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Their Phoenix	By : Lomonaaeren Category: Harry Potter > Threesomes/Moresomes Views: 68722 -:- Recommendations : 3 -:- Currently Reading : 6
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter; that belongs to J. K. Rowling. I am making no money from this fic.

Chapter List
- 1-Their Phoenix
- 2-Part 2
- 3-Part 3
- 4-Part 4
- 5-Part 5
- 6-Part 6
- 7-Part 7
- 8-Part 8
- 9-Part 9
- 10-Part 10
- 11-Part 11
- 12-Part 12
- 13-Part 13
- 14-Part 14
- 15-Part 15
- 16-Part 16
- 17-Part 17
- 18-Part 18
- 19-Part 19
- 20-Part 20
- 21-Part 21
- 22-Part 22
- 23-Part 23
- 24-Part 24
- 25-Part 25
- 26-Part 26
- 27-Part 27
- 28-Part 28
- 29-Part 29
- 30-Part 30
- 31-Part 31
- 32-Part 32
- 33-Part 33
- 34-Part 34
- 27
- 28
- 29
This will be the only
update I make this week, as I am moving this weekend. I should be able to
update this story again on Tuesday of next week.

Thank you again for all the reviews!

�� Draco came
awake gasping, his hand planted across his stomach and his heart beating so
fast that it gave him a headache. He scrambled up in the bed and stared around,
trying to catch a glimpse of some danger that would justify his fear.

�� He�d been
in the middle of a blended dream, imagining all the things that Harry wasn�t
yet comfortable with doing�

�� And then he
was awake, and the fear that danced around him was like the fear he had felt
right before the Aurors attacked their house.

�� Draco had
no intention of ignoring the warning this time.

�� He realized
something was wrong when he turned his head, though. Harry and Severus had told
him that the visions of the future had affected them, too; Harry had seen the
walls of the house rippling and Severus had been the one to notice the phoenix
on his arm burning with blue flame. Now, they both slept peacefully, Severus
even snoring. Draco reached out and shook his shoulder.

�� Severus
opened his eyes, his brows drawing into a line as he surveyed Draco. He could
feel his emotions through the bond well enough, of course, but Draco still
received no share in them from Severus, only a pearl-like curiosity. �What is
the matter, Draco?� he asked, his voice low and thick with sleep.

�� I don�t
know.� Draco caught his breath in distress and bowed his head. �I woke up with
this fear running through me, and I don�t know why.�

�� Harry
gulped and sat up on the other side of him, rising to his knees so that he could
put his hands on Draco�s shoulders. Draco wished the tide of comfort flowing from
Harry, warm and sweet as melted chocolate, could make him feel better, but his
head still rang with fear and his eyes still flickered with shadows.

�� Severus
abruptly swore. Draco turned to look at him and saw him staring down. Draco
looked in that direction.

�� His own
phoenix shone with the blue flame that had predicted the attack last night, but
neither Harry�s nor Severus�s phoenixes did.

�� What is
going on?� Harry asked the question with steel in his voice, leaning forwards
over Draco�s shoulder so that he could see the phoenix better. The bond between
him and Draco was alive with bright, swooping golden flecks like birds circling
in agitation over the remnants of a destroyed nest. �And why don�t we feel it?�

�� I have
read about this.� Severus was already rising and flicking his wand to Summon a
robe from across the room. �The bond sometimes predicts danger to the mental
and not the physical health of one of its members. In that case, only the
member of the bond most directly affected will receive the warning.� He tugged
the robe over his shoulders.

�� Draco shook
his head. �But that doesn�t make sense. What could affect me and not you? We�re
all bound together.�

�� Severus
turned to him, anger and pity mingled in his face and flowing like a medicinal
potion down the bond.

�� I fear
that someone is attacking Malfoy Manor in hopes of harming Narcissa.�

*

�� Harry
braced himself against the immediate tide of panic that flowed from Draco down
the bond, and put his hands on Draco�s shoulders when he tried to leap out of
the bed. Draco fought mindlessly, his arms lashing out and the bond dissolving
into frothy waves. Harry turned him around and kissed him firmly.

�� Draco
stiffened in a spasm of rejection, then relaxed with a sigh. Harry drew back
and spoke quietly. �We�re going to save your mother, Draco, be sure of that.
But dashing out like this is just what our enemies want. It�ll make it easier
for them to destroy us.� He looked briefly at Severus, but found nothing save
approval in his face, which caused him to relax. He looked back at Draco and
shook his head. �So we have to get ready and Apparate to the Manor right away,
and we need to be ready to face them when we arrive.�

�� Use the
phoenix again?� Draco�s voice was a bare whisper. He leaned forwards, burying
his head against Harry�s chest.

