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Soldier's Welcome	By : Lomonaaeren Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Harry/Draco Views: 25565 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter; that belongs to J. K. Rowling. I am making no money from this fic.

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Chapter Thirty-Five�The Bracelets

�� Trainee
Potter, Trainee Malfoy, see me after class.�

�� Draco
looked up sharply when Dearborn spoke. There was a drawl of cold disdain in his
voice that made him wonder what they had done wrong. But when he saw Dearborn�s
half-lidded eyes and the slow tilt of his head, he thought he understood. The
instructors probably wanted to meet privately with them to discuss the group
that would fight Nihil, and no other instructor was
capable of asking them to stay and talk with as much nonchalance as Dearborn.

�� Draco
nodded back, magically nudged Harry in the ribs to stop him from staring, and
then bent over his notes again. This was a day for studying battle positions rather
than practicing in groups, since most of the trainees continued not to
understand what was required when they moved to working with more than one
partner. Draco understood in theory, but in practice, he thought he and Harry
did better when they were allowed to work alone. They inevitably dominated the
group, anyway, and that produced jealousy and resentment.

�� Sometimes wanting to be fair to everyone has
to yield to practical necessity, he thought, as he dipped his quill in ink
and crossed out one of the positions Dearborn had demonstrated with an
illusion. It required him and Harry to work opposite each other, casting not in
tandem or one after another but at random times. The compatible magic limited
them from doing it. At the very least, their spells wouldn�t have the power
their companions had come to expect unless they could do otherwise.

�� And that gives Dearborn a perfect excuse to
ask for us to stay now, Draco realized. Everyone
knows that we haven�t been doing as well as he would like in the practice
training exercises.

�� Draco
relaxed and was able to concentrate again, at least until Harry�s elbow nudged
him in the side and Harry�s voice whispered in his ear. Even though Dearborn
had separated them today, they had learned spells that would let them speak to
each other as if they sat no more than a few inches away.

�� Why does
he want to see us?�

�� Business
for the Fellowship or the Order or whatever it�s to be called,� Draco said, enough
under his breath that no one else could have heard him. He raised an eyebrow as
he heard a quill snap somewhere behind him. Hopefully that hadn�t been Harry,
but someone else concentrating so hard that they destroyed their quill rather
than used it properly. �Perhaps the instructors have finally decided on a
battle plan.�

�� Harry said
nothing more for the rest of class. When Draco glanced up as they prepared to
meet Dearborn, however, he saw Harry�s shoulders slumped.

�� What is the matter with him? Draco
refrained from rolling his eyes in exasperation, but only because Harry�or Weasley,
who watched him more closely than ever nowadays�would see and misunderstand. He was the one who wanted to be included in
their plans, the one who said that he could offer leadership and survival
experience. Sometimes I don�t understand him at all.

�� Dearborn
stood at the front of the classroom, his arms folded. He turned a blank look on
them as they came up to him. Draco marveled. Not even his father could have
shown so much disdain by refusing to show any disdain at all.

�� Auror Ketchum
has located an artifact in the Department of Mysteries that he believes will
assist us in determining Nihil�s adherents from
Ministry loyalists,� Dearborn said, barely moving his lips. �If you wish to be
part of this, then you are to meet us in Auror Portillo Lopez�s office at seven
this evening.�

�� Yes,
Professor,� Draco said. Harry nodded in silence.

�� Good.�
Dearborn went on staring at them with an unreadable expression. Draco was happy
to see that Harry, wisely, stayed still instead of assuming that they could
simply leave. He�d made that mistake more than once before.

�� While you
may have been distracted by what has been happening to you,� Dearborn said
abruptly, �I will not allow that to take your attention from your studies. You
should remember that you are here to become Aurors first of all, and not Dark
wizard hunters.�

�� Draco held
back a laugh and nodded. What are Aurors
if not Dark wizard hunters? It was best to nod and look solemn when a
professor contradicted themselves like that. Not even Professor Snape had
always been right.

�� He felt a small
squirming in his conscience when he thought about that. Professor Snape�s
Pensieve still sat in the back of his closet, where he had moved it when Harry
came to share his rooms. Draco wondered if he was afraid to look at it, and
didn�t think he was.

