Long one-shot.

Seriously, no idea where this came from, sorry if it rambles a bit. The characters will be OOC, if you don't like it don't read it. I don't own Harry Potter. Voldemort is dead, no Horcruxes, but Harry still seems to attract all the same trouble regardless.

Code name: Get Malfoy to save Potter.

Set in 4th year.

}

"Hey Potter." Draco Malfoy yelled from the Slytherin table, "I made a new batch of badges just for you!"

Harry sighed, bad enough that Ron wasn't speaking to him, forget that Hermione took Rons side, or that all Hufflepuff was out to get him, forget that despite the fact that all he wanted was one fucking year of no chaos, no life-threatening mystery, he couldn't even have that, no, the most pressing issue for Harry Potter right now, wasn't Draco Malfoy. Don't answer him Harry, he thought, You do not have time to give him your attention, even if his hair looks especially soft today. Bloody git.

He had become painfully aware of his crush on Draco Malfoy in third year, when he had over-heard the Slytherin trying to convince his father that it was just a scratch and there was really no need to put the "bloody chicken" to death.

Like most things in his life, he had taken the fact that he was attracted to men in stride, accepting it like he accepted that the sky was blue and just as unimportant. It simply was. He'd decided not to tell anyone of the fact, since something tried to kill him every year, he knew he would never drag anyone into the chaos that was his life, so there was no need to tell anyone, and considering the fact that his so called "best friends" had currently abandoned him under the wild accusation that he had entered the tournament on his own, he was rather glad he hadn't. Knowing Ron Weasley as he did, he was sure it would have been all over school by now.

He stopped his train of thought, viciously dragging it in another direction, Dragons, focusing on how to defeat a dragon. Draco Malfoys stupid blonde soft hair could wait, yes, plenty of time to drool over it later, and his legs, Merlin those legs when on for days. NO! Focusing on dragons.

]

Draco sat at the table enjoying his breakfast and taunting of Harry Potter, so all in all, a perfectly normal day for him, that is until Pansy opened her mouth.

"Merlin, Draco, just snog him already." She said, smirking from the seat in front of him.

"PANSY! What the actual fuck are you going on about?!" he demanded, going a bit pink around his ears. Kiss Potter? Pansy is taking a piss, isn't she? His internal monolog was cut short by Blaise.

"Oh come on Draco, you've been obsessed since first year. Just snog him already and put us out of our misery." He sighed.

"What the bloody hell are you all on about? As if I would waste my time on an obsession with- "

"Potters horrible Quidditch skill, but that dive was beautiful, and he flies like he was born to it." Pansy said.

"And he's awful at potions, but his hands look so steady and sure when he's stirring them? How can he be that bad, yet so confident at the same time?" Crabbe continued.

"Absolute tosser at chess, but that smile when he thinks he has the right move." Goyle finishes.

"Bloody perfect Potter!" they said, as if the 3 had practiced for this very moment.

"Honestly Draco, we get it." Blaise said, "Our family were on the wrong side too, but we are NOT our parents. My boyfriend is in Ravenclaw, Pansy's boyfriend is in Hufflepuff for Merlin's sake. We make our own choices dude. If Potter makes you happy, then go for it, but for the love of all that is holy, stop going on about it."

"Yes," Marcus Flint interrupted, having been listening to the 4th years complain. "For the sanity of all of House Slytherin please, please stop. If I have to listen to you go into Potter with-drawl one more time, I might just curse myself to get away from it."

Dracos' face flushed, the pale skin of his high cheeks stained a cherry red.

"He isn't gay," he mumbled, he knew his obsession with Harry, but it had, by silent agreement of his friends and housemates, never been brought into the daylight. "And even if he was, he wouldn't go out with me." He continued, laying his head down on the table. "It's Harry Potter for gods sake."

"Oh Draco," Pansy sighed, getting up and walking around to his side of the table, she sat down rubbing his back. "You don't know that."

Theo Nott piped up, having been watching the confrontation for the last 10 minutes. "Hey, speaking of Potter, has anyone else noticed that his grades have gotten a LOT higher now that he isn't hanging around Weasley?"

The group froze, looking at him as if he had grown a second head.

"What? I can't be the only one to notice. His score is always exactly 1 point below Weasleys, like he does it on purpose or something. Since they stopped hanging out, Potter is like 3rd in the entire year. He's right behind Granger and Draco." He said with a shrug, quietly going back to his meal, a small smile graced his lips as the others went back to their meals, discussing how it was possible to always be exactly one point behind someone.

The seeds had been planted. He knew the signs he had seen in Potter, had suffered similar ones before Snape had caught on in 2nd year and pulled him from his home quicker than one could say Quidditch. He didn't understand the grades, but being constantly underweight? The long sleeves even in the heat of summer? The flinch whenever someone went to touch him? Those were things that Theo was intimately aware of. He knew, and he wanted to stop it, and while he didn't have the power to do anything, he knew of a certain blond, whose father had more money than God, and would do anything for his son. A son who was so obviously in love with Potter that it was almost amusing that the raven-haired teen hadn't noticed, if it wasn't so damn sad.

Yes, Theo might be the quiet one in the group, but he was still Slytherin.

]

2 weeks later.

Harry was a mess; he had no idea how to structure his grades without Ron to use as guide, a habit that had carried over from the Dursleys, so he just did his homework and turned it in, few people in the school still talked to him, as if he wanted to be entered into a life-threatening tournament, unless one counted Draco's constant teasing, which was comforting in a strange way. Nice to know some things never change. Oh and of course he had to fight a literal dragon!

Yes, he was indeed a mess, but he had finished his homework and was now hunkered down at the table in the furthest corner of the library, trying to find anyway to defeat the dragon he would have to face in less than 3 days, when Theo sat down across from him.

He and Theo had a silent agreement, that if the two were alone, they were amicable and at times even friendly. Theo never joined the other Slytherins when they jeered and Harry carefully redirected Gryffindors when they tried to go for Theo, it was a tenuous trust, but it worked for them.

"What's with the dragon research Harry? Finally making a move for Draco?" he asked, laughing at his own inside joke, glancing at the three books on dragons opened across the table.

"No," Harry said, tired resignation in his tone. "Apparently, whatever useless adult decided to restart this insane tournament thought the best idea would be to have us fight a literal dragon for the first task." He continued, his head in his hands.

"No shit! A dragon, an actual, fire breathing dragon?" Theo asked, "They're going to let dragons that close to the school? That's a disaster waiting to happen."

"Yea, that's what I'm saying, and I know the other champions know because there isn't a single useful book about them in this damn library. Theo, I'm so screwed. The only reason I even found out was Fred and George told me." He sighed, banging his head onto the table, while simultaneously thanking the gods for the twins.

Theo watched his kind of friend, he had never seen him so disheartened, except perhaps at the end of the year, when he had to go back to whatever hell he returned from each September.

He decided this was the perfect opportunity to move forwards with his plan to help Potter, he only needed one other person to get involved. He had been trying to figure out how to get the two together, amicably enough for Draco and Harry to converse and perhaps become friends, thus leading to conversations and hopefully enough trust for Harry to confide in Draco, which would enable his plan, code named "Get Malfoy to Save Potter" to come to fruition.

He had thought this stupid tournament had ruined everything, but maybe it had helped instead.

"I don't know Harry," he hemmed, "I might know someone with more knowledge of dragons than this whole library, you just might not like it."

