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Inter Vivos	By : Lomonaaeren Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Harry/Draco Views: 42948 -:- Recommendations : 3 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, and I am making no money from this writing.

Chapter List
- 21
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Thank you again for all the reviews!

Chapter
Twenty-Two�Bracing

�� Draco gazed
at his mother�s book in dismay. There was only half a page of information on
Horcruxes, even though this was the fourth time he had tried to summon that
information. He was sure that that
wasn�t all the knowledge that existed on them. The Dark Lord must have known
more if he�d made several of them.

�� But it
seemed that was as much as he was going to get in response to his question, so,
with a sigh, Draco started reading�again.

�� Horcruxes are objects infused with the
energy from a murder, which splits the soul. So long as the wizard in question
preserves the objects from destruction and change, then he cannot die.

�� Horcruxes are shadowy objects, not well
understood, best left to the more esoteric realms of Dark magic. They are often
well-hidden, and not often made, and few facts have been collected about them
because of the combination of these circumstances.

�� It is reported that, in some cases, the
Horcruxes can manifest a guardian spirit, a shadowy form of the owner at the
point in time that he made the Horcrux. This spirit must be dealt with before
the Horcrux can be destroyed. On the other hand, destruction of the Horcrux
will result in destruction of the spirit.

�� Draco
shuddered, remembering what Harry had told him about the spirit of Tom Riddle
that had shown up, taunted him when the She-Weasel was dying, and tried to
force him to abandon the project of saving her. That was not something he was
looking forwards to dealing with, and it would surely be a nightmare for Harry
to relieve those memories.

�� He sighed
and looked at the last paragraph.

�� One of the few things known to destroy a
Horcrux is basilisk venom.

�� And that
was all.

�� Draco
leaned his head back on the padded chair and swore.

�� I have asked you to watch your language,
Draco.� Though Professor Snape�s voice was mild, he spoke in a way that let Draco
knew he would have to guard his tongue more carefully in the future. He stepped
around the chair and glided to the table in the middle of the room, taking a
cup of tea that steamed there and sipping it thoughtfully. Draco had thought
that his mother terrified the house-elves into obedience effectively, until he
began to stay in Professor Snape�s rooms and saw the way he could do it with a
freezing stare. �But you are also to share the problems that cause you to swear
with me. What is it now?�

�� Draco held
the book out to him. Snape read the paragraphs in silence and then laid the
book down on the table near the teapot. Draco tensed reflexively, though he
knew full well that Professor Snape had never spilled a cup of tea in his life.
He couldn�t tell what his mentor was thinking. Of course, Snape rarely showed
any strong emotion unless they were talking directly about Harry or about
Draco�s future.

�� Well,�
said Snape at last, �it is unfortunate that we do not possess more information,
but we will do the best we can with what we have.�

�� It�s not enough, though!� Draco folded his arms
and resisted the urge to claw at the cushion of the chair, especially since
Snape had turned and looked at him
again for raising his voice. �What are we supposed to do? Where are we supposed
to begin? Unless�� He looked hopefully at Snape. �Did that book that you gave
Harry contain any more information?�

�� Snape
snorted. �It is mostly a compendium of any
information that deals with Horcruxes or might be said to deal with them,
including legend, superstition, and rumors of other magical artifacts that the
author felt were similar to Horcruxes in some superficial way. No, Draco, I am
afraid that we must not rely on that book for any help. The truths are
irreparably mingled with the lies, and I do not want to try something that
would be harmful to Harry.� He nodded to Draco�s book. �For example, that book
mentioned guardian spirits, but only in the guise of many kinds of demons that
could be called to defend the Horcrux, and nothing I read implied that they are
a manifestation of the Horcrux�s owner.�

�� Damn it,�
Draco said, and then flinched as Snape flicked him with another lash-like
glance. �I don�t know what to do.�
The protest rose from his heart before he could stop it.

�� Snape
slowly inclined his head. �We are not in this fight alone, if you remember,
Draco,� he said. �Harry may also have something to say about it. And now that
you have looked up information on Horcruxes, I believe you would be
well-advised to read up once more on inventing spells.�

�� Draco
blinked and felt his mouth fall open. �But�that was a summer project. How can
you suggest��

�� Your
future is even more important in the school year than in the summer,� Snape
said calmly, �because this is one month closer to the time when you must leave
Hogwarts and begin a life on your own.�

�� But I�ll
be helping Harry, fighting the war�� Draco thought he knew how Harry felt after
Snape had helped push the Dark Lord out of his head and then challenged
Dumbledore about his living arrangements, all in the same day. He�d created a
strongly etched picture of his future, and Snape had erased it in a few
moments, with a few words.

