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For the Want of a Nail	By : thewickednix Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Harry/Draco Views: 4934 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. This is made for fun, not profit.

Chapter List
- 19
- 20
- 21
Chapter 20. Brother

I wake to the sound of birds singing. Opening my eyes, I see the morning sun coming in through the open window. The room is freezing in the chilly morning air, but I can't bother to get up. Instead I snuggle closer to the sleeping body beside me. Drawing the blanket higher on top of us, I curl up beside Draco and bury my head in his neck. I breathe in his strong scent of musk and cigarettes, and marvel at the simple perfection of this moment.
After a moment Draco stirs beneath me, and I lift my head to watch him slowly open his eyes. "Morning," I smile.
He grunts acknowledging. "Have you been awake long?" he tries to stretch his body as much as he can with his right arm still stuck beneath me.
"Only a little while," I say, in awe watching Draco's flexing muscles. He gazes back at me, cocking an amused eyebrow at my dreamy stare.
"I'd better get up," he then says, pulling his arm out from under me and swinging his legs over the edge of the bed. He reaches up and stretches his arms with a groan. I watch the lean muscles of his back with a small frown. Even as Draco has given up trying to fight that he wants me, it is as if he is still trying to deny the whole situation. It is as if we are not with each other, we are nothing beyond before.
I watch him get up and pull on his rumpled trousers from yesterday. Sighing, I sit up in the bed. I feel childish and ungrateful complaining about this. When I've already gotten so much further with Draco than I could've ever imagined, what right do I have to complain? I know I am too greedy. But try as I may, I still can't deny the fact that I do want more. More than this momentary affection, this occasional surrender.
Draco turns to me upon buttoning his shirt, furrowing his brow at my frown. I can see that he recognises my disappointment, and I make no attempt to hide it. He stares at me for a long moment, his features somewhat mournful but determined. Finally I can't take it anymore. I climb out of bed and walk over to him. Stark naked I throw my arms around his neck and press my forehead to his. Closing my eyes, I breath in his musky scent and just stand there, trying to keep whatever contact I can for as long as possible.
His arms come up to wrap around my back, and I hear him take in an uneven breath. Neither of us says a word. What could I say? I can't ask him for anything more than he's already given.

I just wish that I didn't have to ask.

For a moment I wonder if maybe Draco was right in the first place. Maybe this truly is too hard. Perhaps it would be easier for both of us if we just ended it now, before we get too involved.
I open my eyes to look at him. Staring into his eyes, those silver pools gazing back to me with such intensity, I realise I am too involved already. Maybe Draco is able to protect himself from this pain by lying to himself, but I passed that point long ago. Or maybe he isn't lying to himself, but I am? Maybe all of this really is just in my head?
I feel tears burning behind my eyes, and as I try to blink them away Draco's hand comes up to caress my cheek. Hot, salty tears spill over, and I feel my lower lip shake as Draco wipes them away. He pulls me towards him, pressing me against his chest so tightly I can hardly breathe. I cling to his shirt, smiling through my tears.
In spite of it all, I know he does care. Even if he will never say so. Even if it will never be enough.
We stand like this for a long time. Even as my tears run out, Draco keeps holding me ever so tightly against him. I feel exhausted, but refuse to let go in fear of losing this. Just as I fear my feet might give out from under me, I suddenly I find myself hoisted up into strong arms. Draco lays me down on the bed and pulls the covers over me, chuckling slightly as I refuse to ease my grip on him. Eventually he climbs into the bed next to me, on top of the covers but so close that I am able to keep holding on to him.
"Go back to sleep, it's still early." he breathes softly, laying a comforting arm over me. I bury my face into his chest and feel myself instantly drifting off to sleep. Draco's hand comes up to gently run through my hair. "I won't leave you." he whispers, probably thinking I am too far gone already to hear him. But I do hear him, and with a smile on my face I fall into unconsciousness.

This has to be enough.

