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The Same Species As Shakespeare	By : Lomonaaeren Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Harry/Draco Views: 16108 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 7
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Chapter
Eight�Working-Day World

�� If you
want to wait outside, you can.�

�� Draco shook
his head and followed him into the Ministry. Harry hid a smile at his
expression. Since they had faced the imposter in his office, Draco seemed
unwilling to be parted from Harry, as if he imagined that the reputation and
wandwork that had failed to ward the man off three times would manage a fourth.

�� Of course,
Harry couldn�t blame himself for the attacks he�d been unable to prevent. He�d
had no idea they were facing a wizard of this level of talent, let alone mad
stubbornness. Most ordinary fixations wouldn�t require so much work to defend
against. Harry had tracked Dark wizards who wanted someone on the winning side
to pay before, but they often gave up when they saw the Aurors bristling like a
briar-hedge around the case, or only one Auror ready to sacrifice his life to
protect their target. This man would commit suicide before he gave up, Harry
was now certain.

�� He had to
warn Ron and Kingsley of that.

�� More than
one person turned to stare at Malfoy as they trotted through the Auror
Department. Harry suspected they thought he was bringing the imposter in, but
they couldn�t understand why the imposter was walking tamely instead of
floating in a Body-Bind or at least attached to him with a Stretched Leash
Jinx, which would recoil sharply if the victim tried to wander too far from the
person who cast it.

�� However, no
one interfered until Harry had turned down the corridor outside Kingsley�s
office. Then a man with a long white beard and a fringe of gray hair around his
mostly bald head stepped forwards. Harry hid a sigh. �Is Kingsley in a meeting
at the moment, Albert?� he asked.

�� Albert
Whitlow, the most senior member of the Auror Department now that Dawlish had
finally given in and retired, said, �No.� He stared past Harry�s shoulder at
Draco; in fact, his eyes had been there all along, though Harry had hoped to
make Whitlow look at him with his question. �Why have you brought him here?�

�� Two Whitlow
nephews had died in the Battle of Malfoy Manor, and Albert had lost his only
son as well. Harry made sure to reply temperately. �I�m protecting him at the
moment, whilst Ron and the others hunt down the man pretending to be him. You
may have heard about our recent rash of problems with a Malfoy imposter.�

�� Whitlow
glared at him. He and Harry never had got along, especially because Whitlow
thought sarcasm was a kind of ravine. �Don�t get cheeky, Potter,� he said,
sharp and low. �Why did you bring him here?
You had to know what the sight of him would do to someone like me.�

�� The sight
of him,� Harry said flatly. �Do you ever listen to yourself?�

�� Whitlow�s
nostrils flared. �You should have known better,� he said. �On all counts. Than
to bring him here, and than to challenge me.� He drew his wand.

�� Harry
narrowed his eyes. He knew Whitlow was carrying out several grudges at once�he
never had forgiven Harry for sweeping into the Department and taking his old
place as Kingsley�s best friend and confidant�but they didn�t have time for
this.

�� Besides, he
could feel the pressure of Draco�s eyes against his back like a warm palm. He
would be lying if he said he didn�t want to show off for him.

�� He
concentrated.

*

�� Draco
stared intently at the man Potter had called Albert, but he didn�t recognize
him. That offended him. If someone considered him an enemy, he should at least
know who that person was.

�� Potter
reacted with unexpected calm even when this Albert stepped towards him with a
drawn wand. His head cocked and he relaxed, breathing deeply. Draco, watching
his face in profile, thought he saw his eyelids flutter once or twice.

�� Then an
invisible force snatched Albert�s feet away from him and suspended him from the
ceiling by one ankle. His wand clattered to the floor as he grabbed at first
his feet and then his robes, trying to prevent them from flying up over his
head. Shocked laughter rang down the corridors, though it ceased when Albert
began to twist in place, trying frantically to see who had done this to him and
who was mocking him. Others, braver, snickered.

�� Potter took
a single step forwards, his eyelids still fluttering and his voice strained. He
was using wandless magic to keep Albert on the ceiling, Draco realized then,
but it had to be taxing most of the resources in his body. �I have told you not
to do that. Bring your personal grudges to me in a formal duel, which can be
settled outside the Department. I won�t have you accidentally injuring someone
else because you hate me.�

�� Draco stood
frozen, unable to decide how he should respond. His lip did curl when he heard
the name Albert hurled at Potter, though. If the man was a pure-blood, he
should have been able to find more eloquent insults.

