Adult-FanFiction.org : Harry Potter

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

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

Chapter
Eight�Introducing the Outside World

�� Potter
didn�t say a word until they were in the middle of packing up Draco�s trunks.
From the swift, expert movements of his wand, Draco reckoned that he�d done it
before, and fairly often, too. Draco opened his mouth to ask about that, but
Potter spoke first.

�� You�re
sure about this?� he asked quietly, his attention seemingly fastened on a
blanket that he was crushing carefully into place atop a pillow. He considered
the result, shook his head, and shrank the whole bundle, which was what Draco
would have done in the first place. �You won�t change your mind in a moment and
go crawling back to Snape, will you?�

�� Draco
glared. He had made the decision to go with Potter of his own free will, that
had taken a lot of courage, but it
seemed that Potter only existed to disparage his choices. �I�ve never crawled,�
he settled for saying, with immense dignity.

�� You were
doing a pretty good imitation of it when I came here.�

�� Draco drew
himself up. �I wonder if our living together is going to work after all,� he
said. His breathing was quick from hurt, and he had to turn his gaze away. It
had felt so wonderful to have someone on his
side, for once. Now he had to wonder whether Potter had only been there so
as long as there was a chance to rescue Draco.

�� I didn�t
mean�� Potter said, and there was a long, awkward silence, during which they
both kept packing. The more dispassionate part of Draco noted that least they
could work together. Perhaps that would be all that was required.

�� But when
Draco thought of living in a house on his own, before the curious, disapproving
gaze of the wizarding world, he knew that he couldn�t do it yet. He would have
to rely on Potter for shelter for some time, no matter how distasteful the
notion.

�� Listen,�
Potter said.

�� Draco
hunched his shoulders and flicked his head a bit to say that listening, if it
happened, would be at his discretion.

�� I�m
sorry,� Potter said, surprising Draco so much that he stopped packing and
turned his head to gape. Potter was standing with his eyes on the ground, his
hands in his pockets, and a frown turning the corners of his mouth. �I didn�t
think before I said that. I watched you change your mind once, and that has me
paranoid.� He looked up. �But you do seem committed now, and you�ve given Snape
every chance he can possibly require. If he can�t see what he�s losing in you,
then he�s not worthy of another one.�

�� Draco
lowered his eyes and nodded, because he wanted to cover how flustered he was
and stop his immediate attempt to defend Severus. Severus was a better person
than Potter thought him, but Draco doubted that he would want Potter to know
the evidence that it was so; those were secrets he had entrusted Draco with,
and that Draco did not intend to betray now. Potter might not think it
significant that Severus had let Draco leave without an Unbreakable Vow, but
Draco knew it was.

�� Severus
still trusted him.

�� For the
moment, Draco decided to get some of his own back by picking up on the thread
that Potter had left dangling. He pasted a smile on his face and lowered the
last of his books into the last trunk, then shrank the whole thing and tucked
it into his pocket. �What about you? Do you have anyone whom you might lose if I move into your house?�

�� Potter
grimaced and shook his head. �I doubt that you�ll meet any of mine. I don�t
usually bring them home.�

�� Draco
paused and watched Potter with an uplifted eyebrow. He hadn�t even considered
that Potter might have become someone like this. It didn�t sort with his mental
picture of a repressed, determined Gryffindor. �One-night stands?�

�� Potter gave
him a quick look. �Not quite that bad, but not in the permanent category
either.� He started placing trunks in his own pockets, a wry smile twisting his
mouth. �The people you�ll have to worry about are my friends.�

�� Draco
groaned. �The redoubtable Weasel and Mudblood,� he muttered.

�� Potter went
very still for a moment. Then he said, lightly, without looking at Draco, �If
you say that again, I won�t cast you out on the streets. I won�t even stop
working to get you cleared by the Wizengamot. But I�ll make sure that your stay
with me isn�t very pleasant.�

�� Draco
nodded, already cursing himself. If I
want to prove that I�m not childish, this isn�t the best way to do it. �I�m�sorry,�
he said, after struggling with his own instincts not to apologize for a moment.

