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Seasons of War	By : Lomonaaeren Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Harry/Draco Views: 9694 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 1
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Chapter
Twenty-Nine�The Challenger

�� Malfoy.�

�� Thanks to
Harry�s warning yesterday, Draco had expected the voice that rang out behind
him. He was a bit surprised that Herricks had chosen to confront him in the
middle of the camp, in front of the trainees going to morning classes and the
Auror instructors coming out of their tents, but that didn�t alter his plans
about how to meet the challenge much.

�� Herricks,�
he said, turning around and smiling as if he hadn�t heard the hostile tone in
the other man�s voice. �Is something wrong?�

�� You know
that you can�t lead the comitatus any longer.� Herricks�s voice was so rich
with arrogance that Draco felt like applauding. His father would have
appreciated someone like Herricks, he thought. �You only have one eye. How can
you command us in battle? You can�t even judge distances, never mind things
like whether someone should cast curses or defend instead.�

�� Draco felt
like sneering�many people would say that the ability to command and strategize
was unimpaired by the loss of an eye�but he didn�t feel like showing Herricks
that he considered any of his
objections legitimate, never mind that particular one. He stood there in
disdain until Herricks had come all the way up to him and was panting in front
of him, face flushed. Draco sniffed delicately, but didn�t smell the alcohol he
had half-thought Herricks would use to bolster his strength.

�� By now,
everyone had stopped and was watching them. Among the watchers was Ventus. Draco
couldn�t tell anything from her bright, interested face except that she was
curious about the outcome of their little battle.

�� And he had
an audience. Good. If he couldn�t
defend his strength in front of others, he would either be weak, or it would be
easy for Herricks to come up with lies about him and spread them.

�� Understand,�
Draco told him, �that you are the one who started this. I never questioned your
fitness to be part of the comitatus, even after you approached me this way. Do
you agree with that?�

�� Herricks
snorted. His hand moved restlessly along his wand. Draco wondered if he would
attack without warning, but he didn�t think so. Herricks was protesting in the
first place because he thought that Draco wasn�t the right kind of leader. He
had to prove that he was, and that meant following codes of honor. He had
probably always planned on that, if he had chosen a public place.

�� I know
that no one else in the comitatus has the courage I do,� Herricks said, �or you
would have been challenged before now.� He shot a betrayed glance at Harry,
who, Draco could feel, had stopped behind his right shoulder. �Or they would
have voted you out and put someone else in your place.�

�� It�s
strange that you think a duel is the right way to put me in my proper place,�
Draco murmured, �instead of a vote. One might think that you were afraid of the
outcome if you gave them a chance to choose.�

�� Herricks
narrowed his eyes. He visibly restrained himself from responding, but he did
dart his eyes from side to side, taking in Draco and then their audience. He
said nothing. That didn�t matter. Draco could practically read his thoughts by
this point, despite the difficulty in reading his face with one eye. He
wondered why Draco was raising the stakes by accusing him of cowardice, when he
had to believe that Draco would lose the fight.

�� Draco,
though, wanted everyone to see exactly what sort of arrogance Herricks
possessed. He recognized it, because he had seen the same kind in Harry back in
school. Herricks didn�t think he could lose because he was doing the �right
thing.� Of course heroes never lost.

�� Just
remember that you could have avoided this,� Herricks said, and lifted his wand.

�� Draco
anticipated him by casting a protective shield around them, a circle that rose
like a wall of silver flame. It blurred the sight of the watching audience, but
it also meant that none of the spells used in the duel could cross the line and
hit innocents. Herricks�s face deepened in its flush.

�� I would
have done that,� he muttered.

�� Draco
smiled and said nothing. He wasn�t a fool enough to let gestures that could
make him look better and Herricks worse go unmade. Sure, Herricks had probably
meant that first wand movement as a protective one and not an attack on Draco,
but everyone would remember that it was Draco who had sheltered them.

�� A few
Aurors had arrived outside the circle. Draco could hear the calls from people
who sounded like Lowell and Weston, urging them to drop the shield and give in
to the Aurors� authority. Draco ignored them. He couldn�t turn his head to see
them without taking his eye from Herricks, and he had to win this duel.

