Adult-FanFiction.org : Harry Potter

Love, Free as Air	By : Lomonaaeren Category: Harry Potter > Threesomes/Moresomes Views: 32703 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 2
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter and I am not making any money from this story.

Chapter List
- 4
- 5
- 6
Thank you again for all the reviews!

Chapter Five�Within
the Net

�� Harry
swore. He liked the way that his words sounded when he was a parrot, harsher
and sharper and breaking against the air as if he were more offended than he
actually was.

�� It was
small compensation. Either Snape and Malfoy had strengthened the wards
recently, or they were harder to break out of than into. Harry was trapped
against the net of magic that stretched above the garden, with no way to chop
through it.

�� Harry clung
to the thin lines of magical energy that marked the wards the same way he would
have clung to the bars of his cage and cautiously tested his beak on them. They
stung back and made him screech and shudder. That wasn�t the way to get out,
then.

�� He could
try to break through them the way he had when he came in, but he had only been
willing to do that in the first place because he was already wounded and had
thought for sure he�d found the Auror camp. The last thing he needed when he�d
finally healed enough from the singing to fly again was to weaken and burn
himself by breaking through these wards,
especially when he still didn�t know where the Auror camp was.

�� Now�

�� He dropped
from the wards and flew carefully around the garden, just under the net,
looking for the weakest place in it. But it seemed Snape didn�t know the theory
that said there should be one weak place in any net or cage where a desperate
prisoner could break through if they needed to. The wards were all the same
length and strength and thickness. Harry landed in a tree�after making sure
that it didn�t have a net of the same kind that had caught him last time�and
swore again.

�� I think
you�d be better served to come back inside.�

�� Harry
peered down. Malfoy stood beneath the tree, arms folded and grin steady as he
looked up. Harry thought about shitting on his face for spite, but doubted that
would really advance his cause.

�� Yeah, I
know that trick,� Harry said. �You don�t want to waste the effort gathering
Snape�s next batch of ingredients.�

�� Malfoy
shook his head. �I actually persuaded him to listen to reason, though it was
hard after you destroyed his lab,� he said. He paused. �Why did you do that?�

�� Because of
what he was doing to you,� Harry
said, with an agitated flap of his wings. He wanted to bite Snape just from
thinking about it, and he had to say the words, even though he doubted that
Malfoy would understand them. �You were so close to breaking free, and then you
gave up and fell back into his clutches. You�ll never escape them now. There�ll
always be some excuse, some reason to stay.�

*

�� Draco had
to bite his lip to keep from laughing. Did Potter realize how melodramatic he
sounded? Really, Severus�s clutches?
Who said that kind of thing anymore and meant it? Except transformed Gryffindors,
apparently.

�� I
appreciate you thinking of my safety,� he said. �But it�s for the best if you
come back in. I suggested that he was careless for not securing the lab�s wards
when he stepped out to�convince me, and he agreed. If he�s the one at fault,
then he won�t punish you as badly. Although you might have to put up with a day
or two of sulking.� He paused and lowered his eyelashes and let his voice
become reluctant. �And maybe there�s something to what you say, about my never
getting away from him without help. Will you come back in and try to remind me
of that if I start falling under his spell again?�

�� Potter
didn�t even seem to notice the pun. He stared down with his beak open instead,
and then cocked his head to the side. Draco remembered, distantly, that birds
needed to do that to see people better with one eye. It probably wasn�t a cute
gesture that Potter had invented just to make himself seem more bird-like.

�� Probably.

�� Draco was
proud of his appeal. It had some truth; he did want Potter to give him visions
of a better option. It was a guard against his becoming exactly what Potter
seemed to think he was, Severus�s little caged bird, who didn�t dare sing
without permission from him or spread his wings unless it was to fly on some chore
for him. If he had to leave, Potter was the one who would provide him with
encouragement.

�� But it was
also a lie, the best way to get Potter to return, by appealing to his
Gryffindor instincts. Best of all, he could talk about it that way if he
wanted, and Severus would simply discard it as more of his mad ramblings about
Draco not being valued or wanted enough.

