Author's Notes: Thank you again to my wonderful beta, darkend-angelz-wingz. You wouldn't believe how many sentences she had to fix. Special mention to Joriwinter for feedback surgery.
Soundtrack suggestion is Special Ones by George. You can decide whether the song is aimed at Harry or Voldemort. ;-)
oOoOoOo
The Bodyguard
Chapter 15: Single Bed
Draco's memories of kissing Cho Chang burned Harry like fire, though he wasn't sure what upset him the most - the fact that Cho Chang had kissed another boy or whether it was because that boy was Draco. Harry was aware that Hermione and Ron were staring at him, in shock at the way he'd forcibly used Legilimency, but he was too furious to care. He shifted his weight on the struggling Slytherin beneath him and tried to catch Draco's eyes, so that he could enter his mind again.
Draco threw his head from side to side to avoid Harry's gaze. He was pale with terror, and his white-blond hair stuck to his forehead with sweat, but he had a look of reckless bravado. "Of course, I snogged Cho Chang, Potter!" he sneered. "She was the prettiest girl in Hogwarts, so I was willing to forgive her for the terrible taste she showed in snogging you!"
Harry swore at him. "Why did you ask Cho what I liked in bed?" he snarled, looming threateningly over Draco.
Draco's pale cheeks suddenly went pink and his eyes focused on something over Harry's left shoulder. He sneered into the middle distance, "I wanted to find out what you were like in bed and spread it around the school ... ARRGH!" Harry had squeezed Draco's upper arms with all his strength and tears of pain rose spontaneously in Draco's eyes. Harry meant this as a punishment, but to his surprise it elicited a further confession. "All right, I was curious about you, okay? Now let go of me!" The Slytherin thrashed beneath Harry, his eyes squeezed shut and his whole face now a lively shade of pink.
"You filthy sicko! You're obsessed with me!" Harry yelled in disgust.
These words seemed to make Draco so angry that he momentarily forgot his fear. He opened his eyes and looked up defiantly. "That's rich, coming from someone who is RUBBING UP AGAINST ME RIGHT NOW, and lies awake in BED at two o'clock in the morning wondering about me!" Then he quickly averted his eyes and looked back up at the ceiling over Harry's shoulder.
It occurred to Harry that Draco did have a point. The way he had pinned Draco down to the bed - pelvises pressed tight, legs tangled and faces close together - must look extremely suggestive. He blushed, released Draco's arms and scooted to the end of the bed, to put as much distance between them as possible. "I wasn't rubbing ... I was only holding you down so-"
"So that you could rape my mind. You tore into my memories and smashed my face in, when I was only trying to help you, and you've got the nerve to call ME a sicko!"
Harry tried to protest, but the words stuck in his throat when he saw Draco slowly sitting up on the other end of the bed, stiffly and apparently painfully, with as much pathetic dignity as he could muster. He wondered if Draco was doing his old trick of pretending to be injured, but he certainly wasn't faking the blood that soaked his t-shirt from his broken, now healed, nose.
'Sicko!' The word echoed in Harry's mind and he groaned and pressed his hands to his face in horrified guilt and disbelief. Kissing someone's ex-girlfriend was nothing compared to what he'd just done to Draco's mind and body.
Draco noticed Harry's guilt and did nothing to discourage it. "Look what you've done to me, Harry." He tugged at his bloodstained t-shirt. "I've taken plenty of beatings from you in the last seven years-"
"And started every one of them," Harry pointed out, but with less conviction than usual.
"-but I never thought you'd hurt me like this when I was only trying to HELP you."
Harry flinched and Draco gave a humourless laugh. "Legilimency as a weapon - I doubt even the Dark Lord has tried that. Dark of you, Harry. Very Dark."
Feeling ill, Harry remembered how Voldemort had treated his servants - Quirrell whom he had left to die, Pettigrew whom he had forced to amputate his own hand - and felt a shock of recognition at the selfish way he had just treated Draco. Becoming like Voldemort was Harry's greatest fear.
"Harry's not as Dark as V-Voldemort. You do exaggerate, Draco," said Hermione. But Harry was certain that she and Ron were avoiding his eye and his guilt intensified. What must he have looked like when he was raiding Draco's memories, to make his friends so uncomfortable?
Draco smoothed back his mussed up hair. "When you told me you were with Ron not Harry, Hermione, I didn't believe it. But now I do. Ron wouldn't beat someone up, hold someone down and suck their memories out through their eyes and not even apologise afterwards," he said petulantly.
