Blood Ties.

The next night found Harry and Draco sneaking silently through the school beneath the Invisibility Cloak, Draco hunched and tucked in close so their feet wouldn't show. When they reached the Astronomy Tower, Harry left the cloak over the blond and tucked him away against a wall, one look telling him firmly to remain silent until told otherwise.

He'd just taken a seat upon the windowsill when Snape swept into the room and whirled about, casting powerful wards and charms to make sure they could not be found, over-heard or seen. Once he completed that he turned to gaze intently at Harry, making the boy squirm slightly.

"What?"

With an exasperated, though not really angry, snort, Snape flicked his wand and the cloak flew off of Draco and into his outstretched hand.

"I believe we discussed this, Mr. Potter."

Harry tried to hold back a laugh, but the scowl on Snape's face and the little squeak that Draco had let out when the cloak had been pulled away was all too much. He tumbled off the windowsill and curled on the floor, chuckling loudly and clutching his stomach.

"Draco, this is why I never got too close to any of my students. If you start being nice, they lose all respect for you."

Draco peered between Harry and his godfather, something making his chest ache slightly as he pushed off the wall.

"Then you two are friends now?"

Harry felt his laughter tapering off to the occassional snicker and he sat up, palming away the tears on his face and grinning up at Severus.

"We love each other, right, Severus?"

Draco's eyes widened and he stared at Snape, looking for confirmation or denial on the normally bland face.

"Yes, Harry. Now, would you care to explain why you went behind my back and risked everything by bringing Draco into this?"

The slow tranformation of Snape's expression from stoney to affectionately frustrasted filled Draco's veins with ice water, especially since that gentle gaze was focused on Potter.

"I didn't risk anything, Severus. Listen, Draco was already a part of this, Voldemort made damn sure of that, didn't he? The only difference now is that he knows what he's really a part of. I knew you'd be angry with me, Severus, but I just couldn't keep letting him go there...not knowing that there was an end in sight. Besides, you really think he's going to admit to Voldemort that he was fooled by me, when I'm sure he knows what the outcome would be?"

Snape studied the earnest face of the boy who'd come to be like a son to him, and then offered a hand down to help him up, smiling as he felt his arms wrap around his waist.

"I see that you have thought this through, and I am proud of that, Harry. However, we now have to be concerned over Voldemort trying to penetrate Draco's thoughts."

Draco's hands balled into fists as he watched Harry and Snape hug, a vile brew of acid rising in the back of his throat.

"I'm capable of fooling him. He has no idea how much I despise him...Look, should I leave the two of you alone or something?"

Harry pulled back from Severus and blinked at Draco, confused by the anger and pain he heard in his voice.

"Of course not, why would you even ask?"

Snape's black gaze turned to Draco, contemplating him silently, noting the gritted teeth and tension that flowed through the young man.

"So you can...do it, or whatever, and then we can focus on the matter at hand without you two...cuddling."

Harry's eyes widened and then suddenly he was leaning against the wall, thrown into another fit of laughter by the very idea of being lovers with Severus.

"I am glad to see you find the prospect so amusing, Harry. No, Draco. We are not lovers, our relationship is more that of a father and son."

Snape did not miss the way the tension drained from Draco and the brief, brilliant expression of relief that brightened his face before he managed to school it back into indifference.

"Good. The thought was a little hard to swallow."

Harry had been calming down, but that set him off again with a howl.

"Hard to swallow!"

Severus actually turned a faint pink and muttered a curse, striding over to peer out of a window as he tried to keep his own lips from twitching upward into an amused smirk. It often surprised him how much having Harry in his life had soothed the years of loneliness.

"Okay...Okay, I'm done now. Good one, Malfoy."

He flashed a lopsided grin at Draco, not seeming to notice the flush in the boy's cheeks or the way his face lit up at the smile, but Snape noticed both as he turned back to face them.

"Draco, think of a specific memory and hold that in your mind. Allow me access to nothing else."

Draco lifted his head, face falling into an expression of icy calm as he stared directly into Snape's eyes, not even twitching when he felt trendrils of the man's conciousness curling over his own. Of course, the memory was fresh and shining like a new penny, Potter lying on the floor, laughing and looking radiant.

~~:~~

"I never thought I'd see Severus looking so relaxed."

Harry and Draco were once more ensconced in the dark warmth of Harry's bed, the curtains drawn and their conversation carefully blocked from the ears of the others.

"Neither did I. Once we started getting to know one another, though, it seemed that he was happy to let down his guard and be real with someone, you know? I'll be glad when this is all over and he no longer has to feel so trapped."

Draco peered at the darkness from which Harry's soft words sounded, wanting to crawl over and curl against him, but not sure how well he'd be received.

"Until the Dark Lord is dead, we're all trapped in one way or another. The other Death-Eaters might be too stupid, or too insane to realize it, but that doesn't change the truth."

A warm hand slid over and touched the back of Draco's, giving him the courage to be vulnerable enough to climb into Harry's lap and nestle against him.

"Don't they realize they're destroying everything by helping him? Voldemort won't stop until he has everyone in his fist, and even then it won't be enough. His thirst for power is strong, but his desire to see the end of it all is even stronger. He doesn't fear death so much as he wants to take everyone else with him into oblivion. Once he has that power, it will all be snuffed out."

Harry slid his arms around Draco, enjoying the feel of the slender boy against him, breathing deeply of the lime and cedar scent that seemed to surround him.

"You understand him better than anyone else does, Harry. The other Death-Eaters think that Voldemort will make an Eden for them on earth, they think that they can control, or wipe out, the Muggle-born and rule the Muggles. They think that will make them happy."

Draco's hand rose and he lightly caressed Harry's chest through his pajama top, pressing his ear to listen to the steady beat of the other boy's heart.

"There was a Muggle like Voldemort once, his name was Adolf Hitler. He wanted to wipe out everyone who didn't fit his idea of perfection, and he had a lot of supporters. It took three very powerful countries to stop him and still....he killed millions of people before he was finally brought down."

Harry shuddered and pressed his face to Draco's hair, swallowing thickly around the fear in his throat.

"Hitler was just a Muggle, Draco. One man who had the charisma to make many people agree with his insane ideas. How can I fight someone as powerful as Voldemort by myself?"

Draco tilted his head back, electricity jumping between them as his lips touched Harry's lightly, and he whispered.

"We can do it, Harry. You, me and Severus. You're not alone."