�� You are
more than that,� Snape said. �What I most fear for you at the moment, Draco, is
your losing yourself in Harry�s shadow, becoming only his friend and servant
and nothing more. You will be more
than that.� His eyes blazed, but other than pride, Draco couldn�t tell which
emotions burned to make the light. �If I must push you to be that way, then I
will. Now, go and study.�

�� When I agreed to stay with Professor Snape
because there was supposedly a plot to kill me my first night� back in Slytherin, Draco thought, as he
went meekly to the library, I didn�t know
that he would take my dreams so seriously.

*

�� Severus was
preparing for bed when a large, ghostly raven winged through the wall. He
lifted an eyebrow and extended an arm to the bird, which hopped onto it. It was
a visual event alone for Severus; he could not feel the weight of the claws
that should naturally have touched him. Of course, the raven was not truly
there, so this was not surprising.

�� What news?�
Severus asked, leaning carefully back towards his bed so as not to jolt the
raven, though the bird was so insubstantial that it would not have been
bothered.

�� The raven
fluffed its feathers, cocked its head from side to side a moment, and then said
in Severus�s own voce, �No change.�

�� Severus
smiled grimly and flicked his arm. The raven immediately leaped off it and flew
through the wall. Though Severus could not follow its passage with his eyes, he
knew it was flying back to Surrey.

�� He had set
the spell to keep a careful eye on Harry�s Muggle �family.� Should the Dursleys
have some form of contact with the wizarding world or attempt to shift far away
from their house, he would know immediately. In the meantime, the raven would
bring him reports of their routine once a week as well as news once a day.

�� Severus did
not plan to avenge himself, and Harry, by attacking the Dursleys.

�� Not until
he knew enough to make it memorably painful.

*

�� Harry
jerked his head up. It had been a typical boring History of Magic class until
this point, with Harry half-asleep and half-doodling on his notes. He�d already
contemplated everything from Professor Flitwick�s pink socks from that morning
to the odd habits of Professor Harmonium, the new Defense Against the Dark Arts
professor. She seemed to think they needed to know the entire history of curses and countercurses before they could safely
cast anything.

�� But now�

�� Now an
alarm was vibrating through his head, a shrill squeaky sound that he had never
heard before but recognized at once. One of the protective charms that he had
cast on his trunk after Seamus was warning him that someone had tried to break
into it.

�� Harry stood
up, stretched, and managed to stroll out of the class, at the pace that people usually
used when going to the bathroom. He didn�t want Binns stopping and questioning
him. But once he was beyond the door, he began to run, casting a Disillusionment
Charm on himself without even thinking. He didn�t want to be stopped on the way
there, either.

�� He took the
steps as carefully as he could at that speed. He wouldn�t do any good stopping
the person who had tampered with his trunk if he broke his head before he got
to his bedroom.

�� And then
Gryffindor Tower was in front of him, and the Fat Lady was asking for the
password whilst peering doubtfully because she couldn�t see him, and Harry was
tersely snapping it out and stepping into the common room.

�� No one was
there at the moment. Harry stood in the silence and emptiness, listening, and
heard a soft thump from the direction of the sixth-year boys� bedroom.

�� He smiled
to himself and began to climb. By the time he reached the door of the bedroom,
the thumps were more regular and mingled with curses. Whoever this was had to
be frustrated that the trunk wasn�t coming open.

�� Thank you, Draco, for looking in your book
for those extra protective charms, Harry thought, and then hurled his
shoulder against the door.

�� It opened
with a sharp crack, but luckily Harry managed to recover his balance before he
could sprawl on the floor; dueling practice had taught him more than just
curses and countercurses. He moved into the room, cast the Finite that would cancel the Disillusionment Charm, and pointed his
wand at the person disturbing his trunk.

�� Seamus
froze and stared at him. Harry raised an eyebrow. �I didn�t think you�d try
again,� he said, and began to move forwards.