�� Potter
hopped to a lower branch without taking his eyes from Draco. Then he turned his
head and picked at a feather in the middle of his back with a crackling,
rustling noise like flames. Draco settled on a stone bench beneath the tree and
watched him. If Potter intended to make him impatient, he would learn it took
more than that.

�� Putting up
with Severus�s indignities and ignorance for six years had taught Draco a lot
of patience.

�� Potter
finally turned around again and said, �Say I stay. Why should Snape help me?
There�s no reason for him to care about my presence the way you do.� Draco bit
his lip to stop himself from laughing. Perhaps he needed Potter to stay, but
that was a distance from saying he cared about
him, especially since he knew Potter wasn�t a pet bird he could confess
everything to without judgment. �There�s no reason for him to help me after I
destroyed his lab. That was one reason I was leaving. I didn�t want any help
from someone who�d done what he�d done to you, and that meant I didn�t have to
care about his lab.�

�� Draco
stared at him levelly. �I refuse to believe that you didn�t enjoy pulling his
books off the shelves, no matter what your motive for breaking into his lab in
the first place might have been.�

�� Potter
turned away to preen again, which Draco thought was an admission. Finally
Potter said, �Yes. Well. It doesn�t matter, because there�s no way that he
would ever agree to help me again, unless I apologized. Which I won�t.� He gave
Draco a challenging look.

�� There are
two reasons he should.� Draco held up his fingers and watched as Potter focused
on them. Do they look like carrot sticks
to him, I wonder? �First, as I said, he�s convinced that it was his own
carelessness that didn�t keep the lab safe from you. He takes things to heart
when they�re his own fault, and won�t blame you for that much. Second, he
enjoys the challenge. And there�s probably even a third reason. If you left in
the shape of a parrot, you could still have told other wizards about us.�

�� I
wouldn�t!� Potter squawked.

�� Forgive us
for not believing you without the Unbreakable Vow.� Draco rose to his feet and
held out a commanding arm. �Will you come back inside with me now? I�ll be
helping Severus with the potion, so I can at least promise that it won�t be
poison or an acid that melts your fathers or whatever else you�re afraid of.�

�� The word afraid seemed to go to Potter�s heart,
as Draco had thought it might. He fluttered down to Draco�s arm and stood there
with his feathers so fluffed out that he looked much bigger than he was. �I�ll
go with you,� he said. �And protect you from your own tendencies to surrender
to Snape.�

�� Draco
smiled temperately and carried him inside. Potter hopped up to his shoulder as
they went, and Draco adjusted to the weight without thinking of it.

�� I could almost miss not having him around as
a bird. On the other hand, if he�s an Animagus, then he could become a bird
again at any time once we have him back to human.

�� Then Draco
blinked. That thought argued that he was anticipating a longer association
between himself and Potter than the time needed to brew a potion could account
for.

�� Well, and why not? he decided a moment
later. If I need him around, then I�ll
hang onto him. Be nice enough to him, and he might speak a good word for me
once he goes back into the wider world. Or I might have to go with him.

�� The thought
made him feel as if he were ripping himself up by the roots. But then again, if
Severus was as hostile to him as all that, it was better to leave the cottage
before the soil grew poisonous.

�� That�s enough of plant metaphors, Draco
told himself as he opened the door of the cottage and marched inside, Potter
swaying on his shoulder and digging his claws deeper for balance. Draco winced
but put up with it. I�m a human being
with a heart and a will of my own.

�� Both Severus and Potter are going to find that
out.

*

�� I do not
understand why you agreed to come back inside.�

�� Severus
spoke the words in a neutral tone, keeping his gaze fixed on the potion in
front of him. His latest attempt to break the spell on Potter, it was a thick,
clear green, and bubbled and steamed in ways that made him sure he would come
closer to success than on any of his other tries. He added a bit of powdered
ruby and waited until the red color it added to the potion had cleared, then
glanced at Potter.

�� Potter
squatted on a perch next to the repaired window, looking out of it. He seemed determined
to ignore Severus�s question, but Severus thought, in truth, that he was simply
waiting to answer. Severus was more patient, however, and the silence in the
lab increased until Potter at last clicked his beak in irritation and turned
his head. Severus watched the bright green of his eyes and cursed himself for a
fool. He should have realized that no natural African grey would look like
that, and guessed at once that it was Potter.