"Are you all right?" Hermione was staring very hard at Draco.
"Ask Harry, he knows me better than I do myself now."
Harry frowned. He knew what Draco was doing. The Slytherin's most powerful weapon had never been his wand or his fists. It had always been his nasty, manipulative little mouth and his unerring ability to find and to verbally capitalize on another person's weaknesses. But even Harry had to admit that Draco had a point this time. He had to apologize.
"Draco, look at me," said Harry quietly.
Draco's eyes wandered around the room. "No!" he exclaimed fearfully, and his hand went nervously to his throat.
"PLEASE, Draco."
Slowly and cautiously, Draco looked Harry in the eye, ready to flinch away at a moment's warning.
"I'm sorry," said Harry.
Draco looked away and sniffed disdainfully. He folded his arms.
Harry was too full of self-loathing and misery to be annoyed by Draco's attitude. He slid closer to Draco on the bed and Draco slid away from him. But Harry stopped him with a hand on his shoulder and Draco flinched at the touch. "Please forgive me, Draco. What I did was unbelievably rude and invasive and I'm ashamed of myself. I won't hurt you like that again," said Harry fervently. He could feel tears rising up and he blinked his eyes furiously, not wanting to let anyone see.
Draco sneaked a careful, sidelong glance at Harry's face. Then he looked openly at Harry and nodded grimly. Finally, he wordlessly offered his right hand and Harry shook it.
"Friends, then," said Draco seriously, still hanging onto Harry's hand. "But I want you to know, Harry, that I'd still teach you Occlumency even if you ripped me limb from limb and saw every memory in my head." He looked older, all of a sudden, all traces of childish petulance gone. "You're going to learn Occlumency, you're going to use it to fight the Dark Lord and you're going to avenge my Mother, no matter what."
Draco's determination made another wave of guilt pass over Harry as he remembered those endless, fruitless Occlumency lessons he had had with Snape. "Draco, I ... appreciate ... that you want to teach me Occlumency, but I don't think I'm capable of learning," he admitted.
"Nonsense, Harry," said Draco bracingly. "You'll need more than two attempts to learn Occlumency."
"I-I've had many more than two goes," said Harry. He had no choice but to admit the painful truth. "Snape gave me Occlumency lessons and I still couldn't keep him out. I just can't learn it, Draco. There's no point in teaching me. I'll only end up hurting you again and I won't learn a thing." He thought about Draco's dead Mother and winced slightly with guilt.
Draco frowned and stared at Harry with surprise. "Severus taught you Occlumency, Harry? When did he do that?"
"You walked into one of the lessons. Remember when you saw us together and Snape told you he was giving me remedial potions lessons?"
Draco mouthed the word, 'Oh!' "I should have guessed," he said aloud. "Severus NEVER gave remedial potions lessons."
"He didn't teach me a thing," said Harry, his voice rising with indignation at the memory. "He just told me to think 'Occlumens', then he broke into my mind, over and over. He never gave me a chance to fight back."
"Harry, that's how Occlumency's taught," said Draco. "You have to have your mind broken into and learn how it feels to fight back. It's not something you can pick up from a book."
Hermione looked alarmed at the idea it was impossible to learn something out of a book.
"How many lessons did you receive?" Draco asked, pushing his hair back again.
"About twenty," said Harry.
Draco stared, open-mouthed. "My respect for Professor Snape has increased ten-fold. He gave YOU twenty Occlumency lessons and SURVIVED? How badly did you hurt him, Harry?"
Harry flushed and he felt forced to prove he had not hurt Snape. "I didn't hurt him. Not badly, anyway. I just hit him with a few Stinging Hexes, knocked him down a bit with shield spells; threw him around the room a bit and broke some of his jars..." Harry's voice faded as he realised that in his rush to prove that he hadn't hurt Snape, he'd actually proved quite the opposite. And that was not counting seeing Snape's memories in the Pensieve.
Hermione and Ron looked more uncomfortable than ever.
"Did you see any of Professor Snape's memories?" asked Draco coolly, as if reading Harry's mind.
Harry bit his lip. "I swore not to talk about them," he said slowly. "Yes, I did." He remembered how he'd seen the memory of Snape's father abusing his mother when Snape was five. He remembered how he had seen his own father hanging Snape in the air by his ankle. He had every intention of taking Snape's memories to the grave without telling them to a soul.
