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"I have not yet thanked you for helping to save my life, Mr. Potter."

Harry turned around, blinking uncertainly. Narcissa had come back to their house with them last night so that she could sleep in safety; she had said that Huxley and her compatriots could have left some traps around the fence and the Manor that she hadn't sensed. Harry thought they had arrived too early for that to be true, but he was hardly going to refuse Draco's mother anything. She seemed to know about them now and accept it.

Now, as she stood in the doorway of the kitchen between Harry and escape, he started wondering if she'd had another reason to come here.

"Er, you're welcome, Mrs. Malfoy." Harry shifted from one foot to the other, wondering what graceful and eloquent things he could say. Wondering what she wanted from him. He didn't think it was just to make threats that she would hurt him if he ever hurt Draco. Surely that was understood with a family like the Malfoys.

Do you wish me to descend? Severus was still in bed, but Draco had gone out into the garden to examine the Potions ingredients and see how well they were growing. It made sense that Severus had sensed Harry's distress first. Now he offered a mental image of a hand reaching out to clasp Harry's. Harry squeezed back and gave an inwards wry smile as he watched Narcissa's face. She was observing him with a meditative expression, which might mean any number of things. Harry had realized lately how limiting he found it, that he couldn't read the emotions of others the way he could with Draco and Severus.

Not that he would want to read anyone else's emotions, but it would have been convenient in cases like this, where he really wasn't sure what someone else thought of him.

No, he told Severus at last. I don't think it's threats. I just wish I knew what it was.

It may be nothing more than sincere thanks.

Harry snorted back, and received Severus's wry, dark acknowledgment that it wasn't likely.

"You did not need to do that," Narcissa Malfoy said, turning her neck slightly so that she could get a better look at Harry from the side. Harry was reminded of a snake and the way it would twist around to look at things from different angles. "You could have stayed here and not lent your strength to Draco. It was his fight, and mine, not yours."

Harry narrowed his eyes, and his hope that she understood something of the nature of bonds, because she was a pure-blood, burned away in the fires of his indignation. "Of course I couldn't," he snapped. "Severus couldn't have, either. Why in the world would you think that? We're Draco's bondmates. His sufferings and his struggles are ours."

The front door rattled, and Harry knew that Draco had come in and might be listening to the conversation. He didn't care if he was. The important thing was that Harry felt this way, and would declare it, regardless of who was listening at the moment.

Narcissa gave him a tiny smile. "You despised my son only a year ago, Mr. Potter. There is no need to lie to me. I know that working yourself into the bond with him and learning how to cooperate with his desires must have been a chore."

"No more tedious than the ones that Severus and Draco had to perform when I was being stubborn." Harry folded his arms and glared at her. "If you want me to say that I despise Draco still, it won't work. I love him. Maybe not in the way I eventually will as the bond grows even tighter, but I don't sleep with people I don't love."

Draco made a choking noise in his head. Severus laughed softly. I believe that Draco is perhaps a bit embarrassed discussing his sex life in front of his mother.

She was the one who was pressing me to admit something that wasn't true, and that only truth could counter, Harry said, heartily sick of the way that people always seemed to be giving him contradictory advice.

Narcissa's smile widened. She reached out, and Harry realized after a moment that she wanted to shake his hand. He clasped her fingers hesitantly, staring into her eyes. He wasn't sure about what she might do if she grew irritated with him from now on, and Severus's paranoia and Draco's nervousness had him thinking about potions that she might have smeared on her skin to compel his obedience.

My mother probably wouldn't do that, Draco objected.

"I feared for Draco at first," Narcissa said quietly. "His life was not his own, and I did not envision him having lovers—male lovers, much less—or living in a small house at Hogsmeade. I thought a brilliant Ministry career and a brilliant marriage more his destiny."

Harry stifled his immediate angry reaction at the notion of Draco living with or marrying someone else and tried to look attentive. Of course, Draco and Severus had felt that reaction. Severus remained silent, but Draco gave a soft purring noise and sent the sensation of a hand rubbing Harry's forehead. You please me.

"He seemed unhappy for most of his first months under the bond," Narcissa continued blandly, not seeming to realize how thoroughly she had offended Harry, and, to a certain extent, Severus. "I pictured that continuing for the rest of his life, I have always had a problem not extending the circumstances of the present moment into the future and imagining they will always be that way. It is my greatest political fault."

