Funerals and Weddings

For disclaimer, summary, story codes and other information, please see the prologue.

Chapter the Fifty-sixth: Taming the Lions
26 January, morning
Hogwarts lake


Harry stood and walked the short distance to his boyfriend. “Draco, why aren’t you still in the infirmary? Shouldn’t you be resting?”

Draco smiled at Harry’s concern. “I’m fine—Pomfrey released me a few minutes ago. I ran into Katie and Blaise on my way to the dungeons and Katie said you were out here. So I thought maybe now might be a good time for me to make some explanations.”

Harry pulled Draco into his arms and kissed him. “Are you sure you’re feeling up to this now?”

“A Malfoy is always up…for a good argument,” Draco smirked as Harry flushed at the innuendo. Draco took Harry’s hand and led him back over to the blanket and sat down.

“Granger, Weasley,” Draco greeted the two Gryffindors with a nod. “Hope you don’t mind me crashing the party.”

“Actually, it’s perfect timing. Harry just finished telling us about your ‘switch’ to the Light and everything leading up to you and Harry…getting together,” Hermione said, regarding Draco with a piercing gaze. “But there’s still a few things that Ron and I want to know.”

Draco leaned back on his arms and looked for all the world to be completely at ease. “Ask away,” he drawled.

“What made you suddenly decide to join our side?” Hermione asked, going immediately to the big question.

Harry saw Draco stiffen slightly, then he looked at Harry. “You didn’t tell them?”

“No, I didn’t think it was my place—I wouldn’t ever repeat anything that you told me in confidence,” Harry replied.

Draco’s face softened and he smiled a little. “Thanks,” he said simply. Then he turned back to Ron and Hermione.

“It’s not something I’ve told many people, but I suspect that you won’t ever really believe me unless you know the whole story,” he started. “So, I’ll tell you on one condition: that you swear not to tell anyone else, ever. Do I have your word?”

Ron and Hermione exchanged a look. Ron pulled out his wand and placed it on his palm. “You have my word as a Wizard never to repeat what you’re about to tell us, Malfoy,” Ron said seriously.

“Thank you, Weasley. The wand wasn’t necessary—I would have accepted your word as a Gryffindor—but I appreciate it,” Draco said.

Not to be outdone, Hermione took out her own wand and repeated Ron’s pledge. Draco thanked her, then inhaled deeply to steady himself. Harry scooted over to sit behind Draco and started gently rubbing his shoulders. Draco was grateful for the silent support and relaxed fractionally before he started telling Ron and Hermione about Lucius, speaking briefly about his strict upbringing and Lucius’ harsh punishments when Draco fell short of perfection, then about Lucius’ insanity, and finally about Lucius’ use of the Cruciatus.

By the time he was finished, Hermione had tears in her eyes and Ron looked absolutely sick. Harry kissed the back of Draco’s neck and whispered, “You all right, love?”

Draco nodded. “Yeah, I’m all right.”

“I…I don’t know what to say,” Hermione said. “I’m so sorry.”

“Yeah, I’m sorry as well,” Ron echoed. “I can’t believe—your own father. I can’t imagine it.”

“Well, it’s not something I like to think on very much, that’s for sure,” Draco said, a bit of his usual dry humour creeping out despite the circumstances. “I guess you can see why I wasn’t too upset that Harry got rid of Lucius for me.”

Ron narrowed his eyes. “About that. Harry said you taught him that spell he used that ended up killing your dad. The Silver Shield thingy. Why did you teach him that spell?”

Draco looked at Harry and Harry sent him an apologetic look. “I, uh, sort of let it slip that you taught me that on purpose…but that’s all I said. I’m sorry, Draco, really. I wasn’t going to say anything, I swear, but it—”

Draco put his fingers to Harry’s mouth to stop his guilty rambling. “Hush, it’s all right. I’m not angry. If they are going to know, they need to know everything.”

“Are you sure, Draco? Because it doesn’t really have anything to do with you and me, it’s—”

“Nonsense!” Draco interrupted. “It has everything to do with you and me, and why I’m sitting here now.”

He turned back to Hermione and Ron. “This past summer, I started having some very vivid…dreams. As it turns out, these dreams are actually visions. And one of the visions I had was of Lucius duelling with Harry—and Harry using the Silver Shield Spell to defeat him.”

Hermione gasped. “So—you taught Harry that spell—knowing he’d use it…” She trailed off, not sure how to finish her thought.

“To kill my ‘father’? Yes. I did,” Draco said firmly.

“That’s actually the reason Dumbledore Modified my memory the way he did,” Harry admitted. “I overheard Draco telling the headmaster about that dream, and Dumbledore was afraid that if I knew about it, I’d do something to avoid the situation.”

