Poses

Snape watched Draco crumple to the pavement. He held his breath, hoping the lack of oxygen would help him remain detached. It happened so quickly that he hadn\'t had time to decide what to do. As a result, he froze and did nothing but monitor the proceedings. Now, there was his Draco, stiff and laying on Muggle pavement with two Death Eaters arguing over what to do with him.

\"We were sent to observe, Bellatrix, not to capture,\" protested Richard. His eyes darted around the forlorn street to see if there were any witnesses.

\"Only because capturing wasn\'t really an option before. The Dark Lord wants him to join with us or perish.\" Bellatrix glanced around holding her wand, readying to end any onlookers. \"Let\'s just take him.\"

\"We don\'t know why he was out here. What if he was bait? We never should have approached him.\" Richard peered down at the limp boy; white hair splayed on grey pavement, the wide eyes and open mouth. Curiously, Malfoy clutched a red toothbrush to his chest. Richard snorted, that must\'ve been why the boy hadn\'t pulled his wand on them. He didn\'t have it. Still, a toothbrush seemed rather a random thing to be carrying around. Stepping over to the body, he stared at it enquiringly when out of nowhere none other than Harry Potter bounded into view, followed by Ron and Molly, all three with their wands drawn.

\"RICHARD!\" Harry was quite taken aback to find his classmate standing over the frozen form of his boyfriend. He moved his wand from Bellatrix to Richard and back, not sure whom to hex first. Both were vile, and both had a hand in all of this. At least that\'s how Harry saw it. After Ron and Molly shared a glance it was sorted out that Ron trained his wand on Richard and Molly on Bellatrix.

They\'d heard and felt the vibrations of the spells inside their magic-hidden building, thanks to a ward Dumbledore had placed on Grimmauld in case something like this should happen. The internal alarm had sounded and Harry just knew. He knew it had to be Draco. It didn\'t even occur to him that Draco might be without his wand until he glimpsed Draco holding a red toothbrush in his wand hand. He flushed with remorse at the fact that not only had he allowed Draco to be kidnapped by Snape, but also he had withheld Draco\'s wand, leaving him unarmed. Harry was a little taken aback that Snape wasn\'t in sight, being that he was the one who had taken Draco in the first place. He would deal with that later, though. He had to stay in the present.

Due to his astonishment, Richard found himself unable to move. He mouthed an assortment of muddled words. What could he say? He was spotted and on point.

Bellatrix, however, seemed thrilled to have an opportunity to confront Harry again. \"Aww, ickle Potty come to save his boyfwiend?\" cooed Bellatrix. \"That\'s so cuuuuute...\" She jabbed her wand in Harry\'s direction, more than willing to duel the boy.

All of the anger and frustration, the self-loathing for his action and inaction welled up inside of Harry. His green eyes blazed and before she could continue her grating speech, Harry screamed, \"CRUCIO!\" This time he was not in shock. This time, he knew how to mean it.

Bellatrix fell to the ground writhing and screaming, her body surrounded in a glow of cruel magic. She convulsed as every fibre of her being was filled with the electric current of pain wracking it. Her mouth started to froth as Harry kept the wand trained on her. His eyes narrowed in determined focus to make her experience his wrath.

Richard\'s retreat broke the shocked stillness of the Weasleys as they watched in horror as Harry Potter tortured Bellatrix. Certainly she deserved it, but the idea of the Boy Who Lived being so malicious had rooted them to the pavement. But now, Molly hit Richard with a stunning spell. Ron took the initiative to stop Harry and clamped his hand down on his best mate\'s shoulder.

\"Harry? Harry...\" Ron tried, shaking his friend. \"Harry, you\'re going to drive her mad. Stop it. Stop it, now.\"

\"She\'s already mad.\" Harry felt his anger coming in waves and he focused it into his wand and watched it pour over the skeletal woman. This wasn\'t just for harming Draco. It was for everything; for growing up without his parents and not knowing the truth of their lives or who they were as people. For oversized clothes and birthdays and Christmases with no presents. For growing up not knowing he was a wizard. For Sirius Black. For Neville\'s parents. For Cedric Diggory and that awful first kiss with Cho. For the nightmares he had to endure, and for never, ever having a normal life. Someone had to pay. Today, that someone was Bellatrix Lestrange.

