Heir of light, Heir of darkness

Chapter 03


Breakfast was a strange affair. Everybody seemed to be doing their best to behave towards their former enemies. Harry actually saw Ron speaking with Goyle and pointing at something on a map. Hermione was with them, sending and receiving notes from the other tables as well as from outside the great hall. Every now and then she would show one of the notes to Ron and Goyle, and the three of them would discuss something between themselves before she would send a reply.

At the High Table, Lucius Malfoy had greeted him warmly before returning his attention to Lupin and continuing their conversation. Nothing made sense anymore.

And Draco Malfoy had his hand on his thigh! By all rights he should be screaming at the blond from the top of his lungs, but… well… he wasn’t exactly annoyed or uncomfortable with the fact that Malfoy was touching him.

Harry had known for quite some time now that he liked wizards better than witches, and he was not blind; he always thought the blond Slytherin was way more attractive than he cared his enemies to be… but Draco *was* an enemy and therefore off limits. When had that changed?

Oh, yes. Last night.

Their wedding… maybe this easiness was the bond in action. Sure, he was attracted to Draco before, but he would have never acted on it and now he was sitting at the same table with Malfoy, the blond wizard had his hand on his thigh, and everything was fine. Last night had certainly changed a lot of things.

The night the control of his life was once more taken away from his hands without a second thought, the night when he had been wed to someone else, to Draco Malfoy, and nobody bothered to ask his opinion about it… just a pawn, once more he was means to an end.

Draco shifted in his seat, looking at him carefully.

“It’s everything all right, love?”

“Just peachy,” Harry snorted.

“What is wrong?” Draco asked, frowning.

“I’m not a person anymore. I’m a thing to be tossed around and used!”

Draco got up to his feet, still holding Harry’s hand, and, with a brief nod to the others at the table, made Harry stand up.

“Come with me, love. It’s time we have a small chat.”

He guided Harry out of the Great Hall and all the way back to the room where they had spent the night. The presence of both ‘his guard’ and Draco’s prevented any conversation on the way, so Harry had to wait until they reached the room and the door was closed behind them.

“Ok, how about a real explanation about what is going on? Why did Tonks say Fudge handed his job over to us? How come you are so calm about all this? And why the freaking hell is your father out of Azkaban and sitting on the same table with Fudge and Dumbledore? What the hell is going owwhnngff…”

Harry was suddenly pressed against the wall, being thoroughly kissed by the blond Slytherin. He could feel Draco’s whole body against his, which was a good thing because his legs had officially gone on vacation and were no longer supporting him.

Draco went on with the kissing until Harry stopped struggling; then he let it last a bit longer so that Harry started respond to the kiss, just for the sake of it. Only then did he slowly pull away.

“Ok, I tell you everything,” Draco said before kissing Harry again. “Come sit with me.”

He led Harry to the couch, where they sat, still hugging each other.

“A few months ago I went to Fudge’s office with my lawyer and convinced him, very easily I might add, to invoke the Pax Coglinatio in order to end the war…”

“Out of the goodness of your heart, I’m sure,” Harry offered.

“Oh! Merlin. No.” Draco chuckled. “Don’t you see? This is our last year at Hogwarts; today is actually be the day we were suppose to be leaving for good. We wouldn’t be just children anymore; we would be warriors, taking sides at what was going to be a huge war where a large number of wizards would lose their lives. And I don’t like the idea of being a pawn to a completely unnecessary bloodbath, so that a crazy, deluded half-blood could lead us to our own extinction… oh, yes, I have no illusions about our ‘beloved’ Dark Lord. Also, I have no illusions about Fudge either. He is probably the most incompetent wizard that has ever darkened the steps of the Ministry. I never had any intention of throwing my life away to defend either one of them. That’s way I came up with this clever plan of mine”.

“So, you managed to fool Fudge into making you the ruler of the Wizarding World and giving you the means to actually put an end to the war, which will make you a hero. Very good, really. The danger will be gone and a lot of lives will be spared… and, of course, the wedding was just part of the plan?” Harry inquired looking at Draco

“No, the wedding was my prize in this whole mess. The most important part of my plan was to make sure I spend the rest of my life with you,” he said, cupping Harry’s face in his hands, bringing him closer and gently kissing him again. “I don’t care if everything else goes wrong as long as we are together.”

