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Flaw in the Blood	By : ColdWaterFairy Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Harry/Draco Views: 4290 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. I make no money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
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Over the next week I avoided Draco as best I could, which is to say hardly at all. We slept in the same room, had lessons together, and ate our meals at the same time. To avoid spending any more time with him than was necessary, I stuck close to Ron and Hermione. I couldn't do it for much longer, though; I could tell they were getting annoyed. I was cutting into their alone time.

After I finally emerged from the bathroom that night, Malfoy was asleep. I crawled into bed and stared at his sleeping form. I didn't know why he'd kissed me. Punishment seemed the most plausible reason. I had invaded his mind, seen some of his most private moments. Having settled the matter in my mind, I welcomed sleep.

The one upside to the situation was that when Tuesday rolled around, I was sufficiently desperate to keep Snape from seeing the kiss that I had developed a steely resolve. I didn't acknowledge Malfoy when I walked into the room. Snape hadn't arrived like I'd hoped. I was willing to risk being yelled at for being late more than risking being alone with Malfoy. I could feel his eyes on me. I tried not to cringe and give myself away. I was about to ask what his problem was when Snape walked in.

"Potter! In the chair."

I sat down, closed my eyes, took even breaths, and tried to clear my mind. I pushed my emotions aside as best I could and put up a barrier. As soon as I opened my eyes, Snape attacked.

"Legilimens!"

I forced myself to tamp down my glee when he hit my wall. That had never happened before. I felt him testing for weak spots, poking and prodding. I felt a twinge of pain. When he realized that my wall was strong enough to keep him from slipping through, he set about dismantling it. I fought against him, but it was useless. I could feel the sweat beading on my forehead and dripping down my back. After what I thought was an admirable amount of time, my wall crumbled and Snape was seeing my memories. I fought against the panic, knowing it would only lead to him seeing the memory. I focused on his presence in my head, and with all my energy I tried to push him out. He staggered when I evicted him, and his eyes narrowed as he contemplated me. I waited to see what he would do.

"Draco, switch places with Potter."

I was more than happy to leave the hotseat. I didn't worry about Malfoy giving away what had happened; he was much better at controlling his emotions than I was. I watched as Snape was able to bring down Malfoy's barrier time and time again, and I could see Snape's frustration with him. I thought smugly, Finally the favorite falls from grace. After one more attempt and failure, Snape snarled.

"Professor, please." Malfoy's voice was weak and pleading.

Snape sighed. "We're done here, Potter. You can leave."

My eyes darted to where Malfoy sat slumped to the side, a hand covering his eyes. It looked like he was struggling not to cry. I was happy to leave, but I was curious to know what was going on with him. I shut the door behind me but didn't move away. I heard movement followed by Malfoy's voice saying "No," followed by a moan, and then everything went silent. Someone had obviously cast a sound-muffling charm. I returned to our room.

Sitting on the edge of my bed, I thought about what I'd just heard. What was Malfoy saying no to? My mind conjured up images of Snape swooping towards Malfoy, whether to punish or something else...I didn't know. I really couldn't imagine Snape having sexual designs on a student; then again, I couldn't imagine Malfoy kissing me under any circumstance barring imminent death. I had no idea what Snape's sexual preference was; I'd never heard rumors one way or the other. A voice in my head whispered how perfect it would be for Snape if he was inclined toward his own gender. Malfoy was ideally situated to be taken advantage of. Surely Dumbledore would know if Snape had such proclivities, I reasoned.

I heard Hermione and Ron coming up the stairs. I wanted to ask Hermione her opinion, knowing she would tell me I was being ridiculous. I heard her giggle and then the wet sound of kissing. Eh, I'll just leave them to it, I decided.

"Might you two do us all a favor and keep such terrifying displays of affection behind closed doors?" drawled Malfoy. I inched towards the door. I hadn't heard him coming up the stairs.

"Bugger off, Malfoy."

"Oh, I'd like to, but seeing as you two are blocking the landing, it's rather hard."

I heard Hermione murmur something to Ron and then a door shutting. I swiftly moved back to sit on the bed, so as not to look like I had been eavesdropping. I tried to casually study Malfoy, but I guess I failed because he snapped, "What?"

"Nothing," I replied. His eyes were red and slightly puffy, as if he'd been crying, and his hair was tousled. When he turned around, I noticed his shirt was untucked in the back.

"What did Snape want?" Most likely he wouldn't tell me, but I thought I'd ask anyway.

Malfoy waved his hand dismissively. "He wanted to know why you were suddenly so much better—that, and he wanted to know why I was doing worse."

"Did you tell him?"

"Tell him what?" he hissed.

"That you were helping me." I didn't understand why he was so angry.

"No, I didn't tell him." When I frowned in confusion, Malfoy said quietly, "He would only use it against you." I wondered why he cared. I let the matter drop, but my suspicions would not go away.