�� Potter
turned around and utterly stared. Then he smiled. �Well, now that we�ve both
apologized and shown that we can still argue, perhaps we can be going?� He
looked around the bare room. �There�s nothing else that you want to take with
you?� he added. �Anything from the bedroom that you and Snape
shared?�

�� Draco noted
a certain sharp tone in Potter�s voice and wondered about it, but didn�t remark
on it. �No. That has nothing in it now except a bed. I�m going to collect a few
seeds from the garden, though.�

�� Do. I�ll
let you plant them at my house, if you like, and then I can remember this place
more fondly.� Potter flicked his wand as they left the room, and the layers of
dust vanished. Draco cocked his head, and Potter smiled. �That way, he can�t
complain that we left anything dirty.� He cast another spell. �And that one
gets rid of all the feathers that I shed, including the ones in his lab.�

�� Draco
wondered if Potter knew that that would mean taking some of the stored feathers
out of Severus�s ingredients cabinets. From his lingering smile, Potter might.

�� He offered
Potter his arm on the way out the door. Potter considered it with evident
surprise for a moment, and then took it. Draco felt a sharp tingle run through
him at the contact, and remembered Potter standing naked in the lab. He was no
longer naked, since he�d borrowed and refitted a few of Draco�s clothes, but
the memory was easy to fetch.

�� Potter
didn�t seem to notice anything. Draco licked his lips and wondered what, if anything, would happen between them in the future.

*

�� Stay close
behind me,� Harry warned Malfoy as they approached the Auror encampment he�d
been supposed to reach a fortnight
ago. Snape hadn�t even let him send messages that he was all right, the
paranoid bastard. �They�re going to be jumpy, and I don�t know how they�ll
react to you.�

�� Malfoy
stepped smartly behind him and rested one hand on his back not far above his
arse, peering apprehensively around Harry�s shoulders. Harry rolled his eyes.
He knew Malfoy wasn�t that frightened,
but it might be to their advantage to pretend that he was, so that the Aurors
would be less likely to cast spells on sight.

�� Although if
the Aurors included Ron, as Harry expected them to, that might be impossible.

�� The wards
were thick and strong, and made the place look like nothing more than a shallow
bowl of heather in the hills, but Harry had the key to them. A flick of his
wand and a moment of concentration, and he and Malfoy were stepping down among
neatly placed tents, all of them red as Auror robes, with a convoy of flags
flying above them.

�� Mate!�

�� Harry
laughed and held out his arms, catching Ron�s rush and turning it into the kind
of hug that spun them both around. Ron was holding him so tightly that Harry
gasped, and muttering tiny, breathless words, his eyes shut. Harry closed his
eyes and clung back, for just a moment not worrying about Malfoy or what the
reaction to him would be or how he would explain his disappearance, but
reveling in Ron�s closeness. Through Harry quitting the Aurors and arguments
and all, Ron had always remained his best friend.

�� Who�s
this?�

�� Harry
raised his head and turned hastily around, although Ron didn�t want to let him
go yet. Ron�s capture of him had meant Malfoy was left standing alone, and now
he was surrounded by suspicious Aurors, all with their wands aimed. Harry
scowled when he realized that Gibbon was along on this trip. Auror Gibbon was a
huge man with limited patience for escaped criminals of all stripes�an Azkaban
escapee had killed his wife�and a conviction that all Death Eaters belonged in
jail cells. Or dead. He wasn�t picky.

�� Malfoy
faced Gibbon with a calm look that did him credit, since Harry was fairly sure
he wasn�t calm at all. Only the tight position of his shoulders that meant his
hands were locked together behind his back would have told you that, though.

�� Stand
down!� Harry barked. His voice still had the edge that Auror training had given
to it, and most of the Aurors responded automatically. Gibbon didn�t move, his
gaze and wand both trained on Malfoy, but Harry saw Malfoy stand up straighter
when he had only one opponent to face, which had been the whole point. Harry
intended to start healing Malfoy�s confidence as well as his innocence.