Harry didn’t think he could ever be happier. He had fancied Draco from afar for almost two years now, always knowing that the Slytherin prince was unobtainable. A dream out of his reach and now here he was, married, hugging, being kissed…

A loud knock on the door made them pull apart. Draco hurried to the door and pulled it open. Snape was outside.

“They are here. It’s time.”


******

The battle was almost anticlimactic; sure there were loses but they were mercifully few. The army of the Light outnumbered the one from the Dark Lord at almost thirty to one, and, at the end, Draco took care of the defence shield, while Harry used a combination of spells to kill Voldemort’s body and bind his soul to hell.

They were tired, they were magically drained, but they were alive. A feat they couldn’t fully understand, but were grateful for it anyway.

It took a while to sort the wounded and take them to the infirmary where Madame Pomfrey was ready to heal them. The dementors were destroyed and the giants sent back to the mountains where they had been living before the war. Only now the borders were warded to let the Wizarding World know if anything was going on. Voldemort’s remains were placed in an urn, also warded, and taken away by a group of Unspeakables. Dumbledore assured them that the urn would be kept safe, even if it was no longer necessary. Voldemort would not be returning this time.

Harry couldn’t help but notice that Fudge had stayed inside the school the whole time, “protecting the young ones”, as he claimed, and he didn’t show up until way after the battle was done. Lucius Malfoy made sure to congratulate Fudge on his acute sense of duty… with the trade mark Malfoy smirk on his face. Harry almost liked his father-in-law at that moment, but he knew that would take time and no small amount of effort.

While the mediwizards and mediwitches were busy taking care of the ones who got injured at the battle, Fudge decided that the way to make himself useful was to start planning a big ball to be held at the Ministry, a *major* event to announce to the whole world “our incredible victory”, as he claimed.

Harry managed to avoid him almost the whole day, but it was impossible to do so at dinner, especially since they were sitting at the same table. Fudge was preparing a grand victory ball to celebrate the end of Voldemort’s reign of terror. The only thing was that he was listing himself as one of the war heroes, as if he had given a major contribution to the battle. He was making Harry sick.

Looking around Harry saw Draco. He looked really intimidating, still in his war gear, and everyone was obeying him without a second thought; that gave Harry a wicked idea.

“Tonks,” he waved at the clumsy Auror and went to meet her down by his old House table. “Tell me something, would you mind terribly lending Mr. Fudge a hand?” he added with an evil smile.

“Of course not, my liege,” answered Tonks, smiling as well, “what do you have in mind?”

“I would love to see Draco making a public announcement… something along the line ‘we won, now we move on’, and it occurred to me that Fudge might have some difficulty grasping the full meaning of it.”

“And you want me to spell it out for him?” she asked, with a mischievous spark in her eyes.

“If you don’t mind…”

“Oh! Thank you, thank you, thank you,” she said, throwing her arms around Harry’s neck and hugging him like there was no tomorrow. Harry noticed Draco looking at them and raising an eyebrow. Harry motioned him to come closer. “I was ready to murder someone if that was what it would take to be the one to tell Fudge. Oh! Hi, cousin.”

“Nymphadora.” Draco nodded at her.

“Merlin, what will it take to make you call me Tonks?”

Harry decided that now would be a nice moment to change the subject.

“Draco, wouldn’t now be a good moment for a victory speech?”

Draco raised an eyebrow again. Merlin, he looks good when he does that, thought Harry.

“Tonks here has just… well, volunteered to stand by Fudge and clarify any details he might be still not grasping at the current state of affairs in the Wizarding World.” Harry moved closer to Draco and wrapped an arm around his waist. “Please? It’s really important for her… for a lot of people actually; they were considering auctioning this privilege.”

Draco had to laugh at the thought of how many people would love to be the one to tell Fudge he was out of the picture. The man certainly knew how to fall from everybody’s grace, and having Harry so close to him willingly was reason to agree to anything. Suddenly he understood something his father had told him once about who was really in control at the Malfoy Manor. Draco decided that he could live with that, no problem.