___________________________________________________________________

Another thing we do not speak of afterwards. I watch him smile at me sadly every time he leaves me to join the Weasel and Mudblood. As if he expects me to disappear from his life while he is away. And I cannot smile back reassuringly. I cannot promise him that I will be here when he returns to my rooms, to my arms. I can provide him with no certain answer.
There is to be an Order meeting in a week. The 2nd of July. I realise my birthday has passed almost a month ago. The 5th of June, my seventeenth birthday, legally providing me with the right to preform magic unsupervised. The moment I have been waiting for my whole life.
And somehow it passed unnoticed. The absurdity of the idea that the Malfoy heir's coming of age was neglected, forgotten even, hits me. I laugh so hard that I drop the book I am holding. Potter stares at me with intrigued confusion. "Why are you laughing?"
My laughter dies out and I turn to the inky haired boy lying beside me. His tousled hair is floating over the pillow, his eyes are half open, sight slightly hazed from sleep and the absence of his glasses.
"Your birthday is soon." I tell him. Yes, The Chosen One's coming of age. I can hear the gospels already.
Potter snuggles further into the mattress beside me. He yawns. "And how come that's so funny?"
"I was just imagining the state of the house after you have tried your new unrestrained magic on it." I drawl.
He snorts noncomically, smirking up at me. "I appreciate that your faith in me. Besides, it's not as if the house doesn't need a renovation anyway."
I huff, but refrain from answering. I couldn't expect this Muggle-raised dimwit to understand that one does not just 'renovate' the Ancient and Most Noble House of Black.
"What are your plans for today?" I ask him, setting my book aside on the bedside table. Potter smiles widely, happy for this rare occasion when he has my undivided attention.
"Well, Ron and I wanted to practice duelling, like we did yesterday. But that didn't end so well, so Hermione forbade us from continuing with that until we've finished our summer homework. In other words, never." he mutters, not completely without amusement. Even though I am disgusted by the mere idea of even thinking it, I must admit I am grateful of the Mudblood. The stupid Weasel could have easily killed Potter by mistake with that wand of his. "You then?" Potter asks.
I shrug. "Same old, same old." It's not exactly true. I promised the twins I would help them with their experiments today. "And of course, preparing for the meeting next week."
"Oh, right." Potter's face falls at the mentioning of the meeting. "I had forgotten about that."
Though I do not understand Potter's dislike for the meetings, I can certainly relate to it. I hate all those people, coming here and turning our already disrupted life into a sodding circus. Is it not enough that I have to live with the snoopy Mudblood, the Weasel, and his loony brothers? But to have all those other people in this house, sitting at that table, each time questioning my presence and my motives... It's positively repulsing.
"We just had a meeting. We do we have to have a new one already?" Potter mutters. I raise an eyebrow at him. "What?" he asks incredulosly. "It's not like they ever tell us anything new anyway!"
I snort at his childishness. "Maybe nothing major, but any trivial minor detail we come about now might be of big importance in the future. You have to think of the bigger picture."
He doesn't like me scolding him. Mostly because he knows I am right. Pouting he buries his nose in the pillow. "I still don't like it."
I chuckle and run a fingertip over his bare shoulder. "Neither do I." He shivers at the brief contact and I snigger slightly as I lean over to kiss him. "Let's take a shower." I murmur as my lips brush over his, briefly wondering where those words suddenly erupted from. I climb over Potter and off the bed before he even has the time to shut his gaping mouth. "T-together?" he stammers, sitting up rapidly and swinging his legs over the edge of the bed.
I only chuckle as I disappear into the bathroom.

___________________________________________________________________

In an extremely pleasant mood I approach the Potions lab in the West Wing. From a far distance I can hear the Weasley twins crack jokes about some or other ridiculous subject. Important questions like "have you ever wondered how Blast-Ended Screws mate?" or "what type of heroin do you think Trelawney mixes in her tea?" call through the walls. I brace myself for hours of the twins' agonizing company as I walk through the door.
The twins jump at the sudden opening of the door. "Geez, Malfoy!" Fred grins. "You could at least knock."
"I think he must have a serious fetish of sneaking up on people. Don't you agree, Fred?" George chimes in. His brother nods enthusiastically. "Yes, I do. I recall a time in fifth year when he snuck into the girls' dorm and caught Angelina Johnson in her underwear."

Excuse me?

"No, no, Fred. That was you." George reminds his demented brother sympathetically.
Fred grins. "Yes, it was." He shrugs apologetically. "I do anything to tell that story."
I roll my eyes at the laughing morons and walk over to the large black cauldron. A light purple potion is stewing on the fire, bubbling lightly. "Is this the potion for the Nosebleed Nougat?" I ask, cautiously lifting a ladle with the lilac liquid to examine it closer.
"We've only just started. That's the base to the potion." George grins proudly, handing me a small piece of parchment where messy notes are scribbled. "This is the original recipe."

I read through the notes carefully twice before turning to the twins. "I am surprised to have to admit that this is really quite good work." I drawl, pointing to the parchment. "But for the venom to be added, some fine adjustments must be made."
The twins nod enthusiastically. "We expected as much."
I walk over to one of the shelves and grab a piece of parchment and a quill. "The pixy eggs must be reduced from 30 ounces to 25 ounces, as the besoar extract won't be able to serve to keep both the toxic pixy eggs and the venom at bay." I explain clearly while I scribble down the notes on the parchment. "Because of the reduced amount of pixy eggs, only one blueberry root will be required. And we might have to add a dove heart, just in case."
I walk over to the cauldron, the Weasleys' recipe still in my hand. "What of all this is in the base?"
"Frog's breath, the besoar extract, the bark from a Juniper tree..." Fred counts up the ingredients on his fingers. "Oh, and the bone marrow of a hare." he explains.
"Well, then," I grin. "This will take a while, but we're up to a good start."

