Title: In The Interests Of …
Author: I_nv_u50
Pairings: DracoXHarry
Disclaimer: Everything here belongs to someone else.
Harry: (smiles) Poor writer, she's running out of original disclaimers …
Chapter Rating: PG13 for violence and snogging? .
Draco: At last, at last.
Harry: Why are you looking at me like that?
Author's Notes: I write violence scenes as badly as I do kissing scenes. At least I enjoy the kissing scenes. So if the violence sucks, I apologize. Harry's off on his exam today. Wasn't really sure what to have as a mission statement so I replayed FF8 and copied that ^^;;; Not directly, but the main gist. So if you want the disclaimer, it's included up there. Forgive me; I don't have a tactical mind unless it includes matchmaking two muses who refuse to write for me.
Harry: Why do I feel like we just got the blame for everything that's wrong with the story?
Draco: 'Cuz we did? (shrugs) Who cares. If we have control –
Harry: – We can do whatever we want …
Anyway, please enjoy, and review!! ^^
Btw, this chapter end in a bit of a cliff hanger … But I'll get the next chapter out ASAP, and if its not out by Monday, you can get a sneak preview? But it will be ^^
Harry was nervous, with good reason, and all the stares he was getting as we walked to the dining hall with Ron and Hermione for breakfast weren't helping.
He knew a lot more depended on the test today than it had 24 hours ago, before he had become a knight, before all the rumors and gossip of the other cadets.
They weren't helping. He hadn't expected them to all be nice about it, and he knew that gossip lovers would have something to talk about at his expense now than they ever had before. They were making his nerves restless and apprehensive, muscles tense and stiff.
And he wouldn't even have his closest friends with him to soothe the butterflies doing flips in his stomach. Hermione was already a SeeD, having studied and passed the exam at the minimum age of 15, and Ron, while he was also qualified to take the exam, being 17 as well, had declined the formal offer he had received. He had started about 6 months after Harry, arriving too late, and while he was fast catching up with his own age group, he wanted to be absolutely sure of his capabilities and limits before taking the exam.
Harry understood, and even agreed, but couldn't help wistfully wishing that he wouldn't have to do it without one of the two supporters he had.
Ron seemed to sense this. "You ok, Harry?"
"No … I'm worried."
Ron rolled his eyes. "Duh, Harry. You have a SeeD exam, of course you're worried for your life, it's inevitable. I was talking about the whole knight business."
Harry didn't hear him, as he carried on talking without paying the slightest bit of attention to Ron. "No, not just my life. If I die, Draco dies with me. Don't want him to die."
Ron gaped at him, openly astonished, blurting out what he thought. "You want that bastard to live? Harry!"
Before Harry could wonder what had caused enough hatred between his sorceress and his best friend, a voice interrupted them. It wasn't Hermione.
"Maybe…" purred a silky voice from just behind Ron, and Harry stifled a startlingly pleased smile.
Ron jumped, and whirled around to face Draco, who had stopped and was standing there, smirking at them.
"Gah! It's you!" exclaimed Ron, a scowl quickly covering his face.
"It's me." Draco acknowledged.
Ron turned to Harry, openly irritated. "Did you know he was coming?"
Harry faked an innocent air, marred only by the sly grin that played on his lips. "Me? No … of course not."
Hermione giggled. "Oh shush, Ron. It's fine, he obviously came to wish Harry luck."
Draco paused and eyed her thoughtfully, considering and wondering how much she really saw. "Yes, he did…"
Hermione blushed under the scrutiny, but stayed firm, and Draco soon switched his attention to the equally confusing and thought provoking Harry, preferring it there anyway.
Harry smiled at him, oblivious to the chat Draco had had with the headmaster the night before, and he was fully prepared to be friendly to his rather overbearing sorceress.
Until Draco grabbed Harry's face between his hands and kissed him, right there in the middle of the dining hall where they were still standing, ignoring everyone else's stares and looks.
Ron sputtered in anger and poorly concealed embarrassment, and Hermione just calmly walked over to join the food line.
All Harry could do, however, was surrender, the kiss taking him too much by surprise for him to fight the soothing, massaging pressure of Draco's tongue against his. Reassurance and calm flooded the link, flowing out of Draco and into him; finally making the butterflies drop dead, a light, pleasant feeling inside of him, warm, and growing stronger.