�� That
really is Malfoy, isn�t it?� Ron asked. His grip had loosened in his confusion,
and Harry was able to twist away, with a quick pat to his friend�s shoulder to
let him know that he didn�t resent what Ron had done. �What in the world��

�� Explain in
a minute,� Harry muttered out of the corner of his mouth, although he could
already feel his throat tightening a bit as the Unbreakable Vow exerted its
pressure, and then detached himself from Ron and hurried over to Malfoy.

�� Gibbon
didn�t move even then, but he didn�t have much choice except to notice when
Harry reached out and pushed the tip of his wand down. Then he blinked and said,
�He is a Death Eater, Potter, and an escapee.�

�� Funny,
calling him that, when he was never tried in the first place,� Harry snapped.
�And you know the history of the war better than anyone except me, Gibbon, with
the way you�ve studied it. What crimes did Malfoy commit, exactly?�

�� Gibbon
frowned and spent a few moments looking at them both. He had large, sunken dark
eyes, and his hands moved slowly over one another as though he were fumbling
for his wand all the time. Harry knew that was an illusion. He had seen Gibbon
move and cast curses almost unimaginably fast. �He must have participated in
the torture of fellow students at Hogwarts,� Gibbon said finally. �And there
were reports that Voldemort had used him as a torturer.�

�� Used him,� Harry said. �He never
consented to it on his own. And if we�re going to punish everyone who did
things because they were afraid of the Death Eaters, then we�ll have to include
half the Aurors who worked for the puppet Ministry.�

�� Gibbon
stared at him in turn. Harry looked back, unimpressed. Gibbon was someone who
confused his own desires for the rules. Harry had left the Aurors mostly
because of the restrictions, but he knew that he could have become someone like
Gibbon if he stayed.

�� No one you despise quite as much as the
people with flaws you see in yourself, he thought wryly.

�� I worked
for the puppet Ministry,� Gibbon said at last.

�� Harry
sighed. Subtlety was wasted on the man. He really should have known better than
to try it. �I know that,� he said.
�Do you think you deserve to be punished for what happened during the war?�

�� No,�
Gibbon said, so slowly that Harry knew he had tried and failed to find a
different answer, probably an answer as to why his fate and Malfoy�s should be
separate.

�� Well,
then,� Harry said, and stepped back with a shake of his head. �You can�t argue
for Malfoy�s punishment on that basis alone. You are not the Wizengamot.
They�re the ones who�ll make the appropriate decision.�

�� Gibbon
leaned forwards until he was close to Harry�s face. It was like having a bull
breathe on you, Harry thought. �You�re going to fight for him?� Gibbon
whispered. �For this little waste of flesh?�

�� Why not?� Harry twisted his smile to the side and hoped
that everyone was listening as intently as they seemed to be. �Someone fought
for you.�

�� Whoever had
trained Gibbon had at least impressed on him that it wasn�t good to take your
frustration out on colleagues. He turned around and stomped away without a
word. Harry released a breath and glanced back at Malfoy. �You all right?� he
murmured, so that the others wouldn�t hear a question that might be a weakness
for Malfoy.

�� Malfoy�s
face was pale, but he lifted his head and raised his eyebrows. �Yes, I am. He
didn�t actually touch me.�

�� Harry
smiled approval of this, and then turned around to face the second challenge,
Ron. He was frowning at Malfoy, but he had learned to trust Harry more than he
hated other people. He gave Harry an inviting smile. �Want to tell us where you
picked him up?�

�� He picked
me up, rather,� Harry said, glad that he�d had time to think about what edited
version of the story he should speak. �When I fled those bastards�
headquarters, they�d cast a spell on me that trapped me in my Animagus form,
and also didn�t show up to detection
spells. Malfoy found me and thought I was an ordinary parrot. Eventually I
trusted him enough to speak up, he found out I wasn�t, and he helped me get
back to my human shape.� There. That didn�t even mention Snape�s existence. It
ought to be enough to fulfill the Vow and explain Malfoy�s presence at the same
time.

�� Ron nodded,
but his frown deepened. �And you decided to come with him?� he asked Malfoy.
�Why?�

�� Harry
breathed more easily. Malfoy didn�t have an oath constraining him, and he could
lie or tell the truth as he wanted.