�� But then,
why hadn�t he done it yet?

�� I�ve been a little busy in the past few
months, he thought defensively, and then realized Dearborn had waved a hand
to dismiss them. Harry took his arm and hauled him out of the classroom,
hurrying him towards Auror Conduct. Draco walked slowly, though, and forced
Harry to slow down. Harry sighed and took his hand away.

�� Draco
caught his arm in turn. Harry glanced at him. �What?� he asked, sounding grumpy. �Hestia might forgive me for being late, but she
doesn�t like you that much.�

�� Why are
you depressed that they�re doing as you asked and including us?� Draco asked.

�� I don�t
know what you�re talking about.� Harry shook his arm free. �Come on, I don�t
want to show the Aurors that we�re not professional about being on time. They
might take the wrong idea. You know that Portillo Lopez and Dearborn will have
us out of the group if they can.�

�� But��

�� Harry
strode ahead of him, not looking back. Draco hissed with exasperation and
followed. He didn�t want to seem as if he was arguing with Harry. He knew Weasley,
if not the Mudblood, was watching for just such an opportunity to come over and
take Harry back. The Weasel would work any row into a permanent crack in their
relationship, if he could.

�� He didn�t
like Harry having secrets from him.

�� He wondered,
then, what Harry would think if he knew about Snape�s Pensieve and how long ago
Draco had received it.

*

�� Regulation
2.53 specifically states that there is to be no conversation with arrested
suspects who are able to charm through the voice alone, such as Dark wizards
who have taken the Siren Potion��

�� Harry
scribbled away at his notes about the stupid things Hestia was saying, keeping
his head bowed. He could feel Draco�s gaze burning into his back between his
shoulder blades, but he didn�t look up. Hestia supported them, but she would probably
think they were pushing their boundaries if they spent too much time talking or
looking at each other in class.

�� Besides,
Draco wouldn�t understand Harry�s anxieties if he voiced them. He was wondering
if he had moved too fast in the meeting with the instructors two nights ago.

�� What did I really do, after all, except hunt
Horcruxes? I didn�t fight Voldemort.
I defeated him by dying. And Draco�s made it clear that I�m not to try that
method of defeating my enemies again.

�� Harry found
the spirit for a brief smile then, but it slipped away again.

�� Nihil is completely different. We have people to
fight. I�m not the one who hurt Nusquam. That was
Draco. What happens if I�m too arrogant in insisting on being included? I want
to save lives, but what if I wind up destroying them instead?

�� That wasn�t
all, of course, but Harry wasn�t ready to even think about the other secret that he was keeping from Draco yet. And
when his thoughts slewed in the direction of something else again�the hope he
carried at the bottom of his mind�he started wondering if any place in his
brain was safe.

�� I�ll have to do the best I can. It�s too
late to turn back now.

*

�� The
Unspeakables have been working on this artifact for a long time,� Ketchum said
proudly, holding it up. �And now they�ve finally discovered how to make copies
of it, so we can all have one.� He looked from face to face, beaming.

�� Looking
around, Draco couldn�t see any more signs of enthusiasm. Dearborn appeared as
grave as he had when speaking to Harry and Draco in class. Portillo Lopez had a
cup of tea and sipped it as if finishing it was the most important thing in the
world. Jones sat upright with her hands clasped in front of her, apparently
trying to look older. Pushkin held a lens to his eye and examined the surface
of the table, tracing a crack with a finger.

�� Ah,� said
Ketchum, apparently undaunted, �you look like that because none of you know
what it does yet. Well, watch.� He clasped the jade bracelet around his arm and
then nodded to Portillo Lopez. �Please, Maryam, as we
discussed.�

�� The Battle
Healer set the teacup down with a precise click and drew her wand. Draco
stifled the urge to move out of the way, even though he was sitting on the
other side of the table. The grim expression on her face seemed to require it.
Harry, next to him, stiffened but didn�t retreat.

