Cracking the Gold

Author\'s Note: Mwah. I love you all. ^_^ And I\'m loving this fic more and more. I love my pa\'ner even more, because without here...there would be no *this*. ^_^

EDIT: Not sure why the first one went wonky with the paragraphs. Hopefully this is better... Thanks to Ura for mentioning it.

Disclaimer: See Introduction

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Harry almost beamed. His heart was finally beginning to slow down and he could begin to think about everything with the proper head. Clutching to Draco\'s fingers, he rolled off whatever was holding his hips up and onto his back, wanting badly to see the look on the blonde\'s face now.


Draco grumbled slightly as Harry rolled away, attempting to keep him in place, though he was utterly relaxed at the moment, so that was difficult. He sighed heavily, blinking slowly at the brunette, \"Hm?\"


Tugging at his fingers, still looped with Draco\'s, Harry tried to pull the other either beside or atop of himself. Firstly, he went for a kiss. Secondly, he went for more.


Draco smirked slightly as he returned the kiss, nipping Harry\'s lower lip gently as he did so, fingers massaging against the backs of his hands.


Grinning like a fool into the nibbles, Harry let his arms remain sprawled above his head, crossed at the wrists so Draco didn\'t need to cross his. He wanted to wrap his arms around the prince, to hold him--but this was fine for now.


Draco smirked once more, nibbling gently down the side of Harry\'s throat, murmuring against skin, \"C\'mon Harry, we\'re both terribly sticky and a bath will do us a world of good.\"


Groaning Harry buried his head into Draco\'s shoulder as if that might possibly make the fact go away. And the words. He didn\'t want to move, but the idea of finally seeing Draco naked in the bath made him grunt and sit up weakly on his elbows, trying to keep his neck in contact with the lips at all times.


Draco smiled slightly once more, simply lifting Harry into his arms, it wasn\'t easy, given his own currently relaxed state, but he managed, the bath already filled with delicately steaming water when they arrived.


Harry meanwhile happily nipped and kissed Draco\'s ear, remembering that he\'d gotten a good reaction out of him previously from that spot. His arms looped around the blonde\'s neck and he hesitantly traced his tongue along the shell of the ear. Merlin did he wish he could purr. Or wag a tail.


Draco managed, if only barely, not to drop Harry at that particular sensation, managing to set him almost gently into the tub before slipping in beside him, sinking up to his chin in the decadently scented water.


Practically grinning, Harry swam over to the blonde, locking his eyes on the silver ones. They only faltered once when he thought he saw something move in the corner of his eye--and then was when he suddenly remembered the collar that was taught around his neck. He stopped moving forward in the water a moment, almost sinkingbeneath the surface before he shook himself of the daze.

He swam to the blonde, wriggling himself into a straddling position, nipped his ear once more, then pulled back to kiss him happily. Playing with Draco\'s hair idly, he tilted his head in question. \"What does it say...?\" He stretched his neck a bit to emphasize what he meant.


Draco smiled slightly, fingers resting against the tag a moment before sliding along the edge of the collar against Harry\'s throat, \"It\'s the Malfoy Family Crest. Doesn\'t really say anything.\"


Harry proceeded to nibble Draco\'s ear at this, whispering quietly at the odd time. \"Nothing?\" Nibble. Kiss. \"Not even--\" Lick. \"--\'Mine\'--\" Nip. \"--or \'Malfoy\'s pet\'...or---\" Lick. Cool air blown onto the moist trail. \"---\'Draco\'s\'...?\" He smiled agaist the skin.


He smiled slightly at that, letting his head tilt back at the trail of nibbles, licks and kisses, \"Well, no, but it implies those, as well as \'hands off or I\'ll take them off for you.\'\"


Harry murmured something that sounded happy and as if it had no words attatched to it for real. His arms tightened around the blonde and he nuzzled his nose against the ear before him, content to simply nibble the ear here and there for now.


Draco was content with that as well, as it gave him almost perfect access to the crook of Harry\'s neck and the pulse point thrumming away there. He wasn\'t hungry again, but that wasn\'t going to stop him from nibbling gently.


Not expecting this, for whatever reason he was distracted, and he bit sharply on Draco\'s ear by accident. Immediately recoiling his head as if a turtle into his shell, he whispered an appology and kissed the spot rapidly so it didn\'t hurt. After a moment, he shifted, turning around and wriggling a bit so he settled between the blonde\'s legs, head still tilted so that he could continue nibbling and whatever he pleased. His eyes fell closed as he listened to whatever was around him.


