Epitome of a Soldier - What it is to be Necessary

Hi everyone :)

*sings* Who loves reviews? Do do dodo do do. I love reviews. Do do dodo do do. Who answers reviews? Do do dodo do do. I answer reviews...

Dragon
Mmm, think a bit more than just cuddling is gonna be going on in this chapter :D

Anna
This fic isn't going to continue until after Harry graduates I'm sorry to say (I had to cut off the story at some point others I know I would've ended up writing his entire life). But it's nice to know that you're interested enough to want to know that sort of thing :)

polka dot
Indeed, that is the question, does Harry really want anything (other than Draco of course XD)?

Snivelly
Since Harry is so OOC, I tried my best to keep everyone else as in character as possible to try and balance it out; nice to know such as been noted and appreciated by one at least ^_^

thrnbrooke
I know! *joins you in fan-girlish squeals*

whitewaterlily
I'm not sure Harry would cope very well with an ill Draco; he needs to experience life a little more before he's ready for stress such as that XD Sweetness abound in this chapter which I hope you'll enjoy :D

DTDY
Indeed it is :D

Kuromei
Well, you'll just have to wait and see about the IQ test won't ya? And that snow scene madew me chuckle; shame I didn't think of it and then write it XD *hugs Kuromei-chan*

I have but one word: smut :D

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25th December 1997: Morning

Harry woke slowly, his consciousness slowly melting into him, bringing him the knowledge that he felt better at that moment than he had since the entire poison fiasco. He felt stronger, more willing to get out of bed, more able to get out of bed. It was a relief to say the least, he had been starting to worry whether or not he was ever going to get better.

As a little more awareness sunk in he noticed the sensation of someone watching him. Upon flickering open his eyes, he discovered that it was unsurprisingly Draco, propped up on an elbow and gazing down at him with soft eyes. When he saw his bed partner was awake, the blond leaned down and pressed a light, lingering kiss to Harry's forehead. "Merry Christmas." He murmured, a smile spreading across his lips.

"Merry Christmas." Harry returned quietly, his lips providing the only movement and that was barely anything. "Have you been awake long?"

Draco shook his head. "No, not really. You looked so peaceful that I didn't have the heart to wake you, thought you might appreciate the extra sleep as well." He revealed, answering the question which had been on the tip of Harry's tongue. A slow, wide grin spread across the Malfoy's face once he had said that. "And now you're awake, we must open presents!"

Harry, admittedly, felt a small spark of amusement as his best friend all but fell out of the bed in his obvious excitement. The stoic youth's movements were much more controlled as he got out of the bed, shuffling his legs out from under the duvet and over the side of the mattress so he could get onto his feet. He then made his way over to the bed he never slept in anymore but where his trunk of possessions still rested at its feet. A couple of moments later and the two Slytherins were back on Draco's bed, sitting on the edge close together, thighs touching, ready to exchange the gifts they had bought for each other.

"You have to open my presents first." Draco insisted enthusiastically, holding the gifts out in offering.

"Very well." Harry consented, accepting the three items and settling them down on the bed next to himself. He simply started with the present which was on top of the small pile and set about unwrapping it, taking care not to rip any of the paper as though to do so would be a great insult to Draco.

The first gift was an Everlast quill as over the past six months, Harry had displayed an uncanny ability to break the tip of every quill he set to paper. The second gift was a large assortment of various different types of tea, no doubt because tea seemed to be the only edible thing Harry didn't think that consuming was an unpleasant chore to endure. The third and final gift was a selection of around half a dozen books, the subjects of which ranged from techniques of developing wandless magic all the way to an examination of all the evidence supporting and arguing the existence of true divination.

Each gift was practical, each was something Harry could use and for that he was grateful as he had been wary of the idea that he would be saddled with useless trinkets or a mountain of sweets if the shop windows in Hogsmeade were anything to judge by. He knew he should've known better really. Who knew him better than Draco? The Malfoy knew what Harry liked and what he didn't like so, naturally, knew that anything which didn't serve a purpose would not be well received.

"Thank you." Harry murmured once all his presents were open, a small smile curving his lips.

