The next morning Treeloft was pronounced fit and Harry felt he had gotten over the worst of it. Now he was convinced Treeloft hadn't meant to jump, that he'd gotten close to the edge and lost his balance, but there were still charms set on him to keep him away from danger.

Now Harry could concentrate on the danger to Draco. He had shown Draco the watch and Draco had merely shrugged it off.

"Maybe the thing is broken. Maybe I didn't charm it right."

"It seems to be working fine. I think we should go to the Headmaster's office and-"

"Look like a couple of idiots? I don't think so, Potter. I think we've used our allotment for this year, don't you?"

"This is different. This has nothing to do-but wait. It surely does."

"So someone is upset. So what?"

"Malfoy, it says Mortal Peril! This is reliable magic. I wouldn't scoff."

"So what are you going to do? Put a guard on me twenty-four hours a day? Won't that cut into our shagging time?"

"Can't you think of something else for a change!"

"No, not really. I rather like shagging you. And I like thinking about shagging you. I'm thinking about it now." He slid his arms around Harry even though they were in the middle of a corridor.

Harry wriggled out of Draco's hands. "Draco! We're not supposed to-"

"There are exactly eleven students in this entire school. What are the odds-?"

"For us and our good luck? Let me think."

He sagged. "You've got a point." They stared across the corridor at one another.

"This is ridiculous," said Harry. "What shall we do?"

"About shagging?"

"Will you stop!" But it made Harry smile and then he couldn't stop himself from laughing. "You idiot."

Draco slipped his hand in Harry's and looked both ways up and down the corridor. "Look! We're holding hands! Good God! Call out the Aurors! Two wizards engaging in public signs of affection. Watch the walls! They're tumbling down!"

Harry punched his shoulder.

He released Harry. "Ow, Potter! That hurt."

"It's not funny," he said, stifling his laughter.

"Well what do you suggest?" He suddenly plunged his hand into Harry's pocket.

"Hey!"

"I was looking for the watch."

"That wasn't the watch!" Harry pulled Draco's hand out and glared at the smiling Slytherin. He reached in himself and pulled out the brass object. "Maybe we should go about this logically. If there is danger to you, what is the first thing we should do-besides telling Dumbledore?"

"I don't know." But his eyes brightened suddenly. "Check that sodding map of yours."

"Good idea!" They hurried back to Harry's study and found the map lying on the floor where they'd dropped it.

Draco snatched it up and scoured it. Harry leaned over his shoulder. "I don't see anyone who doesn't belong."

"Neither do I."

They scrutinized it for another minute and finally Draco lowered it. "Well that's a wash out."

"Yeah." Harry took the map from Draco and tapped it with his wand. "Mischief managed." The images all disappeared as if absorbed into the parchment.

Draco smiled at the map Harry tucked back behind the skull. "Pretty neat magic there, Potter. Where'd you get it?"

"My dad. He and Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew made it when they were at Hogwarts."

Draco whistled. "They must have been a scary foursome."

"They were to Snape. They harassed him like you did me. Little wonder Snape hated me."

"Gosh, Potter. Your little dull life just gets better and better. And I thought you lived the perfect existence."

"Feeling guilty for harassing me in the past?"

"No. Couldn't have known it then, could I?"

"Yes, but-Oh never mind!"

Harry walked up to the painting of a fierce wizard battling another and said, "Gryffindors Rule!" The painting slid aside revealing Harry's private rooms.

"Don't suppose you'd consider changing that password anytime soon, would you?"

Harry offered Draco a wide smile. "No."

"My suggestion might be 'Draco's Got a Huge Package'-in Latin, of course. Or my personal favorite 'Harry's Love Nest'…or even 'Shagfest' or-"

"Draco does have a big package."

Draco smirked and hitched up his tight leather trousers. "Why thank you, Potter."

"I don't mean that. Look."

On the bed was a box wrapped with a gold ribbon just delivered by owl. The tag said Draco's name on it.

"More Christmas presents? Who could have sent that?"

Draco moved right for it but Harry's instincts kicked in ever before he could shout. He pulled out his wand and as soon as Draco touched it, Harry sent it flying across the room. It exploded against the wall in a shower of knives and some sort of liquid. The knives stuck fast in the stone wall and it soon became apparent that it wasn't just ordinary liquid. It began to sizzle and ate quickly up the tapestry, bubbling and hissing as it went.

Draco stared open-mouthed.

"Evanesco!" Harry flicked his wand at the acid and it disappeared, stopping the slow disintegration of the tapestry. Breathlessly, Harry turned to Draco. "Now can we go to Dumbledore?"

