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For Their Unconquerable Souls	By : Lomonaaeren Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Harry/Draco Views: 29229 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 29
- 30
- 31
Thank you again for all the reviews!

Chapter
Thirty�Recognition

�� Draco
sighed as he watched Harry, finally,
beginning to stir towards wakefulness. His mother had told him not to be
worried; the Healing Harry had performed was powerful in itself, and his wrestling
with the Dark magic had made it more so. It was only expected that he would
need a rest after something like that.

�� But the
length of Harry�s rest had troubled Draco, and so had his mother�s insistence
on staying with Lucius the entire time, as if she cared about her newest son
less than her husband. It had been Draco who put a half-fainting Harry to bed
and sat with him, beside him, his hand sometimes on Harry�s shoulder and
sometimes feeling his heartbeat. He had carried that heartbeat through the
darkness with him even whilst he drowsed.

�� But now
Harry�s eyelids fluttered, and Draco could finally release some of his tension.

�� It�s been
ten hours now.�

�� Harry
looked up at him, his eyes innocent and his hair indecent. Draco had to stifle
the growl pushing through him. He could think of one other and far more
pleasurable way to release tension, but he wasn�t sure that Harry would be
ready for that yet.

�� I�ve been
asleep ten hours?� Harry tried to add something else, but a yawn cut him off. He
stretched his arms above his head and then grimaced. A pain in his neck, Draco
judged, from the way he was rolling it.

�� Ten hours
since you cured my father,� Draco corrected, though, in reality, Harry�s sleep
had lasted almost the same length of time. �And he�s sitting up, eating,
talking, and sleeping without ill effects.� He got up on his knees, so he could
reach Harry�s neck better. �Drinking healing potions to ensure his skin doesn�t
scar, though that, he does complain about. Here,� he added, as Harry shook
himself. �Let me.�

�� He grabbed
Harry�s shoulders and pressed both his thumbs at once into Harry�s neck. Harry
arched like someone under the Cruciatus, but he had done that during the first
massage Draco gave him, too. He continued pressing, and then Harry collapsed
most beautifully under him and gave light little gasping breaths that drove
Draco absolutely mad.

�� You don�t
make the potions sweet for him?� Harry murmured. �If you did that for me,
surely you can do it for him.�

�� I�m amazed he knows enough about Potions to
recognize that the ones I gave him tasted unusual. But Draco�s arousal was
also fired by the fact that Harry had bothered to pay enough attention to
recognize the sweetness in the first place. �No one deserves sweetness more than
you do,� he said, in the voice that he usually used to seduce lovers. He leaned
forwards, arching over Harry, grinding his erection against Harry�s arse as
much as possible. He had gone quickly from half-hard to entirely so. �And I
want to give it to you. Let me.�

�� Yes,� sighed Harry.

�� Draco could
not stop the triumph welling up within him. He had known this day would come; he had known Harry could not hold out against the combined efforts of his
family and Draco�s own gifts. But he had not realized how dazzling and warmth
the lust would feel as it crowded through him and joined the triumph, like the
effect of lightning.

�� He nipped
the back of Harry�s neck. �Roll over,� he demanded.

�� Harry began
to. Draco could feel his emotions boiling, churning, and suspected they would
overflow the moment he saw Harry�s eyes.

�� And then Rogers had Apparated into
the room, and was announcing from the end of the bed, �Mistress Granger is wanting to speak to Master Harry through the fire.�

�� No, Draco thought. No.