"You're very welcome." Draco smiled in return, leaning forward and brushing his lips against the other young man's in the barest hint of a kiss. In a moment he was away again and smiling brightly at his best friend. "If you find you like the teas, I'll give you the address of the place I got them from and you can order some more."

Harry simply nodded to that before he brought forward the presents he had bought for Draco. "I have two gifts for you." He explained softly. "Neither are very much, but I hope they are things you will...Appreciate." He handed them over then, keeping his gaze lowered to the ground. "I must confess that I did not wrap them myself, Hermione did me the favour."

"Doesn't matter, it's only wrapping." Draco said brightly as he pulled open the decorative paper that surrounded the larger of the two gifts, not with as much care as Harry previously had but not ripping into it either. "Ah, expensive chocolates; always appreciated." He grinned as he saw a box of his favourite sweets beneath the wrapping. "My mother told you to order these for me, didn't she?"

"Yes. I had already bought you a present when she sent me the letter which suggested them. I thought perhaps that they would be a suitable second gift so that you might not be completely disappointed should your main gift fail to impress you."

"You give yourself far too little credit." The blond chided lightly as he nudged the smaller youth with his elbow. "I'm sure I'm going to love whatever it is that you got me for a main gift." And with that, the Malfoy took up the small box and began to carefully peel back the wrapping paper.

There was a very definite degree of anxiety bubbling inside Harry as he watched Draco unwrap the small box which contained the gift. An eternity seemed to pass before the Malfoy had finally removed the wrapping paper and lifted off the lid of the box. Green eyes watched intently as the blond seemed pleased with the sight of a masculine ring, pewter claws clutching a small circle of glass in place over a deep crimson liquid inside. Obviously intrigued, Draco brought it much closer to his eyes so he could get a proper look at it. Upon doing so however, he seemed to come to a realisation which confused him as a slight frown creased his forehead as he lowered the ring and glanced to Harry.

"Blood?" He asked, referring to the liquid inside the ring.

"My blood." Harry said simply.

Draco's eyes widened considerably at that as he floundered over what to say. "But...Why...You do know what giving someone a ring of your blood means, right?"

"I know what it means." Harry assured simply as he took the ring, which was in fact a traditional bonding ring, from Draco's hands. "I have already told you before that you are my purpose, my blood merely reaffirms that which I have already promised you; as long as I am alive, I will stand by your side." As he said that, he easily took the blond's left hand and slipped the ring onto his third finger.

Draco's eyes grew suspiciously misty as he glanced down at his left hand. He brought it to himself as he reached his right hand out to Harry and cupped the pale cheek tenderly. "I love you so much." He whispered.

Harry met his gaze before he replied with his own declaration. "As I love you."

It was the first time he had spoken the words and both young men knew it. Draco's eyes grew mistier but his face lit up in delight. He quickly put all the gifts to one side before reaching out to Harry, yanking him towards himself and then holding him in a tight embrace. Harry brought his arms around the blond in return, his heart feeling light at his declaration and the knowledge that it had made his best friend so happy. When the hug was loosened slightly, it was only so they could pull away enough to come face to face before they drew closer again, coming together for a kiss.

Their lips met and Harry couldn't deny he was shocked when the contact felt like it sent a bolt of electricity shooting through him. He gasped from the sensation and that seemed to turn what had supposed to have been a simple little kiss into something much more passionate and sensual. Tongues met and duelled, teeth collided and lips were bruised with the sudden desperate need to get ever closer. Draco abruptly grabbed the smaller teenager around his waist and hauled the form onto his lap so the dark haired youth was straddling his lap. Harry didn't resist, he didn't have the sense to resist, and instead encouraged the treatment as he clutched at the Malfoy’s robes as strong arms crushed him to the aristocrat's chest. Not once did their kiss falter, they remained connected, driven by the sudden need to feel closer, to be closer.

A sudden pleasure struck both youths as their groins suddenly ground together and it was at that moment that their kiss broke abruptly. Both pulled away panting and it was Draco who spoke first: "Harry, maybe we should stop..."

"No." Harry interrupted abruptly.

The blond paused and looked straight into the green eyes directly in front of him. "No?" He echoed.

