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Their Phoenix	By : Lomonaaeren Category: Harry Potter > Threesomes/Moresomes Views: 68678 -:- Recommendations : 3 -:- Currently Reading : 6
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter; that belongs to J. K. Rowling. I am making no money from this fic.

Chapter List
- 1-Their Phoenix
- 2-Part 2
- 3-Part 3
- 4-Part 4
- 5-Part 5
- 6-Part 6
- 7-Part 7
- 8-Part 8
- 9-Part 9
- 10-Part 10
- 11-Part 11
- 12-Part 12
- 13-Part 13
- 14-Part 14
- 15-Part 15
- 16-Part 16
- 17-Part 17
- 18-Part 18
- 19-Part 19
- 20-Part 20
- 21-Part 21
- 22-Part 22
- 23-Part 23
- 24-Part 24
- 25-Part 25
- 26-Part 26
- 27-Part 27
- 28-Part 28
- 29-Part 29
- 30-Part 30
- 31-Part 31
- 32-Part 32
- 33-Part 33
- 34-Part 34
- 6
- 7
- 8
Thank you again for all the reviews!

�� Happy
Christmas, Ginny!� Harry held out the brightly-wrapped package in his hands and
hoped that his smile didn�t appear too nervous.
He should appear excited that he was giving a present to his girlfriend, not
like he wanted to throw up.

�� Never mind
that he was close to that last feeling. Ginny had spent most of Christmas Eve
avoiding him; whenever Harry tried to make an excuse to drag her over to the
mistletoe, she was chatting to Bill instead, or arguing with Fleur about baby
names, or laughing at some story of dragons Charlie was telling.

�� And it
wasn�t that Harry resented the time she spent with her family. Really, it
wasn�t. But the conviction that something was wrong weighed more heavily on him
than ever, and he would have liked some sign from her that he didn�t have to
worry.

�� Ginny
smiled, tossed her hair over her shoulder, and took the gift from him. Harry
hoped he was the only one close enough, in the crowded room filled with people
and presents, to see the wideness of her eyes and the slight tremble in her
fingers. He bit his lip, second-guessing the present he�d chosen.

�� But he�d
seen Ginny looking at them with wistful eyes one weekend when he met her in
Hogsmeade, and then turning away with her head lifted. Like Ron, she had a bad
case of pride where money was concerned, and she wouldn�t want anyone to
suspect that she was longing after something that she couldn�t afford.

�� The paper
crinkled as Ginny unwrapped the gift, and then there was a little silence as
she opened the box. Harry discovered he had his eyes shut. He shook his head at
his own cowardice�Ledbetter would ask him sardonically how he could face Dark
wizards if he couldn�t even stand this�and
then looked at Ginny.

�� She was
staring at him with an expression of wonder on her face as she lifted the new
Quidditch gloves out of the box. They were worked with spells that allowed them
to fit any owner�s hands and maintain a firm grip on any broom, so Harry hadn�t
worried about buying them too big. He�d been more interested in making sure the
color of the leather�soft and butter-yellow�was right, and the embroidery of
flying harpies around the bottom. The embroidery showed the gloves had been
designed after what the Captain of the Holyhead Harpies usually wore.

�� How did
you know I wanted them?� Ginny murmured to him, hardly opening her lips. No one
noticed the words, Harry thought, because they were crowding around to admire
the gift and Ron was enviously declaring that the present Harry�d got him, a
pair of dragonhide boots, wasn�t half as good. �No one else did.�

�� Harry was
relaxed enough by then to smile at her. �You�re my girlfriend, after all,� he
said. �I should know what you like.�

�� A sad
shadow, or at least a strange one, flitted across Ginny�s face. But she reached
out, grasped his shoulders, and drew him into a strong kiss for the first time
since he�d begun the visit. Harry kissed her back, feeling more relief than
desire for the moment.

�� Thank
you,� Ginny whispered when they drew apart.

�� Harry
gently touched her cheek. �It was my pleasure.� He dropped his voice; Ron and
Charlie were arguing over whether dragon leather should be used for any
purpose, even making boots and gloves, but the rest of the family was quiet
now, watching the two brothers in amusement. �Could we�could I spend some time
with you later tonight?�

�� And the
shadow burned away as Ginny gave him a saucy wink. �That might be possible,�
she said, before she turned around to reclaim the gloves from Ron.

�� Harry
leaned back against the couch and beamed. At the moment, it seemed there was
the possibility of a Happy Christmas for absolutely everyone.

*

�� And my old
ones were not good enough for you to use, is that it?� Draco was close enough
to Severus by now to know that the slightly less sarcastic tone in his voice
than usual was his idea of teasing, but he was still glad that he could look
into his eyes and see the deeply-buried gleam of amusement there. �That is what
this note implies, at least.� He held up the piece of parchment that had been
tucked in with the golden cauldron, but was too absorbed in the cauldron itself
to pay much attention to Draco�s response.