Ron finally shoved Harry, knocking the concentration of the spell off-kilter, breaking it. Bellatrix\'s body lay there twitching in after effects of the Unforgivable.

\"Stupefy!\" Ron sent a stunner at the woman on the ground to end her frenzied thrashing.

Harry panted, looking down at the damage he\'d done with angry indifference. Then he knelt down next to his boyfriend. \"Ennervate!\" Instead of rousing, Draco\'s eyes closed and his rigid body went limp. \"Draco!\" wailed Harry. He wrapped his arms around his wilted lover and pressed his head against his chest, grateful to still hear a heartbeat.

\"He took two stunning spells, he\'s going to probably rest for a while,\" Snape said, having made his way over once it was clear the Death Eaters were captured.

Molly nodded and then pursed her lips.

Ron stood very still.

It took Harry a moment to register whose voice he just heard. Glaring up at Snape, he snapped, \"You... how do you know he took... you watched?\"

\"I could not compromise my cover.\" Snape crossed his arms.

\"You watched while Draco was attacked? This person you claim to care so much about?\" Harry\'s eyes were wide with incredulous resentment that Snape could be such a complete coward. Even though Harry felt as if he was no longer good enough for Draco after how he\'d let him down, at least he wouldn\'t stand by and watch while he was hexed.

\"You do not understand, Potter. I must maintain my cover, no matter how difficult it is.\" Snape peered down at Draco\'s crumpled form. Pulling his wand, he began to cast, \"Mobili-\"

Harry cut him off. As much as he wanted to hex Snape into oblivion, he felt too magically drained to do it properly right now. Plus, he wasn\'t sure if he was going to get away with what he\'d just done to Bellatrix. Hexing someone presumably on his side in front of everyone would push everyone too far. \"Don\'t. Don\'t do anything to him or for him. You don\'t deserve to.\" Harry pushed his wand into his back pocket and slipped an arm under Draco\'s knees and the other under his back and lifted him precariously to carry him back to their room. \"He\'s mine and I\'m going to take care of him.\"

--

Harry had taken his supper in the room with Draco, keeping his vigil next to what he\'d hoped would remain his boyfriend. Molly fussed to him that Draco wasn\'t likely to wake till the next day, but Harry was insistent. \"I wasn\'t there for him before. I\'m not going to abandon him now. I don\'t want him to wake up alone.\"

Snape opened the door midmorning. Harry lazily grabbed up his wand and pointed it at the man. His eyes were bleary from a restless sleep and his vision hazy since his glasses were still on the nightstand. Since Harry had brought Draco into this room, cleaned him and tucked him into bed, Snape had tried twice to check up on him.

Harry refused to let Snape near Draco, particularly after his examination of Draco\'s torn robes revealed stresses in the fabric that indicated more than just the roughing up they\'d endured from Harry\'s tantrum. Though he hadn\'t gotten far in Auror training, he\'d had at least a few classes on investigation. He shuddered to think of what Snape had tried to do to Draco.

\"Harry, hold on.\"

Surprised by a familiar-sounding voice that wasn\'t of the same tenor of Snape\'s, and the use of his first name, Harry sat up and squinted, still keeping his wand pointed at the professor. A wan figure slid past the darkness of Snape and his greying sandy-brown hair lit up in the morning sun.

\"Remus!\" Harry slapped his wand on the nightstand and grabbed his glasses as he slid out of the bed and gave his friend a firm hug.

Lupin hugged Harry back with as much strength as he could muster. \"I would have come sooner, Harry. But... the lunar cycle...\"

\"It\'s all right. It\'s fine. I\'m so glad you\'re here! Although... I mean... you haven\'t been here all summer...\" Harry inwardly frowned, realizing just what a horrid friend he was. He was so wrapped up in his training and goings on with Draco, he hadn\'t thought at all about where Remus was this whole time.

