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Black Phoenix	By : Lomonaaeren Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Harry/Draco Views: 21568 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 5
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. I am making no money from this fanfic.

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Chapter Two—Starstruck
            “Candidate Malfoy! Over here! Over here!”
            Draco turned around with a patient smile. He was leaving a debate on magical creature rights between him and another candidate, Abigail Mason, that he suspected she had orchestrated so she could depart the election gracefully. She knew she wouldn’t win, but she still wanted to make her (paranoid) points about the Ministry needing an expanded Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures because the magical creatures were supposedly mustering secret allies and getting ready to attack the wizarding world.
            Draco had won the debate mostly by letting her talk and nodding here and there, making soft noises and clucks of his tongue that had caused her to turn pale. She knew that he was undermining her, but accusing him would only make the public think she was paranoid.
            He knew a lot of people would want to talk to him, but he hadn’t expected the desperate shine in the young reporter’s eyes. Draco flickered his eyes down to the locket around her neck, which several of the reporters wore to identify their paper. The symbol was one he didn’t recognize, though, a heart pierced with an arrow.
            The young woman was still jumping up and down even after he stopped to look at her, her braided brown hair flying behind her and her gasps sounding just a little frenzied. “C-Candidate Malfoy,” she gasped. “Julia Browne, f-from the Heart of the Matter. Can I have your opinion on the message the centaurs sent this morning?”
            Draco kept his sudden tremor from showing on his face. He did make sure that his advisor Rosenthal was standing at his side. She shook her head a little. Draco had to smile. If she hadn’t heard about it, then at least he didn’t have to feel that he was unacceptably neglecting something important about his job.
            “I’ve been in meetings and debate all this morning, Miss Browne,” he said, and smiled at the reporter. “I haven’t heard about this message. Do you have a copy of it?”
            Browne seemed to swell from her small stature to enormous size. She pulled a crinkled parchment out of her pocket and handed it over.
            Draco scanned it quickly. Then he went back and read the whole thing, because it was much shorter than he had expected.
            The centaurs of the Forbidden Forest seek the protection of Dark Lord Harry Potter. As of tomorrow, we expect our lands to be under his shielding magic. Humans keep out.
            The last words were underlined.
            Draco handed the message back to Browne and kept down the bubble of laughter that was rising up in him, rather the way Browne had jumped up and down in front of him a second ago.
            Then he decided that this was a good political move for different reasons, and laughed aloud.
            Browne stared at him, her nostrils flaring. She must not have been a reporter for long, Draco thought tolerantly. Otherwise, she would have been quicker to grab her quill and parchment than she was now, poised to take down any words he uttered.
            “Good luck to them,” Draco said, gravely and calmly and wholly ignoring the way that Rosenthal was breathing down the back of his neck. She could do that all she wanted. No one except her and Harry knew that Draco had sworn an oath to Harry, just as no one except the Wizengamot knew that Rosenthal was under Harry’s protection against Rosier’s blackmail. “As you can see from the debate today, someone needs to intervene for the centaurs. There are those—” he didn’t glance in the direction of Mason, but he knew everyone else would understand who he meant “—who think that magical creatures deserve even more restrictions and laws conspiring against them than there are in the first place.”
            Rosenthal nudged his ribs with her elbow, probably for his use of the word “conspiring.” Draco serenely ignored her. She had done it under cover of their robes, so no one could see. He leaned forwards and fixed Browne with a smile. “I see magical creatures as groups we need to negotiate with. They have powers and politics of their own. We don’t refuse to receive ambassadors from other Ministries just because they have policies we don’t agree with in their own countries. How ridiculous not to receive magical creatures who live on our own soil.”
            Rosenthal had nearly tapped him with her elbow again, Draco knew by the feeling against his side, but she hesitated and slowly pulled her arm back. Draco didn’t turn his head to beam at her. He didn’t need to. His words had obviously got into her head and were bubbling there like a newborn potion.
