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Chapter Text

Harry stared out at the sea of tents stretching as far as he could see in every direction; he briefly closed his eyes and opened them again. He could barely believe that he was here, at the Quidditch World Cup. It was one thing to be surrounded my magic at school, but here it felt absolutely surreal. So many magical beings, all in one place, all there to enjoy their favourite sport.

“Harry!”

He turned around at the sound of his name and smiled at Hermione as she ducked out of the tent. Her hair was pulled back into a neat plait and her dark skin almost glowed in the bright summer sun.

“What’s up?”

“Dad wants us to go grab some water,” Ron said following quickly after Hermione. Harry noticed a light pink tinge already settling onto Ron’s nose and cheeks from the time they had spent in the sun.

“Sure,” Harry stood up and quickly swiped at his fringe, pressing his hair against his forehead.

The trio set out across the campground, eyes wide as they took in the various scenes they encountered.

“Oi! Ron, Harry!” Dean Thomas waved from in front of a tent completely decked out in shamrocks and various other decorations in emerald green. His soul-mate, Seamus Finnegan, was wearing a matching outfit, completely plastered with shamrocks accented by a yellow edging.

“You guys look awesome! Supporting the Irish then?” Ron asked nodding to the shamrocks.

“Nah, green’s just my colour,” Seamus laughed and the bright colours of his soul mark glinted from his throat. Various shades of blue coalesced into a crashing wave. Opposite him, in the same exact location, Dean had swirls of flames, shades of red and orange that still stuck out in clear contrast to his dark skin. “You best be buying your souvenirs and getting back, everyone is going to start making their way to their seats soon I’d expect.”

Harry, Ron, and Hermione bid their goodbyes, taking Seamus’ advice.

~*~

Harry couldn’t believe the calibre the professional teams played at. He could barely keep track of where the Quaffle was, due to the speed the chasers threw it to one another. Harry kept his eyes peeled for the golden glint of the Snitch. Catching it in his view a couple times before it would disappear again.

Not even Malfoy and his family sitting behind them could sour his mood at this game. Throughout the whole game, Harry couldn’t stop thinking about how excited he was to get back on a broom. Just a few short days and he would be back on Hogwarts grounds and able to fly again.

A loud groan echoed across the stadium as the Irish Seeker was fooled by Krum’s Wronski Feint.

“Come on, he’s better than that!” Ron complained, throwing his arms up in frustration.

The rest of the game went by too quickly for Harry’s liking and before he knew it he was getting to his feet to leave the box. Fred and George were singing loudly behind him, arms around each other’s shoulders, celebrating the large bet they had just won.

“Oi, Fred, George, stop it! You’re shoving me!” Ron complained pushing back at the twins as they jostled him. This was the absolute wrong thing to do as they pushed back at Ron, harder.

“Ah, Ron!,” Harry threw his arms out in front of him as he was pushed forward, Ron stumbling into his back. Harry collided with the body in front of him, the air temporarily knocked out of him.

“Merlin, watch where you’re going!” Malfoy whipped around as Harry stumbled again, his hands shooting out to catch Harry before he could shove into him again. Harry’s eyes flew open at Malfoy’s hands grasped the bare-skin of his biceps. A searing hot pain flashed across his chest and his eyes flew up to see Malfoy’s grey eyes widening as well. One of his hands released Harry and flew to grab his own chest, a hiss of pain sneaking past his lips.

Harry couldn’t think of a single thing to say, and winced as he was shoved forward again by the Weasley siblings.

“Harry what are you doing, keep – “Ron cut himself short as he took in the scene between Harry and Malfoy. “What are you on about, Malfoy? Get your hands off of him!”

Malfoy recoiled like he had been burned. He briefly met eyes with Harry before quickly whipping around and hurrying through the crowd to catch up to the platinum blond heads of his parents, who no one seemed to be getting within 2 meters of despite the large amount of people trying to leave the stadium.

“Harry, you all right? You look as pale as me.” Ron joked despite the actual concern on his face. Harry blinked a couple times, rubbing absently at his chest, before shaking his head.

“Highly doubt that would ever be possible, besides you’re mostly pink now.” Harry held up his arm next to Ron’s, his brown skin throwing a deep contrast to Ron’s sun-burned forearms.

“Shut up, arsehole,” Ron stuck his tongue out at him before planting his feet and shoving backwards again to slam into the twins. Harry rolled his eyes as the shoving started back up again, before Mr. Weasley yelled at the boys to cut it out once Ginny had been set flying into his side for the second time.

The whole walk back to the tent Harry was in a daze. Had that actually just happened? Was Draco Malfoy his actual soul-mate? He hadn’t even known that soul-mates existed before he came to Hogwarts. He hadn’t even really believed they were real until he watched Dean and Seamus go from friends, to the closest two people could possibly be after realizing their bond late in their second year. It had been a nasty shock to them, but perfectly timed because both of the two of them had been developing a crush on the other but had been terrified to say anything.

Soul-mate bonds were some of the weirdest magic that Harry had encountered since finding out he was a wizard. There was no precursor to two people becoming soul-mates. Sometimes it was between friends, but sometimes it was between two complete strangers. Or two nemeses, Harry added as an afterthought, his mind straying to his apparent bond mate.

The bond also seemed to happen after both parties turned thirteen, and it happened the first time the bond mates touched skin to skin. It would make sense that it took almost a full year after Harry turned thirteen for his bond to realize, since he wasn’t exactly going out of his way to hold hands with Malfoy. Looking back he almost laughed thinking of a comment Ron had made the previous school year. After Hermione had slugged Malfoy in the face, Ron had said that thankfully she knew they weren’t soul-mates.

Dread pooled in Harry’s stomach at the thought. He couldn’t imagine telling his best mates about his newfound bond. He hoped whatever soul-mark he had wouldn’t be impossible to hide, but knew it was only a matter of time. He couldn’t exactly get changed inside his bed curtains or the loo for the rest of time, Ron was bound to get suspicious eventually.

Harry sighed, that was a worry for another time. His first order of business was to get some privacy to look at his bond mark in the first place. Maybe he was imagining this whole thing. Malfoy probably wasn’t even his soul-mate.

Chapter Text

Malfoy was most definitely his soul-mate. Harry stared at himself in the mirror, mouth agape. A massive sun tattoo covered the left side of his chest. The sun was woven full of reds, yellows, and oranges, with even some purple and blue making its way through for the most elaborate depiction of the sun he had ever seen. The colours were still massively bright against his brown skin; Harry wasn’t sure why he expected anything different after seeing Dean’s mark so many times. Dean was even darker skinned than he was.

Why is this always his life? Harry questioned himself, hastily pulling his shirt back down. Thankfully everything was covered by his t-shirt, but he would have to kiss any vests or unbuttoning past the 2nd or 3rd button of his school uniform, goodbye. Once it got cold enough to wear the school sweater, that’d cover it well enough too. He wondered what Malfoy’s mark looked like. Normally the marks were opposites of each other, Seamus and Dean’s being fire and water. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were soul-mates, but their tattoos were more subtle. Mrs. Weasley had roots, and Mr. Weasley had a blossoming tree. Harry had never seen a mark take up as much space as his was. And he worried how much it would grow; he had barely had a growth spurt yet, unlike Ron who was already taller than Percy and quickly gaining on the twins.

Harry figured Malfoy must have darkness or stars or the moon, if he were to make an educated guess. How was Malfoy even his soul-mate? They were as opposite as two people could be, there must be some cosmic mistake. Harry sighed heavily before leaving the loo. Fred and George were still in full-on celebration mode and were dancing around the common area, singing at the top of their lungs. Harry tried to consider how and when he was going to be able to see Malfoy, but figured he couldn’t exactly wander the campsite trying to find his family’s tent. That’s if his family was even camping. The thought of Mrs. Malfoy even walking across ground that wasn’t paved brought a smile to Harry’s face.

Harry tried to relax as much as he could; there was no use worrying over it. He wouldn’t see Malfoy again until September 1st. He might as well enjoy the last few days of summer hols. He just wished he could talk this out with Ron and Hermione, but there was absolutely no way he could do that before figuring out where he stood with Malfoy.

Soon Mr. Weasley was yelling at them to go to bed, a relaxed smile on his face, and Harry couldn’t complain too much. They had gotten up so early, he could barely hold his eyes open as it was.

~*~

Harry awoke to loud crashes and assumed the fireworks had picked back up again. He carefully unstuck his shirt from his skin where his sweat had plastered it to his body. This soul-mark was already more trouble than it was worth, it was boiling and he couldn’t even go shirtless.

“Everyone up!” Mr. Weasley yelled, panic clear in his voice.

“Wass’ goin on?” Ron asked blearily from the other bunk.

“Boys, wake up!” Mr. Weasley commanded appearing in their room.

Harry was up as quickly as he could manage, stumbling into the common area where the twins and the girls were in various levels of consciousness.

“You all need to go, get into the woods, and do not return until I come for you! Go, hurry! Keep track of each other! Fred, George, Ginny is your responsibility!” Mr. Weasley ordered, his wand out.

“Dad, what the hell is going on?”

“Don’t ask questions, just go! Harry, and Hermione you especially!”

The twins were more serious than Harry had ever seen them; they quickly grabbed his shoulder and Hermione’s and shoved them out of the tent. Outside, it was absolute madness. People were running around, screaming, fires had broken out around the campground, and smoke filled the air. Harry looked up and saw the campground manager’s family spinning high above the ground.

“That’s disgusting,” Ron said through clenched teeth, grabbing Hermione and pulling her between Fred and himself.

“What is going on? Who’s doing that?” Harry asked trying to keep up with the group of Weasley’s, who were practically sprinting towards the wooded area next to the campground.

“They’re You-Know-Who supporters, Harry, come on!” George ground out, herding Ginny ahead of him. They had just hit the woods when two hands shot out and pulled him roughly behind a tree.

“What the – “ Harry complained before a hand was clamped over his mouth. Immediately Harry went for his wand and realized it wasn’t in his waistband like it normally was.

“Shut it, Potter, it’s me!” Harry stopped struggling and realized Malfoy was the one holding him behind the tree, his pale hair glinting in the moonlight. “You need to go, get the fuck out of here.”

Harry stared at Malfoy, he looked much the same as he did at the match, except he was wearing a different set of robes. Harry couldn’t comprehend how he was wearing two long sleeved layers of fabric in this heat.

“Malfoy, what-“

Malfoy cut him off, “We both know what happened earlier,” He pulled at the collar of Harry’s shirt, exposing the sun tattoo. Simultaneously he pulled down on his own collar and the corner of an elaborate moon, made up of blues, purples, and even yellows around the rim, peeked into view. “We don’t have time right now. Just get out of here, it’s not safe. We’ll speak more at Hogwarts.”

“What, all of the sudden you give a shit about me?” Harry couldn’t stop himself from saying.

Malfoy scrubbed a hand down his face, “You’re my fucking soul-mate.” Like that was a clear enough explanation. “Take this, the password is ‘pure’. Tap it, say the password, and then think of the Weasley pigst – the Weasley home.” He shoved a bottle cap into Harry’s hand.

“Er, I lost my wand,” Harry said quickly, embarrassment flooding his body. Both of their heads whipped up as a loud explosion echoed across the sky.

“You’re absolutely useless, how have you survived this long?” Malfoy sighed before checking around the side of the tree and dragging Harry back onto the trail where a large mass of people were shoving their way through. Malfoy had Harry’s forearm in a death grip as he quickly cut his way through the crowd. Harry idly wondered how one fostered such a skill; Malfoy was incredibly good at getting where he wanted to quickly.

“Harry!” Distressed voices screamed from deeper in the woods.

“Now they realize you’re gone…” Malfoy complained under his breath, pulling his arm harder. “Thank Merlin their hair is so damn bright. Remember what I said, now go!” He pushed Harry forward and Harry stumbled a few steps before familiar-freckled arms wrapped around him.

“Harry, where did you get to?! We were freaking out!” Ron asked, tugging Harry off the main path and towards where Hermione was standing. “We got separated from Ginny and the twins; we’re trying to find them.” Ron cut through the woods, tugging Hermione and himself forward.

“We’ve got to get out of here,” Harry said as he struggled to get his feet under him, it didn’t seem that Ron noticed how quickly he was pulling the two of them behind him.

“I swear I saw them come through here,” Ron said distractedly, weaving through the trees.

A group of students about their age came into view, conversing quickly in what Harry figured was French.

“Ron, please slow down, we can’t keep up,” Hermione gasped, tugging hard on Ron’s arm. Ron stopped abruptly, staring at Hermione and Harry for a second before glancing around quickly at the trees.

“Fred, George!” Ron called out, looking around wildly.

“Call even more attention to yourself, Weasley, why don’t you?” A sneering voice came from their right. Harry turned to see Malfoy leaning casually against a tree. He was glaring at the group of them.

“Fuck off, Malfoy,” Ron said tugging Hermione closer to him.

“No, continue screaming your head off. Make the job that much easier for everyone out there.” Malfoy lazily looked at his nails, his wand twirling in his other hand.
“What are you talking about?” Hermione asked, annoyed.

“All I’m saying is that you should all be a lot quieter if you’re trying to not get caught. Unless you want to be next, Granger, which by all means be my guest.” Malfoy glared at Harry, looking swiftly at Harry’s fist where the bottle cap was still tightly clenched.

“What’s that supposed to mean?!” She asked, her voice shrill.

“They’re muggles,” Malfoy said bluntly, raising his eyebrows as he stared at Hermione.

“Come on guys, we’ve got to keep moving, forget him,” Harry said, finally catching on. “I think I saw Ginny up here.”

As Harry pulled the two of them away, he could have sworn he heard Malfoy exhale in relief.

Chapter Text

“Morsmordre!”A deep voice echoed loudly from their right and then a bright green light lit up the sky above them, similarly to a firework. Harry had been trying to get the group away from the campground, while simultaneously trying to find the twins and Ginny for a few minutes now. He didn’t know how to introduce the fact that he had a Portkey in his hand, without everyone being incredibly suspicious.

“What is that?” Harry found himself asking as a sinister looking pattern blossomed from the green smoke. “Is that a skull?”

Hermione’s eyes were wide as saucers, “That’s His mark, Harry!”

“Whose?”

“You- Know- Who!” Hermione said, her eyes still on the sky, her hand shaking where it clenched Harry’s elbow.

“Get down!” Ron said suddenly, tackling Harry and Hermione to the ground. Harry groaned as his cheek collided with a root. A burst of red lights collided directly where they had been standing moments before, and loud voices filled the air as a large group of wizards converged on them.

“Which of you cast it?!” A tall, professional looking wizard yelled at them, wand pointing directly at Harry’s face. “Who did it?!”

“That’s my son!” A desperate voice broke through the din, and Mr. Weasley appeared as he shoved through the group of wizards. “Lower your wands! That’s my son!”

“They’re just kids!” Another man said, “Crouch, stop, they’re just kids.”

“It had to be one of them!” He whirled to Ron and Hermione, his eyes wild.

“Crouch, it’s Harry Potter, take a moment to think.” One of the other men was slowly lowering Crouch’s wand arm. Crouch’s eyes focused on Harry for a moment, his gaze drifting up to his forehead, before he whipped his head around at the surrounding trees. Harry anxiously patted down his fringe.

“Spread out and look for the perpetrator, they could not have gotten far!” Crouch called out, immediately shoving through the trees next to them, Harry, Ron, and Hermione forgotten.

~*~

In a daze, Harry piled his things into his trunk. The last couple days had passed in a blur. Between watching Crouch fire his house elf, getting his wand back, leaving the camp site, and the panic Mrs. Weasley was in once they got back, he had been barely able to think more about Malfoy.

Harry still had the bottle-cap Portkey. He hadn’t needed to use it once he got his wand back and was with Mr. Weasley. He figured it’s always useful to have a Portkey, although he wasn’t sure how long the charm would last on the bottle cap. He tucked it safely inside a pair of socks and pushed it into a corner of his trunk. They were packing; tomorrow they would get back onto the Hogwarts Express. Thankfully, Ron had yet to ask why Harry was suddenly particular about getting changed in the loo. Harry figured that wouldn’t last for forever, but he would take whatever he could get right now. The last thing he needed was the entire Weasley family interrogating him about his soul-mark. At least at school he only had to deal with four Weasleys and Hermione.

“You boys better be packing!” Mrs. Weasley yelled from the ground floor.

“We are!” Ron and Harry called back, hastily throwing more things into their respective trunks. They might have already told Mrs. Weasley that most of their packing was done, when it definitely just started ten minutes prior.

“I don’t understand why they can’t just summon our stuff for us; it would take so much less time.” Ron complained, flat on his stomach, trying to tug a shirt out from under his bed.

“Builds character,” Harry grinned, and laughed at Ron’s mumbled curses.

Harry went downstairs to retrieve his books from the table. He found Hermione staring out the back window, sipping at a cup of tea.

“All right, Hermione?” Harry asked setting his tower of books down.

“Do you believe in soul-mates, Harry?” She asked, her eyes still fixed out of the window.

Harry froze, his eyes darting downward to glance at his chest, making sure his mark was covered.

“Uh, I guess so, why?”

“I saw so many people with them at the Cup, and Ginny was talking about it, she just turned thirteen so she’s hoping to meet her soul-mate this school year. I guess compared to everything else, it’s not that far-fetched, it’s just a little crazy to me, one person who complements you perfectly.”

Harry came up and set a hand on her shoulder, rubbing her back a little. “It’s definitely not the craziest thing we’ve encountered since we joined this world.”

Hermione smiled at him and set her head on his shoulder, “I guess that’s definitely true.”

“Any other reason you’re worried about it?” Harry asked, keenly aware that Hermione’s birthday was coming up. He figured two years of wondering paid a toll.

“Not really, I guess if it happens, it’ll happen, I can’t hold my breath wondering.”

“That doesn’t seem like a way to live,” Harry agreed.

Hermione took a sip of her drink, then the two of them startled as a loud noise echoed behind them. Ron had jumped down onto the landing, making a bang. Harry turned around and Ron stared at his arm around Hermione’s shoulders.

“You two okay?” He asked, eyes still fixed on Harry’s arm.

Harry pulled his arm back and quickly scooped his books, “Yep, just grabbing my books!”

The last thing he needed was more drama in his life, especially from his best mate.

~*~

“What do you think Charlie meant?” Ron asked as soon as they got settled in their compartment.

Hermione sighed, unlatching Crookshank’s basket. “I imagine you’re over-thinking it, Ron, Charlie seems like someone who likes to get you riled up.”

Ron scowled, “He doesn’t normally say things he doesn’t have a follow-up for.”

“I don’t know why you wouldn’t let my mum heal that for you, Harry,” Ron said nodding towards Harry’s face. A pretty impressive bruise had formed where his cheek had hit the ground at the World Cup.

“I’m not a big fan of people healing me after Lockhart, it won’t kill me to have a bruise,” Harry shrugged.

“Can’t exactly blame you there, can I?” Ron sighed, collapsing down onto the bench.

Shortly after getting comfortable, Dean, Seamus, and Neville entered the compartment, gushing about the Cup.

“I still can’t believe that Krum got the Snitch,” Dean sighed, absently rubbing his hand up and down Seamus’ arm.

“He knew they were going to lose, he didn’t want it to drag on any longer than it needed to. The Irish chasers were unbeatable.” Harry said staring at Dean’s hand. He wondered if he and Malfoy would ever be that comfortable together. He highly doubted it.

“That’s fair,” Neville said, before his head snapped to the side as the compartment door slammed open. Harry felt his stomach somersault as Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle appeared in the doorway.

“What do you want, Malfoy?” Ron groaned, tearing open a chocolate frog. “I’m not in the mood.”

“Just checking to see if the Boy Wonder, Granger, and Thomas had made it home safe, we were hoping that half of Gryffindor house would be gone.”

“Great, I was wondering the same thing about your dad. He ran before the Ministry captured him though, right?” Ron shot back, his ears turning red.

Harry couldn’t stop staring at Malfoy. He was already in his school robes; his uniform perfectly put together, not a button undone or tie askew. Harry figured he must have come to the station like that, to get away with not changing on the train. Harry had considered it, but figured it would have been more out of character than if he ducked out to get changed in the loo. Malfoy stared back, his eyes fixed on the bruise on his cheek.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, Weasel. Potter who gave you the bruise? I plan to send them flowers as a thank you.”

“Sod off, Malfoy,” Hermione sighed, finally reaching her limit. She raised her wand and quickly slammed the door shut before Malfoy could say another word. “I wish they would grow up.”

Harry was still staring at the door, if he hadn’t known better; Malfoy had seemed almost concerned about him.

Chapter Text

“I swear I’ll be right back,” Harry promised, robes in one hand.

“Harry I can step out,” Hermione said, frowning.

“I have to use the loo anyway, Hermione don’t worry about it.” Harry quickly stepped out into the hall before anyone could say another word. He wasn’t sure how much longer he could go without baring his chest. Ron was going to think he had some weird mole or something.

Harry stepped into the loo, carefully closing the door and immediately felt a hand over his mouth again. Harry rolled his eyes as he was pinned against the wall.

“We have to stop meeting like this,” Harry commented dryly when Malfoy took his hand away.

“Why didn’t you leave like I told you to?!” Malfoy growled, anger lighting his features.

“What did you expect? I couldn’t just grab Ron’s wand and say screw you to his siblings!”

“You could have and you should have! Someone cast the Dark Mark, who knows what else they could have done! And what the fuck actually happened here, if Weasley did this, I’ll kill him,” Malfoy said bringing his hand up towards Harry’s bruise before quickly pulling his hand away, clasping it at his side in a tight fist.

“Of course Ron didn’t give it to me, wanker. I hit it on the ground.”

“Then why haven’t you healed it, do you like looking like you lost a fight?” Malfoy started pacing, spinning his wand in his hand.

“I don’t like when people try to heal me,” Harry shrugged. “Look is this how it’s going to be? You sneaking up on me in bathrooms? Worrying about me?”

“We’re soul-mates.” Malfoy said again like that explained everything.

“So, what? You hated me the last three years, that doesn’t suddenly go away!”

“Look, Potter, soul-mates might just be a silly thing to you, but they mean something to me. They’re important. Do I think the universe is playing some massive joke on me, making you my soul-mate? Yes. That doesn’t change what we are.”

“So we’re best friends now?” Harry asked, throwing his hands in the air.

Malfoy rolled his eyes.“Of course not, do you know what would happen to me if my Father found out I was suddenly friends with the Boy Who Lived? Based on your friends’ reactions, you haven’t told them about our new bond?”

Harry scoffed, “No, I didn’t. But I honestly don’t know how long I can not get changed in front of Ron before he starts to get suspicious.”

Malfoy nodded, “We need to figure out how to glamour. I didn’t have time to research when I was at the Manor, but I’ll find something once we’re back at school.”

“Glamour?”

Malfoy froze and stared up at the ceiling, then sighed looking back down. “Yes, Potter, there are spells that can conceal your features. I know it’s harder to hide soul-marks, but I’m sure there’s something out there. You really don’t know much about magic do you?”

Harry blushed, “Sod off. I didn’t grow up in this world like you did.”

Draco bit his lip before his head whipped to the side as the sound of voices and footsteps filtered past the closed door. “I need to get back; Pansy is going to notice I’ve been gone. I’m sure your friends will as well. I will contact you when I get a chance.”

“So we aren’t enemies anymore then?” Harry asked, his eyes glued to Malfoy’s grey ones.

Malfoy looked down, carefully pulling Harry’s collar to the side again, looking at the sun mark.

“No, no we aren’t,” He whispered, brushing his fingers across it. Harry felt instant warmth flood his entire body, and he closed his eyes briefly. When he opened them again, Malfoy was gone.

~*~

Harry was absolutely miserable. He plopped down onto his four-poster, pulling off his shoes.

“How can there not be Quidditch?” Harry complained. The one bright thing that had gotten him through this soul-mate drama was the idea that he would be able to fly again. Now this Triwizard Tournament business had to go and screw that up. He was thankful he couldn’t compete, the last thing he needed was more fame and glory.

“This tournament seems really cool though,” Ron countered, rummaging in his trunk. “I wonder if Fred and George will help me enter too.”

“Why would you even want to? It seems like an injury or worse waiting to happen!” Neville said as he got changed into his pyjamas.

“That prize seems worth it enough, and it’s all so exiting, we’ll get to meet the other two wizarding schools!” Ron gushed.

Harry lay back onto his bed, staring at the ceiling, the last thing he needed this year was more excitement.

~*~

“Oi, Weasley, your father is in the paper again!” Blaise Zabini called from across the hallway. “Is that really where you live? I guess what they say about the paper is true, it really does add a stone or two.” He brandished the picture of Mrs. Weasley standing outside of the Burrow.

“He’s not worth it, come on,” Harry said grabbing Ron and steering him around.

Sudden gasps and screams made Harry turn around; Moody was behind them, his wand pointed at a snow white ferret. He was using his wand to levitate and slam the poor animal repeatedly against the ground.

“You do not cast spells at a man whose back is turned!” Moody growled, Harry noticed Zabini staring at the ferret with his mouth open.

“Oh my God, is that Malfoy?” Hermione gasped, her hands over her mouth.

“Cowardly…”

“What is going on here?” McGonagall yelled as she burst through the crowd watching the ferret fly into the air over and over.

“Teaching,” Moody mumbled, bouncing the ferret again.

“Is that a student!?” McGonagall gasped before pointing her wand at the ferret. “We do not use Transfiguration as a form of punishment! Mr. Malfoy are you all right?”

Malfoy was lying in a pile on the ground, his hair was in complete disarray, and he was trembling. He quickly got to his feet, glared at Moody, met eyes with Harry briefly before striding from the hall, limping slightly.

"Surely Dumbledore told you!" McGonagall yelled at Moody, who was already stalking away, his foot making a loud bang every other step.

"That was cruel to do, even for someone like Malfoy" Hermione said, biting her lip.

"That was brilliant!" Ron burst. "Malfoy the incredible bouncing ferret!"

"I hope he's okay," Hermione said, shooting a look at Harry who was still silent. Two weeks ago Harry might have been laughing with Ron, but it had looked absolutely painful what Moody had done to Malfoy. Harry was slightly disgusted with himself that he would have ever laughed at something like that. Harry couldn’t imagine how he would feel if he was transfigured into some sort of animal and made to perform in front of his classmates.

The other part that bothered him was that Malfoy hadn't even been the one making fun of Ron, which was out of character within itself. Harry found it hard to believe he would have cursed Harry or Ron with their backs turned. Malfoy was at least always up front about their confrontations.

"Who cares? You heard what Moody said, he was trying to curse one of us. Better him than us," Ron shrugged and made his way into the Great Hall.

"You all right, Harry?" Hermione asked.

"I just don’t think Malfoy would have cursed us, Zabini was the one yelling at Ron. I don’t know why Moody said he did."

"Nothing to be done about it now, he walked away, I’m sure he’s fine. Let's go eat."

Harry nodded, but couldn't get the blond out of his head; the sound of him repeatedly hitting the ground echoing in his mind.

Chapter Text

Harry continued to feel bothered about the day’s event well after dinner.

"I'm going to head to bed early, goodnight guys," he said pushing up from the couch.

"You okay, mate? Want me to come up too?" Ron asked clear concern on his face.

"Nah, don’t worry about it. I'll be sleeping anyways. Thanks though," Harry said hurriedly turning towards the steps.

He quickly made his way upstairs and into his dorm. Thankfully none of his other dormmates had turned in yet. Harry rooted in his trunk for his cloak and the map before charming his curtains shut and throwing the cloak over him.

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good," Harry whispered, pressing his wand to the map.

The parchment flooded with black lines and Harry flipped through the pages searching for Malfoy's name. Relief flooded his body when he noticed Malfoy wasn’t in the Slytherin Common Room. He continued searching and found his name in one of the dungeons close to Snape's classroom. He was alone.

Harry couldn’t believe his luck, now all he had to do was sneak his way out of the Common Room. He carefully left his room and crept back down the steps. He tiptoed past Ron and Hermione, who were arguing about something or other, and made his way to the portrait hole. It only took a few minutes before a 5th year pushed their way through and Harry was able to sneak out.

The halls were relatively empty with it being so close to curfew, Harry made his way from Gryffindor Tower to the dungeons, checking the map along the way to make sure he didn’t run into anyone and that Malfoy hadn’t returned to his Common Room.

Harry made it to right outside the door before he quickly checked the map one last time, pocketed it and his cloak, and pushed through the door.

Malfoy was standing in front of a cauldron, his uniform shirt rolled up to his elbows. At the sound of the door opening, he whipped around, wand in hand.

"It's just me," Harry said, throwing his hands up.

"Merlin, Potter, what are you doing here? How did you even find me?"

Harry ignored the second question, "I had to check on you."

Malfoy stiffened and returned to looking at his cauldron. "I'm fine. You can go."

"You were limping; don’t tell me you're fine! If you're allowed to be concerned about me, I can be concerned about you." Harry crossed the room peering into the cauldron, and peeked at Malfoy from the side of his eye.

"I'd have figured you would think I deserved it." Malfoy said quietly, adding what looked like moth's wings into the potion and stirring it clockwise with a silver rod.

"No one deserved that.” Harry said fiercely. “Besides, I know you weren't going to curse one of us."

Malfoy scoffed, "What makes you so sure?"

"You've never cursed me behind my back. You're a lot of things, Malfoy, but you're not a coward."

Malfoy was silent for awhile, methodically stirring the cauldron. Finally he spoke, "I was deflecting what Blaise sent at you. I shouldn't have done it, he was furious with me for it, but he hasn’t pressed the issue after what happened," he shrugged.

Harry took a good look at him. Malfoy had a massive red mark covering half his face, and on both of his exposed hands and forearms were a myriad of cuts and red welts.

"Why aren’t you healed? It's been hours."

"And let that insane man know he got the better of me? Absolutely not, I can heal myself." He gestured towards the potion, pulling his stirring rod out and setting it down on the table.

Harry bit his lip, frustrated.

"Not so fun being the uninjured party is it?" Draco taunted, packing up some of his supplies. Harry noticed the potion was gradually changing from a slate gray to a green colour.

"No, it isn’t. But this is much worse than a stupid bruise. I bet you broke a couple ribs. Those are absolutely awful to heal. This potion better be good."

Malfoy looked at him curiously, "I don’t recall you ever breaking ribs while at Hogwarts."

Harry blushed, breaking eye contact. He wasn’t about to tell Malfoy how he had previously broken ribs, his mind flashing briefly to Uncle Vernon.

"Sure I have, what Quidditch player hasn’t? Now is the potion good enough or not?" He turned toward the cauldron, the liquid now a dark green.

"It’ll be perfect, I brewed it didn’t I? You can stop getting your knickers in a twist."

"How long until it's ready?" Harry asked as Malfoy finished packing up his things.

"It needs to simmer for 15 more minutes and then it’ll be ready. You fret more than my mother."

Harry glared at him. Confused and frustrated with how he was feeling. Harry was worried. Anxiety tightened at his chest as he kept reliving Malfoy being slammed against the ground over and over. He knew there were more injuries hiding beneath Malfoy's uniform.

He hated that he cared so much. A week ago he wouldn’t have cared. Now it felt like he was sharing the pain Malfoy had been inflicted. This soul-mate business was throwing him for a spin.

"Is this how it's always going to be?” Harry whispered. “Seamus and Dean never said anything about how this feels." Harry hastily loosened his tie and threw it off. He felt like he was suffocating.

"Merlin, Potter, calm down!" Malfoy hurried to him touching his arm hesitantly. "Do you always do this?"

Harry followed his eyeline and looked down at his hands; small yellow fizzles of light sparked erratically from his palms.

"Oops. Sorry." Harry shook his hands out, gulping in air and unbuttoning a few buttons on his shirt. It suddenly felt like it was 50 degrees hotter in the room. On the other hand, pleasant warmth was flooding his body from where Malfoy’s hand settled on his arm. "I'm okay. Sorry this is just a lot.” He gulped in a deep breath. “That feels nice,” He commented absent-mindedly.

"Do you always perform wandless magic when you're upset? Fuck, how powerful are you?" Malfoy was staring at him, eyes wide.

Harry squinted at him, "Wandless magic? I don’t know. Sometimes I guess." His eyes caught the corner of blue peeking out of Malfoy’s shirt where he had unbuttoned it slightly. "Can I see it, like, properly?"

Malfoy squinted at him like he had grown a second head, but carefully reached up and unbuttoned the rest of his shirt. He let it fall open.

Harry stared, he couldn’t help it. Malfoy’s mark took up as much space as Harry's. It spanned the entire left hand side of his chest, the exact same spot as Harry’s. The moon was as detailed and elaborate as his sun. With swirls of purple and blue spiraling out from each side. Harry found himself unbuttoning the rest of his shirt as well and heard Malfoy gasp a quiet intake of breath.

"You don’t do anything by half, do you?" Malfoy muttered, taking a step closer.

Harry hesitantly reached forward, looking up into Malfoy’s eyes as he moved his hand closer. Malfoy didn’t move to step away or stop him and Harry carefully trailed his fingers across the mark. Harry noticed it felt a lot like when he touched a blanket fresh out of Aunt Petunia’s dryer, which she had insisted on getting to show the neighbours she was better than them. Harry secretly thought she just didn’t like having her under things drying in the backyard on the line.

Malfoy inhaled quickly, his eyes falling shut. Harry immediately recoiled, brought out of his inane thoughts.

"Did that hurt?"

Malfoy chuckled under his breath, a smirk tugging at his lips. "No you ponce, it didn’t hurt."

"Oh, okay," Harry looked back down at Malfoy’s chest and noticed the dark shadows further down on his torso. "You did break a rib, goddammit Malfoy!" He cried, instantly enraged.

"I'll be fine, I promise. They’ll be healed. Look, you can check once I take the potion. Trust me.” He still hadn’t moved a centimetre from when Harry had begun touching his soul-mark. “To answer your question, yes, soul bonds are seriously intense and powerful magic. There’s no ignoring it once the bond has been sealed. It's why I couldn’t bear to watch you get cursed today and feared for you at the Cup. Things are only going to get more intense."

"How the hell am I supposed to keep this hidden then? I could barely keep myself together for a few hours!" Harry ran his hands through his hair before plastering his fringe back against his forehead.

"We have to figure it out! Father absolutely cannot know," Malfoy said urgently, moving for the first time as he took a step towards Harry. Harry felt stress and anxiety flare up inside of him again as Malfoy worriedly chewed on his lip and began quickly cracking his knuckles.

"Is that you? Can I feel what you're feeling? This is insane!" Harry asked, feeling even more anxiety bloom in his chest.

Malfoy stopped chewing on his lip, instead digging his hand slightly into his ribcage, wincing. Harry felt pain quickly shoot through his torso, and gasped, his hand flying to his side.

Malfoy stared at him, wide-eyed. "We’re absolutely fucked,” He commented needlessly.

~*~

Harry and Malfoy sat side by side leaning against the wall, neither had said anything for a couple minutes. A loud beeping broke the silence and Harry startled violently at the noise. Malfoy shot out a hand to steady him, raising his wand to turn off the beeping.

"Potions done," He quietly got to his feet and carefully scooped the potion into a few jars. He corked all but one; Harry had gotten to his feet and shadowed him across the room.

"Let's see this miracle potion then," he nodded towards the now light green liquid, the same colour as the Quidditch Pitch after it had rained.

Malfoy grabbed the jar and quickly chugged the contents, grimacing slightly as it went down. Almost instantaneously the red mark on his face faded, as did the marks on his arms.

"The ribs and my ankle are going to take a little longer."

Harry refrained from commenting on the other injury he hadn’t known about. Harry felt like every nerve in his body was on fire. He wasn’t sure if those were his feelings or Malfoy’s.

"Malfoy, I-"

Malfoy cut him off by placing his palm flat against Harry's mark. An explosion of warmth and calm flooded his chest and Harry immediately raised his hand and did the same to Malfoy. Malfoy inhaled again, but all Harry could feel was the intense, but not uncomfortable warmth filling his body. They stood like that for a few moments before Malfoy turned away with a deep sigh.

"We have to get back to our houses; we’re going to be missed."

"Ron and Hermione think I went to bed. It’s going to be annoying sneaking back in, but..." He shrugged.

"I'm surprised Pansy isn’t already out searching for me, it’s well past curfew."

Harry tried to tamp down the jealousy flaring uncomfortably inside him, Malfoy chuckled but didn’t comment.

"We need to be careful; both of us need to tone it down. If we suddenly aren’t at each other’s throats, people are going to notice.”

Harry frowned, crossing his arms, "I'm doing everything I can."

"Pretend hiding this is as important as hiding the whereabouts of your godfather. You don’t understand the danger we’d both be in if my Father finds out." Malfoy said urgently, stepping closer and shaking Harry’s shoulder slightly.

Harry opened his mouth to protest and Malfoy rolled his eyes. "My mother’s maiden name is Black, he’s my second cousin."

Harry snapped his mouth shut, "I'll be better." Annoyed at yet another thing that Malfoy just seemed to know, at least Hermione did research to be a know-it-all, Malfoy just was.

"Good.” Malfoy stepped back, nodding at him. “Now if you're content with my healing, I have to go."

Harry looked back at his torso, prodding slightly where the broken rib had been, watching for any reaction or to feel any pain.

"See good as new! Now let's go. We cannot risk getting caught." Malfoy was anxiously cracking his knuckles again.

"Don’t get your knickers in a twist," Harry mocked him, pulling out the map and checking it. "There are some prefects about to pass your house, but other than that your path is clear. Pansy is pacing in your Common Room."

Malfoy whipped around to look at what Harry was holding, but Harry pocketed it with a smirk. "Sorry. Top secret."

Malfoy narrowed his eyes at him, "I'll make a Slytherin out of you yet."

Harry grinned, quickly buttoning his shirt again and picking his tie up of the floor, slinging it around his shoulders.

“I was almost sorted into Slytherin, you know,” He called casually before slipping quickly out the door.

He heard Malfoy calling after him, and indignation filtering through the bond, but he threw the cloak over himself and hurried back towards Gryffindor tower. A permanent smile plastered on his face.

Chapter Text

Harry stared blankly down at his food, pushing his dinner around absently on the plate.

“Harry, are you all right?” Ron asked, putting his utensils down in a sure display that he was paying soul attention to Harry at the moment.

Harry looked up; eyes sliding past Ron’s face to Malfoy’s, who was currently staring at Harry from across the Hall, eyes squinted in similar concern.

“Yeah, I’m fine, just not very hungry,” Malfoy’s face morphed into one of annoyance and Harry resolutely stared back down at his plate.

In reality, Harry was a little nauseous. Watching Moody use Avada on that spider made it impossible to not think of his parents. One second the spider was alive, the next it just wasn’t. It had no idea what was going to happen. Just a split second of green light, and then nothing, no chance for them – or it, to defend itself.

Harry felt anxiety rise up inside of him and his head flew up to look across the room again, Harry was beginning to be able to tell the difference between his emotions and Malfoy’s. The latter having a distinct ‘flavour’ that he could recognize as not his own. Malfoy was looking at Pansy, but kept shooting sideways glances at Harry. Harry sighed, as much as Malfoy tried to tell him he had to be more subtle, Malfoy was being as subtle as a flying brick.

“I think it was positively barbaric what Moody did in class,” Hermione said gently.

“Well, I – “ Ron was swiftly cut off with a groan as Harry suspected Hermione had kicked him underneath the table. “I mean, yeah, bang out of line.”

“It was fine, it’s good that everyone saw what they can do, I’m going for a walk,” Harry said quickly.

“We’ll come with you!” Hermione said setting her fork and knife down, but Harry shook his head.

“I’d honestly rather be by myself, Ron want to play chess later?” Harry asked, hoping that would be enough for them to let him leave.

“Yeah, sure mate, I’ll have everything set up.” Ron was exchanging worried glances with Hermione, Harry ignored them and grabbed his things, quickly leaving the Hall.

It was still relatively early, and a fresh breeze was floating through the front doors of the castle. Harry made a beeline through them, making his way towards the lake, hands shoved in his pockets. He imagined Sirius would not be too pleased with him walking around alone outside, but he couldn’t handle being inside any longer. Harry walked quickly trying to put as much space between him and the castle as he could, he noticed the further he got from Malfoy the less likely he was to experience his emotions. It was one thing for him to know Ron and Hermione were worried about him; it was another to feel that anxiety inside him.

Harry made it halfway around the lake when he finally sat down. The sky was clear for once and the cool breeze was a nice refresher. Harry watched as a tentacle shot out of the water and snatched a bird that had been flying overhead. He was distracted from that completely bizarre display by a mix of anxiety and annoyance becoming apparent inside him. Harry smirked, realizing how frustrating it must be to try and track someone down without a magical map to do so.

A few minutes later Malfoy strode down the path, his head held high, his normal sneer present on his face.

“There you are!” He complained, the sneer dropping from his face. “What was that about? You shouldn’t be out here alone.”

Harry settled back against the tree he was leaning against, “Just wanted a walk.”

Malfoy glared at him, “You wanted a walk,” He repeated, indignation clear in his tone.

“Yup,” Harry popped the last letter, slightly pleased by the sheer irritation on Malfoy’s face. Malfoy sighed before glancing around and sitting down next to Harry. His fingers tracing paths in the mix of soil and sand, he was silent for awhile, waiting for Harry to speak.

Harry pulled a small, smooth rock from the ground and threw it into the lake. “Defense just wasn’t my favourite class today, that’s all.”

Malfoy rolled his eyes, using a twig to poke holes into the pattern he had drawn. “I see, thank you, that completely clears everything up.”

“Moody demonstrated the Unforgiveables,” Harry threw another flurry of stones into the lake, before ripping at some roots that were buried next to him. He heard Malfoy inhale quickly.

“You’ve never seen them, have you?” His voice barely carried the short distance between them.

“Only in my nightmares,” Harry sighed. “I shouldn’t be so upset. Just took me by surprise is all.”

“You have every right to be, you worried me today. I felt you all the way in Herbology.”

“Sorry,” Harry mumbled, tugging harder at the root he had unearthed.

“Don’t be, look, stop.” Malfoy settled his hand over Harry’s making his fingers release the small roots, and Harry froze. “What can I do?”

Harry peered at him, completely confused, Malfoy continued to look at him expectantly before sighing deeply and taking a deep breath.

“What will make you feel better?”

Harry continued to stare at him, words failing him. Malfoy stood up, stomping to the edge of the lake and kicking some sand in. “Stop staring at me like I should be committed! I’m trying to help!”

“It’s just bizarre...” Harry started, getting to his feet, the corners of his mouth perking up at Malfoy’s little tantrum. Malfoy strode towards him, pushing him roughly against the tree behind him. Harry grunted softly as his back bit into the bark.

“Is this what you prefer? Do I have to manhandle you, for you to take me seriously?” Malfoy grit out, hands fisted in the front of Harry robes.

Harry smirked, thoughts of DADA completely washed from his brain, he reached up knocking Malfoy’s hands from his chest and flipped them around so Malfoy was pinned against the tree. “Maybe.”

A few strands of Malfoy’s hair felt into his eyes, he impatiently shook them out of his face. Harry felt Malfoy’s leg hook behind his and suddenly they were falling backward, with a soft ‘oomph’ Harry’s back collided with the sand. Malfoy loomed over him pinning his wrists on either side of Harry’s head. Now that wouldn’t do, Harry rolled and he and Malfoy wrestled in the sand for a few minutes, neither letting the other one win.

“You have absolutely ruined my robe,” Malfoy finally complained as they came to a still, Harry straddling Malfoy’s hips.

“Yeah, well, I’m sure you have a bunch more,” Harry shrugged, grinning down at him. It took him a moment for him to fully realize their positions before he quickly scrambled off, standing up and shaking his hair out. Sand flew in every direction and Malfoy made a noise of complaint, getting to his feet as well.

“I do, but that’s hardly the point. We’re an absolute mess,” He sniffed, rooting around for his wand. He pointed it at himself mumbling a spell and suddenly all of the sand and other debris vanished from his body. Harry was still distracted by the way Malfoy’s hair fell around his face, no longer in its normal slicked back style. Malfoy pointed his wand up at his head, and Harry grabbed his arm.

“No, don’t,” Harry said, eyes transfixed. Malfoy stared at him curiously, but slowly lowered his wand.

“Did that little tussle snap you out of things?” He asked finally, rolling up the sleeves of his shirt.

Harry laughed, amused by how put out Malfoy was, “Surprisingly, yes. Don’t look so miserable, you can’t say you didn’t have fun.”

“Fisticuffs and other forms of grappling are beneath a Malfoy, my Father would be beside himself,” Malfoy twirled his wand in his hand.

“Something tells me your father would be bothered by quite a few things going on here,” Harry sighed. “Thank you.”

Malfoy chuckled then shrugged, “You’re right about that. Nothing to thank me for, I couldn’t go the rest of the night feeling like that, could I?”

Harry rolled his eyes, and shoved Malfoy’s shoulder with his own. He smirked over at him in what Harry could only describe as fondness. It was an odd, but welcome look on Malfoy’s face.

“Can I ask you something?” Malfoy asked shaking his robe out, seemingly as something to do. Harry knew he wasn’t going to put it back on with how wrinkled and dirty it was.

“Go ahead,” Harry frowned, feeling the unease coming through the bond.

“Do you dream about that night a lot? When the Dark Lord fell?” He looked like he immediately regret asking.

Harry shrugged again, “I guess? You remember the Dementors last year? Well I have sort of a severe reaction, as you know. When they come close I can hear my parent’s last few moments. That and I’ve dreamed about a bright flash of green light for as long as I can remember.” Malfoy was silent and Harry looked up at him. He had a look of unrestrained horror and disgust on his face.

“Did I say something?” Harry asked, perplexed.

“You’re saying when you’re near a Dementor, you hear your parents being bloody murdered?” Malfoy seemed to force out each word.

“Yes?” Harry stared at Malfoy who suddenly ran over to a tree and set a hand against it, bending over, his other hand over his mouth. “What the hell, Malfoy?” Harry ran over, unsure of what to do.

“I might vomit,” Malfoy gasped out. Harry’s eyes bulged and he hesitantly ran his hand lightly over Malfoy’s shoulders.

After a few moments of silence punctured by Malfoy’s ragged breathing, he straightened up slightly, not moving away from Harry’s hand. “Is this, er, helping? It’s what Hermione likes when she’s sick...”

Malfoy snorted, and Harry was worried he really was going to puke, when Malfoy brushed his hair out of his face Harry saw he had been laughing. “How can you even look at me? Comfort me? You should curse me, I fucking deserve it,” Malfoy spit venomously.

“I’m not following...” Harry was lost.

“I made fun of you for that, constantly! I dressed up like a bloody Dementor to distract you. I was essentially making fun of you for being upset you heard your parents dying. That doesn’t strike you as something I should be cursed for? Fuck, how are we soul-mates?” He scrubbed his hands over his face, ending with his hands clutched in his hair.