"I would take Draco Malfoy at this point Theo." Harry replied.

"Funny you should mention that." Theo laughed, being sure to throw in a hint of nervousness into it, as if he wasn't sure he should even bring it up.

"He won't help me, you know he won't." Harry said, snapping his head up to glare at the boy, knowing who Theo had in mind from his reaction.

"Don't worry Harry, Draco owes me one. Just meet me in the great hall after dinner and I'll sneak you into the dorm."

Harry gave a sigh, "No worries, I know where y'all's dorms are, and how to get in. I'll just meet you there around curfew."

"Ok? But don't think that you are going to get out of telling me how you can do that." Theo said.

}

One hour and one hell of a story about parseltounge, giant snakes, and poly juice potion later, Theo was walking into his dorm, looking for Draco. Who was conveniently sitting on the window seat, looking out into the lake.

In the past weeks since the "intervention", Draco could be found here, gazing out into the lake. It appears having the truth of his crush/obsession thrown in his face had calmed him. Like having it out in the open somehow made it less heavy to carry around. He still teased Potter, but with the understanding that it was only a way to get his attention, much of the cruelty had left his jokes as well. He had been brainstorming with the other dorm mates on ways to get the Gryffindor attention without teasing at all.

"Hey Draco," he nodded, walking over to join him. "Let me ask you a question, what would you give me if I could give you the perfect opportunity to get Potter indebted to you, thus giving you the chance to see if you could finally snag him?" he asked, half joking.

Draco whipped his head around, anger pulling his brows together.

"That's not funny Theo." He spat.

"It's also not a joke Draco. He's going to be here, in this dorm, after curfew. Also, you owe me for this." He said, smirking at the gob smacked look on Draco's face.

"Seriously?" Draco asked. "Theo how the fuck did you do that?"

"First task is dragons, and strangely all the useful books on dragons are gone from the library, which wasn't me by the way." It's like the whole school is out to get him. He left this unspoken, knowing if anyone could find a way to punish the whole school, it would be the boy in front of him, and really he didn't have time for that. "So, I thought, who do I know with basically a walking encyclopedic knowledge of dragons? AND has a massive crush on Potter, therefore likely to help him?" he pretended to think. "Oh, yea, you. Like I said you owe me. Don't fuck up." He said, pulling Draco up. "Give him one or two small insults, so he knows that you aren't fucking with him. Then be helpful and go from there." He continued dusting lint from his robes and taking in the stunned look on Draco's face.

"That's amazing! Actual dragons. Wait…They're bringing dragons on school grounds?" he asked. "Are they fucking stupid?"

}

Harry was wrapped warmly in his invisibility cloak, making his way down to the Slytherin common room, he had walked the dungeons often this year, wondering what it would have been like had he accepted the hats choice. He had spoken to the snake that guarded the door many times, it was quite the gossip. Harry was aware of the drama filled Slytherin Common Room, of course the snake didn't know the students name, but he was fairly certain that the "sweet blonde boy who likes to pet my head" was Draco. He bent down to stroke its head and asked the door to open, with the promise to return and gossip with it later as he made his way silently to the fourth-year dorm.

Theo looked up as the door opened and closed seemingly on its own, shooting a quick glance at the others. "What the fuck was that?" he asked, standing and walking towards the door.

"Ghost?" Vincent and Greg asked.

"Don't be stupid," Blaise said. "Ghosts aren't allowed in the dorms."

"Probably just a draft," said Draco, never having looked up from his charms essay.

"Yea probably just a draft, or someone with an invisibility cloak is sneaking into the dorms." Harry said, pulling the cloak off his head, making it appear as if only his head existed. He smiled as he watched the chaos.

Several things happened at once. Crabbe and Goyle, who had been playing exploding snap, were both tossed back when a card exploded, Blaise spilled a pot of ink over the letter he had been writing to his mother, in his haste to turn around to look at the floating head, Theo gave a startled little yell. And Draco…Draco calmly put down his essay, glaring at Harry.

"I bloody well KNEW you had an invisibility cloak!" he said, a smug smirk plastered across his face, a well mastered mask from his years among the aristocracy of the wizarding world, on the outside he was nothing if not the perfect heir of the Malfoy family.

On the inside, however, that was another story.

"Oh, that explains so much." Blaise said.

"Why is Potter in our dorm?" Vincent and Greg asked as they got up and found their way to their beds.

"How should I know, maybe he's so dim he got lost on the way to Gryffindor dorm." Draco snarked, standing to put away his essay.

"The more pressing question, that you all seem to be missing, is how the fuck did he get in?" Blaise asked, rolling his eyes at the others.

"How did you get in?" asked Theo, watching Harry lovingly fold his cloak and tuck it away in his bag.

"Isn't that obvious?" Draco asked, drawing looks of confusion from his roommates and surprise from Potter.

"Seriously? Did any of you read 'Hogwarts: A History'?" he asked, before rubbing a hand down his face in exasperation. Why am I friends with you idiots? "Potter can speak parseltounge, morons, we live in the Slytherin dorms? Our door is guarded by a giant enchanted stone snake. All he had to do was ask and it probably just let him in." he told them, exasperation written across his face.

"Wow," Harry said, momentarily stunned. "That is surprisingly accurate."

"We aren't all as dumb as you are Potter." Draco answered. "Why are you in our dorm anyway?"
"Well, Theo has promised to help me with some research." He answered.

"Yes." Theo said. "But since all the books are taken out of the library, I figured I would come to the next closest thing." He said looking meaningfully at Draco.

"Is this why you were asking about dragons earlier?" Draco asked, trying not to sound like he had rehearsed with Theo, when in fact he had.

"Yes, Draco. This is why. So, are you going to help or am I going to have to call in that favor?" he asked, looking back at Harry. "Draco is obsessed with dragons."

Draco stood there and hemmed. He pretended, quite convincingly, to think about it.

"Fine, but let's be clear, Potter will owe me one." he said with a smirk. "And I'm not obsessed with dragons, you prat."

"Deal." Harry said. Anything to not die in this stupid tournament.

Just as they shook on it, a shout came from the hallway.

"Snapes doing bed check tonight!" came the prefects voice, "You had all better be in your dorms ready for lights out!"

They all paled, every eye in the room found Harry, panic seared them, and they all started talking at once.

"Fuck." Blaise said.

"We are so dead." Vincent hissed at Greg, who in turn replied. "Of course, he picks the night Harry bloody Potter sneaks into the dorm."

"Harry the cloak!" Theo whispers to him. "Put your cloak back on!"

"It wont work. Snape always knows, I have no idea how, but he does." He says, frantically looking for a place to hide.

"Everyone shut up!" Draco commands, there was a sudden silence as everyone looked at him. He took command of the situation like a general plotting battle.

"Ok, everyone, line up." He continues, taking out his wand. He did a quick bit of transfiguration and suddenly they were all in their night clothes. Theo in cotton PJs, Vincent and Greg in their typical t-shirt and shorts, Blaise and Draco each sported their silk black and green PJs respectively.

"Vincent, Greg, go back to your game, Blaise your mother will kill you if you don't send her a letter this week so go finish it. Theo your potions essay isn't going to finish itself." He tells them, grabbing Harry by the arm and dragging him to his bed, before throwing him into it and drawing the curtains closed on the side facing the door. "Its just a regular night in the dorm, nothing and I mean absolutely nothing is going on, and Harry Potter is probably safely tucked into his own bed in the tower. Got it?" he asks them, throwing his robe on, as they quickly take their positions. "and you Potter, stay quiet, and don't move."

