Title: In The Interests Of …
Author: I_nv_u50
Pairings: DracoXHarry
Disclaimer: Hm. Well, let's count the things that are mine. Hm. Well there's… oh and… we can't forget about… The Grand Total: Nothing but the plot.
Chapter Rating: PG13 for unexpected violence and torture planning sessions. Oh, and some angst.
Author's Notes: Nanowrimo has gotten me in the habit of writing spectacularly long pieces of crap, so while this is long, if it's too crappy, I apologize ^^;; Hopefully its not like the chapter rating or disclaimer . I get the feeling that those two could have been said in a lot less ways. Oh well…
Harry: Honey, I'm home!!
Draco: Freak.
They know not what they do. Or rather, I don't. And quite frankly, I don't want to know.
Anyway, NaNoWriMo is over (and I made the word count on time!!) and so we're going back to your regularly scheduled update
Harry: Was it ever regular?
Draco: (evil cackle) Not while we're around.
Harry: Damn straight.
Grr. Anyway, please please join my yahoo group T.T It's a blatant open invitation for anyone to post up their own HP stuff . I'm not very good at selling things, nor am I great at propaganda, so I'll turn you over to Draco…
Draco: (dryly) Whoohoo. (puts on puppy face) Please join! Starving mudbloods depend on it!
Harry: You're pathetic.
…. While they fight it out, go check out the thingy anyway. Who knows, you might be pleasantly surprised :D
That's about it actually O.o; I think I had something more, but I can't remember, so it'll have to wait until next update, which might be pretty soon actually, cuz I like the next chapter :D anyway, enjoy, review, and please join!! ^^
Harry was dancing with Hermione, laughing whenever they bumped into another twirling couple in the crowded room. He was actually kind of missing the sorceress, but James and the other two, the Terrible Trio, had persuaded an impromptu dance in the common room when they could persuade no more people to come up and sing with them in the karaoke mood. It would have been foolish to ignore their insistence. Especially since Harry knew what they could, and would, gleefully do to those who managed to refuse them.
The noise, the music and the laughter had attracted other people, and now the room was overflowing around the vicinity of the doorway, of people who gratefully forgot their lives and their jobs and their roles in any and every war, and were dancing around the room, laughing infectiously. They were also forgetting that the overall lifespan for a SeeD or cadet was less than two years after the first battle.
There was no possible way for Harry to see Draco through or over the crowd, not with the mass of giggling girls by the door, but he could feel Draco approaching, so he tried to edge his and Hermione's dance closer to the door.
Unfortunately, he was waylaid by Colin, who, upon seeing his idol and impossible crush, became remarkably forgetful, and didn't remember what Draco had done to him the last time, or indeed, what Draco had subtly promised to do if a second time occurred.
"Harry! Over here!"
Harry took a quick, surreptious glance and groaned, spinning Hermione around until his back was facing Colin instead of his front.
"Is he still there?" he whispered to Hermione from the corner of his mouth.
Hermione smiled with amused sympathy. "Of course he is. You really think he'll give up that quickly?"
"No…" Harry muttered. "But I could sure hope. If Draco catches him, he's dead."
"Don't worry," Hermione deepened her voice teasingly, "I'll protect you!"
Harry laughed. "Thank you kind sir, but you? Beat up someone smaller than yourself? I didn't know you had it in you, 'Mione!"
She laughed as well. "It comes in handy when I'm trying to impress Ron, let me tell you. It's a good thing he's taller than me."
Harry grinned at her easily. "He'd be stupid if he wasn't, because I'm sure, despite his height, you can beat him up as well."
Hermione fluttered her eyelashes at him mockingly. "Me? Beat up my boyfriend? It's one of my favorite pastimes!"
Harry laughed, and was about to reply on Ron's behalf, when the light in his mind dropped suddenly, and went out.
He stopped dead, shocked and surprised and hopelessly desolate, his mind falling into a deep, dark and empty void.
There was no burning light that he had gotten used to. No star that signified Draco's ever present, close proximity. And perhaps the most terrifying of all, there was no more Draco.
Harry thought he whimpered, but he didn't remember. He might have screamed, but he didn't hear. He could have collapsed, but he didn't care. He probably cried, but he couldn't feel his eyes fill up, couldn't feel the wet trails of tears sliding down his cheeks as he screamed in the utter, endless pain that engulfed him.