Lupin smiled indulgently down at Harry. \"Shh, Harry. No, I know I have not been around, but it was for a good cause, I assure you.\"

\"Where have you been?\"

Since Sirius\'s passing, or perhaps some time before, Remus had come to think on Harry as a son. It pained him that he hadn\'t been there to listen to Harry. Perhaps, if he had been, it might have prevented some of the trouble the boy had gotten into. \"I was attempting to gather and organize others of my-- other werewolves-- to assist in the battle against He Who Shall Not Be Named.\"

Harry\'s face expressed a bland shock at this. It made sense, but from Lupin\'s tired demeanour and the studied impassiveness of his expression, Harry surmised it must not have gone well. \"Oh, I see. Did it work? Are they... on our side?\"

Lupin nodded. \"Though the Ministry did its best to alienate all werewolves, it would seem that the idea of working for someone who would see them all dead is even less appealing. Their allegiance, such as it is, is with the Order. Or rather, several of them are with the Order as there is no actual governing body of the werewolves so much as a few small nomadic clusters in and around London. I reached all that I could. The rest is up to them. However, none of them seemed interested in joining with the Death Eaters, but their minds were already made up on that. Nothing I did really... well, I\'m here now.\" His voice was distant and cool. He was surprised by how few were willing to fight for the Order, and yet he was not armed with a particularly compelling reason to convince them with.

What could Harry say to that? Remus didn\'t seem keen on what happened, and what he\'d said summed up his summer. \"I\'m sorry that it didn\'t work out as you\'d hoped. But it is good news that we won\'t have to fight them.\" Harry winced at how lame that sounded, but he was trying to be supportive. Releasing Remus from their embrace, he sat back down on the bed and stroked Draco\'s pallid arm.

Remus looked down at Harry, feeling little other than sympathy for him at the moment. While what he\'d done to Bellatrix was very wrong, Remus couldn\'t say that he wouldn\'t have tortured her or just killed her on sight himself, and he didn\'t have nearly the stresses that Harry had on him now. He crouched down in front of Harry and studied his downcast eyes. \"Are you all right? It\'s been quite a summer for you as well.\"

Quite a summer, indeed. Harry nodded, \"I\'ll be fine, I think. I don\'t know... what to say. So much happened... so fast. I was very excited about being in Auror training, but no one-- they all seemed afraid of me. I guess with good reason.\" Harry let out a bitter staccato laugh and then bit it back. He didn\'t want to play the drama queen with Remus, or with anyone. \"It\'s just that... not being here... being stuck away from my friends all day... and then Ron and Draco started to get friendly, I just didn\'t know how to take it. I assumed the worst.\"

\"That\'s easy to do, Harry. You\'re both so young. This is all very new to you, and it takes a while to learn to trust.\" He raised his hand to quiet Harry\'s protests. \"I know you\'ve experienced a lot, but this really is your first relationship. Sirius and I, well, we were probably about your age when we... experimented.\"

Snape stepped into the room with a victorious expression. \"I knew you Marauders were all up there having orgies...\"

Grabbing his wand off of the nightstand, Harry pointed it at him.

Remus pushed Harry\'s wand back down and shook his head.

Snape glared, but went silent.

\"No, Severus, it was just Sirius and me.\" He shook his head and turned to Harry to explain further. \"Regrettably, I didn\'t pursue it and he moved on. We fought quite a bit over childish things. Petty jealousies got blown up into epic battles, because we were both so sure we knew what the other was thinking... we\'d have entire arguments before we even bothered to consult the other. We never talked seriously, Harry. We were always on the cusp of making things work, but our lack of communication just kept us... apart. It\'s why in the end ... we ended up suspecting one other of being spies. It made our time together-- when he finally got out of Azkaban-- terribly short.\"

\"Oh, Remus!\" Harry was at a loss for what to say. He had no idea that the two of them were together. It made sense now that he thought about it. He should have known from the joint Christmas present, although at the time he assumed it was just because Remus didn\'t have much money. Remus is gay. Sirius was gay or at least bisexual. It changed everything and nothing all at the same time. \"So my father... did he know?\"

Remus nodded. \"Both of your parents knew, Harry. If you\'re worried about how they would feel about your relationship, I can tell you this; they never had a problem with us. Your father was politely disinterested in our sex lives.\"

That pleased Harry. He supposed if his parents had lived, they would have loved him enough to deal with anything, but it was good to have it confirmed that they\'d be fine with his sexuality. He knew full well that his lover\'s parents would never have accepted him. Caressing Draco\'s skin again, he wondered if they would have lasted at all if Draco had had to deal with his parents or if he would have caved and broken it off.