�� I just
thought you should have the best,� Draco said innocently. �And maybe, sometimes, when you�re not using
it, there might be the faintest fleeting temptation for me to use it to brew
one of the potions I need.�

��

�� Severus
nodded to the pile of books behind Draco, on both Potions and Defense Against
the Dark Arts. �Maybe? Sometimes?�

�� As my
research deepens, that might be more often than it has been so far,� Draco
agreed in a thoughtful tone. He moved closer to Severus, who sat in a
wing-backed chair that distant relatives usually occupied during a Malfoy
Christmas celebration, when those distant relatives were invited to the Manor
as charity. Draco�s mother had quietly removed Lucius�s old chair from the
room. Draco understood and agreed with the decision. �Would you disapprove?� He
dropped his voice to a whisper.

�� I cannot
say that it would,� Severus whispered back, �especially if it leads to us
spending more time together, in the lab or otherwise.�

�� Draco
wanted to collapse in a smug pile. There was a time when Severus would never have said such a thing, and he
knew it.

Instead, he tilted his head back
and let Severus control the kiss between them for the moment. Draco had been
the insistent one in bed last night�a fact Severus was probably reminded of
every time he shifted his weight. Draco understood the dynamics of the
relationship between them better than Severus gave him credit for, he thought,
and he knew that letting his lover gain the upper hand at times was the best
idea.

At
times.

�� A quiet
cough interrupted them. Severus tensed as if he would whip his head away, but
Draco placed a firm hand behind his neck and ensured the kiss ended naturally.
Then he turned around and raised an eyebrow at his mother. �Yes?�

�� Narcissa
stood in the doorway that led to the small side-room where the house-elves had
placed the food, two owls balanced on her shoulders. She looked at Severus and
Draco with no judgment in her face. Draco felt Severus�s hand tense on his arm,
then relax. He had probably realized, as Draco had, that of course his mother
would sense any relationship between them immediately, and would already have
objected if she had objections.

�� Owls for
you,� said Narcissa. �From a person I did not expect to show up to these
festivities, no matter how much his absence was felt.�

�� Draco�s
first thought was Lucius, but then he remembered that he had already received a
gift from that direction: unlimited access to the Malfoy vaults, which, until
the legal permission had arrived, had still belonged to Lucius. It was his
father�s tacit acknowledgment that he was unlikely to leave Azkaban whilst he
lived.

�� And, of
course, a way to ensure that no one in Azkaban itself could force him to give
up his money due to blackmail.

�� Who?� he
asked, and then one of the owls left his mother�s shoulder and soared over to
land on his. It was a generic post owl, and the package was light and wrapped
in plain brown paper, so Draco wasn�t expecting much when he turned it over.

�� Happy Christmas, Draco. Harry.

�� Draco
blinked several times. Then he raised his hands and mechanically tore the
package open, thinking all the while that he hadn�t bothered to get anything
for Harry. He had just assumed that of course
they wouldn�t exchange gifts. That was something friends or family or
lovers did, and none of those descriptions fit what the bonds had made them.

�� But inside
was a gift that Draco could use and not simply something that Harry had chosen
to gratify his own sentimental inclinations. The shrunken bookshelf carried a
tag that explained it would grow larger when a certain incantation was uttered.

�� A note
fluttered out of the package, and Draco stooped down to pick it up, still
feeling emotionally distant from what he was doing.

�� Happy Christmas, Draco, it said again,
in the sloppy handwriting that Draco had seen before when he glanced over at
Harry�s papers in Potions. I know that
the new house has walls that the Great Git plans to turn into shelves, but his
books will probably crowd out yours. And he shouldn�t have to do all the work!
This is just for you.

�� Draco put
the bookshelf slowly on the floor. Then he sat down next to it and shook his
head.

�� From
Potter?� Severus�s voice was unusually sharp. Draco looked up to see that the
other owl Narcissa had carried in had flown to him, and that he was unwrapping
what looked like a stirring rod.

�� Draco
caught his breath. The rod, like the cauldron he�d got Severus, was made of
gold. There were few potions that required stirring only with gold, but some of
them were the most powerful and dangerous potions, and, like the cauldron, this
was something Severus could not have afforded on his own. He would have had to
simply wait until time had passed and people were no longer as suspicious of
him, whilst brewing the potions only in his mind.

�� And he would have hated that.

�� Harry,
whether he realized it or not, had given Severus a gift that would free his
hands and his imagination in the same instant�and he had given gifts, by simple
coincidence, that worked well with what Severus and Draco had got each other.

�� Draco had
to close his eyes so that he didn�t do something stupid and sentimental, like
stare into Severus�s eyes and expect a silent answer to his silent question.
But the thought went on repeating in his head, anyway, where no one else could
hear and mock it.

�� Do you see how well we fit together?

�� This is only one instance, Draco reminded
himself immediately. Even if we do fit
together once, it would take a lot of work to make it happen all the time. And
Harry probably chose the gifts at random, thinking about what we would like.
It�s not like he knew that I was getting Severus a gold cauldron. He got the
bookshelf for me because he knew I was doing research, not because he knew
Severus was buying books. He hasn�t asked that many questions or paid such
close attention.

�� But it had happened
anyway. And the fact that it had happened gave Draco some hope that it could
happen again.

�� Draco.�

�� Draco
opened his eyes and turned his head. He had not expected his mother to interrupt
this private moment. She could see that
it was private, from the way Severus stroked the golden stirring rod and the
expression on Draco�s face, couldn�t she?

