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Forgive Those Who Trespass	By : Lomonaaeren Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Harry/Draco Views: 20650 -:- 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.

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Chapter Thirty-Two�As
Fierce as Love

�� If Skeeter
was at all disconcerted by the sight of Harry holding Draco and smiling at her
like a demon, she didn�t show it. She pressed forwards instead, her gaze
darting between Harry and Draco like a shark who had just realized that there
were two bleeding, wounded fish in
the water.

�� Don�t you
think the public has a right to know?� she murmured. �Since you really belong
to all of us, Mr. Potter, and
anything concerning you is automatically public knowledge? I know you won�t
deny me.� She posed her Quick-Quotes Quill, and Harry thought she was eagerly
anticipating an outburst. It would make him look unstable and dangerous, and
that was all to the Daily Prophet�s good
right now.

�� Harry held
himself in check, though it was hard with Draco trembling against his back. He
said mildly, instead, �Tell me, Skeeter. What would happen if you were forced
to endure having your bones sucked out through your foot?�

�� Skeeter�s
quill slid hard across the paper, not writing anything but simply creating a
random mess of ink. She stared at him. �I beg your pardon?�

�� It was
quite painful,� Harry said conversationally. �The creatures that did it had the
form of spiders, but they were made entirely of bone, and ate it. When they
fastened on my foot, they turned the bones in it to slurry, and sucked them out
through the skin. The pain was excruciating. Can you imagine that?�

�� He hadn�t
made a threatening gesture; most of his body was still occupied in shielding
Draco. He had just looked at her directly and spoken in such a clear tone that
she couldn�t mistake any of his words. But Skeeter looked faintly uneasy.

�� It doesn�t
seem as though you have any trouble walking now,� she said.

�� Oh, the
Healers used Skele-Gro on it.� Harry shrugged. �Things outside the maze are
different than inside. But we were inside the maze for more than two weeks,
Skeeter. And Draco was inside for more than a year altogether. Can you imagine
what that did to us? Can you imagine what you
would have had to endure, were you in our place?�

�� Skeeter
licked her lips. She said, �But you committed crimes.�

�� Imagine
what it was like,� Harry repeated serenely. �I received a sickness, a small
creature that hid in my shadow and infected me. It started to turn my entire
body to shadow.� He paused a moment. �The Department of Mysteries had developed
it, or studied it, all on its own. It never produced any results from the study
of that disease. It just kept its secrets down in the dark and brooded on them
like a mother dragon.� He stepped away from Draco, hating to do it, but wanting
to stretch his hand casually towards Skeeter�s elbow.

�� She shrank
from him, then gave a nervous little laugh. �But of course you can�t still have
the disease!� she said. �The Healers would never let you near anyone else if
you did.�

�� Haven�t
you noticed?� Harry said, dropping his voice. �The ones near me are Draco, who
knows how to cure the disease; my friends, who have had plenty of chances to
protect themselves against the infection; and the Healers and Mind-Healers, who
have their own protections. But if someone else was to come barging in��

��

�� I didn�t��
Skeeter stuttered, and then stepped backwards. With some satisfaction, Harry
saw that her quill was moving on its own, recording their words. If Skeeter dared to publish any of this in her
paper, and cut her own idiotic contribution out, then Harry had no trouble at
all releasing a Pensieve memory that would show him trying to warn her of her
stupidity in entering St. Mungo�s.

�� Oh, yes,
you did,� Harry said, and he finally let the rage bubbling in the back of his
voice through. It was important not to sound like he was threatening her, or he
would confirm the suspicions she was trying to spread with her story. Instead,
he could be outraged that she had broken in against all reasonable warnings and
tried to imply that both Harry and his partner were criminals. �You bypassed
all reasonable precautions to come
into a place where you knew you wouldn�t be welcome. You didn�t ask for an interview; you tried to force one. You went after someone
mentally scarred, someone who saved my life again and again in the maze and out
of it, someone I love.� The word left
his mouth easily, though he heard both Hermione and Draco gasp softly. �Does
any of that sound like you should be spared the shadow plague?�

�� Skeeter was
gasping by now, seeming to be unnerved as much by Harry�s slow, steady approach
as by his words. Harry paused, let the smile cross his face again, and then
reached out to stroke her shoulder.