�� Potter
sucked in a breath. Albert abruptly fell a few inches, as if the invisible
chain holding him had lengthened. He gave a strangled cry, which prompted more
snickers and a few sharp whistles of astonishment.

�� Do I have
to drop you on your stubborn head,� Potter said, the barest bit of breathiness
in his voice, �before you see the truth?�

�� All right,
Harry,� a deeper voice said, at the same moment as a door clicked open. �I
think you�ve made your point.�

�� Draco
glanced up quickly. He�d become so enthralled in watching Potter�s face as he
controlled his wandless magic that he�d actually lost track of what was
happening around him and hadn�t realized that Shacklebolt had opened the door
of his office. A bad habit, he
scolded himself. You have to watch,
because Potter will be less than helpful if your enemy shows up whilst you�re
seducing him.

�� Of course,
sir,� Potter said with mock humility, and lowered Albert back to the ground. He
even turned him upright so that he landed on his feet and not his head. Draco
sneered. Potter seemingly couldn�t shed the show of mock righteousness even
when he had nothing to gain by continuing to use it.

�� Now.�
Shacklebolt paused in what he had been about to say when he noticed Draco, but
his mouth merely tightened before he continued. �You have important
information, Harry? I�m afraid that we learned almost nothing from the
interview with Palliser.� He nodded over Draco�s shoulder, presumably
dismissing the Aurors who had gathered to watch or arresting Albert�s futile
attempt at vengeance. �He couldn�t remember when the guest had come in or how,
and he dismantled all the wards around his house after the party.�

�� He did?
Why?� Potter sounded bewildered as he stepped into the office. Draco followed
him, stealing a few swift glances that immediately revealed Britain�s Head
Auror did not have the best of taste. He snorted, but under his breath.
Weasley, standing behind Shacklebolt�s desk, still glared at him as if he had
heard it.

�� Draco gave
him a glance full of venom back. A certain amount of feigned vulnerability
would serve him well where Potter was concerned, but he had no reason to want
to impress Weasley or keep on his good side.

�� I can
answer that question,� he said, and kept his eyes on Weasley to enjoy the way
his face flushed. �The wards dimmed the outlines of the house when they were as
thick in profusion as he wanted them to be. I tried to make him compromise and
choose more elegant and smaller wards, but he wouldn�t, at least not on the
first night. Now he�s simply dissipated them altogether rather than take the
effort of learning new ones.�

�� Shacklebolt
swiveled towards him. �But you know the wards he used last night? You could
tell us what they were and give us some sort of clue as to how
our�visitor�bypassed them?�

�� I can
try,� Draco said. �But you�ll have to understand that I didn�t see him arrive.
My description of the wards will be perfect, my description of what unusual
methods he might have invented to get around them speculative.�

�� Of course
you didn�t see him come in,� Weasley said, half under his breath, staring at
Draco the way Draco had seen some of his owls look at mice. �You were too busy
flirting with Harry.�

�� Draco
stared back. �I�m not an Auror, Weasley. Why would it be my job to watch out for someone with a face like mine, whom you�re tracking?� He lowered his voice.
�Were you disappointed when you found out that Potter insisted on defending
me?�

�� That is enough,� said Shacklebolt, in a voice
that made Draco jump. �I will have no bickering in my office, particularly not
whilst we work on a case so important. Ron, can you deal with Mr. Malfoy? Or
should we pull you off this and put you on a different case?�

�� Draco
looked again at the Head Auror. He stared at only Weasley, tapping his fingers
together, an expression of deep disappointment on his face. Draco smoothed away
a smile. Obviously Shacklebolt cared about the performance of his people more
than the obnoxiousness of the man whose life they were trying to save. That
gave Draco all sorts of ideas and made him dream about what else he might be
able to get away with.

�� Weasley
muttered something that Shacklebolt seemed to take as an assurance of good
behavior, because he nodded briskly and turned back to Potter and Draco.
�Describe the wards, please, Mr. Malfoy.�

�� Draco did
so, making sure to emphasize what parts of the house they had covered and how
thick they had been. He had his own professional pride, the way that Potter had
wanted Draco to stay out of his way whilst he worked to down the madman
stalking him. He would not allow Shacklebolt or Weasley to think he had
constructed an ugly building, though they might not know enough about
architecture to even suspect he had. Weasley would suspect his work on
principle, of course.