}

They have only minutes before the door opens and Snape enters the room. He slowly looks around noting that the children have cleaned up today, which is a nice change.

"Students" He drawls, looking for any sign of mischief. "Are we having a good evening?"

"Yes Professor." They reply, it was rare that he personally did the bed checks, but he does like the Slytherins to be prepared for everything, so occasionally he'll surprise them. So far he had given 3 detentions, taken point from 6 students and scared the day lights out of the first year boys.

However, he rarely had issues with the fourth year boys, a fact he was proud of given that one of his godsons were among them. Tonight however, something felt…off, he just couldn't put his finger on it.

It all seemed to be in order as he walked around the dorm. Vincent and Greg had paused their game when he walked in, Theo appeared to be going over the essay for potions that was due in two days' time. He even stopped by Blaise's desk and cast a quick charm to remove the spilt ink on the letter to his mother.

He was walking over to Draco's bed when he noticed the boy casting a charm over it.

"Mr. Malfoy, what, may I ask are you doing?"

"Oh, just casting a silencing charm, sir. Crabbe and Goyle snore loud enough to wake the dead." He told him, as he pulled the curtains open just enough to sit on his bed, bending down to remove his slippers.

"Ah, very well," Snape said, watching the boys as they went about their routines. "Have a good night gentleman, I believe you have herbology at 8. Do not be late." He continued as he left the dorm.

Something was definitely going on, but honestly, he really didn't care, it couldn't be to bad he decided as he made his way to the fifth year boys dorm, the fourth years were quickly forgotten as he opened the door to find a student valiantly trying to hide a bottle of Ogdens finest.

}

"Holy shit," Draco said, as he collapsed backwards, his head landing squarely on Potters lap, and at the moment he was too relieved to hide his smile behind his usual mask. "I thought we were done for." He laughed, looking up at the stunned face of Harry Potter, before closing his eyes to simply enjoy the moment.

Harry on the other hand was having a crisis of his own. Draco Malfoys head is in my lap. he thought, keeping the panic off his face, followed quickly by the thought He looks so bloody beautiful when he smiles. Not a sneer, not a mock, but an actual smile. He began to think of ways he could see that smile more, he was sure if he put his mind to it, he could accomplish it. He found himself regretting more and more that he hadn't taken his hand in their first year. Honestly, this crush is ridiculous. He thought, fighting the urge to run his hand through Draco's hair, to see if it was as soft as it looked.

Draco quickly sat up and looked at the other fourth years, a glare in his eyes, clearly stating that anyone who made fun of what had just occurred would die a painful death.

"Ok, Potter. We survived Snape, so now we must make sure you survive the dragons and then we can talk about my payment." He said, his smirk firmly back in place.

}

Several hours later Harry found his way back to the Gryffindor common room. So many things ran through his head, he had a solid plan, one they were sure would work against any of the four dragons, as well as not one but two back-up plans. Slytherins are nothing if not prepared. He thought.

Another thing he decided was that they were nothing like he had expected, instead of the pure-blood rhetoric he had been expecting from three years of having insults thrown at his friends, he had instead only endured a few insults to his intelligence, and a strange bit of advice from the group.

Looking down at the Potter Stinks badge he remembered what they had said to him, when he'd sarcastically commented that it felt like the whole school would celebrate if he died while fighting the dragon.

"If you let them get to you, then you've already lost." Blaise had told him.

"Seriously," Crabbe said, Goyle had finished his thought for him, almost like the Weasleys twin speak. "Why does what they think matter anyway." To which Theo had enthusiastically agreed.

"it's not like you actually put your name in the cup, you hate attention." He added.

Draco for his part had picked up the badge and tossed it at him.

"Wear it. Once they see they don't get to you, they bugger off. Besides," he said, trademark smirk in place. "I've made a killing off these, so I'll give you this one for free."

Harry smiled, sure Malfoy had probably been messing with him, but it was still solid advice, he thought as he walked into the common room.

"And where have you been?" Hermione's bossy voice came from the couch, causing Harry to pause and stare at his 'friends'.

She and Ron sat on the couch closest to the fire,

"Not really any of your business, is it?" he asked, anger at her and Ron had began to build up, especially after the Slytherins of all people had, in their own way, accepted him with an ease that baffled him. If they of all people, who had teased, and fought, and hexed him (not that he didn't give as good as he got ) had accepted him. Why were the people who were supposed to be his friends acting like this? It truly made no sense to him.

Shouldn't they know him well enough to know that he hated the attention, that he hated to be watched as if he were a bug instead of a boy? Why would they abandon him, why didn't they see he had just wanted a normal life, he'd have given anything to just be…. normal. God, I sound like Aunt Petunia.

"You'll lose us points Harry, and it's after curfew you could have gotten detention." She continued to nag. "I know you think your special—"

"You know what," Harry said, cutting her off and throwing his hands in the air, frustration and anger clear in his demeanor. "You don't get to tell me what to do anymore Hermione Granger. You and Ron can go report me to who ever you want, I'll take the detentions, and the points loss, and everything else." He was shouting now, "You want to know one good thing about this whole fucked up situation is? At least now I know who my REAL friends are." He continued. "And it sure as fuck isn't you."

His magic flared around him, it engulfed him and spread throughout the common room, rippling like a tide pushing furniture out of his way as he walked toward them.

"You two, so sure that I would enter myself in this stupid fucking tournament. It seems that you have forgotten. It was you two who wanted to go after the stone, Ron I saved your sisters life in the Chamber, and it was you Hermione who lured a werewolf toward us last year." He stopped short of them, but his magic didn't, it pushed the chair they were seated in into the corner. "I have saved your asses more times than I care to remember, and I shouldn't have bothered." He growled, watching the two as they shuddered, fear in their eyes, a primal part of him enjoyed that they were afraid, and he started to take another step forward when he felt a hand on each shoulder.

"Its okay-"

"-little brother."

Harry calmed as the twin spoke to him, their presence calmed his magic.

"They're not worth it Harry." Came Nevilles level voice.

Harry suddenly felt very tired, grief and sorrow overrode the anger, grief for the years they had been friends and sorrow because maybe they never had been, his magic settled back, no longer churning in a maelstrom of rage, he breathed a deep sigh, ashamed that he had let it get that far. His three friends all had a hand on him, each murmuring soft words to calm his battered heart, much as they did when he had nightmares.

"I'm going to bed." He said, as he turned around, placing a hand on each of the twins, then on Nevilles shoulder, a silent thank you for stopping him. He walked up the stairs to his dorm, before laying down and calling it a night. He was confused and tired, his ribs still hurt from Uncle Vernons "goodbye", a reminder to keep what happened in the house a secret from those at school. He was sure it had healed wrong, his bruises were healed and he had never felt the remnant pain of a beating for so long before.

He decided from now on, he would do what he wanted not was Ron and Hermione thought was right, not what Dumbledor told him was right, not what the whole bloody wizarding world thought they deserved from the fourteen-year-old boy. No, Harry James Potter was going to do what he wanted, and Merlin help those in his way.

} Three days later.

You've got to be shitting me. Harry thought, looking down at the little figure of the Hungarian Horntail in his hand. It's just my luck that I get the most aggressive dragon of the lot.

