Poses

Snape thought he felt a chilly breeze, but he was too wrapped up in piecing together the remnants of his family\'s tea set to pay heed. He couldn\'t even recall if his family ever had formal tea in their summer home. His family hadn\'t been particularly well of off. They\'d been rather solidly middle class, but sought to move themselves upwards. This ramshackle cottage was just another of his mother\'s brilliant affectations of wealth that led them to doing without in other areas. Such as pants, Snape often bitterly recalled.

Though the Snapes were pure of blood, they were never quite accepted beyond their middle class roots in Wizarding society. They were proud when Severus managed to become a Death Eater. His family believed the war and their son\'s involvement in it would bring them to the status of higher-class prestige that their Pureblood lineage deserved.

After Voldemort fell and their illusions were shattered, Snape\'s family imploded. None of them spoke to one another after a mutual agreement that Severus would have the cottage in Rhiw, Wales over the summers while everyone else carried on as if the others did not exist.

Growling as he found yet another chipped china cup and set it aside, he pondered whether status wasn\'t part of his attraction to Draco. Fame seeking was unquestionably ingrained upon his very nature. Being with Draco, provided they both survived the war, would put him on the social map. However, that wouldn\'t happen if he didn\'t get past this first hurdle of setting a proper tea and bedding the boy, he reasoned.

Finally he found two cups that matched and had no chips and set them on the tray. By the time he got to the living area, Draco was long gone. \"Draco?\" he asked. He dropped the tray on the coffee table and spun around as if the boy might\'ve been shadowing him. First, he could smell the sea, and then he could hear it. The door was open. Without hesitation, he ran to the door to see Draco blundering up the steep hill to the road.

\"Draco. DRACO!\" Snape shouted. He saw the boy pause and then redouble his efforts to scramble up the hill. \"Stupid, impudent boy,\" he fussed as he reached for his wand. Except... he shouldn\'t use it out here. He\'d performed basic household magic inside without rebuke, but outside was an entirely different matter. He looked from side to side at his distant neighbors. The road above him was sporadically traveled by farmers, and after dark they were less likely to drive, so Draco would have a hard time finding a ride at this hour anyway. He would have to do this the hard way.

He started towards the hill when something unsettling the hedge Draco was running alongside caught his eye. It was the shady, stalking shadow of an animal. Snape squinted at it and then smirked and folded his arms over his chest in triumph. Draco would be back to the house soon, and of his own volition.

--

Draco never thought himself out of shape until he was running up the hill in front of Snape\'s cottage. His face was red, his ears were burning and the cool sea air was cutting at his lungs as he huffed with each step. All of this to get nearer to Muggles. There was a time when the prospect of even talking to Muggles would\'ve sent Draco to cowering behind Snape. Oh how the tides do turn. When he heard Snape calling him, he paused and gave a quick glance back to see if he was being followed. From there he saw the twinkling of a rather scenic view of the coast. He also saw how grotty the cottage Snape summered in was and wrinkled his nose in contempt.

As he turned back to carry on, he heard a noise from the hedge a few feet from him. Automatically, his hand skimmed to where his wand was kept, but alas, it still was not there. Draco thought he heard Snape cackling in the distance when he was blindsided by something mammoth and malodorous that knocked him to the dusty ground. His wand arm stretched out and flailed as he tried to grasp for purchase, but nothing was within reach. At last, he landed flat on his back, shrieking for help. Something moist and horrendously foul was slicking something sticky onto his face and he brought both arms up to block it. That\'s when he heard a friendly-sounding bark.

Parting his crossed elbows to peer up at the...thing, he realized it was nothing but a common sheep dog. \"Ugh, don\'t they ever bathe dogs in... wherever-the-Merlin-I-am-ville?\" he muttered to the animal.

In answer, the canine gave Draco another lick. The boy wailed and shooed the dog away and grabbed for his handkerchief in his robes.

As he dabbed his face, he heard the sound of squealing brakes behind him and he rolled over to see a brilliant flash of purple. It was shortly followed by the smell of tar and a gunning motor. Feeling the heat of the vehicle that pulled up beside him, he started to scramble to his feet while pocketing the hanky. He knew what this was, but he\'d forgotten about it until now. His mother had explained to him about waving his wand hand and calling for help to summon the Knight Bus if he got stranded somewhere. Not that he was allowed to go anywhere on his own, but that was beside the point.

