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Practicing Liars	By : Lomonaaeren Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Harry/Draco Views: 63258 -:- Recommendations : 2 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter and I am not making any money from this story.

Chapter List
- 7
- 8
- 9
Thank you again for all the reviews!

Chapter Eight�Tentative
Motions

�� Harry
stared into Malfoy�s eyes and cursed himself for an idiotic wanker. He�d known that Malfoy didn�t want anyone to
see what he was doing in the Room of Requirement. And when he�d seen Malfoy
cast a spell that he didn�t know and then watch it with a pale face and
trembling hands, Harry had known that this was even more serious than he
thought. No matter how silly Malfoy seemed for casting spells on a cabinet, it
had to be important in reality, or he wouldn�t spend his time on it.

�� He�d known
all that, and he�d still got too
close and then got himself sensed and knocked down with a wand held to his
throat.

�� Harry took
a deep breath and met Malfoy�s crazed eyes. He thought he could get to his wand
with a quick twist and a dig of his elbow into Malfoy�s ribs, but he wasn�t sure. And in the meantime, Malfoy might
lose his temper or his composure enough to hex him. He looked so wild that he
might not care about the consequences.

�� His best
chance was to calm Malfoy down enough to make him move off Harry, and then Stun
him.

�� Listen,
Malfoy,� he said. �It�s not what you think.�

�� Malfoy dug
in the wand hard enough to make Harry choke and cough. �Isn�t it?� Malfoy
whispered. �It�s not you spying on me and trying to get me in trouble, then? Because
that�s sure as shite what it looks like to me.� His wand dug again, and Harry�s
eyes crossed as he tried to keep breathing.

�� I have to get free. Harry thought that,
his mind spinning dizzily, his panic rising higher and higher. His world seemed
to fill with Malfoy�s staring grey eyes, and he remembered the way Lucius
Malfoy had looked in the Department of Mysteries. It was the same.

�� I can�t die here. I can�t let him Memory
Charm me. I said that I would do better, and I have to. For Sirius�s sake, and
Ron�s, and Hermione�s, and Neville�s, and Luna�s, and Ginny�s.

�� And then he
realized that, as Malfoy leaned forwards to drive the wand deeper and deeper
into Harry�s throat, he�d taken his weight off his lower body to put it on his
elbows, and that meant Harry�s legs were mostly free of him.

�� Harry
bucked up, a vicious jerk that sent Malfoy�s wand arm snapping sideways. Malfoy
gasped and tried to roll back into position, but Harry had already rolled over,
bounded to his feet, and drawn his wand. By the time Malfoy was halfway up and
starting to stand, Harry had his wand
jammed into the back of the prat�s skull, just under the hairline.

�� Malfoy was
smarter than Harry would have thought. He froze and even seemed to make his
breathing softer and shallower, as if he thought having it sound too loud would
force Harry to strike. And maybe he was right, Harry thought, privately
reveling in the feeling. Maybe he would have.

�� Why don�t you tell me what you�re doing here?� Harry asked.

*

�� Draco bowed
his head. The wand tip digging into his skin felt the way he imagined the Dark
Lord�s hand would feel as he slowly laid it over Draco�s heart and prepared to
tear it out of his chest with wandless magic after he had failed him.

�� His head
swam. His knees trembled, even though he had one on the floor. His breath came
short and fast. He would have liked to cry, except that Potter was there with
him and so that was out of the question.

�� He had
tried so hard. And all it got him was
being at Potter�s mercy. Potter would take him to the Headmaster and tell him
about the cabinet, and the Headmaster would figure it out, or maybe just dose
Draco with Veritaserum. Sure, that was supposed to be illegal, but Draco
reckoned that Gryffindors had no problem breaking rules, so why not the laws?

�� It was so unfair.

�� And because
it made no difference, because no matter what he did the situation was going to
turn out the same, he put his arm over his face and just knelt there in
silence, letting his shivers shake his body. Sooner or later Potter would
figure out that he wasn�t answering, and then he would probably nudge Draco
with his wand some more and make more threats.

�� Threats that
still wouldn�t matter, because what
Potter would do to him was nothing compared to what the Dark Lord was going to
do to his parents when he found out Draco had been captured.

