Title: Copycat
Beta: lksnarry1
Pairing: Harry/Draco
Length: about 13300 words
Rating: R
Warnings: Slash, Sex, Profanity, Third Party POV
Summary: Things in the world were messed up. Thorfinn knew that the world just needed some help fixing things this time.
Disclaimer: I make no claim to Harry Potter or the accompanying ideas and characters. They belong to J.K. Rowling, Warner Brothers, Bloomsbury, Scholastic, and others. This is written for entertainment only.
Author's Notes: Thanks to lksnarry1 for the beta.

Potter and Malfoy had finished the case of the missing Thestral over a week ago, discovering it had been locked in a room in some cursed building. The person who had taken the Thestral had been using it for potion's ingredients. Annoyingly, Potter and Malfoy hadn't gone anywhere without other Aurors present, mostly due to Malfoy's protective instincts. They had wrapped up the case without ever giving Thorfinn another opportunity to complete his mission.

Thorfinn had to find his opportunity elsewhere, and he believed that Malfoy would keep him from doing things the way he had planned in the beginning. Still, Thorfinn thought Fate would forgive these small inconsistencies. Thorfinn was going to fix the difference that wouldn't be survivable.

The morning was cold, but that would work all the better for Thorfinn's task. What would work even more in Thorfinn's favour was that Robards hadn't insisted on Potter having an Auror guard, though Robards said another attempt on Potter's life would guarantee one. And what would work the most for Thorfinn was that Potter was an idiot and always followed the same routine.

Potter enjoyed a small tea-shop just down the street from his flat. It was a Muggle business, but Thorfinn had heard even Malfoy sing its praises when Potter brought him a cup of tea in the morning. Standing patiently in line, Potter blended in seamlessly with all the Muggles. None of them knew about the wand strapped under the sleeve of his shirt, or the Auror robes in the sack he wore slung over his shoulder.

Thorfinn was hidden under a Disillusionment Charm, lurking silently in the alcove between the counter holding the condiments for the tea and the wall, where it was unlikely someone would stumble into him. Potter took sugar in his tea, and Malfoy preferred a splash of milk. Thorfinn would have his chance as Potter was fixing Malfoy's drink. Potter always left the sugar melting in his drink while he put the milk in Malfoy's, only turning after Malfoy's drink was ready to stir his own.

The small vial in Thorfinn's hand had cost more than he really liked to consider. It was pure Basilisk venom, and even a mere drop of it would kill Potter within the hour.

Potter paid for the drinks and walked to the condiments table. As he always did, he took the lid of each cup before dumping a sugar and a half in his. As Potter turned to pick up the milk, Thorfinn carefully reached out a hand.

The vial was as difficult to see as Thorfinn, but the venom wouldn't be. It could be spotted, if Potter turned around at just the right moment. Slowly, Thorfinn tilted the vial. It normally took a couple of moments for Potter to measure out the amount of milk Malfoy preferred, but Thorfinn still had to fight the temptation to give into fear and dump the venom out. If he did that, it would make noise, and Potter would figure him out.

A drop of venom slipped into Potter's tea with barely a splash. Thorfinn grinned and stole out of the tea shop behind a young mother wrestling with her son's pram.

Back at his awful little flat, Thorfinn sat before the viewing scope. Potter would not yet have arrived at the Ministry, but he should be walking in soon. And Malfoy would likely already be there, awaiting his tea with an entitled air.

Indeed, that was what Thorfinn saw. Malfoy, only using a quarter of his attention to file paperwork, was muttering quietly about how long Potter was taking to come in. "He couldn't make it in on time if his best friend depended on it. Idiot man." Now that he knew what to listen for, Thorfinn could clearly hear the fondness coloring his tone.

"Draco, I brought you tea!"

"You better have. You are also twenty minutes late, and I had to do all of your filing." Malfoy stuck his nose in the air, as if he were a dog, before picking up one of the cups without looking. Thorfinn only worried for a second before spotting the way Potter grinned.

"I don't know how you can always pick up the right drink. I would get it wrong half the time if I chose them like you do." Potter took a large, unrefined gulp of his drink. Thorfinn checked his clock. Potter had had the poisoned drink for about five minutes now, and Thorfinn was quite sure that he never drank anything before delivering Malfoy's drink. Thorfinn had followed Potter several mornings to discover how he behaved.

Thorfinn gave Potter maybe five minutes before he starting feeling the effects. Ten, if his last brush with a basilisk had given him some immunity.

It took Potter twenty minutes to act in a way that assured Thorfinn the venom had worked. "Draco, get me the blue box from my bag. Now." Clearly it had affected him sooner, and he hadsuffered in silence. Malfoy looked up, his mouth opening. Thorfinn was sure that he had been intending to tell Potter to get his own damned box, but he took one look at Potter and stood.

"What the hell happened, Harry? You're paler than me, and you look like you couldn't manage to stand with two assistants and a walker." Potter rolled his eyes. "I'm taking you to St. Mungo's, Harry."