"I bet you saw Professor Snape's memories, Harry," drawled Draco. "I bet you threw him down, like you threw me down, and ate his childhood for breakfast."
"I didn't," snapped Harry. But he felt forced to admit: "He stopped me when I tried to see what he didn't want me to see."
"Harry, that's awful..." said Hermione in shocked accusation and Ron grimaced.
"Professor Snape was always much more powerful that I was," said Draco. He crossed his legs, and rested his pointed chin on both fists, looking thoughtfully at Harry. "So Severus has already tried the brute force approach of teaching Occlumency and it didn't work on you. Interesting, that you're so strong at Legilimency," (Harry flinched.) "And usually a person's Occlumency is just as strong as their Legilimency, but not in your case. Something's blocking you, Harry. I'll have to try another approach, something Severus hasn't tried. I swear you're not leaving this house until you can keep me out of your head."
"If there was another way to teach Harry Occlumency, don't you think Snape would have already tried it?" Hermione pointed out doubtfully.
"Not at all, Hermione," said Draco. "There are plenty of things that a decent, law-abiding teacher like Severus Snape, wouldn't have tried."
Harry's lip curled with scorn. "Snape, a decent teacher? Are you mad? Are we even talking about the same greasy git here?" he sneered. Ron chuckled.
A line appeared between Draco's eyebrows. "Don't call him that! Severus Snape is a friend of my family and I've known him all my life, Harry. He was my mother and father's best friend from school."
This wasn't really news to Harry. He'd heard Sirius calling Snape Lucius Malfoy's lap dog. "No wonder you were always Snape's pet in class."
"And you were Dumbledore and McGonagall's pet, Harry. McGonagall even bought you a racing broom in First Year, and she didn't expel you and Ron in Second Year when you flew that car into the Whomping Willow. Professor Snape would have had me out on my ear if I'd tried anything like that."
"At least Dumbledore and McGonagall were good to you. Snape was horrible to me," said Harry. He thought of Snape's black, fathomless eyes, billowing robes and silky voice and shuddered.
"You were horrible to him, Harry!" exclaimed Draco.
"Snape murdered Dumbledore!" exclaimed Harry and Draco was silent for a moment. Then he took a deep breath and appeared to be steeling himself to make a confession.
"There's something you should know, Harry. Promise you won't hurt me," said Draco softly.
"I promise," said Harry. He was unhappy that Draco felt it necessary get such a promise. He saw Hermione and Ron both look at Draco, listening intently.
"After the D-Dark Lord gave me a Dark Mark and ordered me to kill Dumbledore, Mother paid Severus a visit during the holidays and made him take an Unbreakable Vow to protect me and carry out my task if I proved ... unable. Well, as you know I proved unable, Harry. I couldn't kill Dumbledore. I couldn't kill anybody," whispered Draco, his face haunted. He took a deep shuddering breath. "I'm too weak."
"Don't be ashamed that you've still got your innocence, Draco. Not being able to kill isn't weak, it's strong. V-Voldemort's murdering bullshit is beneath you," said Hermione softly.
Draco gave her a sad, thankful smile.
"I already know about Snape's Unbreakable Vow, Draco. I overheard you and Snape talking about it," said Harry, dismissing it with a wave.
Draco blinked at him. "If you already know about it then you should realise that Professor Snape was FORCED to kill Dumbledore. He didn't want to do it, Harry. There's no way he would have done it, given a choice." Draco took a deep breath. "There's something I know about Severus, which most people don't. He tried to keep it secret, but Dumbledore was like a father to him. They used to meet up for chats in the Forbidden Forest so that no one could see them together. I followed them once or twice."
"Hagrid told me he overheard them talking in there," said Harry thoughtfully, then he frowned. "But you're forgetting I was there on the Astronomy Tower, Draco." His voice rose in anger. "I SAW Snape kill Dumbledore. I saw the way he looked at him before ... before he did it. There was such a look of hate and disgust on his Snape's face - he HATED Dumbledore and he wanted to be rid of him. That's what it looked like!"
"It was the VOW and what it was making him do, that he hated and was disgusted about, Harry," said Draco passionately. "If Professor Snape hadn't killed Dumbledore then he would've died. The Vow would have killed him."
"Then he should have died!" yelled Harry. He remembered what Sirius had told Wormtail in the Shrieking Shack when Wormtail had whined that he was given a choice to betray Harry's parents or die. "Snape should have died rather than betray and murder Dumbledore!"