“What if you had?” Ron asked. “Is Mal—er, Lucius’ death that important? I mean, in the, uh, grand scheme of things, that is?” he finished, with an apologetic look at Draco.

Harry nodded. “Dumbledore thinks that any and everything I do related to Voldemort and the Death Eaters is related to the Prophecy. He was afraid that if I altered the outcome of Draco’s vision, that it might affect the Prophecy about me and Voldemort. At the time, he didn’t know if Draco’s dream was a vision or not—nothing that Draco had dreamed about had come true yet—but he didn’t want to take any chances. So he Modified my memory in such a way that only if Draco’s dream became reality, would I remember any of it.”

Hermione and Ron nodded seriously. “If you don’t mind me asking, what other visions have you had?” Hermione asked Draco.

Draco grimaced. “Well, there was the one about the attack on the Muggles and Harry’s aunt on Hallowe’en…” He went on to explain his dreams related to that event and the recent raid in Ireland as well.

He shot Harry a look. “Then there’s a dream or two that haven’t come true…yet…”

“That one isn’t going to come true, ever.” Harry said fiercely. “Not if I have anything to say about it.”

Seeing Ron and Hermione staring at them, Draco quickly told them about his dream of being Voldemort’s captive.

“Hold on!” Ron exclaimed. “Harry had that same dream! How…?”

Harry shrugged. “We don’t know. Dumbledore thinks maybe that Draco’s dream is the vision, and my dream is me witnessing Voldemort’s plans through my connection to him. But…we really don’t know for sure.”

They were all silent a moment, then Hermione spoke up. Her face wore the expression that Harry privately referred to as the “Hermione’s-working-out-the-answer” expression.

“I’m wondering…do you think that Bellatrix’s attempt to kidnap Malfoy yesterday…do you think that it’s possible that it was meant to be the precursor to both of your dreams? I mean, both of you dreamed that Malfoy was a captive, but not how he got captured. Suppose that yesterday was the day that Malfoy was to be captured in order for the vision to happen next—do you think that means that the vision has been…voided?”

Harry and Draco exchanged a look. “Merlin, Hermione! I hadn’t thought of that! I hope you’re right!” Harry exclaimed.

“I hadn’t thought of it either,” Draco said. “And it does make sense…I mean, the Dark Lord would have to capture me somehow. We’ll run it by Dumbledore to see what he thinks. You’ve always been too clever by half, Granger, but I sure do hope that you are right this time.”

Hermione looked taken aback by Draco’s compliment, then cautiously pleased. Harry rubbed a hand down Draco’s arm to thank him. Draco looked back at him. There it was—that strange ache in his chest again. Feeling that ache, and looking into Harry’s green eyes, Draco knew he had to bite the bullet and finish what he’d started when he’d come out to the lake.

“Granger, Weasley. I…I need to apologise to you both. To be honest, I’m crap at making apologies, but, like you were saying, Granger, I’ve said and done some pretty terrible things to you all in the past.

“I’m not trying to make excuses, but I want you to know that I acted the way I did because it was how I was raised to behave. Until Lucius knocked me on my arse—literally—I’d never thought for myself. I just believed what Lucius told me to believe. I’m not proud of that. I don’t expect you to accept my apology for my past actions, but I want to offer it to you anyway. I know saying ‘I’m sorry’ doesn’t really mean much, but I can’t change the past. I’d like you to know that I am trying to change—I have changed—and I hope you will give me the chance to show you.”

Hermione and Ron were silent for a few moments as they absorbed Draco’s words. Harry held his breath, hoping that his friends wouldn’t reject Draco.

The silence stretched and started to become uncomfortable. Draco felt sick to his stomach: he’d failed to convince them. He’d lost his best chance for winning them over, and he’d likely lost Harry as well. If it came down to Harry having to choose between his best friends and Draco, Draco knew he didn’t stand a chance. Harry felt Draco sag against him briefly before he straightened his shoulders and pushed to his feet.

The Malfoy Mask firmly in place to cover his despair, he said, “Well, I’ve crashed your party long enough. Thank you for listening to what I had to say. I’ll…see you around, Harry.”

Harry leapt to his feet, but before he could say anything, Ron was on his feet and speaking to Draco.

“Malfoy, wait. Before you go, there’s one thing I’d like to say to you,” Ron said.

Wishing Ron would just hurry up and say what he had to say so he could go away and be alone in his misery, Draco nodded.

“I can’t promise that I’ll be your friend, but I’m willing to give you a second chance. Don’t blow it, Malfoy,” Ron said, then smiled a little. “And I think it goes without saying that if you hurt Harry, I’ll kill you, of course.”

“Ron!” Harry protested.

“What? I’m only joking…sort of,” Ron returned. He offered his hand to Draco. “You understand, right, Malfoy?”