�� It can
wait,� he said. I can�t, he thought
but didn�t say aloud; he knew Rogers
would disapprove of such things. He was sliding his hands under Harry�s robes,
and there was nothing better than the touch of warm skin, or the way Harry kept
starting as Draco glided his hands along his ribs, as if he were impressed by
how good it felt in spite of himself. �So can that breakfast, for that matter,�
he added, because he knew Rogers
would be carrying breakfast. He bit Harry�s shoulder, and Harry moaned from the
depths of his soul. Draco exulted again. No
one else has ever made him feel like this. No one else will ever make him feel
this way again. They won�t have the chance. He licked the outside of the
bite, then mouthed it the way a Crup would mouth a
dead Muggle. �Come back later, Rogers.�

�� Mistress
Granger will be calling back and calling back,� Rogers said. �Rogers does not want to be making up excuses
for Masters Harry and Draco fucking whilst there are still enemies abroad.�

�� Harry took
a deep breath, then rolled over completely and took Draco�s wrists in his
hands. He looked up into his face, but only briefly, as if the sight of the
passion that Draco knew he was showing was too much for him. Glancing down
again, he blushed and murmured, �Later.� Draco brushed his erection against
Harry�s arse again. Harry shuddered, but said, �Think of how much better it
will be when we have no distractions.�

�� That does sound better. But Draco knew
that Harry often changed his mind when he had some time to get an emotional
distance from a situation, so he slid his cock along Harry�s entrance again.
Harry grunted as though the motion had been Draco actually sliding into him.

�� So long as
you promise,� Draco said. �I want this.�

�� Harry
licked his lips, which he wouldn�t have done had he known how much that made
Draco�s cock ache. But he was still half-coy, in the way he avoided Draco�s
eyes and with the past remembrance of how he had rebuffed Draco�s advances
hanging around him.

�� I do
promise,� he said. �And do you really think I want it less?�

�� I don�t
know.� Draco turned his voice coy too, and all but fluttered his eyelashes at
Harry. �I know you didn�t seem enthusiastic at first, and then the few touches
of eagerness I saw in your face were overwhelmed by concern for my father, to
the point that I almost thought it was him you came to the Manor for.�

�� Harry
spread his legs�just the sight made Draco�s hips twitch�and
rolled to the side. Draco could see and feel the thick line of Harry�s erection
against his robes now. �I came for both of you,� he said. �I just didn�t
realize the truth at the time. Can you ever forgive me?�

�� Forgiven,�
said Draco. �With your promise to resume later.� He
brushed the back of one finger against Harry�s groin and watched with delight
as his eyes rolled back in his head. �So long as you only
come for me in the future.�

�� And then he
moved to the end of the bed and began choosing among the breakfast foods Rogers had brought. He
saw no need to hurry to the fireplace simply for Granger�s sake.

�� Harry
cleared his throat and moved up to kneel beside him, adjusting his position
several times. It wasn�t really Draco�s fault that he needed to help balance
Harry by brushing his wrists against his as they ate.

*

�� Draco
followed Harry into the small library where Granger was waiting at the Floo,
and stood behind him, and put an arm across his shoulders. Harry stiffened for
a moment, then relaxed. Draco was glad that he had
absorbed the silent message of the arm. You�re
mine, and you�re as much mine in front of your friends as anywhere else.

�� Granger
wore a smile that she didn�t drop, but her eyes did narrow at Draco as if she
thought that he was trying to take advantage of someone helpless. She also
barely nodded to him. Draco tolerated it. One did have low expectations of Mudbloods, after all, even if he was
willing to put up with Granger because she was Harry�s friend.

�� I have
fairly solid proof about who cursed Mr. Malfoy,� said Granger. Harry shivered,
for some reason. Draco leaned closer to him. �I finally found a witness who was
more curious than the rest and less loyal to his family. He eavesdropped on a
meeting between Burne-Jones and Neverlong. They were
the ones who came up with the first ideas for the curse and chose Smythe as an appropriate dupe to cast it. He�ll require a
payment from your vaults, Harry. Can you manage that?�

�� Draco
didn�t even let Harry make the ridiculous answer to that he would probably try
to make. �He�ll have whatever he wants from the Malfoy ones.�

�� Good.�
Granger reached behind her, found a Pensieve, and passed it through the fire.
�He�s also agreed to confess under Veritaserum in a
small setting with only a few people present, if that�s necessary,� Granger
added.

