THE FRIENDSHIP OF RIVALRY

Notes:

Thank you for all the reviews and for those who are following the story, I really appreciate it.

Disclaimer - I do not own the setting of Harry Potter or any of the characters; those are the property of J.K. Rowling. I have however added a few new names, given that this story is centered on the time after Harry and Draco have graduated.

This story is a male x male slash so please don't read it if you don't like to read these types of fanfics.

Three hours later

Chapter 4: Revelations (Draco)

Draco felt the daze he had slipped into, fade as the circle pulsed around them. His consciousness returned to a fully awakened state and he finished his chant with the last verse still echoing in the large room as he heard Harry do the same. He slowly opened his eyes and saw that the room seemed to look bigger than before. He then looked down at his hands and saw that they were now small and childlike, which gave him a shock even though he had expected the change. It consoled him that he would at least be able to see Harry's adult form and vice versa, though only when it was needed because it would take concentration to see past the 'small child' facade.

He looked up at Harry to try it out and realized with a shock that the savior of the wizarding world seemed to have copied some of Draco's features, such as his hair and his previous height, although a different hairstyle had been added to avoid suspicion. Harry's eyes were still the color of emeralds though and he had only slightly changed the form of his face. Draco smirked as he saw Harry's own reaction when he realized that Draco had done the same thing but in reverse. Draco now had Harry's hair color in a different style, as well as his height, but his silver eyes were still the same along with a slightly modified face. He decided to give credit where it was due and looked up into Harry's eyes after looking at his appearance.

"Well Potter, I must say. The ritual seemed to have worked perfectly even with the slight modifications we added to it. It even shrunk our clothes." Draco grinned as Harry nodded shyly at the praise before he flicked his wand to cast a wordless spell. In seconds the floor had cleaned itself off and the shattered glass vials were whole once more.

"And it seemed like we kept our original level of power as well." Harry said with a smile. Draco frowned at this. "So you mean to say that you weren't sure that it was going to keep our power intact, even though you said it would?" Harry shook his head before looking at the ground with a slightly sheepish expression on his face. "This is the first time two wizards have done it in one single circle and I have heard that it sort of diminishes the power of the weaker wizard when it was done in two separate circles at the same time." Draco felt anger boiling up in him as he heard Potter's words, but he stopped himself from giving in when he realized that he actually felt stronger than he had ever been before. "Potter, let me ask you one thing before I give in to this feeling of obliterating you."

Harry visibly gulped as he saw the anger on Draco's face, but he nodded in response. "Do you also feel stronger than you had ever been before?" Draco smirked inwardly as Harry seemed to think about this before shocked emerald eyes met his own and nodded. Draco sighed and relaxed. "I see. This means that because we did the spell in the same circle, we may have figured out a way to boost our powers by having half of each other's power added to our own volume of power." Draco inwardly smirked at the idea that they had actually created a new and improved version of the ritual because of Potter's mistake, but it didn't allow him to forget that the ritual could have also halved their power as well.

"For now I forgive you, but just so you know, I would have killed you if my power had lessened even a little after you had promised me it wouldn't." Not really, but he had to get his point across somehow. He wanted Potter to trust him, even if it was to just say that they were going to try an alternate version of a spell that may or may not work. This would at least allow him to come up with a counterspell before anything happened even though he knew that it was typical of Harry to just jump into things head-first.

Draco looked over at Harry, who was now visibly waiting for him to either lose his temper and insult him or ignore him. "Come, Potter, we have to get everything ready for tomorrow. Both our textbooks have already been delivered so all we need to do is pack our trunks." He didn't miss the surprised look Harry gave him as he moved to follow him up the stairs. But it didn't take long until Harry's curiosity overshadowed the fact that they were trying to get everything ready for the following day. "You know Malfoy, I've been wondering about something for a while now."

Draco kept his grin to himself as his mind predicted what Harry was going to say. "Why haven't the school been closed yet in order to catch the culprit?"

Draco sighed at Harry's predictableness but kept on walking up the stairs as he spoke. "The letter was dropped on my desk and so they decided to leave it to me. They gave the rest of the cases I had been working on to my coworkers and left me to deal with this one. They didn't want to close the school because they didn't want to start a panic and since there was no mention of the students being in any danger, they decided to let school resume normally except for the fact that me and whomever I chose as a partner, would be conducting our investigations around the school in secret. I decided that you would be a better partner than any of those other imbeciles and that is why I asked you to help me in the first place."