\"I didn\'t tell you about my relationship with Sirius to tell you about your parents, Harry. But rather I brought it up as a cautionary tale. It sounds as if you\'ve been making the same mistakes with communication that Sirius and I did. Though you\'ve already gotten much further than we did, you must be careful. Love is so very fragile, particularly when you both have so much on the line. Just talk to him, be honest. It seems like he went to great pains to get back here. I\'m sure he wants to forgive you.\"

Harry looked at Remus with hope shining in his almond-shaped green eyes. \"Do you really think so?\"

Snape cleared his throat. \"But he should not forgive you. Your behaviour was contemptible, Potter.\" Harry welcomed Snape\'s intrusion by directing his wand at him. \"If you hex me, Potter, you had better make it a good one.\" Snape patted his wand in his robes.

Standing up because of the sudden palpable tension in the room, Remus slid his fingers over his wand and looked between the two uncertainly.

\"Oh, it will be a good one, I guarantee you that, Professor. I mastered a new one yesterday. A really good one. An Unforgivable. Fancy a demonstration?\" Harry\'s eyes glittered with malevolence as he felt his rage building.

Snape could tell the threat was real and took a step back without intending to. \"You are unhinged. You should be locked away.\"

\"Oh, that would be interesting. Lock me away in Azkaban and then check me out like a library book when you need a dark wizard defeated? Clever, and yet... I don\'t see it happening. You overestimate your importance in this War, Snivellus. Without you, the Order might get less information. Without me, the one whom the prophecy was about, Voldemort wins. A dead turncoat wouldn\'t warrant many tears. A dead savior makes the War futile.\" Harry looked smug as Snape paled and backed up to the doorway.

Remus was utterly gobsmacked by Harry\'s words. \"Harry, you don\'t want to...\"

\"Very Slytherin of you, Potter. Perhaps all of that Malfoy sperm you\'ve been consuming has finally penetrated. Speaking of... penetration....\" Snape\'s leer turned depraved. Potter didn\'t have the nerve.

\"Furnunculus!\" shouted Harry, covering Snape in boils. The word \"penetration\" rang in Harry\'s ears and fuelled his fury. So help him if Snape really had...

After a quick counter curse, Snape snorted at Harry. \"Very fourth year of you, Potter...\"

\"Severus...\" warned Lupin.

\"Expelliarmus! Priapistula!\" Beams of light shot from Harry\'s wand in rapid succession. It could have been worse, and would have been if Remus weren\'t standing right there.

Catching Snape\'s flying wand, Remus looked at Harry incredulously. \"What was that second one?\"

Snape started to howl and his hands clutched his crotch.

\"Priapism. If he\'s going to act like a walking hard-on around my boyfriend, then he can have a very long-term, painful one.\" Harry thought it was witty, anyway. \"I actually learned it to cast on Mal-- Draco, but never had a chance.\"

\"Very good, but...\" Remus frowned as Snape\'s shrieks triggered Mrs. Black\'s and the entire house was now set to a hellish screeching chorus. \"What is the counter?\"

\"Never learned it.\" Harry sneered and folded his arms in defiance.

\"Right, Harry. Tell me the counter curse. I know you would have learned both. You\'re not that irresponsible.\" Though Remus was amused, enough was enough. He didn\'t notice that Severus had recovered his initial shock and was creeping towards his wand in Remus\'s hand.

Harry attempted to look innocent, although it didn\'t quite work. \"It must\'ve slipped my mind, sorry.\"

Snape seized his wand from Remus and pointed it at Harry. \"Flagrate!\" he shouted, spewing flames from his wand.