�� Have you
sent him a gift in return?� Narcissa inquired, folding her hands sternly in
front of her and staring at him with an equally stern eye.

�� Draco
swallowed. Suddenly, his automatic omission of Harry from his gift list seemed
like a larger sin than before.

�� There
wasn�t�� He trailed off feebly. His mother�s face became sharper and sharper
with disapproval. �I mean, we didn�t know that he was going to do this.� He
gestured between them, and at the gifts. Severus peered from beneath his
curtain of hair at Narcissa, only half his face visible.

�� Whether
you knew or not,� Narcissa said, her voice soft and reverberating at the same
time, �you should have sent him a gift. It is the polite thing to do for someone who saved your life.� She paused,
whilst Draco wriggled in embarrassment and guilt, feeling all of six years old
again.

�� I hope
that the thank-you notes are at least lavish,� Narcissa said, and lifted her
nose, and walked out of the room. Draco looked at the floor.

�� We shall
have to find gifts, yes,� Severus said, at last. He reached out and lifted
Draco�s chin. �I am equally guilty in not sending Potter�Harry�a gift. But we
will find one, Draco. And do you realize what this means?� His eyes were bright
as his face could never be, because he wouldn�t permit that to happen. �He will
fit with us. The task is not hopeless.�

�� Not able to
explain why he so needed it, Draco lifted his head for another kiss, and
Severus obliged eagerly.

�� At the
moment, if Harry had appeared in front of him, Draco thought he could almost
have granted him the same kind of kiss.

*

�� Severus
opened his eyes in shock, and gave a small hiss. He didn�t understand what
could have awakened him from a sound sleep, made all the sounder by the
energetic sex he and Draco had undertaken before they climbed into bed. He lay
still for a moment, his eyes moving in slow circles. It was not impossible that
one of the Malfoys� numerous enemies had managed to get through the wards
surrounding the Manor.

�� Then he
understood. The current of Potter�s feelings that continually passed through
him had gone silent. It took more effort to miss something that was no longer
there than something new which had intruded.

�� Severus
shook his head, sending his hair cascading down the side of his neck. Draco lay
breathing peacefully beside him. Obviously, the shutting of the bond had not
caused either of them immediate health problems.

�� Had Potter died?

�� No. From
everything Severus had read in the past few books, he was virtually certain
they would have felt the death, and in a way that would bring Draco screaming
up from sleep and begging Severus to stop the pain.

�� Far more
likely, Potter had encountered a circumstance that urged him to shut the bond
for a time. And given that he was young, was spending Christmas with the
Weasleys, and had not returned to join them for the night�

�� Severus
uncurled his fingers and stared at the ceiling. He closed the bond so that he could have sex in privacy, without us
overhearing him.

�� It was
certainly a reasonable desire. Severus made himself consider it from the point
of view of a bond-holder. If Severus had wielded control of the phoenix marks
and not the other way around, he would not have wanted Potter to join in
vicariously when he and Draco were in bed.

�� And he had
no right to feel jealous. He and Potter were not lovers yet, and might never
be, even if Draco and Potter became so�something Severus thought more and more
likely, from the soft tone of voice in Draco�s voice when he mentioned Potter,
and the way that Potter had watched Draco explore their new home with indulgent
rolls of his eyes.

�� But
jealousy was there in any case.

�� Severus
closed his eyes. He faced a dilemma that even his new commitment to genuine
feelings where Potter was concerned did not help. Did he show the jealousy,
because it was honest? Or did he keep it concealed, because Potter was likely
to think the emotion ridiculous and jeer at him for it?

�� I despise not knowing what to do.

�� Severus
took a slow, deep breath, and then turned to the side. Draco lay sleeping on
his pillow, face turned towards him and one hand stretched out; Severus thought
it had likely slipped off his shoulder when he awakened. Draco lacked
expression in sleep, looking blank and unmolded. Severus touched the back of
his head, moved his fingers through his hair, and watched as Draco briefly
stirred and then lapsed back into sleep.

�� He had come
through the war, marked, like Potter, but less changed�and certainly less
marked than Severus himself. He would have leaped awake at the slightest touch
in such a vulnerable place as the back of the head. Draco thought that was
marvelous. That was because he did not fully understand the experiences that
had produced such a reaction.

�� There is a third person to consider here.
Would expressing my jealousy help or hurt Draco?

�� Severus
bared his teeth. He did not know that,
either, but the only course that suggested itself to him was to wait and talk
it over with Draco in the morning. After all, he might have jealousies of his
own, and good reasons for expressing and not expressing them.

�� I also despise abiding by the decisions of
others.

�� But he
could do it. His experience under
both the Dark Lord and Dumbledore had proven that.

�� Draco made
a sleepy murmur and buried his head in Severus�s shoulder, snuffling. The sound
should have made Severus curl his lip in disgust. He made every effort to keep
his lab clean and himself free from sickness, as the slightest addition of an
alien living organism could damage many potions.

�� Now he
found himself drawing Draco closer and bowing his head so that his nose rested
against his cheek. Draco made another snuffle, this time contented.

�� And Severus
began to glimpse, dimly, why his overwhelming resentment of his slavery under
the Dark Mark was missing from the way he regarded Draco and Potter.