�� Seamus
immediately whipped his wand up. �Stay back!� he said. His voice shook, but
there was an expression of fear and fury in his eyes that did make Harry stop. �They
taught me spells to use against you.�

�� Spells to use against me,� Harry said,
and wasn�t able to keep the sadness and disgust out of his voice. �Come on,
Seamus, destroying my broom and cloak and pictures wasn�t enough? You have to
bother me again?�

�� You�re
evil,� said Seamus. His voice trembled on the edge of hysteria now, and Harry
thought there were tears in the corners of his eyes. �You don�t understand. You�re
evil, and it�s horrible.�

�� Harry
wondered if there was any way that he could reach Seamus. �Whoever�s been
telling you these lies about me,� he said, �they�re wrong. Seamus, mate, if you
would��

�� They�re
not lying! He would never lie! My mother would never lie!� Seamus backed away
as though Harry had tried to take out his tongue. �Don�t�don�t come any closer!�

�� Harry
looked quickly at his trunk. He didn�t think it was open, so whatever Seamus
had been attempting to do hadn�t worked. But that was no reason to trust him.
He did keep his voice firm and as soothing as he could when he faced Seamus and
took another step. �Seamus, if you would just listen to me��

�� Seamus
screamed incoherently and cast the Leg-Breaker Curse at him.

�� Harry
snapped the counter without thinking, and then nearly used one of the Dark
curses that Snape had taught him. He was surprised and a little appalled at how
hard it was to restrain himself. Snape
taught you about those curses so that you could fight them. Not use them. And Seamus is going mad or under a
spell. This isn�t the way he was acting just this morning.

�� He didn�t have
a chance to speak again, though. Seamus began to try and kill him in earnest,
and Harry had no choice but to defend himself.

�� Professor
Harmonium had made them read the histories of famous battles. Harry had no idea
how those duelists and fighters remembered all the curses they cast and their
opponents cast. His mind blurred into a furious burst of survival, and all he
knew was that he had blocked three spells that were definitely Dark Arts and
two more that might not have been, and he had a shallow bleeding cut on his
leg, and Seamus was cradling his left arm and looking like he was going to cry.

�� But Harry
had managed to avoid using any Dark Arts himself, and that was a start.

�� He fell
back, breathing heavily, when he realized that Seamus�s wand was on the floor,
and cast a Summoning Charm. The wand smacked into his palm. Seamus made a
gesture that might have been wandless magic, but if it was, it didn�t work.
Harry put the wand in his pocket and cast a Sticking Charm on it.

�� I�m going
to take you to Madam Pomfrey,� he said. �Something is wrong with you.�

�� Seamus
screamed incoherently and lunged at him. Harry shook his head and cast a
Body-Bind on him. Seamus sprawled on the floor and looked up at him with
murderous eyes.

�� Harry had
to turn away.

*

�� Are you
all right?� Draco demanded.

�� Of course.
I only had one wound, and it got treated.�

�� Harry
answered in a monotone, and never took his eyes from Finnigan, who was lying restrained
on a hospital bed. One glance at him let Draco know that he�d been dosed with
Dreamless Sleep potion and wouldn�t wake up easily. Still, he didn�t want to
have this conversation with Harry in the hospital wing.

�� Come on.�
Draco put an arm around Harry�s shoulders and spoke softly but firmly. He�d
wanted to yell since the moment he heard from gossiping Slytherin fourth-years
that Harry had been seen floating Finnigan through the corridors. He knew it
wouldn�t accomplish anything, though, and it was always less of an effort to
keep his voice soft around Harry than with anyone else. �Let�s go to our room.�

�� Our room�
was an abandoned classroom on the third floor. A misfired hex had created a
permanent leak in the ceiling, and no one had managed to fix it. As usual,
Draco had to spell away an inch or so of water on the floor before they could
sit down in comfort, but that didn�t matter. The chairs they�d brought here had
Impervious Charms on them.

�� He pushed
Harry into one chair and took the other, studying his face carefully. Harry had
a fixed, distant look in his eyes that Draco hated. It reminded him too much of
last year and how Harry had always tried to be silent if he couldn�t be
cheerful.

�� What are
you thinking about?� Draco had learned the value of bluntness when talking to
Gryffindors, at least.

�� Seamus,�
Harry whispered.