"The box. St. Mungo's is slow. Now, Draco." Malfoy didn't hesitate. Within a minute Potter was frantically rifling through the box, looking for something. "Thank God," he muttered, dumping something in his mouth far too quickly for Thorfinn to see.

Potter started, and then he sank into his seat. "I think that's done it."

"What happened?" Malfoy was asking for the second time; this time Potter was clearly going to answer. He picked up his cup.

"My tea had poison in it. I don't know what kind or anything, but it was there." Seeing the look on Malfoy's face, Thorfinn was just as happy to be away from him at that moment. There was a man who would do anything to protect his lover, and Thorfinn doubted his childish issues about killing had lasted through Auror training. Objections like that rarely did.

"Did you recognize anything about the poison? A taste, a certain sensation, a scent?" Malfoy grabbed the cup and smelled its contents.

"It was normal, right down to the flavour. I wouldn't have drank it if there had been anything off. I didn't notice anything until I started feeling woozy and sick. It was then I figured something was wrong."

"Why did you choose Pheonix Tears, Harry?" Potter shrugged, and Thorfinn nodded in understanding. He had wondered how Potter had saved himself from the venom of a Basilisk, and the tears of a Pheonix would do it, especially if he swallowed them.

"It was all I could think of quickly, and it worked." Malfoy nodded, looking mollified, though only slightly.

"You're going to St. Mungo's, just to make sure you're all clear. And I'll be taking that," Malfoy grabbed the cup of tea, "to see exactly what it was someone tried to kill you with. I'll take you to the hospital first, to make sure you go there instead of running off to your flat like an idiot. You will stay at the hospital until I come back to you. Am I understood?" Thorfinn was surprised with Potter didn't complain. He was either very shaken by his near death, or he felt that obeying Malfoy was in his best interests. Despite their affair, Thorfinn had never seen one capitulate to the other easily.

"Let me know what that shit is, please. I want to see if there is anyway the poison suits our theories. I did almost die in the Ministry, but it was possession. I don't see how a poison is the same."

"It might not be. We were pretty sure, but you were never poisoned the the war that I know of." Potter merely shrugged.

Thorfinn scowled as Potter and Malfoy left. He had plenty of recorders floating around the Auror Offices, but there was nothing at St. Mungo's, nor in the Potions department of the Ministry. Unless they returned to their flats or office, Thorfinn would not know what they were thinking. He would have to keep flipping around on the viewing scope until he learned where they were going next.

The office was the next place Thorfinn saw the duo. Thorfinn listened carefully as they spoke, worried that they would have spoken about their thoughts before and Thorfinn would be left trying to fill in the holes in his knowledge. He must have truly been favoured by the fates though, because it seemed Potter and Malfoy didn't feel safe enough to discuss the matter outside of their office.

"Basilisk Venom, Harry. Someone fed you Basillsk venom. Thank Merlin that you chose Phoenix tears to counter it, nothing else would have really helped." Thorfinn noticed that Malfoy seemed eager to touch Potter, brushing against his arms or ribs in passing. Malfoy was feeling a little insecure at Potter's recent injury.

"Why at the Ministry, though? I admit to nearly being killed by a Basilisk, but that was in the Chamber of Secrets, at Hogwarts. I've never even heard of a Basilisk at the Ministry." Thorfinn nodded. There wasn't anything that dangerous at the Ministry, and he had known that Potter's close call had been at the school. But Potter was under strict orders from Malfoy to avoid Hogwarts, and after quite a bit of arguing, Potter had agreed to the restriction. There was no hope of getting the poison to him at Hogwarts, and Potter had nearly died at the Ministry in a way Thorfinn simply couldn't recreate. Combining the different ideas was really the best way for Thorfinn to make his plans work.

"How could anyone get me into the Chamber of Secrets? It might have been that he simply took the only opportunity he could find."

"It is possible. But, if he was taking the only opportunity he could find, than he won't be following his plan exactly. We're taking this to Robards, of course. There is no way you are getting out of this without an Auror guard. In fact, I will insist on it if Robards doesn't make the right decision on his own, but I think he will." Potter broke into a massive growl.

"I don't want some barely trained Aurors following me around. I've mentioned it before, and you already know its the case, so why the hell are you going to try and get me one? I'll be safer if I'm just with you, and you'll be safer, too. How often has being in a crowd saved either of us?"

"Potter, this madman wants to kill you; I don't want him to succeed. You will have an Auror guard, because iyou/i didn't win the War. Not alone. You need some help occasionally, and I am going to make sure you have it. We're going to Robards." Malfoy walked out of the room, ending the argument quickly and firmly.

Potter chased Malfoy out the door, clearly expecting to argue his case to Robards himself. "You can't do that, Draco!" He called. Malfoy, for once, had no interest in fighting. He merely needed to win.

It took an hour for the two to return to their office where Thorfinn could listen to them.

"I can't believe you did that!"

"I didn't have to do a thing, you noticed. Robards brought up the guards himself, and he was the one that fought you on the matter."

"You certainly didn't stand behind me-"

"Why would I stand behind something I didn't agree with? You are being an idiot."