�� Yes,�
Harry said. �And I think we have a few minutes to open ourselves to it. You
remember how the warning last time came before the attack, instead of as it
happened? So I think this warning is coming before the attack on your mother.
We�ll need to hurry, but it needs to be an organized
hurry.�

�� Severus
leaned in from the other side and laid his hands on Draco�s shoulders. �Harry
is correct,� he said. �Let us proceed in such a fashion as our enemies will not
suspect.� He smiled coldly. �Let us proceed in such a manner that we can
destroy them completely.�

�� Harry shot
Severus a warning glance. If we destroy
them completely, then the Ministry might succeed in drumming up charges against
us again.

�� I do not care, Severus answered, his
eyes bright with disgust and anger. We
have done enough to placate the Ministry, and still they continue to persecute
us. This time, we must bring down the hammer of our magic on them, so that they
will learn to fear us. Fear will teach them the lesson if respect cannot.

�� Harry
grimaced. He would need to be the steady rock for both of them, to ensure that
they didn�t get out of control.

�� Considering
what had happened, though, he found it difficult to blame them. And it was not
as though circumstances required him to take this role in the bond often.

�� Let�s open
the bonds to their fullest extent now,� he said aloud, because Draco was
probably too distressed to have noticed the mental conversation between him and
Severus. �We need to be ready.� He Summoned his robe at the same time and
stuffed his arms and legs into it. He didn�t want to be dressing at the most
delicate moment, which would come only when the bonds were fully open.

�� Severus
nodded, and then the tide of emotions flowing from him grew stronger. Draco
reacted at the same moment. Harry gasped, the surge and dazzle of colors and
sensations almost overwhelming him.

�� Draco and
Severus dived past him, moving like radiant shadows in the bonds, each of them
trying to take up part of the phoenix. Harry let them, and waited for the time
when the bonds were open to their fullest extent, pouring life and sweetness
through him. He braced himself against the flood, because he had to. If he lost
himself now, and let either Draco or Severus, vengeful and impatient, take
control�

�� He was
afraid of what kind of curses would appear beside their names and photographs
in the paper tomorrow.

�� He felt the
moment when they hovered between each other, cloaked in soft warmth that grew
hotter and hotter like flaming feathers, and the phoenix was beginning to rise
above them.

�� Now.

�� Harry
gathered up the reins of control the way that he remembered Draco doing so when
they became the phoenix to fight the Aurors. He tucked them under his wings and
through his claws, threading them tightly. Then he rose and extended his
awareness into the sky above them and through the walls, looking for other
traps. He wouldn�t put it past the Aurors to attack their house at the same
time as the Manor.

�� There were
no enemies hiding outside in the streets, however, and no dark shadows of
hostility watching them through the windows of Hogsmeade. Harry relaxed and
turned to deal with the complaints from his bondmates, which boiled up and down
in the back of his mind like jumping fleas.

�� You can�t do this, Draco said.

�� The power we wield is worth nothing unless
we all agree to share it, Severus snapped.

�� That�s not true, Harry replied calmly. We didn�t agree to what Draco did last time,
but we knew it was the best decision he could have made as soon as he made it.
And I wouldn�t agree to you trying to use our magic against anyone who�s
already at Malfoy Manor. I would shut the bonds, and you wouldn�t be able to
fight if you only had your power. He flicked his attention back and forth
between Severus and Draco, to make it clear that he was addressing them
equally. I won�t have you killing people.

�� My mother is in danger! The red flag of
Draco�s terror blazed across Harry�s mind. I
have to do something to help her�

�� Because murdering people and getting taken
for a murderer yourself always helps, Harry said dryly.

�� I didn�t mean it like that�

�� I agree that we must do something, Severus
said, his voice bubbling and snarling. A wild ripple of power ran through their
shared magic that felt a lot like Severus trying to snatch back control. The Ministry has gone free too long for
attacking us. Shacklebolt has made promises and has not kept them�

�� And if it�s not the Ministry?

�� The
possibility shut them both up for long enough that Harry could figure out how
to manipulate their bodies. They would stand and react like automatons if Harry
tugged on the reins of power in a particular way. He was satisfied. They would
actually have to Apparate to Malfoy Manor and join in the forming battle,
rather than waiting in the safety of their house the way they had last time.

�� I don�t like this, Draco fussed.

�� I don�t like this, either, Harry
snapped, having to split his attention three ways: to controlling their bodies,
to controlling the swells of power that disturbed the outer edge of the
enormous phoenix, and to arguing with his bondmates. But we don�t have a better choice.

�� To kill them�

�� That won�t fucking solve anything! Harry roared, and heard echoes
of a distant shriek. Their neighbors would be getting out of bed now, he knew,
and suffered a brief moment of doubt. Were they really doing what their enemies
wanted them to? What if the attack on Draco�s mother was a trap to lure them in
and make them behave just like this, so that their enemies would have an excuse
to tell the public they were dangerous?

�� Severus
said that could not be so, because they had been sent no warning of Narcissa�s
danger. Their enemies could not know that the bond would predict it for them,
and could not know that they would appear until after the attack was over.