Harry still had no idea what to say, he shrugged, “It’s fine now, though. I solved the Dementor issue. No worries.”

Malfoy stared at him, eyes wild, “You solved the Dementor issue?” He asked like Harry had said something completely insane.

“Er, yeah, I can do a Patronus now. So it’s fine.”

“Stop saying things are fucking fine!” Malfoy burst; he pointed his wand at a rock and watched as it exploded. A fine dust blew past Harry’s cheek.

“Do you want to see it?” Harry asked for lack of anything else to say. “Here, watch, Expecto Patronum!”

Harry’s silver stag leapt from his wand and trotted into the clearing before Harry let it dissipate. Malfoy stared at it for a few moments before shaking his head, and pacing a few steps.

“What the hell am I going to do with you, Potter?”

Harry bit his lip, throwing his hands up in a shrug. “Hi, I’m Harry, everything about my life is insane.”

Malfoy laughed before quickly sobering up, “Hi, Harry, I’m Draco and I’m beginning to realize that.” He held out his hand.

This time, Harry shook it.

Chapter Text

“Did you hear?” Pansy asked, settling down next to Draco at the table.

“What?” Draco responded, doing his best not to look over at the Gryffindor table.

“Mad-Eye practiced the Imperius on the Gryffindors this morning.”

Draco tried not to react too strongly, despite how thoroughly shocked he was that they were allowing the insane ex-Auror to perform Unforgiveables on students. “He best not think he’s doing that to us,” Draco sniffed. His body would be stiff and cold before he would allow that poor excuse for a man to gain control over him again.

“That’s not even the biggest thing!” Pansy gushed, “Guess who was able to resist it?”

Draco took a bite of food, sneaking a look over at the Gryffindors, Harry was sitting next to Weasley chewing idly, looking exhausted.

“Potter,” Blaise guessed, annoyance filling his tone.

“Right in one,” Pansy said buttering a piece of bread.

“Of course Saint Potter would be able to throw it off, why am I even surprised?” Draco commented dryly. Draco did his absolute best to keep the relief out of his voice. Based on who Harry was, it was probably for the best that Harry could resist the curse. Never mind the impressiveness of him throwing it off the first time it was cast on him. That is if it hadn’t been cast on him before, who fucking knew when it came to his soul-mate.

“I wonder how he did it,” Theo said casting a look over his shoulder at Harry. Draco was grateful to be able to look over at the Gryffindor table uninhibited. Harry looked up at him, probably noticing the group of Slytherins staring.

“I bet Moody didn’t even really cast it,” Draco scoffed. “Probably more Dumbledore propaganda.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right, Dray,” Pansy agreed, she reached out and grasped a lock of his hair, twirling it around her finger. “What’s made you suddenly wear your hair down? Not that I’m complaining. You look brilliant.”

Draco batted her hand away; he was barely comfortable with wearing it down, and the last thing he wanted was Pansy playing with it. “Too much work to style it every day, also stop calling me that, you know I loathe it."

“I, for one, am glad he’s not hogging the mirror all morning,” Theo teased. Draco flicked a piece of corn at him, rolling his eyes.

Draco felt what he had determined to be jealousy floating through the bond and he couldn’t help but smirk. Harry did seem to get considerably jealous over his relationship with Pansy, which was extra hilarious to Draco since he had been friends with Pansy since they were in nappies and the last thing he wanted to do was be in a relationship with her. There was also the small bit where his soul-mate was a man, but that apparently wasn’t glaring enough for Harry to comprehend. Draco was beginning to understand that he pretty much had to slap the plain facts across Harry’s face before he would grasp it. Merlin his soul-mate was so brilliant and also so fucking thick.

Harry had performed the Patronus Charm the other night like it wasn’t this massive magical feat. Draco had never known anyone of school-age able to perform it, let alone at 14. Draco wondered how long Harry had been able to do it, since it was such a ‘small’ feat in Harry’s eyes. Draco had never realized the spell that had hit him and the other Slytherins at the Quidditch match last year had been a Patronus Charm, but it definitely had not been the fully formed stag that Harry had shown him the other night. Draco only knew a handful of people who could summon a Patronus – full stop. He knew Severus could summon one, but he resolutely refused to ever show it to Draco. Draco was almost positive neither of his parents could, he’d never seen it at any rate.

Then again Harry also seemed to perform wandless magic without even realizing, so what was really out of the realm for him to accomplish?

~*~

Draco heard the door click open and he stifled a grin. It had almost become a ritual between the two of them. Draco would go to his lab to brew potions and before long Harry would appear.

“Are you ever going to reveal how you know I’m alone?” He asked, slicing up ingredients.

“Eventually, maybe,” Harry said, a smile in his voice. Draco knew them meeting like this so often was a bad idea, but he couldn’t stop himself from doing it. Not when he felt how much happier Harry was afterwards. It had absolutely nothing to do with how much it brightened his mood as well, none at all.

“Word’s out that Harry Potter can resist the Imperius Curse,” Draco commented, finally looking up from his work station. Harry had hopped up to sit on a vacant work table and was staring over at him, he shrugged.

“Yeah, I guess so.”

Draco stifled a groan, “You’re infuriating, are you aware of that?”

Harry frowned, “What-“

“You overcome these massive obstacles and act like they’re as simple as mounting a broom!”

“To be fair, Hermione is brilliant and she really struggled with that,” He grinned, and Draco shook his head in annoyance.

“How she can have top scores and not fly a broom is beyond me.”

“Not all of us have been flying since we were able to walk,” Harry commented with a meaningful look.

Draco shrugged, “Hasn’t stopped you last I checked.”

Harry was silent for awhile and Draco finally looked at him, surprised at the closed off look on his face.

“You’re not mad at me, right?” Harry finally asked, his voice hesitant. Draco whipped around to face him fully, brow furrowed.

“Why in Merlin’s name would I ever be mad?”

Harry was studying his laces, he shrugged slightly.

“Hey,” Draco crossed the room, abandoning his potion, he lifted Harry’s chin with a finger. “You don’t ever need to worry that I’m upset with you for being remarkable. You should be proud.”

Harry stared at him, his green eyes stark against his dark skin and hair, they were both silent.

Harry finally broke the silence, “Your potion is getting messed up.”

Draco didn’t look away. “I’ll fix it,” He said absently. “It’s important to me that you realize it’s not a bad thing to be brilliant. You don’t have to downplay your accomplishments, especially not to me. Why do you insist upon it?”

Harry shrugged again, breaking eye contact. “Uncle Vernon didn’t like it if I did better than Dudley.”

Draco scoffed, pacing away, kicking a chair on his way back to his potion, “Disgusting muggles.”

“Hey!” Harry jumped off the table, “My aunt and uncle might be awful, but not all muggles are.”

This was going to a place Draco definitely didn’t want to tread, “From what you’ve told me about them, they definitely don’t make a solid case for muggles.”

Harry sighed, “That’s like if I judged all wizards on the actions of, like, Voldemort, or something.”

Draco didn’t comment on the fact that Harry had just compared his muggle guardians to the actual Dark Lord, but he wasn’t here for a row. “Sure, sure, not all muggles are bad, whatever, hand me that rod would you?”

Harry huffed in annoyance, but did as Draco had asked.

“You also haven’t ever really been a fan of me performing well,” Harry said voice hesitant again.

Draco sighed, “Yeah, well there are a lot of things I wasn’t a fan of before and now I am. I’m relearning a lot, aren’t I?”

“Can’t argue there,” Harry allowed.

Draco focused back onto his potion, trying to fix what his neglect had caused, shoving down the vulnerability he was feeling.

“Do you unbutton your shirt on purpose?” Harry finally burst, breaking the silence. Draco couldn’t stop himself from laughing at how incredibly bothered he sounded, the vulnerable feeling vanished.

“I’m sure I have no idea what you’re on about,” He smirked and dropped some ingredients into his cauldron.

“Uh huh, and the Cannons will actually win next season.”

Draco snuck a look sideways and noticed Harry was quickly unbuttoning the first half of buttons on his shirt. “Two can play at that game,” He muttered under his breath. Draco bit his lip to keep from laughing.

Draco continued to work, Harry returned to the table he had been sitting at, his legs childishly swinging beneath him. Draco had no idea how one person could be so insanely powerful, and so innocent at the same time. Draco was beginning to understand why so many people supported Harry with little to no persuasion.

“My potion is going to explode in a few seconds, just forewarning you,” Draco said dropping in the last few ingredients in and casting a quick ‘Protego’ to contain the blast.

“What?” Harry asked, head whipping towards him. The potion exploded loudly, contained within Draco’s shield.

“Oh, thanks for the warning,” Harry said, running his fingers through his hair before patting his fringe down repeatedly.

“You don’t seem to enjoy unexpected loud noises,” Draco commented, lowering the shield and peeking into the cauldron.

“You’re right,” Harry said absently, hopping down from the counter and crossing the short space to Draco. “Can I?” He asked quietly, raising his hand hesitantly.

Draco nodded dumbly, watching as Harry lifted his fingers to run across the outline of the moon plastered onto his chest. Draco’s eyes fluttered shut, feeling overwhelming calm and a pleasant warmth fill his body. Draco felt his shoulders relax, a previously unknown tension draining from him.

“I guess you’re my sun, and I’m your moon,” Harry said, his voice barely above a whisper.

Draco stayed silent, not wanting to do or say anything that would make Harry stop. After awhile he couldn’t help himself, “Last I checked I have the moon and you have the sun. You’re the Light and I’m the Dark.”

To his surprise Harry laughed, “For someone so obsessed with soul-mates, you don’t know much about them. I have your mark and you have mine. Seamus sets everything on fire, he’s explosive, that’s why Dean has his flame. Seamus has Dean’s water, his calm. No, Draco, you’re the sun.”

Draco opened his mouth to reply, but was at a loss for words. Harry was staring at him like no one else ever had, eyes drifting from his eyes down towards his mouth. Draco slowly reached his hand up, fingers brushing across the top corner of Harry’s mark.

Suddenly, there was the noise of feet clattering down the hall and the sound of the door unlocking. Draco’s stomach leapt to his throat, panic surging through him. He felt a thump against his chest and suddenly Harry was no longer standing in front of him. Draco whirled at the door as Pansy and Theo appeared.

“Draco, are you still in here brewing?” Pansy called, confusion suddenly painting her face. “Why do you look like the Dark Lord just walked in?”

Draco seized at his shirt and realized it was fully buttoned again, and Harry was nowhere to be seen. Calming feelings were flowing through the bond, with an edge of adrenaline and excitement.

Draco cleared his throat, turning back towards his potion in an effort to buy some time to school his features, “You surprised me is all, I do hate it when I am interrupted.” He forced as much annoyance and indignation into his voice as he could muster. His heart rate was beginning to slow down.

“Yeah well all you do is hole up in here by yourself, come back to the Common Room with us. I’m sure Snape will not begrudge you taking some time away from here,” Pansy complained.

As much as Draco did not want to go back to the Common Room right now, Draco didn’t see how he was going to get out of it. He was suspicious enough as it was; the last thing he wanted was Pansy and Theo looking into his activities more deeply.

“Fine, just let me pack up here, I’ll be along in just a few minutes.” Draco hoped they would leave him to it.

“We might as well wait,” Theo said hopping up onto the same table that Harry had previously been at; Draco wouldn’t be surprised if his seat was still warm.

Draco did his very best not to show his annoyance, but quickly bottled his potion and cleared his space, his eyes darting around the room. Where had Harry gone? It was like he had apparated away, regardless of how impressive Harry was Draco doubted even he could do that.

Draco packed everything away and pulled on his robe, slinging his bag over his shoulder. “Let’s go,” He said making his way towards the door.

Theo and Pansy filed out into the hallway, Draco slowly following. Just as they were about to enter the Common Room, Draco felt what was unmistakably a hand trail across his shoulders and down one arm before disappearing. He glanced around and saw nothing, but his body sung with the feeling only one person would leave.

Draco was getting really annoyed with the impressive magical feats his soul-mate could perform, one was going to get a complex if this continued.

Chapter Text

Draco was inpatient. He had to know how Harry had done it. How had he wordlessly rebuttoned his shirt and completely disappeared with barely five seconds of time to react? He knew there were spells to become invisible, but they definitely had not been taught them yet. Harry did not strike him as the type to research spells in his downtime for fun. The Mud- Granger, Draco corrected himself, definitely seemed the type, so that was a possibility. Harry still would have done at least two spells wordlessly, which they definitely were not taught until 6th year. Draco never noticed Harry performing any other spells wordlessly; he was always very loud with the spells he cast in class.

Draco glared at the back of Harry’s head; they were back in the dungeons, unfortunately for Potions class and not their extracurricular meetings.

“You are dismissed,” Severus intoned, and Draco got to his feet, packing up as slowly as possible. His plan worked as Harry left the room flanked by the rest of the Trio, ahead of him. Draco waited until they were out in the corridor before pointing his wand at Harry’s bag and casting his spell.

“Damn it!” Harry cursed as his bag broke and his belongings fell to the floor.

“Nice one, Draco!” Blaise praised, laughing as Harry tried to grab his things.

“Reparo,” Harry cast, “Ripping my bag, Malfoy? What are you, a first year?”

Draco shrugged, a smirk on his lips, “Never gets old.”

He continued down the hall, feeling the prickles of confusion trickling through the bond.

So Harry definitely cast spells out loud. Draco was no further in his quest to figure it out than he had been before. Draco couldn’t risk brewing tonight, Pansy and Theo were sure to show up again. One thing was for sure, Draco was going to go crazy if he didn’t figure this out.

~*~

Draco was going insane. It had been over a week and Draco had not been able to meet up with Harry. He had spent the entire time trying to figure out how Harry had done it; he had also tried to funnel his energy towards figuring out how to cover the soul-bond but had come up empty. Nothing in the library was very helpful, and he could not risk getting a book from the Manor without drawing attention from his parents.

Draco had never been one to manually change in front of his roommates, normally preferring to spell his clothes on, for proprietary’s sake, but he didn’t imagine Harry would change with magic. He absolutely could not allow for Weasley to see the mark. Draco knew Weasley would not rest before finding out who Harry’s soul-mate was, and he was sure to know the significance of how large their marks were. It would only be a matter of time before Weasley would figure out that Draco was Harry’s soul-mate.

Draco bid Pansy and Theo goodbye, hurrying from the Common Room. He finally had time to hole himself up in his lab, and had promises from the two of them not to bother him. He really did have a potion to brew for Severus, but he might have greatly exaggerated the difficulty of the potion in question. Draco got started, hoping to have most of the potion finished before Harry showed up.

Draco was sure he was going to vibrate out of his body with anticipation as he waited for Harry. Finally after he almost finished the potion altogether, he felt Harry’s emotions getting closer. Draco wrapped up the step he was on, setting a timer for the potion to brew, before turning towards the door and waiting. With a quiet click the door cracked open and Harry’s familiar mop of dark hair became visible. He closed the door behind him, pointing his wand at it and muttering a spell.

“We won’t be bothered tonight,” Draco called, leaning back against the table, arms crossed against his chest.

Harry chuckled and shrugged, “Better safe than sorry.” He hopped up onto the table again, an infuriating smirk on his face.

“Are you going to make me ask?” Draco stalked across the room, coming to a stop in front of Harry.

Harry smirked wider, “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Draco glared at him fiercely, “If you have any value for my sanity, at all, you will end my suffering.”

Harry laughed out loud, and Draco softened at the sheer relaxation and joy on his face. “Fine, but close your eyes.”

“I don’t think –“ He complained before Harry cut him off.

“Nope! My rules or I won’t tell you.”

Draco sighed deeply, extremely put out, but did as he was instructed. Every part of his body yearning to rebel and peek his eyes open.

“No peeking,” Harry reminded him and Draco heard him hop down from the table. There was a quiet rustling and then silence. “Okay, you can open them,” Harry whispered.

Draco opened his eyes, encountering an empty classroom. He knew the door had never opened, and he could feel that Harry was still close, so once again Harry had disappeared without a spell being cast. He stood there for a few moments, perplexed, before he felt Harry’s hand on his chest. He instantly reached out and felt his hand collide with a very solid object. Draco grasped what felt like silk and tugged, watching Harry materialize in front of him, a bright smile on his face.

Draco stared at him before scrubbing his face, “Of-fucking-course you have an Invisibility Cloak. How did I not realize before? I’m so thick. Outside the Shack, Merlin, help me.” Draco wanted to stomp his foot, but was distracted by Harry laughing. “How do you have one of these? They’re incredibly rare.”

Harry took a breath from laughing, “It was my Dad’s.”

Draco nodded throwing the fabric back at Harry’s chest, “I don’t know why that didn’t occur to me before, of course the Potter’s would have an Invisibility Cloak.”

“Why’s that?” Harry asked, curiosity in his voice.

Draco stared at him in confusion before remembering that Harry probably knew next to nothing about his family, “Well invisibility fabrics were founded in India. They were the first to weave them. The Potters are a very affluent Indian family, it makes sense they would have a good one. That thing must be at least what, 20 years old, at the least? I’d wager it’s much older. Other run-of-the-mill cloaks would have faded by now.”

“Oh,” Harry said simply, biting his lip.

“That answers one question, how did you button my shirt so quickly?” Malfoy asked, not to be distracted.

Harry blushed and shrugged, “Er, I don’t really have an answer for that one. Magic?”

Draco blanched, “Magic?” He repeated, dazed.

“I don’t even know what spell I cast; I just knew what I had to do and knew I had to do it quickly. I felt how scared you were, I had to fix it. I didn’t use my wand,” Harry shrugged. “I just grabbed your shirt, threw the Cloak on, and hoped for the best.”

What had his life turned into? “You hoped for the best?” Draco muttered weakly, he couldn’t believe he had driven himself to the brink of insanity over this.

Harry smiled hesitantly and threw his hands up, “Ta-da!” He wiggled his hands a bit.

Draco was hopelessly endeared.

“You’re absolutely ridiculous.” He turned towards his potion, cheeks warm, despite knowing there was nothing for him to do to it for another half hour.

“What were your theories? And what was with splitting my bag the other day? That was annoying.”

Draco felt his cheeks heating further, “I felt like ripping your bag open.”

Harry snorted, “Uh huh, no ulterior motive? I thought we were past cursing each other. Or should I be on my guard again?” Harry asked coming up behind him, leaving barely any room between them.

“I wanted to know if you did spells nonverbally,” Draco admitted quietly, blushing further still when Harry laughed again. “Stop laughing at me,” He whinged.

“You’re cute when you’re embarrassed,” Harry commented, before his eyes grew wide and he himself began blushing.

Draco leapt at the chance, turning around and raising his eyebrows, “I’m cute?”

“Bugger off,” Harry complained, staring at the floor.

Draco couldn’t have that; he grasped either side of the open collar of Harry’s shirt and hauled him in closer. “You’re cute too,” Draco whispered into Harry’s ear before pulling away.

Harry’s hands went immediately to grab Draco’s hips, not allowing him to go far, “Are you feeling this too?”

Draco suspected he was commenting on the overwhelming urge to grab onto Harry and never let go. It was like every fibre of his being was screaming at him to never ever get further than three inches from the wizard. Draco couldn’t wrap his mind around the fact that he had gone from absolutely loathing the sight of Potter to being wrapped up in his arms and loving every second; although if Draco was truthful with himself he had never truly loathed Harry, not really.

“Yes, I am,” He whispered, unable to look away from Harry’s eyes. They stood there for a few moments before Harry hauled him in closer, burying his face in Draco’s neck, their chests flush against each other. Draco could almost feel sparks jumping between their marks.

Draco was pretty positive he had never felt so relaxed, comfortable, and whole in his entire life.

Chapter Text

Draco could not find himself to be all that excited about the other schools coming to Hogwarts. His parents had made him visit both schools before he started at Hogwarts. Durmstrang was full of a bunch of surly, fur-covered Northern Europeans, and Beauxbatons was a bunch of stuck up Frenchmen. At least Beauxbatons had decent weather, but his Mother had thrown a fit about Draco going anywhere but Hogwarts, in the end. Draco did wonder what theatrics both schools would put on for their arrivals, they were sure to show off a bit.

He was more excited about the unveiling of the Goblet of Fire; his Father had said you could feel the magic coming off of it when you got close enough. Draco had to respect any artefact that powerful.

Draco was lined up with the rest of the Slytherins and watched the comings of the Beauxbatons and Durmstrang contingency with vague interest. Harry was obviously enjoying the show, excitement boiling through the bond. Weasley kept tugging on Harry’s arm, and slinging his arm over his shoulder. Draco heard Harry laugh at something he said and failed to stifle his jealousy. Harry whipped around and found his eyes in the crowd, confusion evident, Draco resolutely looked away. Sure, Harry could get jealous if Draco was within a stone’s throw of Pansy, but he couldn’t when Weasley had his hands all over him. Sure, okay, seemed perfectly fair.

Draco’s interest was piqued when none other than Viktor Krum came lumbering up behind Karkaroff. Draco looked at the Durmstrang headmaster with disdain, Karkaroff was not a name his Father said with fondness. Draco hadn’t realized how young the Bulgarian seeker was, but it made sense that he would come to compete. Draco would bet his broomstick that he would be the champion for Durmstrang. One did not become an international Quidditch seeker being a couple cards short of an Exploding Snap deck.

The students were finally able to return inside and Draco was thankful, he was hungry and it was cold. The Durmstrang students fit their way into the Slytherin table and Draco found himself having a good time conversing with the students, most of which had pretty solid English skills. Draco looked forward to speaking to some of the Beauxbatons’ students, French was a language he could actually speak and understand.

Draco couldn’t help but notice the frequent jealousy that filtered through whenever Draco got too chummy with any of the Durmstrang students, especially Krum. Draco did his best not to look too pleased.

Karma was a bitch, as they say.

~*~

“I’ve got 10 galleons on Krum being the Durmstrang champion,” Draco says to Blaise, who rolls his eyes.

“I’m a gambler, but I’m not dumb,” Blaise sniffs. “Who do you think for Hogwarts?”

It went without saying that they had zero faith in Warrington.

“Ten galleons it’s Potter,” Theo said and Draco’s smile dropped from his face. He hadn’t even considered that, but no, Harry wouldn’t do that.

“Doubt even Saint Potter could get past the age line Dumbledore drew, I don’t see a beard anyway,” Draco said offhandedly.

Theo shrugged, “Are you taking the bet or not?”

“Sure, easy gold.”

They shook on it, then fell silent as the ceremony began.

“The Durmstrang champion is Viktor Krum!” Dumbledore’s voice rang out and Draco clapped, Blaise elbowed him, cheering as well.

A few moments later the fire changed colour again, Dumbledore caught the slip of fancy paper, “The Beauxbatons’ champion is Fleur Delacour!” An absolutely gorgeous girl got up from the sea of powder blue uniforms and practically floated from the hall. Draco had the distinct impression she was part Veela.

At last the flame changed again and Dumbledore caught the small slip of paper, “The Hogwarts champion is ... Cedric Diggory!”

“Ha!” Draco said, nudging Theo who shrugged.

“I’ll give you it back at the dorm,” He muttered. Draco could barely hear him over the explosion from the Hufflepuffs. Draco hadn’t realized how much tension he had been holding, worried that Theo had been right.

Dumbledore was wrapping up the ceremony and Draco was fixing to get up when the flame changed and Draco felt his heart drop into the pit of his stomach. He knew before Dumbledore read the paper, there was only one explanation.

“Harry Potter!” Dumbledore boomed and Draco wasn’t sure if the panic and dread inside of him was his or Harry’s.

Draco didn’t hear what Theo said to him as he searched for Harry in the crowd, he finally found him, Harry looked like he wanted nothing more than to pull out his cloak and disappear. Granger was shoving him from the table, fear clear on her face. Draco’s stare shifted to Weasley’s and was shocked to see the incredible rage and jealousy open on his face. People were yelling things at Harry as he slowly and meekly made his way from the hall. Draco had to get out; he had to be anywhere but here. Panic was clawing at his chest, and he absolutely would not lose it here in the Great Hall. Once Dumbledore left the room, all hell broke loose and Draco was able to make his way out of the hall away from his housemates.

He scrambled towards where he knew the Gryffindor Common Room was. He knew he couldn’t get in or wait for Harry there, but he could be close. Draco went to an empty classroom, shut the door, and promptly let himself have a tiny breakdown. Draco was almost overwhelmed by Harry’s emotions, loud and clear despite the distance between them. Draco knew without a shadow of a doubt that Harry had not done this to himself.

Maybe everything would be okay, Harry was only 14, and they couldn’t expect him to compete against 7th years. Students who were of legal age and able to consent to a tournament like this, Harry was too young.

Deep down Draco knew that would never be the case. Maybe if Harry had someone advocating for him. Maybe if his parents were still alive.

For the first time Draco felt real hatred for the Dark Lord. How could anyone do that to a baby? What kind of person would stand behind someone who would?

Draco turned and demolished a desk into dust. His Father, that’s the kind of person.

Draco demolished another desk and took a deep breath. Now was not the time for that. He had to steady himself. His soul-mate needed him. Draco repaired the two desks and sat down on top of one; he took deep breaths and cleared his mind like Severus had taught him. He tried to send soothing and calming feelings through the bond, and then he waited. He distracted himself by banishing the dust from the room and practiced summoning pillows for lack of anything else productive to do.

Finally, after what felt like several lifetimes, like Dumbledore long lifetimes, Harry walked through the door.

Harry had never looked so utterly miserable as long as Draco could remember.

“Sorry it took me so long, I couldn’t get out of Gryffindor,” He mumbled. “Are you wondering how I did it too?”

Draco was briefly hurt that Harry had so little faith in him, but pushed it down, it’s not like he didn’t deserve it, “I’m not an idiot, I know you didn’t do it.”

Harry’s head snapped up and he stared incredulously at Draco. “You and Hermione, and I guess Dumbledore, might be the only ones in the school who believe me.”

“I never said our school was intelligent,” Draco shrugged. He wanted to ask about Weasley, but was pretty sure he knew where that conversation would go. “What can I do to help? Want me to throw you up against a few walls or desks? That helped last time.”

Harry burst out laughing, “You never cease to amaze me, Draco.”

Draco would neither confirm nor deny the absolutely amazing feelings hearing his given name come from Harry’s mouth caused him.

“Goddammit I wish we didn’t have to keep this secret. It’s such fucking bullshit,” Harry burst and the same fizzles of light that had shot from his hands before started up again. Draco got nothing but bad feelings from what Harry could do with his uncontrolled magic when upset like this. Also, Draco had never heard Harry curse so badly. Draco was corrupting him.

“Hey, shh, it’s okay,” Draco said hesitantly, slowly approaching Harry.

“Why can’t I ever have anything fucking nice? The second Sirius steps into my life, he has to live on the run! My first mostly relaxing year, and I get signed into a death tournament! I find my goddamned soul-mate, and of course I can’t have him. I’m so fucking done.”

Draco grit his teeth and closed the distance between the two of them. He caught Harry’s hands in his, ignoring the slight pain the magic emitting from them was causing him, and clenched them tightly. “I’m right here, I’m not going anywhere. You’re stuck with me, Potter.”

Draco released one of his hands, and tugged Harry’s collar to the side. He planted his palm across the span of Harry’s mark. “This is mine,” Draco said fiercely. He grabbed Harry’s hand and tugged his shirt to the side as well and pushed Harry’s hand against his moon. “This is yours.”

Harry was silent until slowly the fizzles died out in his left hand, his right hand having extinguished the second they made contact with Draco’s mark, and buried his head against Draco’s neck his glasses awkwardly digging into the skin there. Draco hesitantly reached up and buried his fingers in Harry’s hair, stroking it slightly, resolutely ignoring the wetness he felt accumulating on his shoulder.

~*~

Things had not gotten better for Draco since Harry’s name had come out of the Goblet of Fire. His friends had not thoroughly bought the lie he told about sending a letter off to his father and then snooping around afterwards as his excuse to why he had taken so long to return to the Common Room. He had been roped in to making buttons for his entire house and then some, all making fun of Harry.

Harry had been hurt at first when Draco had made him aware of them before they were debuted, but thankfully had found some humour in them. He had also liked Draco’s idea of playing up how upset they made him, hoping to show to those running the tournament how incredibly fucked up it was that they were forcing him to compete.

Everything had led up to now, Draco nervously pacing in the spare classroom near Gryffindor, utterly beside himself. Harry was mad at him, and he had every right to be. Although mad was sort of an understatement, Harry was absolutely furious with him.

He had called Granger a Mudblood in Potions class. He knew how much it bothered her and Harry, but his friends had began harassing him out about it. They had been teasing him that he had an infatuation with muggles now, since he had cleaned up his vocabulary. As much as he knew Harry would be upset, he needed to do what had been done. There was no way it could get back to his Father that there was anything suspicious going on. His Father asked him every letter if he had found his soul-mate, reiterating how important it was to find a suitable bond-mate, like Draco could fucking control it.

Then they had dueled and Draco had tried to hit Weasley for how much of a prat he was being towards Harry, but their spells had ricocheted and Granger had been hit instead. Draco had wished Harry’s spell had hit him instead of Goyle, but that was beside the point. Draco was sending every type of apologetic and regret-like feeling he could through the bond.

Draco paced and paced, finally deciding to return to the Common Room after hours had passed. Draco felt utterly defeated, but received Harry’s message loud and clear.

~*~

A week later, Draco was at the end of his rope. His whole body ached and he felt worse than when he had Dragon Pox as a child, a condition that had almost killed him. Harry had ignored every attempt for him to explain himself and apologize. To make matters worse, Draco could feel how utterly miserable his soul-mate was. The whole school seemed to be against him, except for a couple of Gryffindors. Weasley was still not speaking to Harry, and Draco was about to be driven to murder if Weasley didn’t pull his head from his arse. Couldn’t he see that Harry needed him?

Draco didn’t know what to do to make Harry let him explain himself. He had gone to the classroom as often as he could get away with, he had sent feelings, he had even owled him a note but watched Harry set it on fire without opening it. Nothing was working. Draco felt like he was slowly dying, Pansy was beside herself with worry for him, and had even announced the night before that he was running a fever. His chest had begun to ache and it beginning to get hard to breathe. Draco didn’t know what could happen if your soul-mate rejected you, but if what he was feeling was any indication, it was nothing good.

Draco had wracked his brain for any solution and had only come to exactly one option, but wasn’t sure if it would fix things or make everything blow up. He was waiting in the classroom one last time before he doomed himself to the only solution he could think of. Finally, hours later, he slowly made his way back to the Slytherin Common Room. He wasn’t exactly sure what time it was, it was getting hard to get his brain to focus on anything besides Harry. He had tried to cast a Tempus spell, but nothing but a few weak sparks had come from his wand.

“Draco, what are you doing up here? We’ve all been searching for you,” Pansy called, running down the corridor. Draco was leaning against a wall, not quite able to support himself with how exhausted he felt. He felt like every cell in his body weighed as much as a dragon. His chest was on fire, although the rest of his body was freezing.

“Huh?” Draco asked, barely realizing as Theo slung an arm around him.

“That’s it, we’re taking you to the Hospital Wing, you look like death. You’re fucking scaring us, Draco,” Pansy said and Draco felt worry pierce through the bond. He looked up blearily and witnessed Harry and Granger at the end of the hallway, staring at him. Harry had a look of utter surprise on his face.

“What are you three up to?” Granger’s voice carried down the hall, her wand pointed at them.

“Fuck off, can’t you see he’s sick?” Pansy spit at them with contempt, it sounded like her voice was coming through water. That didn’t make sense; they were in the castle not under the Lake, why did she sound so weird?

“You sound funny, Pans. Pants. Pants?” Draco slurred, marvelling at the way the words felt in his mouth.

“Is he all right? What happened to him?” Draco heard Harry ask, his voice urgent. Why was he asking about him?

“Like you care? Move!” Theo ordered and Draco felt himself being dragged away. Wait no, Harry was the other way, why were they taking Draco away from him? He moved to try and make it back towards Harry and felt a sharp pain in his cheek. His face was extra cold. Why was Harry so tall? Oh, Draco realized he was on the floor. Why was he on the floor?

“Harry?” He mumbled before everything went black.

Chapter Text

Harry was panicking. One moment he was heading back to the Common Room with Hermione, the next he was seeing Parkinson and Nott dragging a very sick looking Draco down the hallway. Draco had been completely out of it and for the first time since their fight Harry had noticed how utterly awful Draco looked. His skin had been almost translucent with how pale he was, there were deep dark circles under his eyes, he was covered in a slight sheen, and he had been shaking like a leaf. Harry had asked what was wrong with him, but deep down he already knew. Draco had tried to move toward him, and fallen, smacking his face on the ground, not even attempting to break his fall. Draco had gasped what Harry thought had been a gross approximation of his name and had passed out after that.

Hermione had gone running for Madam Pomfrey, she had quickly found them and levitated Draco off to the Hospital Wing. Which now left Harry trying to figure out how to break in without drawing attention to himself. Pomfrey had sent Parkinson and Nott back to their Common Room before they could even make it the entire way into the ward. Harry was terrified about what was going on with Draco and also worried that Pomfrey would contact Draco’s parents. Finally, throwing all caution to the wind, Harry pushed into the Hospital Wing.

“Mr. Potter I am quite busy at the moment, if it isn’t an emergency I would really appreciate if you came back in the morning,” Pomfrey called to him from behind a curtain. Harry could feel the magnitude of magic she was casting the second he entered. It was like a wave of static had hit him, bringing him to a halt, the hair on his arms standing up.

“Mr. Potter, I asked you to leave!” Pomfrey screeched when he hadn’t moved.

Harry ignored her, casting a spell at the doors to lock them and bound across the room.

“Is he going to be all right?” He asked, pushing his way behind the curtain she had erected. Draco was laid out on the cot, still unconscious, as Pomfrey cast spell after spell.

“That is none of your business, now leave, I will not ask again!” Harry had never heard her so furious, but he didn’t move towards the doors. Draco looked even worse up close than he had in the corridor. Harry felt guilt gnawing at his chest. This was his fault.

Suddenly, Harry felt an intense stabbing in his chest and he grasped at it, twin pangs of pain blossoming in his knee caps as they bit into the floor of the ward, his legs no longer able to support him. Madam Pomfrey’s eyes grew wide, “What is going on?!” Her voice was shrill, climbing several octaves.

Harry clawed at his chest, ripping his shirt open, he felt like his entire soul-mark was on fire. It dully reminded him of the pain he had felt when the Basilisk had bitten him. Like an inferno had sparked from the sun on his chest and was threatening to spread to the rest of his body.

“Please, help him,” Harry choked, worried how bad things must be for Draco if they were even a shadow of what he was feeling now. Pomfrey turned towards Draco, pulling his shirt apart to bear his chest, she gasped as his mark came into view. She whirled around pointing her wand at him and Harry felt himself being hauled across the floor towards Draco, his knees dragging across the tile.

“Put your hand on his chest, quickly now,” Pomfrey ordered, making elaborate moves with her wand, some potions flew from across the room and settled onto the table next to her. She thrust one at Harry, “Drink and brace yourself.” Harry did as he was told and then immediately cried out as Draco gasped beside him. His hand felt as though he had set it onto Aunt Petunia’s stove while making breakfast where he held it to Draco’s mark.

Harry felt the inferno in his chest increase in intensity with what must be Draco’s pain filtering through their bond as he became conscious. Draco’s face contorted in agony, and Pomfrey forced his mouth open, pouring a potion down his throat. Draco eye’s still had not opened, but he bit down on his lip so hard Harry was sure he was in danger of biting through it. Draco’s head flew to the side and he let out a wail of pain. Harry wondered what he did in a past life to deserve having to listen to Draco scream like this.

“Please hold his hand to your mark,” Pomfrey instructed. Harry did what he was told, and fervently hoped it didn’t bring Draco as much pain as Harry was experiencing touching Draco’s mark. Harry ignored the feeling of his hand being burned, focusing instead on gritting his teeth against what felt like acid flowing through his body.

It was another tense few minutes of Pomfrey moving her wand and muttering spells so quickly he couldn’t keep track, before finally she exhaled a breath and stopped casting. Harry had steadily felt the pain in his chest abating and it was at a minor throbbing now, he also noticed his hand no longer felt submerged in fire. Touching Draco’s mark had returned to how it normally felt, comforting warmth.

“Would you like to explain what just happened?” She asked turning towards Harry, her tone still icy. She summoned a chair for him to settle on.

“Er...” Harry didn’t know where to even begin.

“Were the two of you aware of your bond previously?”

Harry nodded, “We had a row.”

“Obviously,” Pomfrey said dryly. “You cannot allow it to get to that point again. You have no idea how close you came to seriously and permanently injuring the both of you.” She didn’t consider what had just happened as a serious injury? Harry was terrified to figure out what she actually considered to be serious. Noting that she had regrown the bones in his arm overnight, he figured it had to be quite bad.

“I gathered that, I didn’t know that could happen,” Harry stared at Draco. He was asleep, having barely gained complete consciousness throughout the whole ordeal, which Harry was thankful for. It had been bad enough on his end.

“You will need to become aware of the affects of your bond, you cannot let ignorance lead to anything close to the severity of what happened tonight. I will provide the literature. Now, I have paperwork to fill out, if you could stay with him until I return.”

“Please don’t tell anyone about us,” Harry pleaded, flying to his feet, groaning a bit and grabbing at his chest. “His parents can’t know. No one can know!”

Pomfrey pursed her lips, “I can’t just ignore what happened here.”

“Put down he was sick, whatever, just please leave our marks out of it. Please Madam Pomfrey. The danger he’d be in...” Harry trailed off. “Imagine what Lucius Malfoy could do with the information. Please.” Harry pulled out every option he could think of.

Pomfrey sighed before nodding once, “You have a point. I will leave it out, but I’ll be having a conversation with Mr. Malfoy once he is feeling better.”

She left the room before Harry could say anything else. Relief flooded his body and he set his head down onto where he had his hand plastered to Draco’s mark.

“What am I going to do with you, Draco?” He mumbled, taking his glasses off and rubbing his eyes with one hand. He was still so upset with him. Harry knew that Draco had been trying to contact him since their fight, but he didn’t want to hear his excuses. He had naively believed that Draco had changed, but he knew that underneath it all Draco was still the same person he was from before their bond. Obviously they were going to have to figure something out, it had only been a week of not speaking and this had happened. Harry set his head back down, suddenly feeling exhausted.

Moments later he was asleep.

~*~

Harry startled awake, the sudden brightness disorienting him. He sat up, panic and confusion filling his body. Harry quickly realized he was in the Hospital Wing, the memories of the night before flooding his mind. He had apparently fallen asleep with his hand plastered to Draco’s chest. Draco was still asleep, although he looked loads better than last night. They were surrounded by the curtain Madam Pomfrey had put up. Harry listened carefully and could hear nothing but Draco’s steady breathing coming from the Wing. Harry stood up but the moment he did he heard a door open and the sound of footsteps approaching.

“Mr. Potter, it is me,” Madam Pomfrey assured him as she ducked through the curtain. “I was waiting for you to wake up before rousing him. He will be very disoriented. I need you to help calm him.”

“Er, okay,” Harry agreed, sitting back down.

“Leave your hand on his chest,” Pomfrey warned before pointing her wand at Draco. Moments later, Draco gasped, eyes flying open. He made to sit up and was stopped by Harry, his eyes flew down to his bare chest, and then to Pomfrey.

“Mr. Malfoy, remain calm, I am here to help.” Pomfrey assured him, but Draco was still panicking.

“Shh, Draco, it’s okay,” Harry muttered and instantly Draco relaxed. His eyes darted to Harry, confusion on his face and flowing through the bond.

“You suffered a bond refusal illness. I have already briefly spoken to Mr. Potter about the absolute dangers of ignoring your bond. Thankfully, we caught it in time and I was able to heal you. You should steadily regain your normal strength over the course of the day. I urge the both of you to discuss your differences; I will not be able to keep the Wing sealed for too much longer. There are a number of people that have been eager to visit. I can guarantee you a few moments. At Mr. Potter’s request I have kept the knowledge of your bond to myself, as far as anyone is aware Mr. Malfoy you suffered from an untreated case of the Owl Flu. You are obviously quickly recovering after the appropriate potions.” Madam Pomfrey disappeared without another word.

“Harry, I’m so sorry,” Draco apologized immediately. “I’ve been trying to talk to you, to explain.”

Harry broke eye contact, removing his hand from Draco’s chest for the first time, crossing his arms. Draco hissed at the loss of contact and Harry uncrossed his arms and pressed his clenched fist back onto Draco’s chest, still refusing to look at him.

“I didn’t want to hear excuses,” He muttered, staring at the bed spread.

“What do I need to do to show you how sorry I am? I had to do what I did, but I feel awful for it. If Pomfrey made you stay, you don’t have to now. I won’t force you to stay here and listen to me, to touch me,” Draco said, resignation in his voice.

Harry groaned, “She didn’t make me stay, I was terrified for you, I had no idea what you were going through! I don’t want you to be in pain or, or fucking dying, but Jesus Christ Draco I’m upset! Hermione is my best mate! You can’t just call her awful things like that and expect me to be okay with it! You can’t curse her and expect me to be okay with it!”

Draco brought his hands up to his face and scrubbed hard, “I wasn’t even trying to curse her or you. If I’m being honest I was aiming for Weasley, but he’s being awful to you, he deserved it! I didn’t want to call her that name, but I can’t just stop overnight. I was drawing suspicion. You have no idea how hard I’m scrutinized! I’m drowning over here trying to balance it all!” Draco burst, grabbing the pillow from beneath his head and smothering himself with it. “I’m lost; I don’t know what I’m doing!” His last words muffled by the pillow.

Harry sighed; he hadn’t thought of how much harder this would all be for Draco. No one really truly questioned Harry, they might be curious or suspicious he was up to something, but in the end Harry knew everything would be fine if his friends found out about Draco. Draco did not have that same luxury. That didn’t mean he could just forgive Draco for calling Hermione that awful slur. He had been called enough slurs growing up in his Aunt and Uncle’s house for something he couldn’t control; he couldn’t just let Draco get away with it just because things were tough.

“I realize now how hard this must be for you, and I’m sorry for not realizing sooner, but I can’t just let it go that you called her that. You’d call anyone with the same blood status that name without any hesitancy; she’s not special just because she’s important to me. The attitude itself is the problem here. You’ve talked to me about how disrespecting someone’s mother is this massive slight in pureblood culture and yet my mother was muggleborn.”

“I can’t forget what has been drilled into me for 14 years, overnight. I’m trying, okay? I’m deeply sorry. Would it make a difference to you if I apologized to her? I will, if that’s what it takes to show you I’m seriously trying.” Draco stared at Harry as his eyes bulged.

“You’d apologize to Hermione? You know what that would mean, right?” Harry asked, Hermione would know they were soul-mates then. Harry guessed she already suspected after last night, but this was something else entirely.

“You can tell every one of your friends, I don’t care anymore, I can’t fucking lose you. This last week has been the worst of my life. I won’t do that to myself again.”

Harry had to agree with him there. Obviously he hadn’t been in the same agony Draco had been, but he definitely hadn’t been unaffected. He just hadn’t known the pain he was feeling had been reflecting so intensely in Draco. He took a deep breath.

“Okay, I forgive you. I also need to apologize, obviously I was upset, but I had no idea about the pain you were feeling.”

Draco stared at the sheets, “That’s because I didn’t want you to know. I blocked you from feeling it.”

Harry frowned, he hadn’t known that was even a thing either of them could do. He felt another stab of guilt for how terrible of a soul-mate he had been. “We’ll have to talk about that sometime, but first let’s focus on getting you better and fixing what suspicions might have come up from last night. I’m going to sneak out of here now, but I’ll be back.”

Draco let out a relieved sigh and nodded his head. Harry unfisted his hand and spread his fingers across Draco’s mark, he felt Draco’s heart beat pick up. Harry bit his lip, but reached into his pocket and threw on the Invisibility Cloak. He carefully ran his thumb across Draco’s cheek bone, watching Draco’s eyes flutter shut and a quiet sigh fall through his lips, before he turned away and made his way to the doors of the Wing.

Pomfrey must have sensors set up to know exactly when someone was coming or going because she materialized and opened the door. Immediately Parkinson and Nott shoved their way through followed more slowly by Crabbe and Goyle, already firing a thousand questions at Pomfrey. Harry snuck out behind them and made his way up to Gryffindor Tower. He had been surprised, but thankful, that Hermione had not been waiting for him outside the Hospital Wing. He was sure she would be waiting up in the Common Room for him though. It was still quite early, so hopefully most people would still be asleep.

Sure enough, Hermione was curled up on the couch closest to the fire, a book in her lap.

“Are you going to tell me where you were or should I continue to feign ignorance about the fact that you’re sneaking around the castle constantly?” She asked as soon as Harry made his way into the room.

“Walk with me?” He asked and she nodded, standing up. He grabbed her hand and led her back out of the Common Room to the room where Draco had comforted him the night his name was pulled from the Goblet. She followed without hesitation and waited patiently as he locked the door behind him.

“I hate feeling like I’m forcing you to tell me things, Harry, but you have me worried. Between this and the Tournament, I can’t take much more.”

“I’m sorry, the last thing I want to do is keep secrets from you,” Harry sighed. “I’ll tell you what’s going on, but you have to swear to keep it secret. Like Padfoot level secret.”

Hermione looked even more worried, “Of course, Harry, you know your secrets are always safe with me.”

Harry nodded, biting his lip. He took a breath and steadied himself, and then slowly unbuttoned his shirt, pulling it to the side and revealing his mark. Hermione gasped, her hands flying to her mouth.

“Oh, Harry, it’s gorgeous,” Hermione said, awe filling her voice. Harry couldn’t help smiling at her words, staring down at his mark, Draco’s mark.

“It’s Malfoy, isn’t it?” She asked and Harry nodded dumbly. He knew she had already figured it out. “When did this happen?”

“At the Cup, we were on our way out. The twins shoved into Ron, and I fell into Draco. He caught my arm and the marks appeared. We’ve been meeting in secret this year up until our fight last week. I’ve been ignoring him all week until last night.”

“Your bond was going into rejection wasn’t it? That’s why he was so sick! Harry that’s so dangerous! You both could have gotten so hurt!”

Harry rolled his eyes, “Yes, I’m aware of that now! I was mad at him! He called you that name, and I didn’t want to talk to him.”

Hermione rolled her eyes now, “Yeah, and that’s terrible, but Harry I’d rather him call me that and you, you know, not die!”

“Well, sue me for having morals!” Harry said throwing his hands up. Hermione laughed at him and he couldn’t help smiling as well. “Believe me; I’m not doing anything to bring on what happened last night again. It wasn’t a walk in the park for me either! I had no idea how serious it had gotten for Draco.”