There was no more Draco.
He didn't know how he got out of the room, didn't know anything but that Draco wasn't there. Didn't feel anything but the black despair and grief. He wanted to die, if only to end the sudden loneliness after he had unknowingly come to depend on that ever present light of Draco in his head.
There was no more Draco.
When he finally realized where he was, endless eternities and shockingly short seconds later, he found himself in the office with Hermione bravely supporting him, his fists clenched in fear and his entire soul wracked with desolate hopelessness.
But there was Draco. He and Rinoa were lying prone, side-by-side, on the couch that Seifer had in his office, and Squall was hugging Zell tightly a few feet away from them.
Zell was crying, and so, Harry realized again, was he. Hermione was watching him carefully, with a sympathy that didn't even begin to span the distance of his sorrow, and then she turned to Seifer.
"Shall I send some people out sir?"
Seifer looked distraught and as devastated as Harry felt. "Yes. Hurry. Go." He could barely get out the words.
Harry looked again at Draco's still, pale face, before turning helplessly to Seifer, wrestling with his throat and voice to be real, to be heard. "What happened? What's wrong with him? With them?"
Seifer suddenly looked furious. "That bloody knight is in Winhill. He probably did something to them, stole from their life source or something. We'll have some people out looking for him in a few minutes, if they aren't out already."
"I'll kill him." The words were out before Harry could think of what to say, but when he said them, he realized that they were the truth.
Seifer gave him a sharp look. "Yes. We all will. Take Draco to his room and alert me when he wakes. We'll let you know if there's any news."
Harry nodded silently and picked up Draco's limp and lolling body, a fresh wave of fury washing over him.
He didn't remember the walk to Draco's wing, didn't want to remember any of the journey from the start of the wing to Draco's bedroom where he experienced another surge of loneliness that almost sent him to his knees.
He lay Draco down on the big bed when they did eventually get there, and sat staring at the still, almost relaxed face, his emotions in a whirl of suspended relief and disbelief that he had gotten so close to the sorceress. And, of course, that ceaseless loneliness that reminded him of just how close he had gotten to Draco over the past few days of their acquaintance. After a few minutes of blankly staring, gathering his thoughts and feelings and coming out with a not surprising, but unwanted anyway, conclusion, Harry lay down beside his unconscious sorceress and just held him tightly and as close as possible. He was trying to convince himself that Draco was still there by touch and feel when his mind blatantly kept screaming the opposite at him.
It was all he could do, and the blankness in his mind made him very grateful for the restless oblivion he drifted into an hour later.
Draco awoke to a pounding headache that threatened to split his head any second, with Harry's light dim, but getting brighter every second.
A warm body stirred slightly beside him, and he suddenly realized Harry was cuddling him tightly, but before he could work out the significance of this position, Harry woke up with a start.
"Ow…" he moaned quietly, and Draco smirked with sympathetic understanding. He hurt as well.
"Does it hurt?"
Harry froze and stared, wide eyed at Draco. "You're awake! You're all right!"
"Huh?"
Harry shook his head helplessly in answer, and lunged at Draco when he tried to sit up, hugging him tightly and breathing in deeply through his nose.
"I was so worried…" Harry's voice was muffled by the loosened and twisted shirt Draco was wearing, and the warm breath that Draco could feel through the thin material made him shiver unintentionally.
Harry felt it, and realized where he was suddenly, and he pushed himself away, flushed.
Draco smirked at him tiredly, only working up enough energy to do it because it was habit to smirk whenever his knight was embarrassed, and yawned, wincing at the persistent throbbing in his head. "What's up?"
Harry smiled with relief, ignoring the smirk on the basic principal that Draco was back to normal. "We're not sure yet, but we think the knight is in Winhill and Hermione's gone to look for him because we're all sure that he did something and Seifer –"
Harry stopped mid sentence, eyes wide. "I've got to tell the headmaster! I'll be back as soon as I can!"
And Harry leapt off the bed and raced away, presumably to the office. He looked, Draco noticed offhandedly, adorably rumpled.
Draco yawned again carefully, trying not to move any more than necessary, and Rinoa's presence became a slowly burning spark in his mind.