It is, you know, Draco and Severus said at the same time.

"Now I can see that he is happy, and that others are happy to be with him." Narcissa nodded to Harry. "It is a different destiny than the one I envisioned for him, but not a lesser. Thank you for the part you have played in it."

She stepped out of the kitchen, moving as lightly as a ghost, and left Harry to blink and wonder whether that had really happened.

It did. Draco stepped smugly into the kitchen and preened at him. Harry rolled his eyes. "You shouldn't do that," Draco added aloud. The bond from him thrummed with colors that Harry hadn't seen lately: yellow and brilliant blue, the colors of a carefree summer day that Draco was enjoying. "It's not everyone that she accepts, especially after having such a negative opinion of them at first. You should feel honored that she chose to accept you and to let you know that she did so."

"I feel nervous," Harry told him flatly. "I don't understand the rules she operates by, and I don't know what she's going to do next. Protecting her life is one thing, but I wouldn't want to attend a party she's hosting."

Draco said nothing, but the sudden frozen glitter of his eyes told Harry that he was probably going to try and ensure that they attended a party soon. Harry groaned mentally.

You should not have challenged him so, Severus said without sympathy. Neither of you could ever refuse a challenge from the other. You should know this about Draco by now.

Harry ran a hand through his hair and turned back to getting breakfast. That had been what he originally came into the kitchen to do, after all, instead of getting thanked and told he should feel honored and arguing with his bondmates.

Draco's arms encircled his waist suddenly, and Draco kissed the back of his neck. "I wasn't trying to make you feel bad," he whispered. "I am glad that you said you love me in front of someone else." He was silent for long moments, hands rubbing up and down Harry's sides.

"You don't need to say it back." Harry glanced over his shoulder in annoyance, wondering if that was all Draco wanted. "I don't require return for return like a pure-blood." Or a Slytherin, he thought, not caring much at the moment if his thought reached either of his bondmates or not.

"I want to say it because I want to say it," Draco said, "and because I feel just as good as you do when you're pleased. But for right now, we don't have the appropriate audience." He kissed Harry's cheek and stepped away from him. "Trust me to find the time and the moment when it becomes appropriate."

Harry nodded in surprise and gratitude, and then reached again for the toast. Draco whisked it away from him and nodded towards the table. "Sit down for once. I'll get you the toast and the tea, and if I get anything wrong, feel free to scold me."

"How can I resist an offer like that?" Harry asked, settling into the chair while Severus hummed sleepy pleasure at them from above.

*

Swanfair was unhappy.

Severus sensed it first when he watched her watching Colben, who was giving another speech, this time to a crowd in Diagon Alley. Most members of the crowd had started out hostile, with narrowed eyes and a tendency to have their hands on their wands that Severus disliked, but most of those had been won now, as Colben led them gracefully through what they wanted to hear, now and then making promises on the reasonable matters, ignoring the stupid questions, using a mixture of pretty words and common sense that would appeal to many of those who could be persuaded to vote for her in any case.

Swanfair sat beside Harry on the stage. For most of the speech, she'd kept her attention on her protégé, and Severus had disregarded her as a threat. He saw her from the corner of his eye when she suddenly sat straight up and frowned.

Severus listened to the speech. Colben was saying nothing unusual, only that she would attempt to balance both pure-bloods and Muggleborns in her appointments. Yet Swanfair watched her with narrowed eyes, and seemed to grow more tense the more Colben clarified her position and said that she would let neither group take over the Ministry. That was only intelligent, in Severus's opinion. Even if Colben had intended to throw her support more on one side than on the other, she would not have said so while she was still trying to court voters.

But Swanfair swore under her breath and shifted from side to side in her seat. They were only slight fidgets; Severus doubted that anyone would have noticed them who was not already watching her, as he was. But they were still more than she normally let slip in public, and Severus had to admit being intrigued as to the cause.

Then Swanfair turned her head to look at Harry, and her glance became even sharper and more brooding. For a moment, Severus thought she might reach out to him and try to initiate a private conversation. But, perhaps because Harry's attention was bent stubbornly forwards, she did not. Instead, she sank back against her chair and assumed a smile that was fake if one knew what to look for.