�� Malfoy?�
At least Potter�s voice was wavering now, Draco noted with bitter pleasure. He
seemed to have realized that not everything was going to go perfectly and
people might have agendas that didn�t include him. He stepped around Draco and
prodded again at him from the side of his neck. �What are you doing? Hurry up
and tell me why you�re here.�

�� Draco
opened his eyes and snorted. Potter was staring at him with concern and at the same time trying to
look large and impressive. Draco rolled his eyes. �You�ll have to do better
than that if you want to scare me,�
he told Potter. �Don�t you think there are people here who can do a better job
of that than you can?�

�� Potter
sucked in a sharp breath. �Do you want me to get them?� he snapped, in what was
such a pathetic attempt to back himself up with authority that Draco laughed. �Dumbledore?
McGonagall?�

�� Get them.
I don�t care.� Draco closed his eyes. At least one comfort of despair was
knowing that he didn�t have to labor at this hopeless task anymore, he thought.
And since his parents were doomed anyway, he might as well relax and give in. �You�re
the one who�s going to be killing two innocent people no matter what happens.�

�� The wand
jabbed harder into the side of his neck, and Draco winced. When he looked up
again, Potter was staring at him with a face so red that Draco rolled his eyes.
Did he pick up on that trick from
Weasley, I wonder?

�� Ron and
Hermione?� Potter demanded. �Where did you put them?�

�� Draco had
the courage to turn and glare up at him then. �Oh, so they�re the only people
you think can be innocent, are they?� he asked. �As a matter of fact, I�m not
talking about them. I�m talking about my
parents, who I was trying to save. But there�s not a chance of that now,
with you catching me.� He closed his eyes and tried to compose himself. The
tears were threatening again.

�� I have no
idea what you�re talking about.�

�� Potter
sounded haughty, and spoiled, and as if he�d never had anything bad happen to
him in his life, so he couldn�t imagine what bad could happen to Draco. Draco turned
fully around this time. Potter immediately repositioned his wand so Draco couldn�t
grab it and drag it away from him, but that hadn�t been what Draco wanted to
do, anyway.

�� And this
time, the words were going to spill out. Something
had to, and Draco was opposed to spilling tears, and he wouldn�t get the
chance to spill blood.

�� Of course
you don�t,� he whispered. �Of course you don�t. To you they�re just Slytherins,
they�re just Malfoys, they don�t deserve
a second chance because no one who�s not a Gryffindor does. You would say that,
you would believe that, and you�re going to go on saying and believing that no
matter what I say. But at least you�ll
hear that my perspective is different.�

�� Potter�s
eyes widened, but he made no motion to cast a Silencing Charm. Draco thought he
might have gone on saying it even if Potter had. His body was shaking, and his
hands were clenching in front of him, and he had to speak or cut his tongue
out.

�� The Dark
Lord threatened them. He threatened them.
He said that he was going to kill my father instead of get him out of Azkaban,
even though he was the one who broke other Death Eaters out of Azkaban. He
tortured my mother. Her handwriting is shaky on her letters to me, and it never
used to be. I saw her shaking from the pain spells he used. Not Cruciatus.
Something worse, Darker. Something new.

�� And he wanted
me to do something impossible. How can I do
it? I�m sixteen years old! I�m a Slytherin, but I�m not fully-trained yet, and
I need more magic, and no one will help me, and everyone thinks I should obey
him, but none of them know how hard it
is, they�re all fully-trained wizards who chose
to serve him.�

�� Draco heard
his own words with shock. He hadn�t realized before this, not really, how
little choice he had about serving the Dark Lord. He would have said proudly,
if someone asked him, that he had wanted to and had decided to of his own free
will, but this was different again, to hear his voice trembling as he spoke.

�� I can�t
save myself, and I can�t save my parents, but I have to try, don�t I? And I can�t
rely on anyone to help me. Who? Dumbledore?
He would probably be just as glad that two of the Death Eaters can�t hurt
him or his followers anymore, since his magic is weakening. Snape? He�s too
intent on�something. I don�t know what. I don�t think that anyone really knows
what game he�s playing or who he�s loyal to.� He saw Potter�s mouth open, but
this wasn�t the time for him to listen to Potter�s speculations; this was the
time for his own misery, and damn it, he was going to take it, as he hadn�t got to take so much in the last few months. �You?
Don�t make me laugh. You�re going to turn me over to Dumbledore in a few
minutes, and he�ll turn me over to the Aurors. This is the end of it. This is
the end. I know.�

�� He didn�t
mean the last words to sound quite so much like a wail, or his face to turn
red, the way it did, with suppressed shame. He wrapped his arms around his
head, so that he would at least be able to ignore Potter�s expression of scorn.

