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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-Seven�Decisions Made

�� Of course
we aren�t going to tell them everything.�

�� Draco spoke
the words as if they were a settled argument. Harry frowned as he glanced down
at the map of Death Eater caches throughout the British
Isles that Draco had sketched, and didn�t answer.

�� Why should
we do that?� Draco�s eyes were brilliant as he paced around the central room,
avoiding the furniture with the ease of someone who had lived here for months;
Harry still occasionally bumped into it himself. The instructors had originally
said they would move the pair of them into other rooms, but that hadn�t
happened. Harry wondered if they had forgotten or decided it would be better to
leave Harry and Draco alone, because bodyguards were already enough of a mark
of favor.

�� Why should we?� Draco repeated, turning
around abruptly. At least that caused him to almost run into Politesse, who had
been trotting at his heels. The little dog appeared offended that he�d been
left out of most of their adventures lately. He scrambled up Draco�s leg now
while Draco was still blinking over almost stepping on him. Draco blinked again
and then focused on Harry. �What if there�s a traitor in the group despite
everything we�ve done to prevent it? What if they make sure that Nihil learns this information? He would go and raid the
caches he hasn�t already raided, and probably booby-trap the ones he has.�

�� Harry
nodded absently, turning Ginny�s latest letter over in front of him. He hadn�t
opened it. At least it didn�t appear to be a Howler of any type.

�� You look
as if you doubt me,� Draco said, suspiciously enough that Harry had to glance
at him and smile.

�� Well,
yes,� Harry admitted. �You said that we were going to start trusting more people
when we reached out to Arrowshot and Kepler and Margate. We can�t act
alone. But isn�t making decisions about releasing the information to only
certain people before we even see what reaction it causes�I don�t know, premature?�
That had been a long sentence, and he stopped to catch his breath.

�� Draco shook
his head. �I don�t trust these precautions to keep Nihil
out, as intelligent as he is. I think that he�ll find a way around them soon,
if he hasn�t done so already.�

�� Harry
frowned at him. �Then how can we risk any
of the information? We don�t know which caches are which. The memories only
gave us a few hints about the things that Nihil might
have done or built on. I don�t see that it really makes a difference what or
who we tell, as long as we have no more clue than this ourselves.�

�� Draco
half-lidded his eyes. His right hand stroked Politesse�s back. Harry studied
him warily. He didn�t think Draco was actually considering his words and coming
up with a counter to them. Draco had this particular expression when he�d
already made up his mind and had decided to persuade Harry around to his way of
thinking.

�� Perhaps,�
Draco said, voice so low that Harry at first heard the
words more as a puff of breath, �this is the time for us to talk about trusting
the other people you�ve always been so keen to have me trust.� He smiled at
Harry, and the smile took half of Harry�s objections away.

�� Only half,
though. �Ron and Hermione?� he asked.

�� Draco
nodded.

�� Harry
scowled. �You�re only saying this so that we can do something with the information, aren�t you?�

�� Draco gave
him a perfect smile, a brighter version of the one he�d just offered, and then
stood there, waiting.

�� Harry
sighed heavily. He didn�t think he stood a chance of convincing Draco
otherwise, not when Draco had already made up his mind. And he would feel more comfortable having
Hermione�s advice, and doing something to reconcile Ron to the situation. Ron
had started looking upset again about Harry and Draco spending so much time by themselves.

�� All right,
then,� he said.

�� This time,
when Draco strode across the room and kissed him, Politesse did nothing more
than wag his tail and lick Harry�s cheek with a sharp tongue.

*

�� If I do
this for you, then I want something in return.�

�� Draco nodded.
When he had gone to retrieve some Veritaserum from Kepler, who had access to it as Ketchum�s trainee, he had
anticipated a price. �Name it.�

�� Kepler leaned forwards. Her face remained without passion,
even the suppressed greed that Draco was used to seeing in pure-bloods who
demanded something from him. �I want you to bring Potter to meet my sister,�
she said.