What do you suppose has Swanfair angry? Draco murmured. He was paying a credible amount of attention to Colben's speech, but also searching the crowd with his eyes for a glimpse of his mother. Narcissa had gone back to the Manor two days ago, saying she might attend today.

I do not know, Severus said, and again listened to Colben's speech. More vague words of the kind that one would expect from a politician. I continue not to know. At first she seemed displeased with Colben's promises. Now she looks at Harry as if she suspects him of having something to do with them. But she should know already that Harry could not write such a speech to save his life. He is far too straightforward.

I heard that, Harry said, and then turned and smiled at Swanfair as if he had just noticed that she was beside him. "Was there something that you wished to speak with me about, madam?"

Severus choked. Draco, whom he would have expected to be made angry by Harry's political daring, simply laughed. Luckily, he managed to smother the sound into a sigh, so Swanfair didn't suspect that this was the start of a scheme. She kept her eyes on Harry, with nothing more than a disgusted sidelong glance for Draco, and gave him a small smile.

"Yes," she said. "I understand that Colben has visited your house several times in the past few weeks."

Startled, Severus wondered if she was a Legilimens after all and he had somehow missed it, but Draco solved the puzzle for him when he muttered, Remember how infuriatingly honest Colben is. I would not be at all surprised if she had told Swanfair about her visits herself.

Harry smiled and nodded. "To discuss political strategies, yes, madam." He kept his voice low and his eyes fixed straight ahead, so that anyone who glanced at him would see him still paying strict attention. "She wanted to clarify what I was supporting her for and what demands I would make when she became Minister."

"And did she say anything to you about Muggleborns and pure-bloods?" Swanfair kept a smile on her face, too, but Draco took great delight in pointing out to Severus several of the ways in which it was strained.

"She said that she intended to reward the pure-bloods who had supported her, mostly with foreign positions." Harry smiled openly at Swanfair now, with a muttered mental aside to Severus that it was impossible to hide that they were holding a conversation now. "I thought it an excellent point. I wouldn't want her to ignore them. They would be angry and discontented later, and they have a right to expect some return for the risk they're taking on Colben."

Severus was reeling, though he thought no one would have been able to tell that except perhaps Albus, who had known him well enough to tell what his tight grip on the side of his chair meant. Harry laughed at him down the bond, flavoring his amusement with soft green and bright gold. Do you see what honesty can win you? I can speak of this openly because I'm sure that Colben meant what she said, and also that she talked about it to Swanfair.

"Do you have some reason to think that she would ignore pure-bloods in favor of Muggleborns?" Harry added.

Swanfair smoothed her robes and gave a private smile that made her look more confident, though Severus thought her still twitchy. "I wish to see equal treatment for all, regardless of their blood or political connections." Harry gave her a sharp, wry look, and Swanfair handed him a small shrug. "It was worth saying, in case you believed me. And I will have to say it often in the next few years. It's well to practice now."

"Perhaps you could tell me why you're worried about it." Harry leaned back in his chair and looked quickly at Colben, as though he were anxious about missing her speech, though his mind told Severus that he didn't want to give Swanfair too much of his attention. "I don't think that Colben has a reason to feel a loyalty to one side over the other, since both of them have supported her and her own heritage is mixed."

"The Muggleborns are upset that Griselda Huxley was arrested." Swanfair, it seemed, could use bluntness when she wanted to, as well, and she wielded her words like an axe. A diamond hanging at her throat glittered as she leaned forwards. Severus kept a sharp eye on it, in case she decided to try and hypnotize Harry again. Harry rolled his eyes down the bond and looked casually away from the diamond. "They are threatening to withdraw their support from Estella. I only wondered whether she had said something to you about that, and how it might affect her loyalty to the pure-bloods, who so far have made no such threats."

Harry snorted. "What would be the point in the Muggleborns withdrawing their support from Colben? Shacklebolt is the Minister who arrested her, and they know exactly what for."

Severus hid a vicious smile at the sight of the way that Swanfair's mouth tightened. Harry knew why the Muggleborns were upset, and Swanfair knew that he knew, but if he clung to his honesty and refused to play the political game, it made more work for her.

"They are upset that she continues to find support from you, since you are the reason that Huxley was arrested." Swanfair clung to her bluntness in turn, though her tone had turned as hard as the diamond she wore. "If you would withdraw your support, or at least cease to meet in private with her, then it might placate them."

