Adult-FanFiction.org : Harry Potter

Practicing Liars	By : Lomonaaeren Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Harry/Draco Views: 63257 -:- Recommendations : 2 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter and I am not making any money from this story.

Chapter List
- 43
- 44
- 45
Thank you again for all the reviews!

Chapter Forty-Four�Pinning
Dumbledore Down

�� Was it
awful, mate?� Seamus asked the question with a sympathetic look in his eyes, as
if he knew that his imagination couldn�t create a reality one half as horrid as
what Harry had experienced.

�� Dean
snorted and lobbed an apple at Seamus�s head. They were in the Great Hall for
dinner, the first meal Harry had attended with his friends in five days. Snape
hadn�t thought he was safe to come out until then. �Don�t be stupid, Seamus. Of
course it was awful, and we don�t need to ask questions if Harry doesn�t want
to answer them.� He nodded to Harry and patted him on the shoulder. �I�m sure
he�s heard enough insults to last him ten lifetimes.�

�� Thanks,�
Harry mumbled, meanwhile trying to identify why his stomach was churning and why
he felt unable to meet anyone�s eyes. Then he knew. He felt bad for Snape. He
wanted to say that it hadn�t been that bad, defend Snape, but his friends would
never believe that�except if Harry told them the secret that would get back to
Voldemort if it was released into the whole of the school. There might even be
Death Eaters in Gryffindor, for all Harry knew. Peter Pettigrew had been like
that, so it wasn�t impossible.

�� He hadn�t
known it would be this hard, to go from Snape�s care to his friends. When he
was in bed, especially when he was bored or when Snape was telling him to sleep
for the sixtieth time that day, Harry had been lonely and longed to see them
again.

�� Now he
would have liked to shut the door of Snape�s quarters and listen to yet another
reminder about how he should rest or not strain his eyes when he read or drop
crumbs everywhere.

�� Can you get addicted to having a parent? he
thought wistfully as he bit into an apple of his own and felt the juice trickle
down his chin. There wasn�t anyone to scold him about that, since Hermione was
busy with Ron. And with such a short
exposure, too?

�� He caught
Draco watching from across the room, and nodded to him when he thought no one
was looking. A nod might be safe. A nod could say We�ll settle this later or Remember
we have that private duel that the professors don�t know about. A blown
kiss or a wink or a smile didn�t carry those meanings.

�� Draco looked
as sullen as Harry felt�or maybe he was just trying to play his part extra well�before
he turned back to his food. Harry took a deep breath.

�� I want everything settled. I want Voldemort
gone and the Death Eaters under arrest so that I can be with my boyfriend and
my dad and things can be normal.

�� Then Harry
blinked, because that state of things was hardly �normal.� Just a month ago, he
would have thought normal was having Ron and Hermione talking to him every
minute of the day, and wondering about Voldemort, and obsessively studying his
Defense spellbooks, and trying to keep his secret.

�� He hadn�t
known, then.

�� Yes, it�s addictive.

�� Harry, can
we talk to you?�

�� Harry
glanced up. Hermione had finished scolding Ron, and she seemed to understand
that Harry wasn�t about to finish his meal in any real fashion. She smiled
sympathetically at him, but there was a kind of steel behind his smile that
made Harry decide it would be good to agree.

�� Yeah,� he
said, and stood up and wandered away from the table with her, Ron coming right
behind them. At least there was nothing unusual in that.

�� Even if I kill Voldemort, then people still
aren�t going to take it well. And I�d have a year and a half here at Hogwarts to
hear nasty taunts and get the stares and have people mutter about how the
Slytherins are corrupting me. Do I want that?

�� The answer
was no more than a breath away, and Harry didn�t have to search for it.

�� Yes, as long as they�re all right with it. I
want them both.

�� Hermione
took them almost all the way up to Gryffindor Tower, probably because she
thought no one would venture that far while dinner was going on. Then she faced
him and cast a diagnostic charm. Harry blinked at her, wondering if she thought
he had some kind of sickness from his stay in Snape�s rooms. He never knew what
Hermione would think of next.

