Epitome of a Soldier - What it is to be Necessary

Hi everyone :)

Many thanks to those who reviewed :) As always, you're made of awesomeness.

Kuromei
There's three more chapters actually so you'll get a bit more than just some Drarry smex XD *hugs Kuromei-chan*

Dragon
Leaving people speechless is always an achievement :D

Snivelly
To confuse was my aim (didn't want to make it too obvious after all) and the fact that Pansy has such a bad rep because of fanfiction just made it easier to do that XD And yes, mad murderers are sooooooo much cooler and interesting than sane, calm ones.

thrnbrooke
You need, I provide :D

whitewaterlily
Don't worry, there's still another two chapters to come after this :)

Now, a lot of people have been wondering how this will end. Well, there's two more chapters after this and I imagine that this chapter's events will give away what those last two are going to be about XD
Let's speak no more and instead get on with things.

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3rd April 1998: Afternoon

The good thing was there was no one trying to kill Harry anymore so he was allowed to live his life without fear of attack. The bad thing was, because there was no danger, there was no reason for him and Draco to continue to have a room separate from their Year mates which was why they had been required to move back into their dorm room the day after Millicent had been arrested. However, much to the surprise of the rest of the Slytherins, Crabbe and Goyle had officially left Hogwarts soon after Bulstrode had been arrested. Goyle, for medical reasons as the last Imperious Curse that Millicent had cast on him had left some sort of lingering damage. Crabbe, well, none of them really knew, he had simply left without a word to any of the remaining three Seventh Year Slytherins.

And so, because of that, Harry and Draco still had a room to themselves and, as always, they took full advantage of that.

The moment the door slammed shut behind the two lovers, Harry had been pushed back against it, Draco pinning him there, all the time latched onto his lips. Their kiss was hot, needy, urgent, and Harry felt his hand shake as he reached behind himself to lock the door. It was unlikely that anyone was going to try and get in but he felt it was always better to be safe than sorry.

With the door locked, they staggered towards Draco's bed, shedding clothes from each other along the way. Harry was naked before Draco was and so the blond could use his hands for a more pleasurable task. A whispered spell from Harry (which he had actively sought out a book to learn) and the fingers of Draco's left hand were coated in a thick layer of clear, slick gel. Within seconds he had a fingertip carefully circling Harry's entrance. Harry broke the kiss to give a quiet moan when the tip of the finger, down to the base of the nail, was pressed into him. It wriggled and writhed, moving in deeper and rubbing against the walls of his passage, just barely brushing against his prostate every so often. The dark haired teenager bit his bottom lip as his eyes screwed shut at the sensation and as his semi erection gave an interested twitch.

They collapsed on the bed in a haphazard manner when they reached it, Harry coming very close to getting an elbow in the stomach as they touched down. He had very little time to recover as well because Draco was on him again in seconds, lips and teeth latching onto the pale flesh of his neck. The finger inside of Harry disappeared only to return seconds later with a second while Draco's free hand moved to the dusty-rose coloured nipples and began to pinch and rub them until they were pebbled and swollen. When they were stiffened to the Malfoy's taste, he left the neck he had been feasting on to attack the nubs with teeth and tongue. All the while, the fingers moving inside of Harry never stopped making the stoic youth's limbs shake and his heart pound in his chest and ears. His vision, already blurred because he wasn't wearing his glasses, was fuzzy with pleasure, but despite that Harry could still see enough to meet Draco's gaze as the blond glanced up at him. Pewter eyes darkened with lust smirked up at the blushing young man just as a third finger pushing into him. A strangled, half-choked sob escaped Harry then and his hips pushed down against the sensation. Draco's lips curved into a smirk against the pale skin of his lover and he never stopped his thrusting fingers as he shimmied down to Harry's erection.

Harry couldn't tell whether what he was feeling felt wonderful or terrible. It was such sweet torment! Draco's lips, hot and wet, mouthed the insides of his thighs before skating up and over and then down his rigid length before they mouthed his sac. It felt so amazing and yet it wasn't enough. Harry wanted, he needed, more before he went insane.