Harry seemed to think for a moment and Draco found himself dreading whatever the once golden boy would have to say next. He didn't want him to know that Draco had outright refused anyone the Ministry had wanted to suggest as his partner and in the end they had suggested that he would have to try and sway Potter into helping him. Not that he minded since it was what he had been planning all along, but he didn't want to let Harry know that he was the only one Draco would ever be able to trust in any given situation where their lives were involved. And that said a lot even after their rivalry in their years at Hogwarts.

"So what you are saying, Malfoy, is that you trust me enough to not abandon you if and when this whole situation came down to a duel?" Draco heaved a sigh of relief because Harry seemed to have misunderstood his words and he then shook his head in exasperation before he answered. "Yes Potter, that is what I mean since we both know that most, if not all my acquaintances would likely chicken out at even the smallest hint of trouble, even if they are supposed to be Aurors."

It was typical that Harry wouldn't see his own true worth, but Draco left it at that since it seemed like a convenient excuse. "It also helps a lot that you have real-life experience in both defensive and offensive spells and you have a knack for getting into, and out of, dangerous situations. As such, I thought that I might save you the trouble of getting involved now rather than later." Draco could see that Harry wanted to deny it, but he grinned when the once golden boy was unable to come up with any retort except the obvious.

"I'm not that bad Malfoy, trouble just seems to follow me wherever I go. Name one time I actually went out and looked for danger on purpose." Draco thought for a moment then realized that there were only two things that would prompt Harry to go looking for danger. When danger either struck first or if he didn't know his actions would lead to danger in the first place. "I can't think of any situation where you purposely looked for danger, but I do know that you would do anything to save the people who you care about and this makes it easy for enemies to draw you out."

Harry looked like he was about to deny it, but he just shook his head which allowed Draco to continue making his point. "As far as I know, you would even save an enemy if you were certain that they would not bring any harm to the ones you care about. That compassion is what could very easily lead you into a great deal of trouble." When Harry still didn't say anything, Draco grabbed his arm lightly and led him to the dining table where elves had placed their meal upon his earlier commands.

As they sat down, Draco found himself glancing at Harry again while trying to determine what he was thinking about. His earlier words had been made with the intent of making Harry think, but something else seemed to trouble him now. "Potter, are you alright?"

Draco waited for a minute before leaning over and he hesitated a moment before giving in and touching his cheek. "Harry talk to me. Did I say something that bothered you? Well other than the obvious truth." The touch and the words seemed to snap him out from his thoughts and Harry looked back at him as Draco allowed his arm to fall to his side, already missing the feeling of skin under his fingertips.

Harry shook his head but as Draco arched his brow and gave him a pointed look to get Harry to tell him the truth, it seemed like something else took over whatever thoughts the savior had and he burst out laughing. Draco was happy that Harry could take his mind off of what had obviously bothered him, but he really didn't like the feeling of being left out.

He waited till Harry calmed down before giving him the look again in order to convey that Harry still had a question to answer, but he burst out laughing again. This made Draco glance at a mirror that had been placed near the table and he found himself laughing as well. It was extremely strange to see the arched eyebrow expression when it was coming from his disguised face. For a moment he could almost imagine what it would have looked like if their roles had been reversed at school. Enjoying the now relieved atmosphere, both of them started eating.

Draco glanced at the clock after they ate and decided that it was time to head to bed. He motioned Harry towards him and led the way to a door that had appeared next to his room. "The house elves have prepared this room for you." Draco grinned at Harry's puzzled look. "It will make things a lot easier if we stick together from the beginning." Harry nodded and entered the room without bothering to close the door.

Draco said goodnight before moving over to his own room and then also deciding against closing his own door. It felt strange but he knew he would need to be able to hear Harry if whatever had happened earlier, happened again.

The other man clearly still had some trauma from the war and he wondered if it had been a good idea to drag him into the case, but there was no going back now. Draco showered then got into bed after pulling on black pajama pants and only a few minutes passed before he was sound asleep.