Harry showed his teeth. Severus felt inclined to do the same. He didn't know if Swanfair seriously feared the Muggleborns' anger—he thought not—or if she simply wanted to set a barrier between Harry and Colben for her own reasons, but either way, it was not as though Harry had to give her what she wanted.

"No," Harry said.

Swanfair remained gravely silent for some moments, her face still, as if she were thinking. Then she said, "I hope that you will explain your refusal to me."

"Why should I?" Harry turned and stared at her. "You were the one who convinced me that Colben was a good candidate in the first place. I agree now. When you try to turn me away from her, I am sure that that serves some political goal of yours. I don't see why I should indulge you."

Draco flinched in Severus's mind, a bright flare of green light studded with gold. That's not something I would have said, he murmured. Swanfair could find it hard to forgive a statement like that.

She is already maneuvering in a way that implies she has no respect for Harry's intelligence, Severus thought back, as he watched the grave mask on Swanfair's face tighten. He might as well answer that assumption with all the force in his power.

Draco started to answer, but Swanfair was speaking, and Severus bade him be silent, enduring the fit of bruised purple sulking that followed.

"If you withdrew your support from Colben at the moment," she said, "it would serve her long-term political goals better."

"But my support is one of the main reasons that she's popular," Harry murmured, never taking his eyes off Colben now. Severus glanced at the woman, but couldn't tell if she felt Harry's gaze or not. "If I try to help her in the long term, I might hurt her in the short term, and then she would never get elected."

Swanfair stiffened. Severus wished he could tell whether she was more angry that her transparent plan wasn't working or that Harry was acting subtle now, when he had been so blunt earlier.

I think the latter, Draco murmured. See the way her nostrils flare? I saw her do that when she visited our house the last time. My mother does the same thing when someone has the bad taste to confound her initial expectations of them.

This time, Severus was the one who could not think of an answer before Swanfair responded. "There are important reasons that I ask this of you," she said in a low, passionate voice. Severus might have been alarmed, except that of course someone like Swanfair would have to be good at feigning passion. "I assure you, Estella will still reach the position for which she aims, but you must remove the ladder by which you are helping her to climb to it."

"What are they?" Harry asked through a pleasant smile, joining the crowd as they burst into applause.

"Pardon?" Swanfair's forming smile froze, and Draco snickered in Severus's head that he could almost hear it creaking.

"These reasons that I should give up attempting to help Colben now." Harry turned towards Swanfair and gave her a polite smile in return for the frozen one. "You spent a lot of time trying to persuade me to support her, answering my questions and smoothing over my anxieties. Why change your mind now? The reasons must be compelling. Tell me what they are."

Swanfair looked at Harry blandly, having had a moment to get control of her face, but one hand closed into a hard clench on the seat of her chair. Draco sent another nasty chuckle down the bond to Severus. She really didn't think he'd ask.

The more fool her, Severus responded as he watched Swanfair struggle in silence. He was interested to see what lies she would come up with—because they were certain to be lies. She might be practicing her honesty, but she did not have enough to tell Harry the real reason behind her change of heart.

At last, Swanfair said, "The reasons have to do with politicking among the pure-bloods. I assure you, you would be bored contemplating them."

"I don't intend to contemplate them," Harry said earnestly, almost earnestly enough to prepare Severus for what he said next. "I intend to think about them. And then act on my thoughts. Besides, as I said, you're reversing yourself unexpectedly, and backtracking on a good deal of effort. You must have worded the reasons carefully to yourself. Tell me what they are."

Swanfair hesitated. Then, as Colben started to turn towards them, she said, "I will speak with you later," and rose to her feet, smoothing her robes down, as she prepared to give her part of the appeal to the crowd.

What do you think? Harry asked, leaning back in his chair and reaching out to Severus through the bond with a touch as heavy as a caress, though he seemed to consider it wise to look at Swanfair and Colben for right now.

A most impressive performance, Severus said, deciding to try his own perception of the truth. Harry started and glanced at him, then immediately snapped his head around again. The bond between them glinted like water full of sunlight.

I wasn't fishing for compliments, Harry's thoughts said finally, a stiffness in them that contrasted oddly with the image of flowing water. I meant, what do you think Swanfair's real reasons are for trying to persuade me away from supporting Colben?