Harry nodded and then leaped into
the air. It was the oddest sensation he had suffered so far in trying to guide
the compound phoenix along. Their bodies were walking, drawing wands, ready to
Apparate, but at the same time he could sense wings beating, claws folding up
under a feathered breast for a long flight, a tail spreading so that it could
help to direct the bird against the wind. He tumbled and turned, and Draco fell
silent with a yelp, as though he had figured out his own internal resistance
was doing little to help the phoenix fly. Harry bent his head, flattened his
crest, and went to work with a will.

�� The
darkness of Apparition gripped them and squeezed them contemptuously. When they
came out of it, they were hovering above the grounds of Malfoy Manor, their
bodies minute specks near the gates below. Draco had been able to bring them
here�the knowledge that flowed through his head was Harry and Severus�s
knowledge while they shared like this�but not inside the wards.

�� Draco
whistled a shrill warning, which emerged from the phoenix�s beak as a hiss.
Harry didn�t think that mattered, though he felt Severus�s nervous agitation, like
scalded water, that they had alerted their enemies; surely the sight of a giant
hovering bird was more than enough to alert them. Harry looked where Draco
directed, and saw seven people sneaking towards the gates, draped in heavy grey
cloaks.

�� Those look like the cloaks the Aurors wore, Draco
said, wariness and triumph surging around his words. In another moment, the
bond between him and Harry twisted as he tried to seize control again.

�� The Aurors wore black cloaks, Harry
said, and directed them into a dive. Draco winced in surprise and started
paying attention to the real threats, thank Merlin, instead of insisting that
he had to be the leader.

�� The people
who had done the creeping whirled around and stared upwards. When one of them
tried to yell a warning, a second interrupted with advice, and a third broke
and started fleeing. Harry experienced a moment of Severus-flavored smugness
that they obviously weren�t a united army, with discipline that would hold them
together in the face of a threat.

�� That increases the likelihood that they
aren�t Aurors, he tossed into Severus�s face, and then they were in the
middle of the battle.

�� It was
always a strange thing, trying to describe it afterwards. Harry never managed
to give Ron and Hermione a successful picture, and he had no need to try with
Draco and Severus because they had been there.
But his mind split. He could feel Draco and Severus with him; he could feel the
wind rushing past his feathers, though technically he thought his feathers
didn�t exist; he could feel his iron-hard determination to make sure that none
of the attackers were done permanent harm.

�� He could
feel the grass crushed beneath his feet as he drew his wand and ran at the
attackers in his own body. The last remnants of sleep blew away from his eyes
and mind. He was alert, countering a hex that splintered the air in front of
him and dropping to one knee to raise his Shield Charm.

�� Draco was
beside him, screaming constantly and wishing desperately that there was some
way he could be sure of his mother�s safety before he fought. He focused solely
on offensive magic at first, but a wayward curse from the other side, cast with
more luck than skill, stung him and burned his foot. After that, he made sure
he was ready to raise shields and temporary wards before he burned and stung
back.

�� Severus
dropped behind his bondmates because he did not wish to match their speed,
rather than because he couldn�t. He would be the silent source of strength to
them, the unnoticed defender. He cast a shield around Draco and then countered
a jinx flying his way with a burst of sparking lights that dazed the man
opposite him, burned off half his hair, and sent the wizard away howling.

�� Harry
coiled the immense power of the phoenix in its claws and struggled fiercely to
contain it. Severus and Draco wanted to use that power to hurt the attackers,
to force them to their knees and then rip their heads off. Harry handed them a
different task instead, one that would require them to use finesse: rip the
attackers� cloaks off and reveal their faces.

�� Severus and
Draco�s interest flowed into that project after a moment, and then Harry found
it easy to reach out with small, sharp-edged winds and shred the cloaks without
ever touching the flesh beneath them.

�� The wizards
squawked as the open air blew across their faces, and two more of them broke
and ran. They were unexceptional, and Harry didn�t bother trying to memorize
their features. He was more interested in the face of the tall figure who stood
at the center of the chaos and yelled, trying futilely to force her people to
come back and face down their enemy.

�� Huxley.

�� Harry raged
with Draco�s hunger for vengeance and Severus�s cold fury for a moment. If they
had killed Huxley during one of the other times they confronted her, this could
never have happened. Narcissa Malfoy would never have been in danger, and
Draco�s home would never have been in danger of wrecking. The wizards� spells
had pounded on the gates, and that was an insult. Someone had to pay for this.

�� Harry
rolled over twice and dived neatly through the middle of their anger, his wings
spread wide and his flames burning so fiercely that they had to listen to him. It won�t make any difference if we kill her
now! The gates are already damaged, and they didn�t break through the wards, so
we know that your mother isn�t injured. But if we kill her, how many people do
you think we�ll find who are willing to listen to our side of the story?