"No." Harry repeated with a quiet confidence.

That single word seemed to be enough to spur the Malfoy back into movement. In an instant, Draco had brought Harry's body closer as he practically attacked the smaller youth's mouth, nipping at the bottom lip sharply before he mapped out every tooth and angle with his tongue. Eventually, the blond left Harry's mouth and instead attached himself to the slope of the pale neck. "Are you sure?" He rasped and Harry idly thought he had never heard Draco use such a voice before. He sounded so rough, so strained.

It took a second for Harry to find his own voice, but as soon as he had, he spoke his answer with complete surety though his voice wavered, more through arousal than apprehension: "I am." He panted softly. “Very sure.”

Draco eased his weight onto Harry then, forcing his friend to lay down on the bed. When he was, the Malfoy lay flush over him so their bodies were aligned, before teasing them both with a shallow thrust which ground their clothed erections together. "Not all the way," the blond practically growled. "Not now at least."

Harry wasn't going to complain about that. As far as he was concerned, what they were doing at that very moment was more than enough for him. Never before had he ever felt anything at all like this. Until that moment, he hadn't experienced arousal. He had wondered if it was perhaps going to turn out like his sense of self-consciousness and embarrassment; non-existent. The prospect had, admittedly, rather worried him. But now he was reassured. Warm spikes of pleasure shot through him with every thrust of Draco's hips against his and without even really realising, Harry began to undulate his own hips, meeting with the blond's movements and creating a greater pressure between them.

Conversation having long since stopped, both young men were reduced to nothing more than gasps and their feelings of pleasure. As Draco grunted in a steady rhythm, Harry's mouth was stuck open in a permanent gasp of silent pleasure. He was as silent in his enjoyment as he was with everything else but his participation and the odd one or two gasps which did escape him spoke volumes.

As the pleasure started build on top of pleasure and both started to feel the beginning of the end, the annoyance of their clothing barrier became more and more of an issue. Neither stopped their thrusting hips but both began to attempt to reach as much of the other's skin as they could. Their lips joined in a heated kiss, Draco's hands snaked underneath the cotton pyjamas jacket to touch the almost ghost white skin underneath while Harry brought his hands to lace through the thin strands of silver-blond hair which he still had enough sense left to know not to clutch too hard.

When the end came, for Draco it was blissful but nothing Earth shattering. For Harry, he felt as though time had stopped along with his heart. His entire body tensed as he released, his breathing hitched awkwardly and his body moved without him even thinking. Never before had he ever felt anything so intense and it left him breathless and feeling more than a little exhausted. When the initial rush faded, his body slackened instantly and he all but melted into the bed.

Remaining twined together, Draco leaned down and pressed a sweet, closed mouth kiss to Harry's lips, savouring the afterglow. As Harry slowly came back to his senses, he realised there was a slight ringing in his ears. "Why do my ears ring?" He murmured very quietly.

"That can happen sometimes, usually when the orgasm was rather intense." Draco explained, sounding just a touch smug about it. He rolled them onto their sides then, tugging the other boy closer so not a breath separated them. "So what did you think of it?"

"It was...Exhausting."

Draco snickered at that but said nothing.

"And now my pyjamas feel rather sticky and wet."

"Hmm, give me a second and I'll grab my wand." The blond hummed, obviously too relaxed to do it at that moment. "Other than finding it exhausting and now feeling a little sticky, how was it?"

"It was..." Harry hesitated as he thought very carefully on what word he could use. Eventually, he made up his mind and breathed out one simple word. "Wonderful."

A happy smile bloomed on Draco's face and he snuggled closer to Harry, burying his nose in the strands of dark hair. "And that's exactly what I wanted to hear." He paused and pressed a kiss to the top of his best friend's head. "Merry Christmas Harry." He wished for the second time that morning.

A small smile of Harry's own found its way onto his face. “Merry Christmas Draco.”

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25th December 1997: Midday

"Ah, Mr Potter, Mr Malfoy," Professor McGonagall greeted the two young men as they entered the Great Hall, hand in hand. "Merry Christmas to you both."

"Merry Christmas Professor." Draco return politely while Harry remained silent.