“Thank you for defending me and telling me what’s been going on, Harry. I was starting to go a little crazy wondering what was going on with you. But we should get back and go down to breakfast. You need to be publically seen away from Malfoy. Don’t be afraid to argue with the Slytherins if we see any. We’ll take a walk down to Hogsmeade, and then maybe go to Hagrid’s. You can sneak back up to see Malfoy while I visit with Hagrid. Parkinson and Nott are bound to be suspicious; it definitely sounded like Malfoy tried to say your name before he passed out.”

Harry sighed, “I was worried about that. Let’s get going, I promised Draco I would be back. He isn’t completely well yet.”

Hermione smiled at him, looking like she wanted to say more, but bit her lip instead and moved to the door. Harry grabbed her hand and pulled her into a brief hug, thankful to have such an amazing and supportive friend.

Chapter Text

“I’m sorry I took so long, I had to make appearances in Hogsmeade, and then Hagrid had to speak to me.” Harry gasped, throwing his Cloak off.

“Doesn’t matter, you’re here now,” Draco grinned and Harry didn’t realize how much peace seeing Draco back to normal would bring back to him.

“You feeling better?” Harry asked, pocketing his Cloak. His own chest no longer ached at all.

Draco nodded, he was sitting up completely in bed now, most of the colour had returned to his skin. “Yeah, a lot better."

“You’re practically tan compared to last night,” Harry remarked, poking Draco’s arm. He pulled it away, pure indignation on his face.

“Not all of us are born with melanin, it’s rude to comment on my lack-thereof!” He huffed and Harry stuck his tongue out at him.

“You’re so pale though! Stand out in the sun every once in awhile!”

Draco narrowed his eyes at him, crossing his arms tightly across his chest. Pomfrey had given him a long-sleeved hospital gown that covered up to his neck.

“How did you get rid of everyone?” Harry asked, rifling in his pockets, and plopped down onto the empty chair next to Draco’s bed.

“They went to go grab a meal; they skipped lunch to spend time with me. Thankfully they took Pomfrey’s explanation well, mostly Pansy just yelled at me for not coming up here sooner. They won’t say it out right, but they were worried.”

Harry nodded, “When are you free?”

“Pomfrey wants me to eat dinner here and then she said I can go after that as long as I keep it down. I feel completely fine, but she insists.”

“She knows best,” Harry assured. “I got you something.” He pulled the package out of his pocket and handed it to Draco. “I noticed you liked them, sorry you couldn’t come to Hogsmeade today.”

Draco stared at the packet of Sugar Quills, “How utterly thoughtful, Potter, thank you.”

Harry shrugged, feeling awkward. “Hermione knows,” He burst, for lack of anything else to say.

Draco barely nodded, “I figured.” His eyes still glued to the pack of sweets.

“She guessed the second she saw my mark. Did Parkinson and Nott say anything about last night?”

Draco looked at him, finally pulling his eyes from the gift, “Not really. I could tell they definitely wanted to ask me, but they’re more worried about me getting better first. I’m sure once I’m not in a pathetic dressing gown they’ll be all over me with questions. How did Granger take it?”

“Like I said, she had already guessed. She was mad at me for what I did, told me I was dumb a couple hundred times for ignoring you.”

“She didn’t have anything to say about it being, you know, me? She didn’t think I deserved this?”

Harry looked at Draco, frowning, “No, of course not, she was angry at me on your behalf actually.”

Draco stared at him in that way that he often did, like he had extra appendages growing out of him.

“I see,” He said after awhile.

Harry was silent, not sure of what to say. He was still trying to come to terms with what had happened. That he had almost lost Draco just because they had a fight.

“Hey,” Draco said, catching his hand. Harry suspected he must have felt the crazy whirl of emotions inside of him through the bond. Harry stared at their clasped hands.

“Everything is going to be okay,” Draco whispered.

Harry truly hoped he was right.

~*~

“You have got to be fucking kidding me,” Draco burst. His wand already twirling viciously in his hand, sparks flying off the end.

Harry bit his lip and shrugged, “That’s what I saw and heard. We each get a dragon.”

Draco started pacing, before whirling around and banishing a chair at the wall, seeming to be calmed slightly by the sound it made when it hit the wall. Harry flinched at the impact. Draco paused from banishing a second chair at Harry’s reaction, his wand still twirling rapidly in his hand.

“I apologize, that was unnecessary,” He bit out forcibly before making his way to Harry’s side, gently running his fingers across Harry’s mark, the movement instantly seemed to calm the anxiety flowing through the bond.

“No need, I feel the same way,” Harry whispered, his fingers also coming up to caress across the moon on Draco’s chest. It seemed like the moment they were safely in each other’s presence; the buttons on their shirts came apart. Harry couldn’t quite explain the feeling just seeing Draco’s mark brought him, let alone when he could touch it. Although, if Harry was being honest with himself, it still felt like he was stealing biscuits from the jar whenever he was allowed to touch another person this frequently. Draco kept having to tell him he was always allowed to touch him when they were alone, Harry had not quite gotten used to initiating contact.

That was how Hermione found them, they had, of course, sprung apart the second the door opened, but Harry could tell from her smirk that she had seen. Draco took a few steps away from Harry, and Harry could see part of the Draco he had come to see in classes and when Draco was around his housemates, fall into place like a mask. Harry hoped eventually Draco could be the person Harry knew in front of company that didn’t include just himself. His head was held high, his shoulders back, posture perfect.

“Granger, I want to offer my sincerest apology. I have not treated you well in the past, and the names I have called you previously and more recently are completely unacceptable. I do not expect you to accept right now, but it is important to me that you know that I am working on myself to the best of my ability. I just hope you understand the unique pressures I am under due to my house and family, although they are not an excuse. I offer you my word that I will not utilize the slur I called you again, unless it is of the utmost importance to protect Harry or myself.” Harry noticed Draco quickly adapted an aristocratic presence whenever he was uncomfortable.

Hermione smiled at Draco’s apology, and Harry felt butterflies in his stomach at the sight of his best mate accepting his soul-mate. Harry hadn’t realized how much the approval of his friends had been weighing on him.

“I appreciate that, Malfoy, and I accept your apology. As long as you continue treating Harry well, you can consider our previous transgressions as water under the bridge. I know the universe wouldn’t have made the two of you soul-mates if you were only made up of the parts of yourself that I have interacted with previously, and please call me Hermione.” She reached out her hand and Draco shook it immediately, a dazed look on his face.

Hermione seemed to realize that Draco wasn’t currently able to form words and shifted her focus to Harry, “Now to the more pressing things. What did Charlie say, exactly? I need every detail if we’re going to figure this out.”

Harry was trying to puzzle out the feelings coming through the bond, but did his best to focus on what Hermione had said. “Er, I don’t remember a whole lot, I was kind of distracted. I kept worrying about getting back for my meeting with Sirius. There were four dragons, so one for each of us. They were massive.”

Hermione stared at him, waiting for him to continue.

Harry threw up his hands, “That’s really it! I guess we’re going to have to get past them or something?”

“How big were they?” Draco asked quietly, finally seeming to be able to focus on the conversation. Harry whirled to look at him; he noticed Draco was cracking each of the knuckles on his hands with his thumbs.

“Big? I dunno, they were dragons, they were huge!”

Draco sighed in exasperation, and Harry heard Hermione chuckle under her breath.

“How far into the forest did you go? Were they as tall as the trees?”

Harry brightened, those were questions he knew the answers to, “We were only a few minutes in, but on the very far side of the grounds. I couldn’t see the castle or the lake anymore. They were all just about as tall as the trees.”

“They were female then, I’d assume,” Draco said, biting his lip. "Female dragons are much larger than the males."

“Yes! Wait, yes! Charlie said something about them wanting only dragons that were mothers and even brought their nests along with them!”

Draco and Hermione’s eyes bulged and Harry saw a distinct green tint to Draco’s complexion.

“Fuck,” He sighed. “Are they trying to get you all killed? There’s a wizarding saying ‘never cross a mother dragon’. Dragons are incredibly protective of their young; the fact that they have mother dragons means they are going to be that much more vicious. I can only imagine how they will be when their nests are involved.”

Draco started pacing again, twiddling his hands, but Harry noticed he had not touched his wand or brought it out at all.

“How the hell am I supposed to fight the dragon then? You’re making it seem impossible.”

Hermione was frowning, her face scrunched in concentration.

“Did they say you would have to fight it?” Draco asked, pausing his pacing to stare at Harry.

Harry thought back to what Charlie had said, memories of the flames and the multiple dragon handlers trying to keep them under control. “No, he didn’t. Now you mention it, he definitely said he thought we had to just get past them. Then he said was that they were nesting mothers, and there was one for each of us. They were all different types.”

“All four were different?” Hermione asked and Harry nodded.

“Yeah there was a green one, a red one, a silvery-blue one that only breathed blue fire, and then a massive black one with spikes on its tail. Charlie said the names, but I can’t remember what they were. No Norwegian Ridgebacks, I know that,” Harry said shooting a smirk at Draco.

“Welsh Green, Chinese Fireball, Swedish Short-Snout, and a Hungarian Horntail,” Draco said immediately, ignoring Harry’s jab.

“Yes! That’s what Charlie said! How did you know that?” Harry asked and was gratified to see Draco blush.

“I liked dragons growing up...” He trailed off, refusing to look over at Hermione. He seemed to shake himself, “That doesn’t make sense though, they’re all so different. It would be like having one person fighting a hippogriff and the other one fighting a flobberworm. Welsh Greens are barely considered dangerous next to a Hungarian Horntail, they feed on sheep!”

“What do they all have in common? They’re nesting; Charlie said they had to bring their eggs.” Hermione pointed out.

“So what does that mean?” Harry asked, perplexed. Draco and Hermione were staring at each other, seemingly having come to the same conclusion.

“You’ll have to get an egg; it’s the only thing that makes sense. They’ll all be equally vicious about their eggs; their temperament will have nothing to do with it.” Hermione said and Harry felt his heart sink even further. This was going to be impossible, despite his feelings, both Draco and Hermione looked almost relieved.

“How is that any better? What am I missing?” He rapidly looked between the two of them.

Draco took mercy on him, crossing to him and hesitantly grabbing his hand, a tender smile on his face. “Harry, are you a seeker or not?”

Chapter Text

Draco had never felt this nauseous in his entire life. He had only been able to force himself to choke down a single piece of toast this morning and a few sips of soup at lunch. He had of course pretended to eat, vanishing each bite before he got them past his lips. He was overcome with worry for Harry and had even been forced to use Occlumency to block his connection to Harry much like he had for part of their row. He knew his anxiety would do nothing to help Harry right now. He had caught a few glances at him throughout the morning and each time Harry looked more and more like someone marching off to the Dementor’s Kiss. Every couple minutes Draco did his best to filter good feelings though the bond, in Draco’s last ditch attempt at giving some semblance of helpful support to his soul-mate, but it was becoming harder and harder to do as the First Task loomed closer.

Draco was making his way across the grounds to his seat with Pansy and Theo on either side of him. He, Harry, and Hermione had been up until two in the morning practicing Summoning Spells in the abandoned classroom. It was the only way Harry would be able to get his broom to the task. Harry had finally seemed to get the hang of it before they called it, but Draco was still terrified something would go wrong. The only thing helping him from completely losing it was the evidence that Harry did extraordinary feats of magic when he was stressed out or running on adrenaline, which he no doubt would be when faced with a mother dragon.

Draco settled into his seat, barely keeping up with the conversation flowing around him.

He felt slightly better when it was confirmed that his and Hermione’s hypothesis had been correct, Harry would have to retrieve a fake golden egg from beneath the dragon assigned to them. Draco internally groaned when he saw that Diggory has gotten the Swedish Short-Snout. He had hoped golden-boy Diggory would get the Horntail. Draco had to admit he was slightly impressed by the act of Transfiguration that Diggory completed, and cheered loudly when he was successful in retrieving his egg. It had felt sort of relieving to release some of the stress pent up inside him by screaming for the other Hogwarts champion. He had to pretend he wanted Diggory to win at any rate.

There was no doubt that the other two Headmasters had definitely given their students a head’s up on what the task was, and Draco was momentarily thankful that Hagrid had clued in Harry. He could only imagine what would have happened if Harry had not been able to strategize beforehand. The elaborate spell that Delacour cast on her Welsh Green had been impressive to say the least, although Draco had not shared in the excitement of some of his peers when they saw her skirt catch fire. Savages, the lot of them, the girl was on fire for Merlin’s sake.

Draco was completely outraged by Krum’s attempt, and became even further enraged with the Tournament organizers. How dare they sacrifice the eggs of these poor dragons to an asinine task? Draco felt such sympathy for the poor Chinese Fireball.

Draco couldn’t even be surprised that Harry would have the luck to get the worst and most vicious dragon of the bunch, because of course he would. Draco wasn’t sure how often he breathed throughout the entire time Harry faced the Horntail, and a sharp ache was centred behind each of his temples from the stress of the day. Draco heard Harry bellow the Summoning Charm all the way from where he was in the stands, and then it was just a matter of Harry waiting to see if the spell worked.

“Is he just going to stand there? What a ponce!” Blaise cackled from further down the row.

“He tried to summon something I think,” Pansy said, staring at Harry quizzically. Finally, Draco could hear a faint whistling, and Harry’s broom soared into sight. Unfortunately the sound and movement also caught the dragon’s attention, she whipped towards Harry, but he took a running start and leaped onto his broom, zooming into the air. Draco finally sighed out quietly in relief as the crowd erupted into ear-splitting cheers, almost drowned out by the roaring of the dragon and the stream of fire she exhaled at Harry.

Harry wasn’t known as a Quidditch prodigy for nothing, he operated his broom like an extension of himself. Draco could feel nothing but elation and adrenaline flowing through the bond. Draco hadn’t realized how desperately Harry had missed being on a broom, if the fact that facing a mother dragon was barely a blip on his radar after being able to mount his broom.

“He really isn’t absolutely dreadful on a broom is he?” Theo commented and Draco did not dare to respond.

“He’s all right,” Draco heard Blaise agree.

Draco was pretty sure his nails, regardless of how blunt he kept them, were going to shred the palms of his hands where he kept them clenched and hiding in his pockets. Sure enough when he saw and felt the pain of the dragon’s tail hitting Harry, his nails cut into his palms, Draco couldn’t inhale a breathe as he tried to gauge how badly Harry was injured. Shortly after Harry finally achieved his prize and flew away with the golden egg under his arm. Excitement and happiness clear emotions on his face and coming through the bond as he was dismissed from the task.

Draco willed himself to calm down. Harry was obviously okay; he did phenomenally, and had obviously finished with one of the fastest times, although it had felt like much longer to Draco. Draco was calmed minutely when Harry was brought back out for the scores and Draco could see that his shoulder had been mostly mended. He was not thrilled about the way Weasley had his arm around him. Harry had obviously forgiven him, but Draco assuredly had not. Weasley did not get to just come crawling back after how he had treated Harry the past month.

“Sure, now that Potter is winning, Weasel comes crawling back,” Draco couldn’t keep himself from commenting.

Pansy snorted, “Of-fucking-course he’s back to being his best friend, he’s a celebrity again.”

This is why Draco and Pansy were friends.

~*~

Draco was sure he had never paced as much as he had in recent months. It felt like he was constantly pacing. He hadn’t been able to see Harry since the task and he had finally gotten time to make it to the classroom close to the Gryffindor Common Room. He had seen that Harry was okay in classes, and it seemed the school was back to (for the most part) loving Harry again, but Draco was still very anxious. He just needed to see Harry for himself, without the distraction of their peers, and then he would get back to normal.

It took longer than Draco wanted, but finally Harry made it to the classroom. He came through the door, locking it behind him and whirling to see Draco, a bright smile on his face.

“I did it!” He announced and Draco couldn’t help smiling at his soul-mate, his mood was completely the opposite of what it had been just a few days prior. “The next task isn’t until February, so I have some time to relax too!”

Draco had been very relieved when he had heard the next task wasn’t for a couple months. He needed the time to catch his breath after the absolutely insane last couple months.

“You did it, I am so proud!” Draco smirked, and found himself unbuttoning the top of Harry’s shirt without even realizing what he was doing until Harry’s eyes were on him.

“What did you do?” Harry asked, his brow furrowed. Draco stared at him, confused.

“What?”

Harry carefully turned his palm over, looking at the moon shaped cuts on his palm. Harry grabbed his other hand, and looked at the identical cuts on the palm.

Draco ducked his head, he had completely forgotten about the cuts, they were so small, and they were so close to healing he hadn’t wanted to waste the potion to heal them. “I was slightly worried about you during the task.”

Harry carefully folded his hand, matching his fingers up to the cuts, clarifying to himself how Draco had procured the injuries. Harry’s eyes came up to Draco’s, emotions that Draco couldn’t decipher swirling in his eyes and through the bond. Harry carefully cradled Draco’s hands in his own, his eyes not leaving Draco’s, and a light tingle settled over his hands where the cuts were. Draco felt the cloying feel of healing magic, and he knew without looking that his hands were healed. Just some more uncontrolled wandless magic from his soul-mate like it was nothing.

Draco had never felt the immeasurable feelings bubbling in side of him, like the minutes before a Quidditch match but multiplied by fifty, he felt his tongue dart out to moisten his lips before he pulled his hands from Harry’s and settled them on his hips instead. He walked Harry backward until Harry’s back thudded against the wall, his eyes darted from Harry’s green ones, down to his lips, and then Draco was on him.

Draco pressed his lips desperately to Harry’s, a feeling of absolute euphoria settling over him as Harry kissed him back. Harry’s arms came up quickly around his shoulders, hands fisting in his hair, and Draco couldn’t swallow the groan that came from him at the feeling. They kissed feverishly, warmth and pleasure flowing from where their soul marks pressed against each other. Harry’s tongue swiped across Draco’s bottom lip and a sigh escaped him.

“Fuck, Draco,” He gasped and Draco forced himself to pull away, a smirk on his face. Harry mirrored him, a pleased look on his face. “Why haven’t we done that before?”

Draco laughed out loud, moving one of his hands to lightly swipe Harry’s hair out of his eyes, his thumb running over the scar there. Draco felt the ragged skin and even a slight twinge of magic as his hand skimmed over it. Harry winced slightly as Draco touched it, and Draco recoiled.

“Does that hurt?” He asked, worry filling him, curse scars were always so finicky and hard to predict.

Harry frowned, “No, it doesn’t hurt when you touch it; I just hate how it looks. It’s ugly.”

Draco felt like an absolute prat for the corniness of what he was about to say, but couldn’t bring himself to care, “Nothing about you is ugly, shut the fuck up, that’s my soul-mate you’re insulting.”

Harry rolled his eyes, then gasped quietly as Draco’s lips pressed against his forehead before coming back down to his lips, kissing Harry again for a few moments before nipping lightly at his lip and pulling away. “We definitely should have been doing that before.”

“I wasn’t sure if you were expecting it to be more of a platonic bond,” Harry shrugged, eyes fixed to the floor.

“Why on earth would you think that?” Draco asked, tracing his fingers over Harry’s mark.

“Well if you haven’t noticed, I am a guy.”

Draco chuckled and ground their hips together briefly, “I am very aware of that, thanks.”

Harry’s blush was clear across his cheeks, “Fuck off, I wasn’t sure if you felt that way about guys.”

“Harry, I’ve known I was gay since I was, like, 9 or 10. Why do you think I was so adamant my Father not know you were my soul-mate?”

“I figured it was the whole vanquished Voldemort thing,” Harry said dryly and Draco stared at him.

“I mean, I guess, but it was mostly about the fact that you’re a man. The only thing worse in my Father’s eyes than being with a muggle, is being with a man. I can’t produce an heir with a man. I’m the last Malfoy. I’m of no use to him if I can’t continue the line. Father knows that if I’m hiding something from him, that it means I’ve found an ‘unsuitable bond-mate’, otherwise I wouldn’t keep it from him.”

“That’s a terrible way to think about his son.”

Draco shrugged, “At least with a muggle, I can produce an heir. He wouldn’t be pleased that the Malfoy line would no longer be pure-blooded, he would definitely be pissed beyond belief, but his worst nightmare is that I’m gay. He already threatens me weekly without knowing I’ve bonded. It’s going to be a nightmare when he finds out eventually.”

Harry was quiet awhile, “That’s completely awful, Draco, I’m sorry.” He finally whispered.

“Hey, none of that, I’ve gotten over it. I’m so lucky to have you as my soul-mate. I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

“Have you always been this disgustingly corny?” Harry asked, the corner of his mouth quirking up.

Draco glared at him before pressing their lips together once more.

~*~

Draco was so incredibly fucked.

“Shit, shit, shit,” Draco cursed, staring at his reflection in the mirror. Love bites littered the junction between his shoulder and neck. Normally, he could take a swallow of his healing potion and he’d be good as new, but Pansy had intercepted him on the way back to the Common Room and was waiting for him outside of the loo. Thankfully he had had the forethought to duck into the toilets so that he could check himself over before she got a good look at him, but there was no way he was going to be able to leave.

“Well, I guess it was time she knew anyways. Fair is fair.” Draco took a deep breath, steeling himself for the questioning he was about to get. Draco left the loo and almost laughed at the way Pansy’s eyes grew to the size of saucers.

“Draco...” She said eyes fixed to his neck. “Have something you want to tell me?”

He had never come out to any of his friends, officially, but it was an unspoken truth he knew Pansy was aware of.

“Come on,” He said, ducking into the nearest unlocked room, keeping a sharp eye out for anyone else.

“Let’s see it then,” She instructed, making herself comfortable on a desk, smoothing her skirt down.

“See what?” Draco asked, did she honestly think he was going to give this type of information freely? She was going to have to fight for it.

She scowled, rolling her eyes. “Let’s see your Mark, you wouldn’t be thick enough to let just anyone do that to you. And don’t test me; you’re going to need me.”

Draco scowled right back, she was right and he knew it. Draco carefully unbuttoned his shirt, feeling very naked and very vulnerable despite the fact that he hadn’t even unbuttoned his shirt the entire way.

Pansy gasped, staring at his chest. “Oh, Draco,” her lip jutted out in a pout. “I’m so sorry.”

Draco was momentarily thrown off before it clicked, and he quickly re-buttoned his shirt. “You know who it is then.”

“Could only be one person, really, and it makes a bunch of things from this year make sense. Are you okay?”

“I’m perfect, he’s perfect.” Draco said fiercely.

“I just wish it was someone you could be with,” Pansy said quietly.

“Pans, we both knew that was never going to happen,” Draco sighed. “And I am with him. I know, he knows, that’s all that matters.”

She smiled at him kindly, and stood up, holding out her hand for him to take. “Well, Draco, I would absolutely love to be your girlfriend, thanks for asking. We should get back to the Common Room.”

Draco agreed, and thanked Merlin for giving him such a fantastic best mate, one willing to be his beard without him even having to ask. This way he wouldn’t have to consistently take his healing potion and waste such an expensive and useful potion. He also knew Harry would be a lot less jealous if he could see the love bites he left displayed for anyone to see, in theory anyways.

Chapter Text

Ron sighed and made a disgusted noise in the back of his throat, “I wish they wouldn’t do that during meal times. The last thing I want to see is two Slytherins trying to get into each other’s pants at breakfast.”

Harry whipped around; he had taken to facing away from the Slytherin table, temptation and all that. Parkinson was practically in Draco’s lap, giggling loudly, and his arm was around her as they ate their breakfast. Harry immediately felt a stab of pain in his chest, had Draco been that ashamed about what they did? Draco’s eyes cut across the Hall to focus on him, narrowing slightly; his hand drifted slowly up to press against the junction between his shoulder and neck, and then brushed his chest. Even through the fabric, Harry could feel the warmth as it blossomed on his chest; he had also felt the ache in his shoulder as Draco had pressed on the bruises. Their bond was getting much stronger.

His eyes focused on Draco’s neck just as Hermione spoke, “Those are quite some love bites Malfoy has. Harry could you pass me the sugar?”

Harry did as he was told; forcing himself not to blush at Hermione’s pointed comment, and turned away from the Slytherin table. Draco’s message was clear, and Harry knew there would have been suspicion about the marks. He hadn’t exactly been thinking about that when he had given them. He guessed that Parkinson knew about them now, he hoped so at least, otherwise it would be a very cruel thing for Draco to do. Harry shook his head, he knew Draco better than that, Parkinson definitely knew.

“Harry, are you all right?” Ginny asked, sitting down next to him at the table.

“Hmm, what?” Harry said, shaking himself out of his stupor.

“I asked if you’re all right, you looked weird,” Her hand rested softly on his arm and he smiled at her.

“Yeah, I’m good; my shoulder is just a little sore from the other day. Pomfrey said because it was from a magical creature the injury may hurt for a while.”

His shoulder hadn’t hurt since the day of the task, but he could milk it for a bit, he was just thankful it had been on his right shoulder so Pomfrey could treat it without the whole tent seeing his Mark. The last thing he had needed was Skeeter catching a picture of that.

“Do you need anything? We could stop by the Hospital Wing before class,” Ron questioned, instantly concerned. Harry could feel jealousy flowing through the bond, he assumed due to the fact that Ginny’s hand was still on his arm. He made a point of reaching for his cup with that hand and Ginny pulled away and began fixing her meal.

Draco had someone posing as his girlfriend, and he was jealous of Harry? Made perfect sense.

“Thanks, Ron, but I’m fine, I swear.”

Ron had been trying his best to make up for his lack of friendship the last couple weeks. Harry was happy to have him back, but the betrayal still stung a bit. The only upside was that Ron was not questioning Harry whenever he decided to ‘go for a walk’. He desperately wished he could clue in Ron about Draco, but he wasn’t ready yet. He knew Ron would not take it as well as Hermione had.

If Harry were being honest with himself, he was still reeling over what had happened the night before. He had had his first kiss (and second, third, etc.), and it had been with Draco. It had been with probably the last person he thought he would ever kiss just a few months ago. It had been with a guy. Draco had said that he was gay like it was something so simple. Harry was pretty sure he wasn’t gay. He definitely 100% liked men, obviously, but he was also definitely attracted to women. He was pretty sure he knew of a couple people at Hogwarts who didn’t just like the one gender. He was sure there was a word for it. There had to be. He’d ask Hermione the next chance he got.

He drifted through the rest of his day with his thoughts permanently fixed on Draco.

~*~

“I am absolutely doomed,” Harry complained, his head in Draco’s lap, finding comfort from Draco’s fingers carding through his hair.

Draco had the audacity to laugh at him, “Oh, be quiet, you’ll be fine.”

“I have to dance in front of the entire school, I cannot dance.”

“Well, lucky for you, I can,” Draco said fondly.

“I wish I could bring you as my date,” Harry sighed bitterly. Draco frowned and bit his lip at the comment.

“I know, me too.”

“At least you have Parkinson, I have no idea who to ask.”

“This might seem overly simplified, but why don’t you invite Gran- Hermione?” Draco pointed out.

Harry shrugged, “I don’t want to take this chance away from her. I wish Ron would grow a pair and ask her. I know he wants to. Maybe I’ll just take Ginny, she can’t go otherwise.” Draco’s fingers stilled.

“I obviously cannot tell you what to do, but I would deeply appreciate it if you did not.”

Harry stared at him, “Does she really make you that jealous?”

“She makes me jealous because her feelings are genuine. It’s obvious she still harbours the crush she had on you back in second year. Even without my selfish reasons, I still don’t think it would be kind to invite her when she has real feelings for you.”

“You don’t have to be jealous of anyone, ever,” Harry assured him.

“Neither do you, and yet...” Draco teased and Harry had to allow him that point.

“I really don’t think Ginny still has her crush on me, but I won’t ask her. It’ll probably end up with Ron and I going alone, and me grabbing the first girl I see and opening the dance with them. Why does it have to be a girl anyways? Why shouldn’t I be allowed to bring a man?”

“We live in a hetero-normative, traditional, conservative society, that’s why. Technically you could bring a man; people just assume you’d only want to bring a girl. Regardless, one day we will go to a Ball together and we will dance, okay?”

“I’m going to hold you to that,” Harry smirked. Harry hated the sad look Draco had in his eyes; this was the one of the first real times that Harry had ever felt the loss of having to hide their bond from the world. All he wanted to do was march into the Yule Ball with Draco on his arm. The more he saw Draco and Parkinson together in the hallways, the more he just wanted to wrap Draco up in his arms and show off who actually leaves the love bites on Draco’s neck. Harry reached up and ran his fingers across the moon on Draco’s chest. Draco sighed at the contact before mimicking Harry’s movement.

“I want to try something,” Harry whispered, sitting up and pushing Draco back onto the ground next to him. They had cleaned up the classroom a bit, and Draco would transfigure blankets and pillows for them often. Draco had a particular skill in Transfiguration and was slowly bringing Harry up to speed. Harry realized that a lot of the reason it always seemed like the Slytherins were ahead of them in classes was due to the sheer amount of magic they practiced outside of school and before Hogwarts even started. Draco had explained how most traditional pureblood households had wards on them that blocked the Ministry from being aware of the underage magic going on. Hermione had been incensed to find out that part of their class didn’t have to go the whole summer without performing magic.

Draco obeyed without a sound; he stared at Harry, eyebrows furrowed. Harry carefully unbuttoned the rest of Draco’s shirt and let it fall open, putting Draco’s entire mark on display. Harry bent down and brought his lips to Draco’s mark, kissing it a few times before lightly sucking on it. Immediately, Draco gasped, arching against Harry and squirming uncontrollably. Harry pulled away, smirking. Draco was still trying to catch his breath; he stared up at Harry, pupils blown wide. He narrowed his eyes at Harry before surging upwards and reversing their positions. Draco tore his shirt apart, revealing his mark, and brought his mouth to Harry’s chest.

Harry suddenly understood why Draco had reacted the way he did. Harry couldn’t accurately describe what he was feeling, but knew he had never felt this good before in his life. Draco continued for a few more moments before letting up, Harry collapsed back against the ground, breathing heavily.

“Do you have any idea how you make me feel?” Draco breathed, moving upwards to kiss and nip at Harry’s neck. “How much I want to mark your skin here so that everyone can see that you’re mine? How I wish our marks were somewhere harder to hide so that everyone would know that I am yours, and you are mine? How I want to shoot curses from across the Hall when I see Ginny Weasley touching your arm, entertaining the thought that you could be hers? Every day since we’ve kissed I’ve almost written a letter to my Father telling him to fuck right off. It physically pains me to not be able to proudly escort you to the Ball, even the thought of seeing you there with someone else makes me want to skip the thing entirely. You drive me absolutely insane.” He moved his lips to Harry’s, kissing him until he was gasping again.

“I’ve been trained my whole life to always be perfectly put together, always say the perfect thing, be the perfect gentlemen. In just a few months you’ve completely undone me, Harry.”

Harry smiled, reaching up and flipping the two of them over so Harry loomed over Draco. “Best get used to it,” He whispered, ducking his head down to Draco’s chest.

Chapter Text

Staying at Hogwarts for the holidays was a first for Draco, but he was very glad he had an excuse to do it. He knew that Harry always stayed for the holidays and Draco couldn’t imagine going the whole holiday break without being able to see or talk to Harry. He actually wasn’t sure what would even happen to their bond if they attempted it. Which made his Christmas present to Harry even more apt. Draco had paid extra to ensure the purchase could not be tracked back to him, but Harry’s gift would be delivered.

Draco bid goodnight to his friends, thankful that overt public displays of affection this early in the relationship would be considered completely uncouth so that he could get away with not kissing Pansy in public. Technically leaving love bites on display was considered over the line, but as long as Pansy didn’t show up with any his housemates wouldn’t be writing home to their parents about their indiscretions.

Draco quickly got ready for bed, excited for Harry to get his gift. Not excited for the Yule Ball the following night. He knew Harry was going to look stunning and he was happy that in the end Harry had found a date in Parvati Patil. Harry had even been able to pick up enough knowledge about formal dancing from the very few lessons Draco had been able to give him in their limited time. Harry was no longer as anxious about the Ball at any rate. Draco was incredibly curious about who Hermione was going to the Ball with, she had been incredibly tight-lipped about it whenever she had joined Draco and Harry in their late-night meet-ups, and Harry had told Draco that she refused to even give a hint of who it could be.

Draco shut the hangings on his bed and curled up under the covers, he could hear Theo a bed over lightly snoring. Draco ran his fingers across his mark, gratified to feel a return warmth in his mark from Harry, before drifting off to sleep.

Draco woke up to the sounds of his housemates screaming ‘Merry Christmas’ at him through the curtains, and ripping paper echoing around the room. Draco rubbed the sleep from his eyes, smiling at the modest pile of gifts at the foot of his bed. Draco touched his mark to send Harry a ‘Merry Christmas’ before buttoning up his shirt and opening the hangings on his bed.

“Merry Christmas boys,” Draco greeted before grabbing a present.

“Thanks for the cloak, Draco,” Theo commented and Draco grinned at his friend. Theo hated to admit it, but he was often quite cold in the cool temperatures of the dungeons. The cloak was enchanted to keep the wearer warm, but the charm was concealed so that no one would take the piss for Theo needing a charmed cloak. It was uncommon for men’s cloaks to be charmed, but gold could buy you pretty much anything. Draco was happy his friend had liked the gift and not been offended; it was a testament to their friendship that he had received it well.

An echo of thanks rang around the room towards Draco. He had gotten each of them a gift. Draco had always been quite skilled at giving gifts, and they were the easiest way to gain someone’s trust and make them feel indebted to you. Draco also just really loved giving out presents.

Draco hoped Harry liked his gift, he knew he was treading a very fine line in getting it for him. Draco had left a very detailed note in hopes that it would help Harry feel better about it. He also had enlisted Hermione’s help in assuaging Harry’s anxiety.

Draco had gotten him a journal, one of which he had a matching twin for. They would be able to write to each other through the journals, and there were charms on them so that no one would be able to read the contents except himself and Harry. After what had happened in second year, Draco knew Harry was most likely going to have a little trouble writing in a journal that wrote back to him. When he had pitched the idea to Hermione she had given him the full history of what had happened previously, but he was hopeful his note and Hermione would be more than enough. Draco was also quite excited at the aspect of being able to communicate to Harry outside of their sparse meetings.

Draco worked through his stack, calling out thanks whenever he unwrapped a present from one of his housemates.

He pulled out a box with gold trim on the paper and had a sneaking suspicion of who it was from. Draco glanced around the room and confirmed that everyone was thoroughly engrossed in unwrapping their own gifts before carefully opening his. On top of a layer of tissue paper was a note.

You are very hard to get a gift for, in case you weren’t aware. What do you get someone that can already buy everything they’d ever want? Well after some thought I decided that you get them something they’d never buy for themself. I was told I could always just make you something, but crafts have never been my thing. What is contained in this box is one half of your present. The other half is something I took from you recently. I’ll be wearing it tonight. I modified it slightly, but I believe you’ll still recognize it.

I’ll get to the fun part. Beneath this paper is your present. I received something similar recently and went with that idea for your gift. Tap it once with your wand to bring it to life, tap it again to deactivate it, and hold your wand to it for five seconds to make it disappear, same thing to make it reappear. The base will stay visible. Thank you for everything you’ve done this year.

Merry Christmas

A small moon was printed beneath the note and Draco fought very hard to contain the smile that the letter brought out in him. Harry was confident that Draco represented the sun on Harry’s chest, and was obviously going with that logic for his signature. Draco carefully folded the note and tucked it under the box before peeling back the paper. Sitting at the bottom of the box was a dragon. It was about 15 centimetres tall and with some closer inspection Draco noticed it was a Norwegian Ridgeback. Draco chuckled at Harry’s cheek, his mind flashing back to their first year. He pulled out his wand and tapped the dragon. Instantly the dragon turned to look at him, stretching its neck and flapping its wings a couple times. Draco could barely believe what he was looking at, as the dragon crawled off the metal base and attempted to climb the side of the box.

Draco would never admit to anyone here at Hogwarts that he had always desperately wanted a pet dragon. He had begged his father for one of course, but had obviously never been given one. He had even tried to explain to his parents that they had plenty of space at the Manor for a dragon and he would train it and take care of it.

Draco wasn’t sure he wanted his roommates to know about his dragon yet, so he quickly tapped the dragon which returned to its base and then rendered it invisible. He tucked the note back into the box and set the box up by his pillow, before quickly grabbing another gift.

Draco has always considered himself pretty damn good at gift giving, but Harry had blown him out of the water. Draco’s mind drifted to the other half of his gift. He couldn’t think of anything that Harry had taken from him recently. What did he mean he would be wearing it tonight? Draco was truly at a loss.

He finished unwrapping his gifts and made an excuse to close the hangings on his bed in order to write a letter to his parents to thank them for his presents and wish them a Merry Christmas. Draco pulled out the twin journal to Harry’s and opened it. Nothing had been written yet, but Draco normally woke up quite early on Christmas and wouldn’t be surprised if Harry was still unwrapping gifts.

Merry Christmas. I absolutely loved my gift. Thank you.

Draco also took out another piece of paper and did start to pen a note to his parents so he would have proof of him actually doing what he said he was. He had almost finished his letter when he felt his journal warm slightly, signalling there was an unread message.

Merry Christmas. I love mine as well. I appreciate the note and instructions beforehand. Mione must have told you about my not-so-awesome experiences with journals that talk back.

Draco grinned, he was thrilled to finally be able to talk to Harry whenever he felt like it.

She did indeed. I have to say though, I haven’t quite figured out the second part of my gift. Do I get any hints?

Absolutely not. You’ll have to suffer until tonight.

I assure you, I will be. Although I have a feeling my suffering will not end with knowing what you have taken. The Ball is going to be pure torture.

Just know I will be thinking of you.

Draco felt a warmth spread across his mark and returned the touch.

I felt that, you sap. I have to go, breakfast time.

Draco signed off with a small sun drawing and was gratified to see a small moon pop up before he closed his journal.

Chapter Text

Draco straightened his robes and tidied his hair. He knew that Harry preferred when he wore it loose, but had to do something more than his normal every day hair style. He had settled on tousling it in the way that it sometimes looked after he had been flying, somewhat slicked back but also loose. He knew he had done the right thing when he went to retrieve Pansy from the girl’s dormitories.

“Well, well, don’t you look stunning,” She commented a pretty smile on her face.

Draco returned her grin.“I believe I’m the one that’s supposed to compliment you, my lovely date. You look absolutely gorgeous.”

Pansy was wearing pink robes, with eye shadow and lip-gloss to match. The cut of the robes definitely flattered her figure more so than their school uniform.

“Shall we go?” He asked offering his arm. She accepted it and they strode off towards the Great Hall, most of the other Slytherins slowly making their way upstairs as well.

The Great Hall was decorated to look like it was covered in snow, Draco caught sight of Cedric Diggory and Cho Chang standing outside the doors and Draco strained to try and see if any of the other champions were around. Unfortunately he couldn’t see anything, but felt anxiety flowing through the bond.

“Come on, Draco, we’re meant to go inside.” Pansy pointed out and he let her steer him through the doors. They followed directions to make their way to a seat until the Champions would be introduced.

Draco sat down with the rest of his classmates and waited, trying not to show his agitation.

Finally, they were instructed to rise as the Champions entered the room.

“Is that Hermione Granger, with Viktor Krum?” Pansy gasped and Draco’s eyebrows shot almost to his hair line, sure enough Hermione was on Krum’s arm in a beautiful set of blue robes. Her hair was smoothed down for once and she was smiling in a way Draco had never seen her. Next came Fleur Delacour and the Ravenclaw Quidditch Team Captain Roger Davies, followed by Cedric and Cho. Finally Harry and Parvati Patel entered and Draco finally understood the other half of his gift.

Harry was clad in a set of bottle green robes which he had accented with an unmistakable green tie. The Slytherin logo was gone but Draco knew what the colour of the tie he wore daily was. The tie went perfectly with his robes, and Draco would never have suspected it was a Slytherin tie had he not known previously. Harry was wearing his tie to the Ball, in front of everyone to see. Draco’s tie, Draco’s Slytherin tie on the Gryffindor Golden Boy. Draco finally understood the way Harry must feel to see his love bites on Draco’s neck. Draco didn’t understand how Harry didn’t tackle him in the hallways daily with the way Draco was currently feeling.

“The Gryffindors are cleaning up well tonight,” Pansy commented and Draco had to agree. “Who knew Potter looked so good in green.”

Draco tried to make a noise in the back of his throat that could be a scoff, but it came out more like a poorly construed whine. Pansy dug her nails into Draco’s arm and he took the message, shaking his head slightly and taking a deep breath to better focus himself.

“You may be seated,” a voice commanded.

“Dray, can you switch with me, there’s a draft in this seat,” Pansy needled and Draco squinted at her but agreed. As he settled into his new seat he instantly realized why. He had a direct eye-line to the Champion’s table, and more specifically, Harry. Draco decided for this he could forgive that Merlin-forsaken nickname.

The meal flew by in a whirl of Draco mindlessly chewing his food and trying to sneak looks at Harry whenever possible. Before he knew it, the tables were being moved backward and the Champions were being told to lead the Ball in the first dance. Draco smirked at the feelings of utter terror filtering through the bond, Harry hadn’t been this freaked out by the damn Horntail, but dancing was an entirely different horror apparently.

The music started and Draco’s lessons paid off apparently. Harry looked at least somewhat put together as he twirled the Gryffindor Patel around the floor. Krum and Hermione were also holding their own. Soon Dumbledore was joining the dance which signalled the rest of the couples could join. Draco waited a few moments before leading Pansy onto the floor. The two of them had been dancing together at Balls for as long as he could remember, it was almost second nature to follow their customary steps.

“Your poker face used to be much better,” Pansy commented quietly.

Draco narrowed his eyes at her, “I’m afraid I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You’re practically drooling.”

“That’s my tie, Pans,” Draco grit out, dipping her slightly to make her lose the absolute look of delight on her face.

“Didn’t realize the Golden Boy had it in him,” Pansy giggled. “I’m going to go dance with Theo now, be nice to Millie.”

Draco sighed deeply, but neatly spun her into Theo’s arms and took Millie into his.

“You look beautiful, Millie,” Draco commented. Her deep purple robes twinkled subtly.

“Thank you, Draco, you look fantastic as always. This Ball reminds me of the Balls your mother would host.”

“She’s absolutely beside herself that she can’t host one this year,” Draco’s eyes focused over Millie’s shoulder where Harry was now dancing with Hermione. She was laughing and looked like she was having the time of her life. Draco was happy Harry was stepping out of his shell and letting himself have a good time.

“No offense to her, but the surplus of people our age is kind of a huge positive. I don’t really miss the plethora of men the same age as my grandfather staring at my arse.”

Draco laughed, “I will make sure to tell her your critiques. I have to agree though. My cheeks have not been pinched even once.”

Millie smirked, reaching up and pinching his cheek. Draco batted her hand way and pinched her side in retaliation.

Draco found himself having a good time, but was happy to sneak looks at Harry whenever he could. At one point Parvati was trying to teach Harry how to dance what Draco guessed was a traditional Indian dance and Draco could feel nothing but unrelenting happiness and joy filtering through the bond. Draco had had to reel in his jealousy when he later caught Harry and the girl Weasley dancing, but he tried to have fun with his friends and not be preoccupied by Harry’s dance partners. At one point Harry had even grabbed Finnigan and spun him around the room a couple times (in what Draco suspected was a ‘fuck you’ to anyone that thought that Harry only wanted to dance with girls) and Draco had done the same to Blaise, insisting they could not let the Gryffindors think they were better than them.

The Ball started to wind down and Pansy loudly called for Draco to escort her back to the Common Room, Draco was thankful for the out and bid his goodbyes to everyone before escorting Pansy from the Hall.

“Do you have any idea how much I love you? You’re the absolute best mate a person could hope for,” Draco praised as they left.

Pansy rolled her eyes fondly, “I love you too, I’m just happy to finally see you happy.”

Draco bumped her shoulder with his.

“This is far enough for me, you’ve got places to be,” Pansy said as they got to the dungeons.

“Goodnight, Pans, I had a wonderful evening,” Draco kissed her forehead. She smiled at him then turned away and traipsed down the hallway towards their Common Room.

Draco hurried the opposite way, bolting up a back staircase that took him up a couple floors without him having to go near the Great Hall. He finally made it the classroom and was gratified to see that Harry was already there.

“Merry Christmas, Draco,” Harry whispered.

“Merry Christmas, Harry,” Draco smiled, crossing the room and twining his fingers into his hair and kissing him.

“You have no idea how much torture it has been wanting to do that all night,” Draco said a few moments later.

“I think I have a fair idea,” Harry grinned.

“You are wearing my tie,” Draco growled, punctuating each word as he grabbed onto the aforementioned object. Harry simply smirked at him, his teeth catching the light of the moon through the window. “You look so stunningly handsome. Green is definitely your colour. Now I hope you don’t hold my following behaviour against me.”

Draco spun the two of them around and pressed Harry against the wall, still holding steady to his tie. “This is the first time I haven’t wanted to rip your clothes off,” Draco commented before bringing his lips to Harry’s in a bruising kiss. Draco slotted his leg in between Harry’s and pressed his hips against him as he kissed down his neck, sucking hard on the skin as he went. Draco never left love bites where anyone could see them on Harry, but he found himself unable to care at this point. He had a night’s worth of pent-up frustration to let out. Harry was making absolutely delicious noises beneath him and Draco finally found the will power to undo the top of Harry’s robes to unveil his soul-mark. Draco lightly ran his nails down Harry’s chest before nipping at Harry’s bottom lip.

“Draco!” Harry gasped, his eyes looking like they were on fire. His hands flew to the top of Draco’s robes and pulled them apart roughly. Draco noticed Harry’s hands were alight with the yellow fizzles, but where they touched Draco’s skin was just a gentle tingle only slightly more so than what Draco normally felt when Harry touched him. Harry’s eyes came up to focus on his before Draco felt Harry’s foot wrap behind his ankle and then Harry was tackling him backward the same way he had at the lake, what seemed like a lifetime ago. Draco braced for the impact of hitting the rough ground, but was met with a pillow-like softness.

“Wordless Cushioning Charm, honestly?” Draco groaned as Harry pinned his arms to the floor and attacked his mark, rendering Draco speechless as he writhed underneath him.

Chapter Text

When their breathing had finally gone back to normal and they lay on the floor of the classroom in a puddle of transfigured blankets and pillows, Draco grasped Harry’s hand in his.

“You know we definitely need to look into this wandless magic you seem to do quite often.”

Harry shrugged, “I only do it when I’m around you it seems. I can’t make it happen, or control it, it just does.”

“You seem to control it plenty well when it comes to me; you healed me, and cushioned the floor.”

“I don’t know, I just think about what I want to do and it happens. I don’t think a spell or anything.”

“That’s what Apparition is. There’s no spell, just focus. I’m sure loads of magic is like that, at its core.”

Harry shrugged again before sighing, “We really should get back to our Common Rooms, we can’t afford to get caught.”

Draco sighed as well, “I know you’re right.”

“We’re on hols though, so we have more time to see each other. Thanks to your present we can actually organize things now too. I’ll see you tomorrow...” Harry checked the time, “Well, later today.”