Draco had gasped, just faintly, at the dull sting of the other man\'s teeth, grinning at the reaction and continuing to nibble against Harry\'s throat as he shifted position.


Smiling at the ceiling, rather his closed eyes, and exhaled, feeling and listening for Draco\'s pulse. Pulling the blonde\'s arms around him, his fingers idly trailed the backs of his hands and up his forearms and back. He felt so relaxed, hyper, and happy right then, he didn\'t know what to do aside from let the emotions wash over him.


And that was fine with Draco, instincts were the best thing to follow at a time like this. He had begun to purr, just petting at the other man\'s back and sides gently.


Eyes crunched into happiness at the corners, the brunette\'s head laid back lazily more so, lolling to the side as it would. His mind was happily going over the events leading up to where he was now; in the tub; and he couldn\'t help but practically grin. He smiled instead.


Draco\'s head tilted, petting the other man\'s hair gently, brow arching, \"Something on your mind Harry?\"


\"Mmhmm...\" Harry didn\'t even move, simply hummed. Indeed there was, he was wondering how he could repay him ten fold to make him as happy as he felt right then. \"You,\" he whispered into the blonde\'s neck as he kissed his jaw and returned his head to the slack position it held before.


He smiled at that, settling back against the edge of the tub, fingers trailing through the other\'s hair still, \"And do thoughts of me always induce such a reaction?\"


Laughing quietly, Harry finally opened his eyes to look at whatever they happened to look upon. \"Yes, they do now...and have occasionally before...\" He raised one of Draco\'s hand to kiss the back of it as if he were trying to court him, although he wasn\'t in front of him. Nor was he a lady, but, eh.


And considering that Draco already had what he wanted, there wasn\'t much point in sticking with tradition and ceremony. He was perfectly content with how things were.


Lifting his head finally, Harry looked around in the room, taking in details. Everything seemed oddly brighter. It was almost creepy. His fingers were still idly tracing Draco\'s arm, but he stopped suddenly when they ran over bumps he hadn\'t felt prior.

He\'d forgotten.


Draco tilted his head once more, kissing Harry\'s forehead gently when the petting stopped, \"What\'s the matter?\"


Harry\'s eyes lowered to the arm he had been stroking. He felt hot all of a sudden when the reality of things came rushing back to him. He\'d just gone as low as he could, in all honesty. He\'d let a Death Eater claim him--no. He\'d fallen in love with a mini-Voldie and let him fuck him. Almost beginning to shake, Harry didn\'t want to think of it that way. He didn\'t, and he hadn\'t--until he\'d trailed his fingers across the Dark Mark etched into his prince\'s arm.


Draco\'s brow furrowed further, just watching at the moment. The snake wriggled under Harry\'s fingers, glad to have the attention really, didn\'t get enough of it.


Harry practically jumped off Draco\'s lap when the Mark moved, backing away in the water a few paces, his eyes tremmoring as they were locked on the arm. \"Sssohe athess...\" Harry spoke, but since he was focused so intently on the moving Mark, it wasn\'t english. Parseltongue. He was burning hot, so he thought, but he was shivering, feeling like he would have a breakdown right there and drown. He had already sunk practically to his lips into the water.


Draco\'s brow furrowed slightly at that, turning his arm over so that the Mark was invisible again, petting the fingers of his other hand through the other man\'s hair once more, \"What is it Harry?\"


His eyes blinked and he looked at Draco sharply again, as if he\'d just drawn a gun on him, or worse a wand. \"I...I forgot...\" he uttered, english this time. He hesitantly moved back from the touch, eyes darting back and forth between the silver ones. His stomach was in a knot. He didn\'t know what to do anymore. He knew he should have tried harder, worked harder---died trying to kill Voldemort...yet he\'d hidden. He\'d given in because he knew, or he thought, that everyone had died, or was near it. Now he felt immensely guilty that he knew Ron was alive, and more or less well and he\'d done nothing. Not even asked to go see him. It had just felt so nice to be rid of all the pressure and do...relatively normal things, and forget who he was and be happy and have fun and...and....

And love. Truely love...and now--now he felt sick for doing so.


Draco\'s brow furrowed further. He had no real way of knowing Harry\'s line of thought, all he saw was a sudden change in demeanor, not really sure how to take it, whether trying to comfort him, however odd that sounded, would just send him over the edge again.


Eyes dropping to the water, Harry\'s face was quickly covered by his hands as he sunk into the water. Perhaps he hoped being submerged would clear his head, perhaps not, he wasn\'t sure. I don\'t want to...I just....let me forget...I don\'t want to think about....them...I...I did what I could! Despite being under rippling water that distorted images, it was obvious he was shaking now.


