Story: To Love an Enemy

Rating: PG-13

Warnings: Slash. Male/Male pairing. If you are offended, then please stop reading.

Summary: Harry is waiting for The Order to pick him up from his uncle's house. So when Draco Malfoy came to do the task, Harry was more than apprehensive to trust him. But his feelings were going to change soon

Chapter 3: Grimmauld Place

They landed behind some bushes on the other side of the road across Grimmauld Place. The pain which had seared in Harry's forehead had lessened considerably. His breath came in pants and he was sweating profusely. When he realized that he was still resting his head on Draco's shoulder, he jumped away from him as if he had been burned.

Draco rolled his eyes in exasperation but asked in a concerned voice, "Are you alright?"

Harry nodded but suddenly yelled, "What did you do that for?"

"What?" Draco asked, seriously confused at Harry's outburst.

"Leave them to die!" Harry said, glowering at him.

Draco sighed and ran hand through his carefully groomed hair, "I was ordered to save you. My priority is your safety. Yours, no one else's. It's okay to be selfish sometimes. You need to live, no matter what," He looked intensely at Harry. His voice was earnest.

Harry was bemused to see Draco this way. He could not relate the snobbish bully in school with the person standing in front of him. In fact he was wondering whether what was happening was real or not.

"We don't have time to waste," Draco snapped, resuming his former attitude, "Let's go, Potter!"

Harry frowned and went forward when he felt Draco's hand on his shoulder, "Is that Rookwood?"

Harry's gaze followed Draco's and saw a man pacing in front of No.11 and No.13. Though he was wearing Muggle clothes, his awkwardness gave him away.

"Yes," Harry whispered back, "What shall we do?"

"We shall think o-," Draco was cut short by the crunching of dry leaves. They turned quickly and saw a figure looming behind the trees.

"Lumos!" Draco said. The tip of his want lighted and the place flooded with light. Momentarily blinded by the sudden light, both the boys could only catch the outline of the figure of a woman. She moved so swiftly that both their breaths hitched.

"Crucio!" Bellatrix Lestrange shrieked, her wand pointed straight at Draco. The blond clutched his sides and fell to the ground, writhing in pain but not screaming. He would never give his Aunt the satisfaction by shouting, "Little traitor! Knew you would ruin the family name!" she spat, "But I will make sure you pay, my little Dragon. It will be a sight to see when Lucius and my dear sister watch their own son die!" she giggled deliriously and Draco felt sick. Only his mother called him her 'Dragon'.

Harry, dumbfounded by Bellatrix's inhuman words, finally found his senses and pointed his wand at her. Bellatrix, sensing Harry's movement from the corner of her eyes, shot him with a Crutiatus instead, making him reel with agony as the Gryffindor screamed.

Draco gasped for air, recovering from the after effects of the Crutiatus. As soon as he caught his breath, he shot a Disarming spell at the witch. The walnut, dragon heartstring wand flew out of her hand and she dived into the bushes to retrieve it.

Draco crawled to Harry, who though had stopped writhing in pain but his breath was still rugged, and pulled him in a half-sitting condition. But at that moment, Bellatrix emerged from the bushes and seeing the two boys with their renewed strength, she lunged at them, getting hold of Draco's foot. Not knowing what to do, Draco Disapparated.

Bellatrix was still gripping him tight as he landed at a place. Hurling a Confunding Charm at her, Draco shook her off and Disapparated again.

Draco staggered and fell down as soon as they reached their next destination, a Muggle part of London. The Crutiatus had already drained a lot of his energy and all the Disapparating had only made him weaker.

"Whoa!" Harry exclaimed as he kneeled down to pick Draco up, "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Draco said through his teeth, shrugging Harry off, "we must get going. I shook off Aunt Bella but I don't think she landed far."

"Aunt Bella?" Harry was taken aback by the sudden familiarity, but then he remembered that indeed Narcissa and Bellatrix were sisters. Hadn't Sirius shown him the Black family tree a long time back?

"I think I knew that," Harry said slowly.

Draco gave him a questioning glance, but remained silent. Harry, on catching that look sighed and clarified, "I_ Sirius told me," An offending lump already forming in his throat. He did not like where the conversation was heading.

But Draco merely nodded and beckoned Harry to follow him. Harry was never more baffled in his life. He was sure that Draco would question him about Sirius. After all, it was not everyday you got to question the most feared ex-convict's godson.

"Did you know him?" Harry asked curiously.

Draco shook his head, "I have never met him. But I know that he was your godfather, that he was innocent."

Harry stared skeptically at the back of the blond's head, "Who told you?" he demanded. He could not think of anyone from the Order talking about him and Sirius behind his back.

"More than one person did," Draco answered, something in his voice told Harry that Draco was not telling the whole truth. Harry's expression must have shown it for Draco sighed and continued, "I went to the Black Family House when I was young. I had been informed that Sirius had been disowned and that no one ever talked about him. When I found out that the Order's Headquarters was Grimmauld place, I was quite shocked. When I stated my query, Hermione told me that it had belonged to Sirius, as he was the last of the Blacks, until he gave it to you."

Harry relaxed somewhat. What Malfoy said made sense. There was no reason for doubting him or anyone. Hermione had just cleared his curiosity.

Suddenly, Draco's words struck him.

"Why did you call Hermione 'Hermione'?" harry asked, and then felt stupid. He hadn't meant to phrase it like that.

"You are an idiot, aren't you?" Draco rolled his eyes dramatically, "What else shall I call her when her name is 'Hermione'?"

Harry flushed, ill at ease, "No, I mean, you insulted her back at Hogwarts," he said hesitantly, unsure of how to approach the topic without offending the blond.

"Of course I did! But in case you have not noticed, we are not at Hogwarts and now we are working side by side in the Order," Draco said, looking intently at a Muggle motel, "Here, we have arrived."

"We are staying here?" Harry asked, looking at it as well.

"For the time being," Draco said, "Does this look okay? I do not know much about Muggles."

"It looks fine," Harry reassured, "But I don't think they will allow Hedwig—," Harry looked around, "Hedwig?" he called, almost panicked.

Then his eyes snapped to Draco's. He took the Slytherin by his collar, his eyes blazing with fury as he snarled, "Where is my owl, Malfoy?"

~xxx~

Hey guys! Do tell me how this story is progressing! To do that, you just have to click the little review button down and Review! Your reviews make me very happy and also inspire me to type faster!

By the way, the next update of the story is going to be late since I have been grounded for not doing well in my semester. So, no net connection for a while… Pray that I survive the time I am without the internet! :D