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A Brother to Basilisks	By : Lomonaaeren Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Harry/Draco Views: 85173 -:- Recommendations : 2 -:- Currently Reading : 15
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. I am making no money from this story.

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Chapter Ninety-Nine--At the Highest Levels
"Is politics always going to be like that? Murder out of nowhere?"
"Of course not," Severus said shortly, keeping his eyes away from Harry as he Transfigured his dress robes back to ordinary ones. "You don't have to worry about that. Scrimgeour is being questioned by the Ministry right now. They'll hardly release him to wreak havoc again."
"But is he going to be questioned fairly when his cousin is the Head Auror?"
Severus paused, reluctantly impressed. That was one of the problems with encouraging Harry to be more astute in politics. He would realize he had more things to be worried about than he would have a few months ago.
"They'll insist that he be tried," he said, and turned around to face Harry, who sat on his bed in Severus's quarters, his head bowed. Dash was asleep at Harry's feet. Of course, the one time he would have been useful if he stayed awake, he decides not to be. "The members of the Wizengamot who are on your side. They have innumerable witnesses they can call upon. He won't get away with it."
"But if they say he was under the Imperius Curse, or not himself..."
"He could have been under the Imperius Curse," Severus acknowledged slowly. Indeed, it would make a certain amount of sense as to why a politically experienced man would attack a prominent child at a party, in front of his deadly snake. "But if they find that out, he won't be let near you again."
"Oh."
Severus sighed a little and knelt down in front of Harry, reaching out a hand. "Do you really think that we'll put you in danger, even if you have a basilisk or political renown? I never intend to do that, Harry."
Harry's eyes were haunted as he met Severus's. "But some people want to believe that I'm an ally of Voldemort," he whispered. "And there are so many people who are on Dumbledore's side even knowing that he impersonated Moody. So how can I be sure that there aren't people who will let a murderer back near me?"
This is the part where you have to be a good guardian. Where you have to reassure him, no matter how hard it is.
Severus swallowed a little and put on a smile. "There may be people. They aren't here. And they'll have to contend with me if they want to try."
"Oh?" Harry sat up, and his eyes glinted a little.
"Exactly. I take it that you haven't noticed the new wards I've set up around our quarters?"
Harry shook his head, and Dash stirred a little and opened his eyes as much as he usually opened them. He must have said something to Harry, because Harry said, a little awed, "Dash thinks he can feel them. Even through his scales! He says there aren't many wards that powerful."
"Correct." Severus took a step back and looked around, finally picking up an old book that he had several copies of and had only kept because there were notes in this one he didn't want to lose. A wave of his wand transferred the notes to a piece of parchment. He could match them up with another copy of the book at only slight inconvenience. "Come."
Harry trailed him out into the corridor, where Severus aimed his wand at the book and whispered the precise words of a Transfiguration spell. The book morphed into the form of a large, blank-eyed wooden doll. Severus extended one of its fingers into a wand and moved it down the corridor with another flick.
Then he engaged the wards. Dash raised his neck and wove back and forth as they filled the corridor with flickering green light the color of spring.
"Now, watch," Severus said, and cast the Animation Charm.
The doll began to march forwards, wand aimed in a credible parody of an attack. The wards began to hum, and the humming built to a fever pitch as the doll crossed an imaginary line in the middle of the corridor, until the sound reminded Severus of a hornets' nest.
"Should it stop?" Harry muttered.
"Not unless I decide to stop it," said Severus, and leaned back a little against the wall as he watched the doll's footsteps carry it closer and closer. "And I do not. Just as some enemies might not choose to stop despite the warning."
Severus saw Harry's eyes harden in determination, and smiled a little. Yes, this would work.
He faced the doll again just as the wards coiled around it in a surge of blue. The green light filling the corridor turned the shade of lightning, and the doll stopped for a moment simply from the physical pressure of the magic. The spiral of blue light hung downwards from the ceiling, and encircled it so completely Severus couldn't see it.
But the doll kept marching forwards, the way a determined enemy might try if they thought they could defeat the wards, and--
The surge of blue that followed made Harry cry out and cover his eyes. Severus merely blinked, knowing the intensity of the light would fade in a short time. But he did get to see the moment when the doll's body was outlined in a shimmering halo that abruptly contracted and sizzled, and the smell of burning wood briefly filled the corridor.
“There,” Severus said, into the shocked stillness afterwards. “You believe me now when I say that no one shall easily get near you again?”
*
I approve of this, Dash said. It would be a shame if it cooked the meat so much one could not eat it, but on the other hand, the doll is not made of meat, so it is not a waste.
Harry managed to swallow and answer shakily. You would.
