Chapter Fourteen: Thank You, Again.
LuvlyLadyLexi: It made me happy that you recognized the song. I put that in this solely for my own amusement :X it was a great joke for me.
"Hey Harry," Ron said, exiting the hospital wing, and sitting next to his friend in one of the waiting chairs. Harry looked up at him and grinned.
"Hey, Ron, how's everyone else doing?"
"Good, they'll be out soon. Ginny's gotta spend the night. Hermione's just helping Madame Pomphrey with Neville. Blaise and Malfoy are giving them hell to let them go- right along with their Mothers. Interesting lot, that one." At this Harry laughed.
"Listen, Ron..."
"No, Harry, it's okay. I'm not going to pretend to be overly excited about this. I'll never like the prat- ever. But, in the end, if he's what you want, then I'll not stand in the way. Just don't expect us to get along. I'm pretty sure he feels the same way."
"Thank you, Ron, it means a lot to me. Though, honestly, I don't know that he is what I want. There's just so much happening. It's hard to figure all this out."
"Just know that I'm here when you need me Harry. Brothers. Here comes your ferret," Ron teased, "I assume you're not coming back to the tower tonight?"
Harry blushed hard, seeing Draco approach, his head bandaged- robes tattered but still flowing gracefully behind him. Then turning to Ron,
"No, probably not. He needs me."
"The question here, Harry, is do you need him?" Ron whispered. Harry blushed even harder, standing to greet Draco.
"Harry." Draco said, rather shortly, eyes glaring at Ron, "Weasel."
"Goodnight Harry. Ferret." Ron said, leaving to go probably check on Hermione again.
"Will you be coming with me?" Draco asked, his voice icy.
"Yes, if you're okay with that... are you angry about something?" Harry asked, watching Draco who was glaring daggers at Ron's back as he went through the Hospital Wing doors. Harry grinned and, taking Draco's arm in his, began to walk down the hallway- sort of pulling Draco along.
"Why would I be *angry*?"
"Oh, I don't think you're angry now. I think you're jealous."
Draco made something of a growling sound but said nothing more until they reached their destination. He was pacing back and forth, looking as though he wanted to kill someone.
"Draco, are you jealous? Really? Of *Ron*?" Draco stopped pacing, growled a bit and headed into the bathroom, not to be seen again for an hour. While he was gone Harry got his things out of the same bag, and picked up the book Draco had been reading. History of Veelas? Harry began to flip through the book, stopping to read occasionally.
"Harry, I'm sorry, I don't like the Weasel, and seeing you two whispering and you all bright red just didn't bode well," Draco said, having emerged from the bathroom clean and in pajamas.
Harry looked up from his reading to see Draco actually looking apologetic. Closing the book, Harry smile and made his best disgusted face for Draco's benefit,
"Ron is the last person you'd need to be jealous of. Believe me." Harry paused, looking carefully at Draco, wearing charcoal gray silk pajamas, the Slytherin crest emblazoned on the chest. He rolled his eyes, "do you ever *not* look good?" Now it was Draco's turn to blush.
"I, Harry, take care in my appearance. What do you mean 'not look good'? I didn't look good in your robes nor did I today- all dirty and covered in blood, or over the past few days. Not to mention the scars. I swear, Harry, being in Gryffindor has rotted your brain. Maybe you should go see Madame Pomphrey again."
Harry rolled his eyes then stood and headed for the bathroom, his own pajamas in his hands. When he emerged, Draco was sitting on the couch eating food that he assumed Lacey had brought. Filling his own plate, Harry went to sit beside him.
"Draco, what is it exactly that you like to do?" There was a pause as Draco finished chewing and took a drink of juice,
"what do you mean?" He asked, turning to face Harry.
"I mean, what is it that *you* like? What gives you joy?" Then, thinking briefly, Harry added, "and don't say me. Besides me, Draco."