Draco eventually pulled away a little, and met Harry's eyes as soon as they opened, catching his breath. The expression in the silver gray eyes was the softest anyone had ever seen on him, and it surprised everyone close enough to see it, except Harry, who just smiled with a heart stopping sweetness.
"Good luck, Harry. Don't die on me."
Harry could only nod, his speech refusing to return in time to answer, and Draco let go of his face, gave a quick wink and floated back to his own chambers.
Ron moved closer to Harry. "The jerk. Are you ok, Harry?"
Harry shook his head and sighed, still staring at the place Draco had last disappeared. "Yea, I'm fine. C'mon, walk me to the assignment and team hand outs, will you?"
Ron blinked. "But what about breakfast?"
"I've already had some, in my room."
"Oh yea, you lucky dog." Ron laughed. "What did you have?"
"Some stuff I found in the freezer and cupboards … waffles, cookie dough …"
"Waffles?!" Ron groaned. "Oh, if only us normal peasants were served that for breakfast."
"You're welcome to come up and help yourself if it's a reasonable hour … Good morning, Sir."
Ron and Harry snapped smart salutes for the headmaster.
"Good morning. Westley, I must ask you to leave; from hereon after is confidential business."
"Yes Sir. Good luck, Harry." Ron tilted his head in mute goodbye, and started back to the dining hall.
Harry turned to face the headmaster, waiting patiently.
"Ah yes, our new knight. I hope it's working out for you? After last night I didn't regret Draco's choice so much."
"Last night? What happened last night?" Harry was mortified, feigning confusion, even as he knew there was no way for the headmaster to see what had happened in Harry's room the night before.
Seifer watched Harry, noting the quick flush, and realizing that Harry didn't know what his rash sorceress had tried to do. "I think you should talk to Draco about it." Was all he said, and they waited for the other teammates to arrive in silence, each thinking private thoughts on much the same subjects.
Finally, three more people showed up, people whom Harry knew as friendly acquaintances.
"Harry Beaumont, considering your new rank, you will be leader of this squad. Seamus, Neville and Dean are to do as you order, no questions asked. They may not speak, unless given permission. Your ride is waiting outside for you, you will be briefed on the mission on the way. You are hereby known as squad C. Good bye, good luck, and return safely."
They nodded and left the headmaster, filing out quietly to the jeep that was waiting.
No one spoke a word, and Harry knew that unless he gave them permission, no one would, they all knew what was at stake, and even if they could persuade Harry to forgive them a few comments, it would be against the rules, and therefore would be like cheating.
He almost toyed with the idea of making them stay silent for the whole mission, but quickly gave up the idea, it would be cruel, and he didn't think he'd be able to go that long with silence. He needed and wanted them to trust him, and he could only achieve that if he wasn't petty and mean to them, by taking advantage of his new status.
Inside the jeep, surprisingly, was Hermione, and another SeeD.
Harry nodded in greeting, biting back the joy that at least one of his best friends would be accompanying him there and back. If he didn't die. It was a depressing thought, one that had a giggle fit coming on, feeling too solemn and serious.
Hermione nodded back, and faced the group.
"We take a train to Timber, who hired us 20 hours ago. The situation is that Timber has been under attack by the Galbadian Army yet again, for about 120 hours now. 38 hours into battle, Galbadians forced Timbernians out of the city center, and currently hold the most important buildings. The Timbernians have retreated to replenish their troops. That was the current status an hour ago. The mission objective is this -–according to our reports, the Galbadian Army is vastly overpowering the Timbernians. We are to take the train to a stop outside of Timber, where we'll approach in secret. Our orders are to eliminate the remaining Galbadian Army within the city and liberate it as soon as possible. Qualified SeeD members will intercept and G-army forces trying to escape."
Seamus stuck his hand up, subtly mocking protocol. "So what do we do?"
Hermione consulted her clipboard. "SeeD candidates are to eliminate G-army troops still inside of the city, where most of the army still remains. Just remember, cadets, the order to withdraw takes priority, we don't want to find we've left somebody behind. Needless to say, act responsibly, and behave well. The train is waiting for us. Good luck." Hermione gave a cool nod, unallowed to do more.
The train ride was spent in silence, most of the time each candidate was contemplating the mission and how to react.
They had gotten off at the stop quietly, and had made it to the outskirts of Timber before Seamus couldn't take it anymore and started to talk softly, about anything and everything that crossed his mind.