He had listened to the shouts and cheers of the crowd as they cheered the other champions on. He laughed at Diggory transfiguring a dog for the dragon to chase, was amazed that Fluer had managed a powerful sleeping charm on hers and cringed when he found out that Viktor Krum had almost cause serious damage to his dragon's cache of eggs, sending out a silent prayer of thanks that it had been avoided.

He hoped that the plan he had come up with, that he and Draco and the others worked on, would work, as he headed into the arena, he looked at the crowd, who no longer cheered but rather jeered at the young teen, he searched until he found the five Slytherin students, they gave him a thumbs up, wishing him luck from a safe distance, he almost tripped over his own feet when Draco gave him a wink, Gorgeous prat, and he gave them what he hoped was a reassuring smile, before turning to the task at hand.

The Hungarian was standing over her eggs, one student screamed when she let out a long belt of fire at the stands, but Harry couldn't help marveling at her. Yes, she was extremely dangerous, but she was also beautiful, large spikes ran in two lines down her spine, before meeting atop her head like a crown, and there was a kind of cold intelligence in her eyes, she was also very, very angry.

Harry knew the moment she zeroed in on him, their eyes met, and she crouched menacingly ready to defend her children. Harry felt such a strong sense of admiration for her in that moment, her fierce determination to protect her babies, still safe inside their shells, four of them, and nestled in the center one golden egg.

She shot a stream of fire at him, he dodged, rolling behind a rock. He sent the summons to his broom, calling it to him, but his broom, that was plan B, first he needed to try out Plan A.

"Excuse me," he called out in Parseltounge, Draco had said that dragons spoke it, he only hoped that this one did. "I need a word with you ma'am, it really is important."

"ohhhh, a little speaker." She hissed. "I have not conversed with one of your kind in many ages."

The dragon stopped so suddenly that even the crowd went silent, she tilted her head, before creeping forward to try and find the little speaker, while still protecting her eggs.

"Did no one ever teach you, little speaker, that you should never approach a nest?"

"Yes, ma'am. However, this is very important to me, and I need the golden egg in your nest. I was hoping you would let me take it, since it isn't one of yours." He told her, hoping she would respond positively.

"Well, I suppose, but that would be a bit boring, wouldn't it? Green wing fell asleep to the song of a Veela, Skull crusher got to chase a dog, and Bane is still upset that the moron she was up against had no regard for her eggs, she has vowed that she will eat him. I would enjoy some fun as well, before going home." She explained, still slowly creeping closer to where the little speaker was hiding, she knew her eggs were safe, speakers had rules, one of which was not to harm the young, but curiosity was legend among her kind, and she wanted to know more about this little speaker. He felt familiar, she could have swore she knew someone like him before. But where? And when? Time held little meaning when a creature lived for millennium.

Harry, unaware of her thoughts, smiled, knowing now that he would survive this, but that didn't mean he couldn't have a little fun.

"Well, Ma'am, how would you like to go for a flight with me? We'll give these people a show, it'll be quite the act, and you'll have the best story of the day." He entreated her.

"And just leave my eggs unprotected?"

"The others won't touch them, it's against the rules, and the dragon keepers will not allow any harm to come to them." He promised.

"Very well, little speaker, I could use a stretch, but if anything happens to my eggs, I shall eat you and everyone else here."

"Completely understandable. This is going to be so much fun!" he told her. "Ok, we're going to have to make this look good, my broom should be here in a moment, I'll roll and catch it, then blast the chain, if you wouldn't mind give them a scare before following, it would be most appreciated."

"I suppose I could." she replied lazily.

Just as she agreed to the little speakers plan, a broom flew over the stands. Harry jumped and grabbed it, throwing a bombarda behind him and snapping the chain. He climbed quickly, turning to watch her spread her magnificent wings, and blow fire over the heads of everyone in the stands, before climbing again and taking off towards the forest.

"Ahhh, little speaker, this is fun!" the dragon said, as she closed in behind him. "I have not flown in many moons, I feel free."

"That's how I feel when I fly to. I'm Harry by the way. Harry Potter." He said, laughing at the idea of introducing himself to a dragon of all creatures.

"Little Harry." She hummed. "It is nice to meet you, I am Lilith, Alpha of the Romanian dragon herd."

"This is amazing, never did I believe that I would be able to speak to a dragon, let alone fly with one." He told her, letting out a joyous laugh, as they flew across the forest, periodically she would let of glowing streams of fire, which Harry would swoop around, on the off chance that they could be seen from the stands.

"So tell me little Harry, why do you smell of sadness? It clings to you, I would know why a hatchling like you would carry such sadness." She pried, hoping to find why he felt familiar, it tickled the edges of her consciousness, but she couldn't quite grasp it.

Harry considered her for a moment, but she gave him a look of a mother worried for a child, even if that child was not her own. So he told her, deciding it wasn't like she could spill his secrets. He told her of his parents, being left on the doorstep of the Dursleys, the nightmare he lived every year when he returned there, and everything in between, flying all the while. Heeven told her of his little crush on Draco.

She listened, Lilith was a mother herself after-all, and her soul cried out at the injustice of the fledgling before her. She would never understand humans, but she found herself caring for the one before her, and she felt the intense urge to destroy anyone who had hurt him, but also to return to her eggs, to make sure they were safe, because clearly humans were incapable of caring for fledglings.

"Little Harry, so much has happened, and you are still but a fledging. Such a brave little thing you are, but drawn to trouble, I think, much like your bearers." It hit her like a hippogriff, she knew why he felt familiar now, why this boy with the wild hair and emerald eyes, why this fledgling felt like her own, because he was. I have decided that you will be my fledgling from now on, I will protect you." She told him, as he hovered beside her. Before he could protest a wave of magic surrounded him, and the image of the dragon crawled up his arm, he could feel it settle on his shoulder, its head coming to a rest just above his heart. "If you ever find yourself in need, we will come to your aid, this is the promise I make to you, as I have made to your bearers before you. The mark on your arm will allow you to communicate with me even if you are not in danger, Little Speaker, just as it would one of my hatchlings."

Harry was flabbergasted, this magnificent beast had just promised to protect him, something only three other people in his life had ever done and two of them were dead, he gave her a bemused smile.

"Thank you, Lady Lilith. I will endeavor to live up to the honor you have given me." He said with a small bow of his head. "but I have to ask, what do you mean as you've made to my bearers?"

"Many many moons ago, a young wizard found his was across the land, he found a dragon trapped in a human hunters' snare, I was just a fledgling then, but he saved me. I promised then that I would protect his line should he ever need it. I have never been called upon, but I renew that vow today." She said, inclining her had to her wizard.

"Now, we must return, after hearing your sadness I feel less inclined to leave my eggs with humans." She told him before giving him a sidelong glance. "And you will bring this little dragon to meet me, this is not a request."

"Yes ma'am." He said with smile and gave her a nod. "Give me a head start, I'll grab the golden egg and then you can make sure that the eggs are safe."

}

Draco waited, it was close to the hour mark now, and he was beginning to worry that something had happened to Harry. He heard a loud roar, and jumped from his seat, turning around he saw Harry fly into the arena and swoop down, grabbing the egg on the fly. He pulled up sharply and flew behind the stand as the dragon landed, inspecting her eggs, and glaring at the stands, waiting for danger.