"Looks like she's awake again…" Draco mumbled to himself, to hear the human voice, and to clear the sudden, oppressive emptiness in the room. "I wonder what happened? I suppose if the knight is in Winhill, I'll have to get ready…"
Draco got out of bed slowly, feeling more exhausted than he probably had any right to feel. He felt a dull heaviness in his body, and if he concentrated hard enough, he was sure he'd be able to follow his blood's progress. But since concentrating took too much effort and would no doubt hurt like everything else seemed to be doing at the moment, he refused to think of anything but how welcome his shower was going to be, regardless of the time of day.
He could feel Harry's excited anger, and started the water in the shower when Harry started to return. He didn't want to know. He wanted to have a nice, relaxing shower and forget everything that the water enabled him to do, and he was going to have a nice meal in his own chambers, alone, when he was finished. He didn't want Harry to come.
He didn't want to feel the thrill of dependence that he had felt before he fully woke up, straight after he had realized who cuddled him so closely. He didn't want to feel safe in a way that made him feel vulnerable at the same time. He wanted to be alone, and he had never wanted a knight at all, and he didn't see why he should be bothered with an escaped sorceress and knight if they were just going to end up winning anyway…
Harry was approaching the wing when the water finally started to heat up a little, but Draco ignored the sprinting knight and thought of nothing but the small fira that he had started in the water pipes to help them heat up.
Thankfully, the water pipes were built for that kind of thing.
When it was hot enough to suit his tastes, he cancelled the fira, and stripped quickly. He had one foot in the shower when Harry burst in, breathless from his run from the other side of the mansion to the bathroom, where he was unexpectedly faced with an entire view of Draco's naked back.
Harry felt himself turn red and forced his gaze to stay above Draco's ribs, a relatively safe area, half intrigued by what he saw, and half disgusted because he wanted to see more of it.
He let his eyes settle on the face Draco had turned over his shoulder to stare at him.
"Seifer wants to see you immediately." Panted Harry, and Draco quirked an elegant eyebrow thoughtfully, considering. He decided to ignore his previous feelings for his knight because how could Harry look anything other than desirably, flushed and panting as he was, his green eyes filling with confused embarrassment as he caught hold of the direction Draco's thoughts were going.
"Is the knight here than? They caught him?"
Harry nodded, determinedly avoiding Draco's eyes, still red.
"Okay." Draco turned around fully, ignoring Harry's embarrassed splutter as the confused knight was faced with a full frontal view of Draco in the nude.
Harry resolutely kept his eyes away, and Draco ignored the throbbing in his head to concentrate on summoning his ceremonial outfit.
Harry looked back after making sure it was safe to, and cocked his head in thought, taking in the skimpy clothes. "Why wear that?"
Draco waved a hand imperiously. "Tradition. You'll see. Rinoa and her knights will wear theirs as well."
Harry blinked. "Knights as well?"
"Yea. Why?" Draco grinned. "Haven't gotten yours yet?"
Harry shrugged helplessly. "I just don't know."
Draco rolled his eyes, but amusement was rolling off of him, not annoyance or anger, and Harry grinned in reply.
"Ok. Well, it has to be in my colors."
"What are those?"
Draco snorted incredulously. "Are you blind? Silver, blue, and this purpley colour."
Harry sniggered slightly. "Purpley?"
Draco shot him an injured look and then winked.
A second later, Harry was staring down at himself in amazement. He had a tight, sleeveless polo necked type shirt, made out of what seemed to be purplish blue leather. He guessed it to be ruby dragon hatchling's skin, a rare and very expensive kind, because to acquire it required, more often than not, going up against the mother ruby dragon, which was, needless to say, quite suicidal. The front and the back dipped down past his hips, but the two sides were cut up to his waist in a triangular shape.
He had short silver gloves, and black leather pants that sat low on his hips, revealing the bared skin shown by his shirt.
On his feet were a pair of snug fitting, comfortable black boots, that came up to his knees, much like his esteemed sorceress'.
He looked up and gaped at Draco.
Draco smirked. "No good?"
"It's… um…"
Draco shook his head, and Harry caught a jolt of impatience that made him grin suddenly.
"You know, Draco…"
Draco froze, eyeing Harry in barely muted surprise.
Harry continued talking in a voice that almost made his throat hurt. "Draco, we never really talked about what happened in your acreage earlier…"
Draco's eyes widened slightly in a rare physical show of emotion, completely disbelieving. "Harry… I…"
Harry laughed suddenly, giving up the game, not liking what the spark of hope he had flared up in Draco signified. "Come on. Don't forget to turn the water off. Let's go."