�� Severus
flipped back to sanity when he heard that last remark and joined Harry in
restraining Draco, though he snarled and spat and struggled against them. Someone has to avenge this insult! he
cried, when he realized that his strength was inadequate to resist his
bondmates. It can�t be allowed to stand!

�� We should worry about the future before the
past, Harry said, and then willed two glittering ropes of light to spring
out and surround Huxley, just in case she got the idea to Apparate before they
could question her. He was not sure if the ropes came from their wands or from
the phoenix�s claws, and he didn�t care.

�� Most of her
companions had fled already, except for one witch the spells had knocked out who
was lying senseless on the ground. Huxley stood in the middle of the ropes with
her head high and her mouth firmly set. Harry had the impression that she was
trying to contain despair.

�� Good. She deserves at least that much after
what she did to us.

�� Harry had
the phoenix land on the grass in front of her and lower its head delicately,
until the great beak hovered a few inches above her eye. Huxley finally showed
some sign of fear, flinching and looking down. But she otherwise didn�t turn
away, and Harry�s contempt of her grew. She wasn�t courageous, the way he saw
it. She was proud of the evil things he had done, and that took all virtue away
from her.

�� Then light
blazed from the Manor, and Narcissa Malfoy was visible in the front door,
surrounded by house-elves, though Harry continued to look directly at Huxley.
More than one pair of eyes would give that odd vision, Severus thought. Harry
acknowledged it and told Draco to reply to his mother, because he would be the
one who could best reassure her that nothing harmful to her son or her property
had happened.

�� Hullo,
Mother,� Draco said, his voice calmer than Harry knew he would have managed
under the circumstances. Severus reminded him, in a waterfall of soothing, that
Draco and Severus would have been calmer if it had been the Weasleys or others
of Harry�s friends who were attacked, and so they would have managed to play
the role of holding Harry back. Harry had done well because his personal feelings were not engaged, and he should not
compare himself to Draco, who had years of training on how to remain composed
in public. Harry relaxed. The entire exchange had taken less than a moment,
because Draco was still speaking. �A minor misunderstanding with someone who
believed that she had the right to punish you because she could not punish us.�

�� Narcissa
walked slowly across the lawn. Thanks to Draco�s eyes and Draco�s knowledge of
her, Harry knew that a slight tremor marred the way her hands gripped her wand
and that that was not usual. But her face was otherwise perfectly calm and
cold, and she eyed Huxley with the distant curiosity that she might give to a
harmless bug on the dinner table that had escaped the house-elves. �Ah,� said
Narcissa after a moment, her voice distant and reserved, familiar and loved.
�That would be Griselda Huxley.�

�� Yes, it
is,� Severus�s voice said. Huxley tensed where she had ignored Narcissa. Harry
kept his attention on the ropes around her; he expected their prisoner to try
and break free at any moment. �I am sorry to have disturbed you at this time of
night. We would have avoided it if we could have.�

�� Harry
twitched his head in wonder and admiration. This was the way of the
pure-bloods, then: to pretend that nothing was wrong, that grave danger was an
inconvenience. He reckoned there were no people in the world who liked
understatement more.

�� Of course not, Draco snapped at him.

�� Do not
apologize. I would much rather suffer a disturbance in the night than damage to
my home.� Narcissa stepped forwards and considered the gates as if they were
the only things that mattered. �Luckily,� she murmured, �I know many spells
that can repair metal, and few that can repair marble.� She nodded to two of
the house-elves that had followed her, and they immediately squeaked and
surrounded the gates, attending to them.

�� Harry
blinked. She knew the spells, but set the house-elves to work?

�� A house-elf�s knowledge is considered to
belong to the wizard who owns it, Draco said impatiently, and spoke to his
mother again. �You�re all right?�

�� How should
I not be all right, Draco, when none of the spells pierced the barrier of the
wards?� Narcissa�s voice was mild, but Harry could feel the heat when Draco
flushed. His mother stepped through the gates and peered at Huxley from close
up. After a moment, she shook her head. �So small a thing to have caused so
much trouble.�

�� Huxley
tensed, and then brought her wand up and tried to cast a Burning Curse at
Narcissa.

�� Harry
tightened the ropes with a snake of his long neck, and Huxley cried out as her
wand burned straight through and fell in ashes from her hand. Harry filled with
gloating and worry both at once. It would have been easier for them to make a
case that they had not harmed Huxley if they had not accidentally burned her
wand.

�� On the
other hand, Huxley had no witnesses but herself, since her single companion
left was still insensible. If Shacklebolt refused to accept the word of four of
them against one, that only proved his corruption.

�� No more of
that from you, if you please,�
Narcissa said sharply. �You have interrupted my rest quite enough.� She turned
away from Huxley as if she had ceased to matter and faced Harry�s body. �How
did you hear of this in time to rescue me, Mr. Potter?�

�� Harry
wasn�t sure why she wanted an answer from him instead of her son, but both
Severus and Draco retorted that she wanted to see how much all three of them
were in accord. Harry smiled as he answered. Narcissa would find no gaps
between them that she could exploit to embarrass Draco. �The bond grants us
certain special abilities. And once we realized that the warning pointed us
here and indicated that Huxley was the culprit, of course we had to come.� He
shrugged modestly and tried an understatement of his own. �We couldn�t let you
face the damage to your property alone. I�m only grateful that it was no
worse.�

�� That has several lies in it, Severus murmured.
I am impressed.

