THE FRIENDSHIP OF RIVALRY

Notes:

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. The plot is entirely mine.

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.

Key:

"Thoughts"/"Telepathy"

"Speech"

~Parseltongue~

-"flashback"-

Chapter 24: Contagious Stupidity (Draco / Harry)

Draco stood back as he watched Harry face the Gryffindor crowd. It still angered him that the boy named Mark Dillon could be so stupid to attack someone, but in a way, it didn't surprise him much. There was nothing remarkable about the boy. A little digging after their revelation in the Great Hall had allowed him to realize that the only thing that kept the boy and his lackeys from fading into the walls, was the fact that they really enjoyed being bullies.

In Slytherin, they would have been dealt with swiftly but gracefully. Most Slytherin students learn early on about how to change a story in such a way that it could benefit them. And if your own family didn't have the necessary power to make it happen, then you made sure that you aligned yourself with someone who could.

It was painfully clear that Gryffindor's house had no such systems in place and one feud could easily divide the entire house into multiple sections, each with their own agenda, even if they had nothing to do with the problem in the first place. A loud sound echoed through the room and Draco smirked when he saw the entire house fall silent.

Draco leaned against the wall as Harry called everyone's attention. "As always, some of you may believe the stories that were spread and so I myself will reveal that I am under no curse, potion, or outside influence whatsoever." Draco leaned forward slightly as Harry swirled his wand around his head before dragging it down his body and saying "Similiter Revelare", which roughly translated to 'Reveal enchantments'.

Not many people knew about the spell since it mostly had its origins in the darker side of magic, but it was an excellent spell for revealing any and all foreign effects on the caster's magic and body. The light around Harry's body glowed white and Harry nodded in acceptance before speaking. "When that spell is cast, it tests everything about the caster. As you can see, the pure white shows that I am under absolutely no enchantments. Now I ask that you bring the rest of Mark Dillon's group forward."

At first, nobody moved and Draco shook his head. Here the so-called 'Savior' was, that they hailed, but apparently, the blind worship that they usually showed, was completely superficial.

So Draco decided to do what any Slytherin would have done…stir things up a bit. "Hey Harry, what happened to Gryffindors being brave and loyal? As far as I know, the entire Wizarding world owes you a life debt, and yet here they are, unable to give up people who were trying to harm you. No wonder you came to Slytherin, at least there you know who to trust."

Draco smirked when Harry gave him an exasperated look, but he could clearly see the humor dancing in the raven's eyes. Harry knew exactly what he was trying to do and it also had the desired effect. Three students were immediately pushed to the front. Draco looked them over before catching Harry's eye and shaking his head. Harry motioned for the three students to stand over by Gary and Troy. "I am going to ask you a question and I expect a truthful answer." The three students nodded. "Are you being blackmailed by either Mark Dillon or his group to make you follow him?"

All three girls nodded, but Harry motioned for one of the girls to go stand on the other side of the room near Mark. He then turned back to the other two. "Stay right where you are. The four of you were blackmailed by Mark Dillon and so I shall speak to you about your punishment." The two girls became even paler than they previously were, but Gary and Troy each placed a hand on their shoulder and smile at them reassuringly.

Harry turned to the third girl. "I asked you to answer truthfully and yet you lie to me. You willingly helped them and you will be punished for it." Harry turned back to the two girls and Draco just had enough time to turn his head as he saw the bright light of a spell rushing towards Harry. It looked like a severe cutting curse and Draco tried to cast a shield to stop it, but it collided harmlessly with another protective shield that was suddenly cast around Harry.

Draco quickly subdued the girl and then looked around for the source of the shield until Harry let out a laugh. "Oh Dennis, you look like you're as accident-prone as always." A tall boy stepped out from between the Gryffindors. He smiled at Harry before looking around at the tied-up students. It looked like he had gone a round with Buckbeak and lost. "Not more than usual. I am kind of hiding from Madam Pomfrey at the moment. I'll be stuck in the infirmary for weeks if she finds me."

Harry nodded. "I thought as much. Follow us when we're done here so that we can get those wounds looked at." The boy nodded eagerly, but Draco could see a shadow of sadness cross Harry's face. Draco knew that Harry would probably never forgive himself for Collin Creevey's death. He would not allow himself to see that even though Dennis had missed an entire school year to mourn his brother, the boy and his father never blamed Harry for the loss.

Draco's attention snapped back to the wounds on Dennis' body and he just mentally shook his head. So that was why Harry ordered Jean and Theo to get the First-aid kit. He knew that they would be meeting Dennis here and he also suspected that the boy had done something to get himself hurt again. The boy was literally a walking human target.

Harry looked towards their captives and Draco wondered what was going on inside the man's mind. It wouldn't be the first time that Harry let someone off easy after they tried to kill him, and Draco often took it upon himself to ensure that the guilty parties paid. He felt himself relax as Harry set his jaw. It meant that the raven intended to follow through with his plans.