            Browne was scribbling down what he had said, gasping again and glancing up at him with a flush on her cheeks that made Draco smile for a different reason. “Thank you, thank you,” she whispered. She had a coup and she knew it, Draco thought. The other reporters had heard him, too, but they’d been further away and would have to ask for clarification. Browne would be able to say that he’d talked directly to her. “That’s the best response ever!”
            Draco bit his lip. She was young, but she didn’t deserve to have her dignity torn to shreds. “You’re welcome.”
            Browne Apparated on the spot, and the other reporters pressed in, trying to get their share of his comments. Draco turned to answer, but Rosenthal gripped his shoulder and leaned near to whisper into his ear first.
            “You’re sure about this?”
            Draco glanced back at her for a fleeting second. “How likely do you think it is that Potter would keep his protection from them?”
            Rosenthal’s hand fell open, and she let him go. Draco nodded as he turned around to face the onslaught of camera flashes and questions. She saw sense well, when she let herself. Draco was acknowledging the inevitable, and wrongfooting other candidates, like Minister Tillipop, who would give a spluttering response and end up on the wrong side of Harry.
            Again.
            The future is with my Lord.
            Draco smiled more widely and genuinely than he had in months, at least in public, and the cameras twinkled. Draco imagined what the sight of his smile above the headline would do to Tillipop, and paused to add more brightness.
*
            “Mars is propitious.”
            Harry smiled politely, and said nothing. He had decided before this meeting that he wouldn’t ask the meaning of anything the centaurs said. He wouldn’t understand it anyway, and they probably wouldn’t want to explain. That was the point of their offer, as he understood it. They would tell him what the stars said about the future in terms he could understand.
            But the bargain hadn’t started yet.
            Two centaurs stood waiting for Harry and Briseis at the edge of the lake. Neither one was Firenze, which Harry had been expecting. One was brown all over, from the shaggy hair that dropped down to his shoulders to his strong, gleaming flanks and the tail that swished behind him. The other had a bay coat, black tail, and streaks of white on his legs, but the sternest face Harry had seen since Professor McGonagall and a shock of brilliant blond hair. He was the one who’d spoken.
            Either of them might do anything at a moment’s notice, Harry had decided. He stroked Persephone, who was currently sitting on his shoulder and watching the centaurs as she might a delicious meal. She had delivered the message, he tried to tell her with his gentle hand on her back, and apparently in such a way that the centaurs understood it, by forming pictures in her flame. That should be enough to keep her from eating them.
            Persephone thoughtfully dug in her claws until she was on the verge of drawing blood. Harry dropped his hand away from her back, and her hold eased.
            “Welcome,” Harry said, since that was a word it wasn’t hard to understand. “You came to set up the bargain you referred to?”
            “Bargain,” said the blond centaur, and looked at the brown one as though he assumed he would have an answer.
            “Bargain,” echoed the brown one, and faced Harry. “I am Enzian. This is Hold.” He fell silent and watched Harry, his tail moving fast enough that the outer strands curled around his hooves.
            “Er,” Harry said, and coughed a little. “I’m Harry. This is Persephone. This is Briseis.” He indicated his adviser, standing back and watching the situation with a stack of paper in her hands. Harry didn’t think they would need it for the meeting with either the merfolk or the centaurs, but Briseis needed her own form of comfort.
            Enzian nodded, and once again stood still.
            Harry decided it was up to him to take the plunge. “You want my protection in exchange for telling me the will of the stars,” he said.
            “Venus is especially bright this month,” Hold said.
            Persephone leaned forwards and snapped her beak, hard enough to sound like the popping of someone’s jaw.
            The centaurs looked at her, neither one seeming afraid. Hold even nodded to her, as though the clack of her beak had been a learned commentary on his invocation of Venus. Harry reached up and gripped one of her feet. He didn’t think he could do much if Persephone did break free, but it ought to delay her for a few moments, and give the centaurs a chance to get under the branches of the Forest, where she couldn’t fly as well.
            If they were smart enough to run. Given the way they still stood there staring at him, Harry couldn’t be sure.