�� I may learn not to despise accepting
limitations, when they lead to such rewards.

*

�� Harry
blinked and yawned, opening his eyes. He frowned when he realized that he
didn�t recognize the ceiling of his bedroom.

�� Then he
remembered how he�d spent yesterday evening, and turned to the side so that he
could see Ginny. She slept flat on her stomach, her mouth slightly open as
though she wanted to let her dreams out through her lips.

�� Harry
stared down at her, then closed his eyes and sighed. Last night had not been as
wonderful as the first time they made love, and he didn�t understand why. Of
course, there was no law saying every time had to be the same, but�

�� It should
have been more than that.

�� And what
frustrated him was that he couldn�t even articulate what he meant, what �more�
he was seeking.

�� Harry bit
his lip and opened the bonds again so that Sn�Severus and Draco could feel his emotions. It was probably all
right to keep them shut out for a few hours, but he didn�t want to meet them at
Spinner�s End later with them fainting and convulsing, or, worse, have to
invade Malfoy Manor because they couldn�t move to meet him.

�� Ginny still
slept. From the sounds of it, so did most of the Burrow. Harry could sneak back
to Ron�s room, where he slept in a spare bed Transfigured from cushions, and no
one would see him. Since half the Weasley family seemed determined to pretend
that Ginny would never grow up and the other half that she would never have sex
until she was married, that would probably be the best plan.

�� But Harry
lingered on, using his finger to trace the shape of Ginny�s lips and eyelids.
She was perfectly lovely. She was young. She was healthy. She either loved him
or liked him a lot. And Harry had to like her, or he would never have agreed to
have sex with her. God knew he had plenty of practice in refusing proposals, given
the owls that some witches still sent him.

�� Why isn�t that enough, damn it? He�d
been sure it would be enough just a few days ago, when he talked with Hermione
and thought about spending the rest of his life with Ginny.

�� And he
didn�t know what he would want to do differently.

�� Maybe I want something perfect, something
that can never happen. And if that�s true, it�s not fair to blame Ginny when
she falls short of it.

�� Harry
sighed under his breath and reached out to push Ginny�s hair away from her face.
This time, the touch made her start and open her eyes, although Harry hadn�t
meant to wake her up. Ginny smiled tentatively when she saw him, and sat up,
hugging the sheet around her breasts. Harry thought that was silly when they�d
seen each other both naked for the second time, but he didn�t want to make
Ginny feel ridiculous, so he didn�t say anything.

�� Hi,
Harry,� she said. �What time is it?�

�� Harry
performed a wandless Tempus Charm
without even thinking. It was something he�d got used to doing, small wandless
spells, since he performed the spell that would let him share magic with
everyone in the bond. �Eight-o�clock,� he said. �I thought for sure your mum
would be up by now.� He tried out a small smile.

�� Ginny
laughed. �Mum says we can find our own breakfast on Boxing Day,� she said.
�Only day of the year that happens.�

�� Harry
laughed with her. Then the laughter faded, and they sat there feeling awkward�or
at least Harry did. He drew in a deep breath and snorted it out through his
nose, telling himself that this wasn�t stupid,
or a sign that he and Ginny were wrong for each other. Everyone probably felt a
little awkward on the morning after.

�� Er,� he
said at last, �I reckon I ought to get back to Ron�s bedroom before he starts
suspecting something�s wrong.� He stood up and peeled back the sheets slowly.
Ginny blushed and looked away.

�� If he�s in
there to suspect something,� Ginny murmured. Her voice was wicked, at least, a
sharp contrast to her brilliant red cheeks. �I distinctly thought I saw him
sneaking into Hermione�s room last night before we shut the door.�

�� Harry
laughed again, and relaxed. No, nothing�s
perfect. But I don�t think we�re expecting too much of each other, and we�ll
get used to this. �Hermione�s the little hypocrite, then,� he said, �giving
me lectures on being careful and being sure
of what I want until I get married.�

�� Ginny
looked up abruptly, her eyes wide and wounded in a way Harry hadn�t known they
could look. Ginny seemed so strong most of the time, except about whatever
secret she was keeping from Harry. �She lectured you? Why?�

�� Harry
blinked, but decided the best thing he could do would be to answer right away
and truthfully. Ginny thought there was something wrong with this, obviously,
but Harry didn�t know why, and he didn�t want to get Hermione in trouble. �Because
she said that lots of times, people don�t know what they really want before
they get married. Marriage is a big step, and so it�s natural to fool around
before then and make mistakes.� Harry rolled his eyes. �If people make that many mistakes, I don�t see why she
thinks marriage cures everything.�

�� Oh,� Ginny
breathed out, and closed her eyes. �I thought she might have been talking
about�your bond.�

�� Harry
blinked again. �What would the bond have to do with my marrying you? I don�t
see why we would have to invite Snape and Malfoy to the wedding if you didn�t
want them there.�

�� Ginny�s
smile was faint, and died quickly. She reached out, squeezed Harry�s hand, and
then let it fall again. �I just don�t want to lose you to them,� she said. �And
Hermione�s read a lot, and she has a different perspective on the bond than Ron
does. Or I do,� she said, so softly Harry could hardly hear her. �She�thinks
that you must be lovers with them
eventually.� She peeked at Harry from beneath a strand of hair.