�� Potter, who
was always finding a way into Severus�s life whether he was welcome or not.
Severus had imagined he was free of that after Albus died, and he had nearly
died�saved at the last moment because Draco had come back for him and known
what antivenin to use�and they had managed to leave the wizarding world. But of
course not. Potter was like a virus. You couldn�t leave him behind for the
wishing of it.

�� Just in
case you�re doing yourself the honor of thinking I came back in for you,�
Potter said stiffly, �I didn�t. It was for Malfoy�s sake.�

�� Severus
nodded as if he cared, while adding one more flake of ruby to the potion. It
turned and swirled, and then a bubble rose and popped on the brim of the
cauldron. Severus took a deep breath to master his excitement. Revealing it
would make Potter mock him, especially if this turned out to be another failed
attempt. �I knew that. But I assumed that you would accept no help from me at
all, someone whom you think makes him miserable, even if it is only in the
brewing of potions.�

�� Potter
snapped his beak again. �Why are we here alone?� he asked suddenly. �Where�s
Malfoy?�

�� Meditating,�
Severus said, with a sneer. He thought Draco�s newfound habit ridiculous,
especially since it consisted of sitting out in the garden and staring blankly
at the flowers. What is the difference in
that from what he was doing before? �He also said that he needed time alone
and wanted us to try and get along. He can�t always be here to defuse the
quarrels we may have.� He scooped up a drop of the potion in the nearest ladle
and held it to the light.

�� No. A shade too dark a green. Severus
was more glad than ever that he�d hidden his excitement as he returned the drop
to the cauldron and considered whether he could continue to use the potion or
should banish the ingredients that filled the cauldron instead. In the end, he
Vanished it and began to clean the inside of the cauldron with salt in
preparation for another trial.

�� He acts
sometimes as though we�ll live together for years,� Potter muttered. There was
another clicking noise as he shifted on the perch, and Severus tried not to
show how the sound made his shoulders stiffen. At any moment, Potter might be
bored enough to slide down from his perch and go �exploring� in the lab once
again. �I don�t understand that. It might take you a while to find the
solution, I reckon, but it won�t be years.�

�� Thank you
for that vote of confidence in my skills,� Severus said, and added molten
silver to the bottom of the cauldron on top of the salt. Contrary to what he
had told his students in Hogwarts, cleaning a cauldron of stains and the gunk
that stayed within it was not the most important task. The brewer would have to
remove all trace of magical influences so that they did not interfere with the
next potion. That kind of cleaning, Severus had always done himself. He could
deal with Longbottom melting cauldrons if he must; he could not deal with
dragons summoned into the castle, as had happened once when he was a student
and Slughorn had failed to cleanse a cauldron used for brewing Amortentia.

�� How in the
world did you ever wind up here?� Potter asked, after another period of
silence. �Why would you want to come here and live in�in isolation, with just Malfoy? It seems as though you would need a
larger audience for the bragging rights.�

�� Severus
smiled without responding. Potter had no idea of the false name that he used to
put his research out in the world, and Severus had no intention of revealing
it. Potter might keep his promise according to the Unbreakable Vow they would
have him swear and not tell anyone that the name belonged to Severus, but there
were things he could do, especially with contacts among the Aurors, to diminish
the pseudonym�s reputation.

�� I asked
you a question!� Potter snapped, and there was the sound of feathers flying, as
there often was when he shook himself in irritation. Severus ground his teeth.
He would have to clean again before
Potter left the lab. �Why would Malfoy agree to come with you? He hadn�t been
tried yet. He could have escaped his parents� fate!�

�� Severus
snorted and Vanished the mixture of silver and salt from the cauldron, then
checked critically to make sure that no trace had remained behind. �Do you
believe that the Wizengamot that found me guilty enough to condemn to the
Dementor�s Kiss, despite your memories, and Lucius and Narcissa guilty enough
to warrant Azkaban, would have spared Draco? His age did not matter. Some of
his contemporaries were imprisoned.�

�� My Slytherins. There had been Blaise
Zabini, accused of participating enthusiastically in the Carrows� torture of
other students, and Pansy Parkinson, on what Severus thought was mostly a set
of charges trumped-up to obscure the fact that she�d suggested throwing Potter
to the Dark Lord, and even a few of the younger Slytherins. They had tortured
to save their lives.