*

�� Harry
stared at the kneeling Malfoy and wished he knew how to respond. His mouth was
open, but because it felt as though it had permanently fallen open, not because
he had anything that he wanted to say.

�� He
swallowed. He knew he should probably ignore all this blather�Malfoy was
probably telling a story to get out of trouble, the way he did when he told the
professors that he hadn�t been breaking the rules�and he�d admitted he was working
for Voldemort. Dumbledore should hear about that. So should the Aurors. Maybe
they could even get Malfoy to tell them where Voldemort was, and then the Order of the Phoenix, with Harry, could attack
and finish the whole bloody war right there.

�� The vision
held Harry. But then he looked at Malfoy, shaking, his shoulders heaving, and
he imagined what would happen to him when the Aurors had him.

�� The Aurors
would question him. Harry didn�t think they would torture him, but they would make him talk about his parents, and
reveal Voldemort, and then they�d probably throw him in Azkaban. And Voldemort
would certainly kill Malfoy if he could catch him.

�� Harry
watched Malfoy�s shoulders trembling.

�� He knew
that tremble. He�d trembled that way one day after school, when Dudley had
driven away another student who�d tried to be friends with Harry and the
teachers had scolded him for not doing his homework right and Uncle Vernon had
yelled at him and Aunt Petunia had sent him to the cupboard without dinner and
it seemed like the last straw. Harry
had wished he didn�t ever have to leave the cupboard again.

�� Malfoy had
blurted everything out like that because he had no hope left.

�� Harry
hesitated, then knelt down among the books and sliding cloth and broken things
in front of Malfoy. He still kept his wand out, because he wasn�t an idiot,
whatever Snape thought. And he paused a minute to strengthen his glamour,
because it had been almost a week again, and if Malfoy looked up and saw his
face looking like Snape�s�the way Harry thought he might have, that night in
the dungeons with the white Dementors�then he would probably try to blackmail Harry.

�� Harry
wanted to help him, but he was going to be cautious about it. When he wasn�t
cautious, people died.

�� He reached
out and put a hand on Malfoy�s shoulder, but Malfoy shrugged him off violently.
Harry took a slow, deep breath. He couldn�t be angry about this. Malfoy was
acting like a prat because he thought his whole world was crumbling around him.
Harry would try to be patient and show him that it wasn�t, actually, that he
could have help if he tried to find that help.

�� Listen,�
he said. �I want to help you. And you�re mistaken if you think that Dumbledore
wouldn�t want to help you just because of your parents, or because you�re
Slytherins and Malfoys. He wants to help everyone.
You just have to ask.�

�� Malfoy gave
a deep sniffle that Harry knew meant he was probably trying not to cry; he
recognized that sound, too. Then he whipped his arm away from his face and gave
Harry a scornful look. But his lip was trembling, and his eyes were too wide,
and Harry remembered that kind of defense from the times he�d used it himself.

�� Oh, yes, because
that�s so easy,� Malfoy said
sarcastically. He raised his voice into a high-pitched one that he probably
meant to mock Gryffindors, except Harry hadn�t ever heard a Gryffindor sound
like that. �Please, sir, would you, out of the goodness of your heart and
nothing else because you have every reason to hate us, save my family?�

�� Harry
hesitated so he could get himself under control. He had to make an impression
on Malfoy, and yelling at him for being stupid wouldn�t do it.

�� When he
thought he could, he said with quiet force, �That wouldn�t be Dumbledore�s
reaction. You don�t know anything about him, Malfoy. He could help you. He�d give you sanctuary, so Voldemort wouldn�t kill
you for betraying him.� Malfoy flinched so hard that Harry was sorry for a
minute he�d mentioned Voldemort�s name, but on the other hand, Malfoy would
have to get used to it if he was with Dumbledore. �He could make sure that your
parents were rescued.�

�� Malfoy
sneered at him. �I know that his magic is fading. He�s getting weaker. You
think that he could really protect us?� He shook his head stubbornly. �No. I
won�t do it.�

�� Harry hissed
in frustration and poked Malfoy�s shoulder with his wand. �You want help, you stupid prat,� he said. �And now it�s
here, and you won�t take it?�

�� Not from
Dumbledore,� Malfoy said. �Not from someone weak and who would probably want to
turn me over to the Aurors anyway.�

�� He wouldn�t��

�� How do you
know that?� Malfoy asked bitterly. �You haven�t watched things the way I have,
Potter. You�re not a Slytherin. You know the way that he changed the banners
our first year and gave the House Cup to you, when it belonged to us? He doesn�t
care about us. Not the way Professor
Snape cares. No. I won�t trust him, and if you take me to him, then I�ll just
deny everything.� His lips grew firm.