“This is going to be impossible,” Draco groaned as he buttoned up his robes. “Maybe it’ll just be Severus patrolling the dungeons. He won’t give me detention.”

“Favouritism will only take you so far,” Harry teased. “McGonagall wouldn’t hesitate to give me detention for a month, and take points.”

“Yes well, godsons get even more leeway.”

Harry stared at him, mouth agape, “Snape is your godfather?” He finally burst and Draco laughed at the sheer indignation.

“It’s not a secret. You Gryffindors just don’t bother to learn anything outside your precious house do you?”

“It’s not fair,” Harry mumbled and Draco laughed even harder.

“Like your godfather’s mate did not show you outright favouritism constantly? He never let you get away with anything? I highly doubt it!”

“I didn’t know about Sirius and Lupin until just this summer,” Harry complained, a distinct whinge in his voice. He reached over and pinched Draco hard in the ribs when he wouldn’t stop laughing at him. “Keep it up and I won’t help you.”

Draco raised an eyebrow, “Going to let me steal your precious cloak? Or am I finally going to learn about your secret weapon.”

Harry stood up and strode over to where he had deposited his cloak earlier. He also picked up his wand and what Draco recognized as a piece of parchment.

“I solemnly swear that I am up to no good,” Harry whispered, tapping the parchment.

“Er, did you get a hold of some punch I wasn’t aware of? I’ll be quite cross if you’ve been holding out.”

Harry waved his hand at him dismissively, unfolding layers on the paper before groaning loudly. “You’re definitely going to need my help; it looks like every single professor is out on patrol.”

Draco couldn’t quell his curiosity any longer; he got up and walked to Harry, looking down at the parchment. “Harry, what the fuck?”

The parchment was a map of Hogwarts, with what looked like every student and professor labelled by name with their location signified by footprints on the parchment. “This is what you’ve been using to get around? No wonder you never get caught! You know what, I am cross! You have definitely been holding out on me!”

Harry stuck his tongue out at him, and suddenly Draco was gripped with a feeling of pure terror. “Where did you get this?! Who else has this kind of information? We are utterly fucked!”

Harry set the paper down, “Shh, we’re okay. Just me. There’s no other map. It’s one of a kind.” He pulled Draco against his chest and rubbed his back comfortingly.

“How can you be sure?” Draco whispered, trying to calm his breathing.

“Oh, because I know the men who created it.”

Draco squinted at him and Harry picked the map up again and pointed at the top, “Look, Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs.”

“Nonsense names,” Draco commented.

Harry rolled his eyes and cast his Patronus. Draco stared at the gorgeous stag, still not comprehending. “My Patronus takes after my dad.”

Draco stared at the stag for a few more moments before it clicked, “Prongs.”

Harry smiled, “Yes, exactly.”

“Your father helped to create this map?”

“Yes.”

“Oh shit, wait, Professor Lupin honestly helped to create this thing? I knew he was brilliant, but this just cements it. Your godfather too.”

“And Wormtail,” Harry spit, before shaking his head and smiling at Draco. “Regardless, they created it. I have no idea how, Lupin said it took every one of their skills and aptitudes to get it right and they barely finished it by the time they graduated.”

“What did Wormtail do to piss you off that badly?” Draco asked. He had very sparse knowledge on his soul-mate’s father’s friends. He knew Black had gone to Azkaban for allegedly blowing up Peter Pettigrew, but his mother had never believed he had done it. Where had his body gone? The pieces still have to go somewhere; they don’t just disappear once someone has been blown up.

“Wormtail is Pettigrew. He betrayed my parents to Voldemort. He’s the reason they’re dead. He pinned it on Sirius and made him rot in Azkaban for 12 years. Sirius was angry, but Wormtail is the one that blew up the street.”

That made much more sense than the story the Ministry had settled on. “I’m sorry Harry,” Draco whispered, feeling the pain radiating off his soul-mate.

Harry let out a breath, “It’s fine. It’s just a rough subject. Anyways, we have to get you back to your Common Room. We’ll both fit under the cloak, but you’ll have to stick close to me. And be silent, the cloak doesn’t cover any noise.”

“I’ll just cast a Quietus,” Draco said simply and Harry stared at him. Draco rubbed his face with his hands, “You’ve never done that.”

“I didn’t know there was a spell to do that,” Harry scrunched up his face, looking embarrassed.

“No it’s fine, it just makes me question whose idea it was to stick you with muggles. I understand family, but this is ridiculous.”

“Well I suppose my parents thought it was the best, that and Dumbledore insists I go back every summer.”

Draco wasn’t about to bad mouth one of Harry’s favourite people, but he honestly thought it was a completely barmy decision.

“Let’s get going, at this rate Weasley is going to be hunting the halls for you.”

Harry threw the cloak over both of their heads, grasping the map and his wand in one hand, “The only one we really have to worry about is Mad-Eye, his eye can see through my cloak. But he’s always in his office, so we should be okay. Oh, and Mrs. Norris, I think she can smell through it.”

Draco cast the spell on their feet and they made their way out of their classroom and down to the dungeons. Draco was completely awe-struck by this map. It was no wonder Harry had no problem always knowing where he was.

The pair of them crept through the halls, holding in their laughter as they caught a plethora of other students trying to sneak back to their houses. As they got close to the Slytherin Common Room, Severus was patrolling but thankfully caught a 7th year the hallway away from the entrance and was too busy taking points and assigning detention to hear Draco muttering the password.

“Merry Christmas,” Harry whispered pressing his lips to Draco’s. Draco couldn’t hold in his grin as he kissed him back and pulled away.

“Merry Christmas.”

Harry pecked him on the lips once more before pulling the cloak off of Draco and disappearing.

Draco couldn’t believe how lucky he had gotten.

Chapter Text

“Oi, Harry, what happened to your neck?” Ron asked, wiping the sleep from his eyes.

“Er-“ Harry said, abruptly sprinting from the room and into the loo, locking it tight behind him.

“Shit,” Harry whispered to himself. His neck was littered with love bites. They weren’t as prominent as Draco’s normally looked but Harry attributed that to the fairness of Draco’s skin; bruises tended to stick out in hard contrast. His were still very much visible, and very much apparent of what they were. Harry considered his possibilities. He could ignore Ron and not answer who gave them to him, but he was bound to be interrogated without end until he told him. He could lie and say he fell? No, Harry shook his head, that would never work. “What am I going to do?”

Harry had pretty much decided to just live in the bathroom until his neck healed when there was a series of knocks on the door. Harry ignored the knocks, staring at the door with wide eyes, hoping they would just go away.

“Come on, Ickle Harrikins, it’s us, open up, or we’ll just blast the door open.”

What the hell were Fred and George doing here? Harry opened the door a few inches and the twins slid into the bathroom.

“We heard-“ Fred started.

“From our dear little brother-“ George continued.

“That you’ve got yourself into a situation,” They finished in unison.

Harry wondered if they practiced how they said things, or if it just came naturally.

“I’ve had an allergic reaction,” Harry said not at all convincingly. Fred and George laughed and rolled their eyes.

“Yes, we also face allergic reactions after massive school events,” George teased.

“We’re sure a large number of the school are facing allergic reactions this morning,” Fred agreed.

“Are you two here to take the piss then?” Harry asked and the twins shared a glance before grinning at him.

“We’re here to make your day, young Harry,” Fred nodded at George who held out a small, round, red-coloured candy.

“Sweets?”

“Not just any sweet, a sweet that will make those beautiful bruises go away,” George said matter-of-factly.

“What?”

“It’s one of our latest inventions. We’ve been saving them for the right time. They survived the Great Cleanse of 1994 orchestrated by Mother Dearest.”

Harry squinted at them, “What do you want for it?”

“Just point anyone you see with a similar allergic reaction our way. That and if we could borrow Hedwig, we would be much obliged,” Fred said holding the sweet out again, which Harry gratefully took.

“If this turns me into an animal of some sort...” He hedged and the two of them rolled their eyes again.

Harry shrugged, things couldn’t get worse than his current situation, and stuck the candy in his mouth. He sucked on it and was astounded to see as the bruises slowly but surely faded away by the time he had finished the candy.

“You two are bloody brilliant!”

“We know!” They said in unison, messing up his hair roughly. “You’re on your own explaining away your night time escapades with Ronnikins.”

Harry sighed at the reminder, their laughter echoed down the stairwell as they retreated back to their room two floors up. Harry went back into his dormitory, hoping Ron had gone downstairs. Thankfully he had, Harry grabbed his journal and noticed it was warm to the touch.

I AM SO SORRY

I FORGOT ABOUT THE LOVEBITES

HARRY

Please check this before you leave your bed

Fuck please respond

What are the odds you can sneak down to my lab? I can give you some potion.

Shit Shit Shit

Harry grinned, he noticed now the anxiety flowing through the bond. He rubbed his mark, and did his best to send soothing feelings Draco’s way.

I also forgot and I did not see this before Ron saw me

Did Weasley mind his own business?

Ron doesn’t know the meaning of that, and neither do I. I’m waiting on his interrogation. Or hiding from it. I got rid of the marks though, so he’ll drop it eventually.

How????

The twins gave me a sweet that made them heal. It was absolutely amazing

Okay I have two new favourite people

I better still be your most favourite

Sure, sure, of course.

Harry drew a small angry face, and he felt joy flow through the bond and figured Draco was laughing in person.

Of course you still are.

Harry drew a happy face.

I have to go face the music, see you at breakfast.

Harry closed his book at the sight of Draco’s tiny heart figure. Harry quickly got dressed before making his way to the Common Room.

“Harry!” Ron called as he entered the room. “Are you all right?”

Harry smiled at him and Hermione, whom was settled on the couch next to Ron. Her hair was still smooth from the night before, and Harry could see what he had recently learned to be makeup on her neck. It was subtle and Harry suspected she had some love bites of her own. Thankfully, Ron was completely oblivious.

“Yeah, I’m great. How are the two of you?”

“Brilliant,” Hermione smiled, covering up a laugh in her voice.

“Where did the marks on your neck go? You were covered in them!” Ron asked and Harry squinted at him.

“Not sure what you’re talking about, my neck is a bit sore, I think I got all wrapped up in the blanket last night. Look I’m starving. Let’s go get food.”

Ron squinted at him, not at all buying Harry’s explanation, but agreed to go get breakfast.

Hermione bumped his shoulder with hers as they made their way downstairs and gave him a knowing look.

“Shut it you, you have no room to talk,” Harry hissed at her. She stuck her tongue out at him.

Breakfast was a subdued affair; most of the older years were looking significantly hung-over.

“What were you even doing last night, Harry, you didn’t get back until so late,” Ron asked and Harry made a point of taking a massive bite of his breakfast sandwich, chewing meticulously.

“Just fancied a walk,” Harry said dubiously after he swallowed his bite, “How was Padma? It seemed like you had a fun night.”

Ron blushed scarlet, “It was nice, er, a good night. How about you Hermione, did you and Krum have a fun time? I can’t believe you kept that a secret from us!”

It was a testament to their friendship that Ron was being as polite as possible, it also took Harry practically biting his tongue off not to make a comment about ‘the fun night’ Hermione had.

“I did have a good time, thank you for asking Ron. It was really nice for all of the schools to get together like that. If I’m being honest, I didn’t think anyone would believe me if I did say.”

Harry opened his mouth to retort but was distracted by a commotion from the Hufflepuff table. Two girls were staring at each other mouth agape, in unison they pulled up on the sleeves of their robes to reveal what looked like an elaborate knot of lines on each of their arms. They immediately pressed their arms against each other and Harry could just barely see that the pattern completed on the other girls’ arm. The surrounding people began to clap and the girls wrapped their arms around each other, crying.

“Oh, that’s so sweet!” Hermione cooed, smiling at the couple. “I’ve never seen one happen!”

“I thought marks were supposed to be complementary,” Harry found himself asking. The only marks he had known about were like his and Draco’s, opposites.

“Yes, they can be, when ‘opposites attract’. A lot of soul-bonds can also be two alike people as well and their marks can complete one another like those two did,” Hermione informed him.

“I always thought that the ones that complete one another were platonic...” Ron said, confusion painting his face.

“No, Ron, don’t be thick,” Ginny chided as she sat down next to them.

“Well, they could be! I mean they were both girls,” Ron defended.

Ginny glared at him, “What, just because they’re both girls they can’t be anything but platonic? They’re lesbians, Ronald. Imogen has been out for awhile.”

Harry was resolutely staring at his plate, doing his best not to get pulled into the siblings’ argument.

“No obviously they could be together! I mean I live with Dean and Seamus, I just honestly didn’t realize. Look at Mum and Dad’s marks!”

Harry tuned out the two of them now that their voices had lowered, his eyes drifting to the group of Slytherins entering the Hall. Pansy was clinging to Draco’s arm as per usual, but the lovebites Harry had left on Draco were still on proud display. Pansy actually had the audacity to look over at Harry and wink subtly. Harry choked on his orange juice and went back to staring at his plate.

“You all right, Harry?” Hermione asked and Harry nodded, trying to force down his blush of embarrassment.

“Yep, fine. Good for those two though, they seemed really happy.”

“I only know them vaguely, but I think they were both hoping it would happen. It’s Imogen’s birthday today,” Ginny clarified.

“I’m surprised there hasn’t been more bondings this year, with all the extra students here,” Hermione mused, stirring her eggs mindlessly around her plate.

“Speaking of, have anything to tell us, Hermione? Any secret soul-marks with a certain Bulgarian?” Ginny grilled, smiling kindly over at Hermione.

Hermione’s blush was evident, “No, no! Viktor and I didn’t bond.”

“Sorry, Hermione,” Ginny frowned. Harry thought Ron looked pleased, but was trying to transform his expression into something more neutral.

“Hermione wouldn’t have kept that a secret anyways! Right, Harry?” Ron asked, bumping him with his shoulder.

Harry choked on his orange juice again and resolved that he should probably just quit liquids altogether. “Er, yeah. Who would keep a soul-mark secret?”

“Who, indeed?” Hermione commented quietly, sipping her cup of tea. Harry refused to meet her eyes, instead letting them drift over to a certain blond across the room. A rush of warmth filled him as his eyes met grey ones before they quickly flitted away.

Who indeed.

~*~

Harry stared at his hands, willing them to do magic. He had stubbornly placed his wand across the room and was trying to summon it back to him using his hand. So far it had barely twitched. Harry sighed, falling back onto the pillows he had transfigured before ridding himself of his wand. He didn’t understand how he could do wandless magic without trying with Draco around, but couldn’t any other time. Harry let out a loud groan and sat up at the sound of laughter.

“Did I interrupt something?” Draco asked, a soft smile on his face.

Harry blushed, “I was just trying to work on my wandless magic.”

“Not going well, I take it?” Draco asked, busying himself with taking off his outer robe and tie.

“Not at all, why are you dressed like you were outside?” Harry asked, noticing that even Draco’s hair was slightly wet. He assumed from the icy rain coming down outside the window.

“I was up in the Owlery. That’s why I’m late, my apologies.”

“I thought you sent your parents’ Christmas owl yesterday.”

“I did, I had to send about a million and a half letters out to put a stop to that awful Skeeter woman.”

“Rita Skeeter? I didn’t realize you even knew about the shit she was spreading.”

Draco sniffed, settling down on the ground with Harry, laying his head in Harry’s lap. “You should have said something earlier, I missed that awful article she published about you with how sick I was before the First Task. No, there was word in the Common Room that she was about to publish a piece against Hagrid, outing him as a half-giant among other things, so I had to pull a couple strings to get it stopped.”

Harry gazed at Draco, absently carding his fingers through his hair, “You stopped her? How? Why? You hate Hagrid. And what about him being a giant?”

Draco looked sideways away from Harry, biting his lip, “You don’t hate him though, and I’m working on my prejudices. Also, I owed him one. Who knows what could have happened to you without him tipping you off about the dragons. It wasn’t that hard, just a few letters, a couple galleons, threats of a lawsuit, all under a pseudonym, don’t worry. There’s a reason that Rita goes after the people she does, she’s counting on them not knowing their rights within the media.”

“You didn’t say what you meant about Hagrid being a giant,” Harry persisted, brow furrowed.

Draco raised an eyebrow, “What about it? You didn’t think Hagrid was just like freakishly tall, did you?”

Harry frowned, “Er, I guess? I never really thought about it. How can he be half-giant though? Are giants real?”

Draco stared at him incredulously without saying anything for a few moments, “Yeah, of course. Obviously there aren’t a lot left, they’re sort of hard to hide and hard to explain away to muggles.”

“So Hagrid is a half-giant? How does that even work?”

“I mean, I’d assume his mother was the one with giant in her blood. Doesn’t quite work the other way around.” Draco trailed off and Harry’s eyes bulged with that line of thought.

“Ew, no! I don’t want to think about that!” Harry shuddered.

Draco shrugged, chuckling lightly, “You asked.”

Harry shook his head, as if to clear it, “Anyway! Thank you for helping him. That means a lot to me that you’d do that.”

Draco reached up and slowly unbuttoned the top of Harry’s shirt, “No one should be outted, regardless of what they’d be outted for.”

Harry nodded, unbuttoning the top of Draco’s shirt as well. “I ran into Cedric earlier today.”

“What did pretty-boy want?” Draco asked, tracing the lines of Harry’s mark.

Harry didn’t answer for a few moments, distracted by the feeling Draco was eliciting, “He, er, said that I should take the egg for a bath. Which like, I appreciate the tip, but I flat out told him what the First Task was, so this is kind of bullshit.”

Draco burst out laughing, “He told you to bathe with it?”

“He said to bring it into the bath and ‘mull things over in the hot water’,” Harry made air-quotes with his fingers.

“You said it makes this awful screeching sound when you open it, right?” Draco asked and Harry nodded.

“Seamus thought I might be battling a banshee.”

“Well if it screeches and Diggory said to bring it into the bath my guess is merpeople. They’re the only things that make sense, plus the Lake has a tribe I think.”

“What?!” Harry burst, giants were one thing, mermaids were something entirely different.

Draco laughed again, “Merpeople? Honestly, I’m going to start making you read. You know absolutely nothing about the Wizarding World.”

“Yeah well, I’ll make you read about Muggles! I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, everything else in the fairytales growing up are real, mermaids aren’t that far off.”

“Merpeople. They will not take kindly to being called mermaids as a whole.”

“Sorry, merpeople,” Harry corrected himself. He looked up at his wand, pressing one of his hands to Draco’s mark and reached his other out towards his wand, trying to summon it again. His wand obediently soared across the room and into his hand. “Are you kidding me?!”

Draco was staring at him with pride and something else in his gaze, “I guess I’m just your lucky charm.”

“You’re something all right,” Harry affirmed, bending down to bring his lips to Draco’s.

Chapter Text

“Tell us again what it said?” Hermione instructed.

Harry sighed, Draco didn’t blame him, she had made him repeat the words twice already.

“Come seek us where our voices sound,
We cannot sing above the ground,
And while you’re searching ponder this;
We’ve taken what you’ll sorely miss,
An hour long you’ll have to look,
And to recover what we took,
But past an hour, the prospect’s black,
Too late, it’s gone, it won’t come back.”

“So as Draco said, we’re pretty sure it’s merpeople singing. The Lake has merpeople in it.”

“Yes, so I guess they’re taking something from you. If you don’t get it back in time, you lose it,” Draco shrugged it all seemed pretty straight forward to him.

“It has to be more complicated than that. They aren’t just going to let him stand on the side of the lake and summon whatever he’s looking for,” Hermione sighed, pursing her face in thought.

“Then I guess there will be enchantments or something to keep him from summoning it, he’ll have to go into the Lake. Merpeople can’t leave the water all the way. If they took it, it’s in the Lake.”

“Isn’t the Lake, like, quite deep? I can swim okay, but I’m not brilliant.”

“I’m still all for you telling them to shove it. Why don’t you just sit on the beach and build a sandcastle?” Draco suggested.

“They said they’re taking something from me, something I’ll ‘sorely miss’. I don’t exactly want to lose anything I’d ‘sorely miss’.” Harry kept making airquotes around ‘sorely miss’.

“Say ‘sorely miss’ one more time,” Draco warned, flicking him in the ear, regretting it when he felt the pain mimicked in his own ear.

“Ha! Didn’t think that through did ya?!” Harry laughed as Draco rubbed his ear. Draco was not in love with how much stronger their bond had gotten when it came to sharing each other’s pain.

“So what spells are there to allow Harry to swim better, or dive farther?” Hermione asked, smiling at the two of them.

“Or potions, that’s an option,” Draco mused.

“The only thing I can think of is maybe the Bubble-head Charm, but that’s really hard to maintain for a long period of time, especially if you aren’t a very strong swimmer.”

“Wait a second, the Second Task is at the end of February. The water is going to be absolutely freezing!” Harry pointed out, his voice going high pitched.

“Scared of a little cold?” Draco teased and Harry glared at him.

“A little cold is swimming in October, not freaking February, I’ll be surprised if it isn’t frozen! Do you want an icicle for a soul-mate, because that’s what you’re going to get!”

“That’s something to think about too, actually. Do you feel temperature through the bond?” Hermione asked and Draco looked over at Harry who shrugged.

“I actually don’t know if I’ve ever noticed.”

“Well let’s try it,” Harry said getting to his feet from where he had been sprawled out on the floor of their usual classroom. He crossed the room to the window and stuck his arm out of it. Snow had been falling off and on for the past week and a cold wind pushed through the open window.

Draco focused on their bond and realized that within a few moments he did indeed feel a peculiar cold feeling encasing his arm. “Er, yeah, I can feel it. It’s not like I’m personally cold though, it’s hard to explain. It’s not very comfortable, at any rate.”

“Well that’s another thing we have to consider. Unless they plan on stealing you,” Hermione teased and Draco whipped around to stare at her, eyes wide. She looked at Draco in confusion for a moment before she realized what she said. “No! They couldn’t put children at the bottom of a lake for an hour, that’d be insane!”

“What? What are you talking about?” Harry asked.

“We’ve taken what you’ll sorely miss...” Draco whispered, thinking hard.

“What if they aren’t taking something from you, but someone,” Hermione clarified for Harry.

“No, they couldn’t do that.”

“They couldn’t force a 14 year old to enter a tournament reserved for adults, but here we fucking are,” Draco spit, anxiety gripping him. “Well, I’m not letting them take me, they can shove it.”

“How would they even know about you, anyways,” Harry said, grasping his hand, having returned from his experiment with the window.

“Pomfrey knows, I’m sure Dumbledore does too.”

“Let’s think about this logically though, say it is a person, which we don’t know for sure. What would be gained by Dumbledore outing the two of you? No, he knows keeping your relationship secret is important. I doubt your father would be okay with you being stuck at the bottom of the lake against your will regardless of what that meant in conjunction to your relationship with Harry. Dumbledore isn’t trying to get sacked. No, if it is a person they’d choose someone whose family wouldn’t raise a fuss.”

“So you or Weasley get to hang out at the bottom of the lake, have fun with that one,” Draco said, still trying to calm the panic that had almost overtaken him.

“Exactly,” Hermione agreed.

“That still doesn’t solve the problem of me being able to do anything but swim the surface of the Lake. And I don’t really love the idea of losing a best mate because I failed to get them back from a tribe of merpeople!”

“I doubt they can actually keep anyone if you should fail, but we still don’t know if it’s a person you need to retrieve,” Hermione tried to calm Harry down, and Draco shook out his hands. He needed to pull his head from his arse and stop being a shitty soul-mate.

“They can’t, it’s being dramatic.” He assured Harry, “We just need to do research on spells or potions. I don’t know any potions off the top of my head, but I have this feeling I’m forgetting something. We still have plenty of time though,” Draco added, reaching up and dragging his thumb across Harry’s mark.

“I’m just glad Harry figured out the egg as quickly as he did,” Hermione mused. “Imagine if he had waited until the week before or something.”

“Yeah, imagine,” Harry agreed, the anxiety coming through the bond significantly lessened.

“We’ll get to the bottom of this; I’m definitely forgetting something big. Has Krum said anything about his strategy?” Draco asked and Hermione immediately blushed.

“Er, we don’t really talk very often?” She said dubiously and Draco cackled.

“Ooooh, well then, nevermind! Wouldn’t want to interrupt anything important with something as trivial as conversation,” Draco teased and Hermione blushed further.

“He did say something about going swimming, I said he was mental, but he said the cold doesn’t bother him.”

“Let me think on it, I’ll come up with something,” Draco sighed, “You two have to go, don’t you?”

Harry sighed, “Yeah, Ron is definitely going to think we’re secretly dating,” he said looking over at Hermione.

“I’m actually going to go meet up with Viktor, so you’re on your own,” Hermione said, packing up the scrolls of parchment she had laid out to take notes on what they figured out. She grabbed Draco’s Ancient Runes essay as she cleaned up and he grabbed hers, “I’ll swap the two of them tomorrow in class.”

“Just keep an eye on my conjugations in the second paragraph, I’m not incredibly confident,” Draco warned and she nodded.

“Yeah my conclusion is a little shoddy, as well,” Hermione called over her shoulder, smiling at the two of them as she left the room. “See you later, Harry!”

“See you!” Harry called after her, “Do I have to go?” He complained after the door had shut.

“I mean, I definitely don’t want you to leave, but you probably should.”

Harry sighed, “I feel awful, I’ve been such a shit friend to Ron. It’s just really nice getting to spend time with you. It makes me forget about all of the bad stuff happening out there.” He gestured vaguely towards the rest of the castle.

“I know what you mean,” Draco agreed, his mind briefly wandering to the pile of letters slowly amassing in his trunk. Draco forced himself to not become preoccupied by them and refocused on the green eyes staring down at him at that moment. “But in my completely unbiased opinion, Weasley wasn’t exactly the best of mates to you this year either. He deserves to be ignored for a bit.”

“I just feel like Hermione and I are kind of growing up and leaving him behind a little, at least relationship wise. It doesn’t help that he’s gone for Hermione and won’t even say anything. At least he’s being respectful. I definitely thought he would have said some shit about Krum by now.”

“Growth,” Draco acknowledged, a small smile on his face. Harry rolled his eyes at him.

“I know you hate him, but he’s the first friend I ever had. The Weasleys are my family.”

Draco sighed, “I know, I know. I haven’t cursed him in, like, weeks. That should count for something.”

“You threw frog brains at him in Potions yesterday,” Harry informed him and Draco bit his lip to keep from smirking.

“Ah yes, well, in my defence he needed to add them and hadn’t yet. He was going to make your potion get messed up, I was simply trying to save your marks for the day. If a few brains happened to hit his face before making it into the potion, well I’m a seeker and not a chaser for a reason.”

Harry rolled his eyes again, but was smiling so Draco figured he wasn’t too cross with him.

“Anyways, get out of here, go back to your ginger before he gets more suspicious than he probably already is.”

Harry sighed deeply, but got to his feet “I’ll write you before bed.”

“You’d better, you sap,” Draco commented fondly. Grabbing Hermione’s essay so that he could correct it before he went back to his Common Room.

“Have fun with that,” Harry smiled softly at him, bending to kiss him briefly before making his way to the door.

“Ancient Runes is quite fun, actually,” Draco called after him, affronted.

“Sure, swot,” Harry teased and Draco stuck his tongue out at him.

“Bye, Draco,” Harry said as he grabbed the door knob, his eyes soft.

“Bye, Harry,” Draco called returned the look, smiling down at the paper as the door clicked shut.

Chapter Text

“Tell me what the Manor is like,” Harry said, his quill scratching across the parchment in front of him.

“What?” Draco asked, not sure he had heard Harry correctly.

“I feel like I still barely know you. I know your feelings almost as well as my own, but I don’t even know what your home is like.”

Draco bit his lip, he supposed Harry was right. They had gotten so swept up with the tournament and understanding the bond better that they forgot about getting to know each other outside of their bond. “Er, I would say it’s a normal Pureblood estate, but that doesn’t say much for you. The Manor is three floors tall, but then there are the dungeons and cellars below. We each have our own wing, and then there’s the area for entertaining and casual time. The grounds were always my favourite part. We have miles of land around the Manor, with my mother’s gardens, the forest, and the Quidditch Pitch. I used to spend all day out on the grounds and my mother would have to send the house elves to come retrieve me.”

Harry stared at him in wonder, a small smile on his face. “That sounds absolutely amazing.”

Draco grinned, despite himself, “It is, there’s nothing quite like the Manor in the summer. Although, during the winter, when it snows, it’s absolutely breathtaking. What was your home growing up like?”

Harry was silent for awhile, his quill was still, Draco wanted to revoke his question, but part of him needed to know. He had always thought Harry grew up spoilt and pampered, but things didn’t line up.

Harry finally spoke, the emotions inside of him a vicious whirl, “I didn’t grow up in a home like yours. Obviously not in size or whatever, but other stuff too. I live with my aunt, uncle, and cousin, but they hate me. They think magic is unnatural, that I’m a freak. I didn’t even know I was a wizard until my 11th birthday when Hagrid broke into the shack my Uncle had dragged us to to avoid the owls with my letter, and told me so. I grew up thinking my parents died in a car crash. That my father had been drinking. They hate anything that’s out of the ordinary. We live in a two floor house with three bedrooms in it, which looks exactly like every other house on the street. I lived in the cupboard under the stairs until I got my letter. Then they gave me Dudley’s second bedroom. Mostly because I think they were worried I would blow them up if they didn’t.

“I always thought they hated me because of the colour of my skin, and that’s definitely a contributing factor. The names they used to call me...” Harry trailed off for a moment and Draco only stared at him in shock. “My aunt is the only living blood relative I have left. Dumbledore put me there because apparently something my mother did when she died makes me safe as long as I stay with her blood relative. Honestly I’d rather take my chances anywhere else. It almost seems pointless to me. I spend a month with them and then go to the Weasley’s. What’s the point? It’s never made sense at all. Dumbledore once said it was because I had to keep calling their house home, but I don’t. Hogwarts is my home, has been since first year.

“Sirius offered me to let him live with him once I found out the true story of what happened the night my parents died, but then Wormtail got away and Sirius is on the run. I don’t know why it still matters I go back there. But I’m rambling; I don’t want to rant about my terrible home life. That’s not why I asked you about yours.”

Draco grasped at Harry’s hands, “No, I’m glad you’ve told me. I want to know everything about you. Especially the tough stuff. Believe me, I get it. I obviously grew up in a very different household, but it was by no means perfect, as you have guessed. Father is not an easy person to please or to live with.”

Harry nodded, “Thank you. I’ve never really told anyone about this stuff. Ron and Hermione mostly figured it out, or have seen it. But it doesn’t seem right to me that they know all of these parts of me, and you as my soul-mate don’t.”

“So let’s promise to be honest, even when it’s hard. I loathe that someone else knows more about you than I do. Rationally, it’s obvious your friends should know you better. It’s not like I have ever tried to know the real you more than the one I created in my head, but that’s no excuse moving forward.”

“You sure you’re going to be able to not hide any details?” Harry teased turning fully towards him, Draco bit his lip.

“It’s going to be hard, but I’ll try to keep in mind that you don’t have an ulterior motive for finding out more about me.”

“Are you so used to that? You can’t tell me all of your friends are only ever trying to get things to hold against you.” Harry asked, in disbelief.

Draco shrugged, “It’s not always malicious. Why should I give someone else information they could use against me in the future, for free? Everything has a give and take. If I don’t give anything, I don’t have to worry about the take later on.”

“But what about the take on yourself not being able to be open with anyone? I wouldn’t have made it this far without being able to trust Ron and Hermione, and how can I do that without them knowing me at all?” Harry countered.

“I’m not saying it’s a perfect system,” Draco relented, “but it’s how Pureblood custom works.”

“It’s dumb,” Harry muttered, but shook his head. “Anyways, what’s your favourite colour? I’ve always assumed green.” He got up from his chair and tugged Draco to the floor onto their mountain of pillows and blankets.

Draco chuckled, “You would have been wrong, until very very recently.” His eyes fixed onto Harry’s emerald irises.

“Oh yeah?”

“It used to be navy.”

“What changed?” Harry asked and Draco would have thought he was fishing for compliments if it were anyone but Harry.

Draco thumbed across Harry’s cheek, “I’m a little obsessed with you, if you haven’t noticed. What’s yours then? Red?”

Harry laughed, “I’ve never really had a favourite to be completely honest. I like a lot of colours. I like red because it means Gryffindor or the Weasleys. I like blue because it’s usually the colour of the sky when the weather is perfect. Green is the colour of the Quidditch pitch, or a certain someone’s tie. Gold is the snitch. Silver is my Patronus, or your eyes when you look at me when we’re alone.”

Draco smiled “Sap,” He commented fondly. “I’ve had a question for quite some time but I imagine you aren’t going to want to answer it.”

Harry paused from where he had been tracing Draco’s mark, “I imagine I won’t but a deal is a deal.”

Draco steeled himself, running his fingers through Harry’s hair, “How have you broken ribs before?”

Harry sighed, resuming the tracing of the moon, “Might as well get that over with, you may want to let go of my hair though.”

Draco did as he was told, anxiety flaring inside of him.

“I told you my aunt and uncle didn’t like me. My uncle hates me. He never wanted to take me in, but Dumbledore somehow got Aunt Petunia to agree. Uncle Vernon has never been shy taking out his frustrations on me. Sometimes he goes too far. They never punish Dudley for doing the same thing to me either. I was Dudley’s personal punching bag for a time.”

Draco had expected as much, but hadn’t prepared himself for how upset Harry’s word would make him. How could anyone lay their hands on a child and believe it to be okay? Draco carefully returned to carding his fingers through Harry’s hair again.

“I’m sorry you ever had to deal with that,” He said, measuring his words carefully. His mind was whirling through multiple ways to torture and injure Harry’s relatives. He wished he knew what they looked like so he could imagine them better.

“They can’t touch me now, it’s fine,” Harry shrugged. “It wasn’t always like that. He normally just yells a lot, but you asked. Has your father ever done something like that? Or your mother?”

Draco froze, his mind now flashing through a number of afternoons in Father’s study. His normal lie sprung to his tongue, but he swallowed it down. He had promised candour, and he couldn’t just lie after Harry had been honest with him.

“Yes, my Father has. Something like that, anyway. My Mother has not, well I guess technically she did slap me once. I deserved it though at least. I aimed some choice language at her and some of her guests at tea. I pretty much knew what was going to happen before I said it, but,” Draco shrugged.

“I’m trying not to laugh, but I’m imagining what you probably said,” Harry said staring up at him, his eyes soft.

“Looking back it was quite funny. She barely slapped me; Hermione hit me way harder, at any rate.”

Harry laughed at that, “Right after she did that Ron commented about how at least she knew the two of you weren’t soul-mates.”

Draco choked out a laugh, fake gagging, “Hermione is brilliant, but ergh, no thank you.”

“The feeling is mutual, I assure you.”

They were silent for awhile and Draco found he wasn’t feeling how he expected to, he had thought being open with Harry would lead to anxiety and vulnerability, instead he just felt closer to Harry.

“When did you realize you only liked blokes?” Harry asked and Draco looked down in surprise. He had not been expecting that.

“I’ve said before that I’ve known so I was about 9 or 10, but I suspected before that. I just sort of realized that I was around all of these girls at the balls my mother would throw, and on the beaches in France, and I never felt the feelings Blaise and Theo were feeling. Even Vince and Greg would go on and on about girls, and I just never saw it. Instead I was looking at the men in their dress robes, or tanning on the beach. Father took me to a Harpies match and even got us into the locker room and it was just eh. I basically succumbed myself to marrying for duty until I felt your mark sear my chest. I didn’t think I would ever bond with someone romantically.”

“Do you think you would have married Pansy? If you never found your soul-mate, that is.” Harry asked.

“I mean, maybe? Probably not. Her father has always hinted, but Father wanted ‘something more’ for me. I’ve also made it quite clear to my Father that Pansy is similar to a sister to me and insinuated I wouldn’t even be able to give him an heir with her. I expect he would probably try to set me with one of the Greengrass girls. They’re Sacred 28, powerful, and therefore ideal.”

“Sacred 28?”

Draco rolled his eyes, “It’s asinine to anyone under the age of 40 probably. It’s the twenty-eight ‘most pure’ Pureblood families left. It includes those who haven’t married outside of the Pureblood lines too much and respected the ideals of Pureblood custom. Technically, Weasley’s younger sister would be a suitable match as well. They’re still considered part of the 28, despite the fact that they’re considered blood-traitors now.”

“My dad was pure-blood, were the Potter’s ever a part of that?”

“It’s all rubbish as I said, but the Potters weren’t because it’s also a popular muggle surname, and they are too pro-Muggle. I also personally think it has to do with the fact that the Potters were a massive Indian line, and the wizard that created the list was racist and petty. There were all of these trade issues back then; I don’t feel like getting into it. Most of the old families still found the Potter name to be a respectable family until your father married your mother. Another huge part of the Sacred 28 is the pure magical power each of the families has. It’s part of the reason why my Father probably wouldn’t consider a serious marriage with Pansy and me. The Parkinsons have never been the most powerful of wizards and witches. The Weasleys are even known to have more power than they are, which is obvious if you look at any of them. I will give them that. But obviously, the Potters are insanely powerful, as was your mother so in terms of power you would be a ‘respectable’ match. If you weren’t male my Father would probably even consider it after some convincing.”

“Shame,” Harry teased. “Do all Purebloods know all of this stuff about old families and such?”

“Most of them, before Hogwarts we were to study the family histories, languages, and beginner magical theory. I would sometimes borrow my mother’s wand to practice, but I wasn’t allowed to do that too often. Severus would also teach me potions and herbology, but he wouldn’t do that for anyone else.”

“Languages?”

“Je parle français,” Draco commented and smirked as Harry’s pupils dilated. “Tu aimes ça?”

“How does it sound so pretentious from the Beauxbatons students, and so, not, when it’s from you?” Harry mumbled before hauling himself upwards and attaching his lips to Draco’s.

“I think I could get used to this sharing thing,” Draco muttered, shifting and throwing a leg over Harry’s lap, straddling his hips similarly to how Harry had done to him down by the Lake what seemed like a lifetime ago.

“I can’t say I have ever had a conversation with Ron or Hermione end like this,” Harry gasped in between Draco pressing his lips to Harry’s throat.

“I’d hope not,” Draco chuckled, sucking hard on Harry’s neck and smirking at the noise Harry made.

He could definitely get used to this.

Chapter Text

Draco pulled his cloak tighter around his shoulders, ducking his chin against the cold wind. They were making their way inside after finishing Care of Magical Creatures class. Not for the first time Draco wished he was walking next to Harry who was a couple paces ahead of him, leaning into Hermione. This time it was solely for the reason that Hermione had conjured some of her trademark blue flames and was holding it in a jar, keeping the trio warm. Draco wished he could do the same, but Hermione was known for the flames. Maybe if he could manage to make them green...

Draco was musing over the possibility when suddenly a beam of yellow light flashed across the grounds. Part of Draco realized who it was aimed at a moment before it made contact with Harry. Draco yelled out but not before he felt like he had been punched as Harry flew through up into the air. Hermione whipped around and shouted something that Draco belatedly realized was a Cushioning Charm as Harry fell back down to the ground about 25 ft away.

“What the fuck?” Weasley yelled whipping around, “Who did that?”

Draco was wondering the exact same thing, he looked over in the direction the curse had come from but saw no one.

“Don’t look at us,” Pansy spit at Weasley’s accusatory stare.

“Harry, are you all right?” Longbottom asked, jogging over towards where Harry was trying to get to his feet.

“Yeah, I’m fine, felt like a Blasting Curse,” Harry said, accepting Longbottom’s hand as he helped him to his feet, rubbing his ribs as he did. Draco wished he could do the same. He was struggling to keep his composure.

“Seriously, which of you did it?” Weasley roared, marching up to the Slytherins.

“Check our wands if you want, Weasel, we’re more worried about getting inside.”

“Why the fuck would I believe you?” Weasley asked, ears and face a bright red.

“First things first, If I were going to curse Potter, I would have waited until we’re inside, I assure you. And I wouldn’t have only cursed him; I’d have cursed all three of you. Secondly, unless you don’t understand basic physics, which come to think of it you probably don’t, the curse obviously came from over there. If any of us had cast it he would have been blasted forward not to the side. ” Draco gestured towards the forest.

Weasley whipped to the side to look. “Well, there’s no one there!”

“No shit, because no one in their right mind is going to stick around after cursing Potter. Which makes reason number three why it was not us. Now if you’ll excuse me, if Saint Potter does not need a parade in his honour for surviving that attempt on his life, we’ll be going inside. Feel free to check my wand where I’m not freezing my bollocks off.”

With that, Draco shoved past Weasel, casting a glance at Harry as he did. Harry seemed fine and the pain in Draco’s ribs was already starting to taper off. Draco was more worried about the unknown person who had cursed Harry in the middle of the class day.

Draco sighed, like he didn’t have enough to worry about.

~*~

Draco was sitting in the library studying with Pansy and Theo, racking his brain. Vince and Greg were sitting at the same table but they were definitely not studying. They were flicking balled up pieces of parchment at each other. Draco just could not remember what would help Harry breathe underwater. There was something tickling at the back of his brain, but it just wouldn’t come to him. He had been fruitlessly trying to figure it out the past few weeks and time was getting low to figure it out. The Task was just a few weeks away. Draco sighed heavily and got to his feet.

He made his way through the stacks, looking for a specific potions book. He turned down an aisle and saw Longbottom paging through a tome. Draco peeked at the title and figured it could be useful.

“Oi, Longbottom, are you done?” Malfoy asked, striding towards him.

Longbottom looked up at him, eyes blown wide, “Er, uh, yeah.”

“Thanks,” Draco sneered, snatching the book from him and paging through it idly. Longbottom stood there for a moment, looking lost, before he squeaked and left. Draco leafed through the pages realizing the book focused on different ingredients found in Herbology often used in Potions.

“Fucking Longbottom!” Draco hissed realizing that this was exactly what he had needed.

Gillyweed. That is what he was trying to remember. It was an expensive magical plant that would allow the person who ate it to breathe underwater for well over an hour. This was exactly what he needed. Severus had taught him about it the summer before last. He was sure Severus would have some in his stores but would definitely know if Draco pilfered any. Draco would have to order some. Draco set the book on the shelf and made his way back to the table.

“Pans, want to get out of here?” Draco asked meaningfully.

“Oh, all right,” Pansy said squinting at him but packing up her things. Vince and Greg whistled at them and Draco rolled his eyes.

“Leaving me with these two? What have I ever done to you?” Theo groaned, and Draco smirked at him.

“Sorry, mate, a man has needs,” Draco was barely able to force the lie across his tongue.

Theo rolled his eyes, “Yeah, whatever.”

Draco grabbed his stuff and grasped Pansy’s hand, leading her from the library.

“What are you on about?” Pansy whispered as they head down the hallway.

“I have to go to the Owlery and order something, then I figured you’ve been bugging me about talking to a certain person and we could go there after.”

“Oh!” Pansy hastened her pace, “Hurry up then. You’ve been stashing him away for far too fucking long.”

Draco grinned at her and lengthened his stride, practically sprinting down the hallway.

They made it to the Owlery in record time and Draco pulled out a piece of parchment, quickly scribing a note to the store in Knockturn Alley that would be able to get him what he needed.

“Come on, Hercules,” Draco called, putting out his arm. His Eagle Owl was high in the rafters and soared down to them, clutching a note in his talons. “He must have just gotten back.”

Draco pulled the note from Father, shoving it in his pocket before securing the new note to Hecules’ leg. “Thanks, I’ll have plenty of treats tomorrow morning at breakfast. Make sure to come,” He instructed. Hercules gave him an affectionate nip to ear before spreading his massive wings and soaring from the Owlery.

“Let’s go find your other half,” Pansy whinged. Draco rolled his eyes and pulled his journal from his bag, quickly asking Harry to meet them in their classroom, warning him about Pansy.

“You better be nice, I’ll be extremely cross if you make him upset,” Draco warned as they left the room.

Pansy rolled her eyes, “I’ll be perfectly nice. I know your boy is sensitive.”

Draco rolled his eyes at her but continued on his way to the classroom, making sure they weren’t followed. They were one hallway off when Draco saw a tiny Gryffindor watching them. Draco pushed Pansy lightly against the wall, pressing his forearm to the wall above her head and placing his other hand on her waist. He ducked his head as if he were going to kiss her neck, and she giggled loudly. Draco moved his face closer to the skin there and waited a few moments before Pansy whispered that they were alone. Draco smirked, licking her before quickly pulling away.

“Ugh, gross! Come on, Draco!” Pansy complained as they continued down the hallway.

“That’s for teasing him,” Draco smirked, ducking into the classroom.

“Oh, you’re no fun anymore,” Pansy whinged, stopping to look around as Draco sealed the door. “Love what you’ve done with the place.”

“We weren’t just going to leave it dusty and barren,” Draco scoffed.

“How long does Potter normally make you wait before he shows up?” She asked, charming a chair to be more her style and more cushioned.

Draco shrugged, “It depends how long it takes for him to get away.” Draco peeked at the journal and saw Harry had scrawled his small moon character, but nothing more. “He should be here soon.”

Pansy glanced around once more and began to spell cosier decorations. “How have you not transfigured a fucking couch? Do you enjoy rolling around on the floor?”

Draco blushed, “Seemed presumptuous.”

“You snog on the regular, I’m sure Potter wouldn’t mind.”

“Wouldn’t mind what?” Harry’s voice asked as the door clicked open.

“A proper couch to snog on,” Pansy clarified, flourishing her wand. A wide and plush green couch materialized where a desk had been. “It obviously won’t last more than a couple days, but I’m sure either of you are capable of renewing the spell.”

“Oh, er, thanks,” Harry said, and Draco detected a blush crossing his cheeks. “What was so urgent? Are you all right?”

Draco smiled, crossing the room and crushing Harry to his chest. “Missed you,” Draco whispered quietly into Harry’s ear so Pansy wouldn’t hear.

Harry grinned at him, “Sap.”

“I figured out how to keep you from drowning!” Draco said pulling away so as to not make Pansy feel completely awkward.

“Brilliant! What is it?”

“Gillyweed. It’s a plant that makes you grow gills and shit! Doesn’t quite matter about the mechanics, the important part is we figured out how to keep you alive and able to breathe underwater for an hour.”

“Sounds awful, thank you so much!” Harry said cheerfully.

“Fucking Longbottom of all people had the book I needed,” Draco groaned and looked back towards Pansy. She had kicked back in the chair she had transfigured and was smiling at the two of them.

“Obviously I’ve known about this for what seems like forever, but it’s even more surreal to see it with my own eyes.”

“I have to thank you for everything, Parkinson. You’ve helped a bunch, it means a lot,” Harry said earnestly.

“Oh call me Pansy, you may as well, we do share a boyfriend. And it’s barely different than before, I’ve been covering Draco’s arse since we were babies.”