�� Good,�
Hermione said, relaxing. �You don�t have any mind-controlling potions in your
system or any curses on you that should prevent free action, including the
Imperius Curse.�

�� Is that what you thought?� Harry didn�t
bother controlling the fury in his voice, because he thought Hermione should
have got past this by now. Draco had told him about the things Snape had said
to Hermione, and the things she�d said back. �I stayed with him of my own free
will. I needed a holiday.�

�� I know,
Harry.� Hermione raised one hand, and she really did look sorry, which was the
only thing that kept Harry from trying to continue the row. �But if I didn�t
test, I wouldn�t be sure, and there
would always be a nagging little doubt in the back of my head that kept me from
believing you. This way, I�m sure.� She looked at the floor. �And I�m sorry.�

�� Harry
calmed down, and made himself remember that these were his best friends, and
that he had kept secrets from them
for an awfully long time. Maybe the secret hadn�t been as personal for them as
it was with Snape, but it was still a kind of betrayal of trust. He nodded. �All
right. Now, did something happen that you wanted to talk to me about?�

�� Hermione
smiled at him wistfully. Ron stepped forwards and took Harry�s wrist, squeezing
almost hard enough to hurt.

�� We just
missed you, mate,� he said. �We wanted to spend time with you. Isn�t that all
right?�

�� Of course,�
Harry said, relaxing. That did sound
wonderful. He�d missed his friends, and if there was no one trying to kill him
at the moment, then he wouldn�t have to be constantly ready to fight.

�� In the end,
they went out to the Quidditch Pitch and flew. Well, Ron and Harry flew, while
Hermione hovered nervously a few inches off the ground and tried to lecture
them on the time that the Headmaster of Hogwarts banned Quidditch because it
was too dangerous. That turned out to be the one part of Hogwarts, a History Ron had actually read, and he and Hermione
bickered comfortably about whether it was a stupid idea, Hermione maintaining
that it wasn�t because it was a matter of principle, and Ron maintaining it was
because of how messily that Headmaster�s students had killed him.

�� Harry
listened, and was happy.

*

�� It�s no
good, Severus. He insists on speaking to either you or Mr. Potter.� Minerva
sipped from her tea again and gave him a direct look. �Are you sure you won�t
tell me why Harry prefers to avoid him right now?�

�� Severus grimaced.
He was once again sitting in Minerva�s office, but he was less confident this
time around. He didn�t know how hard Minerva had pushed the old man. What if
she had done less than was necessary, simply because she didn�t know the
stakes? On the other hand, explaining the truth would take too long, and she
would probably need multiple explanations and demonstrations, perhaps even
Veritaserum, before she would believe it.

�� And then
another person would know the secret. Severus was already uneasy with how far
the truth had spread. He would prefer that no one else knew until the Dark Lord�s
death had made secrecy less important. Even then, he would only speak because there
was no other way that Harry would be able to live with him.

�� An edited version of the truth would be
best, he decided, and met Minerva�s eyes at last. She considered him with
quiet seriousness, and he suddenly realized that she had left him alone for a much
longer time than he would have thought. Perhaps she at least suspected there
was something serious behind this, rather than simply the reluctance of a small
boy or a sour professor.

�� Mr. Potter
learned that Dumbledore had kept something from him,� Severus said. �Something
concerning the events of last year.� That was similar enough to the truth that
he could speak it with a sincere voice, and yet far enough away that Minerva
should look in the wrong direction if she decided to do her own investigations.
�More, he learned that he might have been able to�use this information if he
had it.� There. Now Minerva should
assume that it had something to do with Black�s death, and perhaps with the
idea, mentioned by several members of the Order, that Black could have remained
alive behind the Veil for a short time. �He has not forgiven Albus for holding
that back. I have spoken with Albus to try and determine his motives for this
secrecy, and while he has confessed them, they do not satisfy me.� It was not at
all hard to growl those words. �And now Albus is trying to use this information
about the Dark Lord to seek a reconciliation with Harry without offering an
apology. I do not think he should be allowed to get away with that.�

�� Minerva cocked
her head backwards. �Well,� she said. �I never thought I would see the day when
Severus Snape cared so much for Harry Potter.�

�� I care so
little for Albus Dumbledore,� Severus said, his tone full of disdain. He
paused, and then added, as if persuaded against his will, �Though I must admit
the boy�s Defense skills are considerably greater than I thought they were.�

�� Minerva
gave him a smug look. Again, she seemed to accept his words as the truth, and
there was an additional motive for her to do so here, since she had been
informed of the way that Harry had rescued Severus from Cravens. She would think
that Severus felt the force of his life-debt to Harry but didn�t want to
acknowledge it.