Draco\'s hands dipped beneath the surface, lifting Harry out of the water then, shaking his head, \"Harry, what\'s wrong? What is it?\"


Harry\'s sobs became apparent now, and he coughed up some water as well. He kept his eyes closed. \"I...I don\'t...w-want...t-to...\" Sob. \"I-should-have-tried-harder-I-just-couldn\'t-and- I-was-so-tired-and-weak-and-I-didn\'t- want-to-do-it-any-more-and- everyone-kept-pushing-me,-saying-I-was-the-only- hope-and-obviously-I-wasn\'t-any- where-near,-but-I-tried-and-I-should\'ve-tried- harder,-I-should-have-died-trying-and...\" Harry sucked a large intake of breath in, still trembling and unknowingly leaning into Draco\'s comfort.

\"I-thought-it-was-all-over-and-then-R-Ron...-I-should\'ve-been-stronger,-for-him. I-just...I -just-felt-happy-for-once-that-no-one-really-cared-who- I-was--granted-you\'re-the-only-one-I-see,-but- I-just-wanted-to-be-free-and-happy-like-every-one-else- had-a-chance-to-be-and-then-I-was-and-I-forgot- who-I-was-and-I-just-wish-I-didn\'t-remember-anything-and- could-just-live-normally-and...and...\" He trailed off, re-burying his face into his hands. He didn\'t want to forget everything mind you, just whatever made him feel like shit. The war, that everyone had depended on him, that he failed, everyone who had died. He almost wished that he\'d remember nothing but the time spent with Draco. It was so much simpler.

He was breaking.


Draco nodded slowly, still just running his fingers through Harry\'s hair gently, \"You can forget, if you truly want to. There are spells, potions, charms, any number of remedies to memory.\"


Nodding, Harry would have to take this into thought, but he was still rather shaken from his own mind and just wanted to feel that happiness again. He did what he could to settle into Draco\'s arms, and with a swallow, he turned the arm so he had to look at the Mark. Hovering shakey fingers above it, he lowered them slowly to trace the lines of it, trying to get used to seeing it. He was rather shocked it had taken him this long to see it at all.


The snake shivered again, tongue flicking out. Draco smiled just slightly at the almost cautious touches, though he stayed quiet, letting Harry get used to the idea. Something that he should already have been long since used to.


Tracing the lines--though it was hard with the snake constantly moving--with a bit firmer of a touch, he figured maybe, if he knew more... \"Ssayan--\" Harry paused. Blinking, he focused on english. \"What does it mean...what do you have to do...?\" Of course he knew the simple \'follow the Lord\' crap, but he wanted to know what it really entailed. The details...as gory as he figured they might be. \"What have you done for...him.\" Harry decided to stop saying Voldemort because--well because he feared him now, truely did. Any previous emotional and physical pain the Lord had caused he\'d dealt with, but the last \'punishment\' had scared him more than anything. At least he thought so at the time and shortly after.


He blinked twice at that, that was a new question. He hadn\'t gotten that one before, not from Harry anyway.

He paused, mulling over his answer, \"Some of everything, though I\'ve never killed anyone who didn\'t deserve it.\"


Tensing a bit at this, he forced himself to relax. He shouldn\'t have been so shocked to hear that Draco had killed people. \"Who, and why...?\" He was rather annoyed at the shortness of the answer, but figured maybe if he worded them right.


Draco shrugged, \"Wizards who opposed us. Witches who worked against us, nameless combattants.\" Another shrug as if this meant little to him, and it probably did.


Harry swallowed again, forcing himself to keep looking at the scar, and not close his eyes and try to shut out the visions of faceless screams as innocent people were murdered. Maybe he didn\'t want to hear this.

He did. He\'d just have to ignore how Draco spoke of them, because that hurt. He wasn\'t sure why. \"How---\" Swallowing to regain his cracked voice, he tried that again. \"What does the Mark mean...what does it say you have to do?\" Now he was slightly rambling, \"What does it mean to support Him? Does it simply mean not going against him, or not crossing his path, or...or...\" Harry couldn\'t even get out another option.

He was sure there were other things, but he\'d never paid all that much attention to Hermoine (he greatly regretted this now, it settled as a pit in his stomach) and couldn\'t think of anything more horrible than killing innocent people. People who had families, families who would grieve, never be the same again.

Harry\'s pressure on the Mark was increasing with his anger, and he realized this, suddenly withdrawing his hand, hissing a quick sorry to the snake before he realized he had.


