Summary: In the third year of the war, Draco is discovered as a spy for the Order of the Phoenix. Snape brings him to Grimmauld Place for safety. But months of being locked in a house with Potter take their toll, and soon both boys are in over their heads.
Pairing: Harry/Draco. If you don't like it, don't read it.
Warnings: Unbetaed, all mistakes are my own. Sexual content. Language.
Disclaimer: Harry Potter and everything affiliated with his world belong to J.K. Rowling.
A/N: Sorry about the long wait. I had very sporadic Internet this summer and couldn't post when I wanted to.
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As he was walking back to his room, Draco heard a whimpering coming from up the stairs. Intrigued, he followed the noise. He found the noises led him to Harry's room.
He opened the door, and saw Harry in the grip of a nightmare. Draco's protective instincts (which had never manifested for anybody but himself before) kicked in and Draco sat on the side of the bed. He grabbed Potter's hand and began to rub circles on his palm. He muttered soothingly (at least he hoped it was soothingly.)
His presence seemed to have a calming affect on Harry, and the thrashing about began to decrease. After a few more minutes, Harry woke up. He blinked fuzzily a few times, before muttering "Malfoy?"
"You were having a nightmare, but you're awake now, so I'll leave." He tried to disentangle their hands, but Harry wouldn't drop his.
"Stay…please?" Harry sounded so vulnerable, that he couldn't say no. Cursing himself, (when did he turn into a Hufflepuff?) Draco stripped down to his boxers and slid under the covers with Potter. He was asleep within minutes.
Draco woke before Harry did the next morning. It took him a few minutest to orient himself, but when he did he blushed. He had slept with Harry, but not in a sexual way. This seemed so much more intimate than anything else they had done.
Draco quietly extracted himself from the tangle of limbs they had formed during the night. Harry clearly wasn't in his right mind when he asked him to stay last night, and he would appreciate waking up without Draco there.
With that thought in mind, Draco dressed and slipped out into the corridor.
Harry was slightly cool towards Draco the next morning at breakfast, and Draco attributed it to the fact that he felt awkward about last night. Draco certainly did, he had enjoyed waking up next to Harry more than was comfortable.
Draco had completely forgot that Weasley had the mental capacities of a child until Granger made an appearance in the kitchen. She had huge bags under her eyes, and her hair was frizzy and more out of control than Potter's. She had a manic expression on her face that had Draco shifting slightly away from her.
"I found the cure, but I need your help, come on!" Draco exchanged a glance with Harry as they got up. Harry looked as disturbed by Granger as he was.
Granger led them to a room down the hallway from Potter's, one that Draco had never been in before. Inside the room, Ron Weasley lying sprawled across a huge bed, sucking on him thumb.
Draco tried to choke down his laughter, figuring it would be in bad taste, but he didn't caught muffle it all. Granger and Harry gave him askance looks, so he turned away until he had his composure back.
When he did, he saw Granger showing Harry a leather-bound book. It had the Black Family crest stamped across the spine. Granger noticed him looking at it, and smiled ruefully.
"Yep, one of your ancestors created this curse. Fortunately they created a counter curse too. It was originally used to keep brides who objected to their marriages compliant. Later, during the time of Grindelwald, it gained popularity for Muggle baiting."
Draco had come up behind Harry and was reading over his shoulder, an easy feat considering Draco was at least three inches taller than Harry.
"This is bordering on dark magic, you know," Draco said conversationally.
Granger immediately puffed up self-righteously. "Magic is only dark if the intent is dark," she began, in a lecture tone, but Draco cut her off.
"I said bordering, didn't I?" Draco asked rhetorically. Granger sniffed, but subsided.
Harry hadn't said anything, but Draco could tell this didn't sit easy with him. He got to the end of the page before he spoke up.
"Are you sure this is the only way, Hermione?"
"Yes. And the longer he is in this state, the more lasting danger could occur."
"Well, let's start, then." Draco sighed, and plucked the parchment from Harry's hands. He turned it over, and continued reading the back. Harry sheepishly followed.
"Maybe we should finish reading first, though."