�� Draco
blinked. He wouldn�t have thought this quiet, cold woman was someone to care
about celebrity. �All right,� he said slowly. �Why? Do you want her to meet
him, or does she want it on her own?�

�� She�s
dying,� Kepler said. �A Dark curse during the war
withered her legs.� Even those words, she spoke calmly. Perhaps she�d had to
say them many times already, Draco thought, just as he�d got used to repeating
the fact that his father was in prison to those who asked. �The Healers are
baffled.� Kepler shrugged slightly. �But she got it
in her head during the war that it was really being fought because of Potter,
and so the injuries she suffered, as well as other indignities, would be easier
to bear if she could have the chance to speak with him.�

�� Draco
nodded. He would insist on her repeating the words under Veritaserum
before he subjected Harry to this, but the story sounded plausible on the surface.
He knew people he could contact to make sure that Kepler�s
sister�who presumably shared the same last name she had�had really suffered
such a curse during the war. �When do you wish the meeting to take place?�

�� I can�t
bring Joanna to the Ministry any time soon,� Kepler
said. �In a fortnight.�

�� We need
the Veritaserum before then,� Draco snapped, and then
cursed himself for betraying their need as Kepler inspected him with an unhurried, lizard-like gaze.

�� Do you?
Well, delay what you need it for.� Kepler turned her
back and strode away up the corridor that led to the second-year barracks.

�� Draco
leaned against the wall and took a deep breath. Perhaps this would be a good
thing. It would give him and Harry a chance to concentrate on their classwork and several upcoming exams. It would let him
evaluate Weasley and Granger and decide how closely he could work with them. It
would mean a little more time to speak to Margate
and Kepler, as well as investigate a new angle that
he�d thought of on researching the cause of Harry�s fits, and to come up with
schemes to slip away from their bodyguards. (Having been left behind several
times, Timmons and Redworth were becoming
uncomfortably persistent).

�� Matters
could not continue at as high a pitch as they had been. Draco knew that.

�� But it
still troubled him.

And, for the first time, he began
to wonder if it had been right to promise something for Harry without his
consent.

*

�� You have
discovered nothing new, Mr. Potter, I assume?�

�� Harry was
afraid that he wouldn�t be able to hide his scowl. Dearborn always made him the most
uncomfortable of the instructors, and he didn�t know why. Outwardly, he was no
more like Snape than Portillo Lopez was, but there were things about him that
reminded Harry of Snape. The way he would stand with his eyes apparently fixed
on someone else and then speak to you, perhaps, or the way he walked, his robes
swishing around him.

�� No, sir,�
Harry said, picking up his books from his desk and keeping his gaze stubbornly
fixed on them. Draco had left already. He had told Harry that he intended to
speak with Hermione and Ron and try to get them to agree to a private meeting
where they would share some of the information from the map. Harry wished he
was here. He was Dearborn�s
favorite, and he was also better at lying. �Why would you think that?�

�� Because you never go long without stumbling onto something new.�
Dearborn�s
voice was the gentlest that Harry had ever heard it, the most amused, but that
didn�t matter. �And it has been almost a week since our last meeting. It is
improbable that that much time could pass without a new secret.�

�� Harry
shivered and scratched behind one ear. There was a prickling itch there. He
wondered for a moment if Draco was in trouble�Draco had told him about the pain
he�d experienced when Harry was facing the beasts in the Forbidden Forest�but
the itch went away and didn�t return.

�� We haven�t
found anything new, sir,� he said, and tried to sound dull and uninteresting
both at once. Go away and spend time with
Draco, he thought irritably at Dearborn.
I don�t want anything to do with you.
You�ve made it clear that you don�t think much of my intelligence. The
insults had gradually become more common and more pointed in the last few
weeks, though, really, Draco was only doing marginally better in the group
fighting sessions.

�� Now, why
don�t I believe you?� Dearborn
said, softly but with steel beneath the tones. �Look me in the eye and say
that.�

�� Auror
Jones will be upset if I�m late for Conduct, sir,� Harry said, and picked up
the last of his books, turning towards the classroom door.

�� Impedimenta.�

�� Harry
tripped and went down. He held his breath in; he wouldn�t show Dearborn that he�d banged
his left arm on the ground and it hurt for
the world. Now he knew why the man had reminded him of Snape. He was a bully.