�� I couldn�t have our enemies knowing exactly
how we figured out what was wrong, Harry said, tilting his head at the
watching Huxley.

�� No, that was wise, Draco said, sounding
calmer by the second. Look at her. He
snickered. Harry looked through the eyes of the phoenix and found Huxley
staring at them with a pale face and trembling lower lip. She really thinks that we can foresee her exact movements somehow.

�� A useful
thing to have,� said Narcissa. �And I thank you for your noble intentions.� She
faced Huxley again. �Why attack me? I know that we have never had anything to
do with each other. I would have remembered�you.� The pause in her words
implied all sorts of insults.

�� Huxley
ignored that, leaning forwards to stare at Narcissa with burning eyes. �Death
Eaters deserve to be driven to death,� she whispered. �If the Ministry will not
do its part and condemn you and people like you to Azkaban, then I will have to
do it for them.� She cast a scornful glance at them, though Harry was so
mingled at that point that he couldn�t tell if it was at only Draco and Severus
or not. �And their worst crime is corrupting the Boy-Who-Lived, who ought to
hate them.�

�� A most
unreasonable motivation for attempting to harm me,� Narcissa said, folding her
hands in front of her. �I have never killed a single person in the Dark Lord�s
service. Nor has my son.�

�� Huxley
laughed, and the laugh was wild around the edges. Her calm was starting to
deteriorate, Harry saw, which he hoped was a good sign. She had already said
more than enough for a sane Minister to condemn her, but since Kingsley was so
panicky where Huxley was concerned, it was good to have additional evidence.
�Why should I believe you? Even if I did, what would spare him?� This time, Harry was sure that her look had been meant to
spear Severus. Severus�s boredom snaked through the bonds. He would infinitely
have preferred time alone in bed and dreaming their blended dreams to this.

�� Believe us
or not, as you please,� said Narcissa. �But you are a vigilante, taking the law
into your hands when the Ministry has decreed that we may go free.� She
shrugged. �I doubt they will look kindly on that.�

��

�� Huxley
chuckled sharply. �Minister Shacklebolt is the most powerful person in the
Ministry, and he doesn�t dare oppose me. He knows at the bottom of his heart
what is right, even if political considerations prevent him from expressing
that opinion aloud.� She pointed her nose up at a sharp angle and closed her
eyes in a ridiculous manner that she probably imagined showed nobility.

*

�� Severus
slid into the woman�s mind in that crucial moment before she closed her eyes,
when thoughts of the hold that she had on Shacklebolt were uppermost. He
doubted that Shacklebolt or Huxley would ever tell them of the secrets that compelled
the Minister to act like an idiot around her, and they had to know.

�� Harry�s
surprise washed over him. It felt as if Harry stood at the apex of a triangle,
tied to Severus and Draco with sharp cords that tugged on them every time he
moved. Severus found it less comfortable than Draco�s leadership, but he was
well aware that part of that came from his struggle against it at first.

�� At least
Harry did not actively oppose his use of Legilimency. And Severus sent back a
current of cool reassurance as he moved. He did not think that Huxley knew he
was a Legilimens, and he would be subtle enough that a crude mind like hers
could never realize he had touched her thoughts.

�� A memory
unfolded around him with clarity and precision that made Severus rethink the
crudity of Huxley�s mind. On the other hand, it was indeed her uppermost
thought, so that might be the reason for the clarity.

�� Shacklebolt
was fighting a wizard that Severus found it hard to see on a street in
Hogsmeade, while Huxley stood enthralled in a doorway not far away. Shacklebolt
used a flurry of spells, some of them curses which made Severus raise his brows
in respect and which should have downed most enemies immediately. But this
opponent laughed and continued forcing his way forwards. From his height and
the black cloak he wore, Severus reckoned that he was a Death Eater named
Malcom Parewell, who had vanished on a mission for the Dark Lord years ago.
Probably he was about to learn what had happened to him.

�� Shacklebolt
closed his eyes in despair, and then aimed his wand and yelled out, �Avada Kedavra!� with the desperation of
someone who didn�t expect even that to work.

�� Of course
it worked. There was no block for the Killing Curse except the one that Lily
had accidentally discovered, and if anyone had ever sacrificed themselves for
love of Parewell, Severus would have died of shock. In the memory, it was
Parewell who died, slumping to the ground the moment the green beam of light
touched him.

�� Shacklebolt
stared at him for long moments, his breath rushing in anger and fear. Then he
edged forwards, wand at the ready, and cast a Slicing Curse directly into the
body. Parewell�s arm fell off, and blood flowed out, but he didn�t move.
Shacklebolt closed his eyes in relief and turned around.

