The Lion and the Serpent

The three weeks that followed were pure bliss in Draco's mind. He studied for the exams half-heartedly, not that he needed to. The knowledge serum had taken care of everything. When Harry was around, Draco followed him like a shadow, slightly nervous that Harry would grow tired of his dependency and tell him to do something else with his time, but Harry never did. On the contrary, on his part, Harry made a point to get out of as many lectures as he could, to sneak back home as soon as possible. Minerva threatened to reprimand him once, but very half-heartedly.

Draco passed his exams with flying colors, as expected, and ended up on top of his class. He got a few suspicious gazes from his teachers, but he just shrugged nonchalantly, and returned home. A small part of him felt a twinge of guilt – like he had cheated his way through his final year, and he confessed the feeling to Harry in the evening.

“It somehow doesn't feel quite right, you know?” Draco said sheepishly.

Harry stared at him, slightly shocked. “You are not going Gryffindor on me, are you? Pathological honesty and all?”

“Of course not!” Draco said indignantly. “I just keep thinking, maybe I took the easy way out, and I shouldn't have.”

Harry smiled sadly. “No. Trust me. It's fair. Don't doubt for a moment that you deserve it, after all you've been through.”

The remnants of his guilt washed away by his lover's absolution, Draco kissed Harry blissfully.

“Have I ever told you that your mouth tastes wonderful?” Harry asked softly.

“It actually tastes like Herbology,” Draco grinned. “Thank you, by the way.”

They retired to the bedroom immediately, and collapsed on top of the old, worn-out Weasley blankets. Gently, and slowly, Harry undressed him, and bound his hands to the frame of the bed. Draco grasped the rope with his fingers, not struggling, but rather using his bonds to brace himself. Still fully dressed, Harry sat next to him, his fingertips roaming Draco's body aimlessly, arousing desire, as always. Draco shut his eyes with a smile, and surrendered, utterly helpless and completely blissful, under his lover's casual touch.

Throughout the night, Draco had lost count of how many times Harry brought him to the heights of frustration, and had him spend himself, over and over again. Just when he would think he couldn't possibly go on, Harry's touch would awaken his arousal again and again, Draco's body responding involuntarily to the demand of the bond.

“You are killing me,” Draco murmured accusingly.

“Would you like me to stop?” Harry offered.

“I didn't say that,” Draco said uncertainly, but Harry already was untying his hands, and massaging his wrists gently. Rolling over to his stomach, Draco said tiredly,

“You know, Harry, if marriage doesn't release me from the bond, at least there will one upside to it...”

“And what would that be?” Harry asked, planting a kiss on Draco's wrist.

“For as long as I live, I won't have to worry about sustaining an erection,” Draco said. He was rewarded by an amused chuckle just before he passed out, completely exhausted.

The following morning, they were woken up by a loud pounding on their door.

Draco opened his eyes, and was blinded by the sunlight streaming into the window. The banging on the door got louder, more insistent.

Harry shot up in his bed. “Who is it?” he yelled across the quarters.

“Calixa,” an indignant reply came. “May I enter?”

“Absolutely not! What do you want?”

“Well, I don't want to alarm you, Sir, but you are about fifteen minutes late to the end of year ceremony, and you are about to miss Miss Granger's speech...”

They bolted from the bed together, and scrambled for their clothes.

“It's your fault, you know,” Draco muttered, sliding into his trousers. “Show-off.”

Harry didn't argue.

When they reached the hall, they had already missed Minerva's introductory speech, that had announced which house Hermione was about to head. Not that it mattered, Draco thought wryly, he was quite confident that it could only be Ravenclaw.

Hermione was already on the podium, looking at the faces of the students and teachers around them. She saw Draco and Harry finding two seats near the doorway, and smiled brightly. When Hermione spoke, her voice was filled with excitement and pride.

"It's a great honor to be here, and to be asked to be a Visiting Professor in the school that has been my home. Even a greater honor to be asked to head what I am certain will be known as the House of Reason and Dedication at Hogwarts," she said firmly. "And of course, I had a speech prepared, that was extremely well written.... However..." she paused gazing at the notebook in her hands, "it looks like some Slytherin student hexed all the lines in my notebook out of order." Her gaze rested on Calixa, who just stared back, boldly and innocently.

"She is pure evil," Draco whispered, eying Calixa with admiration.

Harry smiled and put his arm around Draco's shoulder. "Shh. Don't talk."

"It seems then," Hermione continued, still smiling, "that I have no choice but to fumble along and embarrass myself, much to your amusement... "

The laughter of the students cheered her on.

"It's a great honor," Hermione repeated. "Did you know that for many years my nickname was, Miss Should Have Been Ravenclaw? They say the Sorting Hat makes no mistakes, and I know there was a reason for me being placed in Gryffindor. However..." Her voice faltered slightly, but she continued with determination: "If things had been different, and if not for the war, if not for the prophecies that had linked my life with that of the two other Gryffindor boys... I think I should have been a Ravenclaw. I value knowledge and wisdom, and desire to understand things deeply, and look beneath the surface of things. I value those things no less than dedication and diligence, the virtues of Hufflepuff."