They went back to the Hight Table and stood at their places. The hall went silent, waiting to see why the two heirs were not sitting down. Once he was sure about having everyone’s attention, Draco spoke:

“My friends, today we have achieved more than a victory in combat. In the past twenty-four hours we have achieved a much more important victory: a victory in peace. On this day, we have shown the world that, not only peace is possible, but that union is possible. We have shown it is necessary. Today the whole Wizarding World stood together as one to defeat a common enemy. We grew out of our petty rivalries, preconceived notions of worthiness and childhood misunderstandings, and that is the way the Wizarding World must face, not only its enemies, but also its future.”

Murmurs of appreciation were heard throughout the hall, and Draco continued:

“This is the promise my husband and I make before you: from now on the goal of the Wizarding World--our goal--is to make the lives of all of us better and safer. No more will prejudices guide our hands. No more will we leave one of our own unprotected because of the conditions of his birth or a curse inflicted upon him. From this day on the Wizarding World stands united before the eyes of the gods.”

The whole hall was cheering, even Fudge, who stood up, intending to say a few words himself. Tonks was faster and shook his hands enthusiastically.

“Mr. Fudge, I never knew you were such a great man,” she complemented him.

“Well…” Fudge started to reply but Tonks cut him off.

“To step out of office with such a flair. Not everybody would be as graceful, I’ll tell you. To simply give up the control of the Wizarding World like that…”

“WHAT?” Fudge was pale. “What did you say? I did no such thing!”

“Of course you did, Cornelius,” offered Dumbledore, stepping closer. “The minute you wed those two young gentlemen.”

“What!”

“Why, Cornelius, did you forget? The Pax Coglinatio law is very clear about the union of the two heirs and how they will lead the Wizarding World into peace.”

“Yes, I know, and, now that we are at peace, their job is done. They can go back to doing whatever they want to do with their lives and leave the ministry to the grown ups,” Fudge said smiling, but he was clearly not so sure of himself.

“I afraid that is not the case.” Tonks beamed at Fudge. “Their position as rulers is a lifetime kind of deal. They are here to stay.”

“But… but I am the Ministry.”

“Actually… not anymore. You gave the control over to them at the moment you nominated Harry our heir and wed him to the heir of the other side. That’s what the law does: it dissolves the two previous sides, nations or whatever and creates a new one under the rule of the newlyweds.” Tonks was beside herself with joy; the look on Fudge’s face was priceless. “Well, good luck with your life and don’t forget to write. I heard you get lots of free time once you retire. Bye.”

Fudge fell back into his chair, at his side Umbridge was as pale as him. The sudden knowledge that any chance of a political future was now in the hands of one Harry Potter, whom they had made sure to annoy for the past few years, and his husband, a Malfoy, was not an easy or happy thought to deal with.

The party went on for hours before the two heirs made their way back to their bedroom.

******

They were on each others arms as soon as they closed the door.

“There is just one problem left that needs your attention,” Harry whispered in Draco’s ear, while unbuttoning his shirt.

“Oh, really. And what would that be?” Draco asked as he undid the buttons on Harry’s shirt.

“Our bonding… our very first night together,” Harry purred, while kissing his husband’s neck and pushing his shirt off his shoulders.

“Yes?” Draco managed to ask, while Harry’s hands and mouth were driving him crazy.

“I don’t remember anything about it,” Harry pouted as he unbuckled his own belt, taking a step back so Draco had a better view of him.

“Oh, that’s a shame. No one should not be able to remember his wedding night… I’ll have to spend the whole night making sure you have all the details.” Draco smiled as Harry slowly removed his trousers and boxers, all the while keeping his eyes on Draco.

“That might be a bit difficult. You see, I think I might have bumped my head in the battle; my memory is horrible lately, showing me once might not be enough.” Harry was slowly running his hands over his own body, amazed at the lust he could see in Draco’s eyes.

“Oh, we’ll have to go over the whole thing more than once then.”

“Will you do that for me?” asked Harry, lying down on the huge bed.

“Anything for my husband,” promised Draco, lying on top of Harry and leaning down to kiss him. “I’ll make sure you remember everything.”

- The End -