"I trust you've had a pleasant morning?" The woman enquired, watching the Slytherins making their way over to the single, long table which all the other teachers were sitting at.

"Oh yes, a very pleasant morning." The blond practically leered, sending a sidewards glance towards Harry.

Harry completely ignored Draco and his words and instead focussed his attention to Sirius and Remus who they were gradually approaching. "Merry Christmas." He quietly wished by way of greeting.

"Merry Christmas to you too Harry." Remus returned while Sirius seemed to surprised by the greeting to respond. "Already exchanged gifts with Draco?"

"Yes." The teenager confirmed as he took the seat Draco had pulled out for him. It was as the Malfoy performed the act of chivilry that the professor's noticed the new ring on his left hand.

"That's...!" Sirius began in a very loud voice which attracted the attention of everyone else.

"My gift to Draco." Harry confirmed calmly and quietly.

"Harry, do you know..." Remus began.

"I do. I make a point of not entering into things blindly."

"Oh, I know Harry, I didn't mean to imply..."

"Do not concern yourself." The stoic youth interrupted his honourary godfather's apology. He really didn't want to get bogged down in a conversation about the ring and so he decided to change the subject rather quickly. "You have had a pleasant morning?"

"Yes, thank you." Remus answered. Beside him, it was obvious that Sirius was still rather stupefied by the sight of the ring on Draco's finger. "If you wouldn't mind Harry," the Potions professor continued. "Could you come to mine and Sirius's rooms after our dinner? There's something we'd like to give you."

Harry glanced from Remus to Sirius without expression as he considered the offer. Although the two men had made a point of coming down to the dungeons to check on him every day since he had been discharged from the Infirmary, no real alone time had been spent as Draco had always been present. For reasons Harry didn't quite understand, it was obvious that at least Sirius truly disliked the Malfoy and so little, if any, conversation was held during such times. Certainly no mention had been made of gifts. Remus was not one to lie and certainly not for the purpose of getting his own way and so Harry was reassured that the giving of a gift was not just a way to get him into their rooms for whatever other reason.

Harry gave a light nod of his head. "Very well."

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25th December 1997: Afternoon

And so the moment came. Dinner had ended and Harry had parted ways with Draco in order to follow his two godfathers to their personal rooms in order to receive whatever it was the two men had got for him. The teenager sat in an armchair, his posture perfect as always, as Remus was in their little kitchen making some tea while Sirius was getting the presents. Whereas other people may have taken the oppotunity to explore the new environment, even if only by looking around from where they sat, Harry made no such move and instead sat completely still, his gaze fixed steadily ahead of himself. He only moved when Remus re-entered and handed him a cup of tea.

"Thank you." Harry murmured almost as a reflex as he accepted the cup and saucer; the words which had once seemed so foreign but had now become natural.

Remus smiled at the gratitude and placed down a second cup and saucer on the coffee table in front of them before settling down on the sofa to the left of Harry, his own cup of tea in his hands (Merlin only knew how he had managed to carry three sets of cups and saucers, all filled with hot tea, into the room so easily). "So what did you and Draco do with yourselves this morning?" He asked casually, obviously just trying to make conversation rather than speaking with the intention to pry.

"Nothing of significance." The teenager revealed and what he actually meant was that they had done nothing of significance to Remus.

"That was a a beautiful ring you gave him, I'm sure he was thrilled with it."

"He did seem to be pleased."

"You really do love him, don't you?" The question was asked in a sort of meloncholy manner as though the love was something to be mourned rather than celebrated.

"I do." Harry confirmed nonetheless, not caring how Remus, or Sirius for that matter, felt about his relationship with Draco.

Saving them both from further travel down that road of conversation, Sirius came in then, two gifts in arm, both wrapped in shiny red and gold wrapping paper. Gryffindor colours, how very predictable.

"Here we are." The dark haired man said cheerfully, striding over to his godson and holding the presents out in offering upon reaching the teenager.

