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Ceremonies of Strife	By : Lomonaaeren Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Harry/Draco Views: 16218 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, and I am making no money from this writing.

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Chapter Nine�Powerful
at Will

�� Draco
skidded to a stop around the corner and stood looking about warily. He had felt
the rough prickling on his skin that meant Harry was in trouble, but there was
no sign of any trouble in the corridor. He blinked at Harry and waited for an
explanation.

�� Harry
lowered his wand, which he�d been pointing at empty air, and swallowed. �I
don�t know how to explain what happened,� he said defensively, when he saw
Draco watching him. �It�s not that I won�t tell you.�

�� You look like you don�t want to tell me, Draco
would have said, but the last thing he wanted was to start an argument. He gave
a brisk nod and waited until Harry gathered his breath.

�� Catherine
Arrowshot appeared in front of me,� Harry said. His words were soft and
blurred, but Draco heard them well enough. �She looked like a ghost, or a
silent picture on the telly�I could see her, but I couldn�t hear her.� Draco,
to whom the Muggle reference had meant nothing, nodded, grateful that Harry had
explained it in more detail. �She held out her hands, and I think she asked me
for help. I couldn�t hear her, so I�m really not sure. Then she vanished,
and�well, did you smell that scent when you came up?�

�� Draco
turned obediently in the direction Harry was pointing and sniffed. Then he
shook his head. �What was it?�

�� Dust,�
Harry said. �And fire. Or maybe ashes.�

�� Draco
narrowed his eyes, trying to remember if he�d ever heard of those smells
associated with necromancy. In the end he had to shake his head again. �Do you
think she was a trick?� he asked. �An illusion? Or was that really her?�

�� I�m not
sure,� Harry said. �That�s the frustrating thing.� He touched his forehead, and
Draco realized he was rubbing his scar. Before he could ask if it hurt, Harry
caught his glance. �Oh, it�s fine,� he said, with a dismissive wave. �But I�m
tired of mysterious things like this happening. I want answers.�

�� Draco took
a step forwards and embraced him. �So do I,� he whispered. �But we have to
wait. Be patient. Think about the way that Lowell and Weston are going to teach
us in the morning, and what we might learn then.� He didn�t bother to conceal
the hunger in his voice. In the absence of powerful spells from the War
Wizards, he wanted to learn tricks based on their compatible magic that would
give them an edge.

�� Oh, don�t
remind me,� Harry said, with a small groan. �Seven on a Saturday morning. What
possessed us to agree to this?�

�� We�re
young,� Draco said, dragging Harry down the corridor towards their rooms now.
He didn�t hear anyone coming, but if Arrowshot or Nihil really had broken
through the wards, the Aurors might have felt it and investigate. Draco planned
to tell them in the morning. For now, though, he thought he and Harry had had
enough of being near the site of Dark magic, and he didn�t want an extensive
questioning session. �We�ll recover.�

�� It doesn�t
feel like it,� Harry whinged, leaning his shoulder on Draco�s shoulder and
making Draco support most of his weight.

�� Are you
hurt at all?� Draco ran a soothing hand up the middle of Harry�s spine,
half-concerned, half-amused. It wasn�t often that Harry would consent to act
like a petulant child and show that he wanted to be taken care of.

�� No,� Harry
said, and then pulled away from Draco and began to walk on his own, as if the
question had offended him.

�� Draco
sighed. There were times when he wondered if he and Harry would ever work well
together, would ever mesh.

�� Then he
told himself not to be stupid, and not just because the question sounded so
much like one his father would ask. One slight misunderstanding, or even a
different interpretation of the same words, didn�t mean they couldn�t be
lovers. Plenty of other people would adopt a defeatist attitude for them. Draco
didn�t want to take it up himself.

�� Come on to
bed,� he said, and stroked Harry�s hair in a way that made Harry smile at him
again.

*

�� The first
thing you need to remember,� Lowell said, �is never to use too much of your
strength. It might seem as if you have a virtually unlimited reservoir, because
the compatible magic amplifies your power. Even more, it gives you the feeling of greater strength.�

�� But that�s
not true,� said Weston, and her eyes were dark with a memory that Harry was sure
was her own, rather than something she had only observed. �Never forget that. It will hamper you needlessly if you do.� She
tossed her wand into the air, spinning it. When it came down, Lowell caught it.
Harry blinked. He hadn�t even noticed him reaching over for it; he had assumed
without thinking that Weston would make it come back to her, and watched her
hands.