The Hall burst into a flurry of cheers and applause. It took a while for them to settle, and when they did, Hermione spoke again:

"I know it's unprecedented to merge two houses together like that. However, as Minerva mentioned, over the last year, both houses have lost something. And I believe that they've lost the same thing: the ability to stay true to the light that guides us all. Neither reason nor devotion should ever be cold, opportunistic, or calculated. In times of darkness, more than ever, they should be guided by the memory of light. And I believe, with my whole heart, that we can help each other remember that.”

The silence in the Great Hall was absolute, as the students of Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw eyed each other breathlessly.

Firmly, Hermione continued: "There were times when I had forgotten that myself...Dark times lie behind us. I remember what it's like, just stumbling in the dark, trying to stay one step ahead of the game, trying to be clever... I've been worried so much about trying to do what's best, I had almost forgotten how to do what is good.”

Draco murmured a word of protest, but Harry's hand squeezed his shoulder.

"I am accepting you offer with gratitude," she said with a small smile, "Because I think we can help each other. Thank you.”

Her final words of thanks were drowned in the uproar of applause and cheer. Students jumped on their tables and waving their hands wildly. Brilliant bursts of fireworks shot up from their wands.

High above them, the two House banners flew and merged together, with the Raven and the Badger standing side by side.

"Minerva is brilliant,” Harry said. “Those two Houses... they can really help each other.”

"Without killing each other," Draco grinned and elbowed Harry.

"Stop. What did I tell you about gratuitous poking?"

"It's anything but," Draco whispered mischievously. "Your name is up. Looks like it's your turn to go there."

"Me? Oh... bloody hell. I was supposed to have a speech too, wasn't I...I knew I was forgetting something!”

Draco watched him as Harry walked towards the podium. Minerva greeted him with a firm handshake.

"Mr. Harry Potter will be returning as a Full Professor next year," she declared. "He will be teaching Defense Against Dark Arts again.”

A few rounds of applause and cheers followed the announcement. The Gryffindor students waved and whistled passionately, and even the Slytherin gave a few restrained rounds of applause.

"As miss Granger said, we've all lost enough already," Minerva said. "There is nothing to be gained from allowing the animosity and resentment to continue. It's time for reconciliation and unity. It is also time to learn from each other's strengths, and embrace each other's differences. For that reason, I have decided that it would be best for Gryffindor and Slytherin to be united as one House, headed by Mr. Potter."

Even though they all should have expected this, given the announcement regarding Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff, this particular declaration still stunned everyone. Even Harry looked taken aback. For a moment, there was absolute silence in the hall, and then it was followed by shouts of indignation and murmurs of protest, from both Gryffindor and Slytherin. Minerva rose her hands, admonishing the students to settle down, but her exhortations were drowned in the disjointed chorus of outraged voices.

Suddenly, a single voice rose above others.

"Enough," Harry said forcefully, bringing the crowd to silence. There was no trace of shyness or hesitation in his voice, and he spoke bluntly and powerfully. "You are kidding yourselves if you think that one of you is better than the other. Students of Slytherin," he said, his voice dangerously low. "If you think that you are better than others because of your pure blood heritage, or adherence to the old ways, you are deluding yourselves. Grow up and look around you. The world is bigger than your House, or your lineage, or your traditions.”

Everyone was watching Harry breathlessly.

"And you," Harry turned to the students at the Gryffindor table, who stared at him nervously. “Do you really think that proclaiming justice and honor as our ideals makes any of us immune to corruption, or renders us incapable of cruelty? The events of last year certainly proved otherwise.”

Not a single word was said after that, either. Then Harry's voice softened, as he spoke once again:

“When I first arrived to Hogwarts, the Sorting Hat had almost placed me into Slytherin. I barely managed to talk it out of it. Looks like I am back – to travel the road not taken, in a way. It's good to be home.”

The two banners flew together – gold and silver, scarlet and green, the Lion and the Serpent standing side by side.

The silence around them was absolutely deafening. Harry, however, did not seem to be bothered by the lack of response. He was about to step down, when a single tall figure at the Slytherin table stood up, and a single applause was heard. Draco stared – and recognized Hyperion. Then, shortly, Layre joined him as well, followed by Kaige, Calixa, and one by one, the rest of the Unforgiven. Soon enough, other students, from both houses, stood up to applaud as well. Certainly not everyone, and not even the majority, but enough to make a small difference.

Quickly, Harry walked away from them all, his eyes fixed on Draco and only on him. He reached their seats, and lifted Draco unceremoniously from his chair, planting a firm kiss on his mouth.

“I've had enough,” Harry said, his voice a whispered growl. “Let's get out of here. And remind me to murder Minerva, if I forget.”

“Done,” Draco agreed, and they walked out of the hall together, leaving the stunned crowd behind them.

------------to be continued ----------