"Draco," he pleaded in a breathless whisper. "Please, no more, I cannot take any more."

In an instant, the Malfoy was away from his lover's erection and had removed his fingers from the well-worked entrance, moving up to hover just over Harry's body. He joined their hands, fingers laced together, and lifted Harry's arms and hands until they were stretched above his head and touching the edge of the bed's pillow. Harry stared up at Draco with hooded eyes as he felt the familiar blunt sensation of something much larger than fingers press against his hole. He lifted his legs, bending them at the knees, opening himself up and inviting his lover inside of him.

Slowly, Draco entered Harry. The head of his erection, slicked only with his pre-cum, pressed against the loosened ring of muscle and sipped in all at once, quite suddenly. Both young men groaned at the connection. Draco basked in the incredible warmth while Harry reveled in the feeling or fullness and the slight burn which his passion-fogged mind seemed to be confusing with pleasure. The saviour's mouth opened and he gave a high gasp as his body moved of its own accord, undulating in such a way that it brought the length inside him deeper.

The blond had his teeth grit and eyes shut at the effort it took to control himself but the sensation of his hands being squeezed had him opening his eyes. Harry was staring up at him with eyes that said so much more than words ever could. Darkened to a shade of ink-green, the usually stoic and unemotional saviour of the Wizarding world looked like a perfect example of a sensual, needy lover. It was a side to Harry that no one would ever see (or even believe was possible) except for Draco and that was something that made him happier than he could adequately describe. In that moment, his heart ached with the emotion of it all and he felt the compulsion to lean down and nudge Harry's nose with his own.

"I love you." He whispered, perhaps sounding more sincere than he ever had about anything else.

"As I love you." Harry returned, his voice just as quiet. Lips met in a light, sweet kiss before the dark haired young man rolled his hips which brought gasps out of them both. "Please move, Draco."

The blond complied at once, drawing his hips back and dragging himself out of his lover at an agonisingly slow movement. That slow pace didn't last for long though as their time limit was an ever present knowledge at the back of the Malfoy's mind. The pace was steadily increased until Draco was moving as fast as their position, with him laying almost flush atop Harry and their hands still linked together, would allow him to. Harry moved to meet him as best as he could, coaxing him in deep and trying to angle himself so that sweet spot inside him could be stimulated. His efforts paid off when a sharp jolt of pleasure swept through his entire body.

"Ngh, Draco, there." He gasped in delight as he repeated his previous movement and his prostate was jabbed once again.

Together, they kept up the movement and the pace and with Harry's prostate being constantly battered, it was mere minutes before he felt the coil in his stomach reach its limit. With a gutteral moan, his orgasm rushed through him and his seed sprayed out up to as far as his mouth though most of it spattered on Draco's chest. The movement inside of him didn't stop and continued to nudge his prostate each time prompting another spasm of pleasure and another spurt of release.

As Harry's writhing started to calm and although the contractions of his channel started to calm, Draco was able to reach his own peak. His thrusts became harder and deeper as he released himself inside of his lover and he continued the frantic humping until the warmth of the after-glow began to seep into his muscles.

The two lovers melted together, Draco laying on top of Harry, his head pillowed on the pale chest, as his spent member slipped free of Harry's abused hole. Their breathing slowly evened out and the grip they had on each others hands relaxed. Harry was the first to move, gingerly bringing his arms down (which were slight stiff from their prolonged period of being spread above him) and settling one beside himself while the hand of the other threaded through strands of blond hair. Draco turned his head very slightly to press a kiss on the piece of skin directly next to him. Such little movements were how they spent the five minutes which followed their love-making before Harry did what he was best at; returned them to reality.

"We are due in class in ten minutes." He murmured tiredly.

"Can't we skip it?" Draco asked through a yawn. "I'm in the mood for a nap."

"You may stay if you wish, I will be going to class so you must let me up."

"And if I don't want to?"

"Then that will be the last time we do what we just did for some time."