�� Hopefully
it won�t be.� Harry handed the Pensieve to Draco. Draco cradled it and stared
into it. Here was the secret of who had cursed his father. Here was the proof
that would give them some idea of what sort of vengeance they should exact. Malfoys
always liked to craft a vengeance that had the shape or shadow of the offense,
if possible, the way he had decided on hunger potions for a Muggle family who
had starved the wizarding child in their care.

��Thank you, Hermione. How can we repay you?�
Harry said.

�Make sure that Burne-Jones, Neverlong, Foxe, and the rest are
tried fairly,� Granger said, �not subjected to vigilante justice.�

Draco sucked in his breath, but
said nothing. It was not as though Granger would ever know, if he and his family chose to take
revenge. He was more worried about Harry�s reaction.

And, of course, Harry reacted
stupidly. �Of course I want them to have fair trials,� he said. �The last thing
I want is suspicion to cling to my adopted family. And their families would
probably be quite willing to turn in the Malfoys for hurting their loved ones,
even if they disapproved or didn�t know about the original plan to curse
Lucius.�

No,
Harry. That�s not the way it works. We take our retaliation and guard ourselves
against our enemies giving us any.

�You never finished listening to the
Malfoy laws,� Draco said, and pressed his arm down on Harry�s shoulders. �One
of them is vengeance. No one is allowed to get away with hurting a Malfoy.�

Harry gave a sigh, muttered
something to Granger that Draco didn�t bother to pay attention to because he
knew it couldn�t be important, and then turned around to face Draco. �Listen,�
he said. He rubbed his cheek against Draco�s hand, which was sweet of him, but
wouldn�t help to change Draco�s mind. �You let Emptyweed
get away with only a headache, even though he could have told us about the
conspirators earlier and even though he cast the headache curse on me.�

No,
I didn�t. And now, if ever, he needs to understand the spell I cast, because
otherwise he�ll think I�m softer than I am, and more amenable to persuasion by
ideals I don�t share. Honesty, Mother said was necessary, and he must
understand us as we understand him.

�You were paying too much attention
to my words and not enough to my wand movements,� Draco said. �I cast a
nonverbal spell that will give him a permanent headache, lasting the rest of
his life. I thought it fit payment for the kind of low-grade, constant
suffering he caused you.�

�� You did what?� Granger shrieked. Draco had to
admit that he liked the look of outrage on her face more than the expression
taking over Harry�s. Hers was simple, and uncomplicated, and could be more
easily fought.

�� So he did,
raising an eyebrow at Granger. �It�s all right,� he said. �There�s no way he�ll
trace it back to our family, since I Obliviated
him. He�ll certainly never remember coming to the Manor.�

�� It�s the
fact that you did it at all,� Granger began, and Draco settled himself to
enjoy, and then rebut, a very Gryffindor lecture.

�� And Harry
stood up, so that he was between Granger and Draco, and cut them off from one
another. Draco blinked and stared at Harry. Did he really think Draco needed
protection from a Mudblood? Not that Harry would thank him for calling her what
she was, of course.

�� In the
future,� Harry said, voice so quiet Draco had to lean
forwards to hear him, �don�t do such things.�

�� Oh, Harry. You should really know better
than to think that tactic will work with me, given what Emptyweed
did to you.

�� I have to
protect you,� he said. It was a set of words too simple for the problem Harry
represented, but Draco didn�t care. He needed to put this into simple words so
that Harry would understand the differences between them in the first place. After
all, no one could stop Harry from Healing, could they? So he ought to
understand that no one could stop Draco from protecting his family.

�� Harry
smiled. �I appreciate the impulse,� he said. Granger snorted, but Harry didn�t
pay any attention to her, so it would have been undignified for Draco to do it
in his place. �But it makes me uncomfortable when someone hurts others for my
sake. Whether that hurt is physical, magical, financial, or otherwise,� he
added, rushing on as Draco tried to open his mouth. �In self-defense or the
heat of battle, it�s one thing, but I still tried to
use non-fatal spells on the people who attacked me in hospital.�

�� And there are more enemies to repay. Why did
I not think of that sooner?