Harry smirked at Draco, “Then call me Harry, if you can stomach it.”

“I’ll see if I can manage. Now I do need to demand one thing of you,” Pansy said and Draco frowned.

“Pans...” Draco warned.

“Shh, I just wanted to see his Mark. Obviously if it’s a big deal, you don’t have to show me.”

“Oh yeah,” Harry’s fingers went to his shirt and he quickly unbuttoned it so that the sun became visible.

Draco’s fingers instantly went to brush across his chest, like a magnet drawn to iron.

“It’s gorgeous,” Pansy said simply, eyes glued to Harry’s chest.

“Thanks,” Harry said smiling softly at Draco.

“Oh you two are absolutely unbearable. Merlin Draco I’m glad to see you happy but this is just downright sickening,” Pansy complained and Draco stuck his tongue out at her.

“We can be grosser,” He informed her smacking loud kisses all over Harry’s face. Harry swatted at him, laughing.

Pansy laughed at the two of them, rolling her eyes, but Draco could see how pleased she was underneath it all.

Chapter Text

“I hope you don’t mind if I join you,” A soft sing-songy voice said to Harry’s left. Harry looked over and saw a small girl with very light blonde hair and a complexion to match. She was also wearing what looked like a butterbeer cork necklace, and was standing timidly next to the table. The girl had a Ravenclaw tie and was looking expectantly at Ginny who was seated next to Harry.

“Oh Luna! Yes of course! Everyone this is Luna Lovegood, she’s in my year and obviously Ravenclaw,” Ginny said squeezing closer to Harry to make room for Luna to sit on her other side.

“No need introducing yourselves, I know who you all are,” Luna said in that same quiet, but song-like voice.

Harry was very intrigued by this girl, and couldn’t help staring at her. She smiled brightly at him and then looked over to Ginny.

“Oh, Luna, today is your birthday isn’t it? Happy Birthday!” Ginny said and Harry was quick to wish her a happy birthday as well.

“Yes, thank you. Would you like to give me my present here at breakfast or later?” She asked and Harry noticed that she did not blink as much as most people did.

Ginny was frowning, “Er, I’m so sorry Luna, but I didn’t actually manage to get you anything.”

Harry felt badly for how upset Ginny sounded, but also found it presumptuous that this girl would come over demanding presents. Luna did not seem affected by Ginny’s words at all.

“No, obviously, not. We shall go with my preference then, is that all right?” Luna asked and Ginny stared at her in absolute confusion.

“Er, okay?” She said.

“Lovely!” Luna said, a bright smile crossing her face, almost seeming like it twinkled to Harry. Luna reached forward and gently took Ginny’s hand, looking straight into Ginny’s eyes as she did. Ginny gasped loudly and Harry watched as colour blossomed across the back of Ginny’s hand and presumably continued up her arm which was covered in her sweater.

“Luna!” Ginny gasped, staring down at their enclosed hands before looking wildly back up at her. “Did we just bond?”

“Yes, we did,” Luna said still smiling and seeming not at all surprised about what had just happened.

Ginny wrenched the arm of her sweater up, looking down at what looked like the blueish-white trail a Patronus left behind with small seeds dancing through. It gave Harry the impression of dandelion seeds floating through the air. Luna carefully did the same, pushing her sleeve up as high as it would go. On Luna’s arm was the entanglement of what Harry thought were the vines or leaves of a plant snaking all of the way from her fingers up towards her shoulder.

“It was like you knew it was going to happen,” Hermione said in awe from across from them.

Luna smiled at her briefly before looking back to Ginny, “I did.”

“But surely this must be your 14th birthday,” Hermione asked, confusion in her voice.

“Yes, it is.”

“We’ve touched loads of times though,” Ginny said her eyes still fixed to their marks. Harry noticed that Ginny’s mark was on her left arm and hand, whereas Luna’s was on her right arm and hand so where their fingers interlocked their marks overlapped. Harry was momentarily jealous that they would be able to make contact with each other’s marks while simply holding hands.

“Yes, but our souls weren’t quite ready yet. I had hoped they would be by my birthday and sure enough they were! I’m so glad,” Luna gripped her hand tightly and turned towards the table, fixing herself breakfast.

“You like girls?” Ron burst and Harry couldn’t keep himself from snorting into his pumpkin juice.

“Thank you for ruining the moment, Ron,” Ginny groaned and glared at him. “Yes I like girls.”

“But I thought you liked Harry!” Ron said, his voice a couple octaves too high.

Harry blushed and looked down at his plate but heard Ginny groan again. “Yeah two years ago! Merlin Ron!”

“But Harry’s a bloke.”

“People can like more than one gender, Ronald,” Ginny hissed. “Luna, he’s ruining this. Let’s go for a walk by the Forest. We can stop by the kitchens on the way.”

“Brilliant, good bye Harry and Hermione,” Luna said pleasantly, getting to her feet and letting Ginny pull her from the Hall, their hands still gripped together.

“God Ron, you’re so thick!” Hermione burst, smacking him in the shoulder.

“What is she on about? Why am I the bad guy?”

“Ron, there isn’t just straight and gay. It’s a spectrum. There’s a whole myriad of sexualities, and you’re the bad guy because you’re ruining a very special moment with asinine questions about her sexuality! I just can’t believe Luna knew it was going to happen. Maybe Ginny was mistaken that they’ve touched skin to skin since Ginny turned 13. It’s always the first time after you turn 13.”

“Magic is weird,” Harry commented, chancing a quick glance over at Draco. Draco and the other fourth year Slytherins were still staring over at them, as were many eyes in the Hall. Public bondings always gathered attention. The skin around Draco's eyes softened minutely as Harry looked at him. Harry couldn’t shake the image of Ginny and Luna leaving the Hall, hand in hand. He desperately wished his bonding would have been as easy and carefree as Ginny’s.

~*~

“Is everything okay, Harry?” Ron asked suddenly, his hands deftly setting up chess pieces in front of the pair of them. Hermione was out with Krum and Harry has decided to actually spend time with his best mate.

“What? Why do you ask?”

“You’ve just seemed off. We used to spend every night together, now it’s like I never see you. And I know I was a right prat this year, and it’s going to take time to get back to where we were. I just wondered if there was anything else going on.”

In that moment Harry desperately wanted to come clean, but knew he wasn’t ready yet. Ron wasn’t ready yet.

“This tournament has been awful,” He said instead. “Padfoot is convinced someone is after me. The shit at the Cup. Things are changing, you can feel it in the air.”

Ron nodded seriously, “Yeah. That’s a lot.”

“Are you all right?” Harry asked and Ron shrugged.

“Nothing to complain about.”

“For what it’s worth I think you’ve been handling the Hermione-Krum thing quite well.”

Ron blushed and looked determinedly at the chess board. “Don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Come on,” Harry scoffed. “I know I’ve got glasses, but I’m not blind.”

Ron blushed harder, his neck and ears turning bright red along with his cheeks, but shrugged. “It’s hard, but we’re – we’re not soul-mates. What right do I have to keep her from finding hers?”

Harry thought that was quite mature of Ron.

“Not everyone has one though. You can’t go your whole life searching.”

Ron shrugged again, Harry passively wondering if his shoulders were starting to hurt from the motion, “I know. It’s just growing up with my parents being bonded, it created this dream, ya know? Ever since Ginny bonded it’s made it feel real. It’s hilarious that the youngest Weasley bonded first. Gives me hope I’ll be next. It’s just like, I really always thought it’d be Hermione. I don’t really see anyone but her. My soul-mate is going to have to smack me across the face for me to notice them I think.”

Harry laughed, “I’m just saying, just because you aren’t soul-mates, doesn’t mean you can't be with her. Who knows, maybe you are and ‘your souls aren’t ready yet’.” Harry made air-quotes and Ron cackled loudly.

“I’m glad Ginny’s happy, but damn that girl is bonkers.”

Harry had to agree with him there.

“Have you given any thought to soul-mates?” Ron asked and Harry forced himself to school his features. He shrugged noncommittally.

“I’ve had more pressing thing to worry about, I guess,” Harry trailed off.

“Can’t argue with you there,” Ron agreed.

~*~

Hermione was a logical person. She thrived on order and when the pieces in a puzzle lined up. So when Hermione started noticing something off about her newest friend, she began her observation.

Normally Draco ate a muffin or scone with his morning tea. Draco was largely a morning person so he was often the liveliest of his group at breakfast. Hermione noticed that for three straight breakfasts, Draco ate only half of his pastry and was significantly more muted. On the fourth day Draco received post at breakfast. On this day he only tore apart his muffin, and barely actually consumed more than a few bites.

During the few classes Hermione had with Draco, he was also acting significantly out of character. On the same day he received the letter Draco fudged three translations in Ancient Runes.

“Just handing me the top spot today, aren’t we?” Hermione asked primly as she handed him back his work. Professor Babbling had conveniently paired them up for proof-reading, as she often did since Draco and Hermione were far ahead of the rest of the class in their ability.

“Fuck off, Granger,” Draco bit off, refusing to meet her eyes.

Something was definitely off. Draco was hiding something.

Hermione scrawled ‘What is wrong?’ in runes across the parchment for their next translation. She handed the note over, quickly translating the passage they were supposed to be scribing and watched Draco’s face as he puzzled out her words. His eyes narrowed at the message. He scrawled back a few runes and they swapped again.

‘Nothing. Leave it.’

Hermione glared at him. He rolled his eyes and slid another piece of parchment at her.

‘Please.’

Hermione sighed. ‘Later’ she sent him then went back to translating the passage. Her mind was spinning with the possibilities of what could be upsetting Draco.

Even later on in Potions, normally a class where Draco flourished, he was withdrawn.

Hermione barely stopped Neville from putting butterfly wings instead of moth’s wings into their potion. Unfortunately in front of them, Ron made the same mistake. His and Harry’s potion crackled violently, like tossing water onto boiling oil and Snape swooped in.

Hermione noticed more often than not that Draco would somehow intervene before Ron or Harry made a mistake, either narrating loudly what he was doing, sending Harry a signal through their bond, or throwing the correct ingredient at them. Hermione had to hand it to him, he somehow did it all with the same attitude he had handled Harry with since first year. If she hadn’t known better, she would have never noticed anything amiss. Although, to be fair, her classmates were not the most observant group of people. No one had noticed Lupin becoming sick once a month at the same phase of the moon last year, even when Snape had practically screamed it at their faces.

Snape bullied Harry and Ron for their blunder and Hermione watched Draco’s knuckles turn white around the handle of his knife as he chopped Gurdyroot into equal pieces.

“Professor Snape, will we be missing our double with you because of the task?” Draco asked loudly, distracting Snape from his belittlement of Ron and Harry.

“Yes, Mr. Malfoy, you unfortunately will.”

“That’s rubbish,” Draco sighed, like it was the worst news he had ever heard. “Oi, Potter, best hope that this task has nothing to do with Potions.”

Snape seemed satisfied that Harry was still getting made fun of by someone, and moved back to his desk.

“Don’t worry Malfoy, it doesn’t,” Harry called back. “Best bundle up for it though; I know how you Slytherins get when the weather isn’t absolutely perfect.”

Harry was referencing the Quidditch match the Slytherins had finagled themselves out of the previous year.

“Why suffer ourselves when we can make others do it?” Draco asked. “Honestly Weasel, can you even read?” He asked as Ron once again was about to add the wrong thing.

“Flies, then Gurdyroot,” Hermione hissed and Harry hastened to listen and add the correct thing.

Draco made a show of every step of the potion from then on, loudly instructing each move like he was teaching a small child.

“I’m going to stir clockwise, now. No the other way,” He chastised.

The Slytherins found the whole thing hilarious and the Gryffindors were annoyed.

“Look Malfoy –“ Ron burst, obviously embarrassed.

“Is there a problem, Mr. Weasley?” Snape snapped from his desk, silencing Ron immediately.

Draco carried on with his ‘lesson’ and Harry and Ron were forced to silently take the instruction.

Hermione was just glad Ron and Harry would at least complete their potion correctly. She also knew that while Harry looked annoyed on the outside, he absolutely loved the interaction with Draco, even if it were under false pretences. The show seemed to distract Draco for what was bothering him, at any rate. As far as Hermione concerned it was a win-win.

She just wished she knew exactly what was going on.

Chapter Text

Draco trekked across the grounds, questioning who the fuck thought a task in February should include the Lake. Whoever they were, they were getting paid far too much in his opinion.

“Are they trying to kill the champions? Like honestly, I understand dragons, but swimming in the Lake? This is stupid,” Pansy complained.

“Waste of a Potions class, that’s for sure,” Draco agreed. He had cast a warming spell on his cloak already, but was getting more and more nervous as the Task got closer, there was no way around how cold he was going to be during the Task. He was sure the gillyweed would work, but there was still a lot that could go wrong.

“Couldn’t pay me to swim in the Lake right now,” Theo commented.

“Fuck that,” Blaise spit through shivering teeth.

They got close to the stands and Draco burst out laughing.

“Are we seriously going to be staring at the water?” The stands all faced the water but nothing would there to project what was happening like at the World Cup. “This is such a fucking joke.”

They filed into the stands, and waited for the Task to begin. Draco could see a white tent like at the First task that he presumed the champions were waiting in. Finally, they filed out after Dumbledore and the rest of the Tournament organizers.

“Welcome to the Second Task of the Triwizard Tournament! Last night someone near and dear to the Champions was taken. They will have one hour to retrieve them from the Black Lake, or it will be gone forever!”

Draco could feel Harry’s anxiety flare at the words. Draco couldn’t stop himself from rolling his eyes. They could not kidnap children; they’d been over this. He was still at a loss. Apparently, Ron and Hermione had been called to Dumbledore’s office last night. Draco had been thankful no one had even attempted to approach him, but both the egg’s clue and just now they had said just one person would be taken.

“At the sound of the cannon, please enter the water and retrieve your lost person!”

A boom echoed and all four champions hastened to the water’s edge and waded in. Harry paused to swallow his handful of gillyweed, then waded all the way into the water. Draco could not contain a quiet gasp as he felt his lower extremities become soaked in the chill. It was like before, like he was experiencing the cold second hand, but this water was insane. Draco felt like his legs were being stabbed by tiny needles. The transformation began and as Harry stood out of the water Draco felt the odd and incredibly uncomfortable sensation of growing gills. The skin on his neck felt as though it were tearing.

“Draco, love, could you cast a warming spell? I’m frigid.”

Draco forced himself to nod, distracting himself from what Harry was experiencing. He cast the spell and felt some slight relief as the air heated around them.

Draco felt a tightness in his chest like when he would hold his breath until Harry dove the rest of the way beneath the water and the feeling disappeared. Draco figured he must be using his new gills. At the very least, the gillyweed had worked. Unfortunately, the icy child from the water was covering his entire body now. Draco wasn’t sure if Harry was uncomfortable because his emotions were focused, but all Draco could think about was how bloody cold he was.

Draco had hoped the Second Task would be simpler and less anxiety inducing, but feeling what Harry was going through but not knowing what was happening was worse.

Draco felt something grabbing at his ankles and limbs at one point and barely kept himself from grabbing at the small blooms of pain. About 45 minutes into their pointless observation Draco felt strong hands grabbing at him. Draco’s mind whirled with what Harry could be experiencing, he assumed he had made it to the Merpeople.

“This is a weird form of punishment,” Pansy complained. “I’m so bloody bored.”

“Who’s coming up first, do you think?”

“Krum for sure, I’ve seen him diving off the ship to practice,” Blaise commented.

Suddenly there was an ear shattering scream as Fleur was pulled onto the shore. Draco hadn’t been paying attention to know how she got there.

“Let me go!” She screamed; her voice heavily accented. “You took my sister; I must get her! Let me go!” She fought against where Madame Maxime was clutching her. The exposed skin of Fleur’s forearms and calves were covered in red welts and the wet suit they had all been wearing was torn in places.

“You are injured, we will go get her once you have been healed.”

“You said I would lose her!” Fleur screeched, this time in French. “I do not care about myself! Let me go!”

“What is she saying, Draco?” Theo asked, although Pansy could have also answered the question.

“She’s pleading with them to let her go back in the water. Apparently, they took her sister.”

“Isn’t her sister, like, not even school aged? I saw her arrive yesterday,” Pansy asked, her face pinched.

“That’s fucked,” Theo said in disgust.

Fleur had been successfully pulled away from the shore, but not quite to the tent. She was still cursing at the Headmistress and Madame Pomfrey in rapid French.

A few minutes later a splash was heard, and everyone cheered as Cedric and Cho surfaced about 100 feet from shore. Cho was looking incredibly disoriented as Cedric pulled the two of them back to shore.

“Gabrielle!” Fleur cried over and over as she was healed, tears running down her face.

A few moments later a massive shark head surfaced, and Draco was shocked to see Hermione surface as well, gasping and recoiling from the shark until it morphed back into Krum’s features.

“She was what he would miss the most?” Blaise cackled.

Draco was getting increasingly worried. Harry had faded somewhat, he figured due to how far away he was, but the hour was up and the gillyweed was going to wear off. Draco swore to Merlin if Harry drowned because of Weasley he would never forgive him.

Draco felt a tightening in his chest and realized the gillyweed was wearing off. An uncomfortable feeling in his neck told him Harry’s gills were gone. Draco grabbed at Pansy’s hand, squeezing hard in an effort to not lose his mind. He felt Harry suffocating, his thoughts becoming overwhelmed with panic. Just as Draco was about to throw all caution to the wind and alert the tournament organizers, a series of splashes and a feeling of relief signaled that Harry had surfaced. Weasley and a small girl that Draco assumed was Gabrielle, shortly followed by Harry, made their way towards the edge of the Lake. Draco was also interested to see a crowd of Merpeople had surfaced and were swimming with Harry, Weasley, and Gabrielle. Draco released his crushing grip on Pansy’s hand, taking deep breaths to calm himself down and forget the feeling of Harry drowning.

“Of course, Potter saved the girl too. And fucking Weasley was the most important person to him? What a fucking poofter,” Blaise spit.

Draco froze. His blood boiled with rage at Blaise’s insult.

“Draco, can you cast another charm,” Pansy asked, throwing her arms around his neck, her eyes wide.

Draco blinked at her, but did as he was told. Blaise would pay later for what he had said that he was sure of.

“Sure, Pans,” He said in a measured tone.

“You’re a life saver.”

Even though Harry was out of the water and being shrouded in numerous blankets and Warming Charms, Draco was still frozen to the bone. Even his own Warming Charm did little to help. It was like when he would come in after being in the snow for hours, sometimes it felt like he’d never get warm. He hoped some Pepper-Up Potion would help once they could go inside. Draco barely heard the judges give their scores. Harry, Hermione, and Weasley were cuddling close together on the beach. Fleur was thanking Harry profusely, the small girl clinging to her, visibly shivering. Harry was nodding to her, but Draco could feel anger boiling through their bond. Draco didn’t quite understand what was bringing it on.

The crowd was finally dismissed after Harry tied for first place with Cedric for ‘outstanding moral fibre’.

“Once again Potter is shown favouritism,” Blaise complained as they hiked inside.

“Honestly, I think it’s majorly fucked up that they took that little girl. I’m glad Potter brought her up,” Pansy said, Draco was surprised that there was ascent through the group at her defiant words. Draco’s love for her grew slightly. He could also still feel the simmering anger through the bond and was incredibly curious as to what it was about.

“Draco do you have any Pepper-Up?” Pansy asked as they got inside.

“Er, yeah, would you care for some?”

“I would. I can feel a cold coming on.”

“Let’s go to my lab,” He said, once again thankful for all Pansy did for him.

They split off from the other Slytherins and made their way down to his lab.

“Are you all right?” Pansy asked as he cast the spells that would unlock the room.

“I’m fucking freezing, but Pepper-Up should help.”

“How’s your better half?”

“Angry,” Draco commented as he rifled through his stores.

“Angry?”

“Yeah, I don’t know why. From the moment he surfaced he’s been pissed.”

“Interesting,” Pansy mused as Draco chugged the Pepper-Up. Almost instantly he felt better. He rubbed at his Mark idly, hoping to send some comfort Harry’s way.

~*~

That night Draco did not sleep well. He woke up frequently to the feeling of suffocating. Over and over he was forced to relive the terrible moments when Harry couldn’t get to the surface fast enough. By the morning Draco was exhausted and incredibly short-tempered. The letter he received at breakfast only served to worsen his foul mood.

By lunch he was squinting at his food with one eye open due to the sharp throbbing pain in his temple. He shot a glance at Harry and saw him laughing with the other Gryffindors. Weasley seemed to be re-enacting something that everyone was actively listening to. Draco stabbed at his salad, utterly annoyed that he was the only one that had apparently been plagued with nightmares.

By the end of the day Draco had cast more curses than he had since September, most of his housemates were avoiding him at all costs due to his foul mood. He stomped up to their classroom and summoned several plates and goblets to break against the chalk board at the front of the room.

That was how Harry found him. Draco had been repairing the dishes for the third time and figured he wouldn’t be able to repair them again; they were barely holding on as it was.

“Draco? Who shit in your cornflakes this morning?” Harry asked, laughter in his voice.

Draco was not in the mood.

“Why the fuck did you stay?” Draco spit, turning around to pace in front of where Harry stood, loud cracks echoed through the room as he squeezed each knuckle with his thumbs.

“Excuse me?”

“I felt it, you got to the Merpeople way before you came up. Why did you stay behind? You could have fucking drowned! And don’t you dare say that you were fine. I felt when you stopped being able to breathe. Felt it again and again in my nightmares last night. Do you have any idea what it was like to be standing there, seeing all the other champions and literally feeling you suffocating? Feeling you fucking drown.”

Harry was silent for a while, the laughter gone from his face. Draco should have taken a moment to see how Harry was feeling, but all he could feel was his own anger.

“Was being a hero that fucking important to you?” He sneered.

Harry’s head snapped up and Draco saw a fire in them that he hadn’t seen aimed at him in almost a year.

“It wasn’t about being a fucking hero! It was the fact that a little girl was tied to that goddamn statue and no one was coming to get her! No one was coming to save her! I wasn’t leaving her there!”

“She would have been fine!”

“Really? Can you fucking guarantee that?” Harry spit back.

“Because in my experience it doesn’t fucking work like that! You think the grownups will come and save you, but they don’t. You go years always feeling hungry and being hurt and you figure this must be how it is for people who look like me.

“You watch your best mate get beaten to shit by some stone chess piece and no one comes! Or you stare at the man who murdered your parents coming out of the back of your fucking professor’s head, and then he’s trying to choke you to death and you feel like your skin is melting off as you press your hands anywhere you can to get him to stop, you feel yourself suffocating and no one comes!

“You feel your best mate’s little sister growing colder and colder on the floor of some disgusting chamber with a snake taller than a house attacking you, and no one fucking comes to save you! You get bitten by that snake and feel acid flowing through your body, feel your organs slowly, agonizingly shutting down one by one. Then you tell your best mate’s little sister to go, even if that means dying alone in the literal sewer, so she doesn’t have to watch someone just a year older than her die. No one fucking comes! A fucking bird comes before any grownups do! So, no I wasn’t leaving that little girl down there! I’d do it a-fucking-gain. I’m sorry you had to feel that, but I was not leaving her there!”

Harry screamed the words at him, and Draco felt the pure unadulterated anger and rage flowing through the bond. This is what Harry must have been mad about the day before.

“It wasn’t about being a hero; I thought you knew me better than that.” Harry whispered the last words and Draco felt the hurt flow through.

Draco didn’t say anything, just stared at Harry in horror.

“Harry, I –“Draco broke off, he had no idea what to say. The anger that had surged through him the entire day had disappeared. He had always assumed Dumbledore had helped Harry through first and second year. He knew Harry and his friends always got into shit, but had thought it was just them being nosy and in the end, Dumbledore put a stop to it all. Harry had only been 11 and 12-years-old when he did that shit.

“You’re saying you fought the massive snake that had been petrifying people and it bit you when you did? How the fuck didn’t you die?” Draco asked.

Harry shrugged, “Fawkes came and cried on me.”

“Fawkes? Isn't that Dumbledore’s phoenix?”

“Yeah, him.”

“Wait, did you call his phoenix a bird?” Draco asked and Harry burst out laughing.

“That’s what you’re concerned about right now?!” Harry asked, exasperated.

“It’s the only thing my brain can comprehend right now, because the idea of a 12-year-old just accepting the fact that he was going to die alone in the dungeons of his school isn’t getting through currently. I know you’re furious with me, and I deserve it, but can I hug you, please?”

Harry rolled his eyes at him, and pulled Draco roughly against his chest. “Of course, you fucking can. I’m not furious with you, really, I’m just furius in general. I also don’t like it when people yell at me, I get sort of defensive.”

“I shouldn’t have said you were doing it to be a hero. It was just so fucking terrifying to feel you drowning. It’s all I could dream about last night.”

Harry grasped at his back, one hand coming up into his hair. “I’m sorry, I can’t imagine what that must have been like.”

“Stop apologizing to me, I’m in the wrong here. For the record, I agree it was completely fucked up for them to bring Gabrielle into it. Fleur was fighting tooth and nail to get back into the Lake. Cursing at them in French. It was kind of terrifying.”

“Good, I’m glad. What you said wasn’t okay, but I also didn’t consider that you felt what it was like there at the end. I can’t imagine how agonizing this last task must have been.”

“Staring at the water, freezing my bollocks off, and feeling every little thing that happened to you but having no reference to what it may be, definitely wasn’t very fun. I have to admit.”

“Something else has been bothering you. I’ve felt it the past few days and thought it was the Task, but it’s something else isn’t it?”

Draco froze. He had been sure that he had been blocking Harry from feeling that. He had also hoped Hermione wouldn’t say anything. He would have to investigate his mental shields soon. “Did Hermione say something?”

“What, no, what are you talking about? Draco, what are you keeping from me?” Harry asked, pulling away slightly to lock eyes with him. Draco wanted to lie, but knew it was fruitless. Harry would find out sooner or later.

“Er, Father is coming to see me at the next Hogsmeade weekend.”

Harry frowned, “What does that mean?”

Draco bit his lip, “He’s not pleased with me. I’ll leave it at that.”

“What, what do you mean? What have you done? He hasn’t even seen you since the summer.”

Draco shrugged, “Father keeps tabs on me. He’s not pleased that he’s gotten word that I’m not living up to his standards. His threats aren’t getting through over paper so he’s coming to see me. I’m not keen on seeing him, especially since he’s coming alone. He’s normally bearable when Mum comes with, but he made it very clear it’s just him.”

“What standards?! You’re still doing really well in your classes, we don’t have Quidditch, what else is there?”

Draco fixed him with a look, “Don’t worry about it. It doesn’t matter. I’ve made my decisions now I have to deal with the consequences.”

“I just don’t understand, and don’t tell me it doesn’t matter. You’re terrified.”

“It’s one thing to defy my father when he isn’t here, it’s another to think about facing him. I’m just nervous. It’ll be fine. It’s one lunch.”

“How are you defying him? No one knows about us.”

“Harry, I don’t curse Muggleborns anymore, okay? I don’t call them names I’m supposed to. I don’t make Greg and Vince beat the shit out of them. I don’t run the Slytherin Common Room like I’m supposed to. I spend barely any time with my House. I let a girl who I am not betrothed to or bonded to cover me in love bites, and I don’t heal them. I’m supposed to have more decorum than this. I’m supposed to be the perfect Pureblood gentleman. I am breaking almost every one of my father’s expectations.”

“He expects all of that of you?” Harry asked, his voice soft.

“He’s also furious I haven’t bonded. He organized for me to touch hands with every suitable Pureblooded girl the moment we were all the correct age. It’s a massive thorn in his side than ‘I’m being stubborn’.”

“Draco, I had no idea. I wish you would have said something, I could have helped. I don’t have to leave love bites; we don’t have to lock ourselves up here as much as we do.”

Draco sighed and dragged Harry over to the couch, pulling him against his chest as they cuddled. “I haven’t told you for a reason. I like what we have. It’s not a loss. Cursing Muggleborns was so fucking stupid, it’s so juvenile. There’s no point spending time with people who I no longer share the same ideals with. I still get to see Pansy and Theo loads, I just don’t have to fake niceties with people I dislike. The only thing I hate is that people think I’m with Pansy. I can barely stand the charade we put on. It makes me feel gross. I feel like I’m cheating on you.”

“Don’t. You aren’t,” Harry said immediately.

Draco didn’t say anything, just readjusted so his head was on Harry’s chest. He listening to the soothing sound of Harry’s heartbeat and the feeling of his fingers carding though his hair. Slowly, Draco felt himself drift off into the sleep he had been robbed of the night before.

Chapter Text

“Best of luck today, Draco,” Pansy whispered as they parted in the Entrance Hall.

Draco forced a smile, “Thank you, but I’ll be fine.”

Pansy smiled at him, quickly kissing his forehead before heading back to the Common Room. He assumed she was abstaining from the trip simply to avoid his Father. Draco sighed and turned to exit the Castle. He had just made it outside when he felt himself being hauled backward into the shadows next to the front doors. Everyone outside was too excited at the aspect of going into Hogsmeade to notice.

“What the – ” Draco muttered.

“Shh, it’s me,” Hermione whispered from where she hid. “I’m sorry, but I just needed to tell you something before you went down.”

“What is so urgent?” He asked quickly, glancing around again, no one looked their way.

“You can call me a Mudblood today if you need to. I don’t care. Whatever you need to do to keep your father from catching on or doing something.”

Draco sighed, but again forced a smile, “I appreciate it, but Father has made up his mind. Nothing I say or do is going to make him happy. I won’t allow him to figure out about my soul-mate, I assure you.”

“That’s not what I’m worried about,” Hermione frowned.

“Get going, and stop worrying about me. I will be fine.”

Hermione frowned more deeply, but listened to him, casting a glance around the corner before darting out and catching up to a group of Ravenclaws.

Draco waited a few moments before striding out as well and making his way towards Hogsmeade. He was to meet Father at the Three Broomsticks, at least it was somewhere public. Hopefully that meant he would only be verbally punished. Draco tried to stuff down the anxiety brewing inside him. His words to Hermione had been honest. There was nothing he could do to please his Father. This year had made that obvious. He had written every letter, had corresponded with all the people his Father had asked, his marks were perfect, he was apprenticing with Severus. None of that mattered in the eyes of his Father. The only thing he cared about is if he was bullying Muggleborns, if he bonded, if he was flaunting his money and reputation enough.

Draco trudged down the Main Street and threw open the door of the Three Broomsticks. Father was already seated at a table away from the draft of the door. Draco would have preferred a booth but knew his Father loathed the indignity of ‘scooching’ into a booth, so he wasn’t surprised by the choice.

“Sir,” Draco greeted, bowing his head slightly.

“Draco, sit,” Father commanded.

Draco did as he was told, carefully pulling the chair out so it didn’t screech across the ground. Draco could feel the anger swirling around his Father almost physically. Today was not going to go well.

“How is Mother?” Draco asked as their drinks were set down in front of them. His Father had ordered a dark whiskey for himself and a Butterbeer for Draco.

“She is well, she regretted being unable to join us this afternoon,” Father said in a way that made it clear he blamed Draco for this. Like his behaviour had been so deplorable that he had forced his Mother not to come.

“Please give her my love.”

Draco took a sip of his Butterbeer, as his Father took a sip of his own drink. Draco stared at the amber liquid and wondered how awful it must taste. He preferred his own whiskey chilled on the occasion he could have it, but his Father believed clinking was improper and only drank it chilled when alone in his study. Occasionally he would cast a cooling charm on his glass, but found it burdensome to have to continue to cast it.

“I have gotten some questionable insight from your peers, Draco, care to explain yourself?” Father drawled; his tone frigid.

So, they were getting straight into it then? Draco hoped Harry’s meeting with Sirius was going better than his meeting, at any rate. Draco was mostly just thankful Harry wouldn’t be anywhere near the Three Broomsticks while Father was present. He had been overjoyed when Harry had told him his godfather had organized a visit for this particular Hogsmeade trip.

“I am sure I do not know what you mean, Father,” Draco drawled back at him. Draco knew this day would not be ending well for him, what use was it trying to please him anymore?

“I have been told you have cleaned up your vocabulary. You have not been joining in on putting Mudbloods in their place. If I did not know better, I would say you were growing soft. Becoming a Muggle-lover. What has gotten into you? Or should I say whom?” Father spit.

Draco shrugged, “Just seems beneath me to waste time on those that do not matter. I’d rather spend time with Pansy or in the lab with Severus.”

Father narrowed his eyes at him, “You have an image to maintain and a family legacy to live up to. You should not be wasting time and sullying your reputation with someone you do not intend to marry. What changed there? You always swore you had no feelings for the Parkinson girl.”

“And casting foolish curses and belittling Muggleborns accomplishes that? Pansy isn’t my soul-mate, she’s just someone to pass the time,” Draco said flippantly, slightly pleased by the shade of red Father turned at his use of the word Muggleborn and his tone. He had entertained the thought of taking Hermione’s wishes to heart, but had decided against it. He was leaving it all on the table today. He was over being constantly anxious.

“You will not sully the Malfoy name,” Father snapped. “Things are changing and we will be among those honoured for our loyalty. You will ensure our legacy continues.”

Draco stared at his Father, turning over the words inside his head. He was interrupted from responding as Hermione, Ginny Weasley, and Luna Lovegood entered the pub. His eyes narrowed; Hermione had known he was meeting his Father here. What was she doing?

“Two Blood-Traitors and a Mudblood,” Father’s lip curled as he glared at them.

“Lovegood and Weasley just bonded,” Draco informed him, mostly just to see his reaction.

Father’s brow furrowed and he glared at them harder, which Draco hadn’t thought possible. “Abominations,” Father hissed and Draco couldn’t stop himself from rolling his eyes.

“You’ll give yourself wrinkles, you know,” He said gesturing to Father’s forehead.

Draco should have been more afraid with how angry he was making Father, but he had become so disenchanted. Father was a bully, nothing more, nothing less.

Suddenly, Draco had had enough, “Answer me this, if you would, Father. Why do you expect me to be a leader of my peers, but then want me to follow and be a part of your little ‘club’,” Draco asked using his fingers to make air quotes.

“You. Have. Forgotten. Your. Place.” Father punctuated each word, his voice so low Draco could barely hear it. “It is time I reminded you.”

Draco’s heart fell into the pit of his stomach. Dread filling him for what Harry was going to no doubt experience, he hoped his meeting with Sirius had ended up being far, far away.

Father set a firm hand on Draco’s shoulder, tossed a handful of gold onto the table, and steered Draco out of the pub. Draco knew there was no use resisting. Father would make sure he left, whether he liked it or not, and Draco wasn’t keen on being Imperiused today if he could help it.

Father did not slow his stride as he hauled Draco down the alleyway next to the Three Broomsticks and into the small, empty street behind it, normally only used for deliveries and to house the rubbish bins.

*********************

“You will be silent,” Father commanded. Draco barely had a moment to brace himself before he felt the Cruciatus hit him and he fell to his knees in agony. Draco bit down on his lip to keep from screaming, knowing it would only make Father angrier and the pain last longer. Father cast the curse in short spurts as to not leave lasting damage. Draco felt the cold seeping into his trousers as he knelt in the snow, barely able to keep himself from falling into a heap in the slush.

“You best think over your priorities before the next time I see you,” Father threatened. Draco thought the torture was over before he suddenly felt a different blinding pain than the one he had just experienced. The pain encompassed his left cheek bone as Father struck him hard across the face with his cane. Stars burst across Draco’s vision and he let out an involuntary gasp as footsteps faded away from him.

Draco did fall to his side now, warm blood flowing down his face and into the snow, staining it crimson. Draco was reeling. Father did not normally leave physical marks. He had apparently royally infuriated him.

Draco lay there for awhile, uncaring as the right side of his face turned numb from the snow.

**********************

The sound of footsteps reached him and he blinked up at the grey sky to see it blocked by a blur of bushy brown hair and dark skin.

“Draco, Draco, can you hear me?” Hermione’s panicked voice filtered through.

“Shouldn’t be here,” Draco chided, realizing he was more affected by the Cruciatus than he was accustomed.

“I’m not going bloody anywhere, you’re hurt!”

“I’ll be fine,” He attempted to tell her but wasn’t sure how clearly it came out.

“You’re absolutely freezing,” Hermione said her voice climbing several octaves. She began melting the snow around them, drying Draco’s clothes, and setting a Warming Charm. Draco’s eyesight was beginning to focus as he watched Hermione unwind the scarf she had been wearing and scoop snow into it from a few feet away before pressing it to his face.

“I’m sorry, I’m rubbish at healing. I’ve never learned,” She said as Draco winced at the cold. His wits were slowly coming back to him. His face throbbed painfully and Draco didn’t know how Harry hadn’t already come to find him. He hoped he hadn’t been too affected. Hermione gently pulled him into a seated position when she pressed the snow-scarf to his face, but she still kneeled beside him.

“Thanks,” He finally said once he felt able to accomplish speech.

“Draco, what the hell happened here? I saw your father leave the alley, but you weren’t with him. There was some blood...”

Draco snorted, regretting the movement immediately.

“I’m not up to his standards, so he reminded me of my place. Nothing I’m not used to. It’s fine. You absolutely need to go. I’m well enough to get back to the Castle. Go find Harry. I’ll go to the classroom. Please,” Draco begged. He wanted to be alone. Hermione had seen and done enough.

Hermione bit her lip, but got to her feet. “If you aren’t back in an hour, I’ll come find you. Loudly,” She warned and he almost smiled. Damn Gryffindors.

“Fine,” Draco allowed and watched as she ran back down the alley. Draco sighed and let the tears he had been stifling, loose.

Today he had seen both sides of his life collide in stark contrast. The life he grew up with, pomp and circumstance and duty. Never being good enough for his father. The pain he was forced to endure to remind him of who was in charge. Hatred and anger and the thirst for power.

Then the life he had made for himself; a world of love and those who truly cared about him for who he was. With people who would worry about him when he didn’t return, who picked up the pieces and healed him. Not to have a favour later on, but because they were worried about him. Lucius had said he had forgotten his place and had to figure out his priorities. Lucius had done nothing but absolutely cement Draco’s decision on what mattered. Who mattered.

Draco took a few deep breaths, and wiped his face with Hermione’s scarf. The bleeding from his cheek had stopped, her scarf stained with his blood. Draco noted what the scarf looked like so he could purchase her a new one before hauling himself to his feet. Draco pulled his wand and cleaned his clothes. He strode down the alley before ducking back into the Three Broomsticks, heading straight to the loo. Draco spelled the door shut, finding the room blessedly empty.

Draco looked into the mirror. His face was an absolute mess. His cheekbone an angry red, a cut about two inches wide present right below his eye. Draco mopped up the stained blood until just the bruise and cut remained. He was going to have a massive black eye.

“Good,” Draco muttered. He was done hiding what Lucius did to him. Everyone could know that Lucius did this. Draco was not covering for him any longer.

Draco left the loo and made his way back to the Castle. His friends would not be expecting him any time soon knowing he had a meeting with Lucius. Draco went straight to the classroom. It was empty when he arrived and Draco collapsed down onto the couch after renewing its transfiguration. Last thing he needed was it changing back to a desk while he laid on it. His face and body ached. Draco lay there with his eyes shut, feeling Harry’s emotions get closer and closer. He could only really detect anxiety and worry with an edge of anger. The door flew open with a crack and Harry charged through it, followed closely by Hermione. Draco passively wondered how they got rid of Weasley.

“Draco!” He yelled, falling to his knees next to the couch. Draco knew he should pull himself into a more dignified position, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. He felt completely and utterly exhausted.

“I’m okay,” Draco whispered, staring into Harry’s eyes. Momentarily lost in the deep green of the irises. Draco should probably be worried about how easily he lost his train of thought, but at the moment it wasn’t at the top of his list. He noticed his cheek must be swelling because it was getting harder to see out of his left eye.

“What did he do to you? I’m sorry I didn’t find you sooner. It took me a while to get back to the village,” Harry was slightly out of breath. Draco figured he must have sprinted the whole way there. Harry reached up towards Draco’s face and Draco caught his hand before he could touch him.

“Don’t heal it,” Draco said. “I want everyone to see what Lucius Malfoy does to his son.”

Harry frowned, “What can I do to help?”

“You need the post-Cruciatus potion,” Hermione said.

“That’s what that was right?” Harry asked.

“I’m sorry if it was excruciating for you,” Draco murmured. “Yes, Lucius cast it a few times. I’ll be fine. This is not the first time he has done it. I think he might have put a little extra into it though. Although it might just be the amount of time since I was subjected to it. I didn’t go home for Christmas as I normally do.”

Harry looked absolutely livid, “I’ll fucking kill him.”

Draco smiled weakly, “Not sure that would help anything at the moment. I wouldn’t say no to some ice for my face if it could be managed.”

Almost instantly, Harry wandlessly transfigured a pillow on the ground into what looked like a blue cushion the size of Draco’s hand. It had a weird lid on it but was cold as Harry gently settled it against Draco’s cheek.

“It’s a muggle ice pack, it’s all I could think of,” Harry apologized and Draco smirked.

“I’m not particular about what it looks like if it gets the job done.”

“Harry did you just perform wandless magic?” Hermione burst and Draco laughed out loud, frowning at the ache in his cheek. He was glad some things were still the same.

“He does that,” He choked out.

“Only when it comes to Draco, apparently,” Harry clarified.

“You should let us take you to the Hospital Wing,” Hermione said standing near Draco’s feet.

Draco waved her off, “I promise I’ll be fine. I have potion I can take in my lab should the need arise. I’m just tired. My cheek will bruise and I’ll have a wicked black eye. Feel free to tell everyone it was Lucius. I can’t wait until Severus finds out.”

Hermione bit her lip and Harry set his face onto Draco’s shoulder.

“Take your glasses off if you’re going to do that, you’ll injure your face,” Draco chastised and Harry chuckled wetly. “Oh don’t cry over me, you sap, I’m fine. Don’t get your knickers in a twist.”

Harry laughed again and swatted at him lightly, “I’ll cry if I want to. Hermione says it’s important to release your feelings when you have them.”

“I have said that,” She confirmed.

“I’ll take the bloody potion if it makes you stop crying. I just don’t want to waste it. Seriously I am okay,” Draco assured them, forcing himself to sit up. He was obviously coming off as too weak, lying down. “Please don’t waste your tears on me,” He said as he wiped at Harry’s face gently.

“You’re annoying,” Harry whinged, “You lose your mind if I so much as stub my toe. I can’t be a little upset when you were beaten and tortured this afternoon? Seems slightly hypocritical.”

Draco shrugged, “I’m allowed to, and you aren’t.”

Harry narrowed his eyes at him and Draco heard Hermione snort.

“I’ll let you two have some alone time, I’ll go run interference with Ron. I’m glad you’re okay, Draco,” She said briefly touching his shoulder before quickly leaving the room. Draco was thankful that Hermione had more tact that most people.

“She’s a good one,” He said to Harry, who smiled wetly.

“Draco Malfoy friends with a Muggleborn, who would have seen that coming?” Harry asked.

Draco smirked, falling back onto the couch, letting Harry gently press the ice to his face. “I’m a betting man, but I’m not sure I would have taken the odds.”

“Can I do anything else?” Harry asked.

“Get up here,” Draco whispered, moving to the side so Harry could fit next to him. Harry did as he was asked, pulling Draco against him.

Draco closed his eyes to the soothing feeling of Harry lightly tracing his mark.

He definitely picked the right side.

Chapter Text

Draco’s face ached. He looked into the mirror he had just summoned. His eye had darkened overnight, as he thought it would. Draco vanished the mirror and braced himself for the onslaught today would bring. He was doing this. He wasn’t hiding it anymore. He was going to shatter the illusion over the Malfoys’ perfect façade.

“Best to get it over with,” Draco muttered, spelling his uniform on and getting out of bed.

“Morning Draco, how was –” Theo blanched as his eyes landed on Draco’s face.

“Please tell me you picked a fight with a Gryffindor yesterday.”

“Nope,” Draco popped the ‘p’ and finished tying his tie. He hated how tightly it cinched if he tried to tie it by magic.

At this point the rest of the Fourth year Slytherins were staring at Draco, waiting for him to speak.

“Lucius was not pleased with me,” Draco shrugged, like it didn’t matter, and finished getting ready for the day.

“Want me to get you a Healing Draught?” Vince asked tentatively.

“No thank you, Vince. I’ll let it heal on its own. If Lucius wants to create marks on my face, then I will oblige him and leave them there.”

The boys shared looks, but didn’t say anything else. Draco hoped they included his refusal to use anything but Lucius now when referring to his father in their letters home. It was a clear sign of disrespect. A clear sign that Draco no longer respected his father as patriarch. He expected a letter by the end of the week, if not Tuesday.

“You all coming to breakfast?” He asked and they scrambled to follow him. Definitely eager to see reactions. They met Pansy in the Common Room. Her eyes bulged at the sight of him.

“Morning,” Draco said offering his arm. She clung to it.

“Didn’t go well then?” She asked needlessly.

“Went swimmingly.”

Pansy frowned. “Are we stopping at your lab?”

“No,” Draco said shortly. Her lips drew into a thin line.

“Okay then.”

Draco felt eyes and whispers follow him as they moved towards the Great Hall. The whispers increased tenfold as they entered. Draco strode towards their table with confidence. He had barely began steeping his tea when Severus placed a hand on his shoulder and practically drug him from the Hall.

“Can I help you?” Draco asked, raising his brow, he fought off a wince from the ache that ran through his face at the movement.

“Who?”

“See for yourself,” Draco challenged, lowering his mental shields. He was silent as Severus dove into his thoughts. Draco only allowed him to see the very last Crucio and the hit before forcing him out. No need letting him see any of the events afterward.

Severus’ lip curled and Draco was sure he had never seen his Godfather this upset. He had figured Severus knew about how Lucius parented, but perhaps he hadn’t. That or actually seeing the evidence was damning enough.

“Is there a reason you aren’t healing this?”

Draco knew Severus would have preferred he did, he loathed when people used injury for pity and attention.

Draco repeated what he had said to Vince, watching Severus’ face twitch at the use of his father’s given name.

“I see.”

“Can I go back to breakfast now?”

Severus inclined his head and Draco nodded, returning to the Hall.

Draco felt a stab of anger pulse through and realized Harry had arrived to breakfast. Draco steadfastly kept himself from shooting a glance his way. He knew seeing the injury would upset his soul-mate, but it was a necessary evil.

There was one person Draco was actually worried about upsetting and that was his mother. He didn’t think she knew the extent of what Lucius did. She definitely knew Lucius punished him, but he didn’t think she was aware of the severity. The society women were going to have a field day with this information, and it was going to look badly on her.

Draco tried not to think about that too much. Lucius had made his decisions and he would have to deal with the fallout.

Draco just hoped his mother would still talk to him after this.