Draco lifted his head and gave Harry a rather put out look. "Don't you think that's a bit harsh?"

"No. Now let me up."

The blond sighed but did as he was ordered, rolling to the side and sitting up so his legs were over the side of the mattress.

Harry sat up and stretched his back gracefully as he watched the Malfoy stand and do the same. "I thought you wished to stay to sleep?"

"There's no fun in that if you're not with me. Besides, I probably wouldn't sleep tonight." Draco paused and looked down at himself, wrinkling his nose at the sight of the drying seed on his abdomen. "We'll need to shower before we go."

"Is it wise for us to do so together?" Harry asked lightly as he stood from the bed, a slight smile playing across his lips.

Draco grinned and leaned forward to peck a kiss onto his lover's lips. "We'll just have to control ourselves."

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6th April 1998: Morning

"Good morning, you two." Pansy greeted Harry and Draco as they approached the Slytherin table for breakfast. "Sleep well?"

"Stop it, Pansy." Draco warned lightly as he and the other teenager sat down opposite her.

"I don't know what you mean," the girl protested innocently.

All hard feelings between the two blonde Slytherins seemed to have disappeared withour trace the night she helped to save Harry by telling the professors her suspicions of her dorm mate who had been curiously absent from their room at the time. Draco had instantly gone back to calling her by her first name and although he didn't flirt with her as Harry imagined he probably used to, he was much more friendly and open with the girl than Harry had ever known him to be. In return, Pansy was no longer so snippy with the Malfoy and had even grown friendly with Harry, calling him by his first name. Harry imagined it was because the girl didn't/couldn't understand that he had only stuck up for her because it was the right thing to do. No doubt in her mind, it was something he had done because he wanted to strike up a friendship with her. Despite this being the wrong view, Harry didn't correct her, mostly because it was easier to live with Pansy clearly no longer being jealous of the relationship the two young men shared. If anything, she seemed to revel in it as it gave her plenty of oppotunities to tease them both.

"Anyway," she sighed, reaching into her bag and pulling out an envelope. "You missed the owls and one came for you, Draco."

Draco frowned lightly at that and cautiously accepted the letter. "What colour was the owl?"

"I can't be sure, but I think it was your father's."

The Malfoy glanced at the envelope in his hand warily as though it was about to attack him.

"Perhaps it is simply a friendly letter of hello." Harry suggested, noticing his lover's sudden consternation.

"Lucius Malfoy isn't the sort to write a letter of hello, let alone a friendly one." Pansy grinned, obviously more amused with the situation more than anything. "Come on, Draco, open it and do share."

Draco gave the girl an unimpressed look but nevertheless neatly broke the wax seal and pulled the flap open.

The two other Slytherins watched with great interest as those pewter coloured eyes scanned over the hand-written letter. Draco's face gave nothing away so it was impossible to even try and guess what it was, exactly, he was reading. It turned out to be nothing that the Malfoy wanted to hear though as he abruptly pulled out his wand and with a flick sent the sheet of parchment up in flames.

For long moments, no one spoke or move. Then, finally, it was Harry who cautiously approached the subject. "Bad news?"

Draco spared Harry a glance before looking back ahead of himself firmly. "A ridiculous plea and subsequent threat from my parents. It wasn't important."

"Was it about marriage?" Pansy inquired knowingly which immediately earned her an accusing glare from the blond young man. "I don't know anything if that's what you're thinking," she said, holding her hands up in defense. "It just seems like the most obvious thing which would earn such a reation from you, not to mention you're a Pureblood; you're supposed to have already met and started courting the girl you're going to marry."

"I've already courted the one I'm going to spend the rest of my life with." Draco told her pointedly.

"Well, unless Harry grows a uterus and starts popping out babies, you know your parents are never going to go for that."

That was the final word of the conversation as Draco's hard glare promptly put a stop to anything else which anyone might have wanted to say. Pansy seemed quite happy to return to her breakfast but both Draco and Harry remained still and meloncholy. Out of the corner of his eyes, Harry watched his lover in concern, noticing the worry and anger which clearly showed on the blond's face, and he hoped dearly that this was not the beginning of something terrible.