�� Huxley
stepped out of the doorway that had sheltered her and smiled sweetly at him.

�� Severus
slithered out and into his head and the bonds again in the moment before Huxley
could shut her eyes. Shacklebolt used an
Unforgivable in front of her, he confirmed to Draco and Harry. That is why she has such a hold over him. He
would go to Azkaban at once, especially since the Aurors are specifically
forbidden to use Unforgivable Curses.

�� Is that all? Draco asked in
disappointment. I thought it would be
something more personally devastating.

�� But Harry
was silent and thoughtful, and Severus knew that he understood the political
consequences better. Draco had cast the Unforgivables more often than Harry,
and might be more dulled to their impact. The public, however, would go mad at
hearing that their beloved Minister had used them, even if it was before he had
taken office and against a Death Eater.

�� We�re
going to let the Ministry decide what to do with you, Huxley.� Harry made his
voice cold and simple. �The Ministry is more than one person, and not all of
them feel about me�or about Death Eaters�as you do.�

�� Huxley
opened her eyes and gazed at them with the bright, clear pity of a fanatic.
�You feel that way,� she whispered. �All of you, because you have an inborn
sense of what is right. You simply won�t allow the feelings to rise to the
surface of your minds, because that would disrupt your lives too much.�

�� Harry
turned to Narcissa without consulting Huxley further, which Severus thought
sensible. �May we depend on you as a witness to what she was trying to do?� he
asked, with such an extreme formality of tone that Severus could have laughed.
Of course, Harry was probably trying to show Draco that he did care about the safety and comfort of his mother�just not enough
to let Draco kill people indiscriminately.

�� Harry
acknowledged a moment later that that was exactly what he was doing. Draco
snapped that he didn�t need to be coddled like a child, and Harry sent an image
of pinching his cheeks. Severus laughed at both of them.

�� One of the
hardest things to get used to when the bonds joined them like this was the
sheer speed of their thoughts. They
had exchanged all that information and the corresponding emotions before Narcissa
replied, though she was not slow in reacting to Harry�s question.

�� Of course
you may,� she said, her voice low and strong. She looked at Huxley in a way
that made even that idiot woman falter, and then turned to Harry. Severus
wondered idly how she would react if she realized that she might as well speak
to any of the three of them, and was hit from two sides, with Harry�s amusement
and with Draco�s proud defense of his mother�s flexibility. �In fact, might I
suggest that we go to the Minister now, and catch him off-guard, rather than
wait for him to react?�

�� That�s an
excellent idea,� Severus said, causing Narcissa to glance at him. He wondered
if she was more surprised that he had spoken when she had addressed Harry, or
that his voice might sound a bit like Harry�s at the moment. Draco snapped that
she knew the difference, and then turned away to chase the sound of Harry�s
laughter again. �Shacklebolt is poor with surprises. While I do not truly
believe that he had any involvement in this attack, or Huxley would have
bragged about it, it is for the best if we force this surprise onto him rather
than allowing her side to do so.�

�� I do not
need the protection of the Minister,� Huxley said in a spectacularly nasal
tone.

�� You were
bragging that you had it just a minute ago,� Draco muttered. Severus could feel
Draco�s fingers digging into the wood of the wand, and sent a soothing thought
to him. Harry muttered back, and distracted Draco enough that Severus could
give a civil answer to the infuriating woman.

�� All of us
need the protection of the laws of the society in which we live,� he intoned
solemnly. �There is no higher authority than law, don�t you agree?�

�� Huxley
stared at him warily for a moment, then snorted. �A Death Eater can only mouth
the words. If law was the authority that you proclaim it to be, then you would
have been tried and sent to Azkaban the way you should have been.�

�� There are
laws against attempted murder and against the damage of property,� said Draco,
who seemed to have regained his mental balance, much to Severus�s relief. He
stepped forwards and looked at Huxley without so much dangerous passion, now,
and his wand was safely behind his back. Indeed, the expression on his face was
more pitying than anything else. �You haven�t obeyed them.�

�� When the
law breaks down and the Wizengamot refuses to do what it should,� Huxley began,
which sounded like it would be the start of a long speech.

�� Narcissa
cast a Silencing Charm at her and then bound the witch who still lay unconscious
on the ground with Incarcerous. �I
find that I tire of listening to her chatter,� she explained to Draco and
Harry, who blinked at her. �And she will have plenty of chances to speak when
we are in front of the Minister. Shall we go?�

*

�� Shacklebolt
rose to his feet when he saw them, his face strained. He had been working late
in his office, which disappointed Draco a bit. It would have been only
repayment for the trouble Huxley had caused them if they�d had to wake him up
at home and drag him to the Ministry. At least the several empty teacups that
littered his desk said that he�d been struggling hard to stay awake.