�� No!�
Skeeter wailed, and cowered back. Harry let his hand drop, and frowned
thoughtfully.

�� You�re
right,� he said. �I probably don�t need to touch you. You probably have the
infection already.�

�� Skeeter
blanched, and broke, and darted for the door. She was just in time to meet
Agarwal, who gave her such a forbidding look of contempt that it made her
gather up her robes and run.

�� Harry
closed his eyes and took several deep, cleansing breaths. God, he�d been about
three seconds from lashing out with his magic, and never mind that it would
have been incredibly bad publicity
for both him and Draco�and he couldn�t have been sure it would have hurt
Skeeter, either.

�� He turned
around and gathered Draco back into his arms. Draco had ceased to tremble, and
his face was like a white flame. Harry knew from a glance at his expression
what he needed.

�� Agarwal,�
he said crisply.

�� Yes,
Harry?� The Mind-Healer�s voice matched his own in hardness.

�� You�ll
find the person who leaked the story to Skeeter and the one who let her in
here?� Harry tightened his embrace, trying not to imagine what would have
happened if Skeeter had cornered Draco and he couldn�t get away. Would he have
gone catatonic again, to defend the sanctity of his own mind? Harry didn�t like
to imagine it.

�� I will.�

�� Good. Then
get out.� Harry flicked a glance at Ron and Hermione that made them leap as if
stung. �You, too.�

�� Hermione opened
her mouth to protest, but something�maybe the way Ron took her arm, maybe the
look Agarwal was giving her�caused her to shut it and nod. She and Ron filed
past Harry and out of the room. Agarwal closed the door a moment later.

�� And Draco
stepped away from Harry to the limit of their arms, but left his hands in Harry�s
hands, fingers and palms joined.

�� You didn�t
betray anything of the tortures I went through,� Draco whispered. �Even though
that might have built sympathy for me with the public.�

�� It wasn�t
my place to betray that,� Harry answered, feeling oddly as if he were giving
ritual responses in which every answer and inflection was already known. �I
don�t care about their knowing what happened to me. But you hadn�t given me any
permission to talk about this with someone who wasn�t a Mind-Healer.�

�� You wanted
to rip her apart. I could feel that.�
Draco�s eyes were exalted, his expression somewhere between feverish and dazed.

�� Of
course.� Harry felt another surge of the emotion and had to grit his teeth, or
going after Skeeter and squashing her to a pulp would sound like a good idea.

�� You said
you loved me.� Draco�s eyes, piercing and direct, were harder to face than the
thought of losing Ron and Hermione to the maze had been.

�� Harry took
a deep breath. Here was the response he should have anticipated most easily,
and yet somehow he had not.

�� I do,� he
said. �So much, Draco. You have no idea��

�� And then
Draco�s mouth was fastened to his, wild and demanding, whilst his right hand
took Harry�s left and crushed and squeezed it.

�� Harry
gasped and kissed him back. It was like the embrace they�d shared after the
shadow plague, with the joy of survival running through them both. But this
time, it wasn�t an emotion to be excused by physical danger. Harry had no excuse for it. He could open up
and accept it, or he could deny it, but those had to be actions he took on his
own.

�� Feeling as
if he had utterly drained himself of strength to do it, he opened up and
accepted it.

�� He let�or
made�himself feel the strength in Draco, the muscles bunching beneath his fingers,
so different from the curves that he might have expected of a woman. He found
no breasts pushing against him, and he made himself accept that. He opened his
eyes and stared into Draco�s face, the thin lips and the high cheekbones and
the harsh angles of exhaustion and the chin rough with pale blond stubble.

�� This was no
woman. This was no random man chosen from a street corner or pub, either, in an
effort to ease the urges without seeking emotional attachment, as Harry had
once thought he might need to do when the images pressed and wanking wasn�t
enough.

�� This was
the man he was going to spend the rest of his life with.

�� Harry�s
heart literally fluttered. He groaned
into Draco�s mouth, and his own grip grew more crushing; he drew Draco to him
and darted his tongue around teeth and gums and lips, greedy for every bit of
taste he could find. His body was trembling with excitement. He was so hard
that the need felt as intense as pain.