�� The
Wizengamot did not seem to understand that.

�� He allowed
himself to taste the bitter memories for a moment only, before he shook his
head and faced Potter. He would have to cast another spell on him that would
give him renewed information about Potter�s capacities and magical signature as
a bird�or rather, the lack of a magical signature, since his enemies� spell had
worked so well. The information was necessary to construct the potion, but
since he worked with a different combination of ingredients and a different
theory each time, Severus had to keep renewing his �acquaintance� with Potter.

�� That�s�I
didn�t know that,� Potter said, and stood on one leg as he looked up at
Severus. He made a good bird, Severus thought inconsequentially. Perhaps he did
not have to despise himself so much after all for not figuring out Potter�s
identity from the green eyes. If he had not spoken, they would not have known.
�About the other Slytherins being imprisoned, I mean,� he added, just as
Severus was about to scold him for sheer stupidity.

�� Why should
you?� Severus asked levelly. �After all, the longest sentence of that nature
was �only� six months in Azkaban. And you had never been concerned with them
when you were students in the same school.�

�� Potter
nearly stumbled taking his left leg out of his feathers and returning it to the
perch. �That has nothing to do with it! I didn�t think their crimes were that
bad. I would have spoken up and defended them, if I knew.�

�� That is
the point,� Severus said, and he didn�t hide the scorn in his voice. Why should
Potter care about it? He was more likely to be upset about Severus daring to
address him in that tone than about the students being sentenced. �You did not have to know about it. Whereas no one
could escape your fame. And it is likely that Miss Parkinson was sentenced not
for what they accused her of, but because certain powerful people remembered or
heard the tale of her wanting to sacrifice you.�

�� I would
have told them not to sentence her for that,� Potter said. �If I�d known.� He
still sounded stunned and distant.

�� Severus
snorted. �You testified in my case, and for Narcissa Malfoy. That did no good,
either. The wizarding world was determined to have their orgy of punishment and
revenge after the war.� He took a deep breath and wondered why he was speaking
so honestly to Potter of this. Perhaps because Draco already knew the history
and Potter would refuse to absorb it in any case, so eager was he to defend the
decisions of his side. It was venting for Severus�s sake alone. �Well, I
decided to deprive them of that in my case, and Draco�s, too.�

�� Potter
stared at his claws this time, as if he found the way they gripped the perch
absorbing. Severus cast the spell that would give him the information he needed
about Potter, waited a moment until the whispers in his skull had ceased, and
then turned to face the cauldron.

�� You still
could have fled on your own,� Potter said from behind him. Severus worried
about destroying his enamel with the grinding of his teeth. The sooner he
finished the potion, the sooner Potter would be able to leave them. Did he not
understand that, or did he not care? �You didn�t have to take Malfoy with you.
You certainly don�t want him here now!�

�� Severus
didn�t respond. He owed Potter no answers about the complex feelings that had
animated his own heart when he looked up and saw Draco�s face staring back at
him through the bars of his cell, or the ones that had touched him when he
awoke after being �dead� and saw the same face hovering above him. He did not
think Draco, either, would appreciate Potter learning of the tender, desperate
words he had spoken, the avowals he had made.

�� Things had
not worked out as either Severus or Draco expected. Those feelings Severus had
experienced was feelings only of the moment, forever dispersed like the
soap-bubbles they resembled after a certain period of time. But Potter would
misunderstand and treat as wrong any information they gave him.

�� Snape, are
you listening to me? It doesn�t matter
what kind of hatred you�re inflicting on yourself as punishment for not saving
my mother. Malfoy doesn�t deserve it.�

�� Severus
stood still for a moment, fingers resting on the cauldron despite the danger of
leaving prints and grease. Then he turned about. Potter was leaning forwards on
the perch and had to catch himself with a quick flutter when he was realized he
was overextended.