Dash didn’t bother to respond. Harry turned to Severus and managed to smile. “Thank you. I feel—”
“Better?” Severus asked quietly. His eyes were sharp, and he had his wand still drawn by his side, as if he assumed that he would have to cast some other combination of spells to reassure Harry.
Honestly, it was shameful that Harry had needed the reassurance in the first place (and he ignored the hissed disagreement from Dash, because he had his own thoughts about this that Dash didn’t need to contradict). “Yes. Much.” He sighed and let go of some of the wariness that had hung like a cloud around his head and inside his chest ever since Scrimgeour had tried to murder him. “All right. What are we going to do next?”
“You think I had some specific plan?”
“I know you were going to go to the Malfoys’ house to try and get your Dark Mark healed up. Can you do that now that you’re having an argument with Lucius?”
Severus chuckled dryly. “We’ve given him enough to think about that it shouldn’t be a problem. Lucius won’t want to be left out of one of the most dramatic political changes of our century, no matter what he feels about me.” He cocked his head. “You realize that some of our plans will not come to fruition for a time? We have no idea how long it will take Lupin to earn the other werewolves’ trust, if it will ever happen. I can remove the Dark Mark, but we will not know whether the Dark Lord will feel it and strike. We do not even know if we can persuade other Death Eaters to come over to our side.”
“I know,” Harry repeated. He cast another glance at the charred “body” of the conjured doll and found himself shaking his head again. It was insane how much better the sight of those wards in action had made him feel.
Not insane. You know now you will be safe as long as you are here, and safer than you were in the smelly dog-man’s house last summer.
“I want to work against Voldemort,” Harry said. Severus was good about trying to hide the flinch, but Harry saw it anyway. Well, Harry could be good about ignoring that. “That means I want to do more than just deny him access to a few Death Eaters. I want to make him lose something he values.”
“What would that be?”
Yes, what would that be? Tell! Causing him pain would be so much fun.
“His reputation,” Harry said, and let his hand smooth over Dash’s neck when Dash rose and did a little dance like a cobra in the middle of the corridor. He needed to make sure Severus wouldn’t get too freaked out and think Dash was about to eat him. “Right now, not a lot of people know the truth about him, that he’s Tom Marvolo Riddle and an orphan and a half-blood. They think he’s, I don’t know, pure-blood or something. Right?”
“I certainly thought so, during my time serving as a Death Eater,” Severus acknowledged slowly, his eyes wide and startled.
“Then we take that way. We spread as much of the truth about him as we can. Maybe we can get the papers to carry it. But even if we can’t, that’s something we can tell Clarence Greengrass and the other people who were at that party. You know, the kind of people who will probably follow him otherwise.”
“They would not want to keep such a juicy rumor to themselves, no. But there will be the question of how you know this.”
Harry shrugged. “That’s actually the easiest part. I don’t mind talking about what happened in the Chamber of Secrets during second year.” Then he winced as he remembered the other person who had been there. “Well, after I talk to Ginny Weasley, first. She might not want to be known as the girl who got possessed by a diary and made to open the Chamber of Secrets.”
He’d thought for sure Severus knew that much already, but his eyes closed in a long, slow blink. “A diary.”
“A diary that used to belong to Tom Marvolo Riddle when he was a schoolkid here,” said Harry, and blinked at Severus as he shook his head and closed his eyes. “What? It was filled with his magic. Dark magic. His Horcrux. It makes sense that it would have to possess Ginny. She doesn’t know Parseltongue like I do. How else could she have opened the Chamber?”
“What happened to the diary after you—rescued Miss Weasley?”
“I don’t really know,” Harry decided, after thinking for a second. “I gave it to Dumbledore. For all I know, he took it with him. Or it might still be in the desk up in the Headmaster’s office.”
“I think I should very much like to take a look at that diary.”
“Sure. But I stabbed it with a basilisk fang. I’m pretty sure that I killed all the pieces of Riddle that were inside it.”
“A skilled Dark wizard can learn much about the magic an artifact once possessed from even the residue of that magic.”
Harry just shrugged, and told himself not to be upset that Severus had referred to himself as a Dark wizard. It was only true in a couple of ways, and Harry wouldn’t ever be affected by most of them. “You can ask the Headmistress if it’s still there. I don’t know.”
“I will.” Severus looked straight at him then, and there was a strange look in his eyes that Harry didn’t understand until he spoke again. “I am—most proud that you are overcoming your distaste for politics to do what you must do to keep yourself safe.”
“I did it before. I spoke about being abused to the papers.”
“But I know that you did that as much to protect others as for yourself. And before you tell me that you are fighting this war to defeat the Dark Lord so others will be safe,” Severus added, as Harry opened his mouth, “let me tell you that I know that, and it does not make one bit of difference to me. You are still also trying to protect yourself, and first.”