�� He began to
pick up his books again, while Dearborn
stepped close to him. From the low, cold tone of his voice, he was no longer
amused or in anything like a gentle mood. �Holding such information to yourself when it may concern the safety of numerous others
is a mistake, Trainee Potter. You must see that. If you are reluctant to trust
me because you are reluctant to trust anyone, remind yourself of what I wear.�
He thrust his arm under Harry�s nose. Harry could make out the faint shimmer of
the glamour that concealed the jade bracelet. �I took the Veritaserum.
The bracelet would warn you if I was infected by Nihil.�

�� Harry
hesitated, in an agony, and not just because of his arm. He�d made stupid
decisions in the past, like running off to the Forbidden Forest
alone. Maybe Dearborn
was right and they should tell someone about this. And Dearborn was Draco�s favorite teacher. Draco
was a better judge of character than Harry. If he thought it was all right to
trust him, then surely it had to be all right, didn�t it?

�� Harry.�

�� Draco�s
voice spoke from the door. Harry lifted his head and gave him a small smile.
�Hullo.�

��

�� What are
you still doing here? You know that we have Conduct in a few minutes, and we do
have to be there, though of course the material isn�t as fascinating as what we
learn in Auror Dearborn�s class.�

�� Draco�s
words sounded exasperated and chiding on the surface. When Harry stood, however,
he could see the way Draco�s head was angled and the sharpness of his gaze�as
well as the way his hand swayed lazily back and forth above the fold in the
left side of his robes where his wand was concealed. He looked at Dearborn much more than he
did at Harry.

�� Warmed and
supported by the way that Draco stood there, Harry
nodded and forced himself to his feet. �I had a bit of an accident,� he said.
�Auror Dearborn was helping me up.�

�� I see.�

�� Harry
shuddered lightly. Those words didn�t sound important, unless you knew Draco
the way he did. They blew up his spine like a cold wind.

�� Draco was angry.

�� From the
way Dearborn
suddenly stilled next to Harry�he�d been reaching out a hand as though he meant
to help him rise to his feet�he knew it, too. He retracted his hand a moment
later and moved away, clearing his throat.

�� I trust
that I do not need to remind you, Auror Malfoy, of what could happen if the
information that you are undoubtedly discovering through your private
investigations fell into the wrong hands,� Dearborn said, when Harry had risen and
picked his way over to stand by Draco in the doorway.

�� No, sir.� Draco still sounded angry. He moved so that he
partially shielded Harry from Dearborn.
�And if we discover anything important, then we will be sure to guard it
particularly well from enemies.�

�� Harry hoped
Draco was looking into Dearborn�s
eyes when he said that. At least that ought to satisfy the bastard�s desire for
�truth.� Draco was the kind of liar who could meet someone�s gaze and still
deceive them.

�� Very
good,� Dearborn
said in a distant voice. �If you would move out of the way now, so that my next
class can enter.�

�� Harry
walked beside Draco towards Auror Conduct. It was hard, because Draco�s rage
made his footsteps quick. He waited only until they were in a side corridor by
themselves before he caught Harry�s arm and leaned towards him.

�� Did he
hurt you?� he whispered, his hand caressing Harry�s arm.

�� Harry
looked up into his eyes and smiled despite himself. Draco looked as protective
as Harry could have wished Ron or Hermione to look. He covered the stroking
hand with his own and shook his head. �No. He was demanding answers, and then
he tripped me when I tried to leave.� He moved his arm back, only to realize
when it hit stone that they�d been standing closer to the wall than he thought.
He hissed in pain as the bruise on his left arm was pummeled again.

�� Draco�s
hands were on his arm in an instant, drawing back the sleeve. Harry looked down
and blinked. The bruise was more impressive than he�d thought it would be,
extending in brilliant shades down from his elbow almost to his wrist.