Draco blinked, then clasped Ron’s hand. “Thanks, Weasley. And yeah, I understand. Don’t worry about it.”

Hermione got to her feet. “I think Ron’s pretty much said it all,” she said, also offering her hand to Draco. As he took it, she continued, “So I guess I’ll just say ‘ibid’ and be done with it.”

Draco’s lips twitched and he slid his gaze to Harry. Harry had his hand over his mouth, trying desperately not to laugh. When his eyes met Draco’s, he couldn’t hold back anymore, and he barked out a laugh. Draco tried to cover his smile with a cough, but ended up chuckling along with Harry.

Both Hermione and Ron were looking at the two of them as if they’d lost their minds.

“What’s so funny?” Hermione demanded.

“Ibid,” Harry snorted, “Hermione, I think you and Draco might get on with each other after all. See, I said something once to Draco, and he responded with ‘ibid,’ like you just did. I even remember telling him that it sounded like something you would say!”

Hermione rolled her eyes, but smiled. “Well, saying ‘ditto’ is just so…I don’t know...common, I guess,” she said.

This sent Harry and Draco into gales of laughter. Hermione looked startled, then smiled again. “Let me guess—Mal—er, Draco told you the same thing?”

Still chuckling, Harry nodded. “Exactly.”

“Well,” Ron said, “my stomach is telling me that it’s time for tea. Any takers?”

Harry looked at Draco who shrugged. “I’m not really hungry, but if you are…”

Harry shook his head. “Not really. I snuck down to the kitchens and had a huge breakfast not too long ago.”

“Suit yourselves,” Ron said cheerfully. “Coming, ‘Mione?”

She nodded and took Ron’s hand. “See you later.”

After they’d waved Ron and Hermione off, Harry pulled Draco back down to the blanket. He took Draco’s face in his hands and said seriously, “Thank you.”

Draco looked surprised. “For what?”

“For telling Ron and Hermione what happened to you. I know that wasn’t easy, telling them something so personal. It means a lot to me that you’d do that.”

Draco lifted a shoulder. “It’s like I said—I doubt they’d have ever really believed me unless I told them.”

Harry looked thoughtful. “Well, definitely not so quickly. I think they would have come around eventually, but your telling them that helped to speed up the process.”

Draco smiled. “Well, I’m glad it worked. Now, I think you owe me a proper kiss hello.”

Harry arched a brow. “Oh really? Well, if I must, I must.”

Taking Draco’s face in his hands once more, Harry brought his mouth down to take Draco’s in a long, slow kiss. At Harry’s gentle push, Draco lay back willingly and sighed when he felt the weight of Harry’s body on his own. Eventually, Harry broke the kiss and rested his forehead on Draco’s.

“Do you have any idea how scared I was, Draco? When I couldn’t wake you up and your heart was barely beating—I think my own heart may have stopped beating there for a moment. All I could think was that you were dying and there was nothing I could do—”

“Shhh,” Draco interrupted, gently pushing Harry’s head back so he could see his face more clearly. “Let’s not think about that now. I’m fine. You’re fine. Let’s just…enjoy the afternoon.”

Harry sat up. “I can’t stop thinking about it, Draco. Weren’t you scared—when you realised that someone was impersonating your mother, I mean? And how did you know it wasn’t your mother, anyway?”

Draco sighed and sat up as well. “Hell, yes, I was scared. I’ll admit I panicked a little when ‘mother’ didn’t answer the code question correctly. But I—”

“Code question?” Harry interrupted.

Draco quickly explained the code Narcissa had invented. Harry blew out a breath. “Remind me to thank your mother the next time I see her—her code probably saved your life!”

“Yeah, I need to thank her as well. Oh! Did Dumbledore tell you? He checked on my real mother, and she’s fine. She told him that she had a visit from Bellatrix a few days ago. She must have gotten one of my mother’s hairs or something while she was there. I’m meant to firecall her later—the headmaster said she was pretty upset when he told her what happened.”

“I’ll bet!” Harry said.

“I should probably do it now, but all I really want to do is forget about it for a little while and lie here and be with you.”

“Then that’s what we’ll do,” Harry said, lying back and pulling Draco down on his chest. Draco propped himself up on Harry’s chest with his forearms and smiled down at his lover.

“I do believe I’m in the perfect position to snog you senseless, Harry,” he said. “So I think I will.”

“Please do,” Harry grinned up at him.

Still smiling, Draco captured Harry’s lips with his own and enthusiastically set about doing just what he’d said: snog Harry senseless.

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A/N: Whew! Some of y’all did not like my mini-cliffie! Sorry about that! Heehee. Hope this makes you all feel better! Smile—thanks for the reviews!
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