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OMG! I tried so hard uploading this on Friday but it kept saying Document not compatable or something stupid, so I'm sorry for the long wait!

Good thing is, I started writing chapter 30 so that will be up shortly ;)

But, for now enjoy this!

And again, TYSM!! I love all of your reviews, they're all so supportive and funny and downright lovely ^_^

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Chapter Twenty Nine

Harry's POV

Throughout the feast, Harry could feel Lucius' eyes on him, and no matter how hard he tried he couldn't ignore the silver-eyed stare.

However, when the food appeared, it took his mind off Lucius for a moment which wasn't a good thing.

Laughing and joking with his friends he had no time to be worried about the blonde at the top of the hall. So, when Ron had said how he looked like a tomato-splattered Inferi, Harry didn't think anything of it when Ginny had dabbed his face trying to get the dried blood off and then whispered in his ear, "I think it makes you look more like a bad boy."

Although, when her hair had brushed his cheek and he caught a whiff of her flowery smell, he remembered Lucius and hastily stole a glance up at the staff table where, sure enough, Lucius was glaring at them with his cold, stormy eyes.

Harry pulled away gently and waited patiently for the feast to end, wanting nothing more than to sleep and save Lucius' possessive anger (which was sure to come) and Draco's revenge for another day. Damn Malfoy's, he thought to himself.

Finally the meal ended and as soon as Dumbledore had wished them all a goodnight, Harry darted up saying he'd meet the others in the common room. He wound his way through students and looked back to find Lucius standing up too, observing the students filing out the door obviously scanning for Harry.

He began pushing and shoving his way through the crowds and, when he was free, he sprinted up the stairs and went to one of the portraits which had a hidden passage behind it that led to Gryffindor tower.

He got there in no time and grabbed the sofa by the fireplace waiting for Ron and Hermione. The comfy sofa and the soft crackling of the fire reminded him even more of how badly he wanted to sleep, but he felt they deserved to know what had happened as he'd been pretty vague during dinner and had promised them an explanation. He also wanted his friends opinions on what Draco could be up to.

Finally the Gryffindor students were leaking into the common room and Harry waved to get the attention of his two best friends.

"Wow, you got here quick, mate!" Ron said with a laugh, slumping onto the sofa. "What's the hurry?"

Before Harry could make up an excuse, Hermione had answered for him.

"It's obviously because Harry doesn't want people staring at him, Ron!" she said in her usual, exasperated tone. "He's been all over the paper since... summer."

"I have?" Harry asked. He then shook his head; he didn't need to talk about this now. "Forget that, listen; I'm sorry I didn't tell you over dinner the reason why –"

"Why you look like you've been beaten senseless?" Ron offered.

"Oh, come on!" Harry exclaimed, tired of Ron's picks at his face. "It can't be that bad, can it?"

"There's a mirror over there, mate," Ron said, jerking his thumb to the large, golden-framed mirror.

Harry wearily got up and made his way over to the mirror and looked at his face. It was worse than he'd thought: his nose – although no longer broken – was slightly red, making his already pale skin look even more ghostly with the contrast; the dried blood that Ginny hadn't managed to wipe off was still under his nostrils and on his left cheek; and, for one reason or another, his eyes had bags under them. Was that because of the stress of today? Or maybe he'd exhausted himself out too much with Lucius... He was only human and he could only take so much...

Slowly he made his way back to the sofa.

"Okay, it's slightly worse than I thought," he admitted, but that wasn't what he wanted to discuss; he wanted to discuss how he'd got this.

"You bet it is," Ron said smirking.

"Anyway, on the train-"

"Hold on, Harry," Hermione said getting her wand out and, for the third time this evening, Harry had a wand pointed at his face. "Scourgify."

It felt like rough hands were scrubbing his face and he squirmed slightly as his face was cleansed. Finally his face was clean and – hopefully – looked a bit better.

"Right, okay," Harry started, trying to explain again what had happened. "After I went to the toilet I saw Dr–"

"Harry?" a nervous voice asked.

Sighing harshly, Harry turned to the source of the voice and snapped, "What?"

Seeing Neville look slightly scared, Harry felt ashamed of his rudeness. "Sorry, Neville, just been a stressful day, you know?"

"Yeah," Neville said looking relieved. "I have a note for you from Lu... Professor Malfoy. It's going to be hard to think of that snake as a teacher."