�� Liar,�
Draco breathed, crowding close. He was standing taller than normal, straining
his shoulders and his neck as if he thought he had to make himself bigger and
thus protect Harry from an enemy on the other side of him. �How did you get this, if he didn�t hurt you?�

�� I fell and
hit my arm on the floor,� Harry said, rolling his eyes and trying to pull free.
Draco held on. Harry relaxed with a sigh. He reckoned he couldn�t blame Draco
for being overprotective, when Harry had done things that risked his safety
before. �So you could say that Dearborn�s
tripping jinx caused it, but no more than that. He was probably frustrated with
me.�

�� I�ve never
heard you defend him before.� Draco�s voice had eased a bit, as had his grip on
Harry�s arm, but he didn�t seem inclined to move back. Harry tugged on his arm
and raised an eyebrow. That tightened Draco�s grip again. �Why are you doing it
now?�

�� Because
he�s your favorite teacher,� Harry said, �your mentor. And he didn�t do anything to me, Draco. A
tripping jinx, but that�s nothing worse than some of the things Snape used to
do. Will you let me go now?� He could feel his ears burning. Yes, in one way it
was very pleasant to have this much of Draco�s attention, but on the other
hand, they were in a corridor where anyone could come by any instant. Anyway,
Draco was worried over nothing.

�� Draco�s
fingers curled beneath his chin and tipped his head up. Harry started. Somehow,
he�d looked away from Draco�s face in the last few minutes and hadn�t even
realized it. He was more than willing to look up again, and he tried for a
mixture of defiance and exasperation.

�� The
expression Draco looked at him with melted the exasperation away. He was
staring into Harry�s eyes as though he had discovered something new there, some
new color or vision. Harry cleared his throat pointedly, and still Draco didn�t
move. Harry didn�t think he�d blinked, either.

�� I�m tired
of thinking about Nihil,� Draco whispered, �and about
your friends�who weren�t very positive about my trying to approach them without
you, anyway�and about the instructors. We have another week before we can prove
Granger and Weasley to be trustworthy. I want to spend them doing something
else.�

�� Harry
opened his mouth to ask what that was, and Draco lowered his head and showed
him.

�� The kiss
was more intense than any of the others, so intense that Harry felt as though
it had frozen rather than melted him at first. Draco�s tongue moved fast,
sweeping into his mouth, and his hands locked behind Harry�s neck. Small sounds
worked their way out of his throat, but Harry couldn�t tell what they meant.

�� He worked
past his stunned astonishment in a minute and actually forced Draco to step
back a bit with the pressure of his return kiss. He curled his fingers into
Draco�s hair, tugging at it, and kicked his legs further open so that Draco was
standing splayed and uncomfortable and Harry could move closer still. Then he
moved Draco back, step by awkward step, until he was against the far wall of
the corridor.

�� There he
could get purchase and leverage to really take control of the kiss. Draco
fought, making Harry cough sometimes with how fiercely he pushed his tongue,
but for the most part he was the one who moaned when Harry�s fingers dug into
his shoulders, and the one who shifted his knees apart with a shudder when
Harry�s thigh insisted on parting them, and the one who gasped breathlessly
when Harry pressed forwards again and began to rub.

�� Do�do you
know what you�re doing?� he whispered, wrenching his mouth free somehow.

�� No,� Harry
gasped, watching the way Draco�s eyes widened and rolled and his fingers slid
like rain down Harry�s shoulders and to his arms, �but I like the way it makes
you look.�

�� Draco shook
and tilted his head back, teeth clenched on his tongue as if to keep noises
from coming out. Harry didn�t like that, so he began the kiss again, and
Draco�s teeth and tongue moved to respond. Harry chuckled, and Draco heard him
and started the fight again, wrapping a leg around Harry�s waist and pulling
him closer so that their rubbing contest was more even.

�� Trainees.�

�� Harry
leaped away from Draco with a squawk; he felt as though a bucket of cold water
had been dumped on them. He turned around, panting, to see Auror Portillo Lopez
behind them with a raised eyebrow. Her face was pale instead of red the way he
would have expected to see.

�� She
examined Draco, and then him, as if trying to determine who was more
responsible for this catastrophe. Then she said, �I will require your
attendance tonight as I make Blood-Replenishing Potion, trainees. Eight-o�clock, in my office. Do not be late.� When she
turned to stalk away, Harry thought he�d seen faces that were less eloquent
than her back.

�� Draco
hissed under his breath and fumbled his hair back into some sort of order.
Harry cleared his throat and glanced at him. He tried his best to keep his eyes
away from Draco�s groin, he really did, but the outline of Draco�s erection
sent a thick pulse of satisfaction through him.

�� Sorry,� he
managed to say.