He watched Charlie Weasley enchant a chain back around her neck, before he cast a calming charm on her. To say the stands went crazy would be an understatement, to an outsider it appeared that Harry Potter had just outflown a DRAGON. Draco, however, knew the way Harry flew, had seen it a million times, he knew the way Harry flew when he was calm, panicked, or happy. And Harry had been calm, he thought as he rushed out of the stand, intent on tracking down the other boy and getting the full story.

He found Harry, because lets face it, Draco could always find Harry, hiding in the locker room of the Quidditch Pitch. Harry sat on the bench holding the golden egg, and staring off into space.

"Hey Potter, you ok?" he asked, raising a brow when Potter practically hit the ceiling in surprise.

"Malfoy! Make some noise when you move." He said with a little laugh.

"I did, you're the one who is off in space." He sat down on the bench next to Potter. "So, are you going to tell me what happened? Because that was not you trying to get away from a dragon." He said with a smirk.

Harry looked to the side, glancing at Draco.

"What happened, Malfoy, is that you were right, dragons do indeed speak parseltounge." He told the boy.

"AH, and what exactly does that have to do with you releasing a sodding dragon onto school grounds?"

"Well, she said she wanted to go for a flight." Harry said with a laugh.

"So you let her?" He asked, incredulously.

"When have you ever known me to do something smart?" Harry said with a laugh.

"Oh, plenty of times." Draco snarked. "There was the time you sneaked out in the middle of the night to have a duel with me, or the time you sneaked out to help transplant a baby dragon, or the time you flew a car to school. The time you fought a Basilisk." He went on. "The time you fought a literal werewolf."

"Alright, alright, I get it." Harry laughed. "I don't make good decisions."

"You, Harry Potter, make terrible decisions. However, they do make for entertaining stories." He laughed too, admiring the glow of happiness the surrounded the brunette, that almost careless smile.

"I can't believe you let a dragon talk you into letting her free. I wish I could talk to her too, that would amazing." Draco said, despite his insistence that he wasn't obsessed with dragons, he really did love the creatures.

"Do you want to?" Harry asked. "Go talk to her I mean? They aren't leaving till tomorrow, we could sneak out tonight, you could meet her. Lady Lilith, I mean, that's her name." He rambled.

"Yes!" Draco interrupted. "Meet a dragon, I'm in, I don't even care how much trouble we get in." He said.

Harry stood, looking down at him, "I'll come pick you up at curfew, we'll go say hi." He told Malfoy, smirking as he walked out of the locker room.

"It's a date."

}

Lilith watch as two small shadows sneak past the shields that surrounded the dragons. She pushed at the other three, waking them up.

"Hey, wake up, meet my new fledgling." She told them, her voice filled with a mothers pride.

"Lilith, seriously, only you would adopt a human fledgling." Green-Wing said, snaking her long neck around to gaze at the shadows.

"Look Skull-Crusher, there are two of them." Bane commented, Skull-Crusher merely grunted.

The two little shadows crept closer, one with confidence, the other with trepidation but obvious excitement.

"Lady Lilith!" Her fledgling called out, walking out of the shadows to greet her.

"My fledgling, be welcome," she said. "Let me introduce you. This is Green-Wing, Skull-Crusher, and Bane. Ladies, this is my new fledgling, Harry, Speaker to Serpents."

"It is wonderful to meet you ladies." He said, bowing slightly to each of the dragons, before grabbing Draco's arm, pulling him forward. "This is my friend. Draco Malfoy."

Malfoy had bowed to the dragons when he heard his name, rightfully assuming that Harry was introducing him, when he felt a wave of magic flow over his body.

"—should work, I haven't used this magic in a long time, can you understand me little dragon?"

"Potter, I can UNDERSTAND the dragons!" he exclaimed, practically jumping up and down.

"Yes, because I cast a spell so you could." Huffed Skull-Crusher. "But you should be quiet, or the pets will come."

"Thank you, madam, this is beyond amazing!" he practically shouted, before Harry arm wrapped around his waist, his other hand coming up to cover his mouth, as he dragged the younger boy under Liliths wing, just as Charlie Weasley came around the corner, his wand held aloft with a soft glow emanating from it.

"Told you." Came her smug tone.

Charlie looked at them, before deciding that he had obviously been hearing things. "We go home tomorrow ladies." He told them as he walked away.

"That was almost as bad as Snape." Harry whispered into Darcos ear, completely oblivious to the fact that Draco felt the whisper in every part of his body, or that it sent a shiver down his spine, Lilith on the other hand was watching the look of bliss that covered the little golden dragons face.

"Little Speaker, you can come out now, but Little Dragon, do keep your voice down."

"Why do you keep calling me Little Dragon?" Draco asked.

"Because that is your name?" Green-Wing said, looking at him in confusion.

"No, my name is Little Dragon." He stopped, shocked, they tired again. "Little Dragon….Little Dragon….my name is Little Dragon…." He looked at Harry panicking. What if he could never say his proper name again? His name was a good one, he had been named in the tradition of the Black family, his mothers family.

Harry for his part, looked like he was about to die of laughter before he switched back to English.

"It's the spell, Draco means Little Dragon. If you name was Draconis, it would translate it simply as Dragon. Before you ask, I can say you name correctly because I speak both languages." He explained.

"That's wicked." Draco said, calm now that he knew he'd be able to have his name back, before looking back to dragons. They spent the next few hours talking with the dragons, the creatures lived incredibly long lives and entertained the fledglings with stories of their many adventures, of their fledglings' adventures, of the keepers, and the ancient magics only passed down through the stories of their kind.

Harry looked up as the sun began to rise over the forbidden forest.

"We should go." Harry said. "If we get caught it'll be detention for forever." He turned, giving Lilith a quick hug, before pulling his cloak out of his pocket.

"You will tell me if you find yourself in trouble Little Speaker." She commanded him. "Now, go check that you are clear, while I remove the magic on your…. friend."

"Yes, ma'am."

She waited until she was sure he couldn't hear them anymore.

"Little Dragon, you take care of him, keep him out of trouble." She told him.

"This is Harry Potter, Merlin himself couldn't keep him out of trouble, but I will try." He promised.

"You will make him an excellent mate one day, Little Dragon." Skull-Crusher told him.

"Were just friends." Draco insisted.

"Yes, that's why you knew exactly what we were referring to yes?" asked Bane.

"The Little Speaker likes you; I can tell." Green-wing agreed.

"Hush ladies, Little Dragon, you will often find in life, that it is best to just do what you have to do." She said cryptically, before reversing the magic that allowed them to talk.

}

Over the following months Harry and Draco became good friends, Harry continued to spend time with him, as well as with Vince, Greg, Blaise, Pansy, and Theo. Harry also dragged the people he considered to be true friends to him, into the group, the ones who hadn't abandoned him when this had all started. Neville, Luna, George and Fred.

There was no doubt that this was a strange group, Half Gryffindor, half Slytherin, and one lone Ravenclaw that Harry had taken to the Yule Ball. He'd had a wonderful time with Luna and had danced with all of his friends throughout the night, and had danced with Draco twice, the true highlight of his night.

Harry had been in the middle of giving the tournament committee the riot act when he had to pull Draco out of the lake during the second task and was only stopped by a strong hand on his shoulder and had been shocked to see the hand had belonged to Mrs. Malfoy.

"Heir Potter, I think it best if you go check on Draco, Lucius and I will handle the committee." Her look left no room for argument, so he had simply nodded to her and went to check on his friend. The shaken looks on their faces after the Malfoys were done with them left the boy with a huge smile on his face as he cuddled up next to his friend, even if he had missed the appraising looks on Narcissa and Lucius Malfoys faces.