"Well, there's that. I also greatly enjoy Potions. I'd like to be a Potions Master one day, I'm going to apprentice under Severus and maybe take his place. I enjoy Quidditch, but I'm sure you knew that... Duelling. Blaise and I like to duel quite a bit though there are rules so that neither of us wind up dead. I like to shop and spend time with Mother. I think I take after her, in all her eccentricities. Of course, I don't know my father so I don't know what I get from him. I enjoy reading and learning new things, terrorizing Weasley, dark magic is a hobby of mine, and cooking though I relate that to Potions I believe. Hmmm... what else? I like fruits but so does Mother, so that could be a Veelan thing, I don't know. I have to have coffee in the morning, or I'm an arse. Other than that, there's you. That's about it."
"Why do you hate Ron so much? Dark Magic?"
"Well, as far as Dark Magic goes, I just enjoy learning a lot of it. You should too, know thy enemy and all that. It's not that I'm running around hurting or killing people, Harry, honestly. Though, if the situation came up that I needed to, I would be more than able to. Weasley is... I don't know. I just don't like him. He grates my nerves. He's unrefined, rude, loud... everything I can't stand, I suppose."
"I guess I can understand the dark magic, it makes sense. Though you have to be careful, Draco. It can consume you... and Ron is my best friend. We're not that different you know, like you and Blaise." Draco snorted into his pumpkin juice at this. A very un-Draco gesture. Wiping his mouth, Draco turned to laugh at Harry,
"you and Weasley are completely different- don't be daft. Though I can admit you two do share the Gryffindor qualities. Blaise is... I don't know. He's a strange person Harry. I'd suggest not get tangled up with his oddities. Did you know he has to brush his teeth three times? I don't mean three times a day. Each morning, afternoon and at night, no. I mean three times each time. He does a lot of weird stuff like that. Snores too, it's annoying."
"Yes, I've noticed that he's... different. Your mother's a muggle? Honestly?"
Draco genuinely laughed at this, remembering Hogsmeade. Trying to calm himself and regain his composure,
"I suppose he knew that would enrage her. She sent an Unforgivable at him after that. Believe me, even if she'd hit him with it, he would have said it again. Most likely would have thrown something in there about sleeping with her mum too. Good call, by the way, you saved my life back there. More than once. Pansy has had a huge thing for me since we were small children and you pissed her off beyong reason. What was that... whatever it was you said to the snake?"
"Paseletongue. I can speak to snakes. That should have been me Draco, not you."
Harry swiftly leaned in to kiss Draco- more forceful than last time. His hands on either side of Draco's face, tilting the blonde's face up to meet his. Draco felt himself melt into the kiss and into Harry, letting his bondmate lead the way. Silently he was hoping this kiss would last longer than the last one. Answering his prayers, Harry lightly nipped his bottom lip, moving himself to be in Draco's lap. Subconsciously the Veela arched into his mate and bravely returned the force of the kiss, his hands grabbing Harry's hips to pull him closer. Harry gasped for breath for a moment before going back to Draco's mouth, his tongue begging for entrance. Of course Draco was more than accomidating, one hand going to entangle itself in Harry's hair. The heat pooling in Draco's stomach coursed through his body and he fought to control himself, to not go any further.
Harry pulled back, causing Draco to gasp, one hand was in Draco's hair, pulling the blonde's head back. His mouth on Draco's neck then, kissing and licking at the rings of bruises the Sircumsortia curse had left there. Draco moaned audibly, arching into Harry again, his fingers pressing into Harry's back. Draco felt a sharp pain in his arm, and ignored it, pushing whatever it was off of the couch. Then, it was back and Harry started, pulling back to sit up in Draco's lap with a curse.
"That fucking hurt!" He snapped, turning to see a regal looking black eagle owl nipping at Draco once more. With a snarl, Draco batted at the owl, sending it off the couch again,
"nasty little beast- go away!" Draco said, leaning up to snuggle himself into Harry's chest. Harry subconsciously draped one protective arm around Draco, kissing his forehead,
"It could be important."
"It could be dinner," Draco replied, turning to glare at the owl who was back, threatening to nip Draco again, it's head turned sideways, "Abeo- you bitch. Get lost." Draco batted at the owl again, "go on, go home!"
"You know that owl?"
"She's Mother's."
