Epitome of a Soldier - What it is to be Necessary

Hi everyone :)

So many lovely reviews! And I have lovely replies for you all :)

SP777
You'll have to read on and discover :D

thrnbrooke
Again, the addiction continues. We'll need to get you little patches for withdrawl symptoms when this story ends XD

BlackVirgin17
Because cliffies are occassionally very entertaining XD

Kuromei
Read on to find out what happened. Oh, wait, no, first I must hug :D *hugs Kuromei-chan* Okay, now you can go find out what happened :D

Kati-chan
Nope, no horrible scars, so our picture perfect, impossibly pretty Harry will remain as such XD

A quick apology aboout the shortness of this chapter; there were only certain things I wanted to happen and they only took up so much room. I hope you enjoy it nonetheless ^_^
Okay, I've said enough for now, please enjoy this chapter :)

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The moment consciousness began to return to him, Harry's body suddenly felt terrible. An intense sensation was spread throughout his entire body and it wasn't the least bit pleasant. It was nothing like he had ever felt before and he never wanted to feel it again. He needed to get rid of it, but how? Well, his mind thought logically, laying around as he was wasn't going to do anything to help so the first thing he needed to do was sit up and get out of the bed he was laying on.

However, the moment he tried to move the sensation became so much more intense. He found he could only hold out against it for just long enough to sit himself up before it became too much, forcing a gasp from his throat as he doubled over, his arms coming around his waist and his head bowing as he squeezed his eyes shut against the feeling. His world seemed to be focused on that thing he was feeling, the strange agony he had never experienced before. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he acknowledged the fact that he heard a door opening very nearby but he was in no condition to do anything about it or even think on it for too long. However, when he heard the smashing of china, he forced himself to open his eyes and look up out of the corner of his eyes, turning his head only the very slightest bit.

"Sev, come quick!" The voice of Draco Malfoy yelled just as Harry managed to lift his head and opened his eyes completely in order to see the young, blond man. When the call had faded, the Slytherin hurried over to him, stepping over the tray of food he had been carrying upon entering. "What are you sitting up for! Lay back down, quickly." He instructed, reaching the dark haired boy's side and reaching his hands out to gently force him back down onto the bed with a slight pressure applied to the shoulders.

Harry gave a gasp as agony radiated from the points where Draco touched him. "Pain..." He managed to gasp upon realising what he was feeling. So this was what real, extreme pain felt like...Nope, he didn't like it.

"Of course you're in pain, you idiot!" Draco snapped through there was a definite anxiety in his tone. "Merlin know's how you're still alive after what those Aurors did to you and how much blood you lost. Now lay back and don't move."

It was then that Harry noticed his arms were almost completely wrapped in the white bandages that his burnt hand had been wrapped in the day before. Also, it felt as though they were wrapped around parts of his legs and his stomach and chest as well. There were a few spots of red on some of the bandages as well, mostly on the under-side of his forearms; was that what he had smelt just before he had Apparated with Lucius, the scent on blood?

"What...Happened?" He whispered with some struggle, having to fight through the pain.

Before Draco could answer that, Snape came dashing into the room, a couple of potion bottles in hand. The blond teenager immediately turned his attention to the man and although he never left Harry's side, he did watch the Potions Master earnestly. "He was trying to get up when I came in." He told the man as though that made some sort of difference to the situation.

"Is that the reason for the spilt food and the shattered plate sitting in the doorway?" The Potions Master enquired as he stepped over the mess and raised an eyebrow at his charge.

"I was surprised, okay! You said he wasn't going to wake up for another day!" Draco protested.

"He shouldn't have woken up until tomorrow with the number of potions I forced down his throat." Snape practically growled as he reached the bedside, as though Harry woke up early simply to cause them both worry and to prove him wrong. "Sit him up." He instructed before turning a hard look on Harry as he tried to sit up once again which was a struggle even with Draco's help. "Why didn't you tell me what you were planning, you stupid boy?"

"I did not know." Harry said through a gasp as he moved a little too fast. "It was not planned."

"It wasn't planned?" The Potions Master repeated stiffly, uncorking one of the bottles as he did.

"I-I heard weeping and...Act..." Harry paused as he was fed a potion. He swallowed it dutifully, not even reacting to its foul taste, before continuing. "I acted without...Full consi-consideration."

"Well, if it means anything to you, by doing so you saved Lucius' life." Snape muttered with reluctant thanks as he took the cork out of the second bottle and pressed it to the injured boy's lips. "In more ways than one; Lucius seems to be of the opinion that the curse that hit you was meant for him and I don't think his body would have been able to take the strain."

"What was it...That was ca-cast on me?" Harry managed to get out as he was once again guided back in a lay by the blond haired youth beside him.