Harry set his tea down on the side table to his left before accepting the parcels with the usual words of thanks. Both of the presents were fairly large, one the size of a square pillow and just as squishy while the other was slightly smaller than that and was hard, obviously a book. It was that one Harry chose to open first, pulling the sealed flaps open carefully before folding the paper over on itself. What was revealed to him was a dull burgendy leather-covered book. He opened it, curious at to what sort of book Remus and Sirius would get him, and was shocked into stillness at the sight which greeted him.

A photo positioned in the middle of the page, a Wizarding one which moved, of two adults, a man and a woman, holding a baby between them. The woman's red hair shined beautifully in the spring sun (and it had to be the spring because there was a tree in the background with blossoms in full bloom), and her dazzling green eyes sparkled with pride and joy as she pressed a kiss to the baby's small fingers. The man, who wore glasses, Harry had never seen before but could recognise the face if only because it looked so familiar to his own. He knew who these people were; his parents and himself as a baby.

"We put it together ourselves." Remus revealed quietly in the silence as Harry flicked through the other pages carefully, finding more pictures of his parents and of himself and Sirius and Remus when they were all younger. "Those are the best of the bunch but there are more in case you're interested."

Harry made no reply to that and instead closed the album carefully, setting it down flat on his lap before moving onto the second, more flexiable present. As with all the others he had received, the paper was removed very carefully, barely a rip made. The youth folded back the wrapping and held up what turned out to be a cloak. On first glance it appeared to be rather unremarkable but upon turning it around and seeing nothing, Harry realised what it actually was.

"An invisibility cloak."

"It was James's." Sirius revealed, sounding more than a little sad.

"My father." Harry murmured, mostly to himself, as he brought the cloak in closer and fingered the material lightly, feeling its texture.

If he was honest, Harry had never really thought about his parents. He knew of them, of course, but he had never considered it at length. After all, they were gone, they belonged to the past and although the past should never be forgotten, it was never wise to dwell on it. But as he sat in the arm chair, a photo album full of images of James and Lily Potter on his lap and an invisibility cloak, that had once been settled around his father's figure, in his arms, Harry suddenly had the very strange sense that his mother and father had been real. Before they had simply been names and actions but now they were real, he had once been with them, he had once loved them and had no doubt been loved in return.

His arms barely moved an inch but it was enough for him to clutch the two items to his chest in a light embrace. "Thank you," he said in an almost whisper. "Thank you for giving them to me." And he didn't just mean the objects, he was giving thanks to the two men for giving him the memory of his parents.

"We're glad you like them." Remus said gently.

"Perhaps," Sirius spoke carefully then. "As long as you're in no rush to get back to Malfoy, you might like to hear a bit about Lily and James?"

It was an offer that had been made countless times before and it was an offer Harry had turned down countless times before. But this time, Harry found that his answer was going to have to be different. He looked up at his two guardians slowly. "Yes," he agreed quietly but firmly. "I would like that very much."

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25th December 1997: Evening

It had been a long, long day but that was something Harry was glad for. Never before had he experienced a day in which he had been so constantly happy all throughout.

The sun had long set outside and all those remaining in Hogwarts had once again gathered in the Great Hall before they all retired for the night. A piano had been fetched in (or cunjured up) and Professor Flitwick sat at it, playing Christmas carols which everyone sang along to. Well, everyone except Harry who didn't know the words. The young saviour sat to the right of Draco, his head resting on his blond friend's shoulder, and on his left stood Sirius who stood beside Remus. Although the singing of the professors and Draco (who was murmuring the words rather than actually singing them) could hardly be described as professional or polished, it was soothing and pleasant to listen to as a mother's crooning might; it didn't need to be perfect or even talented in order for it to sound pleasant.

Perhaps for the first time in his life, Harry felt completely content and, dare he say it, happy. For that moment, in the soft light of the numerous candles around them and the soothing lulls of the unprofessional voices singing carols, every problem and dilema in Harry's life seemed like a far off dream to be worried about only in the harsh light of day. He was not in danger, he had never been poisoned, he wasn't the emotionally challenged saviour of the Wizarding world; he was just him, Harry, in love with Draco who loved him in return and loved by his two godfathers.

Idly, as he slowly began to drift off to sleep, Harry thought that Christmas had turned out to be a very good time of the year and he was already looking forward to when it came again.