�� Harry
glared at him some more. He could keep arguing that Dumbledore wasn�t like
that, but he recognized that stupid stubborn expression from the mirror. Malfoy
felt the way about this that Harry felt about not telling Snape that he�d been
the one to sleep with Harry�s mum. So Harry didn�t think he could persuade him
out of this.

�� And one
thing Malfoy said had made sense, and made him shift uneasily back and forth.
Dumbledore was losing his magic. There
was no reason for him to show it in public if it was some kind of plan, because
he had to know that word about it would get back to Voldemort if the Slytherins
could watch him. So Harry thought it was probably real, and Dumbledore hadn�t
expected it to happen so soon. Harry had noticed that he was careful not to use
any spells in the Great Hall since that first one that�d failed.

�� But
Dumbledore had to know.

�� And then
Harry played Malfoy�s words over in his head again, and felt stupid. There was
a way that he could try to get help for Malfoy, with someone he would trust,
and yet be sure that word would get back to Dumbledore. Harry would tell Dumbledore
himself if all else failed.

�� Then come
with me,� he said, and prodded Malfoy�s shoulder until Malfoy rose to his feet,
his eyes wide with suspicion. �Come with me, and we�ll talk to Professor Snape.�

�� Malfoy
shuddered. �He�ll betray me to the Dark Lord.�

�� You just
said that you didn�t know what side he was on, but that you trusted him to care
about Slytherins,� Harry pointed out. �Are you contradicting yourself?�

�� One thing
Harry had noticed about Slytherins was that they liked to think they were
logical, even when they weren�t. So although Harry�s words wouldn�t have
mattered to a Gryffindor (except maybe Hermione), they made Malfoy frown at the
wall, because clearly the worst thing that you could do was contradict yourself.

�� He stared
for so long that Harry thought he would change his mind, and got ready to Stun him.
But finally Malfoy jerked his head down and said in a choked voice, �Oh, why
the fuck not? It�s not like I have anything else I can do now.�

�� Then start
walking.� Harry nodded towards the door from the Room of Requirement without
taking his eyes or his wand off Malfoy. �But you better not draw your wand, or
I�ll just Stun you right there.�

�� Malfoy
sneered at him, but started walking. �Some comforter you are,� he muttered.

�� Harry
rolled his eyes, confident it wouldn�t cause an argument since Malfoy had his
back turned and couldn�t see him. You
wouldn�t want comfort even if I offered it. You barely accepted this kind of comfort, even though you needed it
so much.

�� He hoped
that Snape could take this over, and even tell Dumbledore. Feeling so much
sympathy for Malfoy made him feel as if his skin was covered with a faint film
of slime.

*

�� Severus
felt more wonder and confusion then he remembered feeling in many long years as
he leaned back in his chair and looked from Draco�s face to Potter�s. Potter
stood behind Draco and never took his eyes off him or his wand away from Draco�s
back. Severus supposed that he must commend the boy for that caution, at least,
as much as he would have liked to speak privately with Draco.

�� For the boy
to have intervened and then dragged Draco here�

�� Severus
gave a tiny shake of his head. He had thought that he would speak to Draco
carefully across a long period of time, gradually letting him know that he
could trust Severus and thus persuading him to abandon his course of service to
the Dark Lord. It had been an uncertain gamble. Severus had assumed the choice
would not be lasting unless Draco made it himself, and thus there was every
possibility that he and Albus would lose in the end, because they could not
force Draco to join them.

�� Potter�s
moral scruples were much less fine, and thus he had changed the nature of the game.
Severus leaned forwards with his hands clasped in front of him and addressed
Draco directly. Potter�s part in this was more complicated and something he
would have to consider at his leisure. �Are you yet willing to tell me what
task the Dark Lord set you?�

�� Draco blinked
a bit, then firmed his lips and shook his head. Potter frowned, but said
nothing. Severus raised an incredulous eyebrow. It seems that the boy has learned something of discretion after all. I
wonder who taught him.