�� I�ll find
them,� he told Harry, and made sure his voice was impressively deep, his face
impressively angry. He didn�t want Harry to think his forgetfulness meant Draco
cared about him any less. �And I�ll make them suffer.�

�� But that�s
exactly what I�m asking you not to do.� Harry lowered his voice even more and stared
directly into Draco�s face, until Draco felt as if his eyes should cross. Harry
smoothed his hands up and down his cheeks, and Draco had to fight not to close
his eyes and sway into the motion. �Unless what I want
doesn�t matter to you?�

�� Shock
caused Draco to speak the obvious words before he thought about restraining
himself. �You�re being manipulative.�

�� Then I fit
right into this family, don�t I?� Harry asked, and smiled.

�� Draco bit
his lip. He wrestled for a moment with the odd idea that Harry would prefer a
display of affection that involved justice instead of vengeance, and then he
remembered the problem with that, even if Draco could possibly agree.

�� He folded
his arms and said, �They also hurt my father. And if you think Father and
Mother will be content to let our enemies go unpunished for doing that, then
you have not learned anything about them at all.�

�� I�ll speak
with them,� said Harry. Draco blinked at the implacable tone in his voice. And he really thinks he can convince them?
He does have a good opinion of himself, doesn�t he? �For now, there�s
something I need to say to Hermione. Why don�t you go see Lucius and Narcissa
and prepare them for our talk? You can even tell them exactly what you want to
say and make up a secret strategy to use against me. You won�t find me so easy
to convince.�

�� Draco
walked towards the door of the library, because remaining to wrestle with Harry
on the issue was not something he wished to do in front of Granger, and because
he had healing potions to brew for Lucius. He did pause with his hand on the
door and look back, but Harry was still gazing at him calmly, as much to say
that he preserved the ridiculous idea about conquering Draco and Draco�s
parents.

�� Draco shut
the door behind him at last, and went to speak to Lucius and Narcissa. They
would have to be strong, yes, but they would also have to be gentle, so that
their attempt to show Harry the truth did not drive him away as Draco�s attempt
to show him the truth about the necessity of staying in the house had.

*

�� By the time
Harry opened the door and entered Lucius�s rooms, Draco was calm again. His
parents knew the code of the Malfoys better than he did; they had lived by the
laws for so many years that those laws were part of their bones. They would
present arguments Harry could not ignore without rupturing the bonds between
his family and him, which Draco no longer believed possible.

�� If you
will, Lucius,� Narcissa murmured, as Harry shut the door and leaned against it.

�� The
fourteenth law of the Malfoys,� said Lucius, in judicious tones that made Draco
intolerably proud of his father, �calls for the protection of the family. No
insult shall be suffered when it can be avenged. The authorities at any time
are unlikely to do much for us. We must dispense our own justice, our own
mercy, and our own punishment, as we must reward our best friends in secret if
we would keep any allies at all. You shall remember this, and carefully
contrive subtle and suitable punishments for those who hurt us, that others may
fear and hesitate to harm a Malfoy again.�

�� There, Draco thought. Harry is many things, but he�s not eloquent.
He won�t be able to match that.

�� From
Harry�s next words, it seemed he didn�t intend to try. �Well,� he said, �that
doesn�t make much sense.�

�� Draco
wasn�t too busy staring at Harry in astonishment to miss the subtle twitch of
his mother�s lips. He wondered what in the world she was thinking. This was not
amusing, and from the way Lucius spoke, he was firmly on Draco�s side.

�� And why not?� Lucius asked. �I must admit it sounds very
attractive to me, having endured the pain that I did.� He ran a hand over the
fading scars on the side of his cheek. Draco scanned them with a professional
eye, and then gave a small nod of relief. The healing potions had not had time
to complete their work yet, but their progress so far told Draco that in the
end they would leave his father as he had been before the attack. That was
well. There enemies could not be allowed to mark
them.

�� It wants
you to punish people in secret, and yet do it in such a way that everyone will
fear you?� Harry snorted rudely.

�� Draco
relaxed. That�s not a contradiction, and
it�s not an argument.