�� I used a
bit of magic there,� Lowell said, as he did the same thing with his wand and
Weston caught it. �Did you feel it?�

�� No, sir,�
Harry said, and Draco said the same thing, then continued eagerly, �Was it
magic that made your hand move faster?�

�� Weston
smiled. �The wand wasn�t falling that fast,� she said. �I�ve had no need to
develop a technique that would let me throw it like a juggler.� She looked at
Lowell and seemed to see something in his face that let her know he wanted to
continue, because she fell silent and he took over smoothly.

�� No,�
Lowell said. �I used the magic to know where her hands were when she tossed the
wand, and where it would come down. I could do that because I�m linked to her
by compatible magic, because I�ve trained with her for such a long time, and
because we�re linked to each other�s wands.�

�� Harry heard
Draco�s breath catch. He blinked, and hoped he didn�t look stupid. It was
obvious what Lowell was saying, of course�though Harry wondered how they�d
achieved such a link�but he had never thought about it.

�� I should have. I�ve used Draco�s wand
before, after all.

�� We�ve
worked with each other for years,� Weston said. �I can use my wand, or his. He
can do the same. It makes no difference, although we have both different woods
and different cores. The wands chose us, yes,� she continued quickly, as if
this was an objection she�d dealt with before. �But when a pair becomes linked
by compatible magic, the wands, in essence, choose both of them.�

�� No one
mentioned anything like this last year,� Draco whispered in a longing voice,
his eyes traveling back and forth between Lowell and Weston as if he could make
the links they were talking about become visible.

�� It�s not a
trick most Aurors know,� Lowell said.

�� Or would
try,� Weston added. �After all, most Aurors are comfortable with their wands
and quite picky about those who touch them. Oh, we might pick up a comrade�s
wand in desperation if they had fallen and our own had been snapped, but it�s
not a battle technique that makes sense for more ordinary wizards.�

�� Draco
preened. Harry smiled. He really loves
being called special and extraordinary. I�ll have to remember that if I
compliment him.

�� There are
other things we can do with an exchange of wands,� Lowell said. �Today, we�ll
show you just one. It may look effortless, but remember the length of practice
we�ve had.�

�� Draco
nodded impatiently. Harry bit down on his lip to stifle a laugh. He suspected
that, in this case, he would be the
one who remembered better than Draco did, simply because Draco was intent on
acquiring the power and doing something wonderful as soon as he could.

�� Lowell and
Weston fell back a few steps and faced each other. For a moment, they appeared
to communicate with each other using eyes alone, and Harry�s amusement changed
into respect.

�� Harry
wondered if they were going to duel each other�he�d thought their compatible
magic wouldn�t let them do that�but instead, they conjured a line of dummies
halfway between them. Harry almost swallowed his tongue. The dummies were more
human than any he had ever seen, so human that he winced when Weston aimed Lowell�s
wand and spoke the Blasting Curse. But the body that blew apart collapsed into
splinters of wood as it flew, and Harry relaxed. Not real after all, then.

�� Lowell
strode after her, and his voice was never less than a second behind hers.
Dummies snapped and sang; Harry had to duck more than once as bits flew past
his ear. He kept his eyes mostly on Lowell and Weston, though, and noticed what
they had been trying to teach everyone to notice in the most recent Partnership
Trust class: the way they moved.

�� They were
in tune with one another. It was a dance. They surged and soared around each
other, not in circles, but in wide, swinging half-circles, and there was never
a chance that the bits of the latest dummy would hit their partner. Nor were
they ever in the way of each other�s spells, though since they were hitting the
same line from opposite sides, Harry didn�t quite see how they avoided it.

�� It wasn�t
just coincidence, either. Once, Weston aimed a spell at a dummy�s head, which
happened to be on the same level as Lowell. He ducked smoothly, though Weston
didn�t shout a warning, and rose up again to turn a dummy on the other side of
her to slag. No pause, and no anxiety, and no need for either. Harry hadn�t
known that human beings were capable of such grace.