�� Draco leaned
against him, pushed against him, seemed above and below him and around him and
everywhere. This lovemaking was like wrestling. Harry laughed joyously, and if
the laughter had an edge of hysteria, well, that was akin to the triumphs he
had felt in the maze.

�� But this
one wouldn�t be snatched away from them by a danger waiting just around the
corner. This one could go on and on.

�� Swept away
by his emotion, concentrating on the rapturous expression on Draco�s face,
Harry reached for his trousers.

�� And then
Draco went still, and stared up at him, and Harry had to go still, staring
back. Had he presumed too much? Was he going too fast? He had seen no signs in
the Pensieves that Richard had raped Draco, but there was much that he might
not have seen.

�� Draco
whispered, �We�if you do this, I want to know that it�s because you want it,
not because you�re caught up in the moment.�

�� Harry�s
body shook with warmth. He thought of all the times he would have given
half� his soul to hear Draco speak. And
now he could.

�� This is not the maze.

�� I want
it,� Harry whispered. �I don�t know why, but I do, and I don�t know how long it
will take me to want it again, but I want it now.� The arm he had coiled around
Draco�s neck and shoulders shifted, so that he could stroke the other man�s
forearm. �Draco�let me in.�

�� Draco let
his head fall back, and nodded. His eyes were shut. His lips were clamped
together in what looked like pain as Harry delicately unbuttoned his trousers,
and drew them down, and reached in, and grasped his cock, and drew it out.

�� It wasn�t
nearly as alien as Harry had feared. He had one, didn�t he? And it was smooth
and hard and warm in his hand, where he had always half-thought it would feel
like a pipe, all cold metal.

�� But that
was ridiculous. He had one. And the greed was right there, urging him along,
making him want to stroke and stroke until his palm and Draco�s erection both
grew red and raw.

�� He stroked
Draco, supporting the other man on his shoulder, watching his face. Draco
continued to clamp his lips and eyes shut, except when he opened his mouth to
utter an involuntary keening wail. Harry could tell the experience was
transcendent, but he thought he would have been hard put to it to say whether
it was pain or pleasure, if he was watching from a distance. He lost himself
absolutely to the rhythm of his stroking hand and his staring eyes.

�� Then
Draco�s eyes fell open, and the gray in them glittered like sunken stars. He
mouthed, rather than whispered, Harry,
and his body shuddered. A spray of wetness covered Harry�s palm, likewise less
alien than he had feared.

�� And then
Harry�s hips jerked, and he was coming in his trousers. He gasped aloud, body
shaking so hard that he nearly dropped Draco. He hadn�t even sensed the orgasm
rising, since he was so focused on Draco�s pleasure. It was hard and hot and
fast and so good.

�� As the
ebbing waves of intensity rippled and traveled back through him, Harry held
himself up against the impulse to fall to the ground. He looked around vaguely,
then dragged Draco to the loo and found a tissue to wipe them both clean. He
experienced a brief spasm of regret that he couldn�t do magic.

�� But not for
very long, because Draco was draped over his neck like a satiated cat, and
every time Harry looked at him, the fierce, protective love in him hissed like
a dragon and every other emotion fled far away.

�� He got them
cleaned up, though he could never remember how. He got them both to the bed,
though he could never remember how. He only remembered falling into sleep
beside Draco, whose face was relaxed, his mouth open, and in spite of all the
times they had slept side-by-side in the maze, this felt like the first.

*

�� Agarwal had
been sitting in silence for some time and gazing at him critically. Harry
raised his eyebrows back, because he wasn�t quite sure what she meant for him
to do or say. If she tried to disapprove of the way he�d taunted Skeeter, Harry
would yell at her. Agarwal had said
he should be honest, after all.