Don't you think it was impressive? Draco could purr when he wanted to, though Severus had to admit that he had never seen much use for the skill. Draco stretched his arms over his head, causing Harry to look at him, and paused with his forearms at the exact angle from which they would glow most in the sunlight. Harry flushed. You are hard to please, Harry. Even your own efforts fall short of the mark.

That wasn't what I meant, Harry said, and then appeared to give up. Look, there are too many reasons that Swanfair might have changed her mind, and we have to pay attention to her and Colben right now. So let's forget it, shall we? We can talk about this when we're at home.

Someone's shy, Draco said, his voice so soft and coaxing that Severus felt his body's inconvenient response without surprise. He casually crossed his legs and watched Harry as he retreated from the bond.

Harry's unusual political assurance had caught him by surprise. He knew Harry could have picked up some of it watching him and Draco, and, even more, reading their unconscious thoughts, but Severus had not suspected him of absorbing that much.

But at the moment, Severus found himself less interested in that aspect of the situation than at the way Harry still reacted with a flustered blush to evidence of his bondmates' interest in him.

That was something worth exploring, when they reached home.

*

Draco had a plan. The moment they stepped through the front door, he turned around and began to follow it.

Harry, turning his head to answer a question from Severus about whether he thought the Muggleborns' anger over Huxley real, stumbled into Draco's chest. He faced Draco at once, an obvious question on his lips.

Draco leaned in and kissed him, coaxing his mouth open with a gentle sideswipe of his tongue.

Harry responded with more enthusiasm than Draco had thought he would, winding his arms around his neck and kissing back until Draco stumbled. Then they were pressed against the wall, Harry leaning in as if he wanted to be sure Draco carried a permanent imprint of his lover's mouth for the rest of his life. Draco hardened at the idea, or rather went from half-hard to fully erect, and linked his hands together behind Harry's neck.

The plan didn't include this, but all plans could stand to be flexible.

Harry bit at Draco's throat and then moved slowly down, licking along his collarbone. Draco moaned. It must have been those bloody dreams that told Harry how much he liked this. He lost all thoughts of the plan as he let his head loll to the side and Harry have his way.

Then Severus circled around Harry and reached out to grasp a handful of Draco's hair and tug on it. Draco whimpered. He whimpered even more when Severus reached out and pushed Harry's head gently back.

"I have been his lover for months now," Severus whispered to Harry, in the sharp, deep voice that made Draco have to close his eyes. "Let me show you how he likes to be touched. Those dreams reveal much, but not enough, and so far, our encounters have been rather…hurried."

Harry's eyes widened, and his cheeks turned red. Draco could feel the vibration of his thoughts: that he was one of the reasons those encounters had happened the way they had, because he was young and impatient and far too ready.

And perhaps also because he's still scared, Draco thought, making sure to send the words only to Severus. The plan returned to him. He frowned and started trying to drag himself upright. He wanted to know what scared Harry so badly about surrendering to intimacy with them. Surely he would be able to tell them, if only—

This is about you for now, Draco. Severus's hands landed on his shoulders, pinning him in place. Let both of us take care of you, as both of us took care of Harry the first time we were together. Relax.

Draco lifted his head and stared into Severus's eyes, needing some assurance that Severus wanted this and wasn't only doing it to keep Draco from asking Harry his questions. Severus raised an eyebrow and thinned his lips, allowing a spark of displeasure into his lust. Draco finally gave in. Yes, Severus was curious about the answer to those questions, too, but now was not the time because he wanted to have sex, not because he thought Draco was pushing Harry too hard.

"Good," Severus whispered. His voice, combined with the emotions coming through the bond, seemed to envelop Draco in folds of velvet and lift him off his feet. "I had hoped for this. Now, Harry, watch the way I touch him. Slow and easy. That is the trick to seducing Draco. Almost gentle at first, but increasing in forcefulness over time, like so."

He trailed one finger down Draco's neck, towards his shoulder. The finger moved impossibly slowly. Draco was tempted to buck and shake and urge Severus to do this faster, but at the same time, the fact that he had to wait and the inevitable pressure of Severus's skin and nail made him stand still, shivering.