�� Not
everything that I am and does goes back to your mother,� Severus said softly.
�I repaid my debt when I nearly died saving you. You have saved the world now,
and no longer need my protection. For you to assume that the Potter family is
still central to my life is insulting.�

�� But that�s
it, isn�t it?� Potter was undaunted, although he did crane his neck to the side
as if he wanted to see Severus�s hands before they could swing out. �You went
to Dumbledore in the first place because you felt guilty over what your reports
of the prophecy did to my mum. You protected me because of her. You wanted to
see my eyes when you were dying
because of her. Are you telling me you got rid of that and it never affects you
now?�

�� Severus
decided that he would cast a spell to check his remaining enamel later. �I am
healed from those psychological difficulties, yes. Or do you want me to begin a
catalogue of your traits that undoubtedly date back to the war with the Dark
Lord?�

�� Potter snorted,
or made a sound that might have been a snort if he had an actual nose. �I
changed my life. I was never a friendless recluse acting like I deserved to be
punished for one of my sins.�

�� No, of
course not,� Severus said coolly. �If only because you did not notice the
effects of your sins. Did you know that Draco suffered greatly in his childhood
because of you? He had wanted your friendship. You rejected him. That was the
source of much frustration for him, and for many of his reactions towards you. Do
you care about that? Or would you say that he needed to grow past that
reaction?�

�� Potter
hopped sideways and flared out his tail. Severus did not know what the gesture
meant. �I would say that I was sorry, that I didn�t know��

�� As I
said,� Severus murmured. He had recovered control after his unfortunate lapse,
and, in truth, was surprised at himself for losing control in the first place.
�You are not required to know us. We are required to know you and understand
you, first as enemy and then as hero. Your guesses about us will be necessarily partial, the wounds you
inflict on us unnoticed.� He turned back to the cauldron.

�� Potter said
nothing. When Severus looked again, he had tucked his head into the middle of
his back and stood on one leg, asleep.

�� Severus
rolled his eyes. At least the impossible bird-brat had not flown off, which
would require Severus to track him down the next time he needed the �feel� of
him for a potion.

�� He became
involved in the next concoction, then, his thoughts rising and falling to the
rhythms of his hands and the currents that bubbled in the potion as he brewed
it, and forgot about Potter for a long time.

*

�� Harry sat
there, and thought for a long time about what Snape had said. He would have
liked to deny it, but he hadn�t even known about the other Slytherins sentenced
to prison, and he didn�t think Snape would have made that up just to fuck with
him. If nothing else, Harry could ask Malfoy.

�� I have to do something.

�� That was
the reason he had ultimately left the Aurors. He could help people if he was an
Auror, yes, but there were so many rules and regulations that the ways he could help them were severely
limited. It was better to be what he had become, a private investigator who
could use his Animagus form, among other tactics, to figure out the best
solution in circumstances that might be really complicated or involved.
Sometimes he worked with the Aurors, but those weren�t his most common cases,
since Harry had to hide too many details if he did something illegal.

�� Malfoy and
Snape both needed help. Malfoy needed help in resisting Snape; that was clear,
and Harry was glad to have the task, if only because it might make Malfoy
freer.

�� But Snape?
Did he need help recognizing and coming to terms with what had happened to him,
or did he need help reconciling with Malfoy?

�� Or did he
need to be able to return to the wizarding world? Would it help if Snape and
Malfoy didn�t feel they had to stay here forever?

�� Harry dug
his beak further into his feathers and concentrated fiercely. He was good at
solving problems. This one was complex, but he would pick it apart in the end,
just like all the others.

�� And sure
enough, before evening, he had the first idea for a solution.

*

�� k lave
demo: Thanks for reviewing! I hadn�t even noticed that the focus of the
threesome changed each time; that�s interesting. Thanks for noticing.

�� Lyrishark:
Thank you! I�m really pleased that you can read my stories and still find
variety in them, especially since I don�t vary my pairings all that much.

�� Angelmuziq:
I think you can see the outlines of how the relationship will emerge now,
although a lot is still buried.
- 4
- 5
- 6
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

Love, Free as Air