�� Portillo
Lopez aimed the wand at Ketchum and said, as clearly as if she was casting the
spell in front of the Wizengamot, �Commuto mentem tuam.�

�� The line of
blue light struck Ketchum. His jaw started to fall, and a dreamy look entered
his eyes. Draco hadn�t recognized the incantation, but he knew it must be one
of the legal suggestion spells that were related to the Imperius Curse.

�� Ketchum had
just started to draw his wand when a loud, urgent buzzing sounded from the arm
he had placed the bracelet on. Then a circle of white light formed around it,
and the buzzing grew louder, shrill enough to make Draco�s teeth ache. Ketchum
cried out and dropped his wand, then flung himself down and rolled on the
floor.

�� I told him
that he would get hurt,� Portillo Lopez muttered. She stood and walked around
the table, moving faster than Draco would have thought; if she�d been willing
to cast the spell in the first place, it seemed perfectly likely that she would
leave him to suffer. But she probably had Healer ethics.

�� I would find that inconvenient, Draco
decided as he watched Portillo Lopez press her wand against Ketchum�s temple.

�� He stopped
rolling immediately. The bracelet had already stopped buzzing and glowing.
Draco frowned in confusion as Ketchum stood and beamed at them all.

�� Ketchum
probably saw the confused expression on several faces, because he said, �The
bracelet reacts to the presence of magic imposed from outside�magic that�s
meant to change someone else�s mind or core. It gives an unmistakable warning,
as you saw, and the minute the changed person attempts to use magic, it sends a
jolt of pain up their arm. Then it confuses and disorients them, filling their
mind with distracting visions. There�s no way that someone who wears this
bracelet and has been corrupted by Nihil would be
able to fight for him.�

�� He leaned
forwards and put a hand on the table, not smiling. Portillo Lopez muttered
something at him about not moving too fast after his ordeal, but Ketchum ignored
her. �I suggest that we all wear copies of this bracelet. It will enable us to
know in a moment if we shouldn�t trust someone who�s not part of the group.
Yes, Nihil might still be able to infect us without
our noticing, but he wouldn�t be able to use
us. And since Maryam says that she knows how to
cure the infection now, we could rescue that person.�

�� Draco
glanced at the jade bracelet, just visible under Ketchum�s sleeve, uneasily. �I
would have preferred an artifact that would enable us to identify the people on
the other side, sir,� he murmured.

�� The
Unspeakables are looking for one like that,� said Ketchum. �But the problem is
that this bastard is able to make his side out of ours. We have to have a warning
that will last past the first moments. Even if someone can swear under
Veritaserum, once, that they don�t have any intention of joining Nihil, there�s no saying what might happen later�and they
might have been corrupted without knowing it.�

�� This certainly fulfills the criteria of being
noticeable,� Pushkin said. �I hope that it does not interrupt my classes and
prevent my students from observing other phenomena that are smaller and
quieter.� He nodded to Ketchum�s end of the table. �Do you have the Veritaserum
with you?�

�� Yes.�
Ketchum dug out several vials and placed three drops from one of them on his
tongue before Draco could even blink. �Daffyd, if you�ll
do the honors?� he added, and handed the vial off to Dearborn.

�� One would
have to know Dearborn well to see the flicker of interest in his eyes, Draco
thought. His face maintained an expression of utter contempt as he spoke the test
questions that asked for Ketchum�s name and status. Then he asked, �Do you
serve Nihil?�

�� No,�
Ketchum said promptly. Draco relaxed in spite of himself. He had known, of
course he had, that Ketchum�s appearance in the room
with Nihil and the trainees was part of the instructors�
plan, but it was good to know that he could rely on that being true.

�� Have you
ever served Nihil?�

�� No.�

�� So far as
you know, is your magic corrupted?� Dearborn leaned forwards. Draco supposed
that he might be especially interested in the answer to that because he used
Dark Arts himself, and there were some people who would say that using Dark
Arts was a sign of one�s magic being corrupted.

�� No.�

�� Do you
know the identities of any of Nihil�s servants that
you have not revealed to the rest of us?� Dearborn leaned back now and stared
at his fingernails.