�� Harry felt
his jaw fall open. Then he rolled his eyes. �No wonder she�s acted so strangely
when she talked about it,� he said. �But that�s ridiculous, Ginny. Snape and
Malfoy are already together, and I�m not attracted to them, not like that.�

�� Do you
find men attractive?� Ginny�s face was so red it looked like a tomato, but she
kept her eyes fastened on Harry�s.

�� Harry
cupped her chin. �I find you
attractive. And only you.�

�� When Ginny
smiled and kissed him, Harry knew he�d finally given the right answer.

*

�� Draco felt
his shoulders tighten as Harry stepped through the front door of Spinner�s End,
his wand already flicking to lift several heavier pieces of furniture. That was
partially because Draco didn�t know if the gift he�d chosen would be good enough
for whatever exaggerated standards of presents Harry might have.

�� But most of
the tension came from the slender, red-haired figure who walked along beside
Harry, and cast Draco a nervous, defiant glance.

�� She turned
away almost at once to float a few trunks, packed with books, into the air, but
the damage had been done.

�� Draco
strode up to Harry and spoke in a harsh whisper, not really caring if the
She-Weasel overheard them. �What is she doing
here?�

�� Harry
offered him a helpless little shrug and a tiny roll of the eyes, after a glance
over his shoulder to take in his girlfriend�s position. That reassured Draco;
it pointed to friction between them and hinted that this had not been Harry�s
idea. �She wanted to come and help,� Harry said simply. �And it�s an extra pair
of hands and some extra magic. Why should I have objected?�

�� He mumbled
the last words, though, and avoided Draco�s gaze.

�� Draco
turned and met Severus�s eyes above Harry�s head. He could see his own
conclusion written plainly in his lover�s tight, blank expression. They could
not give the gifts they had chosen to Harry in front of an audience. She would
mock them at best, and put a wrong impression on it at worst.

�� Or maybe
the right impression. Draco wanted to
avoid that, too. The mere existence of Harry�s girlfriend was competition
enough. What could happen if she thought she had reason to push herself between them and demand answers to awkward
questions?

�� So Draco
turned to the packing. He felt only focused determination through the bond from
Harry as he shrank shelves, folded blankets, and wrapped furniture in
Cushioning Charms for transport. But that didn�t help much.

�� Draco
hadn�t realized how much Spinner�s End had come to feel like home. Certainly he
found himself drawing irritated breaths for no reason as they denuded the rooms
of familiar objects. Maybe it was anxiety about leaving a place where the
Muggles mostly ignored them and moving into a house where the last reaction that
would happen was people ignoring them, he thought wistfully.

�� Or maybe what makes you feel at home is the
presence of Severus and Harry, and nothing else. After all, you didn�t feel
like this when you stayed in the Manor with Severus on Christmas Eve and last
night.

�� Draco
stared at the wall, a set of cauldrons hovering motionless before him. Could it
be something as simple as that? That
he wanted to be alone with Severus and Harry, and wanted advance warning of
extra company, as he�d known that his mother was going to be at the Manor?

�� Malfoy. Move. Professor Snape told me to
pack those stirring rods up with the others, and I can�t reach them if you�re
standing in front of them.�

�� Draco
snapped back to the present, and hissed at Weasley before he could stop
himself. She raised an eyebrow at him, unimpressed, and waited with wand raised
until he stepped aside. Then, as she floated the stirring rods out the door of
the lab, she asked, �Is hissing at enemies something they teach all the
Slytherin students at Hogwarts? Or is that your particular specialty?� She
glanced over her shoulder, and her expression was perfectly innocent.

�� Ginny.� Harry�s tense, anxious voice
interrupted before Draco could reply.

�� What?�
Weasley asked, and turned that expression of innocence on Harry. Harry
hesitated, the bond thrumming with images of galloping horses and crashing
waves. �I�m just making conversation.�

�� Harry
swallowed down what Draco thought must be several different retorts, from the
length of time he took, and then he offered a faint smile. Draco mentally
compared it to the smiles that Harry had given when they had their dinner
conversation about Quidditch, and was satisfied. Of course the bond gave him an
advantage, since he was feeling all Harry�s emotions, but he was also becoming
good at reading his expression, the skill Weasley had to practice, and this
wasn�t a genuine smile. Draco wondered if she knew that. �Right. Well, come and
help me with these two tables. Severus wants them taken together, and I don�t
think I can manage the weight on my own.�

�� Weasley�s eyes
widened, and her face went a little pale. As she moved out the door of the lab,
Draco heard her demand, �Severus?�

�� He asked
me to call him that,� Harry said. �First step towards a truce. I said I would.�

�� Well, I
don�t like it,� Weasley muttered.