�� I�m tired
of living in isolation from the outside world, always wondering if today will
be the day it finds me,� Malfoy said, and the passion in his voice convinced
Harry he was telling the truth about his feelings, if not the source of his
isolation. �I ran away because I was a scared little kid, and I didn�t know
anything except that your lot might condemn me, too. My parents were already in
prison, and that was despite my mother having saved Potter�s life. I wasn�t interested in becoming
one more victim for the orgy of punishment that was going on.� He wrapped his
arms around himself as if he was cold. �But I want my life back, and I�ll stand
in front of the Wizengamot with Potter at my side.�

�� He gave a
glance at Harry that said he had better be
there. Harry nodded back to him with a smile, and some more of Malfoy�s tension
drained off.

�� Ron cocked
his head so far to the side that he looked like he was in danger of falling
over, as Harry had done a few times before he learned to manage his parrot
form. �Well,� Ron said slowly. �He�ll have to come in and talk with the
Department of Magical Law Enforcement, of course.�

�� Of
course,� Harry said, and moved on to something more important to him, now that
Malfoy was no longer in immediate danger. �I�m sorry I couldn�t contact you
before. Malfoy didn�t know who I was, and then didn�t want to release the
wards. But how are you? How are Hermione and the rest of the family? I�m sorry, you probably all thought I was dead.�

�� Ron grabbed
him for another hug in response, and held him still there, his eyes shut as
though he was trying to find the words to express all he felt. Then he
murmured, �It was like the time when you dropped out of the Auror program, only
worse, because at least then we could be fairly sure you were alive. Don�t do that again.�

�� I�ll try
not to get trapped in my parrot form and fly into the wrong camp,� Harry
promised solemnly, though he winced a bit. When he had dropped out of the Auror
program, he had shut himself into his house, behind wards that made it look as
though no one lived there anymore, because he needed to think and didn�t want
to be interrupted. He hadn�t even thought about how frantic his friends would
feel until he came back from thinking and had that forcefully pointed out to
him.

�� Idiot,�
Ron muttered into his hair. Then he stepped back and gave Harry a harsh smile.
�We did find enough evidence to catch most of the bastards in the house with
you, though, and enough to hold them. But we can�t try them until you testify. Ready to do that?�

�� Of
course,� Harry said. �The minute we get back, if you like.� Then he followed
Ron�s expressive gaze to Malfoy and said, �Well, maybe five minutes after that.
He�ll need to be settled in first.�

�� He started
to step away, but stopped when he felt Ron�s hand on his shoulder. Ron leaned
close and murmured, �Really? I mean,
he really saved your life, and you really want to help him get reestablished in
the wizarding world? And he�s really going to live with you?�

�� Harry
smiled, squeezed Ron�s hand, and murmured, �Yes, all the �reallys�
in this case are true.�

�� Ron said,
�And you�re going to be all right? I mean, living with another bloke?�

�� Harry
narrowed his eyes. �Now is not the
time to discuss that,� he said.

�� Whatever Ron saw in his face made him step back with his hands up.
�No, I reckon not,� he said peaceably. �Well, do whatever you need to to make Malfoy comfortable. I�ll hold the others at bay.�

�� Harry
nodded and made his way over to Malfoy, who had sat down in front of one of the
tents and was staring quite blankly at everything.

*

�� Draco had
somehow skipped over other people when
he began to imagine what life would be like outside the confines of his and
Severus�s cottage. He had known Potter would be fighting for him, and it had
been easy to imagine standing in front of a courtroom full of Wizengamot
members. He had done it when he attended his parents� trials, after all.

�� But
meanwhile, there were people everywhere around him, with their own concerns and
an ignorance of his history so profound that no one had accused him of being
connected with Severus�s escape yet. They bustled and they talked and they
glared at him, and Draco could hardly take in their presence.

�� He had
spent every day and night for the last six years with only one other person.
The Daily Prophet and daydreams were
a poor substitute for a social life, and having Potter with him for a fortnight
didn�t ease the transition.

�� Are you
all right?�

�� Draco
started. He had forgotten, too, that there was one person with him who did know
his history and commiserate with his loneliness. He turned his head to the side
and pressed his face against Potter�s shoulder, without a thought of what it
might look like.