"I don't think she's going to quit Draco," Harry said, removing himself to sit next to Draco instead, "it could be important."
Growling and cursing at the bird, Draco snatched the letter it had, opening it quickly. Abeo sat there, looking annoyed. Reading over it quickly, Draco groaned.
"Get dressed, we have to go." Harry jumped up, moving for his clothes as Draco headed for the closet. The buldge in his pants was much more visible now and hoping that Harry wouldn't notice, Draco decided to wear his school robes. Harry made a soft noise, staring at him. Draco turned his head to look at the Gryffindor, standing there with a muggle tee shirt half pulled down- his pajama pants buldging as much as Draco's were. With a purr Draco would remember to be disgruntled about later, he closed the space between them, dropping his robes in the floor.
His lips crashed into Harry's, his hands on the man's hips- grinding their erections together. Pushing Harry back into the wall, Draco began to kiss Harry's face and neck feverishly. Harry moaned, spurring Draco on further. He dropped to his knees, pushing Harry's shirt up his chest and covering his abs and chest in kisses, stopping occasionally to nip the tender skin. Harry gasped and pulled Draco back up to standing- now kissing Draco, fighting for dominance.
Somewhere in the room Abeo screeched, causing Harry to pull back. He met Draco's half lidded stare and smiled,
"how important is this?" he asked, his voice a whisper.
"Harry," Draco said huskily, his voice full of lust as he leaned forward, "the school could be on fire, the wizarding world destroyed by pink garden gnomes and it wouldn't be important enough."
"Draco." There was a tone of warning in his voice and Draco stood straight, eyes open.
"McGonagall is closing the school. They need us in the Great Hall." Harry frowned,
"That's pretty damned important Draco. Come on, get dressed." Then, seeing the shape Draco was in, Harry leaned closer, planting a soft and quick kiss on Draco's mouth- his green eyes open, making direct contact with Draco's gray, "we'll talk about this later, please, come on."
Draco nodded and turned to get dressed quickly, shifting uncomfortably as he tried to calm himself. Harry muttered something about 'encouragable Slytherins' and Draco laughed as they headed for the Great Hall. They weren't the last to arrive but they were close. Entering, they took a seat at the table, beside their friends. Blaise looked tired and worn, Neville was still in his pajamas. Hermione looked as she always did, dressed and ready to go. Ron didn't even have on a shirt. Besides them, there were a few prefects and the teacher's in the room. They could only assume the other students were asleep.
Ron leaned over to Draco as the last Prefect came hurrying in,
"He seems happy. *If* he chooses to be with you and you hurt him, I'll put you through more pain than you can imagine. Then, I'll kill you."
"As if that's going to happen, Weasley. You're more likely to hurt Harry than I am, now sod off."
Harry slipped his hand beneath the table, to Draco's thigh, giving it a reassuring squeeze. Draco reached down to grab his hand, entwining their fingers together and shooting a small smile at him. Then leaning over, he whispered to Harry-
"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Harry blushed and turned to look at Hermione.
"'Mione, what's going on?"
"They're closing the school. They need us to help get the other student's out. There are too many attacks, it's no longer safe here... not until... you know who can be here fully." Hermione whispered, leaning forward.
"Students, if I could have your attention please?" Everyone turned to look at Professor McGonagall. "Due to the recent nearby attacks, we fear that the school may be next and we are effectively shutting down to send everyone home tonight. We feel that it would be safer to do it now, so that there's not time for anyone to find out and attack the studens in transit. We have Aurors here- and a few people some of you will recognize, to escort the student's home. Prefects, if you would go to your respective houses and wake your housemates, we'll be meeting at the front entrance in an hour. Please go now, and hurry."
The students all rushed out to their respective houses, as Aurors, and a few others, including Remus Lupin, walked in.
"Should we be going?" Blaise asked, sitting up.
"No," Hermione said, "She'll want to speak to all of us."
"Is that.. Oh my God, Hermione- Ron- it's Remus," Harry said, jumping up, "Moony!"
Remus crossed the room quickly and wrapped Harry in a hug, then Ron and Hermione and even Neville.