�� And the
Aurors simply let you through, did they?� he asked, with resignation that
irritated Draco. To listen to Shacklebolt, you would think that he was the only
one who had ever had to deal with problems of this kind.

�� Harry
brushed against his mind, a touch like soft flame. They had dropped that
extreme closeness of the bonds they�d used to fight Huxley and her people when
they came to the Ministry�if a spell here detected that and figured out how it
worked, one of their advantages would be gone�but Draco�s mind still felt more
sensitive to the emotions and the thoughts of his bondmates than usual. Harry
spoke more clearly in his head than if he had risked the words to his lips. He�s refused, several times, to see that it
was more dangerous to all of us to have Huxley roaming free than to arrest her,
since she has more chances to be an embarrassment to him. Of course he doesn�t think
of this the same way we do.

�� Draco
turned his head away, both mentally and physically, and smiled grimly at
Shacklebolt. �Once they realized who Harry was and that we had someone with us
who had tried to kill him multiple times? Yes.� He turned his head back over
his shoulder, and Severus and his mother came in with Huxley and her accomplice
floating bound behind them.

�� It was
instructive to watch the way Shacklebolt�s face drained of both color and
animation. He stepped around the desk at once, as if he would go up to Huxley
and untie the ropes, then stopped, his fingers twitching. His voice was brittle
as he said, �I have told you that I can do nothing against her.�

�� You can,�
said Severus, and stepped around Huxley so that she could not read the movement
of his lips; she had a charm that muffled her hearing on her ears. Perhaps he
also wanted to conceal the information from Narcissa. Draco would not be
surprised if that was the case. It sometimes seemed to him that he was the only
one who trusted his mother the way she should be trusted. �We know the secret
as well, Minister. We know about the Unforgivable.�

�� Shacklebolt
stiffened. The next moment, an expression of perfect despair crossed his face,
and he bowed his head, which had the effect of muffling his voice. �How can I
do anything? I am caught between you and her.�

�� Perhaps
you should have thought of that before you took up political power and found
yourself vulnerable to her machinations,� Severus said, without sympathy. Draco
was glad that he was the one speaking. Harry looked so distressed that he might
have tried to arrange a bargain with Shacklebolt. It was clear by now that the
Minister would never hold to a bargain. �You will arrest her and take our
testimony for her having acted with complete fanaticism and irrationality rather
than personal principle when she attacked our home and Malfoy Manor. Or your
secret will emerge in any case.�

�� Shacklebolt
laughed. �And why should I do what you want? Either way, my secret is going to
come out. Huxley will talk about it if I try her in front of the Wizengamot,
and you�ll talk about it if I don�t.�

�� Draco
sighed in disgust. Harry looked more distressed than ever at that, which wasn�t
a good sign, and even Severus frowned, the bond between them churning with the
kind of muddy bubbles that Draco knew he sent up when he was baffled. The
solution was very simple, but it looked as if he would have to be the one to
offer it.

�� Sir,� he
said calmly, masking all the less complimentary things that he could have
called Shacklebolt in the back of his mind, �why should you try her in front of
the Wizengamot? She�s committed multiple crimes now. You�re justified in saying
that you wanted to give her another chance to prove herself law-abiding,
especially since she rescued so many people during the war, but now you�ve
decided to give up on her. Let one of the smaller courts try her. She doesn�t
deserve the dignity of a full trial before the Wizengamot. In fact, you
shouldn�t give her that, since it would only fuel her drive for notoriety.�

�� Huxley was
looking from one to the other of them as if she were trying to figure out what
they were talking about. Draco didn�t think she had a clue about it unless she
also happened to be an expert lip-reader. Her companion stared at the floor and
didn�t try to add anything to the defense.

�� Her drive
for notoriety,� Shacklebolt said, frowning. Harry and Severus both returned
smooth flows of puzzlement to Draco.

�� He sighed
again and began. �Obviously, the reason that she attacked Harry, and kept
attacking him, was to get her name out there. Few people have talked about her
since the war as often as they�ve talked about Harry.� He hadn�t done research
to be sure of that, but it was a safe bet, since the Daily Prophet had a story about Harry almost every day and Draco
hadn�t seen one about Huxley in the last six months. �If we give her lots of
attention and a Wizengamot trial, that will only encourage her to do something else, to keep her name in the papers. On
the other hand, doing it in a quiet, small fashion won�t give her what she
wants.� He glanced sideways and sneered when he saw Huxley frowning at him. Does she think I care about her for any
reason than because she has forced me to? Does she think she can threaten me? �That
should be obvious.�

�� If she
talks about my secret to someone other than the Wizengamot, the rumors will
eventually reach them,� said Shacklebolt. He looked both hopeful and cautious.

�� And why
should anyone pay attention to the word of a madwoman?� That was his mother�s
voice, light and cool. They might have been in the middle of one of the drawing
rooms where Narcissa went to speak with her friends, Draco thought as he turned
to regard her with pride, for all the difference that she let the situation
make to her.