�� Harry
stopped and turned to face her, from the sound of it. Draco waved his wand so
that several sets of vials would fly around the lab and into trunks, which made
a lot of clattering noise but left him free to spy, and stuck his head slowly
around the corner. �Ginny,� Harry said. He was speaking quietly and firmly, but
the bond had darkened in Draco�s mind, frozen lightning hanging about it the
way it had when he was trying to control his anger after Draco was wounded in
the bookshop. �I have to live with them. I want to be as friendly with them as
possible. Is calling them by their first names that much of a sacrifice?�

�� Weasley
shook her hair out of her face and looked up at him. Her arms were folded, her
body radiating tension. �You don�t do that in front of me. You always call them
by their last names.�

�� Because I
thought it would be diplomatic to do that in front of you, and call them by
their first names in front of them.� Harry ran a hand through his hair,
hissing. �I�m just trying to get along with two very different sets of people,
and in a way that will make them as comfortable and happy as possible. And me as comfortable and happy as possible,
too, come to that. You know that I can�t break
this bond. Can I have your help in living with it? Please?�

�� Weasley
held the hostile posture for a breath longer, then sighed and let her head
droop forwards. �Of course,� she said. �I�m sorry, Harry. But�seeing the way
they look at you��

�� As if I�m
not quite as stupid as I appear?� Harry asked dryly. �Trust me, they may have
upgraded me from possible Potions ingredient to tolerable human being in their
minds, but it won�t go any further than that.�

�� Draco
curled his fingers into the side of the doorway. He says that he wants to live with us both, but he�s still being fairer
to the Weasleys than to us. He was glad that he had advised Severus to hide
his jealousy for now. Harry really wouldn�t understand why they might be
jealous over him, if he was in this kind of mood.

�� Not that,�
Ginny said. �But it�s something�something else that I can�t define, but I don�t
like. Not as if they want you.�

�� How little you know, Draco thought in
her general direction, and marveled that Harry could nod as if this was a
reasonable conclusion. For a moment, Draco wished with quiet violence that
Harry would open the bonds the other way. Feeling what Draco and Severus felt
about him would do him a world of good.

�� All
right,� Harry said, his voice full of a crooning gentleness that made Draco
want to vomit. He better not talk to me
that way when we become lovers. �If you do learn what it is and want to
talk about it, let me know.� He smiled at Weasley and turned back to the lab.
�Why don�t you ask Severus if we can
take the first load to the house?�

�� Draco
hastily ducked out of sight, but not hastily enough, as was proven when Harry
stepped into the lab after him and looked at him steadily, in silence. Draco
let his eyes fall and felt his cheeks heat up.

�� I don�t
enjoy spying,� Harry said. He sounded weary, as if he�d already had to deliver
several lectures about spying today. That was unjust enough to make Draco meet
his gaze again, with defiance. Harry raised an eyebrow and his voice turned
harsher, whilst the bond glowered with images of steep cliffs. �I�m sorry that
I brought Ginny with me. I don�t think it�s working well. But the bit about my
trying to live with everyone else in the bond? Applies to you, too. If you
could go out of your way to avoid openly insulting her, then I�d appreciate
it.�

�� I hissed
at her,� Draco said. �Not insulted her.�

��

�� I know,
Draco.� Harry clasped his shoulder. �But she�ll take it the same way.� His
expression lightened, a bit, and he nudged Draco in the ribs with an elbow.
�And I�m the one who has to live with the consequences of a wrong word, right?
I�m sure that you have your own ways of being careful around Severus.�

�� Draco
whirled to face him, bubbling with exasperation, and sought an outlet the only
way he could, since revealing his jealousy
really would let Harry know something was up. �Doesn�t that bother you? That
we�re sleeping together?�

�� Harry
paused. His eyes were careful, and so was the bond, the cliffs melting and
changing colors too rapidly for Draco to easily tell what he was feeling.
�Should it?� he asked in a neutral tone of voice.

�� I think
so,� Draco said. �We�re both people that you used to hate, and he�s a lot older
than me, and we�re both men.�

�� Harry
shrugged, holding his body so stiffly that Draco wondered if he was fighting to
keep from backing away. �I think that you�ve been through lots of things I
can�t understand,� he said. �The imprisonment, being tried for war crimes after
you both suffered during the war as much as anybody, and then spending a lot of
time under house arrest. And the bond took some of your freedom, as well as
mine. I don�t think it�s my place to judge, or interfere. If you�ve found each
other, fine.�

�� Draco
stared at him incredulously. �Did your friend Granger give you that speech?� he
asked, since he couldn�t think of anything else to say.

�� Harry�s
face twisted into harsh lines, and Draco�s body twitched as the force of
Harry�s anger struck him like a flood. �No,� Harry hissed. �Sometimes I think
of things on my own, and sometimes I make my own decisions. Just because I
don�t tell them to everybody doesn�t
mean they�re not my own decisions!� He was taking deep breaths as if trying to
control the magic that made the vials rattle in the trunks they�d settled into.
�I�m not as smart as Hermione, but I�m smart enough to make up my own mind.
I�ll listen to you, and Severus, and Hermione, and Ginny, and Kingsley, but I
won�t let any of you control me. Or the Ministry either, for that matter, or
the thought of the greater good. That�s what I really think about you and
Severus sleeping together, Draco. Take it or leave it.�

��

And he whirled and stalked out of
the potions lab, leaving Draco feeling much smaller and more chastened than he
liked.

*

�� Later,
Harry blamed his anger over the conversation with Draco and his worry over
Ginny for his carelessness, but he wasn�t sure that it much mattered what got
the blame. The fact was that the thing had happened.

