Harry Potter and Co. belong to Rowling.
HP/DM, SS/NM, FG/OMC
"Shades of Grey"
Chapter Four. EVADING CONTROL
Picks up immediately after the last chapter!
"I asked a question!" Draco yelled half sitting up, his face pale from the strain.
"Please calm down Mr. Potter," the healer asked mixing another relaxant potion.
The room froze as soon as the words were spoken. Narcissa lost all color in her face and Harry held his breath without meaning too. Draco stared unsure of what he had heard.
"What did he say?" Draco turned to his mother anxiously. What was going on!
"Leave!" Narcissa ordered the healer. The Wizard hastily thrust the potion into her hands and briskly walked out.
Harry moved out of the man's way and answered. "We're married."
"MARRIED!" Draco shook his head in disbelief. "NOT TRUE!" he shouted at Harry and then turned to his mother for support. "Not True!"
"I'm sorry but it is." Narcissa evaded his eyes, "It was my decision to make."
"It was my life!"
"WHAT YOU WERE LIVING WAS NO LIFE." Narcissa sniffed back in contempt.
"Your mother agreed to it. It was marriage to me or Azkaban."
"How could you have agreed to …" Draco waved his arms wildly working himself into a rage. Narcissa backed away clutching the potion in her hands. Merlin, help my son understand! Draco tried to rise from the bed but Harry walked by Narcissa and blocked him.
"You're not well enough Draco."
"No I'm not! How could you?" Draco winced in pain and closed his eyes tightly to keep from throwing up. Every bruise in his body ordered him to lie back down but he wouldn't.
"How could I what? Rescue you! Save you from insanity! Bring you back to the life you were brought up for!" Harry touched Draco's arm lightly trying to calm the blonde a bit.
"I was not brought up to be your bitch!" Draco spit out moving his arm away.
"I…you are not my…" Harry trailed off unwilling to continue. "You are my husband. We're married. Your mother married you by proxy."
"Why me?" Draco asked looking straight into Harry's green eyes. Harry smirked very unlike himself and asked, "Why not?"
Draco shook his head smirking and collapsed back onto the bed. "You fool."
"Been called worse Ferret." Harry murmured miserably. Harry wanted to say something but there was nothing to be said at least he couldn't think of anything. The blonde ignored his injuries, curled into himself and refused to talk anymore. After a while he fell asleep.
The night came quickly and Narcissa sat on the bed patting her son's head like she had when he was a toddler. She had done what was right, what had been needed. Her son was strong, he would recover, she thought trying to convince herself
"Did I do right?" she asked out loud.
"Life with me or life with the jailers and Dementors at Azkhaban…what do you think?" The young Wizard asked. Narcissa nodded once more and wiped her tears away.
Harry left feeling badly but not regretful. Things would work out they had to.
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Hours later Draco tossed and turned from a nightmare. His mother stood by helplessly as her son relived the terrible memories of his assault. The sureness she had felt before crumbled when Draco opened his eyes and begged her for help…without hesitation she went to his side and nodded jer head. She'd help her son no matter what!
The next day she called Tanni, Draco's elf, dismissed the healers, and took over as healer and nurse to her son.
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…..a week later
The Ministry was keeping a close eye on the marriage of the Potter and Malfoy heirs and when the magic used to monitor their union did not register their copulation, a message was sent to remind the pair of the tight rope they were walking.
Harry had seen very little of his husband since their confrontation a week ago. He would visit him every morning and try to speak to him but Draco remained quiet and wouldn't even look at him. Harry's patience was slowly being exhausted. Two weeks since their marriage and Harry was far from grounding his magic. The mind disciplines Snape had drilled into him where helping but his magic was getting more difficult to control with the passing of each day.
There had been some good news though, the other Prisoners in Azkaban would be released… at least something had come out right. When Harry wrote to Snape about the mysterious cousin. Snape informed him that the youth had been disowned by his first cousin's husband Jhonnas Osvald Mastersen. Severus would try to inquire into the circumstances but he doubted he would get anywhere. His cousin Elvira Snape, the youth's mother was the meanest woman he had ever met and would probably not cooperate.
Harry let him know the youth who had just turned eighteen would be released in two days time in case Snape wanted to make arrangements to pick him up.
Something that did not make sense to Harry was why Snape's cousin had been arrested in the first place. All the other prisoners had been heirs or relatives of Death Eaters, but Shaun Mastersen Snape had been disowned by his family and had even adopted an alias…things just didn't add up. He was sure Snape was thinking the same thing.
Harry sat back and opened the Daily Prophet and immediately regretted it. The headlines were enough to cure him from wanting to read the paper ever again.