�� No.�

�� Have you
been approached by anyone who has tried to seduce or corrupt you into the service
of Nihil?�

�� No.�

�� And on it
went, exhaustive questions being asked until Draco�s brain felt wrung. Every
possible variation on a question he could think of, Dearborn asked. At the end
of his interrogation, Draco still didn�t think it was impossible that Nihil would manage to infiltrate them�he had proven himself
unexpectedly clever in many ways�but he did think it was a lot less likely.

�� Ketchum
swallowed the antidote to the Veritaserum, and smiled hopefully around at them
all. �Can I name it the Fellowship, since no one else seems to be interested in
suggesting a name?� he asked.

�� Portillo
Lopez rolled her eyes as she picked up the Veritaserum. �Only you, Samwise,� she said, in the moment before she downed the potion
and Dearborn took up the questioning.

�� Draco
watched faces as the time came nearer and nearer when he would have to take the
potion, but saw no suspicious flinches or dread. Of course, someone who served Nihil would probably have come up with an excuse to be
absent from this meeting instead of coming. He did look forwards to finding out if anyone would refuse to wear the
bracelet, but that didn�t happen, either.

�� Harry made
sure he took the Veritaserum before Draco, as good as his word. Draco didn�t
think he needed the protection as much as he had thought he would, since
Dearborn was the one asking the questions, but he squeezed Harry�s elbow in a
gesture of appreciation anyway. Harry smiled back at him before his face became
slack.

�� Draco�s
questioning was anticlimactic. They asked him the same questions as anyone
else, and he heard the same answers slide through his lips. Then the jade
bracelet clicked into place around his arm, and at least didn�t start buzzing
and glowing right away. That didn�t prove nothing would happen in the future,
of course.

�� It�s the
Fellowship,� Ketchum said defiantly when the last of them was fitted with a
bracelet and Dearborn had shown them a charm that could keep their new
accessories hidden.

�� No one
disagreed with him.

*

�� You never
told me that you�d read one of Dumbledore�s journals.�

�� Harry froze
and stared down at his Observation homework for a moment. They were supposed to
come up with fifty things they remembered about their childhood bedroom. Harry�s
report was currently a mixture of things that wouldn�t sound too incriminating
and extremely creative lies.

�� He shook
himself a moment later. Why would Draco
try to make me feel bad for not telling? It�s not like it was something that
had much of a chance to come up before.

�� Yeah,� he
said, laying down his quill and turning around. Draco sat on the edge of his
chair, but not tensely, as if he was that interested in what Harry was saying;
he was toying with his own quill and yawning occasionally. That gave Harry the
courage to go on. �I went back to Hogwarts last year, just to confirm that I
could have other memories of the school besides the battle. Headmistress
McGonagall told me that a few of Dumbledore�s old books had been discovered
behind wards that fell when Voldemort died, and they were wrapped up and
addressed to me. The journal was one of them.�

�� Draco
nodded. It appeared that he didn�t consider not mentioning the journal a lie.
Harry relaxed.

�� Then Draco
asked another question, one that made him tense all over again. �For someone
who got all this knowledge out of the journal, you didn�t seem eager to employ
it at the meeting today.� He was toying with the jade bracelet, a habit Harry
hoped he would get over soon. It would tell anyone who looked that something
was hidden there under the glamour charm.

�� Well, I
started wondering,� Harry said, and then stopped.

�� Yes? Go
on.� Draco�s eyes were mild and merciless.

�� Harry
swallowed. He won�t kill you. If he didn�t
kill you when you first put yourself forwards in the instructors� meeting, he�s
not going to do it now.

�� I started
wondering how useful my experience would actually be,� Harry said, shrugging. �I
never led any battles. I never saw the original Order of the Phoenix operate. It�s reading and hearsay. The most I did was kill myself, or let Voldemort fire the Killing Curse at me,
which was the same thing.� He laughed nervously. �How much war experience does
that translate into?�

�� You still
went through a war,� Draco said quietly.

�� Yes, but
so did others,� Harry said. �Some of them were Aurors, even if none of the
instructors fought. There are people who could do better than I could. I stood
up and said something about it because I was just so frustrated and it was the
one thing I could think of that would make them listen. But now I wonder why
they aren�t inviting other tacticians in. And generals, if there are any.�
Harry wasn�t sure about that. The wizarding community in Britain seemed so
small that no general could possibly exist unless they were under the control
of or in the pay of the Ministry.