�� Draco was
breathing fast. Harry glanced at him and smiled. �That could be us out there,
someday,� he said.

�� Yes,�
Draco whispered.

�� Harry
grinned. He was starting to understand why Draco seemed to find power for its
own sake exhilarating. Harry could imagine the way that he and Draco could
defend innocent people, if they could learn the things that Lowell and Weston
were trying to teach them well enough. Power was good, if you could use it for something.

�� And if you
looked good while you were doing it, so you could impress people and they
wouldn�t try to come after you, that was nice, too.

�� Lowell and
Weston finished with the line of dummies and turned to face Harry and Draco.
They tossed their wands in the air and exchanged them again, and Weston, who
wasn�t even breathing hard, nodded to them. �You try it. No exchange of wands,
but conjure dummies and avoid each other�s spells.�

�� Draco, for
the first time since they had come into the room, seemed hesitant. �But you
haven�t shown us what to do,� he said at last, eyes traveling back and forth
between Lowell and Weston as if he thought there were magic words they�d spoken
that he hadn�t heard.

�� You learn
by doing,� Lowell said gently. �You know that it�s possible, now. You�ve seen
us in action. What you need to do is try and extend your awareness to your
partner. You know where your hand is at all times. Try and make sure that you
know where your partner�s body is at all times, in the same way.� He smiled,
probably because Draco continued to look uncertain. �The others will have to
learn the same things, but it will take them weeks. You should learn faster,
because you have a natural advantage.�

�� That�s the way to get Draco interested in
what you�re offering, Harry thought wryly as he trotted into the middle of
the room with a suddenly beaming and straight-shouldered Draco.

�� Harry
created his own line of dummies, which he knew didn�t look half as good Weston
and Lowell�s had done. He sneaked a glance at them over his shoulder, but
encountered only cool, judging faces, not the disapproval he�d half-expected.

�� All right, Harry thought as he turned
back and saw Draco from the corner of his eye. Extend your awareness to your partner. Right.

�� He thought
of the way he�d seen Draco moving when they dueled with people in Dearborn�s
class last year, and how Draco sprawled loosely over the bed when he�d shared
it with Harry during the summer, and the sharp motions he made when he was
displeased, striding around and tugging on his hair�a bad habit he had picked
up from Harry, though he wouldn�t admit having acquired it�

�� A shadowy
picture began to form in his mind. It swam like a mirage, and when Harry
focused too hard on it, it vanished. Plus, Draco had begun to move up the line,
destroying the dummies, and Harry was lagging behind. He had to spare some attention for his spells.

�� He chose
the simplest ones, the ones he had known well by the fourth year of Defense at
Hogwarts. Yeah, they wouldn�t be showy, but they would let him cause some
damage and yet keep reaching towards that awareness that flickered and faded
and darted around his head like a bird caught in a net.

�� It was
difficult. One moment he was almost-seeing, almost-feeling Draco, and the next moment
he had to roll on the ground because he�d misjudged where Draco was casting a
spell and stepped in the way. He managed to avoid hitting Draco with any of his
own spells, but that was as much down to Draco�s speed and agility as anything
else. He grew increasingly frustrated, and one of his curses didn�t even blow
the head off the dummy that he was aiming at.

�� That�s
enough, I think,� Weston said abruptly, before they had finished. She stepped
between them and looked at them both with such an extreme lack of expression
that Harry couldn�t tell what she was thinking. �Shall I tell you what your
weaknesses are?�

�� What, not
our strengths?� Draco pushed his hair out of his eyes and glared at her.

�� You know
what your strengths are,� Weston said, and something about the way she twisted
the words made Draco flush and lower his eyes. Harry frowned at him, deciding
to talk to him when they got back to their rooms. Draco seemed tense and
unhappy most of the time lately, and Harry didn�t know why, because as far as
he knew, Draco was keeping up in the classes and understanding most of them.
�Your weaknesses take more mastery.�

�� Lowell
moved up beside her. �Yes,� he said. �And more clarity of sight to spot, which
I think is something you haven�t much practiced.� He turned to Harry. �Your
frustration and your anger impede your progress. You know you aren�t perfect,
but you want to be. Don�t forget that this is the reason you go through
training in the first place. If we could all do it right the first time, we wouldn�t
need teachers.� He offered a small smile.