Harry restrained himself from defending Lucius and kept his cool.

"Oh, really?" he asked, genuinely interested. He took the piece of parchment from Neville's hands, thanked him and tore open the seal. It read,

Potter,

See me tonight in my office.

No excuses.

Professor L. Malfoy

Harry screwed the letter up and shoved it in his pocket. He would not see Lucius just because the man felt like it. He was tired and irritable and just wanted to sleep, and he could guess what Lucius would be wanting...

"What was that about?" Hermione asked. "What did he want?"

"Just a note reminding me about my extra lesson tomorrow," Harry said rubbing his eyes. "I'm going to bed."

"But you never told us what happened!" Ron whined.

"It's nothing," Harry said, waving it off. He wasn't prepared to try and explain it all after so many distractions already. "Night."

As he made his way over to the stairs to his dormitory, he was stopped by Ginny.

"See you got that blood off then," she said grinning.

Harry gave a weak laugh. "Yeah, I did thanks."

He made to move but Ginny leaned in to whisper in his ear again, "I think it suited you."

"Right," he said, not knowing what else to say. Why wasn't he allowed to sleep?

"Are you alright, Harry?" she asked suddenly, abandoning her flirts.

"Fine," and with that one word, he walked past her and took the stairs two at a time to get to his bed quicker.

Seeing the dormitory room vacant and the beds all made up with the hot water bottles, Harry sighed contentedly. Hurriedly he changed into his pyjamas, longing to snuggle under the soft quilt in his bed. When he was changed he found his bed, took his glasses off, pulled open the covers and flopped into it, his face buried in his pillow. Even the smell of the Hogwarts pillow was comforting.

Harry thought that he would have no trouble in falling asleep; his eyes were hurting they were so tired, but his brain was awake wanting to focus on Lucius and the concequences of ignoring Lucius' note.

He fell asleep after some time but constantly woke up thinking of Lucius leaving him and joining Voldemort again.

Lucius' POV

Lucius decided that he could not wait to talk to Harry tomorrow; he needed him tonight.

After Harry had escaped from the Great Hall, he'd grabbed Longbottom and given him a note to take to Harry which demanded that the boy meet him this evening.

Looking forward to getting to the bottom of Harry's attacker and also burying himself inside of his little beauty, Lucius made his way to the Defence Against the Dark Arts office where Harry should meet him. He would talk to Harry and force the story out of those reluctant lips, then to make him feel better he'd take the boy over his desk, even if there was a better place to do such things; he just felt the desk would be something different.

So, when Lucius reached his office, he expected Harry to arrive in no less than ten minutes. He settled down on his chair and stared at the door.

Ten minutes past and there was no Harry.

Twenty minutes came and went and Harry hadn't turned up.

After half an hour, Lucius began pacing. He poured himself a tumbler of whiskey and sipped it slowly. What was taking that boy so long?

Unbelievably Lucius waited an hour in the hope of Harry turning up but, thinking about it, when had Harry ever kept him waiting?

Feeling extremely angry and possessive, Lucius made his way to his quarters where he lay on his bed, wondering what had gotten into Harry ignoring his note...

He tried to sleep but he found he just wasn't tired. So, for something to do he looked at his timetable for tomorrow and groaned; he had first years first thing in the morning. Second period was... his heart leapt; Harry's class! It would be his first chance to confront the boy for keeping him waiting.

After another two whiskeys, Lucius felt himself getting drowsier. He didn't even bother to change into his pyjamas; he just fell straight asleep, still in his suit and cloak.

* * *

Lucius had never really liked mornings. This morning was even worse than those he'd had at the ministry. Squabbling first years who most probably didn't know who he was or what he was known for ignored his orders for silence. That was, until, he cast a silencing spell over every single student in his presence. For the rest of the lesson he had them write out of a textbook knowing it would teach them what they needed to do if they wanted a decent lesson.

The hour and a half seemed to drag until finally the bell rang for their second lesson. Lucius watched with amusement as the first year students raced towards the door.

He sighed to himself and rubbed his temples; he had a headache and was exhausted seeing as it turned out he fell asleep around three a.m. However, Harry would be here next so he took his place at the front of the classroom, his wand out, knowing that these pupils would expect practical work from an ex-Death Eater.

A few minutes later and the sixth years were filling up the seats; no one dared to speak as they all knew who he was. Lucius tried not to stare as he saw Harry come in with his two friends but, after not seeing Harry last night when he wanted to, he felt like he needed to take in as much as possible of his love. Lucius was used to getting what he wanted and when he didn't there were very severe consequences.