�� The ones
who matter will know,� Lucius said gravely. �In this case, the members of the
Burne-Jones and Neverlong families who were not
involved in the plot against me, and any Death Eaters or �victims� of mine who
might have declined to avenge themselves this way. They will know the risk is
not worth it.� His hands twitched on the covers. Draco wondered what curses
were running through his mind right now; he hadn�t taken a chance to consult
with his parents on what suitable revenge would be, so much as on the
difficulty of taking revenge at all that Harry�s �code� presented.

�� You have
enemies who were clever and brutal enough to devise this curse and cast it on
you in the first place, through a dupe who, I�m sure, had no idea what he was
doing,� Harry said.

�� He was
still calm, still determined, from the look in his eyes and the lazy position
of his body. Draco found it simultaneously attractive and disturbing. He wanted
to add his voice to the conversation, but he had tried to persuade Harry before
and got nowhere. It was best to leave this contest up to his father.

�� Smythe did not, no.� Lucius smiled. �We have looked through
the memories in the Pensieve.�

�� Draco
relaxed. Yes, that was another advantage he had forgotten; Narcissa, ever
practical, had insisted on examining the memories in Granger�s Pensieve before
they began to discuss what they should do about Harry. And Harry had not seen
them, so he had no idea what the evidence was.

�They are few and the explanation
straightforward,� Lucius continued. �When they had put the curse together,
which took many tries, according to our informant,
they had to work extensively with Smythe to be sure
that he would cast it correctly and scatter his saliva with the dreambane on me at the same time. Many of the minor spells
were linked together not so much to cause me to suffer as to baffle any
attempts at healing.�

�And the families of people like that
are the ones you want to enrage,� Harry said flatly.

*

�� There were
times when Narcissa knew which way a conversation or a contest would work out.
It was no intuition she could control; if she could have, then she might have
prevented Lucius from some rather egregious mistakes in her time. But it came
and went like sunlight through trees.

�� It flashed
now. She knew Harry was going to win this struggle, and that contented her,
despite her desire, hotter than ever inside her, to see those who had hurt
Lucius suffer. Besides her loyalty to her husband and her loyalty to her son,
there was also her loyalty to reality, which had made her seek help for Draco
when he was assigned a task beyond his strength, and accept that she should lie
to the Dark Lord when she realized Harry was still alive in the Forbidden
Forest, because someone who could survive the Killing Curse twice would win the
war. If two of the loyalties were in agreement, then she could stand against
the third one without feeling divided.

�� This time,
we shall be prepared for them. And it�s at least possible that they won�t seek
revenge.� Lucius said that with a hidden tremor in his words, though Narcissa
doubted Harry noticed. Someone had to know him well to notice such things.

�� Do you believe
they won�t?� Harry asked quickly.

�� Or perhaps he did, Narcissa thought, and
opened her eyes in time to see her husband shake his head.

�� Then I
think this is stupid,� Harry said. �You risk drawing down danger on yourselves
when you�re still vulnerable��

Narcissa looked at him.

�We risk drawing down danger on
ourselves,� Harry corrected himself. Narcissa gave him a small smile, and Harry
half-ducked his head, a smile of shy pleasure touching the corners of his lips.
�If we let the Aurors take charge of this, those families will blame the
Ministry and not us. There�s no risk of getting in trouble with the Aurors for our
revenge, either. We buy time for Lucius to recover, because the remaining
enemies won�t move whilst the Prophet�s attention is on us, will they?�

�� No,� said
Draco, in a faint voice. �They have similar laws about the lack of wisdom in
drawing publicity to their vengeance.� Glancing at her son in turn, Narcissa
saw him looking overwhelmed, as if he might faint at any moment. She frowned
thoughtfully. She would have to find out whether Draco might have any trace of
her innate gift of intuition in him, or whether it could be taught. Then he
would not be thrown so far off-balance by the mere reversal of a contest.