"Where's Gin?" He said, glancing down at Draco and Blaise.
"Hospital Wing- Cruciatus curse." Ron said, "probably getting another howler from mum."
"For not being more careful? I wouldn't expect less, Ron." Remus replied, grinning, "listen, the Aurors- your dad's here too, Ron, I suspect he's with Ginny- will be portkeying the children to various locations. The parent's will be getting the owls to meet us there now. There could be Death Eater's nearby, so you all may have to split up.
"No." Blaise and Draco said in unison, loudly. Hermione and Ron stood together,
"we go with Harry."
"Well, don't expect me to just stay behind, Dumbledore's Army stands behind it's leader." Neville said, standing as well, "the others may go with the other student's but Blaise will be with Draco, and I'll be with Blaise- and Harry's my friend too."
Remus turned to Harry, a questioning look on his face,
"Can we just talk about it later? Where will we be going?"
"Grimmauld Place, Harry, the headquarters. Will Malfoy and Zabini be joining you?"
"Yes," Harry said, moving to stand closer to Draco, "and I wouldn't bother arguing with them about it- it's a long story. There's a lot to be said."
"That's an understatement!" Ron crowed with laughter.
"Okay, well, tell me all about it at Headquarters. You all will be travelling on the Hogwarts Express. If there are any Death Eaters- they'll assume it's a decoy and leave us alone. If they don't and something happens to me, take your brooms and get out. Don't bother fighting, Harry, and don't worry about me, just go. They're all riled up for some reason, there's no telling why."
Blaise and Draco looked at eachother, guilt written all over their faces.
"They're after us," Blaise said, putting his hand on Neville's shoulder, "they seem to think we're far more powerful than we are..."
"Because you will be, my love." It was Rose Zabini, dressed to kill, and come to join them, "I just spoke with our old friend, Albus-"
"Albus is alive?" Remus nearly yelled, Harry's hand going up to clamp over the werewolf's mouth.
"It's apart of that story, Moony, hush- biiiig secret." Remus nodded and Harry let him go. Rose Zabini looked rather annoyed but continued,
"Neville, are you aware that you could be in Harry's position now?" Neville nodded, "and Harry, you are The Boy Who Lived. Destiny decreed that if Draco and Blaise were going to be your mates, they must be powerful ones to even survive. That's all I got out of him before he went unconscious again. Basically, when you are together, you two make Harry and Neville more powerful than they ever should have been... that's my understanding anyway." then Rose leaned forward pressing her forehead against her son's, "be careful my son, I know that I'll not be able to talk you out of this, be wary of your brother, be wary of your surroundings. Come back safe to me- you two are all I have left. Draco, come here," Draco stood then, everyone watching and went to her, she placed her arm around him and drew him into their huddle. Harry thought it was sweet in a creepy sort of way, "Draco, you know I love you as my own. I have watched you grow into the man you are today. You must remain safe, be wary of your brother..."
Narcissa was there now, having glided gracefully up to them, wrapping her arms around the other three,
"My little Dragon, Blaise, you're both men now. Do what you must but come home safe, " she turned to give Harry and Neville both icy glares, "and *you two* had better defend my boys as they will defend you. Remember, if they're gone, I'll have nothing left to stop me from... grieving." The threat was clear. Both Draco and Blaise growled lightly.
"Mother. That's enough." Draco whispered, calming her. She turned to smile at her son.
"I will be going with Severus and Rose on brooms, hopefully, they'll follow us away from you. Don't worry Draco, they haven't killed us yet- we'll see you soon."
"Draco, if worse comes to worse," it was Severus Snape now. Every Gryffindor gave a shudder- how did he just appear like that all the time? "Get out. Leave as swiftly as possible and take as many as you can. No magic, they may be tracing it. I don't know how you and Mr. Zabini made it before, but I have faith that you'll make it now?" Draco and Blaise looked at each other, then back to Snape and nodded, "then go, your things are already on the train. Oh, and Mr. Weasley? Ten points from Gryffindor- please, put on a shirt. No one needs to see that."