THE FRIENDSHIP OF RIVALRY

Notes:

Disclaimer - I do not own the setting of Harry Potter or any of the characters; those are the property of J.K. Rowling. I have however added a few new names, given that this story is centered on the time after Harry and Draco have graduated. The plot is entirely mine.

This story is a male x male slash so please don't read it if you don't like to read these types of fanfics. For those who do not know, male x male slash is when the story is told around the relationship of two boys or guys, meaning this is a gay fanfic settled around the main characters of the story.

Key:

"Thoughts"

"Speech"

Chapter 10: Surprise, surprise (Draco)

Draco tried to keep his edginess at bay as Harry approached the door to the Shrieking Shack. He could hear the terribly pained howls coming from the inside of the cabin, but he decided that Harry probably knew well enough about how to care for Professor Lupin when he was in this state.

It was only a second later when Harry opened the door that Draco realized that they had forgotten about their current bodies. An eleven-year-old child would never be able to stop an adult werewolf and Draco felt himself instinctively call up his merged animagus form as the werewolf swiped Harry to the side as if he was a stuffed animal. Draco could almost feel the rage swallowing him as his body reacted on instinct before he jumped forward and cornered the werewolf. His entire body screamed that he should go look if Harry was alright but he knew he couldn't do that until the threat was neutralized.

Draco cast a quick silent sleeping spell and only waited long enough to see that Professor Lupin had fallen asleep before he rushed to Harry's side while returning to his human form. He immediately saw the four deep bleeding gashes on Harry's abdomen and he felt dread fill his entire body. He knew that Harry's uncle couldn't help it but they should have known better than to barge in on a changed werewolf.

He bandaged Harry's cuts and cast a diagnostics spell. He could see that the werewolf venom was trying to take over Harry's body, but something was stopping it. The readings didn't allow him to get a clear view of what it was but the werewolf venom was soon overcome.

He should have been happy that Harry wasn't going to turn into a werewolf, but there were only a few poisons strong enough to counteract werewolf venom, and none of them were good. Unfortunately, only two types of those poisons didn't show up on diagnostic checks at all and those were basilisk venom and dragon's blood.

Draco remembered the one time Harry had to fight a dragon in the Triwizard tournament, and he also remembered reading somewhere that Harry and his friends had broken into Gringotts and escaped on a dragon, but he didn't know whether he had either ingested or touched dragon's blood at that time.

Basilisk poison was a different story, however. He was pretty sure that Harry had never even seen a living basilisk before, not to mention the one-in-a-million chance that he got poisoned by one. Basilisk venom kills almost instantly and that is if the victim isn't petrified first, which is what usually happens when someone accidentally finds themselves in the presence of a full-grown basilisk.

But basilisks never reach full-grown status because it can only be controlled by a parselmouth and no one would ever trust such a beast in the hands of someone they believe are evil. Another reason basilisks never reach adulthood is because their bodies make up numerous ingredients that are crucial in rare potions that could sell for a lot of money.

This left Draco with the only available answer that Harry might have ingested dragon's blood during one of his escapades. Yet the dragon incidents happened years ago so Draco found himself thoroughly confused. He made himself relax before dissecting the problem. Things always seem worse when you look at the big picture instead of analyzing it bit-by-bit, right?

The most important thing to remember is that the werewolf venom had been stopped. This meant that Harry wouldn't be turning furry anytime soon. Harry's vitals showed that he was healthy, despite the werewolf attack a few minutes ago and the gashes have already healed. What was he worried about again? Oh yes! The fact that Harry was healthy even though he had some unknown poison strong enough to beat werewolf venom running through him, and said poison could outright kill any other wizard!

Draco sat back as he watched Harry's relaxed breathing. Didn't he get sick and tired of being The One Who Lived? Draco knew that Harry had lived through numerous occasions where he actually should have died and he would try to distance himself from Harry more and more after each incident. He didn't want to admit it to himself at that time but every time Harry returned to school, Draco knew that something could happen that might end up killing him.

A groan sounded out through the dark cabin and Draco's attention snapped to Harry's face. He felt a rush of relief as he saw Harry slowly open his eyes. He had to stop himself from pushing him back down and telling him to rest though. Harry was still lying on the dusty floor and Draco quickly got up to transfigure a mattress out of a broken chair before levitating Harry onto it. Not all of this was done silently though because Harry immediately thrashed around and insisted that he didn't have to lie down.