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12th April 1998: Evening

Harry couldn't deny he was looking forward to seeing Draco again, having not seen the young man since their shared Potions lesson that morning. So, when he entered the Great Hall, his eyes immediately sought the Malfoy out. The blond was nowhere in sight though and only Parkinson sat at the Seventh Year end of the Slytherin table. He headed over came to a stop beside the girl.

"Draco is not here?" He asked, his tone bearing the slightest hint of confusion.

"He's probably in your dorm room, waiting for you."

"Why?"

"At lunch time he got another letter from his parents; it wasn't good news. He won't want other people around when he tells you what's going on." Pansy explained seriously.

Harry stared at her for a few seconds before turning away without further words and heading out of the Great Hall again. The girl's words, they had been ominous to say the least and he couldn't think of what it could possibly be that was so terrible Draco couldn't even eat dinner first.

He moved through the corridors, down to the dungeon, as quickly as he could without breaking into a run. The password was spoken several paces before the entrance into the Slytherin territory so it was well and truly open by the time Harry reached it. With everyone at dinner, the common room was completely void of people which made an already disconcerting situation all the more tense.

When Harry finally reached the door which blocked him off from his dorm room, he stopped completely and only stood there for long moments. He was nervous, he couldn't deny that. He was nervous about what had happened to make Draco skip dinner, he was nervous about what exactly the bad news was. Slowly, he reached for the door knob but paused once again when he'd gripped it. Everything was going to change when he opened the door, he just knew it. After he stood there, procrastinating, for a good minute, Harry knew he could put it off no longer. He turned the knob and pushed the door inwards, entering the room.

"Draco?" He greeted the room quietly as he peered around the edge of the door. What he saw startled him greatly.

There Draco was, sitting on the edge of his bed, his elbows resting on his knees and his head bowed and in his hands. On the floor, between his feet, was a crumbled piece of parchment. The thing which startled Harry, however, was the three or four ruined books which littered the floor. Pages were ripped out and strewn everywhere and the covers had obviously been thrown as they rested at various points near the walls. Also, the curtains around Draco's bed had either been yanked down completely or were hanging on by a thread.

"What happened?" Harry questioned, slightly concerned that some sort of fight had taken place.

"Oh, I did all this." Draco's voice mumbled tonelessly.

"Why?"

"I got a letter from my parents."

Harry carefully moved closer to his lover, acting as though the slightest wrong move would have the blond explode or something. When he reached the Malfoy's side, he bent down to pick up the piece of crumpled parchment. He smoothed it out as he stood again and, when he could, read what had been written inside. As realisation and understanding dawned on him, his blood ran cold and the backs of his eyes began to sting with the beginnings of tears.

"You...Are to be married?" Harry whispered, staring down at the letter, his eyes fixed on the sentence:

"Since you refuse to choose a suitable wife for yourself, your mother and I have decided it is best to choose one for you. You will be married on the 21st of June this year; this is not up for debate. You will marry or you will be disinherited, there will be no third option."

"No!" Draco immediately protested, standing abruptly and snatching the parchment out of Harry's hand. "I'm not getting married, not now, not ever!" He protested as he screwed up the paper again and threw it violently to the side. Seizing both of Harry's hands in his own then, he brought them up to his lips so they ever-so-slightly brushed across the flesh as he spoke. "Unless it's to you, I'm not going to marry at all."

"But you will lose everything; I doubt your parents' threat to disown you is an empty one."

"But I'll still have you and that means so much more to me than a name and money."

"You wish to fight this then?" Harry asked quietly.

"With everything I have." Draco confirmed with the upmost severity.

"Then I will help you."

The blond smiled and stiffened his lips in a kiss against the hand of Harry's which he still held to his mouth. "Then we have already won." He murmured sincerely.