The next morning found me distracted. There was a meeting that night, and I was sure that my progress would be discussed. My desire to be included was slowly burning away my common sense. I had to prove that I could take care of myself if I ever wanted to see the outside of this house before the final battle.

After I finished breakfast, I trudged off to Defensive Spells and Strategy. Ron and Hermione joined me today, but I ignored them and walked ahead of them and Malfoy. In true Moody fashion, a hex came hurtling towards me out of nowhere. I jumped to the side and instinctively threw out an arm and knocked Malfoy out of the way, too. Hermione was not so lucky and was hit by the Stinging Hex.

"Have you not been listening to me? Constant vigilance! Good job, Potter. That was just luck on your part, Malfoy. Miss Granger, I expected better. Maybe you should focus less on theory and more on the practical."

Hermione rubbed her side and kept her head down as she took a seat. Ron patted her back comfortingly. I sat down next to Malfoy, like I usually did. He quickly looked over at me and then away. I wondered if he was surprised that I was sitting with him after my careful avoidance of him the past few days. When I had thrown my arm out to protect Malfoy, his hands had come up to grip my arm for balance, and I felt branded. Why should his touch have such an effect on me? I focused on Moody instead of my disturbing question. Surprisingly, the real Moody was a lot like the fake one from fourth year in his teaching style: very hands-on.

"I think some of you have forgotten there is a war going on. I suggest you spend less time on books and sleep, and more on how to keep yourselves alive." His magical eye was whizzing around and finally stopped, pinned on Ron and Hermione.

I hid a smile behind my hand and looked at Malfoy; he was smiling too. As his eyes met mine, something strange occurred: we shared a moment, like friends. It startled me. He must have felt the same, because his eyes shifted downward, but his smile remained.

"Please pair up. I'm going to give you a layout and I want you to devise a strategy for entry."

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Ron trying to get my attention. I pretended not to see. Malfoy was my partner, had been from the first day of class. Part of me couldn't help feeling like Ron only wanted me because I knew what I was doing. Malfoy looked at me curiously and then smirked. I pretended not to see that, too. I seemed to be doing a lot of ignoring lately.

Moody set a floor plan in front of me, and I felt Malfoy lean closer to look. The layout of the house was pretty simple: one story, a front and back entrance, and a back yard leading into the woods.

"First we have to consider wards," I said.

Moody stomped over. "Let's pretend that wards aren't in play."

Malfoy mused, "If we're approaching this as a Death Eater safehouse, then we need to take into account that there will probably be people patrolling the perimeter, regardless of wards. Also, there would be at least one guard at each entrance. What?" He looked up, finally having noticed that I was staring at him.

"How do you know this?" I asked.

"It pays to be observant." When I continued to look at him, he sighed. "I was planning to escape before…."

"Okay, how many people usually patrol the outside?"

"At least two, and given the size of the house, I would say two is right."

"So we take out the perimeter. How do we take out the guards at the entrances?"

"We could Polyjuice one of us to look like the guard," he suggested.

I shook my head. "They might get injured when the dueling begins."

"What if we lure the guards away from their post and replace them with our own? Once inside, we set up Anti-Apparation wards and take out the guards at the other entrance."

"The Death Eaters would put up an Anti-Apparation ward first thing. One of the perks of having the Dark Mark is that it supersedes wards, so an Anti-Apparation ward wouldn't keep them there if they didn't want to be there. The important thing is to have everyone in place before going in—don't allow them any chance to touch their mark."

We finished mapping out what we would do once we had captured the Death Eaters. Malfoy came up with a truly brilliant escape plan, and I couldn't help but blurt out, "That's bloody genius!" He only smirked, but I noticed the hint of pink that came to his cheeks.

Moody was impressed with our strategy and said so. Ron and Hermione relied heavily on complicated spells and circumstances being in their favor. Needless to say, Moody ripped them to pieces. Hermione actually left class teary-eyed, and Ron was sullen. Moody clapped Malfoy on the back and told him he'd done well. I felt almost proud of him.

We all headed to the kitchen for a short break before our next class. I couldn't keep my eyes off of Malfoy. There had always been a sense of mystery about him, it was just that until now it had been overpowered by my blinding dislike of him. I knew he was aware of my interest, but he just smiled at me and went back to nibbling on a scone. Mrs. Weasley was asking him a question, and I couldn't help but look at his lips when he answered. I remembered how soft they had been pressed against mine. I stood up abruptly, kicking my chair over, and everyone looked at me.

"I—uh—I have to go…do something."

I exited quickly and went up to my room, or what used to be my room. It was our room now. Obviously I was losing it. I was having less than innocent thoughts about a boy. Draco Malfoy, to be exact. It wasn't right, it was sick, I was sick. Where was Ginny with her sexual frustration when you needed her? I probably just needed rest. Well, I wouldn't get any if I stayed in my room; Hermione and Mrs. Weasley would be all over me. I shuffled up a level to Sirius' room and knocked on the door. When Sirius answered, I walked in. He was sitting up in bed, reading.