"It was the Sectumsempra curse. Apparently since the loss of the Dementors, the Light have decided that some Dark spells have their uses for keeping rebellious prisoners under control. The spell is terrible even under normal circumstances but considering that you are unused to pain of any kind, it is of little surprise that you are in so much discomfort. I just gave you a pain-reliever and a calming draught. You need to rest so don't fight the sleep." The man instructed even as Harry's eyelids began to drop. However, that obviously wasn't going to stop Snape from finding out everything he wanted to know because he continued on with one last question. "Potter, why did you do go to Azkaban for Lucius instead of retrieving the Horcrux?"

"I..." The dark haired young man breathed, his neck relaxing and allowing his head to roll onto its side. "I do not know." He managed to get out before the potions over-took him and sent him into a restful sleep.

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The next time Harry woke up, he was still in pain but it wasn't as bad as it had been before. For a long moment he just lay there in the bed, allowing himself to adjust to the strange sensation which, now it was bearable, he could properly think about and analyse. Pain; it was strange. It made him want to move in order to try and escape the pain, no matter that the damage had already been caused and so could no be erased, but moving only made everything hurt that little bit more. He wondered if the body actually liked pain, if it thrived from the reminder of life that the sensation gave. Perhaps then the way of pain would make some sense.

The pain, despite being the worst thing he had ever felt, wasn't enough to keep the teenager in bed. He felt restless and knew that there were things which were far more productive that he could and should have been doing with his time instead of just laying in his bed and staring up at the ceiling or over to one of the three walls that were in his direct line of sight. So, biting against the unpleasant sensation, Harry pushed himself up into a sit before he gingerly slid his bandaged legs out from under the covers and brought his feet to rest on the bare floorboards. After taking a moment to allow the slight pain to fade again and grabbing his glasses, he pushed himself up into a standing position carefully before slowly heading towards the bedroom door in order to make his way downstairs.

The entire way across the short hallway and down the stairs, Harry had to clutch at the walls and the banister to stop himself from crumbling or tipping over. The pain was still rather incredible and every movement he made hurt. His muscles felt stiff and were hard to move properly and not just because he was practically mummified with the amount of bandages he was covered in. At least he was sharing a house with a potions master and would no doubt have his wounds treated properly and have an endless supply of potions and lotions to soothe his injuries. Idly, the dark haired teenager wondered exactly what his skin looked like underneath all the protective material but he quickly decided that it was probably best he didn't know, at least for that moment.

Finally reaching the bottom of the stairs, Harry turned to his right in order to head to the study but was stopped by a single word: "Potter?" He turned and looked and saw that sitting in front of a lit fire in their own separate chairs was Snape and the youngest Malfoy. "What are you doing out of bed?"

"I am quite able to move about freely and there is work which must be done." Harry answered in his usual monotone, noticing the fact that Draco couldn't seem to look at him but choosing to ignore it.

"Are you sure? You're body has suffered a massive shock..."

"Your concern is unnecessary." The dark haired teenager cut the older man off as he turned to head to the study, the change in the Potions Master's behaviour un-nerving him slightly. Snape usually said nothing more than things to do with the search of the Horcruxes and this new conversation was strange and different.

"Would you care to join us? It's a cold evening and sitting in the cold will do your injuries no good." Snape pointed out, sounding nothing but inviting and it made Harry freeze on the spot in surprise. He was being invited to join the two Slytherins and not even by Draco! It was Snape! It was weird, it was strange and if there was one thing which Harry had learnt by that time, it was that strange situation should be avoided for as long as possible.

"I must decline." Harry answered, starting to walk again, trying to ignore and hide the feeling of surprise he felt at being invited to join the two Slytherins. "I have wasted too much time already; no more can be sacrificed." And with that, he finally left the living room.

His trip to the study was short as always and when he entered the dark room, he waved a hand to light the oil lamps that were dotted around on the walls and some of the tables. The charred logs in the fireplace were also brought back to flaming life as the back of Harry's mind silently admitted that the Potions Master probably did have a point about the chill that haunted the mid-summer night. At the front of his mind, however, was just confusion: confusion over the new sensation that plagued his body; confusion as to Snape's change in behaviour; confusion as to why he had done everything he had. He still couldn't understand his own actions when it came to what he had done the previous night and it was becoming increasingly bothersome to him.

"Harry?"

"Yes?" The dark haired teenager replied to his name immediately, pausing and turning to face the blond who had followed him into the room and who he had realised had followed him in a few seconds before his name had been spoken. However, what he wasn't expecting, and what slightly startled him, was the unsure expression the young Malfoy wore, something Harry had never seen before. In all the time he had spent with the young man, never had the blond appeared anything but confident and self-assured, even when Harry had been pushing him away and acting so distantly. It was rather un-nerving (as everything seemed to be) and put Harry on edge slightly.