~*~

The rest of the weekend past without incident. Draco kept an eye for Hercules, but expected it would take at least a day for his classmates to write letters and for there to be a turnaround. Instead he busied himself with another task he had left unattended. Getting revenge on Blaise for his homophobic comment. His first instinct had been to create a potion, but Blaise knew he was the best Potion-maker in their year and would immediately suspect him. There was one other place to go, and Draco hoped they’d give him the time of day.

Draco leaned against a wall a corridor over from the Gryffindor Common Room and waited. He had written to Harry and he had let him know that the Weasley twins normally went down to the kitchens at about this time on Sundays, they would have to pass him to get there.

It didn’t take long as the twins made their way towards him, muttering quietly to each other.

“Oi, Weasleys,” Draco called and their gazes whipped upward, faces darkening when they realized who called for them.

“What do you want, Malfoy?” The one on the right said. Draco noticed both of their glances kept straying to his eye. Draco squinted his eye slightly, playing up the pain there. If he could use this for pity from the bleeding-heart Gryffindors, he would.

“Calm down, this is a business venture. I am in need of your services.”

The two of them exchanged a curious glance before stepping closer.

“What is it you’re looking for?”

“A prank.”

“If you think we’re going to prank our own house on the bid of a Slytherin, you’re bonkers.”

“No, it’s a Slytherin. Blaise Zabini, if you’re familiar.”

Twin smirks raised on their faces, “You want us to prank one of your housemates?”

“If I remember correctly, he did insult your mother at the beginning of the year. Two birds, one stone, as they say.”

“What do we get out of it?”

“Name your price. Free-reign on the prank, just nothing permanently damaging, and if you could avoid fallout to the rest of my house, I’ll pay higher. I also require your discretion. The whole point is that this does not lead back to me in any way.”

The twins exchanged a glance, “Give us a moment.”

Draco nodded and they retreated a few steps down the hall, murmuring quietly to each other. A few moments later they returned.

“We accept.”

Draco grinned, wincing past the pain in his cheek, “Brilliant.”

~*~

The next day Draco had a message in his journal.

The twins have decided to test their products on Slytherin. I would avoid any pastries if I were you.

Draco didn’t mind that the twins didn’t care about the fallout in the rest of his house. All the less reason for him to be suspected. Draco drew a small sun and hurried his way to breakfast. Draco figured he would rather be hungry than sorry, and only sipped at his tea. After the events over the weekend he knew his housemates wouldn’t comment on his lack of appetite. He assumed the twins were using the filling on the pastries to carry the product, but they had guaranteed Blaise would be pranked, so he was treating every piece of food as if it were contaminated.

Pansy was fixing tea when he sat down and he noticed she had no other food on her plate, he leaned down nestling into her neck as if he was kissing her.

“Only tea today,” He muttered and she looked at him in confusion as he pulled away. Across from him Blaise was biting into ham and cheese croissant, still half asleep.

It didn’t take long until suddenly half of the Slytherin house was exploding into various human-sized canaries. Draco watched as Blaise exploded in feathers, but instead of the customary yellow that the rest of the house were sporting, his were a wonderful rainbow of colours. Draco hadn’t said what Blaise did to piss him off, but the colours were perfectly fitting. Draco assumed the colours were simply so he stuck out the hardest.

“What the fuck!?” Draco cursed, looking around wildly. Similar sentiments to what Draco had said were echoed up and down the table. The Gryffindors, along with most of the rest of the school were roaring with laughter. Draco briefly found Harry’s eyes, revelling in the joy lighting in them and flowing through the bond.

“Introducing Canary Creams by Weasley’ Wizard Wheezes! Available by order through us!” The Twins yelled, standing on top of the Gryffindor table.

“Mr. and Mr. Weasley my office immediately!” McGonagall shouted over the din, her voice carrying in that way that was unique to a professor that had taught for most of their adult life. They simultaneously bowed before hopping off the table and leaving the hall.

Already the first people to have exploded into feathers were moulting and returning to normal. The only one that wasn’t was Blaise. His rainbow plumage stubbornly held on. Many students were digging into breakfast, not caring about the prank, simply wanting food. Draco summoned a scone from the Gryffindor table and bit into it, hoping that their food would be safe.

“What did you do to the Weasleys?” Draco asked as he sipped at his tea. The rainbow-Blaise-canary was not able to respond with words, but did squawk irritably.

“As infuriating as it is, it’s quite advanced magic,” Theo commented as he picked at some eggs. He had moulted once already.

“I bet you could get your father to agree to a betrothal with the youngest Weasley,” Pansy teased and he glared at her.

“Last I checked she’s bonded. I could reach out to Daddy Parkinson to draw something up with the second youngest Weasley, if Draco concedes. Come to think of it, I believe all of the other Weasley children are unbonded. Take your pick,” Theo shot back and she flicked egg at him.

“Moulting gives you an attitude,” Pansy complained. “We should probably get to class. Blaise are you going to the Hospital Wing?”

Blaise was still stuck as a rainbow canary and seemed to be getting increasingly agitated by the fact he wasn’t changing back. Blaise squawked angrily, but abruptly got up from the table and stalked from the Hall.

“Who’s ruffled his feathers?” Draco asked and everyone around him laughed. They were just about to get up to leave when Hercules soared down and landed neatly in front of him. Draco plucked the note from his leg. “Get going Hercules, you don’t want any of this food.”

Hercules seemed to nod before setting off again. Draco pocketed the letter without another word.

Reading it was for another time, perhaps never.

Chapter Text

Harry watched as Draco strode into the Hall, anger filled him at the sight of the purple and black bruise shadowing his eye and cheek.

“Blimey, what happened to Malfoy?” Ron asked and Harry was relieved Hermione spoke up. He didn’t think he could answer Ron’s question without betraying himself.

“Apparently his father did that to him yesterday in Hogsmeade.”

“Oh fuck,” Ron commented, eyes wide. “That’s, er, that’s some shit.”

Harry was shocked at Ron’s reaction.

“I wonder what he did,” Harry forced out.

Ron frowned, “Unless he tortured and murdered a cat or something, I don’t quite think his dad should have done that.”

Harry gave Ron a look, “Just a few months ago you thought it hilarious that Moody beat him up.”

“That’s different. For his dad to have hit him like that, that’s messed up. Mum spanked me once when I was little, but you don’t hit your kids. Especially not once they’re old enough to go to school. That’s bang out of line,” Ron looked at Harry seriously, seeming like he wanted to say more. Harry wondered if Ron’s mind was drifting to the bars they had pulled off his bedroom window, or the letters pleading to send food if possible. He looked down at his eggs, hoping Ron would drop it. Harry was on edge already; he really didn’t want to talk about the Dursleys.

Ron’s thoughts were the overarching sentiment of the day. Everywhere he turned were whispers about Draco. Theories as to what could have possibly caused Lucius to give his son a black eye. Some said how they saw Draco and Lucius at the Three Broomsticks and Lucius had been upset over something. Harry overheard Ernie MacMillan speaking in scathing tones as to how a respectful pureblood patriarch could stoop so low.

Regardless the reason, Lucius Malfoy, would now find himself at the bottom of the social ladder.

~*~

The Canary explosion the following morning pretty much washed all talk of Draco or Lucius from the school. Everyone was instead marvelling over the magical brilliance of the Weasley twins. Blaise Zabini had returned to his normal self at dinner time. Harry was still wondering what Zabini had done to piss them twins off so badly, but wasn’t too bothered about the Slytherin’s misfortune.

Harry made his way to their classroom, eager to get some time with Draco. He had felt an overwhelming need to be near him since the Hogsmeade trip and also hadn’t gotten a chance to tell Draco about what he and Sirius had spoken about while there. He cast the spells needed to enter the room, and entered to find Draco already seated. He was working on an essay of some sort, his hair hanging down over one of his eyes as he bent over the parchment.

“Hey you,” Harry called as he entered and was rewarded with one of Draco’s relaxed smiles.

“Hey,” He called back, setting down his quill.

“Watcha working on?” Harry asked, setting down his things and collapsing into the chair next to him.

“Just a return letter to my mother.”

Harry bit his lip, “So she got word all ready?”

Draco snorted, “Of course she did. Pretty much every pureblood child in Slytherin, along with some other houses, wrote to their parents about it. As I expected.”

“What did she say?”

Draco rolled his eyes, “Not much. She apologized on Lucius’ behalf, saying ‘his frustration got away from him’. He hadn’t meant to hurt me the way he did. She can’t accept that her perfect husband isn’t so perfect. I’m going to ask her if he also hadn’t meant to cast the Cruciatus on me from the time I could ride a broom. I’m debating whether I should attach the memories with my letter so she can watch them in our Pensieve, or if she’ll just explain away those as well.”

“I’m sorry,” Harry said, reaching out to grasp Draco’s hand.

“It’s fine,” He said bitterly. “I didn’t expect her to come running to comfort me or anything. It just sucks.” He shook his head and looked up at Harry. “Did you enjoy the show this morning?”

Harry squinted at him, “What the Canary Creams? Yeah it was hilarious, glad you and Pansy were able to avoid it. I’m still wondering what Zabini did to Fred and George.”

Draco laughed out loud, his relaxed smile back on his face, “He didn’t do anything to them. There was a reason I asked you their schedule. He pissed me off. I paid them to play the prank on him.”

“You what?!” Harry burst, “That’s brilliant!”

Draco unbuttoned the top of Harry’s shirt, “He made a choice comment at the last task that I did not appreciate, I figured the best way to get back at him that wouldn’t trace back to me was with the Weasley twins. Obviously if not even you suspected, I’m probably in the clear.”

“Do I get to hear what he said?”

“It’s not worth repeating, it was homophobic. He should know better than to talk like that around me. Obviously, I’ve never come out officially to any of them, but it’s one of those unspoken things. I could have gotten back at him publicly and no one would have questioned it. He’s been away from high society too long; he’s forgetting his manners. His mother would curse his tongue if she knew what he said. I just didn’t feel like dealing with him being pouty towards me.”

“Well, then that makes it extra hilarious that he was stuck as a rainbow canary.” Harry’s eyes drifted up to Draco’s cheek. It was even more purple than the day before. He started to feel the anger that had been present the last couple weeks, and even worse after this past weekend, bubble up again.

Draco’s relaxed smile disappeared and Harry hated himself for being the reason.

“Sorry,” Harry bit off, standing up and pacing away from him.

“You’ve been getting angry more often than you used to,” Draco commented simply, without any accusation.

Harry sighed deeply, “I don’t understand why. I feel angry all of the time. I keep snapping at everyone, I screamed at you. I hate it.”

“First off, I screamed at you first. Second, have you spoken to Sirius about it?”

“Oh yeah, I actually have been meaning to tell you about that. The reason Sirius wanted to meet with me and why he came back is because he wants to train me. He’s still being paranoid and thinks someone is out to get me. He and Lupin are going to meet with me in the Shrieking Shack and teach me defence.”

Draco’s smile came back. “That’s great! I think it’s a brilliant plan! It’s about time an adult paid you some attention and worried about your well-being.”

“It’s going to cut in on our time to meet though,” Harry warned him to which Draco shrugged.

“That’s obviously not ideal, but I’d rather you get lessons from two competent wizards and be able to defend yourself. I think spending time with the two of them will do you good too. Also, I imagine I haven’t been helping with the anger. I’ve been pretty mad about things too. I’m sure it’s bleeding off on you.”

Harry frowned, “I don’t think so, it doesn’t feel like your emotions anyway. Besides, you haven’t been mad, you’ve been sad. And anxious.”

Draco stared at the floor and Harry felt the distinct cut off of Draco’s emotions stop flowing through the bond. Harry crossed the room to him, gently tilted Draco’s head upwards, forcing him to meet eyes with him.

“Hey, stop, none of that,” Harry chastised. Draco still didn’t drop the block and Harry frowned more deeply. “Please?” He asked weakly. Harry drug his thumb across Draco’s unhurt cheek.

“I don’t ever want you to block me out. You’re who has kept me sane through this year. I don’t know what I’d do without you. You put up with me, my crazy emotions, the Tasks. You’re friends with Hermione. You defend me, you’ve changed your whole life for me. Please don’t shut me out,” He pleaded. Draco bit his lip, still silent, but Harry felt his emotions flow back through.

“Look, I don’t know too much about relationships. I don’t know how my Aunt and Uncle are even still together. I don’t remember my parents much, but I have seen how Mr. and Mrs. Weasley love each other. I see how Dean and Seamus take care of one another. I’ve never felt this way towards anyone else before. I’m unsure about a lot of things nowadays, but I know I’m not unsure about you. I – I love you, Draco. I just needed you to know that.”

Draco stared at him in awe, he blinked rapidly, “Could you repeat that last bit again?” He said as he got to his feet, hands coming to Harry’s hips.

Harry’s eyes were glued to Draco’s, “Er, I wanted you to know that?”

Draco smirked, walking him backwards, “No, the bit before that.”

Harry felt his back hit the wall, “I love you?”

“Yes, that bit. Once more, please?” He asked, his lips ghosting up Harry’s neck.

“I love you, Draco.”

Draco pulled away slightly, sighing softly, his eyes closing for a moment. Harry could feel an overwhelming swirl of emotions flowing through.

“I love you too, Harry,” Draco whispered before bringing his lips against Harry’s in a bruising kiss. Harry gasped against his lips.

“What was that again?” He sighed and Draco chuckled softly.

“I love you so fucking much, Harry James Potter,” He declared, bringing his lips to press against Harry’s forehead before returning to his mouth again.

“Good, glad we’re in agreement,” Harry teased before pushing Draco backwards, immediately chasing after him and tackling him onto the couch.

Chapter Text

Harry excitedly made his way down the tunnel to the Shrieking Shack. Regardless of the fact that he’d been training for almost a month, he still got excited and filled with adrenaline each time he tread the path to the dilapidated house.

As he got closer, he could hear Sirius and Remus bickering. Harry was still getting used to calling him Remus and not Lupin, but it was a work in progress that Remus insisted upon.

Harry climbed the steps to the room they had been training in, grinning at the sight of Sirius and Remus.

“Harry!” Sirius boomed, holding his arms out and Harry ran forward for a quick hug.

“How are you?” Harry asked. When he had met Sirius in the cave over a month ago, he had been almost skin and bone. Now after a month of steady meals and being back around people. He was practically a brand-new man. He looked much more like the pictures from Harry’s parent’s wedding.

Remus was also looking a lot better than when he had been Harry’s professor. The bags under his eyes weren’t nearly as prominent, and he simply looked more alive.

“We’re well,” Remus answered, cutting over Sirius. “How about yourself?”

Harry’s mind flashed through the myriad of events that had plagued him. Lucius still refused to acknowledge what he had done, Draco’s mother seemed as if she believed Draco, but also didn’t want to outright defy her husband. Rita Skeeter had released an almost laughable article about a love triangle between himself, Hermione, and Krum. Draco had been annoyed he hadn’t been able to stop the article before it was published, but was trying to get Skeeter sacked on the grounds of writing about a minor without consent of the subject or a legal guardian. Harry’s scar had been aching more often. Sirius said there were whispers about Voldemort somehow returning and made Harry write him every time it ached.

Draco’s jaw was clenched more often than not now-a-days. His patience was also abnormally thin. He was snapping at his Housemates constantly, and was mostly quiet when Harry and he were able to spend time together. Harry attributed it to the stress and the more time Draco was spending with his Housemates. Harry had been busy most nights between school work, training, and trying to spend time with Ron and his other friends.

Ron had begun not taking Harry’s excuses for alone time very well after the Hogsmeade trip. Harry also secretly thought Ron didn’t quite believe Skeeter’s article was completely bonkers.

Regardless, Harry was beginning to get worried at how frequently Draco’s emotions were depressed or cut off entirely (another thing Harry loathed Draco was able to do). Harry was becoming more and more preoccupied with what they were going to do over the summer. He didn’t think either of them could stand being apart for the entire hols.

“I’m good,” Harry finally responded. Ignoring the look Sirius and Remus shared at his answer.

“Today we’re going to continue working on dodging, evading, and summoning or transfiguring things to block spells.”

Harry sighed loudly and Sirius chuckled.

“I know you don’t love what you’re learning, but right now your best chance at survival is going to be running away. You’ve got fast reflexes, but you won’t be able to out duel a Dark wizard whose only intent is to harm you.”

“I know, I know,” Harry waved him off. He understood the logic, but he still wished he was learning something more exciting than ‘run away’.

Harry spent the next hour dodging spells and trying to transfigure objects on the fly to block the curses he couldn’t dodge. He winced as a Stinging Hex collided with his leg and he tumbled to the floor, rolling to keep his momentum despite the pain and diving beneath a table he had conjured earlier.

“And break!” Remus called and Harry rolled onto his back, throwing his arms and legs wide in a starfish shape, gasping heavily. One great thing about the training sessions was that Harry was definitely exercising the anger inside him into a worthy outlet. Harry’s anger wasn’t nearly as frequent. These trainings definitely exhausted him.

“Fantastic job, Harry,” Remus praised handing a him a glass of water. Harry sat up and gulped greedily.

“Thanks,” he said once he had finished the glass. His thigh still ached from the Stinging Hex, but his shoulder, back and forearm were beginning to stop twinging from the other times he had failed to dodge in time. Harry hoped they hadn’t hurt Draco too badly.

“Honestly, you’re getting much more fluid on your summoning and dodging. A definite improvement.”

Harry nodded, “The magic is getting easier, I don’t have to concentrate as hard.”

“That’s a good thing, keep practicing summoning and transfiguring in your own time,” Sirius reminded him.

“I will,” Harry promised.

“You should probably get back to the Castle, Harry,” Sirius sighed. Sometimes he seemed as put-out as Harry that training was over.

“Probably,” Harry agreed, slowly getting to his feet. He pulled on the sweatshirt he had been wearing for the journey down to the Shrieking Shack.

“I’ll walk you,” Sirius insisted before transforming.

“See you soon,” Harry bid to Remus.

“Take care, don’t get into too much trouble!”

“No promises,” Harry laughed before following Sirius from the Shack.

~*~

Sirius returned shortly after escorting Harry back to the Castle, he quickly transformed back into his human self, helping Remus mend a few broken objects from the training session.

“So you saw it too?” Remus asked after they finished putting the Shack back together and Sirius nodded.

Harry had been wearing a faded Chudley Cannons shirt to training but with how much of a sweat they had worked up, it had become a little see-through. An obvious soul-mark leaking through.

“It’s massive,” Remus remarked and Sirius smirked and nodded, waggling his eyebrows. Remus rolled his eyes. “I wonder why he hasn’t said anything.”

Sirius was quiet for a moment, caught in thought.

“What’s going on inside your head?” Remus asked.

“I think I may know who it is.”

“Oh?”

“It’s just the timing, it makes sense. The first time I met with Harry when I came back he was in this massive hurry to get back to the village. He was acting oddly too, agitated and anxious.”

“Okay...?”

“It was almost as if he were in pain.”

“So his soul-mate was getting hurt.”

“Yes,” Sirius said, his mind still racing. “And do you know who very famously got hurt that day?”

Remus gasped, “Draco Malfoy! Everyone was talking about it.”

Sirius nodded.

“So he probably hasn’t said anything because of who Malfoy is.”

“Harry pulled Ron from the Lake too, so either Dumbledore also doesn’t know or wasn’t outing them.”

“Ron doesn’t know either, I’d wager. He kept asking Harry what was wrong and Harry just shrugged it off as a headache. It didn’t seem like he was hinting at anything else. I saw Ron with his brothers in town later on. I figured Harry was with Hermione or something.”

“Poor Harry.”

“You taught up there, how is this Malfoy kid?”

Remus frowned, “Honestly he was a bit of a prick. He reminded me a bit of Regulus.”

Sirius nodded, “I can imagine any son and only heir of Lucius Malfoy is going to be raised in the typical Pureblood fashion.”

“The fact that Draco outted Lucius for abusing him says something about him as well.”

“Perhaps Draco isn’t as far under Daddy’s thumb as Lucius thinks.”

“Draco is very bright. He and Hermione were at the top of every class. He knows you’re either with Harry or against him in this war.”

“So he knows he’s with Harry. If Harry was feeling his pain from that distance, they’ve accepted the bond. Neither of them is dead or seriously ill from rejection. Draco has chosen his side. So why hasn’t Harry said anything?”

“Harry and Draco never got along. They were at each other’s throats most of the time. Ron’s whole family hates the Malfoys. He’s probably afraid Ron wouldn’t accept Draco. That most people won’t like the two of them together.”

“There’s a thin line between love and hate,” Sirius pointed out, his thoughts drifting to James and Lily.

“Despite everything going on, Harry still seems much happier than he was last year. Draco has to be at least slightly the reason for that.”

“I’m happy he has someone capable of keeping up with him. Someone whose got his back. Harry protects enough people. He’s going to need someone to protect him.”

“Draco is more than capable.”

“I won’t hold his Head of House against him, at any rate,” Sirius laughed.

Remus affectionately rolled his eyes.

Chapter Text

Harry was at a loss, he was trying to call on his wandless magic and as per usual whenever Draco wasn’t around, it wasn’t responding.

“Not so brilliant are you, Potter?” The boy sneered at him, “Just goes to show how much you don’t deserve to be a Champion.”

Harry did the only thing he was currently capable of doing and spit as hard as he could. A wad of red tinged saliva hit the boy square in the face, dripping down and staining the light blue of his uniform. The boy angrily wiped it away, hatred and disgust filling his eyes.

“You’ll pay for that,” He growled.

“Get on with it then, would you?” One of the boys who had helped spell his limbs together sighed, gripping Harry’s bicep tightly.

Harry tried to scream, to make any noise at all but the silencing curse held firm. His only hope would be if the pain got so intense that Draco would feel it. He was sure Draco probably noticed the anxiety and fear coursing through his body now, but probably wrote it off as anxiety for the task coming up. The boys had already been kind enough to punch him a few times, but Draco probably wrote that off as hits during training.

Harry didn’t know how else to make it clear to his soul-mate that he needed help. If only he could summon even just the smallest shred of power to work a counter charm so he could at least get away or scream loud enough for someone to hear him. Of course, the one time that Sirius hadn’t escorted him all the way back to the Castle is when he would get jumped.

“I’ve heard you aren’t susceptible to the Imperius Curse, we’ll see how you fair with this one! Crucio!”

If Harry could have screamed he would. His whole body felt like it was on fire, like every nerve ending was being bathed in acid. Harry had thought that the pain he felt the night Draco suffered from the rejection sickness had been bad, that was a walk in the park compared to this. Even feeling it second-hand did not compare at all to the real thing. For a moment, Harry was filled with rage towards Lucius. How could he knowingly cause this pain on his only child? Just as quickly as it started, it ended and Harry was brought out of his thoughts. Harry felt his cheek collide with the ground as he was dropped. Harry dimly noticed thuds and the sound of footsteps receding when warm hands flipped him over.

“Fuck, Potter, come on. Look at me,” A deep familiar voice commanded. Harry blinked trying to focus on the dark outline in front of him, his eyes ached. His whole body hurt. “Shit your glasses, hold on, Reparo!”

Harry’s vision cleared and he realized his glasses must have cracked when his face collided with the ground minutes before. Theodore Nott stood over him, fear painting every inch of his face.

“What did they do to you? Shit, fuck, you’re a fucking mess,” Nott looked around them wildly.

Harry’s mind wasn’t quite working the way it should, he felt ... sluggish. Slugs... Wait, Hagrid. Hagrid could help them. Harry didn’t know what had happened to the Beauxbatons students who had hurt him, but he knew they wouldn’t mess with Hagrid.

“Hagrid,” Harry tried to say but realized his words were coming out weird.

Nott seemed to understand what he said though because realization dawned on his face, he threw Harry’s arm over his shoulder, hauling him to his feet and dragging Harry in the direction of Hagrid’s cabin.

“Oh thank fuck, he’s home,” Nott gasped as Harry dimly noticed light coming from up ahead. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but I’m dropping you there. He’d think it was me. Sorry, but you know I’m right.”

Harry understood. His mind was beginning to clear and his thoughts didn’t feel as disjointed or hard to connect.

“Why did you help me?” Harry managed to gasp as Nott set him down on Hagrid’s step.

He got a few paces away without saying anything and then turned to look Harry in the eyes. Nott raised his eyebrows and looked at him meaningfully before biting his lip, “You know why.”

Nott pointed his wand at him and for a brief moment Harry thought he was going to curse him before he realized the wand was actually pointed at Hagrid’s door. Nott cast a stunning curse at the door, resulting in a loud bang that set Fang howling and loud footsteps pounded toward the door. When Harry looked back Nott was gone.

~*~

Why was Theo’s life the way that it was? Why did he have to decide to go down to the greenhouses tonight of all nights? He should be glad he was where he was, otherwise who knows what could have happened to Scarhead and then Draco would have been a right bother. Theo quietly made his way back to the Common Room. He couldn’t afford to look or seem suspicious right now. He was sure the blame would fall on Slytherin regardless of how he got back to the Common Room, but hopefully Boy Wonder remembered his attackers. Theo knew from experience how messed up your mind got after being Cruciated. The Blue Twats would get what was coming to them though, he was sure Draco would make positive of that. Theo was just thankful that some well placed curses and a mimic spell on his footsteps had been enough to make Potter’s attackers run. He wasn’t sure he could have taken them all if they had stood their ground. Fucking cowards.

Theo finally breathed a sigh of relief as he fell in step with a crowd of 6th years and made his way into the Common Room. He looked around as quickly as he could without drawing attention and spotted Draco in the corner with the other 4th years. He seemed distracted but not overly worried. He must have felt at least some of Potter’s attack, but it had ended so abruptly that he wasn’t quite worried as of yet. Or it might have been too far away. Of course Potter had been attacked on the exact opposite side of the castle.

“Theo!” Pansy crooned as he sat down, she was sitting in Draco’s lap as per usual.

“Pans,” Theo commented, pursing his lips ever so slightly, hoping she took a hint. Her eyes narrowed infinitesimally and she grinned at him.

“What kept you away so long? We were going to send a search party!”

“No we weren’t,” Blaise laughed, crumpling up the piece of parchment he had been writing on.

“That oaf, Hagrid, was chatting my ear off; I was worried he would report me for being out on the grounds, so I had to let him.” Theo was glad Pansy seemed to have caught on.

“Ugh! That’s the worst, what was he prattling on about? Some terrible creature or one of his favourite Gryffindors?”

Theo stretched, “Gryffindor of course, fucking Scarhead got himself into the Hospital Wing just now. He wouldn’t stop crying about it. The only thing that saved me was Snape, he was looking for you, Draco.”

Theo kept his eyes on Draco as he spoke the words, watching as Draco’s pupils dilated. To his credit, Draco hardly flinched in his act.

“Of course he is, probably to lecture me about my last potion. Someone here got me distracted,” Draco pinched Pansy’s side and carefully slid her off of his lap. “I ought to go now so he doesn’t make a scene tomorrow.”

“Probably for the best,” Pansy agreed, pecking him lightly on the cheek before turning to engage Blaise about the essay he was writing.

Draco didn’t deserve the two of them, Theo reflected.

Theo was slightly disappointed he wouldn’t be able to pretend he had no idea about Draco and Potter’s secret bond anymore. It was so nice not having to hear about it. Pansy constantly complained that Draco literally would not shut up about how Potter pretty much shit rainbows and butterflies. It would be fun to make fun of Draco to his face though.

Chapter Text

Draco was doing his damnedest to focus on what Pansy was saying but he couldn’t get his mind away from puzzling out the feelings Harry was sending. It had been the normal exhausted feeling Draco was used to when Harry was training, but the anxiety tinging the bond was odd. It was even more frustrating that he could barely sense him. Harry was just too far away. Suddenly, intense pain seared through the bond and Draco barely kept himself from grabbing at his chest. Draco hid his discomfort by burying his face into the space between Pansy’s shoulder blades, squeezing her against him in a weird pseudo-hug. The pain lasted not even a minute before it abated.

“Awh Dray,” Pansy giggled turning to wrap her arms around his neck. “Careful there or we might have to leave the Common Room.” She teased and Draco tried to look appropriately chastised. Ignoring her use of that terrible nickname.

“Sorry, Pans, let me read your essay then,” He had already read her essay the night before, but he needed something to pretend to look at while he focused on the bond. Pansy got her essay from the bag at her feet without a word and he grabbed it eagerly, letting his eyes flow over the words without reading them.

The pain had vanished from the bond and Draco carefully pressed against his chest pretending to scratch his pectoral. There was no return warmth as there normally was but Draco also had a pretty thick jumper on today and wouldn’t be surprised if Harry hadn’t even felt it. Harry must still be so far away, Draco could barely feel anything except the exhaustion that was ever present nowadays.

Draco did his best to not let the pain get to him, perhaps Harry’s training had just gone a little more intense than expected. That happened from time to time. Draco tried to drift back into the conversation around him, feeling only the muted feeling coming through the bond.

“Theo!” Pansy called suddenly and Draco looked up to see Theo approaching, something was off about the way he was holding himself. He seemed anxious if Draco didn’t know any better.

“Pans,” Theo commented as he sat down, still holding himself oddly.

“What kept you away so long? We were going to send a search party!” Pansy asked her hands twirling in Draco’s hair. Draco hated when she fucking did that, and he was not in the mood right now in particular.

“No we weren’t,” Blaise corrected her, tossing a balled up piece of parchment at Theo.

“That oaf, Hagrid, was chatting my ear off. I was worried he would report me for being out on the grounds, so I had to let him.” Theo sighed; acting like it had been an absolutely awful night. Draco’s anxiety was skyrocketing the longer this went on. Something was up, he was sure of it.

“Ugh! That’s the worst, what was he prattling on about? Some terrible creature or one of his favourite Gryffindors?” Pansy gushed, leaning towards Theo.

Theo reached his arms to the sky in an exaggerated stretch, “Gryffindor of course, fucking Scarhead got himself into the Hospital Wing just now. He wouldn’t stop crying about it. The only thing that saved me was Snape, he was looking for you, Draco.”

Draco felt the other shoe drop, and panic filled his entire body. He was sure of two things, one Harry was incredibly hurt. He never went to the Hospital Wing unless forced to. Two, Theo one hundred percent knew about Draco and Harry’s bond. Draco forced himself to project calm, like he was attending dinner with his mother after an afternoon in Lucius’ study. Press the pain and anxiety down, and portray confidence. He could do this.

“Of course he is, probably to lecture me about my last potion. Someone here got me distracted,” Draco tickled Pansy in an effort to keep his hands from fidgeting. He stood up slowly, carefully sliding Pansy off of his lap. “I ought to go now so he doesn’t make a scene tomorrow.”

Draco noticed how worried Pansy looked but she forced a smile, “Probably for the best.” She kissed his cheek chastely and Draco tried not to pull away too quickly as he fled the room. He barely made it to the end of the hall before he set off in a dead sprint.

Draco sprinted the entire way to the Hospital Wing, feeling like he was moments away from vomiting at any given moment. What had happened to Harry? Did something go wrong at training? Had the person who had cursed him so many months ago caught up to him on the grounds? Or maybe whoever had entered Harry into the Tournament. How Theo had actually heard that Harry was up here was a mystery for another time.

Draco didn’t like the feeling coming through the bond, it was like he could barely feel Harry at all. It was making the anxiety in his chest tighten more so with each step he got closer to Harry without any emotions coming through. Draco hadn’t realized how much of a comfort feeling Harry’s undercurrent of emotions flowing through him had been until he couldn’t feel it anymore. He understood why Harry had gotten so upset about him cutting off his emotions all of those weeks ago. He would definitely think twice before he cut them off again.

Draco finally slowed to a walk as he made it to the hallway that the Hospital Wing was attached to, twirling his wand viciously. How was he going to get in there? He was sure if the amount of time had passed that Theo had heard it from Hagrid and made it back to the Common Room that it had been at least a fair bit of time. If he thought back to the pain he had felt earlier, then it was definitely enough time for Harry to have visitors. Hermione would obviously be fine with him, but he was sure Weasley would be there too. He had to think. He had to calm down for a minute and use his fucking brain.

He couldn’t burst in, but he absolutely had to get to Harry. He couldn’t stand there or wait until morning. Madam Pomfrey knew about them and would obviously not say anything. Who else would be bedside? Dumbledore and possibly McGonagall. Dumbledore most likely already knew about them, being Harry’s magical guardian (or who Draco supposed was Harry’s magical guardian), but McGonagall might not. She hadn’t let on in class that he was bonded to Harry at all, but that didn’t necessarily mean anything.

No, he would have to fit in. He wasn’t ready to be out to Weasley yet. He could say he was getting ingredients for Severus… but that was brief and would make him dismissible. He would have to be injured.

Sudden inspiration struck and Draco took a deep breath before taking on an injured stride, grasping his ribs and limping his way through the doors to the Ward.

At the far end of the Ward there was a set of curtains around what Draco had mentally labelled ‘Potter’s bed’, or the bed Harry always took residence in whenever he was in the Hospital Wing. Draco wondered if Pomfrey put him in the same bed each time on purpose. Outside of the curtains Madam Pomfrey and Dumbledore were standing, Pomfrey was red in the face, her finger inches from Dumbledore’s face.

“ – is ridiculous! I told you he shouldn’t be forced to compete!”

“I must implore you to quiet down, Poppy,” Dumbledore countered in that frustratingly calm and pompous voice, always so quiet, that he always spoke in. It bugged Draco to no end, it was like the man didn’t think he had to speak at a normal volume, like his words were so important that everyone hung off of every single one.

“I will not! The boy is 14 – ” Madam Pomfrey cut herself off at the sight of Draco limping towards them. Her eyes quickly slid to the curtains then back to Draco, “What can I help you with, Mr. Malfoy?”

Draco realized his earlier hypothesis that Harry would have company was most likely correct. He was cut off from saying a word when Weasley’s head poked out from inside the curtains, all of the skin visible already multiple shades darker than his hair.

“Malfoy? What the hell are you doing here? Come to torture him some more!?” Weasley spit at him.

Draco didn’t have to work hard to bring the sneer to his face, “Not that it’s any of your business, Weasley, but I’m here for Madam Pomfrey. I have no idea what you’re on about.”

Draco was fighting hard not to think too much about what Weasley had said. Torture? That better not mean what he thought it did. Draco looked to Pomfrey, letting the sneer drop, “I am extremely sorry to bother you, Madam, but I took a Bludger to the ribs and it was beginning to get hard to breathe.”

Draco internally winced when the words came out of his mouth. Why had he thought that was such a brilliant lie moments before? They weren’t even playing Quidditch right now. Thankfully no one called him out on his lie.

Draco was having difficulty even keeping a straight face and keeping up the charade with Weasley. Why wasn’t Harry saying anything? Why did it still feel like he wasn’t even in the same room as him? All Draco could feel was that weird cut off exhausted feeling. Even when Harry was sleeping, he normally expressed some emotions, this wasn’t that feeling. Draco was barely keeping the panic from completely taking over. He was glad he had concocted a lie having to do with his ribs, because his breathing was coming out in harsh gasps.

Weasley narrowed his eyes, but eventually rolled them before scoffing at him, quickly disappearing back within the curtains.

“Of course, Mr. Malfoy. Ribs are a tough mend, take a seat here, I’ll see what I can get for you.”

She had gestured to the bed directly next to Harry’s curtained off one, and Draco gratefully collapsed onto it. He used the hand he had been holding his ribs with to press against his Mark hoping to feel even a shred of return warmth. Pomfrey disappeared back into her office and Draco figured Harry couldn’t be too badly off if she and Weasley were stepping away from him. He hadn’t been transferring to St. Mungos so it couldn’t be anything Pomfrey couldn’t handle.

Dumbledore was staring at Draco, his eyes doing that twinkle thing they so often did. Draco felt the gentlest of nudges against his mental shields, so soft and unobtrusive that he barely noticed the presence before it was too late.

Draco snapped his shields more tightly around his thoughts, glaring hard at the man.

“I would thank you to not do that without my permission, Professor,” He said underneath his breath, knowing Dumbledore would hear him.

“My apologies, Draco, I forget myself sometimes. I meant no harm,” He said genially and Draco forced his features into an impassive mask.

“No one often does, and yet,” He countered as he settled further onto the hospital cot. Dumbledore’s bushy brows lifted minutely and Draco kept himself from smirking in triumph. Dumbledore may be one of Harry’s favourite people, but Draco didn’t trust him as far as he could Accio him.

“Well at least you are prepared to protect yourself in all aspects of the word, at any rate,” Dumbledore responded after a few moments of silence.

Draco looked hard into the Headmaster’s eyes, briefly glancing at the curtain before bringing his eyes back to Dumbledore’s icy blue ones. “Yes, I determined protecting myself and those I care about as a top priority.”

Dumbledore returned the stare for a few moments before glancing at the curtains and sighing slightly, “A worthy endeavour indeed. Now you must excuse me, I have matters to attend to. I dearly hope your injury is easily mendable.

“I’m sure Madam Pomfrey will have me covered. I wish you the best of luck in finding the conclusion to those matters,” Draco responded, formality dripping in every word. He knew he probably sounded a lot like Lucius in that moment, but that was the point.

Dumbledore inclined his head and then left the Ward without a second glance. Draco set his head back against the pillow, grasping harder at his Mark, desperate to feel anything at this point. Harry was only a pace or two away, but Draco had never felt further. Draco was shocked to feel tears pricking at the corners of his eyes. He quickly blinked them away, he could not afford to break down right now. Harry was okay. Pomfrey had been in her office for quite a bit of time, she wouldn’t have left him alone if he weren’t stable. Dumbledore wouldn’t have left.

The knowledge didn’t help to make Draco feel any better. He just needed to see Harry for himself. What Weasley had said earlier was bothering him. Torture him? That better not mean what he thought it did. Draco noticed that Muggleborns and even some Halfbloods liked to exaggerate the use of the term ‘torture’. They’d describe something as mundane as a boring class, or extensive essay as ‘torture’. Like sitting in Binns’ class was anything close to having every single nerve ending in your body set alight in agony. Like writing three feet on Werewolves was anything close to feeling as though you were being stabbed by a million knives. But Weasley was a Pureblood, despite his Bloodtraitor status, Draco doubted he would use the word incorrectly. Draco sincerely hoped he was just spending too much time around Hermione and Thomas and used the term incorrectly. Draco thought back and couldn’t determine if the pain he had felt was anything similar to his experience with the Cruciatus.

“Well Mr. Malfoy, I have a salve for your ribs, but they’re a tough mend. You’ll have to stay the night I’m afraid. I will get you a change of clothes in just a moment, I just have to ask our guests to leave. It is quite after visiting hours.”

Draco almost cried from relief. This woman deserved all of the things. Draco would make sure she got a raise if it was the last thing he did. That or a really nice fruit basket, with elf-made mead and those really expensive chocolates too. That ought to do it.

Pomfrey slid behind the curtains around Harry’s bed and informed his guests that they had to leave. Within a few moments Weasley and Hermione ducked out into the Ward.

“Can’t we stay a little longer, Madam Pomfrey? He shouldn’t be alone,” Weasley whinged.

“Rules are rules, Mr. Weasley. Your friend needs rest, you can visit again in the morning. I assure you I will take the best care of him I am capable.”

“Come on, Ron. We’ll be back first thing in the morning,” Hermione said, grabbing Weasley’s hand and tugging him towards the doors. It was obvious she had been crying, her dark skin much paler than normal. “Malfoy,” Hermione sneered before wasting no time to tug Weasley the rest of the way from the Ward. Draco paid no attention to what Weasley was complaining about as she pulled him from the Hospital Wing. The moment the doors shut behind them and Pomfrey had spelled them shut, Draco was off of the bed and wrenching Harry’s curtains apart.

“What happened to him? Why can’t I feel him?” Draco demanded. Harry looked to be asleep. His eyes were shut and hands folded carefully across his stomach. He had a couple of cuts marring his face, a split lip, and a bruise along his cheekbone that Draco suspected would be a black eye come morning. There was a distinct impression and slice in the bruise that looked as if the person who had hit him had been wearing a ring of some sort. Draco felt his blood boil.

“He will be fine; I have placed him into a Dreamless Sleep to allow his body and mind to recuperate with as little stress as possible.”

Draco unbuttoned the top buttons on Harry’s shirt, placing his hand against his Mark and feeling the rush of warmth fill his body. Draco used his other hand to carefully brush Harry’s hair from his face.

“You haven’t said what was wrong with him?” He said through clenched teeth, already quite sure he knew what was about to be said. Panic was clawing at his chest again, barely held at bay by the rage flooding his body.

“It seems that Mr. Potter was accosted by some older students from another school, they seemed to not believe he deserved to be a Champion and intended on incapacitating him. One of them successfully performed the Cruciatus Curse on Mr. Potter for an undetermined amount of time. I do not believe he was placed under the curse for long.”

“I would estimate about 30 seconds to a minute, possibly shorter,” Draco calculated, trying to think about the intense pain he had felt earlier. He glanced away from Harry for a second to see Madam Pomfrey pursing her lips.

“I had wondered if you would have known.”

“I didn’t know what it was, but I definitely felt it. I should have recognized the feeling. I shouldn’t have brushed it aside…”

Draco winced at his slip up, refusing to look at the now silent Matron. He knew he would see pity if he did.

“Will he sleep through the night? Can I stay here with him, please?” Draco pleaded. He already seemed pathetic enough in her eyes, he might as well use it to his advantage.

“Yes, he will sleep. Of course you may stay, contact with you will only hasten the healing process. I will close the curtains now and return in the morning. If he should wake up before I return, do not hesitate to come get me should he need healing. As far as I’m aware he only had these minor injuries outside of the Cruciatus, and I will heal those in the morning. The Wing will be barred to anyone but the Headmaster and those requiring medical attention, I do not expect any visitors.”

Draco nodded along to the words, happy that he wouldn’t be forced away. “Thank you, Madam, I cannot adequately express my gratitude.”

Draco looked up at Pomfrey as he said the words and she pursed her lips again tightly before nodding her head slightly and leaving the curtained area. He waited until she had retreated a few steps before promptly allowing himself to have the break down he had barely been keeping at bay. Harry was in Dreamless Sleep and wouldn’t be able to feel his emotions and be affected by them.

Draco set his face against Harry’s chest, carding his fingers through his soul-mate’s hair as he wept. The warmth from his Mark was comforting but Draco couldn’t get over the lack of feeling Harry’s emotions. It was like he had lost a part of himself that he hadn’t known he would miss. He had always assumed that he would know when Harry was in trouble due to their bond. That he would be able to swoop in and save the day for once. The reality was that Draco had no idea what he even would have done if he had known what Harry was going through. He had heard the tales of what Harry had down their first and second year, and he always imagined that it was so easy. That the right ideas would just line up in front of you.

The reality was Draco had no idea what he was doing. He had known Harry was in excruciating pain and had passed it off as training, despite the fact that his training had never been that painful. A random Stinging Hex here and there, but nothing to the calibre of what he experienced tonight. Draco had never felt so utterly useless. Who knows what could have happened to Harry tonight? He had gotten lucky to get away with the little injuries he had.

Draco always knew that Harry was a magnet for trouble and this year with the Tournament was definitely evidence of that, but he had always seen Harry as sort of indestructible regardless of his frequent Hospital Wing stays. Seeing Harry completely unresponsive in the Hospital Wing scared Draco shitless. Just imagining a life where Harry stopped to exist or a wayward curse made its way home, terrified Draco to no end.

“I can’t live without you,” Draco whispered to the dark and silent Ward.

Tomorrow Draco would need to be strong, he would need to speak to Theo, and he may have to orchestrate the disappearance of whomever had done this to his soul-mate, but for now he let himself be overtaken by his emotions and be thankful that Harry had made it out mostly unscathed.

Chapter Text

Poppy closed the curtains behind her, leaving the two boys some privacy. She bit the inside of her cheek. The way Draco Malfoy insisted upon such formality ensured she couldn’t take the image of his father from her brain. At times she had to remind herself who she was facing. That she was facing a 14 year old child, not the father he looked so similar to. Whom he at times acted so similar to. One thing was for certain, she had never heard Lucius Malfoy cry the way she could hear Draco weeping right now. He was being eerily quiet, something Poppy was sure he learned how to do at some point during his lifetime. Especially after hearing the almost idle comment that revealed Draco had been on the receiving end of a Cruciatus curse, probably at more than one instance. Her mind briefly flashed to the black eye she had seen Draco sporting just a few months ago.

She had to admit when she had first learned that Draco and Harry were bonded she hadn’t been pleased. Just another terrible hand that poor Harry had been dealt, but she had quickly amended her first judgment. She had been watching the two of them ever since. The intensity that they already loved each other with was astounding. The lengths the two of them were willing to go to for the other. The absolutely pure adoration they showed each other. When she had had to tell Albus he had been intrigued, of course already thinking one step ahead in the game of chess he was always playing. He had said that it was good that Harry learned the true meaning of love. That perhaps Harry could sway Draco to the side of the light.

Secretly Poppy had instantly thought that Albus was hoping for another double agent like Severus. She hoped that Harry would never allow such a thing to happen to his soul-mate. Poppy only had the slightest idea of what Severus had had to go through in the past and she knew it would not bode well for Draco. Poppy had had to stay in her office for a few moments longer when she overheard what had transpired between the Headmaster and Draco. She was also impressed at the level of Occlumency that Draco must have already achieved to have been able to notice Albus’s intrusion so quickly. He was frustratingly subtle when he was trying to be. Although, when taking into account who Draco’s godfather was, she wasn’t surprised he had mastered the art at such a young age. No, Albus had another think coming if he believed his carefully orchestrated way of handling Harry was going to continue. Poppy hoped Draco somehow put a stop to Harry returning to his family’s house this summer. Poppy could only imagine what he went through while with them, his low weight over the past three summers had not escaped her notice. Regardless of how many times she and Minerva implored the Headmaster to not send him back there, he always refused, stating it was of the utmost importance for him to continue returning.

No, Poppy had been wrong. The best thing that could have ever happened to Harry might have been the boy currently sobbing over him.

~*~

Harry’s whole body ached. It was like the soreness after a particular long and cold Quidditch practice, multiplied by a million. His face ached even worse than his body did, like a Bludger had smacked him straight on. There was an odd weight on his chest as well. What had happened to him?

Harry quickly realized he was in the Hospital Wing. He recognized the smell and the feel of the mattress beneath him. Harry slowly started to notice more of what was going on around him. Draco must be close by, he could feel his emotions loud and clear, and the pleasant warmth flowing from their bond. Harry tried to blink his eyes open but it was like they were glued shut. Why couldn’t he open them?

“Harry?” Draco rasped, his voice soft and raw from sleep. Harry tried to respond, but found he couldn’t seem to find the words. Why couldn’t he respond? He wanted to, desperately.

“Shh, it’s okay, I’m right here. You’re waking up from an extra strength Dreamless Sleep. It’s going to take a few minutes. You are safe. Take your time, I’m not going anywhere,” Draco’s voice was so soothing and Harry instantly relaxed. He had taken Dreamless Sleep before, it usually made him extra groggy but this was on another level. He trusted Draco though, so he would let himself slowly wake up.