Narcissa looked at her son, her pride and joy, her only child, one she had cast rite after rite to have, as he smiled and thanked Harry Potter of all people for "saving his life" though he had never actually been in any danger. She looked at Lucius when the boy jumped up and stormed up to the tournament committee. Placing her hand in the crook of his elbow, she gently and quietly led her husband over to listen.

"-any idea how dangerous this was? You didn't even warn them, just pulled them out of bed, and shoved them in the lake! Do you have no regard for the safety of the students? Not only of Hogwarts, but of the other schools, Gabriella can't be more than 12?! Do you have any idea how traumatizing-"

She placed her hand on the boys shoulder and smiled at him.

Heir Potter, I think it best if you go check on Draco, Lucius and I will handle the committee." She told him, sending him off to check on her son again.

The committee looked a bit green when she turned around to address them.

"Narcissa…" her husband cautioned her.

"Be silent, my love." She told him.

Most of the world assumed that Lucius Malfoy ran the Malfoy family with an iron fist, they would be wrong, Lucius may have run the financial empire both muggle and magical, but when it came to family decisions, the true power had resided in the delicate hands of Narcissa Malfoy and had since her husband's incredibly misguided choice to join the Death Eaters.

"I would like to know where any of you fine gentleman got the notion that it was fine to pull students out of their beds at night? Hum?" she asked them, her usually warm blue eyes were glacial, and she never raised her voice. "More than that, you took the only heir of a pureblood line. Worse even than that is that you took my only child, placed an incredibly risky spell on him, put him under a lake, all with out the permission of his family."

The committee members looked at her in horror, suddenly realizing the legal nightmare they had opened themselves up too.

"I will make this perfectly clear. So much as touch another child that is not required to be in this tournament and I will destroy your careers, your families, and your entire lives, I will make you wish for the sweet embrace of death. I hope I have made myself clear." She continued, the sweet smile never leaving her face.

As she walked away with her husband, she looked to where her beloved son sat on the dock, his blanket now tightly wrapped around himself and Mr. Potter. The Potter child had a huge smile on his face as he looked toward the shaken committee, before lifting his arm to wrap it around Draco under the blanket, Draco, for all the training she had instilled into him over the years, blushed the brightest red she had ever seen, his pale skin lit up, before his face settled on a look of longing, directed at none other than boy who lived.

"Dearest," Lucious said, drawing her attention. "Did I just see; what I think I saw?" he asked.

"Well, if you think you saw Draco look at Harry Potter like he was the sun, and he'd been in a cave for the last 10 years, then yes you did." She told him, giving him a sharp look. "And you and I will be nothing but supportive and kind, regardless of who our child brings home."

Lucious stopped and looked down at his wife. "Why is it that you seem worried that I would say something? I would do anything for that boy, I wouldn't care if he brought home a muggle so long as he is happy." He said, looking fondly over to where his son sat, talking to Blaise Zambini and Theo Nott, as Potter looked at him fondly. "It appears my love, that his feelings are not entirely unreciprocated." He nodded at the pair.

"Well, let us see how things play out then, my heart." She decided, looking to the group which had suddenly grown, it looked as though the Crabbe and Goyle Heirs had now joined, they looked to be in deep conversation now. About what I wonder?

"Draco your mom is absolutely terrifying." Harry said, looking at his friend after watching Narcissa absolutely destroy the committee.

"My mother," Draco said, pausing for dramatic effect. "Is a Lady, and as such can destroy anyone, at any time, with such grace and dignity that they think it was their idea." He laughed, turning to look at Harry, and his breathe caught. Harry was smiling at his mother, as if enraptured by her beauty.

The look of longing on his face caused Draco to point out the obvious.

"Harry, stop looking at my mother like that, she is a married woman." He groused, but Harry never turned his head.

"Shut up Draco, I'm not looking to go steal your mother." He laughed, still watching the committee panic. "she is not my type, missing some important parts, isn't she, seeing as how I'm gay."

There it was, the information Draco had been silently trying to figure out since November, tossed out as casually as the weather. He's gay, ok, now to figure out how to get him to see me as more than a friend. He thought, a shiver of hope running through his body.

"Are you ok?" Harry asked, wrapping an arm around Dracos shoulders. He could feel the warmth of Harrys body pressed against his as he pulled the blanket closer, hoping the flush in his cheeks could be contributed to the cold air.

He looked away and saw Blaise and Theo, the latter was giving him a thumbs up, clearly having heard part of the conversation, to which he rolled his eyes, he could see Vincent and Greg making their way down as well.

"So," Blaise said, "If you weren't going to steal her away from Lord Malfoy, they why the stairing?" he asked.

"don't make me say it," Harry said, hanging his head. "It's too embarrassing."

"oh no-"Vincent said as he joined the conversation.

"Now you have to tell us." Greg finished, granted they had no idea what was going on, but they loved good gossip.

"It's just…." He faltered. "I wonder if my mom would have been like that? If she would have marched over and destroyed the committee? Would she even be proud of me for competing? Would my dad?"

"Harry," Draco said, his hand finding it way into his grasp. "From what I understand, your dad and mom, would have been so proud of you. Uncle says your mom had quiet the temper, so of course she would have destroyed them, your dad would have probably laughed, while Sirius Black planned the biggest prank ever. They would have been proud." He said, looking to the other four boys for confirmation.

"Yea, I mean we've all heard the stories." Vincent said.

"You think Draco's mom is bad, my dad told me he once spent 3 days covered in boils, upside down, because he called your mom a….name." Greg said, eyes shifting away.

"For heaveans sake." Blaise said, looking at the two. "Harry, you must understand, even though our parents were on the wrong side of the war, your parents were really respected by everyone, my mom says that why HE chose to go after them."

"I don't think you need to worry about them being proud, they were truly terrifying people, what you should be worried about is if the school had still been standing when Lily Potter nee Evans got done with it." Theo said with a laugh.

Draco and Harry laughed at their friends, Draco may have missed the warm look that Harry had when stairing at the blonde, but Theo did not.

"So you just have to survive one more task right?" he asked.

"Yep" Harry answered. "How bad can it be really." He laughed.

]

Cedric fell to the ground, unconscious. Harry wasn't sure what had happened, the Cup should have taken them to the beginning of the Maze, and he found himself regretting that he had talk Cedric into taking the cup with him.

He was crouched down, checking on Cedric, when he realized he was in a graveyard. The stones were broken in places and the area was shrouded in heavy fog, the dark felt suffocating.

Where are we? He wondered, before feeling magic wrap around him, pulling him through the air, before a statue came alive and held him in place, he felt a binding spell on his magic, just in time to see a familiar figure emerge from the dense fog.

"Wormtail" he growled. "I should have known, you coward."

Wormtail ignored him in favor of conjuring a large caldron, a large fire leapt into being beneath it.

"Don't you ignore me, you bastard, you're the reason they're dead. The least you owe me is an explanation. Where am I? What do you want?"

"I owe you nothing boy." The pudgy man told him. "But I suppose I could explain while we wait. You are here because it is time to revive my master. He left me ritual to use, it will bring him back, and then, I will have the power that I rightfully deserve." He continued.

The whole situation was almost enough to make Harry laugh.

I should have known, He thought. I always thought that he was just terrified, just going along with whoever was the most powerful, but this man is a true believer in that psychopath.