Lord Potter defender of the Convicted! He skimmed over the story and grimacing angrily. Rita Skeeter was some kind of Bitch! The reporter went into a tirade demanding if Harry's wits had been affected by Voldemort that he would take a Death Eater's son as his husband. She also discussed Harry's assistance or as he called it interference with the detention of the remaining prisoners. Harry continued reading in hopes of finding something out about Severus mysterious cousin but nothing informative was mentioned. He threw the paper from him and went to see Draco.
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In a tavern in Nocturne Alley a lone figure read the Daily Prophet. His clawed hands held the paper tighttly as he read the article. Shaun would be back soon! His Shaun! He owed alot to Harry Potter and promised to one day pay back the favor.
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Narcissa was walking out of Draco's bedroom when she saw Harry walking purposefully towards her.
"Is he awake?"
"No he's sleeping I just gave him a potion he had a bad night." she answered closing the door firmly behind her.
"Oh."
"Having Tanni here has helped him a lot."
"His house elf?" That was a kill! Draco had never seemed the elf loving kind.
"Yes it's the small things." Narcissa smiled faintly.
Harry frowned. Something about Narcissa wasn't right ...she seemed drained... "Are you ok?"
"Yes, just tired that's all."
Harry nodded off-handedly. "I'll come back at four make sure he's up. We need to talk."
"Do you think it's a good idea? Everything is still so recent."
"I don't but I got another owl from the Ministry we have to at least talk." Harry said walking away.
Narcissa sighed in relief and opened the door. Once inside she called Draco's elf.
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That day at four….
Harry left the meeting with Draco knowing something was wrong. Draco hadn't even acknowledged him. He was not recovering but getting worse. He needed someone to help him but who? The only person that came to mind was his ex Potions Professor Severus Snape, Draco's Godfather.
The one time hated Wizard had grudgingly earned Harry's respect. Once the war against Voldemort and his Death Eaters had broken out it had been Snape's knowledge and secret information which had tipped the scales and given the light a fighting chance. Snape and Harry had not become friends immediately but they had become friends and now it was to his friend that he turned to for help.
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the next day….
The green flames shot up and a figure could be made out. In seconds they dissipated and Severus Snape walked from the chimney into Harry's library.
Harry stood up immediately and greeted Snape warmly, "Welcome to Potter Manor Professor."
"Thank you Mr. Potter." The pair had decided to continue addressing each other as they had when they first had met. As Harry had mugglely said once, if it ain't broken, don't fix it.
"I appreciate you coming." Harry stretched his hand and Severus shook it.
"I hope I can be of help." Snape had not been happy with Harry's choice of spouse and would have said as much if the Gryffindor had asked for his opinion. He loved his Godson but Draco was the worst kind of spoiled, obnoxious, snobby prat and would not for one minute appreciate Harry's help or try to understand his motives. Harry should've chosen someone else.
"Why don't you sit down and I'll tell you where things stand." Harry offered Snape a seat and then sat in front of him. They talked for about an hour of everything that led to Harry's decision, his proposal to Narcissa, and then and most difficult Draco's experience at the jailers's hands., the youth's reaction to his new circumstances and Narcissa's reactions throughout the whole thing.
Snape listened and like Harry felt something or better yet nothing was adding up. It was strange. Draco was not the kind to take things lying down. Narcissa was nursing Draco! NURSING! Narcissa loved her son but she didn't know the first thing about healing. She had dismissed the Medi-wizards so who was making the potions! Tanni had been called? Draco hated the elf; the youth had tormented it as a child, often ordering the small creature to…to…Snape stopped in mid thought when the truth hit him.
"Merlin! He didn't!" Severus exclaimed jumping to his feet.
"What?" Harry was startled by the older Wizard's reaction.
"Where is he?" Severus spoke quietly but Harry could tell the Wizard was furious.
"Follow me!" Harry had made a mistake, a big one. He took the lead and after climbing the stairs turned down several corridors before he got to the double doors. Without ceremony Harry pushed them open.
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Narcissa was reading when Harry and Severus strode in.
"Severus!"
"Narcissa …." Severus nodded before he strode to the bed and drew back the curtains. Draco's sleeping form could be made out.
"He's sleeping" Narcissa whispered trying not to fidget.
"I asked you to make sure he was awake." Harry demanded turning on the woman.
"He doesn't want to talk to you yet…he needs more…"
"We don't have-" Harry interrupted but stopped himself when he saw Severus touch his husband's sleeping form.
"WHAT'S WRONG?" Harry turned to his ex Professor.
"This is not Draco!" Severus whispered.
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