"Harry," he greeted me.

"Hey, Sirius, do you mind if I crash here for a bit? I'm not feeling well, and I don't want to deal with Hermione and Mrs. Weasley."

"Of course, Harry." He pulled back the bed coverings in invitation. Once I was settled, Sirius moved to the chair by the window. I forced my mind into quietness and was lulled to sleep by the sound of turning pages. When I awoke Remus was standing over me, shaking me gently.

"Harry, the meeting is about to begin."

I made my way downstairs, bumping into a wall or two on the way. Yawning, I walked into the kitchen. Everyone was already gathered and had obviously been waiting for me to arrive. Remus took the open spot next to Sirius, which left me with no choice but to take the one between Snape and Malfoy. I listened drowsily as various Aurors gave reports on the corruption and deterioration of the Ministry.

Snape spoke next. When the issue of Voldemort wanting Malfoy back in the fold came up, I was wide awake.

"I fear the Dark Lord is beginning to mistrust me. If I don't show up with Draco, I'm not sure what he'll do. He's fixated on having the Malfoy heir."

Dumbledore stroked his beard. "Yes, this situation has to be handled with care."

Malfoy cleared his throat. "Sir, I think it would be best if returned with Professor Snape. It would safeguard his position in the inner circle, and it would give you another spy in V-V-Voldemort's ranks."

Both Snape and I had the same immediate reaction. "NO!"

"I'm of age, and it's my choice."

"Draco," Snape implored softly. "You don't know what you're getting yourself into. Your parents wouldn't want this for you."

"My parents are dead," Malfoy replied.

One of the Aurors stood. "You said it yourself, Snape. If you don't show up with the Malfoy brat, your position as a spy is in jeopardy. He says he wants to—then I say let him." I turned and looked at the Auror. I'm not sure what my face looked like, but people collectively leaned back when they saw my expression. The lights flickered and several glasses on a shelf broke. The Auror who had spoken put his hands up and sputtered, "I'm sorry."

I glanced at Snape and then focused on Dumbledore. "You can't honestly be considering letting him join?"

Dumbledore leaned back and steepled his fingers. "These are troubled times, Harry. We have to use every advantage handed to us. As much as I loathe taking Mr. Malfoy up on his offer, I don't see how we can refuse."

I stood up and slammed my fist on the table. "Bollocks!"

"Now, Harry, I understand you are upset. It is hard to see the bigger picture when you're in the moment. I don't relish making these hard decisions, but sometimes sacrifices have to be made for the greater good."

I sneered. "You pathetic excuse for a wizard." Angrily I shook off a hand that tried to restrain me. I ignored the cries that came at my outburst and left the kitchen. I felt my magic sparking off me; objects wobbled and lights flickered in my wake.

Once outside I took deep breaths and tried to control my shaking. Betrayal burned down my throat to my gut, like whiskey. Dumbledore wasn't the only one I was mad at, either. What the hell was Malfoy thinking? I understood that the pain of losing his parents had been the driving force behind his behavior lately, but I'd thought he was channeling it into fighting Voldemort, not into becoming a Death Eater and bowing to the man who'd murdered his family in cold blood. Malfoy hated Voldemort, maybe as much as I did, even. It just didn't make sense.

I was so trapped in my seething rage and resentment that I didn't notice Snape standing next to me until he spoke.

"Potter."

"Sir, if you're here to remark on my comment to the Headmaster, I really don't want to hear it."

Snape crossed his arms. "As much as I would enjoy putting you in your place, I don't disagree with what you said."

I turned, hope flaring in me. "Then take Draco somewhere and hide him. Don't let him take the Mark."

"Would you really want me to take away his free will like that? To keep him locked up against his wishes?"

I sighed and turned away. "No. It just feels too much like he's being fed to the wolves—or in this case, the red-eyed psychopath."

Snape's voice was the softest I had ever heard it. "You know better than anyone how cruel this war is—will be."

I reached out and grasped Snape's arm. "Please protect him." He made as if to respond, but I cut him off. "I know he's capable of taking care of himself physically; he's cunning and he'll do what he has to. What I mean is emotionally. He's sitting on the wall right now; he can either fall forward and land on his feet or fall backward and break. I don't want to see him broken."

Snape's eyes bored into mine. "Why do you care? You and Malfoy have been at each other's throats since you were both eleven."

"Because I do." The answer clearly didn't satisfy him, but he didn't press me.

I stayed outside until I was shivering from the cold. Malfoy was in our room when I returned. I didn't know whether to be upset or not. I grabbed my nightclothes and went to take a shower.
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Flaw in the Blood