�� He
Apparated to the new house�s front garden, a collection of trunks hovering
around him, and heard a shout. Harry whipped around, his body reacting to the
sound automatically after more than half a year of Auror training. Somebody was
in trouble, and he wanted to do something to help.

�� A lone
witch stood in front of the garden wall, her hands wringing together. Harry
looked around for a child in danger or someone threatening her.

�� And so he
missed the spell she sent at him.

�� Harry went
to his knees with a loud cry. The spell cut into his belly, sinking deeper and
deeper, like the marks of chewing teeth. Harry could feel fluid that wasn�t
blood sliding down his legs and things shifting around down there that
shouldn�t be moving, and he wanted to faint with the pain.

�� Ledbetter
said that the worst wound was a gut wound. Harry knew what he was talking
about, now.

�� He struggled
to lift his head, though, because his voice wasn�t the only one sounding. Draco
and Severus had both dropped in their tracks as though they were the ones the
spell had cut. Harry grimaced. My pain
affects them, and much more than their pain affects me. Bloody bond!

�� It was the
thought of that, of harm coming to them that they couldn�t help or stop, that
gave Harry the strength to stagger to his feet. Something fell from the open
wound across his belly and splattered on
the cobblestones. Harry gritted his teeth and rose above that, focusing on the
woman with the kind of intensity that he�d used when he clung onto the dragon
flying out of Gringotts.

�� He was
going to die, and so were other people, if he didn�t do this. It was the best
motivation he�d ever found for doing anything.

�� The witch
opened her mouth and said something, but at this distance and with the roaring
anger in his ears, Harry didn�t hear what it was. He pulled as hard as he could
on the shared magic that encircled him, Draco, and Severus in a ring, and then
poured it into a single spell. That made a weird bulging sensation in his mind,
as if the spell were a container too small to hold everything.

�� Petrificus Totalus!� he yelled.

�� The magic
hit the woman in a sloppy running wave of light rather than the normal single
beam, and she shrieked and dropped her wand. Her legs turned to stone, which
climbed higher up her body until it reached her neck, leaving her a living head
on a stone body. She began to scream again, the sound shrill and speaking of
mindless fear.

�� Harry
didn�t much care right now. It was the least she deserved for hurting Draco and
Severus like that. He turned the shared magic back again, wielding it like a
hoop, and turned it on the pain his bondmates were feeling.

�� Their cries
stopped. Harry hesitated, then opened the bond the other way for the first time
since that night in the hospital wing after he�d defeated Voldemort. He had to
be sure they weren�t in any more pain.

�� Fires
bloomed into view, one to the left side of his face, one to the right. One was
golden, one purple. Harry hissed. He had forgotten that he had no idea how to
interpret the colors Draco and Severus took on in his mind.

�� He shut the
bonds again and then wavered and fell to his knees. �Are you all right?� he
asked, committed to doing this the old-fashioned way.

�� I am,�
Severus said. Quite suddenly�Harry had been sure he was lying on the ground
some distance away�he was kneeling beside Harry, one arm around his shoulders
and wand moving in patterns not unlike those he�d used to heal Draco of Sectumsempra when Harry cast it at him.
�But you have forgotten yourself, idiot boy. And if you die, we die with you. I
am certain of that now.� His face was white as parchment.

�� That�s a good reason for it to be, Harry
thought, and glanced down rather stupidly at his own hanging intestines. �I
knew I forgot something,� he muttered.

�� Severus�s
wand brushed against his temple. �Sleep, stupid boy,� he whispered.

�� Harry
dropped off, wondering why Severus had said those words when his palm was
gently stroking the back of Harry�s head. Can
someone lie with their hands?

*

�� Severus
closed his eyes. He had been utterly unprepared for the fear that ran down the
bond, and that, more than the pain, had carried him from his feet when the
witch�s spell hit Potter.

�� The Dark
Lord had once had Nagini drape herself over Severus so that he might appreciate
the power in her body. Potter�s fear for their lives was a strangling thing
like that. If there was a scrap of concern for himself in that emotion, Severus
could not detect it. The thought of them choked
everything else.

�� And so
Severus�s own fear when he saw the coils of blue hanging from the violent slash
of red across Harry�s stomach had mixed with that terror and kept him still.
The pain was nothing. He had weathered worse; the Chewed Gut Curse was still
not an Unforgivable, and the Dark Lord had preferred the Cruciatus for
punishments on Death Eaters.

�� But the
thought of Harry dying�

�� Severus
opened his eyes to see the phoenix mark on his left arm glowing softly, but
steadily. He wondered what that meant, but now was not the time for research on
bonds. He rose to his feet and looked about for Draco.

�� Draco stood
with his wand jammed into the throat of the Petrified witch. Severus took a
moment to dispassionately admire the work of Harry�s magic as he picked his way
towards Draco�s side over the objects Harry had dropped. That was an
interpretation of the spell he would never have thought to use.

�� Because I would have used a stronger spell
than that in the first place, he acknowledged to himself, and reached out
to lay a hand on Draco�s wrist. Draco, who had been snarling threats under his
breath to the terrified witch, turned on him like a tiger.