“You’re in the Hospital Wing, obviously. Fucking scared me for a minute there,” Draco mused. Harry could feel him carding his fingers through his hair. It felt quite nice.

“I was pretty sure Weasley was going to try and duel me for a minute there last night. Don’t worry our secret is still safe, I was on my best behaviour. I’ll have you know that I took a Bludger to the ribs and had to stay here the night to heal. No one bothered to check that we aren’t even playing Quidditch right now. Not my brightest lie, I’ll admit, but I was under a lot of pressure. I’m sure Hermione will take the piss later.”

Harry was beginning to feel less groggy, but it felt so nice feeling Draco play with his hair and talk aimlessly to him.

“I have quite a lot of damage control to do today, I was not quite thinking things through last night. I don’t regret it. I had to know if you were okay. I’ve realized I really do not enjoy when I can’t feel your emotions. I sincerely apologize for any time I have cut you off. I will never do it again.

“Theo’s the one that tipped me off that something happened to you. He knows about us; I assume he’s known for a bit, I had suspicions. Sorry I guess my mates are a little more observant than yours.” Draco paused, a soft chuckle on his breath. “I probably shouldn’t be riling you up, my apologies. Your mates are perfectly observant and not at all inadequate.” Harry realized he had instinctively raised to defend Ron without thinking about it and the feelings must have pushed through their bond.

“This wasn’t exactly how I imagined spending the night next to you would be, but I’ll take what I can get, I suppose. Beggars can’t be choosers.” Harry felt Draco bury his face in his chest for a moment, and heard him inhale deeply a couple times.

“Sorry your chest is a little moist, here,” Draco whispered a soft incantation and Harry felt a rush of hot air hit his chest. “I got a little weepy last night, no worries, all is well.” Draco was silent for a moment and the hand in his hair disappeared and grasped his hand tightly. “I love you, Harry,” His lips moved against the back of his hand as they formed the words, then they pressed against it in a brief kiss. Harry found himself able to squeeze Draco’s fingers back, a few moments later he blinked his eyes open, squinting into the light. Draco’s blurry blond head loomed over him.

“Here, love,” Draco let go of his hand and reached over towards the table next to Harry, carefully placing his glasses back onto his face. Draco instantly came into focus.

Regardless of how softly Draco had placed his glasses on his face, his face still pinched uncomfortably underneath the metal. Harry wondered what his face must look like to hurt this badly.

“Hi,” Harry coughed, his throat feeling like sandpaper.

“Do you want some water?” Draco asked, reaching for a cup on the table his glasses had been placed. Harry nodded and did his best to lean up to take a drink. Draco wrapped an arm around his back, hefting him upwards to help him. With anyone else Harry probably would have been incredibly embarrassed, but somehow, he wasn’t when it came to Draco.

“Thanks,” Harry said a moment later, his throat and mouth no longer feeling like he had spent days in the desert without a drink.

“Not at all,” Draco plopped back down onto the chair he had taken residence in. “I’m just happy to see you awake again.”

“How long has it been?” Harry looked around wildly, expecting to see a calendar of how many days he had been asleep.

Draco frowned sheepishly, “Sorry, only last night, I’m just clingy.”

Harry smirked at him, “Oh, well then that’s all right.”

“Do you, er, know why you’re here?” Draco asked hesitantly, worry filling his eyes. His hand linking with Harry’s again.

Harry gripped him back, “Yeah, unfortunately. It’s all pretty clear.”

“You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to,” Draco assured quickly.

“No, you’re the one person I do want to talk to about it.” Harry bit his lip, and instantly regretted it as pain blossomed.

“Here,” Draco grabbed a tissue from the table and gently dabbed.

“Thanks. I was coming back from training and then out of nowhere some of the boys from Beauxbatons grabbed me. They took my wand and put me in a body bind. Of course, my wandless magic was fucking useless without you there. At that point I figured the only way I was getting out of it was if you felt it somehow. Then they beat me up a little bit and said some bullshit about me not deserving to be a champion, like I even wanted to in the first fucking place, and then they used Crucio,” He took a deep breath, remembering the sheer agony he had been in.

“There’s nothing quite like it,” Draco said his voice lower than a whisper. Harry squeezed his hand as hard as he could. He hated the idea of Draco having felt the pain before, especially now that he knew what it felt like.

“Then it suddenly stopped,” Harry looked around quickly and realized they were surrounded by a curtain.

“It’s just us, Pomfrey promised privacy until morning,” Draco supplied, understanding the reason for Harry’s paranoia.

“Nott saved me, Draco. I don’t know what he did but one moment I was being cursed and the next moment he’s leaning over top of me looking scared out of his mind. He didn’t know where to take me, but I was able to get him to take me to Hagrid’s. He left me there, worried that Hagrid would assume he’d done that to me. I asked him why he saved me and all he said was ‘you know why’. I told Dumbledore as much as I could remember about the boys who attacked me, but I didn’t say anything about Nott. I didn’t think I should, is that okay?”

Draco’s lips were pulling into a thinner and thinner line as Harry told his story; he finally let out a breath and forced a smile, “I owe Theo a great deal then. You did the right thing; he would not want it publicised that he helped you. I will make sure he is aware how thankful you and I are. I would be worried about the Beauxbatons students identifying him, but my guess is they won’t be on campus long enough to say anything. How many were there?”

“How many? Oh, there were three, I think? Two held me up and the last one did the cursing.”

Draco was putting on quite the show of pretending he wasn’t absolutely filled with rage, but Harry smirked at him. “You do know I can feel what you’re feeling, yeah?”

Draco winced and smiled for real this time, “Apologies, I forget sometimes. I’m just so livid. Three of-age wizards attacking a 4th year, it’s preposterous. Absolute fucking cowards.”

“You must be angry, your pompous side is coming out,” Harry teased.

“Yeah, well,” Draco’s cheeks were scarlet and Harry grinned.

“I’m okay, I feel completely fine. My face hurts a bit, and my body aches, but no worse than any Quidditch practice.”

Draco sneaked a peek at the clock on the wall above Harry’s head and sighed, “Unfortunately I believe I have to go soon. I’m surprised Pomfrey has given us this long. I’m sure Hermione and Weasley are already outside.”

“I wish you didn’t have to go,” Harry sighed.

“I know,” Draco agreed. “If you wish I could come back with your Cloak, I’m sure Hermione would get it for me.”

Harry waved him off, “No, don’t worry about it. I’m sure Pomfrey will let me out. Maybe we could meet tonight though?”

“I wouldn’t miss it,” Draco promised, leaning down and pressing his lips to Harry’s forehead, then ducking further and pressing his lips to Harry’s before straightening. He quickly buttoned Harry’s top and squeezed his hand once before disappearing through the curtains. Harry sighed, plopping his head back against the pillows. He could hear Pomfrey escorting Draco out and was once again thankful about how helpful she had been towards the pair of them. Harry didn’t know what Draco would have done if she hadn’t covered for him. Hopefully Hermione would have helped someway.

A few moments after he heard the ward’s door swing shut after Draco, they flew open again and Hermione and Ron quickly appeared inside the curtains.

“Harry you’re awake!”

“Hi, guys,” Harry smiled at his two best mates, but ached for the warmth slowly fading with distance.

Chapter Text

Draco bid Harry goodbye, wincing when he turned away from him. It was hard to look at Harry without being filled with rage. Most of the blood vessels in both of Harry’s eyes had burst, leaving the corneas almost completely red. Draco imagined that Harry’s captors must have silenced him and being unable to make any noise had forced the blood vessels to pop from the exertion. Draco remembered back to a time where he hadn’t been able to force down the screams and Lucius would silence him. Lucius had often had to heal his eyes as well. Couldn’t possibly allow Mother to know, after all.

Draco hoped Pomfrey would heal them soon, having two red eyes stare at you was disconcerting to say the least. She had said she was waiting for Harry’s mind to heal before attempting any superficial healing.

Draco went straight to the Common Room from the Hospital Wing. He had a best mate to confront.

There was barely anyone in the corridors with it being so early, which Draco was grateful for. He was not in the mood for people right now. Draco finally whispered the password to the stretch of wall that signified the entrance to the Common Room and stalked inside, making a beeline for the boys’ dormitories.

“Draco we were just heading up to breakfast!” Blaise called as they passed in the hallway.

“I’ll join you in just a second. Is Theo in the room?” Draco asked glad none of his peers were questioning him on where he was the whole night.

Blaise and Greg laughed, “Yeah, you know how he is.” Theo had a historic reputation for being hard to get out of bed.

Draco entered the room he had called home the past four years and saw Theo pulling on trainers at the foot of his four poster. He stood up as Draco entered the room.

“Draco, I-” Draco cut him off as he wrapped his arms around Theo and pulled him into a suffocating embrace.

“Thank you, so fucking much,” Draco’s voice was muffled by Theo’s shoulder. He felt Theo’s arms come up around him and squeeze him back briefly.

“Of course,” Theo mumbled back, he was clearly uncomfortable with Draco’s display of affection. Draco could not care less at this moment.

“I don’t know what would have happened if you weren’t there. I owe you an unending amount of gratitude.”

“It would have been fine, I’m sure. It’s fine Draco,” Theo reiterated.

Draco pulled away, scrubbing at his face and running his fingers through his hair. “I really don’t think it would have been. They used the Cruciatus.” He took a few steps towards his bed, pulling out a fresh change of clothes. “There were three?”

“Yeah, definitely three. Does he remember it all?”

“Yes, and they’re supposed to be taking care of it, but...”

“We’ll make sure they get an appropriate punishment.”

Draco nodded, distractedly pulling on the clothes, too tired to even spell them on, “How long have you known?”

Theo snorted, “Oh mate, I’ve known about your obsession with Potter since first year.”

Draco blushed, “That’s not –”

Theo rolled his eyes, “Yeah I know that’s not what you meant. I dunno I guess I suspected at the naming of the Champions, then I really thought so when you got sick, then after the First Task I wasn’t so sure, then during the Ball and the Second Task I was positive. Sorry mate, I mean this in the least homophobic way possible, but I know you couldn’t get it up for Pansy if your life depended on it. It was too weird that you were now dating her, but I have to hand it to both of you, you put on quite a show. I honestly just thought maybe you were giving into your dad, but then when you stuck it to him after the Second Task, I knew there had to be a bigger reason.

“If I’m being completely honest, it was how not obsessed with Potter you were this year that tipped it over. Outside of Potions, you two have barely been at each other’s throats. But don’t worry no one else suspects, that I know of anyways.”

Draco wasn’t sure he had ever heard Theo speak that many words in a row.

“And you’re … okay with it?” Draco asked, feeling incredibly vulnerable. He hadn’t thought about how much Theo’s approval meant to him until that moment.

To Draco’s surprise Theo snorted again, “Nah I just risked my arse against three of- age wizards to save your boyfriend because I felt it was ‘the right thing to do’. Fuck no! I mean, do I think you two are completely mad? Absolutely. But he could definitely do worse. And any person that changes you for the better in the way that he has over the past nine months is a good one in my book. I know it may not seem like a lot to you, but what you did with your dad? That was really fucking brave. You fucking exposed what those pieces of dragon shit have done to us our whole lives. People noticed. People said that it wasn’t okay. If what you did keeps Senior away from even just one Cruciatus this summer, I’m in your debt.”

Draco bit his lip, feeling tears welling up once again, but forced them back down. He absolutely would not cry right now.

Draco stood and up and grinned at Theo, “After what you did last night, consider us even.”

Theo smirked back at him, “Come on, let’s go grab breakfast before they come looking for us. We’re going to need full stomachs if we’re committing some Azkaban-able offenses.”

“I’m fucking starved,” Draco agreed, bumping Theo’s shoulder as they made their way up to the Great Hall.

~*~

Draco was furious.

He ripped his scone up into microscopic pieces.

“So that’s what put Potter in the Hospital Wing,” Pansy commented, sipping her tea.

Dumbledore had just announced to the school how three Beauxbatons’ students were caught the night before after assaulting a Triwizard Champion. He had openly stated how one of the students was already on the way to Azkaban after use of an Unforgiveable was proven by his wand. The other two students who aided him had been expelled from Beauxbatons, had their wands snapped, and were already back in France where they were now forced to stay.

Dumbledore worked fast when properly motivated.

Draco was furious he hadn’t gotten a chance to get his revenge.

“Three 7th years on one 4th year? I wonder how he got away,” Theo commented.

“Surprised they didn’t pin it on you, you said you were out on the grounds last night?” Blaise asked.

“Fucking surprised they didn’t. Slytherins are much more likely over those powder blue twats.”

The whole group rolled their eyes in solidarity and were silent for a few moments.

“So Draco, any plans for your birthday? It’s coming up,” Pansy asked, and Draco was thankful for the change of subject.

“Mother has said something about perhaps getting lunch, but I’m not sure if I will be joining her or not,” Draco said simply. He actually had quite big plans for his birthday, but he wasn’t going to disclose those to the entire group.

“I wish fifteen was more exciting. It’s like eleven you get your own wand, thirteen you may get a soul-mate, then nothing until seventeen,” Blaise pouted and Draco kept himself from disagreeing. He had some major plans for turning fifteen. He just hoped everyone forgot about this particular Pureblood tradition.

He was banking on it.

Chapter Text

Draco took a deep breath, stepping into the fire, “Malfoy Manor: East Gate”.

The world spun until Draco carefully stepped out of the fireplace and into his childhood bedroom. The room was exactly as he had left it nine months ago. Draco felt like the person that had left this room was a completely different one that stepped into it today. He felt like he barely recognized the room now. Draco sighed; this was not the time to be sentimental. He tossed Harry’s Cloak over his head and carefully left the room. He doubted he’d run into anyone in his Wing of the Manor, but better safe than sorry.

Draco made it to the main foyer of the Manor without incident. He expected nothing less and hoped his luck would hold out. Draco heard piano notes drifting from the salon and ached to go see his mother. It had been so long since he saw her, but he needed to get in and out undetected. Draco bit his lip and pushed on.

Lucius should not be in his study; Mother’s letter had specifically said he had a meeting at the Nott’s and Theo had confirmed.

Draco found himself outside of Lucius’ study quicker than he liked. Draco took a few cleansing breaths. He cast the spells needed to disable Lucius’ wards and stepped through. Years of watching Lucius cast the spells was finally paying off. Draco paused inside the room and took a moment to feel for the wards of the Manor. He had always felt attuned to them, but today he felt even closer. Hopefully that meant good things for what he was about to do.

Draco didn’t suspect any alarms or warnings going off from his trespass into Lucius’ study and strode over to the book shelf directly behind the desk. Draco floated the dagger and goblet down to him from the top shelf. Artifacts that had been handed down from Malfoy son to Malfoy son for as long as anyone could remember. He wished he could take the objects to his room, but he knew removing them from the study would definitely raise alarms, no matter what he tried to do to stop it, until he was judged.

Draco set the two objects down on the desk and made himself comfortable in Lucius’ chair. If he was going to take on the Head of House duties, he might as well act the part. He plucked a hair from his head, and pulled the vial with Harry’s hair from his robes. He twirled the two pieces together, thankful for the length of each of their hair. This would have been much more difficult if they had shaved heads.

Draco grasped the dagger and sliced the palm of his wand arm, he let blood flow from his hand and off the dagger into the goblet.

“I, Draco Lucius Malfoy, do reach the age of majority today, the 5th of June, 1995.”

Draco dropped the two hairs into the goblet, “I, Draco Lucius Malfoy, have found and accepted my soul-mate, Harry James Potter. I vow to use my magic and life to protect and uphold the Malfoy magic, and the Potter magic. I now lend myself to your judgement.” Draco cast the end of the spell and opened up his mental shields, focusing on the goblet and dagger.

Around him, he felt his familial lines rise up like a golden spider web, ensconcing the world around him in darkness. He felt the wards of the Manor like physical strings of gold, spreading out around him. He could see his Mother’s magic like a beam of light, the floor below him.

Draco felt the magic flow over him, like being doused in water. The magic was everywhere, seeping into his mind and soul. He felt warmth like when Harry touched his Mark. He figured the Malfoy artefact must be reaching out to check on Harry’s magic. Draco had no qualms that Harry was powerful and pure enough to pass its test.

No words reached his ears, but he could feel a question lingering in his mind.

Why should I grant you premature majority?

Draco focused harder than he ever had before, Lucius Abraxas Malfoy has betrayed our magic. He has used his magic against his own blood. He has not fed the lines as he was supposed to in years. He uses our magic without any give. He only takes. I will restore our magic to its proper place. My magic as well as my mates will only strengthen our lines. Lucius Abraxas endeavours to weaken it. He darkens our magic without any balance. He turns from the Light and drowns us with Dark.

Around him, he felt the shadows of the magic used within the Manor as well as from Lucius’ wand flare up. He witnessed shadows of the Cruciatus used over and over just a few feet from where he stood within the web. Years of Lucius casting it on him. He watched as a small book, ensconced in Darkness, was taken from the study, Lucius’ magic lingering around it. Countless other spells lit up around him all tinged with Darkness.

You have better plans? Even as young as you are?

Draco bit his lip, Yes. We are weaker because of Lucius Abraxas. He has broken his vow. I fear what he could do in the interim before my 17th birthday. I beg you to grant me majority and Head of House. I will restore our magic to its proper balance.

The presence lingered, rooting through his memories and his magic. Finally, with a snap the study was around him once more. The wards and lines disappeared, but he felt as though he was being bathed in the same light that had spread out around him. Draco grasped his wand and golden sparks flew out of the tip at his touch. Draco smirked. He had passed.

He cleansed the goblet and dagger of his blood and the hairs and stowed them in the bag he had brought with him. They were his now. Draco glanced around the study, but decided it was better if Lucius wasn’t aware of what had happened today. He quickly duplicated the artefacts and left the decoy where the original had once been. If Lucius thought to check he would instantly know it was a decoy, but Draco was confident. He wouldn’t think to check on the artefact, he barely paid attention to any of his Head of House duties. Once upon a time he may have felt the loss of status, but Lucius was not in tune with the lines at all. Draco threw the Cloak over himself and exited the study, reapplying the wards as he went. Next, he made his way to the dungeons. He had sworn to fix the balance and he intended to start at that moment. He continued down the flights of stairs and corridors until he got to the very base of the Manor. Draco reached out to the lines again and saw them rise up around him, bright as day. The lines all overlapped on the stone in front of him.

“I, Draco Lucius Malfoy, give back to our lines,” He whispered, slicing his hand again and pressing it against the stone. Draco gasped as the stone sucked at his magic like a sponge soaking up water. Draco realized why Lucius had not enjoyed giving back. It was uncomfortable and made him feel weak. The lines soaked in his magic for what felt like hours, but was really only about a minute. Draco pulled his hand from the stone, casting the quick spell that he had asked Pomfrey for to seal the cut.

Draco straightened, feeling decidedly lightheaded, and retraced his steps to his bedroom. His mother’s music reached him as he climbed the steps, and Draco couldn’t suppress a smile. For the second time, Draco wished he could go see her. Now that his mission was fulfilled, he could, but he worried what might happen to her if Lucius found out she had known about what Draco had done.

Draco finally made it back to his room. He pocketed the Cloak and grabbed a few different things from his room before stepping back to the fireplace and throwing in Floo powder.

“Hogwarts: Potion Master’s quarters,” He pronounced clearly. With a whirl he was back at the Castle. He could barely believe it had worked.

Draco had been searching and racking his brain for a solution to his problems. He had known there was no way he could return to the Manor this summer; he knew Mother would not be able to keep him safe from Lucius for long. He also knew he wouldn’t be able to bare being away from Harry that long. He had searched every ancient Pureblood text he could get his hands on the past few months, completely in secret. He hadn’t wanted to worry Harry with how much he already had on his plate, and couldn’t bare his disappointment should Draco fail.

Until finally Draco had been able find what he had been looking for. He had had a shadow of a memory of a bedtime story Mother had told him once. She had been talking about soul-mates, a bedtime favourite for him when he was young, and had talked about how if he found his soul-mate that he would even be able to become a full wizard early and run off with his soul-mate and start his own adventures with them. Sure enough she had been speaking of a very real, but outdated Pureblood tradition. All he had had to do was have found his soul-mate, and prove to his family’s magical artefact that he was worthy of taking on the duties being heir to the line meant for him, and he was golden. He was officially an adult in the eyes of magic. As far as Draco could tell it hadn’t been used in centuries. Mostly because not many families still had their family’s artefact, or followed the Head of House conduct like the Malfoy’s did. As it was, Lucius barely followed it.

As he stepped through, he could feel the concentration of magic around him as clearly as if there were a spiderweb of strings flowing around him. Draco focused on the feeling and suddenly he felt the residual magic of every Malfoy that had ever walked these halls. He could feel the power flowing around him from all of the witches and wizards casting around him. Draco closed his eyes, concentrating on one specific line of magic, made one thousand times easier by the fact that he was already so attuned to Harry. He placed his hand against his chest and focused as hard as he could, a thread made up of every colour of the rainbow reached out from him and away. Draco smirked, opening his eyes and followed the feeling of the magic reaching out from him. Like there were marks on the floor pointing him in the correct direction, Draco quickly and easily was able to find Harry inside the Great Hall.

Ha! Harry thought he was so special, being able to find Draco with that sodding Map of his. Now Draco could do the same.

Draco did not go and sit next to Harry as he would have preferred, instead plopping down onto the bench next to Theo, barely able to keep his excitement inside himself.

“Happy Birthday, Draco!” He smiled and Draco felt the happiest he had in a while. Maybe everything would be okay. At the very least, Lucius no longer had control over him. He was finally free.

“Thank you, Theo,” Draco grinned. Across the Hall Harry had snuck a glance at him and his emotions were a mess of curiosity, probably wondering where he had been. Draco felt bad for sneaking behind Harry’s back, but he couldn’t bare to think about what would have happened had he failed. Better to ask forgiveness than permission, as they said.

With everything going on, Draco tried not to feel too badly. With Crouch Sr showing up raving mad on the grounds last week, and then the dream that Harry had had in Divination earlier this week, Draco was ready for this school year to be over now. Especially with his plan having worked.

Finally, something was going right for them.

Chapter Text

“Are we seriously going to be staring at the walls of this maze the entire time?” Pansy asked, her tone might have suggested you were asking her to eat off of Hagrid’s floor.

“Are you surprised? We stared at the lake for over an hour,” Draco laughed and Pansy scrunched up her nose.

“I had hoped they’d learn from their mistakes.”

“We simply vanished our shit for hundreds of years before adopting indoor plumbing. Wizards aren’t prone to change,” Theo snorted and Pansy rolled her eyes.

“Then they shouldn’t waste our time.”

Draco was thankful for the familiar bickering. His anxiety was ranked up about 50 notches. He just couldn’t shake the feeling that something terribly wrong was going to happen. Although if he were being honest with himself, he felt that way during every task.

Harry, on the other hand, was the most at ease before a task, thus far. He had seen Harry walking the grounds with Mrs. Weasley and William Weasley, and had felt nothing but joy filtering through the bond. Draco had seen the other champions with their families and was happy the two Weasleys had come to support Harry. Better them than the damn Muggles.

Draco directed his attention to the front of the maze as Dumbledore announced the champions. Draco cheered for Diggory and feigned boredom for Harry. Harry somehow found his eyes briefly in the crowd, shooting a quick smirk his way. Draco studiously ignored the butterflies that bloomed in his stomach. Within moments Harry disappeared into the maze and nothing but adrenaline and determination flowed through.

“At least we aren’t freezing our arses off this time,” Draco commented as Fleur disappeared into the hedges.

“Cheers to that mate,” Blaise agreed.

“Ten galleons on Potter,” Theo wagered.

“Ooh, I’ll match that for Diggory. He’s probably halfway to the Cup by now,” Blaise commented.

Draco resisted the urge to roll his eyes at Theo. At least he had been betting on Harry since the beginning so it wasn’t out of character. Blaise turned away to talk to Millie and Theo leaned in close to Draco’s ear.

“Your boyfriend better win me my gold,” He whispered so quietly Draco barely caught the words. Draco did roll his eyes this time, elbowing Theo hard in the ribs. Draco still couldn’t contain the smirk Theo’s words elicited. Damned straight his boyfriend was going to win.

The Task was dredging on with the only entertainment being the Weasley twins transfiguring themselves into various animals to the applause of those around them. Mrs. Weasley looked on in muted amusement. Harry seemed to be having an easy go of it. Draco barely registered any anxiety, fear, or pain filtering through at all. There had been a moment of intense fear but then it had quickly changed to happiness. If Draco had to hazard a guess, he must have encountered a boggart. After a while Harry seemed almost suspicious. Perhaps he was waiting for a bigger challenge.

He seemed to get what he wished for because then that feeling of adrenaline and excitement from the First Task filtered through. Draco hoped whatever he was facing wasn’t too challenging. A little while later he felt small scratches at his right leg, but they weren’t overly painful. Then a few moments later red sparks went up, but Harry was still feeling that focused determination. Draco figured it must have been one of the other three. Harry didn’t seem to be running into any other obstacles as the minutes passed by. Finally, there was a change as confusion and annoyance came through. Draco was utterly flummoxed as to why Harry would be feeling that way. Harry sometimes felt that way while in Potions or Transfiguration, but in the middle of a giant maze didn’t quite make sense. Relief and excitement washed through and Draco figured whatever had been perplexing him was no longer a problem. Harry’s excitement increased and Draco hoped he was close to being done. He just wanted this was all to be over, once and for all.

Draco was caught off guard as a stabbing, slicing pain ripped through his leg.

“Ow, fuck.” Draco cursed, collapsing down onto the bench beneath him. The pain intensified before he felt a different pain in his ankle.

“Draco, what’s wrong?” Greg asked and Draco held his eyes shut, waiting for the pain to pass to a manageable level.

The thing about the Cruciatus is that the pain is overwhelmingly intense but only for a few seconds. Draco suspected Harry must have seriously injured his leg, perhaps broken something. The pain wasn’t abating. Harry seemed annoyed if anything, so Draco was trying not to panic too much. There was a feeling of relief through the bond before suddenly Harry’s emotions seemed far away. Further away than they ever had been. Draco tried to reach out and sense Harry’s magic but the little rainbow line was nowhere to be found.

“Was there anything said about a Portkey?” Draco asked urgently, trying to ignore the pain still present.

“Draco, what are you on about? Portkey?” Blaise asked. Theo and Pansy were looking at Draco, eyes wide but silent.

“Is there a Portkey in the maze, another challenge?” He burst, uncaring. Something was terribly wrong, he knew it. Harry was too far away.

“Draco, they didn’t say anything about a Portkey,” Pansy finally answered, hesitantly.

Suddenly it was like Draco’s forehead was splitting in two. Draco clutched at his head, biting down hard on his lip to keep from screaming or vomiting from the pain. As suddenly as the pain started it stopped, there was a moment of relief before overwhelming disbelief and despair shot through and Draco forced himself to his feet.

“What is going on? Where are you going?”

Draco fought his way down the stands, desperate to find Severus, ignoring Pansy’s frantic words. He made it halfway there, his forehead stabbing with pain at intervals like the worst migraine imaginable. Harry was full of terror and then disgust. Draco could barely figure out what the emotions he was feeling were, but the pain was coming through loud and clear. He struggled his way to the bottom of the stands, despite how much he felt like he was making a massive scene, barely anyone looked his way. Everyone was more intrigued with Fleur and Krum who had just left the medical tent, making it clear that a Hogwarts Champion was guaranteed.

“Severus!” Draco yelled as he got close to where the professors congregated. Severus’ head whipped upward; his expression confused. Draco did not call him by his first name in professional settings.

“Draco?” He asked.

Draco was momentarily distracted as he felt a stabbing pain in his elbow. A few moments passed where Harry seemed distracted, and then terror more so than Draco had ever felt flooded through. Draco couldn’t imagine what Harry must be experiencing.

“Draco, what is happening?” Severus demanded steering Draco into the shadows beneath the stands.

“Did the maze include a Portkey?”

“What? What nonsense are you spewing?”

“Severus, a Portkey! Were the champions supposed to take a Portkey?”

“A Portkey? The Cup will transport the winner back to the front of the maze.”

“Something is wrong! Harry's been taken. He’s gone!”

Severus stared at him a beat, his eyes widening minutely at Draco's use of Harry's first name, before staring down in horror at his arm. His hand flying to where Draco knew his Dark Mark was.

“What’s happened?” Draco demanded desperately.

“How do you know that Potter isn’t in the maze? How are you positive?”

Draco pulled his shirt apart with little hesitation, revealing his Mark. “I’m positive.”

To Severus’ credit he only stared a second before grasping his shoulder and dragging him towards Dumbledore. Draco should have been more worried about people seeing his Mark, but he was too full of terror for Harry to think about it too much.

“Potter has been abducted; our worst fears are realized.” He said to Dumbledore, whose eyes only briefly flashed to Draco.

“Moody, check the maze,” He commanded and Moody thudded away. Dumbledore crossed the space and was muttering things to the other professors. The minute stretched by and Draco grew agitated.

“I’m telling you he’s gone! Far away –” He burst before he was cut off as the worst pain yet bloomed in his forehead. Draco was sure it was going to split in two, he grasped at his head again and fell to his knees.

“What is going on?!” McGonagall asked, her voice sharp.

“Get Draco inside the Castle, Severus!” Dumbledore commanded and Severus instantly hauled Draco to his feet and pulled him towards the Castle. The pain abated and only residual pain in his arm and leg throbbed besides the now permanent headache.

“Don’t worry about me!” Draco complained. “Find him! Voldemort is back isn’t he? He has Harry. He’ll fucking kill him!” Draco had realized that the pain in Severus’ mark could only mean one thing.

“You’re being hysterical,” Snape commented casually, still hauling him across the grounds.

“Don’t fucking touch me, why are you still even here? Shouldn’t you be with your Master?” Draco spit, futilely trying to rip from Severus’ grasp. With everything going on he had forgotten that Severus was not his ally.

“You’d be thrilled if he died, wouldn’t you! You hate him! Release me at once!” Draco reached for his wand but felt it pulled from his sleeve and held away from him. Severus had managed to manhandle him into the Castle where the corridor was eerily silent with everyone out at the Task.

“Listen. To. Me.” Severus commanded, his voice offering no argument. “Yes, it seems the Dark Lord has arisen. We will do everything we can to get Potter back. I am not your enemy –”

Draco did yell out this time as he felt what must have been a Cruciatus hit Harry. So much more powerful than what the Beauxbatons boy had managed.

“He’s torturing him,” Draco sobbed.

“Get it together! The last thing he needs right now is your weakness,” Severus spit, pulling Draco towards his personal quarters. Draco realized in shock that Severus was right.

“You can feel each other’s pain and emotions, correct?”

“Yes,” Draco allowed as Severus locked the door behind him.

“Have you ever been able to communicate words or thoughts?”

“No, just feelings,” Draco said shaking his head.

“Should he survive the night, you should work on that. Can you estimate how far away he is?”

Draco shook his head again, “It feels far, but I can still feel his pain and emotions like he’s inside the Castle.” Draco was struck with the pain of being tortured again and sagged down onto a chair, gripping the back as he rode out the pain.

“What is he feeling now?”

“More pain, obviously. Er, he feels weird now. Maybe he’s under Imperius? But he can fight that off. Ah yeah, that stopped, he feels angry. He feels determined.”

“Draco you have to understand the danger you are in being bonded to Potter. Who knows about the two of you?

Draco was distracted, “No one. A few of our friends.”

“Not your Father?”

Draco laughed despite himself, “You think he wouldn’t have come here to curse the gay out of me if he did? Lucius does not, no.”

More pain flared in his leg and a feeling of extreme adrenaline and anxiety, then more pain and shock and despair, and Draco realized with intense relief that Harry was back on the grounds.

“He’s back!” Draco burst, bolting for the door. Severus stopped him.

“If he is back, he is fine. You must stay here until we figure out who has been trying to harm him. He escaped, but you are vulnerable should anyone have caught on what you are to him. I will go, you will stay and I shall return to collect you.”

“Fuck that! I still don’t know you’re not the one who did it!”

Severus fixed him with a cold stare. “You know me better than that. I will forgive these transgressions due to your emotional state. If I wanted you harmed or dead, I assure you I would have already done so. I can assure you I would have done it before having to put up with this pitiful mewling. If I had been the one to orchestrate Potter’s abduction, he would not have returned. Collect your thoughts, and stay here. Do not leave until I return.” Severus thrust his wand at him and swept from the room. Draco realized the truth in Severus’ words, as much as he yearned to sprint to his soul-mate’s side.

Draco’s wand twirled in his hand viciously, sparks emitting from the tip. Draco busied himself with focusing on sending Harry soothing feelings. Harry was still overcome with despair and Draco couldn’t fathom what could be making him feel this way. He hoped Hermione or the Weasleys were with him. The pain in his leg and arm still ached.

“I’ll see you soon,” Draco promised to the empty room.

Chapter Text

The door cracked open.

“Finally!” Draco burst, “Can I go see him now?”

“Potter is with the Headmaster. Barty Crouch Jr. was polyjuicing as Moody the entire year! I knew my stores had been pilfered!” Severus spit, looking incredibly put out.

“Excuse me, what?” Draco asked, then shook his head, “You all caught him though, right? What was just happening?”

“Crouch attempted to finish what the Dark Lord started tonight. He sneaked Potter away while we were distracted. We have him apprehended and the real Moody is safe. Potter has been though a great deal. It seems the Cup was a Portkey, as you suspected. When Potter and Diggory grabbed it, it transported them to a location where the Dark Lord was reborn.”

“Diggory is dead, isn’t he?” Draco whispered, the sorrow Harry had been feeling, clicking.

“Regrettably, yes. Potter brought his body back.”

“Of course he did,” Draco was in shock.

Cedric was dead. A boy just a few years older than himself. A boy that had been smiling and walking around with his family just hours before. Gone.

A fate Harry could have very easily suffered himself.

“Draco our entire world is about to turn upside down. It is clear you have picked your side. You must be ready for the challenges that come with it. It will not be easy. You know where your father’s loyalty lies.”

“I have it taken care of,” Draco said flippantly. His mind on one thing and one thing only. “Can I go to him now?”

Snape pushed on, “Are you prepared to lose your friends, your family? For Potter?”

“I’d lose them all for him! My real friends already know, and for those that don’t – if they turn against me for this, then I cannot trust them! As for my family, I hope Mother will at the very least understand my choice. I do not care what Lucius thinks. I am tired of being told to lead by a man who grovels at a Master’s boots. Harry is one of the first people to show me a life without pain or constant performance. I can be myself with him. That is worth it. Voldemort will lose and I do not pick losing sides,” Draco declared fiercely.

Severus appraised him a few moments before nodding his head minutely.

“He should be at the Hospital Wing by now. Go straight there, and do not leave.”

Draco snorted, “Like I’d go anywhere else.”

Draco hurried away from Severus’ quarters; he noticed the pain in his leg had disappeared. Hopefully Pomfrey had done something to the injury. That had been excruciating and Draco was glad for it to be gone.

~*~

Draco took a deep breath, knowing what he was about to do would change everything. Although, after his behaviour during the Third Task he wouldn’t be surprised if everyone guessed anyways.

Draco threw open the doors to the Hospital Wing feeling everyone’s eyes slide to him, but his eyes were only for one person. Harry was sitting on the edge of a bed, completely covered head to toe in blood and muck. His gaze locked on the floor. He looked utterly exhausted and all Draco could feel besides that was pain and overwhelming sadness leaking through their bond.

“Malfoy, what the hell? Get out of here!” Weasley shouted and Draco didn’t even spare him a look as he made a beeline for Harry. He was just a few paces away when he felt hands on his shoulders shoving him backward. “I said, leave! Can’t you see he’s had a bad enough night!”

Draco fixed Weasley with a look, “If you do not get the fuck out of my way, I will move you.” His voice was even and calm and he caught Harry look up at the sound of his voice.

“Excuse me-”

“Ron, leave him be,” Hermione said grabbing his arm and tugging. Draco shoved Weasley hard out of his way, and took the last few steps to Harry, kneeling down in front of him. His face level with Harry’s waist.

“What do you need?” Draco asked, looking up, his eyes locked with Harry’s green ones. Harry didn’t say anything at first, and Draco grasped one of his hands, the one not completely covered in blood, in his. “Do you want to get washed up?” Draco had caught onto an underlying feeling of revulsion running through the bond. Harry nodded his head mechanically and Draco looked to Madam Pomfrey. He realized that every pair of eyes including those of a black dog that could only be Sirius were still fixed upon him. Belatedly, he also realized Weasley had his wand pointed at him, although Hermione was doing a good job of forcing his arm towards the floor. Now Weasley just seemed confused more than anything else.

Draco supposed he couldn’t blame Weasley for being protective after the night Harry had just had.

“Madam Pomfrey?” Draco asked, straightening to his feet, pushing his idle thoughts of Weasley away.

“Yes, of course,” She said gesturing towards the door off the ward that had a shower in it.

“Come on, love,” Draco said carefully reaching his arm under Harry’s arm and helping him to his feet. Harry went with him with no restraint.

“You aren’t leaving?” Harry asked, his voice very quiet and desperate.

“Never,” Draco said his eyes landing on Weasley as he helped Harry to the washroom. Draco half supported and half carried him out of the room and heard Weasley’s voice carry to him as he shut the door.

“What the fuck did I miss?”

Draco shut the door after he got Harry in and settled Harry onto a bench next to the shower.

“I’m going to turn the water on, okay? I’m right here,” Draco said and watched Harry slowly nod his head. Draco got the water temperature to an acceptable level and then looked back to Harry. He looked dead. All of the light that had been present just hours before was gone from his eyes and he was barely keeping himself upright.

“I know you must be exhausted, let’s just get you cleaned up, and then you can sleep, okay? Let’s get this kit off.”

Draco was at a loss of where to even begin. The top Harry was wearing was caked to his body, pressing into a cut on his arm that had bled all over him. He had dirt and grime covering everything else. Draco bent down and touched the side of Harry face and he visibly flinched away, Draco noticed tears tracking down his face.

“Harry, hey look at me, love, open your eyes,” Draco commanded. Harry did as he was told, his eyes linking with Draco’s, recognition blossoming. “It’s me love, remember, you’re safe. I won’t let anything happen to you right now. We’re just going to get cleaned up. That’s what you wanted, right?”

“He touched me, Draco, he can touch me. He took my blood,” Harry cried, massive sobs wracking his body.

“You’re still Harry,” Draco said and decided, fuck it. He grasped the collar of Harry’s shirt and tore it in two, pulling the two scraps of fabric off his chest. Draco had considered just vanishing the whole kit, but worried how Harry might react to anything but non-magical means right now. “See look,” Draco brushed his hand over Harry’s mark and felt comfort flow through the bond.

“You’re here,” Harry whispered.

“Of course, I’m here, can’t let Weasley see my man naked, can I? Let’s get the rest of these clothes off and get clean.”

Draco was successful in dragging a quiet chuckle out of Harry at that comment and was able to pull the rest of Harry’s disgusting kit off and get him under the spray of water.

Almost immediately the floor was covered in grime, but Harry was looking remarkably better.

“Can I see your Mark, please,” Harry begged and Draco tore his shirt open immediately.

“See, it’s still there. You’re safe. You’re here. We’ll get through this,” Draco did his best to quickly clean Harry off as well as he could. He was soaked from head to toe where he stood under the spray trying to get Harry clean.

“How can you touch me right now?” Harry whispered and Draco whipped his stare upward.

“What?” He asked at a loss.

“Voldemort fucking touched me!” Harry burst, a new wave of tears washing down his face.

“Harry, Harry look at me,” Draco whispered, his hands coming up to cradle either side of Harry’s face, the stream of the shower running over the two of them. “Harry, you’re my soul-mate, you are the love of my life. No one, not even Voldemort, is going to do a thing about that. I love you,” Draco assured and pressed his lips to Harry’s forehead right on top of his scar which was enflamed and bleeding. “I definitely didn’t open myself up to Weasley’s rage for shits and giggles, I’m very surprised he hasn’t burst in here yet, thinking I’m taking away your virtue.”

Harry simply stared at him, blinking as the water rushed over them.

“I love you too,” He whispered finally. Draco busied himself with massaging shampoo through Harry’s messy locks, keeping himself from cringing at the blood, dirt, twigs, and other debris that were washing out of his hair.

“Draco, before we go back out there. Draco, he summoned his followers there,” Harry said urgently, his gaze meeting Draco’s.

Draco closed his eyes, taking a deep breath, trying to focus on getting the shampoo out of Harry’s hair. “Did Lucius do anything to harm you?”

Harry didn’t say anything, which was answer enough.

“I am deeply sorry. If you would rather have Weasley in here, I would understand.”

“Draco, absolutely not, you know he doesn’t change anything. I’m just sorry,” Harry assured, he seemed to be slowly rousing from the stupor he had been in. Shock, most likely, if Draco were to hazard a guess.

“Lucius has always made it clear that he would join Voldemort when he returned. I have no intention of serving any master.” Or a master that murdered children, Draco thought to himself, but Draco decided he probably shouldn’t reference anything that happened tonight if he could help it. “I had hoped to see my mother again this summer, but it is evident he has made his decision clear.”

“What are you talking about, Draco? You’re barely fifteen you can’t not go home.”

Draco finished rinsing the soap from Harry’s body and looked up at Harry, forcing a smile. “I owe you another apology, I’ve been keeping something from you. I was never quite sure how to bring it up after hiding it for so long. Then too much time had passed and I was afraid of how you would react. At fifteen I am old enough to take on the family name officially, which I did the moment I could. I’m sorry I kept it from you, it just never seemed like the right time.

“Lucius has no control over me anymore. For once Pureblood custom has come in handy with their traditions and rituals. In the eyes of the Malfoy line, I am a fully matured adult. I have my own accounts and my own business and properties, but most importantly I have magic without restrictions. We will worry about that later. For now, let’s get you in some clothes and go back out to your family. I’m sure they are quite worried about you.”

"Draco, I-"

Draco cut him off, "I couldn’t handle the thought of going to back to living under the same roof as Lucius. I doubt I could go the whole summer without seeing you anyways. I have come to terms with it. It'll be fine. The only thing I'm worried about right now is you. Let me see if I can get you some clothes. Unless you'd rather go out like that," Draco teased gesturing at Harry's completely nude body. He was gratified to see a light blush on Harry's cheeks. "I thought so. Just a moment."

Thankfully Pomfrey was standing just outside the door and handed Draco a change of clothes for Harry. Draco didn't spare a glance past her before grabbing the clothes and going back into the room.

"Now, you know I prefer you this way, but let's pull these on instead, shall we?"

"Thank you, Draco," Harry whispered.

"No need," Draco assured, running a towel over Harry's head to try to dry the soaking wet locks. Draco assumed Harry didn't want a drying spell used on him quite yet.

A few moments later Harry was dressed and looking almost brand new. Most of the blood and grit washed from his body and face. His skin tone back to the golden shade Draco was accustomed to.

"Are you ready to go back out there?" Draco asked, settling the towel around Harry's shoulders so his hair didn't get him wet. Draco had cast a drying spell on his own trousers and shirt but still left his shirt hang open so Harry could see his Mark. Harry kept reaching up and touching it briefly like he was trying to remind himself it was still there.

"Can you just…?" Harry trailed off, his voice barely above a whisper, holding his arms up slightly.

"Of course," Draco smiled, pulling Harry against him, wrapping his arms around him ducking his head into the crook of his neck. They stayed like that for a few minutes, Draco feeling some of the unsavory feelings coming through the bond beginning to melt away.

"You promise not to leave?"

Draco smirked, "They'll have to drag me out kicking and screaming as long as you want me here."

Harry nodded, running his fingers across Draco's Mark again.

"Would you prefer I keep it uncovered?"

Harry bit his lip, looking conflicted. Draco couldn't hold in a laugh, endeared by the fact that Harry knew how much he hated looking sloppy.

"I promise I wouldn't offer if I didn't mean it. Here," Draco buttoned up only half of the buttons on his shirt so the majority of his mark was still visible but he wasn't walking around practically shirtless.

"Thank you," Harry forced a smile and Draco kissed his forehead again. Most of the blood had washed away from his scar, but Draco veered slightly to the right to avoid getting blood on his lips.

"Come on, you're falling asleep standing up," Draco put his arm underneath Harry's again and carefully opened the door back into the ward.

Hermione, Weasley, his mother, William Weasley, and the black dog were still crowded around the bed that Harry had been sitting on when he got there, but they had been joined by the rest of the school-age Weasley's. Everyone's eyes were on the two of them as they came out. Draco did his damnedest to ignore the stares and focused on helping Harry back to the bed. The sheets were turned down and showed no evidence that Harry had sat on them in his dirt infested kit earlier, which Draco was thankful for.

"Thank you," Harry muttered as Draco helped him get settled, he grabbed tightly onto Draco's hand as he pulled away.

"Er, Harry, you're looking loads better," Weasley attempted and Draco couldn't keep a snort from escaping him.

Harry couldn't either and smiled weakly up at his best mate, "Thanks Ron."

"I know you all are bursting with questions but right now Mr. Potter needs rest. If you don't mind Harry, I have a Dreamless Sleep potion for you. Just strong enough to keep the dreams away, you shouldn't be groggy," Madam Pomfrey said holding out a potion bottle. Harry looked to Draco, who forced yet another smile. His cheeks were beginning to hurt.

"You're barely keeping your eyes open, go on, we'll all be here when you've gotten some rest."

Harry nodded and took the potion from Madam Pomfrey, "Promise?" He asked again and Draco had to bite his lip with how vulnerable Harry sounded.

"Promise," Draco assured him again.

"No one is going anywhere, Harry," Hermione said, shooting a look at Weasley, her face softening when she looked back towards Harry.

Harry brought the potion to his lips and quickly swallowed it with a grimace before laying back against the pillows, his grip still ironclad on Draco's hand. Within moments his breathing had evened out and Draco sensed the muted feelings of when Harry was under Dreamless Sleep flowing through the bond.

Chapter Text

"He's asleep, get your harassment out now because I won't tolerate it once he wakes up," Draco said looking towards the Weasleys. They all stared at him before Ginny, of all people, finally found her voice.

"When did this even happen?" She burst, her eyes on Draco's chest. Draco could see her rubbing her thumb over the pattern of her Mark as she looked at him.

"The World Cup," Draco answered stiffly. Wanting nothing more than to button his shirt the rest of the way, but he had told Harry he'd leave it open and who knows when he would wake up again.

"You’ve got to be kidding me? You're telling me Harry kept the fact that he had a soul-mate from his best friends the whole school year?" Weasley spit out and Draco rolled his eyes. “I think we would have noticed if our best mate was hiding something that big from us.”

