That was
different,� Granger said. �It was an actual war.�

�� And this
isn�t?� Draco stepped back and considered her. �What else does it have to have
to convince you? More marching armies? Greater or lesser use of necromancy?
Nihil appearing on the battlefield with a white mask and dark robe?�

�� The people
we�re fighting aren�t those who�ve chosen to be loyal to a madman,� Granger
said. She did stand up now, and forced Draco to take a step backwards so that
their heads wouldn�t slam into each other�s. Granger smiled sweetly at him, and
Draco fumed in silence, sure that she had done that on purpose. �These people
are innocent victims, called back by Nihil or infected by him.�

�� Draco
touched his left sleeve. �If you think that everyone who followed the dark Lord
chose to be loyal to him,� he said,
�you�re wrong.�

�� Granger�s
confident expression faltered. Then she shook her head and said, �But it�s more
of them than Nihil�s followers.�

�� That, I
will grant you,� Draco said. �But once again, you�re making an argument based
on personal experience and morality that will do nothing when Nihil comes hunting people who have no one to protect
them. If we torture, then I�m not arguing that we�ll protect everyone in the
war with its effects, but we are more likely to stop Nihil and so stop him from
doing horrible things.�

�� Granger
clenched her fists. Weasley stood up next to her and touched her shoulder.
Draco heard him whisper something to her that sounded like, �We thought that
was a simple war, and now it turns out it wasn�t. That�s something, huh?�

�� Granger
laughed aloud and then relaxed her hands. When she looked at Draco, it was with
hostile eyes, but a resigned cast to the rest of her expression. �If you need
to, then you can do this,� she said. �But I won�t do it, and Ron won�t do it,
and if I see that you�re becoming corrupted, I�ll do something about it.�

�� Draco bowed
a little, never taking his eyes from her face. He didn�t know if he and Granger
would ever get along, but more and more, he thought of her as an opponent he
could respect. �Very well.�

�� Are you
going to do it, Harry?� Granger asked, turning to Harry as though their prior
conversation had somehow led up naturally to that.

�� And now I�m losing respect for her again, Draco
thought crossly, and glanced at his lover. Harry rubbed the back of his neck
and looked at the floor as if embarrassed. Draco wondered if he should
intervene, but it would look weak of him to try and cross out Granger�s
question with his own words, so he remained silent.

*

��

�� See, this is why I feel stupid next to the
two of them�and Draco can talk about different kinds of intelligence all he
likes. I would never think of these things. I would never be able to argue
against one of them if they were arguing with me. It�s impossible.

�� But
Hermione had acted as though his answer was important, so Harry looked up and
did his best.

�� I�m going
to help,� he said. �I don�t know how much use I would be with the torture
spells, but I would support Draco if that�s the only way we can defeat Nihil.
With my necromancy, though, it might not be the only way.�

�� Hermione
had a complex expression on her face. Harry wasn�t sure if she approved of what
he�d said or not. He looked at Draco.

�� Draco was
watching him with a faint smile near the corner of his mouth, although his eyes
were steady and serious. �Good,� he said.

�� Harry must
have showed his response to that more obviously than he wanted, because, as
Ventus was leaving the tent, she stopped by him and bent over to whisper, �I
know. I feel that way when he looks at me, too.�

�� Harry
stared at her, wondering if he had more rivalry for Draco�s affections than he
knew. But Ventus rolled her eyes and said, �He�s my leader. That�s all I
meant.� She patted his shoulder and departed through the tent flap after Ron
and Hermione.

�� So,� Draco
said. Harry glanced at him and saw him bite his lip once before he looked at
the floor. Strangely, that gave Harry more confidence.

�� I�m not the only nervous one.

�� So,� Harry
said. �Let�s get started as soon as possible.�

�� If he never
did anything else to help the war, he thought later, the way Draco looked up
then, with swift, bright eyes, would stay with him.

*

�� qwerty:
Thank you so much!

�� mariahs_fantasy:
Thank you! Unfortunately, this will be the last story of the series.

�� paigeey07:
Thank you.

�� SP777:
Portillo Lopez is starting to differentiate between types of necromancy.

�� And yes,
Draco is after Holder, though he�s wise enough to wait a while before he
confronts her.

�� Dragons
Breath: Thank you for reviewing.

�� Of course,
now he has to deal with Hermione.

�� Whitmore:
Thanks so much!

�� polka dot: I
think Draco would agree with you, though since your review is cut off I�m not
sure what you were saying completely.
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Seasons of War