�� Well,
then.� Harry made a motion as if he were brushing invisible dust off his hands.
�There�s one more advantage. If this is the fourteenth law of the Malfoys, it
stands to reason that it�s fairly far down the list, and the others are more
important. I think we have a better chance of survival if we live through our
revenge vicariously.�

�� Draco
muttered, �Granger must have taught you that word.�

�� Narcissa
glanced at him sidelong again. It was ill-bred of him to act so petty when
Harry had pulled a rather elegant reversal, combating Malfoy laws with Malfoy
laws, which should be respected.

�And you can go on showing me how
to settle into the family. My comfort and safety, in this case, is more
important than revenge.� Harry looked at Draco with a light in his eyes that
reassured Narcissa, at last, that the love her son had given was more than
fully returned.

�I agree with Harry,� Narcissa
said, because it was time for her intervention. �You know that I�ve disagreed
with drawn-out revenge from the beginning, Lucius.� Her husband�s nostrils
flared. Narcissa did not care. What she said was the truth; she had favored
something sharp, a swift curse that would descend and then leave again without
giving Burne-Jones and Neverlong a chance to guess
where it came from. �I don�t want you to make the same mistake that Neverlong and Burne-Jones did by giving you time to get
treatment and figure out who was behind the attack. And as we can think of
nothing that would be sharp, sufficiently painful, and yet undetectable,
turning the matter over to the Aurors is the best course.�

�� There may
be something yet,� said Lucius. �There are several books of Dark curses in the
library that I haven�t looked through in years.�

�� Narcissa
knew the observation was addressed more to her than it was to Harry. She turned
enough so that Lucius could see her smile fully, and he faltered.

�� And I was
helpless during most of this,� Draco said, his cheeks flushed. �I want to do
something.�

�� And that one is addressed to Harry, Narcissa thought. Luckily, Harry had a
response.

�� Helping
Lucius recover with your potion wasn�t enough?� Harry asked.

�� I want to
hurt someone. That�s different from healing.�

�� Harry
simply narrowed his eyes, as if to say that he didn�t think any response to
that was possible, and faced Narcissa. �Of all the people in this room,� he
said, �you and I are most likely to get our wish.�

�� He prepared something before he entered the
room, Narcissa thought, her eyebrows rising but her heart filled with
pride. Oh, I knew he had learned the lessons
of being a Malfoy well.

�� Lucius
spoke in a cold voice that Narcissa knew was his attempt to recover control of
the situation. She disapproved. Like Draco, he should learn to recognize when
he had been defeated and accept that gracefully. �Malfoys owe loyalty to the
first of their name, Harry. You will tell me what you have done at once.�

�� Harry faced
Lucius slowly, drawing out the tension. Narcissa had to think hard about Bellatrix�s madness to keep from smiling.

�� My friend
Hermione Granger, who works in the Ministry and discovered most of this
information for us, has already alerted the Aurors. If all
went as scheduled�� he made an elaborate show of drawing out a golden watch from
his robe pocket ��then all the conspirators will have been arrested by now.�

�� I knew
you wanted to stay behind with Granger for a reason!� Draco exclaimed in fury.
Narcissa sent him another frown he did not pay attention to. He is showing his emotions far, far too
openly.

�� As you
told me,� said Harry, putting away the watch and smiling at Draco, �I�m a
Malfoy in more ways than one.�

�� Lucius
spoke in a gentle tone. �We can strike at them as easily when they are in Auror
custody as we can when they are free. It�s a noble effort, Harry, but shall
only fail.�

�� I am glad he recognizes it is a noble
effort, at least, Narcissa thought tartly. She was rather irritated with
her husband, who seemed to have no loyalty to reality at all.

�� No, you
can�t,� said Harry. �The Aurors aren�t always competent, that�s true, but
they�ve been much better at holding criminals since Kingsley Shacklebolt became Minister. And you�ll still need a
regular dose of healing potions for several weeks, which means you won�t be
away from the house for any length of time.�

�� Never upset your mediwizard, Narcissa
thought. That was a rule I did think you
knew, Lucius.