"Smashing idea," added Draco, sarcastically.
"I'll do the actual chanting, as I know the spell the best. You two have to direct the flow of magic out of Ron's body. See, the only counter curse is to place the curse on something else." Granger held up a dragon paperweight from the mantle of the library. "I thought we could use this, if neither of you have any objections?"
Both Harry and Draco shook their heads.
"Alright then, I'll get ready." Granger took a piece of wood and ground it carefully. Then she sprinkled it over Weasley's lips.
"Out of curiosity, where did you get hawthorn?"
Granger didn't pause in her ministrations. "I have a complete potions kit in my room."
Harry didn't fail to notice the way Draco's eyes lit up at that. "I'm sure you could use it if you ask nicely," he said.
"Yeah, of course," added Granger. Draco felt much happier and much more inclined to help Weasley after that.
"Alright, I'm ready," said Granger.
"Don't we need candles, or something to set the mood?" asked Harry.
Draco shot him a look that said quite clearly, you belong in St. Mungo's. Granger just sighed. "Honestly, Harry. That stuff only happens in Muggle movies." Harry looked sheepish, and blushed a delightful shade of red.
"Just focus your wands on Ron, and be prepared to catch the magic as it comes out. If it gets loose, it could attack one of us." Draco and Harry nodded.
Granger took a deep breath, and started chanting in Latin. Once upon a time Draco would have been able to understand all of it, but no longer. His father had drilled him in Latin, until he was practically fluent. Draco had hated it, and rebelled by forgetting most of it as soon as he arrived at Hogwarts. A few words washed over him, and he got the general gist of it, but that was all.
The counter curse was an exorcism spell, but not one that Draco had ever heard before. During the middle ages, most possessions of both wizards and Muggles alike were actually malicious spells. Exorcists made career out of traveling the countryside and ridding people of curses.
Any proper family, like the Malfoys, would have been able to get rid of the spell themselves, but that was beside the point.
Draco made a mental note to ask Granger if she modified the spell. The sound of Granger's voice drifted past him, and Draco's mind began to wander.
He made an honest attempt not to stare at Harry, he really did. It just did not work. Draco's eyes were soon drawn back to Harry, who was sitting next to him. Harry's eyes were glazed, and he was twirling his wand in his hands. He looked as bored as Draco felt.
Draco was staring at Harry's Adam's apple, noticing each ripple and flex and the boy swallowed. So he was completely unprepared for when Granger said, "Now!"
A rushing sound filled the air. It sounded like the wind rushing through his ears as he chased the snitch. Draco could almost sense the magic escaping from Weasley's body and trying to find a new vessel.
Harry's head jerked up, and he blinked his eyes owlishly. Draco muttered the spell Granger had told him and heard Harry do the same.
Suddenly time slowed down, and the rushing sound quieted. This spell was highly illegal, and slowed down time for only the caster. It didn't last long, but nasty things had happened when it was used unchecked.
Harry and Draco had not said the spell together, so their spells were different. Hence, time slowed for each of them separately. Draco set to work, directing the magic towards the paperweight. He could sense a force helping him, but he couldn't actually see Harry's actions.
Once the magic was embedded in the paperweight, Draco set about containing it. He cast the strongest charms he knew to ensure that it couldn't escape and inhabit one of their bodies. Draco hated spells like this, where there was no way to get rid of the magic; it always survived, just like a cockroach.
Draco activated the counter spell, and felt himself jerked into normal time. Professor Vector had tried to explain about time and past and present and a continuum thing one Arithmancy class, but that lecture had put Binns to shame.
Sound came back a second later, and overwhelmed Draco. He clasped his hands over his ears until the noise was at a manageable level.
He looked up and saw that Granger had flung herself at Weasley, which presumably meant the ritual had worked. Potter recovered his bearings too, and pulled Weasley into a bear hug.
Draco squashed the irrational jealousy before it was even fully formed, and slipped out of the room, already plotting ways to milk this situation for all its worth. After all, Draco had just helped Weasley recover from a potentially life threatening curse. Draco was a Slytherin; he expected payment. Or he could just mock Weasley for the rest of their lives.