�� I tried
with Albus,� she said. �I did,� she
added, when Severus snorted despite himself. �He would not give up the information.
He said it was something he could allow only Harry to hear, and no one before
then, because they would not agree with the timing of the battle. I�m afraid
there may be no alternative but for Harry to meet with him.�

�� Severus
shut his eyes. They needed the exact date of the battle so that they could
decide on a battle plan�one that would not be under Dumbledore�s control. And
while he did not want Harry to spend any time with Dumbledore ever again, he
was prudent enough to acknowledge that the Headmaster was less dangerous than
the Dark Lord.

�� Would you
ask if he will see us both together?� he asked. �Mr. Potter and I.�

�� Silence.
When he looked to see the cause of it, Minerva was staring at him in
astonishment. She shook her head slightly, eyes wide and questioning. �You are
doing more for Mr. Potter than seems�strictly necessary,� she said.

�� There is a
reason for that,� Severus said, gambling. �One that has to do with how he saved
my life and the time we spent in private. But I cannot reveal it to you without
his permission.�

�� Though
Minerva continued to look mystified, she nodded again. �I will ask Albus,� she
said. Then she sighed. �It is so hard to
know whether he is keeping this information from us for good reasons or because
of his own love of mystery. He�s older and wiser than anyone of us.�

�� Older, I
will grant you,� Severus said.

�� Minerva
raised an eyebrow at him. �I thought you had your own faith in his wisdom, once
upon a time.�

�� Last
summer, I still did,� Severus said.

�� Minerva
waited until she seemed sure he would say no more, then nodded in what looked
like resignation. �As you will, Severus. I will ask him.�

*

�� Harry
watched Professor McGonagall sit next to Snape at dinner and whisper to him
with uneasiness. He didn�t know why. Maybe it was because he rarely saw those
two particular professors talking together, even though he knew they did, since
it was McGonagall Snape had told him to summon after that confrontation with
Cravens.

�� Maybe it
was the way they both looked at him after McGonagall gave whatever bit of news
she had to Snape.

�� Harry
wondered if he should glare, or look accepting, or nod back. In the end, he did
nothing except turn back to his dinner and pick at it. Even though he was free
now to eat all the desserts that Snape had forbidden him while he was �recovering,�
they didn�t look appetizing.

�� Mate?�

�� Harry looked
up with a weak smile. Ron and Hermione were both watching him, and Ron looked
up at the high table as if he thought Snape was to blame for Harry�s loss of
appetite. Harry shook his head, muttered something about not being hungry, and
pushed his plate away, hurrying out of the Great Hall.

�� He walked around
corners and up staircases almost at random, until he was on the third floor,
and leaned against the wall not far from a bathroom. When he shut his eyes, he
could see the glittering Entwining Potion in its vial, and his muscles twinged
with what felt like a distant echo of its pain.

�� There�s something else I have to do, I
think, and I won�t like it.

�� Harry?�

�� It was
Draco�s voice. Harry didn�t pause to think about whether they were in a
sufficiently hidden place, or whether Draco had been noticed when he followed
Harry from the Great Hall. The only thing that mattered was that Draco wouldn�t
have called him by his first name if there was anyone around to overhear.

�� He stuck
out his arm, grabbed Draco�s robes, and dragged him into his embrace. Draco
made a muffled sound, then hugged him back and sighed into the side of his
neck.

�� What�s
wrong?� he whispered.

�� Harry had
to laugh at that, because his answer would sound so stupid. �Nothing, yet,� he
said, and hugged Draco until he could feel Draco gasping. Then he loosened his
hold and finally opened his eyes. Draco peered back at him from so close that
Harry had to blink and squint to see his expression of concern. �Just the way
Snape and McGonagall looked at me a few minutes ago. I think he sent her to
find something out, and she did, and now I�ll have to do something else unpleasant.�

�� Draco was
silent for some time, looking so thoughtful that Harry wondered if he already
knew what the awful thing was and was trying to spare Harry�s feelings. Harry
was quite ready to wait until someone was up to telling him. He let his hand
rest on the back of Draco�s head instead, and watched his throat. He wanted to
bite it, but they weren�t in a private enough place�especially since he could
already feel himself hardening against Draco�s groin. He shifted in
embarrassment.

�� Draco
grinned at him and surged forwards a little. Harry gasped, which gave Draco a
chance to kiss him. Harry responded eagerly, dragging his hands up so that
strands of Draco�s hair fell through his fingers. Fuck privacy, then. He nipped
Draco�s neck, the way he�d wanted to, and started to drag off his shirt.

�� Wait,
wait,� Draco panted, and drew back just as things were starting to get
interesting. Harry whined at him, and Draco looked extraordinarily smug, but he
didn�t back down. �No, Harry, I know it�s hard, but listen to me.�

�� It�s hard
in more than one way,� Harry muttered sulkily, and fell silent, waiting to hear
this all-important pronouncement.