Potter took his seat at the back of the glass, redhead on one side, Mudblood on the other. Upon closer inspection, Harry looked almost as tired as Lucius felt, and he had dark rings under his emerald eyes. Lucius ignored this; he was angry at the boy.

"Good morning, class," Lucius began. "I believe you all know who I am seeing as your headmaster introduced me yesterday so we won't bother with introductions.

"In today's lesson we shall be focusing on practical magic and how to escape from...sticky situations. None of that theory you studied last year." Here he paused and looked at Harry, who had his head on the desk and seemed to be asleep. Lucius felt his nostrils flare in anger and an idea popped into his brilliant brain.

"The first spell we shall cover is called 'Constrictus'. Does anyone know what it does?"

Granger's hand flew into the air – Snape had warned Lucius about her outbursts of information.

"'Constrictus' is used to tie down an enemy using strong, thick ropes which are impossible to escape from independently. Furthermore –"

"If I might interrupt you there for a second, Miss Granger, this spell is not impossible to escape from." The girl looked surprised at getting something wrong for a change.

Staring at the unconscious Harry, Lucius smirked. "Mr Potter, would you care to demonstrate how easy it is to get out of the ropes?"

Harry didn't move from his position on the desk, still clearly dead to the world. The pupils turned round to stare at the boy who dared to fall asleep in an ex-Death Eater's class. His ginger friend elbowed Potter in the ribs, causing Harry's head to shoot up.

"Wazzapnin?" Harry croaked.

There was laughter from some of the students but Lucius – his cane firmly in his right hand – banged his cane against the side of the desk causing a loud knock to silence the students.

"I was saying, Mr Potter," he hissed, "that after you're done with your dozing, would you care to show the rest of us how you would escape from the 'Constrictus' curse?"

"Oh," the boy said looking slightly nervous. Lucius watched the protruding Adam's apple bob as Harry swallowed anxiously, and felt a growing arousal as the small pink tongue traced dry lips worriedly. "Erm..."

"Excellent. Up front then, Potter." Lucius tapped his cane on the floor indicating for Harry to stand there.

Slowly Harry got up from his seat and traipsed towards Lucius.

Before Harry reached the front of the classroom, however, Lucius cried out, "Constrictus!" and the heavy ropes were wrapping themselves around Harry's slight frame, pulling him to the ground again. His wand clattered to the floor. Lucius had to remind himself they were in a classroom with at least another dozen children and Harry was wrapped up in ropes purely for educational purposes.

"Now, then, class; you may have noticed our friend, Harry, has dropped his wand," Lucius gave it a small kick so it rolled under a desk. "But wands are not necessary."

There were many whispers and confused expressions about not needing a wand.

"Mr Potter, if you could do the honours of showing your peers...?"

Looking down at Harry, Lucius felt a twang of guilt; Harry looked drained and worn-out as he tried to conjure up his wandless magic.

It took him around fifteen seconds before the ropes were free which was eight seconds more than Harry's original record, but Lucius wasn't complaining – the fact that Harry could do this now whilst half asleep proved to Lucius that Harry was well and truly gifted in the wandless magic area.

There was a round of applause as Harry brushed the ropes off and staggered back to his seat, his expression stony. Granger rubbed Harry's arm consolingly as Harry rested his head in his hands.

"This is what we'll be focusing on," Lucius announced. "Wandless magic is very important to every wizard. Not every person in here will have unleashed it yet, which is why you're going to learn. Now pair up."

Immediately the students began grabbing their friends. Lucius saw that Weasley and Granger had paired up on Harry's orders, the boy saying he wouldn't participate. Oh wouldn't he?

Through the chatting and the discussions about who wanted to go with whom, Lucius made his way towards Harry who was resting his head on the desk again, alone.

"It would seem you're missing a partner, Mr Potter," Lucius said quietly. "You will pair up with me."

"I don't need to, I already know how to do it," Harry grumbled into the desk.

"Like it or not, I am your teacher and you will do well to respect that," Lucius snapped.

"I don't care," Harry hissed, looking up at Lucius through tired, dull, green eyes.

"See me after class, Mr Potter," Lucius said loudly so most of the class would hear.

The boy did nothing but put his head on the table again.