Harry nodded slowly. He supposed he could see why Snape was taking this that way, although he didn’t, personally, agree. “All right. Help me choose who we’re going to tell the truth about Voldemort to?”
Severus gave him a particularly vicious smile and opened the door to his quarters again. Dash slithered along in front of them as if this was all his own idea.
I want to see their faces when we tell them!
*
“Thank you for allowing me to visit, Lucius.”
Lucius inclined his head a little stiffly, not taking his eyes from Severus’s face as he stepped out of the Floo and brushed his robes off. He was looking for some sign, no matter how small, that that angry conversation through the Floo either hadn’t happened, or that Severus had forgiven him.
But the pleasant, empty look Severus faced him with said nothing had changed. “Where is the artifact?”
“This way.” Lucius turned to lead Severus to the room he had reserved for the artifact, adding over his shoulder, “You have the Blood-Replenishing Potion? And the blood that you will need to activate the rune on the bottom?”
“Of course. Would I come unprepared to one of the most important moments of my life?”
Lucius could find nothing to say. He opened the door of the sitting room and stood well back out of the path. If that was the way Severus wanted to play it, then Lucius could certainly answer with his own moves in the game.
Severus stopped, though, his hand on the door, and spoke without glancing away from Lucius. “You are lucky that Harry is forgiving.”
“What do you—”
“He is willing to give you another chance to spread rumors according to his specifications, and no others.” Severus took a sheet of parchment from his sleeve and held it out. “These are the people he has chosen to inform of the Dark Lord’s true name and blood status. He has chosen you to be his nexus from which they spread.” Severus smiled again, more pleasant even than the original empty look on his face when he’d entered. “A test, Lucius. Inform anyone else, and you will be of no more use to Harry and his side in the war. But if you do as you are told…”
And then Severus stepped into the other room and shut the door gently behind him.
Lucius stared down at the parchment. Clarence Greengrass. Elena Zabini. Juliet Parkinson. Other than Greengrass, not people he would have chosen to inform.
He could almost feel Severus’s mocking eyes through the door shut between them, even though by now, Severus should be deep in the trial of feeding blood and pain to the damn box. Of course they were people he would not have chosen to inform. That was part of the test, too.
Lucius narrowed his eyes and thought about Flooing Potter to ask where the sacrifice he had been supposed to make was. But then he shook his head, drew a deep breath, and went to do as he was told.
That, of course, was the sacrifice.
*
“Of course we’re going to come and visit you as soon as we can.”

Harry closed his eyes and hugged Hermione hard. Part of him was gloomily certain he might not see her again. With Voldemort coming back, he would probably start targeting Muggleborns and their families soon.
If you start thinking that way, then you won’t see me for a while.
Harry wished Dash was in the right place so he could kick him, but he made himself release Hermione and step away with a smile. “Severus said you could visit over the summer, as long as you let him know first. And of course you’ll be here for my birthday.”
“I know.” Hermione hesitated, glancing around as if judging the size of the crowd in the entrance hall, and then gave him another fierce hug. “I want you to be safe,” she whispered into his ear. “No wandering around at night or getting too far away from the castle, all right?”
You will be safe if I have to bind you to the bed.
Even though Hermione couldn’t hear anything from Dash, she seemed reassured because he was rearing up and resting his head against Harry’s chest. Harry patted him and nodded to Hermione. “He’ll keep me safe. And Severus. And everyone else who’ll be here,” he added, in a slight mutter. He knew the portraits and the ghosts were already taking more interest in him than they usually did.
Being the only student here at Hogwarts for the summer was going to be wonderful in some ways, but it would suck in others.
“Good.” Hermione stepped away, only for Ron to take her place. He punched Harry on the shoulder, stood still for a second, and then hugged him in turn. He didn’t linger as long as Hermione, though, pulling back with an embarrassed little cough.
“Don’t spend too much time snogging Malfoy.”
Harry could feel his face heat up so fast that he felt dizzy. He shoved Ron in return, and Ron chortled at his own wit and let him go, shaking his head. “What she said, mate. Stay safe, and we’ll see you later this summer.”
Harry nodded. “Tell your mum I’m looking forward to visiting.”
Ron rolled his eyes. “And are you looking forward to getting an owl every few days asking how you are and trying to give you sweets?”
“Even that.”
Ron nodded, muttered something about, “Wish she’d do that for me, I am her kid,” and grabbed his trunk. “We’ve got to go, or we’ll miss the carriages to the Express!” he shouted over his shoulder as he started sprinting out the door.
Hermione lingered, of course. “You’ll listen to Professor Snape, won’t you, Harry? And you won’t go exploring in any part of the castle that might be dangerous. And you’ll let us know if you get summoned to talk before the Wizengamot again. And you’ll let us know if Sirius comes back—”
“Hermione, the carriages!”