"He likes that a lot, doesn't he?" Harry's voice had grown thick. Draco forced open eyes that had fallen shut and found him staring, his face almost as bright as the bond that burst into starlight between them. "Even though he doesn't make any noise."

"Silence is often more powerful than any words." Severus stopped trailing his finger downwards at last, because he had reached the place on Draco's shoulder where the cloth of his robes took over. "Draco in particular sometimes finds his emotions difficult to express aloud."

"A good thing he has the bonds, then." Harry's voice was rich with amusement.

Draco glared at him, but Severus shook his head, and Draco sighed and acquiesced. He was curious to see what Severus would do to him and for Harry. Severus had never taken on this professor-like role in bed, though Draco had glanced up sometimes after an orgasm and seen him watching with calculating eyes, studying the way Draco reacted to a particular touch.

Draco didn't mind that calculation, as long as it was employed to bring him pleasure.

"After the finger," Severus murmured, stooping, "a bit of tongue. But not too much, or he is liable to come without being touched."

Again Harry laughed. But there was no malice in it, and Draco couldn't help the brief wistful thought that if he had heard Harry laugh like this at Hogwarts, they might have come to this stage in their relationship much sooner.

Harry, sidling towards him, paused and shook his head a little. "It's unthinkable to me that we might have come to be like this without Severus," he said. "I know what you mean, but it's a thought that belongs to another life."

Severus took away Draco's surprise at Harry's declaration by kissing him, and using tongue, as he had promised. Draco sighed in contentment as Severus relearned the taste of every corner of his mouth, and then he turned his head, or had it turned in the grip of strong fingers, and felt Harry kiss him with the same dedication.

Not the same skill, though. Draco could retain his own mind, and even kiss Harry back. Harry made an eager gasping, hissing sound and pressed into him, holding Draco's body still as though he wouldn't get a good kiss otherwise.

Draco shuddered. Harry's pleasure was flooding him now, making it past the barrier of uncertainty that had fenced the bond. He felt his legs trembling and his hips thrusting without his permission. He was going to come in his pants, and he sent out a silent plea to Severus, who he knew would understand his desire not to.

Severus reached out and gently put a hand on Harry's shoulder, pushing him backwards and away from Draco. Harry whined and strained forwards, his tongue flapping in the air for a moment. Draco smirked, his confidence restored. At least he knew that he wasn't alone in doing things that would be embarrassing in front of a general audience.

"Now," Severus murmured. "One must undress him slowly, to get the full experience. Draco enjoys being the center of attention, as you do not, Harry. He writhes. He whimpers. Remove his clothes too quickly, and he will think you do not care."

Draco would have protested, but Severus was once again kissing him deeply as his fingers worked with slow, gentle attention over the buttons of Draco's robes. Draco sighed and gave himself up for lost. Yes, he did writhe and whimper when he was like this. He could bear it, he could enjoy it, because of Severus's burning eyes and the careful way his fingers worked.

And trembled, too. Severus might try to claim that he was perfectly calm, but Draco knew his lover's body almost as well as his own. Severus was affected.

When Draco's robe lay open from his waist up and Severus had pulled it carefully back along his arms, trapping them against the wall, Severus stepped back and called to Harry.

Harry came bounding up at once. Draco gawked at him. He had never seen Harry like this: the hungry look in his eyes, the way his hands shook and clenched into fists at different seconds, the bond roaring and tumbling with light and water as green as the Killing Curse. He looked as if he didn't know whether to grab Draco and kiss him or pin him to the ground and kiss him there.

"The trousers, now." Severus's voice, commanding, didn't leave either option open for Harry. "With gentleness. He is all the more likely to orgasm when you are touching him there."

Harry knelt so he could reach the trousers. Draco nearly fainted, remembering the other time that Harry had knelt in front of him and what he'd done. The grin Harry sent him said he was remembering it, too, and the foaming green in the bond calmed a little. He took a deep breath and began to pull delicately at the buttons that held Draco's trousers closed.

Draco was so busy watching Harry that he didn't notice Severus moving in from the side until it was too late. Then he was arching and crying out as Severus's mouth fastened on his left nipple and began to suck.

Severus instructed Harry without words this time, moving his tongue in swift circles, pulling back until his teeth caught in Draco's skin and Draco was writhing in tune with pain and desire, and then snapping close to Draco's chest again, his arms locking around his torso. Harry made smacking sounds with his lips that indicated he was an eager student. Draco imagined a second mouth on his right nipple, and pushed his chest out towards Severus's mouth with an impassioned cry.