\"Protego!\" Harry promptly countered before he and Draco were singed. He trained his wand at Snape\'s prick again. \"That could\'ve burned Draco,\" he seethed. \"Diffend--\" He stopped casting the cutting curse as Remus slid between Harry and Snape. \"Get out of the way, Remus!\"

Snape started to flourish his wand to start another hex, but Remus yanked it out of his hand. \"Severus, stop!\"

Wrenching his arm back, he made to backhand Remus, but Lupin ducked.

Harry took the break in Remus\'s blocking of Snape to start, \"CRU--\"

Snape paled and prepared to be hit.

\"--el of me to tell you this, Snape, but you\'re not worth it. Get out. If you come back into this room, I guarantee you that you will find out just how good I\'m getting at Unforgivables.\" With that, Harry sat back down.

Remus was shaken, but relieved that Harry had reined himself in before doing something so imprudent. Even Remus would have had a hard time rationalizing that action. He stood up and shoved Snape out of the room ahead of him. Snape was too breathless with fear and soreness to protest. \"Let\'s see if we can\'t find the counter to that hex in one of those books in the drawing room, Severus.\" That behaviour was pure James, Remus decided. Harry was more and more like his father every day, and Lupin wasn\'t sure that was a good thing.

Though Harry found it regrettable that he\'d scared Remus, but he couldn\'t lament that he\'d instilled the fear of his reckoning into Snape. It wasn\'t all he wanted to do to the man, but it was a start.

--

While Molly very much wanted to talk to Harry about his recent spate of hexes and over-the-top conduct, Remus kept her at bay, giving the boy some time and distance. He was optimistic that Harry just needed some quiet time to sort through everything. After some introspection, Harry would cool off.

Had Harry known that was what everyone was hoping for, he would\'ve sniggered. However, at the moment, he was focused on keeping Draco warm and safe and fretting about what might have happened to him. He ran the wet cloth over Draco\'s pointed features, worried about how dull his complexion had become. Was that just because of the unconsciousness? No, Harry berated himself, Draco had been looking rather gaunt for the past couple of weeks. Harry noticed, but hadn\'t really seen it. Not until today.

Feeling Draco start to twitch, Harry both hoped and dreaded that this might be the final throe of his magic-shocked body finally recovering. He didn\'t have long to ponder this before Draco sat bolt upright in his bed. His hand slapped against his naked chest, searching for his wand.

\"Huh... what?\" Draco puzzled as he glared around him. The afternoon sun was streaming in through a window, lighting dust bunnies in the room that he had unsettled. He\'d awoken thinking that he needed to defend himself. Finding that he was in his erstwhile bedroom naked and wand-less next to the boy who had given him away to Snape... was a shock of a different sort.

His hand flew up to his clammy face as his eyes fixed on the white cloth in Harry\'s hand. He started to do the mental math that Harry was caring for him. Draco felt a guarded relief at this revelation. Things had evidently sorted themselves out on Harry\'s end, which left Draco to deal with how he felt about it. This time he swore he wasn\'t going to set aside his emotions. That got them nowhere.

Draco had a thousand questions all buzzing in his head at once. Was he safe now? Where was Snape? What happened to Hermione? Though he\'d been stunned, he was still mentally conscious enough to be aware that Harry had rescued him and used an Unforgivable. It wasn\'t until he\'d been released from the hexes that his body had shut down. What he didn\'t know was how much Harry knew about what happened at Snape\'s cottage or what he thought of it. So he decided to play dumb. \"What happened?\"

\"Shhh... Lay down, Draco. Lay down.\" Harry was thrilled that Draco didn\'t throw him out, so at least he wasn\'t that angry. \"Please,\" he added, hoping the politeness would hedge his bets.

\"How did I get in here?\" Draco flopped back down on the bed, a decision he regretted as it made his head throb as if he were hung over.

Molly told Harry to anticipate some dehydration and disorientation. Harry picked up the glass of water he\'d placed on the nightstand along with some biscuits and toast and held the straw to Draco\'s lips.