�� Moderation,�
Severus whispered, deliberately keeping his voice low and sober. This was one
of the first Potions lessons that he had taught Draco, and he thought the
appeal to childhood memories might help in calming Draco down. �In all things,
moderation. The use of force as much as anything else.�

�� Draco
closed his eyes and nodded jerkily, seeming to remember for the first time that
they were newly pardoned Death Eaters in the middle of Hogsmeade. He stepped
back. Severus moved forwards and stared into the woman�s eyes.

�� What did you
hope to accomplish by hurting the Chosen One?� he asked, using the words to
distract her from the Legilimency he used to ferret into her mind.

�� The woman
babbled something nonsensical about hope and freedom, but Severus had located
the real reason. The Boy-Who-Lived
shouldn�t be associating with Death Eaters! They must have corrupted him! It
was better to die than to live such a life!

�� His lip
curled, and Severus fought the temptation to teach her a sharper lesson. The
warning he had given Draco applied just as much to him as it did to Draco. He
inclined his head and moved backwards instead.

�� Bring her
along,� he told Draco. �The Healers at St. Mungo�s will need to see Harry, and
probably also her, in order to undo the spell Harry put her under. We will make
ourselves look better than we have in the eyes of the law, by getting even the
attacker treatment and proving we have not harmed her.�

�� Draco
jumped, as if the words had been a whip to strike the desire for vengeance out
of him, and then turned and looked anxiously at Harry. �Is he��

�� Asleep,�
Severus said. �And as healed as I can make him. I have had some practice in
treating the effects of this curse.�

�� Draco
swallowed and nodded. Then he touched his left arm and his phoenix mark, which
still had a faint trace of red and gold light. �I don�t want to think about
what would have happened if we�d lost him,� he said lowly.

�� Would you
have died?�

�� It was
Weasley who asked the question, leaning against the wall that encircled their
garden. Severus had nearly forgotten about her. He gave her a glance now, saw
that she didn�t intend to interfere in their transport of Harry, and dismissed
her.

�� Yes, we
would have,� Draco said, his voice muted.

�� Severus
stiffened in irritation�Draco did not need to blurt that out in a public place
for enemies to overhear�but then busied himself conjuring a stretcher. As he
lowered it into place beside Harry, he heard Weasley whisper, �I didn�t know. I
would have�I would have behaved better to you if I knew.�

�� Don�t make
this about yourself, Weasley,� Draco snapped at her. �Harry�s hurt.�

�� Severus
didn�t bother listening to her reply. His gaze was locked on Harry�s pale face
as he levitated him onto the stretcher.

�� I know he has been hurt in Auror training,
and we have not been affected. Why now? Is it only due to the nature of the
curse? Has the bond begun to change, and if so, what does that mean?

�� Severus
shook his head. Once again, he had few answers for many problems.

�� But there
was one thing he knew would have to be done. That lack of concern for his own
life in the bond, the way Harry had seemed to forget that he was wounded�

�� It chimed
with the self-loathing Severus had felt in the bond when it first opened, and
the reckless way that Harry had used accidental magic to save them, and several
other signs that made him�concerned. Not worried. Worry had been what he felt
when he saw Harry fall in front of him.

�� We must find out what the source of that is.
Nothing like a hidden death wish, I hope.

�� He brushed
Harry�s hair away from his unmarked forehead, and hoped that he might soon see
those eyes open.

�� For
practical reasons, of course, but also for personal ones.

*

�� DTDY: Thank
you!

�� SilverLion:
Well, maybe not. Remember that Snape is doing something unfamiliar to him, so
he may be less subtle than usual.

�� ColdWater:
Thanks! Ginny�s position is meant to be somewhat sad; she�s trying, she really
is, but her and Harry�s inability to communicate is a problem.

�� pontaloon: Thanks
for reviewing! Harry sees Draco and Snape�s emotions as fire, just as they have
their own visualizations for his emotions.

�� Starting
sentences with �and� and �but� is grammatical, though if it�s repetitive I can
watch out for it. Thanks for the comment.

�� I�ve seen
stories that use italics for thoughts, and some that use single quotation marks.
I prefer italics because it�s a stronger separation from the text.

The power dynamics will change
quite often. It�s not as simple as one partner adopting one position and always
keeping it

�� Alliandre:
Thank you very much! I certainly agree with Harry�s reluctance. He really doesn�t
have much reason to trust Draco or Snape at the moment, even though he�s trying
to be more friendly with them. You can do that without trusting someone. Or at
least Harry thinks so, and he sees this time after the war as the chance to
finally live his own life.

�� At the
moment, Severus is sulking and letting bad memories of their relationship at
Hogwarts keep him from being a mentor to Harry. We�ll see if he can get past
that.

�� Hermione
also thinks it�s a little early, but she thinks Harry has to bring the two
pieces of his life together or be torn apart between them.

�� As you can
see in this chapter, Harry has thought about what it means that Draco and Snape
can feel him having sex, and so he�s decided to close the bonds while he does.
As to how he would feel if someone closer to him was homosexual, it�s hard to
say. I don�t think it�s something he�s thought about much. With Draco and
Snape, he just tries to keep from thinking about it at all, except to be happy
for them both, that they�ve found someone else to focus on.
- 6
- 7
- 8
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Their Phoenix