He felt Harry roughly tug his trousers down the rest of the way, and then Harry's mouth was exactly where he wanted it, his teeth rougher than Severus's, his breath hotter and quicker. Draco tensed, caught in the midst of too much sensation at once, and Severus knew what that meant and reached down to fasten his fingers around Draco's cock, cruelly denying the come that was trying to spurt out of him.

Draco made pleading whimpers between his clenched teeth. Severus, in control once more, handed him a cool smile and drew Harry back from Draco's chest. "Now he is almost ready for deeper penetration," Severus said.

Harry stiffened and shot Draco an anxious glance. He seemed to understand that the words weren't metaphorical.

Draco didn't care. His arse throbbed and ached, and he wanted Harry to fuck him. He answered the anxious look with a challenging one. Teaching Harry how to be gentle with Draco was all very well if he was worried about hurting someone, but Draco wanted eagerness and lust to match his own.

Besides, he didn't think there was any way to get Harry past his fears without challenging him, showing that Draco wasn't afraid and that Harry couldn't be, either, if he wanted to race beside Draco.

Severus distracted them both by clamping one hand around Harry's neck and tilting his head back so that he could kiss him. Harry gave a slight gasp, and Draco felt a throb of discomfort from him down the bond; he was having difficulty breathing, or feared he was, with Severus's fingers so tight. But he lost the fear in the next moment and clung to Severus's robes as if he were drowning, his mouth open and his body slick and ready.

Severus stepped back from Harry and spoke with soft encouragement. "You use lubrication to prepare him, the same kind that makes wanking more comfortable. Use as much as you like. There is no way that you can use too much."

"But lots of ways I could use too little." Harry glanced at Draco again, the worry still hovering in his face, though his eyes kept getting distracted by Draco's chest and his sucked nipples and his cock. Draco smiled and preened. He knew he was beautiful, but it was always nice to be reminded.

"I will be right here," Severus said, in the calm, iron tones of a war leader, "and I will not let you go ahead if I think it is too little."

Harry nodded, his eyes enormous, and reached out to lay one hand flat in the center of Draco's chest. He gave Draco a challenging look of his own, and leaned in to kiss him. Draco accepted the delicately lapping tongue and the scrape of Harry's teeth eagerly, though it was not everything he wanted.

He also accepted it when Harry pulled back and said, with an air of decision, "I want to do this in a bed."

He will accept that he has a right to demand things he wants in the future, Severus murmured, in a thought that Draco knew Harry could not hear. This is a hopeful sign.

Draco agreed that it was, but at the moment, he cared less about what kind of psychological changes Harry was experiencing and more about the kind of things that his body was going to experience.

*

Harry felt some of the same rushing fear when he saw Draco stretched out on his back on the bed. His skin was pale and beautiful and marked by the love bites on his chest and neck. His eyes were half-lidded, bright and smug, but his hands made restlessly unsatisfied movements. He caught Harry's eye and arched his head, turning it so that his throat was bared, in invitation.

That he might hurt someone so beautiful, someone so precious to him…

Then he felt Severus's presence at his back, solid, pressing him forwards from behind in the same way Draco was beckoning him from in front, and he relaxed. He was not going to hurt Draco. Severus had said that he would not let that happen, and Harry trusted him as he did not trust himself.

"Here," Severus whispered, and pressed a small earthenware jar into Harry's hands. Harry did not quite make a spectacle of himself in fumbling the lid open and taking the sticky potion onto his fingers, but it felt like it.

He swallowed nervously and reached out to Draco. Draco, with a lazy, knowing smile, started to turn over.

"No!" Harry blurted. Draco glanced back at him with a raised eyebrow, the bond starting to stir with yellow discontent, and Harry felt his words trip over themselves as he rushed to explain. "I mean—I want to see your face. If you're on all fours like that, you're looking away from me, and I might miss your expressions."

Draco stared at him for a moment, then gave him a quieter smile and nodded.

"This position is a bit trickier," Severus breathed into Harry's ear. "We must use cushions to lift his arse, and he must put his legs on your shoulders."

