Bounty Hunter

\"What in the bloody hell were you thinking, Potter!\" Malfoy called as he followed him quickly down the stairs, trying to catch his breath, get his body under control and wrap his mind around the enigma that was charging ahead in front of him, all at the same time. \"Why in the bleeding hell would you lead them to your house?\"

Draco came to an abrupt halt as his jumped off the last stair and rounded his way into the first room they had entered. Harry now stood in front of the large frame of wood on the far wall. Malfoy watched, completely enthralled as Harry twisted his limbs in a series of complicated, but smooth and graceful movements, stretching his muscles and honing his sense of balance. Other than an air of anticipation, Potter appeared to be perfectly calm and at ease. He was beginning to wonder if he had forgotten all about his \'prisoner\', when Harry suddenly paused.

Reaching a hand out, Harry swept the centerpiece off the board, a stunning, silver sword, and turned to face him. As he pulled it from it\'s sheath, the metal rang out, reverberating around the room. A shaft of light hit the blade and its gleam was echoed in Harry\'s eyes as he swung it around, over his head and brought it slicing forward through the air. He raised the sharpened edge to sit against his scar in a mocking salute, looking up at Draco through the black fringe of lashes and hair. Draco\'s breath caught at the deadly silhouette.

\"Because, Malfoy.\" Harry offered him a roguish grin. \"This is where I keep my weapons.\"

*~*~*~*~*~*

\"Thanks for letting me move in, Moody.\"

\"Don\'t mention it, Potter.\" Alistair growled im. im. \"I got enough thanks from the rest of the Aurors.\"

\"You can be real git sometimes, you know that.\"

\"But you\'ve come a long way from the spoiled little boy you used to be.\" Moody returned with a growl. \"Besides, figure if I don\'t let you live here, Lupin would come back from the dead and bite me.\"

\"Probably.\" Harry said with a laugh as he closed the door to his bedroom. \"So, why aren\'t you scared of me like the others?\"

\"Not a lot scares me these days, Potter.\" Moody returned gruffly. \"Besides, I know what happened in the room that day - they don\'t.\"

\"You do? Enlighten me, then.\" Harry leaned back against the door.

\"You see, Potter, they think all that power came from you.\" Moody looked him in the eye. \"But we know better, don\'t we?\"

Harry frowned. He thought back to that strange moment. He had felt a rage that surpassed anything he had ever felt before. Then, a vortex had started deep in his stomach, sucking in waves of magic that had later exploded. \"Where did it come from?\"

\"Oh, from you, partly.\" Moody said vaguely. \"The rest - well, it didn\'t come from the Death Eaters.\"

\"The Aurors, \" Harry said, nodding. \"Of course.\"

\"You have a very unique ability, Potter. What you did has only been talked about in myth. You took power from aligned intentions, and made it your own.\"

Harry face took on a new level of intensity. \"But can I do it again? Can I do it when I need to?\"

\"With practice.\" Moody assured him. \"Maybe you should have stayed close to oth others.\"

\"No,\" Hashooshook his head. \"I can\'t be around them. I never should have moved into the Ministry with the others.\"

\"Yeah?\" Moody took a swig out of his flask. \"I think learning about your real power was worth it. Might be worth it to explore that a little more.\"

can can do that during sparring times.\" Harry pointed out. \"It\'s not like I\'m not working for the Ministry anymore.\"

\"Really don\'t want to go back, huh?\" Moody asked shrewdly. \"What, are they too cold towards you, now?\"

\"No. Too distracting.\" He followed Moody down into the kitchen, taking a butterbeer out of the fridge and cracking it open. \"Didn\'t you read my last transcript from Hogwarts? Harry Potter - does not play well with others.\" Harry gave a short, dark laugh. \"Well, not anymore.\"

\"That\'s alright, Potter.\" Moody said in what Harry supposed was his comforting voice. \"You do just fine on youn.\"n.\"

\"I\'m beginning to see that.\" Harry took another drink of his butterbeer.

\"Just remember, Potter. Constant vigilance means it\'s good to have someone watching your back, too.\" Moody eyed him, gruffly.

\"And that\'s what I\'ve got you for, old boy,\" Harry pointed out with a grin.


*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Severus Snape paced back and forth in the rose garden outside the Ministry, waiting for Hermione Granger to Apparate back from the Shrieking Shack. Potter had *generously* sent his owl back with a message:

Snape,

Don\'t get your knickers in a twist. She\'s fine. She\'ll be back when she bloody well feels like it.

~Potter.

After he had read the message, Potter\'s owl, Headcase or something, pecked him and flew off. Savior of the Wizarding World or not, Potter creeped him out these days. It figured he would have a man-eating owl to boot. Snape was a little surprised that Potter didn\'t chuck the whole idea of owl post altogether and just send people missives tied to various poisonous snakes.

\"You look like you just lost your best friend.\"

He whirled around to find Hermione standing in front of him, hands clasped behind her back, one foot tucked behind the other, smiling up at him innocently. \"And where have you been?\"

\"I was - \"

\"Do you know what could have happened to you?\" He whirled around, robes swirling about him. Suddenly her benevolent protector of the past few years faded away into Hogwart\'s most feared Potions Master.

\"But, I - \"

\"I should have left you behind in that cell, at least I always knew where you were.\" He finally came to a stop, crossing his arms over his chest and glaring at her.

\"That\'s not - \"

\"Do you have any idea how worried I\'ve been?\" He shouted.