�� Luckily, he
was fairly sure that he could do that, although he didn�t know for sure how many
defensive spells might be in the other man�s repertoire.

�� I never wanted
it to come to this,� Herricks said flatly as he began to circle. �Remember
that, will you? That you could have given in and saved yourself this embarrassment
with a gracious surrender? I would have treated you with grace. I know how hard
it can be to give up power you believe you have a right to.�

�� Draco
regarded him with a fixed smile until Herricks shifted uneasily, and then shook
his head. �No,� Draco said thoughtfully. �I don�t think you have any idea,
because you�ve never done it.�

�� Herricks�s flexing
face said that he felt the insult, and he launched a fireball spell with more
force than necessary. Draco stepped coolly aside�he recognized the spell as one
that only sent the fire in a straight line, without dodging or zigzagging
involved�and watched the magic burn itself out on the protective shield.

�� Can you do
better than that?� he asked. �I�m starting to wonder how much of an addition
you actually were to the comitatus.�

�� Herricks
snarled at him, and this time the combination of spells he cast was truly
inventive: one a lightning spell, the other a spray of water that he�d timed so
it would cross the first spell and soak Draco. Draco reckoned that Herricks
thought merely shocking him to death with plain lightning too ordinary.

�� Draco would
have had a hard time avoiding the lightning with both eyes. He didn�t need to
avoid the water, as long as it was only the spell that hit him. He focused on
Herricks and said coolly, �Tempora
recessim.�

�� He briefly
saw, and recognized, astonishment on Herricks�s face before the spell took
hold.

*

�� Harry
prowled up and down outside the silver shield wall, staring at Draco anxiously.
They had agreed long before Herricks made his challenge�last night, in
fact�that Harry shouldn�t interfere when Draco fought. It would make him seem
weak, and the whole point of this was to show that he could be the leader of
the comitatus despite Herricks�s stupid doubts.

�� But it
didn�t mean that Harry was any happier with that barrier that made seeing
inside the circle like looking through a curtain of water, and it didn�t mean
that he didn�t fear for Draco.

�� Particularly
when he noticed what spell Draco was using.

�� Draco, for fuck�s sake�He had thought
Draco was joking when he talked about
this spell, and although Draco had showed him the incantation and the wand
movement, Harry had automatically assumed it would only be useful against
Nihil, or Nihil�s forces. Against them, potentially very useful.

�� But now�

�� Idiot!

�� It didn�t
help that the spell was working exactly as Draco had said it would, and that
few people were likely to recognize it, given its Dark nature and the shield
barrier. That would have been one reason Draco had chosen that kind of shield,
of course. And it would be impressive, and it would reassure the rest of the
comitatus as well as the rest of the trainees that Draco was not to be trifled
with. Most of the people around Harry were cheering in awe. They saw what had
happened, not the process by which it had happened.

�� None of
that helped because all of it missed the point. Harry didn�t want Draco
compelled to defend himself with Dark magic. There was still the chance that
someone would notice. These were experienced Aurors, after all, at least in the
audience.

�� The
lightning bolt vanished as if it had never been, the light running backwards
along the forks and the straight part of the bolt, aiming at Herricks. Herricks
himself stared with his mouth open as his wand twitched in his hand, going
through the motions that would cast the spell backwards. Meanwhile, the water
splashed on Draco, and he stood still with immense dignity and let that happen.
He shook his head afterwards and cast his first offensive spell of the battle.

�� Imaginor ovem!�

�� Harry had
to nod in grim approval. This was a better spell than one that reversed time in
someone�s immediate vicinity so that it seemed as if their actions right before
that had never happened, and it would accomplish Draco�s purpose, showing that
he could fight an enemy and humiliating Herricks at the same time.

�� The spell
hit. Herricks rocked on his feet as the white light shimmered around him like
angels� wings�or at least what Harry thought angels� wings might look like,
given some poetic imagination in the audience watching�and then vanished.
Herricks�s face was blank, and he uttered a hurt little sound. Harry felt more
than heard some of the Aurors stir around them, ready to move forwards and stop
Draco if necessary. They didn�t know what spell this might be.