�� Draco
snickered at him, and gasped to catch his breath before he could continue. At
least Harry could take pride in his pink cheeks and the way his hands were
tight on Harry�s shoulders, letting go and then closing down to massage again,
as though he could hardly bear not to be touching Harry.

�� Snape said
something the other day that makes me think I know what this is about,� Draco
said.

�� Harry frowned.
�Why didn�t I hear this?�

�� You were
asleep,� Draco said, giving him what Harry had come to recognize over the past
week as his you invalid look.

�� Harry
rolled his eyes. �Go on.�

�� He said
that he�d gone to McGonagall for help because he didn�t know who else to trust,�
Draco said, and, as Harry felt his eyebrows rise, �Yeah, I don�t know why he
can trust the old cat, either, but apparently he can. He said that it was about
�the old man.� There aren�t many candidates for who that can be.�

�� He didn�t
make you promise not to tell me, did he?� Harry asked. The last thing he wanted
was for Draco to get in trouble with Snape. It didn�t matter how helpful Snape
had been about the Entwining Potion or how well he�d taken care of Harry; he
would still give our dreadful punishments if he thought he had to.

�� Draco shook
his head. �He was muttering to himself, and he didn�t know I�d overheard. I was
helping him with a potion. It was unusual. I�ve never heard him talk to himself
like that before.�

�� Oh.� Harry
stood there, now that his worry about Draco was assuaged, absorbing the content
of the message.

�� Harry,�
Draco said gently, �you�re hurting me.�

�� Harry
started and released Draco�s shoulder. �Sorry,� he mumbled. He thought about it
for a little more, then volunteered, �I really
don�t want to see Dumbledore again.�

�� I know,�
Draco said. �But he has knowledge we need, and at this point, I don�t think we�ll
convince him to just write us a nice letter where he sets out everything we
need.�

�� Harry
laughed in spite of himself at the thought of that, it was so far from anything
he could imagine Dumbledore doing.

�� There.�
Draco smoothed the hair away from his scar, giving him a tender smile. �I
missed hearing that sound.�

�� Would you
like to show me what other sounds you missed?� Harry murmured, and Draco�s
smile evaporated in a grunt. Harry moved his leg back into position and leaned forwards
to kiss Draco.

�� Ahem.�

�� Harry
promptly felt as if he would burn up in embarrassment. He knew that voice, and it was one that he didn�t want to imagine
anywhere near him and Draco while they were snogging. He shut his eyes, drew
gently back from Draco, dropped his foot to the ground, and rotated to face the
direction the voice had come from. Only then did he open his eyes.

�� McGonagall
stood in front of Snape, who was watching Draco with a thunderous frown. Harry
wanted to laugh at that. Snape looked as if he thought that Draco had been
taking advantage of Harry�s virtue or something. If anything, it was the other
way around.

�� Harry
resolved to say that to Snape, assuming he could think of a non-embarrassing
way to say it. Or assuming that this blush didn�t kill him.

�� Mr.
Potter, Mr. Malfoy,� McGonagall said with biting gentleness, �I think you are
both old enough to understand the rule about snogging in the corridors.�

�� Don�t do
it,� Draco said, and gave her an innocent look. �But now we aren�t snogging,
Professor.�

�� Harry
blinked at him. He couldn�t believe Draco was acting this brave in front of the
Head of Gryffindor, someone whom he had once confessed to Harry terrified him.
But Draco gave him a bright glance, and Harry understood. I make him brave.

�� McGonagall
cleared her throat and said, �As that may be,� but her eyes said I won�t forget this. �The Headmaster has
asked to see you, Mr. Potter.�

�� Harry
swallowed, and hoped that the fluttering pulse at his throat wasn�t visible to
anyone else.

�� But,�
McGonagall added, and her voice had softened, �he has said that Professor Snape
may come with you.�

�� Harry shot
Snape a quick glance. Does she know? he
tried to ask with his face.

�� Snape returned
a reassuring look, the exact message of which Harry couldn�t quite make out,
but which was enough to do its intended task. He took a deep breath and straightened.

�� I�ll go,
then,� he said. �As long as Professor Snape comes with me.�

�� What about
me?� Draco asked. �Are you leaving me here?� His voice was unpleasant with
something Harry hoped was indignation rather than fear or relief.