�� Harry
nodded shortly. He wanted to comment, but he was panting, and it would probably
make his words sound stupid.

�� And you,�
Weston said to Draco, tone as detached as Harry had sometimes heard Portillo
Lopez use when she was telling them in Battle Healing last year that the way
they were dressing a wound would have killed the person they were inflicting
the bandages on, �are too self-centered. Trainee Potter was aiming his spells
past you, the beginning steps of the awareness that we told you about, but you
nearly hit him more than once.�

�� Harry
blinked. �I was doing that?� he asked. �But I couldn�t make my image of Draco
come clear in my head.�

�� An image?�
Lowell lifted his eyebrows. �That is part of the problem, then. Try to feel your partner, trainee, rather than
see him. It is more a muscle memory than an image.�

�� Harry felt
his face flush and avoided Draco�s gaze, or Lowell�s, or Weston�s. He did have muscle memories of Draco, but they
came from a source that he thought Lowell and Weston would hardly consider
appropriate.

�� I can do
that,� he mumbled, when he realized that Lowell seemed to be waiting for an
answer. �I think.�

�� All we ask
is that you try,� Lowell said, and turned back to Draco. �In the meantime,
continue to work on your awareness of your partner, extend it when you can, and
try to avoid hitting him with your spells.�

�� Draco gave
a single nod. His face was tight all over, and he headed for the door as though
he had to get out of there this instant. Harry gave a hasty bow to Lowell and
Weston, and then ran after them.

�� Are you
all right?� he asked, when he�d shut the door of the training room behind them.

�� They
called me self-centered,� Draco said,
and continued walking at a pace that made Harry huff to keep up with him. Most
of the time, it wouldn�t have, Harry thought defensively, but most of the time
wasn�t after a lot of dodging and spellcasting. �When I�ve spent all these
months training to become an Auror who�ll protect the wizarding world from
danger, and fighting Nihil, and learning to be your friend and partner and
lover. Self-centered.�

�� Harry
winced. He wasn�t about to say it, but he thought the accusation had stung
Draco so much because it had a lot of truth, at least for Draco�s past self.
�They probably don�t know as much about that as they should,� he said calmly.
�After all, the other trainees are also volunteering to be Aurors, and they
know you�re my partner, but not my lover.�

�� Draco threw
him a swift glance. �So you want to tell everyone?�

�� Harry
blinked, caught off-guard by the accusatory tone in Draco�s voice. It made
things worse that he didn�t know whether Draco wanted to tell other people or not. �Yes,� he said at last. �I do
want to. Would you?�

�� I don�t
know,� Draco snapped in a kind of dismal triumph, and paced on.

�� Harry
followed him, wondering what he could do to make Draco feel better. He wished
he could soothe his worries somehow, but there were so many real things to
worry about. He wished he could be completely supportive, but their training
involved him as well as Draco; he couldn�t stand off to one side and just cheer
Draco on. He had to work with him.

�� So work with him, he decided. Help him with his spells, and work on the
weaknesses that Lowell and Weston pointed out to you, and comfort and help
Draco if you know that he�s having trouble with one specific thing.

�� That calmed
him, and he followed Draco into their rooms and pretended not to notice when
Draco slammed the door and threw a book across the room, before closing his
eyes and, apparently, trying to meditate. The only thing he could do right now
was his best, and more if Draco needed him.

*

�� Self-centered.

�� The word
burned in Draco�s memory no matter how much he tried to think of something
else.

�� It didn�t
help that reporting Arrowshot�s appearance to the Fellowship had resulted in
bafflement, but no leads. Granger had immediately dived into research, but even
she could learn nothing about a spell that would have penetrated the wards like
that without leaving any trace except a smell of fire and dust. Ketchum frowned
and shook his head and had no leads. Jones, of course, was flustered and no
help at all. Portillo Lopez and Pushkin kept their own counsels.

�� Harry did
suggest, after the meeting was over, that they keep a slightly closer eye on
Portillo Lopez, since she had that symbol on her skin that none of them
recognized. Granger nodded thoughtfully.

��

�� I have her
for Advanced Battle Healing,� she said. �I could see if she responds in any
unexpected way to the news of any attacks Nihil makes.�

�� But so far
there had been no attacks, and so the
only thing to emerge out of that conversation was a reminder for Draco that
Granger was taking more classes than he was, and at least one harder one, and
excelling in them all.