            “You said that you would reveal to me the will of the stars if I gave you my protection,” Harry said at last, going for the only answer that might prompt them to respond. “What is the will of Venus?”
            Enzian nudged his way forwards a little, as if he wanted to be standing right in front of Harry when he gave him important information. His eyes were wide and earnest. “Venus is a planet, and not a star,” he said gently.
            Harry didn’t clap his hand to his face because the centaurs might comment on seeing starlight leaking through his fingers. Besides, doing that would mean letting go of Persephone, who was vibrating a little with the force of her suppressed shrieks. Harry wondered how her mission to the centaurs had gone so well. Perhaps because she’d spoken, all alone, and the centaurs hadn’t confined her or interrupted.
            “The will of the stars,” said Hold, slowly, and with a depth to his voice that made Harry look up hopefully. Maybe they would get to statements that he could understand at last. “The rising stars show a new influence rising over Britain. It must be you.” He peered intently at Harry, and his tail was swishing hard enough now to curl around his back hooves. “There is no other candidate that fits.”
            “Because no other candidate is rising right now?” Harry asked. He had thought of the Ministry election right away, but the centaurs didn’t always care about human politics, and maybe the stars wouldn’t reflect them.
            On the other hand, they had sometimes said things about the war with Voldemort. And it was a little arrogant to think that he was important enough to have a set of star-reflections all his own, but the election wasn’t.
            “Because of your connection with Mars.” Hold moved forwards a step and bent down to look into Harry’s face. For some reason, that made Persephone stop shrieking to herself. Harry cautiously let her go. She didn’t take off to tear out Hold’s eyes, but turned to preening her feathers instead. Harry swallowed. At least one thing was going right.
            The centaur’s glinting, deep brown eyes had a sheen that Harry thought could be mesmerizing if he looked into it for long enough. He contented himself with touching Persephone’s tail once and glancing away.
            “Because of your connection with war,” Hold whispered. “You can bring war back, and you can calm it. You can tame it, and you can make it wild. It all depends on what you do, and whether you pay heed to the stars or only the beings that surround you on earth.”
            Harry swallowed. “So you are saying that you’ll be advisers of a sort, in return for my promise to protect the Forest?”
            “Mars is not a star,” said Enzian, in the same exact chiding tone which he had used to pronounce that Venus wasn’t one.
            Harry turned around. Maybe he should act like Persephone and use actions instead of words to communicate. He reached down and into his soul, stirring the magic around until he knew what he wanted to do. Bonding with the Forest the way he had bonded with Hogwarts wasn’t on the agenda. Protecting it was, and showing the centaurs he could do a good job of that would help with the rest of the negotiations, he thought.
            He stabbed one hand forwards, and the magic rose from his fingers and poured in a glittering, rainbow-like cascade over the Forest. At the same moment, Persephone opened her mouth and began to sing.
            The song startled Harry so much that he nearly stopped his pouring of magic. But then he shook his head and kept moving his hand back and forth. The magic settled on the leaves and trunks of the Forest, blazing.
            And then it turned green.
            The centaurs turned to watch as the trees shimmered emerald and black, the magic slithering down to their roots and up to their branches. Harry clamped his hands shut and ended the flow of power a moment later. He had done what he could, and now it remained to be seen if the magic would do what he wanted.
            The color of the light seemed to say that, so far, it was. The trees flushed up and down, all over, with the dazzling shine of it. Harry closed his eyes and could feel the power traveling through the soil, loosening it and then tightening it around the roots of the trees, able to let them resist efforts to dig them up or burn them now.
            And then the branches trembled, and a new cascade of light rose over the Forest, this time coming from the trees themselves. It was there for a moment only, a leaping fountain, and then it vanished. Harry breathed out. He had hoped that would happen, too, but he hadn’t been sure until he actually saw it.
            “What was that?” For once, Enzian seemed startled enough to respond like a normal—person, Harry supposed. He could get used to thinking of the centaurs as people, and not just magical creatures.