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13th April 1998: Midmorning

The second Harry was out of Divination, he was rushing to the library, eager to meet with Hermione. He wished to recruit the smartest girl in Hogwarts in his and Draco's search for a way in which to get the Malfoy out of his arranged marriage. Harry had barely paid any attention in his class as he anticipated asking the girl's help and then getting to work on the search. They had a deadline, the twenty-first of June, the sooner they got to work, the better.

Entering the library, Harry immediately noticed his friend sitting at the table they usually shared. He dashed over to her, his speed prompting her to look up at him even before he had spoken. "I need your help." He said breathlessly, all but collapsing into the seat next to the Gryffindor.

Hermione looked immediately concerned. "Of course, I'll help you with anything. What is it that's wrong?"

"Draco's parents are arranging him to marry the day after we graduate from Hogwarts. We must find a way to stop such a thing from happening before then."

"An arranged marriage!" The girl cried, obviously horrified with the thought. "Well, of course I'll help you, Harry, but I'm not sure what we can do."

"We have to research in order to discover a loop-hole or something that can be legally done to save Draco from having to marry."

"Do you have a plan on where to start?"

"There are several text books on Wizard law that I am aware of, I believe it best if we start with those."

Hermione nodded before giving Harry an encouraging smile. "We'll figure something out, you know, we'll find a way to let you and Draco stay together."

Harry gave a small nod but said nothing as anything positive he might've said would be a lie. He didn't share Hermione's confidence and he wasn't even sure there was a way to get Draco out of the arranged marriage. If there was a way though, with Hermione's help, they were sure to find it.

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15th April 1998: Midday

It had been a bad couple of days. Every moment Harry had he spent trying to search for a way to excuse Draco from his arranged marriage and that included lesson times. He no longer paid any attention in his classes and instead spent it reading through books on law and the traditions of arranged marriages in the Wizarding world. Yet, despite all this effort and time put into it, he was no closer to finding a loop-hole of any kind. It was all beginning to affect the two young men, dampening theirs moods constantly and becoming the source of sleepless nights.

As Harry entered the Great Hall for lunch time, Draco's eyes were immediately on him, obviously eager to hear if the saviour had made any progress that morning during his free period and his Divination class. If the usually stoic youth's expression was anything to go by, however, it was the same story as always.

"Any luck?" Draco nevertheless asked as Harry slid into his seat.

"None." He answered predictably. "Arranged marriages are taken very seriously and it is almost impossible to find a way out once one has been started."

"Marry someone else before the arranged date, like me." Pansy suggested with a teasing leer.

"Absolutely not." Harry answered for Draco, his tone taking on a dangerous edge.

The girl simply grinned in amusement. "I do believe that's the most emotion I've ever heard in your voice. Anyway, I was suggesting it purely for your's and Draco's benefit. I know and understand the situation so you could carry on being together."

"And the fact that such a marriage would no doubt favour your disgraced family is simply something you would endure, correct?"

"It's not about being unable to continue our relationship, Pansy," Draco told her. "It's about not wanting to make that sort of commitment to anyone other than Harry. If two men could get married, we'd have no problem because I would have proposed to Harry months ago."

"How about you fake your deaths and run away to America?"

"Now you're just being facetious." The Malfoy muttered with an unamused glare.

Pansy didn't say anything to that and instead simply looked at the two young men sadly.

Turning his gaze away from the blonde girl, Harry looked to Draco and felt his heart ache in symapthy for his lover. Although it was hard on Harry too, it was even harder on Draco. The blond had to suffer the betrayel of his parents in trying to force him to marry as well as the frightening possibility that fighting could very well leave him nameless and virtually penniless at the end. He had so much more to lose than Harry did and yet was even more set against the marriage.

Harry shifted closer to Draco, offering his silent comfort as he rested his head against the taller young man's shoulder. A hand saught his out and laced their fingers together as the pressure of lips were pressed to his head, a wordless thank you.