“Go on, Hermione!” Harry said, and gave her a little shove, since she seemed to need it.
Hermione squealed, grabbed her trunk, and took off running, still waving madly to him with one hand. Harry turned around, and blinked when he saw a Slytherin standing in front of him. This Slytherin was most assuredly not Draco.
“Yes?” he asked, before he remembered. This was Graham Montague, the Slytherin who had come up to Harry at breakfast on the morning he got taken to the Ministry and told Harry about his brother. “Don’t you have to rush to get to the carriages?”
“No, my brother is going to Apparate into Hogsmeade and get me.” Montague gave Harry a careful nod. “I’m hearing a lot of rumors, Potter, but it seems that some people saw fit not to include my family in certain communications even though…”
“I know, but I didn’t make all the decisions the first time, and this time, there’s only information going out to a few people at first.”
“Well? Now that you’re making the decisions, can we be recognized?”
Harry considered Montague carefully. As far as he knew, his family hadn’t been among the prominent Death Eaters, but neither had they ever been of the cadre of pure-bloods, like the Greengrasses, who had kept at least the appearance of neutrality. “What do you think you can add to my side?”
“Your side.” Montague gave him the look of a cat licking its paws. “Even that’s more information than I had a minute ago.”
Harry shook his head briskly. “I didn’t mean to leave you out. But yes, I am making a third side.” He lowered his voice and moved over to the side of the wall. A few people glanced at them curiously, but all Dash had to do was weave his head back and forth, and most of them found reason to turn away. “I don’t want to go along with Dumbledore’s allies who accused me of murdering him. I also don’t want to be on Voldemort’s side.”
Montague only gave a tiny shudder when Harry said that. “All right. What does someone have to do to join you?”
“Say they are,” Harry said. “And be willing to work with Muggleborns and pure-bloods and Light wizards and Dark wizards and werewolves.”
This time, Montague’s shudder was bigger. “Are you sure you can trust those beasts at your back, Potter?”
“I have a more dangerous beast I trust with my safety every day,” Harry pointed out dryly, and stroked Dash’s back. “Anyway, yes, I can. I have an emissary who may be bringing the second-largest pack in Britain to my side soon, or at least learning how other werewolves who aren’t part of that pack can control their wolf sides. What you need to do is decide if you can work with them.”
“I can’t answer for my father or brother,” said Montague, his eyes wide enough that Harry could see how very dark blue they were. “But I think I can promise that I can.” He swallowed loudly. “As long as you can be sure that you won’t ever allow them near someone else in their wolf forms without Wolfsbane.”
“Or this mental discipline, if we can convince the werewolves that practice it to give it to ours.”
Montague paused, then said reluctantly, “Yes, fine. Honestly, I would have more of a problem with the Muggleborns and Light wizards and witches if I hadn’t seen the quality of the ones you surround yourself with.”
Harry grinned. That had to be a compliment about Ron and Hermione. “Go talk to your father and brother, then. See what they say, if they can go along with it, too.”
“At least some of it,” Montague muttered, and then gave Harry something that looked disturbingly like a salute and strode away.
“Harry!”
That voice made Harry turn around in surprise, because he would have thought Draco would already be on the train. Instead, Draco sauntered up to him, looking intensely smug, and kissed him on the tip of the nose.
“Is your father coming to get you?” Harry asked, trying to decide how he felt about seeing Lucius in person so soon after scolding him through the Floo.
“No. Guess again.” Draco practically vibrated as he stood in front of Harry, and Harry realized, to his astonishment, that Draco was trying to hold back laughter.
“He’s letting you stay here for the summer?”
“Well, part of the summer,” Draco said, looking a little disappointed that Harry had guessed so easily. “I think he wants me to come home at least a few days every week because Mother will want to see me. And he might want me to spy on you and tell him what I think you’re up to,” he added, as if that was no problem. He only shrugged when Harry gaped at him. “But the important thing is, we get to be together.”
Harry leaned forwards to kiss him back, ignoring the few scandalized glances they got, but he did mutter, as he pulled back, “Lucius never gives up, does he?”
“He doesn’t,” Draco conceded, tilting his head and letting the sunshine from outside flash on his hair. “But that doesn’t mean I have to dance to his tune. And that doesn’t mean I can’t learn from his mistakes.” He smiled, winningly.
Harry gave in to temptation and wrapped himself up in Draco’s arms. He thought he’d done enough serious political plotting today already, what with he’d said to Montague. He would enjoy the rest of the day with his boyfriend.
*
SP777: Well, Harry is starting to understand more of it now!
And no, the story will keep going.
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A Brother to Basilisks