�� Harry
snorted bitterly. Too bad they couldn�t
have considered Draco�s safety as closely when Herricks was trying to hit him
with both lightning and water.

�� But
Herricks dropped to all fours and uttered the sound again. This time, there was
no mistaking it as anything but what it was, a bleat. Then he pawed at the
grass and lowered his head so that he was cropping at it with the flats of his
teeth.

�� Laughter
spread through the crowd as even those who didn�t understand the Latin saw what
Draco had done. Herricks thought he was a sheep. He capered forwards like a
lamb, then paused and stared around in perplexity, apparently looking for the
rest of the flock. His gaze on Draco was questioning. He bleated again and
trotted in a circle, swallowing a few blades of grass with every evidence of
enjoyment.

�� Draco
watched him with a tolerant but contemptuous smile. Harry kept an eye on Lowell
and Weston, the Aurors nearest the barricade. Weston had a sharp smile on her
face. Lowell
looked less approving, but both of them were nodding. Harry thought they hadn�t
believed that Draco could cast a spell in a duel without hurting someone. Well,
they�d had their chance to see better.

�� Draco
circled his wand in a quick ring and hissed the particular counterspell to this
charm under his breath; Harry suspected that Draco didn�t want the majority of
those watching to learn it. Herricks paused, his nose quivering, when it hit,
and then turned bright red and sprang to his feet.

�� I�ve
humbled you,� Draco said, his face blank and his voice so bored that it would take
keen ears�keener ones than Herricks had, Harry believed�to catch the menace in
it. �That�s good. A good leader should always have some measure of humility.
Are you willing to agree yet that you can�t lead the comitatus, or do I have to
teach you another lesson?�

�� Herricks
quivered. Harry could see the different sides of the conflict fighting in him.
On the one hand, he really did want the good of the comitatus, and his
objections that Draco couldn�t handle himself in battle should have been
answered, on both the offensive and defensive fronts.

�� On the
other hand, he didn�t want people to laugh at him, although they would anyway
after he had acted like a sheep, and his pride had to be as strong as the desire
to do well by the comitatus, or he would have left Draco alone.

�� Harry saw
the moment when Herricks lost the battle to his pride. He swirled his wand in a
spiral shape and cast his hex nonverbally. The air between him and Draco turned
the color of a shaken sheet.

�� Harry
didn�t know what spell was coming any more than the majority of the stirring,
muttering crowd did. He could only clench his fists together and hope that
Draco did.

*

�� Ah, yes. I thought he might choose that one.

�� Draco
hadn�t dueled someone before whom he understood as well as he understood
Herricks. He had fought beside the man, listened to his private thoughts in the
discussions of the comitatus, and watched him argue with Ventus, whose ideas
Draco also understood well. So, while he�d never dueled him, he still had some
understanding of how he would react in a battle situation, which was more than
he had with Nihil or his minions.

�� So he knew
that Herricks would go for something big and flashy, to prove that his previous
loss to Draco had been a fluke, and something humiliating, because he had to
address the penance that Draco had inflicted on him. That left a limited choice
of spells at his disposal, at least given that he was still an Auror trainee
and he wouldn�t use Dark magic. Draco had his defenses ready and waiting under
his tongue while he watched Herricks, using the perception of how Herricks
shifted to the side and tossed his head more than he used his eye to estimate
the idiot�s mood.

�� And now
Herricks was going for a spell that would render Draco naked and bound, hanging
from a wooden cross-bar that seemed to have�
been arranged for someone else�s pleasure. It was one of the more
imaginative options, and Draco had to allow that he was rather cautiously
impressed. That didn�t mean that he was caught defenseless, the way Herricks
had intended, and that didn�t mean that he was tempted to lose to soothe
Herricks�s ego. Nothing would soothe Herricks�s ego except a comprehensive
scratching�something Draco was also disinclined to provide.