"I'll do that," Harry said. He couldn't have taken his eyes from Draco right now for anything, and so he felt the warm presence at his shoulder more than he saw him. "I can't—I don't want to look away from him."

Severus kissed him beneath his ear. "So beautiful," he breathed. Harry had no idea who he meant, him or Draco, and didn't care.

Severus got undressed as Harry piled the cushions under Draco, murmuring endearments to him all the while. Draco didn't answer, but kept on smiling, and Harry knew the smile said more than words would have.

When Draco was finally in a position that he declared to be comfortable, Severus put his hands on Harry's shoulders and began to undress him. Harry glanced at him once, and saw the dark eyes so direct and hot that Harry flushed. The bond throbbing in his head mimicked the beat of blood in his cock.

He felt uncertain all over again as he dipped his fingers in the lubricant and then urged them into Draco's arsehole. How could he ever be worthy of them, when they were so strong?

But Severus, leaning his head on Harry's shoulder, his arms around his waist, gave him instructions in a breathy voice that didn't seem worried about that issue, and Draco arched his back and spread his legs and widened his eyes exactly as if Harry was an expert at this.

It was like a dream to feel his fingers disappearing into that heat, to see Draco twist and hiss when Harry found his prostate, to feel Severus urge him forwards so that he was kneeling over Draco's body and staring down at him. He was breathing hard as he eased into Draco's entrance and felt it grip him and squeeze until he lost track of the bonds in a burst of sensation like pain.

It wasn't pain. It was the most exquisite pleasure he had ever felt in his life. But he knew it was hunching his shoulders and twisting his face and making him less attentive to his bondmates than he might be otherwise, so he ducked his head and tried to hide even as he reached out and settled his hands shakily on Draco's hips.

Severus snarled next to him and kissed the side of his face so many times that Harry's skin began to smart. "You are beautiful," Severus whispered. "So beautiful. I love it when you are open." He climbed onto the bed beside them—Harry knew that from the way the mattress bobbed—and slid one possessive hand around Harry's hip, caressing him down to the globes of his arse. "Ah."

Harry had to do something. He was breaking under the pleasure, and he could still barely see Draco through the red and green flashes in his eyes, and they were looking at him in a way that he didn't know if he could survive.

He fumbled out, and his hand settled on Severus's cock.

Suddenly Severus was still, and Draco muttered something about being ready.

Harry, finding a center again and not drifting helplessly away into nothingness, oriented himself and thrust into Draco, at the same moment using the part of his mind that helped him in Quidditch to keep track of other players and yet hunt the Snitch to direct him in stroking Severus to completion.

*

It was incredible, and Severus did not know what sense to pay attention to first.

There was sight: the sight of Harry riding Draco, shoving forwards into him, rocking back, his knees slipping along the edges of the pillows, Draco's legs rising to his shoulders as if he had done this all his life, Harry's face flushed and shiny, Draco's eyes wide with a plurality of sensations that Severus all felt at the same time through the bond, pleasure ricocheting in circles and overwhelming them.

There was feeling: the tight circle of Harry's hand around his cock, adjusting itself as Harry felt his pleasure in certain strokes more than others, the slickness of the lubricant adding to the heaven for Severus.

There was sound: the slap of skin, Draco's breathy gasps, Harry's helpless grunts, and the constant unvoiced words coming through the bonds, cut-off cries and sighs of exultation.

There was taste: the taste of kisses in his mouth, of sweetness as rich as chocolate, of blood from where Harry had bitten his tongue.

And there was smell: young bodies racing to completion, salt from pores, the delicate mint scent of the lubricant.

All of it together seized him and swept him away, and Severus closed his eyes and rose into rapture.

More than they had been the other times, they became one, a rising, whirling cloud of color and flesh that took and was taken, thrust and was thrust into, stroked and was stroked, blending and coiling and dropping into one another, the boundaries of the bonds so far away that it felt as if they were traveling through ringing, infinite space, and orgasm was only one more experience of intense joy, part of the lot rather than able to be treated separately.

Whirling, and rising, and finally, dropping to earth.

Severus opened his eyes to find himself draped over Harry, who was draped over Draco, who was making noises of complaint about having to hold them both up. Severus looked down. Draco was flushed and contented.

Harry's face was shining.

By the time he had had his fill of kissing them both, Severus's lips hurt.