"You are being a controlling bastard." Malfoy laughed, loudly.

"I am a little interested in your well-being. As you don't seem to care, I would consider that a good thing." Potter opened his mouth, but Malfoy kept on going. "We have a tail, and that's final. They will leave at night, and we will not leave my flat until they return the next morning. If it is absolutely crucial that you go out, I will go with you."

"And why don't you tell me when it's time to eat, as well? Or when to take my showers? You are going to have more say about what I do when than I do." Malfoy shrugged.

"How is that really different from how things work now?" Potter seemed to calm down slightly.

"Listen, Draco," his voice turned quiet and almost passive. "I am not comfortable with people following me around all day. I don't like someone knowing where I'm going all the time, especially when I don't know the person in question. It makes me a little paranoid." Thorfinn would have said from Potter's tone his anger had died down a bit, but he could see it raging. Potter was repressing it for the moment, hoping to get Malfoy to agree with him.

"I know. I wouldn't force it on you, but someone is following you already. Someone who wants you dead. In this situation, it is necessary for you to have people around in case you need help." This was the iron control of his temper that Thorfinn had seen from Malfoy during the War. He wasn't showing any emotion that could get him into trouble. Thorfinn didn't think his or Potter's lapse into control would last very long.

"I'm not dead yet, Draco, and I've been wandering around alone for years. When someone was trying to kill me, no less." Malfoy scowled.

"I don't care, you aren't going alone now."

"I hate this! It's awful!" Malfoy shrugged at Potter's outburst.

"So is your death." Potter shook his head.

"Death isn't so bad. I'm not eager, but no one follows you around all the bloody time, at least."

"If you die because you are stupid, I will follow you around, and make sure you never get a second of fucking peace. You are not dying because you're a stubborn fool, do you get it? I simply won't allow it." Malfoy stood beside Potter's chair, and Thorfinn was amazed that Potter allowed himself to be on a lower level than his opponent, even when he clearly trusted him so.

Before Potter could speak in his own defense again, Malfoy gave an entitled sigh. "Let's just go to my flat, Potter. We'll tell the guards and Apparate straight there, they will leave us as soon as we are in the wards. Deal?" Potter scowled and gave Malfoy a rude gesture involving two fingers, but he didn't disagree. "Good. We'll settle this later."

The men did exactly what Malfoy had decided upon. Thorfinn had turned the viewing scope's focus onto Malfoy's pleasant flat, and he watched as the two strode into the living room. "You didn't bring us here to discuss why you want me followed around like a toddler, did you?" Potter wore an expression of suspicion, though it was tinged with enough good-natured excitement to eliminate any indications of anger. He had clearly calmed down over the course of their trip home. He had the last time they had argued at work as well. They made it a point, Thorfinn thought, not to bring work arguments home with them.

"Of course I didn't. That would be foolish, because we both know that you're too stupid to agree to reason, and I am not going to agree to your suicidal intentions." Potter looked ready to start their argument right back up, but Malfoy continued speaking. That seemed to be a common denominator in the way they handled each other. "Go get ready. I need a drink first." Potter looked rebellious at the command, but he obeyed, surprising Thorfinn.

Thorfinn followed Malfoy on the scope as he sipped a glass of water and popped his knuckles. Dropping his cloak on the hook on his way through the hall, he walked toward his bedroom.

Potter was lying on the bed, naked as the day he was born. He saw Malfoy, still clothed and carrying a glass, and grinned. "At least you didn't need to get drunk before fucking me."

"If I needed a drink to consider fucking you, we would have never gone on our first date." Malfoy set the glass down on the table, looking at his lover. "As it is, I'm going to fuck you until you can't think anymore, and until I no longer feel the temptation to murder you in your sleep tonight." Malfoy touched his finger to his lips, and Thorfinn realized that his glass of water had done more than simply hydrate Malfoy. It had given him a chance to bring himself under tighter control, so he wouldn't get angry again and hurt Potter in the course of the night's activities.

"This is true. Are you planning on actually doing anything?" Thorfinn cocked his head, curious enough to continue watching despite knowing what was about to happen. They had both let go of their anger so quickly when sex was in the mix, relaxing and flirting. Thorfinn had assumed that their sex, at least when they were arguing like they currently were, was angry and rough. It wouldn't. They would be slow and comfortable, forgetting their anger and instead reassuring themselves they had survived and they were together, and they would remain so.

"I don't know, Harry. What do you think?" Malfoy toed out of his shoes and socks, slipping off his trousers as soon as he was able.

"It looks like this might go somewhere." Potter was carefully following the progress of Malfoy's striptease, watching as he took off each article of clothing. Indeed, neither of them spoke again until Malfoy was as naked as Potter.

"I was planning on it." Malfoy reached onto the bed and grabbed Potter's wrist. Thorfinn considered watching for longer, but he shook his head. There was nothing else to learn, not from sex between these two men. They were clearly in love, and they were clearly planning on expressing it. That was all Thorfinn needed to know.