The realization was much more shocking the more he thought about it. This rat, who had killed his parents, had caused his Godfather to be placed in prison, and left his only remaining friend to think he was alone in the world, was only after power. It seared his senses, leaving behind only a deep and unabating rage.

"Power?! You betrayed them for power?" He shouted, struggling against the statue. "How could you, they loved you, they trusted you!"

"That was their mistake, wasn't it." Wormtail said, a twisted smile on his face. "But not to worry, you'll be seeing them soon." He continued, as he stepped up the caldron gently placing what appeared to be a golem inside.

"Now, we begin."

As Wormtail began the ritual, Harry continued to struggle. He was angry, he raged at the man, he prayed, for anyone, anything to get him out of this mess, begged the universe for the chance to stop and go back, stop the tournament, stop himself from taking the cup, stop Cedric too, stop his parents from dying. He felt the tears gather in his eyes as he watched the bone of Tom Riddle Sr. drop into the caldron. I should have kissed Draco. He thought. I don't want to die without knowing what that would have been like.

He felt panic for the first time, and despare, and then he felt something else.

It felt as if something was….moving…inside his mind. A warmth that he could only describe as love flowed through him when he heard her voice.

"Little Speaker," Lilith said. "Something is wrong, you are distressed. Not as you were when you pulled Little Dragon out of the water, worse, darker."

"Lilith, please, I need help… Wormtail, he but some kind of barrier on my magic, he's going to bring back Voldemort, then kill m- AHHH." He screamed as the man dragged the dagger down his arm, blood spilled across the ground, before being flicked into the caldron.

The earth trembled, headstones fell to the ground, Harry could see the man smiling, "Almost there, Master." He murmured.

He raised his knife, ready to remove his hand, a sacrifice for his master, when he found himself face to face with a very angry dragon, shortly before he found himself held firmly under her clawed foot.
He froze, careful not to move as he watched Potter free himself, felt the spell he'd used to bind the boys powers snap like an old band, it seemed almost as if the boy and dragon were having a conversation, before he felt magic wash over him.

"How dare you." He heard; the cold fury of the voice sent shiver though his body. "You think to touch my fledgling. You think yourself worthy of my child's blood?" The pressure on his chest increased, breathing was hard, and he had the sudden realization that his death was a very real possibility. "Do not think that your abilities will save you this time Rat." She hissed. "I would cull the earth of you line forever, were it up to me."

"But once again, Pettigrew, I need you to save my Godfather. So, you will live another day, but Lilith here," Harry said, rubbing a loving hand along the dragon's neck, down to her snout which was now mere inches away from Peter Pettigrew's face. "She tells me that there is a way to lock you in one form. So, when she cast the translation spell, so she could yell at you, she cast another, you are trapped in your current form. Forever." He told the man.

"You deserve far worse Rat." She glared at him, she took pleasure in the fact that the creature below her talons smelled of fear, he shook and looked as if he were about to beg, and how she longed to hear it. Hoped to the ancestors he would, so she could see the despair on his face right before she ate him, yes this 'human' deserved worse, but her fledgling was right, and if all went well, he would be safely away from his mother's hatch-mate come summer.

"WHAT THE FUCK!" came the panicked voice of Cedric, finally coming around from the stunner that had hit him. "Harry there's a dragon, what the fuck?"

"Cedric, calm down." Harry said, walking back over to his friend. "She's cool."

"Cool? COOL? That's a bloody dragon, we have to get out of here!" he shouted.

"And we will, but first we have to collect some trash." The boy said cryptically, turning and placing a hand on the dragon, which Cedric was sure was the same from the first task.

"Harry, why is there a dragon here? Where are we? What is GOING ON?" he asked, panic coloring his tone as he begged the boy to explain.

"I'll explain it all when we get back to the school, I promise."

"How are we getting back to school?" he asked, panic had quickly given way to numbness, he was sure he was going into shock. "How are you so calm?"

"Practice." The single word spoke volumes to the life the young man had led.

}

The sheer volume of shouts and cheers when the two young men reappeared was quickly overtaken by shouts of confusion when the crowd realized that they were holding a third man between them. Peter Pettigrew back from the dead, stood bound in magical restraints in front of the spectators.

Mad-Eye was the first to respond, he leapt forward, faster than a man with one leg should be able to move and seized the man, dragging him forward and throwing him to the ground.

"Guess Sirius Black was innocent after all." He called beckoning the other Aurors forward to collect the man.

The rest was a blur to Harry, who stood to the side, speaking quietly to Cedric filling him in on what had happened while he had been out until Madam Pomfrey forced them to the Hospital tent to check them over.

"Well," she said, having cast every diagnostic spell she could think of, "By the grace of Merlin and Morgana you both seem fine."

She heard Harry give a gasp of relief as she cast a silent spell to pop two of his ribs back into place.

She breathed a sigh of relief as well, while she was familiar with the Diggory boy, having seen him for several Quidditch related injuries over his time at Hogwarts, but Potter, that boy was basically a staple in the Hospital wing, he even had a regular bed, she forced him there every September after he returned from the muggle world, and had a file at least 3 inches thick of every injury he had ever received. It angered her to no end that she couldn't help him, having only the option to report the obvious abuse to his magical guardian Albus, who consistently did absolutely nothing to help the child, insisting that the boy was just accident prone, and had forbid her from doing his check this year.

"So, we can go?" Potter asked her, a hopeful look on his face.

"Diggory you may go, Potter I would like to have a word with you before you run off." She said.

Harry gave a deep sigh, pouting, but stayed all the same, it came as a complete shock when the matron stepped forward and pulled him into a hug.

"Harry, I am so glad you are ok." She said, pulling back and releasing him. "You gave us quite the scare young man, and I do not want to see you in my hospital wing again for the rest of the year, do I make myself clear?"

"Yes ma'am." He said with a fond smile.

"Good, one more thing," she said, conjuring the thick file she had on him. "Should you ever decide that your current accommodations are no longer fit, this may help."

Potter looked at her stunned, as if he hadn't known she had kept it, but he took it with a smile.

"Thank you," he told her. "But Sirius should be free soon, and I'll get to live with him, so I hope I wont have to use this."

"Keep it, just in case." She said with a wink.

}

Harry was rushing toward the castle, he was on a mission, he had a certain blonde to find, at least that had been the plan, but a certain headmaster stopped him before he could make it. The conversation was one sided, as it often was, but it left Harry feeling defeated and tired.

This is how Draco found him, defeated, tired, and panicked. He had spent hours waiting for Harry to find him, finally going to look for the boy himself. He had looked everywhere before finding Harry at the top of the Astronomy tower, he was pacing back and forth, his magic whipped around him like a hurricane, something had upset the boy, and Draco was going to find out what.

"Harry? Harry what wrong?" he asked, trying to catch his attention, but Harry was so engrossed in whatever was going on in his head that he couldn't hear anything else.

Draco caught a few words, but it was almost impossible to understand.

"cant…don't…back…why….hate it…kill me…"

"Harry, you have to calm down." He said stepping closer, but he knew it was of no use, he could only think of one thing that might shock Harry out of this, but despite his best efforts, Draco had yet to ascertain if this act would cost him his friendship with the raven-haired boy.

Little Dragon, you will often find in life, that it is best to just do what you have to do. He remembered Lilith's words, Just do what you have to do.