Before he could right himself, the doors squeaked open and an unlikely-looking, spotty young man poked his head out and tilted it down at him like a curious bird. Draco leapt up and began brushing off his robes. Snape began shouting to stop him.

\"My name is Stan Shunpike...\"

\"Great, Stan Shunpike. Get out of my way and get me out of here,\" he insisted as he forced whatever coin that he\'d grabbed from his pocket into the man\'s hand and shoved past him.

Stan examined the Galleon with interest. \"Well, this\'ll getcha your \'ot chocolate, an \'ot water bottle an\' a -\"

\"Do you understand the meaning of the words \'get me out of here?\'\" hissed Draco. Now that he was under proper lighting, he realized he\'d miss-buttoned his robe.

Stan seemed to notice this as well. \"Oooh! Woz you caught by \'er \'usband, \'ere? Get a move on it, Ern. Got us a cheeeaaater.\"

Thankfully, there was no way that Snape was going to make it up the hill fast enough now. Draco peered out of the windows at him and saw the man flailing and cursing for the bus to stop just before the bus screamed into a haze of magic. Draco sighed in relief and flopped down on the nearest bed.

\"So, where would a cheater be \'eadin\' to?\" asked Stan as he waggled his brows in a way that made Draco even more irritable, if that were at all possible. The man handed Draco his hot chocolate and his hot water bottle and then held up a choice of three colours of toothbrushes between his knuckles for him to choose from.

\"Secret headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix, please,\" he answered as he took the water bottle and set it on the pillow. Next came the mug and he took a few calming sips as he looked at the colour choices of toothbrushes. He was so tired, and couldn\'t be arsed to care. He grabbed the red one. It sort of reminded him of Harry.

\"Can\'t do nuffink about goin\' to Order o\' the Phoenix \'eadquarters,\" said Stan.

\"Why not?\"

\"It\'s a seeeeeecret. We wouldn\' know where it is. \'Ow would we? They don\' tell us nuffink \'bout that stuff.\"

\"Oh. Right, then. Umm... The old Black family residence?\"

\"\'Ere we go. London it is.\"

Stan looked as if he might want to ask Draco more questions but to stifle further conversation, Draco turned on his side with his back to the man. He set the mug on the nightstand next to him and cuddled around his hot water bottle. Staring at the red toothbrush, he stroked his thumb over the bristles, thinking of Harry.

--

\"You don\'t understand, Ron. I wasn\'t there for him. Just like I wasn\'t there for... Sirius. Or for Cedric. I\'m always... Merlin, what is wrong with me? I\'m always... just...late.\" Harry slumped onto the couch and dropped his head into his hands.

Molly ended up being the one who let the boys out of the hexed door. The jinx could only be broken from the outside. Her visage was marked by the savage glare of a woman possessed with a singular mission. She was looking for Malfoy, ready to punish him for what she thought he\'d done to Hermione. Harry brushed past her while Ron explained why he didn\'t believe Draco sent the book. It took all of his Gryffindor courage to confess to his mother that he\'d been trying to woo Hermione and Draco was helping. Molly gave him a few indulgent nods as she listened to him ramble on about book buying and why Malfoy wouldn\'t send another. In the end, she accepted that Ron wouldn\'t make excuses for the Slytherin if he didn\'t truly deem him innocent.

In the meantime, Harry ran through all of the rooms, crying frantically for Draco. The only response he received was from the livid portrait of Mrs. Black, whose comments were no less edifying than they\'d ever been. Although, once she\'d interpreted the panic on Harry\'s face, the wretched screaming had turned into a ghastly, mocking laughter. Even Nigellus got in on the sniggering when Harry entered his own room. Molly had gone to tend to Mrs. Black by the time Harry rushed back to the drawing room where Ron was. That was where he sat, brooding over why he seemed to always drop the ball when it came to Draco and vowing never to do it again.