�� Draco
sighed. �He�s not worth the thought you�re wasting on him.�

�� I don�t
know how he could have degenerated so fast,� Harry went on, exactly as if Draco
hadn�t spoken. Draco had to swallow irritation. Yes, he loved Harry, but damn, that just made interruptions
worse. �He was fine a few days ago. He glared at me, but mostly he stayed out
of my way. And then I felt one of the protection spells warn me that someone was
tampering with my trunk, and I went up, and he was there, and he said a bunch of
things that didn�t make sense, and then�then he cursed me.�

�� Which
curse?� Draco sat back and looked at Harry anxiously. Of course the idiot would
try and hide any effects of being subject to a Dark spell, because he just
wouldn�t think about them.

�� Harry
looked up then, and saw the expression on his face, and crossed the distance
between them so fast that Draco was still blinking at afterimages when Harry
started hugging him. �Oh, Draco, it didn�t hit,� he murmured. �I�m sorry for
worrying you. You do worry a lot, and
I don�t want to add to that.� He slid his hands up and down Draco�s back in the
way that Draco didn�t like to admit very nearly made him a soft-boned idiot.

�� So long as
you aren�t lying again,� Draco muttered, and tried not to let his eyes droop
shut.

�� No,� Harry
whispered. �I won�t try that. And I�m sorry if it seemed like I was more
worried about Seamus than about you. It just surprised me, that�s all. But you�re
more important than he is.�

�� Draco had
to resist the urge to moan. He was going to remember those words later, when he
had one of the wank sessions that were frequently necessary to deal with his
feelings for Harry these days.

�� I don�t
want to worry you, ever,� Harry was rambling on, as if he were equally
hypnotized by the way his hands were running up and down Draco�s back. Draco
preferred that to the other explanation, which was that he�d forgotten Draco
was there. �But I know that you worry more when you don�t know things, so I try
and tell you about those things now. Sometimes I wonder whether I should tell
you that I lo��

�� And then he
stopped as if horrified.

�� Draco
lifted his head. He was quivering, but he couldn�t help it, because he thought
he knew what Harry had almost said. And anyway, he told himself, the quivering
was the kind of tremor he would feel at the start of a race.

�� Harry was
silent now, holding him, but standing absolutely still. Draco gently pushed him
back far enough that he could look into Harry�s face. �Harry?� he asked,
keeping his voice so soft it could almost be ignored. �What were you going to
say?�

�� Harry
swallowed and stared at him with overly bright eyes for a long moment. Draco
started being sure that he would run. And then he muttered, barely opening his
mouth, �I was�going to say that I love you.� He licked his lips and laughed
shakily. �Pretty sure that I�m in love with you. Yeah.�

�� Draco was
trembling as he hooked his hand behind Harry�s head. Maybe he should have
waited a minute, maybe he should have tried to make sure that Harry was
serious, maybe he should have asked more questions, but he was so impatient,
and aching, and tired of waiting, and needing�

�� It�s all right that I need him, he
reassured himself as he dragged Harry into a snog. Just as long as my father never finds out, and I don�t think he�s going
to.

*

�� Harry had
dreamed about what it would be like to snog someone, and he�d once read a
description of it, fascinated and horrified, from one of the romance novels
that Hermione liked to pretend she didn�t read. But he hadn�t known that it
would be so messy, and wet, and make it hard to breathe.

�� Draco�s
tongue was in his mouth. Draco�s tongue
was in his mouth. Harry reached out, half-flailing, because he needed
something to hold onto, and his hands slid along a shirt and shoulders and
through soft hair, the way they had when he�d hugged Draco that summer.

�� Draco
swayed forwards as if he understood Harry�s desire to hold onto something, and
he supported and cradled him a moment later. His tongue remained in Harry�s
mouth all the time. Right now he was thoughtfully licking Harry�s teeth, as if
he liked the taste of them better than the taste of the rest of Harry�s mouth.

�� Harry began
to taste back, partially in self-defense. He didn�t want Draco to think that
Harry was just going to stand here like a girl and take this. Draco made a soft delighted sound and leaned closer.

�� Their noses
were bumping. Harry thought he was tasting pumpkin juice and something worse in
Draco�s mouth, and wondered absently if he�d brushed his teeth yet today. Their
breaths were warm. The whole thing was
warm. Harry moved restlessly, because the kiss was making him want to do
something else, and whined in the back of his throat.

�� Finally,
Draco broke away and sucked in several long breaths. He looked as though
someone had just handed him the world, and Harry, gazing at him in wonder,
decided something. That�s why you�d snog
another boy. Because you want to see him look like that.