�� Finally,
Agarwal said, �Though what you did with Draco yesterday is progress, you must
realize that this has not solved all questions of your sexual orientation.�

�� I know.�
Harry relaxed back against the couch. He wasn�t exactly cheerful today�he
couldn�t be, when they still hadn�t identified who�d leaked the information to
Skeeter�but he was more patient and tolerant. Good sex would do that, he
thought. �I don�t know if I could go as far with him again right now, without
that extreme emotion driving us.� Funny, he only had a bit of a blush on his cheeks
whilst he talked about this. �And the thought of anal sex still�well.� He waved
his hand, not really wanting to think about it. �But it�s a start. A stepping
stone to what we both need.�

��

�� A full
sexual relationship with another man.� Agarwal intoned the words softly. �Do
you know what that will mean?�

�� It�s not
just any random man,� Harry said, irritated that she didn�t understand the
difference. �It�s Draco.�

�� Agarwal
tapped a nail against her lips and regarded him sternly. Harry looked back.
�What?� he asked.

�� I wonder,
sometimes, if you are not as obsessive about him as he is about you.� Agarwal
cocked her head. �The way you speak about him, the way you exempt him from the
rest of the world, as you would not exempt another gay man who wanted to live
with you and love you�and, especially, the way that you have decided to
blackmail the Minister with mention of the Department of Mysteries� activities
if he does not keep the press quiet, as your friend Miss Granger told me
yesterday.�

�� Harry bared
his teeth. Or she could think of it as a smile, if she wanted. He didn�t reply.

�� You do
realize that it looks like obsession from the outside,� Agarwal said.

�� Oh, the outside.� Harry flapped a lazy hand.

�� Agarwal�s
half-smile vanished. �We need to discuss this, Harry,� she said. �The steps
that you take to protect Draco cannot be too extreme, or they will combat your
ability to fit back in among other people. And you cannot��

�� Listen to
me,� said Harry, surprising even himself with the intensity of his lowered
voice. �I love my friends. I know that I need relationships with other people
who aren�t Draco. And I will have
them. I will work towards them.

�� But Draco
always comes first. I�ll take supporting him and learning how to deal with his
problems over looking normal in other people�s eyes�or placating Skeeter and
the public. I will not let other
people hurt him. The Ministry is implicated in the processes that hurt Draco.
They never even noticed what Richard
was doing. I don�t like them. I don�t trust them. I won�t let them near Draco.�

�� And if you
get in trouble as a result of protecting Draco so strongly?� Agarwal asked
softly.

�� I�ll deal
with that when it comes,� Harry said. �But I won�t hesitate in fear of the
consequences, not when that could mean Draco getting hurt. And I�m Harry
Potter.� He clenched his fists in front of him. �I have more power in my name
than someone like Skeeter can ever hope for, never mind how much she writes.�

�� Your
friends and you have both let me know that you don�t like the kind of publicity
that comes from your name,� Agarwal said, her eyes alert.

�� I�ll use
it,� Harry said, �rather than let any harm come to Draco. I just told you. He comes first. Before my ridiculous
fears of intimacy, before my ridiculous fears of the public. He�s first.�

�� Agarwal
stared at him steadily for a long time. Harry stared back. If she had a problem
with this, he was sorry for it, but that didn�t mean he was going to change his
stance or his priorities.

�� Then she
smiled and nodded, and Harry found himself letting his breath out in a whoosh.

�� Something
like this,� she said, �is what I have long hoped to see from you. It is not
perfect, mind. But it�s a good beginning.�

�� It should
be,� Harry said. �I want nothing but the best for him. He deserves the best.�

�� He couldn�t
describe it better than that. This was love, burning him up from the inside.

�� Agarwal
smiled again.

*

�� Lumos!�

�� And it worked. This time, Harry could feel the
spirals spreading through him�spirals of energy from his magical core, spirals
of thought and intellect from his brain, and spirals of strength from his body,
the movements of the muscles he used when wielding the wand. He could feel them
meeting in the middle of his chest, just above his heart, and the slight shock
when they collided. And then they recognized
each other, and suddenly he was breathing more deeply, seeing the world
with clearer eyes, and wielding magic that came from his own core and his wand
core, and not his brain�s and body�s memories of himself as a wall.

�� His wand
sparkled with light. Harry laughed aloud. Odd Robert, who had sat on the
opposite side of the room offering criticism as always, whooped and actually
danced down the middle of the long office to hug him.