Draco simply snorted. "If you don't relax right now I'm going to either tie you to the mattress or cast immobulus on you." Harry seemed to seriously consider his threat because he immediately stopped moving. It didn't stop him from demanding answers though.

"What did you do to Remus? I thought my chest was slashed open. Darn it I'm probably going to turn into a werewolf from now on…" Harry's rant was cut short when Draco lifted his wand in warning. He knew Harry wanted answers and Draco would answer them, but his questions were more important.

"First of all, I put Professor Lupin to sleep; secondly you're not going to turn into a werewolf and lastly you simply healed yourself, which is unusual since nobody is supposed to be able to heal that fast. Now you will answer my questions understood?" Draco winced at the sound of frustration in his voice. Harry must have interpreted it as anger because he looked really confused at the moment.

"You seem to have something inside you that counteracted the werewolf venom. Now usually I would be very happy about this, since becoming a werewolf would basically mean that people would stop treating you like a wizard if they knew, but it can only be counteracted by certain poisons. I did a diagnostics check on your body but found nothing and since there are only two poisons out of the bunch that would react like that, it narrows the list down quite a bit. Unfortunately being exposed to any one of the two would basically mean an almost instant death, so I don't know why you are still alive." Draco looked at Harry uncertainly, but the one-time brunette only looked back at him with interest.

Draco sighed before continuing since Harry didn't seem like he was about to volunteer any information. "Harry did you by any chance ingest dragon's blood or a fully grown basilisk's venom at some point? I know it's stupid to ask about the basilisk but…"

Harry shook his head and Draco fell silent. "To answer your question Draco, I didn't ingest any dragon's blood as far as I know, but a fully grown basilisk's fang did break off in my arm when I fought it. I did almost die but the headmaster's phoenix, Fawkes, healed me with her tears. Apparently, it didn't counteract the venom though so maybe it just enabled my body to function with the venom."

Draco gaped at Harry as he nonchalantly described the encounter with the basilisk in their second year at Hogwarts. If it was anyone else telling the story, he would probably be laughing in their faces, but Harry was a danger magnet and Draco couldn't do anything but believe him. "How big was this basilisk?"

Harry shrugged. "Well I know it was big, but I was twelve at that time so I might have just imagined it. I do have a slight scar where the fang was; maybe you would be able to judge its size from its fang?" Draco couldn't hide his enthusiasm as he nodded, but a part of him reminded him that Harry was probably just being modest. He knew that Harry was going to have to concentrate to revert back to his original form and luckily Professor Lupin was still under the sleeping spell so he won't see anything.

Harry sat up and shook off his shirt and concentrated on revealing his original form. Soon enough Draco could immediately see the circular scar on Harry's arm and it shocked him into silence. The largest basilisk fang ever recorded was only about half the size of the scar on Harry's arm. Draco wasn't sure since he would have to see the basilisk itself before he made any comparisons.

A moment later his eyes drew to another scar and this made him realize that Harry's body was riddled with all kinds of scars. Draco unconsciously walked around Harry's pillow to look at his back and he drew in a sharp breath at what seemed to be whip marks that covered Harry's body. Harry cleared his throat in embarrassment before he pulled his shirt back on again after muttering a spell to repair the torn fabric. "You know I could probably take you down to the chamber of secrets and show it to you. As far as I know, I am currently the only parselmouth in school so nobody else can get in to remove the body of the basilisk."

Draco nearly drooled as he imagined the potion ingredients the snake possibly still held. He knew Harry was trying to take his attention off of his scars and for now, it was working, but Draco knew that he would be able to ask Harry about the scars later.

A thin ray of sunlight shone through the rafters of the old building and Draco glanced towards Professor Lupin who seemed to be slowly returning to his human form. He didn't remove the sleeping spell yet though, just in case the werewolf part of him was still in control. Draco realized that this would be the perfect chance to check for the imperious curse and he was relieved when he found no outside influences.

"It seems like Professor Lupin is himself. We should probably give him some space to breathe before he freaks out though." Harry shook his head in response and got up. Draco didn't stop him now that he knew that Harry was perfectly fine. Well, as perfectly fine as a person with basilisk venom in their veins could get. Draco still intended to check Harry's blood later on.

"I have to help him Draco, he'll know that I am telling the truth if I give him the same potions I usually do." Draco was confused until he saw a small bag of potion lying next to where Harry had fallen. He picked them up and handed them over to Harry. None of the vials were broken so Harry probably had the foresight to place an unbreakable spell on them.