Lucius decided to let Potter sleep, only so he might get into a better mood for later on...

* * *

The lesson wasn't as bad as Lucius thought it would be. A very limiting number of students managed to get the ropes off, all in over seven minutes though. He remembered that it took Harry a while too so he was patient with them, trying to force up powerful enough emotions so the wandless magic would work.

When the bell rang he dismissed the class, not missing Harry's attempt at trying to sneak out unnoticed.

"Mr Potter, I believe I asked you to stay behind?" Lucius said glaring at Harry's back. The boy flinched but muttered something to his friends and made his way back to his seat.

Lucius said nothing but stared at Harry with a vacant smile on his face, while Harry stared at Lucius with daggers in his eyes.

Putting a silencing spell over the classroom, Lucius got up and stood in front of Harry, his hands on the boy's desk.

"Now then, would you care to explain everything?"

"What do you need explaining?" mumbled Harry, sitting back and folding his arms.

"Maybe what happened to your face yesterday, why you were late to the feast with the Weasley girl, why you didn't come to see me when I asked you to, why you felt the need to ruin my first lesson and why you're in such a foul mood?" he growled in the boy's face.

Harry sat up straight and looked Lucius straight in the eyes.

"Okay, I'll explain," Harry said, his voice slightly wobbly though his eyes were determined. "First, my face: that was Draco. Secondly, I was with Ginny because she found me in the carriage after your son petrified me and left me invisible. For your third question, I want to point out that you didn't ask me to come, you demanded I come which only put me in a worse mood. I didn't go to you because I was tired, aching and downright angry. For the lesson I don't see how I ruined it; I did the demonstration you so kindly volunteered me for but didn't feel the need to practice any more seeing as I was doing it for four hours in your basement. And those excuses can answer your last question."

The boy leaned back in his chair and folded his arms again.

At first Lucius was lost for words. He then smirked.

"I have taken into account your excuses and I deem them... believable."

Harry glared even harder.

"But that does not mean you get away without punishment," Lucius said grinning evilly.

"I get it," Harry said shrugging, abandoning his glares. "That just means more sex or Kinbaku again."

"You think so?" Lucius asked slyly. "Come to my room tonight, please? I'm asking this time."

Lucius saw Harry's lips twitch. "I suppose I could, if it wasn't for..." He trailed off, his eyes averted to the floor.

"Wasn't for what?" Lucius enquired.

Timidly Harry looked up. "Draco."

Lucius didn't know what to say to that answer so he pulled Harry into a stiff hug.

"So Draco did that to your face, then?" he asked, his nose buried in Harry's sweet-smelling hair. "Why?"

"Why do you think?" asked Harry, his voice muffled in Lucius neck.

"I'm guessing us," Lucius said solemnly. His hands crept under Harry's t-shirt, one stroking Harry's back softly and the other cradling his waist.

"He wants me to stay away from you because he thinks you'll die for me." The boy's voice sounded robotic as he said this.

"Maybe I would die for you," Lucius murmured, pulling away from Harry and holding the small face in his huge hands.

"Don't say that," Harry whispered, his voice breaking. "I want to be the one who dies saving someone this time."

"How about neither of us dies?" Lucius asked sarcastically.

"I'd like that."

There was a pause before Harry spoke.

"You know Draco has the Dark Mark, right?" Harry asked. "I saw it on his arm in the carriage."

Lucius sighed and subconsciously hugged Harry even tighter.

"Yes, he's had it just over three months now. It would appear he's truely dedicated to the Dark Lord."

"He said... he said he had a job entrusted to him...?"

Lucius pulled away from Harry and looked at him; Harry was looking down and had the expression a seven year old would wear when they were 'taddling' on someone.

"He has a job?" Lucius asked lifting Harry's chin up. "What kind of job?"

"I don't know," Harry said weakly. "I just heard him say he was entrusted to a job and that he'd make his plan fullproof. He also mentioned how it would show... others up seeing as they'd failed where he will suceed."

Lucius didn't let onto Harry how concerned he was; he just acted as though he wasn't bothered.

"I'll be talking to him soon anyway," he said casually.

Lucius noticed how Harry left it there.

"Is it your break now then?" murmured Lucius changing the subject. "You get half an hour off, yes?"

"Twenty minutes actually," Harry corrected.

"Then we'd better get to it," Lucius said in a businesslike tone. He heaved Harry up and led him to his office...

And thus it begins

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