�� That�s it,
that�s my boy!� he crowed aloud. �And you�re doing it more quickly than I
expected, too!�

�� Harry
blinked. They�d been working on this for days, and this was the first time he�d
managed to produce anything like normal magic. �How long did you think it would
take?�

�� Given your
unique case, and how long you spent as a building, and my own lack of
experience with anything like this?� Odd Robert eyed him critically, gray hair
frizzing up more than ever, as if his thoughts stimulated his scalp. �I thought
we�d be bloody lucky to achieve any results after a year.�

�� Harry gaped
at him. Finally, he cleared his throat and said, �You could have told me that, and then maybe I wouldn�t
have been so frustrated when I didn�t get any results right away!�

�� Why would
I want to do that?� Odd Robert stood on one foot like a stork and stared at
him. �After all, that would have been bloody discouraging and only made you
think that not putting your best effort forth was excusable!�

�� Harry
glared, and the Mind-Healer added, hopping out of reach, �This doesn�t mean
your coordination is perfect, mind. You�ll still have to work to get that back.
And you really shouldn�t let your heart pump blood so fast, son.�

*

�� Harry
swore. He�d only walked down the corridor to Draco�s room, and already he was
weary and had to lean against the wall to stop the world from blurring in front
of his eyes. Odd Robert had warned him that something like that was probably
going to happen after his first successful use of magic, but when it hadn�t
occurred between his early afternoon session with the Mind-Healer and the
evening, Harry had assumed he was safe. Besides, he�d rested since then. Wasn�t everyone always telling him to bloody
rest?

�� He waited
until he was sure he wouldn�t collapse, and then went cautiously on, gritting
his teeth. But he had to take care of himself, he thought sternly. For Draco,
as well as for his own sake. Draco would get more worried if he saw Harry weak
and shaking, and Harry didn�t want that for him, ever again.

�� He lifted
his hand to knock on Draco�s door, and then paused when he saw it was slightly
ajar. And then he heard the second voice coming from beyond it, and realized Narcissa
Malfoy was visiting her son.

�� Heart
pounding, he leaned on the wall and listened as he had once before.

�� That�s
wonderful, Draco,� Narcissa said. Her voice was hesitant. �But�forgive me. I
know what you went through in the maze��

�� Harry
gasped, soundlessly, and found himself blinking. He told her. He�s reaching out.

�� But are
you certain it�s best for this relationship to continue now you�re out of it?
Can you be sure that Harry Potter is
the best person for you in the long term, instead of just to protect you and
soothe you whilst you�re healing?�

�� Harry�s
chest hurt. He rubbed it absently and wondered if a heart attack could result
from his small exertion as he waited for Draco to speak.

�� Draco
replied softly, but with so much clarity in his tones that Harry knew he wasn�t
fumbling for an answer to the question. �I�m sure, Mother. If you knew him as I
know him�which is impossible, and anyway I�d be jealous��

�� A joke. Harry wiped at his eyes, which
really did have a tendency to water most irritatingly from the hospital�s light
spells. That�s the first time I�ve heard
him make a joke about this.

�� you�d
know he�s the only one for me.� Draco�s voice lowered further, turned shy. �I
have to talk to other people and laugh with other people and visit other
people. I know. I�m planning to visit the Manor this Saturday.�

�� Really, would Harry�s eyes stop watering now?

�� But he�s
the center. I�ll always come back to him. He comes first.�

�� Harry could
not even hear Narcissa�s answer. He didn�t care to. Joy was burning away the
last of his doubts, joy as fierce as love.

*

�� Miss Alise:
Thanks for the review! I�m glad you kept reading even though it wasn�t really
your kind of thing. And thanks for the comment on the lack of gratuitous
violence; I wanted it to come across that way.

�� WeasleyWench:
Not a sequel, just a point where you can kind of glimpse their future together.

�� SoftObsidian74:
Some of your questions are addressed in Chapter 33. And I hope Harry tearing
apart Skeeter was satisfying!

�� Mangacat:
Skeeter thought she would catch everyone off guard and get the �truth.�

�� TimeFlys: I�m
glad the nightmare managed to convince someone!

�� Lissagal99,
Lilith, Anon, Hi-chan, Green-Eyed Cat, Violet Eyes, Beautifullove348,
Thrnbrooke, LarienMiriel, suiri: Thanks for reviewing!
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Forgive Those Who Trespass