Mantic

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or the world in which he frolics.

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"Severus?" He tiptoed into the main room, not wanting the hideous portrait of Sirius Black's mother to wake.

"Why aren't you sleeping?" Severus was writing a letter - probably to Dumbledore.

"I thought I'd go visit Harry, well, I can't sleep."

"You wont get any rest in there. You'll return in the morning in exactly the same condition as you leave." Severus looked up from his parchment and stared levelly at Draco.

"It's alright, I'm not tired at all."

Severus conceded, "Very well. I'll pull you out in the morning."

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Draco laughed out loud when he neared the Fat Lady, who was perpetually picking her nose. After a few minutes though, he became frustrated at not being able to open the passage - he knew Harry was somewhere in his common room. He threw a few unlikely passwords at the portrait before picking up a nearby vase and chucking it across the hallway straight into the Fat Lady's generous stomach. Surprisingly, the frame gently swiveled open to reveal a beautiful, warm common room.

Harry was standing in front of a wall, painting obscenities onto a very old looking tapestry.

"What in Merlin's name are you doing?" Draco nearly shouted after taking a good look at exactly what Harry had painted on his own common room wall.

Harry dropped his paintbrush and twisted around in reaction to the voice. "Draco?" He gaped, "How'd you get in here?"

"I stuck my hand in, how else?" Draco grinned and gave Harry a tight hug. "And, uh, what's the painting for?"

Harry immediately blushed and stuttered, "Y-you well, you know, do I need to explain?" He motioned to the obscene mural and covered his face in embarrassment.

"I like your depiction of Trelawney, but I think she needs more hair around the nose… and less around the breasts." Draco pointed appraisingly at a very stupid looking drawing.

"…That's…not Trelawney," Harry wheezed from too much laughter, "It's Hagrid."

"Oh, this is too much." Draco laughed, "I think I need to kiss you."

He pulled Harry into an embrace and kissed him slowly, deeply, savoring the taste of it. Draco could feel him shake with impatience as they stumbled toward the general vicinity of a sofa. As they fell onto it, Harry hit his head against the armrest, prompting their teeth to click together. Draco broke the kiss with a curse and ran his tongue over his teeth, trying to alleviate the pain and looking altogether beautiful in Harry's eyes.

He bent down once again and nipped at Harry's ear while running a hand along his thigh, causing Harry to moan into his ear. Harry pushed up against the other boy's body and laughed as his erection became prominent. Draco only kissed a trail down his neck and continued stroking his leg, eliciting more mewling noises from Harry.

Neither of them noticed Severus enter the common room until he snorted with distaste. Draco immediately stopped and turned his head to the end of the room, finding a very annoyed Severus Snape.

"Uh.." He said, before realizing that he was still straddling Harry on the couch. He flushed and quickly stood up to face Severus, "That was uh…"

"Hi." Harry butt in, trying to lighten the mood but actually making it infinitely more uncomfortable.

"Potter," He acknowledged and turned to Draco, "I didn't send you in here for…this" He motioned disgustedly at Harry and continued, "I had rather hoped you would be responsible and tell him what has happened. There's no time for it now. Tonks was taken by the Dark Lord sixteen minutes ago in Hogsmeade - it is very likely that she will be forced to disclose the location of the Black Residence."

There was a moment's pause before Harry responded, "Well, we've got to go and save her!" He looked toward Draco for some sign of agreement, but he only looked guiltily at the floor, "Well, we can't let Voldemort torture her to death!"

"Listen, Harry, we can't just go in there. You're a target for the Dark Lord - he'll be looking for you. He's been looking for you." Draco said quietly, nervously.

"I've taken the liberty of gathering our belongings and taking the Floo to my father's home. I've…lost contact with Dumbledore. We'll have to keep moving until there's someway to make sure we're safe. Draco, I'll have to ask you to stay in here until I come fetch you again."

Draco nodded, "Well, I suppose it'll be better than running the entire time. What happens if you die?"

He was too used to living as a spy, there was no longer any need for common courtesy or respect when it came to such life and death situations. Harry was silent behind him.

Severus pondered this for a moment, and came to a decision. "If you don't see me at nine in the morning every other day in this room, it means I'm dead. Draco, you will come out at that time and continue travelling. Am I clear?"

"Yeah."

"Alright, I'll be back in two days. Be here." Severus left a pocket watch on the counter next to Harry and tapped it with his wand before disappearing.

Draco turned around to find Harry looking down at his hands, shaking with rage. Draco took in the sight, secretly in love with the display of pure emotion - he was biting his bottom lip, blinking too much, shaking his hair. But he realized that this was a very dangerous Harry: compulsive, unpredictable.

"There's no way, is there? To save her." He choked, trying to hold back tears.

"Harry, you didn't even know her." He wanted to say 'let it go' but he knew it would only make the situation worse. And Draco spoke of her in the past tense, because he understood that if she wasn't dead already, she would be soon.

"I knew her. I knew her…I was in love with her!" Harry reasoned, attempting to find some answer to the pain he could only feel for the one he loved.

"You did. Then so did I. It's not her you loved, Harry, it was…it's the Dark Lord you can't stand. He takes things away, takes people away and it isn't always going to feel like this." Draco tried to comfort him, tried to convince him and show him the destruction that had taken place. In truth, he knew that Harry had never really understood the Dark Lord - never really understood what he was capable of - and that was why Harry could say His name without fear.

He embraced Harry, perhaps even hurt him with the urgency of the hug. It was as much for himself as it was for Harry, and they sat like that for a long time, against the back of the sofa. They held each other desperately at first, hoping together that the truth of their world would not collapse in on them, but they understood, and they could see it in each other that they understood. Neither fell asleep, as it was impossible in this world, but both fell into a half-sleep, a trance, and did not wake for a very long time.

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Hey everybody. Kind of a short chapter, so sorry about that (who am I kidding, they're all 'kind of' short…) but I hope you liked the small change I took in this chapter. If you didn't spot it, neither did I (*coughs*) anyway, please leave a review telling me if you liked it (and if it worked!) and if it didn't work…well, then I'd need some feedback on that too for future chapters.

I've actually been working on my fics a lot lately, which is something of a surprise because I usually leave a long gap between updates. So yeah, this is working for me, despite my tired-ness but leave reviews so I know you care ^_^ lol

Gratefully,

Tara