�� A
madwoman,� Shacklebolt repeated slowly, but this time his eyes had a gleam that
meant Draco did not have to despair of his intelligence. Even better,
comprehension rushed through the bonds that tied him to Harry and Severus, fire
on one side, suddenly transparent ice on the other. That would save him tedious
explanations later, Draco thought, and fell back to the side so that his mother
would have an unimpeded view of Shacklebolt, and vice versa.

�� Yes.�
Narcissa gave a shrug of her shoulders and a dismissive flick of her fingers
that Draco thrilled to and loved her for. �Surely only a madwoman would attack
a warded Manor, or cast a Gut Chewing Curse on the Boy-Who-Lived in public, or
later try to attack their house in Hogsmeade. Surely only a madwoman could be
worsted in battle and in public argument and still try to come back. Surely
only a madwoman would claim to support the Ministry and yet refuse to accept
its pardons, given to the two former Death Eaters bonded to the Chosen One.�
Narcissa lifted her lip and glanced over her shoulder at Huxley. �Spread the
right kind of rumors before she starts speaking, and I do not think that you
have much to worry about.�

�� Shacklebolt
laughed quietly. �I think you are not as dead-set against me as I believed,� he
said, with an almost fond look around the room.

�� Harry
didn�t smile back at him. �If you don�t do this, if you attempt to release
Huxley on a technicality again or claim that there would be some sort of public
panic if she were arrested��

�� I have
tired of the excuses I had to make as well,� Shacklebolt said at once. �You�ve
relieved me of a problem that I had grown increasingly unsure how to handle. This is the best way to handle it.� He
stepped up next to Huxley and put a hand on the ropes that held her. She glared
at him, obviously understanding that this wasn�t going to go well. �And the
woman with her?�

�� An
accomplice in the attack on my home.� Narcissa gave another perfect shrug. �Ask
her what you will.�

�� After that,
everything was over but the cordialities. Shacklebolt called in some Aurors he
presumably trusted and gave them brisk orders about the handling of Huxley and
her accomplice. The other witch�s head drooped further as they dragged her off
to a holding cell. Draco really couldn�t find it in himself to be sorry.

�� Draco had
sensed a thick green emotion traveling beneath the surface of Harry�s mind as
they walked out of the office, but not until they had left the Ministry
entirely did Harry speak to him. I�m
sorry for holding you back so strongly when you wanted to kill Huxley. I would
have wanted to kill her if she threatened the Weasleys.

�� Draco took
a deep breath, aware of Severus watching them through the bonds, waiting for
the resolution of this conflict. You were
right, he said with some difficulty. I
would have made things worse if I�d killed her. For one thing, her followers
and the Ministry could have accused me of murder then, which was never true
before.

�� Harry
reached out and touched the back of his neck, while the bond between them
swirled with blue and gold. Then Severus�s hand covered Harry�s.

�� Draco,
because he could not stand anyone to be left out in this moment of supreme
contentment, reached out and found his mother�s fingers. She squeezed his hand
lightly, once, and together they marched out of the Ministry and away from one
problem resolved permanently.

*

�� starstruck86:
Eventually, they�ll argue more deeply, but I don�t have plans for lots of
sustained arguments that go on for chapters, because the bonds and their
willingness to trust in the bonds shows that they are past the point of being
unreasonable with each other the way they were when Harry was in denial about
the bonds.

�� Alliandre:
Yes, Harry and Draco will always compete. But at least they�re willing to
tolerate other forms of interaction now.

�� I�m afraid
I�ve never been fond of epilogues that foreclose all other possibilities for
the characters; I�ll try to reach a satisfactory ending and then leave it a bit
open so people can exercise their imaginations.

�� Harry doesn�t
yet know what profession he wants.

�� Tiffani:
Thank you!

�� Dragon:
Thanks.

�� phantosma:
Thank you! You�ve been added to the list.

�� Snivelly: I
don�t usually feel that I write Hermione and Ron well; I�m simply not interested in their romance, so I don�t
like to include them in fics and place them to one side. Glad you like them
here.

�� Colben will
make a practical minister, good in some ways, probably bad in others, but
better than Kingsley is in this story. However, the story will be ending soon,
because I don�t want to keep it going too long.

�� I hope this
chapter relieves you a bit on the Kingsley front.

�� Adamaris
Syler Autumn: Thank you! They will resolve arguments from now on with more
ease, as they did in this chapter.

�� A few more
chapters, and the story will be done. I hope you will see enough of both Harry/Draco/Snape
and the wizarding world�s politics to satisfy you.

�� qwerty:
Thank you! Ron is more knowledgeable than Hermione in some things, I think.

�� Oscillum:
Thank you!

�� Terri:
Thank you!

�� Swanfair
has been content until now, but she�ll start moving again next chapter. I promise
that I won�t kill any of the three main characters; I would have warned about
it if I had.
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