A ringing silence followed. Harry and Draco were both trying to catch their breath. Draco hugged his legs to his chest. There was a lost, pained expression on his face, as if he were considering what Harry had just told him and it broke his heart.
At length, Draco spoke, very quietly. "Harry, there's something I've been wondering about."
"What?" said Harry dully.
"How did Dumbledore get so weak that ... that night? He could barely stand upright. I was able to use Expelliarmus on him, and I don't think for a second that I would have been able to do that if he'd been healthy."
"You didn't tell us Dumbledore was sick, Harry," said Ron. "What happened to him while you two were ... away?" Harry saw Ron stop himself before he mentioned Horcruxes.
"I-" Harry became caught up in the ghastly memory of Voldemort's cave, and Dumbledore's torment. He didn't even stop to consider what would happen when the truth got out. "I ... poured poison down Dumbledore's throat," he admitted.
"WHAT?" screeched Draco, Hermione and Ron, in unison at the tops of their voices.
"You poisoned Dumbledore? How could you, Harry?" said Hermione, her eyes wide with fear and shock. She and Ron flinched away from Harry.
Harry felt another wave of guilt and self-loathing pass over him, and felt himself rocking back and forth in misery while he tried desperately to explain. "I didn't want to do it, I swear. It was the worst thing I've ever done. I still have nightmares about it. Dumbledore screaming and moaning and begging me to stop feeding him the poison."
"So why didn't you stop?" snarled Ron, looking at Harry as if he didn't know him. Harry felt his heart contract.
"I wanted to stop. But before we went out that night, Dumbledore made me swear to obey him. I didn't have a choice. He ORDERED me to pour the poison down his throat. I HATED it! It was DISGUSTING!"
A strange look came over Hermione's face. "Hate... Disgust..." she breathed. She clapped a hand to her forehead as if she had just understood something. The others stared at her curiously. "No, don't talk to me," she said. "I need to think. Harry, did you say Hagrid overheard Snape and Dumbledore talking in the Forbidden Forest? What were they talking about?"
"Hagrid didn't say exactly what he heard and I don't really remember much," said Harry. "But he said it sounded like they were having a heated argument. Snape and Dumbledore must have been yelling at each other at the tops of their voices for Hagrid to have overheard them." He looked at Draco as if this was proof. "See? Snape hated Dumbledore."
"I wonder..." said Hermione, looking thoughtfully at Draco and tapping her chin.
"Hermione does this all the time," said Ron conversationally to Draco. "She gets these brilliant ideas and then she won't tell us about them."
Draco unfolded his legs. "While Hermione's deciding whether to tell us about her brain wave or not, I'd better teach you Occlumency, Ron," he said, in a business-like voice.
Ron looked alarmed.
"Relax, I won't do to you what Harry did to me," said Draco, not looking at Harry, who was now scowling. "Clear your mind of all thoughts and emotions." Ron closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "That was quick! There aren't many thoughts and emotions in that red head of yours, Ron," Draco sniggered mischievously.
Ron opened his eyes. "Piss off, Malfoy," he said, but he was grinning. He didn't look quite so apprehensive now.
Draco grinned too. "Sorry, couldn't resist," he drawled. "Okay, seriously now, Ron. Clear your mind, take a hold of your wand, open your eyes and say, 'Occlumens'."
Harry sat on the bed, feeling guilty about what he had done to Draco and Dumbledore, and watching the Occlumency lesson. It was similar to what he'd experienced with Snape. Ron could not keep Draco out of his mind, but Draco did not stay in long, once he'd breached Ron's defences. Draco made no comment about what he saw in Ron's mind, apart from briefly muttering, "Don't worry. We'll get the twins tomorrow."
"I need a rest," said Ron, mopping his forehead after the twentieth attack on his mind.
"All right, but I haven't finished with you, Ronald Weasley. I'll test you again tomorrow," warned Draco. "Hermione, it's your turn."
It took Hermione ten goes to eject Draco from her head. Draco didn't comment about her memories either, but there was something about them that made him look very happy. He was beaming when he said: "You're off to a great start, Hermione, but you're still not very strong. Anyone could break you if they tried. I want you to practice with Ron, and I'll test you tomorrow as well."
"Thanks, Draco," said Hermione, looking pleased at the praise.