Draco scowled at Harry's retreating back, mentally taking back what he had been going to say before, and pushed the faint hurt down back where it belonged: nowhere near him.
He switched off the water and floated after his knight, his thoughts bending towards the strange knight and what their actions would be.
When they arrived at the office, it was to find everyone, especially Squall looking darker than usual. True to word, everyone was dressed in sorceress finery.
"Where's the knight?"
"He's being held by several top ranking SeeDs down in your pitiful dungeon."
Draco scowled furiously. "Look, just because my home isn't as top security as your military Gardens, don't blame me!"
Rinoa stepped in before the argument could go any further. "What are we going to do with him?"
"Kill him." Answered all the knights as one.
Draco shook his head reluctantly. "That's not right."
Seifer snorted in part disgust and part understanding. "It's what they would do if they caught Harry."
Harry spoke before Draco could retort, projecting calm in the vague hope that it would make Draco feel better. "Isn't there another way maybe? Something more honorable?"
Zell looked at Rinoa, looking like he was considering the most distasteful idea he had ever in his life. "We could take him I suppose…"
Rinoa shook her head, and Zell immediately radiated relief. "No. He has to be willing and right now he's nothing but sulky. He probably doesn't know he's done anything wrong, and if he knows, he probably thinks it was right."
"Then we keep him away from your sister for a few days, Rin." Squall said, looking around to check for agreement.
"What'll that do?" Harry asked, feeling extremely stupid for asking what seemed to be an obvious question.
Seifer answered him. "You remember the past two days, don't you? How bad you felt when you didn't see or touch Draco at all? Well, add a few weeks to that, and you'd break. You wouldn't be able to handle it, no knight can. It's one of the cruelest tortures there is, unless the sorceress is injured as well."
Harry briefly tried to imagine the mental torment and torture he'd go through if that ever happened to him, and couldn't. He realized what Seifer said was the truth. He hated the thought of being separated from Draco for a few weeks, knowing Draco was sick or injured in the bargain, and it was hard to even think of the pain. He didn't want to. He felt a little sorry for the knights suddenly, a twinge of compassion that Draco didn't seem to understand. "That's a little harsh, isn't it?"
Zell shook his head. "Harry, we would all be dead by now if what he did had been permanent. He knew this, which also probably means that he was working closer to stealing Draco and Rinoa's life source. He stole enough to knock Draco out of your mind, and you know how you felt then. He must have known the consequences, and he'd probably do it again gladly if it meant helping his sorceress."
"I don't think he did, really." Seifer mused, staring blankly at nothing, his mind obviously in another time and place. "Know the consequences I mean. He's obviously enthralled. When you're enthralled, you don't know anything for certain, unless its that you are willing and able to do absolutely anything your sorceress requires of you, even if it means your death. The general hope is that the sorceress knows this, but likes or loves you so much that she is willing to change her plans and ideals to prevent your death…"
Harry blinked in surprise at the headmaster. How could Seifer possibly know what it was like to be enthralled? Draco was nodding in vague agreement and understanding, as were the others, so it was obviously just him who didn't know.
He made a mental note to ask Draco, but ignored it for the time being. It wasn't as important as the issue at hand.
"Let's do it." Squall spoke after a short, thoughtful silence where he and Zell and Rinoa had unwittingly shared the same intimacy between them that Harry himself longed for.
Seifer nodded shortly and picked up a phone on his desk that was probably connected straight to one of the basement turned dungeon where the knight was obviously being held prisoner.
"Irvine? Yea. We've decided to keep him in there. Could you assume Defense Procedure A36E22L48?"
Seifer paused to let the brunette cowboy sniper say something.
"Yes. By all means. And make sure the girls stay away from him for now."
After a few more instructions, Seifer hung up the phone and looked around. "He is being watched by Irvine, Selphie and Quistis in the third basement."
Draco nodded wordlessly. It was a good choice, the only basement with magical protection as well. It wasn't like he had planned to hold any magical people in his house prisoner.
Seifer caught Squall's eye and nodded in agreement to the things he saw in there. "I'm glad you're in ceremonial outfits right now. You're going to be meeting Kellan in a few hours. Harry, go and say goodbye to your friends and family, it'll be a while before you can see them again. Draco, you can go and collect the things you two have already packed. You're leaving for Centra in ten minutes."