�� Harry put
his hand on Draco�s arm and glanced at McGonagall. She raised her eyebrows. �I
have only secured permission for one companion,� she said. �I do not know that
the Headmaster would see you if you came with two.� Her voice conveyed her own
disgust at that, and Harry was a little bit cheered to know that, no matter
what she knew, McGonagall was on their side.

�� Harry gave
Draco�s arm a comforting rub and said, �Stay here for now. Please,� he added,
when Draco opened his mouth.

Draco nodded sulkily and leaned
against the wall. �But I�m going to count the minutes,� he whispered to Harry. �If
you aren�t out of there in one hour, then I�ll come in.�

�� Harry
hugged him quickly, irrespective of professors watching them, and then slipped
out into the corridor. Behind his back, where McGonagall couldn�t see, Snape
gave him a quick, fierce touch on the shoulder.

�� That made
Harry ready to go as nothing else could have done.

*

�� Albus stood
alone in the center of his office when the moving staircase admitted them. He
was reading a book and smiling gently. The smile startled Severus. He had not
seen Albus look like that in quite some time.

�� When he saw
them, the smile remained, but the Headmaster did set the book reverently aside
on a table. Fawkes, on his perch and currently in the middle of his growth
cycle, ruffled his feathers at them and crooned, then flew over to greet Harry.
Severus could see that surprised his son. Harry raised a hand and hesitantly
touched the phoenix�s crest. Fawkes nuzzled his cheek before he soared back to
his perch and twisted his head to watch Dumbledore with a bright eye.

�� Thank you
for coming, my dear boys.� Albus�s smile had vanished, but there was a dignity
and nobility in his face that Severus had missed of late. �First of all, I
apologize for keeping this information from you.� He looked directly at Harry. �I
did it for what I thought was a good reason�because if you heard the plan,
Harry, you might refuse to let it go ahead. I hinted and hoped that you would
figure it out on your own. In hindsight, that must have seemed infuriatingly mysterious
rather than a mark of respect.�

�� It
certainly was,� Severus said, putting a hand on Harry�s shoulder and holding
him back slightly so that Harry wouldn�t feel a need to respond. �Your good
reasons have been mostly based on fear.�

�� Yes,�
Albus said, without an attempt at defending himself, which again caught Severus
off-guard. That made him the more suspicious. What is he playing at? �I had to overcome my fear, of many things,
before I could decide that it would be best to reveal the plan to you. And even
then, I thought you might not believe me without evidence. So.� His smile
returned, sad this time. �The evidence.�

�� He murmured
what sounded like a countercharm, and a sharp smell filled the room. Severus
stiffened. It was the smell of rotting flesh.

�� Albus
pulled back the sleeve of his robe.

�� The skin
around his wrist was dark and discolored, a black-green color that Severus had
never seen before on skin in a natural state. It did not take him long to
recognize the mark that the ring, the first Horcrux, had left on Albus�the mark
Severus had been certain was healed.

�� I have
been wearing this glamour for months now,� Albus said, turning his hand back
and forth and looking at it with a certain amount of relief, as if he were glad
to see it the way it should look rather than under illusion. �And, of course, I
did not want to cancel it, because my magic is weakening and I was not sure I
could restore it.�

�� Severus was
too much stunned to say anything, even though he knew the weakness was a pretense,
but Harry spoke, his voice trembling with distress. �Professor, are you��

�� Yes.�
Albus looked at them calmly. �I am dying. Tom has his revenge for my decision
to disturb his Horcruxes, after all. And it has grown worse with each one I
destroyed.� He smiled at Harry. �I have made my decision. I made it completely
once I knew that the Horcrux was gone from you, Harry, but I think it was
half-made before then, hence my hints. I am dying,� he repeated. �And Voldemort
grew as great as he did in the first place because of mistakes that I made you
before either of you were born. It�s only right that I should be the one to
kill him.�

*

�� SP777:
Thanks! That�s a really good question.

�� polka dot:
Perhaps, but since Dumbledore didn�t tell them anything until this chapter,
they didn�t know if perhaps he was planning another way to sacrifice Harry.

�� k lave
demo: Thanks! Harry will continue to like Snape�s parenting as long as it doesn�t
go overboard.

�� DTDY:
Thanks. I think Harry isn�t ready for a more direct talk about the Dursleys
yet, but maybe later.

�� slashslut: Well,
I would be tempted to yell at Hermione for that charm, but she did apologize�

�� Madamdragon:
Thanks for reviewing.
- 43
- 44
- 45
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

Practicing Liars