Eying the straw for a moment, Draco took the glass and then a quick sip. \"A glass of water isn\'t an answer.\"

Harry frowned. He didn\'t want to get into it right after Draco woke up; he wanted to give him time to recover. But, given the fact that Draco both wanted and deserved answers, that wasn\'t an option. Harry had a few questions of his own. He wanted to know how it was that Draco ended up outside of the house, where he\'d been, had he been out there the whole time? But barraging Draco with questions would\'ve been wrong. Especially considering how much explaining he owed Draco for his behaviour of late. He would play by Draco\'s rules for now. \"You were outside being attacked by Bellatrix and Richard. We heard alarms that magic was being used in close proximity; a warning in case the house was ever under attack. I rushed out and....\"

\"Richard?\" So that was the name of the other Death Eater. Draco eyed Harry inquisitively as to how he knew the identity of the mystery man.

\"He was in Auror training with me. He\'s the man... \" Should he tell Draco everything or should he stick with what Hermione had advised him? Draco looked so frail, and in the end, that kiss had meant nothing. Less than nothing, it had been a trick to get close to Harry or at least throw him off balance. Telling Draco about it would only upset him. \"The one I was telling you about. The only one who really talked to me; but it was only a ruse to gain my trust and infiltrate the Ministry, obviously... since he\'s a Death Eater. I didn\'t know that until... right then, though.\"

\"Oh.\" Draco felt rather sad for Harry. He only had one friend in Auror training and he was only talking to him to spy. Placing his hand on Harry\'s he squeezed it. \"Ministry\'s full of lackwits. Sounds like they\'re doing their damnedest to keep themselves full up of idiots. No wonder you didn\'t fit in.\"

Harry smiled, mostly because of Draco\'s hand on his, although the odd compliment touched him as well. He turned his hand over to interlace their fingers and he was pleased that Draco didn\'t pull his hand away. \"I\'m sorry.\"

Smirking, Draco said, \"I am, too. The Ministry needs some real leadership.\"

\"Draco,\" said Harry. Meeting Draco\'s eyes, his expression pled for him to be serious. \"I mean it. I\'m really sorry. For all of the... assumptions and the... the way I treated you. I took you for granted and then... I just...\"

Draco\'s smile faded and he averted his eyes. \"I should\'ve told you what was going on with Ron the first time you asked. I had no idea you\'d really believe that. Neither of us would do that to you. Not to mention... ugh, Weasley.\"

Harry sighed and rolled his eyes. Right. He momentarily forgot whom he was dealing with. He\'d argue with him that Ron wasn\'t that awful, but that would be self-defeating. \"I\'m just glad you get along with my friends now.\"

It was Draco\'s turn to roll his eyes. \"Well if their presence is going to continue to cock up my relationship, I can\'t be buggered.\"

\"Draco...\" No, there was little point in arguing it. Draco would do what he would do, but he didn\'t think Malfoy would honestly stop talking to Ron. Although a guilty part of him wouldn\'t mind if he did. \"You should have let me know about Snape, too.\"

For a moment, Draco\'s face reddened and he looked into Harry\'s eyes and then he turned away again. \"I... you... the... it...\" His hand tightened on Harry\'s as he stuttered, visibly shaken. Draco wondered just how much Harry knew about what went on at Snape\'s house. No, Snape wouldn\'t have told him. Perhaps Weasley or Granger told Harry about Snape\'s \"visit.\" Granger, what had happened with her? That seemed a good way to throw off the subject. \"So I suppose Granger filled you in. What happened to her?\"

Not to be dissuaded from his point, and because Harry as so concerned about what happened to Draco during those missing hours, he summed up curtly. \"No, Ron told me about the visit and scrolls. Hermione received a book by Eagle owl meant to look like it came from you and it blew up in her face, rendering her unconscious for a few hours. I think Snape did it, particularly since he showed up so conveniently. Where did he take you?\"

That rundown took Draco by surprise and the shock prompted his quick answer. \"To his home.\" Draco\'s face began to screw up in upset as the memory of what happened at Snape\'s cottage flooded in, and he fretfully attempted to change the subject again. \"So is Hermione all right?\" he asked in a strained voice.