\"I- \" She was cut off as he suddenly pulled her into a bone-crushing embrace. She gently put her arms around his neck, snuggling into his chest.

\"I want it understood that I am not cuddling you. I merely making sure you don\'t up and disappear e age again.\" He said into her hair. Finally, he pulled back to look at her. He wasn\'t exactly sure what to do now. Their relationship had been forever altered by the past few years. Things that might not have been acceptable otherwise, were excused in the dungeon. While their relationship bordered on amorous lines, they had never crossed them. He had absolutely no idea what to make of it or how to act, now that they were free.

Hermione looked up at him. \"What is it?\"

\"Hermione, or should I be calling you Miss Granger - \"

\"Hermione.\" She stated firmly.

\"I think we need to discuss some things.\" He said carefully.

\"Like what?\" She tried to step closer to him, but he reached up and removed her hands from his neck, holding them tightly in his own.

\"Like what we\'re going to tell everyone else about what happened. Like the nature of our . . .friendship.\" He frowned.

\"Friendship?\" Hermione asked, sounding offended.

\"I don\'t know what else to call it.\"

\"Don\'t you?\"

\"I know what you\'re thinking,\" he said with a sigh, gripping her hands and wishing he had the courage to let go. \"But there are a lot of reasons why what we have *is* just a friendship.\"

\"It\'s not like you\'re my professor anymore,\" she pointed out.

\"No, but I used to be. And I\'m a lot older than you- \"

\"I\'m a lot older than I used to be,\" she broke in bitterly.

\"Listen, being stuck together for so long, without hope of rescue, it\'s bound to change some things, but we\'re not locked in a dungeon anymore.\"

\"Thanks for pointing that out,\" she rolled her eyes. \"Of course it changed things. But I\'m ok with that. I would never have made it on my own. You got me through it.\"

\"*You* got *me* through it.\" His eyes warmed and he squeezed her hands, but continued doggedly. \"However, the nature and origin of our association, well, it creates a closeness that might influence your thinking, and I don\'t want to take advantage of - \"

\"Severus?\" She tugged her hands out of his, and clasped them back behind his neck.

\"Yes?\" He looked down in her eyes, enjoying the happiness and hope that had been missing since she had heard Harry Potter had died.

\"Shut up and kiss me.\" And she pulled him down, pressing her lips to his. For a moment, he held back, but after a second, wrapped his arms firmly around her waist, and lifted her up slightly. A smile tugged at his lips as he broke the kiss off, still holding her close. They were both free and safe. Beyond that, nothing mattered to him anymore.


************

Harry crossed the room, coming to a stop in front of Draco. He was smiling, but it never touched his eyes. Draco found himself wanting to take a cautionary step back, but forced himself to remain where he was. Gently, Harry took Draco\'s left hand in his right, entwining their fingers.

\"What are you doing?\" Draco looked at their hands, confused.

\"Catena nos,\" Harry whispered. For a second, an emerald beam wound itself around their wrists. It flashed brightly and disappeared, leaving a silver cord-like bracelet on each of them. \"They won\'t be taking you with them tonight.\"

Harry turned, striding back towards the wall of weapons. When he was about three feet in front of him, Draco felt a tug on his wrist and was compelled to follow him, just as if they had been chained together by the bracelets. Draco glared at him. \"You better be able to take this off, Potter.\"

\"Don\'t worry. You think I want to be bound to you for eternity, Malfoy?\"

\"Aren\'t you?\" Draco sneered back, softly.

Harry pretended not to hear him. He reached up and pulled a dagger identical to the one he carried in his boot, gleaming silver with a jet dragon handle. He tossed it behind him without a glance. Draco caught it by the handle, but just barely. \"Careful, Malfoy.\"

\"And what am I supposed to do with this?\" He gripped the blade, remembering the sharp edge of its mate against his skin and Harry\'s mouth taking his breath away.

\"Defend yourself.\" Harry answered shortly, stretching once more.

\"And how do you know I won\'t just put it in your back?\" Draco smirked. Suddenly Harry whirled around and he found himself pinned against the wall, the blade biting familiarly into the skin at the base of his neck.

\"I\'d like to see you try.\" Harry\'s focused eyes held his as surely as thecelecelet held him. \"Here\'s your chance to prove what side of the fight you\'re on, Malfoy.\"

\"You bind me to your side, give me a knife and you *still* don\'t trust me?\" Draco gasped, his mouth dry.

\"I don\'t trust anyone.\"

\"And if I\'m not on your side?\"

\"Then I\'ll bury you next to your father.\" Harry smiled. He reached a hand out and flicked off the lights. Through the windows, Draco could see wands lit up as the Death Eaters approached.

\"How many are there?\" Draco whispered.

\"About seventeen.\" Harry answered easily. \"Depending on whether Voldemort wanted to send the LeStranges or keep them for personal guards.\"

\"Seventeen?\" Draco licked his lips, and Harry\'s eyes filled with smoke as they followed the movement. \"Why don\'t they just rush the house? What are they waiting for?\"

\"They\'re scared.\" Harry pressed closer to Draco, pushing him further into the wall. Adrenaline coursed through his body.

\"S-scared?\" Draco hissed, trying to keep the groan out of his voice at the sudden friction, wondering how Harry could tease him while Death Eaters waited outside to kill him, and then realizing that Harry got off on the intensity of the situation. \"Of what?\"

Harry leaned forward, ghosting his lips over Draco\'s, before looking into his eyes once more, a feral grin on his face. \"Me.\"