�� I love
you, too,� said Draco. �I didn�t know if you knew that.�

�� I�think I
could figure it out.� Harry licked his own lips this time, and caught himself
reaching out to put a hand back on Draco�s shoulder. He flushed and started to
take it back, but Draco caught it, grinned, and dragged him closer.

�� You can
touch me if you want,� Draco said softly. �You can always touch me.� He managed
to make the words sound more adult than Harry thought he could sound at the
moment, and his voice was a little hoarse. Harry shifted again, embarrassed that
he could feel an erection in his pants.

�� I�yeah.�
Harry wished he knew better what to say, but everything he knew seemed to be
deserting him tonight. He really hadn�t meant to tell Draco he loved him so
soon, before he figured out what to do about
it. But he reached out and put his hands on Draco�s hips and back and pulled
him clumsily closer, because Draco was starting to frown a little, and Harry
couldn�t stand to see him worry about anything.

�� Their
erections touched.

�� Harry
gasped and arched his back. Draco made a little noise which was not a laugh, because
if it was a laugh Harry would have had to kill him, and then tried to nudge his
hips forwards into Harry�s.

�� Harry
stepped back, though. He was breathing too fast, and he avoided Draco�s eyes as
best he could. �I can�t,� he said. �Not�I mean, I�m not ready to watch you
wank, or for you to watch me yank. I mean wank. Wank.� And then he was blushing again, because saying the word
again and again just made it worse.

�� Draco
stared at him for a moment, but then the worried look disappeared from his face
and he nodded. �All right, Harry,� he said. �But then I think I really do have
to leave, because I can�t be near you like this and not touch you.�

�� He kissed
Harry again, like a flash of fire on his cheek, and slipped out of the room.

�� Harry
leaned against the wall the minute the door shut and reached into his pants. He
would just have to hope that Draco had shut the door all the way and that no
one else came down here this time of night and that no one was listening, because
he wasn�t going to make it back to the common room like this.

�� He gripped
himself and jerked, and it was like the kiss that Draco had just given him: a flash
of fire, heat and a feeling so intense that he half-jumped back from it even as
he wanked, and then�

�� And then�

�� There was a
splash of wetness across his fingers. Harry sagged back against the wall and
choked a time or two, his hand still lazily moving.

�� Damn. All right. That�s another good reason
to have sex with a boy.

�� Maybe it doesn�t have to be about having
kids.

*

�� Draco bit
back a cry as he came. He would never have dared do this if Snape hadn�t still
been in his office supervising a detention, but he hadn�t been able to wait any
longer by the time he reached the professor�s rooms. He�d been in pain, and he�d
held his robes up in front of him like a shield, and he must have looked
ridiculous.

�� Not that
that mattered next to the pleasure making his body shudder.

�� Or next to
the relief that his feelings were returned, and the enormous smugness that he
had managed to capture Harry, of all
people, the only one in the world whose love he cared about having.

�� Draco flopped
back into his bed and gave himself up to the pure joy of living.��

*

�� qwerty: Heh,
Harry gave away the secret like a Gryffindor!

�� FallenAngel1129:
Thanks for reviewing.

�� Sneakyfox:
Yes, Harry�s admitting this was the really important step.

�� Tifsuz:
Thank you! I think Harry is a little weirded out by the idea of sex (if nothing
else, he just has too much else to think about). Hopefully Draco can teach him
better.

�� MewMew2:
Thank you!

�� Tree: So
did I. I would have liked to see more dealing with the Dursleys in the original
books.

DTDY: Thanks for reviewing.

�� minn yun: Yeah,
the adventures are mostly for the chapters after this one.

�� KienaBeana:
Thank you so much! The next years will owe little to the canon books, beyond
some concepts. I hope you continue to enjoy.

�� thrnbrooke:
Thanks!

�� in_wonderland:
Actually, Snape is not teaching Occlumency any more. But I�m glad you�re
enjoying the story. And here is your kiss!

�� SP777: Ha!
I actually did not drag out Harry falling for Draco, did I?

�� I must say,
it feels really nice to get reviews and ratings (including yours!)

�� I do
one-shots when an idea strikes me and I have enough time for it.

�� I have
lately given up reading most fanfiction because of RL. I�ll occasionally read
something that strikes me as really interesting, but the summary and the title
both have to be good.
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Inter Vivos