There was a rustle at the window and something large and white fluttered against the glass. Draco jumped up instantly, wand at the ready, but Harry held him back. "It's my owl, Hedwig," he said as he opened the window. Hedwig fluttered down onto Harry's shoulder and nibbled his ear in greeting. Harry petted her.
"I always thought she was beautiful," said Draco.
"She is," said Harry, putting Hedwig on her perch and filling up her owl treat bowl.
"We should get some sleep," said Ron. "It's not late, but we have to get up early tomorrow so Draco can have the virginity line set up before my brothers get downstairs." He grinned in anticipation.
Hermione rolled her eyes and stood up. "When are you boys going to grow up?" she sighed.
Draco didn't bother to answer her. "Where am I going to sleep?"
"I'll go ask to Mrs Weasley. I'll be back in a minute," said Hermione, trotting out of the room.
Draco stretched. "I'll get ready for bed while she's gone. I'm first in the bathroom!" He got to his feet. "Got any pyjamas, Harry?" he asked.
"I have one pair of pyjamas. Do you want have tops or bottoms, Draco?" said Harry.
Draco burst out laughing, and Harry wondered what he'd said that was so funny.
"Top, but I wouldn't say no to bottom," said Draco, winking in a way Harry didn't understand.
Not sure how to respond, Harry balled up the top of his pyjamas and tossed them to Draco, who grinned knowingly and sauntered out.
"Why did Draco laugh about tops and bottoms, Ron?" asked Harry, when Draco had gone.
"Not a clue, mate."
"Lucky he said top. If he'd said bottoms, everyone would have been able to see my knobbly knees."
"You're far too sensitive about them," said Ron, yawning.
"That's because they look like cauliflowers," mumbled Harry. "If Draco saw them, he'd never let me forget about them. You know what he's like."
"Yeah, I know," Ron grinned. "Though he's been rather good today. He was nice to Hermione. Maybe too nice," he added jealously.
There were noisy footsteps outside and Hermione walked in. "Draco!" she said, but soon saw he had gone. "Where is he?"
"Bathroom," said Harry.
"Tell him Mrs Weasley said there aren't any beds left, so he's either got to share or sleep on the floor," said Hermione. She looked quite angry.
"Hermione, you and me could share your bed downstairs and that would leave this bed free for Draco," said Ron eagerly.
Mrs Weasley stuck her head through the door, "Over my dead body, Ronald Weasley!"
"Aww, Mum!"
"Draco can sleep in my bed," said Harry firmly, though a part of him wondered how much the Slytherin would complain about this new sleeping arrangement.
"The Death Eater doesn't deserve it, Harry. He should go on the floor." Mrs Weasley's voice was unusually fierce.
"No," said Harry. "And he's not a Death Eater any more."
Mrs Weasley hesitated, and then shrugged, "Well, it's your bed. Goodnight then!"
"Goodnight, Mrs Weasley," said Harry.
"'Night, Mum!" grumbled Ron.
Hermione waited until Mrs Weasley was walking downstairs before she said a passionate goodnight to Ron. Harry politely looked the other way.
Eventually she and Ron tore themselves away from each other. "Goodnight, Harry," said Hermione. "Say goodnight to Draco for me," she added as she left the room.
"Speaking of Draco, where IS he?" muttered Ron.
"He always takes forever in the bathroom," said Harry.
"I wish he'd hurry up, I'm busting here," said Ron peevishly. "Let's go wait by the bathroom door."
The bathroom door was shut and Draco spent an abnormally long time in there, even for him. Harry listened at the door and was certain he heard a quill scratching. Eventually, Ron's thumps on the door and yells brought him out.
"About time!" said Ron, who had been jumping around cross-legged for the last twenty minutes. He dived into the bathroom.
"Nice legs!" teased Harry. Draco was only wearing his blue and white striped pyjama top and a pair of Harry's black silk boxer shorts. His legs were long and shapely and he promptly started posing and showing them off. Harry laughed. "Hermione says goodnight and Mrs Weasley said there aren't any beds left, Draco." He hesitated. "Do you want to share mine?" he asked, half expecting his offer to be thrown back in his face.
"I'd love to!" beamed Draco.
"I could always sleep on the floor and let you have the bed ... what do you mean you'd love to?" Harry stared at him in amazement.
"Exactly what I said, Harry," said Draco, sauntering back towards Harry and Ron's bedroom and glancing back over his shoulder.