However, despite being on edge, nothing could have prepared for what happened next. In a matter of mere seconds, Draco had made his way across the room and had wrapped his arms around Harry in a tight embrace. Green eyes widened remarkably as muscles tensed in both pain as his wounds were aggrovated and anxiety at this new contact with another person. Harry's heart beat a mile a minute and it seemed that for the moment that hug continued, he forgot how to think and how to breathe.

But then, as quickly as it had begun, it had ended. Draco's arms left him and the blond had fled the study, leaving Harry completely alone. The dark haired boy's eyes eventually refocused onto the open doorway that the young aristocrat had escaped through. Slowly, he walked over to the door and gently placed his hands on the cool, flat surface. For a long moment, he stood there and did nothing. Then, eventually, he applied a small amount of pressure and slowly guided the door shut.

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Harry's eyes flew open in a second and he knew he had been woken by something rather than just having naturally left sleep behind. He was back in the room he slept in, having returned to it to sleep when common sense told him that sleeping in an armchair would do him no good with his current state of injury. The room, however, seemed completely normal and whatever it was that had caused him to wake was not immediately clear to him. He slipped his glasses onto his nose and for several seconds he simply looked around himself in confusion, trying to see if there was anything in the room that didn't belong. He noted that the window showed nothing but darkness so it must have been quite late at night for there to be absolutely no light. That was the only thing worthy of note though and so he remained confused. But then he heard something rather than saw it; soft crying, like he had heard the night before.

This time, he didn't even try to think logically about his reaction, he simply stood from the bed, wincing at the pain shooting through his body as he did so, and headed out of the bedroom, following the sound of the gentle sobbing. It led him through his ajar bedroom door, to the right and to the ajar door to the bedroom right next to his own. He stopped and peered through the gap between the door and its frame to see Malfoy sitting on a chair beside the bed his father was sleeping on. Harry had earlier been told by Snape that the elder Malfoy had apparently woken for a short while that afternoon, long enough to take some potions before he fell asleep again.

There was something about the sight of the young man quietly crying by his father's side in the glow of a single candle which stirred unknown feelings inside Harry and he felt compelled to go to the blond's side. He followed that desire without thought and silently made his way into the bedroom and over to the hunched figure of the sobbing aristocrat. Instead of speaking to make his presence known, the dark haired teenager simply reached forward and placed his hand on the shoulder of the other.

Malfoy jumped at the contact, obviously having not expected it, and looked up quickly. Upon seeing who it was, he quickly turned away again, no doubt to try and hide the evidence that he had been crying even though it was more than apparent that was the case. "Harry; sorry, I didn't mean to disturb you." He said in a shaky tone as he brought a hand up to hastily wipe the tears from my eyes.

"Why are you crying?" Harry inquired simply, ignoring the other's apology as it was unnecessary.

Draco took in a slightly hitched breath before taking Lucius' hands in his own again. "He looks so ill." He sniffed, staring down at his sleeping father with tear-filled eyes. "I've never seen him look so terrible before."

"He has spent a year in Azkaban, it was inevitable that he would be in poor health upon his release." Harry replied reasonably.

"Yes, I know." The blond sighed sadly, his eyes not moving. "I just...Seeing it is so...So..." He trailed off uselessly. "I just didn't expect him to look this bad I suppose."

Perhaps it was because of earlier when the blond had embraced him or perhaps he was learning how to actually to be a normal person and feel and express emotions and empathy, but the dark haired boy felt the very definite desire to comfort the blond boy beside him. So, feeling more than a little awkward but following some strange urge that spurred him on, Harry hesitantly reached forward and gently curled an arm around Draco's shoulder in a very loose, one-armed embrace. The young Malfoy reacted in no way and it took all of Harry's self-control to not quickly flinch away and escape to the study once again.

It obviously wasn't enough for his new found social skills though because, before he even properly realised what was going on, he was speaking words of comfort: "At least he is here where you can be with him and nurse him back to the man he once was."

Draco said nothing but released his father's hand before turning in his seat and wrapping his arms around Harry's waist, burying his face in the dark haired boy's chest all in the blink of an eye. The dark haired young man's muscles tensed and his breathing hitched for a second as a few shots of pain lanced through him at the pressure that was suddenly being applied to his sore body, but even once that had faded Harry remained tense and didn't dare move, unsure of how to properly handle the new situation. However, finally, he followed his instincts and slowly brought his other arm up and rested his hand on top of the blond's head. The touch was very light and loose compared to the one Draco had on his waist but that was to be expected as he had never done it before. Not that Draco seemed to care so it hardly mattered really.