Paler than usual, Draco slowly nodded.

* * *

Dumbledore ticked his head. "How long has this been going on, Mr. Malfoy?"

Draco tapped his foot nervously as he sat in the chair. "Well, the homophobic diatribe began the day after the Yule Ball."

"And why is it you did not tell me?"

He shrugged. "I'm used to it, is all. I get threats and angry post all the time. Since my trial."

Dumbledore looked saddened and edged forward, resting his hands on the desk. "But as you can see, Draco, this time it is different."

The blond Slytherin pulled his shirt collar away from his neck with a finger. "Yeah, I guess so."

"What should we do?" asked Harry.

"I have arranged for all future posts for Draco to be directed to a safe place to examine them. And I have put special wards on all the entrances to Hogwarts."

Harry took out the watch and opened it up. The portrait now pointed to "Hogwarts". He sighed with relief and showed it to Draco.

"See?" said the blond. "Nothing to worry about."

"I am glad to hear it," said Dumbledore. "And now. About Mr. Treeloft."

"Sir," said Harry, "can't you talk to Fenwick's parents. Tell them it's not…well…it's not…"

"I am afraid that is out of my hands, Harry. But just out of curiosity, what indeed would you have had me say to them?"

He looked at his fingers in his lap. "That they shouldn't be afraid to let their son be who he is."

Dumbledore looked at Harry a long time. "A noble sentiment," he said quietly. He reached across his desk and picked up a large pile of parchments. "Do you know what these are?"

"No, sir. They look like letters."

"They are. These are from parents since the Yule Ball. Parents withdrawing their children from Hogwarts."

"What?" Harry and Draco both jumped to their feet.

Harry moved to the edge of the desk. "That looks like at least a hundred letters!"

"One hundred twenty-six, to be precise."

"But…but…"

"Sir," said Draco, "you have to let us resign."

"Out of the question. However. This letter is from the Board of Governors," and he lifted a lone parchment. "I am afraid it means that you two will have to go to the Ministry. Unfortunately, they passed a few new rules yesterday-without my consent, mind you-and you must address their…well, charges."

"What?" Draco snatched the letter and scoured it. "This is ridiculous! They're accusing us of the most foul things!" He tossed the parchment aside. "I won't go."

Harry took it up and read. "They're basing everything on that damned article in The Quibbler! 'Unnaturally influencing the students', 'unwholesome behaviour', 'malfeasance'? This is rubbish!"

Dumbledore said nothing. Harry felt a cold feeling in his gut. "You're not going to defend us this time, are you?"

"For your own good, I do feel I cannot interfere."

Harry looked at Draco. He wore a lost expression.

"You're right, of course. We got ourselves into this. The best thing we can do is do our best to get out of it with as little harm to the school as possible. Do you think we need a lawyer?"

"You will not be allowed one. And this is only a hearing."

"Oh yes," said Harry with a spiteful laugh. "I know about those 'only a hearing' things from the Ministry. Every time I go to one it turns out to actually be a trial. Do you really think we should bother?"

"I think you should," said Draco with a defeated tone Harry hadn't heard since he'd rescued him from the streets. "You're the Hero of the Wizarding world. They won't really kick you out of Hogwarts. But as long as you've got a Malfoy albatross about your neck you haven't got a chance. I'm going to leave quietly and then they can dust all this under the carpet and forget it."

"No you are not! Honestly, Draco! I know Slytherins aren't the bravest in the world but you can at least stick around to find out what they are really accusing us of? You're the one who wanted to be a barrister, after all. Do something about it!"

"I am doing something, you ponce! I'm leaving."

"And who are you calling a ponce! You're gayer than I am. I don't take forty minutes choosing my clothes every morning, not to mention the time you take on your hair-"

Draco slowly went for his wand. "You don't want to do this, Potter. Trust me."

"Gentlemen! If you cannot control yourselves in my office how do you expect to prevail at the Ministry?"

"Well sir, that's just it," said Draco. "We don't."

"Mr. Malfoy. I urge you to patience-"

Draco turned to Harry with an apologetic smile. "Come on, Harry. I think we've done all we can here."

"Right. Thanks, Albus. It's been great."

They left the office together without uttering another word to Dumbledore and ended up in Harry's room. They wandered aimlessly across the wood floor, not quite knowing how to proceed. Draco sat on the bed, his face lost in thought. "You know, that wasn't a bad idea, Harry. Maybe I should act the barrister and research our options."

"Do you think we have any?"

"Don't know until I check it out. Do you think Hogwarts has law books?"

"Why not? It's got everything else."