The blonde watched as the dark-haired man walked over to the guilty group and he couldn't stop himself from silently laughing as Harry's next words registered in his mind. "So you think you can attack two teachers of Hogwarts and get away with it?" Draco grinned evilly as he saw the shocked expressions and also heard the exclamations of shock as the words registered.

The girl fiercely glared at Harry. "I don't see any teachers here, all I see is a disgusting snake and a Gryffindor that seems content to betray his own house." One of the other boys tried to silence the girl, but it was clear that she seemed to be intent on digging her own grave. "Why would you date a boy and even worse, Draco Malfoy of all people, when you can get any girl you want? Hell, you can even have five girls and nobody would care. So I am giving you a chance to make it up to me now, otherwise you might find that you will be losing a very dear family member of yours."

Both Harry and Draco grimaced in disgust at the girl's words, but then the last part registered and Draco realized that the girl held a pendant in her hand that felt suspiciously like a portkey. The girl shook her head in mock sadness. "You will regret this day Harry, and Draco will as well, but we might be able to get you out from whatever piece of magic he is using to bind you. For now, it's goodbye." Both men rushed forward, but the girl muttered the keyword and disappeared in a flash.

Draco felt sick when he realized that the girl was probably a part of the group that took Remus. He looked at Harry and the man nodded before closing his eyes and contacting Severus. Draco looked around the room. "I will be filling in as your Potions teacher and Harry will be filling in as your DADA teacher until our Godfathers get back. I would recommend that you do all the necessary reading before you enter our classes since we will be giving detentions for unfinished work, no matter what house we are in. It is also recommended that you spread the word among the rest of the houses."

Harry opened his eyes again and they levitated Mark and his group to the Headmistress' office. Gary, Troy, and Dennis followed them along with the two girls. It wasn't a surprise when they saw that she was still in her office. She seemed to be preparing for her next class since she set down a few odd things on her table as they walked in.

She took one glance at the crowd and sighed. "You two have barely been teachers for an hour and already you are stirring up trouble." Her stern voice carried through the office and everyone except Harry, Draco, and Dennis paled as their earlier words were confirmed. Instead, Harry just laughed sheepishly before speaking. "Yes well, I have been told that I attract danger, so is it really such a surprise?"

The headmistress smiled before conjuring seats for them. "Now why, may I enquire, do you have Mark Dillon and his friends in body-binds?" Harry sat down and started explaining and Draco could see the anger in her face as she looked the group over. The silence stretched after Harry finished speaking and Minerva nodded to herself as if coming to a conclusion.

"Mark Dillon, Liam Villiers, and Jake Silf, you are hereby suspended for the rest of the year. I cannot condone bullying, attacking teachers, and endangering the lives of numerous students as acceptable. You will only be allowed back at this school if you can clean up your act." The shocked faces of the students followed her as she summoned their things from their rooms before sending out an urgent message to their parents. "I can't allow you to stay in this school till tomorrow, since you have proven that you are likely to hurt someone due to your twisted reasoning."

A few livid-looking parents stepped through the floo and the group was immediately taken home by their respective parents. It was only after they had gone that Draco realized that the students still had the body-bind spell on them. Minerva turned to Gary, Troy, and the two girls, whose names seemed to be Selena and Dianna. "I still have to punish you for not going to a teacher when you saw that things were getting out of hand."

The students looked like they were about to receive the death sentence, but Minerva shook her head. "Your punishment will be that you need to keep an eye on the rest of your housemates for me. I do not want something like this happening again and if anyone asks, then you tell them that you have been given detention with Professor Malfoy as punishment."

The students eagerly nodded before Minerva motioned for them to head back to their common rooms, which they did eagerly, but Troy and Gary stopped at the door. "Harry-uhm, Professor Potter and Professor Malfoy?" Draco looked at them in surprise. He hadn't expected the Gryffindors to address him so politely.

"Thank you for believing us and listening to our side of the story. We really thought we were done for when your friends stunned us. Please call on us if there is anything we can help you with and could you ask Jean and Theo if we could hang out sometime? We would really like their thoughts on a few things." Harry and Draco nodded and their eyes followed the two out the door. Draco looked back to see a grinning Dennis. "It seems you've found your first Gryffindor admirers."

Draco tried to scoff, but it sounded more like an exasperated sigh. If anyone had told him that Gryffindors would start making friends with Slytherins when he took the mission, he would have had them admitted to ST. Mungos. And yet, here he was.

He looked at Harry and motioned to Dennis, but apparently, the headmistress also saw the motion. "I see that you have not yet had a chance to go see Madam Pomfrey, Mr. Creevey, should I ask someone to accompany you? They laughed as Dennis paled and moved to back out of the door, but Harry saved him. "No need, we will patch him up, we'll walk him back to Gryffindor tower afterward."