            Harry reached up and stroked Persephone’s feathers again. He shouldn’t have doubted her, he thought. She was magnificent, and having her here seemed to strengthen his magic. “It’s the power that will protect you,” he said. “Distributing itself to every leaf and creature in the Forest, as fast as it could.”
            “How will it protect us?” Hold leaned down to look into Harry’s face again. Although Harry had never heard of any centaur having the ability to detect lies, he was sure that was what was happening now, and that Hold would sense it in seconds if he tried to deceive them.
            Just as well, then, that Harry had no such intention. He met Hold’s eyes mildly and shook his head a little. “It’ll defend you because it makes it clear that the Forest is mine to other wizards who come into it,” he said. “Wizards who aren’t a part of my court, at least. They’ll hear voices whispering my name everywhere they go. They’ll see shadows that vanish when they turn around, but all those shadows will wear my eyes. The longer they stay in there, the closer the shadows will come, and the more power they’ll have. They’ll destroy them if they linger. That, I promise.”
            Enzian fell back a step as Hold loomed closer still. “Then you have branded the Forest. With your name, your mark.”
            Harry blinked a moment, wondering why that particular term caused the centaur such anger, and then glanced at his horse-like flanks. Yes, well, he could see why the idea of branding would be sensitive. “No,” he said. “I’ve defended it. It’s more like setting a troop of loyal—phoenixes inside the Forest and letting them attack intruders who aren’t supposed to be there.” He had almost said “dogs,” but he didn’t think centaurs would appreciate references to dogs, either. From what Harry had read, wizards had sometimes used hounds to hunt them.
            Persephone bit his ear, hard. Harry hissed as blood dribbled down on his shoulder, but he didn’t do anything to her. He still didn’t really understand the limits of his relationship with her, and he had endured worse pain to make her.
            The centaurs exchanged glances again, and then Enzian said to him, “What if they come in and only stay a short time, but still hurt us? What good will your shadow-phoenixes and watching eyes do then?”
            Harry smiled pleasantly at him. “The shadows are the passive warning system. The magic that ran down the trees’ roots is the active one. It’ll attack the minute it feels the pain of a creature in the Forest that comes from a wizard’s wand.”
            “Even wizards of your court?”
            Harry shook his head, inwardly marveling how easy it was to talk to centaurs once they thought he was threatening them. “No. The ones of my court will have a special brand of their own to render their wands free of it. But if they attack somebody for anything other than self-defense, then the watching eyes will see it, and those defenses will come into play, too. I don’t intend to let anyone get away with betraying me.”
            The centaurs scraped their left forehooves in the ground, simultaneously. Harry stood there and let them think about that, both the fact that he had done something for them to guard the Forest even though they hadn’t kept up their side of the bargain yet—
            And what would happen to them if they tried to betray him.
            Abruptly, Enzian slid to one knee, a quick bow that ended almost immediately with him on his feet again. “That is enough for me,” he said. “You are a child of Mars indeed, and I will advise you.”
            Hold looked at both of them with a frown, and said, “I will take the message to the others.” And he turned and sped back into the Forest.
            Harry took a deep breath. Well, that had gone all right, then. He scrubbed absently at his ear, and the blood still dripping from it.
            “My lord.” Briseis handed him the vial of clear lake-water, which contained the merfolk’s singing message.
            Harry sighed. Yes, really, a Dark Lord’s work is never done. He turned to face the lake. He hoped that he was done with demonstrating powerful magic for the day; it exhausted him.
            Persephone fluffed her tail out and trilled.
            Harry glared sideways at her out of the corner of his eye. Yes, you bloody phoenix, I know. You love it. Vain, greedy creature.
            Persephone looked at him smugly, and lifted her tail to perform an even less pleasant operation down his back.
*
Kain: Thanks! Hermione is in fact setting up a form of resistance, but it’s hard, because not many people actually want to join her.
BAFan: Thanks for reviewing.
^_^: Thanks! Hope you liked this chapter, too.
SP777: Persephone is more an embodied, Dark, external part of Harry than a familiar.
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Black Phoenix