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20th April 1998: Afternoon

Things weren't getting better. In fact, if anything they were getting steadily worse. Still no loop-hole had been found to save Draco and they were running out of places to look. Even with Hermione being a star and doing more than her fair share of work, they had found nothing. Each day the two young men felt their hope slipping away and it was turning their moods darker and darker. Draco was becoming increasingly irritable with everyone, including Harry, but when the dark haired young man called him on it he'd immediately become overly apologetic and even weepy on the bad days. Harry seemed to be reverting back to his old ways as what little tone he had disappeared and, slowly, he was becoming as unresponsive to everything as he had been when he had first been woken.

Harry had a free period at that moment but he wasn't spending it in the library searching for answers. He was more in the mood to brood (a bad habit he had picked up from who knew where) and so was heading to his empty dorm room to do just that. Unfortunately for him, he never got that far before a voice he had only heard once before said his name. It caused him to pause in his step and turn around to come face to face with Narcissa Malfoy.

The young man stared across at the woman in silence for long moments before turning away, intending to continue on his way. "Draco is currently in Arithmancy." He told her tonelessly.

"I know he is, I've come to see you." Mrs Malfoy revealed.

Harry glanced over his shoulder and eyed the woman critically, looking her up and down for a moment before turning away from her once again. "It is unlikely that my godfather is in his rooms at the present time, we shall go there."

He started away in silence, simply expecting the woman to follow him. He quite honestly didn't care if she followed or not, she was possibly the last person on Earth that he wanted to talk to (or at least one of them). Her desire to talk to him didn't make much sense in Harry's mind either. What use was it? How was talking to him going to do anything? After all, Draco was the one she and her husband were trying to force the marriage onto and so surely he should've been the one they focussed their attention on.

The entire journey to Sirius and Remus' rooms was travelled in silence and even when they had entered the room and settled into their seats, Narcissa sitting on the sofa while Harry occupied an armchair, neither of them spoke. The Malfoy glanced around herself, seemingly intent on looking anywhere but at Harry while the Wizarding world's saviour stared at her intently. He wanted this over with but he could hardly start the conversation so he'd simply look at the woman until she started talking. If too long passed though, he'd have to give her an ultimatum; he wasn't about to spend his entire day sitting in silence with Narcissa Malfoy.

"I," the woman finally started, speaking softly and slowly. "I suppose you must be wondering why I came to speak to you."

Harry made no reply and instead continued to look at her coolly.

Narcissa glanced to Harry before looking away again, obviously awkward and trying to disguise it. "Well, I thought it would be wise to come and talk things through with you. Neither Lucius or I have really taken the time to explain what's happening; I suppose we just forgot that you wouldn't understand..."

"I understand everything perfectly." Harry interrupted her, his tone neutral but his voice like ice.

"Then you should know that it's what's best for Draco."

"I do not agree with that and neither does he."

"We're not asking for you and Draco to stop seeing each other completely." Narcissa revealed in a reassuring sort of tone, as if that was the only problem the young men could have had with the arrangement. "We know how happy you make him and we would never ask for him to give something like that up. But please, Harry, Draco can't afford for you to be selfish. He needs to marry and produce an heir to the Malfoy line and then stay married so that the child is raised in a suitable environment. So won't you talk to him? If Draco knew you were all right with things then he would consent to the marriage."

"No, he would not, and you do not know your son very well if you think otherwise."

A frown marred Narcissa's face at that. "I think I have been rather understanding and civil so far, so surely you owe me as much as to repay the curtesy."

"Why?" Harry asked simply.

"Why?" The woman echoed, apparently completely confused by the one word.

"Why should I repay the curtesy? You are the one asking something from me, you are the one who is trying to ruin both mine and Draco's lives, you are the one who is being incredibly insensitive to your son's feelings. I owe you nothing, Mrs Malfoy, nothing but contempt."

Perhaps that had been a little too much but Harry was feeling an anger he had never experienced before and although his tone betrayed nothing, he couldn't stop his words from being as harsh as they were. Narcissa appeared to be completely stunned by the declaration. Then, just as she had recovered and looked to be about the speak angry words of her own, the door into the room opened and both Remus and Sirius entered. They both stopped upon noticing the Malfoy.