�� Draco
tilted his head. �Maybe it�s for the best,� he said. �We are expected in Auror Conduct.�

�� Harry
lifted his head high. �Does that mean that you regret doing it, then?�

�� Draco was
suddenly close to him, touching his throat with gentle fingers, his face with
heated eyes.

�� Not for a
moment.�

�� Harry was
so flushed when they sat down in Hestia�s class that
Hermione asked him with some concern if he was sick.

*

�� I know you
don�t like Draco that much,� Harry said, �but I do, and I think that should count for something.�

�� Draco
looked at Harry with quiet pride. They were meeting in Weasley�s rooms, which
were the most private now that Harry had moved out and joined him. Weasley had
insisted on that, and had sat with his arms folded since the meeting began,
while Granger sat in a chair at the table and took notes.

�� The meeting
had started badly, with Weasley giving Draco all sorts of insults that only a
Weasley would think clever and Granger alternating between trying to calm him
down and looking at Draco with suspicious eyes. Then Harry had leaned forwards
and insisted on making them listen to him.

�� He would make a finer leader than he knows, Draco
thought, his eyes running over Harry�s face, if he would only stop doubting and distrusting himself so much.

�� The thought
of what else was fine about Harry made him flush, and he hastily turned his
thoughts back to the conversation.

�� But
Harry,� Weasley said, while his face turned an unattractive red color, �how do
we know that he�s really changed? How do we know that he won�t call Hermione a
Mudblood tomorrow just because he wants to?�

�� Shall we
ask him?� Harry asked with bright brittleness that should have warned his
friends, and turned towards Draco. �Do you feel that way about them?�

�� I think I
can manage to refrain from insulting your friends,� was all Draco had time to
say, before Weasley plunged in again.

�� How can we
trust him when he says that?�

�� Harry
whipped back towards Weasley, jaw clenched and one fist hitting the table with a shock that caused even Granger to jump. �The same way
I trusted you when you said that you would stop interfering between me and
Ginny,� he said in a low, dangerous tone. �I didn�t ask to read your mind. I�m
not even asking you questions under Veritaserum�yet. I want you to accept his word.�

�� For his sake?� Granger spoke for the first time, shooting
Draco a dark glance.

�� No,� Harry
said. �For mine.�

�� That has them, Draco thought, sitting
back with a small smile. That plays on
their Gryffindor guilt complexes. For Granger and Weasley were exchanging
glances, and although Granger still looked distrustful when they turned back,
and Weasley anxious, they both mustered weak smiles for him.

�� If you insult
me,� Granger said to Draco, barely moving her lips, �the bargain�s off.�

�� I
understand,� Draco murmured back. �Simply know that it applies both ways.�

�� He turned to
Harry, who was taking out a parchment with the information written on it that
they had decided was safe for Weasley and Granger to know until they could
retrieve the Veritaserum. Harry�s face was flushed
and happy, and he�d already started talking willingly about his fits to
Weasley�something he would have withheld only a short time ago.

�� He can do anything he wants if he sets his
mind to it, Draco thought, with a complacency he would never have imagined
possible when contemplating Harry Potter�s power.

�� That was before I stood at his side.

*

�� Come in.�

�� Harry took
a deep breath as he led the way into Portillo Lopez�s office. He wasn�t looking
forwards to making Blood-Replenishing Potion, though he had to think that Portillo Lopez would have Draco do most of the
brewing. Harry�s bad brewing skills were already legendary throughout the
Ministry.

�� Portillo
Lopez turned around from a table already covered with ingredients when she saw
them. She nodded at them both and cast two spells. One Harry knew locked the
door, but the other broke over them like a shower of fine mist and left him spluttering.

�� Your
pardon,� said Portillo Lopez, �but I had to be sure that you were who you
appeared to be.� She stepped forwards. Her eyes looked intense and brilliant
under her head-scarf, itself green and gold. �There is no one else I would
trust with this information save the two who brought it to my attention.

�� The
infection in the magic of several trainees that I had discovered has vanished.�
She tapped her fingers together sharply. �As if Nihil�s corruption of them has ceased. And other
small signs I had noted of his presence in the Ministry are gone as well.�

*

�� Review
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