When Harry returned to the bedroom, Ron was already tucked up in his own bed, and Draco was tucked up in Harry's. "Nice chest!" Draco smirked. Harry was only wearing the bottom part of his blue and white striped pyjamas and his chest was bare. He flexed his arms at Draco jokingly.
"Hedwig's gone," yawned Ron, pointing at her empty perch.
Harry barely spared Hedwig's perch or the open window a glance. "She always goes out hunting around this time of night."
Draco said nothing but slid over as far as he could and pulled the blankets down so that Harry could get in and he did, feeling how pleasantly Draco's body had warmed the sheets.
The single bed had never seemed quite so small. Draco smelt of soap, toothpaste and a pleasant natural sweetness but all Harry could think about was his Legilimency attack and the way he had poisoned Dumbledore. How could Draco bear to share a bed with him? He tried to give Draco as much room as possible, so that they wouldn't touch, because he expected Draco to flinch away. But it was impossible to find that much space in a single bed and when they did touch, Draco didn't flinch. They were sharing a pillow and their hair spread out over it and mixed together - white-blond and black.
Ron watched them from his bed.
"How do you sleep?" asked Draco.
"What do you mean?" asked Harry.
"I mean on your back? Your side?"
"On my back usually, sometimes on my side."
"I sleep on my side. So make yourself comfortable and so will I."
Some embarrassed thrashing ensued. Harry flushed as he found himself touching and almost climbing over Draco in an intimate fashion he wouldn't have thought was possible a day before. Harry eventually settled on his back with Draco lying snuggled up by his side. He took off his glasses and put them and his wand on the bedside table. Now he couldn't see - only feel. Draco's warm breath tickled his ear and he knew if he turned his head they would be face to face.
"Comfortable, Harry?" murmured Draco. Harry felt Draco's arm creep across his naked chest and his hand come to rest on his shoulder.
"Yes, I am," said Harry, feeling surprised that it was true. Usually Harry lay awake in his cold bed, waiting to warm up before he could sleep. But Draco's embrace flooded him with warmth. His cold feet were against Draco's warm ones and Draco's hand caressed his shoulder.
Harry felt the caress and wondered aloud. "How can you stand me?" he asked miserably.
The hand stopped caressing his shoulder. "What do you mean?"
"You're sharing a bed with someone who forced Legilimency upon you," said Harry, and hated himself for sounding pathetic.
The hand started stroking his shoulder again. "To be perfectly honest Harry, I didn't mind you looking at my childhood memories. It was nice to see Mother alive again," whispered Draco. Harry turned his head. Draco's grey eyes were sad and bright. Harry put his hand on top of the hand on his shoulder and gave it a sympathetic squeeze.
Draco smiled and whispered, "There's something I wanted to ask you. Did Cho cry when you snogged her?" His face was very close to Harry's and Harry could feel his breath against his face. Draco seemed to be breathing a little faster now.
"Yes, Cho cried," murmured Harry.
"She absolutely bawled, when I kissed her. That's the reason I didn't go further. She's the worst snog I ever had."
Harry's heart gave a strange leap. He'd harboured a sneaking, mortifying suspicion ever since he had dated Cho that his kisses made girls cry. Now he knew Cho made a habit of crying. Harry laughed in relief and gently bumped foreheads with Draco.
"Cho's a bit of a basket case, and I include as proof, the fact that she snogged you before she snogged me, Harry," Draco teased. Suddenly his eyes opened wide and he laughed out loud. Harry was tickling his bare leg.
"You two look like you're enjoying yourselves over there. When are you announcing your engagement?" Ron cackled.
Harry felt Draco's body tense against him. He tensed himself, realising what he and Draco must look like in bed together. "Don't be ridiculous, Ron," Harry heard himself snarl.
Without another word, he turned his back on Draco.
But Draco pressed up from behind and pushed them into the spoon position, his belly against Harry's back, his breath rustling Harry's hair and his hand around Harry's chest under the blanket.
"Nox!" said Ron, and the bedroom became dark. "Goodnight," he yawned.
Lying there in the warm, sensual darkness, Harry knew he needed to sleep, but couldn't remember ever feeling more awake. Draco lifted himself slightly and Harry shivered as he felt a pair of warm lips brush his ear and he heard the tiniest whisper.
"I'll tell you something when Ron's asleep."