�� So he
caught the hex flying towards him with one of his own. It didn�t reverse the
time between him and Herricks; it simply created multiple illusions of himself,
so that the hex had to spread between them and expend its force in minor
inconveniences like the brief feeling of no cloth against his skin. It couldn�t
actually do Draco any harm, and in the meantime, he would remain the favor.

�� He knew
what the others outside the shield would be seeing: many Draco Malfoys
appearing, fluttering and flashing, and then vanishing again. In the meantime,
Herricks flew backwards and was surrounded by a cloud of white sparks and muted
flames. When they disappeared, he had suffered the fate he intended for Draco.

�� Another
gale of laughter arose. Draco coolly studied his handiwork and walked closer.
His eye couldn�t give him the proper view from so far away.

�� Herricks,
his naked chest crossed by ropes that carefully avoided his nipples, stared at
Draco with hatred. That was a more extreme response than Draco had thought he
would provoke, relying as he was on Harry�s report that Herricks still really
wanted to be part of the comitatus, but as its leader. Now it seemed as if he
would give up much, including the comitatus, to destroy Draco. Draco arched an
eyebrow and spoke quietly, watching the twitching muscles in Herricks�s face as
much as he could. If he made a mistake now, he might set up an enemy at his
back.

�� Listen. I
wanted to give you the chance to back away. You decided not to take it. You
know better than I do what that means, now that they�ve�seen you. You could
lose Ventus�s friendship and membership in the comitatus. Do you want that? Or
will you continue to pursue vengeance, vengeance that you can never take?�
Draco was tempted to add that Herricks should have learned by now that Draco
was simply his superior with a wand, but refrained. He would leave that up to
their audience to judge.

�� Herricks�s
hands flexed back and forth in the loose loops of rope that tied them to the
wood. �I hate you,� he said.

�� Yes, yes,
expected and very tiresome.� Draco flapped a hand, not allowing mockery to
enter his tone. He could do this if he kept his voice calm and made it clear
that he was judging Herricks as a potential member of the comitatus, not
someone he scorned. �We only included you in the first place because you were
Ursula�s partner. I�m starting to think we should have had higher standards.�

�� For the
first time, a flush of true shame, rather than the false kind provoked by
Draco�s exposure of him, crossed Herricks�s face, and he looked away. �I had
the right to think that the loss of your eye had slowed you down,� he muttered.
�Someone who�s not physically able will never be as good as someone who is.�

�� Do you
know who the Auror with the most captures in the last twenty years is?� Draco
asked.

�� Herricks�s
flush deepened, but he didn�t reply. Draco answered for him. �Mad-Eye Moody.
Now, I have no intention to look like
he did, with that ugly, scarred wooden leg and roving eye, but I wouldn�t mind
rivaling his record.�

�� You�re not
him,� Herricks said. �You didn�t get through training before losing your eye.
That makes a difference.�

�� It only
means that I�ll have longer to adapt to the loss before I go chasing
criminals,� Draco said easily. �And to leading the comitatus, and to fighting
in the war against Nihil. This war is a proving ground harder than any dueling
circle or ordinary program. Will you accept that or not?�

�� Herricks
closed his eyes. �If you would get me off this bar, then it would be easier to
think,� he muttered.

�� So sorry
for that,� Draco said, with a smile that he knew didn�t make him look
particularly sorry. On the other hand, Herricks wasn�t looking at him right
now, so it wasn�t as if he would know. �You�ll have to think like this. I�m not
fool enough to release someone who would immediately try to attack me again.�

�� You think
so little of my honor?� Herricks opened his eyes, but kept his head turned
away, as much as he could given the ropes.

�� Yes,�
Draco said simply, and then waited. Herricks would either give in or not, and
Draco had to admit, he could see possibilities for himself and the comitatus in
either one. He was curious as to what would happen, not apprehensive.