\"Harry, you just didn\'t know. That\'s my fault. I shouldn\'t have held him to that sodding promise. And he should\'ve let you know what Snape was up to. He\'s just been worried about you. He says you\'ve been out of sorts. After that fight this morning he was in a state. We practiced our spells for a while, but then he was tired. I spelled the room quiet so he could sleep. That\'s why he didn\'t get up when Hermione was attacked. That\'s my fault, too. You had no way of knowing I did that.\" Ron tried to word it carefully, knowing how tetchy Harry was. Further, he wanted to mitigate the blame Harry was heaping upon himself.

\"He\'s gone, Ron. He left with Snape. I don\'t blame him. Not one bit. Not after I... Merlin I accused him of... of hurting Hermione and... and cheating. When I\'m the cheater.\" Harry\'s voice was muffled through his hands covering his face.

Ron was shocked. \"You? You cheated on him?\"

\"I kissed... well, this man, one from training. Or he kissed me. I didn\'t... I mean, I thought maybe there was something between you two... and then... I just thought \'I\'ll show him.\' So I went to a pub with Richard from class and he pushed me against the wall... and he kissed me...and I shoved him away...\"

Ron took a moment to digest this new information. \"Harry, it was a kiss. You didn\'t even start the kiss. AND you pushed him away. I don\'t know why you-- all right, I understand why you thought something was going on. But you can go to a pub with someone without it being....\" Ron gestured in a circle with his hand flat. \"You know...\"

\"I knew what he was about, though. I mean, I think I did. Maybe I didn\'t. I don\'t know. I guess... he\'d been cozying up to me since classes began. I suppose I knew he wanted something. I just...\"

\"You pushed him away, Harry,\" said Ron as he sat down on the couch next to him. He rubbed his back in comforting circles. \"Maybe you thought about it, but you didn\'t initiate the kiss, and you didn\'t follow through with it.\"

\"That\'s what Hermione said.\"

Ron tried not to be offended that Hermione was told something he was not. After all, Harry thought Ron was trying to steal his boyfriend. \"Well then, it\'s obviously true. She\'s brilliant.\" He smirked at Harry when he looked over at him to see if he was just taking the piss.

\"She also said not to tell him about it.\"

\"I...\" Ron pondered this. \"It would upset him. But you have to see by now what keeping things from people you care about does. Maybe if Draco had told you what he and I were actually up to, and maybe if he\'d mentioned what happened with Snape...\"

\"He left with Snape,\" said Harry as he let his hands fall from his agonized face. \"He\'s gone.\"

\"I... I have a hard time believing that Draco would just go with him. I think that Snape just... took him.\" Ron immediately regretted saying this as he felt the muscles in Harry\'s back stiffen.

Harry sat up straight then and he glared around the room as if there would be a clue as to where Snape sitting around. \"Took him. Do you... really think so?\" he asked, steeling himself for the answer.

\"I just don\'t see why Draco would leave willingly. Do you?\" It was too late to recant, Ron reasoned. He could feel waves of rage radiating from Harry.

\"Where did he take him?\" barked Harry as he slammed his fists against his knees.

Ron withdrew his hand from Harry\'s back and folded his arms over his chest. \"Bloody hell, Harry, how would I know?\"

\"I\'m going to kill him. If Snape so much as touches him... or if he hurts him or traumatizes him in any way. If he... I will kill him,\" Harry vowed as his fallen hands clenched his knees.

Harry\'s wrath could be frightening, and it was definitely unsettling Ron to hear him speak like that. \"Harry, be reasonable. If you killed him then you\'d go to Azkaban.\"

It was clear Harry wasn\'t listening to Ron any longer, but was stuck in an elaborate revenge fantasy. \"I\'ll kill him with my bare hands. The last thing he\'ll see in this world is my smiling face as I do it, too.\"

Ron gaped at Harry\'s maniacal expression. Draco told him that Harry was going a bit off the rails, but this was the first time he\'d ever witnessed it. At a loss for what to say, and frankly too scared that he might say the wrong thing and incur Harry\'s fury, Ron resumed soothing Harry\'s back. He wondered where Malfoy was and prayed he was all right. And if Malfoy wasn\'t all right, whether he\'d be visiting Harry in Azkaban or St. Mungo\'s in the near future.