�� Potter
understood enough to build the Palliser house with and without wards in his
mind, Draco suspected. At least, the way he watched Draco with shining eyes
indicated he attached more importance to the words than simply seeing them as
evidence in the case he was solving.

�� Draco
arched his neck and lifted his shoulder slightly, putting his face in the best
profile to Potter. Potter�s breathing deepened and slowed. He leaned forwards
as if he would reach out and trace the perfect curve of Draco�s jaw. Draco held
still. He could do it if he liked. His hand trembled with the readiness to do
it. Draco tried to convey eagerness with the lines of his body, the demure
lowering of his eyelids, the pout of his lips.

�� Potter
leaned in a little closer, and then jerked back suddenly. Draco blinked and
kept a frown from his face with difficulty. Some people resisted his
enchantments, yes, but never with such abruptness.

*

�� Harry
winced and tried to soothe away the sting where Ron�s elbow had collided with
the small of his back. For a moment, he wished he hadn�t used enough wandless
magic on Whitlow to render himself near-exhausted. It would have been a fine
thing to will Ron�s wand to jab him in the side.

�� What are
you doing?� Ron hissed in his ear. �I
know you have some sort of crush on him, but act professional, for Merlin�s
sake.�

�� Harry drew
in several deep breaths and nodded. He thought he saw a flash of bewilderment
in Draco�s eyes, but then he continued to look straight ahead and answer
Kingsley�s questions. Yes, Harry could do at least as well. Draco felt the
desire and the pull as strongly as Harry did�Harry knew that for certain after
their little tussle on the floor of his office�but that was no reason to act
like a rutting bull.

�� Any liaison
they conducted would have to wait until after the case was over. And really,
the faster they solved the case, the sooner some of Harry�s dreams could come
true. He would never have everything he wanted, because even now he could not
imagine Draco holding him gently and running his fingers through Harry�s hair
or speaking with him simply and directly about his life with his parents, but
he could at least share a physical relationship with him.

�� And the
more he listened, the more worried he grew. Palliser�s wards had not been
bloodline wards, and neither had they been the complex ones that lined Draco�s
office, both of which the imposter might have learned about because they would
give him the knowledge to impersonate Draco more effectively. They had been difficult enough that it would
take some months of study to understand and get past them without alerting the
owner of the house. What were the chances that someone would simply happen to
have that knowledge?

�� Low. Harry chewed his lip. The imposter
must have learned of what wards Palliser intended to put on his house somehow.
Could he have approached Palliser in another guise and then gone to a ward
expert for the training he would need? No, even that would not give him long
enough. And Harry doubted that Palliser had decided on the wards months in advance,
or that he would have felt compelled to give the knowledge away to any random
stranger who approached him.

�� The other
important possibility was that the imposter had studied the kinds of wards that
Draco had advised his clients to put on their houses in the past, along with
Palliser�s personality, and known that he would disobey Draco and use the
heavier wards. And if that was the case, then Harry still didn�t understand his
psychology, because why show off his knowledge and deadliness by appearing in
the middle of the party? And then, if he was so deadly, why hadn�t he managed
to kill Draco after all?

�� It was a
mystery so profound that Harry had no idea where to begin investigating it.

�� Of course, your responsibility right now is
to protect Draco, he reminded himself as Draco finished describing the
wards. Ron can investigate the imposter.

�� Kingsley
nodded at Draco�s closing words and turned expectantly to Harry. Harry smiled.
Kingsley had always been good at telling when one of his Aurors was nearly
bursting with news.

�� There have
been two attacks since,� Harry said quietly. �One last night in Malfoy Manor,
one this morning.�

�� Kingsley
folded his hands on the desk and looked grave. Harry began to speak. Kingsley,
as always, asked leading questions that pulled out details Harry hadn�t thought
he remembered. Why had the burst of magic when the man came through Malfoy
Manor�s wards awakened Harry in the first place? Did Harry know why the
intruder had attacked through the window of the office and not through the
front door, if he could undo the wards in the first place? How long had their
battle lasted? Had Harry had the wound in his hand treated?