�� It should
have been Potter,� Herricks muttered. �You can at least agree with me, that it
should have been him? He�s the one who won the war. He�s the one who has the
name, and the fame, and the power, to draw other people to him.�

�� With
everything you�ve learned about Harry in the last few months, you can still say
that?� Draco rolled his eyes. �Really? He never wanted the fame and the
attention. He still worries that his reputation will affect the way the Aurors
treat him, either positively or negatively. He would find either embarrassing.
And he�s right, at least about Holder and Robards. They expected miracles from
him and that he would try to take over the Aurors at the same time, because
people would follow him. But he doesn�t have those desires. And his power is
unpredictable. It�s linked with Nihil�s. He doesn�t make the best leader for
other reasons, too, but that�s a large one.�

�� Herricks
bit his lip, hard, as though he assumed that it would somehow lead him to more
intense thinking. He bit it until blood flowed, and Draco waited, unimpressed
and unshaken. No one could interfere, given the silver shield, and given that,
if the Aurors were really interested in preventing a duel and nothing else,
they would have done so before now.

�� He could
still increase the size of the comitatus and serve as a liaison between us and
the outside world,� Herricks muttered. �And I don�t think that you understand
what his great attraction to me is.� Draco narrowed his eye, but Herricks went
on and clarified that he hadn�t meant to say Harry was sexually attracted to
him. �He doesn�t want power. You do. That means he�s a good leader and you�re
not.�

�� Draco, when
he recovered from the shock of that, had to laugh. Herricks shot a glance
towards him at that.

�� You�ve
been listening to too much old moral philosophy instead of the realities of
leadership,� Draco said, shaking his head. �Yes, the people who are reluctant
to lead might be the best in some people�s eyes because they would give up
power quickly and not stray too far from the rules. But would they have the talent or the willingness to lead, if all they�re thinking of is shedding their
responsibilities as soon as possible? Why should I trust their work ethic to
make them stay in the position, when their will and their natural bent are
against it? Someone who wants power makes the better leader, because it means
that he�ll want to stay in power and so listen to his subordinates more.�

�� A frown
spread across Herricks�s face. �Someone who desires power might not have the
natural talents, either,� he muttered.

�� I think we
can both agree that that�s not the case here.� Draco spun his wand, not taking
his gaze from Herricks. �Can we count on you or not? This will have to be the
last rebellion, if you�re going to say that we can. The comitatus can�t afford
to worry that you�ll shoot some curse at our backs if you aren�t sincere. I will put you out if you can�t make a
true submission.�

�� Herricks
closed his eyes, but Draco was more hopeful this time. Herricks had a more
thoughtful cast to his mouth. When he looked at Draco again, it was to nod.

�� Yes, I see
what you mean,� he said softly. �There�s no room for me otherwise, so I accept.
I swear that I�ll live by your rules and serve side by side with Potter without
suggesting more to him.�

�� Draco hid
his laughter�as if an offer from someone like Herricks would tempt Harry and
cause him to abandon his principles!�and nodded. �Very well. I�ll give you a
trial period, and we�ll see how you do.� He waved his wand to release Herricks
from his bonds and restore his clothes to him.

�� When he
lowered the shield, Harry immediately came up and kissed him. Draco accepted it
with one eye on Lowell and Weston, the closest Aurors.

�� But Weston
was smiling, and Lowell,
if less pleased, as he looked, was willing to abide by his partner�s rules. She
said, �I see that you�ve learned to handle yourself, Trainee Malfoy, in more
ways than one.�

�� Draco
nodded and leaned back into Harry�s embrace. Even this could be useful, he
thought, seeing the eyes of the crowd fixed on him still. Let them all see that
he was the beloved and the partner, in more than one sense, of the Savior of
the Wizarding World.

�� Let them
try to go against him then.

*

�� Mehla_Seraphim:
Well, I think you got the embarrassment for Herricks you asked for!

�� SP777: No,
brighter than a glass eye�lit from inside.

�� And yes, it
will have some magical properties.

�� Draco could
still have a use for him.

�� polka dot: He
knows, but he thinks that Harry�s principles are pure enough to make him
abandon Draco to do the right thing.

Dragons Breath: Thanks! I was going
to leave the blowing-up to Draco, and I think he accomplished it, in his own
fashion.

��
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Seasons of War