�� Very well,�
said Severus. �What I can do to shield you is limited. However, be assured that
I shall do all in my power. As of the
moment, I believe that your father is the safer one of your parents. The Dark
Lord likely considers Azkaban his immediate punishment for the sin of his
failure. That leaves your mother.�

�� Draco
nodded, his face gone so white that the shadows under his eyes looked like
smudges of soot against his skin. Severus sighed. Perhaps it was for the best,
after all, that Potter had intervened in his plans. Draco had obviously been
close to cracking. Perhaps he would not have lasted long enough to make the
informed decision that Severus wanted him to make.

�� We must
get her out of Malfoy Manor,� Severus said, noting that the boy didn�t dispute
with him when he assumed Narcissa�s location. Interesting. �I will begin work on that.�

�� Thank you,
sir.� The boy�s voice was a ghostly whisper, and the way he looked down and
away from Severus couldn�t hide the flash of distrust in his eyes.

�� Of course not. The boy had hinted to
Severus about his choice of allegiance, but there was a difference between that
and actually trusting him with all the details of the Dark Lord�s service. He
probably assumed that Severus would still jump at the chance to turn him over
to the Dark Lord or Dumbledore; Severus did not know if Draco had personally
made up his mind about who, exactly, Severus served.

�� For right
now,� Severus continued, �we cannot be sure that the Dark Lord does not have
other spies in the school keeping a watch on you, Draco. You will therefore appear
to continue your task for the moment.�

�� This time,
the look he got from the boy was distinctly startled. He was probably wondering
whether Severus wanted the Dark Lord�s task done in spite of all appearances to
the contrary.

�� No, foolish one, Severus wanted to snap.
I am trying to protect you, and to give
you the chance to make a permanent choice on your own. As of now, I do not
trust you to be any more loyal to us than you were to the Dark Lord.

�� Potter had
opened his mouth, but he snapped it shut again and looked thoughtful. Severus
narrowed his eyes. I grow more and more
intrigued by him. I want to know what has changed him.

�� In the
meantime,� Severus added, �you are to come to me for a detention tomorrow,
Draco. Tell the others that I caught you out after curfew and that you were
insolent to me.�

�� Yes, sir,�
Draco said, though with a wince, probably at what the other Slytherins would
think of his being insolent to his Head of House. He knew a dismissal when he
heard one, so he left the office.

�� Potter
barely waited until the door shut before he snapped, �If you don�t tell
Dumbledore, I will.�

�� I am sure,�
Severus drawled. �You are right that he cannot long remain ignorant. Well,
Potter, you need not be afraid. Go to him if you like, if you do not trust me.
Now, leave me.� He turned away and picked up the stack of essays he had been
marking when the twin complications had intruded into his presence.

�� Potter
blinked, obviously caught off-guard. Severus took the chance to whisper a spell
that would detect any long-lasting magic on Potter�s body. It was not out of
the question that the boy had found a spell that would increase his intelligence,
though all such that Severus knew of were Dark Arts.

�� A soft glow
concentrated itself over Potter�s face. Severus hid his frown. The spell
revealed only that there was magic there,
not of what kind it was. The face seemed an odd choice for Potter to cast
anything on.

�� I will have to ponder this more.

�� Dismissed,�
Severus added harshly, and watched with carefully casual eyes as his most
troublesome�and, of late, most interesting�student left.��

*

�� MewMew2:
Thanks for reviewing!

�� paigeey07:
That�s all right! Let me know if it comes to you.

�� k lave
demo: Oh, absolutely. Severus is going to feel rather stupid for hating James�s
traits in Harry when the truth comes out.

�� SP777: It
would depend on how much Snape gets invested in teaching the other students. At
the moment, he�s focusing too much on Harry the way he used to focus too much
on his good Potions students in Potions, and neglecting the others.

�� I don�t yet
know the number of chapters. I simply know Snape will find out near the middle
of the story.

�� Inugrl2004:
Sorry!

�� Mia: Thank
you! I don�t generally like the unrequited love thing unless it�s a comedy
story, and this is most definitely not that.

�� nakatanizell:
Yes. And he�s noticing more and more things now, and getting more and more
interested in Harry for his own sake.

�� Stargirl77:
Thanks! One of the things that has to happen is Snape getting some kind of
interest in Harry outside the possibility that Harry is his son, I think. I�m
working on establishing that.
- 7
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Practicing Liars