�� You made a
contribution that they seem to have accepted,� Draco said. �Is that what�s been
worrying you the past few days?�

�� Harry nodded
too quickly, and knew it by the look Draco scathed him with.

�� Out with
it,� Draco said. When Harry hesitated, he added, �What do you think I�ll do to
you for telling the truth? Got the image in your head? Good. Now compare it
with what you think I�ll do to you for telling lies.�

�� Harry
shifted uncomfortably. He knew he�d told Draco a lot of other things, things
that were more damaging than this, but Draco had found out about most of those
because Harry had no choice. He�d overheard the conversation with Ginny and been
there for Nihil�s attack on his magic. Harry had
never had the option of keeping them quiet.

�� This, he
did.

�� Harry.�

�� When he
looked up, there was acceptance in Draco�s eyes. Not resignation, not anger,
not the hatred that Harry sometimes dreamed would appear there again, but
acceptance. He wasn�t going to scold Harry for keeping it secret. He simply wanted
to know what it was.

�� Truth was
more important to him than anger.

�� Harry�s
whole body seemed to breathe out at once, not just his lungs, when he replied, �I
had another fit while you were in Battle Brewing.�

�� Draco
nodded and stood up to wrap an arm around his shoulders. Harry allowed himself
to lean briefly against Draco before he sat up again and added, �It was the Fiendfyre in the Room of Requirement this time.�

�� Draco
stiffened. Harry wrapped an arm around him in return and held him until the
words that he could feel working their way up and down Draco�s brain came out
his mouth.

�� Why is
that one of your worst memories?� Draco whispered. �I mean�I thought�you
rescued me. I know Vincent died there, but I didn�t think you cared about him.�

�� I care
about him the way I care about everyone else who died in
that damn war,� Harry said wearily. He felt tired now. He�d had a few nights of
broken sleep, and then the heavy, dreamless slumber that couldn�t refresh him because
he knew that a fit always followed it. �Besides, the memories that come back to
me aren�t exactly the way they originally happened. In this one, you fell off
the broom behind me when I swooped too low and burned to death.�

�� God,
Harry.�

�� Draco
choked the words into his hair, and Harry stood up now and embraced him completely.
He was more comfortable when he had someone else who required protection, and
Draco was imagining how awful it was for him as well as revisiting his own memories
of the fire. He was the one who needed a soothing presence and voice.

�� It�s all
right,� he whispered. �I know it didn�t happen that way. And I woke up from it
pretty soon.�

�� They
shouldn�t be happening at all,� Draco said, lifting a pale face. �And I do wish
that you hadn�t kept it from me.�

�� Harry
winced, but nodded. If that was all the scolding he got, he would count himself
lucky. �I know, but I don�t think that we can afford the time to research just
them right now. I kept it from you because�I don�t know. It makes me feel weak.�

�� Draco gave
him a silent glance of perfect understanding. Then he turned and looked at his
closet, biting his lip. Harry followed his gaze curiously, wondering what was
wrong.

�� There�s
something I didn�t tell you,� Draco said in a low voice.

�� Harry
nodded, more than happy to shift the conversation to Draco and Draco�s
problems. He had the uncomfortable, jagged feeling in the back of his throat and
the desire to take it all back again and pretend he�d been joking that always
followed his urge to talk about himself.

�� Changing
the subject especially helped because that way Draco, who seemed to have an
almost miraculous ability to spot his lies, wouldn�t see the secret hiding in
the bottom of Harry�s mind.

�� Draco could
forgive him lying about a fit, but not for thinking about this.

*

�� When he
laid down the covered Pensieve in front of Harry and explained how he got it,
Harry blanched for some reason, but said, �I can�t blame you for not wanting to
look into it.� He hesitated, then added, �Do you want
to look now? I�d go with you.�

�� Sometimes, Draco thought, staring at Harry�s
face, his gentle expression and worried eyes, he knows exactly the right thing to say. He�s not eloquent, but he�s
true.

�� With you,�
he said, in a calm voice before he could change his mind, �I think I would.�

*

�� Review
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