"Harry and I bumped into each other leaving the Cup, if you can recall. We’ve been meeting in secret since then, for his and my own safety. He was worried about your reaction in particular, and it seems to have been for good reason," Draco pursed his lips, his eyes briefly flashing to Hermione. He wasn't going to throw her under the Knight Bus but he hoped she'd fess up.

Hermione bit her lip before sighing, "Actually I knew."

Weasley whirled at her, eyes wide, "You knew and didn't say anything?!"

Hermione glared at him immediately, "Yes because I knew you'd act like this! Now keep your voice down!"

"I can't believe this; I can’t believe you!" He whispered back angrily.

"So, you're the one young Harry has been sneaking around with," one of the twins interrupted, grinning. Draco couldn't keep himself from chuckling.

"Yeah, cheers to the two of you. Can't thank you enough for helping after the Ball."

Realization dawned on the two of their faces and they covered their mouths with their hands to quiet their laughter.

"Well, er, Mr. Malfoy, it's obvious you care deeply for Harry and Merlin knows he deserves to have someone in his corner in these uncertain times," Mrs. Weasley trailed off looking out of her depth.

"Thank you, Mrs. Weasley. Please call me Draco. Also please accept my sincerest apologies for any feud between your family and Lucius. I do not stand by anything he has said or done in the past and will be separating myself from his reputation at the earliest opportunity. If there is anything I can do to right his wrongs, do not hesitate to let me know."

Mrs. Weasley stared at him in wonder before shaking herself, "I accept your apology on behalf of my family. You need not worry about owning up to the mistakes of your father, Draco.”

Draco recognized the formal wording to her acceptance and breathed a sigh of relief. She was matriarch of the Weasley family and a Pureblood herself, so her words were binding. Draco could not be held to the wrongs Lucius had committed toward Mr. Weasley or anyone else in their family.

"What just happened, Mum? I felt something," Ginny asked, her eyes switching between the two of them suspiciously.

"We will not hold Draco's family's feud with us against him. He has apparently somehow taken on the Head of his family and apologized to us. From now on the Weasleys are not feuding with Draco. You may hold Draco's actions solely against him, but not his father's. I accepted his apology and made it binding. You felt the magical agreement settle. I have not taught you the Pureblood customs, and I do not regret doing so, but Draco has been trained.

“Obviously you do not agree with his and Harry's relationship, but it happened. I have never seen Harry act the way he does when he is around Draco, and that was after only just a few minutes of observation I am sorry you are feeling the way that you are but if you want to keep Harry in our lives then you may as well get over those feelings. Draco is here to stay. A lot of terrible things happened today and our world is changing. One thing that isn't is the bond Harry and Draco have. It's evident Hermione knew about their relationship and seems to be fine with Draco. If she can forgive him, so can all of you."

Draco was shocked to hear what Mrs. Weasley had to say. He had not expected her to be accepting of him so quickly.

"Draco has apologized to me for the things that happened and were said in 1st through 3rd year, and I accepted. He isn't as bad as you think he is, believe me I was skeptical at first too," Hermione said and Draco stuck his tongue out at her.

"Thank you so much for that glowing recommendation," Draco drawled and she laughed at him.

"Not my fault you were a prat," she teased back.

"You have me there," Draco agreed.

"This is too bloody weird," Ginny said as she watched Draco and Hermione interact.

"You can say that again," Weasley muttered, his face and ears red.

"Draco your hair is leaving a puddle," Hermione commented and Draco looked down to confirm her observation.

"My apologies, could you dry me?" Draco asked, Hermione nodded, pulling out her wand and pointing it at his head. A warm blast of air fired out and he felt his hair dry. Draco ran a hand through it, trying to smush it down, "My hair must be an awful sight."

"Who are you and what have you done with Draco Malfoy?" Weasley asked, his face painted in confusion and shock.

"Look Weasley, obviously we have never gotten along, but things change. I was a right prat before and I'm still a 'pompous arsehole' now, but Harry is my soul-mate. I love him and will continue to do so. I'll be by his side until he sends me away and even then, I will fight tooth and nail until he takes me back. We kept things quiet to keep the two of us safe, as I said, but obviously that all went to shit tonight. Voldemort is fucking back, and we almost lost Harry.” Draco’s voice broke slightly at that admission and he quickly cleared it and plowed on. He would not get emotional right now. “I'm not hiding from it all anymore. You have always been incredibly important to Harry, please don't make him choose between you or me. It'll only cause him pain. I swear here and now to do my best to keep things amiable between us if you will as well."

Weasley bit his lip, abruptly standing. "I need a moment," he mumbled before striding from the ward.

“He’ll come round,” One of the twins said and Draco shrugged.

“I doubt the two of us will ever be best mates but we have to at least be able to tolerate each other. I understand anyone’s apprehension about my relationship with Harry, but he’s my soul-mate and I’d do anything for him, full stop. I hope to prove to you my worthiness of Harry now that you are all aware of our relationship.” Draco said the final words of his declaration with his eyes fixed on those of the black dog taking up the foot of Harry’s bed. Sirius licked his hand and Draco wasn’t sure how he should feel about that. He was sure he would hear more from Sirius once he wasn’t bound to his Animagus form.

“I mean you did walk in here tonight; you’ve got to have some Gryffindor courage in you,” Hermione teased, which Draco rolled his eyes at.

~*~

The next few hours passed slowly as Draco, Hermione, Sirius and the Weasley clan (Weasley having returned and been completely silent since) gathered around Harry. Draco was thankful that Harry was able to rest, but was beginning to become exhausted himself. Draco was actually beginning to nod off when a loud commotion interrupted their mostly silent vigil. A few moments later the Minister of Magic, McGonagall and Severus burst into the ward, quickly followed by an angry sounding Dumbledore. Draco got the gist of the argument quickly, deducing that the Minister had allowed a Dementor to perform the Kiss on Crouch. The four adults seemed to be unaware of the group of them. Pomfrey had erected a curtain that cut off the back part of the ward from the rest of the infirmary, keeping them from view. Draco quickly buttoned his shirt and spelled his hair back, realizing he was going to have to put the Malfoy mask on quickly.

“I hardly see how it matters about his testimony; the man was obviously delusional!” Fudge shouted, exasperated.

“What are you referring to as Barty Crouch being delusional?” Dumbledore countered.

“The man was saying he was doing this because of You-Know-Who, Dumbledore! That doesn’t strike you as delusional? Please see some sense!”

“As we have discussed, Voldemort has returned!”

“On the word of who? A delusional criminal and a teenager? A teenager who, as I understand, is less than credible? Having little fits left and right!”

Draco had heard enough, he pushed his way out from behind the curtain, “Good evening, Minister, how lovely to run into you.”

Fudge whipped around, eyes bulging as they landed on Draco. “Young Malfoy, what are you doing here? Surely you were not injured during tonight’s events?”

“No sir, I am thankful to find myself in perfect health. I cannot, unfortunately, say the same for my soul-mate. I couldn’t help but overhear you insinuating that Harry was not of sound mind? I hope I am mistaken.”

Fudge started to sputter slightly, “Your soul-mate?”

“Yes, my soul-mate, Harry Potter. I heard you saying things that I believe my barrister would definitely consider as defamation of character. I must have misheard though; an upstanding wizard such as yourself would never stoop so low.”

Fudge simply stared, at a loss for words.

“It also seems as though you may have subjected an incapacitated criminal to the Dementor’s Kiss, without a trial. A criminal that assaulted my soul-mate and whom I had planned to file a personal grievance against. That couldn’t be correct could it, Minister? I would hate to take the Malfoy’s normal contribution to the Fudge foundation and put it elsewhere on the basis of incompetence.”

Draco ignored the incredulous looks McGonagall and Severus were shooting him, and tilted his head at Fudge whom had now turned a delightful shade of puce.

“Well, er, Mr. Malfoy, no need to be hasty here. I am sure you must have misheard me. As for the situation with Crouch, it was beyond my control. Obviously, I had not instructed the Dementor to Kiss Crouch.”

“So, you’re saying there are Dementors that work for the ministry and do not listen to the word of the Minister? How very disheartening,” Draco sneered.

“Yes, quite disheartening indeed. I feel the best solution to this conundrum would be removing the Dementors from Azkaban, as a first step,” Dumbledore interjected.

“I hardly think that is the answer, the people would never agree to something -” Fudge fumbled.

“I’m sure if my family were to bring the idea up to the Wizengamot that we would quickly find support. We will, obviously, also have to bring to light what is to be done about the fact that Voldemort has returned,” Draco continued casually, as if it was the simplest idea in the world.

“You-Know-Who returned?! You cannot be serious!” Fudge burst and Draco tilted his head.

“Deadly serious. He performed a very Dark ritual tonight, injuring Harry in the process and was brought back to his full body. It is a ritual my father had been worried might be used to bring him back. I could have sworn he was going to bring it to your attention, quite odd he didn’t. It’s a disgusting process, at any rate, but when has Voldemort ever shied away from the lowest of the low when trying to achieve his goals?”

Draco had no idea how the fuck Voldemort had managed to do what he did, but he figured Fudge was too dumb to contradict him.

It seemed Fudge was at his limit, he pulled a bag from his pocket and tossed it at the foot of Harry’s bed through the gap in the curtains Draco had left, narrowly missing Sirius. “Potter’s winnings, I have business to attend to, please excuse me.”

With that Fudge practically sprinted from the Ward and Draco rolled his shoulders a bit and ran his fingers through his hair.
“Sorry, I couldn’t let him keep talking shit,” Draco looked around at the stares he was catching from everyone in the room.

“That was bloody brilliant!” Weasley gasped before breaking down into laughter, “Did you see his face?”

Draco stared down at the floor, feeling his cheeks burn.

“Admittedly, I am appreciative of your help with the issue. There are not many people who could make the Minister listen to reason,” Dumbledore agreed and Draco shrugged.

“Politics. Lucius pretty much bankrolls Fudge’s administration. It’d be a shame if he no longer had enough funding to run for reelection.”

“The threats were wonderful, however empty when he realizes that you do not speak for your family,” Severus drawled and Draco squinted at him.

“Lucky for us, I do speak for my family. If you do not recall, I turned 15 three weeks ago.”

“What does that even mean? You still have two years until you’re a legal adult,” Hermione asked and Draco realized this must have been bugging her ever since Mrs. Weasley had spoken earlier.

“The Malfoys are a Pureblood family. There are old laws; from when we didn’t live as long, that allowed majority at the age of 15 should the wizard fit certain criteria. Principally, they would have had to have found their soul-mate, and been able to pass a worthiness test set forth by the magical artifact of choice for the family,” William piped up. Draco was impressed that he had known what he had been talking about.

“Yes, and thankfully I have found my soul-mate and was able to be approved by my family’s artifact. I head the Malfoy family. I doubt Lucius has realized what I have done, but that’s his problem not mine. I am technically a legal adult. I no longer have the Trace on me. I do not make idle threats, now if we have quite finished with interrogating my personal life; I’d like to see how Harry is doing. How are you feeling?” Draco asked turning around and smiling at Harry. Harry had woken up almost immediately upon the Minister entering the room, Draco had felt the abrupt shift but had figured putting the Minister in his place was more important at the present moment.

“Harry!” Hermione gasped, turning back towards him.

Draco moved forward and carefully pressed Harry’s glasses to his face, Harry blinked a few times before a small appreciative smile was aimed at Draco.

“I’m sorry we disturbed you,” Dumbledore apologized, “but perhaps it is best that you are awake for the moment. It seems that we will have to begin plans sooner rather than later. Molly can I count on you and Arthur?”

“Of course, Albus, you know that you we will always help anyway that we can,” Mrs. Weasley frowned, but looked determined.

“I’ll go contact Dad, he should be able to get the ball rolling,” William said, before quickly striding from the room.

“Yes, we will all have to be used to working together.”

Dumbledore delegated a few more tasks that Draco ignored, busying himself instead with undoing a couple of his buttons after he caught Harry sneaking glances every few seconds. Harry looked down at the bedspread guiltily before reaching up to touch Draco’s chest quickly.

“And lastly, it is time that everyone be on the same page. Sirius if you could join us?” Dumbledore asked and the black dog hopped off the foot of the bed, quickly changing into the form of Harry’s godfather. Mrs. Wesaley screamed and Weasley quickly shushed her, assuring her it was fine. Draco looked over at his own godfather, seeing the absolute hatred in his gaze.

“We must let bygones be bygones, and forget childhood feuds. If there is one thing Harry and Draco have taught us it is that anyone can get past their differences. I expect the two of you to do the same,” Dumbledore said, his gaze switching between Sirius and Severus.

“Well, I’m not kissing him, if that’s what you’re asking,” Sirius commented, but reached out a hand towards Severus. Severus grasped it before recoiling quickly. Draco thought he was acting rather childish.

“Now I am sorry to separate the two of you so quickly, but Sirius, I need you to alert the old crowd and then stay with Remus for a while.”

“You’re leaving?” Harry asked, looking resigned.

“I’m sorry, but it is clear you are being more than taken care of here,” Sirius stated before bending down and pulling Harry into a fierce hug. “I am never more than an owl away.”

Harry nodded, still looking no happier, Draco grasped his hand and squeezed tightly.

Sirius nodded to the group, winked at Draco, before leaving the room as well. Dumbledore gave Severus some instructions and he was about to leave before he stopped and looked at Draco.

“May I have a word?” He asked and Draco hesitantly got to his feet.

“Will you be all right for a moment?” Draco met Harry’s eyes, who nodded.

“I think I can last a few minutes without you,” Harry teased and Draco nodded before following Severus from the room.

Chapter Text

Severus strode down the hallway before throwing open a random door and stalking inside. Draco followed and watched as he shut and sealed the door before he finally faced Draco.

Without a word Severus took a few steps towards him and clasped his shoulder tightly.

“I am proud of you,” Severus whispered and Draco had to bite the inside of his cheek not to allow the emotions he was feeling overtake him. Severus did not give praise often.

Severus pulled away and fixed him with a hard stare. “You acted like a true Malfoy man tonight, not like the man Lucius has become, things are only going to get harder from here. I cannot tell you what to do or how to handle yourself, but I implore you to do one thing.”

Draco furrowed his brow, “Name it.”

“Do not let Dumbledore use you to get closer to the Dark Lord. He may or may not try. No matter what he says, do not follow through. He will make it seem of the utmost importance; he will make it seem as though Potter’s life depends on it. It does not. Do not let yourself be another pawn for Dumbledore to sacrifice.”

“Is that what he has done to you?”

“Once upon a time there was a woman I loved, and I made some stupid choices. Dumbledore decided to utilize my position close to the Dark Lord for his own gain. I would not wish this position on anyone, but most specifically my godson. The Dark Lord is smart, smarter than anyone gives him credit for. He would see through your ruse in a moment. He checks for soul-mates. It would bring the Dark Lord nothing but joy to have the opportunity to use you to harm Potter. He will make it painful and he would drag it out until Potter came for you. Do you understand what I am saying?”

“Yes, sir, I understand,” Draco forced out, his mind zipping through the horrors he could have possibly faced.

“Good. I must go. Do not worry for me. I will contact you when I am able. For future reference, my Patronus is a doe. Please have Potter teach you the Charm as soon as he is back on his feet. You will need to know it.”

“Of course, be safe,” Draco said wishing, for once, he could pull his godfather into an embrace. Severus did reach out and squeeze his shoulder again before releasing him and exiting the room without a backwards glance.

Draco hurried back to the Hospital Wing and walked in on Mrs. Weasley tightly holding Harry in a hug. They were interrupted by a loud bang as Hermione slammed something over near the window.

“Sorry,” She apologized and Draco felt the onslaught of emotions Harry was feeling.

“Hey, sorry I was gone,” Draco muttered, quickly returning to Harry’s side.

“Harry, you should try going back to sleep,” Mrs. Weasley prodded gently.

“In a minute,” Harry said as he reached to touch Draco’s mark.

“Does that do something? I’ve noticed you keep touching it,” Weasley asked and Harry smiled.

“It’s kind of hard to explain. It’s almost like the feeling when you drink Butterbeer. Warm.”

“Soul-marks are very individual to those who share them, however from the size of your two marks I’m not surprised by the closeness you feel,” Mrs. Weasley commented.

Draco nodded, but Harry looked confused. “What do you mean about the size?”

“It’s theorized that the larger a mark the more powerful the bond between the two people is. The more it is capable of. For instance, the marks my husband and I have are on the smaller side. It took quite awhile for us to be able to sense one another’s emotions, and even now we can only send very simple messages to each other when we’re apart. The marks the two of you have are quite large, I imagine you share your emotions quite easily. However, this is all theory. Just because a mark is small does not mean it is inconsequential, there are exceptions to every rule.”

“Draco and I have practically always been able to feel each other’s emotions and pain.”

“Oh,” Mrs. Weasley looked surprised. “I imagine yesterday’s event were quite the ordeal for you, Draco. I’m sorry I didn’t realize.”

“The Tournament as a whole has not been the most fun on the pain scale. It’s one thing to worry about a person, it is a whole different world when you share their pain.”

“Thankfully, I was quite far last night,” Harry said casually and Draco looked at him in confusion.

“Er, I thought you knew… I felt everything last night. Our bond got stronger,” Draco said slowly, frowning at the sheer look of horror on Harry’s face.

“You’ve just been sitting here like everything was fine!” Harry burst, attempting to sit up. Draco pushed him back down.

“I assure you I am, there’s no lasting damage. My fore arm has been twinging and my forehead, but you had to have known that. You’re feeling the pain currently!” Draco defended himself.

“So the two of you share pain and emotions? Blimey…” Weasley trailed off, a new kind of respect in his eyes as he glanced at Draco.

“I can feel Luna’s emotions,” Ginny said quietly.

“We can continue this conversation in the morning!" Draco interrupted, "Harry you need to sleep, you’re barely keeping your eyes open!”

Harry’s green eyes narrowing at him, “You all need to sleep too!”

“Sure, sure,” Draco waved his hand placatingly. Thankfully Madam Pomfrey was ready with more potion and before long Harry had drifted off again.

Draco set his face down onto his and Harry’s clasped hands, and before he knew it, he also drifted off to sleep.

~*~

When Draco woke again, the ward was flooded with muted light. He squinted upwards and realized Madam Pomfrey had filtered the sun from flooding the ward. Presumably for Harry’s visitors to be able to catch some much-needed rest. Mrs. Weasley was nowhere to be found, but the school-age Weasleys and Hermione were all in various positions of slumber. In the far corner, Ginny and Luna were leaning against each other. Draco had no idea when the small Ravenclaw had been able to sneak into the ward. As he glanced at them, Luna smiled serenely at him, running her fingers through Ginny’s hair.

“It’s just past eleven,” She whispered, her voice barely carrying to him. Draco didn’t try to think too hard about how exactly she knew what he had wanted to ask. Hermione was curled in a ball on the bed next to them, but she was wearing a different set of robes then she had been wearing yesterday. Weasley was snoring softly from Harry’s other side. His head tipped backwards; arms crossed. The twins were sprawled spread-eagle in the aisle between the rows of cots, as if it were the most comfortable place to sleep on the planet.

Draco looked back to Harry, cracking his neck and fingers of his left hand as he did. Harry was staring up at the ceiling through his glasses, his emotions contemplative.

“Hey,” Draco whispered quietly, not wanting to disturb the quiet moment they were able to snag.

“Hey,” Harry whispered back.

“Have you been up long?” Draco asked.

“Nah, just a little. You’re cute when you sleep.”

Draco chuckled softly, “I highly doubt that. My hair must look like an owl was nesting in it.”

Harry rolled his eyes, “You look fantastic, as per usual.” His eyes drifted to the pouch still perched at the foot of his bed.

“I don’t want that. It should be Cedric’s.”

“Perhaps you could give it to his parent’s?” Draco said at a lack of anything else to say. How did one comfort their partner when they literally watched a teenager get murdered less than 24 hours ago?

Harry nodded once, his gaze back on the high ceiling of the infirmary.

“Are you hungry?” Draco asked, as his stomach gave a grumble. The noise was thankfully able to bring a smirk to Harry’s face.

“Yeah, a bit. I supposed I don’t have to ask you. Come to think of it, I’m surprised Ron hasn’t woken up yet. His stomach pretty much rules his schedule.”

His words had no sooner left his mouth that Weasley’s stomach did in fact growl quite loudly, and his eyes blinked open.

“Merlin, what time is it?” He blurted, twisting his neck. Draco heard an audible crack as he did.

“Almost lunch,” Draco supplied. Resolving to keep the promise he had made the day before.

Weasley looked up at him, blinking in surprise. “Er, thanks. Harry! You hungry?”

Draco was gratified to see a small smile on Harry’s face at the little exchange. If that’s all it took to bring Harry out of his dark thoughts, it looked like Draco was going to be going out of his way to be nice to Weasley. Anything to stop the heavy swirl of despair that had been leaking through the bond.

“Do you think Pomfrey would set me free?” He asked hopefully.

“She would not,” Madam Pomfrey said curtly, appearing from her office. “She would, however, get food brought to you and your stubborn guests.”

“You’re a delight, Poppy,” One of the twins said from the floor.

“An absolute ray of sunshine,” The other twin continued.

Before he knew it, Draco was sharing a meal with the crowd of Gryffindors and Luna.

“Is it always like this?” Draco whispered to Harry who was now sitting all of the way up, propped up by a mountain of pillows. Harry smiled for real this time and nodded.

“Yeah, pretty much.”

The Weasley siblings were quite loud and boisterous as they ate. Draco could safely say he had never seen such a scene outside of a few glimpses at the Gryffindor table at Feasts.

“Oi, Fred, pass the chips!”

“This is ham and cheese! I wanted turkey!” Ginny screeched.

“Ron, catch!”

“Hermione, you’re not eating your pickle right?”

Draco slid his chair back further from the mayhem, calmly chomping on his own sandwich.

“You’ll get used to it,” Harry assured him. Draco hoped he never did.

After lunch the twins materialized an Exploding Snap deck and Draco was drawn into a couple rounds.

They were just cleaning up from their fifth round when the doors to the infirmary burst open.

None other than Pansy marched through the ward, and Draco stared at her in shock. The rest of their company also stared at Pansy in silence.

“Pansy, what are you doing here?” He finally asked.

“Checking in on the both of you, of course! You storm out of the Task screeching in pain and about Portkeys, then Harry turns up covered in blood. You’ve been in here almost a whole day and we’ve gotten no word about the two of you at all. The other cowards didn’t have the balls to march in here, so here I am.” Pansy’s hands were on her hips as she chastised them.

“Er, sorry. Been preoccupied,” Draco managed, feeling utterly scolded. He was quite glad the twins had collected the cards from the last hand all ready.

“Well of course you have,” She said, quickly appraising the two of them.

“Glad to see you’re in one piece,” Pansy affirmed looking at Harry. Her gaze switched to Draco, “Hercules has already been by with a letter.”

“Yes, well, Lucius can fuck off.”

“Yes, well, might want to relay that message to your owl.”

“Great, you’ve caught up, now can you leave? One Slytherin is enough in here,” Weasley said testily. Draco looked at him eyes wide. No one spoke to Pansy like that.

“You’re being fucking serious right now?” Pansy asked, turning a steely glare on him.

“Harry isn’t a side show for anyone to come and ogle at!” Weasley burst.

“Look, Ron –” Harry began.

“No, Harry, if this bitch wants to march –”

CRACK

Pansy had marched around the bed to Weasley and slapped him. Precisely the moment she had, Hermione had grabbed her opposite hand to pull her off. They all gasped in unison and Draco watched as a bundle of what looked like twigs or logs materialized on Weasley’s forearm, a swirl of blue and white coalesced onto Hermione’s, and what looked like a spark etched itself across Pansy’s.

“What the fuck?” Weasley gasped, his face pink from where Pansy’s hand had collided with his cheek.

“Did all three of you just bond?”

“Is that possible?” Harry asked. The three of them stared at one another in absolute shock.

“It is,” Draco muttered. Pansy stared for another moment before she abruptly turned and fled into the hall.

“Should we go after her?” Hermione asked weakly.

“No, I will. Will you be all right for a minute?” Draco asked, turning to Harry.

“Go, she needs you.”

Draco nodded before sprinting from the ward. He didn’t have to go far. Pansy was sitting against the wall a corridor over, face in her hands.

“Why?” She cried and Draco slid down the wall beside her.

“The universe likes to fuck with us,” Draco stated simply, and a wet chuckle escaped her.

“That’s for damn sure.”

“I know it seems fucked right now, but it’ll be okay.”

“You’re not allowed to talk right now. You got one of them. I’m the permanent third wheel to the Golden Couple.”

Draco shrugged. “There’s a reason they didn’t bond without you.”

“They’re deplorable!”

“Hermione really isn’t bad. You put up with me. It pains me to say, but she and I are a lot alike.”

“There’s still Weasley.”

Draco laughed, “Yes well. Harry seems to really like him, so there must be something there. One out of two isn’t bad, at the very least.”

“What even are these Marks? At least yours make sense!”

Draco appraised the Mark on her forearm, his mind drifting to the others.

“They’re the three things needed to maintain fire,” He said as the thought suddenly occurred to him. “Heat, oxygen, and fuel. The fire will not last without all three. The universe is telling you that two of you would not work without the third. All three of you are essential. That’s why they didn’t bond without you.”

“Does Granger even like girls?” Pansy asked in a very quiet, vulnerable, voice.

“I think the fact that the two of you just bonded is evidence enough, but yes. She told Harry so when he was wondering if he was weird for liking more than one gender.”

Pansy nodded slowly; her eyes fixed to the opposite wall.

“We could just be the three best mates that ever could be,” She said finally, sarcasm dripping from every word.

“I don’t think this Mark is meant to be platonic,” Draco said. He didn’t voice out loud how absolutely gone for Hermione, Weasley was. That wasn’t something Pansy needed to be reminded of in the present moment. Draco reached out and intertwined their fingers, sitting in silence as Pansy cried.

Chapter Text

“Did that seriously just happen?” Ginny asked, her eyes switching between Ron, Hermione, and the door.

“If our siblings keep finding their soul-mates before us, I’m going to develop a complex,” Fred complained, looking at George.

“I have to agree, brother mine.”

“Really, Parkinson though?!” Ron groaned and Harry glared at him.

“She’s actually really brilliant when you get to know her,” Harry defended. “She sacrificed a lot to cover for Draco and I this year.”

“Her transfiguration skills are quite impressive,” Hermione mumbled, her eyes still glued to her arm.

“She’s quite good at a lot of things, you just have to give her a chance. A lot of the Slytherins come off as terrible but it’s just how they protect themselves. They’re used to people hating them on principle. Most of their home lives are as great as mine and Draco’s.”

“Any other Slytherin best mates I should know about?” Ron asked bitterly.

Harry ignored the jibe, “Theo Nott is the one that stopped the Beauxbatons boys that were torturing me. We haven’t really spoken much since, but I suppose it’s commonplace to just become best mates once they save your life, at least in my experience.”

“Okay, I’ll give you that one,” Ron muttered.

“Look, I am sorry I kept this from you. There was a million times I wanted to tell everyone, and it was so horrible to hide it. We kept it a secret for so long that I was afraid what would happen if I did tell you. It took me a bit to get used to Draco and I was bonded to him! I could only imagine what it would be like for you. Hermione found out when we were fighting or I may have just told the both of you. I don’t know. We both made some shitty decisions this year, but I truly think you and Draco will get along eventually. You just have to give him a chance. But we aren’t talking about me right now. Congratulations you two! Hurts like a bitch at first!” Harry forced a smile at his two best mates, and then a thought struck him and he legitimately starting laughing.

“What, what’s so funny?” Hermione asked.

“Ron, do you remember? We talked about this! Do you remember what you said about your soul-mate?”

Ron furrowed his brow, and then realization dawned on him and he rolled his eyes. “Ha – ha very funny.”

“What am I missing?” Hermione asked.

“Ron said awhile ago that his soul-mate would have to hit him across the face!” Harry was still cackling and it was beginning to lighten the mood of the room.

“That’s actually bloody hilarious,” Ginny agreed. “I’ve never even heard of a polyamorous soul bonding though, it’s so cool.”

“It really is very interesting. What are the odds though? I expect there could be loads more bondings, but the odds of the three right people touching at exactly the same time are so insane! I could have grabbed her just a moment later and she wouldn’t have been touching you any longer!”

“That did hurt though, Merlin,” Ron said rubbing his hand over his Mark a few times.

“Oh!” Hermione stared down at her arm again. “I think I felt something when you did that!”

“Draco and I can tell when the other is touching their Mark. It’s more intense when you touch the other person’s. I don’t know how it will work for the three of you though.”

“So can we,” Ginny supplied, glancing quickly at Luna who nodded in agreement. Harry noticed Luna was quite happy with just quietly observing things most of the time.

“May I?” Hermione asked, reaching out towards Ron.

Ron looked like he had been hit upside the head with a heavy weight, “Er, yeah, of course. You don’t have to ask…”

Hermione very hesitantly reached over and pressed her pointer finger against the bundle of twigs. They both gasped as she made contact.

“I think I see what you mean, Harry,” Hermione said in awe, pulling her hand away.

Ron just nodded dumbly, that same look on his face.

“What do you reckon they are? Looks like twigs?” George tilted his head to look at their arms.

“What did Pansy have again? Like a firework?” Harry asked.

“Wood, fire, and blue?” Ginny asked.

“Not fire, a spark. It’s the things needed for fire,” Hermione said distractedly. “I think I’m going to go find Pansy. It doesn’t feel right without her. Ron why don’t you stay with Harry for now?”

Ron looked down at her, his brow furrowing and his ears tinting red slightly. “Er, I guess.”

“I’ll be back soon, I promise,” Hermione assured him. She reached out quickly to run her hand across his arm, smiled at Harry, and left the room.

Harry decided Hermione really was a quite amazing person, and she didn’t get nearly enough credit for it.

Everyone was quiet for a while before Ron sat down heavily in the chair next to Harry’s bed. He frowned at Harry; his face much more serious than Harry was accustomed to.

“Looks like I have a lot of reconsidering to do about the Slytherins.”

~*~

After one more night in the Hospital Wing, Madam Pomfrey released Harry with some pamphlets detailing information on something called ‘Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder’. Harry didn’t really want to look at them, but Draco took them and pocketed them for later reading. Pomfrey also instructed Harry not to hesitate to Owl her if he needed any help or wanted to talk.

Harry’s forehead was still enflamed, but his arm was healed besides a thin scar Pomfrey hadn’t been able to heal. Draco suspected it was because of the nature of the injury. Dark rituals involved a lot of give and take and sacrifice. He would have been surprised if she had been able to heal it. It hadn’t stopped her from fruitlessly trying multiple times.

“So are we doing this?” Harry asked as they left the Hospital Wing. “We’re not hiding anymore?”

Draco shrugged, “There’s no point anymore. I was not subtle at all at the Task, and now we’ve both been missing for 2 days. Most people will be able to put two and two together.”

“You’re right. I just wasn’t sure if you really wanted to. If we really wanted to keep hiding it, I’m sure we could figure out a way.”

Draco stopped walking, grabbing tightly onto Harry’s hand. “I never wanted to keep our bond a secret. It’s just what had to be done. We’re going to get some backlash, obviously, but I… I almost lost you. I’m not wasting another moment pretending or hiding. I couldn’t stop thinking of all of the things we weren’t able to experience and I never want to think that way again.”

“Okay,” Harry said, grasping more firmly onto Draco’s hand. “Let’s do this then.”

It was lunch time, the end of year Feast was set to be later that day, which Draco was dreading. Harry had tried to give the Diggory’s his winnings and they had adamantly refused. Insisting that he keep it. Any talk of Cedric at all made Harry shut down. Draco had pocketed the money himself to keep Harry from stewing over it, but the two of them had talked about a few possibilities for it, late the night before.

Draco was sure there would be a lot of talk of Cedric at the Feast, and he wasn’t even allowed to sit with Harry. At least now he could check on and stare at him openly.

“Let’s sit with your House,” Draco suggested as they got closer to the Great Hall.

“You sure?”

“Absolutely, I’m not quite prepared to deal with my House yet.”

In truth, he wasn’t ready for his House to deal with Harry. He could take harsh words right now; he didn’t want Harry subjected to it.

“Let’s do this then,” Harry grasped harder onto Draco’s hand. Intertwining their fingers tightly, with his other hand Harry anxiously messed up his hair before smushing it down over his forehead.

“Let’s do this,” Draco agreed and then they pushed through the doors.

Many heads whipped their way at the movement of the door, whispers and words reached them but not for the reason Draco had expected. The name ‘Cedric’ was whispered over and over, far more than his own.

Harry was getting increasingly upset as they walked towards his table.

“Hey, let’s give them something else to talk about.” Draco whispered in his ear. Harry glanced at him quizzically. “Something bigger than this,” Draco swung their joined hands a bit.

“Oh,” Harry genuinely smirked, for the first time since before the 3rd Task it seemed. “Yeah, I can do that.”

And suddenly Draco was being kissed. Properly snogged. In front of the entire school. Draco sighed as he felt Harry dip him slightly.

Draco dimly noticed loud whistles, and cat-calls. Then a few moments later there was a loud throat clearing and Harry pulled away.

“Sorry, Professor,” He grinned at Professor McGonagall, not sounding sorry at all.

Assuredly, none of the whispers around them were about anything than the kiss that had just happened.

“Bloody hell, Harry! A warning next time!”

Harry grinned sheepishly, “Sorry, Dean, sometimes the urge just hits, you know?”

The table was mostly a mix of laughter and dumb-struck looks.

“Yeah, so Draco and I are soul-mates. Since the World Cup. Be nice to him,” Harry stated casually as he began loading up his plate.

“And it’s not platonic?”

“Obviously not,” They said in unison, which started up a new round of laughter.

“You didn’t truly think I was the one leaving those bruises, did you?” Another voice said and Draco looked up to see Pansy and Theo squeezing in on Draco’s other side. “So that was it? We’re officially broken up?”

Draco sniggered, “I’m sorry you had to find out this way.”

“Wait, the two of you weren’t actually dating? You were constantly covered in lovebites!” Lavender Brown burst.

“Someone here is possessive,” Draco teased bumping his shoulder against Harry’s. Harry was now bright red, a rarity with his complexion. The table was absolutely roaring with laughter at his expense, but he didn’t seem upset about it. Draco had to admire the Gryffindors for being there for Harry at the moment.

The moment was spoiled just seconds later.

“Do the Slytherins really have to sit with us? Malfoy I get, but Parkinson and Nott? Get back to your own table!”

Draco opened his mouth to retort, but was cut off by a surprising voice.

“Parkinson …. And Nott are welcome here. If you have a problem with them, there’s plenty of table left, move away!” Weasley piped up, the tips of his ears pink. Draco was a little impressed, to say the least.

“Thanks, Weasley,” Pansy responded.

“Call me Ron…” Weasley muttered quietly.

It was a testament to their friendship that Draco did not draw attention to Pansy’s blush.

“Anyone who has a problem with our new Slytherin friends and wants to be a dick about it can come speak to us, we would love to have a discussion,” One of the twins called down the table.

“We would absolutely love to have that discussion over various refreshments. Completely safe, untainted, refreshments,” The other twin agreed.

Draco really did need to figure out how to tell them apart.

“I think it is lovely of you to join us,” Luna’s soft and music-like voice floated from where she sat next to Ginny across from them.
“I honestly look forward to getting to know you better, cousin,” Draco said, taking a sip of his tea.

“Excuse me, what?” Ginny asked, blinking rapidly.

“Didn’t know your soul-mate was half Malfoy? I’m sorry I didn’t get to know my Aunt. I heard she was a lovely woman.”

“Mum would have liked you a lot. She would be proud of what you’re doing,” Luna said quietly and Draco busied himself with taking a bite of his food and not thinking too hard about her words. The last thing he wanted to do was get emotional in front of the entire Gryffindor house.

The rest of the meal went largely without incident. Draco fended off some passive insults, but thankfully no one brought up Cedric or the Third Task. One thing was glued to Draco’s mind and that was what the summer hols would look like. Draco was decidedly not going back to the Manor. He had a number of properties he could choose from, but there was still the manner of how he got to them. He also would not be going anywhere without Harry, and that meant getting Dumbledore to okay Harry not returning to his Merlin-forsaken relatives. Draco figured there was a better chance that Voldemort started galivanting with muggles than Dumbledore letting Harry not go back to the Dursleys. Draco would have to figure out a backup plan.

Draco also had to respond to the letters from his parents. He hadn’t even opened them yet, and had made Hercules stay in the Owlery instead of returning to the Manor as he often did when Draco did not write back right away. Draco sure had a lot of things to figure out in a short amount of time.

“At what point in the summer do you normally go to stay with the Weasleys?” Draco asked. He would have liked to let Harry enjoy the meal, but he really didn’t have much time to figure things out.

“Er, a little after my birthday. Sometimes later, why?”

“I’m trying to determine how long Dumbledore is going to require you to stay at the Dursleys. I still want to try to convince him not to make you return, but I’m not holding my breath.”

“What are you thinking, Draco?” Hermione asked, causing a few people to do a double take at the use of his first name.

“So about a month, yeah?”

“Yeah, we can normally get Mum and Dad to agree at about his birthday,” Weasley pointed out.

“Okay. I need to figure out how to Apparate. I think that’s the solution here.”

“You’re only 15 though,” Seamus Finnigan said, sounding utterly confused.

“You got premature majority, didn’t you?” Longbottom asked, and everyone turned to look at him in shock. He shrugged, looking self-conscious, “Gran’s told me about it about a million times. She hates having to take care of the family responsibilities.”

“Yes, I have,” Draco responded, ignoring the shocked outcry.

“We’ve got another lesson at the Ministry before our test. You could come to that and then set up more practice or your exam,” One of the twins said and Draco nodded in agreement.

“Yes, that will have to do,” Draco shot them an appreciative smile. He had not expected the twins to warm up to him so quickly, but Draco was noticing they seemed very black and white on their ideals.

“I guess a month isn’t too bad to be apart, earlier if you can Apparate,” Harry said quietly and Draco looked at him in surprise.

“Apart? No, I’m going wherever you go. The Apparition is so that we can get the fuck away from your family as much as possible. I’m not going anywhere near the Manor if I can help it.”

“You’re not going home?” Hermione asked.

“Hermione, there’s a very likely chance that Voldemort is living there or at the very least popping in from time to time, fuck no,” Draco whispered. The last thing he wanted was the entire table starting to interrogate him.

“I hadn’t thought of that…” Hermione whispered back.

“Wonderful, then you just need to learn to Apparate and then you can come kidnap me as much as possible,” Pansy interjected, and Draco looked at her in confusion. They always spent time with each other over the summer, but she had always been pretty happy at home.

“You think my parents are going to be thrilled about my bond?” She explained quietly into his ear, her voice barely able to be understood despite how close they were sitting.

“Count me in on the kidnapping, as well,” Theo mentioned drily, drawing attention from Pansy’s urgent whispering.

“Don’t want to spend time at the Estate?” A Gryffindor teased and Theo fixed them with a look.

“My father’s favourite pastime is cursing me, so no, I’d rather not.”

“This will definitely be a summer to remember,” Harry muttered. Draco had to agree.

Chapter Text

“Nope, apologies, that will not work for me,” Draco said flippantly.

“Draco…” Harry warned.

“No. I’m not leaving you. Sorry. I do not care if I have to live with the Muggles, I absolutely will not allow Harry to go back there alone. I frankly think it is absolute bollocks he has to go back at all, but if you insist upon it, I am going with.”

“Harry must return in order for the protective spell his mother enacted to continue to work,” Dumbledore explained slowly, like Draco was a small child.

“Yes, and that load of bullshit might have worked on everyone else, but it will not work on me. He has to call it home, right? Well, he has not called it home since he came to Hogwarts. Why you insist on sending Harry somewhere where the people loathe him and place him in harm’s way, I will never understand. I told you once that I take the well being of the people I care about seriously. I will not stand by while his family hurt or bully him. I am an adult in the eyes of magic and I will protect my soul-mate as deemed necessary,” Draco threatened.

“I will not tolerate any harm coming to muggles…” Dumbledore warned, his eyes flashing.

“Oh, so their well-being is more important than Harry’s? Makes perfect sense. From that response, you know they will treat Harry badly. As I am sure you have always been aware of. Let’s go Harry. We know all he cares about is making you worship this school as a reprieve from those awful people. It’s fine, I’ll slum it with the muggles awhile.”

“I have not dismissed you,” Dumbledore pointed out, his voice sounding on the edge of angry. Breaking his quiet, unassuming grandfather charade, for once.

“Too bad, I have,” Draco spit, tugging Harry with him. They made it down the spiral staircase where the Weasleys and Hermione were waiting.

“How’d it go?” Hermione asked and Draco rolled his eyes.

“As we expected, he still insists Harry go back. It’s fine, I’m going with. Dumbledore can keep manipulating him, but I’m not putting up with the bullshit any longer. He said you have to go back. He didn’t say you need to spend 24/7 there. I just need to learn to Apparate and we’re golden. Anyways, I apologize Harry, I spoke over and for you a lot back there, which wasn’t okay.”

Harry smirked, “It’s fine. It was kind of hot to be honest. You definitely pissed him off though…”

Draco noticed Harry had been becoming more and more jaded towards the Headmaster. No doubt aided by Draco’s open distrust towards the man, and surprisingly, Harry had told Draco how often Sirius ranted about the Headmaster. Draco had even read a few letters where Sirius was none too kind towards the old man. Draco felt sort of bad, but at the same time, Harry was right to be wary. The shady things Dumbledore did were just beginning to add up more and more.

“Yes, well maybe he should be a little more worried about you, and less worried about the shitty muggles. Also, I’d like to make it clear not all muggles are shitty, just Harry’s extended family.”

“Cheers to that,” Fred or George said.

“So, you’re really coming to stay with me?” Harry asked hesitantly.

Draco turned to him with a smile, keeping his eyes glued to Harry’s and not the enflamed and swollen scar on his forehead, barely covered by his fringe.

“We’re roommates! The Muggles won’t know what hit them.”

Weasley burst out laughing suddenly and everyone looked at him in alarm.

“What? Am I the only one that finds the image of Malfoy giving the Dursleys hell hilarious? They’re fucking awful! Imagine the Ton-Tongue Toffee, but better!”

Soon the hallway was filled with laughter.

~*~

“What did your Mum say?” Harry asked, peeking over Draco’s shoulder as he crumpled up the letter he had been reading.

“It wasn’t, Lucius used her seal so that I would open it. More blood supremacy bullshit. Thankfully, he is sending an elf to come retrieve me from the platform. I have my letter ready to give to them instead. I sealed it with my magical signature so they’ll know I wrote it.”

“The elf won’t try to take you against your will?” Harry asked, his mind zipping through every worst-case scenario possible.

Draco shook his head, “No they have to listen to me as Head.”

Harry felt badly that Draco was leaving everything he knew just to be by Harry’s side, but the selfish part of him was so thankful he didn’t have to go back to the Dursleys alone again. The anger he had felt during the school year so often had multiplied and mutated. Harry constantly felt angry or sad, with barely any in between. His mind just kept replaying the night in the graveyard over and over. The look on Cedric’s face…

“Hey, you here with me?” Draco asked, a relaxed smile on his face, a beam of sun cutting through from the window glinting off his platinum hair. Harry shook his head, attempting to clear it.

“Yeah, sorry,” He apologized and Draco's smile widened, little crinkles forming next to his eyes. Harry felt the butterflies that normally came with Draco smiling at him, spring to life.

“No need, you all packed?”

Harry frowned, “Er… Yes?”

“What am I going to do with you?” Draco asked, but couldn’t keep the fond look from his face.

“Love me?” Harry asked hopefully and the corner of Draco’s mouth pulled up in a smirk, his hands gripping each of Harry’s hips lightly. They were in Harry’s dorm; Draco had taken to spending as much time as physically possible with Harry. Apparently, some of the Slytherins had not taken Draco’s defection well.

Another thing Harry felt guilty for.

“Always,” Draco muttered, his eyes on Harry’s lips. He was sitting on Harry’s bed as Harry had been trying to finish packing for the train.

Harry stood between Draco’s knees, bending down to bring his lips to Draco’s.

“Oi! You finished up here?” Ron called as he threw the door open. Harry and Draco sighed in identical annoyance.

“Not quite,” Draco groaned.

Ron’s eyes widened slightly at the scene. “Er, sorry, it’s just everyone is starting to go down to the train…”

“Harry decided to wait until the very last possible moment to get his things packed,” Draco complained and then waved his wand. Harry watched as his things started to zoom into his trunk.

“Why was I packing by hand again?” Harry asked, slightly annoyed. They could have been snogging instead of wasting time packing his trunk.

“You were the one that wanted to!”

“I didn’t realize you knew the spell to pack!”

“You don’t think I pack my things by hand, do you?”

Harry reflected that he probably ought to have known that Draco knew how to pack by magic.

“Well, that’s sorted then, ready to go down?” Ron asked.

Harry was impressed by the effort Ron was putting in towards his friendships with the Slytherins. Harry supposed now being bonded to one helped. Hermione, Ron, and Pansy had been slowly but surely getting to know one another more. Unfortunately, the timing of summer hols hadn’t helped. It hadn’t even been 48 hours since they had bonded. Hopefully Draco would be able to get his license to Apparate and then things would be easier. Pansy would also be able to freely use the Floo to get to the Weasleys, it was just a matter of her parents allowing her to. Draco had said that her parents would not be pleased she bonded with a Bloodtraitor and a Muggleborn. Harry had asked if Pansy could do the same thing Draco had done. Unfortunately, along with being bigoted, Pureblood culture was also very misogynistic. Pansy would not be able to take on the Head due to her being female.

“We better, don’t want to miss the train,” Harry sighed, helping Draco to his feet.

“Just a few months and we’ll be back,” Draco assured him as Harry cast a last glance around the room he called home for most of the year. Decoding his emotions with ease, as per usual.

“Yeah,” Harry agreed. His eyes caught on something caught between his trunk and his bed, still wiggling slightly like it was trying to join the rest of Harry’s belongings in his trunk. Harry bent down and grabbed onto a small bottle cap, a smile coming to his face.

“What’s that?” Draco asked as Harry held it up.

“Don’t you remember?” Harry asked and Draco squinted at him.

“Is that the bottle cap I gave you at the Cup?” Draco asked, surprise in his voice.

“Yup! I had it stored in my trunk, it must have gotten knocked out at some point.”

“I can’t believe you still have it.”

“Want to skip the train?” Harry asked passing the cold metal from hand to hand, pressing his thumb into the ridges.

Draco laughed, “Unfortunately the spell definitely wore off. I doubt it would have even worked longer than the night I gave it to you.”

“Ah well,” Harry shrugged and pocketed the bottle cap, allowing Draco to tug him from the dorm.

Hogwarts would always be his home, but as he followed Draco down the steps, their fingers intertwined and his other hand sliding over the cap in his pocket, he realized home was turning out to be less of a place and more of a person.