�� Startled,
Harry glanced at the hole that the intruder�s curse had drilled through the
middle of his palm. He winced as he brushed his fingers over the skin. It was
hard and high and blistered, like a burn; the spell had cauterized it and no
blood had fallen since the fight.

�� It doesn�t
hurt that much, except when I touch it,� he told Kingsley hopefully.

�� Unacceptable,�
Kingsley said. �That�s your wand hand. You will visit the Healer on staff and
have it taken care of, Potter.�

�� Harry
lowered his eyes and nodded. Kingsley only used his last name when he thought
Harry was behaving unreasonably.

�� I didn�t
realize you were wounded that badly.�

�� Harry
glanced up curiously. Draco�s voice was subdued, and he looked from the corner
of his eye at Harry�s hand, as if fascinated against his will. Harry grinned in
spite of himself. Being scolded in front of his best friend and his obsession
was worth it if it got said obsession to worry about him.

�� Ron must
have noticed the expression on his face and correctly interpreted it. His hand
crushed down on Harry�s elbow. Harry ignored it for the moment so that he could
say to Kingsley, �I�ll be sure to stop by the Healer�s office before I go back
to Malfoy Manor, sir.�

�� That�s an
excellent idea,� said Ron, in a brilliant, brittle voice that wouldn�t have
fooled anyone who knew him. �Why don�t we go right now? I�ve been meaning to
get the Healer to take a look at this cough of mine.� He hacked dramatically
and then began dragging Harry towards the door of the office.

�� Ron,�
Harry hissed under his breath, trying to twist his arm away from his friend.

�� I think Ron�s
right, Harry.� Kingsley gave him a bland, beaming face when Harry glared at him
in return. �It would be a shame if your productivity were to suffer because you
couldn�t be arsed to take care of yourself. And do get that cough seen to, Ron.
I�m sure it threatens the safety of the people of Great Britain.�

�� Yes, sir!�
Ron saluted smartly and then went on dragging Harry away.

�� Kingsley
turned back towards Draco. Harry bit the inside of his cheek. Of course, he
wasn�t worried about Kingsley physically hurting Draco the way he was worried
about someone like Whitlow doing. But he still felt as though he needed to be
present to defend Draco from anything untoward, up to and including Auror
interrogation. And Kingsley, with his mild probing questions and stiff face,
could be worse than some of the more practiced interrogators.

�� Your
little crush will be fine, Harry,� Ron said, and hauled him away. People got
discreetly out of their path. Ron was more even-tempered than he had been at
Hogwarts, but he was a large man, and when he did get angry no one wanted to
attract his attention. �Come with me and let�s see the nice Healer.�

�� Harry put
up with the dragging until they were around the corner. Then he ripped his arm
away from Ron with a viciousness that sent him staggering. Ron whirled around,
his eyebrows bent, his teeth marking his lip as he stared at Harry.

�� What�s got
into you?� Harry asked, lowering his voice only because he would prefer that
other people not know of their private quarrels. He wasn�t ashamed of the
relationship he might develop with Draco when this case was over, and nothing
could make him be.

�� What�s got
into you?� Ron countered, and there
was no shadow of a smile on his face to show he was teasing. �Harry, I�ve never
seen you behave so irresponsibly. Has it escaped your notice that you�re there
to protect him, not to fuck him?�

�� Harry
choked. Ron didn�t swear on a regular basis. Finally he managed to say, �I know
that. In fact, he�s aware of my desire for him, and he feels the same way, but
we both accepted that we should wait until this case was over.�

�� And yet,
you can�t,� said Ron. �If the way that you were looking at him in front of your boss was any indication.�

�� Harry
flushed and stared at the floor. Yes, he was ashamed of that part. He had to be
able to control himself. What would Draco think of him if Harry made a promise
and then broke it because his libido got to be too much? He ought to keep his
mind on something other than sex for more than ten minutes.

�� Ron spoke
on, his voice flat and merciless. �You spend too much time staring at him, you
won�t notice what�s around you. You spend too much time thinking about shagging
him, you won�t spend enough time thinking about our criminal and what his next
move is. And this is a case where thinking is necessary.� His voice softened.
�Harry, mate. I really can�t do this without you. I need you to help me think.�

�� You�re not
stupid, Ron,� Harry said quietly, looking up.