�� Potter
seemed to have one. He cleared his throat and carefully moved back from Draco,
so that he could study his face. �I have to make my report,� he said, �and I
want to write a letter to the Wizengamot that will alert them of my intent to
fight for you. Will you be content to wait that long? After that, we can go
home.�

�� Home. Draco
swallowed and wondered if Potter�s house would ever feel like that to him.

�� Not that
the cottage had, either, not for years. Not that the Manor would if he went
back to it now, without his parents. He was homeless, and that
notion made him want to shudder and wrap his arms around himself.

�� You still have your pride, said a voice
in the back of his head that could have been Severus�s. Hold these feelings inside, and you need never let anyone else know that
you have them.

�� Draco
relaxed a bit as he thought about that, and nodded in response to Potter�s
question. �I�m not a child,� he added for good measure.

�� I know
that,� Potter said, and gave him a quick, sweet smile. �What you are is someone
coming out of isolation for the first time in years. You need help to get used
to the light and the noise and the movement and the company again. That�s fine.
I�ll do what I can to help, and you can move out when you�re ready. Only you can make that decision.�

�� He pressed
one hand down on Draco�s shoulder and started to stand, but Draco caught his
arm and stayed him. �Why are you being so nice to me?� he asked. Weasley�s
reaction had let him know that Potter would hardly be in the habit of bringing
home former enemies and telling his friends that he was going to redeem them.

�� Potter
didn�t answer right away, but stood gazing into Draco�s face as if the answer
would be written on his skin. Then he bent down and spoke quietly. Draco
noticed a few people eying them and decided that was probably the source of
Potter�s caution, rather than some wariness that originated from his reaction
to Draco.

�� Because you deserve a second chance. Because I can see
something in you that I saw in myself three years ago, when I stared into the
mirror and realized that I didn�t want to
be an Auror and I would go mad if I tried. I think you would have gone mad if
you were cooped up in that cottage much longer. I don�t know that you�ll
succeed in all the ways I�d like you to, but I do intend for you to succeed in
winning your freedom back. I wanted to be happy, and I want you to be happy.�

�� He squeezed
Draco�s shoulder one more time and walked away in the direction of the largest
tent. Draco watched him go and resisted the temptation to follow him or ask
more questions or demand more of his attention.

�� Weasley sat
down on a chair planted in the middle of the open not far away and started to
polish his wand. He didn�t look at Draco, but Draco suspected he was there as a
guard to make sure no one harassed him while Potter was gone. Draco was
simultaneously grateful and irritated, and decided to show neither emotion.

�� He was just
a bit more preoccupied with what
Potter had said to him. Who cared so suddenly and deeply for the happiness of
someone he�d met out of the blue a fortnight ago and last seen six years before
that, and who he�d never liked, just because of a chance resemblance he might
be mistaken about in the first place?

�� No one,
Draco decided. There was something going on beneath the surface, something
about Potter that he would have to work out and decide how far he could depend
on. He didn�t doubt Potter would be as good as his word about helping Draco win
his freedom, but if Potter could help him in any way with happiness�

�� Draco
decided that his task for the next two weeks or so was to understand Potter. It
was no light thing, or easy one. Understanding Potter meant understanding his
own survival and the new world he found himself in.

�� And his own future, Draco tacked on to the end of that thought
after a moment�s consideration. He had the impression that his road and
Potter�s might run together for longer than the initial help Potter planned to
offer.

�� Draco lay
back and folded his hands behind his head, staring up at the sky. The intuition
of connection with Potter was like a heavy weight in his chest and belly.

�� The only
time he�d ever felt anything like it was when he had stared at Severus through
the bars of his cell and known he would do anything to rescue him.

*

�� angelmuziq: Thank you! I�m afraid
that I can�t say anything about what Snape will do or the way that Harry and
Draco will interact because those are big spoilers, but you can get some hints
here.

�� lryn: Snape will start having to
learn better. As long as Draco was there, he could hide from certain facts, but
now he can�t.
- 7
- 8
- 9
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

Love, Free as Air