Harry did not reply. Lying in Draco's arms, with Draco's hand stroking gently over his chest, and his breath tickling his ear, he was as tense and tingling as he ever had been in his life. The monster in his chest growled. He stifled a gasp as Draco's hand brushed a nipple (accidentally, surely!) and hoped the hand on his chest would not slide lower and find the evidence of what he was feeling like right now. He wondered if Draco would know what he was up to if he excused himself and locked himself in the bathroom for five minutes.
He heard Ron's first snore of the evening. Familiar chainsaw rips. No one could snore like Ron.
Then Draco's lips were on his ear again and he felt as well as heard the breathless whisper. "You're so tense, Harry. You have much pent up emotion. I think I know how I can help you perform Occlumency. There's something you really need."
"What?" whispered Harry into the darkness.
"You may not like it Harry. I'll have to find out what you think about it before I ... try anything."
"Anything, I'll do it."
"Good," Draco purred and Harry felt himself go so tense and hard that Draco should have been able to break him over his knee like a board. "What a shame we don't have any privacy."
"What do we need privacy for? What have you got planned?" whispered Harry nervously.
Draco took a deep breath that rustled Harry's hair. "Harry James Potter. I think what you need is a good, hard-"
THUD!
Harry felt it more than heard it. It was the sound of something very large and heavy hitting the first stair in the kitchen. There was silence for a moment, and then the sound came again, slightly closer.
THUD!
"What was that?" whispered Draco. Something huge was walking up the stairs. The banister creaked.
"It must be a member of the Order going to bed," whispered Harry, but then came a low, deep growl from out in the stairwell.
"Oh no! Not him!" moaned Draco faintly.
"Who?" Harry whispered back urgently.
"Fenrir Greyback!" whispered Draco, and he sounded slightly hysterical. "I used to hear him prowling around when I was still with the Death Eaters. He used to growl like that and I'd be lying there trying to sleep, wondering if he was going to come in and bite me." Draco trembled against Harry's back.
"How could Fenrir have gotten into the Headquarters? It's warded."
"I don't know," hissed Draco. The growl came again. Closer this time. "Harry, our bedroom door is open. He could walk right in!"
A heavy foot scraped a stair. Whatever was climbing up, it had nearly reached their door.
Harry sat up. "I'll go see," he whispered.
Draco's hand went to his throat. "Oh, no you don't, Harry. I'm the bodyguard. This is my job. If Fenrir's outside I'll handle him. I still haven't forgiven him for showing up at Hogwarts." Though he was trembling, Draco pulled his wand out of pyjamas, climbed out of bed, with a faint creaking of bedsprings and padded to the door.
Harry put his glasses on and picked up his wand from the bedside table. He toyed with the idea of waking Ron, but that would alert the creature outside.
Draco took a stance by the door, determination clear on his face in the light from the streetlights outside, and with a wave of his wand he aimed a silent spell at whatever was walking up the stairs. His spell lit up the whole room with a burning flash of red.
The growl outside rose to a terrifying roar of rage.
oOoOoOo
Author's Notes: Draco's really laying it on thick at the start of this chapter. Such a manipulative little, injury-faking Slytherin! ;-)
Please, please review, as your comments make it easier to write the next chapter.
Replies to reviews:
Chapter 14 received 29 reviews. Thank you to everyone who reviewed. mimifoxlove: Thanks for your review! Harry has a lot to make up for, and Draco knows how! Let's see how Ron feels about Draco after the Virginity Trap. Bishou: Thank you! I'm making a conscious effort to copy Rowling's writing style, most notably in the way she ends many sentences in adverbs ("angrily", "sourly", "lazily"). Writing teachers and style books HATE adverbs, but who should I follow - a little ol' writing teacher or the author who has earned about a billion dollars? ;-) I don't like it when fanfics get too far away from the books either. I just read one that had Dumbledore suddenly turn out to be the bad guy in the last chapter. It stopped my suspension of belief because I was thinking, 'Uh, no way!' Snogging will begin in the next chapter and there will be far more hard-core things than snogging in the chapter after that, I promise. Sorry for making you wait so long! Kit turned Mighty: Thank you! There may just be some snogging Legilimency in the next chapter. After all, Draco's got a reputation to protect! Shame Ness2: Thanks! I've been trying to keep everyone in character and write as I hope