--

\"I\'m so sorry, Draco, I just don\'t know how to make it up to you after such a serious breach of trust!\" exclaimed Draco in a murmured falsetto voice as he bobbed the red toothbrush in time to the words. About the time that he\'d resorted to toothbrush puppetry, he\'d decided he\'d been on this bus for far too long. He\'d intended to sleep; he was exhausted. However, given all that had transpired, his mind was in too many directions to allow him the peace of slumber. Thus....

\"I don\'t know, Harry. I\'m not sure if I could ever forgive you for thinking that I\'d sleep with a Weasley,\" he whispered harshly to the toothbrush-Harry. \"I have better taste than that.\"

\"I know, I know, Draco. I blame the blood from my Mudblood mother for my lack of judgment. I could never be as reasonable and perceptive as you are. I\'m just a half blood, have mercy!\" he made the toothbrush beg in a whiney whisper.

\"Further, you thought I would harm Granger.\" He paused for a moment. No, that wasn\'t so irrational, was it? \"You thought I would harm Granger in a really foolish way that could be easily traced back to me. I\'m a Slytherin,\" he insisted in a low voice.

He had no idea what in the world had happened, but it was something that linked to him in such an obvious way that even a Gryffindor could sort it out. He\'d deal with that mystery later. There was no use wasting good puppeteer time pondering what would be explained to him later. Right now, he needed to figure out how to play this out with Harry.

\"I\'m so sorry, Draco! It\'s because I\'m a Gryffindor and we\'re as thick as they come! We don\'t think at all! Of course if you wanted Hermione dead she\'d be dead! And no one would suspect you at all. Please, please forgive me!\" the toothbrush implored.

\"I don\'t know.... I don\'t know if I ever can. You hurt me. You never let me top. You shoved me against a wall and by throwing me at Ron made me have to touch a Weasley. Which I never wanted to do, no matter what you believed at the time. Then you let Snape toddle off with me! I just spent half my youth on that Witch-forsaken bus to get back! How can I forgive that? What can you do for me?\" He was a little surprised that the litany of Harry\'s sins went on that long. He\'d been putting up with quite a lot, hadn\'t he?

He angled the brush down with his index finger as if it were lowering its head in dire shame for its transgressions. \"I... I don\'t know why you would ever forgive me. Or if you ever could. I just... I love you. Please forgive me.\"

Draco frowned at the toothbrush and he sighed and reached up to push it up by its white bristles with his thumb, as if he were nudging the brush to look into his eyes. \"I love you too, Harry. But you\'ve been wretched to me. Now after all of this...\"

He looked maudlin. After all that had happened... how did he feel? He loved Harry. He\'d gambled everything on this relationship working. Maybe Snape was right. Perhaps he was a ridiculous boy. His brows furrowed and he stared at the toothbrush. He shook it as if the brush was taking a moment to think; he wished it would respond with the right answer. Receiving no reply, Draco tried again with his own verbiage. \"Anything, Draco. I\'ll do anything. I\'ll bring you breakfast in bed, I\'ll suck you off every night!\"

\"You already suck me off.\" He gave the toothbrush an unimpressed look.

\"Anything, Draco! I love you so much! Don\'t leave me! I need you, please! I\'ll... I\'ll let you fuck my tight virgin ass!\" the brush cried.

\"Your ass? Me? You\'d let me do that?\" he asked, raising his brows. It wasn\'t this simple, he knew that, but he also knew via this little reenactment, he wasn\'t quite ready to give up on Harry. Not merely because he had nowhere else to go, but because of the idea of not being with Harry caused a deep twisting in his stomach. He loved him. He felt he needed him. He didn\'t have the whole story. Draco had been holding things back, perhaps Harry had too. He had to sort it out, no matter how wounded he was.

\"Yes, oh yes Draco. I want you to! I want your long, rock hard prick to split open my tight virgin ass! I want...\" Draco broke off in alarm as he heard Stan clearing his throat behind him.

\"Las\' call for Grimmauld Place?\" Shunpike announced. His voice was muted by his hand, which he held over his mouth to keep from giggling.