Harry got up and moved closer to the professor who had completely gained his human form by now. Draco canceled to sleeping spell and the professor's eyes immediately opened. He was still very groggy though, so when Harry urged him to drink the potions, he immediately thanked him by name.

Draco stood with his wand ready as his gut told him that things wouldn't be so simple and sure enough the professor reached for his wand as soon as he realized that a student he didn't know was tending to his wounds. Draco immediately cast an immobulus spell and the werewolf let out a frustrated sound as he realized he was caught. Draco wanted to speak but Harry beat him to it.

"It's ok Remy, it's me Harry. I just used a spell to change my form." The professor didn't look very convinced. Draco heard Harry sigh. "I usually give you the same potions I just gave you in the exact same order after every full moon, since you feel sick to your stomach if they are given in any other order. Does any of this ring a bell? Didn't I tell you that you could use the Room of Requirement when you change? If you give the room express orders not to let you out until you are human again, then it would work."

A shaky smile spread over the werewolf's face and Draco canceled his spell. Professor Lupin immediately engulfed Harry in a huge hug before demanding to know what's going on.

"It's great to see you, cub. What are you doing at Hogwarts? Did Draco find you? I know you said that I shouldn't tell anyone where you were, but he seemed anxious for your help." Draco rolled his eyes at this. Yeah okay, he did beg the professor to tell him where Harry was, but that didn't mean Harry had to know about it.

Harry was about to speak but Draco intercepted him. "Hi Professor Lupin, it's me Draco. Allow me to answer your questions. Harry agreed to help me with a mission that required us to go undercover at Hogwarts. We are presently acting as first year Slytherins in order to find a group of people before they harm the Ministry." Lupin raised an eyebrow at this and Draco understood his surprise. They both knew that Harry had no love for the Ministry so something else must have prompted him to help Draco.

For a moment Draco thought that Lupin might think that he was blackmailing Harry, but the werewolf must have remembered something more relevant because he nodded to Draco in understanding. Needless to say, Draco was confused but he successfully hid it.

"Would you be able to help us, Professor? We need as much help as we can get if we are going to reveal the culprits in just two months. We asked another professor for help as well and he agreed. Harry also roped in a couple of seventh-year students who are looking to become Aurors next year. I might not agree with using students, but we will be able to ensure that they get into the academy if they can pull this off. We don't intend on putting them into any trouble though, their job is just to gather information."

Lupin nodded. "Of course I'll help! I'd do anything to keep my cub out of danger. Who's the other Professor? Wait don't tell me. I'm pretty sure it's Severus." Draco winced a little. If it was that obvious then his godfather might find himself in trouble. But Draco mentally shook his head. Only those that knew that Severus was his godfather would be able to guess that he was involved and Harry told Lupin only recently. Nobody else knew so nobody else would guess. He might have to ask his godfather to tone down the 'special treatment' though; otherwise, it would become rather obvious.

"Yes, my godfather will be helping us. Harry will be able to fill you in on our plan a bit later. Now we should probably get back to our dorms as fast as we can. It's the second day of classes and the teachers won't be happy if we skip." Harry nodded in agreement, but he stopped just before following Draco out the room. Draco stopped outside as he realized that Harry wasn't following him.

"What's wrong Remy? The moment you mentioned Professor Snape, it seemed like you weren't really happy about something. I thought the two o you have cleared up your differences and become friends?" Draco could hear Remus chuckle in response.

"It's nothing cub. Yes, we are friends. Things just got a little complicated a while back. Don't worry about it though, get to your class." Draco saw Harry nod before they made their way through the root tunnel and back to the Whomping Willow. It took a while, but they finally made it back to their dorm room, just as the rest of the students started waking up.

They got dressed in silence before heading to the Great Hall. They passed a few Gryffindors on their way and subtly reflected the hexes they cast, back at the casters. It felt strange to Draco when he saw the Gryffindors treat Harry as the enemy and he had to remind himself quite a few times that for all intent and purposes, Harry was the enemy of the Gryffindor team now.

It was only the knowledge that they were stronger than any of the students at Hogwarts that allowed Draco to relax in his seat as they reached their table. Usually, he would rant because of an unfair advantage between years, but secretly being the eldest among the students had its perks. Draco also didn't want to draw any attention to themselves. Another hex made its way towards them under the tables and Draco sent it back again. "This is going to be a long day if they keep this up though."

Thank you to those who are reading and following this fanfic… I have re-uploaded the previous chapter since I saw a few errors in logic that I made while I wrote it.

A special thank you to Madra uzemaki for your kind words, I shall mourn but never forget.