"What are you doing here?" Sirius asked his cousin rudely.

"Nothing that is of any use." Harry answered for her as he stood and turned from the woman. "I have nothing more to say to you, Mrs Malfoy, it would be best if you returned to your home and husband."

Although Narcissa stood, she made no immediate move to leave and instead glared at Harry. "Yours and Draco's stubborness will get you no where. The marriage is legally binding and cannot be stopped so I suggest you accept it sooner rather than later." With those last words, the blonde woman swept towards the entrance, passing the three males without further comment.

Sirius watched her go with a dark scowl on his face and then turned to follow after her as she left the room.

Remus remained with Harry, moving his gaze onto the young man. "Are you all right, Harry?" He asked gently, placing a hand on the trembling youth's shoulder.

"I am scared..." Harry admitted in a whisper, sounding close to tears. "I am scared that she will take Draco away from me and there will be nothing I can do to stop her."

"Oh, Harry..."

"What can I do, Remus? He means everything to me, he is what makes me necessary."

His emotions finally catching up with him, Harry began to cry softly and he brought his hands up to cover his face. Remus gently turned him and pulled him into his arms, one hand still resting on the young man's shoulder while the other gently carded through his hair. That was how Sirius found them when he returned to the room not a minute later, Harry crying into his hands and Remus offering what little comfort soothing words and a gentle hold could provide.

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22nd April 1998: Morning

Perhaps, Harry thought as he lay on his bed with a blank gaze fixed onto the canopy above, it was time to simply accept the fate which seemed so unavoidable. Nine full days he and Draco and Hermione had spent devoting most of their time to searching out a way to stop the Malfoy's arranged marriage and they had found nothing, not even something which might lead them to something else. So, maybe it was time to accept what seemed to be inevitable and concentrate on the hard task which would be coming to terms with it. Tears came to Harry's eyes even as he thought about it though; he so didn't want Draco to get married.

The sudden bang and movement of the dorm room door swinging open violently had Harry flickering his gaze from above just in time to see Draco hurry into the room, a heavy book open in his hands. The blond's expression was excited, hopeful, anxious. Just looking at the Malfoy stirred likewise emotions inside Harry as he began to push himself up into a sit.

"I've got it," Draco declared, heading straight over to Harry's bed. "This is how we're going to stop the marriage." He reached the side of the bed and set the book down. "Read the passage I've underlined."

Harry reached out to bring the book closer to himself and proceeded to do as Draco had instructed, reading the underlines words out loud. "A magical bonding, wherein two beings of magic bind their magical signitures together, discounts all other forms of bonding including that of marriage. However, such bonds are rarely created as they are irreversable and intimately link the lives of the two magical beings in all ways." The underlining of words stopped at that point.

A silence lingered for a short time then before the blond got impatient. "Well," he prompted anxiously. "What do you think?"

"You wish for us to bind our magics?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Why?" Draco echoed in disbelief. "Surely you can see how perfect it is! It means more than marriage, Harry, and it isn't based on gender; two wizards can bond legally. It means my parents won't be able to force marriage on me, it means we'll get what we want; to be together, always."

"It is irreversable." Harry murmured, sounding as though he was talking to himself mostly.

"So my parents won't be able to even try and force me to break it."

"Your feelings for me may one day change and there will be no way for you to distance yourself from me."

"Don't make the mistake of thinking I'm doing this selflessly or something of the like." Draco told him, getting down on one knee and taking Harry's left hand in both of his own. "This is a completely selfish, extreme move. If we bond, nothing will ever be able to take you away from me. You'll be mine for an eternity, just like I'll be yours. So please, Harry, won't you do me the honour of bonding with me?"

Harry looked at Draco for what seemed like the longest time, his gaze neutral and yet clearly analytical in nature. Eventually, his mind was made up. "If you are certain, then I will consent."

"So, you will bond with me?"

"Yes, Draco, I will bond with you."