___________________________________________________________________

I never realised how much I'd missed Potions. The smoky room, the refined, valuable substances. The way the subject demands ones undivided attention and precision in measuring and preparing the ingredients.
Truly the hobby for neurotics.
Five days later, we are finally at the final stage. "Well," I say as I add the ground fang of a bat. "I guess it's time for the venom." I can't quite manage to keep my voice as steady as I would like for it to be. I turn to Fred as I walk towards the table with the ingredients. "Stir the potion 23 times clockwise, then 11 times counter-clockwise. Not too fast, not too slow." I command.
Picking up a needle and a small vial, I tug up the sleeve of my left arm. In spite of their attempt to hide it, I see both of the twins casting cautious looks at my forearm. As if there by now were any doubt that I do not have the Dark Mark. Fred turns away quickly when I catch him staring, but George keeps his eyes nailed to my arm. I follow his gaze to the still pink scars on my wrists. Swallowing loudly, I hurry to push the needle into my arm.
"Minuo" I mutter under my breath, and the toxic blood runs smoothly from the needle to the vial below it. It is as if I was still alive and actually able to bleed. When the vial is filled, I withdraw the needle and the blood in the wound coagulates instantly. George's eyes are still fixated on my arm even as I pull down the sleeve.
"Why did you do that?" he croaks, cautiously meeting my gaze. I don't even bother to pretend not to know what he is talking about.
I avert my eyes and turn to measure the crimson liquid. "I had to test the theory that vampires can't commit suicide." The following silence is awkward. Fred keeps stirring the potion and pretending that he doesn't hear what's being said. I can only hope he doesn't miscount.
To my surprise, George pushes the subject. "You actually tried to off yourself because you became a vampire?" He sounds as if what he is saying is totally ridiculous, as if he can't believe it. "I guess that could be called a well prolonged beauty sleep."
I sigh incredulously. "Not because I became a vampire per se, but to make a long story short; I guess one could say that, yes." I carry the measured blood over to the cauldron, and pour it while Fred keeps stirring. The stewing mixture turns from a bluish green to inky black within seconds. "Now there's only the pixy eggs and the dove heart left." I state, therefore concluding the previous, very uncomfortable subject.
We hurry to add the missing ingredients, and watch with trepidation as the potion starts oozing something terribly. As the grey smoke fades away, we see the liquid slowly turn from pitch black to the same tone of purple as the base had.
"How do we know if it works?" I ask the twins, who look at each other with raised eyebrows. "One of us tries it." they say simultaneously, grinning merrily. As if they weren't just assigning one of them to voluntarily swallowing vampire venom.
"Remember," I warn, meeting both of their gazes gravely. "Once the venom gets into your system and starts its process, it can't be reversed. If we have failed in negating the tainted particles and preventing the intoxicational process... there's no going back." I look back and forth between the two of them. "Is this Skiving Snackbox really worth that risk?"
Fred and George look at each other and shrug. "It's our life's work." Fred grins.
"Yeah. If we don't do this when we have the means, who knows what that could prevent us from in the future." George agrees.
I swallow. I guess I can't stop them. And on some level, I don't want to. I want to know that I succeeded in this. I want to feel accomplished in something, after spending all those moths in the library without finding a single useful spell against the Dark Lord.
I nod at the twins and turn towards the door. "I can't be in here when one of you gets the nosebleed. I'll be just outside." The twins grin eagerly and I shut the door behind me. Soon I hear George exclaim "Geez, Fred, don't bleed on my shoes!". Leaning against the wall of the corridor, I count the seconds.
Two minutes creep by, and I am starting to get anxious. Soon I can't take it anymore, and reach for the door handle.
"Draco! What are you doing here?"
I freeze in my steps and turn towards Potter walking towards me in the hall. "Harry, I don't think this is the time." It's not that I think Potter would mind knowing I spend time with the Weasley twins. But I do not want to see the expression on his face if he finds out I almost turned Fred into a vampire. Well, 'almost' is a ominous word right now, as I don't yet know what has happened.
Potter is standing right in front of me now, looking at me with a furrowed brow. "Why? What is it?" He sounds concerned. I open my mouth without even knowing what I am going to say, but before I even have time to think about my answer the door suddenly bursts open.