Draco arched a brow, just slightly, \"Harry?\" He asked, finally adding, \"Are you ... bonding with my Mark?\" Why else would he keep talking to it?


Harry blinked, taking his hand away again, ears tinging a red in embarassment and anger. Why the hell would he bond with-- He couldn\'t even think that. He\'d sunk low enough to ponder the possibility of just...giving in completely. He\'d already been claimed by a Death Eater--whom you love. Shut up---so would it really be that huge of a step to just...erase everything and join them....? His eyes were out of focus and staring at what should be the water, but he really saw next to nothing.


Draco shook his head, petting his fingers through the other\'s hair once more, \"Don\'t be like that.\" His tone was gently wheedling, almost kicked puppy really.


Harry almost smiled at how caring the other seemed, and wanted to cuddle closer, so he did, sorta. \"You didn\'t answer...\" he whispered. He continued idly tracing his arm, occasionally following the lines.


His brow furrowed at that, looking utterly puzzled, \"I didn\'t?\" He shook his head then, easing closer to Harry once more, \"Of course I did.\"


Harry let his eyes fall closed, in half hopes to replace the images in his head with something nicer. The images of a half hour prior maybe?

\"No...liar. Does it mean you just don\'t go against him, just do what he says, do you...I don\'t know...research or something? I want to know!\" He was becoming annoyed that Draco was hiding the answers from him. Deep down, he supposed it was probably best for him, but he wanted to know. Needed to. He needed as much information as he could to sort out his thoughts, what he\'d think and know in the future.

If he did decide to kill his memories...he wanted to know it all before he did.

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Responses to Reviews on this Chapter

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ura
Could you repost the last chapter? It is very difficult to read because whole paragraphs are displayed as one line. Please?

Thanks. It was because of Harry\'s long I-wanna-live-but-i-don\'t thing. With all the -\'s it couldn\'t break it up into lines as it was one HUGE word. So I added spaces periodically. ^_^ That section looks a bit funny, but eh. ^_^ Thanks.

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thrnbrooke
Oh wow! I can\'t wait for 34! Will Harry have his memories erased? It would be easier. But would he be the same person?

It would be easier, and I think it\'s neat and sad because that would be his last snapping resource. As far as I know he\'d be the same person, fro what I\'m planning, but it depends what method Draco offers him, I suppose. ^-^

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bkar
Harry bonding with the Dark Mark??? Hmm...that\'s an interesting tack...And, I was wondering about Ron...He\'s still in the basement, right? Has our Harry decided to love and damn the rest, or will his fragile hold fail and send him plunging over the cliff of insanity??? Is Draco really capable of loving him?

*giggles* I\'m not going to answer any of that, much as I want to. ^_^


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avihenda
great chapter :-)
loved it. But I\'m starting to feel like everyone els can figure out what your going to do in the next chapter, but me.... I\'ve been reading peoples reviews and then checking if that actually happend. Grr, am I just a smal bit stupid or have you been following their advise on what to do... don\'t think so, usually fic writers are a couple of chapters before theire posts... please igonore me.. I\'m rambling.
Anyway, can\'t wait to see what\'s going to happen. this fic has me mezmerized ^_^

Hmm, that\'s odd as I don\'t really remember people predicting often at all. I might occasionally read an idea that I like and it\'ll eventually work itself in, but no, you\'re no more out of the loop than anyone really. ^_^ And I\'m not a usual fic writer. What you see, is what I have. I used to have a lot saved int he rps to post, but now it\'s like \'let\'s rp so I have enough to post something\'. It\'s all fun though. If you want chapters quicker, go bug Jedigurrl about it. She\'s my \"other\" and I\'ve been told to blame things on her. :)


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nextvictim
this chapter is.... confusing....

very confusing....

Er...I\'m sorry it\'s confusing... :S I try to make things less confusing as possible. What did you find hard to understand? Maybe I can clear things up a bit? ^^;

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avihenda
lol I\'m so stupid! I just figured out that you coment on the reviews in the same chapter that they where writen for. I\'ve been looking for them in the next chapter. so now I\'ve reread alla the endings of the fics to find all your responses to my reviews. and yeah, I\'ve just reread the chapter again. I should get a life.... actually I should be writing corrections on my thesis... Stop writing such good chapters so I can go do my work! this is all you fault! ;-)

Lol. Geek. :-P Hence at the bottom of every chappie the \'responses to reviews on THIS chapter\" :) Go write your thesis, nerd! *giggle* And It\'s not my fault you\'re not getting your work done, to read a chappie only takes at the MOST half an hour...and it\'s not like I update EVERY day, so :-P You\'re fault really. *giggle* ^_^;

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