She smiled as they filed out of her office, but something seemed to come to mind because she suddenly stopped them. "Harry and Draco, please wait for a moment." They paused and looked at her. "Here are the directions to your new rooms. I wanted to give you Severus and Remus' rooms, but I thought you would feel better when you have your own. They have been placed next to each other for safety sake." They nodded before taking the parchment and following its directions until they came to a blank wall.

Draco tapped the required stones before speaking the password and they entered into what seemed to be a common room. Harry looked around and spotted a door with his name on the one side and a door with Draco's name on the other. They decided to check out Draco's rooms first and they were surprised to find an entire apartment decked out in neutral colors. Whenever Draco wanted something in a different color, Hogwarts easily granted the request.

Harry's rooms were much the same, except he had an added kitchen. It seemed to be for when the cooking mood struck him and he grinned before turning to Dennis. "Let's get you patched up." They sat in the common room and Harry quickly healed the numerous bruises and cuts that Dennis had acquired. But Harry turned serious when he looked at his old friend. "Now be honest with me. Are you still using the 'exchange injury' spell that you created?" Dennis wrung his hands slightly and Harry sighed.

"I know you want to help people, but taking their injuries onto yourself is dangerous. You might afflict yourself with a curse meant for someone else if you're not careful." Dennis looked kind of sheepish, but Harry shook his head. "I know you like helping where you can, but you can't go into a healing profession if you are going to get yourself harmed in the process. Healers should know their limits."

Dennis looked to Draco for help, but the blond shook his head. "Harry is right. There are a few nasty curses that can get transferred that way." Dennis nodded then sighed. "Fine, I won't overuse this spell. I'll only use it when I have to." Harry smiled. "Now I can teach you an easy healing spell that would help to curb this urge of yours."

Dennis started smiling along with him. "You mean that you are going to teach me a spell that will heal without the effect of transferring the injuries?" Harry nodded. "Yes, it may take slightly longer to heal, but it works well. Not many people know this spell since I found it in some old archives in the Black house. It's called 'Heal all' and its incantation is 'omnia sanandum'. You do the wand movement like this." Harry showed him the wand movement before they walked him to the door and he returned to his dorm.

Harry turned to Draco. "So I guess it's time to go sleep." Draco nodded, but neither of them made any move to head to their bedrooms. Harry looked at Draco and decided to make use of his 'Gryffindor courage' before he lost it again. "Draco…if you don't mind…"

Draco looked up and Harry could swear that he saw hope in the blonde's eyes. "Can I uhm… can I sleep with you? I know it's probably too soon, but I don't think that I will be able to sleep even if you are a room away. I don't want you disappearing as well." Even though it was the truth, it was also an excuse and Draco knew this, but who was he to deny something that he wanted as well?

Draco smiled and nodded. "Sure, I think we need to stay close. We don't know what the enemy is planning. Are you going to contact Blaine and Severus while I grab a quick shower?" Harry nodded and the blonde gathered his things before heading to the bathroom. Harry sat down on the couch and closed his eyes before concentrating.

~Hey, Blaine, how are things going there? ~ It was silent for a few minutes before he received an answer. ~ Hey, we are safe, but I smelled blood a little while ago so we are proceeding with caution. We are outside the building that master Remus is in, but we heard a faint scream earlier. It sounded like a woman. Severus says that he intends to get Remus out after midnight since the security grows lax here around that time.~ Harry felt worried, but he squished it. Severus survived years of spying on Voldemort and there was no way that a few students will be able to beat him.

~Thank you, Blaine. Please let me know if anything happens. It appears that there are quite a few students with secrets in Hogwarts.~ Blaine hissed his agreement but before the telepathic connection could shut down, Harry heard a loud roar accompanied by screams. He could hear Severus' voice mingling with Blaine's, but he could make no sense of what was being said. The link closed and no matter what he did, he couldn't open it again. Which meant only one thing…Blaine was purposely keeping the connection closed for some reason.

Draco came out of the bathroom after seemingly forgetting something and he immediately saw that something was wrong. He grabbed Harry and pulled him over to the bed and into his arms.

The blond was starting to get worried, but he couldn't bring himself to ask about the details. Few things shook Harry up like he was so something was definitely wrong. "It's going to be ok Harry, whatever it is. Blaine is strong and Remus and Severus are as well. Whatever you heard, I am very sure that they are alright."

He held Harry until his breathing finally evened out and even then he didn't want to let him go. It bothered him that he didn't know why Harry was upset and he really hoped that Blaine and their Godfathers were alright. A faint cry alerted him that Leah and Cyan had entered the room and he motioned for them to stay silent. "I don't know what's going on, but we will find out in the morning." The two nodded and Draco felt himself losing the battle with sleep. Trust Harry to make sure that most, if not all, days are eventful.

Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed the update.

(Remus' view will be next.)