Taking a deep breath, Now or never, he decided, stepping forward into the raging storm he had expected it to hurt but instead of biting pain, it felt like a warm breeze, it caressed his skin and lifted his hair. He walked with purpose and closed in just as Harry turned at the wall.

He grabbed his arm and swung him, and pushed, so Harry's back was flush with the wall. Harry let out a woosh of air as he hit, but Draco couldn't stop, as if the second he made the decision all control had left him, he pushed his body against the other boys, his hands found Harry's head, and using the shorter boy's hair he tilted it up, his lips meet Harrys….and his body exploded.

His plan to shock Harry out of his panic had worked a little too well, but he wasn't going to complain, this was everything he wanted, Harry against him, kissing him back. The younger wizards panic had disappeared almost instantly, replaced by sudden, all-consuming desire. Draco felt his change in emotions, as the magic around them settled, it was as if years of pining was released and resulted in both boys losing themselves in the kiss. All thoughts and worries were gone and left behind was only the feel of Harry's thick curly hair in his fingers and his lips on Draco's own.

Harry began to fight for control of the kiss, he pushed his body closer, as if trying to melt into him. He kissed him like he was drowning, like Draco was the first fresh air he breathed after a lifetime in the water, and he nibbled at his bottom lip, his tongue rubbed along it, asking Draco for access without pausing or breaking the kiss, it caused him to gasp, and Harry plundered his mouth.

He felt Harry's hands find his waist, they tugged and tore at his robes, the fastenings easily coming undone. Merlin those hands! He thought as they pulled his shirt out of the way, finding his skin underneath, leaving trailing lines of heat where they touched.

Draco unconsciously followed suit, his hands moved down, releasing Harry's hair, the simple shirt of the trial uniform may as well have been made from paper, it gave easily as he broke the kiss, his mouth traveling Harry's throat, devouring every inch of skin he could reach.

He felt Harry freeze as the shirt opened but was too distracted by the way the other boys skin felt against his lips to stop…until his hands found the first scar.

It was just above Harry's hip, a large round burn mark, like the cigarette burns he had seen on Theo's arms, but bigger. His wide eyes met Harrys, the emeralds were dark, and he could see the desire that should have been there had been replaced by resignation.

"Cigar." Harry said, his voice hollow. "My uncle likes to drink, and when he drinks, he smokes." He said with a shrug, as if he hadn't just broken Draco's heart into a million little pieces.

Draco took a minuscule step back, his hand still firmly on the other boys hip, letting the full moon illuminate the rest of Harrys torso, he found it littered with scars, and began to trace each one. Several more cigar burns were there, among others, but he couldn't be sure what had caused them, it almost looked as if someone had taken a whip to him. One long one stretched from just above his left nipple and went over his shoulder, and he wondered how far down his back it went. He almost cried when he felt the scars on the wrist held in his hand.

"Harry, love, what happened to you?" he whispered, pulling the other boy tightly against his own body.

"My family" he said, the word was spoken with such vehemence that Draco was sure Harry was trying to set it on fire, "do not appreciate me the way you do."

"Well, you just won't go back then." Draco said the air of finality in his tone made Harry want to laugh, as he felt the arms around him tighten.

"No choice love, it's the only place I have to go."

"No choice? No choice?!" Draco exclaimed, he leaned in close, his lips so close to Harrys ear that he could feel them move as he whispered. "I will not allow you to go back there. I will not allow those filthy muggles to hurt you! I will be damned if you ever set foot in that house ever again, and it will most definitely be over my dead bo-"

"Draco, calm down. I don't want to go back, but I have nowhere else to go. Trust me if I could get out of it I would," Harry said, pulling back to look Draco in the eyes, those eyes he loved swirled like liquid mercury against storm clouds, and he couldn't hold it in anymore, grief swamped him, and the truth came spilling out.

"They hate me Draco, and I hate them, I'm so tired, I don't want to go back," he rushed, he tried to stop the words coming out of his mouth, but he couldn't. Tears poured down his face as he continued. "I know they're going to kill me one day. I though…I thought after today, with proof that Sirius was innocent, I would be free, I could live with my Godfather, and everything would be fine. But Dumbledor said I had to stay, something about wards and protection. He's my magical guardian so I must do what he says…but I DON'T WANT TO GO BACK!" he ended up shouting.

"Fuck Albus Dumbledor!" Draco growled, his arms tightening around Harry's waist before he pulled back. "Love, you don't have to worry about going back, I will never let that happen. There are so many other ways to protect someone." He assured him, waving his wand and righting their clothes.

"Let's go," he said, grabbing Harry's hand and pulling him out of the tower.

"Where are we going?" Harry asked, wiping the tears from his face with his free hand.

"To talk to MY godfather, I'll need to use his Floo. My father will hear about this, and he will fix everything. You'll see." He said, practically dragging Harry with him as he left the tower.

Neither noticed the shrewd gaze of Theo Knott follow them as they left, having come out to finish his astronomy homework he had walked in just in time to see Draco fix their clothes. It was about time, he thought. His plan would soon come to fruition. He had never been prouder of himself.

} Several years later

Theo Knott stood to Harrys left, accompanied by Blaise, while Vincent and Greg stood across from them, Severus stood towering in the middle, the aisle stretched out before them bracketed on both sides by chairs filled with the people Harry loved the most.

The twins had shut down their shop for the day, Charlie and Bill had traveled from Romania and Egypt respectively to be here, McGonagall sat regally in the front roll beside a very excited and healthy Sirius Black, even Pansy and Daph had blown off Milan fashion week to be present, quiet a feat considering it was the shopping event of the year Harry, how can you not know this?

Luna and Neville sat beside two empty chair, which Luna insisted on being for Harrys parents.

It all faded into the back-ground as he watched Draco float down the aisle, Narcissa guided him on one side and Lucius on the other, pride shown from their faces.

Yes, today was the day, today was the day he finally got to marry Draco Malfoy.

The ceremony was short, they listened to Severus speak of the love they shared, of sorrow and triumph, and of the never-ending devotion that he knew would never fade, Magic made them one, but they knew that they had someone else to thank for bringing them together.

The reception was beautiful, filled with laughter and dancing, as everyone sat down to eat the toasts began.

Vince and Greg toasted to the fact that they only had to listen to 4 years of Draco whining about Potter before he did something about it. (It could have been so much worse.)

Blaise toasted that Harry getting resorted into Slytherin is all it had taken to fix his savior complex and bring out his true possessive nature. (Harry having vowed that he would never allow Draco to leave him on more than one occasion.)

Theo toasted to the couple, "They were always meant to be." He said. "Love like that deserves to be cherished, and I for one, am so thankful you found each other."

They went on for a while, before Draco and Harry stood up, and made a toast of their own.

"Thank you all so much, for being here today." Draco said.

"It means so much to us, for you all to come and support us as we tie our lives, hearts and magic together." Harry continued. "Everyone here today has heard mine and Draco's love story, but we want to share a little bit of the story that you may not know."

"You see, before I was quite literally rescued by the last people, I ever thought would save me, I did not have the best childhood."

"And while no one else seemed to notice," Draco said. "One person certainly did."

They raised their glasses, both turning and gave Theo a look of thanks.

"So, we would like to raise a toast, to Theo Knott, whose plan Code Named: Get Malfoy to save Potter, led us together and made all of this possible." Harry said.

"And maybe next time you make a secret plan to save somebody, don't leave your planner open on your bed." Draco laughed.

FIN