Once he started, everybody started, whether to tell him to shut up, like Dean, or to giggle nervously at his attempts of on-the-spot humor, like Neville, and Harry promptly granted them permission to speak, as long as it was quiet, and stopped before they reached city center.
Unfortunately, they met several Galbadian soldiers before making it into Timber, barely on one of the outside side streets of the city.
Harry drew his sword, Seamus aimed his machine gun, Dean started to call up Ifrit, and Neville prepared to use magic.
Three fighters and one healer, they beat the army men easily, but stood staring at the bloody, burnt corpses in horror.
"Oh my god…" Neville had gone white, and Dean gave him a slight pat on the back, trying not to look at the dead men.
Harry couldn't look away.
He had trained with his sword since he was 12, when he finalized his weapon. And he performed the ingrained movements and sequences without actively thinking about it. But he had never killed anything other than monsters before.
Of course, it was expected, to be a SeeD, you had to be prepared to kill sometimes.
But it was different from common knowledge like that when your sword was slicing open someone's throat, and the sucking feeling and noise it made when you pulled it out of someone's gut. Harry couldn't help wondering what the men were like, their hopes and dreams, whether they had families or not, or even something so simple as what their names were.
Even as his last sword swipe cut someone's death scream short, Harry turned away, in respect, and disgust for what he had done.
There was silence for a second longer, then Harry motioned the way forward, and they left the area quietly, no longer as nervous, all aware of a vague sense of discomfort and nausea.
Even as Harry carefully stepped over one blackened corpse, burnt beyond recognition by Ifrit's Hell Fire, he felt something inside of him crack. He ignored it, and they strode towards the city center.
Back in Winhill, up in the tall mansion on the hill, a sorceress felt his knight crack, and, unable to do anything about it, was pacing frustratedly around his bedroom, and when that got too small, he moved and started stalking around his entire wing.
Eventually that got too small as well, and, almost mad with the knowledge that he couldn't help his Harry, Draco rashly decided to move to the whole mansion.
He had just opened the door that separated his wing from the rest of the mansion, when he felt, actually physically felt a warning tingle go through him; the sorceress had arrived.
And she had brought two knights, and he just knew that they sensed him there.
Ignoring them for the moment, he set about his original plan: stalk around, making his eyes glow, and scare all cadets not there on the exam protecting Harry.
He liked his plan. In fact, he was certain that if he weren't so emotional at the moment, he and his plan would have gotten along famously.
All the while, while he stalked, he kept a quarter of his mind on the whereabouts of the other sorceress. A quarter was all he could spare because at least half was with Harry.
The sorceress was in the headmaster's office along with her other two knights, and Draco, a little curious despite himself, probed out a little to discover the mindset of these people.
They all knew what he was doing, and he was met with different reactions as he unconsciously wandered closer to the office.
From the sorceress he was met with a reassuringly cheerful aura, from one of the new knights he got a curious but openly friendly reading, and the second knight confused him a little, with nothing but wariness and alertness on his immediate surface aura.
By then Draco was standing by the headmaster's door, with slight surprise, not really sure how he had ended up there, and it opened suddenly, leaving him staring blankly at Seifer.
Seifer smirked at him. "Come in, Draco, we felt you."
Draco hesitantly stepped in, there was an easy air around the place, and he was a little grateful for it, as Harry's feelings were starting to get too strong to ignore, the twinges at the back of his mind were constant now, none of them happy.
And Draco still couldn't do anything to help.
He glanced up to meet the dark brown eyes of the sorceress.
She was rather pretty, even without the help of the magic, beautiful even, and somehow reminded him of the elves his mother had told him about when he was younger, with her happy yet serious eyes. Draco looked away first to meet the friendly, sky blue eyes of one of the strange knights, and the steely gray eyes of the other one, reminding him painfully of his own. But there was something in them similar to understanding.
And then Draco keeled over, gasping and clutching at his stomach, where pain had just exploded, catching him completely by surprise.
All he could do in his sudden helplessness was rock on his knees, his eyes squeezed shut, a wail of pain rising up through his throat, feeling like he was being disemboweled.
Dimly he felt two pairs of hands lifting him onto the office's couch, and the sorceress' curaga spell, but when his shirt was lifted up, there was no mark there, just silky smooth skin, completely intact.
Then Draco realized that the hazy red pain in his mind wasn't his.
"You bastard Harry!" was all he had time to gasp, before the world tilted crazily, and everything went blessedly black.