�� No matter
where he turned, he came up against limits. The War Wizards wouldn�t take him
on. None of his instructors recognized how brilliant he already was, and
ultimately�this was the painful thing Draco had to admit to himself�neither did
Harry. He was ready enough to praise and compliment Draco, but most of the
time, he didn�t know enough about the things he was complimenting to know what
expertise in them looked like. He plodded his way through Concealment and
Disguise, Stealth and Tracking, and all the rest of them, doing better in the
practical parts of the classes than the written work. He could admire Draco�s
essays, but he didn�t get the subtle arguments that Draco constructed, or the
way that the transitions between paragraphs flowed into one another.

�� The
compatible magic training with Lowell and Weston wasn�t what Draco had hoped it
would be. He knew that his and
Harry�s magic was stronger than theirs, but still, they couldn�t do what Lowell
and Weston managed as smoothly as flowing water. The Aurors, of course, smiled
and said they needed more practice.

�� Will practice keep me safe against my
father�s next attempt to ruin my life? Draco thought as he lay awake at
night and stared up at the ceiling. Will
it make me feared and respected so much that no one will ever dare to attack me
and Harry the way they have so far? Will it hold Nihil back, or get revenge for
Dearborn? No, and no, and no. Only power will.

�� And Harry
couldn�t understand that either, because he was the least ambitious person
Draco had ever known. Even Granger wanted to succeed more often, to be better
than she was. Harry seemed to assume he had already done the best he could, and
put up with other people�s criticism of him more cheerfully than Draco
remembered him doing even last year.

�� In
desperation, Draco finally turned to a source of power he thought
underexplored. Nihil and Dearborn, in their battle last term, had used Greek
magic. Draco had recognized the language but not the incantations. They had had
enormously strong effects. Why shouldn�t he find spells like that and practice
them? In the end, it would be a benefit to Harry, because Draco could teach him
those spells, and the Auror program, which would have stronger trainees.

�� He left
Harry sleeping one Sunday morning in bed and slipped off to the library. He
knew there were books on Greek magic. Perhaps they would be tucked into
inaccessible corners, but there were no corners of the trainees� library like
the Restricted Section at Hogwarts; the Aurors had been wise enough not to
select books for it that no one could read.
There were just sections that no one took the trouble to investigate.

�� Except people like me, who need to be the
best, Draco thought, as he slipped around corners and down corridors that
were silent because people were still sleeping. Lazy people, who couldn�t be
bothered to study.

�� Content
people, who didn�t have Draco�s desperate need to protect himself.

�� He sighed
and stopped to shut his eyes and put one hand on the wall. He should be able to
control himself better than this. His father hadn�t threatened him since the
summer. He had a partner who was wonderful, he could admit that, and very much
in love with him. Why did he need power so much?

�� The answer came to him at once,
like most of the answers to questions he hadn�t wanted to ask.

�� Because I don�t know what I am yet. I�m
still changing, and that�s not comfortable. I want to be something. I don�t want to become it.

�� Draco
hissed and opened his eyes, staring up the corridor in irritation. If he had to
have one more stupid, simplistic thought like that one�

�� The walls
began to shake, and a hungry roar rang through the Ministry.

��

*

�� paigeey07:
Thanks!

�� polka dot:
Yes, he did. And he forgets that the War Wizards would have excellent reasons
not to admit someone to their ranks who only wants the power.

�� MewMew2:
Thanks! Hope you like this one, too.

�� anciie:
Thanks! I do confess to loving the mystery here, but there will be some answers
soon, through a channel I�ve already set up.

�� Well, if
Harry knows nothing about what Nihil is doing with Arrowshot, it�s hard for him
to do something stupid.

�� SP777: You
could say that. Or, at least, the War Wizards think they�re hot shit.

�� I didn�t
base Santoro on anyone. Why, did you think you recognized him?

�� Did you
mess with everything in the comment, or only part of it? ;)

�� Dragons
Breath: I think Draco would not be inclined to go quite that far.

�� Thank you!
Harry is having more fun with the training than poor Draco is, right now.
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Ceremonies of Strife