Harry didn\'t like how Draco was recoiling, nor did he care for the manner in which Draco was evading him. This wasn\'t his usual caustic response. Draco was obviously profoundly disturbed by something. Granted, he hadn\'t had much time to process what had happened and it was liable to still be pretty raw. Though Harry felt a bit guilty for pushing him, he wanted the truth and less of Draco\'s avoidance. \"She\'s fine. What happened at Snape\'s house?\"

\"He... umm... well, I didn\'t want to go to his house, Harry. He had a Portkey. I wanted to stay here and find out what happened... to talk to you.\" Draco stared hard at their entwined hands, looking at how white his knuckles had gone, and how Harry\'s were turning a similar shade. \"You\'re right about Snape, though. He... er... knew about it anyway. He said that You-Know-Who had a plot...\"

\"Voldemort sent the book?\" Draco flinched when Harry spoke the name and while generally the balking would be followed with a stern rebuke, Harry didn\'t have it in him to say anything about it.

\"I suppose. Although how would V-Vold-You-Know-Who know where to send it?\" Draco took another sip of the water.

Snape was following orders to cover himself again. Or that\'s what he\'d say. One day Harry hoped that excuse wouldn\'t hold with Dumbledore, but he had a sinking feeling this wasn\'t going to be that day. On top of that, Draco was still dodging the question. Harry was now desperate to know and blurted out, \"Did Snape force you to have sex with him?\"

Draco\'s head snapped up and he looked into Harry\'s furious eyes. He shook his head.

\"Did he try?\"

Draco\'s jaw clenched, but otherwise he gave no response.

\"Your robes are... the buttons are pulled off in places, Draco.\" Harry covered their joined hands with his other and squeezed. \"I know you didn\'t... on purpose. So you ran?\"

\"I wanted to get back to you, Harry. I wanted to know what was going on... I wanted to... but you... you... you gave me away.\"

\"I\'m sorry, Draco. I was... I\'m sorry.\" Harry worked hard to control his rage at Snape and his personal guilt for that impulsive act to focus on Draco. He needed to focus on something else. \"How did you get back?\"

\"Knight Bus.\" Draco\'s voice was tight, but his grip on Harry\'s hand lessened, thankful not to have to go into specifics. He could tell that Harry was on edge over Snape. Draco was as well, but right now he didn\'t want to deal with it. The rush of emotions around what happened had already exhausted his beleaguered body again.

Sensing Draco\'s weariness, Harry eased up on his line of questioning. \"Stan Shunpike still conductor?\" He reached up and caressed his cheek as he moved in closer.

Draco snorted and distantly wondered what had happened to his toothbrush. Setting the water down after taking long sip, he spotted it on the far corner of the nightstand. \"I didn\'t know you\'d ever ridden. But yes, Shunpike was there,\" he said, emphasizing the name in distaste.

The annoyed tone of his boyfriend\'s voice made Harry grin in spite of the tense talk. Shunpike must not have changed much. \"He makes an impression.\"

Closing his eyes, Draco shook his head and rested against the pillows again. \"Definitely.\" He still felt tense about the previous subject matter, but it was giving way to his exhaustion.

\"Do you need me to get you anything?\" Harry looked at the half-empty glass and then to Draco, wondering if he should push more fluids on him to prevent dehydration.

\"No, stay here. Hold me.\" He opened his eyes and released Harry\'s hand to reach for him.

Feeling waves of relief crashing over him, Harry exhaled and adjusted his position to lie on his side next to Draco. He slid one arm under his neck and the other around his waist. Feeling another urge to explain himself, he whispered, \"I love you, Draco. If I didn\'t, I wouldn\'t have acted like...\"

Draco clamped his hand inelegantly over Harry\'s mouth. He didn\'t want to hear it again. He understood. Jealousy wasn\'t that difficult a concept. \"I love you, too. Now hush up and hold me.\"

Obediently, Harry hushed and cuddled Draco tighter, grateful to be both understood and loved.