___________________________________________________________________

Things happen so fast.
George bursts through the door with a wide grin at Draco, shouting "Success!". For a fragment of a second I wonder what he is on about, before I turn to look at Draco. His body has gone totally rigid, and his nostrils are flaring as he stares somewhere past George's shoulder. I cast a glimpse into the room and see Fred standing in the middle of the floor, grinning widely, the front of his shirt stained red.
Blood red.
I turn back towards Draco but I am too late. The only thing I have time to see as he jumps past me and George is a black shadow and a flash of flaxen hair. The next thing I know is that there is screaming, there is blood, Draco is...

Draco.

"Draco, NO!" I shout, rushing forward to pull the ravenous vampire off Fred. Of course I am no match for Draco in strength, but I manage to push my hand flat in front of his mouth. His canines pierce my skin deeply, and a low cry escapes me. I keep my hand in place though, and Draco lets go of Fred to keep my hand still. Fred lies paralyzed on the floor for a moment before he seems to find his limbs and has the presence of mind to scramble to his feet.
I myself sit down on my knees in front of Draco and fight to keep my hand still. I manage in spite of the trembling that begins when the pleasure starts seeping through the bite. Draco lets go of my hand and grabs my forearms violently, pulling me forwards towards him. He drinks from the palm of my hand with closed eyes, but doesn't let go of my arms. I put my free hand on his shoulder gently before turning to look at the horrified twins in the doorway.
"It's all right." I mumble, trying to think of a way to convince them that Draco really isn't dangerous. Not right now, at least. "Fred, I think you should get away from here as soon as possible." I nod to his blood drenched t-shirt, trying to figure out what he's done to make himself look like that. "You aren't hurt, are you?" I ask, worried for both Fred's and Draco's sake.
"N-no" Fred stammers, clenching his drenched shirt. "Nosebleed Nougat..." he manages to mumble, before he quickly backs away and flees down the hall. I can only hope he doesn't run into anyone. That would do great damage to the fragile truce between Draco and the other Order members.
I look at George pleadingly. "Could you run after him and make sure he's all right?"
George looks at the vampire in front of me cautiously. "I don't know-" he murmurs doubtfully. I cut him off. "I'll be fine. Just go make sure Fred's all right, OK?"
After a final suspicious look towards Draco, George hurries down the hall after his brother. I let out a deep breath and turn to look at Draco. The almost panicked urgency is gone, and he is only lapping at my hand now. Soon he stops altogether and opens his eyes to look at me. I withdraw my hand as I watch his consciousness slowly return. He blinks a few times until the vague expression disappears from his eyes. "What happened?" he asks, voice trembling slightly.
I smile softly. "Apparently Fred ate some Nosebleed Nougat, god knows why, and well... I guess you were caught off guard."
"Oh god..." Horror washes over Draco's face as he processes the information. "Is Fred all right?" He jumps to his feet, already hurrying towards the door.
"Wait!" I exclaim, stumbling to my feet as well. "I'll come with you. You know... just in case." I try to smile encouragingly. It does not seem to work, Draco still looks as panicked as ever. Walking towards Draco I throw my arms around his shoulders and stand on my toes to kiss him lightly. "It'll be all right." I convince him, grabbing his hand and dragging him down the hall after the twins.

We find them in their shared bedroom. Fred is sitting on the bed without a shirt on, looking pretty shuck. George stands beside him, handing him a wet towel. They both look utterly confused, but not as scared as I would have expected.
"Hi, Fred." I say cautiously, trying to find out what they're both thinking. "Are you all right?"
Fred looks cautiously at Draco for a moment, then nods slowly. "I'm fine." I let out a breath I didn't even know I was holding. I tug at Draco's arm and pull him past me. His face is cautious and embarrassed as he approaches the twins.
"I apologize." he murmurs, looking from Fred to George. "I shouldn't have let that happen. I should've known better. I-" He sighs deeply. "I'm sorry."
The apology is stiff and impersonal, done by someone who is not used to saying they're sorry for anything. But the twins don't seem to mind. They stare at Draco in silence for a moment before they both break out in their usual mischievous smiles.
"It's OK." Fred says, standing up from the bed and patting Draco on the shoulder. "You just frightened me a little, that's all." Draco looks uncomfortable by the familiarity of the gesture, but smiles gratefully nonetheless.
"Yeah," George continues, also smiling at Draco. "We should've known better, too. I mean, Nosebleed Nougat near a vampire, please. A Dursley could have figured that out!" The twins laugh.
"We forgive you, mate." Fred grins, and Draco looks like a heavy burden just fell off his shoulders. I cannot but wonder when these three have gotten so close that Draco actually cares what the twins think of him. Relieved, I smile to myself and turn to leave the three of them to work things out.
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For the Want of a Nail