He sat thoughtfully for several quiet moments. "You don't think Dumbledore is stepping back out of our way just to make us work on this, do you? Some kind of a test?"

Harry shrugged. "I don't know and I don't care. I'm tired of being manipulated by everyone. It's time I did some manipulation."

"What do you mean?"

"I've never used my influence as a 'Hero', but I think it time I did."

"Harry!" Draco looked up at him with strange expression of admiration. "You've never been more Slytherin than you are right now. I'm proud of Potter's little boy. It's making me rather hard."

"Oh shut up."

They decided to go to the library and seek out Wizarding law books and, fortunately, Hogwarts had them in abundance.

Draco ran his hand along the spines, looking for something that might be close to their situation. "Yes. This looks about right. Rights of Wizards and Witches, Updated and Unabridged, 1627."

He took it down from the shelf and opened it up on the table. Harry peered over his shoulder. "It looks pretty complicated. Do you understand the language?"

"Sure. Why do you think I wanted to do this? I used to look over my father's papers all the time. Wanted to see what I'd get in the Will."

Harry looked askance. "You're joking, right?"

Draco looked back at him perfectly serious. "No."

Harry lowered his eyes back to the book. He guessed Slytherins really were different from the other houses.

Draco flipped silently through the book, tracking forward for several pages, reading, and then searching the index and going back. Finally, it looked as though he'd settled on a section and read silently for several infuriating minutes while Harry sat beside him, trying to decipher the "legalese".

"Oh!" said Draco suddenly sitting up.

"What? What is it?"

"Well…it seems as pertains to the Board of Governors for Hogwarts, any teachers found to be in fault of sections 1407 through 1412-that which pertains to us, homosexuals conducting themselves as…well, homosexuals-that the board has the right to…bloody hell…to publicly flog them as punishment for infringement of the rules! And then we're sacked!"

"Publicly flogged?" Harry grabbed the book and read as best he could the scrawled words. He looked at the cover again. "But this is from 1627. Isn't there a more recent updated version?"

"This is the updated version." He looked at Harry miserably.

"Well I don't care what they do to me but they are not going to hurt you!"

Draco turned his eyes to Harry and Harry suddenly saw something in them he'd never seen before. He couldn't quite identify it, but it was different from any expression he'd seen the Slytherin wear. "You really mean it, don't you?"

"Of course I mean it!"

"I mean…you'd let yourself be hurt just to save me?"

He looked Draco in the eye-into those ice gray eyes-and nodded. "Yes. Wouldn't you?"

"If anyone had asked me that a year ago I would have told them they were mental. But…that's how I feel now, too." His gaze roved over Harry's face, lingering on his lips and then settled on his eyes. "You know," he began in an uncharacteristically soft tone. "I was so scared that first night I came to you. I didn't know what the hell I was feeling. I couldn't really believe what I was feeling. For a man. For you, in particular. I mean, Draco Malfoy feeling this extraordinary lust for Harry Potter? It was completely ridiculous. But all I knew was that my every happiness was bound up in you. That when I thought of the word 'love' only your face came to mind. It scared me, but it also compelled me, because I never had loved before. And then that night you were so sweet and tender to me. You took your time and I was utterly blown away. Before that, I wasn't really sure I was capable of love, but I somehow knew I loved you." He looked away for a moment, his emotions getting the better of him. But slowly, as if wanting Harry to know how much he felt, he turned his eyes to Harry's again. "I watched you sleep, you know," he said a little sheepishly. "Sometimes I still do. But that morning I watched you sleep and then wake up and you turned those beautiful green eyes on me, and I was utterly spellbound. That you-of all people-should want me. And you asked me how I felt, and I felt great! Better than I ever felt before. And it's been so great since-except for me and my lapses of stupidity. I know that Slytherins aren't known for their bravery. In fact, we're better known for running away to get out of trouble. But I promise you this, Harry Potter-my only love-I won't run away and I won't let anyone hurt you either."

Harry sat frozen, his mouth hanging open. Certainly he had known that Draco loved him but he could not have guessed at the depth. Somehow, Harry just assumed as a fact of life that he loved Draco more than the Slytherin could ever love him. Clearly, this wasn't the case.

His eyes felt hot and he swallowed a lump in his throat. "Together, then." He took Draco's hand and squeezed it.

Draco brought Harry's hand to his lips and kissed it. "We'll get out of this. We always have before."

"When is it we have to be at the Ministry?"

"Two days."

Two days. Surely the longest two days on record.


On to Chapter Seven
"The Daily Prophet Revised"

Back to Chapter Five
"Mortal Peril"

Chapter Index

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