Draco blushed furiously and jammed the toothbrush into his wand pocket as if hiding it would erase Stan\'s memory of... dear Merlin just how much had he heard? Draco rolled out of the bed and avoided eye contact as he nodded and waved his hand to indicate he was going.

\"Keep the toofbrush, eh. \'Ate to be breakin\' up the \'appy couple.\" Shunpike tittered.

Draco sneered, but really, what could he say? He pretended not to hear it and exited the bus. He looked around and then turned, about to ask which house belonged to the Black family, but with a loud shriek, the bus was gone again. Dejectedly, Draco stepped onto the sidewalk and stared at the houses in front of them, praying someone would see him soon.

--

Someone did see Draco soon. Someone he wouldn\'t have wanted to see him. Someone he didn\'t consider might be there. \"Spien. Spien,\" hissed Bellatrix. Their vantage point was a porch a couple of houses down. The Muggles who had owned the home were long since departed and their bodies removed. Bellatrix and Richard were on their shift of monitoring the comings and goings of the old Black family home.

The Death Eaters had been staking out Grimmauld Place for nearly as long as the Order had taken up residency there. As things often do, the care with which they concealed themselves had diminished since they had not been found out. At this point their \"cover\" only consisted of wearing Muggle clothing and not sitting directly in front of the spot where the Order members vanished. Normally, that worked brilliantly. Today, Richard found himself longing for the comfortable anonymity of their robes and masks as he trailed after Bellatrix.

Snape was aware that Grimmauld was being watched which was why he had the Portkey to his home set up for visits so he wouldn\'t be caught wandering in a suspicious area. Knowing that Draco was likely to try to get back inside the house, Snape Apparated a few streets over and paced the rest of the distance. The boy had no clue that Death Eaters would be laying in wait for something like this to happen, and only Snape knew that Draco would be vulnerable. He watched the area from a shrubbery across the street. He wouldn\'t reveal himself unless it became essential, but that time appeared to be much sooner than later.

Draco was pacing nervously in front of where the Knight Bus dropped him off. He wasn\'t sure what to do; as far as he understood, knowledge of the house made it appear? That was how the Fidelius charm worked, anyway, and he was pretty sure that\'s what kept the house from view. But that wasn\'t it, was it? One had to know the address. Draco didn\'t. He didn\'t expect to be outside. He didn\'t expect to be falsely accused of hurting Granger by his lover. He didn\'t expect a lot of things that were occurring. Most of all, he didn\'t expect the soft purr of Bellatrix Lestrange behind him.

\"My nephew! Goodness, I haven\'t seen you since... ever, have I? But you are unmistakably my sister\'s son. Although...\" she cooed. \"You do look much like your father when you\'re afraid. Are you afraid, little rabbit? Afraid of your sweet ickle Aunt?\"

Spien stood behind her inwardly cursing her audacity. He had much to lose if he were found out; a point that Richard clearly hadn\'t impressed enough upon Bellatrix since they were now confronting a possible Order member, even if it was a Malfoy.

Draco whirled around at the sound of her voice. He\'d only ever seen pictures of her in his mother\'s photo album and on the front of The Daily Prophet. Naturally, he was terrified. His hand went to where his wand was, but as his fingers mashed into the bristles, he realized he was armed with nothing more but a toothbrush. His \"Harry\" toothbrush. Harry, where are you? Poking the narrow brush against the fabric, he bluffed it was a wand. \"Don\'t come any closer.\"

\"Scared ickle wabbit. Are you afwaid?\" Bellatrix asked in her annoying baby voice. \"You should be. You betrayed your family, your name, and the greatest Wizard alive!\" Seeing what she presumed to be his wand pointed at her, she brandished her own. Spien stayed a few steps back from the two, but produced his wand as well.

Draco began to panic. He prodded the brush forward; tenting the material further. \"I mean it, not a step closer!\"

Boldly, Bellatrix brayed before stepping forward not one, but two steps. Her smile was her dare.

Letting out a quiet squeak of alarm, Draco tripped over himself backing up. At the sudden noise and movement, Spien and Bellatrix simultaneously wielded their wands. Draco was hit square in the chest with twin red beams of light. His face froze in shocked terror as he tipped backward onto the pavement, landing with a revolting hollow thud.