�� No.� Ron
took a step towards him. �But I also don�t work as well on my own as I do when
I�m partnered with you. It�s one thing to be separated from you for a while
because you�re the only one Malfoy trusts to guard him. But I want you to come
back safe so that we can go on other cases together.�

�� Harry
muttered, �Yeah, I know.�

�� Ron gripped
his shoulders and smiled into his eyes. �You�re being stupid. You know that too,
don�t you?�

�� Harry
nodded. There were signs of it, signs he should have heeded. He hadn�t ignored
his wounds since the first year of Auror training�bloody hell, since the first
year of the war. He would have gone and healed them at once if he were on any
other case. Malfoy could have come with him to St. Mungo�s, as he�d followed
him to the Ministry, or Harry could have placed him back in the care of the
Manor�

�� Which is not so safe after all, if the
intruder can come through the wards.

�� The problem
was, he needed to treat Malfoy like any other victim, but Malfoy wasn�t any
other victim to him. Malfoy was shining hair and shining eyes and a shining
skill that built houses out of air and sun and earth.

�� You�re
wandering off after him in your mind again,� Ron said in disgust. �I know that
look.� Harry blinked and focused on him. Ron lightly slapped his cheek. �Think
of all the sex you can have with him after
you both survive.�

�� Harry
nodded slowly. Yes. He had to think of Malfoy�s safety first. His distraction
might wound him, and he could survive that, but what would he feel if he killed
Malfoy because he was too busy admiring the way he looked to notice danger
creeping up on them?

�� Good.� Ron
slapped his shoulder this time. �And wear your ring. Hermione�s been driving me
mad, wanting to know why you took it off.�

�� She should
have asked me, not you,� Harry said.

�� That�s
what I said!�

�� Harry
laughed, and he and Ron went on to the Healer, sharing jokes about all the
things Hermione had to worry her until doomsday. Harry felt his worries melting
and sliding down his shoulders, dissolving like clots of snow under rain. He
wanted Malfoy, yes, but he had missed this, too, this easy companionship he had
never found with anyone but his best friend. It was good to be back.

*

�� I could
offer you Aurors more trained than Harry,� Shacklebolt said softly, in a voice
that was the soul of persuasion, �more skilled.�

�� I don�t
want them,� Draco said back, his voice just as soft.

�� I could
offer you an Auror who would be that trained and that skilled, and yet not try
to hurt you.� Shacklebolt leaned across the desk. He had eyes that he probably
used to compel his inferiors into obedience, Draco thought; hadn�t he sent
Potter away like a shamed child? �You need fear no grudges from us.�

�� I want
Potter.�

�� No one but Potter has ever mattered. Can�t
you understand that? You praise him as the best, and that�s why I have to break
him. A victory over him will be a victory over all of you, because it will show
you how empty the idol is that you�ve worshipped, how hollow the ideals that
you followed. You believed in him because he won you the war, but he�s only a
man, after all. That�s what I want to show you.

�� Draco
clenched his hands into fists and fought to keep them from drumming on his
knees. Strange, that everyone should be so blind to Potter, believe sincerely
in the fa�ade he showed the world, and yet not understand that of course Draco
would need to tear down that fa�ade to have any peace at all.

�� Shacklebolt
sighed heavily. �If you�re sure, Mr. Malfoy.�

�� I�ve never
been this sure of anything in my life,� Draco said, and rose to his feet and
strode out of the office.

�� I want Potter, said every beat of his
heart. To break, to destroy, to consume,
to wrap myself around.

�� To have, and hold, and keep.

*

�� linagabriev:
This is AU, so Harry doesn�t know any details about how Snape loved his mother;
the war was won in a different way. He just knows that Snape knew her somehow,
and he would like to know exactly how. Snape is being an arse for various
reasons he doesn�t plan to tell people.

And Draco will have a lot more of
those moments he is �letting� himself experience quite soon.

Mangacat: I hope both the imposter
and Snape will become more understandable as the story progresses.

Draco gets what�s coming to him and
then some.

�� Purple-er:
Thank you! Here�s the next chapter.
- 7
- 8
- 9
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The Same Species As Shakespeare