�� Besides
which,� Narcissa said then, �I agree with Harry. No vengeance is worth the
possible loss of life and prestige that we would incur.�

�� Lucius
glared at her. Narcissa did not care, because she needed no intuition to tell
her that she would win this contest. She
was more concerned with the way Draco and Harry faced each other at the moment.
It was possible that the love blossoming between them could be destroyed, at
this early stage.

*

�� Draco could
feel his fury running through him like a river of quicksilver, but at the
moment, it was no longer his most prominent emotion. He was confused, and
irritated at how much, once again, he
appeared to have underestimated Harry.

�� You�re
quite determined not to allow me my vengeance, are you?� he asked.

�� Quite,�
Harry said. At least he looked vaguely apprehensive.

�� I�m not
bound to the house by my father�s limitations,� said Draco. �Or
by my mother�s opposition.� Narcissa slewed a glance sideways at him,
but Draco could ignore that one as he�d ignored the others she had given him in
the last few minutes. �You�ll have a task to keep me here.�

�� I would
prefer to think that you�re a responsible adult who knows when he�s been
outmaneuvered, and�� Harry began, his teeth gritted.

�� I�m a
responsible adult who knows a sound bargain when he hears one,� Draco said. He
let a smile go, which made Harry eye him nervously. Good. �I want you to agree to study for your Potions exam again,
and to let me help you.�

�� Harry gaped
at him, as well he might. Draco didn�t care. This was the one thing he had been
able to think of that might enable him to get something he wanted and also to
overturn Harry�s triumph, so Harry wasn�t completely
in control of their relationship.

�� Harry shook
his head. �I�d agree if I thought that would do any good,� he said. �They only
let me sit my NEWTS a second time because I�m Harry Potter. And I did as badly
the second time as the first. No becoming a Healer without an Outstanding on
both the theory and the practical portions.� His voice turned scalding and
bitter for a moment. �Your offer�s generous, but you can�t help me.�

�� What?

�� The NEWTS
are offered as many times as needed to anyone in a particular profession,�
Draco pointed out, �who�s already shown several years of proficient practice in
that profession. No, they won�t give it over and over again to lazy students
who haven�t chosen a job. But they will give it to you.� He felt pity touch him
like cold fingers as he looked at Harry. �You never looked again once you
failed the second time, did you?�

�� Harry
blushed.

�� And I
don�t know if I�m so generous,� Draco mused, �when I�ll drive you harder than
Snape ever did.� He felt his face twist. He couldn�t help it. Snape�s death had
been a torment and a waste, of talent and time and grief. Draco still didn�t
know why Snape had given so much of his loyalty to Dumbledore, and he doubted
that he ever would know, but he had not acted as he should have.

�� I never
had a problem with the amount of work involved,� said Harry. �It was Snape�s
teaching method I objected to.�

�� Of course it was. �It�s settled, then.�
Draco smiled. �You�ll let me teach you Potions, and in return I won�t seek
vengeance. Shall we aim for a date of October in which to take the NEWTS?�

�� I wouldn�t
want to inconvenience��

�� That is a disguise for cowardice. �That
would be most convenient for me,� Draco said.

�� That made
Harry bend, as Draco knew it would. He reached out and ran a lazy hand up
Harry�s arm. Harry looked at him as if he couldn�t decide whether to be
grateful or to hit Draco.

�� So long as he does not think he can trample
over me, Draco thought, I may even
admire what he did today.

�� Eventually.

�� It had not
escaped him that giving up vengeance meant giving up vengeance on Harry�s
Muggle family, too.

�� But something must be done.

*

�� hieisdragoness18:
Yes, he�s back, but he didn�t succeed very well in snarking
at Harry in this chapter. ;)

�� linagabriev: Draco has a problem
now as far as vengeance is concerned, yes.

�� Draco still
thinks that Harry will admit the Malfoy code is right if he just presses it
home hard enough.

�� Michelle
Wolf: Mirror Mazes would probably be too complicated; it took Lucius�s enemies
lots of research to develop this one.

�� DTDY: Thanks
for reviewing!

�� Thrnbrooke: Thank you!
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For Their Unconquerable Souls