Rowling would write if she were writing for adult slash-lovers! (I wish she were...) miME-chan: Thanks for reading the whole thing in one sitting. Geez, that's nearly 29,000 words. Your eyes must be nearly popping out of your head! ;-) Draco wanted to get close to Harry, but of course he couldn't, so he got close to someone else who had - Cho - and had a similar experience to Harry's. What IS wrong with that girl? ;-) NinjaoftheDarkness: Thanks! It will get increasingly cutesy as Harry and Draco start to trust each other. Queen Vampiress: Thank you! The twins may yet redeem themselves. The snogging starts next chapter. DarkNinjaBunneh: But kinky is good! ;-) darkend-angelz-wingz: (Hugs!) Thanks for being my beta! The Earth Mystic: Thanks! I'm guessing that Rita Skeeter isn't powerful enough to do Legilimens - or she wouldn't need that Quick Quotes Quill! Rita Skeeter will pop up later! kelly: Thanks! You got their personalities exactly right. Danish Pastry 28: Thanks! Harry is starving for love and this will cause more problems. As far as needing a wand for Occlumency and Legilimency are concerned...Snape was holding his wand during Harry's first Occlumency lesson, as Harry looks at it apprehensively. So I extrapolated from that, that it would be necessary to be holding a wand and thinking or saying the word 'Occlumens' at the same time. (As you hold your wand and say 'Legilimens' to do Legilimency.) Rowling isn't very clear about Harry doing this in the text, and it might explain why Harry failed so abysmally to keep Snape out of his mind. Voldemort no doubt did a thorough job of Legilimency on Snape when he joined the Death Eaters as a teenager and perhaps assumes that he does not need to do it again, or perhaps Snape is now much better at Occlumency that Voldemort realises. As for Dumbledore - I have a theory about the reason he trusted Snape. It doesn't require Legilimency and I'll be writing it into this fanfic later on. How did Harry manage to break into Draco's mind when even Snape could not? Let's just say, Harry has a lack of respect for rules and a tendency to think laterally that makes him a true Slytherin, even truer than Snape, who never tried to snatch Draco's wand. The Sorting Hat was dead right about Harry - and now Draco knows what the Sorting Hat said. emeraud.silver: Heh, heh, heh! ;-) T.Felton: Thank you! I'm worried that this chapter isn't as good as the last. MNP: Thank you so much, what a lovely review! lisa: There was only one single word I put in there as a clue and you spotted it! Well done. ;-) Wayra: The Malfoys truly love each other and this (despite their obvious cruelty to those outside their family) makes them unsuitable as Death Eaters and might help to explain why Voldemort has given up on them enough to give Draco the 'get Dumbledore' suicide mission. Only the truly loveless, like Bellatrix, are natural Death Eaters because it makes them similar to Voldemort, who has never loved or been loved by anyone. Even though the Malfoys are cruel, their cruelty has limits. I shook my head when I reread GoF recently and got to the part where Death Eaters, presumably headed by Lucius Malfoy, attack Muggles at the Quidditch World Cup. With so many torturous and deadly spells at his disposal, Lucius limited himself to flashing the knickers of unconscious muggles. Nasty, childish, and just a tad pervy, but sorry, Lucius, no Evil Cigar for you. You're not bad enough! ;-) ProperT: I've just been writing the Virginity Trap scene. I hope it's fun! Potter's Wifey: Thank you. ;-) Nekokonneko: I feel a bit sorry for Cho. I wonder why she always cries! ;-) Autumn: Thanks. ;-) Yellowwolf: Yes, Harry's really, REALLY oblivious. I LOVE writing oblivious Harry! Sadly, he's going to get a Draco-sized wake up call next chapter. Sarah: Thank you for your review. Draco's parents are bad but definitely not evil. Bellatrix and Voldemort, on the other hand, are evil. Yes, Molly Weasley does seem to believe in the Daily Prophet's lies just a bit too much but she's not the only one! I'm not sure how to get Lucius out of Azkaban, but I agree he should get out. (Have you seen the Jason Isaacs's OotP interview video at the Leaky Cauldron website, where he begged Rowling to get him out of prison? It's hysterical!) wizli: I'm sure Draco will come up with ways Harry can make it up to him! Good on you for spotting that single word as well! Katharina-B: You're exactly right! Common enemies help people be friends. ;-) HecateDeMort: Thank you. Kuroi Enkou: Thanks. Crowley Black: Harry and Draco learned a LOT about each other, but there is more to learn. I shall be sad when Harry gets a clue, but I know I can't keep writing oblivious Harry. GreenEyedCatDragon: Poor Draco doesn't have much of a choice. He has to teach Harry Occlumency.